"Thanks again," Bruce stated, sitting next to Selina on the couch.

She smiled at him fondly, almost teasingly, and swung her legs across his lap.

"I don't know what would've happened if you weren't there," he continued, voice a bit softer.

Then slowly, apprehensively, he leaned toward her. She let her eyes flutter shut as their lips met and held her hand to the back of his head.

After a moment, he pulled away. She stared back at him, grinning slightly, and whispered low 'you're welcome.'

He continued to gaze at her for a moment, and she furrowed her brows slightly. "You ok?"

Bruce sighed, drawing back, "Yeah. I'm good."

She nodded, shifting towards him and curling her legs so she was sitting partially on them. She leaned her head on his shoulder slightly and reached to hold the hand closest to her thigh.

"Alfred needs to hurry," she muttered, "I'm starving."

Bruce chuckled to himself and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, relishing in the comfort of their interlaced fingers and the warmth of her body against his own.

-

Selina ate dinner with Bruce and Alfred that night, and later Bruce drove her home.

His hand rested on her knee the whole way and she kissed him twice before she went inside.

She was around more often after that, stopping by every few days to check in or hang out. She even invited bruce to her place, but he declined on account of Barbara and Tabitha's less-than-stellar history with him.

They hadn't discussed any details of their relationship, but Bruce, unlike when they were younger, didn't mind. They had been so distant for so long, and he was willing to take anything she was willing to give.

Though Selina wouldn't mind putting a label on their relationship, she was appreciative that he wasn't pushing. Some nights she showed up, and some she didn't.

When she showed up early enough they ate dinner together, she showed him movies he'd never wanted to see, and he showed her movies she usually found boring. He read to her some nights, and it always put her to sleep. Sometimes he'd wake her to offer her a spare room, but she always asked him to take her home instead. To his dismay, she always went home.

Today, Bruce was trying to teach her chess.

"I'm not gonna be any good," she warned.

He smiled, "It's a learned skill. You'll get it. Besides, I'm rusty. it's been a while since I played."

She sat, listening intently as he showed her each piece and explained its name and rules.

"Wait," Selina yelped suddenly, "why can't the queen make an L?"

He shrugged. "she just can't."

"That's stupid," she insisted, "How come the horse is more powerful than the queen?"

"The knight isn't more powerful than the queen. That's not how the game works."

She grumbled something about that being stupid and condescending, and he pulled her hand towards him to kiss her knuckles in apology.

After a while she (sort of) got an idea of how to play, and Bruce sat at the other side of the board.

Selina moved pieces without any forethought, focusing on getting out any piece she could at that moment.

In the first three games, Bruce beat her in less than five minutes.

By the fourth, she decided to use her own strategies.

She played a few rounds honestly, going back and forth like normal, then she leaned on a bit of misdirection.

She rested her left hand on bruce's forearm, rubbing slow circles with her thumb until he shifted his focus to that direction. She moved her pawn forward two and diagonal one.

"Your turn," she murmured.

He nodded, fighting a slight blush at being caught distracted, and continued the game.

Her hand on his arm, her ankle against his calf, stretching a certain direction, and even tucking her hair behind her ear served as easy ways to catch his eye. It allowed her to move the wrong way or sneak pieces off the board.

Soon enough, she'd put him in check three times.

"Your move," he stated apprehensively.

She nodded, moved her knight, and smirked back at him. "Checkmate, Brucie."

He furrowed his eyebrows, staring down at the board in confusion.

"How did you…"

"You said I'd figure it out. guess I did." she taunted, "Now, let's do something fun."

A couple of weeks (and numerous arguments) later Alfred hid the chessboard.

-

Selina was getting comfortable. Predictable.

She was used to forming a routine. That didn't scare her.

What scared her was having a routine without contingency plans.

She saw bruce at least four times a week, always at his house. They ate at the same time, they read at the same time, and he drove her home at the same time. She kissed him goodnight at 11:15, got to her room by 11:20, and thought about him until 11:30.

It was ridiculous. It made her happy. It made her afraid.

She wasn't stupid enough to not have backup options, but she wasn't smart enough to run.

She wasn't smart enough to push away from the warmth of his sweater when he showed her the constellations from the manor's roof. She wasn't smart enough to pull away first when he kissed her back a little too lovingly for a little too long.

She wasn't smart enough to spit sharp words at him, to tear at his skin and reveal the raw, hurting boy underneath.

She sat in his study and held his hands in her own. She kissed his lips and cheeks and forehead. She leaned against him while he spoke, and laid her head in his lap while he read, and let him play with her hair while he worked.

She smiled when he was excited, and she laughed at his jokes (despite the fact that he wasn't remotely funny.) She felt her stomach clench when he was upset and her chest ache when he was hurt.

Her entire life had become fully intertwined with Bruce Wayne's. That scared her.

But, she knew she didn't need him. It was a saving grace, of sorts. She wouldn't fall apart without him. That was her only fallback.

And the fear of being comfortable, the fear of caring for someone, wasn't comparable to the bliss that came with being cared for by someone who always stayed, always called, always missed her when she was gone and held her when she was near.

She'd waited her whole life for someone to love her the same amount at the same time every day.

So, Selina allowed herself to enjoy the comfort Bruce Wayne brought to her life. She pushed down the panic until all that was left was hope and stability.