"Bay, I just don't know how this can work," he signed. "We've tried all we can. It's just not working."
"Emmett, you can't give up on us; not yet. Just…we'll figure something out." Bay was desperate. She couldn't let Emmett go this easily. In just a few short weeks, Emmett became her everything. If he left her, she had no one. The feelings of inferiority she felt when she first learned of the switch would resurrect themselves, coming out of the darkness and taking over her mind once again. Their relationship could work. It had to.
"Bay. Just stop. We don't even speak the same language. There's nothing we can do." Emmett's hands were frantic as signed, letting Bay know his deepest insecurities. "How could you ever want to be with someone like me anyway? I'm broken. You don't deserve someone you can't understand." He tried his best to sign slower, noting the look of confusion etched across his girlfriend's porcelain face.
"I'm learning to sign, Emmett. I'm not learning it for Daphne. I'm learning it for you." Bay tried her hardest to sign the words she knew, leaving it to Emmett to piece together her words. The language barrier was nothing to her. She would try harder. "What happened to 'I just want you'? Huh, Emmett?"
"We just can't, Bay. I'm sorry. It's not fair to you." Pain covered Emmett's face, tears in the couple's eyes. "I meant what I said when I told you I wanted you, Bay. I didn't lie about that. But it isn't fair of me to want you. You deserve someone better than me."
"I still don't understand. I will never understand why you're doing this, but if it's what you need, I guess I can't stop you. Goodbye, I guess." Bay did her best to suppress her tears, trying to hide the pain Emmett was causing her. He'd done this once before after Daphne had told him how she felt about him. Bay understood that he was confused then, but this time she couldn't apprehend his motives. Was it Daphne again? Was she not good enough?
As Emmett wildly drove away on his motorcycle, Bay knelt down on her studio floor, crying hysterically. She thought learning sign language was enough. In the past few months, her life had turned completely upside down and Emmett had changed that. He was the star in her sky. When she found out she was switched at birth and had grown up in the wrong life, Emmett was the one who pulled her out of the rebellion and recklessness she put herself through. Only him. It wasn't Liam or Ty; it wasn't her brother, Toby, or her parents; it wasn't Daphne. Emmett saved her. That was supposed to be enough.
As Emmett drove along the Kansas City streets, out of Mission Hills and back to Riverside, he thought about his conversation with Bay. The words had come pouring out his mouth before his brain had time to think them through. He didn't want to end his relationship with Bay, but somehow it happened. He did think that the relationship wasn't fair to Bay; that much was true. She deserved to have someone who could talk with her, hear her voice. Someone who could laugh with her and win her friends over with his charm. He couldn't do that. He couldn't communicate with her friends and she could barely communicate with his. Logically, the relationship shouldn't work. But somehow it did. They were happy and they enjoyed each other's company. Furious with himself, Emmett impulsively turned his motorcycle around and headed back the way he came, towards Mission Hills and towards a hurting Bay.
As he pulled into the driveway of Bay's home, Emmett nervously searched his brain for the right words. He slowly crept into Bay's art studio and saw her at her easel, painting a canvas with warm colors that conveyed her sadness. A knot formed in his chest as he quietly knocked on the door, slighting chuckling as Bay jumped and her paintbrush went flying across the room. Her frightened eyes turned into one of fierce sadness as she croaked, "What are you doing here, Emmett?"
He began to sign as slowing and clearly as he could. "I was wrong. This isn't what I wanted, Bay. I miss you already and it hasn't even been an hour". He slowly made his way across the room, his eyes never leaving the girl he knew he could love someday.
"Emmett, we can't keep doing this. We're together or we're not. My heart can't take this." Bay was scared. She didn't want to be hurt again.
"I know," Emmett signed with a smile on his face. "The third time is the charm, right?" He could tell that Bay didn't understand what he said, but he knew that it didn't matter. It would work this time. He leaned in to kiss her softly, a kiss that quickly turned prurient and filled with desire.
"I'm sorry," Emmett spoke. Bay looked at him with her tear-stained face and smiled. His voice was like velvet and the words sounded even more beautiful than the first time she'd heard his voice.