"Up, get up you ungrateful chit" she heard her aunt screech pounding on the door, Iris jumped awake and sighed she was having a dream one with a flying motorbike,
"Are you up?" Petunia her aunt screech
"Yes" she called and slipped on a pair of too small sneakers, and brushed the lint off one of Dudley's cast off. She removed the spider off of her too big trousers and wasn't at all surprised at it since the cupboard under the stairs were full of them and that was where she slept. She pushed opened the door and headed into the kitchen
"Look after the bacon" Petunia the horse like woman ordered her to, "I want everything perfect for Dudley's birthday"
Iris nodded and strolled into the kitchen
"Ergh hurry you little freak and get a move on will you" was her uncle's greeting,
"Yes sir" Iris muttered looking down at her holey sneakers, she didn't want to get into any trouble of some sort since she didn't want another beating, not after last night's punishment and that was all because she apparently looked at him wrong.
Iris shot awake and groaned the covers around her was all twisted and wrapped around her body, probably due to the fact that she had been tossing and turning throughout the night. She looked at the time and saw that it was about nine thirty in the morning.
It took her a few minutes for her to get up. She swung her legs out of her bed and headed into the bathroom, Iris stretched her stiff muscles and took her clothes off and stepped under the hot spray of water. She quickly showered and washed her hair and dried herself off as well as opting to blow dry her hair.
Iris skimmed through her wardrobe and pulled out a pair of denim shorts and a cap sleeve shirt, she pulled the clothes and pulled on a pair of ankle socks then slipped on her converses. Iris grabbed her shoulder bag and headed downstairs and made herself some breakfast.
She sipped her tea and saw that there was some mail on the matt. She picked it up and saw that there was only a couple of bills and decided she would deal with this after her talk with Stephan. She grabbed her keys and locked the door behind her and headed to her car.
Iris buckled herself and pulled out of the driveway.
Iris felt somewhat like a stalker since she had used Google to find Stephan's address ah but to hell with it.
She finally parked in front of a large grand looking house and killed the engine, she took a deep breath if she was right with her assumption then she knew that Stephan would've probably heard her approaching a mile away, she grabbed the history book where she had marked the pages and got out of the car.
Iris looked up at the grand house and saw the curtains twitching slightly. She licked her lips nervously feeling somewhat excited as well at the prospect of having a friend who like her was different. She raised her fist and knocked twice on the door and a second later it was answered
"Iris? What are you doing here?" he asked seeing the petite raven head, she gave him a shaky smile
"I think we need to talk don't you?" she asked simply holding up the book where there was a picture of Stephan with the other founding families.
He was stunned at this revelation wondering what he could do, she stepped into the house and led her into the large drawing room where she spied several cushy armchairs and couches and a fireplace, it was like a low budget Gryffindor common room.
"So Iris you've come by some old family pictures, that's my distant uncle who I was-"
"Named after?" Iris asked sitting down on the couch whilst he sat opposite her, he needed to hurry this up he didn't want Damon to know that she was here, since he had no clue what Damon would do after Iris's scent was unique and appetizing she reeked of something powerful
"Iris you-"
"Don't lie" she snapped her emerald orbs narrowing "I hate it when people who lie"
"What do you want me to say?" he asked quietly looking at her
"The truth" she bit her lip "and I know what you are. You're a vampire"
Stephan was miffed at this and was somewhat confused when she didn't run off screaming it for the whole town to hear
"How did you know?"
"The signs were all there, the so called animal attacks happening in town and your reaction to the blood last night, you're face changed" Iris said all in one breath leaving a gaping Stephan staring at her.
"Iris why aren't you freaking out or running off screaming-"
"So what? The whole town could run you off with pitch forks and flames throwers?" she smiled at him. "I know what it's like to be different Stephan" she said softly "You're a vampire you could probably smell that there is something different about me"
Stephan nodded "Your blood its smell delicious, mouth-watering in fact"
Iris eyes widened at this "How are you stopping yourself?" she asked
"With a lot of restraint, but I noticed the more amount of time I spend with you the less I want to drain you"
She chuckled and grinned at him "I guess that's something though"
Stephan smiled at that and heard Damon moving around upstairs she noticed him tensing
"I think I should go" she said softly and stood up
Stephan walked her to the door and opened it for her
"Thank you Iris" he said gently tucking in a stray curl behind her ear, she smiled at him and shook her head
"It's nothing" she walked towards her car, she looked over her shoulder and saw that he was watching after her, she opened the car door and dumped her bag into the passenger seat "Oh and Stephan I know you didn't have anything to do with attacking those girls" he smiled at her and watched as she drove off.
