"Sorry," she said, and started to speak a little slower, incorporating a couple of signs into her speech. " Anyway, I figured that I would kind of casually tell him about you and me during dinner while telling him about everything that happened after he left. So, I told him about us, and then I explained how we got closer while looking for my dad and everything."
Emmett nodded, letting Bay know that he was following.
" First, he was a little taken aback, but then, well, then he kissed me."
Emmett stood up quickly. "HE WHAT?" he signed forcefully, his movements jerky.
"But I pushed him away! I swear! And he apologized, he did. He said that he doesn't know what came over him, but he was sorry."
Emmett sneered. "Since when is sorry enough for kissing someone else's girlfriend? I'm going to find that guy…"
"Emmett, don't! It's not worth it. He knows I'm with you, and only you. And I'm here with you right now!"
Emmett looked toward the window. "I could totally take him," he signed distractedly.
"Of course you could." Bay appeased. "But then what would be the point of me being here? You know, I came here with very little time until my curfew…"
"Fine, but only because it's close to my curfew, too, and I want to have time to have a real good talk with Ty when I confront him," Emmett replied, and then proceeded to curl up with his girlfriend on the couch, one part of his mind still on what he'd do and say when he saw Ty.
One week later, and Emmett still hadn't had the opportunity to confront Ty and set him straight…one way or the other. It was very frustrating because, well, every time he thought of Ty, he got upset. It was just that Ty was with Bay first, and even though that doesn't really mean anything, he still worried about it. What if Ty got really got to Bay? Usually when thoughts like that flitted through Emmett's head, he'd try to dispel them ASAP, but sometimes it didn't work. That's when Emmett would look at pictures he had of himself with Bay and he'd think of good times with Bay and the look in Bay's eyes when she saw him, Emmett, not Ty.
School proved to be a decent distraction. If he was involved in his schoolwork, then he didn't have the opportunity to dwell on Bay and Ty. He'd hang out with Daphne and a couple of his other friends during breaks and during lunch, everyone's fingers flying in rapid conversation.
"How's it going with Bay?" Jared, one of his friends, asked Emmett in sign language. "You know, of any of us, I never would have pegged you as the one to have the steady hearing girlfriend, Emmett."
All of his friends grinned, waiting for Emmett's response.
"It's going great, thanks. How's it going with your girlfriend? Jenna? Isn't that the name of your 7-year-old sister's friend who's crushing on you?" Emmett retorted. "Bay might be hearing, but at least she can drive and, oh, stay home by herself."
Everyone around the table laughed as Emmett smirked at Jared and Jared glared back. But as they all rose from the table to head back to class, Emmett slapped Jared's back, indicating there were no hard feelings.
At the end of the day, Daphne and Emmett walked out of school together.
"Did you know that Ty had his surgery yesterday on his foot? He's in the hospital still," Daphne informed him.
"Too bad for him. At least he can't try to trap my girlfriend if he's laid up in bed," Emmett responded, his reply lacking much sympathy.
"Emmett!" Daphne slapped him on the shoulder. "Since when did you become so unfeeling?"
"I'm not unfeeling," Emmett signed back. "I just don't have much sympathy for the guy who kissed my girlfriend when he knew she was with me!"
Daphne's mouth dropped open. "Ty kissed Bay? When?"
"W Bay went out with him soon after he came back. She told him that she had moved on and was with me. Then the jerk kissed her! Ugh, don't make me think about it." He made a face.
"Ty? Are you sure it was him? But Ty would never-"
"Yeah, well apparently he would. Can we just drop it, please? It's disgusting, and just makes me mad. As a matter of fact, maybe I'll drop you off at home and hang out with Bay for a while," Emmett decided.
"Uh, Wilke's picking me up," Daphne said with an erubescent smile. Emmett just slung his backpack over his shoulder and raised his eyebrows at her, a smirk on his face. "Oh, shut up," Daphne said, and they laughingly separated.
Shortly after Emmett arrived at the Kennishes', Daphne and Wilke drove up.
"We could've just carpooled," Emmett signed, sarcastically.
"Ha ha," Daphne stuck out her tongue at him.
"I'm going to Bay's garage," Emmett told them and walked off. When he got there, though, nobody was in there and the door was locked. He sat down and waited for Bay to arrive. He saw Wilke and Daphne talking to each other still. Even though he was sitting a couple of yards away from them, he decided to see what they were saying.
"'Bay's garage.' I'm telling you, I've lived here for 7 months and I still think it's weird that the kids have garages as their studios," Daphne told Wilke.
Emmett laughed. It was true. It was weird saying that he was going to "Bay's garage." He'd gotten sort of used to it over time, but it was still kind of strange, right?
Wilke smiled at Daphne. "So Toby tells me that Ty's still in the hospital."
Emmett grimaced. Did everyone love the guy?
The next thing he read from Wilke's lips, he sincerely hoped he read incorrectly. "I heard that Ty wants Bay to come visit him. Does Emmett know?"
Daphne, who clearly did not realize that Emmett was in plain sight and was in on their conversation said, "No! And I don't even know if we should tell him! I mean, does Bay even know that Ty wants to see her?"
"Well, Toby apparently went to visit the guy where Ty expressed that he was really hoping that Bay would visit. I mean, the guy's in the hospital and only recently came back from the army. You gotta feel bad for him. Toby's not exactly going to refuse to tell Bay that, right?" Wilke reasoned.
"I don't know," Daphne stated sadly. "I just don't know. C'mon, let's go inside."
Emmett sat there staring where Daphne and Wilke had been standing, even after they had gone inside. Ty wanted to see Bay. Ty wanted to see Bay. Ty told Toby that he wanted to see Bay. Toby told Bay that Ty wanted to see her.
An inner voice inside of Emmett said Why are you being so melodramatic? So what, Ty wants to see Bay. It's not like he's proposing. He just wants her to visit. C'mon, if you were laid up in bed, you'd want Bay to visit you. She's like a breath of fresh hair, all that spunk and sarcasm, covering up a genuinely sweet person who is fiercely loyal.
But then another voice said, Yeah, but I just don't want to-want to lose her. I mean, it's not like I could even hear rumors spreading about them if my back was turned. And, well, Bay's my girlfriend and I really don't want to give her up.
Emmett flashed back to the first time he'd seen Bay. He had just come to pick up Daphne to hang out for a while and go out to lunch and there was this girl with dark brown hair, pale skin, and the deepest brown eyes he'd ever seen leaning against a car. They stared at each other for a few seconds and then he asked Daphne, "Who's that?" There was another short staring contest, and then Daphne responded, "Me, in another life." Shortly after, he and Daphne drove off.
Even though he and Bay hadn't said anything to each other that time, when his gaze locked with hers, it was like they established an immediate connection, which was a very surreal experience. Maybe that's why when Bay spoke to him outside Buckner that first time, it hadn't been as weird as it could've been, because it felt like they had already established a bit of a connection.
I refuse to lose that with Bay, Emmett thought forcefully. And I refuse to lose Bay.
A.N. Hey, readers! I know that this chapter is a little shorter than the past couple have been, but I decided that this was a good place to end it. Hopefully I'll try to update some time tomorrow, or at least by Tuesday. I really really appreciate your reviews; they really inspire me! Also, please continue to let me know what you think of the story! I feel better about this chapter than the previous one because it had a little of everything: humor (I hope), secrets, uncertainty, angst, and depth of emotion. Hope you enjoyed!