Hey guys, this is part one of a VERY long chapter. I didn't think it was fair to put out a thirty page chapter so I split it up. Plus a lot of you are waiting patiently for me to update and I didn't want to leave you all hanging. So enjoy! Part two should be out tomorrow or the day after.
Jayde had just forced herself not to glance at her phone for the fourth time in twenty minutes when she jumped, turning her head quickly toward the garage door when it flew open. Her heart skipped a beat when she remembered the same noise from the night before when Tre had practically carried him inside. This time, however, Joker seemed perfectly alive and well, barely limping as he strode across the bottom floor toward the couch where she was sitting. There was a crazed look about him as he approached that made Jayde recoil slightly as he held out a hand to her. A second later, his expression softened a bit, obviously trying to convey to her without speaking that she was not in trouble and that he was not going to hurt her if she followed him. So without a word, after taking a good long look at his eyes, Jayde placed her hand within his, allowing him to pull her up from the couch and over to the stairs.
At the bottom step, Jayde glanced over her shoulder to Tre who was now closing the door behind himself, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. A smirk flashed onto his features before it disappeared and he shrugged, sliding his pack of cigarettes from his pocket. By now, Jayde was forced to turn around when Joker reached the top of the stairs and pulled her over to the closed door to his office.
"Joker," she said his name, following him inside the room, kicking closed the door behind her. "What's going-…" Her following words hitched heavily in her throat when Joker pushed her against the back of the closed door with a loud thud, silencing her further a moment later when his lips crashed into hers. She hummed against him, tilting her head back when he took a step closer, looming over her as both of his hands reached out to curl tightly around her hips. He groaned against her mouth when he felt those familiar hipbones just over his thumbs and honestly, he could not have been more proud of himself for making the decision he had.
As though it had been choreographed, Joker pulled away just as Jayde tilted her head back further, tilting it to the side as he immediately lowered his head to sink his teeth into the soft skin there. Jayde gasped, reaching out to grip his forearms tightly from the shock of mingled pain and pleasure that had slithered its way down her spine. She was not left much time to respond before Joker pulled away from her neck, taking a step back, pulling her with him as he stepped further into the room. Opening her eyes, Jayde was only given a split second to react when Joker's hands reached out, one empty, the other wielding a bloodied knife. Her eyes grew wide just before he pressed the blade against the top of her shirt, making a small cut so he could rip it clean in half down the middle of the front, forcing another gasp from Jayde. His lips stretched into a toothy smirk as Jayde arched an eyebrow at his Tarzan-like approach to getting her clothes off.
A second later, Jayde had seemingly understood where he was wanting this to go so she took another step backwards until the small of her back came into contact with the cold, metal edge of his surgical table. She jumped at the contact but was again left no time to protest when Joker stepped up, still holding his knife, eyeing the middle strap of her bra hungrily. He seemed to think better of cutting it however and tossed his knife behind him blindly, putting his hands to better use by grabbing her hips to lift her onto the table. His lips met hers again as he reached out behind her, pushing papers and a first-aid kit onto the floor with a loud clatter. Jayde arched her back, parting her knees so he could stand in between them, but the moment she felt his hips between her thighs, something clicked inside her mind and suddenly she was ravenous.
Hasty, anxious hands reached out to him, hooking two fingers behind the already loosened knot of his tie, tugging hard on it until it came undone. With that discarded and tossed randomly to the floor, Jayde started on his buttons, trying confusedly to undo them neatly without looking. Her breathing had grown labored and heavy with anticipation, as all she could think about was getting the damn thing off of him so she could reach out and touch his bare chest. But upon reaching the third button, Jayde grew frustrated and resorted to tugging hard on either side of the fabric, ripping the remaining buttons from the shirt with several dull pops. A deep laugh escaped Joker as he watched her eyes travel down his now exposed chest, her hands following suit shortly after.
Unfortunately, Jayde was still wearing a pair of rather tight jeans but Joker was quick to push her onto her back along the table, unbuttoning them hastily and efficiently to tug them down and throw them across the room. Jayde sighed with a quiet whimper when his hands slid up her thighs, tickling her slightly with the rough calluses that lined the ridges of his palms. A second later, Jayde gasped when the entire surgical table dropped about six inches with a lurch, although the moment she opened her eyes and noticed Joker with a switch in his hand and a mischievous grin on his face, things started clicking into place. Rising onto her elbows, Jayde let her tongue trace her top lip lustfully as she watched Joker undo his pants, completely ignoring the fact that he was watching her enjoy this and she felt herself practically drooling when he wrapped his own hand around his dick.
Without a word, or even looking at her, Joker took one more half step forward, reaching out a finger to tug her thin underwear to the side, only to thrust himself into her a second later, as deeply as he could reach. Jayde could not stop herself from crying out, the reaction had been so instinctual and within seconds, she was breathing heavily in rhythm with Joker's strong, deep pace.
