Disclaimer: I don't own Everwood, the town, or it's characters, I'm just a
college student.
Chapter 5 uses "White Flag" by Dido
Chapter 5: White Flag
The phone rang at 10 AM the next day in the Brown house. Ephram stuffed a pillow up against his head to block out the sound until it finally stopped. He readjusted in bed, but when he finally got comfortable Delia burst in.
"Ephram, it's for you!" she shouted running in up to his bed.
"Go away, it's Saturday. No one I know gets up this early, except for you."
"It's Amy. It sounds important, you better talk to her." She said handing him the phone. Had it been anyone else he might have just gone back to sleep, but for Amy . . .
"Yeah, okay," he said sitting up, rubbing his eyes and taking the phone from his little sister's hand. "Hello?" he said groggily.
"Sorry to wake you, but we've got a lot to do today," she started.
"We do? Like wh . . ." he started then said, "just a minute, Amy. DELIA get out of my room!"
"I thought I'd wait and take the phone from you when you were done talking." She said smiling as if she knew something he didn't.
"Very funny, now get out," he said playfully throwing a sock at her as she scurried out the door. He could hear Amy's muffled laugher over the phone.
"Okay Amy, back to you. What is it that we are supposed to be doing now?" he asked finally waking up.
"You're coming on the trip, Ephram. I know your dad said you can't, but that'll change. You have to come; I'll be bored without . . . well, I mean, you'll be missing out if you don't come."
"You didn't see the look on his face. My dad likes you, but I don't think even you can convince him."
"We'll see about that, look, I'm coming over right now so you better be up."
"How soon is 'right now?' he asked nervously. He heard a knock at his door. "Amy, that better not be you," he said laughing, getting up to answer the door. There she stood, cell phone up to her ear with a giant smile on her face. Her eyes glanced over him from head to toe then she looked away blushing. He didn't realize he was still in just his boxer shorts. Delia squealed from the hallway.
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"I know you think that I shouldn't still love you
I'll tell you that
But if I didn't say it
Well, I'd still have felt it
Where's the sense in that?
I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder
Or return to where we were"
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"Nice pajamas," she said hanging up her phone. He looked down and his face turned bright red.
"Well I didn't expect visitors," he said laughing. He grabbed some jeans and threw them on quickly as she only became more read in the face. He rubbed his eyes and tried flattening his hair. "You can come in, you know," he said gesturing for her to enter his room. She walked in slowly, trying directing her gaze away from the still shirtless Ephram. "So, explain how you plan to convince my dad that I need to go on this trip," he said waiting for an answer but she was still staring.
"I know I'm hot Amy, but really," he said jokingly.
"Actually," she said laughing, thankfully finding an excuse in time, "I was looking at the drool hanging from the corner of your lip extending alllll the way down to your shoulder." She spoke these words as she motioned her finger in the air in a downward motion. She wasn't lying. There really was drool. She knew it was because he was just waking up and not from seeing her but she thought she'd call him on it just the same.
"Can't a man drool at a pretty girl?" he said obviously in jest, but trying to wipe it away in embarrassment.
"Shut up, you," she said lightly pushing him and laughing. He landed on his bed.
"Wow, pretty impressive there Grov, you get a lot of practice pushing guys down on beds?" It was the first day in a long time that he hadn't the slightest twinge of sadness in his voice.
"You're asking for it!" she said hitting him with a pillow. He retaliated with the other pillow on his bed and before they knew it, they were engaged in a full blown pillow fight. Feathers were floating everywhere, and empty threats were being thrown between the two teens who were trying to mend their friendship. Ephram swung at her head, figuring she'd block, but he was wrong. He hit her full on and she fell on the bed right on top of him. He continued to swing at her laughing until she had dropped her weapon, and put her hands on top of her head, declaring defeat. He wrapped his arms around her without thinking and he felt her tense up. It was as if he had finally lost his constant battle to not weaken to her. Holding on to her more tightly, he heard her speak, "Ephram, I . . ." Her eyes were level with his. She forced herself to get control; she wasn't going to ruin today by doing something stupid like kissing him.
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"Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be"
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"Delia, why are you squealing?" Andy Brown asked her, then walked in Ephram's room and saw Amy lying on top of his son in bed.
"Oh," Andy gasped. A puzzled expression grew across his face and he opened his mouth to say something when he finally heard Ephram say, "okay, okay, no more pillow fights, I'm sorry, I'll stop," he said laughing and lifting Amy off him. Andy sighed in relief.
"Well good morning Ms. Abbott," Andy said in a questioning tone, causing her to jump off Ephram's bed and fix her hair.
"Dr. Brown, hi . . ." she said embarrassed.
