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I rubbed my sweaty palms on the denim of my jeans then ring the doorbell to Briar's house. It was still all so surreal to me, finally being friends with the girl I've had a crush on from afar since freshman year, yet so typical of me to screw it up because I was scared of what could have happened. I'd never been this nervous over a girl, but she was different than the others, and it terrified me. When I dated Hayden, I felt nothing for her compared to how I've felt about Briar for so long. Briar was so complex with so many layers and she had the ability to make me flustered like nobody else.
"Liam?" The dark-haired girl I had been infatuated with for so long asked, staring at me with a look of confusion. "Uh, come in."
"Look, I know you probably don't want to see me," I began, noticing Briar opened her mouth to say something. "Before you say anything, just let me explain. From the moment you asked me if I was going to that party I knew I wasn't going to. You just seemed so happy that I didn't want to ruin it. Instead of facing my problems, I chose to make it worse and lie, and I'm sorry for that. When you confronted me about it I was scared and angry, not at you, but it just happens sometimes because I have something called intermittent explosive disorder, which I know isn't an excuse but it's the reason I said things that I don't believe to be true and would never say in a million years if I didn't have issues. I'm sorry for judging your party lifestyle and for calling you those names especially. I'm just so sorry getting so angry over you being angry with me when you had every right to be. Most importantly, I'm sorry for not being upfront with you and not explaining this to you and being honest from the start. The truth just might be a lot to handle. Listen, I like you a lot. Like, a lot, which I'm sure you already know. I don't want you to be afraid of me, which is why I never wanted to have to tell you the truth about me. Okay, that's all I guess. I'll go now."
I turned on my heel and placed my hand on the cold, brass door handle. Upon feeling a gentle hand on my shoulder, I froze.
"Liam, wait," Her voice was as sweet as honey, drawing me in. Taking a few steps, Briar ended up between the door and me, looking up at me. Reaching up, the blonde placed a delicate, short kiss onto my cheek, barely touching my skin, not even there long enough for me to react.
"That's all I wanted. I just wanted to hear that you knew why I was mad in the first place. I'm not going to be able to forget some of the things you said to me, but I can forgive you. All I will ever need from you is for you to he honest with me, so whatever it is you're hiding from me, I can handle it. I will never be scared of you... you're too much of a softie."
"I'm serious, Briar. What I'm talking about isn't small and you probably won't even believe me," I explained.
"I'm serious, too, whatever it is, I'm ready to know." Searching her warm taupe eyes, I felt safe to show her who I am. I looked down and when my head came back up, I knew my eyes were a glowing amber and I could feel the presence of the hair on the side of my face.
