A knock awoke me the next morning. Getting out of bed, I opened my door to find no one there. Looking down, I found a tray of breakfast food complete with a pot of hot water for tea. Picking up the tray, I brought it into my room and set it down on the bedside table. A note was peeking out from under the plate. Opening it I found it was from Bruce:

Bethany,

Whatever intentions your mother had for bringing you here, please know that I had no part in them. I'm just genuinely happy that you're back in this house as a friend. I've missed you a lot. Yes, we've had a rough go at it the past two days, and yes, things go a bit carried away, but I'm asking you, please do not shut me out. I brought you breakfast assuming you'll be spending most of the day in your room. I had Alfred make French toast. I remember how much you like that. I'll be in town most of the day, and so will your mother. She'll be out meeting up with some old friends of our parents'. Alfred will be out for a bit doing some errands he has been putting off for a while. If you need anything, please call me. I'll try to get off early so you're not completely alone for the entire day.

Enjoy your breakfast.

Bruce

I looked down at the note and felt guilty. Maybe I was wrong to shut out Bruce like I did last night. It wasn't his fault that I was mad at my mother. I took the tray outside and sat at my table and ate my breakfast. Alfred made the best French toast I've ever had. When I finished my breakfast, I sat in the morning sun for a moment letting the warm summer rays kiss my skin. I thought to Bruce's letter and the guilt settled in more permanently. We've been stupid these past two days. We haven't reconciled our past and tried to just pick up where it was left off, not taking into account that it was decades ago and we're two totally different people now. I needed to be better to Bruce, and we needed to start everything over again.

Picking up the tray of empty dishes, I brought them to the kitchen and cleaned them for Alfred, putting everything away. Going back up to my room, I decided since I had all day to myself, I was going to get ready for my date that night, starting with a bath bomb. Going into my bathroom, I turned on some music and grabbed my travel bag and pulled out one of the bombs I had packed. It was a heavy lavender smell, which I felt I might need a few being in this overly stressful environment. Filling the bathtub with hot water, I dropped the orb in and undressed while it dissolved. I quickly threw my hair up and covered my face with a facial mask and then stepped into the water. I had saved two of the used tea bags from my breakfast tray and placed them over my eyes as a homemade eye mask. Settling in, I focused on the music and let the water cool down around me. After a few minutes, I took the tea bags off and washed my body, taking time to shave all the areas I needed to. Getting out, I washed off the face mask and put on a thick robe. Letting my hair down, I went into the bedroom and laid out on the bed for a bit, relaxing a bit more in the left over smell of the lavender.

Pulling out my laptop, I started up a movie streaming site and picked a random chick flick I've seen more times that I would care to admit. I watched it for a bit while putting on moisturizer all over my body. Getting up I went back into my bathroom where I continued listening to the dialogue. In there, I did my extensive face prepping routine of face washes, moisturizers, toners, creams, the works before adding my makeup. For now I did a light fae, but I planned on adding a darker shade of eyeliner for dinner. Once my face was good to go, I went and got dressed in a simple t-shirt and a pair of deep blue jeans. While I was at my wardrobe, I picked out a dress for the night. One of my favorite little black dresses, this one contoured my body with short sleeves. It cut off around mid thigh which gave my legs a nice boost of length. Paired with a pair of heels and they would be looking great. I wanted Jonathan to forget what happened last night with me and Bruce, and I was hoping this dress would do the trick.

Setting the dress aside, I then turned to my hair. For now I brushed it out and swept it into a high ponytail, nothing fancy. Finished with that, I went back to my movie and watched it till the end before shutting everything down. Leaving my room, I went down stairs and wondered around. I've never had Wayne Manor to myself before, and the house felt impossibly huge. I went through hallways and found the library, a second parlour room that was never used, and what would have been Martha Wayne's plant room. I walking in and looked around the giant empty space and sighed. Bruce was able to rebuild Wayne Manor brick by brick after the fire, but he wasn't able to fill this room with the same amount of love and nurture that only came from Martha. I moved further into the room to the window that looked out to the front of the house. Gotham shone brightly in the afternoon sun down below all three islands. I smiled at the thought that I would be going there with Jonathan later that night, but my eye was caught by a car in the driveway. It was Bruce.

