Main Street U.S.A.

Chapter 13

Briar Rose really liked Phillip.

Really, really, really liked Phillip.

She assumed he felt the same rush of affection for her, by his shy glances and mischievous grins. And by the way his eyes would steal into hers as she drank him in. She felt like a romantic heroine around him. She…

Well, to be honest, she felt like herself. She didn't feel like she was trying to please her mother and father, whom she still was quite uneasy around, or that she was hiding her feelings like she did from her sweet aunts who loved her more than words could describe.

She felt like Briar and Aurora, instead of two separate people; she felt like she was whole around Phillip as stupid and cliché as it was.

So when he held her hand to help her down from a ladder as they decorated her room (with the bedroom door open as her 'mother' ordered), Briar knew she had to say something to him soon. His smile was something she wanted to see every day of her life.

And she knew she was young and inexperienced but…

"Briar, you ok?" Phillip asked. His hand was on the small of her back and he steadied her as she dropped her foot off the ladder.

She smiled, but internally she was rejoicing about how close their noses were to one another. Her height turned out to be a very good thing with Phillip.

"Um, yes, I think," she said, trying not to be awkward. He peered into her eyes as if looking for another answer. But he shrugged as he let her go and backed off.

"Kids! Come down and eat!" Leah, her mother, called from downstairs.

Phillip waggled his eyebrows at Briar, "Should we let her know we aren't exactly kids anymore?"

"No, it'll break her heart," Briar laughed but internally winced. It probably would break her mother's heart to realize that her only daughter really was grown up. She wondered if that was why Leah attempted to make awkward idle conversation with her.

Briar wondered if the other girl in Disney who hadn't seen her family in ages was having the same issue as she was. Maybe they should set up a support group, she thought wryly as she followed Phillip down the carpeted staircase.

Phillip knew a little of her situation, but not much.

His family was close friends with her family so they knew details. But they were the sparsest details possible. She was hoping to glean some better information from an outside source, at first, when he realized that she was Briar Rose known better as Aurora. But it didn't work out like that. Phillip didn't know much more than she did. So instead of discussing her situation, they kept up the handholding and flirtation. It never went beyond that, which made Briar both grateful and incredibly frustrated with both herself and Phillip.

Because she really liked him, much more than she had ever liked anyone.

"Aurora," her mother said. Briar resisted the urge to grind her teeth and smiled instead.

"Yes, mother?" she asked, trying to sound as kind as possible, for both Leah's and Phillip's sake. She didn't like being mean, especially to her mother and ESPECIALLY in front of the boy she liked.

"Would you get the door? The doorbell has been ringing since you two made your way down."

Briar smiled, trying to hide her embarrassment. She hadn't actually noticed the doorbell ringing, she was too busy staring at Phillip's shoulders. She nodded and made her way to the front door.

A quick glance through the peephole showed the King's plus one Eugene Fitzherbert who looked incredibly uncomfortable.

"I was joking about the support group," she groaned to herself before pasting a big smile on her face and opening the door.

"Hello," Briar said, "What can I do for you?"

"Your mother invited us for dinner," said Mrs. King, her green eyes twinkling. Briar noted that Rapunzel and Mrs. King looked as alike as herself and Leah.

"Hi! I'm Rapunzel!" said the short girl on the right side of Mrs. King, her eyes wide and bright and Briar felt like she was looking at a three year old rather than an 18 year old.

But the way Mr. Fitzherbert was looking at her reminded Briar that Rapunzel wasn't three. And that she had an actual boyfriend. Unlike Briar who just had a boy friend.

"Hi, I'm Briar, come in all of you, we can do introductions over dinner," Briar said, completely in hostess mode. She had watched her Aunts bumble over this mode more times than she could count. It made it easy to understand how to do it right.

"Wow your house is so much fancier than ours!" Rapunzel beamed.

And it was fancy with its ornate marble columns and large windows that let in a lot of natural light. The carpet was bleach white (which is why Briar was never allowed to eat outside the kitchen or dining room, much to her chagrin). There was lots of medieval art that made Briar shiver with trepidation when she walked to the kitchen to get a midnight snack.

Briar held in a laugh as Mrs. King lightly, and affectionately, patted Rapunzel on the shoulder.

"It's a compliment! It's very pretty," Rapunzel declared.

"C'mon Blondie," Eugene said, "Let's go get you some dinner. She doesn't talk as much with food in her mouth," he stage-whispered.

"I heard that Eugene!"

He shrugged and smiled as Rapunzel pulled him towards the kitchen. Briar vaguely wondered why he called Rapunzel blondie when it was clear as day that Briar had her mother's brown hair. She speculated that it was one of those opposite nicknames, like Little John, a friend of Phillip's, who was actually quite big.

"Dinner smells delicious!" Mr. King said as he followed his daughter into the kitchen.

"My father worked hard on it," Briar stated. At the elder Kings' encouraging looks, Briar continued, "He cooked roast lamb with mashed potatoes and green beans."

"That sounds wonderful," Mrs. King said, before pulling at her husband's shirt, "We should go find Leah and Stephan."

"I think she's in the family room, I can show you where that is-"

"No, don't worry we know where it is," Mrs. King smiled, "You should join the other kids in the dining room."

At Mrs. King's behest, she bolted to the dining room by entering the left doorway.

"Oh, are you Briar's boyfriend?"

Briar immediately turned to where Rapunzel was. Rapunzel and Eugene were standing next to Phillip who was placing her mother's white napkins on the stained dining room table. Phillip saw that Briar entered the room. Without Eugene or Rapunzel noticing, Phillip managed to catch Briar's eye and winked. It didn't help Briar's apprehension. In fact, it increased it.

"Not officially," he smiled at Rapunzel while diving around her to place another napkin on the kitchen table.

