The Beast Within

Chapter Eighteen: Dinner Date

Bruce pulled on his tie when there was a knock on his bedroom door "master Bruce" he turned to his butler and huffed "don't try and stop me.. I'm going to see him" Alfred sent him a small smile "I was just going to ask if you needed any help with your tie" Bruce sent him a bright smile "go and knock him off his feet son" "thank you, Alfred" Alfred hugged him tightly "are you positively sure-" "he's made some mistakes.. who hasn't? I can't help who I love" Alfred smiled and nodded.

Jeremiah stood by the stairs nervously waiting for his ex boyfriend, they've had some problems in the past, but he wants to try and move past them "wow Miah! you look great!" he turned his head and Nyssa was wearing a beautiful red dress that hugged her curves and accentuated her baby bump she had black heels on and Jeremiah looked them curiously "are they really a good choice in your condition darling?" "I tried to stop her, broski" Jerome said walking down the stairs to meet them "you two act like I'm dying.. I can still wear heels for another month or so as long as I'm careful.. which I am" she said matter of factly and they both just nodded not wanting to argue, suddenly there was a knock at the door and Jeremiah took a deep breath.

Jerome hooked his arm around Nyssa's waist and pulled her close as Jeremiah opened the door, he looked to Bruce and smiled who smiled back "Bruce.. you look" "you do too, Miah" they both said sheepishly, they both shared a warm hug and they walked back inside, Bruce stopped when he saw Jerome grinning at him but his face turned to surprise when he saw his arm around a woman he'd never seen before, what shocked him the most was the woman had a very obvious baby bump "Bruce.. you know Jerome and this is Nyssa.. she's his um-" "my girlfriend" Jerome interjected and both Jeremiah and Bruce's jaws dropped, Jeremiah cleared his throat and spoke "dinner's almost ready.. shall we?" they all followed him into the dining hall and they all took their seats, the night was going well, Jeremiah and Bruce talked and Jerome and Nyssa had their own conversation until Bruce spoke up "so, Nyssa.. how did you two meet?" "oh.. he almost blew me up in the GCPD" Jerome cackled.

Bruce wasn't surprised by this answer, he knew they wouldn't have just met in the street or at the supermarket, it was Jerome there had to be a crazy story to it, he cleared his throat and spoke up "so, how far along are you?" "13 weeks" Jerome answered without looking away from his food and continued eating, Nyssa smiled and nodded, he was shocked that he hadn't heard from anyone that Jerome was going to be a dad, he and his brother ran the Gotham underground, he expected someone to know, he was shocked to only find out a few hours ago, they had been keeping it hidden very well, he was shocked that he didn't even know that he had a girlfriend, they were keeping her hidden extremely well, at first he wondered if she had been forced to be with him, but she looked genuinely happy and so did Jerome, but she seemed so normal and not crazy like Jerome which made him be slightly confused, he felt a warm hand on his and looked into Jeremiah's eyes and he smiled lovingly "something wrong, Bruce?" "no.. I'm just happy to be here, with you" they both smiled brightly, Bruce leaned over and pecked his lips softly.

Jerome and Nyssa let them have a minute and stepped onto the balcony for some fresh air, Nyssa sat on the edge of the railing with her head tilted back and her eyes were shut, Jerome smiled at her content happiness in that moment, he stepped over and placed his hands on her waist, she smiled but didn't open her eyes, he stared at her carefreeness and studied her perfect smile and at that moment he had realized something that his mind had been telling him for weeks "I love you.." quickly her eyes shot open and her face went blank and looked at him she studied his face to see if this was just one of his jokes, he smiled shyly "could you say something doll, you're worrying me" she smiled brightly and pulled his face to her lips, she kissed him lightly then pulled away, he looked in her eyes and she giggled "I love you too, idiot" he grinned and quickly lifted her up and kissed her again, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist "I love you so much" she said and kissed his cheek.

Bruce had excused himself to go to the bathroom but movement on the balcony made him look out, Jerome held Nyssa close to him and kissed her lightly making her smile brightly, he realized that she wasn't in any danger even when no one was around he was caring towards her, he could see that Jerome was in love, which made him question Nyssa's sanity, Jerome pushed her into the wall on the balcony and tugged her dress down and started kissing her chest, Bruce quickly looked away not wanting invade their privacy and he headed back to Jeremiah "everything okay?" Jeremiah asked taking Bruce's hand who smiled and sat back down "just fine" "I know we haven't seen each other in a while.. but I missed you" Bruce smiled and squeezed Jeremiah's hand reassuringly "I missed you too Miah" "come back.. please, come back too me" Bruce took a deep breath but decided they'd had enough time apart "okay, I'll come back" Jeremiah smiled brightly with tears in his eyes, Bruce smashed his lips into his "I can't stay away from the man I love" Jeremiah beamed and stroked his cheek lovingly "I love you too" "I'll stay tonight and get my stuff tomorrow?" "that sounds perfect" they smiled at each other and leaned in again.

Jerome placed Nyssa back on the ground and zipped his pants back up "jesus, are you trying to get me pregnant with a second one?" she said fixing her dress and he cackled "I think just one is enough" she giggled "for now anyway" she said and he playfully groaned and she laughed, he turned back around and leaned over the balcony and thought for a moment "hey, since we're you know.. in a relationship, you're not gonna sleep with other people.. are you?" she laughed and shook her head and stepped over to him and turned him to her "I'm all yours Jerome" he nodded but then opened his mouth again "what about Ecco?" she thought about it, she didn't really know about that "I don't know, how do you feel about her?" "woah calm down.. I don't feel anything for her.. I just thought, you have fun with her right?" "yeah" "so, do you still want to-" "have sex with her?" "well yeah" "if you don't want me to.. I won't" "well hey.. slow down there, I wasn't saying I don't want you to" "what are you saying?" "look, if I'm there.. yeah sure, but just on your own-" "I'll only sleep with her if it's with you too, is that what you're saying?" "I want to be the only one that has you alone" she smiled and wrapped her arms around him "I have no problem with that" "you're so perfect" he pecked her lips and pulled her in for a hug.

A week later.

Jerome sat in Jeremiah's church office and sighed, Nyssa had been moody and crazy lately from the hormones and he needed some downtime, a feminine voice outside the door caught his attention, the door flung open and he held his pistol close "Mr Valeska, you have a visitor" he sighed and nodded expecting to see Nyssa but once the person walked in he jumped up and aimed his gun "what the fuck are you doing here?" he growled and the person took a deep breath and stepped a little closer to him "J-Jerome, please help me" "with what?" "I- I never wanted to hurt Nyssa, I was forced to" "by who?" he spat cocking his gun "I- I can't say, not yet, they have eyes everywhere" "what makes you think I'd be willing to help you? give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now" "because, I know you don't really want to" they stood in front of him and smirked, he slowly lowered his gun "if you wanted to shoot me, I would be dead already" "what is it that you want?" they smirked again and ran a gloved hand down his bicep and ran their other hand up his chest.