Re: [No. 3: Iris & Sam]
Seeing Sam feeling so good was good for Iris too. She did worry about the extremes of Sam's mood, but she knew that she would worry about almost anything, so she tried to take it in the moment, and let it be what it was. She knew that Sam had different feelings about family, and she wanted to be part of the good parts of it.
She smiled at Sam's suggestions, shaking her head just a little. "It'll be fine. It just... happens, sometimes. I'll get back on track." She'd gone through it before, and she knew she probably would again. But it ended up alright. She hoped that after the stress of the egg hunt passed, she'd be back to what counted as normal for her.
The eureka moment was very clear. Too clear, and Iris was shaking her head before the words started tumbling out of Sam's mouth. And even though her sister promised to not 'make a thing' about it, she still said softly: "It's not like that..." But true to her word, Sam didn't launch into making it a big deal.
By the time Sam stopped to ask about the sound, Iris' feet were also stuttering to a stop, and her face had blanched pale as milk. Yes, she did hear it. She knew what it was - who it was. They were coming for her, all the people that Ian had hurt. Blaming her for staying with him, blaming her for everything he'd done. She knew that her own family was among those footsteps, anticipated that Sam would join them, but she couldn't get her arm to unlock from her sister's. And the two of them - she knew that she and Sam looked just enough alike that there could be a mistake. Sam could get hurt again just because of her resemblance to Iris. Hurt badly, because she knew those people were out for blood. Someone needed to pay for the things that had been done - those things that had gone unpunished because of Ian's death. And she was that person. Convinced completely that she was.
"They're after me. We have to run." Her voice shook, only loud enough to be heard over the thunder of footsteps. And she stuttered her steps into something quicker, trying to force her feet into a run, her heart already thundering in her chest.