Author's Note: Okay, this is it! Last chapter! Yay! Thank you to all my reviewers, especially the ones that review every chapter. You guys rock my world. Hopefully you've enjoyed this story. Please read and review and let me know what you thought. Best wishes until next time!

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"So, tell me, what do Everwoodians do for summer?" Alex asked Colin as they strolled down the street. It was mid June and she and Colin got out of school that day.

"Everwoodians?" Colin teased.

"Well, Everwooders sounded really stupid. Everwoodians has a happy sorta connotation," Alex replied.

Colin laughed. "Whatever you say."

"But seriously, what happens in the summer?" Alex asked, swinging their intertwined hands lightly.

"Um, you're asking the wrong person," Colin said.

Alex thought about this for a moment and froze, "Oh God, I'm so sorry. I was completely stupid. Shit, sorry, I mean, I should have thought about the question and..." she rambled on.

"Hey, it's okay," Colin said, letting go of her hand to rub her shoulders.

"No, it's not," Alex said, embarrassed.

"Actually, it was good that you forgot. It's been like over six months and people still label me as the guy with no memory; it was nice that you just thought of me as a regular guy," Colin explained.

"You're far from regular, in the good way, of course," she said.

Colin kissed her. "But I did see pictures of what happens during summer."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, there's a big Fourth of July fair where there are fireworks. It's pretty cool," Colin said.

"Good. Sounds peaceful," Alex said as they walked towards her house.

Over the past six months, Alex learned to appreciate the quirks of a small town life. It was monotonous at times, granted, but so was life in L.A. After the uncomfortable stares and gossips in the beginning, something about walking into Mama Joy's and the waiter knowing your name was oddly comforting.

Well, the gossiping actually continued to that day since people seemed to be betting when Colin would get all of his memory back and dump Alex to go back to Amy. However, Colin, Alex, Amy, and Ephram all knew that the relationships they were in weren't things that passed the time until the other Colin returned.

Colin had succeeded in making a full physical recovery and would even be allowed to play on the basketball team next year, but there were still gaps in his memory, like what he did in the summertime. He would still get flashes occasionally of his previous life, but he finally understood that that was all they were...flashes. He had to be his own person, and the people who stuck by him now were his true friends.

"Ack, the door got jammed," Alex said, annoyed, once they reached her porch area.

"Here, lemme see," Colin said as Alex stepped aside. He pushed the door, but it wouldn't budge. It was as though the door bulged out of the doorframe. He slammed his body against the door and it burst open, pulling Colin to the floor.

"Colin!"

"I'm fine," he said from the floor.

Alex reached out for his hands and helped him up. "Thank you," she said, kissing him.

Colin smiled. "Anytime," he replied, kissing her in return.

Just as they were about to deepen the kiss, someone cleared their throat. Colin and Alex broke apart, alarmed that they had an audience. Alex turned in the direction of the sound and looked shock.

"Mom? Dad?" she said, not quite believing that the people sitting in the living room to her left were real people.

"Hello, Alexis," her mother said, standing up. Yup, no doubt they were real.

"What...what are you doing here?" Alex asked, clearly shook up.

"We wanted to see you. Gino says you've been doing well in school, expecting straight A's in your classes," her father said, standing up as well.

"Oh, um, yes, yes I am," Alex replied uncomfortably. She hadn't spoken to her parents much during her time in Everwood; the last time she talked to them was two weeks ago.

"Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" her father asked suspiciously. He looked at Colin, appraising him, and Colin unconsciously stood straighter under his scrutiny.

"Oh, yes. Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend Colin Hart. Colin, these are my parents," Alex said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Nasagawa," Colin said respectfully, shaking their hands.

Alex smiled. Colin was acting a heck of a lot calmer than she was. Then again, these were her parents.

"Alexis has never mentioned you. Are you new?" Mr. Nasagawa asked.

Colin's eyes momentarily fell. "No, we've been dating for four months," he replied.

