Chapter 7: Closer to Love

A/N: Here we go again! Oh yeah….more seks! Just a lil bit though. It was fun. I'm not gonna lie.


Bruce walked the streets that night happier than he should be. He did, however, catch 3 drug dealers notorious for selling to kids and a known rapist. It had been a good night and it would be an even better morning once he got to his penthouse and into bed with Emily. When he got there though, instead of finding Emily he found a note on top of his shirt.

Bruce,

I'm sorry. Aimee called me, crying, and I had to go get her. I'm so sorry.
I'll talk to you later. Maybe we could go on our fourth official date.

Love,

Emily

He crumpled the note up, threw it away and went to take a shower. He'd really been looking forward to spending time with Emily. A lot of time with Emily. It was just a couple of hours, right?

--

When Emily had gotten Aimee and Brandon's apartment she had seen her emotional pregnant friend slashing the tires on her husband's truck. She hung her head in dismay, put the car in park, and got out.

"Aimee!" She yelled.

"Oh! Good! You're here. Here," She handed her a kitchen knife. "Help me so we can leave."

"Aimee, you've got to stop!"

"Why? That cheating bastard wants to cheat let him! But let him have fun getting new tires for his stupid truck with no money!"

"Aimee, honey, come on. Let's go to my house." She said pulling her slowly away from the truck, eyeing the knife.

"Ok." She sniffled, suddenly more sad than angry. Emily led her to her car and drove to her apartment listening to the sad tale of her best friend walking in on her husband's philandering ways.

"Aims, I'm sorry." She said once she had sat her down on her couch.

"I mean...I'm pregnant with his child and he cheats on me?" She asked and put her hand on her stomach. "I'll take care of you baby girl, all by myself if I have to."

"And of course you're auntie Emily will help." She said to Aimee's stomach then looked back to Aimee. "Remember that next you want to slash someone's tires."

"Should've gotten his seats too." She muttered, and Emily let out a short laugh before she turned to her. "What do I do now? I mean…I cleaned out his bank account and the joint bank account. It's a lot of money."

"Sounds like you need a lawyer."

"A top notch lawyer that he will pay for! I'll let the state appoint him one when he's arrested."

"Arrested?"

"Oh yeah, I kind of…planted child porn on his computer and sent an anonymous e-mail to the cops…"

"Remind me never to piss you off."

"Emmie, thank you for coming and getting me."

"Anytime, Aims anytime." And they sat on Emily's couch, Aimee's head on her shoulder. Later that night when Aimee had finally gone to sleep on Emily's couch Emily debated on whether to call Bruce. She should probably wait but she didn't want him to worry. "I'll call him in the morning." She decided and went to bed, hoping to dear god he didn't show up and scare Aimee. The next morning Emily went down to the Police Station with Aimee to get her schedule, but was informed by Gordon that it wasn't ready yet. When she exited his office she found that Aimee was not in the waiting area. She looked around but couldn't find her; finally she decided to go to her office and figured that Aimee would find her there. She did, but not without bringing someone along with her.

"Hi, Emmie."

"Oh, hi. Now we can go…" She stopped when she saw James enter after Aimee.

"Emily, this is James…"

"St. James." She finished. "We know each other Aims. We work here."

"Of course…I knew that. Anyway, James and I are going to go get some lunch."

"Aimee…"

"Emmie, I'm fine to go to lunch."

"Emily, don't worry. I'll take good care of her…in her delicate condition." He said, motioning slightly to her stomach.

"You'd better." Emily muttered as they left and instantly regretted letting them leave. Aimee was at an emotional state in her life and didn't need James St. James sweeping her off her soon to be swollen feet….and she wasn't even divorced! "Oi." She murmured and as she was walking out of the police station her phone rang. "Hello?"

'Emily?' Bruce's voice came through the phone.

"Oh! Bruce, I'm sorry I didn't call last night Aimee…"

'It's ok. Want to get some lunch? You look famished.'

"What? Where are you?" A smile instantly broke out on her face and she looked around until she found him across the street. She closed her phone and crossed the street. "Hi."

"Hi." He said and leaned down to kiss her and she melted like butter.

