Jaimie Solace and the Unavoidable Affliction of Love

Chapter Seven

Bruce could've stayed in Jaimie's bed all day, but he knew that he unfortunately did actually have a job. That, and he felt pretty guilty that Jaimie had got up to make breakfast while he remained nice and comfortable in bed.

He didn't actually manage to fall completely back asleep, feeling alarmingly cold without Jaimie in his arms after holding her all night. But because he was conscious, he realized that the kitchen was suspiciously silent for someone apparently making breakfast.

Bruce hopped out of bed quickly, wanting to get dressed enough so that he could make it to Jaimie's kitchen with enough time to tell her that he would take care of breakfast and that she should sit down. He was just exiting the hallway into the main room, when he heard Jaimie talking rapidly in what sounded like French. The first thought that came to his head was, she spoke French? The second one was that she probably would've sounded extremely sexy speaking it if she didn't sound so pissed off.

Bruce was curious as to what could have pissed her off already when she had seemed to be in such a good mood when she had woken up. But when Bruce stepped further into the room and was able to see the trashy gossip talk show that currently had an enlarged photo of the two of them from last night displayed prominently behind the panelists, Bruce suddenly understood why Jaimie seemed so upset.

His heart plummeted to his feet. Clearly, Jaimie was not happy about the date being made public knowledge, and Bruce cursed himself for being so careless. He should have booked somewhere private, or hell, decorated a balcony somewhere on Avengers Tower all pretty and offered to cook her dinner. What if she realized that the media attention, however little he got in comparison to the more glamorous Avengers, was too much? He couldn't really blame her, but he felt slightly hollow at the thought that she wouldn't want to keep seeing him.

His increasingly depressing thoughts were interrupted by Jaimie, who had been apparently so startled by something someone said over the phone that she was startled back into speaking English.

"Piper! How could you say that? Of course I'm not using him, I actually really like him, and you know I would never even consider doing something like that."

Bruce decided that he should make his presence known then, clearly this was a personal conversation (even though it technically involved him), and Jaimie still didn't know he was there since her back was turned to him at her place at her kitchen table.

Upon clearing his throat, Jaimie whirled around, quickly saying goodbye to whoever she was talking to.

"Oh, uh, you're up. Good morning," she said, clearly wondering how much of the conversation he had heard.

Bruce looked at her with a mix of concern and pity as he walked closer to her, hoping she wouldn't move away when he took a seat close to her. She didn't.

"Don't worry," he assured her, "I don't speak French."

She let out a small laugh, but her smile didn't last for very long. "I wasn't worried about that," she lied. "That was just a friend from home, a lot of them have seen that photo by one, apparently."

Jaimie gestured over to where their faces were still displayed on the tv, and a frown covered Bruce's face. He reached for the remote, and shut it off.

"I'm sorry, Jaimie. I should have thought about this," he apologized, looking so sorry Jaimie felt her heart clench.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, really. I couldn't care less if people see us together, although I would understand if you do, it was just a shock to see it if I'm being honest."