Broken but not lost

Chapter 9, FLYNN

Carrying Briar over my shoulder, I make my way to a hideout I was in before there was a border.

Nothing occupies it anymore except an empty can or two.

I gently lay Briar down, careful of her head and her hands. I brush the fallen hair out of her face. She looks peaceful when she's like this. When she's not fighting against my every word.

I stare at her a moment longer until I hear a deep breath, then I relax and start looking for firewood before it gets dark.

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Once I get the fire going, I carefully lift and move Briar closer to it so she doesn't get too cold. She moans lightly once she's near the fire.

God, I almost wanted to hear her do that again.

I shake out of my thoughts and take my shoes off, sitting close to the fire to keep my feet warm. I do the same for Briar once I've moved my boots to the side.

She doesn't even budge as I wiggle her shoes off her feet.

I pull out a thin jacket from one of the bags I took and lay it over her. It's not much but hopefully it's enough.

I don't even know why I'm doing this. Helping her. She clearly doesn't like me. I suppose a part of me just wants to.

I look at her and all I want to do is make sure she's safe. Though if it ever came down to it, I'm sure she'd choose herself over me.

I could just leave.

Leave the bags with her, and go back to headquarters.

I could do it now while she sleeps.

Before I can even think of it a second longer, she begins tossing and turning. Groaning and whimpering in her sleep. Is she having a nightmare?

She arches her back and let's out a small cry, making me jump closer to her. She whimpers and cries, beads of sweat dripping from her brow.

I can't listen any longer.

I brush my hand over her cheek with one hand and gently shake her with the other.

"Briar, wake up." I say loud enough for her to hear but not loud enough to scare her.

I shake her some more and she jumps up into a sitting position, gasping for air.

"Woah, woah, hey. You're fine."

She's still trembling and looking around quickly.

"Breathe, Briar." I say with a gentle tone, cupping her face in both of my hands, making her look at me.

She takes a few more shaky breaths until she finally looks at me and calms her breathing.

"I- I'm sorry." Is the first thing she says. I feel angry at her words, she seems to notice. "What?" She asks. 

"You shouldn't be sorry for having a nightmare. It's not your fault." I say.

She stares deeply into my eyes before inhaling and taking my wrists in her hands and removing them from her face. I pull back hesitantly and grin at her nervousness.

"Where are we?" She asks after a moment of silence.

"Somewhere I used to hide before the border. No ones found it so I figured it would be the safest place to be for the night."

"Night?" She practically screams. "How hard did you hit me?" She rubs the back of her head, staring at me, annoyed.

"Not hard enough apparently." I mumble.

She kicks me and I dramatically fall to the ground. She clearly sees an opportunity so she takes it; straddling my waist and pinning my hands to the sides of my head.

"Gotcha." She says with a sly grin on her face.

It almost looks like a genuine smile. But I know better than that.

"Great. Now you only have to do it, what, three more times to catch up?" I mock.

She bites her lower lip, squinting her eyes. She leans closer to my face, rubbing herself against a certain spot, making me groan.

"I'll do it more than three times, I can promise you that." She smirks a devilish smirk, sitting farther up on me, doing that same thing making me groan again.

"Stop doing that." I grind out.

She raises her eyebrows, realizing what she's been doing. She laughs and then hums. "Make me."