Iris

I looked around the dark park in boredom as I aimlessly moved on the swing. I suggested the park because it was closest to me, but I didn't think it'd be this creepy. I held the money in my pocket tightly and blew out a breath to watch the smoke come out.

"Boo!" I heard someone say as they grabbed me from behind. I screamed and instinctively swung in defense and they groaned loudly. "Fuck, Iris. It's me."

My eyes widened as I saw Cain and I held my hands over my mouth. Panic began to seep into my skin in a vivid shade of orange and I looked up at him. "I'm so sorry."

"No," he said as he looked up and held a hand over his nose. "It's my fault."

"I know."

"What?"

"No, I mean-..." I said as I looked around for an answer. When I couldn't come up with one I winced and told him the truth. "You don't scare a person in the middle of the night out of nowhere."

"I wanted to surprise you," he groaned.

"You did," I said honestly. He laughed and I stood on the top of my toes to try to see the injury. "You're bleeding."

"Noooo, it's just another red liquid that's coming out of my fucking nose," he said.

"There's no need to be rude," I said softly. "Let's go to a hospital. It looks broken."

"Nah, my nose is always this crooked," he said sarcastically.

"Funny," I said dryly.

"No, but seriously, you have a good arm. It's hard to believe that I was the one spanking you, instead of the other way around."

My skin heated from his words once again but I paid no attention to it and gently grabbed his arm. "I'll take you to the hospital."

"You have a car?" I asked.

"Nope, but the bus is coming in about three minutes. After that, we'll need to take one more, but we'll eventually get there."

"No," he whined as I carefully guided his steps. "There are only crackheads on the bus this late."

"Then you'll fit right in."

"Wowww," he said as he stopped walking.

"What is it?" I asked worriedly.

"Did our contract being terminated suddenly give you balls, Iris?"

"The balls have always been here," I said. "Just tucked for a long time."

"Don't say that," he said as he burst into laughter until he winced. "Ow ow."

"Come on," I whispered as I guided him to the bus stop. I carefully sat him down on the seat and looked down at the empty streets. "Hopefully it will be here soon."

I sat down beside him on the bench and he glanced at me. "You're not leaving? It's getting late and I'm sure I can make it there myself."

"It's fine," I said. "I'm the one who punched you anyway."

"That's true," he laughed.

I noticed that he was still profusely bleeding out and I opened my purse for something to help him. I had a small packet of wet wipes but that wouldn't necessarily help him stop the bleeding.

I looked around for an alternative, but when I saw none, I stood up. I zipped my jacket up and had my back to Cain as I removed my t-shirt underneath.

"What are you doing?"

I didn't answer his question until I pulled the shirt through the opening in my hoodie and passed it to him. "Here, use this."

"Are you sure?" He groaned.

"Yes, here." I gently held him take it and put it on his nose and stood in front of him. I grabbed the wipes from my purse and ignored his eyes on me as I held his chin and wiped away the excess blood on the lower part of his face.

I crouch down to wipe his hand and after I was done, I threw the wipes away and turned to see the bus coming. "Ready?"

"Mhmm."

I helped him stand up and when the bus came to a stop, we got on and headed to our next destination.

꧁꧂

I yawned as I flipped through a random magazine in the hospital waiting room. We arrived after two hours of riding three buses and then accidentally getting on the wrong one. Thankfully he didn't make me feel bad about it, but I was still embarrassed.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out to look at it.

Grandpa: Be careful, sweetheart. I love you.
3:09 a.m.

Me: I will, I love you tooo💕
3:09 a.m.

I looked up from my phone and set it back into my pocket when I saw Cain and the doctor exit a long corridor. They were laughing about something and Cain was no longer bleeding or holding onto his nose. You wouldn't be able to tell he had a broken nose if he didn't have a few drops of blood on his white t-shirt.

He and the doctor shook hands one more time until he walked away and Cain came towards me. He gave me a large smile and raised his arms as he got closer.

"How do I look?"

"Umm," I hummed as I eyed him from top to bottom. "You have a straight nose."

"Good observation," he said with a yawn as he looked down at his watch.

"We should get home," I said as I stood up. "It's late."

"You're tired?" He asked.

"Not necessarily," I answered. "Are you?"

"Not at all," he answered. "Let's get something to eat."

"Right now?"

"Why not?" He shrugged. "I saw an open pizza place a block or so down."

"Okay, that sounds good."

