A.N. Hi, readers! Ok, so even though I have three million things to do that are way more important than this, I figured I'd take some time and write another chapter for this story, especially in light of what happened on SAB this week. I, too, was super disappointed in Emmett's actions, but I'm still supportive of his relationship with Bay. Don't get me wrong; I do not support cheating in any way, but especially with the different things he was going through…I can cut him a LITTLE slack. Really what I wanna see is Emmett essentially grovel for Bay's attention, forgiveness, love, etc. I think it's because Emmett is always that I'm-going-to-put-on-this-façade-of-being-macho-and-in-control person, and I really want to see him have to make himself vulnerable to beg for Bay's forgiveness. Guess we'll see what happens this week, next week, and during the last 10 episodes! I'm thinking about inserting the Simone-Emmett thing into this story, but I wanna know what you think, readers…

Oh, and the reason that I've taken the Travis-Bay route is because I'm kind of fascinated by Travis as a character, and I could actually picture something happening between him and Bay, if I weren't such an avid Bay/Emmett supporter. You'll understand more of my perspective with the next couple of chapters. Thank you confusednikki24-7, Madi, Paper Angels, kittenamos, SamWlover, xRainbowNinjax, Akward Alex, and DancingintheRayne for your reviews. I do know that not all parents of deaf children sign, Akward Alex, but I did not think that the percentage of those who do not was that high; did you get that based on a study? If so, could you tell me which one? I'd be interested to know. Also, while not all speech therapists or doctors will recommend learning ASL, I don't think that MOST won't. As a matter of fact, speech therapists recommend learning ASL for many hearing children who have trouble learning to speak, as a way of facilitating their language expression. Just thought I'd insert that in there.

And now, after this LOOOOONNGGG A.N., here we go…

What he observed next, though, made him clench his fists, holding them tightly against his side. Standing not two feet away from Bay, Travis was flinging paint while darting glances at her every few seconds. Emmett had never seen the guy's face so happy before, but at this moment, he couldn't have cared less. What he saw was Travis looking at Bay in the way that only Emmett should be looking at her.

Emmett's heart sunk. Travis was into Bay…and he lived right down the hall from her.

Here we go again….

Or not. Because while Emmett Bledsoe may be lots of things, he was certainly not stupid. Emmett was smart enough to realize that when he had shown his jealous side before, Bay hadn't been a huge fan of it. Therefore, showing his jealousies of Travis to Bay? Yeah, not the best idea. That's why Emmett decided to walk over and tap Bay on the shoulder, making his presence known to her (and Travis).

"Emmett, hi!" Bay exclaimed, turning to him in response to his touch. He leaned down and kissed her. Ok, so just because he wasn't going to be blatant about his jealousy doesn't mean that he couldn't show Travis who Bay was with, alright? One point to me for passive aggression.

"Oh my goodness!" Bay continued, glancing down at her watch. "I didn't realize it was so late! Sorry," she apologized to him.

He shook his head, brushing off her apology. "It's fine. You ready to go?" he teased. He looked her meaningfully up and down. While the pizza place wasn't exactly a fancy dinner, she couldn't exactly go in the clothes she was currently wearing. Her shirt, jeans, and shoes were all splattered with paint, not to mention the paint still on her face.

"Hm, maybe I'll go and change," Bay grinned. Emmett lifted his hand up to her face, brushing his thumb over the paint she had right above her top lip. Her eyes, bright with laughter, connected with his, and he slowly lowered his lips to hers again. It was a gentle but thorough kiss, one they both felt. It was a kiss that anyone observing them would see the emotion they felt for each other in it. (And he did.)

When they separated, Bay turned around, gathering up her brushes to wipe them off. She was slightly startled to see Travis still there; she had forgotten he was there.

"Oh, right, uh, Travis. Emmett and I are going out, so I'm just going to go change. Do you want to stay in here and continue?" she signed quickly, feeling bad for making Emmett wait.

