Gotham Gazette // J.V

Chapter 22

I made my way into the bathroom and locked the door before running the hot water and stripping off my clothes. Once the water was warm enough I wasted no time in jumping in the shower and letting the warmth take over my senses. It was beginning to get cold in Gotham as it was nearing Winter.

I wasn't in the shower for long as I wanted to make sure not to waste the hot water for when Ed wanted to shower later. I dressed into the clothes Ed had kindly given to me to wear. I exited the bathroom and began to walk down the hallway when I heard Ed talking in the kitchen.

"Don't touch her she doesn't deserve this." I heard him beg. "Oh Eddie, I'm not going to hurt her, you are." The voice was slightly different but still sounded just like Edward. "She has been through enough, I won't let you touch her." Who was Ed arguing with? Perhaps he was on the phone. "Ohhhh Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. You think she looks up to you? Little riddle girl adores the riddle freak? Don't be stupid, she will leave the minute she gets the chance! She's just Kristen!" As the yelling got louder I slowly moved into the room, still out of sight.

"I don't like her like that! That is wrong! I only have eyes for Kristen." "I don't mean like that even we wouldn't stoop as low as taking advantage of something a decade younger than us." Us? "Even so, you will not lay a hand on her!" With that, I tried to see who he was talking to.

"Ed?" I questioned warily and he immediately turned to face me. "Who were you talking to?" I asked.

"Oh uh, just on the phone. Something happened at work." I looked around but there wasn't a phone in sight. Although, I wasn't exactly in a position to judge.

"Oh ok." I was a little bit awkward in these kinds of situation and I didn't want to give him any trouble after all he's doing for me.

"Dinner is ready, I hope you like pasta?" He offered, leading me to a small table with two chairs.

"Of course, thanks." I responded as we sat down, the table had a;ready been sat and we both immediately began eating. We ate in silence but Ed looked to be troubled. "Is everything ok Edward?" I asked. His head shot up immediately.

"Oh, I'm fine, just thinking." He replied shortly and I just nodded. We continued to eat and the tension was thick in the air. We sat in an awkward silence until he spoke again. "I was thinking about watching one of the trivia shows, later on, tonight..." He trailed as an attempt to start a conversation.

"I love trivia shows! My parents used to hate me watching them because I would try and answer all the questions." I say excitedly, the mentioning of my parents left a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Well you are more than welcome to try and answer the questions, I myself do the same." He stated with a small smile.

"That'd be great! It's settled then." I replied with a smile of my own. "So how was work?" I decided to make small talk seeing as though the tension had lifted some, plus I hated awkward silences.

"It is extremely busy, they are all on high alert looking for the Maniax, and you for that matter." I looked down slightly. "If I am completely honest I don't think I've ever seen Harvey do this much work in my life." He chuckled lightly at his own joke and I joined him.

"Well, that's a surprise, how are things with Kristen?" I asked, remembering him mentioning her a couple of times.

"She doesn't mind my riddles much, she also loves this officer Tom. Although Tom... Left town for a while so I think I've still got a good chance." Ed explained and I noticed him visibly tense at the mention of this 'Tom' but I let it slide.

"From what you have told me about her, I'm sure she's lovely." I was happy for him, he was very sweet and he seemed to be very fond of this 'Kristen' woman.