byron darlington ϟ boy blue (forgivelife) wrote in thereincarnates, @ 2011-03-08 23:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | briar hayes, byron darlington |
Who: Byron Darlington and Briar Hayes
What: Reunions!
Where: The Farm (outside Albany, NY)
When: Backdated to last Friday, March 4, 2011
Warnings: CUTE. Angsty cute.
Byron wasn’t normally the kind of student who snuck out of his dorm room hours before the sun had a chance to shine. To be fair, though, he wasn’t a normal student. He was older than most of the door knobs on campus, for one. For another, he and his brother weren’t here to learn. No, they were there for something else entirely. But that had nothing to do with what he was doing now, and what he was doing now had nothing to do with Oscar. He had to sneak out. If he was lucky, he’d be back before his brother even realized he was gone. If not, well. It’d be worth it.
The drive to Albany was a long one, but throughout it all, Byron couldn’t stop smiling. Half-nervous, half-ecstatic, the grin plastered on his face only showed a fraction of what was going through his mind. He was going to meet her. His Briar, Blue’s Rose. The woman they’d both been waiting for. It’d be a long, hard wait – over a century for Blue, a little less than that for Byron, but finally, he’d found her again. She was just like he’d remembered, but even then, his memory didn’t do her justice. The thought of seeing her again in person... well, it made him so giddy that he nearly had three accidents on the way to the Farm. He tried his hardest to concentrate on the road for the last leg of the drive, but it was hard. Just thinking about her was a major distraction.
But finally, he made it, and all in one piece. It appeared almost out of nowhere, which was a good sign. The magic protecting it from the Mundies was still in effect. Driving up to all the houses was like a drive down memory lane. Everything was exactly the same. That was comforting. He parked quietly at the end of the road, the sun just beginning to shine over the horizon. He was here. Now, where was she?
---
Briar had gotten to the Farm a little earlier than usual that morning. It was still dark out when she’d arrived, beside herself with nerves and stomach butterflies. That alone was something she hadn’t experienced in... years. Decades, in fact. It was a feeling she hadn’t even realized she’d been missing, and now she could do nothing but marvel at it. Despite what had happened with Kane over a month ago, Briar hadn’t abandoned the Farm completely after ward. Charlotte didn’t like the idea of her leaving the castle at all, but Briar was stubborn just like Rose and they weren’t about to abandon the Farm. Not after everything. She usually appeased Charlotte by taking someone from Camelot with her whenever she made the trip to upstate New York, but not today, which is why she’d snuck out while Charlotte was busy so she wouldn’t be seen leaving by herself. Today she wanted to be alone with her thoughts, and alone with Byron.
She was dressed fairly modestly, not wanting to get any of her nice clothes dirty despite the fact that she was supremely self conscious about the way she’d be appearing to Byron after nearly sixty years since the last time they’d seen each other. She wouldn’t make that important, that wasn’t what mattered right now. Dressed down in a pair of jeans, a white blouse and her favorite red winter coat buttoned over it (it was freezing up at the Farm this time of morning), she’d gone about her routine a lot faster then she usually did. So fast that she hadn’t even had time for coffee and her usual morning conversation with Mustard Pot Pete, the Farm’s night shift administrator. Ah well, she’d talk to him later. So far as she could see, nothing had happened the night before that had needed her immediate attention. For once, no crisis for her and Rose to avert. Not usually such an optimist, Briar was taking that as a good sign.
She heard the car before she saw it, and for a moment was honestly puzzled as to why someone was driving up to the Farm now of all hours of the day. She was already half way inside the main office to use the phone when she realized it was Byron. Well what did you expect? For him and Blue to appear out of nowhere in that witchy cloak? Briar rolled her eyes at Rose’s snark and at herself for being so paranoid. She knew Rose was just as excited to see Blue, even if the brat wouldn’t admit it. She almost tripped over Peter Cottontail bounding across the way as she stepped back outside, shielding her eyes with a hand against the oncoming sun. When she finally saw him just down the road, she couldn’t stop herself from grinning. There he was. Byron Darlington. The single most charming soldier she’d ever met in her very long life, and the only man she’d truly never forgotten about. She stepped off the porch and started walking towards him, every muscle in her practically itching. It was all she could do to keep herself from taking off at a dead run to meet him.
