Chapter 3

Dinner had gone surprisingly well, despite their embarrassing conversation at the beginning of dinner. Marian had packaged them a container for supper tomorrow.

He unlocked the door and slid it open, tossing his keys onto the table by the door.

"I'm sorry if Marian embarrassed you ... She uh ... She speaks her mind." Edward said putting the container into the fridge.

"Don't worry about it," Kristen reassured him with a slight smile, taking off her coat as she entered. "She was just being family. I can see why you like them so much; they seem like really caring people."

"Yeah, they are. I don't think I'd be here if not for them." He said adjusting the glasses on his nose. "So ..." He paused not really sure what to do. He knew they needed to talk but wasn't really sure how to bring it up. Should he bring it up now? They just walked in the door. Should he wait? "Would you like some tea?"

"I'd love some," Kristen said, kissing Edward on the cheek.

Edward busied himself making tea, preparing two mugs. "So uh ... I ... Had something I wanted to talk to you about." Edward said lamely as the water boiled. He poured both mugs and brought one over to her.

Kristen took the steaming mug, nodding as she sat down, looking up at Edward expectantly. "So you said," she remembered. "You look so serious, Edward. Is everything okay?"

"Um … Well …. No." Edward said, his finger running over the rim of his mug. "Do you remember when I told you I talk to myself? That I have this voice in my head, a stronger version of me that keeps me in line?" Edward asked her.

"Yes," Kristen said slowly, a little confused. So he talked to himself sometimes. Lots of people did. It was a little quirky, but she thought they'd already established that it didn't bother her. "I remember."

"Well …. I wasn't …. Referring to my conscience as I believe you thought I meant. I don't just talk to myself. I actually do hear another voice in my head and yes it is mine but …. I have no control over it. I also see another me in the room, not all the time but … When he talks I see him and I know he's not real and I know it's just a figment of my imagination I guess but ….." Edward paused as if he didn't know how to continue. "He tells me to do things … Not …. Not very nice things."

Kristen stared back at him, quiet for a moment as she tried to process what he was telling her. "Oh. I… I see." She took a deep breath. "So… So you know it's not real, but… You still hear it? And you still um… see yourself too?"

"Yeah …. I haven't seen him since …. Since our first date but …. He generally shows up if I'm scared or nervous or distressed." Edward said not looking up at her. "He was the one that talked me into asking you out. He wasn't very nice about it either …. I suppose that's why I wasn't very nice about it when I asked you …. He said you'd have to say yes because you owed me for saving your life. I know that's not true but …. He made a convincing argument."

"He… made a convincing argument?" Kristen repeated, not realizing that she was shaking slightly. "So… does that… does that mean you kind of thought that too?"

It wouldn't be the first time she'd dealt with that kind of reasoning. A guy would do something nice that she'd never asked for, and then turn around and tell her she owed him. Still, she'd thought things would be different this time. But just because the voice in his head had said that didn't mean he believed it… only that it had occurred to him. That much, at least, wasn't his fault. Hell, it had occurred to her too.

"No! No, no no … I … That's not what I meant. I …." He paused running his hand over his mouth in frustration with himself. "No. I was trying to ask you out for a long time before that …. And every time I came close I always backed out at the last second. I guess I just …. Kind of let him bully me into it. I don't believe that you owe me for a second …. I don't … I just …. I needed to convince myself to do it."

She shook her head, not wanting to think about that right now. There was too much to process at once. "What… what else does he say?"

"Just … I don't know. He scolds me a lot. Tells me when I'm being an idiot. He tells me when I need to get things done but don't want to. He's …. Not very nice." Edward said looking quite upset about it.

"No, he doesn't sound very nice at all," Kristen agreed wryly, not knowing what else to say. Though Edward had been nothing but kind to her … It couldn't be easy for him, telling her he literally heard voices in his head. And it wasn't his fault. But … sticking around could be dangerous for her. This Other Ed told him terrible things, evidently, and sometimes he listened … But this had to be so terrifying for Edward. How could she leave him alone, knowing that? And he at least knew it wasn't real … Hadn't everything been fine between them so far? She liked Ed a lot, and right now, he needed her.

