Disclaimer: I own the Rochester's and some obviously unrecognizable minor characters. That's it sadly.

Warning: Language

Bri sighed quietly as Bella and Charlie talked. She wanted to eat the yummy goodness that were her hash browns mixed with trusty ketchup, but to be completely honest, her appetite failed to perk up. After Thursday night, she had been pretty down. Those guilty thoughts of her's were still swirling in her head. It had been some time since she thought of Javen, but she supposed it was because she was always busy with sports and friends and school. Now? She didn't play sports anymore, Bella was her only friend and school was becoming much easier after a few days. Hell, even Friday had passed fairly quickly and easily. It had been uneventful and she had withdrawn into her shell and not really talked to anyone, so it proceeded much quicker than usual.

"How're classes?" She heard Charlie ask Bella, doing his best. Bri smiled lightly, appreciative of how Charlie really was doing his best to ensure Bella felt…loved? Thought of? Or maybe it was just Charlie doing his best to avoid the awkward silence that normally accompanied Bella.

Bri looked over to Bella and watched as she shrugged, pushing some hair behind her ear. The Rochester often wondered how she had gotten so lucky with a friend like Isabella Swan. Bella had been there through everything: the months it took for Bri to even remotely become who she was again. Bella was there with ice cream, a spoon, movies and a blanket draped over her arm every night. She never said a word. Never mentioned his name. Never asked if they figured out what happened. Just sat there as Bri cried and gave her her presence. That was all Bri had needed. It had worked, but thinking about it again was most definitely trying it's best to reverse all of that.

"Bri?" Bella asked, pulling Bri from her musings.

She popped her head up, a questioning glance upon Bella's features. "Do you want to go out back?"

Bri looked over at Charlie and he seemed to figure out the girls needed some time. He stood from his chair and took his plate towards the trash and sink, as if he was done with his meal.

Bella grabbed Bri's untouched plate and when the Rochester made the motion to stop her, Bella just shook her head. "I'll save it for later, don't worry."

Hashbrowns cold weren't horrible and neither were pancakes. They were reheatable, so Bri just nodded and took her word for it. She stood from her small, white and wooden chair, pushing it in as she went. Focusing on the small things helped her. They could ground her in ways she didn't realize. She remembered thinking such a technique was stupid. That was, until she realized that just observing the small things would help her remember where she was in time. Not the past nor the future. She was here; she was in the present.

Bella returned from the fridge and sink, linking arms with Bri as soon as she could. The two walked quietly out to the back patio, the silence of the backing forest providing some comfort to them.

The two sat down in the lawn chairs that seemed to be only gaining in neglect and age. A slight creaking could be heard from both chairs, inciting a small chuckle from Bella. But the laugh quickly died down as soon as Bri looked out to the forest. It was peaceful. Serene. No houses sat on the other side, only trees and ferns and fauna. It was unlike Arizona and Pittsburgh in so many ways. Arizona didn't have forestry unless you went north near Flagstaff. Pittsburgh has forests but it mostly acted as housing borders. Sure you may have some woods behind your house, but a house was guaranteed after around 50 steps through.

"You thinking about him again?" Bella asked, a concerned look in her doe brown eyes.

Bri pulled her knees to her chest and rested her now heavy head upon the jeaned joints. "Yeah," she almost sighed out, her eyes unmoving.

The Swan daughter leaned back at an angle, not quite facing forward or to the side. But her doe eyes were trained heavily upon Bri. "Why do you think that is? You haven't needed a talk for a couple months, Bri. Why do you think it's coming back?"

Brianne ran a hand through her hair quickly, the loose curls coming mildly untangled. "I was thinking about home, ya know? Like how I never had the quiet back home. Now? It's crazy. I don't have practice or my siblings or any of that shit back home, so now, it's quiet. And when it's quiet, I think."

"It wasn't your fault, Bri. You need to repeat that. Car accidents are exactly that: accidents. It's not your fault." Bella tried to reach out to Bri verbally, but that argument had failed multiple times in the past.

