A.N. Thanks for the reviews, everyone! They were really awesome and made me even more motivated to continue the story! Hope you enjoy this chapter, too!

As Bay opened the door, Emmett saw a flash of dark hair before the person pulled Bay close and kissed her. Emmett quickly stood up, the chair he had been sitting on falling over in his haste. He quickly made his way over to the door, about to physically separate Bay and whoever it was she was kissing, but he saw Bay push the person away before Emmett had to do anything. When Emmett glimpsed the guy's face, his heart dropped at least three feet.

"Ty?" Bay gasped.

"Hi, Bay," Ty said with a smile. "Wow, it's so good to see you. You can't imagine how much I've missed you!" and with that, Ty pulled Bay in for a tight hug.

Emmett was clenching and unclenching his fists, not entirely sure where this whole encounter was going, but definitely not happy about it.

Bay was still in shock, though. "Ty! What- I mean, when- what…?" If this were any other situation, Emmett probably would've laughed at the scene. Bay always had something to say…and usually she had a lot to say…and said it very quickly. But now she was just standing there, staring, her mouth slightly agape. Emmett wasn't entirely comfortable that the first time she was speechless was because Ty had come back.

"What are you doing here, Ty?" Bay asked, finally regaining her ability to speak. "When'd you get back?"

Ty stood there, smiling a little smile at Bay. He glanced down and then asked, "Can I come in?"

Bay shook her head slightly as if she had been daydreaming and was now getting back to reality and said, "Sure. C'mon in."

When Ty walked in to the garage, it was clear that something was wrong with his foot. He was limping, and it looked painful for him to walk. Bay quickly picked up the chair that she and Emmett had been sitting in (and doing other stuff) before that Emmett had knocked over accidentally. "Here. Sit. What's wrong with your leg?"

Ty sat down heavily, a slight grimace on his face. "I came back a couple of days ago."

Bay opened her mouth as if to say something, but before she could, Ty continued, "And before you ask me why I didn't come see you sooner, it's because I was busy." He took a deep breath. "You see, the reason I'm back is because, as I'm sure you can tell, I have a problem with my foot. I have something called osteomyelitis in my left foot. It's basically an infection of the bone, and I need to have surgery on it. Over the past couple of days, I've been consulting with doctors and needed to schedule the procedure. I couldn't continue in the army like this, so, well," he finished with a wry smile, "I'm back."

"Wow," Bay breathed.

"I swear, I came to see you as soon as I had the time," Ty said.

"No, no, I believe you. I just…wow. Ok." Bay was back to speechless.

Emmett felt bad for the guy, really he did, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing right now. I mean, the guy comes back and it's like nobody notices Emmett's there anymore! What's the deal?

"So, still painting I see," Ty grinned, looking around. It was only during his surveying of the garage that he suddenly noticed Emmett. "Emmett! Hey, man! What are you doing here? How are you doing?" he simultaneously signed and spoke.

Emmett mustered a fake smile. "Great," he replied. "Fine."

"I didn't realize that you guys were friends," the intruder said, looking between Emmett and Bay. "She's pretty cool, right?" Ty addressed that last part to Emmett.

"Yup," Emmett signed, while looking pointedly at Bay. Without using sign or even mouthing anything, he communicated to her, Tell him we're together.

She looked right back at him, understanding in her eyes. Then she jerked her head toward the door and then glanced at Ty's foot, telling Emmett, He just came back! I can't do that yet!

Emmett stared back at her, gazing into her eyes until he saw her relent. She rolled her eyes a bit and mouthed, "Fine."

Ty, meanwhile, was completely oblivious to the whole exchange. He had been looking around the garage some more, while thinking about how good it felt to be back with Bay.

"Ty-" Bay started, while at the same time Ty had said, "So, Bay."

"I just came back, and I'm sick, so I get to go first," Ty smiled.

What a jerk, Emmett thought, conveniently pushing away the realization that he had liked Ty just fine before his relationship with Bay.

Bay smiled at Ty. "Alright," she said.

"So, I was thinking…I know that I'm not in the best physical shape right now, so I can't really do anything strenuous, but I was wondering if I could take you out to dinner tomorrow night," Ty asked.

Emmett had moved to the side so he could see what Ty was saying better, and he didn't like it. He didn't like any of it. He waited for Bay to say something like, "Sorry, you left for the army, I moved on, I can't do that."

She didn't. Instead, Bay looked at Emmett pleadingly, as if saying What am I supposed to say? Emmett looked at her, incredulous. He jerked his head in Ty's direction with a frown on his face. Bay correctly interpreted that as Say NO! He saw Bay sigh.

"Listen, Ty-" Bay started.

