Crazy for You - Valeska Brothers x Female OC (Gotham)

23. Apologising

Jerome's P.O.V

I open the door to my room with one hand, the tray of food tucked in the other.

Sam is sat on the edge of the bed. She practically jumps three feet in the air when I step through the door.

I can't help but frown.

What the hell did I do to my girl?

I kick the door behind me shut, then lock it quickly, tucking the key into my pocket after.

I slowly step towards her, only stopping when I'm directly in front of her.

She trembles, probably in fear of what 'punishment' I'll give out to her.

"J-Jerome..." She begins, and I place the food down beside her, on the bed.

"What is it, doll?" I kneel down in front of where she's sitting, and for once she's taller than me. Only by a few centimetres, though.

"I'm really sorry I tried to run away. I shouldn't have bothered..."

"Hey, hey," I softly whisper, placing a hand on her cheek. "It's fine. I shouldn't have scared you like that."

She nods.

"And doll? I'm not going to punish you. Don't think that I'd ever want to hurt you... I just got lost in the heat of the moment. I only took you in the first place because I thought you would be safer where I could keep an eye on you."

"Oh, Jerome," she mumbles, suddenly wrapping her arms around me and digging her face into my shoulder blade.

I oblige to her embrace, tightly holding her against me.

"Shh..." I coo as she cries quietly.

"Please... please don't do this anymore..."

"Do what?" I ask, still not pulling away from her.

"Kill people. You were separated from me because of it. I don't want that to ever happen again..."

Despite how much I want to stay there, holding onto her, I push myself away.

"No can do, doll. You said it yourself- I'm crazy. And us crazy people? Sometimes we gotta... blow off some steam, so to speak."

"Then I can't promise you that I won't try to run away again..."

This time, I'm the one to flinch.

"And that means I can't promise you that you won't make me angry enough to hurt you," I grimace at the thought of it.

"Now," I decide to drop the subject. "you're still hungry, right?"

She smiles slightly, nodding her head.

I grab the tray of food behind her. We both stop sitting on the floor and move ourselves on the edge of the bed.

She takes the meal out of my hands, and slowly begins to eat using the knife and fork I placed on the tray.

"Jerome," She looks away from her food after taking a bite, and stares at me.

"Go on."

"I wondered if I had any clothes I could wear. Other then this," she points down at the clothes on her.

"Ah, that reminds me. I'm going out later, and your coming with me. I'll have to get Barbara to give you something to wear."

Her ears perk up at that, "I forgot Barbara was here."

"When you've finished your food, I'll take you to her."

"Well, I'm done now."

I look down at the tray. It still has a lot of food in it.

"Oh, come on. You last ate yesterday. You've gotta still be hungry, doll."

I take the fork out of her hand, and pick up a piece of an egg from the tray.

"Just a bite," A grin lifts the corners of my mouth up.

"Fine," She rolls her eyes, smiling, as I move the fork closer to her face.

She takes a small bite out of it, and I feel the smirk on my face wipe off.

I mutter a few words under my breath, not peeling my eyes away from her lips for one second.

Is she teasing me? The nerve of some people. Jeez.

"There. You happy?" She snaps me back into reality, and I quickly pull my eyes back up to hers, hoping she didn't see me staring. Oops.

"Let's go," is all I can say, placing the fork onto the tray, and setting it down on the floor.

I take her hand, and she wraps her fingers around mine.

I lead her out of my room and towards Barbara's.

"Barbie!" I shout, knocking with the hand that isn't entwined with Sam's own, on Barbara's door.

Heavy footsteps approach the door.

"What do you want you little-" Barbara shuts up for a second when she swings the door open. "... Sam?"

"Hey, Barb," Sam greets her nervously.

"Can you give her some clothes for tonight?" I ask, but by my tone she knows that it's a demand.

"Sure, circus freak!" Barbara forces a grin through gritted teeth.

I turn to Sam, "Stay safe."

She nods, and I let go of her hand, giving her to Barbara.

Although every muscle in my body is itching to stay with Sam, I ignore them, flashing her a smile and walking off.

Of course, I regretted it.

No, she didn't get hurt. But I just wanted her to myself.

I could've just chosen a dress for her to wear at the charity event.

I could've just... I don't know...

That's a first.