A New Dawn

Chapter 27 - Briar

My alarm goes off at six in the morning. I force myself to get out of bed and get ready. Twenty minutes later, I find the car keys in the kitchen and head for the door. The moment I step outside, I want to go back in and grab a jacket. Summer mornings are weirdly cold, especially when the sun is barely up. The sky's that nice sunrise pink color, though, so it's late enough to hear the birds chirping and light enough to see Idris sitting on the porch steps.

He stands as I shut the door behind me. He smiles, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Hey."

I arch an eyebrow, rubbing my arms. "I know we agreed you'd come here, but isn't it a little early?"

He shrugs. "I was excited to spend the day with you. Plus, my family gets up pretty early, so I thought it was a good idea to get up extra early."

I guess that makes sense. "Were you waiting long?"

He shakes his head. "Not at all." He studies me. "Are you cold?"

I nod, letting out a breath. "A little bit." Idris doesn't hesitate to close the distance between us and fold me into a hug. I relax in his arms, resting my head against his chest. "We could've just gotten in the car and turned on the heat."

He laughs, his chest rumbling. "I like this better."

I snuggle deeper into him. "Me too."

And I can't help but think it'd be nice to just stay in his arms for the rest of my life.

I take a deep breath and force myself to pull away. "We should go. Maybe stop somewhere to get coffee."

Idris nods. I lead the way to the car, sliding into the driver's seat while Idris gets in the passenger seat. After I adjust the mirrors and the seat, I start the car and drive. We stop once at a diner for coffee and breakfast, but after that, we keep driving to Woodworth. I'm behind the wheel for the entire three hours, and I let out a breath when I finally park in front of the house.

"I'll drive the three hours back," Idris says, unbuckling his seatbelt. I nod, pulling out my phone to text my parents that we made it safely. While I do, Idris looks from me to the house and back. "So this is the house you grew up in?" I nod. "Give me a tour?"

I laugh, tucking my phone away. "There's not much to show."

"I still want to see everything."

I shrug. "Sure. We have time."

I lead the way up the porch and unlock the front door. When we step in, Idris insists on looking at all the pictures around the living room. He asks questions about some, but he mostly just laughs and smiles at the pictures of me as a kid in costume, makeup smeared all over my face because I insisted on doing it myself. He has a more contemplative look at the ones of me holding up trophies from talent shows or dressed in costume with castmates.

"What's this one?" he asks.

I look at the picture he points to on the bookshelf. I'm standing in front of a table stacked with copies of Thundering Daybreak, wearing a blue áo dài with see-through bell sleeves and an imperial collar. I can't remember who did my hair and makeup that day—either Sarina or Mẹ—but they really took the etheral vibe to the next level: my hair is in a cascading half updo with orchids scattered throughout the curls and there's blue glitter at the corners of my eyes.

"Oh," I laugh, rubbing the back of my neck. "Whenever my dad had a book signing in town, I would dress up as Âu Cơ and read some scenes from whatever book he was releasing. I took pictures with kids and signed books—Why are you looking at me like that?"

Idris' smile widens. "Because you're amazing. Why else?" He looks back at the picture. "Didn't you tell me once that you always thought you were more dragon than fairy?"