"Hey! Sorry I'm late." Briar rushes out, squeezing into the booth next to Mark. They're sitting across from Callie and Arizona, who both have glasses of water in front of them.

"You're fine. I got you a strawberry iced tea." Mark tells her, getting a kiss on the cheek in thanks. She laughs when it leaves a lipstick stain since she'd done her makeup properly for once. Mark grins at her while she rubs it away with her thumb, grabbing her wrist to see her new bracelet when she's done.

"So, you said yes? I wish I was there when you were asked." He says the last part pointedly, and Briar catches Arizona rolling her eyes out of the corner of her own. Yikes.

"Of course I said yes. I can't wait to meet this baby." Briar exclaims, beaming at all three of them. "Speaking of, I have questions about what you want from me as godmom."

"What do you mean?" Callie asks.

"I mean, like, how involved do you want me to be? Have you guys started the process to get your will's changed? I'm assuming the three of you are co-parenting, but how involved do you want me to be? I'll do whatever you want."

"Um." Callie says, turning to Arizona, only for Mark to take the lead.

"I haven't changed my will, but I will get that started tomorrow. I'd like you to be as involved as you can be, I know that you're good with kids. And yes, we are co-parenting."

Arizona sighs at that, and Briar holds back a grimace. Arizona's opinion of Mark certainly wasn't improved by Callie sleeping with him after their breakup.

"Yeah, we'll change our will's too." Arizona says, smiling at Briar. "And . . . we'll sit down soon, have an uncomfortable conversation about what to do if we're not in the picture anymore."

"Can't wait." Briar says sarcastically, smiling at the waitress when she joins their table. She hasn't even looked at the menu, and she's grateful when Mark steps in and orders the shrimp scampi for her, having seen the panic in her expression.

"What if she doesn't like shrimp?" Arizona asks the moment the waitress has stepped away, glaring at Mark.

"Uh, I do." Briar jumps in, confused about Arizona being upset.

"Well, what if she didn't want it right now? You can't just make decisions for people and expect them to be happy about them. People have the right to their own–"

"Feelings?" Mark asks, frowning now. "I'm fully aware. Briar's favorite meal is shrimp scampi, actually, and I knew she hadn't had a chance to–"

"Okay, stop!" Briar cries out, making Arizona and Mark both shut their mouths. "This tension isn't about me, or whether or not I like shrimp scampi, of all things. This is about your feelings about each other, and they need to get resolved. You're all having this baby together."

"My baby." Mark says petulantly, and Briar shares a frustrated look with Callie.

"Okay. Let's change the subject. This is supposed to be a happy dinner." She says, searching desperately for something to talk about. "Is it too early to place bets on the baby's first word? How hard of a name is Briar for a baby, do you think?" She teases, knowing that her name won't be his or her first word.

"I'm hoping for dada." Mark says, firing Arizona right back up.

Briar just lets it happen, completely done with all of them.

✦

The pit is too slow for Briar's liking.

Jackson is doing the intake for a young girl who drank hand sanitizer at school, and Briar just finished up with her own patient, who had an ear infection. Overall, it hasn't been a busy day in the pit, and Briar feels like she's losing her mind. It's not that she wants anyone to get hurt, but she desperately needs something to do.

Currently, she's leaning against the nurses station, chatting with Tyler.

"Ty, seriously, you need to try it. We should go together." She explains, tilting her bag of chips in his direction. He grabs a handful from her, before handing over his drink, which she accepts with a thankful smile.

"I'm in. It's been a while since we got to hang out." He tells her, making her sigh as she nods.

"I know, I'm sorry. We have to start going out once a month, at least." Briar tells him, feeling bad that she neglected her friendship with him in the last year.

"Don't be sorry, we've both been busy. It's been an insane year." Tyler waves her off, before pausing to go over his schedule. "How about next Friday? I'm off at 9."

"I get out at 10!" She says excitedly. "How about I pick you up later that day, around 7? That way there's still time to get some sleep if either or both of us get held up here."

"It's a date." He says with an over-exaggerated wink. She laughs at that, pushing away from his desk.

"It's a date." She agrees with her own wink, spinning around and bumping right into Jackson, who looks annoyed about something. He looks ridiculously attractive with his jaw clenched the way it is. "Oh, hi! Is something wrong with your patient?"

"Yeah, I–I want to discuss it with you." Jackson sighs, running a hand over his head. "Hunt isn't available, so I wanted your opinion."

