Title: Green and Grey

Author: Katana

Pairing: Ephram and Amy

POV: Amy, and then Ephram. It switches.

Improv: Reputation – Truth – Fortune – Myth – Promise

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Just borrowing!

Dedication: To Gauri, my best friend, who I recently converted, turning her into an Everwood fan, just like me.

Distribution: Sure! Just give me credit, and tell me where you are putting it.

Author Notes: This is *very* loosely based off the song Green and Grey, by Nickel Creek. Awesome song, awesome band. Gotta love 'em.

Summary: At a holiday party, Ephram and Amy both learn that sometimes nine out of ten is enough, and that a rocky place can become a green and grey meadow with a simple kiss.

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The soft sounds of the piano drifted toward her ears over the dull roar of the crowd around her. There were people everywhere, people chatting about this, that, anything and everything.

The notes of the music were sharp, but at the same time, languid, flowing together perfectly and forming a melody that rose and fell with every beat of her heart as she sat there, breathing in, and then releasing her breath as the music fell, spiraling down into low notes that made her heart quiver by the sheer deepness of it..

She closed her eyes, letting her breath fall into the rhythm of the music, in and out, slowly and deeply. She could stay there forever, just listening to the music being created masterfully from the piano. It was as though she had never really heard a piano played; the sensation was new and stronger every time she heard Ephram play.

But the room around her was becoming more and more oppressively hot, and so, sighing, she opened her eyes again, quite reluctantly, as she began to move through the room again. As she edged through the crowd, she caught sight of her friends, looking around, judging everything they saw, as they came in through the front door.

She walked faster then, hiding from their view in the crowd around her. She passed her brother, who was sitting on the couch, his head thrown back against the back of the sofa, looking rather bored. He nodded at her as she continued out of his line of sight, past a group of immature hormonal boys, and out the back door.

The cold air hit her immediately and she drew her arms around herself, tightly, trying to hold the warmness in. She instantly regretted coming out there with no coat or hat; it was snowing, and her sweater was not nearly enough to keep her warm.

Shivering, she walked toward the bench on the porch and sat down, watching the snowfall. It was a gleaming white, so small and perfect, each individual snowflake whispering promises of happiness and hope.

If there was one thing she had always loved, it was snow. Snow was the thing that always brightened her mood. It could equalize any situation, halt even the biggest of personal wars, and create the greatest of things. It painted everything such a pristine white, a white that was so very beautiful in its purity and innocence.

But, in truth, it also made her want to cry, because it was always elusive- Like a treat that had been held out in front of her and snatched away with the blink of an eye. If the snow was white, then she was grey- Almost there, but not quite there all the same.

Sighing, she turned sideways on the bench, putting her legs out in front of her, and looked in through the window into the living room behind her.

Bright was still on the couch; She could barely see the top of his head over the top of it. The group of boys by the door were having a chugging contest, cheering and placing bets as David Matley chugged whatever was in the large glass they had handed to him. Little by little, more of it was dripping from his lips and the glass to his red sweater, leaving little wet spots all on the top.

There were other clumps of people in the room; Dana Kaplan was standing in the corner with Amber Chase, pointing at the boys and no doubt making snide comments about their immaturity. She shook her head, looking through the doorway next to them, which showed another group of people, and finally, found who she was looking for.

Ephram was sitting with his back to her, his long fingers sweeping up and down on the keys as he played, swaying with the music. If she was grey, then Ephram was green. He was like the dark green evergreens, always blooming. He was like the cool green grass beneath your feet on a warm summer day.

If she closed her eyes, she could imagine what he looked like in that moment- His eyes partially closed, fingers eliciting perfect notes from the keyboard, his face full of freedom. He was almost mythical with his piano- He was a god, a master at it.

Shaking her head, she turned and looked back at the snow. She and Ephram were at a rocky point that she could not seem to find the way out of. They were friends, but then again, they were more than friends were, and there was an underlying tension between them that nothing could fix, not even a roll of good duct tape, which was a universal fix all.

Then again, she was not quite sure if she wanted to find her way out the rocky place. Ephram had given her so much, was always there for her. When she was around him, she felt like she could be just like the snow- Perfect and pure. He made her happy, and that alone almost convinced her of what she should do.

