Harley considered herself strong, but that didn't prevented her from getting weak sometimes, like when an older person asked her for her turn in the line of the supermarket or when a girl scout tried to sell her something she didn't want, or when a really persistent Bruce didn't stop calling her, sending her flowers and whatever until she finally agreed to a date.

And that's why, after 2 weeks since that night at the party, she found herself in the 'Ange De La Nuit' restaurant with him hoping that this time it went better than the last one.

"I'm really glad that you agreed to this date" he said as they looked at the menus. It was weird for him to start the conversation it was usually Harley who tried it.

"It was kind of hard not to all things considered" she muttered. Ouch. Way to start the night. Don't be a bitch; he is obviously trying- she thought to herself.

Choosing to ignore her comment, he continued "What can I say," he gave a small shrug "I didn't want you to think that I didn't care about you"

She couldn't contain her smile at that "You're sweet, and that's the reason why I am here" they share a little smirk.

"Good evening, are you ready to order?" the waiter asked them.

"I'll have the steak, medium rare, please" she sweetly answered.

"I'll have the same and another bottle of wine" with a nod the waiter left their table.

"More wine? Are you trying to get me drunk?" she playfully teased.

"No. I would never do that." While a lot of girls would appreciate the straightforward answer Harley couldn't help but want a little tease back from him.

Noticing her expression of boredom and disappointment he said "Hey, guess whom I saw a couple of days back" her response was a raised eyebrow and a small shrug.

"Principal Wood" a smile took over Harley's face as she remembered her old college principal.

"How is he?"

"Still bald and an ass kisser" they laughed out loud at that.

"He asked about you…about us"

Principal Wood was the one who introduced Bruce to Harley. It happened in an event for the university where Bruce went as a special guest and Harley went to give a speech being the one with the best grades from her generation. Wood introduced them to each other and they just kind of took it from there, spending the rest of the event talking and getting to know each other better. The next day Bruce asked her on a date. They had a few things in common much to everyone's surprise, minor things like favorite movies, some hobbies and food, but the main thing that they found out about each other was the fact that their parents were no longer with them, that definitely helped them bound.

"…Oh. And what did you told him? You know about…us"

"That I was trying to not mess up again" she smiled at him. He was a really good guy.

"Here are your orders," the waiter placed their orders in front of them ", anything else?"

"No, thank you"

After a few moments of eating in silence things got a bit awkward but considering that Bruce started the last conversation Harley thought that it was only fair for her to try this time.

"How are things in your job?" simple, but it'll do.

"The usual, but I haven't gone to the other ones"

"So the only free time you got it's at night?" his body tensed a little bit, but then he returned to his charming self.

"No, I usually take this wonderful girl out" he said with a smirk.

"Oh really? Should I be jealous?" she enjoyed when he relaxed and just had fun.

"Extremely" they continued talking and eating for a little while and then he asked…

"How is Mr. Sanders?" that question got a groan out of her.

Mr. Sanders was Harley's patient, he suffers from dissociative identity disorder and if that wasn't difficult enough his other identity hated Harley's guts, which made him uncooperative and extremely violent towards her. In more than one occasion he got to be sedated after or during one of their sessions.

"He is no longer my patient" she admitted.

"Why's that?"

"He doesn't cooperate with me"

"He never did"

Shooting him an annoyed look she continued "I haven't done any progress with him so they're re-assigning him and I'm getting a new patient"

"I'm sorry. I know you wanted to help him"

"It's okay, maybe I'll get a patient who doesn't drives me crazy for a change"

"You can only hope"

She offered him a small smile, but the asked "Do you mind if we cut this short? I'm really tired and I have to be up early tomorrow"

With an understanding nod he asked for the check and they walked out of the restaurant.

He opened the car door for her, got in the driver's seat and asked "Your place or my place?"

She sighed, she really didn't want to spend the night with him or having him over at her place "Bruce, I don't want to sound rude but I think it would be better if we just spend the night apart"

"Um…sure" he was caught off guard. He parked outside her building and went to open her door.

"I'll call you tomorrow morning" he said only to be answered with another sigh from Harley.

"Bruce, can I be honest with you?"

"Always"

"I don't think this is working out," she saw that he was about to say something but held a hand gesturing that she wasn't finish yet ", I really like you and care about you, but as a friend"

"I thought we were giving it another try" he sounded defeated but not surprised.

"I know, but I've been feeling like this for some time now and I don't think another try would change that" she knew that if they didn't do this tonight it would be the same thing over and over, that situation in the car just confirmed it.

"I don't know what to say"

"I'm not saying that I don't want you in my life anymore, I do want you in it. But like a friend," she hugged him ", I really hope you still want us to be friends, because I don't want to lose you"

"You won't. I understand" he said as he hugged her back. "Goodnight, Harley"

"Goodnight" and with a kiss on the cheek, she went inside her building.

She entered her apartment with a sigh only this time that sigh was a good thing, she was glad that they were no longer lying to each other and that Bruce took it well. She was sure that they would continue to be friends, he would find a nice girl and in the end everything would work out for them. She wasn't lying when she told him that she cared for him.

"He'll find another girl, he isn't known as a playboy for nothing" she said to herself.

Getting out of her dress and into her nightgown, she went to her bed and tried to get in a comfortable position. Everything would work out, it just had to. Bruce and her would maintain their friendship, her new patient would be the opportunity to prove that she was good at her job and maybe she would get an easier patient that didn't provoke her an early age heart attack. She really didn't want to deal with difficult guys anymore and she wouldn't.

"Hopefully this one doesn't try to kill me or anything like that" she whispered to herself.

With a reassuring nod to herself and a wishful thinking, she closed her eyes and went to sleep, unaware of her boss's choice for her new patient.