I'm in love this photo edit by _patricks_fedora. 

Iris~~

The morning after the attack I'm sitting in the infirmary at Jonas's bedside. Ever since the doctor gave the okay for him to sleep, he's been unconscious. Faint bruising has begun to appear on his neck.

I hear footsteps coming from behind me, and when I turn to see who it is, Colton's standing over me, a plate of pancakes and eggs in his hand.

I tilt my head to the side, staring at him.

He holds the plate toward me, the eggs wobbling. "Take it."

"Is it poisoned?"

He rolls his eyes. "No. You need to eat."

"It hasn't been that long."

"I know but you seem like you're going to be the type to forego dining with anyone so you can stay here."

I'm glad to know he thinks I'm going to be dramatic. He clearly doesn't know how much I enjoy breakfast. But right now, I'm just not hungry, sick to the stomach rather. Still, I take the plate; he seems like the type to dump it on me if I refuse.

"Good. Now eat."

"Why do you care?"

"Because when he wakes up and finds you dead from starvation, he isn't going to be the brightest chap."

Now who's being dramatic? I take a hesitant bite of scrambled egg, still not entirely convinced it's not sprinkled with position instead of salt.

"Plus, if you're dead, who am I going to threaten?"

"You like having me around then?"

"No. I wouldn't go as far as to say that."

"But you don't want me to die anymore?"

"I mean, if you fall down the stairs and break your neck, I'll come to your funeral, but I won't cry."

"I don't think I've ever been so touched in my life." I rest my plate in my lap. "Have you learned anything from the rebels?" He's been leading the interrogations. At the thought my stomach curls, and the small bite of egg threatens to come back up."

"Not yet."

"Do you think the different groups are finally banding together?"

His knuckles pressed against his mouth, he studies his brother. "I hope not. But with Erik in the mix, who knows."

"Iris?" Jay-yeon pokes his head through the door into Jonas's temporary room. "Can we talk?"

"I have no desire to."

"Please. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

"Not sure I believe that."

"Give me ten minutes."

Colton looks at him strangely, and Jay-yeon nods.

"You can trust him, Iris," Colton says. "For the ten minutes."

"Right because you both weren't the ones who exposed my Expiration Date and then tracked me across Elleany and tried to kill me in my sleep."

"This is different," Jay-yeon says.

"Can't you tell me here?"

"It's more of a show and tell sort of thing. I . . . err . . . kind of brought it up during the ball, remember?"

I shake my head. The short interaction I had with him that night didn't have much of an impact on me compared to finding Vienna below the Estate.

"I can't stay here any longer. Please."

Standing, I put my plate in my chair and draw out a knife I tucked in the cushion. "Fine but I'm keeping this out."

I follow Jay-yeon all the way to the door of his room. "What I'm going to show you, you have to keep secret. Especially from Jonas. Colton's already blackmailed me with it."

"Do you have a body in there?"

He scratches his head. "Sort of." On that comforting note, he unlocks his door, leading me inside and to his closet.

When you live in the Society, only having a wardrobe won't cut it for the amount of clothes you have, yet wardrobes can be esthetically pleasing enough that I think they have them just to look at.

He opens the closet door, and maybe I was expecting to find an actual skeleton in his closet—sue me. I wasn't expecting a crib with two babies.

Each baby has small tufts of brown hair on the top of their head. They're both sound asleep and can't be more than a year old. "Jay-yeon, did you kidnap these babies?"

"Iris"—his chest puffs out a little—"meet Andromeda and Cassiopeia or Ana and Cassia for short."

I stare at him. "And did you kidnap them?"

He glowers. "They're mine."

"How?"

"Do you really need me to answer that?"

"Actually, yes, I do."

"It was a . . . a one-night thing. Their mother Expired right before Kerrie-uh."

I place my fingers on my lips.

"I need your help taking care of them."

"Me?"

"The Society gets very intense about blood lines and illegitimate heirs."

"Do your parents know?"

"My father hopefully will never find out."

"You can't hide twins, Jay-yeon." I massage my neck. "Your mom?"

"She's been in Korea visiting family. I'll tell her when she gets back. But until then I need your help. Do it for them. Please." He nods to the babies. "You grew up with kids of all different ages. I know nothing about taking care of babies, and the parenting books make no sense. They all contradict each other."

"What did you do last night? Did you leave them here?"

"Wow, okay, I'm not that bad at this parenting thing. I let the Veil know I was barricaded in my room, and I hid with them in the stairway." He glances in the direction of his wardrobe. The closet door blocks our view of it.

"If you didn't name them, how did they end up with the names of constellations?" It seems like a Society thing.

"Their mother was an astronomist."

I dig my fingers into the bridge of my nose. "Are all of you just a beacon for all things stars?"

Looking sheepish, he shrugs. "Will you help me?"

"Jay-yeon, I'm moving to France. What do you want me to do?"

"I don't think you're moving."

Running my hands through my hair, I bite down on a scream. "What does that mean?"

"Iris, you're Expired and you went back to look for Jonas. You risked your life for him.

I think you know you've fallen for him."

I brace my arm against the door frame, and a laugh slips out. "How would I be in love with him? I've known him barely a month."

"Do you really think you'll be able to say goodbye to him?"

"The arrangements have been made. I can help you with them until I leave, but after that you'll have to get someone else."

Jay-yeon sighs, his shoulders relaxing. "Thank you."

Andromeda's eyes open, and her . . . father leans over the crib to pick her up. "Appa's here." This is still too weird to accept. He's a father now? How would he handle someone one day treating his daughters the way he treated me?

"We'll alternate meals, I guess, and when you have senate meetings. Right now, though, I need to get back to Jonas."

"It's barely been ten minutes and you already need to be with him. How do you really expect to leave?"

"He's in the infirmary. It's a bit different right now."

I turn away from them and head for the door leading out to the hall.

"Whatever you need to help take care of them, say it, and I'll get it."

"This doesn't mean we're friends." I place my hand on the doorknob.

"Is that why you insist on calling me, Jay-yeon?"

I tense.

"It's how you keep reminding yourself of the past and what I did."

I whip toward him, putting my back to the door and both hands on the handle. "I don't know what you mean, Seong-ho."

"I don't expect us to be friends. I didn't know my mission would end with Kirk and Lilyana burning in the house. I hated them because they were rebels and yet somehow some part of me cared about them. Do you really want to think about that night every time you call my name?"

I feel the tears I've been holding back all morning finally well up, and I squeeze my eyes shut, only to watch as my orphanage burns behind my eyelids. "You will always remind me of that night. It doesn't matter what name I call you."

"Then do you keep calling me Jay-yeon to remind me?"

I turn the knob and open the door. "I'll be back at dinnertime."

I can't leave Jay-yeon's—Seong-ho's room fast enough.