FREAKS || Jerome Valeska¹

44 || Alive Again

"Do I not get a hug, beautiful?" Questioned a very much alive Jerome Valeska after a few seconds of silence. His voice was slightly croaky, damaged after being stabbed in the neck. A grin spread across his bloody face, arms open, wanting an embrace from his girl. His chest buzzed with expectancy. He wanted to hug Reese. Actually, no... he needed to hug her. But his smile began to fade when he noticed she wasn't moving. His newly beating heart was breaking. "You don't want -?"

Was it his face?

Was this relationship over because of their time apart? Surely not... right? Right? Had she found someone else to love as much as she had loved him?

But that wasn't the case at all.

Reese was just in a state of complete shock. Her heart raced so hard she couldn't breathe. She had spent nights fantasizing about insane scenarios in which Jerome Valeska would come back. Where he would hold her and never let go. She had to scold herself nearly daily for entertaining unrealistic dreams.

But this right here. This wasn't a dream. He was alive and standing before her in the flesh. His crystalline forest-green eyes stared at her once again.

His crestfallen expression caused her to realize she'd been frozen far too long. A quiet, breathless chuckle slithered from her agape lips. The urge set her off like a gun. Without hesitation, her body lurched forward, wrapping her arms around him. A soft, barely audible gasp left her lips as the warmth of his body collided with hers. It was surreal to hold him; he was real. Alive.

Green eyes widened when he felt her close to him. The surprise slowly faded and was quickly replaced with relief as he got to hold her again. A small laugh escaped. "Oh, baby doll!" The ginger exclaimed, tightening his arms around the girl he was enamored with. His heart melted, realizing she was trembling with shock, and he gave her another tender squeeze, rubbing the back of her head. He allowed himself to revel in the familiar touch.

Reese Nygma's eyes stung with fresh tears. Her cheek rested against his shoulder, feeling the return of home. She didn't want to pull away but coerced herself into it. Her hands cupped his face tenderly, not wanting to injure the sensitive, exposed muscles. A few tears fell. "My goodness. Jerome, it's really you?"

The ginger grinned happily, nodded reassuringly. A gleeful smile was returned by his girlfriend, whose arms continued to stay wrapped around his neck. His lovestruck expression remained on her - Reuniting with her had been better than he expected. As he admired her, he noticed the scars running along the middle of her cheeks, stopping near her ears. There was no memory of the scars ever being there. Someone hurt her while he had been gone, this caused him pain and anger. His fingers traced the textured scar under the bluish-purple bruise on her cheekbone. "Oh, doll, what'd they do to you?" He whispered.

Her mind instantly returned to that horrible night when Theo and Tabitha Galavan scarred her. Not only her face but her heart. The lines etched on her cheeks brought back memories of that night when she looked at them or when they asked her about them. The scene replayed on and on.

Reese remained silent, not wanting to ruin a perfect moment with her sob story. Yet, she knew he was bound to ask about them again.

And he was.

The ginger was about to question her again when his gaze latched onto someone else's — Dwight Pollard. The black-haired man was sitting behind the two in complete shock. Jerome felt his blood boil inside his veins. His jaw tightened so hard he could almost feel his teeth chipping. It was impossible to miss the fire burning in his green eyes. The deep desire to stab him repeatedly to death simmered under the surface.

But he couldn't... he had to wait for his revenge.

Struggling, he forced his expression to mimic content. "Dwight! Pal, good to see ya!" He exclaimed, chuckling with a croak that made the imposter tremble, thinking that maybe he'd crossed a line. Jerome looked around with slight worry, knowing they had stayed too long. His eyes locked with Reese's again, and he frowned, caressing her face. "I wish we could continue the reunion, twinkie, but the Doc will be calling Gordon any second now."