"don't ever accept the excuse that boys will be boys

don't ever let him put his hands on you like that

if you see hate blazing in his eyes don't you ever confuse it with love

baby love won't hurt when it comes

you won't have to hide it under long sleeves during the summer

and

the only reason he should ever reach out his hand

is to hold yours"

-

Iris and Luke are in fourth grade again. They're at lunch watching a few first grade girls getting their ponytails pulled by some boys in their class. A teacher rushed up to the girls who were nearly in tears. We could easily overhear the teacher telling the girls the same lesson that Iris learned in first grade.

"Don't ever think boys will be boys," he told her with a pea on the end of his fork that came from the school lunch he bought. He said this without never knowing how useful his words would be later on.

Now, it's six years later. They're 16 again. Luke is standing with Iris's wrists in his hands in his bathroom under the bright light. She said it's from play wrestling with Ashton, but he still seems suspicious. "Don't ever let him put his hands on you like that," he lowly told her, lightly gripping onto her as if she would shatter even more.

It's a year later and Luke's hands are resting on Iris's cheeks, getting her tear filled eyes to look into his. He picked her up from Ashton's house after she called saying they got in a fight after her 17th birthday. She claimed it was because she didn't want to sleep with him, but eventually she gave in and was upset about it. "If you see hate blazing in his eyes don't you ever confuse it with love or lust." He used his thumb to wipe the falling tear from her eye.

Fast forward. They're 19 and have just reunited after she left Michael. She cried into his shoulder as he combed through with her hair with his fingers as he held her tight. "Love won't hurt when it comes," he whispered. His hands fell to her forearms, gently pushing up her sleeves to see her faded bruises. "You won't ever have to hide it under long sleeves during the summer." He earned a kiss on the cheek from her.

As of now, they were both bent down with their arms around their five year old daughter who came home broken. A boy had pushed her in gym class which resulted in her favorite glasses being cracked.

"Honey," Iris started, peering over to her husband. 

"Sweetie," Luke added. 

Iris looked over at the blonde boy who was now 31 and admired him. They'd been married for a little over 5 years and they had been the best years of her life.

Luke took his sweet daughter's hand in his, the other holding Iris's. He squeezed it once to get her to look at him in the eyes.

"The only reason he should ever reach out his hand is to hold yours."

-

A/N:

That's a wrap! Thank you for reading and all the love. I love you guys. I hope you enjoyed!