As they stood at the lockers, people were passing them by but the only thing Bay and Emmett were aware of was each other. Emmett gave Bay one last smile and longing look and started to head to class. Bay stopped him before he could get away. As she gathered her thoughts, she couldn't help but wonder if this would be the beginning of a fresh start between them. She knew this was something that she had needed to tell him for some time now.
"Hey, wait a second. You were right about the Simone cheating thing. If we are ever going to have a chance," Bay paused. She felt the walls around her heart crumble as she looked into his beautiful blue eyes she continued, "I need to let it go. And I promise not to bring it up again. Ever."
At first, he wasn't sure that he'd seen her sign what she did, but as he locked his gaze with her, he knew without a doubt that she had finally let it go and had opened her heart to letting him back in as more than friends. He took a deep breath and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and he couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. His heart suddenly felt lighter than it had since before he woke up in Simone's hotel room. "Thank you," he signed. He motioned that he had to go, nodded to her and walked away to class. Suddenly, he wasn't certain about how he felt about Mandy anymore.
She watched him walk away and couldn't believe that she had admitted that she was open to giving him another chance. Deep down she knew that the truth was she had never fell out of love with him. And the reality that he was moving on with someone else was just enough to wake her up before she lost him for good. Sure, she had dated since he had broken her heart, but none of the guys she'd dated since Emmett had made her feel the way she did when she was with him. I mean, despite her seeing other guys, Emmett had continued to confess his love and show her that he would always be there for her. It was time she stopped being so scared of getting hurt. It was time to put her heart on the line again.
Emmett felt like his life was changing for the better. This summer had been hard for him as he watched Bay with Ty. He felt jealous and sad, even though he didn't know if he a right to feel that way about her anymore. When she came to him and told him that Ty had cheated on her, his heart broke for her and he wanted to give Ty a beating. He knew he was the last person to think that but it was true. He assured her that Ty would feel way worse when he realized what he lost, because he knew first hand. Bay was there, she was his friend, his classmate, and she was so close, but yet, so far away from him. He did his best to push his feelings down so that he could have her in his life someway, even if it wasn't how he wanted. He walked into his room and placed his bag by his computer desk. He walked over to the wall that held pictures of those closest to him. When he moved back from his dad's, he hadn't put up all of their pictures, but he had hung some of Bay. He couldn't help but stare today at his favorite picture of her. Her hair was blowing in the wind and she was looking at him with that classic Bay look that he loved so much. He felt his phone buzz and looked down to see a text from Mandy, 'Hope you had a great day,' he smiled and sat his phone down to reply later. It wouldn't be right to respond that he'd had the best day and it was because of the beautiful, curly headed girl that he dreamed about. The truth was he kept trying to make what he had with Mandy the same as what he had with Bay. But he couldn't. Maybe it was because they hadn't met, but Emmett knew deep down that he was never going to feel what he had with Bay with anyone else. And after today, there was no denying that he wanted another chance with her. He sat down at his computer desk with him phone in hand and typed out a message to Mandy letting her know that he couldn't be in a relationship with her because it wasn't fair to her to try and make it work when his heart already belonged to someone else. He hit backspace and typed a new response, "Today was great." So great, it was almost like he could still feel the tingle of Bay's lips on his.
Bay came home from school and started working on a piece of street art that she hoped that she could use soon. She finished what she could tonight and headed inside to check her email, because Emmett was supposed to be sending over the jpegs he took for her portfolio. She sat on her bed with her laptop in her lap and brought up her email. As she waited for the new emails to load, she noticed the unread email from Ty still in her inbox. She clicked on the box out next to it and stared at the popup window that came up. It asked if she was sure she wanted to delete this message. She started to click no, but she knew if she was really ready to let the Simone thing go, she had to let the Ty cheating thing go to and do as Emmett had suggested and move on. She moved the mouse over and clicked yes. She closed her laptop and lay back in her bed staring up at the ceiling. She was kicking herself for keeping Emmett at arms length for so long. She knew without a doubt that Emmett loved her, and she was certain he would never do anything to hurt her purposely. Their kiss the other night had proven that he wouldn't make that mistake again. She hoped with all hope that they would soon be an item again. After all their romance had been epic before, it could be epic again couldn't it? She got up to grab her phone to text him to see if he wanted to meet up tonight, but quickly changed her mind when she remembered Mandy. "Craaap," she said as she plopped down on the bed. What if he didn't want her anymore?