---
Byron took a deep breath before stepping out of the car, nerves already getting the better of him. He was more nervous than he’d ever been in his life, if only because he never expected to see the woman he was about to meet ever again. Also because he was alone. They said separation anxiety was just for toddlers, but that wasn’t true, not really. Twins had it even worse, and the Darlington twins? Might as well have been Siamese. Being away from Oscar made Byron extremely edgy, for reasons he couldn’t quite place. Even if he wasn’t thinking about it now, it was always at the back of his mind, just that nagging little feeling that something might happen, and he wouldn’t be there to stop it.
But that didn’t matter. His childish paranoia was instantly forgotten the moment he stepped out of the car, because that was the moment he saw her, and for the next few minutes, everything he experienced was a cliche. He forgot to breathe, time stood still, the world started spinning, etc, etc. He could feel Oscar’s eyes rolling all the from Massachusetts, but for once Byron didn’t care. She was... she was beautiful. Even more beautiful than he remembered. It took him a moment to recover himself, but until then he stared. Unabashedly. His jaw even dropped.
Then a cloud shifted, letting the sunlight through, and he remembered how to be a functional human being. He smiled and waved good-naturedly, then stuck his hands in his pockets and started walking towards her, meeting her halfway. “Hello, Miss Hayes,” he called out with a grin. “Beautiful morning, isn’t it?”
---
The whole way, Briar was half convinced she wasn’t even carrying herself at all. Walking was no effort, she was being led by some invisible string, guiding and pulling her towards the only object of Rose’s affections for as long as she and Rose could even remember now. Rose had never been the same after Blue had died. Her every and only thought had been for him after that, and for the entire time Rose had been with Briar, their thoughts had often drifted to the possibility of a Boy Blue out there somewhere. Somewhere down the line they’d convinced themselves that it couldn’t be possible, if only to save their remaining sanity and stop setting themselves up for disappointment. Then Briar had met Kane, and she was sure she would never be able to sink to newer lows. Seeing Byron coming down the same pathway as her now, it was like the wind had been knocked out of her and fresh breath being restored to her lungs all at once.
They’d only known each other a few months, but in those few months Byron had made himself someone completely unforgettable to her. It was the 1940’s, everything was life or death or some kind of melodrama back then. He was just a soldier and she was just a nurse by his bedside, but at the time it had felt like so much more then that. She’d been different back then. Kinder. Less jaded. The realities of being an Ageless hadn’t quite taken their toll on her yet and she took care of each and every patient like they were her own, but she’d never gotten so personally invested in a soldier under her care as she had him. She came to sit by his bed when she didn’t have to, giving him brave smiles while inwardly trying to will him better with just her thoughts. The day he’d been discharged she’d missed it, and when she’d seen his empty bed with the sheets neatly folded she’d immediately burst into tears, fearing the worst before she learned he’d been let go. After that she’d just assumed him dead, if not because of the war then because he’d eventually die of old age while she stayed stuck in this... unbearably timeless existence.
Now, the realization that the whole time he’d been Blue, her Blue... It was like Rose’s life all over again, she just hadn’t known they were sitting by Blue’s death bed this time. But this time, Blue hadn’t died. No, he’d lived. He’d been living all this time without them and it was all these thoughts jumbled together in the span of two seconds that caused her to forget all polite pretenses and suddenly lurch forward to fling her arms around his neck once she finally reached him. Well, Briar and Rose had always been the impulsive types. “The most beautiful,” she said without thinking, squeezing her eyes shut and hugging him far too tightly for how little they knew each other. It didn’t feel that way, though. Sixty years after the second world war, she was just so glad he was alive. “And it’s Briar, if you please. Just Briar.”
