For the rest of the evening, Arthur and Wendy enjoyed each other's company, feeling like they were the only two people in the world. Nobody paid them any attention and they didn't care. It was just them. Black garbage bags were illuminated by the bright neon signs on the buildings and stores, but Arthur and Wendy were only interested in each other. The street was packed with people, some in clowns masks and makeup. Wendy felt a little bit uneasy about it, but because she was with Arthur, she knew she would be safe. She knew he wasn't into this whole clown protest, even if he was a party clown. Used to be a party clown.

While they walked, Arthur spotted a newsstand selling newspapers about the killer clown. The headlines screamed titles like, "Kill the Rich" and "Subway Vigilante" and "Killer Clown on the Loose".

Arthur studied the creepy clown drawing on the front of the newspaper and tried to mirror the same image by scrunching his nose and widening his mouth, making a scary face. He looked more like a vampire than a clown.

Wendy looked at the clown caricature and said uneasily, "Oh, yeah. That thing."

Arthur went back to his normal face and looked at her. "What?"

"It's scary, isn't it?" Wendy asked him. "Some people are saying whoever did this did it to start a political movement. Personally, I think whoever's done this needs some serious psychiatric help."

Arthur looked at the newspaper again, having a completely different opinion on the matter. He shrugged and said, "I don't know. I think the guy that did it is a hero."

Wendy turned her head and looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Well, it isn't everyday you hear about some rich douche bag getting axed off. I'll bet you ten dollars those rich assholes deserved it", Arthur remarked, sounding cocky all of a sudden.

Wendy looked at the clown drawing again, then looked at Arthur in disbelief and told him, "You can't be serious."

Arthur turned to her with a smug look on his face and asked, "What if I am?"

Wendy was surprised by Arthur's sudden change in behavior, like he switched into a whole different personality or something. "O-kaaay", she said with suspicion, thinking what he told her was creepy. She turned and walked away for a bit, leaving Arthur to stand alone by himself for a minute.

Arthur laughed in amusement about scaring her, looking away and slowly loosing his smile as he caught an unusual, but interesting sight passing him in front of his eyes. A yellow cab drove by and he saw a person sitting in the backseat wearing a clown mask. Spotting the long dark hair of the person wearing the mask, Arthur smiled with admiration, thinking of the person as the woman whose life he saved on the subway.

"Arthur!" The voice of Wendy called out to him.

Arthur snapped out of his thoughts and turned his head and looked to his left, seeing Wendy standing in front of a store window. She signaled with her hand for him to come over to her, so he did. Wendy turned her attention back to what she was staring at in the window as Arthur came over and stood next to her, seeing what it was she was looking at. There was a black and white movie playing on the television in the window, showing a man with a scarf wrapped around his mouth staring down at a sleeping woman. He looked sad and laid himself carefully over her lap, obviously crying. The woman woke up and started feeling for him as though she were blind.

Wendy looked at Arthur and asked him, "Have you seen this movie?"

Arthur shook his head and answered, "No."

"It's called The Man Who Laughs", Wendy explained, looking back at the screen. "It's about this man named Gwenplaine, who was disfigured when he was a young boy and forced to wear a permanent grin on his face. He rescues a blind baby girl and they both get taken in by a kind philosopher. The two of them grow up together and fall deeply in love, but Gwenplaine doesn't think he's good enough for the girl because of his deformity. See how sad he looks even when he's happy with her?"

Arthur and Wendy watched the scene play out, as Conrad Veidt sat up straight and allowed Mary Philbin to touch and feel his hair and face. He pulled down his scarf, revealing a grotesque smile, a grin he was forced to wear for the rest of his life. He brought Mary Philbin's hands to his mouth to show her his forever smile. The blind woman smiled softly, offering nothing but kind words of love and acceptance. She slipped her arms around his neck, and in return, Conrad Veidt embraced her tight and practically swept her off her feet, carrying her into the gypsy wagon. The movie went to commercial and showed a preview for the Murray Franklin Show.