"Nah," Travis declined. "Thanks, though. I'll clean up here if you want to go get ready."

Bay beamed at him. "Thanks! See ya later!" She turned to Emmett. "I'll be ready in 10 minutes, ok?"

Emmett nodded, his eyes following her exit from the garage. When she was gone, his eyes snapped back to Travis and he took a few steps closer to the other guy.

"Listen, you may live here temporarily," Emmett signed, his hands moving swiftly. "But I am not here temporarily. I may not live here, but Bay and I are together."

Travis smirked at him. "Back off. I know you're with Bay. What does that have to do with me?"

Emmett's blood started to boil. "Don't play stupid," he snapped. "I came in and saw how you were looking at her. I've already dealt with someone else who used to look at her that way, too, ok? And you know what? Bay and I are still together, no matter all the stuff we've been through."

Travis raised his eyebrows at Emmett, skeptically.

Emmett clenched his fists again. "You're deaf, I'm deaf; don't pretend you don't know what I'm saying or what I'm talking about. We're both on a level playing field-or wait," Emmett paused and looked meaningfully at Travis, "we're not, because I'm with Bay and you're not."

Apparently that's what it took to make Travis snap because he instantly responded with, "Yeah, well I live with Bay and you don't. I'm the one who she has dinner with her and runs into her in her pajamas in the morning," and here Travis paused for effect, "and at night."

Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it, Emmett thought to himself. Don't punch him, no matter how much you want to…don't punch him…or shove him… don't do it.

Fortunately, Bay arrived then, interrupting them. "Ready now! We going?"

Emmett smiled at her, once again, so grateful that she was his girlfriend. "Let's go," and he put his arm around her shoulders as they left, his eyes darting back haughtily to Travis.

Travis slowly put away the brushes after washing them. Oddly enough, the time he had spent with Bay splattering paint all over had been one of the best times of his life. Pretty pathetic, huh? He barely knows a girl, but the first time he has a real conversation with her and spends some time with her makes it onto the top five moments of his life list.

He looked around at different art on the walls and laid around the space. Even though he'd only been with the Kennishes for a little over a week, he was starting to like it there. He didn't exactly feel at home there, but they all tried to communicate with him and weren't openly hostile. Travis knew that he came across as a jerk, but after growing up the way he did, he was wary of people.

Travis knew that people judged him. They thought he was super obnoxious and a waste of time to try to get to know. He may have been rude, but he wasn't stupid. Growing up in a home where his parents were both hearing and didn't bother to learn how to sign had been more difficult than words could express. He felt so alone all the time…even when he was in school. Although the people in school signed all the time and he could communicate with them, he couldn't help but be jealous of all these people whose families knew how to sign, encouraged their Deaf pride, and supported their method of communication. Thus, Travis was mad and jealous when he was in school, too, and often came across as rude to his peers and other people who tried to interact with him. This also left him nowhere he could feel accepted or at home.

When he came to the Kennishes, he was skeptical about what good it would do for him. After all, they were hearing, too! Ok, so they had some crazy family situation where their biological daughter was deaf and they had to adapt to that, but still…how different could it be from what he was used to? When he finally moved in, though, he realized how different it was. John and Kathryn really tried to learn as much sign as possible, even though John was terrible at it. Toby was also in the process of learning some signs, although maybe he wasn't as into it as John and Kathryn. Regina and Daphne already knew sign, obviously, and Bay? Well, Bay was an entirely different story altogether.

Right from the start, Bay's fire intrigued him. She didn't take his attitude sitting down like others did. She got in his face from the beginning, letting him know that if she was expected to be polite, then he should be, too! And if he wasn't going to be polite, then she wasn't either! He might've scorned her, but inside, he actually kind of respected and admired her. Actually, Bay was probably the best signer out of all the Kennishes. Her signs were fluid and quick, except for the rare occasions when she didn't know how to say something.

