Briar followed Faybelle out of Daring’s party—it was a little too loud, even for her. She pulled open the door to the hallway; Faybelle was leaning against a wall. Briar stumbled over to her after shutting the dorm door, alcohol flooding her system quickly. Her heel caught on the floor and she fell forward.
“Woah there, Beauty. Be careful.” Faybelle gripped Briar’s forearms, catching her and helping her to her feet. Briar leaned against the wall, slowly sinking to the ground. Her eyes stayed on Faybelle; Grimm, did she look enchanting.
“Okay, come on, Beauty. I’m not gonna leave you here.” Faybelle grabbed Briar’s hand, pulling her up and dragging her along. They walked to the girls’ side of the dorms, Briar leaning heavily on Faybelle.
“You’re so pretty, Faybelle,” Briar slurred.
“Uh... thanks, Beauty,” Faybelle replied, stunned at Briar’s starstruck tone.
They continued walking; the hazy moonlight shining through the large window at the end of the dormitory hall made Faybelle’s skin glitter. Briar heeded it like a moth to a flame. Faybelle stabilized herself—and Briar— before unlocking her dorm and pushing open the door. She helped Briar inside, sitting her on her vanity chair before closing the door and turning on a lamp. The light was faint, but it was bright enough to let them see, and Briar couldn’t help but stare in awe at the ethereal way it made Faybelle glow. Faybelle went back over to Briar, grabbing a wipe and removing as much makeup as she could without being too aggressive. Briar let her do as she pleased, sitting still, moving her face as asked. Faybelle finished removing what makeup she could and wiped Briar's face with a wet rag to get rid of any residue. Her eyes lingered on Briar's lips as she wiped away her lip gloss. Briar slowly leaned forward, eyes falling shut. Faybelle’s lips brushed against hers. Despite the yearning that festered in Faybelle's chest, she pulled away, clearing her throat.
“So, uh.” She stood up, grabbing a water bottle from her minifridge before walking back to Briar, whose eyebrows had furrowed. “You should drink some water, Briar.”
Briar scoffed, standing up abruptly and pushing past Faybelle.
“Briar?”
“Don't, please just don’t,” Briar muttered,eyes clouding with tears. She opened the door and almost knocked into Bunny.
“Briar? Are you okay?” Bunny asked.
Briar didn’t respond, seeing Ashlynn and stumbling over to her.
Bunny entered the dorm before seeing Faybelle, her face in her hands as she sat on her bed.
“Do you wanna talk?” she asked, taking off her shoes and walking to her bed.
“Maybe tomorrow,” Faybelle said shortly, kicking off her shoes and getting under her covers.
Light shone through Briar’s eyelids, a splitting headache rudely awakening her. She sat up, her silk nightgown pooling in her lap. She vaguely remembered changing into pajamas, but her hair was still a mess and she felt old makeup still on her face from the previous night. Ashlynn looked at her from her side of the dorm, remembering how hard drunk Briar sobbed in her arms a few hours ago.
“Do you remember anything from last night, Briar?” Ashlynn asked, a sliver of humor in her voice. “You seemed pretty out of it, like more than usual. You were crying...”
Briar, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sighed, throat still sore from crying.
“Can you turn down the light, Ashlynn?”
Ashlynn sighed, but obliged, clapping at the fairies before walking over to Briar's bed and sitting on the edge of the soft mattress.
Briar looked at her.“I remember leaving the party and finding Faybelle... then we walked to her dorm and she took my makeup off and...” She trailed off with a sigh.
“And?” Ashlynn questioned, moving her knees underneath her.
Briar brought her knees up to her chest and tucked her face behind them, sniffling. She fiddled with the hem of her nightgown as small tears pooled in her waterline.“I...” She sighed. “I leaned in to kiss her and... she pulled away.” Ashlynn rubbed Briar's arm soothingly. “She doesn't like me. I totally fucked up everything last night and now we can’t even be friends anymore–”
“Briar...” Ashlynn started, but Briar kept ranting. “Briar!”
Briar finally stopped, looking over at Ashlynn.
“Faybelle is not that type of person—she may be destined to be the Dark Fairy and all that, but she does care about you.”
Doubt swirled in Briar’s eyes. Ashlynn was about to continue before Briar kicked the blankets off of her and got up.
“I know she does! Briar!”
