Briar wrinkled their nose against the smell of smoke, glaring at the flames lapping at the edge of the pit. We'll, this fucking sucked.

"What's with the sour face, B? Thought you like fire?" A long arm casually slung around Briar's shoulders and the smell of cigarettes mixed with the charred smell of burning wood.

"Yeah, well, for some reason it becomes a lot less appealing when my shit's what's gettin' burned, asshole." Briar snapped, shooting an annoyed look at their friend who smirked and took another long drag of his cigarette.

"Damn, make daddy angry again?" He blew out a ring of smoke and tilted his head slightly as he watched Briar out of the corner of his eyes, taking note of the pained flicker in Briar's eyes, covered by carefully practiced indifference. "No worries, mate, we'll get you new shit. There's plenty of stores 'round here. You really should stop pissin' off the old man though, he's gonna have your head one day and I can't really steal a new one of you."

"If he'd stop being a bitch then maybe I'd stop pissin' him off." Briar grumbled, shrugging the other's arm off their shoulder. "Got another one of those?" They gestured toward the cigarette and their friend rolled his eyes, pulling a pack out of his pocket and handing one over.

"What happened to all the shit about getting lung cancer?"

"Thanks. Maybe I want lung cancer now. Fast road outta here." Briar replied, snatching the lighter the other offered. "Wanna get going now, Cam? Don't wanna stand here and watch all my shit turn to ash anymore." Cam snorted.

"Sure, let's pick up Little and Bit up on the way, yeah? Keep 'em away from Main Street while we can."

"Yeah, whatever." Briar replied, taking a drag of the cigarette. "Berry and his gang still hanging around there?"

Cam hummed in affirmation and Briar gritted their teeth. "Assholes."

"What'd you expect, B? They get their sights set on a cute girl they ain't just gonna leave her alone. They ain't like that."

"If they touch her, I'm going to kill them." Briar growled, following Cam as they made their way through the beat up neighborhood to their friends house.

"With what? You don't gotta gun! You'll get yourself killed before you get close enough to stab a single one of them bitches!"

"Don't care." They blew out another puff of smoke.

"Don't be stupid, B." Cam scolded, dark eyes flickering over to his friend. "You know damn well the police ain't gonna do anything if you get shot, and even if you don't and you manage to stab one of 'em you gonna end up in jail because their privileged asses gonna run right into the arms of the oh so loveable government for protection. You not gonna win no matter what!"

Briar tapped the ashes off of their cigarette and bit their cheek angrily. "So what, I'm supposed to sit back and do nothin'?"

"Yes, dumbass! You get killed or go to jail and you leave me and the other two by ourselves. Ya can't just do that! 'Specially not to Bit, you know damn well she gonna blame herself if you do some stupid shit in her defense!"

Briar sighed, knowing well that this was all true. "Yeah, okay." They huffed allowing the unfinished cigarette to fall to the ground, crushing it under foot.

"Thanks, B. Don't wanna lose you too." Cam sighed, dropping his cigarette as well. "Besides, you know Little and Bit are gonna be outta this hell hole soon anyway. Bit's graduating high school early, gotta scholarship to her dream school and Little bound to follow her, you know how they are. Don't go no where without each other." He flashed a grin toward Briar who returned the smile genuinely.

"Yeah, then it's me and you, huh?"

"Yup." Cam chuckled, reaching out to playfully ruffle Briar's hair. "And we'll be fine. Save up enough and we can run away like we always talked about."

Briar smiled warmly, slapping at their friend's arm in an equally playful manner. "Only five hundred dollars to go. We'll get there eventually."

"End of the year?"

Briar snorted. "We can dream."

They both redirected their attention as two familiar figures made their way towards them. Cam waved lazily and Briar grinned brightly in greeting.

Bit reached them first, her thick black hair swinging in a braid down her back while her pretty brown eyes glittered with warmth as she hugged Cam and reached up to kiss Briar's cheek. "Hey!"

Her sister, Little, rolled her eyes, which were a shade darker than Bit's and pursed her thin lips together. Her black hair was hanging loosely around her shoulders, pretty and straight.

"You two took your time." She stated. She feigned annoyance, but she hugged both Briar and Cam upon arrival, unwilling to let her cold persona get in the way of her only true friendships.

"Sorry!" Cam apologized. "Someone made their daddy angry again." He looked pointedly at Briar who rubbed the back of their neck sheepishly. Both Little and Bit's eyes rounded with worry, though Bit was the only one to actually act on the concern.

"Oh, god, are you alright? He didn't hurt you again, did he?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Briar replied, shrugging. "Just lost some stuff is all."

"Bastard." Little huffed, crossing her arms across her chest while Bit mumbled something about terrible parents.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine. Could have been worse." Briar said, offering a soft smile to the girls. Little just huffed in disbelief, eyes hot with anger. Bit looked angry too, but she relaxed her shoulders and changed the subject if only to make Briar more comfortable.

"Fine, let's just go. I wanna ice cream cone, it's hot out." Bit stated, smiling again. "C'mon everyone!"

With that, the small group fell into step with each other, bantering as they headed toward the convenience store.

This was just how it was.Absolute shit, but shit that they made something out of. Even if, in reality, it would never last.

-

Sorry this took so long, I lost connection for a bit, lol

Anygays, I hope you enjoy this glimpse of Briar's past. If you're wondering, yes, Cam is the friend that gets shot and killed when the two of them attempt to stop their later gang from shooting up a store. That also takes place after Little and Bit (Alyssa and Jess are their real names-) move away to college... Fun :)