A/N: Back online, baby. And I was informed Bright is a senior this season, so apologies on that. I had no clue what year he was and I remember him saying that he got held back to Delia, so I made him a year older than Amy, yet in the same class as the gang, due to the held back factor. Oh well, now I know. Sorry about that ;] Thanks for all the awesome reviews too!

Chapter Thirteen – Tempers and Jealousy Flare

"Okay, Mom. I'll see you in a couple days hopefully." Ryan hung up the phone. "Well, they are stuck in Denver, and are planning to come home in about three days."

Ephram was sitting at the counter, a cup of cocoa in his one hand. Ryan walked over and leaned up against the counter, her arms resting on top. It was only the early afternoon, and they had ate breakfast, watched a little TV, watched a movie, and had a small lunch. They still had yet to talk about what happened, and Ephram couldn't take it anymore.

"Ryan, we need to talk."

Ryan sighed and nodded. "I know. I've just been avoiding it."

"Do you regret it? I mean, it's right after Adam and frankly, I'm not going to be your rebound."

He said it so assertively, Ryan got a little offended. "Do you think I'm using you as a rebound, Ephram?" she asked, already getting defensive.

"Well, the thought crossed my mind, especially since you've been putting off talking about this."

"It's not like that. At all. I can't believe you would think that I would use you like that. The truth is, I've already had my rebound. My rebound was the past almost two months being spent away from Adam. I realized, I can live without him. I let myself fall for you. This time in-between has been my rebound. I think deep down I knew Adam and I were over when I left," Ryan said, walking over to Ephram. She took his hand. "Ephram, I want this. Now the question is, do you want this?"

Ephram turned the chair around and pulled her closer to him. "I do." He leaned over and kissed her.

When they pulled back, Ryan laughed. "I feel like we just exchanged vows."

"Way to ruin the moment," Ephram said.

Ryan shrugged. "What can I say?" She smiled at him. "Well, I think I need to shower, so I'm going to go do that. Think you can keep yourself entertained for twenty minutes or so?"

Ephram sighed, "Well, I guess." And then he smiled.

"Okay," she said as she kissed him again. "I'll be quick. And no peeking!" She smiled at him and removed herself from his arms and headed upstairs. Ephram watched her until she was out of sight. He needed to tell someone the good news. He couldn't keep it to himself.

He went and got the phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is Amy there?"

"Ephram?"

"Yup, the only and one. What's up? You okay?"

"I'm okay," Amy said, happy to hear his voice. "Luckily, it's only me and Bright trapped in the house."

"You consider being locked up in a house with Bright lucky?"

"It's better than having my parents here as well. Where are you?"

"I'm at Ryan's."

Amy's heart dropped and she suddenly got a bad feeling. It had been a month and half, and she did like Ryan and considered her a pretty close friend. Once she had found out that Ryan had a boyfriend, she didn't see her as a threat to taking Ephram away. Amy knew it was selfish, because she wanted to keep both Colin and Ephram, Colin as her boyfriend, and Ephram as her best friend.

"How did you get there?"

"I was here last night and we kinda fell asleep and when I woke up, we were snowed in."

"What were you doing there?"

"Her and Adam broke up. She called me and asked me to come over."

That's my lunch that's about to come up, Amy thought. "What happened?"

"What is this, Amy, 20 questions?"

Calm yourself down Amy, she said silently to herself. "No, sorry, I'm just curious."

"Amy, I have to tell you something. Ryan and I, well, we're going out now."

"WHAT?!?!" Amy almost dropped the phone. "But, Ephram, she just broke up with her boyfriend that she was in love with, aren't you worried at all?"

"For once, Amy, I'm not. I have a great feeling about this."

"Are you sure, Ephram? I don't know about this."

"Can't you be happy for me?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

Ephram was getting angry. He had expected her to have a more positive reaction. "I can take care of myself. I know what I'm getting into. I told you because I thought I'd get some reassurance on this, but I guess I called the wrong person. Look, I've got to go." He hung up the phone.

"Ephram, wait!" All Amy heard was a click from the other end. She could feel tears form in her eyes as she slammed the phone down. She turned around and saw Bright standing there, with a concerned look on his face.

"Who was that?" he asked.

Amy felt the tears starting down her cheeks as she ran past Bright, muttering "No one" and heading upstairs to her room. Bright waited until he heard the door slam until he moved. He wanted to know who had caused his baby sister to cry. He went over to the phone and scrolled through the caller ID to the most recent number. Once he had it, he picked up the phone and called the number.