However, Colin still seemed to have a strong hold around her heart, a grip that nothing could wrench free, even as he stared blankly at her, with no clue that she was Amy Abbot, his ever-faithful girlfriend, who loved him. But was she really that girl anymore?

Although she had stopped going as much, in fact, she had hardly been going at all under the orders of his mother, she had still gotten the reputation of being his stalker at the hospital. It was what the nurses referred to her as, though they said it only to each other, and thought that she had no idea what they were talking about.

It was like a game of tug-of-war. Colin was on one side, her past, her first love, first boyfriend, and first kiss. Ephram was on the other, her future, her knight in shining armor who was always there to pick her up when she fell. And she… well, she was the red tape in the middle of the rope, being pulled one way, then the other, never really ending up one side or the other for very long.

The sound of clapping behind her distracted her as she watched the snow, and she nearly jumped in surprise as she glanced over her shoulder to find Ephram staring back out at her. His gaze was smoldering, even from the distance, as he just sat there, leaning against the piano casually, watching her look at him.

Someone walked through the doorway, and for a moment, her view of him was blocked. And when the person who had hidden him from her view moved out of it again, he was gone, like a vanished ghost. She blinked, once, twice, three times. Every time she opened her eyes again, he was gone.

Sucking in a deep breath, she turned and looked back at the snow, wondering if she ever really would be white, or if she would stay grey, almost, but not quite there.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The house was hot, much hotter than he would have liked, but he could not go outside. Not with Amy just sitting out there, as though she was beckoning him to her. He wanted, so very badly, to go out there, to hold her hand in his, to kiss her lips softly and tell her that everything was ok, would be ok. But instead, he pushed past a group of people, and up into the stairway, taking the steps quickly, not even bothering to breathe until he reached the second floor.

Everyone had clapped when he had finished his song, turning and acting as though it was the greatest thing they had ever heard. He could not even hear his own breath over it, and he had felt a surge of irritation. They did not really care what he played, just as long as he was playing something, giving them something to hear in the background as they talked about holiday plans, finals, and his ever-mysterious relationship with Amy Abbot.

Pushing the door to his room open, he closed his eyes softly, wondering why he had let his father talk him into throwing a holiday party. The people downstairs were not his friends, and never would be. They were cheap and fake, and had nothing better to do than talk about him behind his back, speculating, instead of just asking him. He would not have answered of course, but the point was that they had not even bothered to go the source, choosing instead to make up their own answers to the questions that were none of their business.

Not that he could have answered them, even if he wanted to. His ever-mysterious relationship with Amy Abbot was just as mysterious to him. He had no idea who she was to him, or who he was to her. All he knew was that whenever he thought of her, his heart seemed to beat a little faster, his body seemed to feel a little lighter, and his mind seemed to be able to think of nothing but her.

He walked into the room, throwing himself on the bed, and sighed appreciatively as he sunk down into the mattress like a stone into the cool, soothing water. He opened his eyes after a moment, his gaze focusing on the dartboard hanging on the wall in front of him.

There were nine darts, all gathered close together around the bulls eye, like a pack of wolves, or friends, daring anyone to try to take them down or pull them apart. But there was one other dart, whose fortune was far worse. It was alone, on the outside, a single dart, right between the green and grey outer rings.

His life was a lot like that dartboard. At school, he was that single dart, stuck in between green and grey, outside the pack.

The dartboard was also his relationship with Amy. He had aimed for her heart, and hit it…nine times out of ten. Nevertheless, those nine times did not seem to be enough for her. She wanted all eleven, twelve, and thirteen. She seemed to want more darts than he could provide, and he wondered for a moment if he would ever be able to truly win with her.

Closing his eyes, he sank further and further down into the mattress, drifting to sleep with the soft sounds of the party below in his ears.

//Dream\\

Everything was green and grey. The piano was a dark green, the keys a pale grey. His hands were grey, the sweaters and pants around him were all different shades of green. It was like a demented world of colors where nothing existed but the colors of his mind.

He could hear himself playing the piano; Feel his fingers against the cold ivory, painting a picture with notes. But it was as though he was outside his body- He was standing next to himself, his hand on his own shoulder.

He was downstairs, at the party, but the world was frozen around him. Time had reached down with an icy finger and stopped everything. There was no movement, no sound but the notes of the piano, and even they were soft, like there were coming from a distance, instead of right behind him.