Joker watched Jayde writhe below him, remembering quickly back to how he had imagined fucking her on this table when they had first met. I guess dreams really do come true…he thought sarcastically, grunting an audible laugh to himself as he reached out with both hands, grabbing the top of Jayde's bra, only to wrench it down. The straps slid from her shoulders as the entire thing moved down, exposing her perfect handfuls and the erect, perfectly shaped nipples that came with them; there was just no way that girl in the alley could have looked better than this. Jayde gasped, arching her back as Joker leaned over her, bracing himself with his hand on the table next to her head as his mouth closed over her right nipple. Her hands twisted into his soft, tangled green waves as they fell across her chest and in front of his face, hiding his mouth from her, so Jayde reached out, pushing his hair out of the way so she could watch the way his tongue and teeth licked and bit at the sensitive flesh between them.
Just over the sound of her breathing and the pounding of her heartbeat in her head, Jayde could hear the clinking noise of Joker's pocket chain as it hit against the metal of the table in perfect time with his thrusts. She moaned at the simplicity of it and had just tilted her head back to close her eyes when Joker suddenly pulled out of her. Her eyes opened again but only for a second to see him lift his finger and whirl it around in a circle in the air as his eyes narrowed onto hers. Without even asking, Jayde knew this to be his instruction for her to turn over, so after scooting to the edge of the table, she dropped to her feet, only to turn her back to him and bend over the now warm metal. She gasped when Joker's hands pushed down hard on the middle of her back, arching it further as he entered her again, immediately swinging his hips into a rough, unbridled rhythm. A loud yelp escaped Jayde at the sensation but she cut herself off quickly, resorting to silence when she remembered that there was every chance Dotcom was in his room right across the hall and that Tre was downstairs. Joker seemed to notice her withholding and growled, reaching out to grip her hips tightly.
"No, girl, I want you to scream." He growled loudly. "I want them to hear…" As if in answer to his wishes, Joker brought his hand back only to slap her ass cheek as hard as he could, the sound of it echoing in the tiled room like the crack of a whip. Jayde squealed, tossing her long hair over her shoulder so she could look back at Joker and watch his hips as he thrust into her. He smirked, watching the side of her face, at her slightly dropped jaw before he groaned, squeezing hard on her hips with a machine-like grip. Unfortunately, Jayde did not seem to be taking his word to heart. "I said, scream, now." He growled, his voice deep and almost demonic sounding. A second later, his fingers reached around her hip to her clit and finally, Jayde obeyed him, rising onto her very tip toes as his name left her lips in a loud, somewhat raspy cry. "Mmm…" Joker groaned, closing his eyes. "Yes?" he then asked as though Jayde had only said his name to get his attention.
Joker's thrusts began to gain speed and intensity again and before long, he was staring down at what he was doing, fighting with himself on whether to go ahead and let himself finish or to keep this up for another hour. Honestly, his leg was starting to hurt a bit and if he was lucky, Jayde just might oblige him with another of her 'therapy sessions'. He closed his eyes, deciding to just let go and let his body take over now, shutting down his mind to relax every muscle in his body. It did not take long for it to catch up with him.
"Fuck," he gasped, bucking his hips several more times as he came, releasing into Jayde, relishing in the last little whimper she gave. He pulled out of her without hesitation, taking a staggered step back to lean against the cabinets at the wall behind him, breathing heavily. Jayde turned to him, brushing her damp curls away from her face as he shook his head violently for a second as though trying to clear out the fuzziness. Her ears were ringing as well, making Joker's deep laugh sound muffled.
"What…" she began, but paused to swallow, trying to catch her breath. "What was that for?" Across from her, Joker had just finished re-buttoning his pants and was laughing to himself, shaking his head as he watched her step back into her jeans.
"You wouldn't believe it if I told ya, kiddo." He answered, his dark eyes sparkling as she looked up at him, an inquisitive expression on her face. If he did not know her as well as he did, he would have given her time to ask another question, but he lifted his hand a moment later, motioning for her to follow him as he walked toward the office door. "Let's go to my room. I need a shower."
Out in the hallway, Jayde paused, holding up her torn shirt to the front of her. "Wait, I'm gonna go change my clothes," she told him, arching an eyebrow up at him. "…including my underwear…" Joker rolled his eyes with a smirk as he turned to continue into his room without a word, although he left his door slightly ajar. Jayde took that to mean that he would like her to join him when she was done. A silly smile flew onto her face as she turned to walk down to her bedroom.
A few minutes later, after rinsing off and putting on fresh underwear and pajamas, Jayde was stepping into the Joker's dim bedroom, grinning widely when she heard the shower running in the bathroom just on the other side of the room from her. She walked toward it, taking a deep breath in through her nose as the masculine scent of his soap floated into the bedroom on the steam. At the frame of the door, Jayde could hear him moving around in the shower, more than likely washing his hair as the rushing sound of the water hitting the tile seemed interrupted every once in a while. Without stopping to wonder if this was not a great idea, Jayde stepped into the bathroom, walking over to sit on the counter next to the sink, crossing her legs as she leaned back against the huge mirror.
"Try me," she said somewhat loudly over the sound of the water, tilting her head to the side as she tried to imagine what he was doing on the other side of the white shower curtain. He must have been washing his face or had not heard her enter the bathroom as he coughed slightly, clearly having inhaled some water through his nose.