"And now, the romance is over", said Wendy, sounding uninterested. She turned and said, "Let's go, Arthur."

"Wait a minute, I want to see this", Arthur insisted, keeping his eyes glued to the screen.

Wendy turned back and looked at Arthur, watching him smile at the talk show shaking the hand of a guest celebrity. She looked at the screen and scoffed, "Don't tell me you actually like this jerk."

Arthur looked at Wendy, confused. "You don't like Murray?"

Wendy turned her head and glared at Arthur and said in a cold voice, "I despise him."

Arthur chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, saying, "I thought everybody like Murray Franklin."

"Well, not me", Wendy told him, raising her voice a bit. She looked at the screen again and crossed her arms and said, "I hear some people are actually calling this guy the Red Skelton of our time. I can't stand this man."

Having enough of staring at the undesirable Murray Franklin, Wendy turned around and walked over to the edge of the sidewalk and signaled for a yellow cab. "Taxi!"

Arthur turned in time to see a taxi cab pull up next to the sidewalk. Wendy opened the back door and looked over at him. "Arthur, are you coming?"

Arthur walked over and Wendy got in, leaving the door open so he could get in with her. Soon as he was in and the door was closed, the driver asked them, "Where to?"

"Take us to 36th Street, please", said Wendy.

"You got it", said the driver.

"36th Street? That's Gotham Square", said Arthur. "Wendy, where are we going?"

Wendy looked at him with a smile on her face and told him, "You'll see."

The taxi drove through the city until it came to the destination of the passengers and pulled up to the sidewalk. Wendy and Arthur stepped out and the cab took off. They arrived at an old movie theater. There were a couple of movie posters on the front of the building, but Wendy already knew which picture they were going to see. There was only one comedy playing. If Arthur wanted to see comedy, she was going to make sure he saw a good one.

"What are we doing here?" Arthur asked her.

Wendy took hold of his hand and said, "Come on. I'm gonna show you what real comedy looks like." They walked up to the ticket booth and Wendy said to the man behind the window, "Two tickets for Charlie Chaplin, please."

Wendy gave him the money to pay for the tickets and the man in the ticket booth handed them over to her. He thanked her and said, "Enjoy the show."

Wendy took Arthur by the hand again, holding the tickets in her other one. They walked into the theater and Wendy took great pride in seeing the look of joy on Arthur's face, almost as if he had never been to a movie theater. Wendy handed the tickets to an usher and he gave them the directions for the room that was showing the movie they were about to see. They went down toward the end of the hall and into a dark room. It wasn't too much trouble for her and Arthur to find a good seat. There were only a few people in there. Wendy asked Arthur where he wanted to sit, wanting to make sure he got the best seat in the house. Arthur told her anywhere was fine. They chose to sit in the middle row. There was a fat man in the row in front of them, but they didn't mind. The lights dimmed and the movie started.

The movie opened at a charity hospital and followed a woman who tried to figure out what to do with her newborn baby. She couldn't afford to take care of him, so she decided to abandon him in the back of a car. That's so sad, Wendy thought. Arthur was thinking the same thing, but never mentioned it. Two thugs came by a second later and stole the car, not knowing that the baby was in the backseat. The two thugs heard the baby crying and pulled over to an alley and placed the baby next to a trash can and left him. Less than a minute later, Charlie Chaplin came waddling along, swinging around his signature cane and acting goofy as always. Somebody from a window dumped garbage over him. Arthur and Wendy laughed a bit at that. It was cruel, but they had to admit, it was pretty funny. He heard the baby crying and took pity on the abandoned child and decided to adopt him as his own.

Right in the middle of the movie, Wendy looked at Arthur, who kept his attention locked on the big screen. She leaned closer to him and rested her head on his right shoulder, placing her hand over his. Arthur never even noticed.

Soon as the movie was over, Arthur and Wendy rose out of their seats and walked out of the theater. They walked around for a little bit and talked about the movie they just saw.

