I must have fallen asleep again for when I opened my eyes, I was the only person tangled up in the silk sheets of the bed. Jack was no longer by my side and and the space where he had been laying was now cold, as if he hadn't been there at all. The effects of the whiskey I had swallowed last night was near non existent save for the small headache in the back of my head. Images of last night were finally coming back to me and I still wasn't sure what to think of it, everything was still so surreal.

It had been a busy day, to say the least. Apart from getting shot in the leg, almost having my brains splattered all over the floor by Two Face and his shiny revolver and drowning myself in whiskey, it had been a thrill-filled day. Although, the dangers of this lifestyle were becoming increasingly evident to me, I was beginning to like it a lot more than my previous life. I was no longer doing the same job day in day out, watching the same shows on tv every night, eating the same microwavable meals every day. Instead, my life had now become a blur of danger, thrills and criminality. I was also sharing this new life with the guy that had stolen me from my old one.

I was learning a lot too. I was beginning to learn that there was more to Gotham than the facade it creates about it being a safe haven due to forces like GCPD and Batman. Underneath that mask, there was a massive criminal underground and more lawbreakers than I care to mention. Every day, I was being educated about shadows like Two Face and other more dangerous men in the city. Yet, I wasn't terrified of these people, sure it was intimidating meeting face to face with them, but let's face it, they've been in the game a lot longer than I have. But I was learning.

Surprisingly I had fallen in love, and each and every day I was falling more and more for Jack. In truth, I still know jack shit about the man apart from the really obvious things, but the way he acted around me, it was different. Back at Arkham, I had spoken to Joker, been taunted by him, intimidated by him, he had caused an uneasiness within myself and made me doubt everything that I had ever learned. Jack, well Jack was a whole other person. I wasn't intimidated by him, not one bit, and for once I was sure about myself and the decisions that I had made in the past few weeks. I couldn't leave now, I couldn't give him up to Batman, I was in too deep but I loved it.

It was clear that Joker was a facade to guard himself from his feelings. As I was beginning to understand Jack more, I realised that he had stepped miles out of his comfort zone in order to face his own feelings and connect with mine. For once, he was trying to be himself and I really admired the guy for it. For someone who has suppressed all of this emotion for god knows how many years, keeping it locked up tightly inside of himself and to then suddenly let these feelings loose again, it honestly made me grateful for the way things had turned out. Joker had kidnapped me, but Jack didn't and I guess that's the reason I wasn't so bitter about being taken away from my previous life. Like I said, I was grateful, and it sounds crazy but if Joker had never taken me away then I probably would never have gotten to know Jack and we wouldn't be in this relationship.

I had noticed a radical change in myself too. I remember I used to be the kind of person who always abided by the rules, a real goody-two shoes you could say. I was reluctant for change, for anything different, I liked routine and order and for everything to go according to how I would plan it in my head. Yet, now I was robbing banks, handling guns and just doing whatever the fuck I felt like doing. I was in a relationship with the Clown Prince of Crime and don't forget I fucked him last night after getting smashed on whiskey. If my mother and father could see me now, I have a feeling they would disown me immediately.

Not that I would actually care if they did disown me. My mother has practically been looking for an acceptable reason to do so since I hit puberty. She never approved of any of the things I did, never liked the friends that I used to have, and absolutely hated my career choice. I swear, she almost had a heart attack as soon as I told her where I was working.

"Arkham Asylum?! They're hopeless cases, April."

"But Mom.."

"You'd be better off as an accountant just like your father and I."

"But Mo-"

"Honestly, all of those years of university were wasted on that psychology course."

"Mo-"

"I said to your father we should've intervened."

There was never any getting through to that damn woman. Since I was thirteen I had never been able to get a word in edgeways whilst she was dominating the conversation, which was practically all the time. My father rarely spoke, mostly kept to himself all day every day. Every night he would come home from work, pick up the newspaper and slouch back in his armchair for the majority of the night. He'd flick through the pages, reading only the most interesting articles, and then he'd put it down and head into his office. None of the family were allowed into that office apart from himself, I had never even seen the interior of the room.

The more I think about it, the more I realise that the person I am becoming may be the person I was always meant to be. Living with my parents, I could never be myself, ever. Everything I did during my childhood, I did to try and please my mother, evidently it didn't work. My father neither approved or disapprove, always just nodded in agreement with his wife to prevent her going into a fit of rage. I thought that becoming a psychiatry doctor would please them, make them finally believe that they had a daughter to be proud of but if anything, it's the one career they disapproved of more than any others.