Briar can't help but smile at that, before quickly sobering up at the thought of what could be wrong with his patient.

"Okay. Is she the only patient you have?" Briar asks, pulling him over to the waiting room when he nods. A minute later she sets a water bottle in front of him, taking a sip from her own bottle. "Alright. Tell me everything."

"Her name is Rachel, and she's 7 years old. Apparently her best friends have these 'really cool' water bottles." He says, making air quotes with his fingers before dropping his hands back down. "She asked her mom for one but she couldn't afford it and said no, so Rachel put water in the hand sanitizer dispenser from the bathroom at her school and spent hours drinking from it."

Briar shuts her eyes, commiserating with that little girl. She knows what it's like to not fit in with other kids because of money issues, and to do desperate things as a result.

"I'm guessing she didn't think to clean it first?" Briar asks, knowing the answer from the way she's currently in the E.R. but having to ask anyway.

"Considering how much she's been vomiting, no." Jackson answers grimly, shaking his head. "She has a headache but doesn't seem overly confused yet, but it's hard to tell with children sometimes. Plus, she seems shy and embarrassed about the whole thing . . ."

Briar has him walk her through the treatment plan, nodding along to everything he says. "Her mother is on her way from work, and her dad isn't in the picture. Her teacher called CPS on the way here."

"Are there any signs of abuse?" Briar questions, and Jackson sighs.

"Not that I've seen, and the teacher said she hasn't noticed anything before. Rachel keeps crying about wanting her mommy, so I don't think she's scared of her, but abuse can be hard to spot with sick kids. At the very least, they don't seem financially stable."

"Do we know that?" Briar asks him, because she wouldn't go that far based on that information.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, she didn't buy her kid a water bottle. That's not the end of the world. Maybe she just couldn't afford it when the kid asked. A 7 year old isn't the best reporter for financial issues, and it's only February: maybe finances were just short after the holidays, assuming they celebrate Christmas." Briar points out, watching as Jackson considers that. "The mom isn't here yet, and I'm guessing the social worker isn't either? Right. I would monitor her, and talk to the mom when she gets here. We don't know what she does for work, or how many jobs she has, or what kind of parent she is yet."

"I didn't think of any of that." Jackson sighs, looking troubled.

"Why would you?" Briar asks him, deciding to be blunt. "You grew up with money. I'm guessing times weren't harder after holidays or birthdays, at least not financially."

"No." He admits, before looking curious. "Did you ever have something like this? The water bottle, I mean."

"Oh, all the time." Briar admits, pausing to think about it. "I was jealous of other kids constantly. What they packed for lunches, their bookbags, everything. I think the biggest one was when I was thirteen and American Girl Doll's were becoming a thing. There were only a few dolls by that point, and a girl I knew had everything they ever sold. All the outfits, the accessories, all of it."

"I knew a few people that had their own set-up for them." Jackson admits, and Briar smiles at him.

"Yeah? It was always cool to see, but it made me feel so bad at the same time. Anyway, this girl, her name was Nicole . . . she invited me over one day, and Addy had just been released. I fell in love with that doll instantly. She had this gorgeous pink and white striped dress, and a bonnet with a blue ribbon, and these little black boots."

Briar plays with her nail polish as she speaks, remembering how it had felt at the time. She's surprised that she remembers all the details, but those things stick out as a kid and never really go away.

"She was gorgeous, but Nicole wouldn't let me touch her or any of the dolls. She said that I should've brought my own, because it didn't even occur to her that I couldn't afford such an expensive doll, let alone four of them. She played with them, and I watched her, and I went home that night and cried myself to sleep. There were other things going on, and Nicole didn't know about any of it, but that stuff is important to a kid."

"I don't think I ever had anything like that." Jackson admits, looking and sounding sad for her, but Briar just smiles at him.

"Good." She says simply, standing up and patting his shoulder. "Talk to her mom, hopefully before the social worker gets here, and let me know if you need anything else. Tyler's paging me, so I have to go."

"Of course he is." Jackson grumbles, but he doesn't say anything else, and so Briar leaves with one last confused look at him.

Since when does he have a problem with Tyler?

✦

"Here, Mer. Out-patient forms." Briar hands them over to a harried Meredith, before reaching over and stealing a few chips from Cristina, who is lounging in a chair in the pit, grimacing as soon as she tastes them. "Ew, Cristina, why salt & vinegar?"

