Hatred / l.h ✔️

44

~Iris' POV~

I walked reluctantly into McDonald's, pulling my pants up uncomfortably as I walked over to behind the counter, ignoring James, my co-worker as he gave me a little wink and a grin. I looked up as Brooklyn came walking out from the kitchen, giving me a smile that I returned. She and I didn't know each-other much, but she was nice enough to me.

"You'll smile back at her, but ignore me?" James whined, slouching against the counter beside me. I chuckled, looking over at him with an amused smile on my lips. "You know, maybe you'd get a response if you weren't hitting on me all the time." I retorted smartly, shaking my head. He pouted, running a hand through his brown hair. "But what's the fun in that?" He sighed, raising a brow at me.

"Well, for you the fun would be that you'd probably get an answer from me when you greet me in the morning." I said, shrugging. He hummed in thought, narrowing his eyes at me. "And the fun for you would be?" He asked curiously. I smiled and shook my head, standing up straight to head back into the kitchen where the sink was. "The fun for me would be that you'd finally stop flirting with me." I answered.

"That doesn't sound very fun. I'm very charming." He called after me, chuckling.

Throughout the first half of my day, there weren't very many people who came through, but that wasn't unusual. We didn't usually start to get a lot of customers until around lunch, and on some days around dinner time, too. It just depended, really.

When my lunch break rolled around, Brooklyn and James joined me at a table with their own food. "Too close." I said to James as soon as he sat down beside me, scooting a little away. Brooklyn laughed, mirth shimmering in her eyes. "What? I just sat down! I didn't even do anything!" He exclaimed in defense, pouting. I hid a smile, glancing over at him as I took a bite of my food and shrugged. "You sat down too close, that's what."

He rolled his eyes and, per my request, scooted away from me just a little bit so that I had my personal space. I smiled to myself, glancing up at Brooklyn as she sat across from me. My eyes landed on her and then, to my utter surprise, a familiar figure caught my eye over her shoulder. My lips parted and I couldn't stop the instant racing of my heart as Luke stared back at me. I hadn't expected to see him here, but even more so I hadn't known how he even knew where to find me. "Are you okay?" James asked from beside me, snapping me out of my trance.

I nodded and practically trampled over him to get out of the booth that we sat in, a hiss of pain leaving him when my knee dug into his crotch, but I paid it no mind. "I'll be back." I said vacantly to them, already walking off towards Luke. Should he have been here? No, probably not, but I'd be a liar if I said that I wasn't glad to see him. I'd missed him a lot. It had been nearly a month since I'd seen him.

Luke peered down at me and I noticed the smile that he fought, whereas I didn't try to fight mine off whatsoever. A large grin broke onto my lips and I pushed up onto my toes, wrapping him in a tight hug as I buried my head into his chest. I felt him immediately pull me closer, his arms slid under mine as he leaned down a little more to hug me tight. I lifted my head to rest on his shoulder now that he was bent down closer to me, his head buried in my neck with a big grin now on his lips. "Iris." He breathed happily, his voice soft. My eyes fell shut and I fisted the back of his shirt in my hands, loving the warmth that radiated between us. "Luke..." I whispered, still in shock.

I could feel one of his hands lightly brushing through the length of my hair, Luke's pineapple cherry scent consuming my senses as he hugged me. As if he thought it was his turn, I heard him inhale deeply. I couldn't stop myself from laughing softly, knowing that he had just sniffed me. "You smell so good. I've missed you so much, my little doll." He cooed softly, placing a brief kiss on the skin of my neck before he forced himself to pull away from our hug.