BRYLES - one shots

lover

If there's one thing Briar can't stand, it's pity. Which is unfortunate for her, considering it's all she's been getting since Myles broke up with her.

Between her family, her friends, and long known acquaintances, the pity was never ending. The looks people gave her whenever she occupied a room made her feel sick to her stomach. Nobody looked at her the way they used to, as if their perception of her had been altered from a beautiful, humble woman to somebody truly broken hearted.

Talking to people didn't help much, either, considering they live with an irrational fear that one harsh tone or differing opinion could wreck whatever is left of her. To those, her identity and name had seemed to be forgotten, only to be replaced by the image of a woman whose heart failed to mend.

It's all a myth, really - a myth that hadn't been confirmed nor denied within the past four months. Briar provided no reassurance for anybody nor did she show any improvement since their breakup. But she did try her best. Her attempts to answer the question, "How have you been, you know, since the breakup and all?" with a very well rehearsed, "I've been okay" didn't go unnoticed, however, provided no reassurance.

And the pity only got worse when Myles got a new girlfriend.

It was plastered everywhere, the rumours that Myles' new girlfriend stayed at his hotel in Los Angeles and travelled with him back to his home in Oakville. They disclosed that her name was Dylan and she works as a travel blogger.

She was beautiful, too - much more beautiful than Briar wanted her to be, as selfish and sadistic as it was. She was the perfect image for him, especially considering the height of Myles' career.

Briar's heart hit rock bottom that day. Every unblemished part of it became a ruin, a shattered piece of what was once so full and whole. Because during Briar's dark times, she thought that maybe, just maybe, Myles was feeling as distraught and as down as she was.

She hadn't expected it, not this fast, at least. When myles initiated the breakup, he told her that it wasn't the end of their relationship. He had promised her that with the right amount of distance, all the problems that they've had in their relationship would be fixed entirely.

She believed him, too - that with maybe sometime apart, their long distance issues would decease and all that would remain would be their overwhelming needs and love for one another.

She should never have been so gullible. She should never have let her trust run that deep. After they broke up, they never spoke to each other again. All their ties had been cut, leaving them both hanging in completely separate lives.

Briar never got over him. She didn't know how to, especially after being with each other for so long. They were soulmates - they were each other's everything. no matter what came at them, they always found their way back to one another.

But Myles' fame started skyrocketing, leaving Briar on the ground with no way to reach him anymore. She should have known he'd find someone else—someone more worthy of his time. She just didn't want to believe it and didn't want to believe that it had happened so soon.

"How are you feeling?" Jessica asks, reaching over the wooden table so that her fingers can rest on top of Briar's hand—a small gesture that Jessica has been giving Briar nearly every day for the past four months.

Briar wishes she found it as comforting as it intended to be, however she couldn't help feeling worse whenever Jessica did so.

It's all pity. Everything was because of pity.

She looks down at her cold, untouched hot chocolate as she swirls the straw along the brim, resisting to roll her eyes as it's the only question everybody has seemed to ask her recently.