Also, this chapter has some swearing in it, like all most of my other ones.
Chapter 14Briar walked down the street in confusion. He was tired; exhausted actually, and now he was feeling worse. Not only was Sandry really sad, because of him, but also Amber had gone to see her. Correction, Amber would have had to find Sandry first. So Amber put in the effort to find Sandry, but had never done it for him?
Briar didn't understand it. Sandry had told him that Amber was still in love with him. Yet she went to find Sandry before even trying to find him. He also remembered, at this point, that Sandry was also in love with him and he had basically told her that he hated her and didn't want to talk to her again.
In all this confusion Briar hadn't paid any attention to where he was going, and was surprised to find he was in town, but not just that, he was standing outside the bar Amber lived.
He sighed to himself, as he stood there, outside the bar. He should go in, confront Amber about everything, Sandry, him, the murder…. everything. Yet he was afraid. Afraid of what she would tell him. Afraid of the emotional turmoil inside him.
He sighed again, and took a deep breath before entering the bar. The bar was just as Briar remembered it from when he'd been here last only days before. It had only been a few days ago that he'd come and met Amber's friends? For him it had felt like an eternity. The only difference between now and then is the bar was full then and now it was basically empty aside from a few old drinkers in the corner and the bartender, who was sitting on a stool at the bar.
"Well, well, well," The bartender said, as he got up and went behind the bar. "What can I get you?"
"Uh…I don't know." Briar replied honestly, as he sat at the bar. He still had no real idea what he was doing here.
"Whatever it is, I should make it a double." The bartender continued. "Coz you look like hell."
Briar couldn't help but laugh, as he ran a finger through his hair, which was messy and hadn't been brushed that morning. "Yeah, I feel like that too."
The bartender didn't reply to this, he just poured a glass of rum and placed in front of Briar.
Briar stared at it for a minute, before picking it up and having a gulp of its contents. "I'm not usually the type o drink in the morning." He muttered bitterly. "You're Jonas, right?"
Jonas nodded. "That I am…Briar."
"So you remember me." Briar muttered, still grimly. "Why am I not surprised?"
"You are surprised." Jonas said, matter-of-factly. "You didn't think I'd remember you, even if Amber is a close friend of mine."
"I didn't mean to hurt her…if I have hurt her." Briar said, unsure why he was being so defensive towards Jonas.
"Yes, she is hurt." Jonas said, his blunt truth unnerving Briar. "But then, it wasn't completely your fault. You acted as any high-class person would to Amber's… activities. And Amber's a girl who's made many mistakes. Despite that, she's a good person."
"I know." Briar whispered, then cleared his throat. "I'm not a high class person. It's insulting to be referred to as that."
"Is it?" Jonas said, his voice suddenly hard. "It's insulting for people to know you have a home and money and people who care about you. You find it insulting for people to know you have magic?"
"No that's not what I meant." Briar yelled out. "Stop twisting my words damn it!"
Jonas looked at him silently for a minute, which was just long enough to unnerve Briar, before speaking. "What did you mean?"
"I…I used to live on the streets…I never thought I'd become a bag." Briar said, using his pet name for the kind of person he'd become. "I never thought I'd react to Amber like that…ever. I think I was too in love with who I thought she was, that I couldn't see who she really was."
"Well spoken." Jonas said, then he tone became lighter. "I'm impressed."
"What should I do?" Briar asked. "I'm not going to completely lie to myself by saying I don't love her anymore…but everything's become so complicated."
"As I've seen." Jonas said. "I suggest you talk to Amber, and you talk to Sandry."
"How did you know about Sandry?" Briar asked, shocked. He hadn't told anyone about it, and he doubted that Sandry would have told Jonas.
"I know what happened between Sandry and Amber, and I know Sandry loved you. The rest I've just guessed."
"How can I talk to them? How can I face Amber, Sandry, any of them after this?" Briar said, as he bitterly remembered Tris's news earlier that morning. "I think they're in love…with each other."
Briar was then shocked by Jonas's reaction, as the bartender burst out laughing. Jonas was still laughing when someone else walked into the bar, and Briar recognised him as Amber's other friend, Dean.
"Jonas, are you okay?" Dean asked half-serious as he watched his friend double over with laughter.
"Amber…Sandry…in love…each other…" Jonas spluttered and Dean understood enough to burst into laughter himself.
Briar sat there for a few minutes, ignoring the men in the corner who were staring at him and the two laughing beside him, feeling rather stupid. Finally Jonas and Dean got over their laughter and Jonas returned his composure, as though the laughing had never happened.
