So…..I may have overestimated the amount of free time I would have going back to school. Apparently, my workload ended up being much greater than I had anticipated. I apologize for the delay, but hopefully this pairs well with the new season premiering!
Too many unaccounted for variables.
Edward's hand balled into a fist, scrunching the paper beneath his fingertips into a small, asymmetrical ball.
"There has to be a better way to do this…" he muttered incomprehensibly under his breath with a sigh of frustration.
He had put his friendship with Bree on the line for Kristen. There was no going back, despite making his feelings for both of them clear.
He had been clear, had he not?
You can't have both.
Bree's words echoed through his head as he stared at blank sheet of notebook paper on the desk. Her words seemed to be the only thing clear in his hazy mind…and the feeling of her warm breath against his lips….
He shook his head. No. He had made a split decision….and now he had to follow through.
He was running all of the scenarios, attempting to gauge all of Kristen's potential reactions.
"You can do so much better than Arnold Flass…..like me!"
The words he wanted to say so badly burned insistently at the tip of his tongue…..but they would never work. He fought the hard lump forming in his throat as Kristen's words to Flass echoed in his memory.
He's so…..weird.
His lips pressed into a tight line. He had to try and act…..not weird. Whatever that meant.
He took a deep breath and stood.
…..
…
He caught a glimpse of her walking into the forensics lab, his pace hastening with a jolt. As he approached the door, he slowed to a halt, staring at the doorknob for a moment before summoning the courage to push it open. As soon as he stepped inside, he tried to plaster an amiable smile onto his face. As he darted inside, Kristen turned towards the door abruptly with a gasp.
"Oh my…"
Edward smiled, his hands hanging stiffly by his sides.
Oh dear.
He went blank. He had rehearsed a rather eloquent dialogue, and suddenly, all thoughts seemed to just dart from his brain. He blinked, the first relevant facts spurting from his mouth almost of its own accord.
"Fun fact!" he began with a nervous laugh, gesturing with his index finger, before swallowing hard. He pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.
"The human species attract members of the opposite sex via pheromones secreted through saliva, sweat, and urine."
Oh no….he had said the wrong thing, judging by her reaction. He needed to think fast.
"Gross…" Kristen said, her face scrunched in distaste as she moved to pass Edward.
"But…." His breath caught in his lungs.
He was going to lose his chance.
He side-stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
"—one can't always trust such an animalistic method to find a suitable partner…."
He finished quickly, causing Kristen to actually tilt her head, her eyes flickering across his face. The short pause between them seemed to go on an eternity.
"What are you….trying to tell me?"
Without missing a beat, Edward continued.
"Arnold Flass was released…I...I knew that you two were dating….and if the attraction wasn't intellectual…..how could it be with that gorilla…." he fought back a scoff, but the bitterness was plain in his tone. He continued regardless.
"Then it must be physical…." He trailed off, unable to meet her uncomfortable gaze.
"It's just….he's such a bad, bad…bad…"
Dammit.
He cursed himself silently at his inability to form intellectual, coherent thoughts around her.
"—bad…."
Suddenly, he froze at the gentle touch on his sleeve. His eyes locked onto hers. It was nearly impossible not to look at her hand on his forearm.
"I appreciate your concern…but it won't….be necessary. I realize that there are far better men in the world than Arnold Flass."
His heart leapt, the spot on his sleeve where she had touched still seemed to latch onto her presence even as she dropped her arm back to her side.
She gave a small smile, offering a curt nod as she turned and all but darted out of the lab.
Despite her sudden departure, he couldn't fight the smile creeping cross his lips any more than the extra pep in his step as he crossed the room with an elated sigh.
There's hope.
….
He wanted to shout with joy to the world that he had a chance with her. He wanted to brainstorm date ideas; endearing, non-menacing ways to ask her on a date. He had to go tell Bree!
His brain jumped to the conclusion almost automatically. His beaming smile dimmed.
Oh….
His mind wandered back to her agitated expression and somewhat distressed tone.
"I've said my part, just please talk about anything but her around me, deal?"
Unfortunately, he realized, that encompassed a larger spectrum of conversation than he had anticipated. In fact, he had recently been avoiding Bree just so he wouldn't have to see that look of mild disappointment in her eyes whenever he mentioned Kristen's name…..an odd cocktail of emotions, disappointment one of them, and definitely a bit of sadness…..
