A New Dawn

Chapter 36 - Idris

Everett holds the door to A Quiet Café open for me and Marlowe. When I walk in, my eyes immediately draw to Briar. She's sitting on top of a table with headphones on, a book in her lap and a pen in her hand. She writes something down, nodding her head to whatever song she's listening to. But she must hear the bell above the door go off or see movement because she glances at me and smiles.

I start to take a step toward her, but Gareth calls my name. I turn towards him with a polite smile. Gareth has his laptop in front of him, an amused look on his face. I'm sure Thera would look the same way if she wasn't busy teaching Amalia how to play the piano.

"You weren't planning on saying hi to us?" Gareth teases.

Everett chuckles as he hands out ice cream. "I'm sure he has more important people to talk to."

I feel my face heat up, but I'll take this teasing over glares any day. Too bad Briar can only settle for glares with my family.

After I quickly exchange formalities with Gareth and Thera, I sit next to Briar. She smiles at me, lowering her headphones around her neck and picking up her ice cream. "Hey."

"Hi," I smile. I eye the book in her lap. "Rereading your dad's series?" She nods. "Is this like the millionth reread?"

She shrugs, pulling the spoon out of her mouth. "Might as well be."

"Can I see your annotations?"

She nods, letting me take the book and flip through it. This is the first book, so I guess she just started going back into it to annotate. It's a copy she hasn't annotated yet either, so it's easy to pick out her notes. And... I don't know whether to roll my eyes at how concerned she is or kiss her here and now for caring so much.

I guess Hai could be nice to his sister sometimes.

Hien actually does care about Hai no matter how much she complains about him to Lanh.

Kind of sad that Hai and Hien feel like they can't get along when they actually make a good team.

Why is Hai so much more of an asshole than Hien when they pretty much grew up under the same conditions and with the same beliefs about always being there for each other?

Hard to see Hien be so conflicted about her relationship with her brother.

I look up. Gareth, Everett, and Marlowe are holding each other's attention, and Thera is still preoccupied with Amalia. Good. I quickly turn Briar's head towards me and kiss her. She quietly gasps right as I pull back. Guess I do want to kiss her for caring so much.

"My annotations weren't that good," she laughs, smiling down at her ice cream.

I set the book aside. "No. They were better than you think." I put a hand on her knee and squeeze. "Thanks for caring."

Her expression softens. She turns to make sure no one's watching before kissing me on the cheek. "Of course, I care a lot." She finishes the rest of her ice cream and sets the cup aside before giving me her full attention. "How was it with your brother?"

I shrug, sitting back on my hands. "I had a good time with him today." I swallow. "Is that weird?"

Briar shakes her head. "I don't think so. I always thought that siblings were supposed to get along and have each other's backs."

I snort, lightly hitting her arm with the back of my hand. "That's how I know you're an only child."

She huffs, swatting me on the shoulder. "You know what I mean."

I nod, feeling something dim in my chest. "Yeah... I know... But I don't know how to feel about it considering all the things he says and does every other time we talk. I don't get why we were on such good terms today."