"I wasn't aware you guys were even talking," he continued until Ephram shot him a death glare. His father understood and added, "But I'm glad you are. We missed seeing you around, Amy."
"I missed being here," she said as Ephram put a shirt on and stood up.
"Well, Ephram, I just came to let you know that since you'll be home this weekend and I won't, Nina might be dropping off some food for you to eat."
"What? You're not even going to be here and I still can't go on the ski trip?" he protested angrily.
"Ephram you know why you can't go on that trip. It doesn't matter if I'm here or not." He said starting to leave the room.
"Wait, Dr. Brown!" Amy said running out into the hall.
"Amy . . ." Ephram said calling after her. He sighed. She was so determined; maybe that's what he used to love about her so much. He tried to understand what had happened before his dad came in his room. For a brief moment it had felt like it used to, before they had even kissed last year, before he fell all out in love with her and everything got screwed. And while his trust in her was still gone, it was still nice to take a step in the right direction.
"Dr. Brown, please let Ephram come. It was my fault that he came home like that after the party. We had a fight and, well I'll spare you the details, but basically he collapsed and that's how he got all those bruises."
"I'm sorry Amy, but Ephram can't go because he was drinking. It has nothing to do with what you did or didn't do." He said walking away. Amy felt defeated and walked back into Ephram's room. He was looking out the window.
"I tried, he still said no." she said sadly.
"I figured that much. It's no big deal, Amy, really. I'll have the house to myself at least."
"Yeah . . . . I guess you're right," she said unhappily as she walked over help him pick up the feathers that were all over the ground. "I'll let you go back to sleep,"
"You'll still have fun. Kayla's going I heard." He said trying to sound positive.
"She is? Oh great, now I really need you to come."
"What? She's like your best friend," he said, "even though I don't understand that at all," stopping what he was doing and staring at her.
"No she's not," she said confidently, "I don't have a best friend anymore. I barely have A friend anymore. Not since I told off Kayla at the party." She said standing up getting ready to leave.
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I know I left too much mess
And destruction to come back again
And I caused but nothing but trouble
I understand if you can't talk to me again
And if you live by the rules of 'It's over'
Then I'm sure that that makes sense
Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be"
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She wasn't asking for his pity, and pity she would not receive. She would receive real, genuine concern. Ephram-concern, the very best kind.
"Come on, Amy, you know that's not true," he said standing up now too, walking toward her.
"Is it, Ephram? Because I'd like to think I'm wrong, but I really don't," she said fighting back the hurt in her voice.
"You are wrong," he said with certainty, letting himself soften to her for the first time since the party. The color in his eyes lightened as he felt a certain sense of responsibility for making her feel so downhearted.
"If you're talking about you . . . well then I'm just confused, because you told me we weren't friends anymore. That kind of thing isn't really all that easy to forget."
"I know . . ." he said following her to the door, which she had already reached. "That was stupid of me to say. I was just angry,"
"And rightfully so," she said, "I'm sorry I bothered you this morning, I'll see you around, Ephram." as she quickly walked out the front door and down the sidewalk, and as hard as she tried to hide it, he knew there were tears.
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"And when we meet
As I'm sure we will
All that was then
Will be there still
I'll let it pass
And hold my tongue
And you will think
That I've moved on"
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"Amy, wait!" he said running, his bare feet leaving steamy prints in the snow. She stopped. "I'm glad you came over this morning, even if it was just to have a pillow fight with me." He said and she smiled briefly. He moved in closer to her and pulled her into a friendly hug. Her heart temporarily stopped beating. It wanted to stay in that moment forever; it knew it couldn't. She let him hold her, pressing her face up against his shoulder. She was content that they were actually being friendly, but his touch still made her heart soar. "I never want to hear you say you don't have friends again," he whispered in her ear. And as his words flowed harmoniously into her ear, the tears began to flow more freely down her cheeks. His breaths were soft and tender. "You understand?" he asked in the same quiet whisper. She nodded, being at a loss for words; being afraid she'd ruin the moment if she did speak. He held her like that for another few minutes, feeling like for once he was important again; that someone needed him. Amy always needed him; always.
Somewhere in his heart he knew that they'd be okay again. And as he stood there, holding her in his arms breathlessly, he let go of every desire he once had to erase her from his life. She was a part of his life, a very part of his being. It was foolish for him to even think otherwise. It was easy to have a pillow fight with someone, it didn't require them to trust, didn't require them to feel. . .
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"Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be
Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````
It was easy to have a pillow fight with someone, it didn't require them to trust, didn't require them to feel. . .