"There's a surprise twist." Jonas said, his tone mildly interested, which was quite amusing for Briar.
"Hell, I'm pissed at Amber, but I'm not even that stupid." Dean added, then looked at Briar. "Oh, no offence."
"Why would I be offended?" Briar replied sarcastically.
"Sorry." Dean winced. "It's just…Amber's too in love with you to be in love with Sandry. She was just drunk, and depressed. Sandry was too, so they…found comfort in each other."
Briar winced at Dean's words, then noticed Dean was also wincing.
"Your mad about this too?" Briar asked.
"Yeah." Dean replied, then went really quiet and looked at the ground.
"Why?" Briar asked, confused. He was mad because Sandry was his best friend and knew how much he loved Amber, even if she did love him herself.
"Dean has a little crush on Sandry." Jonas said, teasingly.
"Shut up." Dean said sternly, before adding. "And get me a rum, while you're at it."
Jonas rolled his eyes, but gave Dean a glass of rum anyway.
"What Jonas said is true." Dean said. "I do kinda like Sandry."
"Really?" Briar asked, trying not to laugh, but ended up smirking.
"Why?" Dean said, his voice hard.
"Nothing, its just…Sandry's…innocent." Briar said, trying to find the right words to make it seem inoffensive. Dean saw his meaning anyway.
"Oh, of course. I'm a thief, the only women I find any interest in are street girls, bartenders, and whores." Dean said angrily.
'I'm sorry…I shouldn't have implied that." Briar said, feeling bad. "I just don't think Sandry would like people from this type of lifestyle."
"Yeah, she loves you for your money." Jonas added and Briar blushed.
"Once again, you're right, I'm sorry." Even though Briar found himself apologising a lot, he felt a strong liking for these two. They made everything seem clearer…like his problems weren't that bad.
"Thank you." Briar said suddenly.
Neither of them had to ask why he was thanking them, they both just nodded.
"I'm sure you would be a good choice for Sandry." Briar said to Dean smiling.
"Well, at the moment she's still completely in love with you, but" Dean grinned. "I'm okay with that. I don't want to be with someone who is in love with someone else. I can wait"
"Wow…that was strangely deep…" Jonas said, in awe. "I mean. For you that is."
"Hey," Dean said indignantly, yet couldn't stop himself from grinning along with his friend.
They all stopped when they heard someone else enter, and a female voice cry out. "Dean, thank goodness you're here."
Briar turned to see Amber coming over to them, and felt a lump form in his throat, even though she hadn't seen him yet.
"I wanted to talk to you." Amber continued to Dean. "I'm so sorry about everything…Briar!" Amber said in surprise as she reached them and saw Briar sitting with Dean and Jonas.
He nodded at her in acknowledgement. "Amber."
"Amber." Briar nodded at her, his voice strained.
Amber couldn't believe it was him, and found it difficult to contain her surprise. "Uh…what are you doing here?" Amber asked, her voice shaking and she was silently cursing herself for seeming so weak. She had planned her conversation with Briar so many times in her head, but now that he was actually here she didn't know what to say.
Briar held up his glass in her direction. "Why does one come to a pub?"
Amber blushed and sent some cursed thoughts his way. Se couldn't believe he had this effect on her, still. She was supposed to be over him. "Yeah, right…sorry." Amber said, not even sure what she was saying.
Briar looked down. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mocked you."
"You're right." Amber said, feeling her composure come back, much to her relief. "You shouldn't have."
"We should talk." Briar said seriously.
Amber looked over at Dean. She didn't want to have her talk with Briar until she was sure that Dean was cool with her.
Dean nodded at her and squeezed her shoulder, whispering under his breath so only she could hear "I'm sorry. You're forgiven."
She nodded, and she knew that was their way of saying that they're friends again. Amber turned back to Briar, her face graver. She nodded, "Yes, we should talk."
Briar nodded and they stood there for a few minutes, before Amber turned to Jonas, who poured her a glass of rum.
Amber shot him a grateful smile, glad her friend knew her so well. She then drained the glass in one shot. There was no way she was having this talk with Briar completely sober.
After Amber put her glass back down, she led Briar to a table in the furthest corner of the bar so they could talk privately. They both sat down on chairs next to each other.
"Amber, I …I'm sorry." Briar burst out, before Amber could say anything. "It's just, that night…seeing you kill that man…I …I'd fooled myself into believing you were someone different. Someone who could never do something like that."
"You were wrong." Amber felt bad by her blunt tone, but she couldn't help it. She had to protect herself. And she couldn't be with Briar, for Sandry's sake.