Briar put on her slippers and went into their shared bathroom. After closing the door and locking it, Briar stared at herself in the mirror and sighed. She removed the rest of her makeup from last night and brushed out her hair. As the brush ran through her tangled, hair-sprayed curls as her eyes slowly welled with tears. She bit her lip to keep any sound inside her as the brush raked through her curls. Once her hair had been brushed she placed the brush on the counter and stared at herself. She swiftly got undressed and stepped into the shower, letting the lukewarm water run over her face. Her tears ran with the shower water down her face. Briar fell against the shower wall and slid to the floor, hugging herself. She sobbed silently as the water washed over her.
Faybelle’s morning hadn’t been much better. She woke up hearing soft pop music playing from the bathroom. Dim fairy lights lit up her and Bunny’s dorm, the blue tint of them being nicer on the eyes. Faybelle buried her head in her down pillow for a minute, groaning at the thought of waking up. The scratchy material of her party clothes from the previous night irritated her skin as she turned back on her side. She moved to sit on the edge of her bed as Bunny walked out of their bathroom, the music slightly louder now.
“You’re awake.” Bunny smiled..
Faybelle glared at her. “Barely,” she murmured.
Bunny giggled. “Do you wanna talk about last night?” she offered.
Faybelle sighed, debating on releasing her issues on her poor roommate. Faybelle looked at her, then behind her into the bathroom.
“Fine... but only if you turn off that music. I may be a cheerleader, but I don't do pop music.” Bunny went into the bathroom and turned off the music, grabbing her MirrorPhone and throwing it on her bed before shuffling to Faybelle's bed and sitting next to her.
“Yesterday, Briar was really drunk from Daring’s party, so I took her to our dorm—I couldn't just leave her... so we got here and I took off her makeup and she tried to kiss me," Faybelle explained, as shortly as she could.
“...Are you homophobic, Faybelle...?”
“What? No!”
“I was just wondering–”
“Bunny, I'm a lesbian.”
“Oh! Okay! Anyways, now that we have that sorted out, continue.”
aybelle sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose. “And I moved away from her, because she was drunk and I wasn't! Well I was, but I was still conscious! You saw her last night, she was practically blackout drunk," Faybelle ranted; this was the most she had ever spoken to her roommate at once. “And I don't want her to remember, but I feel guilty about wanting that. But if she does remember, she might hate me because she might not understand why I did it.” Faybelle’s thoughts still were’nt out of her system, but they were just going to repeat if she kept her mouth open. She decided she’d said enough before she scared off her roommate.
“Well... that's a lot,'' Bunny started, stunned by the long rant from the girl she had barely spoken a full sentence to the whole spellmester.
“Oh, wow, thanks,” Faybelle mumbled sarcastically.
“But I really doubt Briar hates you because of that, she’s probably just embarrassed.... She kinda confessed, by trying to kiss you–” Bunny tried to comfort Faybelle, but her roommate cut her off.
“Or she was just drunk and wanted to kiss someone.”
Bunny sighed, realizing it would take more effort than she thought to comfort her roommate. “Based on the way she was crying, Faybelle, I don't think so. Most people don't usually cry when the person they were trying to kiss ‘just because’ doesn't reciprocate.”
Faybelle sighed. While Bunny’s words made sense, she couldn't fathom it. How could Briar like her if she liked Briar?
“Sure. Thanks, Bunny. I'm gonna shower and get ready,” Faybelle muttered before getting up and going into their shared bathroom and locking the door.
Briar sat in the hocus latte shop across from Cupid, her mind plagued by the previous night. Her fingers tapped on her drink as Cupid ranted about something—Briar wasn’t paying enough attention to know what said “something” was. She didn't know how long she hadn’t been listening. She felt bad about it—Cupid was one of her best friends—but her mind wouldn't focus on anything but Faybelle.
“And she—Briar? Are you listening?” Cupid asked.
Briar looked up from her glass, startled at the sudden silence. “What? Uh, yeah, sorry, Cupid...” Briar stammered, her eyes darting nervously from Cupid to the table. Cupid’s powers allowed her to sense when something was up with someone in the romance department. Briar chewed her lip as Cupid looked at her with doubt.
“What's up? I can tell something’s wrong, Briar.” Cupid smiled at her, her demigod of love powers coming in clutch as Briar's heart ached for Faybelle. “Is it something to do with love?”
