A/N: I couldn't find Hannah's last name anywhere, so I had to make one up. If anyone knows her real last name, please let me know so that I can change it. Until then, I'm using Ryan. Also, I couldn't find her mother's name or her brother's name and I'm pretty sure they've never been mentioned, so for the purposes of this story, her mother's name is Joan and her brother's is Josh.
Oh, Those Summer Nights
Chapter Two
Time seemed to stand still as Bright waited ring after ring for someone to pick up and when someone finally did, it didn't really sound like Hannah. He even thought about hanging up for a second.
"Hello?" The voice asked again.
"Hannah?"
"Actually, this is Hannah's mother. Would you like for me to get her for you?"
"Yes. Please. Ma'am." The older lady chuckled at the boy's apparent nervousness.
"Can I tell her who's calling?"
"Bright. This is Bright."
"Okay, Bright. Just one second."
Once he was sure Hannah's mother was no longer on the line, Bright let out a long breath. He'd never really been all that great with parents to begin with, mostly because he'd met too many of them. And with Hannah her parents hadn't really been a factor, at least until now. He was pretty sure his first impression hadn't been the greatest.
Mrs. Ryan knocked lightly on her daughter's door.
"Come in." She smiled as her daughter raised her head from the notebook she was writing so enthusiastically in.
"The phones for you."
"Do you know who it is?"
"Bright," her mother replied simply. A smile spread wildly across Hannah's face, causing Mrs. Ryan to smile as well. "I trust you'll tell me more about this Bright friend of yours later?" Hannah nodded as she took the phone from her mother.
Joan shut the door and relief washed over her as a little of the guilt she still felt for sending her daughter to Everwood in the first place went away. Hannah was happy and that's all any mother could wish for.
"Hello?" And there was that voice - that sweet, steady voice that he had come to depend on for so much in the last few months. She was always solid when everything else around him was broken. She was always focused when everything else seemed chaotic. That voice and the girl behind it had gotten him through much more than either of them had realized. "Bright?"
"I'm here." He answered finally. A long silence fell over them.
"This is awkward, isn't it? It shouldn't be awkward, should it? We kissed and now things are going to be weird between us. Why aren't you saying anything? You always have something to say. I always have something to say and I have nothing. Look what we've done now. We've made a mess of things. I'm sure someone said something profound about this, but I can't remember. Oh god, now I'm stupid. This is…Are you laughing? Why are you laughing?"
"You're rambling."
"I am not."
"You are." Hannah paused and Bright knew he had won. "I like it. You look cute when you do."
"How would you know?"
"You ramble a lot, Hannah." She fell silent again. "And when you do, your forehead gets this little crease and your glasses start to slide a little farther down your nose. It's charming." Hannah pushed her glasses up.
"And now you're smirking." She could see that half smile, half smirk resting on his face in her head. It was one of the first things that she noticed about him. He always seemed confident. She knew now that he didn't always feel that way, but he did always look it.
He laughed. "Yeah."
"How's your mom?" She asked, moving along the conversation.
"Good. She's asleep now."
"That's good."
Another silence threatened at that point, but it never came. "How's your dad?"
"I don't know really. He's been asleep since I got home."
"Oh."
"But mom and Josh are talking now, so things are already better than when I left."
"Is he going to get the test?"
"He doesn't know yet. He said maybe and that's enough for her now."
"Maybe is always better than no."
"Yeah."
"So do you have any big plans while you're there?" He asked.
"No. I think I'm just going to hang around here. It's so weird to come back now."
"How?"
"I mean, my family's here and everything is pretty much just the same as when I left, but it's different, you know?"
"Because you're different." Bright replied.
"Yeah, I guess I am. Is that bad?"
"No. Why would you think that?"
"It's just that the last time I was here, I was on the same page with everyone else. We were all trying to deal and we were sad and now, I guess now I'm really not. I mean I am, but I'm not." She sighed. "I'm not making any sense, am I?"
"You are. At least I think you are. You're still sad that you're dad's sick, but…"
"But I'm happy with everything that's happening in my life. It's like he's still dying, but I just keep growing and changing. Everything is still falling apart for him, but everything is falling into place for me. Sometimes, I just feel bad."
"Because you're happy?"
"Yeah."
"You shouldn't."
"I know."
"You're dad wants you to be happy, Hannah. He doesn't want you to spend your life mourning all the bad things that happen to him or to you or anyone."
"Yeah. Sometimes it's just hard for me."
"That's because your heart's so pure. You're like Amy that way. You both want to take away everyone else's pain and sadness before you even think about yourself and when you can't, you feel bad for having moments of happiness when the people you love aren't."
"They should let you talk more often."
"Who's that?"
"Everyone. You have much more to say than anyone realizes."
"Except for you."
She smiled. "Except for me." A moment of silence passed between them. "Well, I guess I should go help my mom with dinner."
"Okay."
"I'll talk to you again?"
"You will," he replied simply.
"Good night, Bright."
"Night, Hannah."
Amy sat at the bottom of the staircase smiling. She hadn't intended on listening. She really hadn't. She'd just come down to get some juice, but once she'd heard him talking, she had to listen. Her big brother was finally growing up and the fact that he was going it with a girl as special as Hannah just made it that much better.
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