Propositions By: Jesse Drache Disclaimers: I don't own Ephram, Colin, Bright or any other characters you might recognize, I'm just borrowing them for my amusement. So don't sue me.

Warning: This is Ephram/Bright/Colin slash; if you don't like it, don't read it. Rating: PG-13 but will get up to NC-17 in the future.

Chapter 7: Lessons

"Colin, what's wrong?" Amy asked pulling away mid kiss and taking in Colin's distracted expression.

"Nothing," Colin remarked gazing down at his hands rather than at Amy's face.

She had been asking him that all afternoon and it was driving him crazy. Every time he looked at her, her face was twisted into a mask of concern and worry.

He waited a moment before slowly looking up, hoping that somehow her mood had lightened up.

His hopes were torn apart when he caught sight of Amy's face, her face held the familiar look of concern that he had almost grown used to.

Colin turned away not wanting to face the person that reminded him the most of his problem.

He didn't want to admit to himself that every time he kissed Amy some part of himself, a part that he kept pushed back down in the dark recesses of his head was comparing her kisses to Bright's. That same voice was growing stronger and stronger telling him with every touch that it was all completely different and completely the same at the same time.

Their lips felt the same, although Amy's were slightly softer than Bright's, they both held the same inherent shape.

Kissing Amy was like sinking into something warm and comfortable like wrapping himself in a warm blanket during a cold night.

There was nothing comfortable about kissing Bright.

Once Bright's lips descended upon his, electric jolts begun to surge through his body and it was somewhat reminiscent of plunging into a tub full of cold water.

Bright's lips aroused feelings within Colin that made him want to scream in surprise, yet something completely familiar about them made Colin want more.

"Colin?" Amy interrupted into his reverie not knowing that she was part of the cause of his distress.

Colin felt her touch his arm, her hand an insistent tie to the present world.

"Yeah, sorry," Colin offered as a meaningless excuse for his daydream.

"Look, Colin, you're obviously somewhere else today. Actually you have been for weeks. If you don't want to do this, us, then tell me right now," Amy said, anger clear in her voice and mannerisms as she stood up.

Colin looked up at Amy, dropping her hand at a loss of words.

"Fine, if you don't know what I mean to you, then I guess I'm in the wrong place," she said loudly barely controlling her anger as she walked out of his house, slamming the door behind herself.

***

Bright meandered through the streets of Everwood, clearly avoiding going home.

Amy would probably be home soon and Bright did not want to see her face.

Colin should have told Amy what happened the previous night and she would make a scene.

She always did when things concerned Colin and Bright didn't really feel like coming out to his parents because of a fight with Amy.

Sighing Bright turned the corner onto Everwood's main street taking in the few stores that had managed to survive the invasion of supermarkets and grocery stores.

Looking up and aimlessly scanning the crowd, Bright spotted a dark haired boy wearing headphones walking ahead of him.

His heartbeat sped up, but Bright managed to control it by taking in a few deep breaths.

It's probably not even him, how many guys in this town have dark hair? Probably dozens, he told himself, but as he watched the boy walk into the town's music store, all doubt left him and Bright increased his pace and followed.

***

Ephram wandered through the store, stopping to glance at CDs while his current selection blasted through his head drowning out the sounds of the real world.

It amazed Ephram how much more comfortable, how much more amiable the world seemed when there was music to provide a soundtrack and provide an escape from the normal nuisances of the world around him.

Arriving at the stand of sheet music, Ephram paged through the books separating the ones that immediately sparked some interest before going through those once again in search for the perfect one.

Finally deciding on a particular piece, Ephram returned the discarded works to their appropriate places and turned towards the cashier only to run straight into a warm pillar of flesh.

"Sorry," Ephram said, moving out of the way without bothering to look up to see who he had run into.

He was surprised when the body stepped in his path once again successfully impeding his progress towards the cash register.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is-" he began, tearing off the headphones and looking up to gaze angrily at Bright's face.

"Great, just what I needed, a run-in with the resident dumbass," he said, attempting to maneuver out of the boy's way only to find Bright blocking his path yet again.

"Ephram, I need to talk to you," Bright said, reaching out to grasp Ephram's shoulder.

"Why, you've got Colin and now I'm free to go after Amy. Wasn't that our plan?"

"No. Well, yes, but-" Bright stammered.

"You don't need to explain yourself to me Bright. I'm not your keeper, your boyfriend, or even your friend. As far as I'm concerned this was all merely a business transaction. No one's feelings were hurt and now that we have achieved our ends, everything can go back to normal," Ephram said, struggling out of Bright's grip.

"Ephram I'm not letting you go anywhere near that cash register until you agree to talk with me," Bright said, determination in his voice.

"Fine, here you go, hope you even count past the first page," Ephram said, shoving the book at Bright, then turning around and walking out of the store before Bright had a chance to react.

***

Bright walked up the Brown's front steps considering all of the reasons why this was a bad idea but sill forcing himself to go up the stairs and to the door.

He raised his hand to knock on the door but stopped when he heard the sound of a piano flowing out of the house.

Bright dropped his hand and walked down to the end of the porch to end up standing in front of the window.

Silently he watched as Ephram's hands flowed over the keys making the music that had Bright enthralled.

Bright noticed that Ephram was not alone, but that a boy-no a man-sat on the bench next to him.

For a moment, Bright felt a surge of possessive rage flare through him as the man leaned in to say something to Ephram while the boy played, but the feeling died down when he took in the Ephram's posture.

Ephram was hunched over the keys, staring straight at the music or at his fingers. He didn't even look up when he stopped playing and the man continued to make comments on his playing.

Ephram looked nervous, almost shy, and completely different from the boy that he saw constantly at school. There Ephram never looked shy, just distant, guarded and he never let down his guard like he was now.

Bright was jarred out of his thoughts by the door opening.

He turned to find the man stepping out of the front door, jacket in hand, a questioning look on his face.

"Friend of Ephram?" the man asked, as Bright stepped up to the door.

"Uh-yeah, I just came by to say hi," he lied. "I'm Bright."

"I'm Matt. Ephram's piano teacher. I'd love to stay and chat but I've got to run. It was nice meeting you, Bright," the man said, leaving the door open for Bright as he turned and walked to his car.

Bright watched the man to go, feeling a weight lifted from his shoulders as Ephram's relationship to the man was cleared up. He turned to give Matt's retreating car a final look before walking into the house where Ephram was still playing on the piano oblivious to his presence.

*****