"You love comedy a lot, don't you, Arthur?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, I do", said Arthur. "Don't you?"

Wendy shrugged and confessed, "Well, it isn't exactly my cup of tea, but it's okay if it's done right. This movie was good, though. To tell you the truth, I've ever seen a Charlie Chaplin movie before."

Arthur stopped and turned to look at Wendy with wide eyes. "You're kidding."

Wendy stopped and looked at him. "No, I'm not kidding. I've seen a few Laurel and Hardy movies, but I don't think I've ever seen a Charlie Chaplin movie until today." Wendy placed a hand on her stomach and said, "I should have bought popcorn for us or something. My stomach's growling."

"Would you like to go get a coffee?" Arthur asked her. "I know a place that sells coffee and donuts not too far from here."

Wendy shrugged and told him, "Sure. Why not? The night's still young, even if the moon isn't."

Arthur laughed at her joke and Wendy laughed along with him. It was the first time he heard her genuine laugh. It wasn't fake, but a warm and pleasant one. A true, feminine laugh.

Arthur continued to laugh, but not in the way he normally would when going into an outburst. He turned his head right and looked over across the street, loosing his smile again upon seeing a sight that broke his heart. It was Sophie walking along with a black man who looked about the same age as her. They were both smiling and laughing, having a good time despite the clown sightings going on around Gotham City. They kissed each other. Arthur should have felt happy for her, but a flame of jealousy soon began to overrun his fevered brain and he immediately forgot he was on a date with Wendy.

Wendy stopped laughing and looked at Arthur, her smile fading a bit. "Hey, you okay?"

Arthur looked at Wendy and then turned back to look at Sophie, but she wasn't there anymore. Neither her nor the man she was with were anywhere near in sight. She must have disappeared into the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Wendy asked him.

"Nothing", said Arthur, shaking his head and forgetting about the young black woman. "I thought I saw somebody. Come on. Let's go."

Arthur escorted Wendy to the coffee shop down the block. He often hung out there on special occasions. They order two coffees and a cherry Danish for Wendy. Arthur didn't eat anything.

"Aren't you hungry?" Wendy asked him.

"Not really", said Arthur, sipping his coffee. "I don't really have much of an appetite."

"Well, I'm really happy you're having a good time tonight", said Wendy. "And you know something? I think this is probably the best time I've had since I got here."

"You mean that?"

"Of course I mean it. I mean, I know tonight was supposed to be your big night, but-"

"It was my own fault anyway", Arthur added. "If I hadn't gotten so nervous..." He looked to his left and stared out the window, muttering to himself, "Maybe I'm just a poor excuse of a comedian."

"Arthur, don't say that about yourself", Wendy told him. "You can be a great comedian if you just set your mind to it."

Arthur glanced in her direction and said, "Thanks for the encouragement, but I think I'm a lot better at being a clown than a comedian." He returned his gaze back to the outside world.

"Maybe we're all clowns, then. We just don't know it yet."

Arthur smiled softly.

Wendy looked into her coffee cup and placed a gentle hand over Arthur's and said, "I thought you were good tonight. I mean, yes, you flubbed a little bit, but it was those stupid people's fault for not understanding." She picked up her mug and said, "It's all part of the system, you know? Some people just don't know what's funny or not funny anymore." She brought the coffee mug to her lips and took a small sip, keeping her eyes focused on Arthur.

"They've had it coming for years", Arthur whispered.

Wendy set her mug down and asked him, "I beg your pardon?"

"The rich people who called people like you and me clowns", Arthur answered. He looked at Wendy again. "And not just them. The system, the bank, politicians. They're all a bunch of scumbags."

"Not all of them", said Wendy. "Take Thomas Wayne for example. I know not everybody likes him, but if people don't like him, they don't have to like him. He may be ignorant, but he gets the job done."

