The Third Season Chapter 1, a switched at birth fanfic

Hey! So this is a new direction of fanfic for me. I've been watching Switched at Birth for three years now and I LOVE it. But the things they're making the girls do lately...*shakes head*

Well, first of all, I thought Campbell was fantastic when I first saw him. I really did. But the delivery of the character is wooden at best, and it's just grating on me to the point where I wish Daphne would have gone with Jorge. But I guess we knew the second we saw Campbell who she'd be with, didn't we? :P

Anyway, I decided to continue the third season as I would have written it. :) This is my version of the events that follow last night's episode. I'll probably write it up until the show resumes in June, wrap it up sometime then. And we'll see how my predictions hold up.

Thanks! Reviews are welcome and so, so appreciated!

-Homey :)

Disclaimer:Wahh...I don't own Switched at Birth. Not even a little bit.

Chapter One

—Bay—

The sunshine filtered through my eyelids, staining them red. I rolled over onto my stomach and felt the grass beneath me, dewy and surprisingly soft against my skin. If I painted this moment—and I probably would, later, when I got home—the canvas would be a swirl of subtle greens, sky blues, dark, passionate purples—and that soft red in the smack-dab center, shaped into two silhouettes. That would be…red and white? Red white and brown, maybe?

I felt a hand on my arm, coursing me awake. I opened my eyes. Emmett grinned down at me, and I smiled back. It was early, judging from the sky around—dawn, maybe? The air was cold and the crickets and birds were just beginning to sing.

Hi, I mouthed.

He sat up, and I followed, crossing my arms over my chest. The shirt I wore did little to protect my skin from the cold, but whatever. He was here, and I was here, and we loved each other. I couldn't believe it.

We should probably head home, he signed, motioning to the blanket and my keys and wallet, strewn across the ground. I sniffed into the wet air and groaned, thinking of my car.

"Crap," I said aloud. Emmett frowned.

What?

I left my stupid car parked out there. My parents are going to kill me.

Nah. He sliced his hand across his throat, shaking his head. Just mutilate.

I shook my head at him and stood up, grabbing for my things. "I'll see you later?"

He stood up and we began walking down the path. Not for a while. We have two miles to walk.

"Oh. I forgot."

He reached over to tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. My stomach plunged down into my knees. How was it possible that he was looking at me like this again? God, I'd missed it. I'd stayed strong for months and months, but when it came down to it—

I loved him. You couldn't turn that off.

You've given me serious inspiration for the remainder of my art class, I said, leaning into him. His arms fell to my waist, and I tucked my head under his chin.

I felt his hands move against my back as he replied, even though I wouldn't be able to see.

"I'll be all A's," I said, pulling away.

He leaned over to press his lips to mine for a brief second. When I pulled away, he was smiling. I felt my own cheeks lift up in response. This was it. This was the happiest I'd ever been.

We resumed walking in silence for the next few minutes. Emmett, who'd forgotten his camera, kept snapping mock-photos with his hands just to make me laugh. Our hands found each other after a while, and it was easy.

"Do you want to stop for breakfast?" I asked aloud, simultaneously repeating the question with my hands. "My stomach's either growling or a monster. Maybe both."

He shook his head. I need to get home. My mom's going to be a mess.

I bit my lip. "Why? What's wrong?"

Oh, nothing. She's been on my ass lately, you know? About grades and stuff.

"I'm kind of getting a break for once with my parents, which is really nice. They have their own problems."

Can we switch?

I pushed against him. His laugh reached my ears, a deep, scratching sound I didn't have the pleasure of hearing very often. "I've already been switched enough for one lifetime, thank you very much."

We'd reached my car. I climbed into the driver's side, suddenly shy. The enormity of what we'd just done had begun to sink in, and I could hardly look him in the eye.

He tapped my door. I turned my head just enough to see his hands move. They were dark against the background of the sun. You okay?

Paint that, too, I instructed myself, while forcing a smile. "Yeah. I'm great."

I'll text you. Okay?

His smile was beaming. I nodded and turned on my car, looking behind me in order to back out. I didn't look behind me as I started down the road, not even once, although he was sure to be waving, giving me that Emmett smirk that had a way of crumpling all my resolve.

What the hell had I just done?

I turned on my phone at a stoplight close to home. It lit up with messages—two from Mom and Dad, which wasn't nearly as much as it would have been had I pulled this three months ago. There was a text from Daphne and one from Regina, telling me to call my parents.

The rest were from take.

Guilt the size of a brick settled in the pit of my stomach, and I wasn't hungry anymore. I hovered over his name lit up on the screen and considered chucking my phone out the window.

Don't be a coward, Bay.

I hit call.

It rang several times, so much so that I thought that maybe—maybe—he wasn't going to pick up. He was mad at me after all, right? Maybe he'd been calling to chew me out for the whole fraternity thing and had decided against it. Maybe we weren't ever going to speak again. The thought made my throat ache, but what could I do? If we were broken up, we were broken up, and it was for good reason. He wasn't the person I'd thought he was. Emmett…was.

"Hello?"

I let out a soft groan. So much for getting off the hook. "Hey. It's me. Bay."

"Yeah. Funny about that—I have this weird thing on my phone that tells me who's calling…"

"Oh, shut up." Against my will, I found myself smiling. "What's up?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you the same thing. You didn't pick up my calls yesterday."

