After Her Love

19. Shoulder to cry on

Aleksi's PoV

I feel like I had just robbed a bank or someone's house. Iiris was staring out of the window and I was struggling to figure out her thoughts. She looked scared and not as relieved as I thought she would be feeling. On the other hand, how should I even know how it feels to run away from my own home which is supposed to be a safe place? My home was my castle, it was the safest place on this planet for me and I knew I could just escape there whenever I felt like. And it has been the place for me since Robyn. I have never spent that much time at home as I have now, even though everything there reminded me of her.

"Here we are." Tommi stopped the car and turned his head towards us in the back seat. The experrion on Iiris' face had not changed even for a bit and she was still looking like she was battling with all the emotions going inside of her. The past few days have been rough for her and I knew that I might have had my part in it, being so pushy about leaving, but I knew it was the only right choice. She would have never done that otherwise. Slowly, she looked down to the seat belt and unplugged it.

"Alright then.." Was all she said while grabbing her bag from the floor. I gave her a small, encouraging smile, and opened the door, letting her out first. Olli went to get her sports bag from the trunk and handed it to Iiris. Robyn and the girls were already waiting for us in the driveway.

"How did it go?" Pauline asked as we reached them.

"Well.. Here I am.. Guess it's something.." Iiris tried to stay positive but she definitely was on the edge right now. She didn't sleep much last night so she was probably exhausted by now. Everything escalated so fast and there were still a lot of things she needed to take care of and the first bigger test was just a few hours away when Rauli gets back home and realizes that his girlfriend has left.

"I guess we're gonna all head home now so you two can get it all figured out here.. Call us if you need anything or.. " Robyn seemed to read Iiris' face correctly and I nodded in agreement. We said byes and they all got into the cars and I guided Iiris inside of the house.

"So,.. Umh.. I'm gonna show you the room where you can stay." It has been a while since someone has stayed here with me so it felt a little weird to have another breathing soul in the house. Of course I had Rilla, who stayed at my neighbor's over the weekend, but it was different to have a pet than a real human being sharing a place. Iiris followed me to the room next to the living room.

"This is nice..." She said while looking around. There was a large bed, closet, all you need in a bedroom. The walls had a light wallpaper on three walls but on one wall there was a wallpaper with some pattern on it, which gave a little bit of character into the room.

"Thanks.. For letting me stay here.. " Iiris said when she had sat on the bed. She was still holding her phone in one hand and the bag in another, like she was already waiting for Rauli to call or text her.

"No need to thank me. " I said and watched as Iiris' eyes started to fill with water and soon the tears were running down her pale face. She dropped the things she was holding and moved her hands to cover her face. It broke my heart to see her crying like that. She had done nothing but suffered under the terror and now it finally broke her.

"Hey..." I didn't even know what to say so I just sat next to her and wrapped my hands around the crying woman. That calmed her down a little but just for a moment because her phone started to ring. I felt her body tensing and slowly she pulled away to see who was calling her. Her eyes vitrified and it made me look down on the floor as well, just to see Rauli's name flashing on the screen. If it was what I thought then getting Iiris out from that apartment was literally a game of minutes. If we had got there any later, he would be home or arrive while we were there and I was sure that was what Iiris was also thinking now. She didn't even pick it up. The phone kept on ringing, time after another, until it finally stopped and just a moment later a message was received.