Iris drove to the grocery store knowing she needed to restock her kitchen
. She grabbed the strap of her bag and pulled it across her body. She slammed the car door shut and grabbed a cart and headed inside the store. She strolled inside and plucked several items off the shelves, excited at the prospect of having free rein of what she wanted to buy.
Her cart was full by the end of her trip. She pushed it over to the cashier and loaded it onto the conveyer belt and waited.
"Hi, new to town?" the cashier asked as he scanned her items, she bagged them
"Yep" she smiled placing the full brown paper bag into the cart
"How are you liking the town?" he asked unknown to her he was eyeing her, she was gorgeous and he wouldn't mind tapping that he thought
"It's good, everyone so friendly" she said and handed some cash over, she waited till he handed her change over
"Well thanks" he grabbed her wrist halting her movements, she panicked slightly at this not really liking the idea of people touching her
"Excuse me" Iris muttered and wrenched herself free
"Wait hold on, I was wondering if you wanted to go out for a drink or something?" he suggested
"How old are you?" a new voice asked, Iris turned to face Jenna whose eyes were narrowed on the cashier
"25, is that a problem"? he glared at her annoyed
"Well she's a minor, so no" Jenna spat and lightly pushed Iris ahead of her who remained silent till they were outside
"Thanks for that" Iris muttered, Jenna smiled at the young girl
"No problem, he was being a creep" Jenna said as Iris pushed her cart to her car "So how are you?" she asked
Iris cocked an eyebrow
"Huh?"
"The party, you, Elena and Jeremy were the first ones who found Vicki Donavan"
"Oh right" Iris leant against the trunk "I'm fine, do you know how she is?"
"She's in hospital apparently you stopped her from bleeding out completely" Jenna said brushing a strand of hair away from her face "you're a hero"
Iris lips thinned into a smile "Hmm I don't know about that, I just helped"
"Regardless Iris you saved her" Jenna insisted and smiled brightly at the teen,
"I should go, thanks for" she gestured back towards the store, Jenna shook her head
"No problem, you should be careful though" she advised her
"Right, see yah Jenna" she smiled and piled her groceries into the trunk.
Iris pulled up on to her driveway and unlocked the trunk, she stumbled slightly under the weight of three bags and sped towards the porch where she placed them on the swinging porch, she turned back and jumped out when she saw Stephan right behind her
"Merlin, where a bell next time" she muttered,
He quirked an eyebrow "did you just say Merlin?" he asked
"Just a boarding school thing" she hastily covered and fished around in her bag for her keys
"Ah, can we talk I know you might have questions"
She smiled and nodded and pushed her door open, she grabbed two bags and took a few steps into her house and frowned when she realised that Stephan wasn't following after her
"Why are-oh you need to be invited in?" she uttered, he grinned sheepishly and nodded
"That's part true actually" Stephan said
"Oh we could have fun" Iris laughed, Stephan rolled his eyes
"I got your groceries" he held up her bags, making her pout
"Fine spoil sport" she sighed and stepped aside "Please Stephan come in"
She watched as he stepped over the threshold and led him to her kitchen
"Fancy some tea?" she offered as he sat down on a chair,
"No thanks" he reclined and sniffed the air he momentarily frowned when he couldn't detect any other scent apart from Iris's where were her parents or any cares for her.
"You ok?" she asked seeing him frowning
"Yeah" he plastered a smile on to his face "so any questions?"
"Not really" she sat opposites him "You obviously don't burn in the sun since you've been out in the daylight" she murmured "oh I do have a question, how is that possible?"
"I've got a ring" he held up his pointer finger, she reached over and touched the sharp ridges of it
"No offence Steph, but it looks like costume jewellery" Iris commented making him laugh loudly at her
"That's a first" he grinned, and ran the pads of his fingers over the back of her hand brushing against the scars "It keeps me from burning" he murmured looking intently at her marred skin, he frowned it's those words were scalped into her skin, someone deliberately carved it into her.
Iris pulled her hand away making him look at her
"So, do you like garlic?" she asked poorly changing the subject. He got the gist of what she was doing she didn't want to tell him but he was alright with that, since he wasn't exactly telling her everything either.
