Author's Note - First GLC fanfiction. Just a oneshot that came to me after watching Duncans Got Talent (so there are spoilers here). Basically, the idea came to me after the end of the episode when Emmett runs away shouting, "Stay away from me!" I sincerely hope this is not the writers' way of getting rid of Emmett's crush on Teddy. I like his crush. I think it's adorable and very Steve Urkel like. Thus, I had to set about getting things back to normal between them and this oneshot was born.

So, obviously, this is a Teddy/Emmett fic (but this particular ficlet isn't beyond friendship...on Teddy's part). I don't even know if there's anyone else out there into Teddy/Emmett like I am, but I thought I'd publish this anyways. Oh and if you are into Teddy/Spencer, please don't flame me. I have nothing against them. In fact, I think they're cute together too! I just like Teddy/Emmett more. Okay, I'm done rambling now.

Disclaimer: By now everyone should know that anyone posting on FFN probably doesn't own anything they are writing about. I don't even claim to know if this plot, any of the specific details, etc. have already been used somewhere in this section as I haven't read everything. So, my apologies if you feel I have stolen something from you. I promise it was unintentional!

Letter to Emmett

"It's a good thing people forget fast around here or I'd have to pretend like I don't know you," Ivy only semi-joked as she and Teddy walked through the school hallway. A few days earlier, Teddy had embarrassed herself and Emmett in the school talent show because she had stubbornly refused to believe Spencer when he'd told her she couldn't dance. Thankfully, like Ivy had pointed out, everyone had mostly forgotten the fiasco that had ensued on stage.

"Yeah, well, I don't think Emmett has forgotten," Teddy said as she thought about it. "I think he's still avoiding me. I mean, he's gotten past the whole 'stay away from me' mantra, but now he just hurries past. Not even a 'hi, Teddy' or 'you look great today, Teddy' like before." Teddy had never been keen on Emmett's crush on her, but now she felt like things between them were more awkward than ever. She hadn't meant to hurt him or embarrass him and she wanted nothing more than to apologize, but every time she tried to tell him, he wouldn't give her a chance.

"Girl, please tell me you're not complaining about this," Ivy stopped and looked at Teddy like she'd lost her senses completely. "Do you really want to hear a 'hi' or 'you look great today' from Emmett? I mean, this solves everything. Now you don't have to worry about his delusional and mildly creepy crush on you."

"Believe me," Teddy nodded and gave a slight chuckle. "I've definitely considered that."

"Then what's the problem?" Ivy raised an eyebrow, almost worried that her best friend had suddenly developed feelings for someone who was, in her opinion, very obviously beneath Teddy.

"I don't know," Teddy said as she continued wrestling with her conscience. "I just don't feel right not apologizing. I mean, if he's over the crush, then that's great right? But I don't want it to be because he's afraid of me or angry at me. I mean, he's still P.J.'s best friend and I don't want him to stop hanging out with him because of me or anything. And, I mean, did you see the bandage? I might have really hurt him and…"

"Teddy, come back to Earth," Ivy stopped her friend as she began to ramble. "I think you're seriously over thinking this thing, but you go ahead and do what you gotta do. Just don't blame me when you have creeper crushin' on you again because you just had to make peace, got it?" Ivy shook her head as the warning bell rang and they both headed to their respective classes.

I know Ivy means well, Teddy thought to herself as she sat down in an open seat and pulled out her notebook. And maybe she's right. I've finally got Emmett off my back. Maybe that's a good thing. So why doesn't it feel good? Gah, I don't care what happens. I have to do the right thing and make sure he understands how sorry I am. But how?

Teddy tapped her pen on the notebook as she barely paid attention to the teacher and instead tried to think of a way to apologize to Emmett. She had considered giving her message to P.J. to relay to him, but she doubted the ability of her brother to remember it word for word if he remembered to tell his friend at all. Additionally, it seemed pretty insincere to apologize via a mediator. She considered a text message, but "I M SRY" seemed hardly satisfactory. An email might work, she considered, although it seemed kind of impersonal.

