"Why then did your parents hide the photo? Why did your mom snatch away the photo from you when you held it? You just don't want to admit what you already know," Dylan said.
"You're not helping in any way, Dylan. Just let me be. I will sort this out alone, as always," Amy said, stressing the words alone and as always.
"You're right. You're miss independent. Why do you need me anyway when you can take care of yourself alone? I'm tired of being a fallback plan. I'm tired of you choosing everyone else over me every f*cking time. I thought you could change, but you can't because I'm not even important to you," Dylan said in a breaking voice as he thought back to how long he had fought for his love.
"You got it wrong, Dylan. I love you," Amy interrupted, but Dylan shook his head and said, "You'll tell me that today but when a problem comes up, and I try to help, you don't let me. You instead try to tell me how wrong I am. I'm never doing this again, Amy. I need to respect myself, so please, don't call me because I will come running back to you then, and I will leave heartbroken again."
Amy looked at him compassionately as she thought back to the fateful evening when doubts about her relationship with Steph cropped up.
FLASHBACK
"Thank God you passed by," Marina, Amy's mother, shouted in joy.
"Come on, mom. I was here less than a week ago," Amy said, rolling her eyes as she moved to hug her mother and sister, Mabel.
"I know, that's not what I meant," Marina said, her excitement level driving Amy crazy. "Do you know what date it is?"
Amy looked at her questioningly and turned to look at the calendar on the wall, then answered in the affirmative.
"June 10th," she replied ignorantly, and Marina and Mabel broke into a fit of laughter, making Amy squint her eyes to check the dates again.
"Okay, what is funny? It's June 10th unless you guys are using a different calendar," Amy said as she shook her head in confusion.
"Come on, Amy. Did you forget mom and dad will be celebrating their anniversary the day after tomorrow?" Mabel asked between laughter, and Amy slapped her forehead as she said, "My bad! I totally forgot about it,"
"Mom is excited because you're here to help her find her passport. I have looked for it, but I can't find it," Mabel said, and Amy looked from her sister to her mother, then exclaimed, "Really?"
A few minutes later, she was in her parents' room, opening the drawers and checking every file in her search for the passport.
Her mother was packing a few clothes when she felt Amy's eyes on her.
"How comes I have never seen this photo? Is this me and Steph? Why is it not in the albums with the other photos?" Amy asked as she got up and walked towards Marina, the photo in her hands. Marina quickly snatched the photo from her and said, "I don't know, I might just have forgotten to put it with the others."
"But why is Steph in that photo?" Amy asked.
"Hey, what's happening here? It looks like a pigsty," Raymond, Amy's father, asked, and Marina breathed out a sigh of relief.
"I can't get my passport. Amy was helping me look for it," Marina answered as she slightly tilted her head for Raymond to place a peck on her cheeks.
"Yeah. I noticed it was in this bag," Raymond said as he opened his suitcase to remove Marina's passport. All the while, Amy stood looking at the two in confusion.
She could tell Marina was happy with Raymond's interference, but she wasn't going to let the story rest.
"Mom, why is Steph in that photo? A photo is hidden from the rest. Is there anything you want to tell me?" Amy asked, and Marina looked at her angrily and said, "I already told you. We're family friends, that's why,"
"You said you didn't know the Lees until you met during our preschool graduation!" Amy went on, and Marina looked at Raymond, asking him through the eyes to intervene.
"Amy, listen to your mom. Can you also excuse us for a while?" Raymond asked.
Amy wordlessly walked out of the room for a while. She stood by the door to eavesdrop on her parents' conversation.
"How could you let her see that photo?" Raymond asked in anger.
"I totally forgot about it. Plus, she was just looking for my passport," Marina replied, and Raymond clicked his tongue.
"Pray she doesn't look deep into it. You know how Amy is," he added as he scuffled his feet.
Amy rushed to her bedroom from where she called Dylan.