A stinging pricked at Brianne Rochester's forlorn blue eyes. She quickly wiped furiously at them, not wanting to cry this early in the day, especially about something that happened seemingly so long ago. "I shouldn't have said 'I love you' for the fucking twentieth time. That car would have missed him. He would have been ahead. Car accidents aren't accidents, Bells. They're collisions. They always have a reason. Accidents don't have reason. He died because I kept him back. And now I'll never get him back. His mom won't see him walk at graduation. His football career will never take off. All because I had to keep saying those three damned words."

It was then that Brianne broke down. Her chest started heaving and her eyesight blurred. She stuffed her balled fist into her agape mouth but it couldn't break the shuddering of her body. It couldn't stop the breaking and cracking that would haunt her aching heart. Such a pivotal organ, central to life. Yet it would ache with a fury beyond compare, all because a few muscles that looked like harp strings couldn't handle the ache of heartbreak. And Brianne Rochester, though her love had been young and some say naive, felt the full force of that very heartbreak of a young girl who had lost the boy of her dreams before either of them could become mere adults.

And all Bella Swan could do to comfort her broken friend was scoot her chair next to her and throw a consoling arm over the convulsing shoulders of a broken girl who had yet to experience adulthood.

The rest of the weekend had been bland for Bri. Her breaking down had sent her spiraling, which her counselor had warned her of multiple times. But did she care? Not particularly. Grief was something that no one, despite how hard they tried, could put a time stamp on. They always tried to tell her she'd be fine in a few months, or weeks, or days. No one had taken her seriously when she said she had felt when he died. She didn't even need to get the call from his mother. Her heart had already ripped in two. No one believed her though, the one who had gone through it.

Bri had been to Bella's own issues, failing to question why she had seemed off after Wednesday. Why she had stayed behind at the car on Thursday and Friday, and probably even today: Monday. But Bri found herself unable to care. Maybe she liked time alone to catch up on some homework, read or just listen to music. Bri knew that Bella was unproblematic and usually kept to herself anyways. It was probably just her finding some quiet before school started, where they had gradually begun to blend in, but still felt like zoo animals on display.

Bri was looking down at the book she was reading for English, The Great Gatsby, as she exited the house. The two of them were slightly later than normal, which Bri didn't exactly care about. Bella on the other hand? She was rushing to get out.

So when Bri heard the large thump as she walked slowly down the stairs, she wasn't exactly surprised. She looked up from the chapter she had actually been engaged in and saw Charlie helping Bella back to her feet. A small noise of a snort escaped Bri at that moment, using the back of her wrist to stall the laughter. Her eyes then traveled down and realized why Bella slipped. There was still a ton of ice on the ground. Black ice really. Sure, it was January and it still snowed, but there were some days when it wouldn't snow at all but it would rain. The rain wasn't cold enough to become the sweet little white flurries that landed gently on your nose. Instead, the air was cold enough to harden the water that fell from the sky onto the streets and pavement. If there was one thing she hated, it was driving on black ice.

"Yeah I'm good," Bella said, a slight pitch to her voice. Bri shook herself from her spacing and continued walking down the stairs. She dog eared the page she was on and quickly grabbed the other side of Bella, helping Charlie out. "Ice doesn't really help the uncoordinated."

Bri, for a moment, chuckled and forgot her issues of the past. "Bells, you're gonna struggle when we have snow then."

Bella looked over, her eyes scanning the Rochester's face as if she had grown a second head. She had gotten her footing back and Bri just shrugged. The pain wasn't fresh. She wasn't depressed. She just…she thought about it a lot, like she was allowed to. This weekend was the first away from home. Away from her family. Away from her few friends outside of Bella. She would have had club practices both days and then training and then her own workouts. Instead, she sat in her room, did homework for three hours combined and then read some. It was nothing like back home. So if she reverted, then fuck everyone who tried to question her or tell her it was wrong to do that. She would handle it on her own, since she practically had to when it happened (minus Bella and her family providing comfort).

Charlie seemed to be oblivious to the silent exchange happening between the two friends because he chose then to talk about the truck. "Yeah, that's why I installed new tires on the truck. Old ones were getting pretty bald." He tapped the front left tire lightly with his boot.

