So, I signed up for an ASL class this semester, and because of that, a friend of my suggested that I watch Switched at Birth for the signing in it. I've fallen in love with the show and, although red-heads (Or, as the character description puts it, strawberry-blonds) don't usually do it for me, I find Emmett unbelievably adorable~! I honestly ship him SO HARD with Bay, but where I'm at right now (about midway through season 2), him and Bay aren't exactly on great terms, so I decided to write this~

There are some spoilers from the show up to the point that I've watched (like I said above, about halfway through season 2 at this point), so if you haven't seen that far yet and don't want anything ruined, I suggest you wait to read this D: I'll also be putting little poems at the beginning of each chapter (all of which are originally done by me, to my knowledge! If I managed to steal something from someone without having read their work, well... Generic stuff, yo, I'm not a poet :B ). Some will rhyme, others won't... And Those will be explained later on in the story.

A little more information before reading the story:

The main character, Mabel, is roughly a year younger than the rest of the gang (if I'm not mistaken on anyone's age).

"This is talking."

'This is signing.'

"This is talking and signing."

.

Anyway, enjoy!

Pain is what pulls us into the dark.

Despair is what tears the holes in our heart.

Sadness is what leaves the rifts in our life,

But hope is what keeps us going,

What keeps us alive.

A young girl of twelve, Mabel Viahi, sat on a park bench, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill from her hazel-green eyes. Her hair was a mess of short, brown waves atop her head, which hung over her face to hide most of its features. Her eyes scanned the area around her, feeling self-conscious as she saw the other children her age laughing and playing as though everything was fine. For her, though, everything was not fine. She was alone on her twelfth birthday, and she could only blame one person for that unfortunate truth.

Her mother.

The woman had a serious problem, one that even her preteen daughter could easily identify. She was a drunk who couldn't live a stable life. The two females, mother and daughter, had moved all over the country countless times, leaving behind friends, family, and even some material belongings. The girl could not even begin to fathom why her mother did what she did, but she had learned over the years how to quickly adapt to new situations. Still, adaptation did not make it any easier to be completely alone on her birthday.

The girl's eyes landed on a pair of children who looked as though they were around her age, sitting at a table not too far away from where she sat. Both had strawberry blond hair, and both were moving their hands frantically at each other. The brunette found herself momentarily distracted from her inner turmoil as she watched the two communicate in gestures and facial expressions alone. It fascinated her. The bliss ended quickly, though, when the blonde girl's eye met with her own. They stared for a few seconds before Mable averted her gaze, embarrassed at being caught watching them. She saw from the corner of her eye as the two seemed to have a short debate before heading in her direction, the girl in the lead.

"What are you staring at?" the girl initiated, a strange, breathy accent in her voice, and an irritated look on her face.

"Wha... I, I wasn't... staring," Mable mumbled back, turning her head down to avoid the confrontation.

"Look at me when you're talking to me!" the girl shouted, grabbing Mabel's shoulder and forcibly turning the brunette to face her.

Mabel stared at the pair, her eyes wide with fear.

"It's rude to stare at people, you know! How would you like it if I stared at you while you're trying to talk to your friends?"

"I... I..." The tears pooled in her eyes, quickly spilling down her cheeks. She sniffled and sobbed pathetically, managing to stutter out an apology as she hugged her arms around her body. "I-I'm s-s-sorry. P-please, don't h-hurt me...!"

The two blonds shared a look of surprise. The boy moved his hands around frantically, a worried look on his face. Mabel couldn't help but watch his movements, despite herself, her sobbing quieting to soft hiccups. She may have gotten into trouble for watching in the first place, but she couldn't help but find the foreign language interesting.

"Hey, listen..." The girl turned back to Mabel, an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry." She made a fist against her chest and moved it around in a circle. "I shouldn't have gotten so worked up. It's just annoying when you hearing stare at us while we're talking."

Mabel wiped her eyes, the tears subsiding, and sniffled a few times to keep her nose from running. She nodded slowly to the girl, looking apologetic herself. "I'm sorry, too." She hesitated for a moment, copying the circling motion of her fist on her chest. "That means I'm sorry, right..? I... I shouldn't have been staring..." She averted her eyes, but stayed facing the pair, looking bashful. "But... The movements are interesting... Very... poetic..."

The two shared a short laugh, causing Mabel to turn her attention back to the two. The boy started signing again, a smile pulling his lips across his face. The girl signed back before turning to Mabel again, a smile on her face as well now.

"Poetic?" She sounded surprised, but there was a slight teasing tone to her voice. "People don't usually describe it like that... What's your name?"

"Uh... Mabel," she answered, giving a small grimace of a smile in return.

"I'm Daphne," the girl introduced, waving her hand in the shape of a "D" near her face. "And, this is Emmett." She made another sign as she moved her hand away from her head. "It's nice to meet you." She signed it out as she spoke, and Mabel hesitantly imitated her movement with awe in her eyes.

"It's nice... to meet you, too..." She smiled a little wider now as she looked back and forth between the two.

Emmett signed something to Daphne, who turned to Mabel with a smile. "So, why are you sitting over here by yourself?" Daphne asked innocently.

The smile that was once on Mabel's features quickly vanished, and she stared sadly at the other kids on the playground. "I..." Her voice was soft and hesitant as she thought of a response, not wanted to sound like a pity party. "I just moved here, and I don't have any friends yet..." It was an honest enough answer, she decided, but it didn't give too much away.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Daphne replied softly. "You can hang out with me and Emmett, if you'd like." She gave Emmett a questioning look and signed something to him, and the boy shrugged a bit, a small smile on his face as he signed back. "See, even Emmett's okay with you hanging out with us, and he doesn't usually like you hearing people."

Mabel watched the blond boy with interest as he signed something else with a cute smile on his face. "What's that mean?" she asked in awe, not taking her eyes off of him.

"He said that anyone who finds him 'poetic' is okay in his book," Daphne translates with a laugh.

Mabel laughs quietly and nods. "I would love to hang out with you guys." With that, the three relocated to the table that the two blonds had originally been sitting at. "Hey, if I told you it was my birthday, would the two of you, maybe, teach me some of that language as a gift?" Mabel asked, making sure to turn so that they could both see her lips as she spoke.

Emmett started signing again, a surprised look on his face, and Daphne happily translated the question that was on her mind as well. "It's you're birthday?" she asked in excitement. "How old are you?"

"Twelve," Mabel replied, holding up one finger, then two.

Emmett quickly corrected her, a smile on his face as he held up two fingers, his palm facing his body, and bent them twice. Mabel repeated the motion with a wide smile.

"Twelve," she repeated happily.

"We'd be glad to teach you what we know," Daphne stated with a grin, Emmett smiling and nodding in agreement.

So, there you go~! First chapter!

I have a question for all my fellow SAB fans!

Does anyone know what Emmett's name sign is?

From what I know, I think that it might be 'sun/sunshine' (I don't remember very well exactly how it went, and my signing is still amateur, at best). I read somewhere that it was just the sign for 'boy', but that was just someone else's guess. It's never explained in the show, and I'm really curious as to what it means.

So, if anyone knows, you should let me know! We'll spread the knowledge~! :DD