Behind The Smiles.

Chaper Two.

The next morning, Joker wake up and tried to quietly stand up but hit his face on the ground as he fell out of the bed. "Damnit!" He rubbed his forehead and stood up, got some clothes and walked over to the bathroom to take a shower. "Day starts pretty good." He muttered annoyed. Harley then woke up due to the loud thump and started to make the bed. "Are you okay in there, Mr. J?" She called out, tilting her head.
"Sure." Joker combed his wet hair after putting on his purple tailcoat and brushed his teeth. "I'm off in half an hour." Running his hand through his hairs, he opened the door. "You remember about what to do?" He said turning to Harley.
"To make sure the capsules are closed, right?" She says trying to get a confirmation from him. Harley finished making the bed and walked towards the closest to get her harlequin suit. Nodding, Joker finished brushing his teeth and reached for a green bowtie. "Right. And be careful with it, that stuff is dangerous. Don't get it on your skin or even breath in when you're around these capsules." He tied his bowtie and grabbed two black dress-shoes. "Got it boss." Harley replied while giving you a salute. "I'll to give the hyenas a bath, they smell worse than usual." She looked over towards the hyenas, shaking her head.
"Okay." Joker took a deco of playing cards, putting them in his pockets and walked towards the front door. "See you in an hour and a half. If you need anything, ask Rocco or Dan." He walked out and closed the door behind him.
More than two hours passed until he opened the door, clearly in bad mood over a recent happening and slammed the door behind him. "Day's not getting better. Harley!" He called in annoyance, staring at the bloodstained sleeves of his new suit. Harley quickly ran to the door, knowing Joker was very impatient when he was having one of his fits.
"What's wrong Mr. J?" She asked with a concerned tone. Joker took off his jacket and threw it over to Harley. "Put that in the washing machine." His phone rang and he sighed, trying to suppress his rage. "What?!" He yelled at the person and turn around. "No! You will certainly NOT!" He hissed through his teeth and smashed the phone by throwing it against a wall. "Throw that stuff away." He growled and walked towards the bedroom. Harley had a rather frightened look on her face. "Right away sir.." He says with a shaky voice, trying to not upset him anymore than he already was. "Anything else?" She asked, cleaning up the mess from the phone.
Joker stopped and turn his head a bit to look aside. "Yes. Get me a time machine and stop me from meeting this freak-tard."
Harley nodded and dusted herself off. "I wish I could puddin, but until Lex makes one the best I can do right now is make you a drink." She looked towards the pile of alcohol lying on the ground.
"I just keepgetting disappointed!" Joker said, throwing his head back and biting his lip. "But I suppose a drink will work."
"Pick your poison." Harley walked over and got a glass from the cupboard. "Doctor's orders." She said with a small smile, trying to lighten up the mood.
"Knock the jokes off, Harley. I'm not in the damn mood." Joker picked some tequila, at least he thought the bottle contains it since he didn't know his way around alcohol at all. He just knew what he did and didn't like.
"Okay, puddin'.." She poured his drink of choice into the glass and added a slice of lime on the side. "This might be a little strong puddin." She handed him the glass and backed up a little bit.
"Thanks." He took a small sip, breathing fast as he tried to calm down. "Excuse my mood. I didn't mean to scare you. It's just..that annoying little scumbag is really trying my patience!" He finished his drink and bit his lip, thinking about the conversation he had with him.
"What did he say?" Harley asked, going over to pour herself a glass of some leftover wine.
"It's not what he says." Joker stared at the glass and tightened his grip on it, making it crack a bit. "It's what the doctor told me about him."
"Do you want to tell me about it?" Harley asked hoping that he'd vent to her. She went over to get an old rag to put underneath the glass. Joker sighed, his mind got a bit blurry but he wasn't even close to being dunk. "I don't know." Joker looked at her for a few moments before he shook his head. "No. It's better if I don't. Let's just forget about this."
"Are you sure?" Harley asked, trying to convince him otherwise. She took a few more sips of wine and turned her head towards him. Joker ran his left palm over his face and licked his lips as he closed his eyes half way. "Harley, neither of us is a hundred percent sober and that issue is nothing I should talk about to you. I'd need a psychiatrist or two for that." I look down on the floor and sight quietly.