"What's that, ya say?" he practically shouted, exaggerating greatly the volume Jayde had just used in her own voice. She laughed, folding her arms over her middle.
"You said I wouldn't believe it if you told me, so…try me."
From the way Joker groaned, it was clear he had been hoping she would not press the matter further but Jayde did not mind pushing his buttons then; he seemed to be in a good mood so she took advantage of it. On the other side of the shower curtain, Joker cleared his throat and Jayde's eyes flew up to where the curtain ended when she noticed one of his hands reach up for a second.
"You really wanna know?" he asked in a voice that suggested Jayde might really want to think about her answer and whether she really did want to know why he had come straight in and needed to fuck her. Without pausing to take any extra meaning from his word, Jayde nodded but then answered 'yes' when she remembered he couldn't see her. Joker took a deep breath in, rolling his eyes when he visualized the expression on her face when he got out of the shower and had finished his story. He could just imagine that childish way she would stomp out of the room and refuse to come back. But it had been her decision to push him into telling her so hypothetically, she had signed a waiver, taking any and all fault from Joker.
"Well," he began, exhaling heavily as he washed his face for the second time. "I had just blown up the parking garage next to MCU… boring, I know, but that's all I had time for…" he then muttered as though Jayde had been suggesting his attack was dull in some sort of way. "Anyways," he went on, shaking his head, figuring it would probably just be best to get it all out at once. "I was standing in an alley off fifty-sixth waiting to catch his wife and son and this girl came up behind me and…said she wanted to meet me, so I said hi, and then she…says she wants me to fuck her?" he cringed; this sounded one hundred times more ridiculous now that he was describing the incident out loud. At this, Jayde cut in.
"Did you?" she asked, her voice suddenly dangerous. Joker's eyebrows furrowed.
"No…" he answered in the same tone. "I gave her some money to get a cab home."
"You did?"
"No, I killed her." He then admitted as though Jayde had just caught him in a white lie. When she remained quiet, he made a defensive noise, raising his arms with a shrug of his shoulders at the wall like it was agreeing with him that she was being stupid. "That's why I came home and fucked you. I'm not gonna lie and say I wasn't tempted, but I didn't do anything…Honest."
A long moment of silence descended over the bathroom wherein Joker felt like banging his head against the tile for thinking it was a good idea to tell her the truth. There were so many other things, other lies he could have told to keep her happy and not hating his guts.
"Why didn't you?" she then asked, her voice a bit quieter as she stared down at the rug on the floor outside of the shower, raising her eyes slowly when she heard the shower shut off abruptly. A second later, his hand appeared around the curtain, reaching out to the dark blue towel on the rack next to it, only to pull it into the shower.
The curtain flew across the railing when Joker threw it out of his way, revealing the squeaky clean man behind it, the towel wrapped low around his hips. For a moment, Jayde almost forgot that she had asked him a question as she was thoroughly distracted by his clean, handsome face. Stepping out of the shower, he walked over toward the sink, bringing his hands up to rake into his clean, wet hair, combing it back away from his face as he leaned in, tilting his head to the side, frowning at his cheek. Jayde watched him but squeezed her eyes shut a second later when Joker suddenly shook his head as hard as he could to both sides, flinging excess droplets of cold water in every direction for several seconds. His hands then came to rest on either side of Jayde on the counter, staring closely at her eyes through the curtain of stringy green hair in his face.
"Because I thought of you." He answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "Don't ask me why, 'cause I don't know." He shook his head slightly as his eyes rolled. "Aaaand because you're way hotter than her…" he then added jokingly, smirking as a wave of relief washed over him when Jayde giggled, wrinkling her nose as she wrapped her arms around his damp shoulders.
"Really?" she asked, grinning when Joker nodded, his eyebrow arched as though she had asked a stupid question.
"Oh yeah…You're a babe."
While Joker dressed in the bathroom, Jayde tucked herself into his bed, flipping on his tv when she wondered if there was anything on the news about his most recent bombing. She had just found the primary news station when his bathroom door opened and he emerged, rubbing his towel over his head to dry his hair more. He let out a giggle when he noticed the footage from a cell phone's video camera being shown while the reporters talked about casualties and property damage. For being such a hasty retaliation, his attack was getting plenty of press and clearly, the city was on high alert…and here he was, fresh out of the shower, feeling good and relaxed…at peace even. When Jayde cleared her throat, he looked over from around the edge of the towel now laying over his head like a shawl, grinning mischievously when he noticed her watching him.
"You gonna sit down or wh-…" she began to say but stopped mid-word, frowning as Joker suddenly walked over to the door, opening it to slip outside quietly. Both of her hands flopped down on the bed on either side of her helplessly at his abrupt exit, wondering where on earth he could possibly be going now.
