Rejoined with the Warblers

Iris

Iris didn't know what to expect when Barry walked into Jitters. What she did know was that, whoever this guy was, he wasn't Barry. This man was dressed nicely, his hair seemed pushed back and, though he was smiling, his face seemed sharper. 

She knew this guy was the one who verbally attacked that poor man the other day. There was no difference in his sharp, calculating eye. 

Whoever this person was it wasn't Barry. 

There were a few guys that came in with him, most of them blonde and annoying looking. Iris knew that was a rude thing to think, but it was true. They were loud and crowded around not-Barry. Iris was quite surprised he didn't tell them to shut up. 

They ordered a bunch of drinks, with a few having liquor in them. Iris always found it ridiculous that people thought they could hide their alcohol in a coffee cup. Alcohol smells bad, everyone knows that.

Not-Barry didn't come up to say hey to Iris so she continued with her assumption, that it was not Barry. 

Andrea was working today and so Iris decided to recruit her for the plan she had just concocted. "Hey, Andrea," Iris whispered to the blonde barista. "Do you want to help me with an ingenious plan?"

"Depends," She responded, smiling a sweet smile.

Iris frowned, "On what?"

"On whether or not this is going to get me fired," Andrea replied. Andrea was the closest co-worker she had. Andrea was sweet and kind and sometimes hung out with Iris after work, she was a good listener and only occasionally spaced out in the middle of a conversation. 

Iris sighed, "I mean, it's just a little bit of spying." Andrea gave her a Look. "It's not a big deal, okay, I just need to know what my not-brother is doing over there." She pointed to not-Barry and his friends.

"I suppose it can't hurt to ask them if they want any pastries." She shrugged before grabbing a plate of croissants and beginning to walk over to the group of men.

The brunette watched as her friend sashayed over, walking slowly until they noticed her. Andrea offered the pastries and a few men bought some, Barry not being one of them. The blonde made her way across the cafe and deposited the almost empty tray of croissants onto the counter. She walked over to Iris before telling her about the interaction. 

"So your brother is definitely acting wrong," Andrea told her, pulling her long hair up into a bun. 

Iris was confused, "I mean yeah, but how?"

"Well he just seemed to focus on his friends, he didn't get a croissant, as he would have normally, and it seemed like his friends were interrogating him and he wasn't having it." 

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they were trying to talk about why they haven't seen him, or something, and he was telling them to fuck off," She told Iris. "It really didn't sound like your sweet, lovable, brother. He sounded vicious."

Her head was spinning. Barry had been one of the only dependant people throughout her whole childhood and college years. High school was a bit different as he was going to a private school in Ohio and she had stayed at West Central High. Other than those four years, Barry had been a pillar of happiness and strength at her side, why would he be acting so wrong now?

Andrea put her hand on Iris' shoulder, "This must be hard for you."

"I mean who even is he?" Iris whispered, her body felt drained of energy. "Why has he changed so much in about two days? What happened to him?"

The blonde barista seemed confused, "Well maybe he's trying something new?"

"I don't know."

They looked over to where he was sitting and found him and his friends gone. That had probably left while Iris was freaking out. 

"Look, our shifts are over in about 10 minutes. Why don't we finish up here and then go for a drink?" Andrea asked her, steering her over to the counter and letting Iris take an order and make some coffee.

Iris looked back at Andrea who was brewing another pot of coffee. "Drinks sound nice," She said, once the order had been handed over and money exchanged.

Andrea nodded, "I'll drive?"

"Sounds like a plan," Iris giggled, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted from her chest in such a short amount of time. 

She woke up the next day with a raging headache and no idea where she was. Iris did the first thing to do when you wake up in a strange location and she checked to see if she was dressed. Luckily she was, and she was surprised to find an empty bed to her right and left. 

Iris cursed whoever had the idea for that last round of shots. 

She made her way out of the room, only to find a long hall with two doors, one, she found, was a bathroom and the other a guest room. There were stairs that deposited her in a living room where she found Andrea asleep on the couch. 

Of course, this must be Andrea's house. 

Iris gave little thought to her actions as she walked to the kitchen and began to fry up some eggs for omelettes. After a couple of minutes of quiet, except for the sizzling of the eggs, Andrea woke up and moved to the kitchen. 

"You didn't have to cook breakfast," She said, starting a pot of coffee on the Keurig. 

Iris shrugged, "It's the least I could do. I mean I'm totally imposing and you slept on the couch so..." She trailed off, unsure what she was supposed to say next. 

"Well, thank you."

They ate in peaceful silence. 

Iris couldn't help but look up at the woman, whose messy hair was sticking up all over the place. Andrea somehow still looked impeccable, even with her hair looking like a fancy french up-do gone wrong. 

After breakfast and almost 3 cups of caffeine, each, Iris got ready to leave. 

"Thanks for letting me take the bed," She said, awkwardly. 

Andrea smiled, her eyes lighting up like little green Christmas lights, "It really wasn't a problem. Plus, just between you and me, the couch is quite squishy and nice."

Iris blushed in the face of Andrea's full smile, "Well then I'm glad you got an opportunity to sleep on it."

"Yeah, so did I." 

There was a pause, neither of them sure if a hug or a handshake was the proper goodbye gesture. Iris reached for a handshake just and Andrea reached out for a hug.  It ended up being a little hug, with a few too many limbs stuck in between their bodies, limbs that Iris wished would disappear. 

"Well, um. Bye," Andrea said as they separated.

Iris waved as she walked down the street, "bye, see you tomorrow at work."

"See you!"

Iris' cheeks were permanently flushed as she walked away from her friend's apartment.

Andrea did a good job distracting her from Barry, but Iris was determined to figure out what was going on with him. Right after she figured out why Andrea made her blush so much.

wow, this chapter is a huge filler. The next chapter is definitely going to be Sebastian and the Warbler's conversation in Jitters with a special appearance by Andrea, who is quickly becoming my favourite character. 

I really enjoy writing the dynamic between Iris and Andrea, let me know what you think of it and if you like the way it's going!

Sammi