"So, how was last night and the night before? Everything go ok?" She asked after they had broken away, her face worried now.

"Better than fine."

"No injuries?"

"Nope, you can do a full body check if you want." He said with a smirk.

"Maybe later…if you're lucky." She said. She started walking and he followed.

"How was your night at the penthouse? Did you sleep well?"

"I did sleep very well actually. You're bed is like heaven but fluffier." She said and he smirked.

"It was imported from London."

"Really?" 'Don't you ask him how much, you'll only doubt this relationship if you do.' Her brain said so she took a deep breath and kept walking.

"What's the matter?" He asked.

"What? Nothing... Bruce, as much as I want this relationship…or whatever this is to work…I've seen the differences between our worlds. I know its kind of late to be having doubts….do you not think about this stuff? Or am I the only one who's going stark raving mad?" He shook his head.

"Emily, if I cared about what people thought about whom I dated or the differences in our background…I would still date you."

"Wow…if I had known you were gonna pull that out I wouldn't have even brought it up." She said playfully.

"Where do you want to eat?"

"There's a nice little bistro just up the street. My treat?" When he made a face, she added, "Bruce. This is how relationships, or whatever, work: Lunch, dinner, splitting the bill, paying for each other."

"I know." He said gruffly when they arrived at the bistro.

"Bruce, don't make that face. I'm more than happy to pay for you."

"I'm more than happy to pay for you too." He pointed out.

"Not the same." She said as the waiter showed them to her seat. "I never get to buy things for you and I have a feeling I'm not going to have many chances in the future."

"So what happened to Aimee?" He asked.

"She caught…her husband cheating on her."

"Oh."

"Yeah but she also cleaned out his bank account and their joint account…and then put child porn on his computer..."

"Remind me never to piss her off." He said.

"And then…she slashed his tires on his new truck…and now she's out with James."

"As in…St. James?"

"Yes and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." After lunch had gone so smoothly, and Emily had paid, they went for a walk in the park.

"I know it's going to be hard trying to 'date' me." He said suddenly.

"What?"

"I know this is going to be hard and we're going to have to work at it….but I want to. I can't change the fact that I lead a double life or that I'm stalked by the journalists of Gotham."

"Bruce, I've dealt with that for 6 years. You think I'm gonna give up on you now? No way. Listen," She started again when didn't say anything. "Right now we're just….friends who…"

"Have seen each other naked?" He interrupted and she started to laugh.

"Exactly. I mean…you know…considering I just gave in without any question and fell into bed with you and we're not gonna let the sex change us. Nothing serious…not yet…"

"Oh so there's hope?"

"There's always hope." She answered with an honest smile and they kept walking. When they got close enough Bruce slipped his hand into hers. After their walk in the park they headed to Emily's apartment, but not before a journalist behind the bushes took their picture. Just before dusk they parted ways at Emily's door and an hour later Aimee waltzed in.

"Where have you been?"

"Where have you been?" She countered.

"I was with…Bruce."

"I was with James…and don't say anything we just had lunch and talked."

"I wasn't gonna say anything."

"Liar…I can read you sweeting, you were going to say 'Aimee, you need to remember that you're not divorced yet.' Right?"

"No." She said after a minute and then grinned.

"Well you'll be happy to know that I actually did file for divorce today and soon I will be done with that cheating man-whore."

"Why would I be happy about divorce?" A couple of months later she woke up to the sound of laughter in her kitchen. One voice she could discern as Aimee's but the man's voice she couldn't place. It couldn't have been Bruce's his was a bit lower that this one's. She stuck her head out of the bedroom door and gasped at what she saw. There in her kitchen, at her table, was none other than James St. James eating pancakes with Aimee, who was now officially divorced and 4 months pregnant. She took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen.

"Oh! Hi, Emmie! We made pancakes!" She said with the enthusiasm of a 3-year old.

"Hi." She turned to James. "What are you doing here?"

"I-"

"He came to see me." Aimee cut him off.

"Oh really?"

"Well, both of you…." He said but didn't look at her and looked at Aimee.

"And…"Aimee started, her face serious.

"What?"