It was not long before he returned, grinning to himself as he shut the door behind him, reaching into the baggy pocket of a pair of black cotton pajama pants, very similar to his favorite gray ones. Jayde sat up, frowning from his face down to his hand and back up again until he grew closer and she noticed a rolled blunt peeking out from between his fingers. He must have noticed the expression on her face as he giggled, leaning down slightly only to jump as high as he could before landing heavily on his bed, right in his favorite spot. He sighed contentedly as he reached into the dresser drawer just next to him, pulling from within, a lighter and small glass ashtray.
Jayde smirked at him, watching his face closely as his eyebrows arched, staring down at the tip of the blunt in his hand, rotating it slowly in the flame to light all the edges of the paper. A second later, Joker placed the thin cigar between his lips, puffing on it a few times until a small cloud formed around his face, drifting up through his slowly-drying, wavy hair. So caught up in watching him intently, Jayde missed the fact that Joker had just taken a huge hit and had just noticed her staring. Leaning down slightly, he blew the smoke in her face hard, grinning when she coughed, choking on it.
Once Jayde recovered and Joker had taken another hit, he leaned back in his pillows, passing the lit blunt to her, watching her lips from the side as she brought the blunt to them. She inhaled deeply once she had hit it, closing her eyes as she held her breath for a few seconds, exhaling a moment later in a thin stream of leftover smoke. It had been over a month since Jayde had smoked with them and she had a feeling that the weed wrapped in that cigar was probably fairly strong, so after one hit, she handed it back to him. Her eyes raked over his flesh-toned, clean face as he closed his eyes, and only then did she notice the light freckles on the bridge of his nose. She ignored this for the time being, watching as he tilted his head back to sink into his pillows. The tiny glass ashtray was rested on his bare stomach and after taking a fairly large hit, he tapped the blunt over it, clearing the end of excess ash. A second later, Jayde's voice broke the silence.
"Have you ever slept with a black girl?"
At this, Joker tried to laugh and cough at the same time, choking slightly, as he sat up to grab the ashtray before it fell onto his bed or onto the floor. He was shaking his head with a frown as Jayde smirked.
"What the hell made you think to ask that?" he asked in earnest interest, turning his head to stare down at her, his eyebrows furrowed, although he did not look mad. In fact, he looked rather amused; he had gotten used to her random questions a while ago. Jayde shrugged, taking the blunt from him as he held it out, waiting for a reply before he answered.
"I dunno, I just remember you saying that you and Tre lived in the ghetto for a long time…" she paused but then laughed, rolling her eyes when Joker continued to give her the most ridiculous look. "Nevermind, I think I'm high…" Finally, Joker snorted a laugh through his nose as he took the blunt back from her once she had hit it.
"Well, yes, if you must know, I have." He answered, shrugging his shoulders heavily, glancing over at Jayde, only to do a slight double-take at the expression on her face. "Why, have you?" he then asked somewhat hopefully but rolled his eyes when she shook her head, grinning, her eyes half-lidded. She remained quiet, hoping Joker would go on so she would not have to speak and admit how high and stupid she was feeling. "Actually, it's funny you ask that…" he started again, smirking to himself as he readjusted the blunt with his thumb nail, exhaling the smoke in his lungs through his nose. "I don't lose a lot of fights, but one in particular, I got my ass beat because this huge black guy that lived down the street from Tre and I caught his wife at my house…in my bed..." Jayde's eyebrows raised as Joker cringed, shutting his eyes as if trying to see his memory. "I'm pretty strong but I didn't stand a chance against that guy…" his voice trailed off as he took a hit of the slowly burning blunt before handing it back to Jayde. His head cocked to the side as if he had forgotten she was there. "And what's your sexual history?" he asked brightly, blinking placidly at her as she looked up to glare at him. He tsk-ed, rolling his eyes at his 'mistake'. "Oh right… I am your sexual history…"
Jayde rolled her eyes with a grin, scooting down further into the bed to lay on her back, handing the blunt to him, only to watch, mesmerized slightly as he put it out in the ashtray before sighing, reaching out to the remote to turn up the volume on his tv. But somehow, through the fog floating around her brain, Jayde realized that they had been talking, cordially, like friends for the first time in a while and she noticed then how much she missed it. So after casting around quickly for something else to ask him, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"When is your birthday?" she asked quickly, raising her eyebrows in an effort to force her eyes open more as Joker turned his head to frown down at her. His glossy, half-lidded eyes bounced back and forth between hers a few times before he turned back to the tv, clearing his throat.
"I don't have one." He answered, his voice flat and uninterested in the recent turn in topic of conversation, but beside him Jayde's mouth had fallen open in slight shock as she sat up completely, turning now to stare down at him. His eyebrows furrowed up at her before he growled, "What?" Jayde shook her head incredulously.
"You don't have a birthday? You've never celebrated-…" she went to say but stopped when Joker shook his head, shrugging his broad shoulders.
"Nope and I don't care." He explained, gazing past her to the tv until he seemed to notice her continual gaping. His eyes slid to hers again. "Honestly, Jayde, I'm not losing sleep over it." Still, Jayde sat there, staring at him, rather dumbfounded by the thought of not ever hearing someone tell you 'happy birthday' or having a day of being catered to…or even having a damn cake? Her mind was fairly blown that Joker had never received a birthday present or really any present for that matter, since the odds of him celebrating Christmas seemed particularly low now. With a soft 'tsk', Jayde turned over onto her hands and knees, crawling a bit closer to Joker to lift her left leg and place it on the other side of him, straddling his hips to pull his attention from the tv immediately. He watched her do this, letting his eyes slide up from her hips to her face.
