I know she's following me. I can consistently smell her fragrance. It's powerful yet perfect.
It's good that she's not lost complete control, otherwise this building may have been destroyed by now. I know this place better than her by miles, so I'll be using this to my advantage. Problem is, a man like me can't seem to get any privacy. People just seem to get drifted towards me, and I hate it with a passion. Why can't I just be left alone?
I walk up to the bar, waiting shortly for the right moment, I sneak past and into the back. I follow the small alleyway of works and boxes full of alcohol and glasses, till I find an exit door. I'm now met with a different set of surroundings – a dark, tight and long alleyway.
If I know Diana, she would have found another route to get here any minute now. Darkness however is my ally, not hers. I scan my surroundings in an attempt to deduce the ideal hiding location from her. I notice a small yet hidden gap between a dumpster bin and a pile of trash. Whilst I may need to top up on my fragrance after this, it'll be the best chance I have of avoiding Diana.
Shortly after I get into my position, lurking in the darkness like a certain caped figure, I notice Diana walking from the start of the alleyway. She too scans the environment. Noticing the exit door, she increases her walking pace till she's beside it. She doesn't open the door, she just pauses. Almost like she's attempting to hear me. As far as I'm aware, her hearing is not anyway near Clark's, so my heartbeat is fine. My breathing is also near undetectable, even I can't hear it.
She walks away from the door, looking to her left (original starting point) and to her right (direction in which I'm at).
"Bruce don't hide from me, not now." Diana asks, moving her head slowly. It was clear to see her head was starting to feel heavy. "You know I'll find you Bruce. I just wanna talk" She mumbles out loud, trying desperately to grab my attention. "Errrrrrr! Why are you like this?! I've never met a man so pathetic in my life!" She yells, now starting to move things about with rage.
If she continues to do this, she'll find me…
"Do you even really care? Or am I just another woman to you? Another dash to your ever growing tally list? Another woman you can just throw away? Does this make you feel powerful? Knowing that you could have all these woman and yet you decided no and threw them away? Huh? Answer me Bruce god dammit!" Diana states, trying to do anything just to get a noise out of me. Clearly frustration has overtaken her.
She starts looking up, to see stairs and apartments. "Am I that bad that you have to run from me whenever I'm near?" She asks quietly. Her mood quickly changes from rage to sadness. "Am I that bad that you can't bear to be near me?" She says again quietly, almost as if she's just talking to herself out loud. Her head falls down. She looks at the floor beneath her with sadness and anguish in her. "So long now I've tried. I kept faith in a seemingly impossible idea. I know it was wrong, but I just thought maybe. I just thought that if I got passed your defences, you'd be the real you around me. The one that likes to joke. The one that cares for others. The one that looks out for others – for me. Regardless of what others think, I know you're not a bad person, I see the good in you. You have a heart as pure and filled as I. For over two years now I've tried to be close to you. Not to start a relationship but because I genuinely enjoy spending time with you. It was refreshing, different, fun. I tried to stop once they developed but I just couldn't. The feelings just hit me, and hit me hard. I tried to reason with myself but I couldn't. Instead, I tried the impossible. I tried loving a man that couldn't be loved."
At this point, small tears developed and hit the grown below her. She was broken. Maybe the alcohol is exaggerating her thoughts and feelings? Diana isn't one to…do this sort of thing.
Her speech hit me like a Venom-filled punch. Everything she said came from her heart. Maybe I am wrong to do this to her? To show her mutual feelings but never give her love. Like dangling food in front of a dog.
What am I to do? Confront her and comfort her or let her go once and for all? After tonight, I don't think things will be the same. I need to act on this, and I need to act fast.
I decide the best course of action is the expose myself. Even if she does kill me on the spot, at least she knows I heard what she said and know what she feels.
"Princess" I say softly, hoping not to startle her. She simply looks up, eyes watery. She sniffles and uses her arm to attempt to wipe away the tears.
I start walking towards her slowly. Luckily I don't smell of trash. She doesn't know how to react. She's on the verge of smiling and full out crying.
"Please know I never wanted to hurt you by pushing you away" I state, trying to just reinforce to reasons for my questions action actions.
"It's – its fine Bruce" she says, wiping her face with her hands. She clearly a bit unstable at the moment.
"Why have you never told me any of this before?" I say, placing my hands on the side of her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her.
"Because…I was afraid you'd push me away once and for all." She replies honestly. I'm kind of ashamed that even she sees my actions as a devils play. She talks about me like I'm some sort of demon at times, it scares me.
"I'm so sorry" I say, placing my hand on the back of her head, pushing it to rest on my chest as I stroke her hair. Comfort is what she needs in her drunken state right now.
"I love you Bruce" she says to me. I'm not sure if she feels it, but I feel my heart stop right there. The three words that I've wanted to hear for so long. The three words that I would of never allowed myself to hear. The three words to change my life, forever.
I gently kiss the top of her head and stroke her hair more. As much as I want to show her just how much I love her, I can't whilst she's in her current state. I'd never do that to someone like her.
There's nothing but silence down that alleyway for a few precious seconds. It even felt like the entirety of Gotham shut up for just a few seconds. She wraps her arms around my waist, pulling me into her.
"Are you ok Princess?" I ask her.
"I'm fine Bruce, honestly. Just, go enjoy the rest of the night." She asks, attempting to pull away from me to let me go have my 'fun'. Her attempts fails as I stick to her purposely.
"You're not fine. My night wouldn't be anything without you there" I tell her. She simply just looks up at me and smiles slightly. All the tears in her eyes just turn into sparkles in her eyes as she shows happiness to me.
The moment I've been dreading has possibly arrived. It's been in the back of my head now. The decision of whether I should also tell her just how much she means to me, or whether I should just be cold one more time, to end all of this. Her neck muscles start to tense, indicating to me that she's moving her head forwards. It's like I'm watching it in slow motion. Do I pull away or move in? Her eyes slowly start to close as her lips start to move together, forming a pout shape. As much as it's slow motion Bruce, time's still running out I think to myself. I feel my palms heating up nervously for my decision. I probably have about 0.7 seconds to finalise my choice. Her chin moves forward, finalising her choice and action. Bruce, hurry up and pick I tell myself.
I feel the chains around my heart drop in an instant.
My lips met hers. I waste no time in reciprocating to power in the kiss. Surprisingly enough, she stops and opens her eyes at me, clearly amazed at what just happened.
"I made my choice" I said to her. She starts smiling as her eyes fill up again, this time it's tears of joy.
I move back in to her this time, making sure she's aware of what's happening. She doesn't hesitate to kiss back. The kiss was long and meaningful. We stop to breath.
"Let's enjoy the night Mrs Prince" I demand, extending my arm to the direction to get back into the building (the main doors).
"Ok" she replies softly, letting me take her. To be honest, her alcoholic state seems to have decreased a lot in the last few minutes of all this happening. Maybe her fast metabolism has finally broken down the alcohol enough to the point of her becoming 'sober' again. Either way, I walk back up the alleyway with her, arm resting around her neck.