Hello lovely readers! Lovely readers who make my day! We are quickly winding down on this story, and gearing up for the sequel. There may be one or two more chapters, it will all depend on how I'm feeling. Let me know if you guys would be interested in a sequel. It would be set during TDKR and it has some promise in my mind. :)

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35: He Says It

That Sunday was the absolute best day of my life thus far. Lying beside him was exactly where I wanted to be. He allowed me to call him Jack. He had even grown less distant from when we were together at his hideout all that time ago. I loved it. I loved him. During one of our spontaneous make-out fits it all changed. I was busy; feeling his skin, tongue in his mouth searching. I had barely noticed his hands as they slid off my clothes. It was like breathing. It was natural. It had been so long since my last sexual encounter that it hurt. Him pushing into me might have hurt anyway, regardless of my year of celibacy; he was larger than either of the two people I had been with before, and the whole thing was so different. The loving roughness of the light bites, the force at which he thrusted, it was all so different. It was all so perfect, so exactly what I wanted. But how? How was this happening? He had been so adamant before, about not doing this very thing, this very pleasurable thing we were doing at the moment until he loved me. What did this mean? Did he love me or did he finally give in? I wasn't tempting him that weekend, did he have anything to give in to? I wanted to focus on the task at hand. I wanted to focus on how our bodies moved together and how it was perfect, but my damn brain wouldn't allow it. Why? Why? Why? The worry must have seeped into my face during those thoughts, because when the Joker… No, when Jack looked at me he paused his movements. "I love you," I said to him. "Why now? How can we be doing this?" What was he going to do? Was his guard going to be up? Was he going to make some snide comment and ruin this ecstasy more than I already did?

He kissed my lips lightly. His walls were down. He laughed, "Well, when two people love each other very much, the they fuck each other, like we were just doing." He laughed some more, "I thought you were a smart girl? How could you not know?"

"Two people love each other?" I looked at him, a sly smirk spreading over my mouth.

"You aren't going to make me say it, are you?"

I just smiled, I couldn't help it. I rolled him over so I could sit on top. Then our hips began to move again. My mind was free. He loved me, and he would tell me eventually, but with a man like Jack the confession of love was more than you could hope for. An hour later we came together. I expected him to leave the apartment after that, but he didn't. He picked me up and took me to the shower where we washed up; each getting the other's back, our hands straying slightly. After we dried off he picked me back up and kissed me as he carried me back to my bed, our bed. Then we lie down close, his arms were around me and I took it upon myself to get tangled up in him. The man I loved was back. "I'm not letting you go this time, alright?"

He looked down at me and raised his brow.

"I don't want to be apart for so long again. I want to have a life with you already."

"Life with me? Do you have any idea what that would be like?"

"Well, I imagine it will be a bit difficult, what with all of the people who want you dead. Not to mention how you are Gotham's most wanted with the police. So the white-picket fence and two and a half children are probably not going to happen here, but if I have you I have everything I need."

"Would you quit your job?"

"I don't think so. I don't want to live off someone else's money."

"But you stole?"

"I only ever gave the money to charity," I laughed and he did too.

"That sounds more like you. I could never figure out why you would steal. You are too nice for that."

"I did kill people you know."

"Only because they were criminals. Would you have killed me back then? If you caught me?"

"Nope. The opposite."

He didn't say anything for a while. I was surprised that he had gone so long with his mask off, just talking as the man who I loved. Then after five minutes of lying there listening to his breathing he spoke. "I love you, Rose."

"I love you too, Jack."

"Do you still have those letters from my parents?"

I hopped up and pulled them from my dresser. "You want to read them?"

"I think so."

"Here," I set them beside him. "I will give you some time…"

"No. Stay here."

He read. His face was emotionless. When he was done he looked over at me, "So you knew my father."

I nodded, "He was the saddest man I have ever met." I began to talk about him, knowing Jack would never ask directly. Thirty minutes of anecdotes and observations later Jack knew everything I knew. Freddy desperately loved his wife, who he could never forgive himself for hurting, just as he could never forgive himself for how he treated Jack, how he favored James. He was not mad at his son when he killed his brother, only mad that he hadn't been there to protect him. Mad at his drinking problem. So mad he never touched the stuff again until his beloved Martha passed away. His beautiful wife, who had stuck beside him through some outrageously thick times. Martha who loved Jack deeply. Who too never forgave herself. Who always wanted to find Jack even though the police told her she shouldn't. The mother that would have loved me for my devotion to her son. Jack was Freddy's boy, and he never got the chance to tell him.

We sat on the couch after that and watched some random movie. Just so there would be background noise for Jack while he processed things. That day changed things. He was now under my protection. I would fight for him, and I will win.