Harley nodded her head in agreement. "You have a point there, but I used to be one at Arkham and I wasn't to bad if I say so myself." She lifted a pointed finger in the air. Joker stared at Harley for twenty seconds straight without saying a word before finally nodding. "Alright. But I won't be specific about this. If you don't get it, I won't explain." He leaned back and closed his eyes. "Let's say you have a glass. That glass belongs to you and it's your favorite one. But one day, the glass breaks and it takes some time to get a new one." He got the bottle of tequila and poured some into the glass on the table. "Later someone tells you they actually found part of the glass and fixed it up. It's not the glass you broke but it's made of the same material." He quickly drank all of the liquid and quietly tells himself to slow down before he stared at Harley with an intense look. "The person forces you to take the glass but you don't want it because the sharp edges cut you so you don't need it."
Harley took a moment to try her best to process this. "Tell me if I'm wrong, but this is what I'm getting: So this certain person to you is like your favorite mug and the doctor is the guy telling you to take the other glass. The doctor is telling you things to convince to take the other glass, they might have the properties or qualities you're looking for, but it's not quite they same. You're trying to refuse meeting this scumbag, as you refer to, because of the things you've heard about them and, or because you don't know exactly what they'll do."
Shaking his head, Joker stood up. "I think the alcohol causes you not to focus on the details, eh?" He forced a smile and opened his eyes. "Tell me when you figured it out." Harley sighed and rest her head on her arm.
"Is it that you've gotten so attached to something that when it's gone you feel either hurt or devastated and it's hard to replace."
"Good start, Harl." He smiles in a sad kind of way and leaned against a nearby wall. "Maybe, if you'd not have drank that wine, you would already have figured it out."
"Maybe." She scratched my head trying to decode the rest. "Is the rest of it that something or someone could have similar features, no matter what it could never replace the original?" She walked over to the fridge to get a banana.
"Thought you have a Ph.D in psychology. You're the psychiatrist here. You tell me." Joker wobbled a bit as he pushes himself away from the wall. "I would explain it but...it's very hard to comprehend, even for me. And...this might be my dizziness speaking. But I don't want to lose you over that crap if I'd tell you the whole story." He massaged his temples and opened the door of the bathroom to brush his teeth.
Harley began eating her late night snack, "After all we've been through I'm pretty sure you won't lose me over some story." She walked over to the trash can to throw away the peel. "I'm just telling you what I got from your summary."
"It's not 'some story'." He looked aside while brushing his teeth. "I know I'm hard to deal with. And. As hard as it might be, sometimes you have to trust me about certain things." Joker suppress a yawn and walk out and look at her while tilting his head. "I might tell you later but I know you will think afterwards that it'd have been better if I wouldn't have told you."
"I will admit that you do have your moments." She looked over in Joker's direction. "If you really feel that way about this, then I trust that you'll tell me when the time is right." She headed towards the bathroom to wash off her face. "Thanks." Joker quietly says as he walked into the bedroom to get ready for the bed. He looked at the pills at the bedside table, already about to take one as he remembered that alcohol and medicine don't mix well.
"Of course." Harley entered into the the bedroom to slip on some pajamas. " I want you to get plenty of rest, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow." She threw her suit into the hamper and went towards the bed.
"I know." Joker laid down and turned off the light on his side of the bed, then sighed. His eyelids felt heavy and he slowly closed them as he tried to get some calming thoughts.
"Sweet dreams." Harley said sweetly with a smile then turned over to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you." Joker said and wait a few seconds before he nervously scratch the mattress. "Are you...mad at me?" He hated that alcohol made him soft and internally screw himself for drinking it earlier, yet, he was still curious if his behavior upset Harley.
"No, I'm not mad at you." Harley sat up for a second to adjust her pillow. "I'm just concerned that you never tell me about anything that bothers you. When I ask what's wrong all I'm trying to do is make my puddin smile." A faint frown started to form on her face, she flipped over so he couldn't see.
