A whole two weeks have gone by. Sadly, it was busy, so Jax and I couldn't go to the hospital yet. We plan to go tomorrow.

Anyway, I decided to cycle to school- to get some exercise. I was about twenty minutes away when the worst possible thing happened:

My tyre went flat.

My bike jerked and I fell off, landing heavily in my side. The bike fell on top of me and I groaned in frustration and slight pain. I pushed the vehicle off and stumbled to me feet, cursing myself for not checking the tyre earlier. I brought out my phone and saw I had no signal.

Sighing, I realised I was going to have to push the bike to school- which would probably make me late.

While I was straining and struggling, a sleek black car rolled up next to me and the tinted windows rolled down, "need a ride?"

I looked over, "I don't take rides from strangers."

James smirked, "technically, I'm not a stranger. You did embarrass me and Cole a while back."

"Okay," I said, "you're not a complete stranger. Still don't want to get in the car."

"Well, you can either get in then car and reach to school on time, or you can struggle with the bike and be late," James smirked and I knew I had no choice. I didn't really care about being late, but I didn't want my family to be worried.

Grudgingly, I allowed James to help load the bike in the back of the big car- which I swear looks bigger inside than the outside- and I rode shot gun. James was wearing a navy suit and his blonde hair was combed to perfection. If he had a walking stick and a bowlers hat, he would look like a Victorian. Instinctively, I put my hand on the pepper spray in my pocket to reassure myself that I was well prepared if I was attacked.

"Hi," James said.

"Hi. I'm Iris," I replied, praying that the car ride goes quickly.

"I know," James smirked, "like I said before, you're the girl who embarrassed Cole and I on that day."

I grimaced slightly, "sorry about that."

"It's okay," James smiled, "it's in the past."

We made idle chatter and I asked him to go around the back, so I could lock my cycle in the stands- where I could pump it up with air tomorrow. I thanked James and went to my first lesson where I was just on time.

X

"Why were you almost late to school?"

"Well hello to you too, brother," I rolled my eyes at Daimen, who was glaring slightly at me. My friends were, by now, used to this overprotectiveness from my brothers. Usually, Oscar and/or Jax would side with me and drag my brothers away, but this time, they were all united.

"If you must know," I sighed, "my bike's tyre went flat when I was about twenty minutes away from here."

Oscar frowned, "but you can't have pushed the bike all the way here and still have just been on time. So, what happened after that?"

"I got a ride from James," I said nonchalantly, chewing my sandwich.

And 3...2...1...

"What?!" My brothers and friends exclaimed and I winced internally.

"Boys, people are staring," I murmured.

Daimen looked around briefly, grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the cafeteria, closely followed by my brothers.

We walked to an empty corridor before Daimen let me go. I leaned against the lockers and raised an eyebrow at my brothers, painfully aware of how much taller they were than me. I wasn't short, but I wasn't very tall either.

"You're short," Oscar said.

"I'm average," I snapped, "not my fault you guys are like giants."

His twin smirked, "hush, hush baby Iris!"

I punched him and turned to Daimen, "why did you bring me here?"

"You said people were staring, so I brought you here where they wouldn't," Daimen shrugged, "now, why did James offer you a ride?"

I sighed and told them of what happened this morning. I didn't see what the fuss was all about, so I asked them.

"James is in a gang," Brandon explained, "not very powerful, but still quite strong. We're worried since last time..." he trailed off.

"I won't get kidnapped again," I said quietly.

Will leaned against the lockers next to me, "we're just worried Iris... it was torture when you were taken. We don't want that to happen again."

"Okay, I'll stay away from James and Cole," I said.

"Hang on, what does Cole have to do with this?" Daimen asked.

"Oh I talked to him after Jax told me the picture was fake," I said breezily.

Brandon exhaled, "he's in a gang as well," he shot a sardonic smile, "you really like trouble, huh?"

I laughed, remembering that was what Brandon used to say to me when I was little and in trouble, "I don't like trouble, trouble likes me."

X (After school)

"Hi little sis," Jax causally slung an arm around my shoulders, "noticed some people from DK following us," he murmured.

"DK?" I asked in surprise. 'DK' stood for 'Devil's Knights' and they were our- Silver Skulls- number one enemy.

"Yep," Jax said, "what now?"

"I'll call Styles," 'Styles' was Harry's code name. He wanted something 'cooler' but it was too late, the nickname stuck.

"Hey Styles," I said, "someone from DK is following me and Jax. What do we do?"

Harry swore and I heard him type something on his computer, "stick together and stay in crowded places."

"But why are they here?" I asked.

"John is in DK."

"Oh," I replied, my voice very small, "well, thanks for the warning."

"You're welcome," Harry replied, "don't worry, we will find John and we will make him regret ever laying a hand on you."

I smiled, "thanks Styles. I gotta go, see you later."

"What did he say," Jax asked.

"That we should stick together and stay in crowded places. Are they still following us?"

Jax risked a glance over his shoulder, "yep."

"We should-"

"Hey Iris!" I turned and saw Aiden walking towards me.

"Hi Aiden," I greeted.

"Me and the others were going to the park and were wondering if you and Jax wanted to join us," he explained.

"Sure," I replied, texting my brothers. Jax also agreed.

X

Jax drove the seven of us to Central Park. We sang along to the radio as we went and sounded like a band of cats being tortured.

Jax parked next to the Park and we stumbled out.

Mia wiped her eyes, "sorry, but I think that Iris has the only good voice out of all of us."

"It's true," Grace agreed, "the rest of us sound horrible."

"I feel so proud," Jax ruffled my hair and I fake glared at him.

"What now?" Elizabeth asked.

Milo grinned, "Tag?"

Instantly, we all did the 'turn around, touch the ground, bagsy not it!' Thing, all except from Jay.

"Oh come on!" He complained.

We played until we tired ourselves out. We flopped onto the grassy bank and gazed at the sky.

"They're here," Jax murmured.

The same two people were following us. The girl had short red hair and emerald green eyes. The boy had shaggy black hair and brown eyes.

"Iris West-Brown and Jaxton Collins?" The girl asked and I saw a flicker of sadness pass across Jax's face at his last name.

"Yes, how may we help you?" I was immediately on guard.

"We need your help."