Disclaimer: I do not own Chris/Bright or Gregory/Ephram, unfortunately. But I do own the plot.

Author's Note: I don't know if the quotes from the show are exact, but it's something like that. This is a slash story, which means is a male/male pairing (Ephram/Bright) so if you don't like it, don't read it. Without further ado, here's the story!

Reassurance

            "So if college guys are macking on high school girls, do you think college girls would get lonely? So they'd be macking on high school guys?" Bright Abbott asked Ephram Brown as they walked away from the disturbing sight of Amy Abbott cutting class.

            "I don't think that's the way it works, Bright," Ephram laughed glancing up at his new-found friend. Bright stopped walking and took in a deep breath. He didn't know how to say it. He didn't exactly want to say it. But it was now or never.

            "What about high school guys and high school guys?" he asked. Ephram, who had realized that Bright already stopped walking, froze in his tracks. His heart pounded in his chest. Bright couldn't possibly mean…could he? Ephram was having trouble finding his breath and he stood, blood pounding in his head.

            "Th-that could always happen too," Ephram gulped shakily. Bright looked at the shorter boy, longing to smash his own lips against Ephram's, wanting to feel the other boy's skin on his. Bright's eyes traveled to Ephram's face where a look between confusion and anticipation now hung. Bright became scared. What would happen if Ephram didn't approve? What would he do to him?

            "Sorry, that was a stupid question," Bright hastily shook his head, "I wasn't thinking." Ephram seemed to relax at Bright's words of comfort.

            "When are you ever?" he teased.

            Bright shrugged, "You never know." They walked along side by side, silence once again engulfing them.

            All summer, Ephram fantasized about being in love. And every time he had a fantasy, Bright Abbott popped into his mind. Maybe it was because they had grown to have a mutual understanding after Colin's little 'crazy man' act. Maybe they just grew-up and came to terms with each other. Maybe it was because Ephram fell out of love with Bright's little sister and Bright finally felt no threat from him anymore. Whatever it was, Bright and Ephram didn't bite each other's heads off anymore which both surprised and appalled the student body at Central High.  After Colin's death Ephram became even more of an outcast than he already was. Not only was he the freak who read weird magazines and was from New York, his father had been "responsible" for Colin Hart's death. And Colin Hart was the hero in Everwood. The death of him meant a certain death in everyone in Everwood. It seemed as if everyone felt that way about him and his family. Everyone except for Bright Abbott.

            For awhile, the only people that would talk to Ephram and his father were Nina and her son, Sam. But when he got a job at the pool, Ephram was forced to talk to other people and they were forced to talk to him; namely Amy and Bright Abbott. At first Amy totally ignored him, which was totally expected. But Bright just marched up to him and welcomed him to the staff or something like that. Ever since that day of potential mutual friendship between the two boys, Ephram hadn't been able to feel the same about Bright Abbott. He thought he was going crazy, out of his mind. But he wasn't. Not at all. He realized what it was. After not having anyone for such a long time, he realized that he wanted Bright. He needed Bright.

            Bright had loved Ephram for such a long time. All summer he had been dreaming of kissing him, touching him, something. Still he had felt guilty thinking of Ephram when Colin was dead. And that just confused Bright. He'd spent all summer, barely saying two words to anyone, putting on the happy mask in public. He hated the fact that people felt sorry for him. He didn't need their damn pity. He hated the fact that everyone looked at him with such sympathy. Did they not realize that he wasn't the one stuck six feet fucking under? But Amy. She just basked in all the pity and sorrow. Even though he felt badly for his sister, he faced the fact that he was drifting away from her. He admitted to himself that if it weren't for Colin, he'd never have become so close to Amy. And just the night before, she had blamed him for the death of Colin. She had stuck a finger into his open wound. And it hurt. He thanked God that Ephram had been there otherwise he would've just left Amy there to drown herself in her own problems. And he probably wouldn't have cared much either because he was busy feeling sorry for himself.

            No matter how much he didn't want to admit it, his sister was going down the wrong path. In fact, Bright had much anticipated Amy's entrance into junior year at high school to be the most fruitful for his parents. Besides, Amy always had the brains and she was always the perfect one. She'd probably graduate early! Bright saw himself on the path that his sister was starting to turn to just because her boyfriend had died. And though it sounded harsh, even in his mind, Bright realized how stupid Amy was being. He also realized that he had no power to stop her even though he loved her. He had lost his sister. Actually, Bright came to realize that he had no one. All his old friends ditched him after Colin died. He knew the only reason they had put up with him was because Colin liked him. And if Colin liked him, everyone had to be nice to Bright. After years and years of denial, Bright admitted that it was true. And now that Colin was gone, he'd lost his best friend and everything else with it.

            "I'm just so sick of it," Bright sighed dropping down next to Ephram at a lunch table near the back corner of the school cafeteria.

            "Yeah I know man, school food sucks." Ephram nodded, looking in disgust at the grub laid before him.

            "No not that," Bright shook his head, "It's something else."

            Ephram looked up, "What do you mean?"

            "I'm just so sick of everything that's going on around here. Everyone tip-toes around me as if I don't know what the hell is going on. Well news flash everyone: Bright Abbott has a clue! It's like I'm nothing just because Colin's not here."

            "You're not nothing!" Ephram protested, "You're a hell of a lot more than nothing. You're a lot more of a something than most people in this fucking town."

            "I wish more people thought like that. All my friends dropped me because Colin's not around to tell them what to do and it's not like they ever liked me anyway. You're my only friend Ephram. Just you."

            "What about Amy?"

            "Amy?" Bright scoffed, "Amy's too wrapped up in her own damn problems to realize that I'm hurting just as much as she is, maybe even more. He was, and still is, my best friend. You saw what happened last night! She blamed me for what happened."

            "It's not your fault if that's what you're thinking."

            "How can you be so sure?"

            "I can assure you that it's just not your fault. It was an accident. The name says it all."

            "How can you assure me of that? You weren't even there and-"

            Ephram didn't let Bright say any more, silencing him with a kiss to the lips.

            "It's not your fault," Ephram repeated after they broke apart, not even an inch away from the other boy. Bright stared at him, bursting with joy. Ephram. Kissed. Him. He felt like standing on top of the table and shouting it to the world. But instead, he smiled softly, kissing Ephram on the lips, feeling Ephram kiss him back. They pulled away and intertwined hands. Neither boy had ever felt so good. Bright raised his eyes to meet Ephram's.

            "All I needed with a bit of reassurance."