Bri remembered having to install the brand new tires almost every six months. Her dad would sit there and teach her about why they needed new tires so often and why ice was dangerous if your treads were shit. Usually, in states where it got to snow a lot and rain a lot, the tires were cheap. Especially in the winter months. Bri has learned how to change a tire, but her father had never actually let her do it. Her older brothers had gotten that opportunity since they were older.

Bri walked closer to the truck, towards the rear and looked carefully at the tires. They were definitely new. Not as fresh as they should be, obviously due to Charlie driving it back that morning, but they were still good. She quickly reached out a hand to grip the tread lightly and was satisfied with its hold. They were no ice tires from the northeast, but they were good. She and Bella would be safe.

Bri stood from her hunched position and adjusted her backpack, heading over to the passenger side of the old rabbit truck. She pulled the handle and was pleasantly surprised it was open, but then realized that Charlie had literally just been driving it. She mentally facepalmed and shifted into the car. Her backpack was in the back, probably getting some light rain on it, as she had noticed that it started to sprinkle lightly, but it wasn't bad. She looked over to see Bella waving goodbye to Charlie, who had a solemn look on his face as he got into his police cruiser.

"What was Charlie talking about?" Bri asked as soon as Bella got into the car.

The Swan daughter buckled her seatbelt and then shifted the truck into gear so she could reverse out the driveway. She turned so she was looking behind her as she pulled the car out. "Something about some guy down in Mason County was killed last night. They're thinking wild animal did it with how torn up he was."

Bri whistled lowly under her breath. Pretty crazy for a guy to die like that. She could never imagine that kind of pain. The pain of ripping muscles apart and bones? Bones were pound for pound stronger than concrete. Imagine that being ripped from your other bones? Jesus, she shuddered at the mere thought. She had only broken a bone once. A minor one. Her thumb. But that pain was worse than her muscle sprains and cysts all together. She'd rather resprain her ACL and MCL and play volleyball while on it, while also playing without protection on her arms with cysts covering them. One cyst on her arm had been an issue enough. But she'd rather all that than ever breaking a bone again.

"You notice how Edward Cullen hasn't been showing up to class?" Bella asked suddenly, comfortable on the road once more.

Bri looked out her side window and shrugged. "I mean, I guess? He's probably sick ya know? It's like prime flu season or something like that. All his siblings are here so it's probably just a minor illness, Bells. Why? Do you like him?" She wasn't even joking with the last part. She was probably a little too deadpan.

"No! He was a dick to me. I want to know why." Her knuckles had tightened slightly with her grip, turning whiter than she already was.

"He was nice to me when I talked to him," Bri offered, hoping it would calm her friend down. She looked back over at Bella and noticed that it had, in fact, not calmed her down.

She looked over at Bri with incredulous eyes. "You talked to him?"

Bri needed to watch what she said now apparently. "Uh yeah. I had dropped my things cause I was trying to fish for my signature paper and he helped me pick them up. He was pretty nice I think." She swallowed hard, hoping to not upset her friend. Bri, however, did think it really odd that the Cullen has been so rude to Bella yet nice to Bri. Maybe it was something Bella had said or did. She'd never say that to the Swan's face, but she definitely thought it. "Don't worry Bells, maybe he had an off day and didn't mean it. I'm sure it'll be fine, okay?"

Bella stayed quiet then. She gave a large exhale, probably to calm herself down, and Bri relished in it. Bella, like Bri, would often overthink everything there was to overthink. But Bri usually didn't get AS worked up about things. If Bella was calming down though, it was a good thing. Cranky Bells was not a fun Bells.

Plus, Brianne really needed some quiet on the way to school. Some time to readjust herself enough to where she could be as calm as she just was. Joking even. No one at her new school had to know about what she had gone through. She had been really good at putting on a wide smile and saying "I'm okay" or "I'm fine". It got her out of shitty therapy. It got her through her family's constant grilling of her. She would be fine, because she said she was fine. She had done it before and she'd do it again.

Everyone had some emotional or physical trauma growing up, all that mattered was how well they could hide it. And she had a plan to be pretty damn good at hiding.

The pair arrived at their new high school, the rain starting to actually pour. It wasn't bad at the moment, but Bri knew it would get bad throughout the day. Bella parked the truck and took out the keys, the two darting out so they could salvage their bags. Bella's wasn't too wet, but Bri's definitely had soaked some up. She thought it might have been due to Bella driving straight through a puddle on the bridge, but she wouldn't give her grief about it today.

