"As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison."

- Nelson Mandela

SHE STOPPED the car right outside the opening to the building, taking in a deep breath.

What she was doing right now was incredibly dangerous; more so than anything she'd ever done before. But it was the only way. And as selfish as it sounded, she hoped that Levi would thank her one day. Even if she wasn't around to see that.

As she waited in the car, surrounded by nothing but darkness, Iris found herself reaching for Hunter's phone, dialling one of the only numbers she knew off by heart. As the phone rang, she silently hoped that he would pick up and ignore the random number from a foreign line.

"Pick up. Come on, pick up." She whispered quietly, the words travelling quietly out of her chapped lips. "Please."

Just as she was about to end the call, he answered, his familiar voice providing a wave of relief to run through her. She was surprised, to say the least, of her own feelings.

"Matteo Giorgianni speaking." His voice was calm and clear, although the monotonous tone of his business reply reminded Iris of her father, and how he would answer the hundreds of calls he'd pick up every week.

Iris breathed shakily as they both waited on either end. "Matteo."

The background sounds on his end of the phone seemed to dull, as if he'd moved somewhere quieter. Matteo cleared his throat. "Ris? Is that you?"

"Yeah." She smiled, wiping her wet cheeks with the back of her left hand. "I just...wanted to call you. Sorry. I know it's a bit unexpected and all, but-"

"No, I'm glad." He paused. "Iris, I'm worried about you. Where are you?"

She glanced at the building ahead of her, standing eerily in the empty slab of concrete. "Georgia. I've got something that I need to do."

Matteo cursed under his breath. "Iris, Mum and Dad are pissed out of their minds. Didn't you know that Camp would call them?"

"I gathered." She swallowed, imagining their reactions. They would disown her. Not that it mattered anyway – they hated her and always would.

Her brother was silent for a while, revelling in his own thoughts. He was likely to be at work, even though truthfully, she had lost track of what time it would be over there. Matteo was always working anyway. Even when he was supposed to rest. "You're not – Iris, tell me you're not in trouble."

"I can't say that." She breathed in slowly through her nose to control her breathing. "Matteo, I'm not going to lie to you. I wanted to call...to speak to someone."

"Iris. What the fuck is going on. Are you alone?"

"It doesn't matter." She wiped her nose. "I want to hear your voice before I go."

Matteo's voice was becoming frantic. "Go where?"

"Remember when we were kids and you used to sing to me, when I was scared of Mum and Dad fighting." She hummed the tune under her breath, imagining Matteo's tiny arms around her as they squeezed each other tightly, hidden underneath blankets with a single torch. "I thought you were a really good singer, actually. I told myself you'd become famous and then we'd go on tour together, travelling the world."

"We could've done that." Matteo's voice cracked. "Not the singing part – but, travelling. That's my fault. Iris, this is all my fault. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you felt you had nobody else to turn to. That you're stuck in all this mess. And I'm not expecting any sympathy, or... forgiveness from you, believe me. I fucked everything."

She let the tears flow down her cheeks. Healing tears, he used to say. Tears are like healing powers. You have to cry to let out the pain. "You know, I'd like to think we could travel. I'd picture us somewhere like Thailand, or Canada. I wish we could've backpacked or stayed in those night buses like in Harry Potter. Or imagine hiking up a mountain. That would've been cool."

"Iris, you're speaking as if we can't do that. We have time. We have time, right?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I forgive you." She tried not to think about the tightness of her chest, or the shaking of her hands. All she could do now was picture her brother's face, his toothy grin and kind eyes. The boy who protected her all those years ago. "I forgive you, and I don't hold anything against you. I don't think I ever could, even if I tried."

After everything, even though they had grown apart, he was still her brother, and one of the only people she had a space for in her heart. Iris knew that Matteo loved her too, whether or not he was able to show it. Now, she wanted to remember the happy parts of their lives together, knowing that whatever could happen to her next, they both had repaired at least a small part of the bond between them.

She was crying now, terrified of the cold, nipping air, of the unknown. Of dying completely and utterly alone. All at once she was both mature and infantile. How could a person not fear the idea of death? Of losing everything they had worked for in their life with the snap of a finger?

"I'm scared." She weeped quietly, her sobs coming out in between breaths. "I'm so scared Matteo."

"Scared of what?" His voice broke. "Scared of what, Iris? Please, talk to me. Don't – please, I can help you. I want to – I want to help you. Iris–"

She stared at the building, thinking of Hunter with little time himself. She needed to go in now. "Love you. I always have."

And before her heart could be torn up further from his response, she ended the call, turning on the headlights of the car to make her location known. Each beam shone pervasively into the area like torches.

If these people wanted her, they could come and get her.

It was a waiting game now.

Iris wiped her tears, thinking of how angry she was at whoever had done this. Hunter wasn't some kind of toy – something they could use and abuse and play with. He was a boy, terrified of life, heartbroken from every tragic event he'd had to witness throughout his life. And not only had they hurt Hunter, but they'd hurt her, and they'd hurt Levi. For what? For some game, for a joke? What could she have possibly done to have caused this?

Just as she contemplated beeping loudly just to piss them off, two figures moved into the lights of the car, slowly inching towards her.

At once Iris stepped out, slamming the door shut behind her. She didn't care that this could be a death sentence. As long as they stuck to their end of the bargain, she'd be willing to die.

"Come and get me then, fuckers." She shouted into the night, feeling the cold wind whip around the skin of her waist. "Kill me, or whatever. But I'm not dying until I see Hunter leaving free."