Today, though, when she'd confronted him about his anger? That was probably the first time in several years that he'd let someone in, even a fraction of a bit. Then, when she'd dragged him to her garage to paint, he'd been doubtful at first, but it really was a lot of fun and a good outlet for emotions.

Of course, he hadn't anticipated it arousing certain other emotions…

Bay and Emmett were sitting at Paul's Pizza Place, enjoying their dinner. Emmett was eating his slice and talking to Bay simultaneously, which Bay was still kind of in awe at. Despite her becoming more and more fluent in ASL, she still hadn't managed to learn how to sign and eat at the same time. Therefore, she left most of the chatting to him and just watched. Whenever she wanted to respond, she'd place down her pizza and sign her response, then pick her pizza back up.

"So why haven't you and I painted anything together yet? You've been featured in my pictures, obviously. Why don't I get to paint anything with you?" Emmett asked, stealing a fry from Bay's plate, dipping it into the ketchup on her plate, and popping it in his mouth, grinning at Bay's faux-upset look.

She put down her pizza and said, "First of all, don't steal my fries! You have your own!"

"Yeah, but I ate all of mine already," Emmett said, still grinning, and stealing another fry. Bay tried to slap his hand but he moved too fast and just smiled triumphantly at her while chewing his second stolen fry.

Bay rolled her eyes at him. "You and I did try to paint together once, remember? It ended up with an awesome billboard, but also you in jail and upset with me. Ringing any bells now?"

"I wasn't upset at you!" Emmett defended himself.

Bay looked at him with a "get-real" look on.

"I wasn't!" he insisted.

"Then why wouldn't you talk to me for 3 days after you got released?" Bay pushed.

"I wasn't really mad at you…I just felt like you wouldn't be able to understand, and I was really mad at hearing people!" he stated.

"Ok, ok. But still, it didn't exactly end in lots of fun and joy for either of us, did it?" Bay pointed out.

"I don't know, you looked pretty joyful when I showed you the billboard," he said.

"True, but after that, it wasn't all fun and games!" Bay insisted, trying to make him see.

Emmett looked at her questioningly. "Do you really not want me to help you paint or do art with you? Just tell me the truth," he said, hurt. Why was Travis allowed to paint with her and he wasn't?

"No, no, no." Bay shook her head. "It's not that I don't want you to help me. C'mon, you know I love spending time with you. And spending time doing art I love with the guy I love? Why wouldn't I want that? I just- after last time, I was a little hesitant."

Emmett smiled. "So you and I are going to work on a project together?" He was honestly excited, although not entirely sure why. Maybe he just wanted to spend time with Bay. Maybe he just wanted to show himself, Bay, and Travis that Travis wasn't the only one who paint with Bay.

Bay looked at him closely, seeing through his casual veneer. "You know that you're one of my biggest inspirations, right?"

Emmett's smile grew bigger and more genuine. He bounced his eyebrows a couple of times and said, "How big?" and leaned across the table.

Bay stood up a little, leaned over too, and met his lips in the middle for a kiss. She pushed him away after a few seconds. "Eh, big enough," she said, and sat back down with a saucy smirk.

Emmett grabbed a few more of her fries in retaliation and threw one at her. "Very funny," but he laughed with her.

Emmett dropped Bay off, lingering for a few minutes with her before he headed home.

He wondered why he had ever thought that hearing-deaf relationships couldn't work; what did he know back then? Ok, so he was judging all hearing people based on the various people he'd encountered out and about in the world, people who pointed at him or stared at him. He hadn't realized that Regina wasn't the only hearing person who was a good person. Back then, he hadn't even imagined that he could be so happy.

And, as he leaned against his bike, Bay leaning against him, his arms encircling her waist, he couldn't remember ever feeling so content or happy. It made him wonder about his parents. Were they ever as happy as he and Bay were? Were they ever as content as he was in this moment with Bay? They couldn't have been, right, because there's no chance that things could've spiraled so much out of control, them fighting constantly and then getting a divorce, if they had felt even half of what he felt with Bay. Thinking of his parents' (non)relationship made him grip Bay tighter, eager to hold on to her, figuratively and literally, for fear that she'd leave.

