Written for the Everwood Flashfic challenge. For Jetblackberries.

Ephram wasn't paying attention, but he was sure the mayor was saying something about revolution in his Independence Day Address. The people of Everwood nodded collectively, took in the wisdom, then made their way to the barbecue.

Change didn't happen easily. Amy still avoided much of the Fourth of July celebration, and Ephram hadn't seen the Harts at all. What he did catch of Amy was across the park. They might have seen each other, but they didn't say anything. They would continue to pretend they didn't know the other was back in town. Kissing Amy's brother on a park bench made that very hard to do.

She hadn't caught them yet, but she was around every corner. Ephram had stolen her boyfriend first, now he was having trouble letting go of her brother. There were excuses, of course, most of them trapped in his head while Bright occupied his mouth. Keeping them in there was really for the best.

There was something so wrong with the world that this would happen on the Fourth of July. But then, Ephram had always known that Everwood had it in for him.

Ephram phoned home as soon as he got off the plane. Even before he went to look for his backpack, he wanted to make sure his dad would be out there waiting for him. A cab to Everwood was more than he wanted to spend, and he'd never make it alive if he rented a car.

There was no answer at home, just Delia's voice on the machine. She didn't sound different at all, but Ephram knew better. He knew that she just kept growing while he was gone, that there was a boy at school she wouldn't stop talking about, that Dad was getting a little worried.

Dad was also looking older himself, when Ephram finally spotted them waiting with ice cream.

"That one's yours," he said, pointing to the half-eaten, half-melted cone in Delia's hand. "Your flight was a little late."

Delia gave up the front seat for Ephram, and they headed for home. Traffic was horrible - "Worse when we were coming in," his dad said, and he started up again on why Ephram should have come home earlier.

There was no doubt that he was there already.

From the front seat of their SUV, Everwood didn't look much different from the first time Ephram saw it. It was plain, dressed up today in anticipation of the party tomorrow, but underneath the red, white, and blue bunting, the same Everwood he'd always known.

Last Christmas, Amy cut her hair short. Delia said she was growing it out again. They painted the library when Ephram was home for Spring Break. Dad said the protest to put it back was overwhelming. Everwood liked things they way they were, and for a while, that's what Ephram loved most about calling it home. It had been a year away now, and almost three since Colin, and he was ready for something to change.

Dad was halfway there. "How are your friends, Ephram?" That's just the warm-up question. He phoned last week to say that he had seen the Pride parade in Colorado on TV, and he wondered if Ephram would be going to the one in New York.

"Good. My friends are good."

"And any boyfriends I should know about?"

Ephram shook his head. "Not this time." He would be here in Everwood for the New York parade. There would be no Everwood Pride parade, but Dad was working on it.

Delia wanted him to see her practice out on the school basketball court.

"Your brother just got off a plane, Delia," Dad said, throwing Ephram's bag on his back with a grunt.

"It's fine, Dad. It's just sitting around, anyway." He turned to Delia. "Just let me take a shower? Get changed?"

Delia waited downstairs when he stepped into the bathroom for a quick shower, and was yelling for him as soon as he stepped out. "No dawdling," she shouted from the living room.

The first time Ephram came home from college, his bedroom was suddenly strange. The rest of the house felt fine, but, even after a few months, Ephram knew this wasn't his bedroom anymore. Stripped of personality and covered in a thin layer of dust, something wasn't right. But still, a rush of warm came over him every time he stepped inside. Like a first kiss all over again, and he always took a moment to let it wrap him up. That first kiss was long gone now, so he always took the moment.

He hadn't always hated the Fourth of July. The year before they came to Everwood, they spent the weekend in the Hamptons. Noni and Grandpa had come out for the barbecue on the beach, and Dad had made it, too, just in time for the fireworks. It was kind of picture perfect, and Ephram should have known something had to change.

He lost Delia and his dad not long after they arrived at Everwood's Fourth of July celebrations. He walked around a bit - the same booths as last year, the same food as the year before that. It didn't take long to get a 'hello' from everyone in town, so Ephram found an empty bench and sat down to watch and wait. That was usually when things happened.

He prepared a few words, should anyone find him. Amy had gone somewhere warm for Spring Break, and they hadn't even spoken since Christmas, but Delia said she was home now. Ephram didn't know what to say on the best of days, and he really didn't want to deal with today.

"Hey." The voice came from behind, then sat down next to him. Wrong Abbott, but Ephram still wasn't sure what to say.

There was a space on the bench between Bright and himself. He couldn't see it in their emails, or hear it over the phone, but Ephram knew it would always be there. Bright seemed to know it, too, which was why Ephram was shocked every single time Bright was able to reach across and kiss him. He made it all so easy.

Ephram's head was filled with his mom, and Colin, and Everwood, and everything else that stayed the same when he couldn't. When Bright's hand fell to his hip, Ephram moved closer on the bench until they were pressed against each other with no space in between. He groaned a little deep in his throat, and it only made Bright kiss harder, bite his jaw and neck, before taking his mouth again.

"They're watching," Ephram panted when Bright pulled away for breath. "They're watching us. Can you feel that?"

He nodded against Ephram's shoulder. "I think things are about to change."

07/31/03

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