Yours Truly

Chapter Thirty: Fault

Flynn POV

I didn’t get much sleep last night. Neither did Iris. Every couple hours, she would wake up in the middle of the night, frantically kicking and screaming. I would try to calm her down, and eventually it would work, but not before getting a few bruises. Though she was little, she sure could hit hard when she was terrified.

I hated every second of it. And it wasn’t the fact that she would beat the crap out of me every time I fell asleep. It was the fact that she was so afraid of being violated, every few hours she would freak out like this. Even before when he almost got to her in the woods, she wasn’t this bad. Maybe it was because she saw him naked. Maybe it was because had I not arrived, something awful would’ve happened. I had no idea what it was. I had no idea how to help her.

And I think that was the worst part of it all.

The fact that I had no way to help her out of this was killing me. Every whimper, cry, kick, whisper, it was all my fault in some way. I should’ve protected her. I should’ve done a better job. Had I insisted on finding her earlier, none of this would’ve happened. Iris wouldn’t be a hysterical mess, I wouldn’t be worried all night about her.

I knew she would tell me it wasn’t my fault. But I couldn’t help but feel like I deserved some of the blame for this mess. I just felt awful all over. And I couldn’t imagine what Iris was going through.

Finally at around 6:00, she calmed down and had the last of her fits. I crawled out of bed, exhausted, and put on some running clothes. It would alleviate some of my stress. I slipped out of the cabin before anyone could notice.

The crisp morning air woke me up a bit. I slammed my feet on the dirt underneath me, pushing myself harder and harder. I was breathing heavily and had to take a break, leaning over and panting like a dog. “Flynn if you keep running yourself like that, you’re going to pass out.” Damon said, walking to my side. I looked up and saw that I had stopped in front of the cabin. “You look like hell. Did you get any sleep?” I shook my head. “Why?”

“She was up all night, freaking out.” I explained. Damon cursed, running a hand through his hair.

“That’s what I heard last night.” I nodded and we fell into silence for a moment. “You need to tell someone.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” I growled.

“She’s going to try to talk you out of it.” Damon said harshly.

“I know she will. I just don’t know why.” I grumbled more to myself than to him.

“Because she doesn’t want to be the cause for anyone to be upset…or lose their job.” Damon replied. I gave him a dubious look.

“And how do you know that?”

“Because I know Iris pretty damn well.” I narrowed my eyes and he raised his hands in defeat. “But not like that. I just know her personality type, I guess. She doesn’t want to be a burden. She doesn’t want you to have to go out of your way to protect her.”