"I can eat garlic" he smiled wryly, she gave him a grateful smile "and we drink coffee to keep out skin warm"
"What about the ring. I doubt they just magically appear" she said leaning forward onto the counter
"Not exactly, this is a day ring allows us to go in the sun because it's been spelled by a witch" Stephan declared,
Iris brows shot up at this, now this was something that they definitely didn't cover in DADA
"Witches?" she asked
"Yep, hard to believe they exist right" Stephan grinned completely missing the sag of relief from Iris
"Yeah totally" Iris nodded "but if vampires can, then anything is possible right?" she asked
"Yeah" Stephan nodded Iris poured herself some water and offered him one but the vampire shook his head
"Are you going to tell Elena?" Iris asked sitting back down on the stool, his fingertips tapped the wooden counter top, she noticed him stiffening slightly
"It's complicated Iris" Stephan said his voice low
"Look Steph I know you really like her, but you should let Elena know what she is getting into if you're serious about her" Iris advised. Stephan hummed but she could see that he was obviously reluctant about telling her "Steph you'll hurt her more by lying to her face every damn day"
He looked up and could see the sadness in her eyes, someone must've treated her badly he thought
"Iris I can't-"
Iris shook her head and gave him a closed lip smile "It's up to you Stephan whether you tell her or not"
"So aren't you going to tell her?" he asked surprised at this, he was sure that she would've gone running to warn Elena off of him
She simply shrugged her shoulders, the sun hit her skin making it look as if she was glowing.
"It's not my secret to tell" she simply replied, he surprised her by pulling her into a tight hug, she gingerly patted him on the back feeling kind of awkward, was it sad she wondered that it felt so good to be held since she hadn't been hugged for roughly about two years. Stephan pulled back smiling down at her
"Thank you" he whispered,
"It's fine" she smiled "do you know who attacked Vicki?" she asked he frowned "I'm guessing you do?"
"Yes, don't worry Iris they'll be dealt with" Stephan said he glanced at his watch and saw the time "I should get going now"
Iris nodded and led him to the door
"Thanks for everything Iris" he smiled at her she smiled and watched him leave, Iris sighed this was certainly getting out of hand, she shut the door behind her and leant against it. One thing was for certain this town wasn't boring but she got the feeling that soon everything will changed but she wasn't sure what.
Iris turned the radio on and turned it up putting away the groceries, she made herself some dinner and plopped down on the couch, it looked her nights were shaping up to be rather lonesome eating on the sofa.
Iris flicked through the channels and settled on a random film, once she was finished with her meal she leant back on to the couch and sighed, she ran her fingers through her thick hair and untied it. She as intent on lying down on the couch and was about to drop when there was a knock on her door.
Iris frowned wondering who could it be.
She padded barefooted down the polished wooden hallway and peeked through the peephole, she opened the door revealing a smiling Elena
"Hi" Elena grinned, Iris smiled
"Come in" she gestured for the taller teen to enter
"Thanks" Elena followed after Iris, her house was similar to their own house she led Elena into the living room,
"Want a drink?-"
"No I'm fine, I actually came to invite you to dinner around my place on Monday" she said looking around, Iris's place was polished and her sofas were cushy and large you could literally sink into them, she wondered where her parents were come to think of it Elena hadn't seen or even heard of Iris's parent's or anyone really
"Dinner?" she asked sitting opposite her
Elena nodded and licked her lips "Yeah, you, me, Bonnie and Stephan we can get to know each other"
Iris quirked an inky black eyebrow "Hmm, as well as something to do with getting Bonnie to warm to Stephan"
Elena smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck "Yeah, please"
Iris bit her lip
"Plus it'll make up that awful night at the party we barely hanged out with each other" Elena carried on seeing the hesitation on Iris's face
"Hmm-"
"Please I really like Stephan and-"
"Fine, fine I'll come" she cut her off, Elena squealed and jumped up off her seat and hugged her, Iris was stiff at first but slowly relaxed
"Thank you, thank you" she muttered into her raven curls
"No problem" Iris smiled and was slightly relived when Elena let her go, she hadn't gotten use to affectionate touches like this before.
"Great I'm cooking so-"
"Is that a warning" she grinned, Elena rolled her eyes and lightly cuffed the back of her head
"Cheeky" she muttered making Iris giggle
"All you need to do is bring yourself and an appetite" Elena said, Iris nodded as they walked towards her front door
"What time?" Iris asked leaning against the doorframe
"Hmm, about five thirty" Elena thought, Iris nodded and opened the door "see you on Monday Iris"
"Bye" Iris called watching the slim brunette walking off her porch
Iris shut the door behind her and dead bolted it, she headed back into the living room.
AN: thanks for the reviews so far, keep them coming please