Movement caught his eye as he looked around the room; He looked in the direction of the distraction to see Amy walking toward him, grey from head to toe. As she stepped toward him, he turned green, green from top to bottom, inside and out.

And now in his hand, he held ten darts, all green, clumped together in his fist of green fingers. He took his hand off his double's shoulder and brought his other hand up, opening it, revealing the darts in his hands. Amy stopped calmly a few feet in front of him; She seemed to know what was happening, what was going to happen.

He drew out a dart and without another thought, took his aim and shot it at her. It hit her in the heart, sticking out of her as though she was nothing more than a dartboard. However, this did not stop him- He just pulled out another dart and shot it at her, one after the other, hitting her in the heart, in the bulls eye, until there was one dart left in his hand.

He glanced down at it, and then back at her. She was in no pain as she stood there, the nine darts protruding from her looked almost natural, like they had always been there, always been a part of her, and he had never noticed. She was beautiful, grey like a cloudy sky on an overcast day, a blur to him as he stood there, staring at her.

Taking a step back, he took his aim. This was it, he was going to win, was going to get ten out of ten, win her forever. But as he released the dart, he felt his hand slip, and watched in despair as the dart flew past her, out into the unknown. He did not know where it landed, but he guessed it was somewhere in between green and grey.

Amy calmly watched it go past her and then turned back to him, pulling the darts out of her chest and dropping them on the ground at her feet. There was no blood; no puncture wounds- The darts might as well have landed in another country.

They both stared at the darts as they drifted down to the floor, slowly, much slower than they should have. The darts made no noise as they settled on the floor, a pile at her feet, and she stepped over them, closing the gap between them.

"What do you want from me, Ephram?"

There was something about her voice, something that told him this was it, and if he did not tell her, did not say it, it would never come true. Shaking, he opened his mouth, trying to speak, but the words would not come.

As he stood there, looking at her, all grey, and himself, all green, he wondered why feelings so strong made his body so weak. But he forced himself to open his mouth again, forced out the words that were trapped within him.

"I want you to love me." He whispered, barely able to speak.

With those words, the colors shifted, returning to normal. There were blues and whites and reds and greens and purples and yellows and grays. Greens and Grays. Everything was vibrant in his eyes. He was back in his own body, his hands playing the white keys of a black piano. Turning on the bench, he looked behind him.

Every single person in the room seemed to be standing behind him, staring at him, all eyes upon him. All eyes upon him, except the two that mattered the most. Amy was nowhere to be found, she wasn't in the group of people, and he could not see her anywhere behind them.

Then he heard his voice. "Ephram."

"Amy." He whispered.

"Ephram." Her voice was getting louder, more insistent. "Come on, Ephram. EPHRAM!"

//End Dream\\

"EPHRAM!"

He opened his eyes quickly. The first thing he saw were her eyes, looking down into his as she bent over him, shaking him softly. Once she noticed he was awake, she stopped, though she did not move. She just sat down next to him on the bed, still so close, yet so far away.

Her hair was framing his face; reaching out, he tucked one side behind her ears, and then the other, finally entangling both his hands in it, and drawing her down to his lips, kissing her softly.

She moved closer to him, about to kiss him back, but he leaned back, smiling at her. "Yes?"

"I just came to see what you were doing up here." She said, leaning back as well. "You're all by yourself."

He chuckled. "I have a comic and a Discman. They're all the friends I need."

"You don't need me?" Her voice had a different tone to it, the same one it had in the dream when she had asked him what he wanted from her.

"I'll always need you."

She nodded, once to herself, and then he watched as a tear slid down her cheek. He brought his hand to her cheek, wiping it away gently, and she leaned down, kissing him softly again, her tears running down her cheeks and hitting his, making his face as tear-streaked as her own.

He broke away, wiping away another tear, and looked her in the eyes. She looked so lost, so very gray, as if she was broken, but at the same time, she had a look of understanding and acceptance in her eyes.

"Amy, what's wrong?"

She smiled bravely at him, a grin through her tears. "Nothing Ephram. Everything is ok."

She moved, lying down next to him, and rested her head on his chest. He could feel her tears still falling, like liquid heat, burning through his shirt. Rubbing her back softly, he kissed her head, gently, laying back against his pillows, and closing his eyes, wondering if maybe, just maybe, those nine were enough for her.

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