somewhere in there / jonathan crane

11. rain and long talks

Gray.

Zoe never thought that sleeping during a storm would be an option for her. Turns out, she slept peacefully. 

For a moment, it got her. She thought that she was in her apartment, waking up to a grey morning, alone again. But no, she wasn't home.

She slowly opened her eyes and stretched her arms. She turned around only to see that Jonathan was not in bed. The comfort her body felt was undeniably calming. The bed was soft and Zoe never wanted to get up. 

She remembered Lucas.

She quickly took her phone and texted him that everything was alright.

"Jonathan!" She yelled, the laziness in her voice dominating. Her eyes were still closed since she wished she was still asleep.

Jonathan opened the door and Zoe smiled. "Good morning." He said, a weak smile on his face. 

"Morning." She smiled back.

"I made coffee, come." He said, walking over to the kitchen and leaving the door open.

Zoe smiled to herself again, putting away the sheets. She stood up, stretching again. Her bare toes touching the cold floor made her flinch a bit.

"I love the smell of coffee in the morning except I don't wake up to it."

"That's the saddest thing I've heard in a long time." Jonathan said, sitting at the small dining table next to the window.

Zoe took a seat next to him and thanked him for the coffee. "I like how you placed your dining table here."

"Yeah, it's nice to look out sometimes." He said.

"It is. The Narrows are not that dark and ugly from up here."

"The Narrows are okay. It's the people that make it look threatening."

"I guess you're right." 

"It's so weird to have someone else in my apartment. Usually there is one mug on the table and now there are two. Later, it used to be one plate for food now it will be two." Jonathan muttered, his hands playing with the mug.

"You've never dated anyone?" Zoe asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

Jonathan shook his head. "I don't date, Zoe."

"I know that part already." She said, raising her eyebrows. "Also, I was thinking...Can I stay here for like 3 or 4 days because I don't want to go home. I'll be all alone and I don't like that. Plus I get to see you all the time." A part of her was expecting him to say no.

After a couple of seconds, he replied with, "Yeah, okay. You can stay but try not to move my things when I leave for work on monday."

"Wait, you're gonna leave me here, alone?"

"Zoe, I have patients I need to treat."

"Arkham is full of therapists, Jonathan."

"I am the chief psychiatrist, what do you expect." He stated.

"It was a silly thing to ask of you. Sorry."

"It's fine." He said, trying to give her a smile but failing miserably.

"You really don't smile do you?"

"No, apparently I don't. Lucky you're waking up that side of me." 

"Yesterday when I asked you to tell me you don't want this..."

"I think I gave you an answer. A good one actually."