A minute later, Bay tried to loosen his grip around her so she could head inside; it was getting kind of chilly out. He kept his tight grip on her, though, not letting her leave him just yet.

She must've sensed something in his hold, though, because she turned her body around, still within his grasp, and tipped her head up to look at him. "What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"Nothing," he said, brushing off her question. When she remained staring at him, waiting for an honest answer, he said, "I just-" and he broke off. He wasn't good at this. He wasn't good at exposing this vulnerable side of him, and his relationship with Bay had seen too many of those moments already. She'd seen him vulnerable through his parents divorce, through everything that happened with Ty, and now remembering his parents' divorce? What was he, a girl?

"You know you can tell me anything," Bay signed slowly and meaningfully, gazing into his eyes.

Aw, what the heck. "I just don't want to lose you," he confessed.

Bay tilted her head in askance. "Lose me? Why would you lose me? You're not going to lose me," she reassured him. "I'm not going anywhere."

He smiled at her, a bit wanly, but still a smile. "I know," he signed, and embraced her.

She pulled back after a few seconds and he finally released her from his grip. "C'mon," she said, grabbing his hand.

He halted, and pulled her back a little. "Wait, where are we going? I need to get home soon. My mom…"

Bay smirked at him. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course, but-"

"Then come on," she said, pulling him again. She led him into her garage and turned on the light. "Wow, Travis did a good job cleaning up. Didn't see that one coming," she said, then headed over to a corner of the garage, and taking out a painting that was covered in a small sheet of some sort.

"Remember that assignment I told you my art teacher gave us? Doing an interpretation of something meaningful to us?" Bay asked him, holding the painting close to her so he couldn't see anything. "And remember how I said I had a few ideas of what to do for it?"

Emmett nodded, indicating she should go on.

"Well, when she first gave us the assignment, I thought of using this one that I made because it really represents something meaningful to me," Bay continued, still holding the painting tightly.

Emmett nodded again, unsure where she was going with this all and why she had to tell him this now.

"But I emailed the teacher and asked her if I could hand in something that I had already done. She emailed me back an hour ago and said no and that the painting has to be something that I do new for the assignment. So I'm thinking that maybe you should have this," Bay said, slowly uncovering the painting.

Emmett waited to see what was on the canvas. When it was finally revealed, his heart jumped.

Bay had painted a profile picture of two pairs of crossed arms forming an "x". He recognized one pair as his arms and the other as Bay's; the arms and chests visible in the picture clearly wearing the outfits that he and Bay had been wearing when they first told each other they loved each other. The background was painted an assortment of colors, all swirling together to make the center of the picture, the message of the picture, that much clearer.

Bay looked at him hesitantly. "What do you think?"

"This is amazing," he signed slowly, barely able to tear his gaze away from the painting.

"I'm glad you like it. It's for you to keep," Bay said, a small smile on her face at his reaction.

Emmett was honestly blown away. The pure art of the piece combined with its message was fantastic. He grabbed Bay in a heartfelt kiss, deepening the kiss after a moment.

After five minutes of making out, he regretfully pulled back. "I wish I could stay and do this all night, but I have to go."

"One night we'll do this all night," Bay said, shocking him.

"Soon?" he asked, smiling slyly.

"Soon enough," Bay laughed at him, and walked him out to his bike.

He stored the painting carefully and gave her one last passionate kiss before speeding off home. He greeted his mother briefly when he arrived, locked the door after him, and headed into his room. He didn't have a nail on his wall that he could hang the painting on, but figured he'd nail one in in the morning. He leaned the painting temporarily against the little table next to his bed, feeling happier and more content that he'd ever thought possible.

A.N. I know it's not as long as the last chapter, but I hope you guys enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you think! I probably won't be able to update for another week because I have so much to do, though. Sorry in advance!