"You should see this." James pushed a copy of The Gotham Times towards her. When she picked it up a huge glaring headline stared back at her: Bruce Wayne and Mystery Woman enjoy stroll in Gotham Park and then in smaller letters: Who is she? Not one of his usual conquests to be sure. Under the headline was a picture of them laughing as they walked through the park that day months ago and she closed her eyes as if in pain.

"Gordon and Lucius are gonna kill us."

"What about Alfred?" James asked.

"Aimee!" She said lightly but was still annoyed. "Why don't you tell him?" Aimee's mouth turned upwards in a grin.

"We pretty much got them together." She told him.

"I'm glad someone's been messing in my best friends' life while I was away." He said.

---

Across town in Wayne Tower Lucius Fox picked up the exact same paper that Emily had just read and almost choked on his coffee. He stared at the picture for a couple of seconds before his face darkened in anger. How could she not tell him? How could he date her? He had trusted Bruce to take care of Emily. Not turn her into one of his…conquests! And she let him! Lucius grabbed his coat and put it on as he walked out the door of his office. As Lucius was walking out of his office across town Commissioner James Gordon was doing exactly the same thing for he too had just read the article that was in The Gotham Times and was on his way to Emily's apartment.

--

"Well I might as well take a shower and get dressed." Emily sighed after she had finished her cup of coffee.

"Why?" Aimee asked.

"Well because any minute now Lucius or Gordon or Gordon and Lucius are going to be knocking on that door. So I might as well." Approximately 35 seconds after she had taken a shower and gotten dressed there was a knock in the door. "See?" She asked Aimee and opened the door, a big smile on her face, to a very angry Lucius and Gordon. "Hi, guys. Boss man…Godfather." They pushed past her and stood in the middle of the living room…glaring. "Could you stop glaring?" She asked.

"No!" They answered simultaneously.

"Ok." She said and retreated. Aimee stifled her laughter in the background.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lucius asked.

"We just wanted to be sure that we wanted to date before we told anyone."

"Why him?" Gordon asked.

"What do you mean, why him?"

"I mean…why someone who will more than likely disappoint you? I don't want to see you hurt."

"I'm a big girl Jim. Even if I do get hurt…which I won't." She said quickly. "I think I'll be able to handle it all by myself."

"Emily I've known you for 12 years. I know when you're hurting and I just think that Mr. Wayne is a…"

"Is a what?" Came a new voice from the doorway. They all looked up to see Bruce standing in the doorway and Aimee almost fell out of her chair laughing. She stood up quickly and went into Emily's room to laugh.

"Oh! Bruce. How are you?" Emily smiled.

"Fine, thank you. So what's with the family gathering?" He asked as the glares from Lucius and Gordon turned on him.

"Oh well….this." She handed him the paper.

"I see." He said slowly.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry." He said to her.

"It's fine, I'm not worried actually….it's them you have to worry about." She looked at Gordon and Lucius who were still glaring.

"Emily is my girlfriend." He stated in a businesslike manner to the two men. "I know you both care for her and I do too. I don't plan on hurting her in any way. Would you like to join us for lunch?" He asked, still very calmly and Emily looked at him with a slight smile on her face.

"So we're going to lunch?"

"Yes." He turned to her, his face softening a bit.

"I will go too." Lucius muttered.

"Me too." Gordon murmured, looking deep in thought.

"Aimee?" Bruce called.

"Be right there!" She called back and when she entered the room they saw that she had changed. "I'm so hungry."

"You had pancakes with James earlier!" Emily said. "Where is James?"

"The precinct." Bruce answered. "Shall we?" He said and ushered them out the door. At lunch Emily watched Bruce charm her boss and godfather all over again while stealing surreptitious glances at her. 'Such a sweet talker.' She thought and silently smiled to herself before Aimee interrupted her thoughts.

"You're boyfriend is such a sweet talker. I mean if I wasn't pregnant, getting a divorce, and I didn't love you to death I'd be all over that. He's like Obama, so charismatic."

"He's nothing like Obama…trust me." She smiled.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You haven't seen Obama naked." After lunch they all said their goodbye's at the restaurant's door. Aimee went back to her own apartment now that it was empty, Lucius went back to Wayne Tower, and Gordon went back to work which left only Emily and Bruce to go home together.

