Iris & Mason

12. Mason

I expected to wake up with Iris on one side and Milo on the other. Instead I woke up to what smelled like eggs and bacon wafting from the kitchen. A smile crept onto my face as I replayed last night's events in my head. It was hard not to think about my future with Iris and focus on the present.

I hopped out of bed and snuck into the bathroom to brush my teeth before tiptoeing into the kitchen to try to scare Iris, grabbing at her waist from behind.

She didn't flinch or scream like I thought she would. Instead she turned right around and smiled at me. "You're not as slick as you think you are."

I laughed, shrugging my shoulders in defeat. "Did you sleep okay?"

"I did." She nodded. "You're comfy."

"I'm comfy?" I raised my eyebrows at her.

"I said what I said."

"What are you making?" I asked as I looked around my kitchen. The pan on the stove had scrambled eggs shoved on one side with a few pieces of bacon sizzling on the other.

"Eggs and bacon, we'll have to see if they're edible. I'm trying." She seemed insecure about her cooking, but it all looked great to me.

"Thank you." I said. "Do you want orange juice?"

Iris nodded. "Yes please."

Just a few minutes later she was sitting across from me, trying to justify putting ketchup on her eggs to me. Debating arbitrary things with Iris had to be on ranked high on my list my of top ten favorite ways to spend my time.

"Do you have to work today?" I asked, taking my last bite of my breakfast.

"Unfortunately, I do. I go in at 3:00." She huffed.

"I'll walk you home so you can get ready."

"You don't have to do that, Mason. I'm sure you have things to do today too." Iris said.

"I want to, really." I insisted.

"If you insist." A smile grew on Iris's face. She got up from her seat and grabbed my plate, bringing it to the sink. Before she could even start washing dishes I stood up and rushed over to her.

"Let me do those, babe." I blurted.

Iris raised her eyebrows. "Babe?"

Fuck.

"Sorry it just came out, I didn't mean to-"

Before I could continue, Iris interrupted me.

"It's okay, babe." She gave me a shy smile and I raised my eyebrows this time. "I just think we should take things pretty slowly."

"I agree." I nodded.

"Good." 

The walk back to Iris's apartment felt different from our other walks. The conversation was similar, and the route was the same, but knowing what it was like to kiss her made the words that came out of her mouth sound better. We held hands for most of the walk. I couldn't help but laugh when Iris started to swing our adjoined hands back and forth like we were in elementary school.

"Do you want to come in?" She asked as we approached her building.

"It's up to you." I replied, trying my best to play it cool. I feared suffocating her, but I couldn't get enough of her to be honest.

"Come in for a little while. I'm still not really ready to say goodbye." Iris said.

Her apartment was much cozier than mine. She had less space but it was well decorated. My favorite thing to do when I came over was to write her a little message on her fridge with the word magnets she had. The second time she invited me to her apartment, Iris had a cheesy quote already arranged on her fridge. By the third time, I had replaced the quote with something simple.

Life

Is

Beautiful

Those words were in the same exact spot every time I came over. While Iris got in the shower, I managed to find the exact words I had been thinking. It didn't seem to matter how cheesy they sounded.

You

Are

Perfect

To

Me

I practically drooled as Iris shut her bedroom door behind her, her wet hair leaving trails of water down her chest.

"How was your shower?" I asked stupidly. I found myself immediately regretting a lot of my statements lately.

"It was fine." Iris replied. "I-"

She stopped in her tracks as she got closer to the fridge. Sudden nerves came over me as I watched her scan my little message. A small smile spread on he face, her cheeks acquiring a rosy tint.

"Right back at you." She winked.

"Are you sure you don't want to call in sick?" I asked. In a perfect world, Iris would whip her phone out and call Charlotte to let her know she was feeling a little under the weather. We'd watch movies for the rest of the day and eat takeout in bed.

Instead, Iris shook her head. "I can't, Charlotte would kill me."

"Charlotte wouldn't hurt a fly." I countered as I grabbed her hands, pulling her closer to me.

"I have to go get ready." She squeezed my hands before ripping them away and disappearing back into her bedroom.

It seemed like decades had gone by when she came back out. Instead of wearing her normal work attire, she looked like a model with a pair of distressed jeans and a tightly cropped sweater. I couldn't wait to trace the curves of her body someday.

"So I called Charlotte..." She trailed off with a sly smirk on her face.

"Did you?" I was surprised that she would call in sick just for me. It was pretty difficult to hide the wave of happiness that came over me.

"Yeah I just feel really under the weather." She faked a cough.

"Did she call bullshit?"

"Yeah." Iris said. "I wouldn't worry though, she did the same thing to me when she first met Nate."

"Come here." I reached my hands out for her and rested my hands around her bare waist. I felt her rips expand as she took a deep breath. "You don't have to miss work just for me."

"Who said it was just for you?" Iris asked me.

"I guess you never said that, I just-"

"Kidding." She cut me off before I could stand around like a blubbering idiot any more. "Let's get out of here."

"Let's get out of here." I repeated.

And it was that day that I knew. I could tell I was in too deep. and before I knew it I would be in love with her with no choice to tell her the truth.