Cristina eats another handful as her response, smiling widely at Briar, who sighs in disgust before turning to Meredith.

"How do you like running the pit?"

"I'm losing my mind. Here, pick a new patient." Meredith tries to hand her a file, but Briar takes a step back.

"Uh uh. No way. Give 'em to Cristina." She protests instantly.

"Come on, just one patient."

"I already have a patient. He's got a broken leg and I need to get him all casted up and good to go so that I can make the game."

Meredith crosses her arms over her chest, bringing Briar's attention down and making her eyes widen.

"Shit, Mer, did your boobs grow?" She questions, taking a step closer to them and making both of them laugh. "Ohhh, is this from the fertility drugs?"

"Yep."

"They also make her happy." Cristina adds, sounding disgusted at the thought and making Briar laugh again. She needs to spend more time with these two. It's been ages since they threw a proper party, and they should fix that soon.

"What are you doing here?" Cristina questions, seeing Alex rush over to the desk. "I thought you had the night off."

"Yeah, I do. I'm not here." Alex says, before glancing up at Briar. "Are you almost done?"

"Uh, yeah, but you're early to pick me up." Briar says with wide eyes, looking at the clock to make sure that she didn't get the time wrong. "I still have, like, two hours and I have a patient with a broken–"

"I'm not here for you." Alex interrupts her, looking frustrated. Briar slowly puts her hands up, fighting down a laugh. "What's medical records' extension?"

"Looks like you're here to me, which is good, 'cause we're swamped." Meredith tells him, picking up the cases again. "Take your pick–impacted bowel, suspicious rash, or really smelly guy."

"Well now I want to stay and help." Briar chips in sarcastically. None of those cases sound fun to deal with.

"Forget it. I only came in 'cause medical records called and said I had to sign all my unsigned charts or they would suspend my privileges." Alex tells them, before turning to Briar. "Be ready on time or I'm giving your ticket to Avery."

"You are not." Briar says flatly, glaring at him. "I beat Jackson at Mario Kart, so I get the ticket. That's how that works. Also, what do you mean, suspension?"

"Dibs on his solo splenectomy tomorrow!" Cristina calls out, throwing her hand in the air.

"I'll be ready!" Briar calls over her shoulder to Alex, rushing to go finish with the cast. If Jackson gets the tickets instead, she'll never hear the end of it.

✦

"Hey, I thought you were in surgery with Derek?" Briar questions Jackson, who is walking in her direction.

"I was, but I have to get Knife Guy a C.T." He explains, still walking, and Briar moves to join him when he reaches her.

"Knife Guy? What Knife Guy?"

"Aren't you in the pit? Meredith said a guy walked in with a knife sticking out of his head." He tells her, stopping her in her tracks. He turns to face her when she doesn't start walking again, grinning at the look on her face. "I know, right? Exciting!"

"He–no way." Briar shakes her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "Is this all a ploy to distract me and go to the game?"

"Yes. I got Shepherd to agree to me cutting out of a brain surgery early so that I could steal your tickets to a basketball game." Jackson says, giving her an 'are you dumb' look. Briar rolls her eyes back, moving forward again at a quicker pace.

"You almost flipped the table during Mario Kart after I left you in the dust." She points out, grinning at the memory. "Clearly you want to go to the game."

"You insulted my entire bloodline." He shoots back, and Briar smirks as they turn the corner, having to jump out of the way of a team on their way to surgery.

"You blue shelled me right before the finish line, and I almost lost. I'd do it again." She says cheerfully, before gaping when they arrive at the pit, and she's facing a guy with a knife sticking straight out of his head. He's talking and laughing with his friend, both of them covered in beer . . . and holding cans of it. "Holy shit."

"Holy shit." Jackson repeats, sharing an excited look with Briar, who grins widely.

"Let's-a go." She says with a wink, imitating Mario before they take off.

✦

Cristina and Lexie quickly join them in the room, with Lexie jumping in to help Briar take the alcohol from the two men. Briar makes quick work of dumping both drinks, before tossing them in the garbage. The room reeks in the way only drunk people can cause.

"Do you want to see something cool?" Knife Guy slurs out, wiggling his eyebrows so that the knife moves.

"STOP!" They all scream, quickly moving before pausing, no one wanting to cause damage by moving the knife in any way.

"Cool, right?" His friend asks them, giggling. "Do it again!"