"Well, you know what tomorrow is?" she asked, leaning down slightly to smile excitedly at him as his eyes rolled upwards slowly.
"Tuesday." He answered after a pause, his voice clowny and raspy as he nodded once with finality. Jayde shook her head, bringing her shoulders in slightly as she leaned down further with her hands on his chest.
"It's your birthday tomorrow." She purred, rocking her hips forward, then back gently, pulling a delighted little growl from Joker as his hands found their favorite places. "And you know what good boys get on their birthday?" Joker shook his head, glaring up at her hungrily as she grinned down at him playfully, tracing her finger down the middle of his chest. "-Whatever they want."
Suddenly, Joker's fingers tightened their grip on her hips, pushing them down as he brought his hips up, grinding against her deeply. The top corner of his lip curled in that snarling smirk when Jayde gasped quietly.
"Remind me to be a good boy tomorrow."
When Jayde woke the next morning, she sat up quickly, not even glancing at the Joker next to her as she pushed the blankets off of her to crawl gently to the end of the bed. For some reason, after Joker's first 'birthday present', Jayde had seemingly decided it would be beneficial to only sleep in her pajama pants and leave her shirt where it lay on the floor at the foot of the bed. But now, as she shivered slightly, she wondered what could have possibly been her reasoning. Then again…she had been pretty high.
At the door to Joker's room, Jayde paused, listening momentarily for the sound of his gentle breathing to make sure he was still asleep. Luckily, it seemed he was, so she quickly opened the door, slipping out into the hallway before silently shutting the door behind her. Normally, the bright sunlight would have forced Jayde into submission and she would usually be cringing as she walked to the stairs, but this morning, there was an air of determination about her that blocked out the pain. Joker's 'first birthday' had to be the best day for him that it could possibly be. Fortunately, Tre and Dotcom were already awake, although one of them, Dotcom, was outside, leaving Tre in the kitchen, pouring a glass of orange juice. Trotting down the stairs toward him, Jayde made a noise like 'psst' at him, grinning excitedly when he looked over. His eyebrows raised in a very Joker-esque manner.
"So…" she began hesitantly at first, feeling a tiny bit of apprehension at the back of her mind now that she was so close to the one person who knew the Joker better than she did. There was every chance he could tell her that it's the dumbest idea he's ever heard. "Joker told me last night that he doesn't know what his birthday is and that he's never celebrated it. True?" Tre was keeping up and nodded once.
"True."
"So I want to establish today as his birthday, permanently. We don't have to have a cake or anything stupid, but if you could tell him happy birthday, that would…be awesome…" she slowed down at the end of her explanation, hesitant to stop talking as she had a feeling Tre was going to start laughing at her. Her jaw went slack a moment later when he grinned, nodding his head.
"Yeah, that's a good idea, girl." He answered, then laughed at the disbelieving expression on Jayde's face. "No, I'm serious. He's always celebrated my birthday with me, I guess I never really thought to have him pick a day to be his birthday." He laughed again, tossing his head back slightly. "You are too good to him, girl, I mean that."
After talking with Tre for another few minutes, Jayde walked over to the glass, patio doors, sliding it open to step outside and sit down across from Dotcom. He looked up at the sound, grinning sleepily at her as he took his glasses from the top of his head to place them on his nose. They both started speaking at the same time.
"Hey, did you sleep-"
"Today is Joker's birthday."
Dotcom's jaw went slightly slack and Jayde grinned as he decided to address what she had said first.
"Say what?" he asked, arching his eyebrow as she shrugged, pouting slightly.
"Dotcom, he told me last night that he didn't know what his birthday is…and that nobody has ever said 'happy birthday' to him." she answered, placing her hand over her chest; the thought of that truly saddened her. "And I feel bad for him!…So I picked today to be his birthday- April twenty-second." She paused, frowning when she noticed the look on Dotcom's face. "Just say happy birthday to him. It will mean a lot to me." she paused again but then rolled her eyes. "It wont mean shit to him, but it will to me."
Finally, after Dotcom had agreed to say it, Jayde bounced back inside and over to the stairs, climbing up quickly until she reached Joker's door. It was obviously still unlocked and after slipping inside the room, Jayde sighed when she heard his deep breathing again. But now, she stood there in his dim room, staring at his bed, wondering how best to wake him up. On one hand, she could crawl up there and kiss him on the cheek, scratch his back and coo 'happy birthday' but on the other hand, she could jump on his bed and yell it excitedly…Taking a deep breath, Jayde started laughing before she even made it to the bed, making her landing a little clumsy. Cracking up now, Jayde fell onto the bed, rolling onto her stomach to crawl up toward him as he groaned, cringing into his pillow, but she was already on her knees at his side, shaking his arm gently.
