It was mid-afternoon. Free time. Your favourite time of the day. You could curl up and re-read a book, twirl and twirl until you grew dizzy, or even stir a little between the other inmates and start a fight or two.

Arkham Asylum. Home to you for the past 10 years.

You were brought in on your tenth birthday, after you used the knife you were supposed to cut your cake with for unscrupulous reasons.

You had had just about enough of your foster 'siblings' and decided life would be a lot simpler if one of the other boys kindly died. You may or may not have waited until the final round of 'happy birthday to you' to blow out the candles and swiftly shove the knife deep in his neck.

It was peaceful for all of 4 seconds.

Disappointing to say the least.

They actually tried to save him.

Surely they were sick and tired of Conner as well, you thought to yourself.

Anyway, long story short, you were declared 'insane', thrown in the juvenile facility at Arkham and left to your own thoughts.

You were moved to the adult area on your sixteenth birthday. Nothing like moving in with a bunch of even crazier bāstards for your birthday. They weren't necessarily worse than the younger lot, the guards just gave less of a shīt in here.

Thankfully you landed on your feet. No one tended to bother you once word of your 'activities' in Arkham juvie spread. Amongst a lot of things, no one wanted to lose their bālls like poor Evan had. To be fair, he had been warned. He'll think twice about stealing pudding cups again.

You couldn't say you missed the outside world all that much. You hadn't had much freedom to enjoy before here. How can you miss something you've never had?

...

You flipped and flopped between different conversations, memories and thoughts in your head as you stared at a picture you'd hung on the wall beside your favourite seat. It was of window, looking out onto a lush green countryside, with plenty of sheep and cows dotted around. It was better than the actual view of a high wall with barbed wire around the top.

Not long later the space opposite you was filled by an energetic, young inmate with red hair. You'd seen him carted in last week along with a few other poor souls. He was... cute? Yeah, cute. You hadn't seen cute in a long while. Not in here.

You tilted your head, much like a dog did when it feigned confusion, and stared at him. He beamed a bright, crooked smile and held out his hand.

"Hi, gorgeous. I'm Jerome." Wagging his eyebrows up and down once he looked pointedly at his outstretched hand.

Hm. Maybe I'll let this boy keep his balls.

He was definitely very handsome... cheeky... and probably a helluva ride. You hadn't enjoyed much of that, being stuck in here. The young guards were pretty green and the others were too damn old.

Immediately, you jumped up on the armchair, making your decision and crossing your legs underneath your backside and finally spoke to someone other than yourself.

"Hi, handsome. I'm _ _." You beamed back, head still tilted.

You ignored his hand. You'd end up jumping him in the day-room.

Sensing your hesitation, he chuckled and pulled it back, brushing back a few fallen strands of red hair as he done so.

"What's'a beauty like you doin' in a hell hole like this?" He tapped his finger on the arm of the chair to his own rhythm.

Smirking slyly, you quickly tilted your head to the opposite side and beamed at him.

"Aw, you flatter me." You shrugged your shoulders and continued. "Eh, it's home. Whatcha in for, Red?"

"Haha, not for long, gorgeous. Not for long." He sighed and ran a hand through his tousled hair once again. "Killed my mom. No biggie. Deserved it."

"Hm, I'm sure she did. Parents are overrated." You nodded in agreement.

"Ya know, Jerome, I've decided that after 10 years, a girl could probably use a friend in here. See, the guards, they don't care. And they're not so, hm, good...". You copied his brow-wag and ran your finger over your lower lip slowly.

"...where it counts. You reckon you could be that 'good' friend, Jerome?" Smiling sweetly, you raised a single, manicured brow. Yes, manicured. You had a lot of free time.

"If someone tries to hurt me, would you protect me?" You fluttered your lashes, the picture of innocence.

He broke out into laughter, his smile large and lighting up his perfect, pale face.

"Sure thing, _ _. I'll be your 'friend'." He paused and moved forward, his knees were now almost brushing against yours.

"You gon' be my partner in crime? Have my back?" He spoke in a low, sinfully gravely voice, his warm breath fanning over your rosy cheeks.

Biting down on your lip, you attempted to hide the dirty smile that was trying to break on to your face as you spoke.

"Mmhm. I'd rather have your front though." You grinned deliciously, the smile on his face spreading from ear to ear.

"Oh, boy." He chuckled and glanced down to your lips.

"You're naughty." He glanced back up to your eyes, deep forest green meeting _ _ _ _.

Slowly, he inched his lips closer to yours, placing a long, chaste kiss to your warm, welcoming mouth.

"Come on, gorgeous. Let's start planning our escape." He stood and held out both his hands.

Without a second thought, you grabbed both outstretched hands, entwining your fingers.

He pulled you flush to his chest as he studied your happy, giggling form.

Beaming, you tilted your head up and whispered, only slightly manically, into his ear.

"You got it, puddin'."

A/N

Ciao, maniaci.

Lack of updates is half down to me being my lazy-āss self, and half down to me planning my holiday. Worth it, in my opinion ^-^.

This isn't the end of these two ^. There will be a part two, and maybe three, to follow. I'm sure you're all lookin' for some more action too.

Thank you for the favourites and follows since the last chapter. You have no idea how happy it makes me when I realise there's actually people out there enjoying my scribbles! Thank you!

Happy Sunday.

- Ellie