---
For a second, Byron didn’t know what to do with himself. The fact that she ran into his arms hadn’t escaped his notice, but still, it was a little hard to believe. He’d been dreaming about this moment for sixty years now, picturing it exactly like this (well, almost exactly), and... here it was. It was happening. She was alive. The nurse he’d fallen a little more in love with every single time she smiled at him. The nurse he hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye to. He always regretted that, and now it was like it didn’t even matter. They were here. Together. They were both alive.
So he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back, almost as tightly but not quite. She was so small, even smaller than he remembered somehow. He didn’t want to break her, but he told himself that wasn’t possible. Even after going through the worse kind of hell, Rose was unbreakable. If Briar had lived through the war, then he had no reason to think she wasn’t, too. He smiled into her hair, one hand gently holding the back of her neck while the other circled around her back. There was only one word he could think of to describe what he was feeling right now, and that word was heaven. Nothing could possibly be better than this. Nothing could feel... just so right.
“Alright, just Briar,” he murmured with a soft chuckle. “If you insist.” Even though he was reluctant to pull away, he did, just enough to get a closer look at her. And now that he was looking at her, really looking, he could tell that something was... not right. What exactly that was, he had no idea, and he wouldn’t presume to ask. Not yet. That was bad manners. For the moment, he just smiled at her, hoping that would be enough to help her forget whatever it was that was troubling her. “It’s lovely to see you again.”
---
As happy as Briar was feeling, for a moment she really had to struggle with herself in order not to cry. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had touched her like this. If they ever had. The way he was holding her, it was like he was trying to hold her together instead of trying to tear her apart. Her arms around his neck only tightened when he spoke, fingers clenching together for a long moment until her knuckles turned white before she loosened them, laughing ruefully against his shoulder where her chin rested. Her name sounded amazing rolling off his tongue. Much better than ‘Miss Hayes’. The only person who called her that these days was not a person she wanted to be reminded of right now, or ever. She hadn’t felt like herself in weeks. Months. But suddenly in Byron’s presence all that other bad stuff felt like light years away. She wanted to hold onto that feeling for as long as she possibly could.
When he pulled away to look at her, she did so just as reluctantly. Not because she didn’t want to get a good look at him, but because she was painfully aware of just how much of her current troubles showed on her face. Briar and Rose had never been any good at hiding their pain, and this was no exception, but she smiled up at him anyway, hoping that would be enough to mask most of it. At least for now. At the very least he was proving to be a pretty good distraction for them at the moment. He was a lot more handsome then even Briar had remembered, she actually felt her knees shake a little when she finally made eye contact with him.
“Good to see you too, soldier,” she teased lightly, delicate fingers reaching up to straighten his collar before softly brushing at his shoulders and taking a tiny step back. It was shockingly easy to forget herself in the moment, even though she was sure all eyes currently on the Farm were probably on them. The thought actually made her blush and she stopped to clear her throat. They should get inside. “I think we said something about coffee...?”
---
Byron laughed, breaking eye contact to look away sheepishly, glancing down at her hands on his collar. Wasn’t that something that old married couples did, not recently reunited acquaintances? Maybe by normal standards, sure, but this was... far from normal. Their last meeting had been sixty years ago; by rights, they should’ve at least looked sixty years older, but really the only thing that had changed was their hair and wardrobes. Finding Briar again and finding out that she was Rose Red, of all reincarnates, was nothing short of a miracle. No wonder he’d been in love with her since that first day he saw her in the field hospital. Shellshocked and in a morphine-induced haze, Briar was like an angel sent from the heavens come to nurse him back to health, and he wasn’t the only one. Byron knew for a fact that every man in the hospital with him was in love with Briar, too – but he was the only one who managed to be a gentleman about it. God love soldiers, but take them away from decent society for a few months and they were permanently infected with a case of sailor mouth. Not Byron, though. Which was probably why all the other paratroopers called him Princess. C’est la vie.
