Iris ↠ l.h.

All I can taste is this moment...

"Why are you so late?"

Michael took a seat in front of Luke placing his lunch tray on the table.

"He was probably off fucking the new chick," Ashton smirked, as Liza shoved him playfully.

"Dude, seriously? No," Michael snapped, rolling his eyes, "it's not like that."

"Wait, you're dating?" Luke laughed, "how did that happen?"

"No," Michael sighed, his cheeks turning a light pink, "no, she's not into me like that, I don't think, I don't know. But we're just friends."

"With benefits," Ashton fake coughed, earning another shove from Liza.

Luke smirked, taking a bite of his pizza, then continued on in his everyday routine of finding Iris.

She hadn't shown up to lunch at all today, maybe what Luke had said freaked her out.

Of course it did.

He knew he shouldn't have said it, he had no filter when he was drunk and words just tumbled out.

They were barely friends and he had to go and share one of his darkest secrets.

But truth be told, he was avoiding her as well.

He felt embarrassed, what he said, what he did after.

"Guys can you just stop talking about her? Especially like that, seriously, just forget about it," Michael mumbled, taking a sip of his water.

Luke laughed a little watching the whole scene go down, Michael was starting to sound like him.

"I just can't believe you're over Victoria so fast, honestly, you've been in love with her for years," Luke added, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I'm aware," Michael replied sharply, at this point everyone knew he was losing his temper, but honestly they weren't sure why.

It's not like Michael hasn't spoken about girls like that before.

"It still sucks seeing her with Daniel, but whatever, y'know? There's nothing I can do," He added, his voice getting quieter.

At this point everyone returned to their usual conversation and after a few minutes Michael got up and left the cafeteria.

Luke, noticing that Iris still wasn't there, decided to leave as well.

He left the cafeteria and found the doors to their spot.

Well, her spot.

He was still too embarrassed to talk to Iris but he just wanted to know if she was there.

If she was ok.

He quietly opened the door and snuck his head out, not seeing her.

He frowned stepping outside and walking out further.

Still no one.

He walked around the tree but she was nowhere to be found.

He wasn't exactly sick to his stomach worried, but he was getting there.

She was probably just sick.

He heard the bell ring and went back inside to find his last period.

Iris is in this class.

He walks in and finds her sitting at her desk, her head resting in her hand and her hair falling just enough to cover her face.

She didn't even look up.

Luke pulled on his lip ring as he walked to the back of the class and found his seat.

Not hearing a word the teacher said, his eyes stayed on Iris the entire class.

She didn't even look up once.

A few minutes before class ended Iris rose her hand, pointing to the door.

"Restroom?" Ms. Haines, asked.

Iris nodded in confirmation and gathered her things quickly, practically running out of the classroom.

The class fell silent, not really sure what happened, but soon went back to the normal chatter, waiting for dismissal.

"Ms.Haines, I need to pick up something from the office, can I go?" Luke asked, standing by her desk.

She gave him a curt nod, knowing he was lying, but not really caring since it was the end of the day and a Friday.

Luke walked to the end of the hall, standing in front of the girls bathroom.

He thought he heard a muffled sob but wasn't quite sure.

A girl stepped out and gave Luke a weird look before he stopped her.

"Hey, was there, uh, anyone in there?" He asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, that mute chick was sobbing in the handicap stall," she shrugged, walking off.

He sighed, contemplating his options as he paced in front of the door.

Looking at both ends of the hallway, and knowing the dismissal bell was going to ring in, like, 3 minutes, he took a huge breath and walked into the girls bathroom.

He got to the handicapped stall, and the small cries immediately stopped.

"Iris?" He whispered, "um, are you, like, good? I mean, can you let me in?"

God, what if this wasn't even Iris?

He heard slow footsteps and watched and the door slowly open and her head peak out.

He gave her a sad smile, "bad day?"

She didn't look up at him, her eyes glued to the floor, as she nodded.

He stepped in the stall and locked it behind him, leaning his back against the door.

She slowly looked up at him, giving him a full view of her face.

She had a small cut beneath her eye, but that didn't mean much to Luke compared to the dark circles and tears.

She looked so tired and sad and Luke could feel his heart ache.

Luke's mouth opened but he didn't know what to say.

"Oh, God, Iris," he whispered, "I-"

She shook her head, stopping him from saying anything else.

Luke could feel his heart in his throat as the two stood there in an uncomfortable silence.

Not caring, Luke sat on the ground as he heard the dismissal bell go off.

He gestured for Iris to come and she willingly agreed, sitting between his two legs as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

He leaned his head back so it was resting against the stall door as Iris rested her head against his chest.

God, she could probably hear how fast his heart was beating right now.

He felt his cheeks heat up but ignored it, that wasn't what was important right now.

Iris was.

She always was.

And in this moment, she was his everything.

This moment, was his everything.

And he wanted it to last forever.