What now? (Eric)

[briony]

What could he possibly want now? Briony had been sitting out in Hangout Park, swinging on the swing when she received Eric's letter. Well, it had been more of a note. Of course, it had surprised her considerably. Eric had spoken to her only once since they had broke up and only then it was because they had both needed a partner in class. So whatever it was he needed to talk to her about must be important.

That, and only that, was the reason Briony wouldn't turn the meeting down. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him, but Briony truely didn't want another forest incident to happen. Sighing, Briony took a moment to decide where to meet him at. She didn't want to risk bringing any bad memories back for him, so there was only one place to go. While she would have loved to have had come here with Eric, they never did, so she thought it would be safe enough.

So Briony scribbled out a return note, telling Eric to meet her in the Gardens in an hour. That done, Briony left the Park and headed to the Gardens. Once there, she settled down under a lovely tree and pulled a book from the back pocket of her jeans. Opening it, she began to read to kill time under Eric arrived.

[ericm]

Eric was in his dorm room studying when he heard an owl at the window. Eric hoped it was from Briony he had written her earlier saying they needed to talk. Well they did need to talk though that was only half the reason he wanted to see her. He really missed hanging out with her like they used to in France. So he figured the talk was as good a reason as any to hang out with her maybe she would give him at least 15 minutes of her time.

The owl was from her she wanted him to meet her in the Enchanted Gardens. Eric put his books away in his trunk. He put his shirt back on and threw his robe on then headed to the Garden. While walking there he tried to figure out what he was going to say then just figured he would put the ball in her court.

Eric entered the gardens and looked around for Briony. He finally spotted her under a tree on the right. Eric made his way over to her. “What are you reading this time?” Eric knew she loved to read as did he but their tastes always differed on what they considered good reading. “Well I guess you know what we need to talk about right?”

[briony]

As the minutes passed, Briony fell deeper and deeper into her book. It was rather good and one she hadn't read before. She had the tendency to loose herself in books like that. She had changed her position to laying on the ground and after a couple chapters, she just happened to glance at her watch. The Hufflepuff cursed in Russian under her breath at the time. Eric would be here any minute. Sitting up, she pulled a leaf from her hair, taking the time to pull it up into a ponytail and away from her face. Leaning against the tree she had sat under, Briony brushed away a few blades of grass from her small black t-shirt.

It seemed as though she had cleaned herself up just in time as Eric walked over to her. There had been quite a few things Briony thought was possible for Eric to say. They ranged from 'I hate you, stop sitting beside me in classes' to 'I'm sorry, let's get back together', but they were all equally unlikely. Highly unlikely, but possible. Asking her what she was reading, though, threw her for a minute. "I..uh.." Confused by the placid question, Briony actually had to look to remember the title. "Oh, it is Odd Thomas. Dad cares for the writers books and sent me a copy."

Yes, Briony knew what they needed to talk about, at least she figured they were on the same page still. Regardless of if they dated or not, they needed each other. They had been friends too long not too. With a sigh, Briony reached up and took Eric's hand. Pulling him down to the grass beside her, Briony spoke. "I would like to think that we must talk because you miss me as I do you."

[ericm]

Eric was startled as Briony pulled him onto the ground beside her. He realized that she only knew part of the problem he did not know how to explain it. Eric could not look at her just yet so, he looked at the book she had instead and said “Yes your dad has always had good tastes in books. Koontz is very good but I am surprised you are reading him. I thought you preferred mystery or romance over suspense.” Eric was stalling and he knew it Briony probably did too.

Finally Eric looked at Briony and took a deep breath. He would get through this somehow. “You are partially right I do miss you. I want things to go back to the way they used to be before we dated but I know they can not at least for me they can’t. When I am not around you I want my friend back, but then I see you and all my feelings come to the surface and I do not know how to deal with it. Where do we go from here Briony? Do you know?” After Eric said all that he looked down and waited for her response.

[briony]

Briony couldn’t help but to smile softly at Eric’s attempt to stall for time. Perhaps she didn’t know everything that was bothering him. It was all right though, let him take as much time as he needed. “It has been recent. I was bored sitting with Mum last time I went home and it was the only book there. So I started reading it, it was not bad. I still care for my mystery though.”

When Eric began talking, explaining what he was feeling, Briony realized that she was right and she didn’t know everything that was going on with him. It hurt her, knowing how bad she had hurt him. The only thing she could do now was to try and make this right, at least, make them a little better. The Hufflepuff knew that now was the time to explain everything to Eric, as she should have done to begin with.

“Eric, do not know if what I am going to tell you will help matters, but it is something I should have explained to you from the start. When I went home the last time and saw Mum laying there, all I could do is think that if she died, she would never have the chance to live. Mum and Da dated all through school and got married right out of it. She never had the chance to date around or to just live for a while.”

Taking a deep breath, Briony continued. “Then I came back here and I saw us doing the same thing, even though it was what I wanted. It scared me. I did not break up with you because I did not care for you, or that I did not love you. I have loved you since we were small children. I just think we both should have a chance to live for a bit before we settle down with each other. Does that help or even make sense?”