"Take out your notes for…" she heard the teacher say dryly as inspiration struck her.

That's it! Teddy exclaimed inside her head. She opened her notes as the teacher asked, but she also pulled out a loose sheet of paper and set it on top. If Emmett was going to make it difficult for her to give him an apology face to face, she would just have to put everything into words.

"Emmett, we need to talk," Ivy tracked him down between classes.

Emmett rolled his eyes and kept on walking. "Yeah right."

"I'm serious. Why else would I bother talking to your sorry butt if it wasn't important?"

"What could you possibly want?" Emmett turned and looked at her incredulously.

"I want a lot of things," Ivy retorted, knowing it wasn't what he meant. Despite the fact that what she had to say was important, she couldn't resist annoying him for no reason.

"I mean from me," Emmett's already short patience was growing shorter and he turned on his heel and started walking again.

Ivy realized she shouldn't waste anymore time. "I want you to leave Teddy alone."

"Leave her alone!" Emmett turned once more to face her. "I've barely seen her since the…talent show. What do you want me to do? Move to another country?"

"As appealing as that sounds," Ivy scrunched her nose a little, "I mean, you need to leave her alone by not leaving her alone. Got it?"

"No, I don't got it," Emmett shook his head in agitation. Why couldn't Ivy just make sense for once?

"Look, you need to give the girl a break. Every time you avoid her it makes her feel even guiltier. Teddy's practically bursting at the seams to apologize to you," Ivy wasn't one for keeping secrets, not that she thought this even counted since she hadn't officially been sworn to secrecy. "Not that I know why. Like you deserve the effort."

Emmett wore a blank expression for a moment before turning and walking faster than he had before. Ivy struggled to keep up amidst all of the other students, but thankfully he stopped at his locker and she was able to catch up. "Would you just go away?" Emmett practically pleaded.

"Not until you promise me you'll stop this nonsense and let the girl at least apologize. After that, by all means, go ahead and avoid her." Ivy put a hand on her hip as she waited for a response, but he remained silent. "Oh for goodness sake. Man up, Emmett. If you ever really cared for Teddy, you at least owe her this one little thing."

"Hey now!" Emmett suddenly got defensive. "You don't know what goes on in my head. Or heart. So just stay out of this." He turned his attention to the combination on his locker.

"I knew talking to you would be a waste of time," Ivy narrowed her eyes at him before storming off.

"I knew talking to you would be a waste of time," Emmett mimicked in frustration. "Yeah, if you knew what it's like to be me right now…psh…you still wouldn't understand," he gritted his teeth as he flung the locker door open. To his surprise a piece of folded paper dropped instantly to the ground. Confused as to who would put a note in his locker instead of just texting him or using some other similar technological means, Emmett bent down and picked up the letter. He froze a little upon inspecting it. He would have known that handwriting anywhere even if it hadn't said "From: Teddy" on it.

He couldn't help but smile as he eyed the somewhat juvenile means of communication. His smile turned into a sigh, but he was broken from his sudden reverie as the warning bell rang and he was forced to quickly grab what he needed and hurry to class.

As he sat down in the very back of the classroom, his attention returned to the letter. Neatly printed were the words "please read" and Emmett immediately guessed it probably had something to do with what Ivy had been hounding him about. He wanted to read it, more than anything, but he struggled with making himself actually unfold it. At last, the better part of his judgment won out and he discreetly unfolded the letter so not to call any attention to himself.

Hey Emmett, for a moment these were the only words he could focus on. It felt like some strange dream. Teddy had actually taken the initiative to write him. Of course, his joy quickly faded as he recalled the situation that prompted her to do so to begin with. Thus, he forced himself to continue reading.