She reached over and took Edward's hand in hers. "How long… how long has this been happening?" she asked, trying to stay calm. "Does anyone else know? Have you tried to get help?"

"I don't need help." Edward said his voice an angry whisper.

'Oh that's smart.' Ed jumped and looked over at the hallucination he had not seen in over two weeks. 'Let's scare her off. Then again … She does seem to have a thing for angry men.'

"I'm sorry. I …." He paused and took a deep breath, ignoring the man he knew didn't exist. "It's been happening for a few months now …."

'You know it's not nice to talk about someone behind their back.' Bad Ed said standing behind Miss. Kringle. Edward's hands went to the edge of the table.

"No one else knows." He said trying to keep his breathing even as the hallucination walked around to the other side of the table.

"Ed?" Kristen asked gently, a little frightened, tentatively touching his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

'You're lying.' Bad Ed said in almost a sing song voice, his finger playing over the wood of the windowsill near by.

"I'm sorry … Kristen I …. I don't want to scare you. And … I'd never hurt you … I wouldn't …. He wouldn't either. I'd never let him…" He said ignoring the laughter he heard from his other self. "I just …. I just …. I'd understand if you want to leave. I just … Didn't want to keep this from you."

'Oh how chivalrous of you.' Bad Ed mocked.

Kristen was still for a moment, before getting up and going over to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I don't want to leave," she said quietly. "I don't … really know what to do about this, but… I don't plan on leaving anytime soon."

Edward was surprised when he felt her arms wrap around him. He looked up at her and wrapped his arms around her, gently pulling her to sit in his lap, their tea forgotten.

"Thank you." He said kissing her shoulder. He'd been so upset about telling her, scared she'd leave but … He was more scared of what would happen if she didn't know … If she ever walked in on worse than what had happened on their first date.

"Edward… I've never been in a relationship this good before. I don't plan on throwing that away, because of something that's not even your fault."

"I haven't been in a relationship this good either. I'll be honest I keep waiting for something bad to happen …. It's not that I don't trust you it's just …. Women tend to date me either because they think I make a lot of money being a forensic scientist and then break up with me when they realize I don't …. Or they just date me because …." He paused not finishing that sentence.

"Because...?" Kristen asked, looking at him with concern. She'd never heard him talk about his exes before, and bad relationships were something she could relate to.

"Because I'm easy to hurt." He said hating to admit that. "My last ex admitted it … She only agreed to go out with me because I told her about my father, and she knew because of that I'd … 'Take it' as she said. It makes me worry a lot about-" Edward stopped again mid sentence. Why was he running his mouth tonight. He shouldn't have brought that up. He wanted to tell her about that tonight as well but she already had a lot to take in. "Never mind …. I shouldn't be talking about my ex's anyway." He said in a way of a pathetic apology.

Kristen shook her head. "It's alright, you don't need to apologize," she said, holding him tighter. "No one should be treated that way by people who are supposed to care about them." Though she could relate to that far too easily. "I'll admit… I've kept thinking something was going to go wrong too… But I… I believe that you wouldn't hurt me. And… I hope you believe the same about me. So... "

"I trust you not to …. At least not intentionally." He said quietly, his hand running gently down her shoulder.

She hesitated, since he seemed like he might not want to talk about it. "What is it that you're worried about?"

"What?" Ed asked confused.

"You said you were worried about something … If you don't mind me asking." Kristen said quietly.

"Well … That was another thing I wanted to talk to you about tonight, if … If you didn't leave. And by the looks of it you're not so …" He took a deep breath. "When Marian was so bitter about my ex it wasn't just because she used me …. She did. I'm still paying off debts because of her but …" He paused, wondering how he should tell her. Scared how she'd react. "But she's also mad because she … She practically took my son away from me. I should have told you sooner but … I don't really tell anyone about him. I'm supposed to get him every second weekend but usually she makes excuses on why he can't come here. I think I've seen him maybe twice in the past four months." He said not looking at her as he spoke. "The only reason she keeps him from me is because she knows it hurts me … I'm scared my sons going to have the same childhood I did, and I can't do anything about it."