Alex wanted scream at her father for saying something like that. They never asked about her social life, ever. Their phone calls consisted of talking about school, her grades, her work, and the fact that she was staying out of trouble.

"Why are you guys here?" Alex asked.

"Well, we want you to come home, Alexis," her mother said.

"What?" Alex said, shocked.

"You did well here, and we figured that you should come back to L.A. for your senior year. Your punishment is over," he father elaborated.

Punishment. Although she thought this was a freezing cold version of hell on Earth in the beginning, she no longer viewed it as punishment. She had a few good friends, even found a girl friend in Amy, and had a great boyfriend. Her life was finally getting in order here in Everwood and now her parents wanted to extract her from all of it. Then again, she couldn't deny that she missed L.A.

"Um, I...I should go," Colin said softly. Alex looked at him and sighed. He looked terribly upset. "I'll see you later. Nice to meet you," he added, addressing her and her parents. He turned around without another glance in Alex's direction and was gone.

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"Hey," a voice stirred Alex from her thoughts two days later.

"Ephram," she greeted. She sat on her porch bench, staring out into space as she debated her choice.

"Can I join you?" he asked.

"Course," she replied.

He sat down next to her and silence followed for a while. "So, I heard that your parents are here," he said finally.

"Yup, staying at the hotel," she commented.

"I also heard that they want you to go back to L.A."

"Colin told you?"

"Yeah, yesterday," Ephram answered.

"He won't return my phone calls," Alex said sadly. "And I went over to his house and his mom said he wasn't there."

"He's just upset," Ephram said.

"I wish he'd talk to me. It's not like I made up my mind or anything like that," she replied.

"What way are you leaning towards?" Ephram asked.

"I dunno," Alex answered, lost. "I used to only want to get back to L.A., but not anymore. It doesn't seem like a big deal, living here. I've worked hard to make it work here, figuring I couldn't be back there."

"But now that you can go back there..."

"I sorta want to," she finished.

"I had a chance to move back to New York," Ephram said.

"Yeah?"

"Yup, my grandparents offered to let me live with them and go to school there. I would have been with all my friends and everything," Ephram explained.

"What happened?"

"My dad asked me not to go back. He said he wanted me here to help take care of Delia. So, I stayed, because I realized I was needed more here than back there."

"Are you happy with the decision you made?"

Ephram nodded. "Sure I miss the city, the hectic lifestyle, the nice house, all of it. But my dad, though I probably will never say this to his face, is a good guy and all it took for me to stay was he asking me to. But this was before I met you, and long before Amy and I got together. If I left, I wouldn't have gained a friend and girlfriend," he answered.

Alex smiled. "Well, I doubt Gino will really ask me to stay because he needs help at the restaurant or something like that," she said.

"I could say that my dad's request was the sole reason why I stayed, but it wasn't. Although I was miserable here a lot of the time, there were things that I really liked."

"Like Amy," Alex teased.

Ephram laughed. "Yeah, she's one of the things. But this place grows on you in a weird, suffocating way."

"I know what you mean," Alex said quietly. "I think it's the people though."

"Colin?"

"Yeah. I can't believe the things that I feel when I'm with him. The thought of walking away from that really scares me," she admitted.

Ephram was silent.

"Do you think it's the people or the location that makes a place your home?" she asked him.

"The people," he said without hesitation. He remembered that one time where he confessed to Amy that she was the only thing that made Everwood home for him. And though the list of people expanded as time went on, the idea stayed the same.

Alex smiled. "Yeah, me too," she said.

"I have to go," Ephram said, getting up.

"Thanks, Ephram," she said, standing up to give him a hug.

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"Alexis, why aren't you packed?" her mother asked her that night.

"I'm not going back to L.A.," Alex said firmly.

"What? It is your home there," her father said.

"No, Dad, Everwood is my home now."

He frowned. "I thought you would be happy that we want you back in L.A."