Briar sputtered. “I-it’s not love! It's just…" Briar sighed. She didn't know how to explain her feelings, even to a demigod of love. Briar’s heel tapped rhythmically on the ground as her knee bounced. “It's nothing.”
Cupid sighed. “Come on, Briar, what is it?” Cupid pushed.
Briar sighed. She fidgeted with her rose ring, debating whether she should tell Cupid or not. “So, at Daring’s party last weekend, Faybelle and I went to her room and I tried to kiss her, but she pulled away. And I think she fucking hates me now and I really like her and–” Briar’s hands covered her face as her emotions overflowed.
“Briar, I’m certain Faybelle doesn’t hate you. You two are meant to be together You two hold each other so close to your hearts—you couldn't hate each other, no matter how hard you tried.” Cupid grabbed Briar’s hand and squeezed reassuringly.
Briar looked at her, her waterline holding onto tears. “Really?”
“Cross my heart.” Cupid smiled. “Now come on, we need to do something fun to get your mind off her.”
Briar giggled as Cupid got up, grabbing her trash and throwing it away. Briar grabbed her half-drunk latte and left the Hocus Latte, arm in arm with Cupid as they headed back to Ever After High.
“How about you throw a party, since we have a long weekend and don’t have school for a few days,” Cupid suggested.
“Totally!” Briar grinned, already messaging Melody for music.
Soon enough, Briar had gotten almost everything set up. The party was taking place in the Enchanted Forest, and with help from Ashlynn, Farrah, and Cupid, it looked even more enchanting. Fairy lights had been strung around the trees and luminescent flowers surrounded the area as hunter and dexter finished setting up tables and chairs.
“Wow, Briar, this place looks so magical!” Ashlynn complimented, making Briar grin. She loved throwing parties, and not to be popular or get drunk. She just loved it when people had a good time, and when she had a good time.
When the clock struck 7:00 PM, people began to show up. The glow of the lights and flowers once the sun set was ethereal. As Briar looked around the area, she saw Poppy talking with Melody as she deejayed. Daring was talking with Hopper, Cerise was talking with Darling, Ramona was with Justine…
Cupid came up to Briar, a drink in her hand. “Sooo, Briar, do you feel a little better?” Cupid asked.’
Briar sighed. “Yeah, a little. Still sucks seeing all these flirty, crushing people together, though.”
“Yeah, but at least they're having fun!” Cupid tried to cheer her up, and she succeeded. Briar smiled, knowing she made these people happy. Cupid wrapped her arm around Briar, squeezing her shoulders in affection. “Never forget how great you are, Briar,” Cupid scolded playfully, wagging her finger. “I had to do this with Dexter during True Hearts Day, and now look at him with Raven.” Cupid's voice hinted at sorrow, but her face had a smile, and her eyes looked happy. Briar looked over to the two, laughing together, both blushing. Briar sighed, momentarily wondering if that could be her and Faybelle. She pushed it out of her mind.
“You’re the best, Cupid.” Briar gave her a hug.
Cupid hugged her back, giving her the comfort she needed. “I love you, Briar.”
“I love you too.” Briar tightened the hug, just as Faybelle arrived at the party. For once she had been invited; though she was cursed to always be forgotten, somehow Briar remembered to invite her. However, when she saw Briar hugging Cupid, she turned and left. No anger or hatred made her leave, just sorrow.
Briar let go of Cupid, smiling. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Apple arrive. Saying goodbye to Cupid she walked over to Apple, a smile on her face. “Hey, Apple!”
Apple turned to her, smiling. “Hi Briar! Wow, this party looks so enchanting, and not just because it's in the Enchanted Forest?” She giggled. “Why did you throw this party?”
“Oh, I needed a distraction and to cheer up.” Briar smiled.
“Awh, sweetie, what’s wrong?”
Briar tensed, she remembered how Apple was with Ashlynn during True Hearts Day. “Oh, just romance stuff. It’s stupid.” She shrugged, laughing nervously.
“Briar, you can talk to me. If something’s wrong I want to know; we’re best friends forever after," Apple tried to say reassuringly, but it only made Briar more nervous. Faybelle was her story’s villain, it was different from Ashlynn and Hunter, and more importantly, Apple didn't trust Faybelle. Faybelle showed she was excited for her destiny, to be the next Dark Fairy.
