Author's Note:
ARHHH, how long has it been since the last time I updated?? I know that I have probably let many of my readers down, and when I first post the new chapter it is most likely no good. :( But at least here it is and I promise that it won't be so long time till the next one and it will be much better. Meanwhile you can read it and then say what you think of it.

Have a nice time reading. :)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Batman Begins/The Dark Knight because then I would have to be God!

Chapter 25

For as long as she could remember, reading had always been Lori's passion. She loved books and everything about them excited her. Though she never had been anywhere outside Gotham, she felt like she had travelled the world. Just reading books was an adventure and when she did she would never feel alone. Every book would love her when she opened them. That was what she loved about them. They were unprejudiced.

As Bruce had told her to do, Lori had stayed in bed, but after just lying in bed there for some time she had got bored. Though Alfred had insisted her to stay where she was, he, however, had assisted her downstairs.

She glanced at her surroundings from where she sat, curled up on a comfortable leather arm chair in the library. The room was large yet cozy and the walls were painted creamy white. Lori noticed that this room was the only one where the floor was a carpet. The carpet was a dark blue. Floor to ceiling built in bookshelves lined one wall. Hardback and paperback books filled every inch of the oak shelves. To her right was a window that looked out over the great garden, and in front of her there was a small table. Since she couldn't walk that good, Alfred had gathered some books he suggested would be enjoyable for her and placed them on the table.

Lori leaned a bit forward to take a closer look at them. Just then the door opened and Alfred, wearing a black blazer with a white shirt inside and his black dress pants, stepped into the room.

Alfred stood next to one of the bookshelves, gazing at the teenager. "There is someone here to see you, Lori," said the butler. "I don't know who he is, but he is asking to visit you. He's a very fine young man, I must say."

"Let him in please."

"Yes, Miss Lori." Alfred did an elegant movement, almost like a bow, and made his way out. Lori rolled her eyes; she couldn't stand him calling her 'Miss' all the time.

"Lori!" The familiar voice came from the door, and Edward ran towards her with his arms out. Wrapping his arms around her, he gave her a massive hug. "Hi," he said simply as he let her go.

Lori didn't say anything in response, just stared at him for a long while.

"What's the matter? You look like you're frozen like a statue." Edward chuckled at her. He brushed his hand over her right cheek. "You don't seem happy to see me," he whispered, turning.

"No I am," Lori said quickly, coughing slightly. "I just didn't expect to see you, uhm… here."

Edward turned back to face her with a sheepish grin. "How could you ever think such things about me? Lori, I'm your friend and I was worried. I heard about what happened to you yesterday. The Joker and all of it… must have been so awful for you."

Edward paused and walked around the chair she was seated in till he came to the couch where he sat down. "So as your friend I just wanted to check up on you. " Lori sat there, waiting for Edward to continue. "To see if you were ok."

Lori raised a smile at his thoughtfulness. They were interrupted as there was a light knock on the door again.

"I apologize for interrupting," Alfred said as he opened the door.

"No, it is just alright," Lori replied.

The elderly man smiled slightly. "Miss Lori, I was just wondering if you and your friend would like anything to drink or to eat, perhaps. If you ask me, I would say that this would be the perfect time to eat lunch."

Lori glanced towards the clock, one o'clock in the morning and indeed time for lunch, but she wasn't that hungry. She peaked at Edward who noticed it and gave her a swift wink as his response. "I'm sorry Alfred, but we're not that hungry at this moment. Perhaps later?"

Alfred nodded, his face wore an expression as if he was discouraged about that she wanted to skip lunch, unknowing that he wore this expression much more often than she was aware of. "As you wish, Miss Lori," he said calmly and exited the room, closing the door behind himself.

Lori moaned and rolled her eyes at Alfred still calling her 'Miss'. She hated it. She sighed and looked back at Edward, putting on a smile. "Now, where were we before the interruption?" she asked him.

"Nothing special, I was just telling you how much I care for you," Edward said, grinning at her.

"I think it's special," Lori said and she knew she was blushing. "You're a good friend, Edward, and it's nice to have you around and have someone to talk to."

Edward's eyes snapped up to meet Lori's and he suddenly beamed at Lori as his hand reached out and took hers. "My feelings are mutual," he said. He then let her go of her hands and leaned back on the couch.

"You know," Lori began, her eyes meeting his again, "we should hang out sometime, to catch up some things. I mean, like when we were kids – we used to be together almost all the time then."

"I agree on that," Edward said smiling and gave her hand a squeeze. "Just like the old days before, but if it's okay with you, I hope we can switch the mudpies with a nice dinner instead."

Lori let out a laugh and smiled. "I think we both can agree on that one. And if I remember correctly, I think I owe you a lunch." Lori paused for a moment and sighed. "I'm really sorry that I just left you there, but I hope you understand my reason for doing it, even though I now know that it was quite stupid of me."

"Of course I understand why you did it and don't feel sorry about it," he said, his face turning soft as he sat back. "I mean - Bruce is your friend and you wanted to ensure that he was okay. There was nothing wrong with what you did and I would say it was just a part of a good friendship. That's what friends do, I mean, looking out for each other, right?"