"You handled that really well." Emily said once they got to the penthouse.

"Did I?" He said feigning innocence.

"Of course you did sweet talker, but…I was getting kind of fond of sneaking around with you."

"Oh you were?"

"Yeah but I guess we'll never know."

"We could always pretend that today never happened." He said and pulled her against him.

"Could we now?" She asked as he lowered his head to hers.

"Of course we could." He said before he lowered his head down to kiss her. She stood on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around his neck. A shudder ran down his spine. A low moan escaped from his throat as he hitched both of her legs up around his waist her heels falling off in the process. She pulled back breathless.

"You're not going to be able to hold me up." She laughed.

"You are perfect." He whispered and carried her up the stairs, if only to prove a point, raining kisses all over her face and neck. On the way up she worked at opening the buttons to his shirt while simultaneously taking off her own. She kissed his strong throat as his tie came undone at her lithe fingertips. He laid her down on the bed and slowly, almost reverently, starting unrolling her stockings savoring every whimper that passed through her lips. "Bruce, oh!" She pleaded when he starting kissing up from her ankle until he reached the folds of her sex, taking her clitoris into his mouth without hesitation. She arched her back, crying out. He placed her knees over his shoulders and feasted on her until she was murmuring incoherently. He brought her to the brink of orgasm before he stopped abruptly.

"Bruce, please!"

"Please what?" He asked, placing kisses on her thighs.

"Make…me…come…" She moaned and he went back to work. She grasped for the headboard of his bed and held on tightly. The orgasm was shattering and when she came down from the euphoria of it, with him murmuring everything and nothing in her ear. She felt his big erection against her and she steeled herself again for another orgasm. She wrapped her legs around his thighs pulling him closer and tilted her hips up to receive him. He braced his hands on the mattress around her and pounded deeper into her and deeper still until their movements became frenzied and frantic. Their breathing became shorter and with a groan they came at once together. He collapsed to the side of her, still breathing hard.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of that." She breathed heavily and he smiled, fully ready to do it again. Later, when Emily was secure in sleeping Bruce's arm she whispered the three words that she couldn't bring herself to say out loud. "I love you."

---

A couple of days later Emily and Aimee were at Emily's house watching 'Zach and Miri Make a Porno'.

"Emmie, do you really love Bruce?" She asked when the sex scene came on, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth.

"What?"

"I mean have you told him?"

"Told him…."

"That you loved him duh!"

"No, I haven't because I don't love him. We've only been dating a couple of months."

"Coward."

"Don't call me a coward Aimee! I'm just not disillusioned about sex."

"Like romance novel heroines are?"

"Exactly."

"Well maybe…because you're in love… you should be."

"Disillusioned?"

"Yes. It's clear that you both adore each other."

"Ok you need to stop with the romance novels while you're this hormonal. You're really going soft." She said this but deep down something told her that Aimee was right and that scared the hell out of her. The next night she went to work and decided to become disillusioned the very next day. She walked out of office and nearly ran into Bruce.

"Bruce! What are you doing here?" He smiled a pulled a bouquet of roses from behind his back.

"Wow what a trick. You're sure you're not a magician?"

"I'm sure." He said and planted a kiss on her lips. Afterwards she looked around and saw that everyone in the hallway had stopped what they were doing to look at them. She also noticed that every woman in the hallway looked a bit jealous.

"Let's go." She said and pulled him down the hallway. They got into his car and he drove them to her apartment. "We're not going to the penthouse?"

"No, I think we need to be alone."

"Oh." They were silent the rest of the way to the apartment. Once in the apartment, after Emily had taken a shower they sat on the couch. "So what's up?"

"I have to go to London."

"How long will you be gone?"

"3 Days."

"That's not so bad. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

"Bruce…." She started but chickened out and kissed him instead. Maybe it was best not to tell him just yet. God, she was acting like a stupid heroine. It was just three words. How bad could it be? I. Love. You. Apparently too hard. She was a coward. Maybe she could handle being a coward a little bit longer.


A/N: There you go! Hope you liked it! If you didn't…I am SO sorry!

Less than 3! ~ Lola