"I know." Briar admitted shamefully. "And I know about what happened between you and Sandry."
"You blamed Sandry for it." Amber stated, angrily. Sandry was in love with him, and he'd treated her badly. Sandry was a nice girl, she hadn't deserved that.
"Yes. That was wrong." Briar said, and Amber knew he felt uncomfortable with how the conversation was going. "But you can't say I'm the only one to make mistakes. And I only blamed her because I was so in love with you."
His last word stunned Amber. Even though Sandry had told her so, Amber still couldn't believe that Briar still loved her. Not after everything she'd done, the pain she'd put him through.
"I love you too." Amber replied without thinking. Shit, I shouldn't have said that. She thought scolding herself. Remember you're friendship with Sandry, you can't be with Briar…
"Really?" Briar asked, his tone hopeful and surprised.
"Yes." Amber said, admitting defeat. "But Briar, we can't be together…I mean…Sandry…oh God…" Amber stuttered as she looked into his deep brown eyes and she saw love in them. Love for her. "…Oh fuck it." She said, and leant forward, meeting his lips with hers. Briar's eyes widened in surprise, then she felt his hand on her back, pulling her closer and deepening their kiss. Amber reached over and held his face in her hands, his skin hot under hers. She couldn't believe she was doing this, not after everything, the promises she'd made to herself. Then she decided to stop thinking and just go with the flow. Whatever happens will happen.
Sandry felt strangely content. Even though Briar hated her, Amber coming to her with a hand of friendship made Sandry feel content. Having Amber's friendship was almost like having Briar's again. They were both thieves, both outspoken and they were very similar people. Sandry knew that Briar and Amber would end up getting back together, and it wasn't because she was a mage and had a mental connection with Briar. It was because, as a woman, as a person she knew they were meant to be together.
It's going to break your heart though, a nasty little voice in her head said, but Sandry tried to ignore it. All she wanted was to be Briar's friend again. If she had his friendship again she could deal with him being in love with someone else. In theory.
"Sandry." Sandry jumped as Tris opened her bedroom door without knocking.
"Tris." Sandry said, her voice full of surprise and annoyance. "Why didn't you knock?"
"What?" Tris said in surprise. "Oh, sorry. It's just…I went to see Briar…and he was weird."
"Weird, how?" Sandry asked, only a little concerned.
"Well I told him how heartbroken you were, and how you were happier after your friend Amber visited. Then he went all weird and ran out of the house. He barely said goodbye."
"You told him Amber visited me?" Sandry said, suddenly understanding why Briar would have been upset. Amber coming to visit Sandry instead of him.
"Yes, I told him Amber came to visit." Tris snapped. "What's the big deal anyway? What aren't you telling us?"
Sandry sighed. "Where's Daja? I should probably tell you both the truth."
Tris stuck her head out of the door and yelled out "Daja, come here. Sandry's finally going to talk."
Sandry couldn't help but smile at that, especially when Daja came rushing in and sat on Sandry's bed.
"It's about time!" Daja exclaimed, grinning. "We've been worried."
Tris shut Sandry's door and went to sit next to Daja.
"Okay, where should I start?" Sandry said.
'Uh…the beginning?" Tris said irritated and Daja grinned, and took her hand.
Sandry laughed as she remembered when Tris and Daja had decided to tell her and Briar they'd fallen in love. That was a few years ago now, and they'd been together ever since. They weren't very public about it though, knowing what everyone would think of them, or even worse what people would say, if they knew.
"Okay, well Briar started going out with this girl, Amber." Sandry said, taking Tris's advice and starting from the very beginning. "Anyway, I met Amber by chance in the marketplace when I found out she was Briar's girlfriend, and I thought she was nice. And I knew he was falling in love with her, so I kept my mouth shut about my true feelings."
"You're true feelings?" Tris inquired, raising an eyebrow.
Sandry sighed. "Yes, I'm in love with Briar."
"I knew it!" Daja exclaimed grinning at Tris. "You owe me money."
"Wait, you two made a bet about this?" Sandry said in shock. "You made a bet about whether or not I loved Briar?"
"No." Tris said. "We both knew you loved him. The bet was about whether you'd admit it before the end of the year or not."
"Oh…well…gee, that makes me feel so much better." Sandry said sarcastically. "Anyway, on with the story."
"If you insist." Daja said, teasingly as Sandry knew they both wanted to know.