Arthur lowered his eyes for a minute and bit down on the corner of his lip. He blinked and looked at her again. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're starting to sound just like my mother."

"Why should that offend me?" Wendy asked him, taking a bite of her Danish.

"She sort of has an infatuation with Thomas Wayne. She used to work for him, you know."

Wendy wiped away the crumbs on her mouth with the back of her hand and asked him through a mouthful of pastry, "Really? What did she do?"

"She was a housekeeper", Arthur answered. "She worked for the Waynes a little while before I was born. I never knew them, though."

Wendy swallowed her food down with a drink of coffee and blinked, drawing her eyebrows together as she set her mug down and asked him, "How come?"

"I don't know", Arthur admitted, not really knowing why himself. "I think she just wanted to take some time off so she could raise me. For some reason, she never went back to work for them. She had enough money to support me and her for a couple of years, but then one day, she suffered a nervous breakdown or something and was locked up for several years in a mental hospital."

Wendy placed a hand on her heart and said, "Oh, God, I'm so sorry."

Arthur blinked and lowered his gaze again and fixed it on a napkin in front of him. He folded it into a triangle and said, "I don't really remember much about my early years. I feel like I hardly ever saw my mother. I was locked up in the hospital for a while myself, but I don't remember why."

"How could you remember being locked up in a mental hospital and not remember what you were there for?" Wendy questioned him.

"Who knows?" Arthur sighed.

"Well, what about your father? Is he still around?"

Arthur was silent for a minute. He looked at Wendy again and his eyes grew dark and intense, as if to say how dare she bring up such a sensitive question. It almost looked like he was possessed by a demon for a second, like another personality had taken over him again.

Wendy could tell she struck a nerve with him and said timidly, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry-"

"No, it's just...No one's ever asked me about it before. I tried asking my mother about it once, but she went hysterical and told me to never bring it up again."

"He must've done something pretty bad to make her not want to talk about it", Wendy added. "You don't remember him?"

"Well, that's the problem", said Arthur. "I've never really had a father...To tell you the truth, I never knew my father."

Wendy looked away from Arthur, feeling bad that he never had a positive male role model to look up to while growing up. It was sad, she thought, because a boy needed a father. Arthur never had one. "I'm sorry", she said.

"Well, actually...", said Arthur, his face frozen in thought about his past, wondering about it. "...now that you mention it, I don't even remember having much of a childhood to begin with..." His voice trailed off. He had a risky idea, one that he would probably regret later, but it might help give Wendy an insight on his background. Maybe she could help him decipher the meaning. He felt much safer talking about it with her better than he did to a therapist.

Arthur turned in his seat and took out his journal from inside his jacket and began looking through the pages until he found what he was looking for. He turned it upside down and handed his journal over to Wendy. "I wrote this down about two months ago", he said. "You can read the top part if you want, just don't read anything else."

Wendy looked at the top of the page and read it out loud to him. "'Last night I had a dream there was this man. I was in the dream to, only I was a small boy. This man said that he was my father and then for now reason at all he gave me this little toy car. I wanted to ask him a question but then I woke up.'"

Wendy blinked and looked at Arthur with an emotion he couldn't quite understand. Was it sadness? Maybe even confusion or concern? Sympathy? Wendy closed the journal and handed it back to Arthur.

Wendy pushed her half-eaten pastry aside and folded her arms on the table and asked him, "What does it feel like?"

"What do you mean?"

"When you go into a laughing fit, what does it feel like? Does it hurt you? I see you struggle with it every time it happens. You look like you want to cry because of it."

"I want to cry, but I don't think I can", Arthur explained. "I don't like it when my laughter takes over, but I can't do anything about it. I just have to let it pass."

"So, what does it feel like?"

"It's like choking on broken glass. Every time it happens, my insides hurt and I feel like I can't breathe. My stomach spasms and twists itself into a knot. When it's over, I feel fine, but I still feel vulnerable."

