Save Me

An Everwood Fanfiction

(Starts in the episode "Turf Wars" where Julia's parents visit from New York, and Colin's parents tell Amy to leave the hospital because she's stressing everyone out. In this story, it's Amy's birthday on the day on that big party.)

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Chapter Five

The butterflies in Ephram's stomach were almost unbearable. Calm down, he told himself. He stood in his kitchen, his eyes switching from the present and the flowers in front of him, to the dog sprawled by the door, and finally to the clock on the wall.

5:24

His fingers rattled against the countertop at a quick, monotonous rate. He couldn't understand why he was so nervous. He'd been on dates with several girls, he had experience, and he knew his way with the ladies. But this was Amy Abbott. And it was her birthday, of all days. It isn't even a date, he thought. Just dinner and a party. With Amy.

5:26

Butterflies were being replaced by knots, tight knots at that, and Ephram knew he needed to focus on some other thing for a moment or he'd throw up on her front door step.

Nervousness or excitement? Probably both, but it also didn't help that he hadn't eaten much at lunch. Too busy fending off Wendell. The quirky boy was ecstatic to hear of the good news, but quite irritating when it came to inquiring about Ephram's plans.

"Hey Ephram! While you're in there, would you be so kind to put some dog food in Tanner's bowl?" his father asked from inside the living room.

Ephram shot daggers towards animal lying by the door. He was about to answer, but Delia bolted into the kitchen before he could. "No! I'll do it! He'll probably poison him!" She was obviously still upset about the previous day. She threw a nasty glare in her brother's direction that matched the one he gave Tanner.

"Ugh, I'm outta here!" Ephram yelled, grabbing Amy's presents and his jacket.

"When are you going to be back?"

"I don't know! Before daylight?" He shooed Tanner away from the door with his foot and walked out before his father could answer him.

5:40

I'm too early. Ephram straightened and aired out his jacket as much as he could - he accidentally got carried away with his cologne and choked himself in his bathroom. He didn't want to come off as wanting to impress Amy too much. He wondered what she was doing at the moment. Was she as nervous as he was? Was she waiting to see his face?

Oh, what the hell. Let's get on with it.

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Amy sat at her vanity table, turning off her curling iron and running a final brush through her thick brown hair. Then she carefully applied her lipstick and studied herself in the mirror. While dabbing her lips, her thoughts drifted to Colin. Her heart practically broke as she realized that she couldn't spend her birthday with him. It was tearing her apart that she could possibly never speak to him again.

Don't think about him, Amy. This is your day, she told herself.

As Amy heard the doorbell ring, she hurried to finish getting ready. Once her neck and hair were sprayed with a vanilla fragrance, she rushed over to her dresser to pick out her jewelry. For a moment she was stumped for the right thing to wear, but she grabbed her favorite rings and donned a bracelet her brother gave her this morning. Now a necklace… she looked and looked and looked… all the necklaces she had were from Colin, besides her gold confirmation cross which didn't match with her silver bracelet.

Amy sighed and grabbed her purse, deciding not to wear a necklace at all. She didn't want to be reminded of Colin all night. This was her night.

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5:50

"Hey Ephram! You're early!" Amy grinned, coming down the stairs to meet her date for the night. He looked obviously nervous standing by her father, who was never really warm or welcoming.

"Yeah… sorry! I just didn't want to hang around the house much. Happy birthday! You look beautiful." He reddened as he handed her a small bouquet of pink and white lilies.

"Aw, my favorite. Thank you!" she gushed, giving him a hug. Ephram didn't hold on for long because Dr. Abbott proceeded to stare at him.

"I'll be right back," Amy smiled, "I'm going to put these in a vase."

Once she left for the kitchen, Amy's father addressed the young man rather shortly.

"What time are you going to have her home? You give me a wrong answer, and you two are not going anywhere."

"Uhhhh… is 12:00 ok?"

"That's reasonable. Don't get her into any trouble."

Ephram nodded and smiled weakly. "Yes, sir."

"See ya later, Dad!" Amy came into the foyer and opened the front door, holding out an arm for Ephram to take. He gladly obliged, dearly wanting away from the cold Dr. Abbott.

"Bye, you two," he grinned, not caring that they both noticed it was forced. He quickly shut the door and pressed his head against it.

I'm going to have a talk with Dr. Brown, her father mused.

A/N: You guys, I'm soooooo sorry for the delay! I don't know about you, but I've gotten a little crossed with Amy with the past couple of episodes- you know, with Colin coming back and all. I'm very angry with her, and now I don't want her to be happy, lol. I know that's mean, but that's just the way I feel! She has treated Ephram SO wrong… ugh. But don't worry, I'll try and finish the story how I originally planned. I've gotten most of their date written out in my notebook, it's just a matter of typing it up correctly. I'm trying!