He ran a hand through his dark brown waves and awkwardly looked towards the door. "Let's go."

We walked quietly to the exit and after a few minutes of comfortable silence, he cursed and I looked up at him. He was looking down at the blood on his shirt.

Instead of ignoring it like I thought he would, he removed his jacket and passed it to me. He lifted his undershirt over his head and my eyes focused on his tatted torso. I frowned as my eyes landed on a familiar tattoo and I was so focused on it, that I didn't notice that he called me. Three times.

"Iris," he laughed.

Ugh! How freaking embarrassing.

"Sorry," I said as I blinked out of my daze.

"My jacket," he said as he pointed at the item he asked me to hold.

"Oh, sorry." I passed it to him and he smirked at me before sliding his muscular arms into the sleeves.

"I've seen that before," I said as I pointed at the tattoo.

He looked down to see where I was pointing and nodded slowly. "I'd be shocked if you haven't."

I gasped as realization crept in. The tattoo was of a snake wrapped around an upside-down cross and I'd only seen it in one place. The news.

"You're in the Kingdomz gang?"

"I guess you could say that," he said as he zipped up his jacket. "But I'm the founder."

"Y-you're the leader?" I stuttered.

"Well, it's been a while since I've actually done much, but yes, I am still the leader," he said.

"I just heard about a bank robbery last month," I said quickly.

"Okay, so maybe we've done a little bit."

"I should go home," I whispered as I looked around.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Iris," he said as he looked into my eyes. "You have no reason to be afraid of me."

Was that true? I'd heard about his past and his brother from some of his subs, but I excused it as something he did a long time ago. I didn't think he was actively committing crimes.

"Iris," he said slowly as he noticed my hesitation. "You know me. I wouldn't have helped you with your ex if I was that bad of a person. Think about that before you think about who I affiliate myself with."

"It's not an affiliation, though," I said. "You're the leader."

"And have you heard of us killing anyone?"

"Yes."

"Oh," he said as he looked around. "Well damn."

"Is my ex dead?" I asked lowly.

"No, unfortunately not. He won't be able to walk or lay hands on anyone again, but he's alive."

"Oh."

"Iris, do you trust me?" He asked.

I looked up into his eyes and took a deep breath as my anxiety weakened. He smiled up at me when I seemed to be loosening up and I shook my head. "No, not really."

"I just want to be friends," he said. "I'm not going to hurt you in any way, shape, or form. I promise."

I nodded slowly and took a deep breath. "Okay, friends."

A smile spread across his face and he nodded before tilted his head in the direction of the pizza place. He began walking and I cautiously followed behind him. I was still nervous, but I needed to trust that he was the same person I spent months with and met up with tonight.

I must've been walking too slow because he completely stopped walking and waited for me to catch up. When I was next to him, he walked at my pace. I held my breath when I felt his hand graze my arm. Our hands almost interlocked as we walked, but we arrived at the pizza place before anything happened and he opened the door for me.

"Thank you," I whispered.

He walked in behind me and a worker smiled as he moved to the front of the counter. The restaurant was empty besides another couple of people and I brought my attention back to the worker and smiled.

"What can I get the both of you?" He asked.

"Umm," Cain hummed uncertainly as he looked up at the menu. After a few moments, he shrugged and looked down at me. "I don't care. I'll eat whatever."

"Uhh," I said as I looked at the worker. "Surprise us, I guess."

"Any allergies?" He asked.

We both said no before he gestured for us to sit anywhere. We chose an empty booth in the back of the restaurant and sat down.

"How's your grandfather?" Cain asked as he moved his arm over the booth behind him.

"He's alright," I replied. "Thanks for asking."

"Mhmm, you're safe? Does he live in a decent neighborhood or-"

"Cain," I said. "I'm good."

"Just checking," he shrugged. "Is that not what friends do?"

"Okay," I nodded. "You're right. We can ask one another questions?"

"Yup."

"When's your birthday?" I asked.

"Umm, I think April first. I've lost count of how old I am, so don't ask."

"So, you're an Aries," I said.

"I don't believe in that shit, but I suppose I am," he said. "What are you?"

"Cancer," I said.

"And according to that bullshit, what's our compatibility?" He asked. When he noticed my look of surprise he laughed softly and shook his head. "Friendship compatibility."

"Well, as a Cancer, and you being an Aries...it's like fire and water. It's actually kind of a bad combination unless both people can compromise. Which Aries is pretty bad at..."

