Chapter Eight
Barrett smiled and nodded, humming when required, as Ruby told Iris the story of how the two of them had met.
It wasn’t anything particularly remarkable—outside of the fact that they became best friends—but she knew that wasn’t the point.
The point was that Ruby knew something was deeply bothering Iris and she needed someone else to fill the silence.
Ruby was great at that, and incredibly sweet for doing it.
Barrett smiled as she segued from that story into how she’d then become a permanent fixture in Barrett’s life.
That second meeting was more interesting than the first, but she figured from the vague account and lack of details that Ruby wanted to tell it again when Iris was more able to take it in.
In this version, they’d simply run into each other at a queer exercise class, Ruby recognized Barrett, and the rest was history.
It wasn’t an inaccurate version of events if you wanted to cut out the part where Barrett had inexplicably gotten tangled in the equipment and wiped out, taking Ruby down with her.
Though, perhaps Barrett might have enjoyed the retelling more if she hadn’t been so fixed on assessing how Iris was doing.
She was still so tense. She’d sipped her way through one glass of ginger ale, and Barrett had immediately ordered her another one, incredibly grateful for the extra attention they were getting from Deepti.
A loud laugh sounded from behind them and Iris stiffened instantly. There was absolutely no need for Natasha to come so close to where they were standing. The bar wrapped around closer to where Iris’ group was sitting. Being there was such a choice.
Barrett shifted very slightly, allowing her to monitor Natasha in her peripheral vision. She wasn’t alone.
“We absolutely have to organize another gathering soon,” a woman gushed, and Barrett’s insides bubbled with rage.
How was it that Iris’ friends were so easily won over by this woman? Couldn’t they see through her? Weren’t they concerned that Iris had been absent from their group for over an hour now?
Natasha laughed, too loudly again. “Oh, well, if we’re organizing something, we’ve got to get Jemma here on it. She’s always been such an incredible planner. Getting all the details right, inviting all the best people.”
Iris’ hand shook and she put her drink down, clearly trying to hide it. Barrett didn’t miss it. It was a cheap shot from Natasha.
There was no way she’d just organically fallen for someone in Iris’ orbit.
Barrett almost felt sorry for the woman she was stringing along, but she wasn’t actually off Barrett’s list. Who dated their friend’s abusive ex and called that okay?
Who ambushed their friend with said ex and thought that was fine?
“Absolutely,” the first woman agreed with Natasha easily, clapping her hands together. “All of us together again and again. It’s going to be fantastic.”
“I need to go,” Iris said quietly before turning to Ruby and attempting a smile. “It was really nice to meet you. Sorry for…”
Ruby smiled extra widely, ignoring the apology. “Not as nice as it was meeting you!”
“I can walk you home,” Barrett told Iris quickly before glancing at Ruby. “You’ll be okay here for a few minutes?”
“Of course. I’ll just be watching Deepti.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Iris insisted.
Barrett suppressed a sigh. “Let me look after you. Just this once, princess.”
“Just this once,” she echoed weakly, staring into the middle distance.
Barrett’s heart ached with how haunted she looked. “Let’s grab your stuff.”
Iris’ hand clenched around the hem of Barrett’s jacket again. “Oh. Right.”
Barrett wouldn’t have asked for it back, even if they were venturing out into the cold night. What was the cold against Iris feeling safe?
Iris moved like a robot over to the now half empty table her group had occupied.
“You’re leaving?” one of the women accused, surprised.
Barrett bit back a comment she ached to throw her way.
Iris nodded. “Anya…?”
“She just went outside,” the woman said, eyeing Barrett with interest.
Barrett couldn’t have cared less about her interest. She wrapped an arm around Iris. “Let’s find her on the way out.”
She waited for Iris to agree. There was a line between taking choices off the table while Iris was unable to make them and controlling what she did. And, despite the physical similarities with Natasha, she didn’t want there to be any other similarities.
They were outside the bar, the rush of frigid air pelting them, before Iris made any effort to remove Barrett’s jacket. Almost as if the air was clean here, providing more clarity. Iris was far enough away from Natasha and the situation to be more herself. Like when they’d been outside earlier.
She swapped Barrett’s for her own coat and looked around. It wasn’t difficult to locate Anya.