“Yes! Coffee!” he said suddenly, once he realized he was staring again. Not only that, but both his hands had traveled down to either side of her waist, lingering there almost too comfortably, so as smoothly as possible, he let go of her and stuck his hands back in his pockets. Taking one step back from her, he cleared his throat and pretended to survey the Farm. He needed to look away from her, just for a minute. It was so easy to get lost in... well, in just her existence. Just as easy as he remembered.
“My god, this place hasn’t changed a bit. Though, erm...” He glanced back over to her out of the corners of his eyes, brow furrowing with a sudden concern. “Stinky the Badger isn’t still doing that... that thing, is he? With the scarves?” Byron could feel Blue shuddering, and it was hard for him not to do the same. It was all so embarrassing, he couldn’t even bring himself to say it. “If he is, I think I’d like to... erm. Avoid that. If at all possible.”
---
It hadn’t escaped Briar’s notice that his hands had somehow found their way to her waist. A woman like Briar was used to men getting handsy, but just like everything else about Byron, he managed to achieve the same in the most respectful way possible. Not to mention it was clear he’d done so unintentionally, which just made it that much more endearing. She was actually a little sad when he let her go, but logic told her it was necessary in order for them to move on from this spot if they ever wanted to leave it, so after a moment she dislodged herself too, letting her hands fall from his shoulders and fixing him with a funny look.
“Scarves...? Oh!” She actually laughed then, stopping short directly after if only because the sound of it had honestly shocked her into momentary silence. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually laughed either, though she quickly recovered. Shaking her head with a grin, she turned around to loop an arm through his and guide them both forward towards the main office. By now Pete would be fast asleep in his little mug, and if the rest of the Farm Fables knew what was good for them they wouldn’t bother them right now either. She couldn’t pin point what was making her feel this way, but if this was the only chance she got to be completely alone with him, she was going to treasure it.
“Don’t worry, stick with me and I’m sure you and Blue will be perfectly safe from... that.” She laughed softly again, once they reached the door she reluctantly let go of him and moved forward to swing the door wide open and let him walk in first. “Home sweet home?”
---
“Oh, good,” Byron grinned with a small laugh. “He was worried, you know. Being someone’s messiah is dreadfully hard work.” He was teasing now, but for a moment there, he really had been worried. Blue hadn’t been around for the aftermath (obviously), but if he could avoid what happened when Jack Horner took advantage of the situation... well, Blue wasn’t fond of that kind of attention, and neither was Byron. That was more Oscar’s territory, and he would most certainly be leaving that to his brother.
He followed Briar up the porch and through the door, enjoying the feeling of her arm in his. It felt completely natural, and almost like they’d done this before. They hadn’t, he knew that for sure, but the sense of déjà vu he was experiencing was completely overwhelming. And, of course, it only intensified when he stepped into the foyer and took a look around. Every detail, right down the minute and obscure, was right there. Nothing was out of place; everything was the same, and he couldn’t help but swear under his breath at the sight of it. “This is... completely insane.” He walked further inside, craning his neck to see up the stairs, turning around in a dazed circle. “How is all of this... It’s all so...” He turned back around to face Briar, the look on his face completely awestruck. “How can you possibly get used to this?”
---
“Well, they just wanted you to come back. Blue, I mean. We all did. It wasn’t right, him being gone...” Briar said it so softly under her breath that it was possible Byron didn’t even hear it, but she was quick to focus on other things once they got inside just in case. Dwelling on the circumstances surrounding what happened to Blue, it hit too close to home for Briar. Now everything made a little more sense. In so many ways Byron had been her Boy Blue (quite literally, but she had been unaware of that at the time), lying on his would-be death bed like that. She never liked to think about it, but especially now. Not when it effected Rose so much now too. They had almost lost Blue a second time. It wasn’t something she ever wanted to think about, especially now that he was here and she should be counting her blessings instead. What few she had, at any rate.
