Chapter Seven: Temper Tantrum

London. It didn't seem all that spectacular to Jessica.

It was just a British city with millions of people who had the same accent as Kilgrave and gave her a sick feeling in her stomach. The flight was only seven hours long but because of the time difference, it was already past ten p.m. when they landed.

As usual, Kilgrave "borrowed" someone's nice apartment, where he determined they'd stay until he found somewhere nicer. Much to Jessica's protest of course.

Yes, after they exited the plane, she reverted back to her normal self. The opposite of relaxed, questioning and criticising every move he made. The events of the flight boiled her blood now. Jesus fucking christ, he was still and evil bastard. An evil bastard with the emotional processing of a child.

He refrained from giving out any more orders to her because her would need her clear headed for the idea that he would propose to her later, hoping more than anything that it'd be good enough for her.

The young couple who pre-occupied the apartment were told to clean the place up to his liking and go on living their lives quietly, but to always stay out of his way. He would most likely use them occasionally to do things for him, which is why they were allowed to stick around. That is until he got better workers. Jessica stares at him as he tells the pair of them that they can go sleep together in the closet now. Out of sight, out of mind. It made Jessica queasy.

When they're alone, she says, "You haven't changed at all, have you?" Her voice sounds more hurt than angry, but she looks disgusted in him.

"Did you expect me to?!" He had gotten more irritable after they got off the plane because of how she felt the need to voice everything on her mind. He glares at her, his jaw clenching.

"I mean, yeah! I expected you to grow up!"

"Grow up?! Please Jessica. I had to grow up the moment my parents abandoned me! You have no idea what that was like."

"For fucks sake, can you stop using that as an excuse for your psychotic behavior?! Am I supposed to have sympathy? Aww, poor little Kevin. Tortured his mummy and daddy after they saved his life, and they left him for it. Boo hoo. Get over it and take responsibility for once in your pathetic life!" It wasn't easy for her to forget the last time she crossed the line by talking about his parents like that. It was less than a day ago, and she could still feel the soreness every time she moved her mouth. But in the heated moment, it was almost worth the risk.

It took Kilgrave an abundant amount of willpower not to tell Jessica to bite the tip of her tongue off and eat it. The only patience he had was because he brought it up first. So before he says anything else, he takes a long, deep breath, fighting his own temper. "I suggest you tread carefully before you do something you regret."

"Oh you mean before I say something that pisses you off too much? Great. So now you're threatening me. That's very grown up of you." His eyes narrow, but she goes on anyway. "You can be better than that. And I know you can be, because I saw it in you when we were at my house." Now she sounds less aggressive and more sincere. "I mean, you still had a long way to go and way more to learn about not being a manipulative asshole… but you were better. Better than this. You actually helped someone! And you enjoyed it! Why can't you-"

"Oh, Jessica…" Cutting in, he lets out a laugh of pity as if she didn't understand something very simple. "I was trying to impress you. Of course I was different then. I was different because I believed you'd stay and help me to be more like you! All that hero bullocks you do to clear your conscious of the shitting things you've done in the past. And then, you squandered that opportunity."

"I 'squandered' that opportunity?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Yes. You did." He growls back. "I was learning with you there! We could have accomplished so much together. But you thought it would be better to drug me and lock me in a cage, right?!" There was fire in his eyes, and a slight amount of fear in hers. Because he had a good point and she knew that. "Be honest now." He didn't want to have to command it, but he needed her to admit he was right for once. "After all of the destruction and devastation that came in your life once you tried to lock me up, was it worth it? If you could go back and do it again, would you have stayed with me in that house? Should you have stayed with me?"

Lowering her head, she tries to think of a way to be honest without sounding pathetic at the same time. But there really was no way. "I should have stayed with you. Trying to fight you was reckless and selfish. I wanted justice. More importantly, I wanted revenge. I wanted to hurt you. But if there was a chance that staying with you would have stopped you from hurting more people, it was stupid of me not to take it. Instead, I tried to fix the unfixable."

Her answer satisfied him. He was right. She was wrong. "Thank you for your honesty." He says as if it were her choice.

"Now you tell me something. Honestly." Obviously she couldn't force him to but she trusted that he would at least make an effort. "Do you really think you would be able to control that temper of yours, just because you would have me as your little housewife?"

"What?"

