I had fun writing this chapter. I hope u enjoy it and please review if u think I should write more. I have always been a sucker for Briar and Tris fics, they seem to go so well together and there aren't enough on here. Well like I said, please review if u want more quickly.

The young man stood in front of her, a big smile on his face, his white teeth showing. "Good thing you can't aim then." The young man had short dark hair and eyes the shade of emeralds, he stood at a towering 6"1 to Tris's 5"8. Tris took a deep breath, a slow smile coming to her face. She turned around before Briar could see that he had gotten her to smile. "Was that a smile I saw Coppercurls?"

Ever the observant young man, she shook her head without turning around until she could get the smile off her face, he had never been able to get her to smile so easily when they had been children, but they were far from being children now, both of them.

Once she got her emotions under control, she turned to see Briar standing there with a sort of smirk on his face. The way he looked her over was enough to make her want to blush, she couldn't help staring at him as well. He had never been a muscle bound man like Tris had seen here in the university, he was thin, but looks were deceiving for he was quick and strong. He had come far from being the thief boy who enjoyed stirring up her temper just to get a reaction out of her, though it seemed he still enjoyed doing that.

"It's good to see you again thief boy, did you come with Niko?"

Briar nodded his head. "Yeah." He got a sad look in his emerald eyes. "Daja and Sandry are really lookin bad Tris."

Tris looked down, feeling worry build up inside her, all she wanted to do was go and see her sisters, hopefully finding a way to help them. She felt arms wrap around her and looked up surprised to find Briar holding her, a concerned look on his face as well. "Don't worry Tris, we will help them." He said in a low voice.

Briar had no idea what his simple hug was doing to the red head, a torrent of emotions ran through her. After a few moments of letting him hold her, she pushed him back a bit, looking down so he wouldn't see the look on her face. "Alright, well let's not keep Niko waiting."

She went to pick up her large suitcase, but Briar had beaten her to it. Tris glared at him. "I am not weak, I can carry my own things." She grabbed for it, but Briar moved it aside. "Come off it Tris, just get your bottom out the door."

Tris stuck her tongue out at him like she used to do as a child and walked out the door, smacking right into Eli. She would have fallen if Eli hadn't reached over and caught her, which made for a compromising sight when Briar walked out, his face was hard to read, but Tris thought she saw a hint of...jealousy.

Briar had been excited to go with Niko and help fetch Tris, though he had his own reasons. Of course he wanted to help Sandry and Daja, but he always enjoyed seeing Tris, especially for the fun of picking fights with her. She was the most fun to fight with because she was the most intelligent and could get Briar with a comeback that surprised even him.

He had thanked his lucky stars that Tris hadn't gotten him with the lightening bolt, her aim had been inches off amazingly, saving him from a nasty shock. But a bigger shock occurred when he had seen her. Although he had spoken with her a lot, he hadn't seen her in what felt like ages, way too long for his liking.

She was beautiful, pure and simple, her hair the color of fire, her skin the color of cream, and his favorite feature, her stormy eyes that held such fire in them. Briar had always thought Tris was beautiful, though he never really allowed the fact that other men thought she was beautiful to register, thus the hardened look he gave the young man who held her in his arms. The amount of jealousy he felt surprised even him and obviously surprised Tris. Briar cleared his throat. "Um, am I interrupting something here?"

Tris caught her breath again and pushed away from Eli, Eli glared at her and simply pulled her arms back, allowing her to fall hard on her bottom. "Other then keeping my friend from falling, no nothing at all." Eli's voice was calm and cool, though he didn't like the way Briar glared at him, who was this kid anyway?

Tris glared up at him. "You chufferhead, that hurt!" She stood to her feet and whacked him hard in the shoulder before turning to Briar. "What do you think is going on here Briar and what would you care." Ignoring Briar's surprised look and Eli's as well, she stormed away from both of them towards the Headmaster's office, leaving both young men to stare at her retreating form.

Eli got up his courage and walked over to Briar, who still watched Tris leave. "Sorry for the awkward moment there, my name is Elias Stormcatcher, a friend." He stopped for a moment and made sure he was clear. "Only a friend of Tris's, a student here with a power much like Tris's." He stuck his hand out to shake Briar's. "And you are?"

Briar shook the other mage's hand, glad that the whole misunderstanding had been cleared up. "Name's Briar, Master plant mage." He grinned like a fool, Rosethorn would hang him by his ears for saying that.

"Are you Tris's suitor as well?"

Briar froze for a moment, unable to answer, a no should have been a simple answer to give, but strangely enough it wasn't, he didn't want to say no. He was brought out of this deep thoughts by an irritated voice in his head. "Briar, I want my things here now, Niko is ready to go and so am I, you can stay and talk with Eli all you want after you bring me my suitcase."

Briar grinned, he had an out. "I'd love to answer, but I have to be going, Tris is calling and she ain't none too pleased neither." He walked away, lugging Tris's baggage along with him, leaving Eli to wonder what was wrong with both of the mages. Suddenly something swooped by his head, nearly knocking him down, he ducked and looked as Chime flew fast to catch up. "Ok, that was interesting." He chimed to himself before heading to his classes.

When Briar finally reached the office, Niko seemed ready to leave, but the red head was nowhere in sight. "Where did Tris go?"

"She went to get the horses from the stables while I spoke with the Professor here, go down there and wait with her, I will be there shortly." Briar nodded and carried the suitcase out of the towering university and out to the medium sized stables out back. He heard a gentle voice inside and used his thief skills to get close enough to the stable without whoever it was hearing him, then he looked in.

Tris stood beside a dark brown gelding, stroking it's neck gently. "He just makes me feel so...uhh, I don't know." She was talking to herself and seemed frustrated about something. "I bet he doesn't even know it, you should have seen the look he gave me." She stopped talking and saddled the horse up before swinging onto it's back and clicking her tongue. Was she talking about that Eli kid, did she fall for him while Briar had been away.

Despite the fact that he never admitted to anyone, not even himself that he had any kind of feelings for Tris other then a brotherly feelings, he was feeling jealous again. Problem was, Eli didn't seem to have any feelings other then being a friend for Tris, it would probably hurt her to know, but maybe if she knew, then she would give up on him.

Tris seemed surprised when he stood outside the stable. "How long have you been standing there?" She sounded worried.

"Only a few minutes, I heard you talking." Tris turned redder then the color of her hair when he said that, her mind going a hundred miles an hour. So he had heard that she had feelings for him, what would he say? "So you heard everything huh?"

Briar nodded his head. "I'm sorry to say that the person you were talking about doesn't have those same feelings for you." Tris's eyes filled up with pain, how could he so bluntly tell he he didn't care about her like that, was he really that uncouth?

"Oh." Was all she could say before kicking the horse hard, getting him to gallop away, Briar watched as she rode away from him, where those tears he saw running down her cheeks, why did he feel like he had just made the biggest mistake he would ever make in his life?