"I guess you're right. Good friends look out for each other," she said with a smile. "And that's exactly what we all should do, especially when there are times like these."

Edward tilted his head to one side, seeming confused. "What do you mean with 'times like these'?" he asked.

Lori looked Edward in the eye. "Oh come on, you can't say that you haven't noticed?" Her eyes narrowed and she looked incredibly serious.

"Noticed what?" Edward was confused.

Lori rolled her eyes. "For your information – we live in a hellhole! Everyday innocent people are getting killed and the police don't know what to do because they don't know who the new mob leader is. Every second we are being torn apart and now that the Joker is on loose, don't really give us much hope for surviving."

Edward stiffened at these words and his eyes had grown bigger, but he remained silent for a while. She could see that he wanted to say something. Edward opened his mouth, and then closed it as if he couldn't find the words.

"Do you have hope?" he asked her after a while.

Lori smiled slightly, and she noticed that she was now the one with problems finding the words to speak. "Sometimes I like to believe I have it," she answered, her voice barely above a whisper. "I don't know why, but it feels good to have something to hold on to."

Edward snickered. "You're lucky who have it and you make it sound so easy. But as easy as it sounds, not everyone are able to find it. I know that because I haven't." Looking up his eyes met hers and he reached out his hand and touched her face. "Or maybe I have," he whispered gently, stroking her soft skin.

Lori felt warmth in her cheeks and she looked down in embarrassment knowing that she was blushing. Edward tilted her head up again with his fingertips and looking into her eyes, he leaned forward.

His lips had barely touched hers when the door opened, pouring light on them. Edward jumped away from Lori and turned to face whoever had opened the door. Standing in the doorway was Bruce. He was silent, exchanging glances between Lori and Edward. He cleared his throat before he spoke.

"Alfred didn't mention anything about your visitor," he said looking at Lori. "I'm sorry for interrupting your little 'moment'." His tone was sarcastic, Lori could tell that. He walked up to them and smiled cheerfully at Edward.

"Mind if I sit down?"

Edward smiled back in polite and nodded as Bruce sat down at the nearest spot. "Sure, I was just about leaving anyway."

"Oh, but why?" Lori stood up immediately, but then sat back down as she felt the pain coming. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"Nowhere special, it's just…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "I have some things to do."

"What kinds of things?" Her face was serious and her dark brown eyes bored holes into Edward.

"Business and working stuff. I will come back here when I can. But now I have to go," Edward said to Lori as he stood up from the couch.

"You promise you will come back to visit?" Lori asked.

Edward smiled at her and nodded. "Yes, trust me," he said. He walked over to where she sat and gave her a hug before walking out the door and leaving the mansion in his car.

The library was now quite. Neither Lori nor Bruce said anything, but Lori felt his eyes on her. She glanced at Bruce and found him glaring. "What's the matter?" she finally said.

Bruce snorted. "Nothing is wrong, everything is fine."

"Yeah, right..." She rolled her eyes and waited for a response. Not getting any she blurted out the question. "Why did you do it? The… the way you acted when Ed was here was so embarrassing. You truly made him feel uncomfortable." Her face was stiff, unsmiling.

"Hey, I've already said I'm sorry for interrupting your snogging, so what more do you want?" Bruce put his face in his hands, sighing deeply. Shaking his head, he looked up and at Lori.

"I'm sorry," he suddenly repeated and gave her an awkward smile. "The truth why I behaved like I did was only because for your safety. Knowing that I'm the Batman won't be as easy as you might think. And letting people get close to you will be difficult when you know this secret. I know that because I told my secret to someone I cared for and problems occurred."

Lori stared at him, opening and closing her mouth, unable to find the right words. "Did you really think that I would tell anyone about your secret? How could you even think like that. I would never have told a soul!" She felt her heartbeat speed up a bit as she got more and more… Oh, she didn't know what she was feeling at that moment. "I thought you trusted me…" To her dismay her voice had cracked just a little as she had spoken.

"I do trust you!" Bruce insisted. "We are friends."

"Yeah right, friends…" she murmured. "A friend doesn't only think about himself and his life, but about others too, like his friends. But you obviously don't know that since you only care about your stupid secret."

"Lori, you know that's not true," Bruce said, looking a little affronted.

"Oh really? Wasn't that what you were talking about moments ago?" she said in an irritated voice. "If you already knew that telling anyone about your secret would cause problems, then why did you tell me? No, wait – why did you even adopt me in the first place?"

Lori stood up from the armchair. She tried to avoid caring about the pain her body felt, but she couldn't help it when she let out a whimper.

Seeing this, Bruce quickly got on his feet, but Lori held out a hand, showing that she didn't want any help from him. "Lori…" he whispered quietly as he saw her dragging herself to the door.

"I need to rest," was all she said before leaving the room, closing the door behind herself.

Bruce groaned in despair. He felt so angry at himself because of what he had said to Lori, and what she had said to him. He knew that he had done a mistake, but it was for her. For her safety, and what he wanted the most was that she would be safe.

Please review.
~Anette :)