If You Just Listened // Arthur Fleck x Reader // SLOWBURN

Chapter 11 - Give Me A Shot.

Your blanket was ripped off you, the cold air shook you out of your sleep.
Before you could even comprehend what was happening, you felt your pocket knife roughly snatched from your grasp.
Scared and confused, you scurried to the corner of your bed, your breathing quick and your body shaking as you looked up at your perpetrator.

Arthur looked down at the knife in his hand, then back up at you.

"What is this..."
"Were you keeping this because of me?"
"Are you scared of me?"

Tears began to gather in your eyes, your entire body trembling with fear.

"No, no it's just the protests outside. I-I thought maybe - I thought that maybe someone would break in, you know? Maybe I would need to protect us, you know? Just put the knife down Arthur-"

"You are scared of me."

The edges of your mouth twisted into a frown against your will, and you began to cry.

Arthur sighed, looking down at the knife again.

"You should've said yes to dinner."

Your eyes widened as he switched the blade open. Your hands went up, trying to protect yourself.

"Arthur, please. Arthur. PLEASE."

Before you realized it, the knife was in your stomach.

You shot up from your bed, panting. Your hair and pajamas were completely soaked with sweat. You quickly rifled through your blankets, looking for your knife. Once you found it, you sighed in relief, holding it close to you.

Wait. You forgot about Arthur.

Slowly, you turned your head towards the couch.

It was empty.

"Arthur?" you called out.

No response.

Carefully, you slid one foot off the bed. Then the other. You approached the couch, only to find that Arthur truly wasn't there. Where did he go?

You turned towards your kitchen, where you spotted a small piece of paper on your counter. You scurried over, picking up the note and squinting at it.

Sorry about last nite.
I will explane what happend later.
Thanks for lettting me sleep over.
Arthur.

You read it over a few times, noticing the misspellings and child-like handwriting. You pressed it against your forehead, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath.

You didn't know what to think. Arthur was good to you. But was he good? You didn't know him long enough to tell. Or were you letting your mind wander too far? Arthur hadn't shown any signs of being a violent person. Very much the opposite, actually. Maybe you were letting your stress and assumptions get the best of you.

As you looked at this note, you really couldn't convince yourself that Arthur was a bad person. Maybe he was just having a bad night. You were admittedly also a bit rattled by the protest you almost ran into as well.

You had seen how people treated Arthur first-hand. That was probably only the tip of the iceberg. He said he would tell you what happened later, it was probably fine.

You switched your TV to today's news while you went about your morning routine.

After showering and brushing your teeth, you wandered to your refrigerator and pulled it open.