Author's note:
I want to say a BIG thankyou to the following people for reviewing my story so far;
Drac39,
PaddySnuffles,
fbi-woman,
krillball6,
GoldenLyre
sileas333
I have just one piece of advice to those people (especially sileas333), get writing.
I may be the first person to break the ice and write a "Forever" fic, but I would like to see some other stories appear for me to read and review.
And you know what, I've just had a brainwave idea come to me of how to get some more Forever fics on the site; A Writer's Challenge.
If your interested, keep reading, I'll post the details at the end of the chapter
BTW, I'm on a writing run at the moment. I've been holding some of our cattle out on our lane way so they can have a feed for the past few days and the writing juices have been running something fierce, and no doubt as you guys and gals are reading this chapter, I'll be working on the next one… all the while keeping those Hereford cows and calves from straying too far, so expect to see the next chapter soon.
"Batman Forever" doesn't belong to me.
Chapter 3
'Alfred, you've outdone yourself once again, old friend' was all Bruce could think as he sighted their meal as they entered the dinning room.
Roast beef and gravy with mashed potato and a few greens.
Bruce's favourite meal.
Beside him, Chase also offered her compliments, "This looks delicious Alfred"
Alfred smile at the pair before stating "Thank-you Dr. Meridian. Enjoy"
And without another word, Bruce watched the butler turn on his heel and leave the room, heading in the direction of the kitchen.
'No doubt to see to Dick's dinner' Bruce mused.
Returning his attention to his own situation, Bruce pulled out the chair in front of him, paused as Chase seated herself, then gently pushed the chair back in.
But just as Bruce made a move to go, Chase raised her right hand to tuck her straying forelock behind her ear, but in doing so she also revealed the graceful arc of her beautiful neck to his gaze.
Bruce stood, transfixed for a moment as his gentlemanly manner was stripped away, leaving the man who had been denied Chase's company for the past week to take over and he reacted.
Bringing his hands up to rest on the back of the chair, Bruce bent forward to kiss just above the junction between her neck and shoulder. When his lips made contact with her flesh Chase let out a slight gasp before she, too, reacted to his ministrations by raising the very hand that had triggered Bruce's actions and tangling it in his hair.
They stayed that way for a few moments before Bruce broke the contact between them and gently removed her hand from his hair, kissing her up-turned palm before letting it go completely.
'It's amazing' Bruce mused as he let go of her chair and walked around the table to sit in his own seat 'How easy we've become around each other when it comes to physical intimacy'
Chase had never been afraid to just kiss him when she felt the urge too. He, on the other hand, had become tentative with his affections towards her ever since the happenings on Claw Island. It was common knowledge among the Manor's occupants that Bruce cared deeply for the criminal psychologist and that he wished for her to become a permanent fixture in his life. As a result of that wish, he had slowed things down between them, just a little, so that he could court her correctly.
In hindsight that move had been the wisest one he'd ever made, their relationship had flourished, growing stronger with each and every day that passed. Also apart of the move was sexual intimacy, sure they kissed a fair deal and had made out a number of times, but when it came to complete consummation of their love, he had refused to put any pressure on Chase, despite the ever-present press constantly trying to pry into their lives and force their opinions on the couple. In his eye's, Chase would let him know when she was ready to take the next step with him.
'And she did that, alright' Bruce smirked slightly as his mind, and his body, remembered her kiss that night. And the words she'd said after it, her voice just above a whisper; "Make love to me Bruce".
Ever since that night, the last part of their relationship had fallen into place, making Bruce Wayne a very happy man. Because it meant that Chase was just as committed about them being a couple as he was.
The other thing that pleased him was that their 'out of the spotlight' relationship had also changed, he was still courteous and gentlemanly towards her but he could now drop his guard and kiss and touch her senseless whenever he felt the urge to, something he had come to have no trouble with doing.
"Bruce?" Chase's voice jolted him back into reality.
"Sorry" he apologised with a meek smile.
"You looked like you were a thousand miles away"
"I was… thinking"
"Oh? About what?"
"How beautiful you're looking tonight"
At his flippant remark, Chase tilted her head slightly to the side, shooting him an 'I'm serious' look.
Chuckling softly as Chase's well known determination shot through his 'play-boy' manner, Bruce replied in all seriousness, "About us, actually"
"What about us?" the Doctor queried.
"About how much our relationship has…" Bruce searched his mind for the right word, "progressed… so far"
At this, Chase reached across the table to rest her hand atop his, a soft look taking over her gorgeous blue eyes. Placing his remaining hand on top of Chase's, Bruce squeezed it gently to convey his feelings to her before he gently extracted his hands from hers.
"We best eat"
Chase nodded her head, retracting her outstretched hand and picked up her knife and fork. But as she did this, something in Bruce's mind was triggered by her actions, and he felt himself being pulled away from present-day reality to a past memory.
