Iris had lost Arylos. The night outside made her cold and lonely, her heart heavy and broken. She wanted to take it all back, to have her friend back, to have him hug her as he always does, so he could pat her head. She wanted things to go back to normal.

Iris was now all alone again. She had truly lost everything.

The loneliness suffocated her. The pain broke her. The cold bit her. She lost all strength in her legs as she fell to her knees and sobbed uncontrollably in her hands.

“I’m sorry,” she choked while crying. She dug her nails into the skin on her face, wishing she could change the outcome. Her cries grew louder as she held her head as if it was spinning. She scratched at her scalp and pulled on her hair as she continued crying, finding no words to say as she repeated ‘I’m sorry’ over and over.

After minutes of her breakdown, Iris repositioned herself and sat on the front step and wrapped her arms around her legs, crying softly into her knees.

“Come back to me,” she whispered. She didn’t know what she could do now, where she could go. A part of her wanted to run to Sentarus or even Bellona’s house. But she knew she would find no comfort; she brought this on herself and only had herself to blame.

“I didn’t mean it,” Iris cried softly, feeling her heart pound loudly in her chest and the cold wind of the night brush against the nape of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine. “I didn’t mean any of it,” she continued softly. “Please just come back to me. Don’t leave me too.” She tightened her arms around her legs, afraid of the cold and endless night.

She then heard a set of footsteps come closer on the walkway to the house. She sniffled and prepared herself, realising that this looks odd. She may have to explain all of this to a concerned guard out on his patrols.

“Now why are you out here? You’ll get sick in this cold,” a voice said. Wait, a voice growled. Iris felt her heart stop for a moment; she recognised this growl. This inhuman growl of a creature trying to be a man.

Iris finally looked up and saw a dark shadow of a tall person with deep and glowing red eyes looking into her soul. A strange power overtook Iris as she jumped up and hugged the familiar shadow, with a voice of protest sounding out from him and something hit the ground next to her.

“You big idiot!” Iris cried as her tired and dry eyes worked up tears again. “I thought you left me!”

“I never left you,” the familiar voice responded, his growling chest resonating for her once more. She could feel his tight embrace as he rubbed her scalp, the warmth of the fire under his skin giving her new life. “I have nothing left, so why would I just toss you aside?”

“But I said something horrible and hurt you,” Iris responded, holding onto him tighter.

“None of that matters,” the familiar voice growled.

“Yes it does!” Iris exclaimed, holding onto him tighter. “You can’t just play it off like nothing is wrong and everything is fine. For once, do something normal. Get mad, tell me I was wrong, that I was stupid, that I hurt you. When you’re calm like this, it feels so wrong.”

The familiar voice let out a sigh. “Iris–”

“No,” Iris cut him off. “I know I hurt you, so don’t you dare say it’s fine. I broke my damn promise for crying out loud.”

“Your promise?” the familiar voice asked.

Iris pulled her face out of his chest and rubbed her eyes as she looked up to him, seeing Arylos’s face again with a soft expression made her feel comfortable once more. “I promised that I would never call you a monster. I wanted to be different. I wanted to be special to you. Instead, I ended up the same as everyone else who hated you.”

Arylos sighed and let go of her and took a step back as he thought. “What do you want me to say?” he asked softly. “That you hurt me. That I felt betrayed. That watching you cry hurt me and I just wanted you to stop; to keep quiet so it would hurt less.”

Arylos then clenched his fist as he shook his head. “That you made me cry. That you broke my heart– that you let me down!”

Iris felt startled by his sudden raising of his voice, but she had nothing to say; he was right. “Then why did you come back?” she whimpered softly.

Arylos looked at her and let out a light laugh under his breath, as if the question entertained him. “Did you really think I care for you so little that any of that would make any difference?”

Iris shook her head in disbelief. She knew this had to be some kind of elaborate act. “This isn’t right,” she called out while shaking her head. “Shouldn’t you be mad? Upset about the things I said even if you did care?”

