[A/N: Here's a cute little fic all about the friendships of Everwood. I'm assuming in this one that Colin survived surgery.]
Amy brought her well-manicured hand to her left to ring the doorbell. She withdrew it, looked up at the ceiling of the porch at nothing in particular. The door then opened, and a familiar face was in front of her.
"Long time no see, Ephram Brown."
He gave her one of his rare grins. "Three days."
Amy smiled and shrugged. Three days was still a long time to be without Ephram's companionship. "How was Florida?"
He stiffly put his hands into his jacket pockets, groaning, "Three days weren't enough. You have no idea. There was sun. And a beach." Amy observed that his usually pallid skin was a few shades darker.
"There's sun here. Well, this time of year. And I know there's no beach, but there's still something just as good," she hinted.
Ephram rolled his eyes dubiously. Everwood didn't have anything at all that interested him. "I doubt it. But, enlighten me."
"Buck's Rock," Amy told him knowingly.
"And what is Buck's Rock?"
Her brown eyes twinkled. "It's just this scenic little lake where I thought we might go to swim this afternoon."
His heart skipped a beat and a smile touched his lips. She actually wants to do something with me, he thought excitedly. Usually, Colin was attached into the plan somewhere. In fact, the entire reason Amy had wanted to meet Ephram in the first place was that so she could try to get his father to perform surgery on the comatose boy. Again and again Ephram had tried to convince himself that the two short kisses they had shared meant nothing, that Amy was leading him on for the purpose of ensuring Colin's full recovery, or perhaps simply because she thought that she owed it to him because of his cooperation. But now she was really attempting to be friendly with him.
He added the thought, And Amy in a bathing suit . . . no pal, don't even go there.
"I thought you might tag along. I mean, I planned the whole with Colin and Bright, but. . . ."
"Oh," he muttered, frowning immediately.
Watching his expression, she said, "Ephram, if this is uncomfortable for you, then--"
"I'm just warning you, I'm not exactly athletic, and I don't think Colin or Bright'll be too happy about me coming. Neither of them like me very much."
"Who cares what Bright thinks; I'll just tell him to play nice and threaten to tell my parents about his stash of porn; that always works. And Colin likes you enough."
"I doubt it, considering that he almost broke my arm once. He didn't seem too thrilled with me then." Watching Amy's face, he realized that stating that probably wasn't such a good move.
She insisted defensively, "Ephram . . . that was when Colin was still having trouble. But now he went through surgery and everything and he's . . . back to normal."
Ephram nodded. He knew that Colin was a good guy and that now he was just making excuses. "Fine."
Amy seemed rather surprised, prying, "You mean . . . you'll go?"
He rolled his eyes and pointed a slim finger at her. "But, I'm warning you: no diving contests for me. I'll stick to dog-paddling, thank you very much."
"That sounds fair. We'll pick you up in an hour, 'kay?"
"Sure."
As he closed the door and went up to put on his suit, he couldn't help but wonder what he was getting into.
***
Bright honked the horn for the fourth time, saying behind gritted teeth, "Where is he, Amy?"
From the backseat, his sister replied, "Relax, Bright."
"I don't get why we even asked him to come. This is our tradition, you know? Just the three of us."
Colin, who sat next to Amy, said, "She's right, dude. You've gotta relax. Ephram's a cool guy. And his dad saved my life, twice. We can make new traditions."
Bright sighed in defeat. He didn't want this to be happening. He didn't want his best friend to slip away from him. He didn't want to spend the car ride with Ephram in the passenger seat and Amy and Colin in their own little world in the back. He wanted things to be the way they used to be so badly.
Ephram appeared from his front door, wearing red swim trunks and a gray T-shirt with a towel slung over his shoulder. Bright called through the open window, "About time, man!"
"Bright," Amy warned. She wouldn't allow her brother to create another disaster between her and Ephram as he had so many times.
Bright sighed again while Ephram climbed into the passenger seat. The blonde boy waited for a few seconds and didn't move to start the car. "All right, let's get this over with."
"Huh?"
