First kiss

Iris was a little annoyed that Joshua's ex could see the lack of closeness between them. She frowned, but she didn't let her weakness show from the woman in front of her, there was no way she was going to lose to her, and besides, she was doing it for Joshua. On the other hand, Joshua could sense Iris' discomfort, even if he was standing behind her, he didn't know why, but he didn't want the words Lilly his ex was saying to hurt Iris.

Besides, he was fed up with Lilly's ramblings. The woman was never satisfied when they were together, always wanted to control him, cheat on him and even dump him herself! So, what was her deal now?

At this moment, all he wanted was for her to disappear so he could see his mother, he'd had enough of her blackmailing him, and if he must show her that Iris was his girlfriend, so she would disappear, he would gladly do it!

With anger and tiredness, his next move was expected at all, neither by him nor by Iris and certainly not by Lilly, because a second later he took Iris in his arms and the next moment his lips slowly touched hers. The sweet taste of Iris' lips slowly invaded Joshua and drove him crazy.

He wanted more, but it wasn't the way he wanted it, not in the hospital, not when he didn't even accept her feelings and clearly express what he felt, and especially not because of his crazy ex! But just as he was about to break off the little kiss and distance himself from Iris, the kiss deepened! Joshua was overwhelmed by this gesture and by the affection and passion that Iris gave him in that kiss; he could feel the longing, the affection, the desire, the love and the expectation that she'd in her kiss... While their lips were connected, asking for more.

Joshua didn't need much to automatically respond and return the kiss with passion, without thinking too much. He invaded Iris' mouth with his tongue and seduced her into a hot and sweet kiss. Iris' hands tenderly explored Joshua's face down to his neck, while Joshua moved closer to her to deepen the kiss, his hands finding their way to Iris' hips. The more he touched her body, the more he wanted more. That yearning feeling to touch her, to embrace her, took control of Joshua, making him even forget that they were in the corridor of a hospital and that someone was staring at them contemptuously with a look that could kill.

They broke the kiss only when they were completely out of breath... When Joshua looked at Iris afterwards, he was surprised to see her smile sheepishly and look at him playfully... He gasped and didn't know what to do when he realised the implications of that kiss.

Iris didn't say a word and turned to Lilly with a broad smile, "I hope that makes it clear. Now please go cry to your father and leave us alone!!!"

Iris took Joshua and walked past the woman with a playful smile, then stopped, not even knowing where to go, not really knowing what Joshua was doing there.

Joshua then took the lead and brought her to the corridor just beside where they were. "I'm here to see my mom... She called me and said that Lilly is here and that she was making a scene... I rushed here because my mother can't take any stress because of her illness, and you know what happens then..."

Iris listened to his strained voice as he recapped the situation and was slightly worried, she knew his mother was sick, but she didn't know how serious it was.

"Don't worry, it's going to be okay, she's going to be fine."

Joshua nodded his head and thanked her. Iris laughed softly, "If you really want to thank me, that much, another kiss would be great!" Joshua looked at her for a long moment before replying in a low voice, "I'll gladly do that."

He didn't want to run away from his feelings anymore, it was too annoying and ineffective, after all he spent his free time thinking about Iris, he knew he couldn't resist anymore, but he just didn't want to admit that he'd succumbed to her and was afraid of what would come next, now that he even owed her a favour.

When they arrived outside his mother's hospital room, Iris met Joshua's hesitant gaze as he opened the door. She understood his concern and knew he didn't want to bother her further. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and joked, "Are you throwing me away already after using me?"

Joshua looked at Iris with a sly smile, "No, of course not, I didn't use you as much as I wanted to..." He wanted to say something else but didn't know where to start and Iris could see it in his eyes, even though she'd tried to calm him down with her joke, he was still anxious. Iris stood on her tiptoes once again and give him a light kiss.

"Don't overexert yourself, if you need something I'm here for you, you already owe me, so you can owe me a little more! After all, it's better to own me than someone else, you can pay me back with kisses!" Iris smiled and squeezed his hand to give him some strength.

"Thank you." He repeated in a mute voice.

Iris raised her eyebrows slightly, "If you like those two words so much, I'll let you say them enough later." She blinked at him. "Now go…"

When she joked like that, the atmosphere between them could only become inexplicably a bit more ambiguous. Joshua was a little perplexed, realising that sometimes he really didn't get how her head worked anymore. He gets that she enjoyed flirting with him, but sometimes it was weird. He sighed and looked at Iris in silence and just opened the door and got in.

The hospital was cold and quiet as always, when Joshua entered the room Iris went back to her doctor and asked about the condition of Joshua's mother, she knew it wasn't her place to ask about other people's health, it was confidential anyway, but since she wanted to help and the doctor knew the difficulties of the family, he briefly explained to her what was going on and what was needed for Joshua's mother.

After everything was explained to her in detail, she went back to the ward. The door was open, but she didn't go in, instead leaning against the doorframe, vainly closing her eyes and listening to the conversation inside.

It was a normal conversation, a son worrying about his mother and a mother inquiring about her son's life. Iris listened to the conversation with great interest because she'd not had the opportunity to feel so much warmth with her mother, and felt a little nostalgic when she saw how well the son and the mother got along.

Suddenly she felt a gaze fall on her. The girl, standing not far from her held a packing box in her hand and looked over at her with a slightly curious look. Iris more or less guessed her identity surely she was someone related to the other person in the room, and after meeting her at eye level, the girl looked slightly dishevelled and asked again, "Excuse me, you're?"

The woman had an excellent temperament, and her clothes looked casual but full of caution. She'd never seen Iris there before, and the only patients in the room where her mother and Joshua's mother. She met Joshua when they were both taking care of their mothers, and somehow, she began to like him. Now a woman she didn't know was standing outside her mother's ward, and she could only be confused.

Iris smiled and was about to say something when the people in the ward heard what was happening. It was only then that Joshua remembered he'd forgotten her, and he walked back outside the room and asked in a low voice, "Would you like to come in and sit down?"

Iris clasped her hands in front of her chest and sighed. "Only now you remember me?" she spoke casually, like a girlfriend making a scene to her boyfriend. Joshua was amused and felt a little guilty at the same time.

"Don't be playful, my mom watching…" He whispered and looked with great interest how Iris tensed up a little at those words.

Iris threw the bag into his arms and gave another smile to the girl in front of her, "I came with him."

Clara hastily glanced at Joshua, who nodded and said, "She's my ..."

"Girlfriend," said Iris briskly.