He hated seeing her look at him like that….
But possibly also a hint of jealously…..?
He didn't want to admit how much he secretly enjoyed that.
Who else did he really have to talk with?
Bullock made it clear not to go to him for relationship advice…..Gordon was nowhere in sight. None of the other officers or detectives really took the time to ever talk to him….
There was Bree…and, well…..Bree.
He hadn't really taken much initiative to talk to many other people. His work took up much of his time, considering he genuinely enjoyed examining evidence and casefiles. If he wasn't working, perhaps he was tinkering, or solving puzzles.
He frowned as he crossed the bustling main precinct floor. His gaze drifted up the stairs and he froze as he noticed a familiar form clutching a tall stack of files near the banister. He swallowed hard.
Bree.
She seemed concentrated on the task on hand, oblivious to his gaze. Her brows furrowed, hair in curled wisps framing her face. Her lips seemed pursed in thought….
Lips that had been so soft and warm.
He swallowed stiffly, quickly shaking his head. It was almost as if she sensed his eyes on her, her head rose, glancing up. Their eyes locked for the briefest moment before he abruptly diverted his gaze, darting in the opposite direction with his head down…..even if the lab he needed to get to was in fact, the other direction.
He wouldn't be able to keep this up for long….
But those were negative thoughts reserved for another time. For now…..how to win over Miss Kringle….?
….
Flowers.
Flowers were cute, romantic…..completely not menacing, right?
Surely, they were traditional enough for her to respect, and simple, considering her dislike of his puzzles and riddles….He frowned at the thought, but tried not to linger too long. She didn't need to know just how meticulously he had chosen each stem. Each flower breed and petal number chosen to reflect his adoration of her…no….she did not need to know that. (Despite how much he silently commended himself for being such a romantic.)
Regardless, he rehearsed the lines in his head on repeat as he took a deep breath, clutching the bouquet behind his back.
Miss Kringle's back was turned to him as he carefully approached. He lightly cleared his throat. She turned around, away from the officer she had been conversing with. Her brows rose as her eyes flickered across his face.
"Oh, Mr. Nygma…"
She said in a rather guarded tone. Edward smiled, taking a deep breath.
"Miss Kringle…I was wondering if you had dinner plans this evening?"
He chimed, struggling to keep his composure and hide the flowers behind his back. She froze, her gaze widening slightly in a small revelation.
"Oh…..ah…actually I, I do…with Tom…..have you met Tom?"
She stepped aside slightly and gestured to the officer beside her. Her brows furrowed in concern as the tall officer with a lopsided grin stepped forward with an extended hand. Edward's smile immediately fell, but he half-heartedly shook the man's hand.
"You're the guy who likes riddles!" the man remarked at an unnecessarily loud volume, "….Hey, what has hands but can't clap?"
Edward's eyes flickered to Kristen and then back to Dougherty. His attempt at a polite smile fell into something of a grimace.
Is this buffoon serious?
"….a clock," Ed remarked flatly, mildly insulted by his pathetic attempt to be clever.
"Correct," Dougherty said with a short laugh and a too-wide, wry smile.
"Your good!" the man looked over to Kristen with raised brows, "He's good!"
Edward resisted the urge to shake his head as he directed his attention back to Kristen.
"Am I…correct to assume that this is your….your new boyfriend?"
The question left a foul taste in his mouth.
"Yeah," Kristen began rather sheepishly, "yes….I guess so," she said, adjusting her glasses and diverting her gaze to the ground.
"You betcha!" Dougherty cut in, slapping her on the rear. She jumped slightly and shot him a look, but otherwise remained silent.
Edward felt as if he were about to be sick.
"Congratulations sir…" he said simply, biting back all manner of the vicious commentary in his mind.
"Thank you…" Dougherty said with a smile that held a bit too much pride, and he turned back to Kristen, "Well we should probably…get going."
"Okay…" she said, barely a whisper as she ducked away from Edward, not meeting his gaze.
"It's nice to meet'cha…..Riddle man, next time…" he pointed to Ed with a chuckle,
"I'm gonna stump you."
Edward was not sure if he ever had given a more half-hearted forced smile.