"It's your birthday!" she exclaimed quietly, leaning down further when Joker let out a loud, aggravated growl as he rolled further onto his side, pushing his face completely into the pillow and his folded arms.
"Ugh, Jayde…" he groaned, his voice extra deep and sleepy, muffled against the purple material of his sheets. . "I thought you were kidding about that…"
"No, I wasn't." she answered, laying down on her stomach just next to him to try and see his face from around the edge of his arm, but he had it thoroughly hidden. A second later, a frustrated little huff escaped Jayde at Joker's lack of enthusiasm. He moved his head back and forth a few times as he scratched an itch on his nose against his pillow.
"…Can my birthday be tomorrow, I've got plans today…" he grumbled, keeping his face hidden as if it were some game of preventing Jayde from seeing him and he could not help but smirk when she whined like a frustrated puppy.
"Noooo…It has to be today." She answered, reaching up to wrap her hand around his wrist and tug gently, whimpering slightly when he resisted. "You can still do stuff on your birthday!" When this still received no response from Joker, Jayde tried a new tact. "If you let today be your birthday, I'll give you a really great present…" she bribed hopefully. A second later, Joker shrugged his shoulders.
"Eh." He grunted indifferently. When Jayde scoffed, insulted, Joker finally let out a genuine laugh, lifting his head from the pillow as she folded her arms with her bottom lip stuck out. He turned his head to look at her but then groaned loudly, rolling his eyes as he flopped over onto his back. "FINE." He finally agreed, bringing the back of his forearm up to rest across his forehead groggily. "What do I have to do…"
"Just get dressed and come downstairs." Jayde instructed brightly, bouncing down from the bed as Joker let out another loud, dramatic groan, forcing himself into a sitting position like a zombie. His eyes were shut tightly, accompanying the sour, pouty expression on his face and Jayde laughed when she turned back to find his face scrunched up like a toddler about to cry. "Remember, you have to be a good boy to get any presents." She reminded him softly, leaning forward to kiss him soundly on his cheek before she hopped away to the door, leaving Joker to fall back onto his bed heavily with a thump.
Fortunately, Jayde was already dressed in jeans and a shirt and was downstairs, pouring a glass of orange juice when Joker emerged on the second story, yawning as he limped vaguely. Quickly, she glanced over at Tre who was currently watching his best friend with a familiar, mischievous grin on his face; Jayde could tell he was about to give the Joker a run for his money.
"Happy birthday, there, big guy." He said sarcastically not even three seconds later, baring his impossibly white teeth at Joker as he groaned loudly, tossing one hand as he stepped off of the stairs.
"You told him?" he asked, looking to Jayde who nodded, walking over with the glass of orange juice to set it on the table next to him as he sat down heavily.
"Of course I did! It's your birthday, what's the point in them not knowing?" she answered, patting him lightly on the top of his head, ignoring the glare he sent after her as she walked back to the kitchen. Joker then looked to Tre, sending him an incredibly fake smile.
"Thanks, Tre…" he growled, taking a sip of his orange juice. "I need your phone…gotta get in contact with our guy out at the air fields."
Once Tre had gone into his room, Joker was just taking another long drink of orange juice when Dotcom came around the corner out of the kitchen, smirking at Joker. "Happy birthday, boss." He said as simply and friendly as possible, although he frowned, glancing over at Jayde as Joker shook his head with another toss of his arm.
"Do you guys have to say that every time you see me, all day?" he asked of both Jayde and Dotcom and at first, she laughed as if he had been kidding but at the somewhat blank look on his face, she realized he really didn't know how this whole day was supposed to go. Part of her wanted to say yes and tell Dotcom and Tre to say it to him every five minutes just as a joke, but she had a feeling Joker would fucking lose it by lunch time. She shook her head as she walked over, smiling sympathetically at him.
"No, once is enough. Everyone's done saying it now." After glancing at Dotcom, Jayde sat down across from Joker, folding her arms on the table to lean forward slightly, watching his scowling face as he flipped through his phone. "Um, is it alright if Dotcom and I go to the city?" she went on to ask lightly, although the second she finished speaking, she practically cringed; Joker never let her be vague.
"Why?" he asked with perfect timing, bringing his attention away from the phone slowly to slide his eyes up to hers. His eyebrows raised a second later as he waited for her answer. She stammered at first, glancing over at Dotcom again for help although he was clearly just as lost as she was. Lying to the Joker was not an easy thing to do, even if it was not about anything bad. A moment later, she sighed in disappointment, her shoulders slumping.
"'Cause I want to get you something."
"No." Joker immediately protested, shaking his head back and forth adamantly. "We have to leave here at four and I don't need you out-…" he was explaining but now that Jayde was slightly irritated, she found it easier to interrupt him as she stood up from the table slowly.