"Your… your son?" Kristen repeated, wide-eyed. A son. Edward had a son. And he seemed really worried and distraught about him … But Edward had a son. "I… I'm sorry," she said, still holding him close. "That's … that's really terrible." She didn't know how to process this either … but after the voices, it strangely seemed less overwhelming by comparison. "How… how old is he?" she asked.

"He's two." He said quietly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about him sooner." He said looking up at her. "I was just nervous about how you'd react."

"Well, it's… a lot to take in," Kristen admitted. "But I understand why you didn't want to tell me sooner … You don't exactly drop that kind of bomb on a first date. I'm just glad you're telling me now." With as much baggage as Edward was bringing into the relationship, if he'd told her all this earlier, before she got a chance to know him at all … She liked to think it wouldn't have bothered her, but she honestly wasn't sure. "I don't… really know what to do about all this, but…" she looked down at him. "I like you a lot."

Complications or not, things so far had been good between them. Kristen was willing to stay and see how things would go.

"I understand … And I like you a lot too. I wouldn't have told you about him if I didn't." He said leaning up and kissing her.

Kristen kissed him back gently, running a hand through his hair. Even as overwhelmed as she was by all of this, she felt a lot closer to understanding him, and it meant so much that he'd confided in her. She smiled slightly as she broke the kiss and looked down at him. "You're a very complicated man, Mr. Nygma."

"I thought I was a very strange man." He said with a smirk. "And for the last time … Call me Edward. Or Ed … Or Eddie … I really don't care which."

"Yes Edward, dear," Kristen said, kissing him on the cheek. "And strange isn't always bad, you know. I mean, have you seen normal people?"

"In Gotham? I can't say I've met any." He said with a laugh. "Then again I didn't know any back in Idaho either."

Kristen smiled at that, but her thoughts were already racing back over everything he'd told her. "What's… what's your son like?" she asked. She might as well know more about him. "What's his name?"

"His name is Rubix Edgar Free." He said before taking a small sip of his tea, which was getting cold. "He's pretty well behaved for a two year old. At least when he's with me he is. He's starting to like video games the last time he was here, he's not very good but he played Tetris for over an hour." He said shrugging.

"Sounds like he takes after his dad," said Kristen. "You miss him, don't you?" she asked quietly.

"A lot yeah. I tried going to my lawyer about her keeping him from me, but he said doing anything about it would be a waste of time. Unless I can come up with proof that there isn't a legitimate reason he can't come here. The courts would side with her."

Kristen wrapped her arms around Edward again. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm sure… I'm sure he knows how much you care about him." She wished she knew what else to say. It was a terrible situation, no matter how she looked at it.

"I suppose I should have told you this before I asked you to move in with me huh?" He asked with a slight chuckle. Sure she had said she'd think about it … But this would be something to consider while thinking about it.

Kristen laughed quietly. "Yes, that would be good to know before making that decision."

Ed sat there a moment sipping his tea, Kristen still in his lap. It was a little uncomfortable. He wasn't sure how to proceed from here.

"Hey … You said you like video games right?" He asked suddenly.

"Of course," said Kristen, smiling slightly at Edward's abrupt change in the subject.

"Come on. Let me show you my game room." He said smiling excitedly as he took Kristen's hand and stood up.

He walked over to a trap door in the floor and pulled it open. "Hold on I'll have to go down and turn on the light. Be careful on the stairs it's …. They're so narrow they might as well be a ladder." He said going down the stairs. He disappeared out of view before a sound came from the basement, a very clear indicator he'd slid down the last few stairs. "I'm okay …" He said flicking on the light switch.

Kristen winced as she heard Edward fall. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, concerned, following him down the stairs. "We really need to have a rule against you hurting yourself."

"Yeah I'm sure that'll work." He said sarcastically. "Come on down."

Kristen reached the bottom of the stairs, looking around. The basement was a lot larger than the upstairs. At the bottom of the stairs was a pool table made from a black onyx wood with a vibrant neon green felt. To the left was a couch in the middle of the room by a support pole, facing a large tv on the wall above a shelf covered in consoles. To the far left was shelving from floor to ceiling covered in more video games than she'd ever seen together outside of a game store. To the right of the pool table were several arcade systems, a nook with a small bed which must have been Rubix' bed. A large toy chest that looked like it had been custom built out of wood with 'Rubix' burned onto the lid and a play area made of soft foam puzzle pieces of various colours.