As soon as they were in the door, Briar detached herself from him and wandered over to the small kitchen area where the coffee pot waited. Coffee beans had already been ground so all she had to do was pour them into the filter and fill the pot up with water. But first she removed her coat, draping it over the arm of a chair and immediately hissing under her breath. The area where Kane had stabbed her and then magically healed it had developed a bit of a nagging sting whenever she moved that arm into certain positions, along with a rather angry looking scar that she tried to keep covered at all times. Just another reminder of the shit poor choices she’d been making lately. Rubbing at that spot on her shoulder absentmindedly, she moved to the sink to fill up a measuring cup of water and turner her head when Byron spoke.
“Hmm? Oh.” She shrugged, smiling a little as she took in the expression on his face. He was so blissfully awestruck, it was almost... innocent. It was lovely. She didn’t associate with many people who could master such an expression. He was definitely their Blue. “To be honest, I’ve always found it oddly comforting. So much changes when you’re an Ageless. So much...” She looked at him for a long moment before turning back to the sink and turned on the faucet, talking over the running water. “It was actually nice to finally come home. So to speak.”
---
While Briar’s quiet murmurs escaped his notice, her small, barely audible hiss of pain didn’t. That was more than enough to pull him out of his fascination with their surroundings, causing his brow to knit together slightly and his head to tilt just to the left. He wasn’t confused so much as curious, but either way it was a good thing her back was facing toward him now – he didn’t want to seem like a snoop, but it wasn’t like he could just ignore her pain, either. Whatever his decision, he was going to cross a line either way. There was rude, and then there was extremely rude. Byron was probably the only true gentleman left on the planet, but even he wasn’t perfect, not completely. Sometimes the rules had to be broken. Oscar would say they were made that way.
He didn’t say a word as he followed her into the kitchen, instead choosing to watch and listen to her closely. Yes, there was something most definitely wrong with her. It wasn’t just the shock of seeing him again, it was something... something much, much deeper than that. Something she was trying very hard to hide. He didn’t like that. Even though they hadn’t seen each other in decades, surely she had to know that she could tell him anything. She didn’t have to go through the motions, play the hostess for him, not if there was something really bothering her. He wasn’t going anywhere. In fact, whether she liked it or not, she was stuck with him until the end of time. Of course, when he thought about it like that, it sounded a bit creepy, but the fact remained: he wasn’t going anywhere. He was here to stay. She could trust him. Didn’t she know that?
If only he could say that to her without sounding like a complete lunatic. Instead, he went to it in a more roundabout fashion, standing a few feet behind her but still inspecting her with that piercing look of genuine concern. “Briar,” he began carefully, “is... everything alright? You sound a bit... off, to be honest. And you’re favoring your left arm. Did you hurt yourself?”
---
When he spoke again Briar realized he was much, much closer to her now. Just a few feet behind her in fact. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, which confused her. She wasn’t... afraid of him. She was just afraid in general, she always was these days. His question actually caused her to nearly drop the measuring cup she was holding into the sink, barely recovering it before it would have fallen with a clatter. She didn’t answer him, not right away, though she immediately dropped the hand that had been cradling her shoulder to her side. She finished filling up the cup and then shut off the faucet, taking a deep breath before taking two careful steps to her right and pouring the water into the pot. Of course she was faking it. Of course she was going through the motions. If she didn’t, she would fall apart.
How could she possibly even begin to tell him everything that had happened? Where could she even start? Should she leave out anything? Everything? If she had it her way, she’d do just that. There were a million things that Briar Hayes could bear and had borne, but even though they’d only been reunited for a few minutes she was already certain the one thing she couldn’t bear was the way she knew he’d look at her once he knew everything. She couldn’t let that happen, because the way she could feel him looking at her right now without even turning around was something she knew she’d kill for.
Once she’d finally dumped all the water in and flipped the on switch, she turned around slowly to meet his gaze, gripping onto the counter now behind her as she searched for something to say. She didn’t want to tell him. Not any of it. Nothing about any alternate realities or present day realities. Nothing about the monster she had been or according to Kane still was. Nothing about Kane himself or the way she’d allowed him to manipulate her right into his grasp. Certainly nothing about the reason behind her constant nausea over the past week that she still hadn’t figured out what to do about, or the last one hundred and thirty years she’d had to spend without him. It was amazing just how trivial her entirely long life now seemed in Byron’s absence.
