I AM SO SORRY.
I can't believe I forgot to post yesterday! I even put it on my calendar! To be fair, I just moved back home from college earlier this week and have been super busy unpacking, but still! Agh, I'm so sorry :(
Anyway, here's the next installment! Thank you all for sticking with me and reading! Enjoy!
Whirling around, Brynjolf finds Iris stepping inside, her face wrought with strain and fear, looking as though she's been to Oblivion and back. But, with a gasp, she lifts her violet eyes, finding she's not alone, and her expression immediately smooths out into one of nonchalance.
"Iris." Brynjolf rushes to her side, looking her up and down. Her cheeks are tinged pink, her arms speckled with goosebumps, her feet wearing oversized boots, still clad in her pajamas. "By the Nine, are you alright?"
She chokes out a fairly convincing laugh. "Yeah, I'm fine. What's with the welcome party?"
Vex furrows her eyebrows. "Where were you? You've been gone for five days and left everything behind." She gestures to the Elven sword and armor.
Iris shrugs. "I went out."
"Without your bag, sword, and armor?" Brynjolf demands.
She sighs, grinning slightly. "I wanted to try something new. I went out without any of my stuff to see if I could make it to Windhelm and back. As a survival exercise."
"Bullshit." Brynjolf grips her arm, inches from her face. "I'm tired of your lies, Iris. I deserve to know—"
"You deserve to know?" Iris spits, her eyes flashing. "I don't owe you anything—"
"You disappeared overnight and were gone for five days. I found the dagger you keep under your pillow on the floor and a poisoned dart under your cabinet. Don't feed me shit about survival exercises."
The two lovers are too busy arguing to notice Vex's swift disappearance out the door.
"Poisoned dart? What in Nocturnal's name are you talking about?" Iris scoffs, gripping the fingers holding her arm.
"I found a poisoned dart on the ground. Don't try to deny it, Iris. Someone broke in here, didn't they? They took you away, didn't they? That note you got—it had something to do with it." He moves his other hand to wrap around her other arm. "Please, just tell me the truth, Iris! For once!" His desperation gets the better of him, and he shakes her violently with his words. "Just tell me the fucking truth!"
All at once, her nonchalant mask shatters, fat tears rolling down her cheeks as she begins to weep, her lip trembling.
Brynjolf's face slackens in shock, frozen. But then he gently draws her into his arms, muttering in her ear. "Shh, it's alright, love. I'm—I'm sorry."
As for Iris, everything that's happened in the past few days—getting taken by the assassin, being forced to murder an innocent, barely making it home without getting hypothermia—finally breaks her. She buries her face into his shoulder, breathing in his scent, trying to calm herself down.
He holds her, unmoving, as she weeps, clinging to him as though he's a lifeline. He continues to whisper in her ear, trying to comfort her, but he knows this is something she just has to get out of her system. Whatever happened must have been traumatic to affect her in this way.
She eventually calms down enough for him to suggest they sit on the bed. He makes her some tea and covers her with a thick blanket before sitting next to her.
After a long silence, he finally asks. "Will you tell me what happened?" he asks gently.
She sniffles, rubbing her eyes before returning her hand to grip the steaming cup. "I don't know where to start," she whispers.
"How about with that note?"
Her brow creases, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "Oh…that…" She takes a shuddering breath. "Um, it was from High Rock…Remember the priestess I told you about? Ianthe?"
"The one who raised you, right?"
Iris nods, tears leaking from her eyes again. "She…she's dead. That note was a letter of inheritance. Sh–she left me some money. I wasn't even related to her, and she thought of me in her will—" She breaks off, her body wracked with renewed sobs.
Brynjolf carefully takes the cup of tea from her hands, setting it on the end table before wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
She strains to regain herself. "But that note—it didn't have anything to do with–with what happened after."
"You don't have to tell me tonight, love—"
But she shakes her head. "No, I have to get it out." She squeezes her eyes shut, her chest heaving. "After I got the letter, I came back here and—and I…drank a lot of wine. I just wanted to feel better, you know?" She exhales sharply. "I went to bed early; I got sleepy from the wine. And—and the next thing I know, something made me wake up. I—I got the dagger from under my pillow and tried to—tried to fend them off but—" She stops, burying her face in her hands. "I couldn't do it. They stabbed me with that dart, and it knocked me out. I woke up in the middle of nowhere. I–I don't know what happened."
"Are you hurt?"
"No. And nothing was taken. I don't know—I was just so scared." Her body shakes with tears, and he embraces her.
"It's over now. You're back here, safe and sound." He strokes her hair, tears prickling his own eyes. He's never seen her like this. Not since she woke up after he found her on the side of the road. He lets her cry it out, until he's sure she has no more tears left in her small body.
She finally calms, pulling away.
He swipes a tear from her face with his thumb. "You should get some sleep, love. You've…been through a lot."
She nods silently, letting him tuck her in. "Will you stay?" she whispers, gripping his hand.
"We're not supposed to—"
"Please?" Her voice is so soft and pleading that he decides Vex will understand.
"Okay." He climbs in beside her, kissing her forehead. "Good night, love."
"Good night, Bryn." She shifts, rolling to her side to face him. "I love you."
He smiles, kissing her softly on the lips. "I love you, too, lass. Now, get some sleep."
As Bryn snores softly beside her, Iris lies awake with widened eyes, unable to get a wink of sleep for the guilt tumbling around in her gut. How could she lie to him? Flat out lie? Everything she told him was a lie. And he believed her. He believed every word. She lets out a shuddering breath, rolling over to watch him sleep soundly. She watches as his chest rises and falls steadily, his face completely relaxed, his lips slightly parted. He's her best friend. She's told him things she's never told anyone. He was her first friend in Skyrim. He understood the pain caused by her past. He listened with rapport, hanging onto every word when she told him about her parents. And now, she's lied to him. He was worried about her, asked her what had happened, and she gave him a big, fat lie. The guilt from her false story drops stones into her stomach, tumbling around like stones at the bottom of a rapid. What would he do if he found out the truth? She shakes her head. Nothing. Because he won't find out the truth. As awful as it feels to lie to him, it'd be worse if he knew the truth. And he can't know that she's been considering the Dark Brotherhood's invitation.
She almost smacks herself in the forehead. What in Oblivion is she thinking? Joining a guild of assassins? When she's this torn up about killing two people? There's no way. It goes against all her values. Thieving is one thing. Murder is another. She could never do it. And what would Bryn think? If he found out she was in the Dark Brotherhood? She'd lose him for sure.
Shaking her head, she shoves the thoughts from her mind. Her debt has been repaid. Her business with the Dark Brotherhood is over. Now, she just needs to focus on the Guild. And returning the Key.
She swipes a stray hair from Bryn's face, smiling to herself when his eyelashes flutter. She lightly kisses his cheek and burrows back into her pillow. The sun is going to come up soon. Might as well try to get some sleep.
Special thanks to Mia78, Manu, the two "Guests", Suzy540, and TheSilentShadows for the reviews! I love hearing from you all!
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I may post a little something next Friday to apologize for being late! We'll see ;)