Arylos chuckled softly as he gave her a gentle pat on her head. “When you asked me what was more important to me, I honestly didn’t have an answer. My life here has been the best it’s been yet I’ve grown attached to you in a way I can’t make heads or tails of; I honestly can’t choose what’s more important.”

Arylos then knelt down in front of Iris and held her hand. “Yet seeing you as angry as you were reminded me what was important. My life here, ‘continuing the lie’ as Reyz put it, is only possible with you. Without you, I would have no reason to be here. You make my attempt to live in this world possible.”

Iris clutched at her chest, his words bringing life back to her. A warmth to combat the chill spring wind that only Arylos could give her. She had no words for him; she felt she didn’t deserve such kindness and forgiveness for what she said and did. Arylos let out another laugh while seeing the dumbfounded girl and he reached over and picked up a bag that he dropped when Iris grabbed him.

“And since you give me a reason to be here, someone has to make dinner tonight,” Arylos added with a smile. “I even picked up some extra stuff for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow…?” Iris asked softly.

Arylos came back over to her and held his hand out for her to take. “I never said I was going to leave you,” he told her with a warm smile. “You wanted to be special to me, but you already are. You’re all I have, after all.”

Iris sniffled as she reached out for his hand and he pulled her back up to her feet. “And I swear if you keep crying, you’re going to go blind,” Arylos teased with a quick pat on her head.

Iris felt the ice that froze her melt as she rubbed her eyes again with a smile. “And I swear that I’ll hit you if you keep being a big idiot.” Suddenly, the thought came to Iris. She reached out and grabbed Arylos’s cheek, remembering what she did.

“I’m alright; don’t worry about it,” Arylos responded, already knowing what she was looking for.

“But I hit you,” Iris returned softly, rubbing her fingers on his cheek. “I hit you twice. That is twice too many; I never should have done that.”

“You were angry, so I understand,” Arylos answered.

Iris quickly shook her head. “That doesn’t make it right. I shouldn’t have done that; no matter how mad I was, I had no excuse to do that.”

“You wouldn’t be the first,” Arylos told her softly.

“I didn’t want to be on that list at all,” Iris responded, still shaking her head.

Arylos sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder. He knew what he had to do in order to make this better. He had to treat her as he normally does to ease her heart; it was the only way to make everything go back to normal.

“Ow!” Iris barked as Arylos gave her a sharp and painful flick on her forehead.

“Now where’s my sorry?” Arylos added with a sly smile, that smile that Iris knew was the smile of her big idiot.

“I’m sorry,” she responded while puffing up her face, taking the hint.

“Good,” Arylos followed up with a smile and let go of her. “Now, get out of the cold before you get sick. I’m making a hot pot for dinner tonight.”

Iris felt a smile come to her face as the two returned inside the house, overcoming yet another obstacle of the differences between them. “You’re not going to make it super spicy, are you?” she asked, feeling as though they were equals again.

“I got some crushed pepper flakes for me so I’ll just make my bowl spicy,” Arylos responded, setting the bag of goods on the dining room table. As he took the goods out of the bag, he felt a sudden hug from behind.

“Thank you for staying,” he felt Iris whisper while holding him.

Arylos let out a laugh. “If I knew the little girl would get this clingy, I would have waited until you woke up.”

Iris felt a warm sensation in her that she couldn’t describe. Almost a bubbly sensation. She held onto him tighter for a moment. “Don’t take this the wrong way because I’m hugging you right now, but I will hit you if you keep treating me like a kid.”

Arylos let out a chuckle. “To be fair, you do still have your childish moments. And do not forget that I am far older than you, little girl.”

“Do you want to get hit that badly?” Iris asked in a low voice but still with a smile.

Arylos laughed again. “I’m just stating the obvious; you’re a clingy little girl with not enough stuffed animals.”

Iris raised her hand to give him a tap on the head but ultimately let him go. “Okay, you have a point. I’m going to go take a bath now; I’m covered in sweat.” She heard Arylos laugh one more time before she went upstairs.

Things can finally return to normal, and that made her happy in a way she had never experienced.