Thinking about all of that in a single breath had her nearly collapsing under her feet but she managed to hold herself steady as she attempted a smile. It wavered as she shrugged, raising a shaky hand to tuck a section of hair behind her ear as she looked away for a second before looking back at him, eyes noticeably watering. Then she said the only thing she could pick out at the time over the onslaught of thoughts running through her mind as she bit her lip in an attempt to keep back the flood works, though the tone of her voice ended up betraying her anyway. “You’re really very late, you know that?”
---
It was almost painful, watching her struggle with herself like this. In fact, it was painful; whatever was plaguing her was obviously much worse than what he’d originally thought. She couldn’t even look at him – she could barely even speak. In a split second, he went from mildly worried to an inch away from pure panic. He’d asked the exact wrong question. In less than five sentences, he’d managed to shatter what little composure she had left to hold herself together. If it had been anyone else, he would have been mortified. But since it was Briar... well, he just needed to help her. Whatever had broken her, he needed to fix it. And he would. Whatever it took, he would fix her.
He stayed silent for a moment after she spoke, concern written on his face as he mulled over what she said. Late. Yes, she was right about that, and he had no one to blame but himself. If he was being petty, he could blame Oscar, but as much as he loved his brother, it was really cowardice that kept them together. They simply couldn’t function by themselves. Contemplating living a life separately, one without the other, well. That just wasn’t an option. They stuck with each other, through thick and thin, and at the expense of everyone around them. Whether they knew them or not, apparently. If he’d just broken away, just a little bit, maybe he would’ve found Briar ages ago. Maybe she wouldn’t be looking at him like she was now. He knew it wasn’t her intention to make him feel guilty, but a wave of remorse knotted his stomach and deepened his frown. He should’ve looked for her after the war. He should’ve been there for her. He should’ve done a lot of things.
Now, he only had one real option. He took a few slow steps toward her, coming very close to her, and reached for her hands, pulling them together in his own hands and holding them close to his chest. Studying her soft, delicate hands, he breathed in deeply and let out a heavy sigh, then glanced up into her teary eyes. “And I’m deeply, deeply sorry for that, Briar. I... can’t even tell you how sorry I am.” He raised her hands to his lips, giving each one a gentle kiss. “Now. Please tell me what I can do to make it better.”
---
Her aim was definitely not to make him feel guilty. She’d just been stating a fact. He was late, and so was she. She knew he couldn’t have helped not finding her sooner anymore then she couldn’t have helped not finding him sooner either. Their paths had crossed once before and largely without their notice, which now to Briar seemed nothing but cruel. How could she not have realized at the time just how important he was? Now that he was so close to her, and touching her like he was, she couldn’t even begin to grasp it. Any of it. All she could think about was how much different her life would have been if they’d done this sooner. Everything before now seemed like such a waste, but that hardly mattered. For the first time in a long time she actually felt like she might be okay, as long as he was here.
Briar didn’t move as he came toward her, only stiffening for a moment when he stepped up to her and took her hands before visibly loosening and molding to his grasp. She honestly couldn’t remember the last thing that had ever felt this good, if anything ever had. A tiny, barely audible sound escaped her throat when she felt his lips on her hands, smiling through the few tears now slowly rolling down her cheeks and she shook her head. He really was the last honest to god gentleman on this Earth. When it came to men she and Rose never made good choices, they always seemed to go for the worst of the worst. Except when it came to Blue. Blue had always been Rose’s exception, and Byron was clearly hers. She could definitely live with that.
“Don’t be sorry,” she finally said once she found words again, her eyes following him from his lips on her hands up to his face where she finally looked him in the eyes. Then she stood up on her tip toes for a brief moment to close the space between them and brush her lips against his, before leaning back just enough to stare at him, silently pleading. As silent as everything else seemed to be between the two of them. Entirely unspoken, but unmistakable to both. “Just be here with me?”