These 'memory trips', as he had come to call them, had started to occur right after Halloween, when his memory of his parent's deaths' had finally been resolved. With his most painful memory out of the way, Bruce had relaxed and allowed other memories of his limited time with his parents to surface.
The majority of them came in his dreams. But some, like this one, were triggered by a similar action in real life.
Clearing his thoughts, Bruce focused on the scene playing out before him.
A young Bruce was being led, blindfolded, by his mother towards the dining room.
"Are we there yet?"
Shaking her head as she chuckled softly at her son's impatience, Martha Wayne replied "No Bruce, not yet"
Continuing on, the pair reached their destination, Martha guided Bruce into the room where his father and Alfred waited.
"Alright, you can remove the blindfold now, Bruce"
Without a moment's hesitation, Bruce tore off the black material that covered his eyes and took in the sight before him. His father, Thomas Wayne, stood before him. Alfred was also present, standing a little off to the side from the Wayne family.
"Happy Birthday Bruce" the three adults called and Bruce grinned from ear to ear, he'd been under the impression that they had forgotten about his birthday for most of the day.
"I thought you'd all forgotten" Bruce stated
"We didn't" Thomas replied as he strode forward and wrapped his son in up in a hug "we just wanted to make dinner this evening extra special for you"
"Thank you" Bruce whispered to his father.
Smiling, Thomas stood "We better eat, before our meal goes cold"
With excitement flooding through him, Bruce headed towards the table to see what Alfred had cooked for this evening's dinner, and found…
"Roast beef" Bruce stated joyfully before turning to Alfred "Thank you Alfred"
Alfred smiled at his young charge, "My pleasure, Master Bruce. I hope you enjoy your meal" he said before leaving the room.
Bruce nodded his head as he seated himself, pausing as his parents did the same, before all three of them began to eat.
Bruce engrossed himself in his birthday meal for a while, before a movement from his parents caught his eye. His father had apparently said something affectionate to his mother, because Martha had reached a hand across the table and placed it atop her husband's, who in return rested his remaining hand on top of hers.
Bruce watched the affectionate moment between his parents and silently hoped that when he fell in love that he could, and would, be as affectionate and loving with his beloved as his parents were with each other.
"Is something wrong Bruce?" Martha asked, returning her attention to her entire family and had found that her son had stopped eating.
Bruce swiftly shook his head, "No, Mother, nothing's wrong" and quickly resumed eating to cover-up the fact that he'd been watching his parents.
Smiling, Thomas and Martha followed suit.
Bruce blinked a couple of times as the memory ended and he returned to reality… and felt something warm on his left thigh.
When his vision re-focused, Bruce saw that Chase was crouched down beside his chair, with a hand resting on his thigh, a clear look of concern in her eyes.
"Bruce?"
Dropping his hands from the table onto his legs, Bruce smiled to let Chase know that he was back and that he was alright.
"What happened?" she questioned
"I had a memory come to me"
"Do you want to talk about it" Chase asked, as she ran her hand up and down his leg in a soothing manner.
Shaking his head, Bruce replied, "No"
But his tone must of come out much harsher that he had expected, because Chase suddenly withdrew, a look of hurt on her features. Realisng his mistake, Bruce swiftly took hold of Chase's retreating hand and gently ran his thumb back and forth across her knuckles in a soothing gesture, though her body still remained stiff with hurt.
"I'm sorry Chase," he apoligised softly "I didn't mean for that to come out as harsh as it did. I just thought that we better eat, before our meal goes cold"
As Chase relaxed, he added "I'll tell you about the memory later on, okay with you?"
Smiling, Chase nodded and Bruce kissed the back of her hand before letting it go.
As Chase stood and returned to her seat, something occurred to Bruce.
The words he'd just said to her.
"…we better eat, before our meal goes cold"
Those words were the exact same ones his father had said to him in the memory.
'Guess it's true what they say' Bruce mused 'Like father, like son'
With that, turned his attention to his meal, picking up his knife and fork, he and Chase began to eat.
TBC…
Author's note:
Here's the Writer's Challenge that I had in mind.
I've had a few reviewers asking me to have a little more descriptive intimacy between Bruce and Chase in my fic… but there's one major spanner-in-the-works that's stoping me from doing that, I'm no good that kind of writing (I want to be, really I do, but sadly, I've got a lot more work to do before I'll be a world-class romance novelist), but then I thought, "Hey I know, I can set a challenge for my reviewers and fellow Bruce and Chase fans to have a crack at"
So, your Challenge, if you chose to accept it, is to write about Bruce and Chase's first night together.
It can be a prequel to 'A Quiet Night In', and follow what I have sketched out.
Or you can branch out on you own two feet and fingers. Which ever suits.
If your going to have a crack at the challenge, can you please drop me a line at my email; nlmaxwell85 at hotmail dot com, to let me know that you're having a go.