It's Always You- Bryles

16. Reunions

"I just feel like I'm trying to be someone I'm not," Briar poured her heart out to me as we sat on the couch.

"Bri, you're funny and goofy, and you're not perfect. Nobody expects that from you. If you feel like wearing a banana hat and no make up for a picture, go for it. No one can judge you, and if they do, they don't matter," I persuaded her.

"That was a great speech up until you mentioned the bananas," Briar commented, making me laugh.

"The point is, be yourself. Your fans will love you either way. In fact, they'll love you more if you're more human," I said.

"I'm always hiding my true feelings all the time, whether that be with my jazzy photoshoots or just the generic caption. I want to say the things that I'm actually thinking, but I'm afraid people will hold it against me," she fiddled with her hair.

"I'm sure they won't Briar. Besides, it doesn't even matter. What matters is that your true to yourself," I assured her.

"You're right," she smiled, grabbiing her phone. I stared at her, confused, watching her pull up the Snapchat camera and bring it to my face.

"I look like a duck," I laughed at the filter she had put on us. "I sound like a duck..." I added as an afterthought.

"Myles the Duck everyone," Briar held her thumb to the video button, zooming in on my face. She erupted into giggles, making my grin.

I raised an eyebrow at the camera, before Briar let go and sent the snap to her instagram story, adding some edits.

"Yeah this was not what I had in mind when I said 'being true to yourself'" I watched the replay of the story.

"I don't want to have to think a hundred times about what people will say before posting a picture of us. I don't even care who ships us anymore," she shrugged, staring at many messages that were already buzzing in asking if we were dating.

"Wow, that's... great," I said, surprised by her spontaneous decision. Usually on the many occasions we went out to coffee or the beach, we wouldn't post anything because fans of the show would just comment about how we should get together. It was sweet that they cared, but it just made things awkward between us.

My phone was buzzing with messages as well, but I quickly put it on mute and wrapped my arms around Briar.

"Don't worry about it," I assured her, knowing she was nervous. I felt her sighing, relaxing in my hold.

I stared out into the distance, thinking about how I wouldn't see her again for a while now.

Briar was hanging out at my place before I went to LA again for work. I was going for 3 weeks, staying at a friends house like I usually did when I went back and forth from LA to Toronto. I had a few photosoots and workshops scheduled, along with meetings with my manager and a few record companies that were interested in me. I was also seeing Trev there to do a video shoot for Raw Motion.

Of course, I was really excited to leave the next day. I loved the Cali beaches, the weather and all that. But I would also really miss my friends, especially Briar...

I tried to look at this trip in a positive manner, like a chance to unplug from the rest of the drama, and have a bit of me time. Just me and my guys having fun for a couple of weeks and getting stuff done- because a busy and productive week was bound to take my mind off Briar.

But then why did I feel so gutted to leave? I'm usually always travelling, and have never really been homesick before.

It's because Briar's not coming, a voice in the back of my head took over.