Professor Fear (the sequel) - Jonathan Crane

Chapter 4

Jonathan was already awake to hear the knock on the door. He had been sitting on the sofa, reading through his earlier notes on Adam Cleary. After giving him another dose of the new formula, Jonathan had stayed to take more notes and then gone back to his office in Arkham to tend to the needs of other patients and staff members.
Beside him on the floor was a plate of half-eaten cornbread. It was a comfort food he had eaten since he was young and one of the only good things that came out of living with his Grandmother in her rural house. It was also one of the only things Doctor Crane would ever be caught voluntarily baking in the pristine empty kitchen of his small house.

The knock sounded again, more frantic. Jonathan's watch read 4:13am.He warily made his way to the door and opened it without bothering to look through the peephole.

"I knew you'd be awake. Do you actually use that bed upstairs or is it for decoration?" Daria Morrison, hauling a dark green duffel bag, walked straight through the door. Her hair had been piled onto her head into a large bun with a few escaping strands which fell to frame her face. She wore a loose terracotta sweater, black jeans and black ankle boots which she was removing from her feet to put by the door. Jonathan had noticed as of late that she had discarded her signature hoodie look.

"Daria this is a pleasant surprise but I am confused by the particularity of the time," He shut the front door and turned to the girl who was wandering into the still brightly lit kitchen. The further away she went, the blurrier she became. He had left his glasses on the mustard-coloured sofa arm.

"Mmm smells nice in the kitchen," She had already entered the living room. Jonathan joined her seconds later. Her cheerful expression became solemn. "Sorry about the timing, I did not prepare anything for after graduation and you were the first person I thought of as having a place to stay," Not entirely true but staying with Jonathan had been the most convincing argument in her head.

He was both stunned and excited to hear those words. He enjoyed Daria's presence at his house, but he was worried about the constant exposure to another person. Jonathan typically enjoyed solitude wherever possible. You always say that Daria is a 'special' person. If were you get bored of her fast then I'll take her for scientific purposes. Scarecrow's comment was strangely reassuring. Daria was indeed not one of the mundane ordinary people he had come across in most of his teaching and directing careers.

"If you'd rather me not I can stay at my friend Eric's apartment just outside of the other side of the Narrows, He - "

"Of course you can stay here Daria, and to answer your earlier comment, I don't really use the bed upstairs enough. I sleep on the sofa most nights. I see the bed as a luxury." Jonathan didn't want Daria staying at a random man's house in the narrows. He would have to do research on this particular man to understand how he earned Daria's trust. Most men Jonathan had met in the narrows were unfriendly and predatory towards women.

"Are you still working?" She was eyeing the paper on the sofa.
"Nope," Jonathan picked up the papers and the plate of food to put it in the kitchen. Daria followed into the kitchen and pried the plate from his hands so that she could finish the cornbread.

"Wow, did you make this?"
Jonathan nodded and smiled.
"Well, thank you that was really good." She put the plate in the sink and rinsed it off. "I'm going to go to sleep now," She began to walk back to the living room. Jonathan found her familiarity with the house comforting. Then again, even in her early days of being 'stuck' in his house, she had adjusted well to the environment.
"Daria the bed is upstairs,"
"I'll go if you go," He realised she wanted to sleep in the same place as him. Once again he was conflicted by the sudden commitment but also warmed by his feelings towards her.
"Ok, bed it is," Jonathan headed up the stairs and took off his excess clothes for the evening. He'd dressed warm and casual earlier once he'd gotten home. His burgundy sweater and blue jeans became a neat pile by the wall furthest from the door.
"Thank you so much for letting me stay here," Daria sat on the bed after also mimicking Jonathan and taking off her jeans and sweater so that she was in a tank top and underwear. "I'm sorry that I didn't warn you in advanced that I was coming over."
Jonathan's response was looking at her with longing eyes before rolling onto the bed and locking lips with her. It was the first time they'd been completely alone in two months. The ecstasy of each other's touch was just as strong as the first time.