She shook out the dark backpack and sighed heavily. She'd kill Bella if her homework got wet at all.

Bri looked over at Bella and noticed her staring somewhere. "Bells, don't you know it's rude to stare?" she tried joking, the words feeling a bit dry in her mouth. Fake it till you make it, Bri.

When Bella didn't answer, Bri turned around to see what Bella was looking at. She then realized why Bella had been staying back each morning. That little whore, she thought to herself.

There they were, in all of their unfair fucking angelic beauty. The big one, Emmett if she remembered correctly, helped Rosalie out of her red sports car…they have a fucking sports car?! Bri felt her jaw drop slightly but she pulled it right back up and her lips automatically thinned. Jealousy wasn't a good look on her and she knew that. So what if they had a sports car and a...nice ass Jeep. All of a sudden, Bri wanted to slam her head against the rabbit. Of course they had a sports car and Bri's dream car, it's whatever. Bri had never been one to be jealous over simple cars. But, she was jealous that her family had been bigger, they definitely weren't all angels and they had only had two cars for everyone. How was it fair that this family seemingly had everything? Sure, they probably had their own issues, but Bri didn't really give a shit. She'd take a few issues if she could be like them for a bit.

She wanted to slap herself. Why the hell was she acting this way. She was not a prissy ten year old. She was seventeen years old, a junior in high school and she most definitely had bigger things to worry about than some family's seeming perfection. She wanted to laugh at her childish feelings. Ya know what, she thought, good for them. Their parents obviously worked hard and provided for them and that allowed them a lot of things. Plus, they probably all came from pretty crappy situations if they were all adopted. And the Mr and Mrs probably couldn't have kids of their own. So good on them for taking kids in and showering them with love and presents. It wasn't a sarcastic thought, but a genuine one. A lot of adoptive parents weren't perfect, just like biological parents. They were sometimes better. So she felt some respect swell for the heads of that family.

Bri sighed and a small smile crossed her face as she looked at the ground. She wished her parents had enough money for that kind of stuff. Her brothers had barely afforded college, but it was mainly due to their athletics that they got in to USC and Michigan State. Bri knew she'd be lucky to go anywhere she wanted. She had been working towards that goal anyways. But she had a feeling she'd have to settle. So would her sisters. It sucked when you weren't All-American in football when it came to college attendance. So did she wish her parents had money like the Cullens seemingly did? Absolutely. Would she fault them? Nope. Neither family. But she did feel that minor jealousy stew in her gut. But who was she to judge.

Bri looked over then at Bella and nodded if she wanted to go with her to English. The Swan didn't even see her. Her eyes were trained on the family, probably searching for Edward. If Bri has to put money on anything, it was that Edward drove separately. It seemed like the girls drove together in the sports car and then the guys…Bri looked over at the silver Jeep and realized one Cullen was leaned against it, his amber eyes staring over at she and Bella. The little Cullen, Alice was talking to him, but he wasn't even turned towards her.

Bri wondered if it was because Bella had been waiting for them the past few days. She knew he couldn't be staring at her. It had to be because Bella had been acting weird. Bri suddenly broke her stare and walked over to Bella.

She got close and whispered, "They know you're staring, Bells. They deal with that shit from others, don't make them have to deal with it even more." She knew it probably wouldn't get across, but it was true. Bella staking out in the mornings all because of one Edward Cullen, who Bri doubted had even talked to her, was probably creepy and probably even annoying. She knew she'd hate it.

"Edward isn't with them again," Bella said, almost disappointed. Bri took her arm and began to lightly pull her with her.

"Bells, he probably has his own car. Don't worry. He might still be sick or doing whatever ya know? You should know better than anyone that people need space sometimes," Bri tried offering, hoping it would click inside Bella's head, especially since Bri had taken a lot of personal days when the accident happened. Too many probably. She felt that knot form in her throat and it was difficult to swallow down. "C'mon Bells, we gotta get to class."

