Once And Now Forever

Chapter 4: Neil

My mother walks up to Briar and they talk in small whispers before my mother walks by me walking inside. Briar sighs leaning against her car running a hand through her hair. I look over at Heath I don't know what the fuck to do and by the looks of it he doesn't either. I had to come talk to my father about some things at the office before we headed back in.

"This was your car." She kicks at the dirt looking at me.

"Yes." I answer her.

"Are you aware your mom just told me I could, have it?" She arches a brow.

"It's yours then." I remark.

"Listen to me." She walks right up to us. "I am not interested in talking to either of you. I'm not here to play catch up, just drifting through." She holds out her arms.

"Did you think I came here trying to see you?" Heath asks.

"No, I'm just saying before we all hear the whispers and shit that normally happens in this fucking town." She mutters. "I was hoping it had changed." She whispers.

"Why not leave then?" I ask.

"Because I promised Dalton. Unlike some people I keep my fucking word. I always have and I always fucking will." She whispers.

"We are going to have to talk sometime Briar." Heath quips.

"No, we fucking don't. As far as you're concerned, I'm still where I came from. The Bronx if you wanted to know so you could picture it." She shrugs walking up to my old car.

"You went to the Bronx?" I ask not being able to stop myself and she smirks.

"Among many other places." She opens the door. "That's the great thing about being a bartender. The longer the list of jobs the more you get hired. Especially when you tell them you're traveling." She looks at Heath. She quickly gets into the car taking off before either of us can say a word.

"Let's go." Heath mutters. I think for a while me and best friend just may be struggling for words with her around. He was the one that broke her, and I was the one to listen to her after everything crumbled for her.

He should have never let the queen of the school get into his fucking head. I should have been the one to stop it but I could hardly believe it was happening before I could fucking move. He should have been the one to stop it before it even happened but he let her get into his head. The fucking idiot. She left and so did the queen of school right after we graduated. We both moved on and others started leaving until it was left with just a few of us.

The ride to the office is in silence and the rest of my work day I spend it doing the paperwork for the pending deals. My father started an oil company Heath and I started pitching in once my father wanted to teach us both. Now we are the top of the game moving through just fine. I like that she moved back to see her family I don't think I've ever heard of her being back. At the very least I know she didn't come back for the fucking peaches this state has to offer.

When I finally am able to leave work, I decide to swing by the pub for the usual moonshine before I go home since it's Friday night. When I get there, I see none other than her standing behind the bar and she sighs walking up to me.

"Wasn't on purpose." I hold up my hands.

"Listen we can be friendly if nothing else. What will you have?" She asks.

"Moonshine." I answer and she nods.

"I mostly just meant no talking about the past." She mutters as she starts wiping down the bar.

"So, you made it to New York huh?" I try to spark conversation.

"Do you want the cliff notes?" She remarks. "Walking everywhere sucked, pigeons were everywhere, and the raining was getting on my nerves." She finishes rolling her eyes making me scoff.

"How'd you get the car?" I ask.

"A very good friend gave it to me before I left." She answers.

"Why are you being so friendly toward me?" I ask.

"The whole show was mainly for Heath, Neil. Not you." She shakes her head. Another person sits down at the end and she goes to them talking.

I remember our times talking in the back of my truck after school. It was nice, she became the outsider but she was a very good friend of mine. We were friends when Heath was dating her but we really became close after that. And before you ask, no, I wasn't trying to get into her pants. I was trying to understand why the hell my best friend would hurt her and I also needed a friend at the time. She was the only one that could see I was hurting too.