Now Brianna was half-hyperventilating. "Tell what?"

“You like David." Amber's smile grew.

“If you were just flirting for the fun of it, you wouldn't have gotten all tense when I started looking at you Like that.”

“Any girl would have gotten tense," Brianna protested.

“Not Like that. That was the oh-shit-I-just-got-caught-scamming-on-her-boyfriend tense." Amber. backed up and took another sip of her coffee.

“I was watching you during the Christmas party. You were just flirting back then, with a hint of maybe being a little more interested. But at the time, it wasn't anything serious. But now? You LIKE him.”

Brianna's jaw just kind of waggled up and down for a moment. I was worried about our public location and I scanned the room to make sure nobody was really paying attention to us. And then Brianna found her voice.

“Amber, I... I never would have done anything. I can't help how he makes me feel, but I would NEVER steal a guy. It's just not the kind of person that I-"

“Re-LAX already!" Amber admonished.

“If I was going to get mad at you,

I would have done it already."

“Then... wh- what?" Brianna was thoroughly confused. And now, all coffee was forgotten.

“Look. In two months, I'll be off to Med School. All that could take... well, like seven years. A lot can happen in that time." Amber Looked at me and now she reached out to take my hand with her right.

“David, I don't want you getting all depressed or something, not being with me.

We're too young to be like that.”

“Nate and Monica weren't too young,” I answered in a quiet voice, holding Amber's gaze.

Amber's jaw dropped an inch. She hadn't been expecting that response and it threw her off-track for a moment. Her eyes softened and pleaded with me, "Don't make this harder than it already is."

And then Amber reached out with her left hand and put it on top of

Brianna's knuckles.

“ALL I'm saying, if you want to see how you and

David might be together... you don't have to wait until September.“

Brianna's face was unreadable, but she didn't pull her hand away from

Amber's grasp.

"Amber..." I began, but my girlfriend silenced me with a glance.

“Look, Brianna. You don't have to make any decisions right now. I just want you to know where I stand on things. I'm going to continue being with David right up until the minute I leave, but I won't get in the way if you want to go on a few dates, get to know each other, or whatever happens.”