For the next few days, it was like Ephram hit a wall and could do nothing but stay in his room and sleep. It was really starting to irk both Bright and Madison, so one day the two of them went over to Ephram's place to get him out of bed, to take him somewhere, anywhere to get his mind off of what was depressing him.
Bright seemed to be the angriest, he barged in Ephram's room and started yelling at him, "what is your problem, bro! You said you weren't going to shut yourself away, but what have you done? Just that! You're not the only one hurting here, dawg!"
This surprised Ephram, all he could say was, "What?"
"Don't give me that shit! Get dressed, we're going out!" he continued to yell as he threw Ephram his clothes, "If you think Madison and I are going to let you just sit here in your room and wallow in your own self pity you got another thing coming!"

"What?! I'm not wallowing--" he said slowly before Bright cut him off

"Then what the hell do you call this?! Stop dwelling on the past, bro! Seriously, do you think Kay would want you sitting alone in your room being miserable? NO! There's a whole life out there, Ephram" he said as he pointed harshly out the bedroom window towards a sunny blue sky, "you're coming with us whether you want to or not, we've had enough of walking on eggshells around you for the past several days and trying to just talk you out of being this way!"
With that, Ephram looked at Bright, then to Madison who just half smiled and shrugged her shoulders, which made him look back at Bright.

"Just so you know," Bright continued as they finally got out to his vehicle, "I'm only doing this because Madison is worried about you and I hate seeing you like this. We would have talked to you but you do nothing but sit around and sigh! You're like, uh, like...you're like a fly that just got caught on fly tape!"

"Great analogy, Bright" Madison said sarcastically as she tried not to laugh.

"What are we doing?" Ephram asked indifferently.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures" replied Bright. He and Madison had the whole day planned, hoping it would get Ephram out of the rut he's been in ever since Kay overdosed. He was sitting in the back for most of the day, not saying much, just taking in everything around him as Madison and Bright laughed and joked about different things. Maybe Bright was right, Kay wouldnt want him to sit alone dwelling over the past. It didnt do him any good the first time, and it certainly wouldn't do any good this time, he has no control over it no matter how long he wallows.

They all had a late lunch, went to the mall for a little bit then decided to just drive around to no place in particular, all the while Ephram figuring things out in his head. He was quiet to begin with so Madison and Bright paid no attention to him, their main goal was to get him out of the house.

"How sweet it is to be loved by you" sang Madison with the radio as she glanced at Ephram with a smile. She didnt get too much of a reaction out of him, just a slight smile before he looked out the window. Then Bright started singing, which made them both stop since they couldnt stay in synch and because Bright was so off beat that it made the both of them sound bad.

At one point, Madison and Bright started playfully arguing, "It's a cabin!" laughed Bright

"I beg to differ, it's definitely a fort! How in the heck do you get a cabin?" then she thought for a second, "well, I guess a cabin sort of looks like a fort?"
"Not even close!"
"Shut up already! It's not a cabin or a fort! Its a....a fabin," Ephram said softly yet sarcastically.

Madison couldnt help but laugh, "was that sarcasm from the peanut gallery?"
"Welcome back to the land of the living, bro!" laughed Bright as he glanced at Ephram in the mirror.

"You know, those are the most words you've said all week" reminded Madison as she climbed into the backseat where Ephram was.

Ephram half smiled and looked out the car window for a second then turned back to Madison, "I guess you could say I just needed a dose of reality. Locking myself in my room does nothing for me. You were right when you said I just need to get on with my life."

"Wait, what? What was that, did I just hear that I was right?" laughed Bright, "see, what would you do without us!"
Ephram sighed, "I'm sorry for the way I was acting this past week. You guys didnt deserve that."
"You know, it's about time you said something like that, cuz if you didnt Bright and I were going to have to call up our hitman so he could take you out!" joked Madison.

"Dude, we're sorta used to you acting all emotional and shit, it comes natural. But if you try to push us away again, next time we'll kidnap you and feed you to the wild animals!" Bright said trying to sound serious, but it only made Madison laugh, "I mean damn, bro, you know you can talk to us! You dont need to go through that shit by yourself!"

Ephram rubbed his cheek, "yeah, I know."

A few hours later, a little after 11pm, they finally got back to Ephram's place where Bright dropped both Ephram and Madison off since he had to work the next morning. Madison was tugging on Ephram's shirt as they made their way into his apartment, she was happy to see him at least a little bit happier than he was this morning.

The two talked and joked around for a little while longer before deciding to go to bed. Madison was spending the night, she figured it would be good for Ephram, so he wouldnt be alone.

As they were cuddling with each other, Ephram whispered in her ear, "Madison...I love you."
This made Madison smile, she hadnt heard him say that for almost a week now, "I was waiting for you to say something like that" she said happily as she bear hugged him, then kissed him softly on the lips, "I've missed you, I hope you're back to your old self again."

"Me too" he said as he kissed her softly on the lips himself, "I missed us and I cant tell you how sorry I am for being such a jerk for the last week. It was selfish."

Madison kissed him again, this time a little longer, then said, "you're forgiven."

She couldnt help but trace his upper body with her fingers, sometimes making him shiver. The two fell asleep in each other's arms; Madison's arm around Ephram's midsection, and his arm around her shoulders.