"I am happy that you think I've done well enough here to deserve to go back, but that doesn't mean that I want to go back," she answered.

"Is it because of that boy we met yesterday?" her mother inquired.

"Colin is part of the reason, but there are others," she answered.

"If he's so important, then why didn't you tell us about him?" her father asked doubtfully.

"You never showed any interest in my personal life. All you guys ever cared about was school," she said.

"It's not that we didn't care about anything else. A good education is just the priority," her mother said.

"And I understand that. I'm doing well here and I will go to the best college I can get into. Something I've learned to do here is manage my own life. I've been juggling school, work, friends, everything and it's been good. I need to stay, above all else, for myself," she explained.

Her parents looked at each other and back to her, seeing for the first time that their rebellious teenage daughter had grown into a mature and responsible woman. They had never been prouder.

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"Hey, stranger."

Colin looked up at the dark silhouette sitting on his front steps. "Hi," he said approaching her slowly. He had been dreading this moment for two days.

"You're mom said you were out and didn't expect you back for an hour or so," she said, standing on the step closest to the ground so that she was eye level with Colin.

"When was that?" he asked her.

Alex checked her watch. "About two hours ago," she said.

Colin looked at her strangely. "You waited here all this time?" Granted it was summer time, but the nights got cold. Alex's ears and nose were red.

Alex nodded. "Didn't know how else I could get to see you. You've been avoiding me for the past two days," she said frankly.

Colin frowned. "I've been busy," he said lamely.

"Doing?"

"Reassessing our relationship," he answered.

"Oh?"

"Sorta had to. I thought I would have ranked being mentioned to your parents, but apparently not and so I had to think about whether or not I was okay with this," he said, avoiding her eyes.

"And?" Alex asked softly.

"I'm not okay with it. When we first started dating we told my parents we were together the first week. And it's just something I assumed you'd tell your parents and the fact that you didn't really made me think if I'm in this relationship more than you are..."

"Colin..."

"No, I've thought about this for two days. I think, I think you should go back to L.A.," Colin said as firmly as he could.

"What?" Alex asked, amazed.

"And I think we should break up," he added, faltering slightly as he said that.

"Woow, what?!?" Alex exclaimed.

He shifted uncomfortably. "It's for the best."

"Bullshit!" Alex retorted. "Is this all stemming from my not telling my parents about us?"

"No. But I know how much you love Los Angeles, and there's no way we can do a long distance relationship so I thought it'd be better this way," he answered. He hated seeing Alex so upset, so he still didn't look at her.

Alex sighed. "Do you realize that you never asked me if I was going back to L.A.? You just assumed," she said, calming down.

Colin looked at her and was silent.

"Assuming makes an ass out of you and me," she said.

He laughed. "So...what are you saying?"

"I'm staying here," Alex stated.

His eyes shot up to hers. "Really? Why?" he asked.

"Because I want to," Alex replied.

"Don't stay because of me," Colin said determinedly.

"Huh, you thought that I didn't care about you enough to mention you to my parents yet you also think I care about you enough to stay here with you," Alex commented

Colin blushed with embarrassment regarding his faulty logic and over active imagination.

"You're a wreck when you think too much," she teased. "I'm staying for me. I have a life here, I have friends here, this is my home now." She took his hand in hers and stroked it gently. "But I'll give you an ego boost," she added. "You're the main reason this is home to me. You're my home."

Colin couldn't help but smile. But something occurred to him, "Then why didn't you tell your parents about me?"

Alex sighed. "You have no idea how lucky you are to have parents who really care about all that's going on in your life. My parents, until today, tended to be overly critical of things, and I didn't want them to judge you or our relationship when they never even met you or really knew me. We had a very formal relationship as I grew up," Alex explained.

Colin nodded his head in understanding. "Okay, I get it."

"Good. So...are we still breaking up?" Alex asked carefully.

"No," he said.

She smiled wide. "Perfect," she said, giving him a kiss.