"Yes….next time."
His eyes trailed behind them as they exited the precinct. A sudden wave of anger flashed through him.
The audacity.
The hand that grasped the bouquet dropped to his side. He brought the flowers in front of him and snapped them with all of his strength, ignoring the thorns and callous leaves. He dumped them in the trashcan beside him, ignoring the curious gazes of a few inquiring officers around him. His fists clenched as he stared at the ground. He didn't even notice the figure approaching him until he felt a light tap on his shoulder, causing his gaze to snap up abruptly. He dimly registered his name being called.
"Ed…..?"
His glare, steeled with frustration, softened somewhat as he suddenly realized who it was. Bree blinked, confusion clear on her features as she took in his hostile reaction. Edward swallowed hard, trying to weave together a coherent thought, not blinded by his frustration and silent rage.
"Um….I don't think I would make the best conversational partner right now…." He said, biting back the lump forming in his throat. He moved to push past her
She side stepped in front of him, and firm hand on his chest stopped him in his tracks. Her chin tipped upward, meeting him squarely in the eyes. Sometimes he found himself forgetting that he was much taller than her, just by the sheer determination in how she carried herself that made him feel small.
"Ed…..what happened?"
Her eyes were too scrutinizing, too searching as they moved across his face.
Too concerned.
He was terrified that if he stared in them for too long he would just break down with a full wave of emotion right in the middle of the precinct. She lightly grasped his arm and pulled him into a side hallway, out from the view of most of the precinct.
"I figure this has something to do with those flowers in the trash doesn't it….?"
His eyes snapped up to hers, glowering slightly in silent confusion and anger.
"How did you….."
She shook her head, half rolling her eyes.
"—I have eyes….and your hand is bleeding."
His brows rose as he looked down at his palms, only now noticing the slight sting. Sure enough, there was a dark, brownish red smudge from his thumb, dotted with a few bright drops of blood from where the flower's thorns had caught his skin when he snapped the bouquet. He half-scoffed, blinking away the angry tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
"Well, aren't you clever…." He muttered, his voice layered with a bit more condescension than he had intended. She shot him a sharp look, but said nothing.
"Those were for Kristen weren't they….?"
His jaw clenched, pressing his lips into a tight line.
"…..yes," he admitted very quietly, his head drooping at he stared at the ground.
"Oh…Ed….I'm sorry."
He remained quiet but shook his head.
"I wanted to honor your wishes…and not talk about Miss Kringle around you…..I didn't want to bother you."
His breath was practically knocked from his chest as she suddenly wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. His arms hung limply by his sides for a moment in sheer surprise.
"To hell with it…..I don't care what you talk about," she said against the fabric of his suit. Her head rose slightly, her arms still around him.
"I just…..want my friend back."
The frustration still ran stiffly through his limbs, but his rage dimmed to mere background noise as his arms closed around her. His eyes fluttered shut, his brows furrowed as he simply enjoyed her warm embrace. He resisted the urge to pull her back against him as she loosened her grasp and leaned away. She idly chewed at her lip, a habit he wasn't so sure she was even aware of.
"Also…..there's something I need to tell you."
He said nothing, but offered a questioning look. She wrung her hands in front of her and shifted her weight to her other foot rather anxiously.
"I…I'm dating Harvey."
He froze, chest tightening painfully as he fought to maintain a stolid expression.
"Oh?"
"Yeah….I just….thought you should know."
The silent rage began to blossom once more in his gut, but he offered a tight-lipped smile.
"So…are we good?" she offered, peering up at him rather timidly. He wanted to shout that it was not good. He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her and ask her why she would tell him that after he had so obviously been rejected by Kristen. But he didn't.
"We're good," he said, suddenly pulling her forward into another hug.
"Oh….okay….this is cool," she chuckled against his jacket as his arms clasped around her again. His grip tightened around her. She opened her mouth to say something else, but seemed to decide against it and loosely grasped his jacket.
He hoped she didn't notice his hands trembling in silent rage as he tucked his head over her shoulder.
I've put it off for so long. Ugh, I'm sorry! It may be a bit of a dull chapter in relation to the wait, but it is very important progression-wise, so get excited, because things are about to take a much darker turn. Get pumped.