You shoved the key in the lock and pushed the door open. After running inside, you slammed it shut behind you. You were drenched, winter in Gotham was bittersweet. The scenery was beautiful, but the weather was horrendous! You had to run from the bus stop to your apartment in hopes to stay as dry as you could, it didn't work. You moved a strand of wet hair, which stuck to your face out of the way and climbed the stairs to your hallway. You attempted to wipe the make-up which had run from under your eyes. You knew Jerome would make some sassy comment or laugh at the state of you. With the mood you were in, you didn't want to hear it. Your boss had decided to surprise you with a mass of paperwork with a deadline that was much too close for comfort. You should have been back two hours ago, you hoped Jerome would understand. He usually did, but he was unpredictable with his moods.
After fumbling with your keys with frozen fingers, you finally found the right one and pushed it into the lock. After a small click, you were able to push it open. You peaked in to find the apartment was dimly lit. Maybe Jerome had gone out or was in bed already? You did say not to wait up after all.
You shut the door behind you, threw your bag to the floor and shook off your soaking coat. You hung it up in hopes it would dry before the morning, but doubted it would. You slipped off your shoes and ripped off your damp socks. A warm shower, that sounded perfect.
You made your way to the bathroom, but something caught the side of your vision. You turned to see a figure asleep on the sofa, it was Jerome, he had waited up for you. You sighed and took a few steps towards him to wake him, but after seeing his face, you paused. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep, nothing like the trouble maker he was when he was awake. He told you he had watched you sleep many times, but it was a rare occasion for you to watch him. He was always either out or busy doing something, leaving you to fall asleep. You decided to take this opportunity.
Trying your best not to wake him, you picked up a blanket which sat next to the sofa and placed it onto his sleeping body. He stirred , but remained asleep. You pulled it up to his neck and crouched next to his face, watching his chest rise and lower ever so slightly as he breathed. You ran your fingers through his ginger hair and a sleepy smile crept onto his face. You placed a small light kiss on his forehead and stood up. You would leave him to sleep. He needed it.
As you began to walk away a voice caught you by surprise.
"You're here." Jerome's sleepy voice murmured.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to-" you turned to see he was still asleep. Was he talking in his sleep? You knew he had a tendency to do so at times, you had heard it before. But he only did this when he was either stressed, or had something on his mind. He didn't seem stressed recently, neither did he seem worried. You smiled and began walking to the bathroom again.
The sleepy voice spoke again. "I missed you."
You smiled, "I missed you too, Jerome." It was then you noticed his face, it had changed. His contented expression had become one of upset. This was a rare sight indeed, especially from Jerome. You decided to take advantage of his sleep talking and moved a little closer to him. You crouched down to where you were before and ran your fingers across his cheek.
"Please don't leave."
"I'm not going to." you replied take aback. He had never asked you to stay. He teased you about maybe missing you, but he was never this forward.
"Promise?"
You smiled, "I promise babe."
His face relaxed a little. "I didn't mean it."
"Mean what?"
"When I shouted..." his mumble became too quiet for you to hear.
You remembered what he was talking about. Earlier that morning you two had gotten into a little fight. Nothing unusual for you both. With two personalities as strong as the two of yours living together, it was only natural you would collide now and again. You had tidied up after Jerome had trashed the place the night before. Many times you had come home to find him gone and the apartment a mess. You didn't mind. You weren't a clean freak and not all that tidy yourself in all honesty. Plus you understood it was just how he worked. After you tidied up, he came rushing back in and began to throw the papers you had stacked on the table about. He was looking for a certain piece of paper and you had moved it without knowing what it was. He was flustered and began shouting at you, telling you how useless you were and how much you did his head in. You didn't take this to heart. This wasn't a new thing, you just laughed it off, but this seemed to make him more annoyed. After finding the piece of paper he was looking for was in his pocket, he left, unimpressed by his forgetfulness.
"I didn't mean it..." his face changed again as a single tear escaped his eye.
"Hey, hey, it's okay." you soothed as you wiped away the tear with your finger and stroked his cheek.
"You sure?"
You nodded with a smile on your face, "Yeah, sweet, I'm sure."
He sighed. A small smile returned to his face.
You moved the blanket up a little and took your hand back. Just as you were about to stand, he spoke again, his words shot straight to your heart.
"I love you."
You took a moment to catch your breath. Did he just say what you thought he did? He had shown you affection before, mostly through sex. The occasional bunch of flowers or small gifts appeared in either your office, or somewhere in the apartment. He never was good with emotions or showing them, he saw it as a weakness. So for him to say these words nearly made you lose your balance with surprised.
"So much..."
"I...I love you too, Jerome."
"Don't leave me."
You placed your hand on his, which was just outside of the blanket. "You know I won't."
"I couldn't live without you."
Tears began to form in your eyes. These words you never expected to hear from him. You knew Jerome loved you and you understood his ways of showing it. But this was almost alien to you, you loved every second of it, but it also scared you. You didn't realize you had this much effect on him or meant this much to him. "And I couldn't live without you." You felt his hand tighten around yours.
"Damn right you can't." he murmured.
You smirked a little, even in his sleep he was still as sarcastic. "I gotta go have a shower," you took your hand back and saw his smile fall a little. "I will be back soon."
"Okay." he murmured.
You took a few steps back as quietly as you could. When you were sure you hadn't woken him, you walked into the bathroom and stripped from your damp clothes.
After you had finished, you wrapped a towel around yourself and walked back into the living room. You saw Jerome was awake. "Hey, sleep head!" you smiled.
Jerome rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Where have you been? You were supposed to be back at ten!"
"Oh, didn't you get my text?"
He shook his head, still trying to wake up. He was so cute when he was like this. You would often tease him about it.
"My arse of a boss decided to give me more paperwork to sort. I text you saying don't wait up."
"You expect me to go to bed without you doll?" he half smiled. "Never." It was then he looked down, noticing the blanket cover him.
"You were asleep when I came in. I covered you up."
"Oh...thanks."
You watched him as he sat up and swung his legs to the floor.
He looked at you, rubbing his eyes a little more. "Why have you got that stupid look on your face?"
You realized you were smiling at him, a lovey dovey look on your face. It seemed he didn't remember his sleep talking. "No reason," you knew he wouldn't buy that, "I just...forgot how cute you look when you're asleep."
He grunted and looked away, still waking up.
You walked over to him and placed a soft kiss on his hair. "You want some coffee, sweet?" you began to walk away when he caught your hip and pulled you back in front of him.
He turned you to face his as he stood up. His hand remained on your hip, the other moved up to your cheek, a finger traced your bottom lip. "Mmmm, I'd much rather something else." He pushed his face closer.