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"This place is gorgeous," Alex said, mesmerized by the glistening blue water.

"It's called Buck's Rock. Bright, Amy and I used to come here all the time during the summer to swim and hang out," Colin said. "I actually remember that now," he added.

Alex smiled as she put her blanket on the rocks and sat down.

"Bright went to pick up Ephram and Amy at Ephram's house; they should be here soon. In the mean time..." Colin said mischievously, sitting down very close to her and wrapping an arm around her bare midriff where her green bikini didn't cover.

Alex chuckled lightly before leaning in to kiss him.

"Hey, bro! Oh geez, sorry," Bright said uncomfortably, looking away when he saw Alex and Colin kissing.

They laughed. "No worries, Bright," Alex replied cheerfully.

When Colin and Alex first started dating, Bright had to decide what was important to him. Colin and Amy eventually forsook the popular group to spend time with Alex and Ephram without dealing with criticism, but Bright stayed with their old group of friends for a while longer. He didn't have girlfriend in the unpopular crowd like Colin did, but he realized eventually that though this Colin was different in many ways from before, he really liked him. The popularity eventually took a seat behind maintaining his important friendships. And when he really got to know Alex as a person, he thought she was pretty cool and they became friends.

Little did Bright know that other students thought higher of him, Colin, and Amy for not being in the stuck-up, popular crowd.

"Awesome place," Ephram commented.

"Isn't it? Can't find someplace like this in the city, that's for sure," Alex said, looking at Ephram. He wore long blue swimming trunks and a white shirt. This was the first time Alex had seen him in something other than long pants. She laughed.

"What?" Ephram asked.

"You need a tan," Amy answered, smiling at Alex. Alex nodded in agreement.

Ephram looked down at his bare calves, "Okay, so I might be a little pale..."

"I was thinking of pasty," Alex teased.

Ephram smiled, embarrassed. "Then I guess I hafta get started on that tan," he said, taking off his shirt.

"You're chest could be used as a reflector," Amy commented, trying to keep a straight face while teasing him.

"What is this? Gang up on Ephram day?" he asked

Amy caught the twinge of annoyance in his voice. "Aw, sorry, sweetie," she cooed softly, kissing him to make amends.

"Is this gonna be a suck face marathon or something?" Bright asked, slightly flustered.

"I love that you're so delicate with words," Colin said sarcastically.

They all laughed.

"Can we go in the water now?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Colin said, helping Alex up.

"C'mon, Bright," Alex said, grabbing his arm. "Let Ephram and Amy suck face while he works on the tan," she teased.

Ephram and Amy blushed while Colin and Bright laughed heartily.

Colin climbed onto the tree branch and jumped in. When he came up from the water he yelled, "It's really warm, c'mon!"

Alex followed carefully and dove in. "Wow, it is warm," she said, looking at Colin mischievously.

Bright did a canon ball into the water and screamed, "Holy crap! It's freezing cold you guys!"

Colin and Alex laughed and Bright realized they had played a trick on him. He splashed at them playfully and they splashed back. Soon there was an all out water fight and Ephram and Amy also joined in.

A few hours later, the five of them laid out in the sun to dry.

"When do the fireworks start?" Alex asked, getting slightly sleepy from the warm sun.

"About seven," Bright answered.

"Good, we have six hours then," Ephram commented.

"You dork," Amy said, playfully swatting him. "We still have to go to the fair."

"Why are there so many fairs?" Alex asked.

"Nothing else better to do, I guess," Bright replied.

"This is better," Colin said.

"Much better," Alex concurred, kissing him.

"Colin, how do you feel?" Amy asked carefully.

He knew why she asked this. It had been a year since the accident that put him in a coma, and what a year it had been. Though he was only conscious for six months of it, it was an amazing six months. He sat up to look at lake and the rocks.

"I feel blessed," he said happily, turning to his group of smiling friends. He finally knew who he was and where he belonged.

~The End~

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