"No, we're going. We'll be back in an hour, not even. I just need to go one place. Ok?" she asked, taking a cautious step closer to him as his eyebrows practically met in the middle of his forehead, his eyes small and narrowed up at hers as she reached out somewhat hesitantly to pat him gently on the shoulder. "Just…sit there and…sulk for a while." At this, Joker actually laughed, sliding his eyes closed to tilt his head back as Jayde stood there, watching him anxiously. "I really think you'll-…"
"Go!" he suddenly yelled, motioning toward the door with both of his hands, opening his eyes. Finally, Jayde scooted away from him, over toward the garage door to join Dotcom, who had already stepped outside. Joker watched her go, resting the side of his face in his hand with his elbow on the table but when she reached the door, she turned to look at him, puckering her lips to send a kiss in his direction, just before she disappeared. The tiniest of obnoxious grins slid onto his face. God damnit…
"Ya know, if I order a stripper in a giant cake, you can't kill her…" said Tre, walking around the table from behind Joker to plop down into the chair across from him. Joker rolled his eyes to glare at his friend, hoping to convey without words that he was about three seconds from killing him. When Tre simply grinned toothily at him, Joker groaned, reaching up to rub his forehead deeply with the tips of his fingers.
"I can't believe you let her do this." He grumbled, moving on to rub his eyes as Tre laughed.
"Ya kidding? I told her it was a great idea." He answered, laughing again harder when Joker suddenly brought his head up, staring at him, wide-eyed. "C'mon, bro, just let her do her thing today. Its making her happy to think that…she's…helping you in some way." When Joker opened his mouth to protest, Tre shook his head, cutting across him. "I know, I know, you don't think she's helping you but the point is, she does…" Tre's forehead furrowed as he arched one of his notched eyebrows. "Just play along. Look- think of it as an excuse to get anything you want from her today. That's really the only awesome thing about a birthday- ya get more ass than a toilet seat." Joker's eyebrows relaxed.
"…How profound." He growled sarcastically after a pause, watching Tre as he stood up with a roll of his eyes. "Did you ever think of writing cards for Hallmark?…'Cause if this whole 'criminal' thing doesn't work out for you…"
"Man, shut up…"
An hour later, the heavy, black Escalade bounced along dirt roads as Jayde and Dotcom laughed at the expression they both were imagining on the Joker's face if they were to surprise him with a huge, obnoxious cake or to attempt to sing 'Happy Birthday' to him. But in lieu of the usual festivities that normally surrounded someone's birthday, Jayde and Dotcom agreed to just have an exceptionally good dinner that night and the present she had chosen for him would have to wait until she could get him completely alone for the night. As they approached the giant house, she mentally chose a spot in her room to hide it until the opportune moment arrived.
The bottom floor was mercifully empty, leaving Jayde with an easy job of trotting over to the stairs and up into her room, straight over to the closet to the very back corner where her coats hung. After tucking the small box into one of the pockets, she grinned accomplishedly at the line of clothes, convincing herself determinedly that he was going to love it before she turned to walk back out into her room and shut the door behind her. A second later, she jumped as Joker seemingly appeared out of thin air, over by her door. He was smirking calmly, watching her face as a guilty grin moved into place.
"Hey, no peeking." She said playfully, tucking her thumbs into her back pockets to rock back on her heels as Joker took another step into the room, glancing around.
"Say, do you want to…I dunno…join me?…Out?…" he asked in an somewhat cautious sort of way, almost like a nervous teenager asking someone to the prom. After a pause, he held up a hand, cringing as though he had forgotten to add a stipulation. "Before you answer, you should know…you don't have a choice, so…" Jayde laughed, taking a step closer to him to squint her eyes slightly, tilting her head back a bit to look up at him. Her hands found places on the back of her hips.
"Are you asking me on a date?" she asked, watching his eyes skeptically as he took a deep breath, bringing his shoulders up as he inhaled, only to drop them a moment later when he exhaled heavily.
"I suppose…one could call it-…" he began to answer but Jayde shook her head.
"You know, I'm supposed to ask you out on your birthday." She corrected him, now moving to fold her arms, arching an eyebrow as Joker tossed his hands, licking his lips.
"Alright, let me rephrase…Do you want to take me out today? 'Cause I really do have some stuff I gotta do…" he leaned down slightly as his voice began to grow raspy and clowny but Jayde quickly nodded, grinning up at him, leaving him no time to get irritated.
"Yeah, I would like that."
So after establishing that she should be dressed and downstairs by three-thirty, Joker left her room, leaving Jayde to hop back over to her closet to find a dress or at least something nice to wear. There was an incredibly good chance that Joker's 'date' would involve terrorizing Gotham in some way or intimidating someone but none the less, it was his 'birthday' and she wanted to look good. Plus, she had been noticing, with the help of Dotcom, that it seemed Joker liked to somewhat show her off when she was out with him and as much as she wanted to dislike that, the idea that he thought so highly of her was encouraging. So after deciding on a slimming white, knee length dress and those purple heels Joker had stolen for her when she had first come to the house, she stepped into the bathroom for a shower after getting out her blow dryer and big, fat curling iron.