"What are you doing in here?"

Turning, I found the one and only standing in the doorway. "I was exploring."

"I see that." He stepped cautiously into the room, but stopped before reaching me.

"How are you doing?"

He shrugged, "Fine."

"Just fine?"

"Can't we just let me be fine?"

I cringed a bit at the sound of my own words, and I took a step towards him. "Thank you for breakfast. It was delicious."

"I'm glad."

"Look, Bruce, we need to talk."

"Do we?"

"Yes. We're trying to treat this like nothing happened, like we're the same kids running around your garden playing keep-away. We're trying to ignore the fact that you said things, I said things, that we didn't want to see each other for years, that we haven't seen each other for years…. We're trying to pick up like we're old friends, never mind the fact that the people we were friends with aren't here anymore, they've changed." I walked over to him and said, "We made some serious errors in judgement and we can't ignore those either if we want this friendship to work." Looking him in the eye, I took a deep breath and said, "I also want to apologize for last night. It was wrong of me to shut you out, to take out my anger towards my mother on you. I want to be friends again, Bruce, I really do. I miss you, I miss this place. We just need to start over."

Bruce watched me for a moment, then nodded, "You're right. I've been presumptuous to think that I can just charm my way back into your good graces. I haven't really changed much since you walked away from me as a teenager."

I smiled, "We can work on being better together."

"I would like that."

"But we need to lay down some rules first."

Bruce laughed, "Which will be?"

"No sexual contact such as kissing, sex, anything of the sort."

Bruce nodded, "Sounds good."

"No more babying me while I'm here. If I want to go into the city, I'll go into the city."

He hesitated, but ultimately said, "Okay."

"I also get to talk to and hang out with whoever I want. Like obviously if I start hanging out with a serial killer, stop me, but I can make my own judgements."

Again he hesitated, but nodded, "Okay."

"Great."

"I have a rule I want to add."

I frowned, but nodded, "Okay."

"We talk. We tell each other everything, no secrets. We just sit down and talk every night."

I thought about it, then nodded, "Okay. Sounds great."

"Good. We can start tonight after dinner."

I cringed, "Oh… I won't be here tonight for dinner."

"You won't?"

"I have dinner plans in town with a friend."

"A friend?"

"Yeah."

Bruce nodded, "And does this friend have a name?"

I felt my face blush as I averted my gaze, "Um."

"Bethany, what is their name?"

I glanced up at Bruce and saw he wasn't happy. I bit my lower lip and said, "His name is Jonathan."

Bruce was quiet for a moment, then said, "As in Jonathan Crane?"

I dared to meet his gaze and said, "Yes."

"How?"

"How what?"

"How did this happen?"

"We made dinner plans."

"Bethany, I told you he was dangerous! You want me to warn you about criminals?"

"Jonathan is repenting for his crimes! He's trying to change."

"People like Jonathan Crane can never change."

I frowned, "Nice, Bruce. Real nice."

"I told you he was dangerous."

"Is he? I spent all afternoon with him yesterday, and nothing happened. Nothing. He told me about what he's done, what he did to go to prison. He confessed everything to me. He wanted me to know so I could make my own judgement. So I could not judge him based on what he did in the past."

I moved past Bruce and made to leave, "Great first conversation, Bruce. Fantastic."

I left the room and went back upstairs and locked myself in my room. I looked at the clock and saw that I had another five hours to wait until Jonathan came to pick me up. Grabbing a book out of my bag, I went out to the balcony and set up an umbrella to sit under while I read.

I pulled my hair up into a fanicer ponytail, strands of free hair wrapping around the base to hide the band. I checked my makeup one more time in the mirror to make sure everything looked good. Grabbing my lipstick for touch ups, I threw that into the small clutch I had with me. I checked my figure in the mirror, when I heard the doorbell ring. I left my room and made my way downstairs. I heard Alfred open the door, and he greeted Jonathan.

"I'm here to pick up Bethany Elwood for dinner tonight."