---
Byron wasn’t used to being a hero. Ideally, of course, he would’ve liked to be one, but it was... difficult. Living the life he and Oscar had had for over a century, they were far more frequently the villains of the story, even though they made themselves look like the heroes. Frankly, Byron was tired of it. Had been for a long time, but for Oscar’s sake he kept at it. Well, for both their sake’s, really, but Byron would have preferred to live an honest life. To make an honest living somewhere, and live quietly. How hard could that be? As long as Briar was in the picture... well, he could see that happening far too easily. An honest-to-goodness happily ever after. Heaven forbid.
When she kissed him, he closed his eyes and let her, kissing her back just as gently. It wasn’t hesitant, just... careful. She was barely holding it together, and he didn’t want to overstep his bounds. He didn’t linger any longer than she did, and when she pulled away from him, he didn’t fight it. Instead, he raised a hand to wipe her tears away, then wrapped the other around her waist, pulling her just a little closer. Doing that didn’t feel like he was overstepping anything – it just felt natural, holding her. Like everything else had felt since he’d found her again. He wouldn’t be letting go of this any time soon. Of her. No, he was here to stay.
“Of course,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head. “That’s the least I can do.” A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and he touched a hand to her chin, tilting her head upward to look at him. “Anything else while I’m here? I am, naturally, your servant.”
---
“My servant?” Briar’s mouth pulled back into a funny smile at that, her head still barely tilted to the side where she’d leaned into the hand that wiped away her tears and took hold of her chin. That small gesture was enough to get her to immediately sober up and get a hold of herself, with every second that passed with Byron she felt more solid then she had in a very, very long time. He really was too good to be true, and she was luckier then she knew she deserved. But Byron didn’t have to know that. Not right now anyway. Right now she just wanted to bask a little. The things he was saying to her had her half convinced that he was actually some kind of saint, even if the last thing she wanted was to be waited on. No, she’d had enough of playing the part. Now she just wanted to be Briar. No one else. And not the shadow of Briar that she’d been for the past few months either. She was so tired of the games. So very tired.
She shook her head, sighing quietly as his lips touched the top of her head and she met his gaze easily this time when he tilted her chin up towards him, her lips twitching in a more genuine smile. She’d already forgotten why her eyes and cheeks still felt moist, she was much too focused on how close in proximity they were now. It felt good to be held by him, and a few seconds after his hand found her waist, her hands crawled up to press lightly against his chest and curl fingers into the material of his shirt. Almost like she’d been doing it all her life.
Her mouth still tingled from the brief kiss they’d shared a few seconds before and after a moment she tipped her chin up further to kiss him again. This time longer, and a bit more insistent. “That’s very gentlemanly of you to offer but there’s no need to dote on me, Byron. I’m not that kind of girl.“ Her forehead came to rest against his and her eyes stayed closed, concentrating on keeping both her feet steady on the ground. “Maybe we could just... sit for awhile?”
---
It only took a second for Byron to completely lose touch with reality, and that was in her second kiss. He reciprocated eagerly, the hand that was holding her chin sliding to the back of her neck – not too eagerly, of course, but he showed much less restraint this time than the time before. All of this, it felt like a dream. Or, actually, everything else felt like a dream, as though he’d been asleep for 137 years and now, just now, he’d finally woken up. Briar felt more real than anything he’d ever experienced in his entire life. More real than the danger, the thrill – hell, even the bond he shared with his brother. She made everything worth it. All of his regrets, all of his mistakes. Without them, he never would have made it here. Never would have found her again. It was... fate. And the thought practically made him giddy.
“Sit? Mm. Yes, I think I’d like that.” For the moment, he just contented himself with kissing her again, smiling into her lips as he gave her waist a small squeeze. When he pulled away, it was only enough to kiss her forehead again, and then without warning, a boyish grin lighted his face, and he scooped her up into his arms. He was more fit than most men his size, but Briar was impossibly tiny. It barely took any strength to hold her up at all. Still, he held her close anyway. He wasn’t one to waste opportunity, his brother had taught him that much. “So. Where to, madam? Your carriage awaits...”