Hey Emmett,

How are you? How's your nose? I know you've been avoiding me and that you have every right to, but I've really been wanting to talk to you. So, since you don't want to be anywhere near me and I can't trust P.J. to relay the message and it won't all fit in a text, I figured maybe you'd be okay with at least reading a letter. Look, I'm really sorry about everything. I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to embarrass you. And I'm really sorry if it seems like I just used you because I was mad at Spencer. I guess I'm not the perfect Teddy Bear you imagined me to be am I, lol. If you don't like me anymore, I totally understand. I mean, it's probably for the best anyways since…well, you know. But I hope that doesn't mean we can't still at least be cool with each other. You're my brother's best friend and a great guy, so I hope I didn't scare you away from the Duncan house completely. Although my dad probably wouldn't mind… Again, I'm really sorry. If I could go back and stop the talent show from happening, I would. But I can't so I guess it's up to you whether or not you accept my apology.

Your Friend?
Teddy D.

P.S. I feel extremely dorky writing this letter and I bet you feel dorky reading it, but if it makes things right again, it's worth it on my end!

P.P.S. Please write back… Okay, I totally just added that for nostalgic purposes, lol. But I guess I would love to at least hear something from you.

Teddy sat alone in her room, wishing Ivy didn't have a doctor's appointment. She'd already completed her homework, her mom and Charlie were at daycare, and neither Gabe nor P.J. had made it home yet for one reason or another – not that her brothers would make for much company anyways. Still, Teddy was bored to say the least and it didn't help that her thoughts were pretty much consumed with the letter she had written to Emmett earlier that day.

After fiddling with her camcorder for a few moments, Teddy finally decided to occupy her time with a video. And while she didn't mean to vent, she found herself telling Charlie all about her situation with Emmett. "So he didn't write me back and I haven't talked to him or seen him either. I don't know what that means, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Maybe Ivy is right and I should just let the whole thing go. All I know is…"

Teddy was startled by the light banging of drums outside of her room. She looked into the camera again with a concerned expression before it struck her who it had to be. Shutting the camera quickly, she got up and peeked out of her door. Sure enough, Emmett sat there playing his drums, but P.J. was nowhere around.

"You're getting better." After eavesdropping on his solo for a few moments, Teddy made her presence known and stepped out into the basement's recreational room.

She had somewhat expected him to be as startled as she had been or for him to make a quick getaway. Instead, Emmett spun around on his seat to face her calmly enough, although he wasn't quite able to make eye contact. "Thanks," he muttered.

"What were you playing? Something you and P.J. wrote? Speaking of P.J., where is he?" Teddy looked around as if to emphasize her curiosity over her missing brother.

"P.J.'s on his way. He told me to meet him here," Emmett explained. He then cleared his throat a little before answering her other question. "And, yeah, it's just a little piece called Emmett Forgives Teddy." He looked up at her finally, flinching a little as he anticipated what her reaction might be.

"Well, it sounds really ni-" Teddy's eyes widened as her mind processed what she had heard. "You mean you…and my letter and…really?"

"Look," Emmett stood up, still nervously fiddling his drumsticks in his hands. "I'm really the one who needs to apologize."

"For what?"

"For avoiding you the past few days for one thing," he answered. "I definitely didn't mean to make you feel guilty about what happened."

Teddy wasn't sure how to respond. "But I completely embarrassed you at the talent show and I practically used you. And what about your nose?" She pointed at the small bandage that rested underneath the rims of his glasses. "I would have avoided me too."

"Well, yeah, it was all a big shock at first. And I definitely did not want to take another hit from you," Emmett laughed a little. "Call it wounded male ego I guess." It was the only logical explanation he could think of, even if it was a hard blow for guys everywhere. "But…"

"But?" Teddy was still confused as she listened to him.

"But after the shock and wounded pride wore off, I realized something," Emmett paused. "At first, I was running away from you because I blamed you and Spencer for everything that happened. Then, it hit me that it was just as much my fault as it was Spencer's. And it wasn't really your fault at all." He could see she was starting to understand a little. He continued, "I saw how horrible of a dancer you were and I should have told you. Between me and Spencer, maybe you would have realized it was true and none of this would have happened."

