Author's note: Sorry this took awhile. And sorry if there are any tense changes. I tried to catch them.

Disclaimer: I don't own switched at birth.

Time went on. Bay and Daphne kept getting to reknow each other and eventually got to a place where their friendship was more normal.

Occasionally, Daphne would bring up something about their family and things would get awkward. The subject was taboo. One the two of them tried to avoid. Maybe it was the attempts to avoid it that made it awkward in the first place.

But, sometimes, Bay thought about all the things she was missing. She thought about how their lives moved on, even though she wasn't there. How new things happened. The moments she chose to miss out on. These feelings all stayed inside her. Who would understand?

Anyone she told would try to tell her that if that was how she felt, then she should go back. But going back didn't seem right. All her feelings were jumbled up and didn't make sense. Truthfully, she didn't know what she really wanted. Did she want things how they used to be? Did she want some kind of change? Or was she fine with how everything was?

A lot of the time Bay wished she could still blast the music and express everything she's feeling in her paintings. Sure, she still could. But it wasn't the same. She couldn't hear the angry lyrics. She could just feel the beat.

Flashback:

The hospital was never a fun place to be. That's what you expect. But, experiencing was one hundred times worse.

Even worse was looking at Emmett's face every day. The guilt was radiating off him, and it had no reason to be there to begin with. No matter how many times Bay tried to explain, he still couldn't shake off the guilt.

Another hard thing was adjusting to the silence. When he had started dating Emmett, she had wondered what it would be like. Bay never imagined this happening though.

It was the middle of the day. Everyone is gone. Either at school or work. Nurses come and go. Bay had already spent the morning alternating between trying to read and half-heartedly watching TV.

Her mom showed up around one, distracting her from her boredom.

"Hey, sweetie, how are you doing?" her mom said, then takes a moment to sign it out. That's another thing. Lip-reading is a lot harder than Daphne and Emmett had made it out to be.

Bay didn't know what response her mom expected. But she continued to ask every time she came in. and Bay continued to respond with fine. Even if she felt anything but fine.

So, I've asked the doctor and he thinks you can be fitted for hearing aids soon. That's good. Right? Kathryn signed.

Bay didn't move. Hearing aids?

Daphne says they really do help. Even if they don't help in the way most people think they would. And the doctor said that in your case they would help.

Bay interrupted, I know you're trying to help. But can you stop. I don't want hearing aids.

Kathryn started talking very fast. Most likely shouting. Bay could only make out an odd word here or there. "Not your decision." "Daphne" "Help" "Why"

She couldn't care less about what her mom was saying anymore.

You're sure you want to do this? Emmett stood with her outside the Kennishes house. It wasn't her house anymore, not in her head. It hadn't been her home for awhile.

I'm positive. I'm ready. Part of her still thought she wasn't. But she pushed back the doubts.

Ringing the doorbell, she thought of everything that could go wrong. What if they wanted nothing to do with her? What if they didn't even answer the door? She'd been over all these things before, but they all seemed so much more real now.

It seemed to take an eternity until someone opened the door.

Her mother's shocked eyes stared back at hers.

Then there was shouting, or she what she assumed was shouting. All at once, everyone was there. Her mom, her dad, Toby, even Regina and Daphne had come running.

As Bay was embraced by her mother's arms, she faintly whispered, "mom".

The rest of them came in on the hug and it turned in to one huge family group hug.

When they had all pulled away, Bay ruined the mood by signing, This doesn't mean I'm coming back.

A/N: sorry this is so short.

After this we only have the epilogue. Again, not sure how long that'll take. As always, please tell me what you thought.