They had immediately clicked when they first met . . . even if it was for all the wrong reasons. Something told him that it'd be harder to click like that this time; this time there were feelings.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````
I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be"
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ``````````````````
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. Seeing as this is an A/E story, and it's about the trip, so don't worry, something has to happen so they can be together :)
Chapter 5 uses "White Flag" by Dido
Chapter 5: White Flag
The phone rang at 10 AM the next day in the Brown house. Ephram stuffed a pillow up against his head to block out the sound until it finally stopped. He readjusted in bed, but when he finally got comfortable Delia burst in.
"Ephram, it's for you!" she shouted running in up to his bed.
"Go away, it's Saturday. No one I know gets up this early, except for you."
"It's Amy. It sounds important, you better talk to her." She said handing him the phone. Had it been anyone else he might have just gone back to sleep, but for Amy . . .
"Yeah, okay," he said sitting up, rubbing his eyes and taking the phone from his little sister's hand. "Hello?" he said groggily.
"Sorry to wake you, but we've got a lot to do today," she started.
"We do? Like wh . . ." he started then said, "just a minute, Amy. DELIA get out of my room!"
"I thought I'd wait and take the phone from you when you were done talking." She said smiling as if she knew something he didn't.
"Very funny, now get out," he said playfully throwing a sock at her as she scurried out the door. He could hear Amy's muffled laugher over the phone.
"Okay Amy, back to you. What is it that we are supposed to be doing now?" he asked finally waking up.
"You're coming on the trip, Ephram. I know your dad said you can't, but that'll change. You have to come; I'll be bored without . . . well, I mean, you'll be missing out if you don't come."
"You didn't see the look on his face. My dad likes you, but I don't think even you can convince him."
"We'll see about that, look, I'm coming over right now so you better be up."
"How soon is 'right now?' he asked nervously. He heard a knock at his door. "Amy, that better not be you," he said laughing, getting up to answer the door. There she stood, cell phone up to her ear with a giant smile on her face. Her eyes glanced over him from head to toe then she looked away blushing. He didn't realize he was still in just his boxer shorts. Delia squealed from the hallway.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````
"I know you think that I shouldn't still love you
I'll tell you that
But if I didn't say it
Well, I'd still have felt it
Where's the sense in that?
I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder
Or return to where we were"
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````
"Nice pajamas," she said hanging up her phone. He looked down and his face turned bright red.
"Well I didn't expect visitors," he said laughing. He grabbed some jeans and threw them on quickly as she only became more read in the face. He rubbed his eyes and tried flattening his hair. "You can come in, you know," he said gesturing for her to enter his room. She walked in slowly, trying directing her gaze away from the still shirtless Ephram. "So, explain how you plan to convince my dad that I need to go on this trip," he said waiting for an answer but she was still staring.
"I know I'm hot Amy, but really," he said jokingly.
"Actually," she said laughing, thankfully finding an excuse in time, "I was looking at the drool hanging from the corner of your lip extending alllll the way down to your shoulder." She spoke these words as she motioned her finger in the air in a downward motion. She wasn't lying. There really was drool. She knew it was because he was just waking up and not from seeing her but she thought she'd call him on it just the same.
"Can't a man drool at a pretty girl?" he said obviously in jest, but trying to wipe it away in embarrassment.
"Shut up, you," she said lightly pushing him and laughing. He landed on his bed.
"Wow, pretty impressive there Grov, you get a lot of practice pushing guys down on beds?" It was the first day in a long time that he hadn't the slightest twinge of sadness in his voice.
"You're asking for it!" she said hitting him with a pillow. He retaliated with the other pillow on his bed and before they knew it, they were engaged in a full blown pillow fight. Feathers were floating everywhere, and empty threats were being thrown between the two teens who were trying to mend their friendship. Ephram swung at her head, figuring she'd block, but he was wrong. He hit her full on and she fell on the bed right on top of him. He continued to swing at her laughing until she had dropped her weapon, and put her hands on top of her head, declaring defeat. He wrapped his arms around her without thinking and he felt her tense up. It was as if he had finally lost his constant battle to not weaken to her. Holding on to her more tightly, he heard her speak, "Ephram, I . . ." Her eyes were level with his. She forced herself to get control; she wasn't going to ruin today by doing something stupid like kissing him.
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"Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be"
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````````
"Delia, why are you squealing?" Andy Brown asked her, then walked in Ephram's room and saw Amy lying on top of his son in bed.
"Oh," Andy gasped. A puzzled expression grew across his face and he opened his mouth to say something when he finally heard Ephram say, "okay, okay, no more pillow fights, I'm sorry, I'll stop," he said laughing and lifting Amy off him. Andy sighed in relief.
"Well good morning Ms. Abbott," Andy said in a questioning tone, causing her to jump off Ephram's bed and fix her hair.
"Dr. Brown, hi . . ." she said embarrassed.
"I wasn't aware you guys were even talking," he continued until Ephram shot him a death glare. His father understood and added, "But I'm glad you are. We missed seeing you around, Amy."
