Bay stood in her art studio, carelessly hurling paint at a canvas. She didn't have any energy left in her to pay attention to lines, or her colour palette or anything remotely pertaining to what she usually thought of when she painted. She felt drained. She had spent the last three weeks since Toby's homecoming painting out her anger and underlying emotions, finally feeling that she was ready to deal with it.
Now, she just used her brush to throw pretty colours at a white canvas. She only dropped the brush when she heard footsteps behind her.
"Hey, Emmett."
Hi.
As of a week ago, they had begun to greet each other with hugs. Bay was beginning to look forward to the light feel of his arms on her, though never fully encircling her. Emmett was always careful not to make her feel trapped in any way. It was just something that she could add to the ever-growing list of things that she absolutely loved about Emmett Bledsoe.
Bay leaned into him first, wrapping her arms around his neck. One of his hands rested on her hip while the other one was higher up on her ribs. Never did he go close to closing her in and she rested her forehead on his shoulder for a brief moment before she broke the contact.
What are you up to? Emmett asked.
"Just throwing paint around. It seems kind of silly but it feels right."
Emmett studied her little canvas.
I think there might be something missing.
"Missing?" Bay giggled. "It's a mess of paint, there's nothing there to begin with!"
Emmett shook his head at her and stretched out his hands, gently smearing his hands across the canvas, mixing the paint together. He then showed her his messy hands, signing: Aren't you going to join me?
Bay didn't hesitate for a moment. She laughed and swung her hands toward the canvas, smearing paint roughly over Emmett's little messy patch. Emmett grabbed her paintbrush and used it to drop a large glob of red down the middle of it. Bay jumped at it, pushing the red to the extreme sides as Emmett poured blue directly onto his own hands. His hands tangled around Bay's as they created a series of wonky rainbows, each of them spiralling around one another.
And when their hands got exhausted of painting, Emmett took Bay's hands in his own, spinning her around the art studio. Bay got lost in the haphazard dance, even when his messy hands touched her clothes and she had his handprints on her shirt. Somehow, she didn't mind feeling as though Emmett's hands were on her forever, branded into her soul. He spun her out – old style, with the arms straight and she was as far away from him as she could possibly get while their hands were still touching – and then she was curled back into him. Emmett had been keeping his distance, trying not to overstep Bay's boundaries. Right now, though, Bay didn't want to keep her distance; she had a boundary that she wanted to overstep.
So she brought herself tightly into his arms, pressing herself against his chest. He hugged her gently, before bringing his hands down her arms and into hers. Bay laced their fingers together, holding onto him tightly. He looked down at her questioningly, surprised at how close their proximity was. He wanted to ask, but with his hands tied up in hers, he couldn't.
Bay took the opportunity to kiss him.
His lips were sweet and unbearably gentle as they swept across her own set. Bay's knees quivered as he instinctually deepened the kiss and she arched into it, needing it. Then, his head moved up. Bay stretched to follow him but he softly stepped away from her.
You don't want to be doing this.
"Don't tell me what I want."
I'm not trying to, and you know that. I'm trying to protect you from going too fast. You're still getting comfortable with hugs. I don't want to hurt you by doing something that feels right in the moment but comes back to bite you later. He hesitated, hands twitching for a moment as though he were going to say something more but stop himself.
"What?" Bay pressed. "What else?"
You were with someone else before this happened. I don't want you to try to start something with me because I've been around as a source of comfort.
"Emmett, I –"
Bay, we'll go slow, okay? Figure it out along the way. Neither of us need any declarations right now.
Though she didn't want to admit it, Emmett had a legitimate point. She took a deep breath. She could take it day-by-day.
"Okay. But, can we go back to dancing?"
In response, Emmett offered her his hand again.
(-.-)
"You've been coming along really well," Toby's music therapist, Greg, complimented. "We're all really proud of your progress."
Toby blushed, looking down at the guitar that he had cradled in his hands. He could hear the difference between what his voice was now and what he thought that it should be. He was still shaky; he still blanked on simple words that he thought he should know. He still stuttered a lot and he still took a long time to speak. He hated that he wasn't where he used to be and he hated that he was aware that he was behind where his doctors thought he should be. Yet, he soaked in Greg's praise. He was progressing. He was going to get better. He had to believe it.
"Now that we've mastered a few simple melodies, is there anything specific that you'd like to work on? A certain song or something?"
"I … I," he paused, the word 'wrote' not coming to his lips. He substituted, "printed one f-for my f-fiancée."
"Would you like to work on the one?"
Toby nodded eagerly. "To s-surprise her."
"Awesome," Greg grinned. "Do you happen to have it today?"