"Look, I guess . . . since you like hanging out with Amy so much and all, and since . . . there's no getting around the fact that she's my sister," he said and passed a miserable, "I'm-gonna-kill-you-for-this-later" glare to Amy, who nodded for him to go on, "maybe we should call a truce."
"A truce?"
"Yes. A truce," Bright managed angrily.
"Sure, dude, whatever," Ephram agreed as he buckled his seatbelt.
Bright nodded, put the car into gear, and started driving off. From the backseat Amy said happily, "I'm proud of you, Bright."
He only let out a small grunt in response, now focused on driving. Colin asked, "So, Ephram, how was Florida?"
***
Amy looked up from her book sharply when her brother cried out loudly, "WOO-HOO!" while diving off of the tree that was his natural diving board. Colin and Ephram were racing in the water, and although Colin continued to win, Ephram made up for it with a witty remark each time. Amy smiled. She never thought that she could have so much fun with three boys.
"Okay, last time. One, two, three!" Ephram called, and then cut through the water next to Colin. In a few moments he reached the other side with Colin a few feet behind him. He looked about and realized his victory. "Hey--I won!"
"Don't get too cocky, dude. I just recovered from brain surgery in May."
"Yeah, yeah--excuses, excuses," Ephram laughed, recognizing that he was actually having fun.
"Good job, Ephram!" Amy called from shore.
Colin looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. "I'm taking a break." He swam back to the shoreline.
"Okay, I'm next, bro!" Bright challenged to Ephram.
"You're on. What with my recent victory and all, I might be getting too full of myself anyway."
Colin laughed at Bright and Ephram's competitive racing as he stalked up to Amy and sat beside her. "Hey, thanks for cheering me on!" he said sarcastically, smiling. "'Good job, Ephram'? That's not the kind of support that I need."
Amy put her book down and looked into his eyes. "Oh, please. You're supportive enough for yourself. A little on the egotistical side."
"Me?" he asked her innocently. "Never." He gently placed a kiss on her lips. "Thanks for inviting Ephram. He's fun to hang out with."
"Yeah. He totally has to go to the Fourth of July assembly with us tomorrow. Bright will really dig that, you know."
"They seem to be having fun now," Colin observed, watching Bright and Ephram racing in the lake. He looked over at the girl's peaceful expression. "I love you, Amy."
"I love you too." It wasn't a lie; it was the absolute truth. She could not deny, however, the feeling that something was missing. Colin, this Colin the Second, was so different than Colin the First. Because of the surgery and rehab that he had to go through, he had lost so much of his vivacity and confidence. She remembered last year, when he had come out of the lake and fondly shaken his wet hair to get water on her. Now he was so much quieter. His spirit was gone. He used to sweet-talk his way out of everything; now he didn't bother to put in the effort. He was still happy, but he seemed as though he had seen something that he would never be able to forget. Somehow, Amy knew she loved him anyway.
***
Amy, Bright, and Colin were sitting on the sand when the sun set. Ephram had been swimming for much longer, but when dusk crept upon him, he reluctantly got out of the water and sat on the flat rock with his knees pulled to his chest. The sky was a watercolor painting of pink, crimson, and orange. A few clouds that streaked the sky were tinted the lightest shade of purple.
Amy watched him, sitting there with his shadow stretching across the rock. He was so close to her, but so far away; so lonely that she desperately wanted to nurture and comfort him. It was such a bittersweet feeling with Ephram the way he was before her and her boyfriend whom she loved so much by her side. Colin had his arm around her shoulders and when a tear caressed her cheek, he wiped it away. He didn't bother to ask why it was there; he just let it go and she leaned deeper into his chest.
Ephram turned around and his sad eyes met hers, but then he looked away. She knew then that the love that she had for Ephram would never come to a happy end; it had been doomed since the moment they'd met. It would always be there, buried beneath her love for the other boy who she now leaned on. It would live for eternity in her heart, but it would never come out in the open. The sadness and loneliness in Ephram's eyes would always be there when he looked at her--it was what made Ephram himself.
Ephram stood up and sat between Bright and Colin to watch the sun fade away. He granted Amy a small smile. He too realized that this was the way it would always be. But he also realized while he sat between his three friends, that he was truly happy.
--Fin--