"Edward…" Kristen said, her eyes wide with delight. "This is amazing! How long did it even take you to collect all of this?" Just the video game collection alone could have added up to a small fortune.

"Marian started me off. She got me a Super Nintendo for Christmas one year. She gave me an allowance every week. You know for food and stuff. Being the responsible teen I was, I spent it on video games. She knew but … Never said anything." He said moving to the couch. "I have every video game you could possibly think of."

"Do you have Battletoads?" Kristen asked smugly.

Edward laughed. "I do have Battletoads actually." He said looking up at her.

"I stand corrected," Kristen smiled. "You really do have everything." She wandered over to the shelves, looking through all of the many titles. "Really, I've never met anyone with a collection this impressive." It was a veritable treasure trove… and it took a great effort for her to refrain from bouncing in place from enthusiasm.

"Do you want to play one?" He asked. "Oh but if you take a game down please put it back where it came from. All my games are sorted laterally by genre and alphabetized in each section." He said sitting back on the black sofa. It was actually more complicated than that but that didn't need to be said.

"Of course," Kristen laughed. "I would never mess up your lateral organization system," she teased, before her eyes settled on Minecraft. "Ooh!" she said, pulling it off the shelf. "I've been meaning to get this!" She ran over to the corresponding console, stopping to kiss Edward on the cheek on the way.

"Minecraft?" Edward said, trying not to sound as if he were complaining.

Kristen turned around from the cubby shelf full of consoles and looked back at him, her hands resting on her hips. "What's wrong with Minecraft?" she asked, feeling a little judged. Only now did it occur to her that this might be a test.

"Nothing. Unless you have way too many hours invested into it." He said. "Please don't blow up my city." He said picking out two controllers out of a black trunk next to the couch.

"I won't blow up your city," Kristen said, mildly indignant, as she sat next to him on the couch and took one of the controllers. She relaxed a little, understanding now that he wasn't judging her taste in games; he was just concerned about her messing up the effort that he'd put into building his own world.

Ed used the remote to flick on the tv, setting the input to the proper one and started up the game. "You can do anything you want in here, just please don't push the button on the edge of this city." He said going over to the button and showing her.

Kristen nodded attentively. "I solemnly swear I will not push the button." She thought she would probably go wander off outside of Edward's city and create something new, where she wouldn't disturb what he had painstakingly created … but first, she wanted to investigate and see what he had built. "Wow, Ed…" she said, as she wandered through Edward's elaborate creation. "You weren't kidding…. This really is a city." She looked over at him. "How long did it take to make this?"

"Many … Many lonely weekends." He said laughing as he followed her around.

"No shame in that," Kristen said, as she wandered throughout the city. "I've had a few of those myself."

"We can start a new world if you want. Build something together." He said as he moved his character over to his house to put some items into a chest.

"That could be fun," Kristen said, wandering over in the general direction of the dreaded button. "Though don't tell me you've colonized this entire world?"

"There's …. Very little space left." He said blushing slightly as he paused the game to exit.

"That really is impressive," she said. "I don't think I've ever even heard of that level of dedication before." She paused for a moment, feeling slightly mischievous. But if he could exit without saving, and from everything she'd heard about the gameplay, he could … it wouldn't hurt to mess with him just a little, would it? "Wait," she said. "Can I look around a little more?"

Edward looked at her and shrugged. It was a big world and she'd only seen part of it. "If you want." He said unpausing the game and going back over to her.

Kristen smirked slightly, and continued in the direction she'd been heading before Edward paused. "You know, Ed," she said, with a slight mischievous smile. "You really should know better than to tell someone not to press the big red button… They'll do the same thing every time."

"It's technically small and grey bu-" Ed paused when she realized what she meant. "NO DO-"

She pressed the button.

Edward stopped mid sentence as he heard the slight click. He slowly looked at Kristen looking awfully annoyed as everything started exploding, lava pouring out of different areas, TNT flying in every direction before the game froze, the image on screen shaking slightly for a few moments before it booted them both out of the game. "Really?" Edward asked as he started the game back up again to see if the game had saved. "I suppose that was my fault. Had I not said anything you wouldn't have touched it."