Briar felt red coming from her feet and accelerating to the tippity-top of her head.

"Oh!" Rapunzel said, her smile reminding Briar of a child catching their parents in a lie, "So you're-" she waggled her eyebrows, "an unofficial couple."

"I don't know. Briar, are we?" Phillip asked, waggling his own eyebrows.

Eugene and Rapunzel turned but they didn't seem embarrassed that they had been caught gossiping about her. In fact, Rapunzel looked even more eager to know the answer.

"Um" was the only word Briar could manage to get out, feeling absolutely ridiculous.

But for once her mother's interruptions came at a pertinent time, "Dinner is here and ready!" Leah called, bursting in behind Briar. Briar's father and the two King's followed Leah into the room. They all quickly grabbed chairs and sat down.

Briar was sluggish after the embarrassing questioning of her relationship, so when she was forced to sit down across from Phillip, who was smiling at her a bit too eagerly, and between Rapunzel and Briar's father Stephen, well, there was only so much awkwardness Briar could take.

But she kept quiet, trying to simmer down the discomfiture that was swallowing her whole, as the table exchanged polite compliments about the cooking and the house and the children.

Everything would have been ok if Rapunzel hadn't kept pulling on Briar's shoulder and whispering, "So?" every time the parents' attention was away from the younger generation. Briar always caught Phillip trying to stretch his neck so he could hear her answer as well, since he, apparently, shared the quality of shamelessness with Rapunzel. In response to her staring back at him, he would start eating immediately, and Briar would swear that he practically winked at her.

Rapunzel, after incessant prodding, eventually stopped when she noticed Briar seemed to be during the color of egg whites. Briar knew that the other girl probably felt bad, the way she was twisting her short hair around and around, but Briar still felt ill at ease and slightly annoyed with Rapunzel.

But she was mostly annoyed at herself. Because she didn't know what their relationship was, she knew that she loved Phillip . . .

Briar took a sip of water as she savored the idea of loving him. Phillip grinned at her across the table as he took a sip of water too and she knew she wasn't exaggerating. She really did love him. And maybe, she thought as she watched him talk to Eugene, he loved her too.

The dinner ended not long after Briar's internal revelation and with a promise of another one just like it, but at the King's, Rapunzel and her family began their goodbyes. Rapunzel hugged Briar and whispered an apology in Briar's ear. The shorter girl obviously felt awful about the gossip and prodding, and Briar had a feeling that the two of them really could be friends and told Rapunzel as much. Briar was rewarded with an exuberant smile and another enthusiastic hug while the parents small talked and their respective boys looked on, amused at the display.

With smiles and waves, the King's left the Perrault's.

"They are such a nice family," Briar's mother said as she sat down on the couch. Her father nodded, rubbing his hand over his dark beard thoughtfully, "It's quite a shame that we don't get together more often. But," he said, shooting a grin at Phillip, "I suppose we hang around your family too much to hang out around other families."

Phillip laughed, "Well, I'm still here so you haven't branched out too much, Mr. Perrault."

Briar had never seen such a twinkle in her father's yes, "That's quite true, young man." But it disappeared quite suddenly, "Say shouldn't you be at your own house right now, eating your family's food."

"Probably. I was going to leave soon before it gets too dark. I walked here," Phillip shrugged.

"Can I walk with you? I didn't get a chance to go on a walk today," Briar said. She knew this was her one chance to talk to him privately. To see if he really did feel the same as her, and even though she was terrified to her core, she was also, well, really excited.

"If it's ok with your Mom and Dad," Phillip smiled. When Phillip smiled, it seemed like the whole world wanted to bow at his feet, he got discounts at grocery stores, was able to talk his way out of tickets and he could even charm her parents.

"I think that sounds fine, but if it's dark by the time you get to Phillip's just wait there, we'll come get you."

Briar attempted to smile at her parents but it was difficult. She was 18; she could walk to and from a friend's house by herself.

"Let's go, Briar, before they change their minds," Phillip mock-whispered and her parents laughed.

Briar had to resist running out the door, and tried to keep her breathing steady as she followed Phillip outside.

The summer sun still hung high in the evening sky, the birds were chirping, and everything was set perfectly for her confession.

But before she could find the courage to open her mouth, Phillip beat her to the punch.

"I know you're upset because of Rapunzel's questioning," he said as they walked side-by-side, "can you explain why?"

Briar spluttered, "Um-I-uh-"

"See, your face turned that same beautiful shade of pastel pink when she was asking those questions," he pointed out with a disarming smile.

"I just-" Briar took a deep breath to steady her nerves, "I just didn't know the answer, I guess."

With a long step Phillip placed himself in front of Briar's walking path, and she was face to face with him and his beautiful brown eyes.

"Briar, I really like you and I was hoping that you like me too," he said in a hushed voice so none of the children playing nearby could hear. Briar spotted her neighbor Pinnochio and his group of friends listening to some redheaded boy, far behind Phillip's shoulder as she attempted to avoid his penetrating gaze.

"I do like you, Phillip," she said, dropping her gaze to her feet, "but I was scared to say anything."

"Why?" he asked, his voice back to its normal volume.

"Well, I have such strong feelings for you and we haven't known each other for that long-"

He interrupted, his hand grabbing her shoulder, "I feel as if we've known each other our entire lives, as cheesy as that sounds. I even feel like we've met in our dreams."

Briar laughed a little but was stopped by his kiss.

She could hear the kids catcalling, laughing, and hissing with disgust in the yard behind Phillip but she didn't care. Those boys would grow up and know what it felt like to be in love some day, and now she finally had an answer to Rapunzel's question.

Briar was dating Phillip and everything was turning out better than she could ever dream.