"Are you?"

"Yes."

I was halfway down the stairs when I heard Bruce's voice, "Crane."

I hurried down the stairs, and saw Bruce standing outside the parlor room, his eyes glaring at Jonathan. I made it to the bottom of the stairs and rushed over to the door, "Hi."

Jonathan looked at me and seemed shocked for a moment, "Hello."

"Ready to go?"

"Y-yeah." Looking at me he added, "You look beautiful."

I smiled, "Thank you." I wrapped my arm around his and moved him out of the doorway and down the front stairs, ignoring Bruce. He led me over to his car and helped me in. He started the car and drove away from Wayne Manor and down into the city.

"I thought Bruce was going to forbid you from going." He said.

"He can't forbid me to do anything I don't want to do, don't worry about him." I gave him a smile, "He's just upset I won't be dining with him tonight."

"Looking the way you do right now, I don't blame him."

"So where are we going?"

"There is a great Italian restaurant near the heart of town. I thought it would be a great place to start."

I smiled, "Sounds perfect."

"How was your day?"

"Long. I had nothing to do except wait for our date."

"Work felt like it was going to go on forever. All I could think about was you."

I smiled, "Good thoughts I hope."

"Some where."

"Only some?"

"I'm still trying to work through how I feel about you sleeping with Mr Wayne."

I was quiet for a moment, but said, "Well, I hope we can get past that tonight."

"I think we will."

I smiled and we made small talk for the rest of the drive. Jonathan parked his car in a parking garage near the restaurant and helped me out of the car. We walked together to the restaurant and were seated almost immediately. It was a beautiful establishment, and the food sounded incredible. Jonathan ordered a bottle of wine for the table and we ordered our food, both going with a pasta dish. While we waited for our food to arrive, Jonathan took a moment to study me with his beautiful blue eyes before asking, "So what do you like most about art?"

I smiled, "Um… I love the expressiveness of it. Even the most modest pieces have so much meaning and emotion behind them, and no matter how old the pieces are you can still see and feel those expressions."

"That's beautiful."

"What about you?"

He just shook his head, "I'm only getting into art myself."

"Well what do you like about it so far?"

He thought and said, "The vulnerability in some of the pieces."

I nodded, "That's another beautiful part as well."

"How are things between you and Bruce?"

I frowned, "I'd rather not talk about him tonight, if that's okay."

"That bad?"

"No. I just don't want to talk about another man while on a date with you."

Jonathan smiled, "Oh, so this is a date?"

Returning his smile, I answered, "I had every intention of it being one, yes."

Jonathan reached across the table and took my hand, "Good. That means I can be a little more forward with my advances."

"Holding hands is a little more forward?"

"Oh, Miss Elwood, skin on skin contact is a lot more forward that you can anticipate."

"How so?"

Leaning in, Jonathan gave a sly smile as he said softly, "Tiny microscopic nerve endings in your hand are connected with mine. Right now those nerve endings are sending a thousand messages to your brain, letting you process, for example, how the skin on my hand feels against yours, how the heat from my body feels in your hand. You can feel the roughness of my fingertips against the smooth back of your hand as I caress it. You can feel how strong they are, how big they are, how gentle I am being in holding yours. But another thing those nerve endings are doing, is sending subliminal messages to your brain, ones that will make your heart beat pick up a bit without you know it. They're sending subliminal images to your brain of possibly me touching or holding other parts of you, and using the information gathered from this simple act of holding hands, it's creating an imaginative simulation of what it could feel like to have my fingers press into your back as I hold you close to me. They can activate the nerve endings anywhere you desire to be touched, letting you imagine what my hands could feel like running up your arms, running down your back, running over your chest. They can make you feel what it might feel like to have my fingers caress your legs, or your inner thigh."

"Your wine, sir." The waiter came to the table and presented us with a full bottle of wine and two wine glasses.

