Save Me

An Everwood Fanfiction

Chapter 6a

"This is a lavish birthday dinner, is it not?" Ephram scoffed as he and Amy twirled like children in the squeaky chairs by the bar.

Amy happily nodded in agreement. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Ephram gazed around at the homely inhabitants of the small town of Everwood and concluded that Momma Joe's was the place to be on Friday nights. He shook his head and silently scolded himself for the not-so-nice thoughts running through his mind.

"I wish I could take you to New York for a day. Its pizza is to die for. I could show you around the teen club spots, too. I can assure you they're a lot cooler than this joint or any party surrounded by a bunch of trees and a bonfire."

"I would be out of place."

"Just as I am here."

They both stopped swiveling with his words. Amy searched his face and was saddened by his seriousness. The tone of his voice carried hatred for the fact that he was torn away from all he was comfortable with.

"It must be tough, Ephram."
"Very," he whispered shortly with that sarcastic waggle of his eyebrows.

She took the hint that he wanted to move on from this subject. It was sure to evolve into a rage about "the ineptness and mistakes" of his "so-called father." She had listened to one of his tirades before and knew it was best to get his mind off of that before the anger lying within him decided to creep to the surface.

Still, Amy had a problem. That uncomfortable nervousness returned whenever she stared deep into his eyes. Those eyes that she looked into before he kissed her that night on the mine trip. Words seemed to escape her when that memory came to mind. And that happened a lot.

Thankfully, Nina came to the rescue. She couldn't afford to stay in one spot for more than a minute; the diner was buzzing with business as usual. She gladly took their orders with her smile but disappeared soon after. The two teenagers were left to their deafening silence once again.

Avoiding Ephram's intoxicating eyes, Amy struggled to break the tension. "So what are your New York friends like?"

"A bit on the wild side." Ephram let loose an evil grin. "Probably wilder than anyone here has ever seen. Compared to kids here, they'd be classified under 'spawns of Lucifer.'"

Judging by the look on Amy's face, that must've not been the answer she thought was coming. Ephram lightly giggled at the innocence in her expression. "Nah…you've got a wide range of personalities to sort through, but mostly all my friends are cool. They'd accept you in a heartbeat. You tend to love everyone when your head's spinnin' and you can barely walk."

"What do you mean?"

"They'd get you drunk as soon as possible."

"Oooh… so you ran with the drinking crowd?" she smiled with understanding.

"Pretty much. My mom would catch me at times, but she never did anything but ask me not to do it again. I was so close to rehab, but something else decided to take care of that for me. Surprising how much death can cut out of your life."

Again Amy's thoughts came to a standstill as she scrambled for words to make him feel better. Tonight, Nina seemed to be a good luck charm as she brought their food at just the right moment.

The sloppy hamburgers and fries looked greasy but delicious and they were eager in chowing down so relief would be delivered to both of their hungry and nervous stomachs.

As he watched Amy take the first few bites out of her burger, his speech was almost hindered due to his wandering thoughts. Burger…hunger…her mouth…wiping her lips…her lips…that lip gloss…I wonder if she's wearing the same kind…that light strawberry taste.

Ephram couldn't take it anymore. He stretched his body across the table and took Amy's face in his hands, not caring that he knocked over their Cokes and almost everything. He enveloped her lips in a warm passionate kiss that seemed to last for an eternity.

"…ram…are you ok? Ephram!" Amy repeated.

"Wha? Huh?" he mumbled, suddenly not sure of what was happening.

"Are you ok? You zoned out on me for a minute there. What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing," Ephram sheepishly smiled.

Amy noticed his fidgety behavior and decided to inquire a bit more, just for fun. "Nothing, huh? Must be something good… you're blushing there."

Turning a brighter shade of pink, Ephram asked, "So where are the best places to find decent clothes around this town?"

"What's your definition of decent?" she asked.

A tall and jockish curly-headed blonde, who had been eavesdropping for quite a while, interrupted the conversation. "I sure hope it's not that punkish, attention-craving style ya got going there. Is it, freak?"

"Oh, it's the return of Not-so-Bright," Ephram said through a mouthful of fries.

"You gonna answer me or not?"

"What? As opposed to that dumbass, hick-preppy boy look you've got, I think I'm in good shape. Thanks."

Bright wasn't amused with the new kid's show of defiance. He roughly snatched the back of Ephram's collar and twisted upwards, slightly lifting him from his seat and nearly sending Amy into a conniption fit.

"Bright, leave him alone!" she pleaded through gritted teeth, but her words were useless. Both of the boys were oblivious to her voice. Bright made sure to get right up in Ephram's face, forcing him to stare him in the eyes. It was a contest, to see who would waver or look away first, to see who would chicken-out.

"Let go of him! Stop it," Amy forcefully whispered, trying not to draw anymore attention in their direction, which was failing miserably. "Stop it!"

"Aww, why? Can't a brother look out for his baby sis?" he said in a snobbish tone, "Why are you with this momma's boy anyways?"

"Bright! That's enough!" she finally yelled. Bright's eyes snapped away from his prey and he stared at his sister in semi-disbelief and disgust. Ephram quickly jerked himself free of Bright's grasp and shoved his way out of his seat, trying hard to hold back the anger begging to be released.

By now, the entire restaurant was still and silent as could be, and Amy reddened as she realized the attention was all on them. She turned to find a frightened Nina standing at the end of the counter with her hand on the phone, ready to dial the police if a fight broke out. Amy sent her an apologetic look with tears in her eyes.

Ephram, on the verge of exploding, pulled out his wallet and chucked an adequate amount of money to cover both meals onto the table and then stormed out of the doors as quickly as possible.

Bright carefully watched his every movement and smirked when he finally left the restaurant. The jock smugly laughed and plopped down in Ephram's seat and helped himself to the unfinished food.

All Amy could do was walk away without saying another word. She pushed her egotistical brother out of her mind and focused on the enraged being outside.

So much for a fun birthday, she thought.

[A/N: I have inspiration! Just a little bit… haha. It's been so long since I've written on this story, so my original story line has changed just a smidge. And to tell you the truth - I've been a bad girl. I missed some episodes… before I was mad at Amy because of how she was treating Ephram and Colin was actually cool, right? Well.. I missed something, man! Because all of a sudden, Colin's being a dork! I picked up with it again on the abortion episode and I watched last week's too (with Ephram hitting his head in the boat and getting knocked out in the water). Ooooh, and tonight is the season finale - *tears* Colin!! Even though he was being a real butt-munch, I don't want anything to happen to him!! *sigh* Oh well. Hopefully I'll have more of this to post soon. Sorry if there are a lot of errors or typos… I haven't gotten anyone to proofread this for me, I'm just wingin' it.]