"I know. I'm sorry about that. It's just...the way I am. But believe me, sometimes I wish I was different. Sadly, I'm well aware of the things I say...and do." He grabbed the sheets and turned his head over to Harley. "The least thing I want is to hurt you. And if it weren't for that little glass of whatever it was that I drank, I wouldn't be able to actually notice what I do to you all the time." His eyes widen as he gulped. "I want you to know that I'm really sorry."
"No need to apologize, if I recall you being yourself is the reason we even met." She turned back to look at him with a tear on one side and a subtle frown. "I will say that I don't like some of your actions, but I know you really do love me. Even though you never say so." She give him a tight squeeze. He squinted his eyes and bite his lip.
"Please, don't do this." He felt like getting punched in the stomach. "Please, don't cry in front of me. That...That's the saddest thing I've ever seen..!"
"Alright.." She sniffled and wiped away the tear. She still continued to hug him with her other arm. "Can I ask you something?" She looked up at him. "M-hm." Joker mumbled, but avoid looking her in the eye since he can't stand the sight of Harley being sad. He carefully hugged her back with one arm.
"Do I have to let go?" Harley moved a little bit closer to him and squeeze a little tighter. Joker finally looked down at her as she asked and gulped as she hug him tighter.
"Um. No. Not necessarily. That actually is...kinda comfortable." Joker felt his body getting warmer and quickly blinked as he realised that he was still looking at her.
"I was hoping you were going to say that." Her smile grew bigger. She let out a tiny yawn and her eyes were trying to close. "You're...welcome, I guess." His mind is blurry, but not from the alcohol but rather confusion and some other emotions he couldn't even name. "Have I ever told you that your eyes. They. Well. They're kinda..cute." Joker felt as if his face was on fire and is just glad his white face can't blush. Because he would totally die of embarrassment.
Harley started to blush. " I don't believe you have." She looked up at him again and batted her eye lashes. "You know? I'm lucky to have you." Her stomach filled up with butterflies and she began to feel all warm. Joker felt like this whole situation is pretty weird, but he thought it's just him. "I'm not.....unlucky to have you." He hesitated to say the words as he squinted his eyes. Maybe handling this situation is easier for...'normal' people but to him even the situation by itself is confusing. Because he barely understood all of it. He blushed at her statement.
To Harley, it felt like he was trying to show affection, but he can't fully understand the concept of it. "Thanks puddin." She pecked him on the lips. "We should probably get some sleep now."
Joker gasped with his eyes opened wide as she kissed him. His heart felt pulled down a little bit, almost giving him a little pain and his body cramps in shock. He quickly moved his head back and stared at Harley with big eyes.
"Is everything alright Mr. J?" The blonde  asked curious to know why he pulled back. His lips twitches and he quickly blinked, breaking his moment of shock.
"N-No. I-I..." He stuttered and gulped before licking his lips. "I was just. Surprised." His eyes moved up and down her face and He suddenly didn't feel as tired as about ten minutes ago. "...just surprised.." He mumbled, unconsciously biting his lower lip.
"I'll give you a warning next time." She giggled a little bit.
Joker quickly shook his head. "No!" His voice immediately got more quiet as he realised how lout that actually was. "I mean. That will take all the little...things away." He had no idea how to explain the feelings he had during the moment she kissed him so Joker just decided to put it that way- since he didn't even know why that kiss gave him a little heartache, too.
Harley was a little scared, but she realised that he was just trying to figure out how he felt. "I couldn't agree more." Her face grew pinker, and her body grew warmer. " She cautiously took his arm and put it around herself.
A weird feeling let Joker's body get warm again and scared him a bit. Still, he couldn't take his eyes off hers and decided to try something. He moved his hand to her face and his head closer to hers until their lips touch and he finally kissed her. Something inside him wants to deepen that kiss as he closed his eyes but he simply ignored that. "Huh." He said after he took his lips off hers, too tired to actually turn his head away. "That was...interesting." He moved his hand away from her face and to her waist before he closed his eyes. "Too bad I might not remember that tomorrow. But. Let's sleep a bit. Good night."
Harley's heart was racing, and her cheeks became a bright rose colour. "Sweet dreams, sweetie." She snuggled up next to him and closed her eyes, even though sleeping isn't even on her mind at the moment.