Finally, Bri got Bella to move from her spot and the Swan girl adjusted her backpack so that it was hanging from both shoulders. Bri patted her on the back and shot one last look towards the Cullen family. They were all walking towards Building 2, but one of them still stared at them. The history buff who had helped her out with math stared intently back at Bri. She wondered if he had felt uncomfortable with Bella's staring and she realized she should probably apologize to him in calc or something. Maybe history. He had been really helpful and nice, she owed him that at least.

Bri gave a small smile towards the honey haired boy, a wave of serenity washing over her. She didn't even realize that Javen was the furthest thing from her mind now as she looked back over at Bella and began talking to her about English class, unaware that Jasper Hale's interest in her had suddenly escalated.

Bri walked into history, a bit worn out from the english class she had just had, which consisted of purely discussion on the meaning of the green light in The Great Gatsby. Bri never realized how much people could be like "Green light? Party lights? Coincidence? I think not!". She nearly passed out from pure boredom. It wasn't that Bri didn't like english. She enjoyed literature. Her last english class had been difficult, but she had enjoyed it. She enjoyed ENRICHING discussions. Not these dumb assumptions. Mr Mason wasn't very interesting either, so that didn't help.

She just hoped that history would be far more interesting, but due to the point they were entering, reconstruction, she doubted she'd find much interest in that.

As Bri walked in, Ms Jacobs greeted her with a smile. "Hi Miss Jacobs," she said with a small wave of her hand.

"Bri! Just the person I wanted to see!" she exclaimed somewhat excitedly. She stood up with a stack of papers in hand and began riffling through them as she walked over to her. Bri cocked a curious eyebrow and felt her hands begin to fidget. She forgot she hasn't worn jeans today, but leggings instead. Now she had nowhere to put her hands in situations where she felt on her spot. Great.

Ms Jacobs suddenly found what she was searching for and handing a small paper to Bri. "Congratulations on the highest quiz score in the class," she said proudly, a smile on her reddened lips.

Bri was slightly taken aback by the achievement and looked down at the paper. It had the number of '100%' scrawled down and below it was a small analysis of what she had written down when listening to Bri talk. "Oh, uh," Bri began, a small accomplished smile on her lips, "thank you very much Miss Jacobs!"

The woman waved her off and then motioned for a piece of paper taped to one of the desks, which Bri had noticed were now in their normal rows facing the front. "Right there you will find your assigned partner for our final. I know the midterm isn't until the end of March, but this is a quarter long partner project. We did it last semester as well, before their fall break. It requires a four-thousand word paper and a creative project of some kind. We will do some in-class things but it'll be mostly take home since you have a partner. I'll explain the rest to the class when we get started."

Bri nodded and had to stop herself from being giddy. Yes, taking US History enough times will help you, but she got the highest score. She loved getting good scores, but the highest? That was her small ego boost she needed every other day.

She had to stop herself from skipping over to the middle front desk where the partners were listed. She was honestly okay with the project, excited even. Especially if they had free reign over what their topic was. Hopefully her partner wasn't gonna expect to do any work. If they had free reign, then shit, she wanted to do all of it. She enjoyed writing papers and she already was thinking about a painting, so she could get it finished before next week if she really tried. But she was betting that Ms Jacobs was the kind to follow deadlines kinda religiously, but who knew? Maybe she could get this done quick and easy.

Bri looked down at the sheet and realized it went alphabetically. There weren't that many kids in the class, but she was towards the end. She decided she was too lazy to just look for her name next to the names of others, so she just went straight to her name. There she was, 4 spots from the last name. Brianne Rochester…Jasper Hale.

Bri nearly dropped everything in her hands. Ms Jacobs had to be shitting her right now. She didn't mind Jasper. He was nice, definitely good at history. Definitely good looking. Nope. She had to stop thinking like that. It wasn't good for his memory. Javen's memory. Wait, no, Bri, stop thinking that way. He's gone. He's dead. It's your fault, but he's dead. You're in Washington, not Arizona. This isn't that big a deal really. No. No big deal. Partners with a boy. You haven't been friends with boys like that. Who said you had to be friends? Just tell him you'll do the whole project. He doesn't need to worry about it. It'll be fine. You'll be fine. You and Javen will be-

"Bri?"

