ANGLERFISH

4

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Morning of the next day
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Last night, when Bruce and I were driving, I could already tell he wasn't going to let me go back to my apartment. He takes specific routes when going to my house, and he avoided them yesterday.

When we got home, he made me sleep in my old room, made me share my bed with my nostalgic stuffed friends, and made me go to sleep watching my hanging butterflies.

He hadn't changed a single thing in this room since I moved out, it was sort of comforting until I remembered that my room was like this until I moved out! I moved out when I was 18, 'how can an 18-year-old still live like this?' I laughed to myself.

Neither of us had addressed the situation once we opened the door when we got here. But I could tell he wasn't in the mood. But now, that was probably the only thing he wanted to talk about, once we both were filled with Alfred's amazing pancakes.

I was now brushing my teeth with my purple toothbrush, with my minty toothpaste and Barbie mouthwash.

I let my hair down from its messy bun and decided to wear my knitted white jumper and some black joggers. I began looking for my pink bunny slippers, I looked behind my door, in the bathroom, but once I tried to look under my bed, I winced at the pain that became present; all over me.

My body was sore, I had a huge bruise on my waist, while my whole back was also a humongous bruise. I rubbed my waist and it was slightly soothing, yet painful.

I saw my slippers and tried to grab them without looking, but ended up grabbing a teddy bear. I sat up and gave it a good look, it was green with red heart eyes, and I recognized that it was a gift from the boy, because it had a chain that he also gave me as a gift. He had given these to me when I turned 15, and after that, the boy of my dreams was gone; by dreams I mean the only boy that cared for as much as someone would treat a princess.

He was my prince and I was his princess.

I placed it on my bed and placed the necklace on my neck. I touched it with my finger-tips, it was a J, for what name, I still continued to find my memory towards it; nothing. I escaped my thoughts and continued looking for my slippers. I saw them near the wall and reached for them, placed them on my socked feet, and began to walk to the stairs that lead to the kitchen, where the scent of delicious breakfast was waiting for me.

"Good morning, Alfred!" I said as I jumped off the last step. "Good morning, Miss Kiara?" He gave me a surprised smile. "What have you made for breakfast with your kind soul?" I asked as I took a seat at the dining table.

"Oh, you know, the basics, pancakes, eggs, sausage, toast, waffles, home fries, hash browns, and finally, you and Bruces' favorite!" He looked at me as he flipped my favorite breakfast dish.

"Chocolate pancakes!" I exclaimed Alfred nodded as he placed a plate in front of me. "Thank you so much, Alfred—" I paused as I placed a bite in my mouth, "I've been eating microwaved food since I turned 21, I've missed your food." I gave him a smile as I wiped my mouth with a napkin.

"Good morning." I heard a deep voice say behind me. "Good morning, Mr. Wayne." Alfred gave a grin to Bruce.

"Morning, Bruce." I stayed in place and continued eating. "Enjoying Alfred's breakfast a little too much, or do you truly love it, Kiara?" Bruce laughed as he sat on the other side of me.

"I can tell that you're trying to make small talk, that will lead to the topic of yesterday, Bruce." I took a sip of coffee as I eyed him.

"Kiara, what happened last night was completely irresponsible of you, and you know it," He sneered, "—I told you to stay away from it, and what you heard was, 'I'm going to put myself in danger'!" Bruce yelled as he stabbed his pancakes.

"at least I did something! I could already tell you were busy and I decided to help! Besides, no one ended up hurt!" I growled back. "Would you like scrambled eggs, Miss Kiara?" Alfred smiled at me.

"Nearly 70 million dollars were taken!" He sneered. "Wow! You care more about the money than those poor people's lives—and no thank you, Alfred." I sent him a soft smile.

"No! T-That's n-not what I meant—" I interrupted him, "Bruce just accept the fact that I helped those people and you didn't! I'm not hurt, I'm here in one piece, breathing fine and talking—" Bruce interrupted me, "Enough!" He stood up and placed his hands on the table.

"—You need to listen to me when I tell you to do something or not! I watched the camera footage and saw how he caught you! He dug his knee into your stomach, gripped your wrists, and nearly killed you when he brought you to the floor, Kiara!" He yelled as he rubbed his forehead in frustration.

I stayed quiet.

How could I be so stupid to forget that cameras existed! "Oh my! Even though she knew what she did was wrong—she continued to do it! Alfred, please tell her for me!" Bruce laughed in frustration.

"What were you doing, Bruce?" I asked in a normal and calm voice. "When?" He looked at me with a confused look. "While I was at the bank, what were you doing?" I put down my utensils.

"I was stopping a mob deal." He answered. "Alfred, you usually fix up Bruce, was he damaged in any way?" I looked at Alfred.

"A couple of wounds here and there, but he did have one gnarly cut from a dog," Alfred said as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"I can't believe this! You get hurt and no one tells you anything, but once I get hurt, you can throw a fit! You're a hypocrite, you know that!" I laughed as I got up and began walking to the sink, then towards the stairs. "Kiara!" Bruce yelled.

I ignored him. "Kiara Opal Wayne!" He said as he closed the door in between the kitchen and living room, I turned to see him holding the remote to all the doors, in his hand.

"When your parents abducted you, it was my job to protect you, make you happy, comfort you, and do all the responsibilities that they should've done!" He said as he had a face of sadness present.

I looked down and dismissed his glare. "You don't know what it felt to watch that sick bastard holding you against your will and placing a knife to your face!" Bruce shocked his head.

He looked down at his hands, "—I do dangerous things and understand the consequences, Kiara—" He came closer to me and grabbed my shoulders, in a comforting way, "—But if you ever want to help out, than I'll show you some tricks and moves, even make you some gadgets and even a suit, but never do that—" He smiled and hugged me, I hugged back and gripped onto his shirt.

Whenever this man and I fought, we always ended up forgiving each other, no matter what the argument was about, and this fight was probably the biggest one we have ever had.

"Uh, not to ruin this moment but I already have a suit, a friend of ours, Lucius, designed it for me." I smiled into his shoulder. "Lucius?!" Bruce laughed as he looked at me.

"Yeah, that's why you couldn't see my suit, compared to when I wear regular clothes." I chuckled. "Well, that man has another thing coming." He laughed as he crossed his arms, "But Kiara, I'm sorry you saw my actions hypocritical—" I interrupted him, "—And I'm sorry that I placed myself in danger and threw a fit." I gave a soft grin.

"Even?" He stuck his hand out. "Even." I smiled as I grabbed his hand and shook it.