"Exactly," Kristen said, unable to help laughing slightly at the look of annoyance on Edward's face. He really was adorable… and she could recall a couple of occasions early on when she'd been just as exasperated with him. "Or, you know, not put a self destruct button there in the first place." She patted his shoulder. "It's not as if it saved, you know…"

"It's plan E …. In case someone invaded!" He said. It was an obvious joke for when it was built . The game loaded up and instantly Edwards character started falling. He hit the ground with a crack and sighed as he looked around. The city had stopped exploding but a good chunk of it was missing, at least 90% of this section was gone. At least the crash had stopped it from spreading. "It did save …" Edward said turning off the game and putting his controller on the table.

Kristen's expression changed in an instant when she realized what she'd done. The mirthful smile faded without a trace, her eyes widened at the digital carnage she had wrought, and her hands went to cover her mouth in shock. "It… it saved?" she repeated. "Ed… I… I'm sorry. I just… the reviews said you could exit without saving, and I didn't think… You told me not to, I shouldn't have… I'm sorry." All his hard work destroyed because she'd thought it would be a funny joke… She felt terrible.

"It's okay." He said, he was used to having his things broken. "It's just a game. It can be fixed." He said as he looked at her. "I'm the one who covered the entire underground with TNT." He said. "Me and a friend of mine built the place. We thought it would be funny. We set it off a few times but it's never saved before. Scared the hell out of his little brother though." He said with a laugh. "We didn't say anything about the button. Just let him find it on his own."

"But… but I destroyed it," she said, still devastated. She looked up at him, shocked that he wasn't yelling at her, that he didn't even seem angry. "You put all that time and effort into it, and I just blew it up."

"It's fine … Don't worry about it." He said with a shrug. "Do you want to play a different game instead or …. Do something else?" He asked.

Kristen nodded quietly, still confused by his lack of anger. "Is there something we can play where I won't wreck everything?"

"Pretty much anything." He said. "Take your pick."

Kristen made herself smile, though she still felt the guilt gnawing at her. Just the sheer number of hours he'd sunk into building that city… "We could play Mario Kart," she suggested.

"Sure." He said getting up and switching the panel over to the proper console. He turned the system on and handed her a controller.

Kristen accepted the controller and immediately selected Waluigi.

"Oh no you don't!" Ed said looking over at her and going over to the one next to Waluigi, unable to select his usual character. "Get off me." Ed said flicking his selected character icon back and forth around Waluigi.

"Hey, I was here first," said Kristen, laughing. "And I always play as Waluigi."

"So do I … Go play a princess." He said reaching for her controller.

"Excuse you!" Kristen said, moving away from him on the couch and holding the controller out of his reach. "I will not go be a princess! You go be a princess!"

"Funny." Edward said reaching over her for the controller. "I'm not above fighting dirty." Edward said laughing.

"And here I thought you were such a gentleman!" Kristen laughed, shoving him back with her legs. "Just pick another character!"

Edward allowed her to push him back slightly before he climbed over her reaching for the controller, his own controller falling and selecting the character he was currently on.

"No …. Give me that!" He said laughing as he started tickling her. "You're going to make us both lose!"

"No!" she giggled, flinching as he tickled her, curling up around the controller so he couldn't get it. "You let go! You're the one making us lose!"

Edward pulled her arm free, using one hand to pin her down the other still reaching for the controller which she managed to hold out of his reach. Well, if tickling didn't stop her.

He looked down at her a wicked smirk on his face before he lowered himself down, his lips meeting hers in a surprisingly gentle kiss.

Kristen was still struggling to keep the controller out of his reach when he abruptly leaned down and kissed her. She froze at first, surprised, before her eyes closed, and she leaned up into his kiss.

Edward ran his hands down her arms as he pressed his tongue against her mouth momentarily before he pulled back. "That was a little too easy." He said with a smile on his face and holding up her controller and turning towards the Tv to start driving, that wicked grin back on his face.