Bri nearly jumped out of her skin, a grounding hand placed on her shoulder. She turned and realized it was Ms Jacobs, standing there with a concerned twinkle in her hazel eyes. Bri felt everyone's eyes on her then. Though there weren't that many kids in class, she felt like she was being inspected by 100 people. God, why did she have to freak out like that? Over a fucking name. She needed to get it under control…and call her mom to see if she had left her medications at home. She hated taking them, but maybe it would help for the time being?

"I uh," Bri started, realizing she had been quiet for a minute, "I'm sorry, I've got uh, some homesick jitters. I'm sorry. I'll uh, I'll go sit down. I'm sorry." She barely muttered the last 'I'm sorry'. She quickly composed herself and walked quietly to the back row. She needed to think. Just calm down. She couldn't do that at the front of the class. She needed some space from people and from thinking for a minute. She hadn't spazzed like that in a while. Last time had been when a guy asked her out to coffee back in AZ. This was nothing like that. Not even remotely. She attributed it to her stress. Stress from leaving home. Stress from her weekend of pure and utter self depreciation. God, she really hated herself sometimes.

Bri pulled her sleeves down, bunching her fists inside while gripping the hem tightly. It was a sweater she wore, and she was glad she did. It was cold and rainy and she needed something to comfort her. A sweater was always her go to. So she had worn a knit crème colored sweater that wasn't too thick or thin and a pair of her old ankle-length black athletic leggings. They weren't a soft material, more dry-fit than anything, but she loved. A pair of laced grey vans held her feet, fuzzy socks comforting her. She remembered her mom getting her them for her 15th birthday. Vans weren't extremely popular, despite being around since '66. But Bri loved them, and now, they were all she really wore.

She had also taken part in some necessary self care. For once, she had done her hair. Her dark hair was down in curled waves. She had combed out the curls so that they would be more wavy and frame her face. She had her contacts in today as well, ditching the glasses for once. Sure she'd only been at this school for 4 days, but she didn't mind the pampering of herself for once. It usually helped her out of a spiral. Usually.

Bri sighed and sunk deeper into her chair, realizing she had just completely embarrassed herself in front of some of her peers and her teacher. She could even rub her face out of pure discomfort because she had actually put some makeup on for once.

"Never took you as a back row student," a slight drawl rang out. The very last person she wanted to see at the moment.

She wanted to groan in dissatisfaction but she threw on a small smile instead. He was only trying to be nice. She needed to be nice back. Especially since they would be partners for this project.

"Only when I want to be," she offered, hoping that would be enough and she could go back to her quiet.

Jasper then set his things down at the desk next to her. Fantastic, she thought, now she would need to be social. He pulled the chair back at the desk and sat down. The way he sat down...it almost seemed calculated, as if he was trying not to break the chair and desk. She would bet like $100 he was ripped below his white button down and his light wash jeans. He was so perfect probably that he would probably lift a damn car. She snorted at that quietly.

"Something funny?" Jasper whispered, Ms Jacobs beginning to welcome the class to a new week and the outline of the project.

Bri waved him off and just flashed him a smile. "No, no," she has to pause to stop her laughter, "I'm okay with keeping it to myself."

For some reason, she felt…better. She wasn't even sure why she was laughing to be honest. She just felt like she hadn't experienced that episode of whatever the fuck she did. Like she was back to normal. Like she used to feel.

She smiled softly at her desk and paid minimal attention. Maybe it was Jasper's presence. Maybe he just helped her out by giving her space and being friendly. Sure, he was a little intense, and quiet himself, but he was being kind. Many would probably think he was just there, but Bri had to disagree. She appreciated it. All because she had spoken against him in a history debate. And she had beat him. That made her post the biggest shit-eating grin in the history of grins. She'd never ask his score, but she was ecstatic. She had beat him. Barely knew him, but she knew that he was the history kid. The one who the teachers loved cause he knew everything. She wondered if he had one of those photographic memories. That could be really cool. Like, bam, read the textbook once and he's got the party of every presidential candidate memorized in five seconds flat.

"Bri, which topic would you and Jasper like?" Ms Jacobs called out, causing Bri to yank slightly and bang her knee against the bottom of the desk.

