A/N: here's chapter 14. Enjoy, people.
Iris was fine when she went back to class.
She was fine when Aiden asked if she was okay.
She was fine when the West-Brown boys said they had some clubs after school, and if she would be okay with waiting.
Sitting on the middle bench of the bleachers, the cold metal dug harshly into her skin and she drew her jacket tightly around her body as the wind picked up, but she was still fine.
"Do you want to borrow my jacket?" Oscar had offered with a slightly worried frown, already halfway taking it off.
"I'm fine." Iris had smiled, her chest a hollow cavity that ticked in time to her chaotic thoughts.
Now, she glanced at the surrounding fields with the biting wind nipping her cheeks and causing them to flush. Her eyes blearily scanned the fields, lips quirking in a reluctant smile as she saw some of the West-Browns practicing. It reminded her of better days- when she used to sit, wrapped up in a thick coat and colouring books at hand at Mathematics or Sport competitions.
That was back when her mother was alive.
Sucking in a sharp breath, Iris plugged in her headphones and listened to silence as a wave of memories washed over her.
"Iris! Where are you?" Elise sang, grinning as she saw her daughter curled up behind a wall and stifling her giggles.
She'll never find me here! Iris had thought, resting her chin on her knees.
"Is she over here?" Elise exaggeratedly picked up a cloth and checked under it, much to the delight of the little girl. "Or is she over here?" She checked behind the lamp, a faux thoughtful expression on her face.
"Hey Elise! What's going on?" Harry emerged, smiling easily with his hands tucked in his pockets.
Dad! Iris thought, about to launch herself at him, but she managed to restrain herself in time- not wanting to give away her master hiding place.
"I see you've let yourself into my home DeLano. Thanks."
"No problem. You have good food. What's going on?"
"I'm looking for Iris--"
"IRIS IS MISSING?" Harry frantically took out his phone and dialled a number. "I want at least three groups out looking--"
"DeLano, chill. We're playing hide and seek." Elise dropped her voice to barely above a whisper at the next part and Iris was unable to hear no matter how hard she strained her ears.
A sudden silence descended across the room. Squirming for a few minutes, she poked her head up and was startled to find the room empty. Have they left me? She thought with a slight frown.
"Here she is!" A voice cried and Iris was launched in the air, squealing as her mother attacked her with tickles. Harry videoed the entire thing, a wide smile spreading across his face.
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A warm hug enveloped Iris as she shivered from her fever, pain flaring across her entire body. Elise pressed a kiss to her forehead and murmured sweet words of encouragement and love. Hours passed and her grip never wavered until the fever subsided.
********
I miss you Mum... why did you have to leave me?
Was it my fault?
Did I do something that made you want to leave?
I promise I'll be better.
Just... please come back.
*********
Iris was curled up under a cocoon of blankets, teary face pressed against the soft cloth as she pretended the world around her did not exist. Her chest hurt as if a hundred bricks had been laid to rest on it.
She was eleven years old and had just experienced her first heartbreak.
"Alex, Jax," she heard Elise sigh in relief just outside the door. "Thank you for coming so quickly. I've tried asking her what's wrong but--"
"No worries Miss Ellison," Alex replied and the door handle creaked down. "We've got it."
"Go away!" Iris yelled, burying her face deeper into her shelter.
"Hey Rainbow." The bed dipped as Jax's voice came closer. "Wanna tell us what's wrong?"
"Leave me alone!"
"Now, is that what you say to someone who's got cookie dough ice cream?"
Iris froze mid-sniff. The boys smiled, knowing she could never say no to ice cream--
"I don't want any ice cream!"
Alex sucked in a sharp breath and Jax's jaw dropped as they looked at each other with wide eyes. Something was seriously wrong.
"What happened, Rainbow?" Alex placed a hand on her back and leaned forwards.
Iris bit her lip, unable to stop the fresh wave of tears flowing down her cheeks. She pulled back the covers and raised a tear-stained face. "I- I told him I liked him and h-he and his friends- they made fun of me." Her tone descended into sobs.
"Oh, Rainbow," Alex hugged her tightly, knowing full well Elise and Harry were fuming at her statement on the other side of the door. "You don't have to go through this alone. We love you- everyone here loves you and you can talk or vent whenever you need to."
Jax nodded vigorously. "Yeah! And we'll beat up the boy who did this. Wait. Is he like a strong guy? Because we might have to settle for an angry letter if he his."
That got a weak chuckle. Iris's bottom lip tremble and she fiddled with her fingers, unable to look at the others in the eye. "Will you stay with me forever?"
Alex interlocked their fingers together and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Forever and always, Rainbow."
If only she knew that always didn't mean forever.
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"Hi! I'm Iris."
"Hello! I'm Jax, and this is Alex."
"Do you want to play cars with us? We'll let you be the green one."
"Yeah! But only if I get to be the rainbow one."
"Okay, Rainbow."
********
"How could you do this to me? To us?" Iris was shaking with barely restrained anger, the rain slashing against her face and blurring with her tears.
"I- I had to choose my family." Alex's voice was full of remorse, pushing back the hair that had plastered to his forehead.
"I thought we were your family." Iris took a step back, her finger curled around the trigger of her gun.
Alex squeezed his eyes shut, clutching his chest. "I- I wouldn't have done this if I didn't have a choice."
"You LIAR!" Iris yelled, blue eyes blazing with uncontrolled fury. "We all have a choice! It's obvious which one you made."
"I- I didn't--"
"Did you know that Jax and Tracy are still in that building? Did you know that?"
Alex froze, the blood draining from his expression as his lips parted. "No, I- I didn't--"
"You've ruined everything!"
"Rainbow--"
"Don't call me that!" In a mad frenzy, Iris shoved the boy back.
Not expecting it, he stumbled and tripped, slamming into an electric fence. A scream tore from his throat as he bounced off it like tiny fish leaping out of a gushing river. Alex collapsed on the ground, the rain steaming on his scarred back as he groaned weakly.
Iris resisted all instinct to run over and check on him. With trembling hands, she raised her gun at the barely conscious boy's head. She had to end it. She had to avenge her family- the one this enemy tore apart.
But she couldn't do it.
Swallowing back the lump in her throat, Iris lowered her weapon to his leg and fired it twice. Alex screamed, his blood staining the water a deep red. Her heart thudded painfully as she turned and walked away, willing the darkness to swallow her whole.
"Excuse me? Are you... are you okay?"
Startled, Iris raised her head to see a boy roughly her age staring at her in concern. She touched her cheeks and was surprised to find her fingers were wet with tears.
Wiping them away harshly, she turned back to the field. "I'm fine."
"Crying girls aren't usually fine." Without asking her permission, he took the empty seat next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I don't talk with strangers."
"Fair enough. My name is James and I have a pet turtle. What's your name?"
**********
James is back everyone!
I hope you guys liked it!
Stay safe and thanks for reading :)