tragedy

chapter nine

word count: 1347

Iris had a look of terror on her face and Eli seemed to reciprocate it. She couldn't believe that someone had found out her secret. Although she did write about it, she didn't think that whoever did her peer review was going to realize it was about her. "I- Um, I think you should go," Iris said quickly, standing up from her seat and rapidly gathering up her stuff, making sure to grab her paper from in front of Eli. "Hey, wait," Eli said, holding out his hand to stop her franticness. "It's okay." He spoke again, this time standing up next to Iris. "That really doesn't have to be your fate, you know." He continued softly, searching for her eyes.

Iris was still looking down at the table, her paper in her hands. She felt the electricity of Eli being right beside her, just like when they had been in the library. She slowly turned to face him, his body closer to hers than she had thought. Iris looked up and met his eyes, him towering over her by more than just a few inches. "You don't have to let him treat you like that. I don't care who he is." Eli said, stepping a bit closer to her. Now, their bodies were barely not touching, less than an inch and their chests would be touching. "That doesn't have to be your fate either, you know," Iris said, mustering all of her courage and not breaking eye contact with Eli. "You deserve to be loved. I don't care what happens in your head." She stated, mimicking his words and pushing them back onto him.

Eli smiled. It was a soft smile, probably the softness one Iris had seen from him, but it was also the most genuine and heartwarming. Before she knew what she was doing, she was leaning in, drawn by the magnetic force between them. Eli reciprocated the movement and reached out, tucking a piece of hair behind Iris's ear. Somewhere in the moment between their foreheads meeting and their lips finally connecting, they heard a knock on the door before the connection could happen. They froze in place for what felt like forever, savoring the moment of being so close.

"Fuck. I'm sorry." Iris spoke first, letting out an awkward chuckle. "Don't be," Eli responded quickly with a smirk, making sure that she knew that the moment was appreciated. Iris walked over to the door and looked through the peephole; she wasn't expecting anyone to come over other than Eli today. She definitely didn't expect to be met with the face of her boyfriend. "Shit." She whispered, walking away from the door quickly. "You need to hide. Now." Iris said frantically and sternly, giving Eli a pointed look. "What? I'm not hiding?" He replied, giving her a confused look. "He's going to be furious if he sees you're here. You can't be here." She continued, talking quickly as she paced back and forth trying to come up with a plan to keep Declan's hands off of her. "Okay, okay. I'll go upstairs. You answer the door." Eli surrendered, holding his hands up and jogging up the stairs.

Iris made her way to the door quickly and took a deep breath before she opened the door with a fake smile on her face. "Why did it take so long for you to answer?" Declan questioned her right away, a cold look on his face. "I was getting off the phone with my mom," Iris lied. "You know how she is sometimes about Adam and I being home alone." She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. Declan just nodded and pushed past her into the house. "Is Adam here?" He asked curiously, pulling Iris into his arms. "No, he's out with Drew," Iris replied, knowing exactly where Declan was going with this. "Perfect." He smirked, connecting his lips with hers before she could protest. His smirk was nothing like Eli's. His was filled with evilness while Eli's was filled with pure gold.

"Dec, I'm sorry, babe. I don't really feel well right now. I was probably going to take a nap or something. You can come over tomorrow?" She said as she pulled away from the kiss, trying to bargain with him. "Are you trying to get rid of me?" Declan spat, clearly angry at her rejection. "No, I'm sorry. I just don't feel well." Iris apologized again. She was always apologizing for nothing when it came to him. Declan pushed her away from him harshly. "You don't get to try to get rid of me, Iris. You know better than that." He yelled, his face turning more and more red.

Tears began to form in Iris's eyes. This was not what she pictured happening today. She thought she was free of Declan for the weekend, at least. She wasn't planning on having more bruises to hide on Monday. "Dec, I'm sorry. Please don't be mad." Iris choked out. As Declan paced angrily around the living room, his eyes were drawn to the dining room table. Iris followed his eyes and mentally slapped herself for not thinking about Eli's stuff. At the table sat two book bags and two notebooks, indicating the obvious that two people were here.

"Who the fuck is here? Huh? Is it your English partner?" Declan shouted, emphasizing the words 'English partner' once again. While he shouted at Iris, he backed her up against the wall, grabbing her wrists and holding them on either side of her head. "Please..." That was all that Iris could choke out in between sobs. "Shut up!" He screamed in her face.

"How about you shut up dude? Get the fuck out of here." Eli jumped in, walking down the stairs with his arms crossed and his face twisted up in anger. "Ah, so the English partner reveals himself," Declan said with a scoff as he turned his attention to Eli, letting go of Iris. She rubbed her wrists and watched the scene play out in front of her. "Why don't you get the fuck out of here dude," He said with air quotes around 'dude'. "This is my girlfriend's house. Not yours." He spat. Eli stood his ground and took a step closer to Declan. "You treat your girlfriend like that?" He spat right back, pointing to Iris's hysteric state. "I hate to admit it to you but you're pretty sad." He spoke again with a condescending tone.

Declan didn't hesitate to launch himself into Eli, grabbing his shoulders and throwing him to the ground. "Declan!" Iris screamed. She tried to pull him off of Eli but he just shoved her away with one arm as he held Eli down with his other. Before Declan could even attempt to punch Eli, Eli had flipped them around so that he was on top and started repeatedly punching him in the face. Iris sank to the floor and was frozen, watching Eli's hand go into Declan's face over and over and over again. There was more and more blood coming from Declan's face when Iris began to get scared. Eli was really hurting him. "Eli, stop! You're going to kill him!" Iris yelled, desperately trying to get Eli to get off of him.

It seemed as though Eli froze at her words. He stared at his bloody hand for a moment, then Declan's bloody face, before looking up at Iris's. Eli saw the fear in her eyes, he had seen it in others' before. She was afraid of him. He knew that he had to get out of there as quickly as he could. Eli stood up, quickly running to the dining room and gathering his stuff. "Eli. Eli, wait, please." Iris begged. She had stopped crying but her face was soaked with tears. She was frozen in place. She couldn't make her legs move to go after him. As Eli reached the front door, he looked back at Iris and Declan passed out on the floor. "I'm sorry," was all Iris heard before he disappeared out the door.