We pulled apart, my hand dropping to my lap as I tried very hard to control the blush that was burning from my core all the way up to my cheeks. I crossed my legs in an attempt to calm the throbbing happening between them, and I smiled in thanks as the waiter filled my glass of water as well. As we waited for the waiter to do his thing, I couldn't help but feel how my hand felt as if he were still touching it. It felt heavy in my lap as I took a sip of my water with the other. I glanced up at Jonathan and found him watching me with an almost triumphant smile on his face.

Our food came soon after the wine and I was thankful for the distraction. Picking up my fork, I took up some of the tortelini on my plate and popped it in my mouth savoring the delicious tastes that filled me. I swallowed and smiled, "This is delicious."

"I chose a great place?"

"A wonderful place."

Jonathan smiled, "I'm glad."

"So what is it you do at Arkham as a psychologist?"

"Well anymore I just do paperwork. I used to be head of my department, but obviously with my history I had my title revoked."

"Not to sound rude, but it's amazing they let you have your position back at all."

Jonathan nodded, "Yes. I'm actually participating in a rehabilitation program for criminals in Gotham. It's designed to help you enter life in the city again and to give you resources to help you maintain a clean and honest path."

"That sounds wonderful. England has a similar program going on in their jail systems as well. It's been a very successful program over there."

Jonathan smiled, "It's been proving useful here as well. Especially for the petty criminals."

"How long have you been in the program?"

"I've been working with them for almost two years now. This is my eighteenth month outside of Arkham."

I frowned, "Arkham? What were you doing being held in Arkham? I thought Gotham had a prison for non-violent offenders."

Jonathan looked away and frowned before saying, "There is. It's overflowing with new and repeat offenders, so… some of the criminals are sent to Arkham to serve out their sentence there."

"I'm so sorry, that must have been terrifying."

"It wasn't a walk in the park, I can tell you that." He looked back at me, and smiled, "But that's why participating in this program is so important. It's proving to, not only Gotham, but to other inmates, that there can be a better life outside of crime and outside of that jail. Several of them are just victims of this corrupt system and found that being in prison provided better meal security than living on the streets. This program gives them basic trade skills if they don't have any and they can gain work experience before reentering the workforce."

I smiled at him, "So how were you allowed to reenter the workforce at your old job?"

"While in prison I worked with my therapist to find a place in Arkham that would allow me to continue to use my skills but not necessarily be in charge of someone's fate in the court systems, so paperwork it was. I can still write notes of recommendations in the files of what I think the best route of action should be for treatment, and suggestions on how to proceed for the next big breakthrough in therapy, but that's pretty much it. Other than that, I'm logging everyone's information for our digital records."

"Sounds hard."

"It's tedious, I'll admit. But if it proves to my bosses that I'm willing to change and be better at my job, then I'm willing to do anything. I just want to focus on rebuilding my reputation."

"I'm sure you will."

Jonathan smiled at me and I returned it. We continued to talk through dinner, taking time to flirt and laugh. When the meal was over, we were asked for dessert. I shook my head and gave Jonathan a smile, which he translated for our waiter, "No thank you, we'll be fine with the check, thank you."

As the waiter walked away, I asked, "Do you have any after dinner plans?"

"Maybe."

The waiter came back and Jonathan paid. After signing the final slip, we stood and walked back to his car. As we neared it, Jonathan took my hand and pulled me into him. Our lips crashed together and he pinned me against the side of his vehicle. I ran my hands through his hair and held him to me. When we both needed air we pulled away and looked at each other breathing heavily. I smiled and so did he. "Well? How about those after dinner plans?"

Jonathan smiled, "Would… would it be too much to ask if you wanted to do dessert at my place?"

I laughed, "Not at all."

I got into his car and he pulled out of the parking garage. He made his way through the city and headed to the farthest island. I looked out the window and saw Arkham looming on the hill. I looked at him and asked, "You live next to Arkham?"

"It's part of the requirements. For the first few years you need to live near by."

I nodded, "That sucks."

He let out a laugh, "Yeah that does suck a bit."

Pulling into a quaint cookie-cutter neighborhood, he pulled into the driveway of a modest two story house. Looking to me he gave me a smile and got out of the car. Walking around he opened my door and helped me out. Taking my hand, he led me to the front door and opened it.

"Welcome to my home."