HEY GUYS! Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to present to you the sequel of "Iris"!

This story is Konnor's love story and it's in his perspective :)

Enjoy!

Chapter 1
Reunion

I always thought that the concept of love was idiotic. Really. I mean, public displays of affection, having to remember useless dates like Valentine's Day, never having time for yourself, and, most of all, the fights and messy break-ups that come with it. It's just a huge hassle.

Seriously, look at my cousin, Iris Reeves. Every time she fights with her boyfriend (and one of my closest friends), Saunti Cunningham, it always ends up with her in tears. Not to mention the fact that, when they broke up briefly last year, it completely broke them both.

Damnit, it took everyone in our circle of friends, including me, to get Iris to even see reason to take Saunti back.

…okay, maybe they worked out in the end and are still together now, a year later. But that doesn't mean it wasn't easy getting there.

A knock on my door caused me to jump. I glared at the door, as if it was the person trying to intrude my room. After another round of relentless knocking, I sighed, finally giving in to the headache this was causing me.

I stood up and walked across the room to open my door, only for it to almost slam in my face. I growled, took hold of the door with one hand, and looked to see who pissed me off.

My eyes widened. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

The intruder glared at me. "Well, that's a nice way to greet your best friend."

I snorted. "Don't get cocky, Adrianna."

She pouted before stepping under me (she's always been extremely shorter than me) and walking inside my room. She turned to me with a mischievous smile on her face. "What do you mean 'don't get cocky'? Isn't it true that I am your best friend?"

I rolled my eyes. "Sure you are, but that doesn't mean you're not annoying."

She chuckled before looking at me, her eyes softening. I knew what that look meant. With a roll of my eyes and a slight smile on my face, I opened my arms. Immediately, she came into them and hugged me tight. I did the same to her.

She placed her head on my chest before taking a deep breath. "I've missed you, Konnor."

"You too, Ria," I said, using the nickname I gave her.

You see, to everyone who doesn't know me that well, I am a sadistic, heartless bastard. Only to three kinds of people am I really myself: my family, my close friends, and Ria. I am open to them and them only.

Now, there's a reason as to why I'm so cryptic on love and it's because…

Before I knew it, Ria stood on her tiptoes and gave me a kiss on my cheek. Seeing my expression, she grinned and got out of our embrace. She took my hand. "Come on, let's go to our spot."

…of Adrianna Crawford.

I've known Adrianna since we were kids. Her grandma lived in the neighborhood and Ria would come over a lot to visit. When she and I met, she annoyed the fuck out of me; always going to me and trying to talk to me.

To be honest, I was taken aback by how much she wanted to know me. And by me, I mean, the real me. She didn't buy that stupid wall I put up around myself and tried to see who I really was.

It scared me, at first, because no one besides my family gave a shit about me. But then, slowly, I started opening up to her, telling her small stories about me. She would listen endlessly to me, and I did the same for her. Without even trying, she and I became best friends. We were ten then.

One summer though, two years ago, when we were sixteen, she didn't come back immediately. It got me worried; a month, then two, she wouldn't answer my calls and wouldn't answer my texts. Finally, she returned just before the summer ended. To say I was angry was an understatement.

"Where have you been?" I tried, and was failing, to keep the anger out of my voice. But one look at her face made me realize that, maybe, she wanted to, but couldn't go here right away.

Her face was contorted, as if she was in pain. She was trying to hold her tears back, and I didn't know why she even wanted to cry.

"Kon," she said, her voice breaking.

Without hesitation, I opened my arms and held her as she cried to me. "I'm sorry," she repeated this over and over.

I brought her inside my room that night; the two of us on my bed as she continued to cry. I said nothing the whole time, just silently held her as she let out her emotions.

Once she calmed down, she sat up and looked at me with bloodshot eyes. She tried to smile, but it only seemed broken and fake to me. Without a word, she took off her hoodie and showed me her arms.

I had to swallow hard. "Adrianna," I couldn't help but see red all over the place. "Do not tell me that you did those to yourself." All over her arms were wounds; burn marks from cigarettes, long cuts from knives and razors, and black and blue bruises.

She shook her head and looked at the floor. "Boyfriend number one made the knife and razor wounds," she traced them as she told me. "Boyfriend number two was a lot more creative and used cigarettes to hurt me," a tear slipped from her eyes. "And boyfriend number three was too stupid to use anything other than his hands."

Once she finished, I stood up and walked over to the wall next to my bed. I punched the wall, hard enough to create a few bruises on my knuckles.

I then felt two arms wrap around my torso.

"Don't Konnor," Ria begged. "Please."

With a deep breath, I turned in her arms and held her close. "Tell your mom and her fucking tools to leave you alone. Or I will."

"Can I stay here with you first?" she whispered, avoiding the subject. "I can't handle going to back to grandma's knowing that my mom might be there."

I nodded. "You can stay here as long as you want, Ria." Holding her in my arms, seeing her hurt, it made me realize something.

She smiled softly, the smile she only reserved for me alone. She took my hands and kissed my knuckles gently. "Thank you, Konnor."

This caused me to get a little nervous around her.

Shit.

You have got to be kidding me.

I smiled before going to my drawer and giving her one of my shirts. "You know where the bathroom is."

She grinned and took it from me. Then, she turned and headed outside and down the hall, making her way into the bathroom to change.

Once she was out of earshot, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I placed my hands on my forehead.

Fucking shit.

I was in love with my best friend.

Fuck.