They moved closer, their damp, dull footsteps evenly sounding against the wet grass. Both of them were tall, clearly men by their builds, easily bigger than her.

Despite all her experience, all her training and fighting, there was no way of Iris being able to fight against them. No way of anticipating that the two strangers would grab her wrists and press a cloth to her mouth.

Iris felt her gag reflex kicking in, but she refused to move in case they could notice the fear she felt. Her heart thumped louder, faster; terrified. But all she could do was wait. Wait until she could feel her eyes rolling to the back of her head, and her body disconnecting from her control.

Before she knew it, everything went black.

♥♥♥

"Iris." A whisper – as soft as velvet, moving through the silk of the light. One of his hands lay warm on her arm, a guiding touch, a reassurance. "Iris."

She looked at him. Truly staring into his face; his red cheeks tinted with the excitement of life, his toothy grin effortlessly worn in pride. She felt sad, staring at those features. They hadn't been in front of her, existing, in a long time.

"Davis?" She asked, surprised at the strength of her own voice. She couldn't understand where they were, or why they were there. It seemed as if they had been placed together by somebody else, halted in a moment of time.

"Hi." He smiled again.

"I don't understand. How are you-"

Davis moved directly in front of her, so that they were stood face to face. With a hand on each of her shoulders, his eyes held hers with strength. "Why are you afraid?"

"What?"

"Why are you afraid?" He shook her softly, his eyes were clouded by those bushy eyebrows, set low into a frown on his face. "Tell me."

"I'm not afraid." She moved away from him, feeling her mind close off to him immediately. She didn't like the way he could see through her clearly, as he'd always been able to. Davis knew her better than she knew herself. "Why are you asking me that?"

Davis chuckled softly, the sound humming happily around the room. Everywhere seemed to light up a little, as if he'd delicately placed lanterns around where they were stood. "Because you are never scared. And yet here you are, a closed book."

For a while she stared at him defiantly. All she could do was stare – it felt as if her body and her mind were separate entities, that they were unable to connect with one another. And yet, there was Davis, whole and smiling and existing, right there. In front of her.

She had missed him.

So, so much.

"I can't help it." She spoke after a while, but her voice was quiet and unsteady compared to his.

Davis pursed his lips. "I know. But if you think about it, they don't deserve your fear."

"What do you mean?"

"When you're scared, when anyone is scared, that's because whatever is about to happen is important. Something big. Huge. Whether that's something good or bad, it's the same as being nervous, kind of. So what I'm saying is – is that whatever you're scared of right now only deserves your fear if it's important. Do you give a shit about these people?"

"No, but I'm scared about Hunter." She swallowed. "About putting him in danger too. And Hunter is important to me."

"Then that's not being scared, it's called being caring. Iris – if you really care about Hunter, you'll get rid of this fear, and you'll show him hope." He laughed a little, as if thinking about something a long time ago. Then, enveloping her into his arms with warmth and love, he said softly, "Show him that you're a mean, menacing, danger machine bad bitch."

Iris laughed into his shoulder, closing her eyes tight as if to hold on to the moment. For a while they stood together, hugging each other desperately. The silence between them was meaningful. After a few moments, Iris whispered, "Life isn't the same without you, you know."

Davis squeezed her, his large body seeming to envelop her own, a mechanism of comfort. "Don't be sad. I'm with my mum, and I died happy. Not too shabby. I mean, it could be worse."

She rolled her eyes at his attempt at humouring the situation, something that Davis was known for. For the first few months that Davis joined the Sangue, Rex and Leon had called him Smiler, never having met a gang member that was so unbelievably elated and jubilant. Iris suddenly wished the nickname had stuck with everyone – it suited him well.

Inhaling a deep breath, she opened her eyes. "Does it hurt?"

"Does what hurt?"

"Death."

"Depends." Davis replied, shrugging.

"On what?"

"On you, and the circumstances." He broke away from her, so they could see each other face to face once more. "Anyway, do you really need to die right now?"

"Of course I don't need to die."

"Do you want to die?"

"Obviously not."

"Then don't die."

Darkness impounded her surroundings. As she lay there, unable to comprehend what was happening, her mind span, thumping to ease out the drug, running through endless possibilities of what was happening.

Unease. Shutting through her veins, like the numbing haze of alcohol, swimming around from side to side in her stomach. It was threatening her to lose complete control, daring her to rid it away.

Davis was there, he was in front of her, wasn't he? She could feel him. She–

Where was she now?

Her eyes were struggling to open, almost as if someone had sewn them that way, or had placed weights on each eyelid, determined to keep them shut. She felt her body wither and shake, but it was unwilling to understand the commands of her brain.

Iris, if you really care about Hunter...

She could hear Davis again.

"Davis?" She cried out, suddenly hearing her voice, as if it were a million miles away. Another dimension, but there, ringing out into nothingness.

You'll get rid of this fear.

Her eyes opened. 

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

AUTHORS NOTE: Guys. We're so close. 

You can tell I've been putting off updates because I don't want this book to end. The weird thing is, it feels like it's not been that long but it's been like two/three years?!?!?!?!?

So crazy wtf! (Tbf that's mainly because I abandoned it for like ages hahaha and my updates aren't great but yeah)

Although this book is nearly over story wise there is a lot that I'm not happy about - I think I'll go back through it and change some stuff but for now I want to be able to put in the damn completed hashtag and write in that huge tick!!!!!!!!

It's not bye yet but for now, 

love youuuuu <3