You Don't Own Me

He kissed her back for a moment, his arms snaking around her waist. But then a moment later, he seemed to come to a conclusion and backed away slowly.

"Violet-," he started, but didn't seem to know how to finish.

"Sorry," she said, moving to the bed and sitting down. She was surprised at his reaction; she wasn't sure what she'd expected, but it definitely wasn't the confused look he'd gotten on his face.

"Don't be sorry," he said, and she cocked her head to the side.

"What should I be then?" she asked, and he shook his head like he was trying to force his thoughts to clear.

"I don't want you to do anything you don't want to just because you feel like you owe me," he said, surprising her yet again. His tone wasn't one she'd heard from him before, and when she really thought about it she wasn't sure she'd ever heard it from anyone before. She stared at him and could tell that he was becoming uncomfortable under her gaze.

"You're something else," she said, and he gave her a weird look. "You're so different than people think," she said, and he shook his head immediately.

"I'm not. I'm a maniac, a murderer, and an awful person. I've done so many terrible things, Violet, and I can't let you forget that. I can't control my rage and it manifests in the ugliest of ways. Most say I don't love anything other than myself and my money and sometimes I think that it's true," he told her, his voice getting more and more frantic as he went. His tone suggested that he was trying his best to scare her, but she wasn't falling for it. From the beginning she hadn't been scared of him, and she definitely wasn't now.

"Don't do that. Don't talk yourself down and try to push me away," she said, and his eyes clouded over with something that she was coming to recognize as rage.

"I'm not talking myself down, Violet. I'm telling you the fucking truth, and if you're too stupid to see that, if you're too stupid to see what an awful idea kissing me or believing that I can be better is, then you're not who I thought you were at all," he screamed at her, his words feeling like they were cutting her skin open. She physically recoiled, and he gave her a look she couldn't quite read before turning and slamming her bedroom door. She heard him stalk down the hall and then his own bedroom door slammed.

She sat there and thought over his words for a moment and then couldn't stop herself from getting up and stalking after him. She tried his doorknob and was surprised when it wasn't locked. She threw the door open and he glared at her from his spot on the edge of his bed.

"Violet," he growled her name and she knew it was a warning, but for some reason all it did was make her more angry.

"Fuck you, J. You do all this shit. You break me out of prison for fuck's sake. You get me all these clothes and this furniture and you're so nice to me. Don't think I don't know what that means! Don't think I don't know why girls get that kind of attention from you or most other men! This whole fucking time you've wanted in my pants, and now I'm ready to give you what you want and you're acting like I'm an idiot, like I was reading you all wrong when we both know I wasn't!" she exploded at him, and he looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time ever. He licked his lips from his spot on the bed and she could see a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Fine. You want me to be honest? Honestly, from the moment I laid eyes on you that day when you made my headache go away in Arkham, I knew I wanted you. I knew you were bad in all the right ways. I knew you had that beautiful temper in there, just waiting to come out. Your story intrigued me and I wanted to know you," he said, pausing to stand and walk swiftly towards her. He stood inches away from her and her breath hitched in her lungs.

"You were trying to get me worked up, weren't you?" she asked him a moment later, the realization hitting her like a train.

"Yes," he admitted, his blue eyes boring into hers.

"I'm a maniac and a murderer too," she reminded him, and the smile that had been tugging at him finally broke through.

"I know," he agreed, showing her his metal-capped teeth.

"Goodnight, J," she told him a moment later, turning and walking out of his bedroom. She knew it wasn't what he wanted, and she could feel his gaze on her back as she walked down the hall. She glanced back as she reached her room and he was still watching her from his doorway.

She shut her door behind her and flopped down on her bed, still vibrating with their shared intensity. Suddenly, she knew what all those feelings she'd been getting every time she looked in his eyes were and she knew she was stupid for not realizing it before. The feelings were lust and they were need and J had known it all along, he'd just been giving her the time to figure it out for herself. Now that she had, all she could think about were his full lips and his hands all over her.