"Oh yeah. My phone was, you know…" I turned into our neighborhood and slowed down substantially, hoping to delay the inevitable scolding I'd probably still get when I arrived home.

"Bay? Earth-to-Bay?"

"Sorry! I'm driving."

"Driving at six in the morning?"

"Oh, yeah." I took my other hand off the wheel, just long enough to cross my fingers. "I had to do this thing for Mrs. Ledarsky...Theresa…anyway, she asked me to. I couldn't say no."

"She's kind of intimidating."

"Kind of? Try so."

"Yeah."

I turned into our driveway, winding down the picturesque path. The trees flashed by, stately oaks and friendly maples. Like the trees in the park with Emmett. God, I'd never be able to look at these trees again without blushing.

"Bay?"

Oh, right. Tank. "Yeah? What's up?"

"Are we okay?"

I laid on the brake. "What do you mean?"

"Are we still…"

"Friends? Yeah, Tank, absolutely." A jolt of relief coursed through me. By some miracle of God, I was going to get to have both Emmett and him. We'd broken up, right? It wasn't like I'd cheated. "I couldn't not be your friend."

"Duh. Nobody can. No, Bay, I meant are we still cool?"

"Cool?"

"Like, you know…" He lowered his voice. "Cool."

Shit. "Um…" I drummed my fingers against the wheel and squeezed my eyes shut. The brick was back, taking residence in my esophagus, now. I think. Or was it trachea? I'd never been good at biology. Or anything relating to school.

"I have something I need to tell you," He pressed on, plainly shaken by my lack of an answer. "So can we meet?"

"I'm kind of…it's going to be busy."

"Anytime. I can do three a.m. During lunch. I'll skip lunch. And that's saying a lot." He laughed nervously. My lower lip quivered. I hated myself. What had I done?

"Tank—"

A door slammed in the distance. Mom rushed out, trailing the edges of her long silk robe on the ground. "Bay! Where have you been?"

"Bay?" Tank was in my ear, cautious. "Can we meet?"

Mom reached the side of my car, pulling open my door. "Get out! You have serious explaining to do."

I stuck my legs out and stood up, trying to both focus on Mom's insistent question and Tank's timid one. I heard the door slam again and Dad came out, followed by Regina, Adrianna, and Daphne.

It was worse than I'd thought.

"Tank, I have to go."

"Wait—Bay. Please say we can meet."

Everyone was staring at me. Dad snapped for me to get off the phone.

"We can meet," I said in a rush, already regretting the words. "Call you later."

I hung up and just stared at them all.

"Where have you been?" Mom asked again, stepping back against Dad.

"Out. Running an errand for my art teacher," I said, deciding to stick with the same story.

"Nobody's seen you since yesterday, though!"

"I came home. I was just tired. I went to bed. You can ask Daphne—" I gestured to my sister, who was rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Her expression never strayed from slightly confused. "I told her."

Everyone turned to look at Daphne.

"What?" She asked, dropping her arms. They swayed at her sides.

I told you to tell them I was going to be gone, I signed, giving her my most subtle beseeching look. "Did you forget?"

"Bay—" Dad stepped forward, shaking his head. "It freezing outside. Come in. Get something to eat, and we'll talk about this later."

"But, Dad—"

"Later."

I slammed the door to my car with a sigh. Mom turned and hurried back in, tying the robe around her waist. I heard Adrianna in the background, telling Regina she was going to go back home.

"Thanks, Mom," Regina replied. I sagged against the car door.

"Hey," Daphne said from behind me, and I startled.

"Yeah?" I asked, turning around. Regina had stopped to stare.

Daphne twisted around to frown at our mom, who rolled her eyes and waved us away, heading in after John and Katherine. I closed my eyes in relief. I was off the hook. For now.

Where were you? Daphne signed, I guessed opting to be quiet.

I considered my options. There weren't many.

With Emmett, I relented, deciding she would probably find out anyway.

Daphne eye's widened. "What?"

"Shh!" I pressed my finger to my lips, positioning her to stand directly in front of me.

Remember Matthew? The whole Mandy thing was a hoax. It was him, pretending to be her, and then he basically went there to beat up Emmett.

You're joking.

No. He even filmed it.

"Oh my God." She patted her pockets for her phone. "I have to call him. Is he okay?"

"Yeah. He's fine. I was with him."

Her mouth opened just the tiniest bit. "All night?"

I pointed to her hands, pressing my lips together in a thin line.

What do you mean you were with him? She brought her hands together with a smack. I shook my head.

I mean I was with him.

But what about Tank?

Tank and I got in a fight yesterday.

Bay, that's the exact same thing Emmett did to you.

Protest rose inside me, and I wanted to yell it, how unfair she was being. But I couldn't. For all I knew, Regina, Mom and Dad were listening to us right now. I wouldn't put it past them.

It's not the same, I said at last. Not even close.

That's cheating.

That was it. I stormed past her, heading in the door. Daphne followed behind at her own slow pace. Inside, the kitchen was warm with the sounds of breakfast being prepared. Dad ignored me as I came in, opting instead to stand behind Mom and whisper sweet, repulsive nothing in her ears. I turned away from them and went for my room, where the promise of a change of clothes (and possibly a shower) enticed me.

After I was showered, I headed past the kitchen, out to my studio. I busied myself picking reds and whites and browns, then got to mixing. It took a few times, but finally I had it.

The color of my eyelids. The color of finally.