A few days later when Madison came over to watch Delia, she noticed Ephram or his dad wasn't home, Nina was in the kitchen with Delia drawing. "Hey Madison. No worries, Ephram and Andy will be home soon. Well, Andy had to go pick up Ephram at the hospital because he got into a fight with a kid named, Tommy Callahan…A friend of Amy's, I was told." Madison's jaw dropped as Nina continued, "What I was told was that this Tommy kid was jealous of Amy's and Ephram's friendship or something and went after him right on school grounds! Tommy got arrested and Ephram got sent to the hospital. He's fine, Bright called and told us everything." Madison made her way to the kitchen table and sat down. Delia handed her some paper, "here, help us draw a welcome home sign for Ephram."

In the car, on the way home from the hospital, Ephram and his dad were barely talking.

"Why do I even have to wear this sling, I mean, damn, its just a sprained wrist!" Ephram was still complaining as they entered the house, "This never would have happened if we were still in New York--you're fault, yes, dad, I'm blaming you." and he half smiled as everybody came out to greet them. Delia yelled, "you have a crutch? Can I use it!?" Andy laughed, "Delia, its as tall as you, wont happen. He's only using it to get some pressure off his right side. That Tommy Callahan plays dirty, Ephram had to get 7 stitches and has to wear a removable cast for his wrist because he sprained it." Ephram wobbled his way over to the couch, Madison followed along with Delia. Nina and Andy made their way to the kitchen.

Ephram threw the sling on the couch, "now I just look half stupid" raising up his arm with the cast covering his wrist and partly his hand. "Eph, you don't look dumb at all, now show us them stitches" replied Madison jumping on the couch. Delia joined her. Ephram raised up his shirt and turned towards them, slowly taking off the bandage. "ewwww!!!!" yelled Delia as she saw the bruised, stitched up area, "that's so gross! Does it hurt?" and she made her way to touch it before she left the room. "ohmygod, don't even think about it, smurf!" replied Ephram as he backed away. He pulled down his shirt, "this will make a great story. I mean, a psycho tried to kill me and he doesn't even go to our school! I don't even know him, so I'm friends with Amy, no need to try to kill me." Ephram made his way to the couch where Madison was. He put his head on Madison's lap and put his feet on the arm of the couch, "I'd sit up, but it hurts too much to even think about" he gave a mock painful smile. Madison placed her hand on his head and started playing with his hair while her other hand rested on his chest. "two more weeks of this and I'll be good to go. Can I have a kiss?" asked Ephram as he tilted his head to look up at Madison with a smile. "Glad you didn't break a leg, otherwise I'd be forced to call you Gimpy." and she kissed him sweetly, combing her fingers through his hair. "yeah, well, I cant play, so you can still call me Gimpy" and they kissed again, "how about 'my sweet baby doll'"? and she smiled at the look Ephram gave her, "I don't want to be known as a sweet baby doll! Rugged G.I. Joe maybe?" and with that, they laughed and joked some more.

After a while Madison made her way on top of him, kissing him. After a few minutes of making out, Ephram laughed, "oh my god, we cant do this, my dad and sister are in the other room! My dad would kill me if he saw this Enrique Iglesias and Anna Kournikova make-out session!"
Madison slid off of him, laughing, "great analogy, Ephram. I can actually picture that" and she stood up and helped him off the couch and lead him to the kitchen. "Dr. Brown, we're taking over, put down the knife!"
"Oh Madison, you must be staying for dinner?" replied Andy smiling, holding a butcher knife in one hand, about to saw the roast beef that was on the counter.
"Well, you're cooking skills aren't exactly up to par and I don't get any complaints when I cook." she smiled and winked at him.
"Fair enough, thanks for helping out! Um, but…what is Gimpy going to be doing? He only has one hand?" he threw a towel at his son in a playful manner.

"Go to hell" Ephram smiled, "I'll be cutting…stuff…and…"
"and being the gopher for me" replied Madison, smiling.
"Yes, the gopher." and everybody laughed.
"After dinner we should go for a walk" Madison said to Ephram as he was getting some ingredients for the food.
"Are you joking? I can barely walk? What are you gonna do, give me a piggy back ride?" He paused then smiled at her, "A walk sounds good." They finished dinner around 6:30pm, then Madison and Ephram grabbed their coats and made their way outside. When they got on the sidewalk, Ephram said, "Hey, let me take you to a really cool spot, I think you'll like it. I'm sure you know about it though since you've lived here forever." and he held her hand all the way to his secret spot. "Its actually very quiet up here" he replied as they sat down on the bench that was overlooking the whole town from the top of the little big hill. The mountains were in the background and the moon's light was reflecting off the snow. They sat together for several minutes, then Madison spoke, "this is a very romantic spot, Ephram Brown. And to think, I have lived here forever and never knew this place was up here. How'd you find it?"
"Amy showed it to me when we first moved here. Colin showed her way back when. I used to come up here a lot, thinking about how life sucked ever since my dad had dragged Delia and I out here to nowhere land." he chuckled.

"And now, what do you think about?" asked Madison as she cuddled up to him, putting the blanket she brought around the both of them.
"I haven't come up here, actually, for a while…Ever since I met you. I mean, no need really, you make me happy, frightened, excited all in one, you know?"
Madison let him know that she understood by kissing him then put her head on his shoulder. They watched the stars, and every once in a while there was a shooting star.
Around 9:45pm they decided to head back to the house, plus it started getting cold. Ephram started laughing and held his side which then made Madison ask him what was up. He chuckled, "it only hurts when I move."
"Oh, my poor sweet G.I. Joe!" and they both laughed. They talked and joked the whole way home. Because of their slow pace, they made it back to Ephram's house around 10:15pm. They kissed each other good night then Madison made her way to her car and drove to her place.

Ephram went inside and changed his bandages before heading up to bed for the night. His dad caught him before he got into bed and told him that he was going to be away tomorrow night, he was going on an overnight excursion with his new girlfriend, Linda Abbott. "Have you told this to Delia?" Ephram asked. He wasn't sure if he should like the idea of his father dating, or even going on overnight dates. This clouded his mind, he didn't hear what his father said to him so he just rolled over and went to sleep.

The next day Ephram arrived home a little late from school around 5pm and he just sat on the couch, still thinking about his father starting to date. It definitely bothered him, since today he kept snapping at people who tried talking to him. A little later, Madison came over and sat next to him on the couch. "Why are you sitting in the dark? So, your dad had me drop Delia off at Nina's house tonight, do you know why?" Ephram slowly looked towards Madison, nodded his head then finally answered. "Yeah…He's, um…spending the night with Linda Abbott." he scratched the back of his neck as he looked the other way. Then proceeded, "you know…I actually don't think I'm okay with that" he contemplated the thought then started playing with his cast. He kept silent for a while and Madison could tell that he needed cheering up. Her hand slid on top of one of his, then she replied, "you should talk to your dad about how you're feeling, it may help you sort out some things. In the mean time, you should talk to me and tell me how you're feeling cuz, uh, I think I can cheer you up." She interlocked their hands, but before she could do anything else, the phone rang. She got up to answer it and it was a telemarketer on the other line which made Madison laugh after she hung up. "and to think, I thought it was going to be somebody important." She made her way back to Ephram who was looking at her with thoughtful eyes. They interlocked fingers again and Madison lay on Ephram's shoulder, her hand placed on his chest. Ephram whispered, "This, right here, is enough to cheer me up." She looked at him and smiled, kissing him.