"What?" said Kristen, her eyes blinking open. "No, that's cheating!" she protested, sitting up. But then … she supposed that two could play that game. She smirked as she wrapped her arms around him and started softly kissing down his neck.

Edward smiled at her attempts to distract him as he turned the corner of the race track. He had to admit though, her arms around him and her lips on his neck did feel good.

He was still managing to make his way around the track … Clearly, she had to do better. She nipped playfully at his ear, her hands moving down over his chest.

"Are you trying to cheat Miss. Kringle?" Edward asked despite the fact that he could feel his cock twitch inside of his pants as she moved her hands down his chest. "If that is your goal I'm afraid you'd have better chances at starting the race. I believe you made me pick Bowser, so the controller is all yours." He said moving the controller over to her though he doubted she'd take it.

"You're the one who's cheating," Kristen whispered softly in his ear before kissing down his neck again, her hands continuing to trail further downward. "I'm not stopping until I get my controller back. You will simply have to deal with it."

"Or I could just finish the race." He said tilting his head as she kissed his neck, his hands still moving the thumbstick on the controller as he hit lap 2.

"Good luck with that," Kristen smirked, slipping a hand into Edward's pants, amused to find that his cock was already slightly stiffening. "A little distracted already, are we?"

Edward moaned as she slipped her hand into his pants, his character swerving slightly as he felt his cock harden more in her hand, though he got it back under control as he hit lap 3.

"Nice save," she said, her hand starting to stroke gently up and down his cock, pausing to toy teasingly with the tip.

Edwards breathing sped up slightly as he turned the corner of the track. As much as he wanted to see if he could finish the race, despite the fact that she wasn't racing, he couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of her hand on him.

He placed the controller on his knee, using his thumb to hold down the A button and his pinky to move the thumbstick. He used his free hand to unbuckle his belt and open the button of his pants before he had to take the controller back into both hands since he was losing control.

Kristen smiled slightly. Even if Edward didn't act angry about the Minecraft mishap, it seemed he would give her an opportunity to make it up to him tonight…. but for now, there was still the matter of the controller. She continued to stroke at Edward's shaft, while her free hand made a grab for the controller.

"Mmm you know …. Not that distracted yet." He said taking two seconds to unzip his fly before his hand went back to the controller, in the process crashing into a wall and spinning out of control. "Oh my …" He said as he tried turning the kart around.

"Really?" Kristen said skeptically, watching his car spin out on the screen. "Because it seems like you're getting there." Her thumb ran lightly over the tip of Edward's cock as she continued to stroke the shaft.

"Perhaps." He said managing to get the kart the proper way around and continued down the track. "Or perhaps you're not trying hard enough." He said, that wicked grin back on his face.

Kristen nipped Edward's ear a little harder than before, her hand abruptly leaving his cock as she moved out from behind him on the couch. "I can't help feeling insulted," she said, getting up from the couch, arms crossed, pouting.

"You're the one who started this game." He said pausing it and putting the controller down. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck. "If that's what you wanted all you had to do was say so." He said nipping at her neck as she had done to his ear.

Kristen laughed softly. "Edward, dear, I don't really feel insulted," she assured him. "And I wasn't really going to stop." In fact, if he'd stayed put on the couch a moment longer, she would be on her knees trying out a different distraction technique. "I was just messing with you a little bit." She thought she'd kept her tone light and playful enough that he wouldn't think she was really irritated… Evidently, they still had some work to do on their communication.

"I know." Edward said as his hands moved down her sides. "But I lied …." He said quietly. "You were doing a very good job distracting me … And I didn't want you to stop distracting me." He said moving his lips over the soft skin of her neck.

Kristen smiled at that. "You're pretty distracting yourself," she said, leaning back against him as he kissed down her neck.

Edward breathed in her scent as he pressed his hardened cock against her ass through his underwear and her skirt.

"Perhaps we should turn the system off …. Go upstairs?" He asked, shifting his hips against her.

Kristen blushed slightly as she felt Edward's already hard cock press against her. She nodded, pressing back against him. "I'm… in favour of that idea," she said.

((A/N - As always please leave comments/reviews. I'm a sucker for them! :D Hope you enjoyed, sorry for the cliff hanger. Next chapter ... Sexy times!))