"Do not do it again!" Briar cries out, going ignored as the guy follows his friend's idea. Briar whimpers, before jumping when the friend takes the chance to cop a feel, although he manages to miss aim and only grab her waist. She slaps his hand away, moving to twist away, only to find herself picked up and moved out of the way by Jackson.

"Stop moving!" He shouts at Knife Guy, before turning back to glower at the other guy. "You too! Hands to yourself or I'll get you kicked from this hospital."

"Woah, dude, relax." He slurs back, turning to his friend and laughing again.

"You okay?" Jackson asks her, and she nods, not worried about it. He's drunk, and unfortunately she's dealt with that kind of behavior before from patients.

"Yeah–STOP!" Briar screams, groaning when Knife Guy goes back to moving his eyebrows, this time while his friend records him.

"Is everything alright?" Meredith questions, entering the room.

"Yes." Knife Guy says, sounding annoyed with them.

"No." Lexie and Briar both say, sharing a frustrated look from either side of him.

"I was just showing these guys how, when I scrunch up my eyebrows, the knife moves. See?" He asks, doing it again and making the whole room scream.

"Whoa! Don't do that!" Jackson shouts from behind him, trying to examine the wound.

"Stop moving the knife!" Cristina screams at the same time, making the friend roll his eyes.

"You guys shoulda seen the brawl. Stew-Ball kicked that other guy's ass!" The friend cries out, reaching over and high-fiving his friend, who leans forward and gets the doctor's all freaked out again.

"Okay, and now Stew-Ball has a knife in his head." Cristina snaps, turning back to Knife Guy. "Okay, let's focus. Stewart, how much is 14 plus 4?"

"18."

"27 minus 13?"

"15?" He guesses, looking up in thought. Every moment from him tenses Briar up, and she jumps when the friend puts a hand on her shoulder.

"This is cool, right?" He asks, and she hums, giving him a forced smile as she gently removes his hand from her.

"Sure. It'd be cooler if he stopped moving. Can you try and help me with that?" She asks him, tuning out Cristina asking him more math questions. The friend just shrugs at her, before his gaze drops down her body. She bites back a sigh as she turns back to the examination, more than ready to be out of this room.

The friend calls him dumb, and Briar shuts her eyes for a second, bracing herself for a possible fight.

"Thanks, David. Really?" Knife Guy calls out, while Briar moves to be next to Jackson, wanting to see the damage close up.

"Unbelievable. His mental status is completely intact, if you don't account for his math skills." Cristina tells them, while Briar stares reverently at the wound. The fact that he's walking and talking is shocking beyond belief. Briar almost doesn't believe it, and she's witnessing it. "It's like the knife did no damage at all."

"So why don't you just pull the thing out?" David questions, making Briar tense again, ready to try and fight him away. "'Cause we got a games to get to!"

He shouts the last part, making Knife Guy lean towards him, grabbing the bottle Lexie had confiscated earlier out of her lab coat as he goes.

"No!" Lexie cries out, frustrated as Jackson pulls him back and she quickly snatches the drink again. "No beer!"

"Buzzkill." The friend complains, pulling another one out of his pocket.

"How many do you have?" Lexie complains, and the guy leers as he pops it open, only for Briar to wrestle it from his hand a second later.

"Dunno, you wanna body check me?" He leers at her, and she fights back a gag, quickly moving away from him and dumping the beer.

"Do you want me to call security?" Jackson snaps, looking away from the wound to glare the guy into submission. Briar shakes her head, sharing another look with Lexie, before moving back to the wound.

She can't wait to get out of here.

✦

"Looks like the blade landed in the maxillary sinus." Mark tells her, Lexie, and Jackson, all of whom are examining Knife Guy again. They have the scans pulled, and Lexie goes through them as the other three do a physical exam. "Chances are, the knife itself is tamponading any major bleeding. Probably best just to go ahead and open up the cranium."

"Or we could just take him to the O.R. and pull this thing out." Jackson suggests.

"Really, Avery? Just pull it out?" Mark scoffs. "Let me guess. You want to get out of here early to go to the game, just like everyone else."

"Or since it looks like the blade didn't hit any major arteries or veins, he knows that a controlled extraction would be both safer and less invasive than a complete craniotomy." Lexie defends, rolling her eyes and making Briar grin at her.

"Also, I'm the one with tickets, not Jackson." Briar adds on, smirking when Jackson rolls his eyes at her. She can't resist rubbing the loss in.

"Is that true, Avery? Is that why you suggested we pull it out of his head?" Mark asks.