But honestly, if I saw them now I'd probably tell them to go fuck themselves. Mother would probably cry an ocean of tears hearing her daughter swear but if anything she's only brought it upon herself. Then again, I dread to think of what she'd do if she found out I had been an accomplice with a clown killer, robbing a bank. That woman would definitely disown me.

My thought process was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, squeaking a little at the hinges. Jack shuffled in, carrying a tray which I guessed was carrying food. He had gotten dressed and was sporting his purple suit minus the suit jacket, his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and he hadn't bothered putting on his greasepaint. I forgot that I was currently wearing a lot less clothes and began to wrap the bedsheets around my body. I pushed my tangled hair out of my face and leaned back a little as Jack placed the tray on my lap.

"What's this?" I inquired. I looked at what had been laid out on the silver platter and was slightly bemused by what was in front of me. About a dozen slices of blackened toast were placed in a pile in the right corner, more blackened toast that contained burnt bacon between them, eggs that had lost their yolk and a cup of coffee on the left. I had to admire the man's efforts, but it was evident that Jack was not blessed with the gift of cooking.

"It's meant to be breakfast, but I think I screwed it up." He stood beside the bed awkwardly, scratching his head and licking his lips like he habitually did.

"It's the thought that counts." I said, smiling him. Honestly, I thought this was the most adorable thing that any guy had ever done for me, despite the majority of it being inedible, but I took the cup of coffee and placed it on the bedside table before pushing the tray near the edge of the bed.

"I can do better." He said, walking around the bed and throwing himself onto the other side. I realised that I was still naked, and my cheeks began to blush being in such close proximity to Jack, which was strange considering I was very sure that we had engaged in sexual activity just last night. Pull yourself together, April.

"Hey Jack, can I ask you something?" He buried himself in the pillow, looking disappointed that he had little to no skills in the kitchen.

"Sure, doll." He muffled through the pillow.

"Um, what happened last night?" I knew the answer, but dreaded hearing it. I didn't even know why I asked, he knew and I knew, but I guess I just wanted to confirm it so I could safely say that my virginity has been well and truly lost.

"Well, firstly you drank all my whiskey." He lifted his head from the pillow and turned his head to face me so that his voice was no longer muffled by the pillow. "Then we-uh fucked." I knew it. In some way, I felt a little disappointed in myself. Since hitting puberty, I had always refrained from any kind of sexual activity, I hadn't even been kissed until last week, and now I had slept with a guy after getting pissed on a few bottles of whiskey.

In some way, it felt right even though it was totally wrong in my moral code of conduct. I'm glad it had been Jack though, if it had been anyone else I think I would definitely be disgusted with myself. I began to imagine a scenario where I had ended up with Jonathan Crane instead of Jack and instantly I began to throw up a little in my mouth at the thought of doing the hanky panky with my old professor. Nope, image must be deleted from brain, just look at Jack. Okay, that's better. I took a sip of coffee before sliding down next to him, placing my head on his chest.

Jack put his arms around me in a sort of protective way, we stayed like this for a while and I was pretty sure it was nearing late afternoon, and I began to feel extremely lazy for staying in bed all day. Then again, I had had a busy night so I no longer felt too lazy. My eyes were closed and I was on the verge of drifting off to sleep. Suddenly, Jack jolted and interrupted my going to sleep, at first I thought he was getting out of bed but he was only repositioning himself. He propped himself up on one elbow, the other arm still placed over my stomach and I buried my head into his chest taking in his strange scent that always carried the smell of gunpowder with it.

"You're good you know." I heard him say in a low voice.

"Huh?" I mumbled into his chest.

"Sex. You're good." I could sense he was smirking with his words. He was definitely enjoying this. Personally, I just wanted to lay here and go to sleep.

"Oh hush now, Jack, we both know that's a lie." I turned over to the other side of the bed and he followed so that he ended up spooning me,

"I'm serious, doll." He leaned in close and whispered to me, this always gave me goosebumps running down my spine. "You got some moves in the bedroom, baby." I grabbed the blanket and threw it over my head, burying myself from Jack's words. It felt nice being complicated on my performance in bed, but it still felt strange hearing it from him.

"Hey, don't hide from the truth, dollface." He ripped the blanket from my grip and held my hand gently in his so that I could no longer hide my face. He gave me a gentle peck on the forehead, trailing kisses down my nose and left cheek until he reached my neck. I gasped slightly as I realised he was leaving a little love bite there and a moan accidentally escaped my lips.

"Round 2?" He asked between kisses. I let out a small giggle.

"Maybe after some decent breakfast."