"All right," I said, sitting down on the grass. "We're here, what did you want to talk about?" I looked around the field and wondered how the hell this became mine and Adrianna's spot; it was nothing special, just a bunch of trees surrounding an open field.

Ria took a seat next to me and shrugged. "My mom wants me to move back in with her."

I stiffened. "You can't," my voice was a little too aggressive. "Her newest SOB will hurt you."

She smiled lightly. "You know, I'm glad you're trying to censor your cursing now."

I rolled my eyes. "We can talk about my swears another day, Ria. Now seriously, why does she want you to go back? Isn't she content to know that you're happy living with your dad?"

"I don't even know," she replied. "It seems that she wants to 'make everything up to me'." Her hands flew up to make quotation gestures.

I scoffed. "The only thing your mother wants to do is to have you as a shield. With you around, she can have the sex for herself and the beatings for you."

"Konnor," her voice was condescending. "She's still my mom."

"Yeah," I said. "And she's still a bitch for wanting to hurt her own daughter."

She sighed, but didn't say anything, indicating that she knew I was right. I took that moment to look at her. Her skin was fair and had a slight tan to it; she was curvy in a really sexy way, but she never seemed to care about showing off her figure. Her hair was a mixture of chocolate brown and caramel, and this was natural; Ria hated anything that tampered with her hair besides scissors and a brush.

I smiled when I noticed the red and white feather I gave to her when we were kids. It was a feather that had a small clip in the end, so that you can use it for the hair. We found it here in the field, when we were playing one time, and I told her she could have it. Ever since, she always wore it in her hair.

I reached up and played with it, making her hazel eyes turn to me. She smiled when she saw what I was playing with.

"I never take it off," she stated.

"I know," I said softly. I chuckled. "Sometimes, it makes me think that you might have a small crush on me for keeping it."

She blushed before turning her head away. "Don't be ridiculous, Konnor. You're my best friend."

I felt my heart clench at that. I smiled to hide the hurt, hoping she wouldn't see past me like she always did. "Relax, Ria," I said. "I was only kidding." Not really.

We both settled into a comfortable silence. But I needed to hear her voice again. I couldn't help it.

"So," I started. "How's living in Chicago?"

She grinned for a moment before shaking her head. "Nothing like living in New York."

I snorted. "You make the neighborhood seem so exciting." Then after a moment, "Are you forgetting that I live in the, somewhat, boring side of New York?"

"Please," she said, scoffing playfully. "I'd rather be here with you than anywhere else. You make my life exciting, you know?"

This made me feel lightheaded, but I responded as evenly as I could. "Good to hear I'm your exciting new toy."

She punched my arm with a laugh. "Shut up! You know that's not what I meant."

I grinned and chuckled before grabbing her arm and pulling her down with me. She landed on top of me without any protest, already used to my actions. She laid her head on my chest and intertwined her fingers with mine. We stayed like that, staring up at the clouds.

It was because of moments like this was I grateful that I was her best friend. But I also resented it.

It was a painful reminder that she'll never love me back the same way.

"Wow," Vince Sanders, one of my closest friends, second only to Ria, said. "Bro, you are so whipped."

I growled. "Don't you think I know that?" We were in my room, Ria went home after dinner and Vince came over to hang.

In truth, Vince was the only one who knew about my feelings for Ria. This is the really annoying thing about him: it's like he knows everything. He knew that Saunti and Iris were going to get together before they even got there, and he knew I liked Ria before I told him.

This kid was a fucking psychic. It felt weird telling him what I felt for Ria though, because, seriously, guys never did this kind of shit.

Vince sighed. "Dude, don't you think that, maybe, she likes you too?"

I scoffed. "Bro, don't even get started on that. She said so herself, I'm her best friend."

"Sure, you're her best friend now," he said. "But what about the future? What if she really does like you back? What are you going to do then?"

He had a point. I smirked. "Make her mine, duh."

Vince snorted before plopping down on my bed. "You are such a dense retard."

I ignored him as I plucked a new tune on my guitar. "Like I give a fuck."

"Scratch that," said Vince. "You are a dense retard that has no balls."

"Last time I checked," I retorted. "I've got two balls. I'm pretty sure they work fine too."

Vince rolled his eyes. "You're a total dick."

"I'm pretty sure I've got that too."

"How the hell does Adrianna put up with this?"

I chuckled. "She doesn't take my bullshit. Otherwise, she would be gone by now."

He snorted. "Obviously, bro."

Without another word, Vince stood up and got my other guitar from its stand. He looked at the chords I was playing and, after a couple of minutes, he started playing the bass. After a couple of minutes of random jamming, my phone started ringing.

I reached for it and picked it up right away when I saw that it was Ria who was calling.

"Dude," Vince looked at me when I called him. "Shut up first."

Seeing the name on my phone, he grinned slyly. "Oh, I see how it is."

Before I could call him out on his stupid comment, he walked out of my room, leaving me absolutely pissed off.

Preview
Chapter 2: Fear

Ria leaned on her elbow and looked at me. "Don't lie to me, Kon. I know you better than anyone else, what's wrong?"

After a momentary staring contest, I pulled her over me, my hands on her waist, and made sure she placed her head on my chest. I held her close.

"What's wrong is that your mother wants to hurt you in order to get a good fuck," I finally said, my hands tightening around her waist.

Sadness entered her eyes, but she didn't say anything about my comment. "What can I do to make you feel better?"

Kiss me. Be mine. The thoughts entered my mind automatically, but I pushed them away. I nuzzled my nose into her hair, inhaling her scent. Damn, without even doing anything, she drove me crazy.