"Yeah." Jackson says, and Knife Guy starts agreeing, talking about going to the game. Briar shakes her head to herself–she wants to go as much as anyone, but it doesn't come before her physical well-being.

Meredith calls Lexie out of the room, leaving the three of them to go over the options.

"I'll page Hunt, make sure he's aware." Briar tells them, moving to do so. He comes down soon after, and Briar brings him up to speed just as Meredith re-enters the room. Lexie had re-joined them a minute before, looking bothered by something, but Briar didn't ask.

"Make sure he's on broad spectrum antibiotics." Owen tells them. "You booked an O.R.?"

"Wow. It didn't hit any brain matter at all?" Meredith marvels, with the rest of them nodding.

"Doesn't look like it from this." Lexie says, referring to the scans they're examining.

"How long till Shepherd gets down here to take a look?"

"He should be out of surgery any minute." Jackson answers.

"Good. The longer that thing stays in there, the higher the risk of infection, or abscess formation." Owen states.

A second later, a tapping noise comes from the patient's room, and they turn to see Dylan holding up the bloody knife.

"So, now can we get outta here?" He shouts, with Knife Guy nodding eagerly from behind him. He holds both hands up in a thumbs up while all of the surgeons gape at them before rushing into the room.

✦

"Just admit it, you like her." Meredith teases Alex, the two of them walking to where Briar is waiting for Alex.

"Shut up." He grumbles, and Briar raises an eyebrow.

"Who does Alex like?"

"Lucy Fields, the new OB/GYN attending." Meredith tells her with a laugh, looking amused. "He almost gave up your ticket to her because she asked."

"I'm sorry, he did what?" Briar asks, because there's no way.

"Yeah, she helped him with all those forms, and then asked when he would ask her to go with him? He said, and I quote, 'I told Briar she could come, but I guess.'"

"Wow. Betrayal." Briar says with a put upon sigh, grinning despite herself. "I'm guessing she turned him down?"

"She's working, so no." Alex says pointedly, although he seems distracted. Briar follows his gaze to a desperate father begging with a nurse over his son's care. "You still haven't helped that kid yet? He's 4 with a femur fracture. You know how much that hurts?" Alex questions Meredith.

"I know. It's just been one of those days." Meredith explains, with Briar jumping in to explain about Knife Guy. "Tyler, isn't that O.R. ready yet?"

"They're prepping it now." Tyler explains, getting a side hug from Briar. Before anything else can be said, Richard comes and starts snapping at Meredith about his wife's care, and then her patient starts coding in his scanner. She runs off.

"Briar . . ." Alex starts, and Briar takes one look at his face before sighing.

"We're not going to the game, are we?" She asks, knowing that he's planning on taking care of that kid. She can't be upset with him for that.

"You still can. Here." He hands her both tickets, and she turns to Tyler with a hopeful look, only to find out that he's working a double.

"Do you know anyone else who wants to go?" He asks her, and she shakes her head in amusement.

All of that bragging, just for her to end up asking him to go with her. He's going to be insufferable about it.

✦

"Hey, Princess Peach." Briar calls out with a smirk, watching as Jackson turns around instantly. "So . . . turns out that I have an extra ticket to the game and, well, I feel bad that you're such a bad player. Want to go?"

"Wow. All of that teasing and taunting, and here you are, begging me." He says with a smirk, and Briar raises her eyebrows as she pulls his ticket away right before he can grab it.

"I'm sorry, begging? Not happening. You know, I think I know someone–"

She turns around, only to burst out laughing when she's yanked back into his chest, his arms going around her to snatch the tickets out of her hand.

"Nope. You already asked, you can't take it back." He tells her, grinning as they pull back from each other. "I'll even buy you a hot dog when we get there."

"Ooh, big spender." She teases, pulling him along. "But we're gonna have to change that offer to a drink or nachos or something. I only eat a specific brand of hot dogs, and they come from Pennsylvania, so."

"You get weirder and weirder." Jackson laughs at her, pulling open the passenger door for her and making her laugh when he bows as he shuts it. He's clearly in a very silly mood, and she's happy to encourage that as much as she can.

They sing along during the drive, surprisingly not getting stuck in too much traffic, and she finds herself surprised at how packed the place is when they arrive. There's multiple booths with merch–for the teams and the schools themselves, and Briar wastes no time making that a competition.