“Apple, please don’t freak out when I say this. When I left Daring’s party last weekend, I went with Faybelle and I tried to kiss her and she pulled away. And I'm hurt from that and that's what's up with me,” Briar said hesitantly.
“Briar... I know I was kind of a pain with Ashlynn and Hunter, but this is different. Faybelle is the villain in your story! She’s already hurt you and I know she’ll only hurt you more!” Apple whisper-yelled.
Briar’s eyes began to water as she looked at the ground. “Apple, please,” Briar muttered.
“Briar, why would I be okay with you liking someone who’s already hurt you, and is destined to curse you?” Apple’s voice began to raise in volume and Briar hugged herself.
“I’ll... talk to you later, Apple,” Briar muttered as she walked away from her friend, away from the party, and unknowingly into the dark forest.
Minutes after she had left, Grimm had caught most everyone at the party, taking all of them into his office. Briar walked with her thoughts through the unlit forest, and soon even the moon abandoned her. Tripping over vines and branches on the forest floor, Briar felt rain begin to fall. Her clothes grew heavy as they soaked up the rain water, but when she turned around to get back to Ever After, her path was gone. She could barely see with the lack of light and panic began to set into her system. She tried to go back the way she came but she only found herself more and more lost. She grabbed her MirrorPhone from her pocket as she hid under a tree and tried to call Ashlynn, but it went to voicemail. She tried again with Cupid, Apple, and Melody. No one answered. The rain got heavier as tears began to pool in Briar’s eyes. She tried once more to find her way to the Enchanted Forest, but no luck. She collapsed under a tall willow tree, the canopy of leaves shielding her from most of the rain, however her tears began to fall. Cold and tired she curled up under the willow, finding comfort in the large tree. She tried to think of what to do, who knew the dark forest well enough to find her? Then someone came to mind. Briar’s fingers clumsily called her.
“Faybelle?” Briar cried into the phone before Faybelle could speak.
“Briar? Are you crying? What’s–”
“I got lost in the dark forest and I have no clue where I am and I didn't know who else to call–” Briar sobbed into the phone as rain poured around her.
“I'm on my way,” Faybelle said shortly before hanging up. Briar continued to cry, not knowing what else to do. Her body convulsively gasped every few seconds, she shivered under the tall willow tree she was under. The rain slowly stopped, becoming more of a drizzle, but Briar hadn’t moved. Hours seemed to pass under the big willow tree, yet it remained dark and dreary. Soon the fluttering of wings entered Briar's ears as she sat up, hope filling her chest. Faybelle had begun to panic, she had flown through most of the dark forest by the time she came across Briar. Faybelle ceased her flying, landing on the ground and bolting toward Briar to hug her, nearly knocking her over in the process.
“You came...” Briar murmured into Faybelle’s ear.
“You called,” Faybelle sighed.
They held onto each other for a moment more, the slow trickle of rain beginning once again.
“Briar,” Faybelle started again as she pulled away from the other girl, holding her at her shoulders. “I'm sorry I didn't kiss you that night. I like you so much—I love you—but you were too drunk. And I'm sorry if this makes things weird between us and stuff but we were already avoiding each other so I doubt this will really ruin that but I'm rambling and just—I'm sorry.”
“I never blamed you, Faybelle. I mean, sure, I kinda hated myself for trying to kiss you because I thought I ruined our friendship, but I was never mad at you." Briar smiled. “And I... love you too.” She giggled, and Faybelle quickly followed suit.
The rain continued to pour around the two girls, Briar biting her lip as she grabbed Faybelle’s hands in hers, slowly pulling her around toward the edge of the willow’s canopy.
“Briar, it's practically a flood out there.”
Briar only giggled before pulling Faybelle into the rain, immediately soaking both of them. Faybelle scoffed playfully as the rain soaked her clothes, making them heavy, as Briar laughed. Briar’s wet curls fell in front of her face, gluing to her forehead and cheeks. Faybelle bit her lip before gently letting go of Briar’s hand and moving one of her pink and brown curls from her face. Faybelle’s hand landed on her cheek as she leaned in. Briar's cold lips met Faybelle’s and they danced. Faybelle pulled away as Briar’s lips chased hers for a minute before she opened her eyes. Both girls giggled as the rain poured around them.
“Come on, your lips are freezing, we gotta get back,” Faybelle teased.
“Yeah, okay.'' Briar complied, hugging herself to keep warm. The girls went the way Faybelle came, back to Ever After.