"𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬"

𝟓𝟏. "𝐃𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤"

"Thanks." I muttered to Oswald after he handed me a glass of whiskey.

"Do you want to talk about-"

"Oh, God no." I blurted out and rapidly shook my head. He chuckled at my reaction and sat in a leather chair in front of me.

"No talking. Just drinking." I said firmly and set my gaze on the golden liquid.

"Ok." I took a deep breath, smelled the drink and grimaced slightly. His smile grew at my reaction.

"Not a drinker, huh?"

"My parents were abusive alcoholics, so I never really wanted to touch the stuff. Jerome's mother was a drunk too, so he doesn't drink either." I told him and rolled the glass in my hand. He nodded with understanding.

I carefully brought the glass to my lips and tilted it to try the alcohol. It burned, but it was a good burn. I immediately gulped the whole drink all at once. Penguin's eyebrows shot up as I calmly leaned back on his sofa. He most likely expected me to start coughing uncontrollably.

"It'll go straight to your head if you never drank before." He warned me. My eyebrows creased.

"You saw what happened out there. I need this." I rasped and extended my glass to him.

***

★ Jerome P.O.V. ★

I tried really hard to give Grey space, considering how difficult the day was for her, but after thirty minutes, I was done. Beaky's house was full of the worst criminals in Gotham, and I didn't want her to be all by herself out there. And as much as I didn't want to admit it, I was jealous of any person she was spending time with. Even if it was with a wuss like Cobblepot. I quickly took off my coat and vest and left my room to look for her.

"You seen Grace?" I asked Grundy after I met him at the end of the hallway.

"Why do you want to know?" He squinted at me and pulled up his sleeves. I rolled my eyes.

"She's my fiancée. I want to find her. Is that so crazy?" I scoffed. He shot me a sceptical look and crossed his arms on his chest.

"Yeah, see, you say that, but I know Tetch hypnotises folk. And something just doesn't seem right about that sweet girl with you, Valeska." He said and pointed his fat finger at me. My blood boiled.

"I didn't hypnotise her!" I snapped. His eyebrows shot up.

"Then why the hell is she with you?" He shook his head with confusion.

I was ready to jump on the pale asshole and strangle him when suddenly I heard Grey's laughter. I immediately walked past him and headed to where the sound was coming from.

"Lunatic." I heard him grumble behind me. I ignored him and opened the door to Beaky's office.

"Ginger!" Grey called happily and jumped up from the couch as soon as she saw me. My eyebrows shot up.

"Whoa." She chuckled and stumbled.

I instantly leapt towards her and grabbed her waist to steady her. She started giggling madly and gripped my biceps for balance. I was beyond confused by her behaviour, but then I noticed the half-empty bottle of whiskey on the table and two glasses. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I realised she was just plain wasted.

"Gorgeous, are you drunk?" I breathed out. I honestly didn't know what else to say.

"No. Pfff. Of course not." She scoffed and playfully smacked my bicep. The corners of my lips started twitching into a smile as I watched her.