Heart rhythm

"Iris, I don't think we should do this!" Darren breathed heavily.

"You don't want to?" Iris pouted.

"No, I don't think we're ready, not yet." Darren's face turned red.

"Oh. OK, well I hope that one day, we'll be able to take this step, together." She slowly reached over and turned down the insane speed on Darren's treadmill.

"Thank... you..." Darren had his hands on his knees, wheezing and accepted a bottle of water from his best friend.

"Heh heh. Towel?" Iris chuckled.

Darren reached up without looking and grabbed the cloth.

Iris froze, "Um... hands?"

Darren looked up, and snatched his hand quickly off of Iris' right breast. "Oh... uh... oops?"

"You... pervert!" She flung the towel at him with full force and stormed off to the women's locker room.

Darren looked at his hand. "Bad hand."

***

Darren found Iris waiting outside the men's locker room.

"Crap, is she still mad?"

She didn't look mad. Instead, like always, she looked devoid of emotion. But he knew otherwise, he had seen the blue flash in her eyes when she was angry and the way the same eyes darkened in sorrow. Unconsciously, he looked around quickly for any items she might grab to hit him with.

"What are you doing, idiot?" she chuckled, her cute eyes twinkled. Safe.

"Nothing. Let's go." Darren grinned.

"I swear I can't tell what is going through your mind sometimes."

***

Snow started to fall and they took a shortcut to the dorms from the gym. As first year students, they were required to live in college housing, they both ended up in building 214, her room 214-5B was directly above his, 214-5A.

Darren watched as snow lightly accessorized her hair while she walked gracefully through the front door. She looked back with a gaze that, to his wonder, he didn't know the meaning to. It wasn't the first time he saw that look before either. The snow glistened on her eyelashes. She softly brushed the snow off his shoulders and head.

Looking back, he saw their footsteps, lining their future, in the snow.

"You got early morning lecture, right?" Darren asked, putting his key in his door.

"Yup, six in the morning."

"I'll knock on your door when I go to my morning class, you wouldn't be able to get up otherwise."

Her eyes flashed. "What was that?" She said through with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, uh see ya" he quickly slid through his door and closed it behind him before she could react.

"JERK!" he felt her kick the door and trudged heavily upstairs.

***

The sharp tone of Darren's cell phone woke him and he stumbled for it half-asleep.

"Hello?" Darren answered it with his eyes closed.

"Where the hell are you?!" a slurred voice asked, broken by sobs.

"Danielle? Baby, what's wrong?" Darren was awake with the call from his girlfriend.

"We need to talk, come over."

"Honey, it's awfully early, three-twenty six..." Darren started before he was interrupted.

"I don't care! I want to see you right now!"

"OK, calm down. I'll be right over, just relax."

***

Darren walked in the frigid air to her sorority house, the path already shoveled of snow. There he spent the next two and a half hours trying to convince, unsuccessfully, his on-again, off-again girlfriend that he wasn't sleeping with half of the campus. She fell asleep before she sobered up, but not before blurting out that she was already cheating on him and breaking up with him with a few choice insults.

The bright sun reflecting off the snow made him squint his eyes when he entered 214. By the time his vision cleared, he was almost at his room door. Standing in front of it was Iris.

She was still wearing her sleep clothes, a t-shirt that said "Princess", light blue, silk pants with little ducks on it, and fuzzy cow slippers that actually "moo"ed. Her hair was still frazzled; but still, he stood watching her.

Looking up, she called out, "Good morning!" She held up a box of peanut butter puffs cereal. She saw him frown and turn to leave.

"Hey!" she yelled. He stopped.

She dropped the box of cereal, scattering little round sugary treats on the floor, that would be picked up later by a rather large rat the tenants called "Stinky". She grabbed his sleeve and he turned around.

"I got up early to have breakfast with you, look I even brought your precious peanut butter puffs because you have something against my perfectly good chocolate omletes." She put her hands on her hips and stomped a puff underfoot in frustration, inciting a loud moo.

"What’s with these annoying girls?" He thought to himself. He spat back, "Whatever lazy, you didn’t get up to have 'breakfast'. You obviously overslept and decided to skip class". He steadied himself for the slap.

But Iris’ eyes darkened and her voice came back softly. "Darren... you... moron, can’t you see? I’ve waited because I didn’t want to lose our friendship... I pushed my feelings down for so many years, letting you go repeatedly. I can’t... not anymore. What kind of jerk makes a girl say these things? Darren, don’t you feel anything other than friendship with me?"

Darren’s face softened. Why? Did he always know? This confusing game they both played. Did he feel the same for her?
"Iris, I..."

Suddenly she was in his arms, kissing him with her soft lips. A blinding ray that smelled like lavender and tasted like lemons ripped through the haze in his head, clearing it. The subtle smiles she shot at him, the constant concern for his well-being, the sad stares when she didn’t think he was looking, he realized how foolish he really was. Wetness on his face brought him back to reality.

She was already sprinting away sobbing, "Darren, I wish you luck. Goodbye." And she was gone.

Iris character developed from Athena26's Iris

Iris  (E) Iris:Greek name, means "rainbow". How blind we really are to one another. #853778 by Athena26

Read the sequel:

The promise sealed by tears  (18+) Sequel to Heart Rhythm (Complete) #940443 by HolyKnightHamster