I've been waiting hours for this,
I made myself so sick - Close To Me, The Cure.

"You said what to him?" The Joker was sat on the couch, his usual jittery manner had returned to him from the last time she had saw him, and he seemed to be laughing so much he was in pain.

She shifted somewhat uncomfortably, he had a habit of making her squirm by just being near.

"He was a first class dick." She mumbled, keeping her head down and pretended to study her hands. He was making her nervous now, his laughter was so… sininster. She couldn't look at him, she was a little too scared to see his face.
Slowly his laughter subsided, and when she dared to look up she saw him leaning back in his chair, signature smirk plastered to his face with his arms resting on the sides of the chair.

"You still got balls, huh." He blinked,

"No, I haven't." Edie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, her upper lip twitching,

"No, I mean you still got… uh, what's the word? Nerves? No.. Not not nerves. Courage? No, you haven't got courage.. Too much of a pushover for that. You knowwhat I mean."

She nodded her head, takings things too literally had been a problem the past few days. She felt as if she always had to be on watch, always on edge incase there was someone, or something out to get her. Being so close to The Joker brought her fear, and a strange feeling of being protected.

"Sorry, my head's in another world today." She mumbled again, pulling her shoulders into a shrug before rolling her head back, practically sprawled out on the couch. The Joker gave a snort and shook his head, his fingers tapping against the chair.

"You're always in another world, babe."

"Yeah, right. Sure." She nodded her head briskly before leaning forward, elbows on her knees as she looked over at him. His eyebrow was raised, fingers now splayed out across the armrest of his chair.

"Something wrong?" He asked, a hint of humour in his voice.

"Yes.. Why are you here?" She couldn't help herself, she was determined to know whether or not he was playing her for a fool, but the more she thought about it the more she realized he would never tell her the truth, his expertise at lying was far too much for her to comprehend.

"That's none of your business, babe." He drawled, lifting his wrist to his face before pushing back the sleeves of his shirt. He gave a dramatic sigh, and Edie couldn't help but tilt her head as if to question him. The Joker noticed, and with an exaggerated smack of his lips finally spoke, his voice soft and gentleman-like for once, "Do you have the time?"

She glanced down at her wrist, nodding her head as she struggled to read the backwards watch on her wrist,

"It's… Two am."

"Reaaalllyyy?" He stretched out his words, nodding his head whilst poking his tongue around his mouth, the look of his cheek protruding from his face was a strange sight, especially as his scars became more exaggerated and looked as if they were about the just slice themselves open. "Well, if that's the time then I really must be going." He jumped to his feet in one swift movement and pulled his purple coat from the floor, throwing it on carelessly as he made a move towards the door.

He was leaving again, she realized after watching him get ready to exit the house, and before she could stop herself she'd pushed herself upwards and fled to the door, kicking it closed and backed up against it. He wasn't going to leave this time, not without an explanation.

"And what do you think you're doing?" He whispered, he stood a good few inches taller than her, which made the situation even more intimdating. His knife slid out from the sleeve of his pocket and he brought it up to her face, delicately tracing it across the soft skin of her cheek. He pressed the blade against her skin, but not hard enough to cut it into her flesh. "C'mon, I'm waiting. I'm a busy man, I've got, uh.. work to do, things to plan."

She gulped as the sting of a knife cutting into her skin echoed through her pain. It didn't feel too deep, more like a scratch. It was still a mark though, and he had promised he wouldn't hurt her.

"You're leaving again?" She whispered, fearing that If she let her voice go above that level then it'd crack, and he'd see how weak she was.

"Like I said before, I'll be back. We really do have too much catching up to do." He grinned, his knife now tracing down her neck, again not enough pressure to actually cut her skin.

"When will you be back?" Why was she even asking this? She shouldn't want him in her house, she shouldn't even want him in her life. But she couldn't stop herself, something was drawing her to him. Maybe it was their past, the fact that she had never been able to move on. And now he was here, but showing no interest.

"Soon enough, I've got stuff to do until then. Soooo, if you wouldn't mind, ah.. scooting away from the door, so I can come back quicker." He tongue snaked out from between his lips as he licked at his scars, motioning with his knife-free hand for her to get out of the way. The feeling of his blade against her skin forced her to react, and she slipped out of his grasp with ease before stumbling towards the seat where he had only previously been sitting.