"Do you feel embarrassed by it?" Wendy asked him. She caught herself before he could answer her and shook her head, telling him, "No, don't...don't answer that. That was a stupid question."

"That's all right", Arthur told her.

Wendy went to take another sip of coffee and asked him, "Don't they have medicine or something that can help you control it?"

"Actually, I'm on seven different medications", Arthur blurted out.

Wendy nearly choked on her coffee and set her mug down, wiping her mouth and looking at Arthur. "Seven? You're on seven different medications and none of them work?"

"One of them is for depression, another one helps me to sleep at night. Everything else is just for mental problems."

"How old were you when you first discovered you had your condition?"

Arthur sighed. "I don't know. I want to say I was 17, maybe 18. My mother told me I've had it since I was a little boy."

Wendy placed her hand over Arthur's again, gripping it in a comforting way and saying to him, "I'm just sorry you never had a father, Arthur."

"Don't be", said Arthur. "I still have my mother. For as long as I can remember, it's always been me and her. She told me that when I was born, God gave me a purpose in life: to bring joy and laughter to the world."

There was something adorable and innocent, yet still tragic, about the way Arthur thought about the world. No matter how horrible it was, he always kept a positive attitude about him. Arthur lived in a world of his own, but he knew never to share it with anybody, not even his own mother. In his own world, nobody could hurt him. He barely remembered his own childhood and he had no memory of ever having a father, but despite his upbringing, he was raised from birth to always be a good individual and be kind to others, never letting it get him down. In a way, Arthur was very much like a child. He sometimes felt like a child trapped in the body of a grown-up.

"You remember that day we met each other outside of Ha-Ha's", Wendy asked him, "and you asked me who I thought you were? I think I've finally figured it out."

"Who am I, Wendy?" Arthur asked her, his curiosity sparked.

"The way I see it, you're a man who laughs to hide the pain, but has never been happy one day in his entire life", Wendy answered. "I know you say you're okay and that you only want to make people happy, but I can still see that you're hurting inside. I don't want you to be hurt, Arthur. I want to help you. More than anything, I want to help you and take care of you in anyway I can. If you ever need to talk to anybody, I'm here for you. I'm your friend."

The thin line of Arthur's mouth slowly grew into a thankful smile. "I think that's the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me."

Wendy smiled at him, happy that she was able to bring some light into his miserable life for once. If only he knew about her true feelings for him. She wanted to tell him, but not tonight.

Arthur stood up and told her, "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

"Okay."

He left her alone, giving Wendy a perfect opportunity to sneak a peek at what other thoughts he had written down in his journal. She knew it was wrong to invade Arthur's privacy, but her curiosity for him got the better of her and she wanted to know more about him. Wendy reached over for the weathered, old journal, hoping to get a better look at his material. She opened the first page and her brows furrowed together when she looked at the handwriting. His spelling was atrocious, the writing style sloppy and hard to read at times. It was like looking at a child's handwriting. She turned a page and found there was also some crudely-drawn scribbles, as well.

Wendy continued to flip through the pages and her eyebrows raised up at one point in surprise when she found a porn clipping cut out from a magazine. She couldn't help but blush. Apparently, he was something of a deviant. She didn't read anything important, but then Wendy came upon a sentence that was very sad, something Arthur wrote about a drunk man who was found dead on the sidewalk. She could barely make out his writing, but it read:

"Can you imgine that? Dead on the sidewalk with peeple steppin over you. Maybe hes happyer, but I don't want to die with peepl just steppin over me. I want people to see me.

Imgine yur hole life ends on a sidewalk. I wunder how old he was and for how long noone cared about him."

Wendy felt the pain of Arthur's words flow out from his journal entry. He really did want to bring joy to the world and make people laugh, but nobody noticed him. Nobody except her. The world didn't deserve people like Arthur if they didn't treat him nice. All he wanted was to be loved and be an equal, just like everybody else. To Wendy, he was normal, no matter who he was. Wendy loved Arthur Fleck for being just what she saw him as: a good guy.