Toby nodded and reached for his bag. He always kept his notebook on him. He didn't want anyone snooping through his things, especially Nikki, and reading his unfinished work. He handed the notebook to Greg and watched nervously as Greg read the words that Toby had written so long ago; words he had long since memorized.
Heaven Sent Me You
For Nikki.
I've never seen blue eyes filled with so much love
I never thought I'd find out what I found in your touch
Someone up there must like me 'cause I'm
Lookin' at the proof there's no doubt about it
Heaven sent me you
Heaven sent me you to make my life complete
An angel from above to watch over me
What makes it even better
Is you feel the same way too
There's no doubt about it
Heaven sent me you
Every moment that we share will live forever in my mind
Every memory that we make
Are sure to outlast time
I know when I hold you close I'm holdin'
Love that's true
There's no doubt about it
Heaven sent me you
Heaven sent me you to make my life complete
An angel from above to watch over me
What makes it even better is you feel the same way too
There's no doubt about it
Heaven sent me you
There's no doubt about it
Heaven sent me you
"Oh, Toby," Greg breathed looking up from the notebook. "That's so sweet."
He picked up his own guitar. "Are you ready to give it a run through, just to see what it's like?"
Toby nodded and positioned his fingers along his guitar strings. He liked having his guitar in music therapy. His voice wasn't right but he remembered what to do with his instrument.
It was the little victories, he supposed.
(-.-)
"Do you think I'm being unreasonable?" Daphne asked Kathryn. She and her mother were sunning themselves out by the Kennishes' pool and Daphne thought it was a good time to have a conversation.
"Unreasonable about what, honey?" Kathryn replied, turning her head so that she was facing Daphne.
"About Mom and Angelo. I feel as though I might be being too hard on him and my relationship with Mom just hasn't been the same. I miss her. And, honestly, Angelo has been around since he said he would be. Maybe I should give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I should believe that he's really going to do it this time and stick with his family."
"I don't want to tell you how to feel," Kathryn said right off the bat. "I think your feelings toward Angelo are slightly justified. You had over a decade to build up resentment toward him but I think you've found the answer yourself: he has been around. It's not enough to make up for how he hurt you, even he's aware of that. It might be time, honey, to let go of what he did and move on. Everyone changes. Let him prove to you he's not who he was."
Daphne was silent for a minute, staring upward into the sun. "I'm going to go talk to Mom," she decided, bouncing to her feet. "Thanks, Kathryn."
Kathryn sat up, holding her daughter's hand briefly. "Any time, honey, you know that."
Daphne smiled at her and then continued her journey around the side of the Kennishes' main house to their guesthouse. She approached the front door and then hesitated. It would feel strange to knock but it would also feel strange to walk straight in. In the end, the question was: which option would feel weirder?
In the end, she walked right in.
Regina was in the kitchen with Angelo. They had paint chips spread out between them, having decided they hated the obnoxious yellow colour that currently belonged to their bathroom. They were laughing over something when Daphne walked in and, as one, they both turned to see the daughter that they almost raised together.
"Hi, honey," Regina greeted. "What's up?"
As much as it pained her to admit it, Regina hadn't had near as much contact with Daphne lately. It wasn't for lack of trying but Daphne had been refusing to step in the house when she knew Angelo was home and Regina had felt awkward and excluded in the Kennish home, though she forced her when in as much as possible.
"Would it be all right if I talked to Angelo?" Daphne asked awkwardly. "Alone, I mean."
"Absolutely," the pair agreed, near simultaneously.
Regina smiled, gathering up the paint chips. "I'll be in the bathroom, trying to figure out which one fits best."
As Regina vacated the room, Daphne slid into her seat next to Angelo.
"I want to say that I'm willing to give you a chance. I think I've been a little unreasonable. I know that you do make Mom happy and Bay likes having you around. I even think John's forgiven you at this point and if John can get over himself, so can I."
Angelo chuckled. "If that's what gets you motivated to try and be a family, I'll take it. I know it might take a bit of a journey to get there, but I really do count you as part of my family, Daphne. All I want to do is be part of yours."
"I want that too," Daphne admitted, shyly smiling at him.
"What do you say to going and helping Regina with the colours? She's been having trouble deciding and I think she'd like your help."
"You come too," Daphne suggested. "I think she needs the both of us."
The smile that lit on Angelo's face also lit something in Daphne. As the three of them crowded into the bathroom, where Regina had taped the paint chips on the walls, Daphne understood why Bay had decided to live with Regina and Angelo for part of the summer. There was love between the two of them. But, more than that, she felt part of a family – a whole family. Since she had found out about the switch, she'd had crisis after crisis trying to figure out where she belonged and who she belonged to.
And now she knew.
She belonged to all of them and they all belonged to her and it was beautiful.
I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my beta: NuGirl.
~TLL~