"Wait, I know it's kind of last minute, but I've really missed you, Bay," Ty said softly. "Please, come out with me to dinner. Do you have any other plans for tomorrow night?"

Emmett rolled his eyes. No wonder Bay thinks I'm the best listener she knows. All this guy does is interrupt her!

"Well, no, but…" Bay said, and trailed off.

Emmett opened his eyes wide, signing at her, "What are you doing?" She looked away.

"Great, I'll pick you up at 6:30, k?" Ty smiled at her, a huge grin on his face, and got up slowly.

"K?" Bay replied meekly, uncertain.

"See you tomorrow night! Oh, bye, man!" Ty said to them as he was leaving.

Emmett held his anger in check until the door had closed behind Ty.

"What are you doing? You're going out on a date with Ty?! I thought I was your boyfriend! All of a sudden, Ty comes back and I get thrown to the side? You should've said no! What were you thinking?" Emmett signed, his hands moving furiously through the air.

"Whoa, ok, slow down. It's not like Russian anymore, but still kind of like Spanish, and I only took a year of that," Bay said, reminiscent of her previous statement a little over 6 months ago of, "You might as well be speaking Russian."

Emmett repeated the signs, slightly slower, but with the same amount of force and emotion. He saw understanding dawn on Bay's face as he signed it again.

"I didn't know what do!" Bay replied. "He came back home from the army, and wanted to see me, and he's having surgery soon!"

"SO WHAT?" Emmett signed back.

"So I figured the least I could do is go out with him tomorrow night, have a good time, and then toward the end of the night, I'll let him know that you and I are together, and that I've moved on from him."

"Oh, yeah, that's going to work out," Emmett signed, a skeptical look on his face. "Bay, he's going out on a date with you! You think he's going to sit there innocently the whole time without trying to kiss you or hold your hand at all?"

"So I'll avoid physical contact with him! It won't be so bad," Bay tried, unconvincingly.

"Forget it. Call him and tell him that you can't come!" Emmett was still mad.

"I can't do that! What am I going to say, 'Sorry, I just realized I'm sick. Better luck next time'?"

"So call him tomorrow morning and tell him you woke up with a really bad cold!" Emmett was not going to let his girlfriend go out with her former boyfriend…her hearing former boyfriend who had just come back from the army and still thought there was a chance for them to be together. Because there wasn't. Emmett and Bay were together, and were staying that way.

Wow, I've come a long way from insisting deaf and hearing people can't date, Emmett thought, but then pushed that thought aside. He had more pressing matters at hand.

"Emmett, if I don't see him, then when am I going to tell him that you and I are dating?" Bay asked rationally, placing a hand on Emmett's shoulder.

Emmett hadn't thought of that totally, but he'd figure out some way. "Text him?" Emmett asked, with a hopeful look.

"Really, you want me to break up with him in a text message?" Bay asked dryly. "C'mon, Emmett."

"He'll recover," Emmett assured her. "And you guys aren't dating, so you're not breaking up with him!" Some of the anger was back.

"But he thinks we are!" Bay shot back.

"Give me your phone," Emmett motioned.

"What? Why?"

Emmett reached out his hand and snagged her phone. His fingers flew over the keys, but before he had finished typing, Bay grabbed the phone out of his hands. He tried to grab it back, but wow, she was strong for such a little person! Emmett managed to get the phone back for a few seconds but before he could press send, Bay tackled him to the floor. Fortunately, the floor wasn't too hard, so nobody got hurt. Bay straddled his chest, holding the phone up high so that he couldn't reach it, but she could read the text he had just written.

"Can't go out tomorrow night. I'm dating Emmett and can't wait to make sweet, sweet love to him," Bay read out loud.

She glared at him. "Really, Emmett? Really?"

He gave her a shrug and signed, "I was going to write Sorry at the end before sending it."

"I am not sending this to Ty, alright? I'm going to go out with him tomorrow night, tell him you and I are dating, and then things will be back like they were before, ok?" Bay told him.

Emmett rolled his eyes and was about to protest a bit more, but Bay stopped him. "And then I'll come back to my awesome boyfriend and we'll spend some time together, alright?"

Before he could say anything else, though, Bay leaned down and pressed her lips hard to his. He got caught up in that for a few minutes, until it was time for him to head home. He gave her one last kiss before heading out, and signed, "I don't like this."

"I know, but you're going to let me do it anyway. That's why you're awesome!" Bay said with a knowing smile.

Emmett rolled his eyes once more before driving away on his motorcycle. I don't like this. Talk about the understatement of the year. He just really wanted tomorrow to be over already.

A.N. So what'd you think? Let me know!