"Oh fuck it all," she muttered, reaching down quickly to grasp her now aching knee. Her eyes then went towards the board and looked at what was taken already. It seemed that they were only going up to the civil war, but no one had taken it yet. She wanted to question why they were only going that far yet still had the rest of the quarter left. She sighed in defeat and looked over at Jasper, who wasn't even looking at her or the board. He seemed to be spacing as well.

Bri heaved an exasperated sigh and wanted to throw her arms up in surrender. Civil war it was. "Can we please do the American Civil War? But with a focus on the south west?"

It was then that Jasper turned towards her, seemingly shaken from his state of whatever he was focusing on, and cocked an eyebrow. He stayed quiet, but he seemed to examine her intensely. It would be a lie if she said she didn't FEEL his eyes on her.

Ms Jacobs clapped and wrote down the topic next to their name on the board, crossing out the civil war topic that had been open on the other side. "Perfect choice. I'm excited to see this."

She then focused on another pairing, Bri immediately zoning out of focus again. She turned towards Jasper and gave him a questioning look, as he still seemed intent on focusing on her.

"Did you not want that?" she whispered, suddenly very self conscious and worrying she had upset him with their choice. She probably should have consulted him before picking.

Jasper's long stare broke for a moment as he seemingly remembered to blink. Bri brushed it off, as she normally would stare off and forget to blink. She pushed some hair that had fallen in front of her face to behind her ear, pushing the rest to fall down her back and not in front. His amber eyes flickered to her hair for a moment but she didn't care. She told herself she was imagining it as well.

"I don't mind," he said slowly, his eyes meeting her own. For a second, she lost her train of thought. She had never fully made eye contact with him. Minimal and often scattered. It was from small glances. Not staring. It was a little intense for lack of a better word and she immediately had to turn her head down. It felt...almost claustrophobic for a moment. Like he was pushing her into a box. A box she had been in multiple times before. That discomfort made her squirm slightly in her seat, but it slowly faded away, like a mere thought that never truly held its place in her brain anyways. She took a deep breath but kept her eyes lowered, suddenly taking interest in her fidgeting hands.

"I enjoy the civil war," he drawled, a hint of...Texas in his words? Bri felt like there was just this pull to look at him. Study him. See what made him, him. When a man's voice sounded like that, there was always a story. He was adopted of course. She couldn't help but love stories. So maybe, this whole thing wouldn't be too bad in the end?

Bri looked up finally and realized his stare was far less intense now, and he blinked more often. She wanted to thank all that was holy for that. "Which parts?"

He shrugged and slowly leaned back, pulling away from her space, which she was thankful for. But she realized she had leaned forward as well, unaware that she had pulled herself into his space just like he had done to her's. He was merely interesting. Nothing more. He could probably even be good friends with her, so long as she didn't scare him away. But she doubted he would care much for that. She doubted he cared about a lot that would scare others away, seeing as how he himself had his own qualities like that. Hell, she had found out some of them the first day of school. She guessed that he could never be bad, simply a quiet and intense guy that was obviously worshipped or hated (girls and guys respectively). So she couldn't help but continue the conversation with his next question.

"Which parts do you like?"

A/N: Next chapter cranked out! I wasn't gonna end it there, but with every piece I wrote after, I just wasn't satisfied enough with it to put it down as part of the chapter.

So now y'all kind of know what happened, if you hadn't guessed, but not everything is always as it seems, right? I liked to play with grief when I write because everyone handles it differently. I'm using some of my own experiences with it because I remember the smallest things setting me off into an inward spiral or trying to fake it through a day. I really like them being able to use Jasper, because then it becomes the question, is it okay to manipulate someone's emotions so long as it helps them in the end?

Also, this story will not be as slow a burn as my others, but only because of the timeline. I will drag it out as long as I can, so please bear with me. This will not be the kind where they're together after 10 chapters, but I'll probably aim for 20. Remember, attraction can be more obvious than the sun, but no one has to act on it do they?

I hope y'all enjoyed and I'm so sorry for the wait! Next chapter will be released in a much better time haha.

Love,

P

DxGRAYxMAN - thank you so much for the continued support! Hope you enjoyed!

Nineteen100and85 - Thank you for the review, I really appreciate it! I hope this was good!