"I mean~ wouldn't you still be telling people to go fuck themselves if they pissed you off or even if you were just in a bad mood?! Let's say for example… oh, I don't know. Telling an eighty year old couple to pretend to be terrorists, just because you have a stick up your ass?!"

"Is that what this is about?!" To not piss her off anymore than she already was, he stifles his laugh and just smirks instead. "You didn't seem to care at the time."

"You know damn well why I 'didn't care'!" She snaps.

"Look. I don't know what I would have been like if you had continued voluntarily living with me. But it could've been different. It would've been different, and you know that. Your decision for justice, or revenge, or whatever you want to call it, resulted in the loss of life, and the extended suffering of the people around you. And that's just something you're going to have to live with." He grins, taking a few steps closer to her until he's directly in front of her. "This situation might not be voluntary for you now, but I'm sure you can still try. To make me 'better'." Knowing that she would most likely do nothing about it, he leans down and whispers, his lips brushing against hers when he speaks. "Try and change me, Jessica Jones."

A command that she had already planned on carrying out.

*****TEMPER TANTRUM*****

Him kissing her was getting annoyingly out-of-hand. But he was right about her not doing anything about it, because she knew that kissing was the least of her worries. Eventually, he would want more. He would always want more. And what could she do about that?

He had decided he would take the bed and Jessica could take the couch. At least right now, he wasn't making her sleep in the same bed as him.

An hour or so ago, he had gone off for the night, after instructing her not to leave the apartment room or do anything he wouldn't approve of.

That was left to interpretation, even though it covered a wide range of things. It bothered her that she knew him well enough to know what he did and didn't approve of, and there was basically no way to get around that. The first thing she thought of doing was calling Trish. He definitely wouldn't approve that. The second thing was killing him in his sleep. Obviously that was off the table. The third was drinking. This one was probably flexible with him. He didn't mind if she drank, just not to the extent of gaining alcohol poisoning. That was good enough for her.

After scouring the cabinets and the fridge, all she could find was a six pack of beers. For her, it wouldn't even be enough for her to get truly drunk on, but it would have to do. As long as she didn't pass out or something, she was still in the guidelines.

Apparently, neither of them could sleep, because Kilgrave exits the bedroom after restlessly laying in bed due to jet lag, planning on sitting by Jessica to watch her sleep. It tended to relax him back when they were together before. But he was surprised the find her sitting up on the sofa with four crushed beer cans by her feet and a fifth in her hand, that she took a long drink from.

He stood in only his pants, staying in the doorframe until she looks up at him.

Judging by his almost nudity, she rolls her eyes and finishes off her fifth beer, before crumpling it in her hand like a piece of paper. "Couldn't sleep?" She smirks, picking up the last can.

Instead of answering, he raises his eyebrow and asks, "Trying to drink yourself to death?"

"Would that be so bad?"

"Yes." Walking to her, he grabs the can from her hand, and tosses it aside before she can open it. "I disapprove."

"You know, there used to be a time when you loved when I drank. I was more fun to fuck around with in bed when I was drunk, right?" She wasn't drunk now, or even that tipsy, but it was apparent that her thought process was a bit clouded.

"We aren't going to talk about this right now." It was too late at night to be arguing with her again.

Alternatively, he sits down on the sofa next to her, biting his tongue. He wanted so badly to tell her to take her clothes off. Sitting beside her while he was nearly naked, he could practically taste the sexual tension in the air. It had been so long since they were intimate together, and he longed for her body every time he was near her. She had been so unbearably frustrating almost all day and it was only their first full day reunited. It seemed like the more she frustrated him, the more he wanted her. For right now, he refrains, knowing that he couldn't afford to make her hate him anymore right now. He had to remember the objective for the long run: love, not sex. He would have to settle for the occasional kiss to hold him off.

"Since you're up, we might as well have this conversation now." He says, trying to ignore the fact that he could smell her from where he sat.

"What conversation?" Noticing how close he was to her, she slides away from him a bit.

"We should discuss our compromise."


Author's note:

So I lied. This chapter was kinda a quick one, and didn't do into their compromise like I thought it would. Chapter 8 is already in the works tho, I just didn't wanna rush it. Tell me something, are the chapters going too slow? Like should I skip a certain amount of time and check in on them later? I'd love to hear some more feedback! Thanks!

Special shout out to BethanyRose92 tho! You are one of the reasons I'm still publishing and publishing fast!