In Love With A Good Man
Chapter 7: Getting Involved
Harley hummed cheerfully to herself as she made her way to Casey's house. After Selina had helped her out, her spirits were starting to lift up. Things were finally going her way! She was becoming independent from the Joker, handling things on her own, and the cherry on top?
Starting fresh with a new, better boyfriend.
Harley skipped all the way up to Casey's door and knocked on the door in a musical pattern. After a few seconds, Casey answered the door. His expression didn't seem exactly happy. It was hard to read exactly.
"Hey, cutie! I'm here!" She said with a grin.
"Hey, Harley. Come on in, come in." He invited, opening the door up for her. She walked inside and gave him a smooch as she stepped in. Casey kissed her back and closed the door behind her.
"How's it going, baby? Didja have your job interview yet?!" Harley asked.
"Yeah, I did. Thanks for coming to speak with me. I wanted to talk to you...I wasn't sure whether to do it on the phone or in person." He admitted. Harley's smile sank into a worried expression.
"Is something wrong?" She asked. Casey didn't answer her right away. He just gestured to the couch.
"Do you wanna sit down? I can get you something to drink." He offered.
"No, let's just talk," Harley said, walking to the couch and sitting down. "What is it, Casey?" She asked, looking up at him.
"Uh..." Casey took in a nervous breath, sitting on the couch across from her. "So...I talked to your friend 'Red' the other day. And by 'Red', I mean Poison Ivy...?" He said.
"Yeah, she texted me about it! How did you even run into her?!" She asked with a giggle, "She's my best friend, yeah. What'd you think of her?!" She asked. Casey gave her a strange look.
"She's...an eco-terrorist." He said slowly.
"Well...that is the technical term for it, isn't it? Never thought about that." Harley hummed in thought.
"Harley...why didn't you tell me that you were a criminal?" Casey questioned. Harley's eyes widened, and she swallowed nervously.
"I-I...okay, so I knew that this was gonna come up. I promise, baby, I was going to tell you eventually, I just wasn't sure when! Honest!" She said.
"You were going to tell me eventually," Casey repeated slowly. "I guess it's kinda on me, huh? For not putting the pieces together." He sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"Well, I mean, what was I supposed to say?! 'Hey there, handsome, I'm Harley Quinn. I'm a homeless psycho clown!'?" Harley argued defensively. Casey scoffed.
"Are you kidding me, Harley? You're a criminal and a murderer! And your boyfriend is, like, one of the most dangerous people in the world!" He argued.
"Hey, I left that jerk behind! He's not my boyfriend anymore! You are!" She pointed out right away.
"He's still one of the most dangerous people in the world, dude! What happens if he finds out about us and he's like 'I don't like that!'? Do you realize the danger we'd both be in?!" Casey pointed out.
"He doesn't care about me! And I've been careful! There's no way he'd even find out! And if he did, I would protect you!" Harley argued. The conversation was quickly becoming very heated.
"Oh, right, yeah, okay." Casey responded sarcastically. Harley growled in frustration.
"Don't talk to me like that, Casey! I'm being serious! You're making a big deal out of this!" She said.
"I'm making a big deal out of this? So I'm just supposed to accept that you're a murderous criminal who-who robs banks and is buddy-buddy with psychopaths and killers? I can't get involved with that! I can't get involved with you!" Casey argued further.
"What do you want from me, Casey?!" Harley yelled, throwing her hands up. Casey sighed and shook his head, looking down. His tone softened, almost as if it hurt for him to answer her.
"I...I want you to leave." He finally answered.
Harley's eyes widened. The momentum of the conversation came to a screeching halt. For a few seconds, she didn't even know what to say or how to react. Finally, she stood up and went back on the offensive.
"Fine! If that's how you feel then I'm outta here! You're making a huge mistake, Casey," Harley shouted at him, her voice breaking as tears started to well up in her eyes. "You're gonna regret breaking up with me!" She said before storming out of his house.
Casey swallowed nervously. In the moment, that sounded like a threat to him. Knowing now what Harley Quinn was capable of, he couldn't take any chances. He stood up and walked to the door, yelling at her as she walked away.
"You come after me, and I'll call the cops! You hear me?!" He threatened. Harley gritted her teeth angrily.
"I wasn't gonna come at you! Because I care about you, ya stupid jerk!" Harley screamed back at him before running away...
Ivy was working on a custom chemical mixture when Harley came back into the hideout bawling her eyes out and wailing sadly, "Why does everyone have to hate me?!" She yelled out. The sudden noise made Ivy flinch and spill her mixture.
When Harley came into the room, she found Ivy cleaning up what she'd spilled and sighing irritably to herself. Harley could tell right away that Ivy was annoyed with her. Despite that, she still asked Harley what was going on.
"Did something happen with your boyfriend?" Ivy asked. Harley sighed and tried to dismiss it.
"It's...it's nothing. I'mma just go."
"What happened, Harley?" Ivy asked again, turning around to face her. Harley looked down and twisted her foot side to side.
"Casey broke up with me...we barely even got started and it's already over!" Harley teared up again and sobbed. Ivy's reaction indicated that she was a little surprised.
"Really? Well, I guess he wasn't as good of a guy as you thought." Ivy shrugged, assuming that the breakup happened because Casey got what he'd wanted out of Harley and then ended it when he got bored. Harley shook her head.
"He broke up with me because I'm a criminal! He-He said that he can't get involved with me, and then now he knows about Mr. J and...it's all just falling apart!" Harley threw her hands up dramatically before covering her eyes with her hands and giving way to tears again.
Ivy bit her lip awkwardly, feeling conflicted. On the one hand, Ivy saw no value in Harley pursuing this relationship. But on the other hand, she was the one who had revealed Harley's identity to him when Harley hadn't done it herself yet, so she felt partially responsible for their breakup.
"He broke up with you because you're a criminal? Or because of Joker?" Ivy asked, resting a hand on her hip.
"Both? I-I don't know." Harley wiped her eyes with her finger.
"Don't you?" Ivy raised an eyebrow at her. Harley looked up at her and sighed again, dragging it out more this time.
"He broke up with me because I'm a criminal. That's what he said first." She finally revealed.
"Oh...I don't see why he would care about that." Ivy thought aloud, putting a finger to her lips as she pondered this. So many men in Gotham never gave that a second thought; not with her, not with Harley, not even with Selina.
That could only mean one thing for Casey...
"It's just not fair!" Harley stamped her foot on the floor.
"Oh, Harley...I'm sorry. He must've been serious about you...I can't help but feel somewhat responsible for this." Ivy admitted, feeling for her.
"It's not your fault, Red," Harley said, going to her and hugging her. "It just sucks. I really thought things would be different with him." She lamented, resting her forehead on Ivy's shoulder.
"I know you did, hun," Ivy said, stroking Harley's hair comfortingly. "If that's how he feels about it then he doesn't know what he's missing out on. You'll bounce back, I'm sure of it." She tried to encourage her. Harley sniffed again and nodded.
"Thanks, Red..." She said. Harley was of course appreciative, but it did only so much to alleviate the pain in the moment.
"Why don't you help me out tonight? I need to steal some fear toxin from Scarecrow for my next project. It'll be better than just moping around." She suggested. Harley nodded.
"Sure, Red, I'll help. It's all I'm good for now." Harley sighed bitterly. Unsure of what else to say, Ivy gave her another hug...
