Author's Note: Hey hey! So...third fanfiction is here. I really don't know if I support Briar/Sandry or Briar/Tris, but this idea just came to me when my sister came to me looking to borrow some lip balm, and Briar/Tris seemed to go best with the plotline. Anyway, enjoy! Just a OneShot, by the way, but I might continue it, depending on how much you guys like it. But the only way I will know if you guys like it is if you review it! So review.

Disclaimer: If I owned Tamora Pierce books, I would've put in more fluff.

How Much Turmoil Lip Balm Can Really Cause

Briar carefully tended his little tree, clipping off the buds with precision and tenderness. A sharp rap on the door came. "Come in," he called. His back turned to the door, he heard the rustle of skirts as somebody came up behind him. Briar snipped off the last bud, to the shakkan's protest, and carefully placed his scissors on the windowsill, then turned around.

A flashing pair of grey eyes like a beginning storm met his springy green ones and stunned him. "Woah, Coppercurls," he gaped, and stepped back against the window. "Why are you angry?"

Tris's pale eyebrows shot up. "What're you talking about? I'm not angry at all. I just came here to borrow some lip balm. I ran out, and my lips are dry and cracked after standing out on the tower at noon with Niko." She grimaced at the thought.

Briar shrugged. "I keep forgetting that your eyes always look like that."

"Like what?" She set her mouth in a warning line and folded her arms over her chest. Briar had definitely not overlooked her developing body, and it showed in the blatant stare he gave now to her breasts. Tris scowled at him. "Okay, now I'm mad. Stop staring at my chest and answer the question," she snapped.

He absently looked back at her and grinned, showing his straight white teeth. Tris's heart skipped a beat, and she thought, He really needs to stop doing that. "Your eyes look like a storm," Briar informed her frankly. "Like––like when you showed me on the wall, how the clouds form a storm. Like that."

She stared at him in surprise. "I didn't know you remembered that. It was so long ago–– like right when we came to Winding Circle. Well, your eyes look like...like, well, a briar," she grinned at him. "Remember when you showed me the briars you planted around your personal garden right at the beginning of springtime?"

He beamed, "Of course I do." They smiled at each other for awhile.

Finally, Tris cleared her throat and said, "Enough of the sentiments. So, can I borrow your lip balm?"

He came closer to her till Tris could estimate how long his curled eyelashes were. "You do know that if you use my lip balm, it would be like we had kissed?" She was about to retort back when he pressed his lips against hers.

It seemed as if several sunlit days passed (Author's Note: Credit to J.K. Rowling for that phrase––hope it's okay that I used it) while their lips stayed connected. Tris couldn't resist, she felt like lightning was crackling on her lips while cool leaves soothed the electricity. She wound her arms around his neck and his embraced her waist while another few more bright hours came and went. Finally, they broke apart.

There was a silence while they stared at each other. "Did we just––" Tris started, voice hoarse.

"Yeah," Briar interrupted. "By the way, your lips are not dry and cracked at all. They must be some of the softest lips I've ever kissed in my life." He grinned at her flirtily, making her heart dance again, and left the room, leaving Tris in a turmoil.

"I really do wish he didn't do that," she muttered to herself. A wind rustled through the window and made the shakkan tree's branches dance, as if in agreement.

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Author's Note: Woo! So? Should I continue or not? Please review.