Flowers and Thorns (Dirk Strider x OC)

Questions and Miserable Answers

  (Note: Small warning, this chapter hints at emotional/verbal abuse from a parent, you have been warned.)
Iris's P.O.V.

      We spent the next hour asking standard questions and telling stories that went along with an answer if necessary. The questions were relatively standard.
Favorite color?
Career Path?
College of choice (if we had one)?
A place we each wanted to visit?
Favorite sweet/dessert?
Favorite book?
Favorite film?
Favorite band?
Things like that.

      The questions became increasingly more personal as time went on. Suddenly, I was faced with thoughts that I had blocked out of my conscious mind for years.
            "Do you have any siblings?" he asked casually.
            "Yeah, I have a sister. Her name's Kaylee. She's about...three years younger than me. I'm almost eighteen , so she should almost be fifteen," I answered truthfully.
            "You say that as if you had to think about it..." he said, furrowing his brows. I felt my heart begin to beat a bit faster. I was faced with a decision; a decision I hated making. Should I trust him with one of my most personal and sensitive sides of my life? I paused. I chose...to trust him.
            "I do sometimes," I began, attempting to keep my voice from shaking. "I've not seen her since my sophomore year," I finished.

      There was a thick silence that followed my answer. Thankfully, after the pause Dirk didn't push me to tell him more; we just resumed asking our questions.
            "So , what's your worst fear?" I asked. He paused a moment in contemplation.
            "Living a completely meaningless life," he answered honestly. "What about you?" he asked.
            "What about me?" I repeatedly slowly as I felt my heart seize in my chest. I felt my entire body stiffen as if it were a statue. I felt time slow around me. I could hear my ears begin to ring with the sound of her yelling. I could see her cold, unfeeling ice blue eyes framed with straight blonde eyebrows and professional looking short hair. I could see her small line of a mouth. That mouth, the line that could widen and stretch itself into an endless cavern with hateful, angry echos that resounded from within.

            "Richard she is such a pain," I could hear that phrase pulse in my ears. "She's an embarrassment!" the woman that I know all too well and who is also a complete stranger to me hissed. I could hear it all. The screaming, the fear as it pulsed through veins, the tears as they dripped from eyes, the anger in her voice, frustration in her shouts, the constant arguing, the cracking of my sanity, the drip-drip-drip of the hallway bathroom sink that had swallowed the drops of my soul that had fallen from my eyes, the cracking, the irreversible shattering of Kaylee's innocence, the snip-snip-snipping of the scissors as I cut through the thing string that connected me to my family, the twinkling of the stars that watched me slip out of the window that night, the smooth slick sound of a pen as it scrawled my goodbye note, the softness of the whisper that Kaylee used to tell me goodbye in the darkness of my old home, the cracking, the cracking, the sobbing, the cracking, the cracking, the cracking, the cracking...I can hear it all. All of those sounds are the cause of one damned woman; Jeanine Stonewall. Mom. My mom. Mom.

      I felt hot tears roll down my cheeks, staining them with my soul that I had tried so hard to keep inside of me. I heard a murky voice saying somethings. It said it over and over again, as if calling for someone. It took me a moment to recognize the murky voice as Dirk's. He's calling my name. He's begging me to speak, to snap out of it, to do anything.
            "Mom," I hear myself whisper. I finally realized what was going on around me. I was now curled up in a defensive position, with my fingers tangled in my hair while covering my ears, with tears soaking my rosy cheeks. I realized Dirk's hands were on my shoulders, he was very close, looking very panicked.

      I blinked and wiped my face.
            "Sorry," I mumbled. He shook his head. He paused a moment, then pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back, and for once I felt completely at ease in someone's arms.
            "Jesus Christ, Iris...you scared me," he mumbled.
            "I'm sorry, my mom destroyed my mind, I don't ever talk about her. But, since we're doing this whole friendship thing I wanted to be open and tell you," I whispered. He readjusted a bit so he could look at me.
            "Don't push yourself to tell me stressful shit. Friends are patient. So I'll wait," he said, looking into my eyes. I nodded as I felt him shaking.
            "Hey, relax, I'm okay," I mumbled. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and soon his body stopped shaking. I smiled and he returned the gesture. No half smile or smirk. A real, full smile.

      Then I noticed his shades had slid off of his nose and into my lap. I picked them up and handed the shades to him. When I looked up I was met by golden, honey colored eyes.
            "Whoa..." I whispered. "Your eyes are beautiful," I smiled. He shrugged and place the pointy anime style glasses back on his nose.
            "Meh, I usually only let specific people see them," he said. "So now that we know a whole bunch about each other I'm assuming we're not just friends but good friends?" he asked.
            "Absolutely. I trust you. A lot," I answered.
            "Yeah," he mumbled.

      He pulled out his headphones and offered me one, which I happily placed in my ear.
            "I figured that we could both use a little music right about now," he smiled. I nodded. That's the way we stayed until I had to leave for work. Who knew that the prince could be so oddly thoughtful and compassionate? Whatever. I liked it.