"Eve... please, tell me you're joking." Emerald sits cross legged across from me on my bed. When she got here she could tell something was off. She could tell I'd been crying.

When I finally got her to let go of the tight hug she'd trapped me in, I sat her down and got straight to the point, "My mother wants me back." The words fell out of my mouth a lot more easily than I expected them to, as if I was telling her I'd just forgotten to do my homework, or something (which happens all too often). But the weight of them was evident as Emerald's face immediately dropped.

Shaking my head 'no', I turn my face away from her in case tears already start welling in my eyes. "I'm not joking."

"How— why— can that even—" Em is at a loss for words, which is honestly a rare occurrence. Out of the two of us, she's always been the more outgoing one, the less timid one. She can hold a conversation, she's funny, strong, and she can make friends easily. It makes me wonder why I'm her only one.

I reach over and grab the letter I'm beginning not to be able to stand the sight of, and hand it to her.

I watch as her eyes scan the paper. Those dark eyes, specked with... what was it? Honey.

"You're really not joking," she breathes as she hands me back the letter which I replace on my nightstand. I should really get around to cleaning it off. It's covered in books, papers, and empty water glasses. But my nightstand isn't my most pressing concern at the moment.

"Told you," I whisper.

"And March 23rd... that- that's the day after my birthday."

I nod my head in reply. Now we won't even be able to enjoy her birthday, knowing this'll be the only thing on my mind until the date— probably both our minds.

"Does everyone else know?" she asks me.

"Everyone else?"

"You know, Mikey, Ray, Frank?"

"Oh. No, I guess they don't. I only just found out this morning." But now that she mentions it, I now have another thing to dread.

I can almost picture the scene in my head when I inevitably have to break the news to everyone else in my life (or I might just get Gerard to do the dirty work for me). Frank will be angry, no doubt. Angry at my mother, at the system, at the letter itself which he might just tear in half. I wouldn't blame him, I'm about ready to do just that, but I'm not sure you're supposed to do that with a legal document kind of thing. Mikey will be just as devastated as us, him being my uncle we've grown close. And Ray, as always, will have to keep us all in one piece.

"Well, how about you? How are you holding up?" Em asks me, reaching over and taking my hand.

"I'm scared. I'm really fucking scared, Em." I confess. "I don't want to leave. I don't wanna leave Gee and Lindsey, I don't wanna leave Mikey and Frank and Ray, I don't wanna leave you... I- I love you."

I see tears well up in the eyes of girl sitting across from me as one rolls down my own cheek.

I never thought that this would be the context in which I'd speak the words "I love you" to my girlfriend for the first time. I'd always imagined it being spoken in a whisper. Maybe we'd be laying on the grass in the park, gazing up at the stars hand in hand. Everything would be perfect. Or maybe we'd just be cuddled together under blankets watching a movie, or just in content silence.

But now, it felt important.

The words left my mouth without my brain even telling them to. I need her to know. I need her to understand just how important she is to me, how I wouldn't be where I am today without her, how she's the first thing I think of when I wake up. There aren't enough words to describe those feelings, so a simple, "I love you" will have to suffice.

"I love you too, Evelyn Way."

With both of our faces streaked with tears, we hug. I hold Em tightly in my arms, breathing in her comforting scent, and she may be holding on even tighter. And then, well there's no sophisticated way to say that we made out.

• • •

When Em and I came downstairs after Lindsey called us down for supper, we were hand in hand. I brushed my fingers through her slightly disheveled hair, her cheeks rosy and mine too. What I forgot, though, was that Gerard and Lindsey weren't the only ones here with us.

I feel my cheeks heat up further as Frank winks at me as I sit down, a veggie burger on the plate in front of me. Summer may be gone, but we still eat burgers. Mikey catches the wink and laughs. I roll my eyes at the pair of them, and I'm pretty sure Gerard does too.

Frankie chuckles. "Hi, you two."

Ray smacks him lightly on the back of the head. "Leave them alone, Frank!"

"Hey—" He raises his hands in defence. "—I didn't do anything!"

"You sounded suggestive."

I turn to Emerald and mouth the words, I'm sorry. What I hope is an apologetic look is on my face. She leans over, whispering: "What can we expect from them?"

She and I endure more playful teasing throughout the meal until we're all done eating. Then, it's time for shit to get serious again. Emerald leaves after we hug goodbye, then everyone else gets settled in the living room.

"No fucking way. This isn't really happening." Is what Frank says after Gerard gets straight to the point.

"That's what I said," I mumble.

I'm curled up in one of the arm chairs. We got a second one for the living room after finally acknowledging how inconvenient having only one has been for everybody, and Ray is sat in the other one. Lindsey and Gerard are sitting as closely together on the couch as they could get, and he has one arm around her. Mikey and Frank took the couch, too. That is, until Frank jumped up from it in... protest, I guess?

"They can't fucking do that!" He raises his voice and I flinch slightly, though no one notices. I now know that I was completely right in expecting him to be the one to express the most anger over the situation. Openly, anyway, because I have a pillow I intend to use as a punching bag in the privacy of my own bedroom.

"We didn't think so either," Gee says glumly. "Apparently they can, though."

"Well they shouldn't be able to," Mikey declares. "She, Eve, is legally yours—" he looks at me. "You're ours! You're not going anywhere."

Although I'd love to believe that I'm not going anywhere, I still have to face the truth. "I don't think court cares about what we want." I'm not making eye contact with anyone, but rather staring down as I wring my hands in my lap.

"They still have to take our side into consideration." Ray reasons, trying to reassure me, or maybe himself and everybody else. "They won't just overlook everything that happened before and how much better off you are here. This is only happening because your m— that lady asked for a second chance, you know? It doesn't mean she has a shot."

I nod. It makes sense. At least, I hope it does.

"That sounds right," Lindsey confirms. "But I haven't exactly brushed up on law recently."

"Fuck the law," Frank grumbles, sitting back down on the couch between Gerard and Mikey, looking dejected.

"Yeah," Mikey agrees, trying to mask his discourage by injecting enthusiasm into his next sentence. "You're one of us, Eve! No matter what happens, you're a Way."

• • •

everybody say thanks for making Emerald's birthday on march 22nd