AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for all the feedback everyone.
Three weeks later, Ephram stood outside the Abbotts' house, hiding in the bushes. What am I doing here, he thought as he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. This is insane. It was at most thirty-five degrees outside and hard snow covered the ground. But he waited in these less than ideal conditions, and after half an hour, he saw Laynie pull in front of the house, then she and Amy drove away.
Hesitantly, he walked up to the front door and rang the bell. A few seconds later, Bright Abbott opened the door. He looked the same as Ephram remembered him - a tall, wind-kissed god with curly blonde hair and rosy cheeks, looking as if he'd just stepped out of the pages of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue.
"Brown, what the hell are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you."
"I'm sorry if I don't want to talk to the guy who broke my sister's heart," Bright said as he made a move to close the door.
"Madison lost the baby," Ephram shouted.
Bright froze for a moment then said, "I'm sorry."
"Thanks," Ephram said as he shifted from foot to foot.
"Do you want to come in? Amy just left with Laynie."
"I know. I was hiding in the bushes," Ephram admitted sheepishly.
"C'mon stalker boy," Bright said holding the door open for him. After closing it, he led Ephram to the kitchen where Ephram pulled off his jacket, hung it on the back of a chair, then sat down at the Abbotts' kitchen table.
"Do you want anything?" Bright asked as he walked over to the refrigerator and opened its door.
"No thanks."
"Suit yourself," he said as he took out sliced roast beef, a head of lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and mayo. He placed them on the kitchen counter.
"I probably shouldn't be talking to you about this, but you're the only one I can talk to. After losing the baby, Madison said I was free."
"Free?" Bright asked as he took a loaf of bread from the breadbox then cut two slices.
"Yeah. I care about Madison but I care about Amy too. I always thought that Amy and I never really had a chance to make things work. Sometimes I wonder what if, but is it fair for me to leave Madison now?"
"I don't know. Madison must be going through hell right now," Bright said as he smoothed mayo on the bread, "but what if you and Amy are soul mates?"
The idea of soul mates always seemed a little too much like fairy tale to Ephram. Yes, he wanted to find that one person who truly got him, but he wasn't convinced if such a person existed, at least not as fully realized as he'd like. No one person could be his everything. There were things about Madison he had loved – her zest for life and her love of music. When he'd gotten into Juilliard for that two month summer program, he couldn't imagine Madison ever asking him to give up his dream to spend the summer with her. His music was his life and she understood that. But, Amy was the girl he'd wanted from the moment he laid eyes on her, and one couldn't discount such a connection. There was something about her that drew people to her. Plus, she had an engaging smile and an easy-going manner that made him feel that anything was possible, even them getting together, which always seemed so impossible.
"Tell me what to do Bright. Should I leave Madison and take a chance with Amy?"
"Amy's my sister and I know how much she cares about you. We were scared for her Brown when this whole thing with Madison jumped off. She'd started acting strange again. But man, Madison just lost your baby. I know one thing," Bright said as he piled the roast beef, cheddar cheese slices, lettuce, and tomato onto the bread.
"What's that?" Ephram asked hopefully.
"I'm glad I'm not you," he said then took a bite of his sandwich.
Ephram stood in Madison's apartment. She'd been avoiding him for two weeks, refusing to see him when he came over. Only after banging on her door for twenty minutes did she let him in. Clothes, books, and magazines were strewn everywhere. The kitchen sink was filled with unwashed dishes. A few chairs were overturned, and the room had acquired a dank, closed in smell.
"Go away Ephram," she said. "You're free."
"Free? You keep saying that. What does that even mean?"
"It means that you can go back to that Amy. That's what you've wanted all along, isn't it?"
Her words stung, primarily because they were true. Since Madison had become pregnant, all he had been able to think about besides how he was going to raise a baby was Amy. But he could see that Madison wasn't well, it didn't take a doctor to see that. Her behavior had understandably become irrational.
Secretly, he had dreamed about eventually going back to Amy but he knew taking such a chance now would push Madison over the edge, so he said the only thing he could say, "No."
"I'm not stupid Ephram," she said then laughed wryly. "You don't give a damn about me."
"I do," he said. And he did. He hadn't stopped loving Madison so much as he had accepted that they were not going to be together. With this realization, he'd returned to the dream that had sustained him that first year in Everwood – Amy.
"What are you saying?" she said as she turned to face him.
"What I'm saying," Ephram said then swallowed, "is that I want to be with you." Granted, that wasn't entirely true, but he didn't have to convince himself, he just had to convince her. "And no one, not my father, not Amy, is going to come between us."
"Oh Ephram," Madison said as her eyes filled with tears. She crossed the distance between them and threw her arms around his neck. "I'm so happy," she whispered against his ear.
"I am too," he said softly. "I am too."