At around three o'clock, after Jayde had finished her hair and was putting on some makeup, Dotcom stepped into her room, knocking on the frame to announce his arrival, unlike Joker, who had developed a nasty habit of just appearing in her room whenever he deemed necessary. She glanced over in the mirror, smiling as he approached, shaking his head at the way the white dress really emphasized her curves. But just as he was noticing her, Jayde was glancing down at the camouflage pants and shiny black calf-height boots he was wearing. She was about to ask when he rolled his eyes.
"Today is kind of a big deal. One of his 'plagues'." He explained, shrugging his shoulders, although it was obvious he knew exactly what the plan was but had been firmly instructed not to tell her. It was polite of him to play it down so Jayde wasn't jealous. She shook her head, leaning toward the mirror to lightly trace the waterline of her bottom eye lid, matching it to the other side before she capped the eyeliner.
"Whatever. I'm just glad he's humoring me and playing along with this whole birthday thing." She answered, shrugging her shoulders as she lifted her hair so Dotcom could zip the back of her dress. "He's being an awfully good sport, which is…so unlike him…Should I be worried?" she then asked Dotcom, glancing at his eyes in the mirror as he snorted a laugh.
"Honestly, I think he's just trying to get in your pants…Again…" he sighed with a gay little flick of his wrist as he followed her out of the bathroom and out into the hallway. "I'm gonna have to sleep in your room again tonight, honey." Both laughed loudly but quieted when they spotted Joker and Tre, both standing with their backs to them, seemingly staring out at the patio, both with their arms folded over their chests. Jayde and Dotcom watched as Joker murmured something, glancing over at Tre who nodded an agreement of some sort. A second later, Joker turned to face them, tossing his hands.
"WOW!" he exclaimed. "You look ravishing." He then complimented and Jayde was just about to start blushing when he added, "Jayde, you look great too, doll." She huffed jokingly, sticking her nose in the air as she walked over to him, looking up at him only a bit as her heels added a good amount of height. Joker seemed to like this perspective and smirked at her as he let his arm snake around her waist, gliding over her dramatic curve in that tight, white dress. Jayde took a deep, slow, silent breath in through her nose, inhaling as much of his subtle cologne as she could without making it obvious. She glanced down when he turned to face the patio again. Not only did he smell great, but honestly, he looked pretty good too. He seemed to have decided it was getting a bit too warm to wear his heavy purple or black coats outside during the day and had resorted to a pair of plain black pants, a white Oxford button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a gray vest that he had left tastefully undone. A plain black tie was loose and slightly crooked against his chest. All of this Jayde was admiring, admitting to herself how damn good they looked together when a loud choppy, roaring noise shook the entire house, growing louder by the second.
It seemed this was the cue Joker and Tre had been waiting for and simultaneously moved toward the patio doors as an absolutely monstrous black helicopter appeared, lowering slowly and precisely into the wide stretch of grass beyond the patio. So completely blown away by the randomness of it, Jayde's jaw went slightly slack in mild shock but there was clearly no time for her to start asking questions as Joker reached back for her hand, taking it in his to pull her along with them.
The sound of the blades beating the air grew deafeningly loud once they had stepped out onto the patio but Jayde was less concerned for her ears than she was about her hair; Joker didn't seem to mind his being blown all over the place. It seemed Dotcom and Tre had not been meant to ride in this particular helicopter as they both promptly walked around the edge of the house to the garage to disappear into the Escalade. This left the Joker to pull Jayde along with him as a man with a pilots helmet and headset climbed out to duck over and shake his hand. Jayde tried to hear their exchange of shouted words over the roar of the blades over head but the noise was too great, downing out their voices. A moment later, Joker turned to Jayde once the man had climbed back into the helicopter.
"Ready?" he nearly shouted, his eyebrows raised, his eyes practically alive with excitement as the black rings around his eyes stretched. Jayde shook her head, glancing past him to the flying machine.
"I cant!" she cried in reply, trying to take a step back but his grip on her hand was tight and moved to her wrist seconds later as his excited expression fell a bit. "I'm afraid of heights!"
For a second, Joker paused, biting on his lip as he stared down at her eyes, his gaze flying back and forth between them, trying to decide if it would be considered 'nice' to pull her into the helicopter forcefully, resisting against her kicking and screaming. Instead, he compromised. "Think of it as a birthday present to me!" he suggested, watching her eyes hopefully as she stared up at him. Finally, after weighing her nonexistent options, Jayde allowed him to pull her closer to the open back door, waiting for him to climb in, before he helped her join him. She wasn't sure exactly what he had in store, but Jayde a feeling this would not be an ordinary date, even though she was starting to learn that life alongside the Joker was everything but ordinary.
...To be continued...
A/N: I just wanted to shout out my best reviewers and thank you all for reading and leaving reviews. (if you are one of the awesome people that actually does it) Ahem, clownqween89, elaan basevi, tomieharley, kina1234, BeautifulAnabellee, thejokersgotmyheart and wolves-rain-chick. You guys really help keep me going with this story. I appreciate you all more than you know. And of course, anyone else that has left a review that I forgot to mention, thank you too. But as always, I'm still looking for constructive feedback so please leave me a review! LEAVE YOUR LOVE/HATE IF YOU WANT PART TWO! -QoM