He didn't even look over his shoulder at her, he just walked out the door. Manical laughter following him over the way. She had a funny feeling that tonight was going to be a sleepless night

Her night had indeed been sleepless, she'd barely been able to keep her eyes closed. She sat at the counter in work, head resting on her forearms.

"Edieee, Edie wake up." She heard a voice drifting into her mind and she swatted her arms out in an attempt to bat the noises away,

"Piss off, I'm trying to sleep.." She mumbled, still half in her dream land.

"Edith, you wake up now." The voice suddenly became stern and she sat up with a jolt, staring around at her surroundings in confusion.

"Wha-"

"Ah, she awakes!"

Edie blinked as her vision shifted back into focus, in front of her was her boss. He was chuckling, good. That meant he wasn't mad.

"I'm sorry, Paolo, I had a rough night, I guess.

"It's okay, I understand. But wake up now, you're costing me money, girl!" He threw his hands in the air dramatically and stalked off, but she could still hear his laughter. Smiling to herself, she re-tied her apron around her waist and picked up a couple of menus from the counter. She felt a buzz from her jean pocket, who would be phoning her at this time?

She fished in her pocket for her phone and pressed the screen. An unopened message reminder flashed impatiently,

"I'm coming 'round tonight - J"

How the hell did he get her phone number? Had he been snooping around her documents and phone when she wasn't looking, or had he been snooping around on her in a much more sinister sense. Reading all her bills, documents. Any file that featured her name.
No, she wouldn't count herself as that special.

She began tapping out a message, for once taking on a more friendly tone. She didn't have to be so scared of him now that he wasn't around

"Don't I have a choice in the matter? Bring food! – Edie x"

Was the kiss too distasteful? Would he take it the wrong way and think she was being overbearing?
Too late, she'd already clicked reply.

Right on cue, The Joker burst through her kitchen door as she had expected.
She'd been sat on the kitchen table waiting for about half-hour, for an unpredictable man he was quite predictable.

"I knew you were going to do that." She said, he threw his arms wide into the air, holding a white plastic bag in one.

"Well, you do know me the best." He replied, setting the bag down next to her at the table.

"Or maybe you're just predictable?"

He rolled his eyes and moved over to the wooden cupboards, opening one containing plates before pulling out two blue ones. Setting them down on the counter before spinning around on his heel, snatching the bag from the table.

How had he known where she kept the plates and cutlery? Had he really been snooping through her stuff?

"Wait, how did you know where they were?" She queried, daring herself to stand up and wander a bit closer to him.

"Just do." He replied once more

"Or maybe you've been looking through my house when I'm not around?" Her voice raised in pitch slightly, she was totally unknowing of whether she should be pissed off or amused,

"Or maybe you're just predictable." He shot back, mimicking her voice perfectly. She felt herself begin to laugh before going to sit back down in her chair, watching his jerky movements closely.

"What did you bring?" She piped up, raising her eyebrows when he spun around, holding two platefuls of food.

"Well you did tell me to bring food, so I stopped off at a Chinese."

"What? Someone might have seen you! You've got your make-up on!"

His eye widened as he nodded slowly, rolling his eyes before moving towards the door to the hallway. "Are you actually worried about people seeing me?" He laughed, shaking his head before kicked her forward with his foot, propelling her straight into the living room. "You're a strange girl." His voice followed behind her and he flopped back on the couch, placing his plate offood on his lap as he patted the spot next to him. "Sit. It'll get cold."

She obeyed and sat next to him and picked up her plate, settling back against the couch with her legs folded. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed him wolfing down the food, eyes focused on the television which she had forgotten to turn off. The Gotham News was on, it figured. The onlything he was interestedin was watching a show which would almost certainly feature him.

She played around with her food, pushing the noodles in different directions with her fork.

"Why'd you take the food out of the carton?"

He didn't even turn to face her as he replied, his gaze focused solely on the tv, "I eat out of cartons every night at home, sometimes a change is nice."

"Home?" She quizzed, he had a home? She just imagined him drifting around night later night, "Where is home?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "You'll find out."
He didn't say anything else for the rest of the night, the plates ended up on the floor and she found herself curled into The Joker's body, his arm draped across her shoulders as she fell into a sleep. She knew that when she woke up in the morning he wouldn't be there.