"Excuse you," he argued. "I'll have you know, I'm great at compromising."

"Well okay, if you say so."

"I do say so."

"Sure," I said with a small laugh.

"Please tell me you don't believe it, though," he said.

"I mean, I'm very spiritual," I said. "I'm into zodiac signs, astral projection, tarot cards, palm readings, crystal balls...all of that."

"Okay," he said as he leaned his elbows on the table. "If you're so into it, why are you still here? Shouldn't you be running for the hills if Cancer and Aries are such a tumultuous pair?"

"I like giving people a chance before I put them under a zodiac list. Right now, you're Cain, but if you hurt me somehow, you'll become a bad experience I had with an Aries."

"Hmm," he said as he sat back. "I heard Cancers are crybabies. Really emotional, you know?"

"Hey," I said humorously. "Don't try to talk shit now."

"No shit-talking," he said as he raised his hands.

"Anyways, according to our signs, there are a few ways this friendship can go."

"Go on..."

"It can be great and we could have a long-lasting friendship."

"Or?"

"Or we can destroy each other."

"You can't destroy me, Iris," he laughed.

"Well, I think the same for you. Water is usually the one that puts out fire. You don't ever see people using fire to get rid of a flood."

"Oh, you're good, Iris," he said loudly as he threw his head back. "You're so good." He clicked his tongue before sitting back up in his seat again and leaning forward. "It takes a lot of water to put out a flame. But it doesn't take much heat, to dry up a puddle."

I laughed at his analogy and shook my head slowly as I looked at him. "I don't like this riddle thing we're doing. And are you calling me a puddle?"

"You don't want to be a puddle?" He teased.

"No, I'd rather be like...an ocean." He snickered at my words and I rolled my eyes. "Seriously though, they're beautiful. And I've never seen a fire burn out the ocean."

"Stop testing me Iris," he said. "I'm petty enough to incinerate the ocean just to prove a point."

I laughed out loud again and he shook his head as he held back a smile. "Here you two are," the man from the counter said as he set a large pizza down between us.

"Thank you," I said to the man before he walked away. He nodded at me and I turned back to Cain to see him looking down at the pizza in thought. He began to remove the black olives from it and I smiled slightly.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"You don't like olives," he muttered as he continued removing them. I smiled at the sweet thought and began removing another topping on the pizza. "What are YOU doing?" He asked.

"You don't like pineapples, which is odd, to be honest," I said. When he stopped moving, I looked up to see him giving me a look that I couldn't pinpoint and I shook my head. "What?"

"How did you know?"

"I noticed you always removed the pineapples at the penthouse when we had pizza," I admitted.

"But why did you remember that?" He asked.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Probably the same reason you remembered the olives."

He looked at me momentarily before nodding and smiling. He continued taking off the olives and I gave him a strange look.

"No offense..." I started.

"This is going to be offensive," he laughed.

"Maybe," I pointed out with a shrug. "Anyways, you're a lot weirder than I thought."

"I am not weird, Iris. You're weird."

"I never said I wasn't," I argued. "Also, I never said weird was bad."

"Weird IS bad," he countered.

"So I'm bad?" I asked.

"No," he said as he shook his head. "You're a good weird."

"Aww."

He stopped removing the olives and looked up at me. "Don't say 'aww'. This is when you say that I'm a good weird too. We could have a whole moment, but you're messing it up."

"I don't want to lie to you, Cain," I teased.

A mixture of what sounded like a scoff and a laugh came out of his mouth as he looked at me. He shook his head slowly as he bit hit inside of his cheek and I shrugged.

"Iris, Iris, Iris...I wonder what color you'll turn if I throw these olives at you," he threatened as he glanced at the pile of olives he picked on a napkin next to him.

"Oh no," I said as I purses my lips and shook my head. "Let me tell YOU what color YOU'LL be if you do that to me. Every single color that you see on that pizza, will be on your face, Cain. Know that."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

꧁꧂

Author's Note
I wanna be that pizza if it's going to be on his face 😌

IM JOKINGGG...not🤭
Anyways, I don't have much to say because I want to see what y'all have to say. Syn and Queen are pretty solid so we're gonna go to my baby Cain sometimes. 😌 We do need to check on the trio soon tho.
What did y'all think of Cain and Iris here? Do y'all think Mia will make a decision?
Lmk your thoughts ✨