'Well, you see Amber is a thief and she's also an assassin. Basically she will do anything to make money." Sandry said, but felt bad because she was making Amber sound different to how she really was. "Don't get me wrong, Amber is a really nice girl. She's just grown up in a hard world."
"Like Briar."
Sandry didn't even know who said that, but didn't care. "Yeah, like Briar. Anyway, Amber was offered money to…kill someone, and she did it. Only, Briar saw her, and confronted her. To put it mildly, he was upset and Amber got upset and they were both upset. So I tired to get Briar to talk to me about it, to tell me what was going on, and he wouldn't. he completely shut me out. And because I was completely in love with him, and he was shutting me out, well…I didn't know how to deal with it so I went out to a bar.
"You went to a bar!" Tris exclaimed in shock. "A real bar? With rum and everything?"
"Yes." Sandry snapped. "I went to a real freaking bar full of rum, ale and beer… sorry, I didn't mean to yell."
Her two friends just laughed, and Sandry continued.
"Well, the bartender and his friend were both nice to me, and it was nice to talk to someone about my problems. Even if it was a stranger." Sandry said, her voice a little wistful as she remembered that night. "I didn't even tell them my name…Anyway, I went back the next night, but this was for completely different reasons. I went to talk to Amber, she works at that bar. I wanted to talk to her, so I could know what was wrong with Briar…" Sandry paused not knowing how to word this next part. "Anyway…we started drinking, and talking and we bonded, so to speak. Then, when we were really drunk, we…uh…we kissed."
"What!" Tris and Daja both cried out, looking a Sandry in surprise.
"But, you're straight!" Daja pointed out.
"I know." Sandry replied grimly. "But I was depressed, she was depressed, we were both drunk…and it just felt right. Anyway, the next morning I woke up with a hang over, and felt incredibly guilty. I threw up a few times, while Briar helped me, then I told him the truth about…everything. That I loved him, that I went to a bar and got drunk…that I kissed Amber. He got pissed and yelled at me, so I yelled back and we got in an argument. He told me he hated me, and then I came here." Sandry looked at her two closest friends, waiting to see what they would say.
They both sat there, in shock, neither knowing what to say until Tris blurted out: "I can't believe you got drunk in a bar!"
Sandry laughed and gently hit her with a pillow.
"So, what happened when Amber came to see you?" Daja asked.
"Oh, that." Sandry said, realizing she'd left that part out. "Amber came to be friends with me. And I agreed. I know she still loves Briar, and they'll get back together. But she's a nice girl. I want to be her friend."
Tris and Daja nodded, then looked at each other. Sandry knew they were talking mentally and felt uneasy when they both started grinning.
"What, what is it?" Sandry asked, almost fearful.
"Come on." Daja grinned. "We're going out."
"What!" Sandry asked. "Where."
"You need to stop moping." Tris explained. 'And we need to find you someone, you shouldn't be alone. So, lets go down to that bar your friend works at. Maybe you can pick up the cute bartender."
"How do you know he's cute?" Sandry asked, challengingly.
"Wait," Daja said. "It was the bartender's friend that's cute."
"I never said that." Sandry exclaimed.
"You didn't need to." Tris said. "Come on, let's go. It'll be fun."
Sandry laughed and agreed, because they were right. She needed to stop moping, and it would be nice to see him again. Plus going out with Tris and Daja was fun. So Sandry got changed and they went out to the bar.
Okay, first nobody hate me for making Tris and Daja a couple. I just thought they'd be a cute couple. Besides my story's already controversial why not make it more so. Also, Amber's not a sainttherefore she had to make the decision she made about Briar in this chapter. So people will remember she's a thief and isn't perfect.
Please review, and thank you to everyone who reviewed…
Okazin: wow, thank you for the applause…it made me feel special. I'm glad you like the story, and I love the name. It's cool.
Lady Em-Chan: Wow…you said its brilliant. Thank you I'm flattered.
Toujourmort: okay, thank you for reviewing. First, I've decided Briar lives on his own in the city, since this story is set a few years after the book I figured he just moved out, I'm sorry I didn't make this more clear. Also, I agree with what you said about Amber and Sandry. It's not that they're close friends yet its just they think they are. Amber thought her bond with Sandry on that drunken night was strong enough for her to give up Briar, but as she proves, its not. Anyway, thanks for criticising coz I love a reviewer who will tell me where I can fix things, etc. So thank you, you rock! Also I like the new chapter three for Time's journey (love the name) and since it wont let me review it again I thought I'd add that. I also think the name Time would be cool (I know, I'm weird)
Alenor: Thank you for being such a dedicated reviewer, it means a lot to me. You rock!