"Yeah, but you didn't want to hurt my feelings," Teddy tried to reason with him. "I get it. That was Spencer's reason too. So, you both lied to spare me. At least you didn't also lie to spare yourself embarrassment." She, of course, meant Spencer although she meant no harm in the accusation. He had every right to not want to be completely embarrassed and she should have trusted him. "I mean, you totally supported me. You knew it could end up being a disaster and went out on that stage with me anyways. Sure, you weren't truthful, but…"

"Don't give me too much credit," Emmett finally interrupted her. "The main reason I didn't tell you is because I knew you were using me as a rebound." Teddy's mouth hung open a little at his confession. "I saw an opportunity and I took it. I figured, maybe if I supported you where Spencer hadn't you guys wouldn't make up. I figured if I could harness your lack of dance skills just enough to get through the talent show, then I'd be the hero. I lied because I wanted you to see me differently." Emmett looked down, not liking the expression of confusion and astonishment on Teddy's face. "Still think I'm a great guy?" He half-laughed as he asked it.

"I don't know what to say." Now Teddy was the one avoiding eye contact with Emmett.

"Look, Teddy, I accept your apology, but you really shouldn't have wasted your time feeling sorry for me. I got what I deserved."

"We both got what we deserved," Teddy added quickly, trying to remind him that they were both guilty of manipulating the situation. Even if he had used it to his own advantage as well, she had used him. She had know full well that Emmett would support her if for no other reason than his crush on her.

"And now you know why I've been avoiding you the past few days." Emmett got to his final point. He had started and now he had to follow through. "Once I realized what I did, I couldn't face you. If you figured out I had lied for my own reasons, well, let's just say any little chance I ever had with you would have been gone. I just wanted to let everything blow over and then pick up where we left off." There was short silence before Emmett relented. "But who am I kidding? It's not like I ever had a chance." That was the last blow his ego could stand. He had said what he needed to, hopefully given Teddy the relief she needed and probably ruined all, if any existed, respect she might have had for him. Head hanging slightly, he started towards the stairs.

However, he stopped when he heard Teddy exclaim, "Hey now!" He turned around and saw her looking squarely at him. "That's not the slightly obnoxious, but otherwise harmless Emmett I know." He raised an eyebrow, not quite sure what to think. "And for your information, I do still think you're a great guy. Maybe not the guy for me, but…" she bobbled her head from side to side, not sure how else to put it.

"You said maybe not!" All other thoughts vanished from Emmett's mind as his enthusiasm was renewed. "You didn't say definitely not. You just said maybe."

He had a point. Teddy suddenly debated whether or not to humor him or avoid leading him on at all costs. "Okay, so I said maybe," she finally settled on admitting her word choice and moving on quickly before it could be discussed further. "But, if we both just act like this talent show thing never happened, maybe we can just go back to normal. You can like me or not like me, that's your choice, but we can maybe even be better friends than before. What do you say?"

Emmett smiled, but tried to control himself. He was back in Teddy's good graces and then some. He didn't want to blow it again. "I'd like that," he nodded. Although, on the inside he was screaming, I still like you! I'll always like you!

"Great," Teddy returned the smile. She then realized she still had her camera in hand. "I've got to tell Charlie how everything turned out!" She flipped open the camera and beckoned for Emmett to join her before pressing record. "Hey, Charlie! Well, everything worked out between me and Emmett. See, here he is now. I don't think you've met him before, but he's P.J.'s best friend and a really great guy."

"And your future brother-in-law," Emmett added playfully as he pointed back and forth between himself and Teddy a few times.

"Ha ha ha," Teddy laughed sarcastically. Yep. Everything's back to normal, she thought, but she wouldn't change it for a thing. "So, Charlie, if someday you ever find yourself in an awkward situation because your boyfriend lied and you used a friend who's crushing on you and it turns out he was using you too, well then…" Teddy suddenly stopped and looked at Emmett anxiously. She hoped she hadn't pushed it too far already and hurt his pride again.

Thankfully, Emmett just smiled. He was just as glad for things to be back to normal as she was. "Good luck, Charlie," he finished.

The End

If you took the time to read it, thank you so very much. Hope you enjoyed it at least a little bit. When writing this, I honestly kept wondering (since I'm in college), if anyone even still writes letters back and forth with their friends at school. It's amazing how disconnected with the high school scene a person can become after only a handful of years!