"Hey!" She calls out, tugging on Jackson's hand to pull him back from where he was starting to make a beeline for the food. "I have a fun idea!"

"Well, let's hear it then." He says, stepping to the side to allow someone else through.

"How about we buy each other merch, and surprise each other with it?" She asks, bouncing on her feet in excitement. She thinks it would be fun to dress him up, and she's delighted when his face lights up before he nods.

"Yeah! I'll go to that booth, you go to . . . that one?" He asks, pointing to two booths far enough away to keep it secretive. "And . . . we can meet by that Huskies poster?"

"Deal!" She says, before rushing off to join the line, eager to find both the best and the funniest shirt she can. The Washington Huskies have a ton of merchandise, and Briar finds herself scrapping ideas up until she's at the counter. Thirty minutes later finds her waiting impatiently for Jackson, suddenly wishing that they had gotten food first. He appears five minutes later, looking proud of his purchases.

"Okay, me first!" She says with a wide grin, shoving the ridiculously big bag in his direction. She may have gone overboard, but she's happy with her decisions.

He grins at the plain purple Huskies jersey, quickly pulling it on over his black wife-beater, doing a twirl with his arms out as soon as it's buttoned up and laughing as Briar catcalls him. The next thing makes him bark out a laugh, shaking his head at her.

"No way." He says, holding out the car door light–one that will shine a W on the ground every time he gets in or out.

"Yes way. I knew your car was missing something."

"Beautiful." He teases, handing it to her so that he can pull out the box with the purple W earrings, which he also stops to put in with her help. That's followed by a purple and white flag stating 'real dawgs wear purple'--Briar thought it was hilarious. The final item, and the one Briar was most excited for, is a purple shirt with a large golden W on the front.

"Turn it around." She tells him, cracking up at the look on his face when he reads the word DAD on the back where the player's name would be, and the number 1 in place of the player's name.

"Oh my God, Briar, why–?" He asks, chuckling to himself as he folds it up and places it back inside the bag, tossing the drawstrings over his shoulders.

"Why not?" She asks back, grinning as he hands over her bag. "Ooh, nice!" She exclaims, pulling out her own basketball jersey–white with purple lettering, the direct opposite of his–and putting it on so that they match, beaming the entire time. He also got her a pair of earrings–a dangle pair with gold and purple rhinestones and a silver W logo that has her instantly removing her current pair to put them in, smiling to herself the whole time. They're pretty, and she plans on wearing them even after today.

The hat he got her makes her laugh so hard she almost cries–white, with 'bow down' written in purple and gold. "Shouldn't I have gotten you that, Princess?" She teases even as she puts it on, only to laugh harder when she pulls out the white 'dawg pack' shirt, complete with a growling husky wearing a Huskies hat. It has a pair of plaid purple cotton pajama shorts to match, and she honestly can't wait to wear them. The last item has her reaching out and lightly shoving Jackson, who seems beyond proud of himself for picking out a rainbow pride flag with a large purple W in the middle of it.

"We need to take a picture, now that we're all decked out." She tells him, flagging someone down to take it for them and pulling him into her side. She grins at the result, both of them holding their flags in both pictures--one smiling, and the other silly. She checks with Jackson and then posts them to Facebook and Instagram before turning her phone off. "Perfect. Okay! I believe I was promised nacho's. Lead the way."

The Huskies win, and Briar swears to everyone within hearing range that it's because of her and Jackson waving around their new flags.

"Honestly, it's probably because the luckiest guy in the world is in attendance." She whispers to Jackson after, referring to Knife Guy, who not only survived with no issues, but got to attend the game. Absolutely insane.

He just shakes his head, looking like he wants to say something before he stops himself, instead asking if she wants to go to the diner on their way home. Briar agrees instantly, wanting to spend as much time with him as possible, without any of the stresses that being home will cause right now–Lexie still isn't speaking with her, and Briar wants one night where she has no worries.

Jackson gives it to her.

✦

i love them actually.

i have SO many plans for jackson and briar, and we're finally getting to the plots ive been looking forward to... im so excited.

thank you to everyone who has been filling out the survey from the last chapter, it's been a huge help in planning this fic! i want this to be a story you enjoy reading, so if you haven't yet, pls take a minute and fill it out (im putting it in the comments)

part of the survey asked about april's love interest, and most of you want to see an OC, so i'm planning that out now! i made another form if anyone wants to help me create him :) that will also be in the comments!

i appreciate each and every one of you. love you! see you soon <3