"I missed being here," she said as Ephram put a shirt on and stood up.
"Well, Ephram, I just came to let you know that since you'll be home this weekend and I won't, Nina might be dropping off some food for you to eat."
"What? You're not even going to be here and I still can't go on the ski trip?" he protested angrily.
"Ephram you know why you can't go on that trip. It doesn't matter if I'm here or not." He said starting to leave the room.
"Wait, Dr. Brown!" Amy said running out into the hall.
"Amy . . ." Ephram said calling after her. He sighed. She was so determined; maybe that's what he used to love about her so much. He tried to understand what had happened before his dad came in his room. For a brief moment it had felt like it used to, before they had even kissed last year, before he fell all out in love with her and everything got screwed. And while his trust in her was still gone, it was still nice to take a step in the right direction.
"Dr. Brown, please let Ephram come. It was my fault that he came home like that after the party. We had a fight and, well I'll spare you the details, but basically he collapsed and that's how he got all those bruises."
"I'm sorry Amy, but Ephram can't go because he was drinking. It has nothing to do with what you did or didn't do." He said walking away. Amy felt defeated and walked back into Ephram's room. He was looking out the window.
"I tried, he still said no." she said sadly.
"I figured that much. It's no big deal, Amy, really. I'll have the house to myself at least."
"Yeah . . . . I guess you're right," she said unhappily as she walked over help him pick up the feathers that were all over the ground. "I'll let you go back to sleep,"
"You'll still have fun. Kayla's going I heard." He said trying to sound positive.
"She is? Oh great, now I really need you to come."
"What? She's like your best friend," he said, "even though I don't understand that at all," stopping what he was doing and staring at her.
"No she's not," she said confidently, "I don't have a best friend anymore. I barely have A friend anymore. Not since I told off Kayla at the party." She said standing up getting ready to leave.
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I know I left too much mess
And destruction to come back again
And I caused but nothing but trouble
I understand if you can't talk to me again
And if you live by the rules of 'It's over'
Then I'm sure that that makes sense
Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be"
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````
She wasn't asking for his pity, and pity she would not receive. She would receive real, genuine concern. Ephram-concern, the very best kind.
"Come on, Amy, you know that's not true," he said standing up now too, walking toward her.
"Is it, Ephram? Because I'd like to think I'm wrong, but I really don't," she said fighting back the hurt in her voice.
"You are wrong," he said with certainty, letting himself soften to her for the first time since the party. The color in his eyes lightened as he felt a certain sense of responsibility for making her feel so downhearted.
"If you're talking about you . . . well then I'm just confused, because you told me we weren't friends anymore. That kind of thing isn't really all that easy to forget."
"I know . . ." he said following her to the door, which she had already reached. "That was stupid of me to say. I was just angry,"
"And rightfully so," she said, "I'm sorry I bothered you this morning, I'll see you around, Ephram." as she quickly walked out the front door and down the sidewalk, and as hard as she tried to hide it, he knew there were tears.
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"And when we meet
As I'm sure we will
All that was then
Will be there still
I'll let it pass
And hold my tongue
And you will think
That I've moved on"
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` `````````````````````````
"Amy, wait!" he said running, his bare feet leaving steamy prints in the snow. She stopped. "I'm glad you came over this morning, even if it was just to have a pillow fight with me." He said and she smiled briefly. He moved in closer to her and pulled her into a friendly hug. Her heart temporarily stopped beating. It wanted to stay in that moment forever; it knew it couldn't. She let him hold her, pressing her face up against his shoulder. She was content that they were actually being friendly, but his touch still made her heart soar. "I never want to hear you say you don't have friends again," he whispered in her ear. And as his words flowed harmoniously into her ear, the tears began to flow more freely down her cheeks. His breaths were soft and tender. "You understand?" he asked in the same quiet whisper. She nodded, being at a loss for words; being afraid she'd ruin the moment if she did speak. He held her like that for another few minutes, feeling like for once he was important again; that someone needed him. Amy always needed him; always.
Somewhere in his heart he knew that they'd be okay again. And as he stood there, holding her in his arms breathlessly, he let go of every desire he once had to erase her from his life. She was a part of his life, a very part of his being. It was foolish for him to even think otherwise. It was easy to have a pillow fight with someone, it didn't require them to trust, didn't require them to feel. . .
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ````````````````````````
"Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be
Well I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````
It was easy to have a pillow fight with someone, it didn't require them to trust, didn't require them to feel. . .
They had immediately clicked when they first met . . . even if it was for all the wrong reasons. Something told him that it'd be harder to click like that this time; this time there were feelings.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````
I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be"
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ``````````````````
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. Seeing as this is an A/E story, and it's about the trip, so don't worry, something has to happen so they can be together :)