Judging by the way she was shivering, she’d been outside for some time. She was pacing and gesticulating as she spoke into her phone. As they got closer, it became apparent that she was angrily recounting the evening.
Iris cleared her throat as Anya turned to pace back towards them.
“Mom, I’ll call you back,” Anya barked into the phone before throwing herself at Iris. “Oh, my god. Are you okay?”
Barrett watched Iris’ discomfort like she had a translation key, wondering how Anya couldn’t feel it.
It screamed from her. Though, of course, Anya was Iris’ friend.
Perhaps she knew better what Iris needed in these moments than Barrett did.
She comforted herself with the knowledge that she seemed to have been doing an okay job looking after Iris.
“I’m fine,” Iris said, voice flat again.
“I cannot believe her. Either of them. And everyone else! What are they doing?” Anya sounded close to tears, and Barrett wondered if she knew the whole story.
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to cause a fuss.”
“Like hell it doesn’t.” Anya pulled back to look Iris in the eye, but she kept her hands on Iris’ shoulders, keeping her close.
“It’s fine. It was one night. It’ll be fine.”
“Iris…” Anya looked completely at a loss. “Jemma’s… dating her. It is not okay.”
“That’s not Iris’ fault,” Barrett snapped without thinking, focused only on the pained shudder that wracked Iris’ body.
“I wasn’t saying it was,” Anya shot back firmly, eyes narrowed as she fixed them on Barrett. “I meant it wasn’t okay of Jemma to do that.”
Barrett nodded sharply. She wasn’t embarrassed or concerned by her interruption, and it didn’t seem like Anya was, either. More that she was trying to figure Barrett out. The two of them would probably have gotten along under different circumstances.
“I can’t deal with that right now,” Iris said softly. “I’m just going to go home and we can… deal with it later.”
“I can come with you,” Anya insisted, but Iris shook her head.
“Barrett’s going to walk me. It’s fine.”
It was not remotely the time or the place or the situation, but something soft and warm and unbearably gentle settled into Barrett’s chest. Iris felt safe with her, was choosing to go with her.
Of course, she probably just didn’t want to bother her friend and pull her away from her birthday party, but still. It was something.
“I can—” Anya started.
“It’s really okay,” Iris insisted. “Call your mom back. She’ll be worried.”
Anya laughed, but she looked bitterly sad. “She’s already trying to send a car for me.”
Iris nodded. “You should let her. Go be celebrated tonight.”
“But you’re—”
“We can celebrate together soon. The weekend, maybe?”
“Yeah?”
“Yes.” The breath she pulled in seemed to take serious physical effort. “This can’t be your birthday. We’ll do it right. Just the two of us. And your mom, if you want.”
Anya smiled, tilting her head as she looked at Iris. “If we start inviting her out, she’ll always want to come.”
“Maybe that’s okay.”
Anya nodded and pulled Iris back into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry, Iris.”
“It’s not your fault.”
With the way they were positioned, Barrett saw Anya bite her lip like she didn’t really believe that. Barrett did, though. Sure, it was Anya’s event, but she wasn’t the one who’d done anything wrong tonight.
When Iris stepped back, Anya nodded and said, “We’re definitely not inviting any of them to our weekend party.”
“Sounds good,” Iris agreed easily, and then she turned back to Barrett, signaling that she was ready to go.
However, she kept her hand in Anya’s as they started walking, leaving Anya to pull her phone back out.
Their hands stretched between them, eventually splitting apart, but Iris didn’t look back.
Barrett wanted to say something as they walked.
It wasn’t silence between them exactly—the city too loud and busy for that—but she still wished she knew the perfect thing to say, the thing that would ease all of Iris’ hurt.
But what could you say to someone who’d both been confronted by their abusive ex and lost several friends in the same night?
Even if the friends stayed in touch, nothing was ever going to be the same again.
“I’m sorry for ruining your evening,” Iris said after they’d walked several blocks.
Barrett stared at the side of her bowed head.
“Seeing you could never ruin my evening,” she said honestly.
Too honestly, really. Her words burned with a sincerity that had no place in their usual dynamic.
She kept things playful, distant, if she could.
And now was no time to be overstepping those bounds.
The last thing she wanted was to upset Iris further.
Or make their working relationship untenable.