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“Everyone out!” Oswald announced suddenly, during the particular meeting he was in. Luckily, he didn’t have to put on a façade, as these were criminals. He was usually a gracious host, but tonight he was just not in the mood. Every little noise and muttering under breath was testing his patience. If it had to do with a certain person being absent YET AGAIN, then that was no one’s business except for Oswald’s.
While everyone filed out (more like made themselves scarce as soon as they heard Oswald’s raised voice), Only Cat had been left behind. She perched on her chair she had been occupying and Oswald resisted to roll his eyes at her. “I said everyone, Selina.” Oswald clipped, as he rubbed a hand across his face.
“So? I’m not everyone, and you know it,” Selina quipped, munching on the cookies Olga had left on the table earlier that day. She hummed in approval. “Tell that maid of yours she’s a damn fine cook,”
“Language, young lady!”
“Sorry. Someone is touchy tonight.” Selina mocked, taking another cookie.
“So?” Oswald parroted back at her. Selina rolled her eyes.
“This about forensic guy?” Oswald raised one eyebrow at her, but said nothing. “So it IS. Where is old beanpole anyway?”
“I don’t know. If I did, I would have words with him for missing yet another meeting in the past two weeks.” Oswald tried to keep the hurt out of his voice, but knew he failed when Selina raised her eyebrows at him.
“Or make heart eyes at him, you mean,”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, everyone knows you love that skinny, riddle loving weirdo. I have no idea why and I don’t want to think about it. But, everyone knows.” Selina pointed out.
“Am I that obvious?” Oswald muttered.
“Only to a guy selling pencils out of a tin cup,” Selina joked.
Oswald laughed, despite his sour mood. “Just like your feelings for the Wayne boy?” Selina visibly stiffened, dropping the cookie in her hand.
“Touche, Penguin,”
“Back at you, Cat,” Oswald teased her.
“Well, I’m out. Later,” Selina stood and brushed off her clothes of the crumbs and slinked out the door, with a wave to Oswald. He had grown rather fond of her, and he thought on what she said. Was he really that obvious to everyone that he had feelings for Ed? This is getting ridiculous, he thought. He had decided to tell him how he felt over two weeks ago, but Ed had been avoiding him. When they did speak, it was all business, and then Ed disappeared. He knew he wasn’t with Isabella either, because she had come by the mansion, looking for him. Apparently, Ed had broken up with her abruptly, and without any explanation. She looked less upset, and rather livid. However, Oswald offered his sympathies because it was expected, but on the inside he was doing a rather large happy dance. He sent her away with the promise he would pass on the message to call her, without having the intention of telling Ed anything of the sort.
Oswald looked at his watch, and it read 10:30pm. No wonder his eyes were itching with tiredness, he thought. He trudged upstairs and began his routine for bed. He made it a habit of looking in the direction of the wing Ed’s room was in upon coming upstairs, and as per usual, his door was shut firmly. Oswald shook his head in disappointment. He began taking off his suit, and folding it up neatly so Olga could send it out to be cleaned. He put on his pajamas, and made his way to the bathroom to clean his teeth.
While he was in the middle of brushing, he almost choked on the toothpaste in his mouth when he saw Ed in the mirror behind him when he came up from the sink. He dropped his toothpaste in surprise.
“Fuck!” Oswald rarely swore, but this time it was called for. Ed weighed like ten ounces, even though he is a full grown man, which meant that he didn’t make any noise when he walked. He didn’t know who was worse; Ed or Selina when it came to that.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you, Oswald. My apologies,” Ed spoke very quickly, and Oswald didn’t really get most of it, expect for the ‘apologies’ part.
“It’s fine. Is there something you needed?” Oswald asked, before rinsing out his mouth, and drying off with a towel beside the sink.
“I wanted to speak with you. Privately,”
“It is late, Ed. Maybe if you had shown up to the meeting, we would have had more of a chance to speak afterward. In case you have forgotten, we have an early day tomorrow.” Oswald clipped. He was still rather annoyed at Ed, but his heart was beating fast. He noticed a piece of paper in Ed’s hand that the man was clutching rather tightly. That made Oswald nervous. Was he resigning? Ed couldn’t leave him! That wasn’t fair!
“Please?” Ed pleaded, breaking Oswald out of his musings. Oswald was taken aback at that. Ed didn’t plead. Ever. For anything. Intrigued, Oswald nodded and headed out of the bathroom and motioned for Ed to sit on the chair across from the bed, while Oswald sat on the actual bed. Ed nodded his thanks.
Now, on Ed’s part, he was trying to hold himself together. He was finally ready to tell his best friend how he felt. He was going to tell Oswald he loved him. This wasn’t at all the same at what he felt for Kristen or even Isabella. Those were mere infatuations, he realized. What he felt for Oswald was all consuming. The raven haired man who had changed his life so much, that meant so much to him, was in his thoughts. It was like Oswald Cobblepot had made a permanent residence in his brain, and while a rather large change for him, he wouldn’t dream of changing it for the world. If by some chance Oswald returned his feelings in even half the capacity that he had, then that would be enough for Edward. If not, then Ed had already made a plan to leave for good. Rejection had been a normal part of his life, and was more than prepared to face the consequences. Yes, it would hurt, but he wouldn’t put Oswald in the awkward position of having to pretend nothing happened. Oswald’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.
“Are you alright? You look pale,” Oswald asked. No matter who he was or what he had done, Oswald always made sure the people close to him were well cared for. Ed smiled at him.
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“Okay…you had something to tell me?” Oswald motioned for him to continue.
“Yes. Well, first of all I would like to apologize about…well, for lack of a better term, avoiding you, these past few weeks—“ Ed began, and Oswald scoffed. He couldn’t help it.
“Avoiding me is putting it lightly. You didn’t even make direct eye contact with me for those first few days! I had no idea I had become that odious to you,”
“I assure you, that you have not become odious to me!” Ed shouted back. This was not going to plan.
“Well, it sure as hell seemed like it!” Oswald retorted.
Ed stood up and grabbed at his hair. As much as he loved the man now currently shouting at him, he couldn’t help but be aggravated by him. “That is not the case! Would you let me finish, damn it!” Oswald opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it back shut with an audible click. He nodded stiffly and crossed his arms over his chest. “Like I said, I am sorry about avoiding you these past couple of weeks. There were…some things I needed to sort out on my own.”
“Uh huh,” Oswald murmured, with a hint of sarcasm and Ed fought hard not to roll his eyes.
“I don’t think I should drag this on anymore, Oswald.” Ed looked at Oswald in the eyes, which made Oswald suck in a breath in surprise. “You are my best friend. You have inspired me, helped me when I needed it the most, even though I really didn’t deserve it, you made sure I wasn’t attacked in Arkham. You even made me your Chief of Staff. You are intelligent, a fighter and have a bigger heart than people realize. You are the craziest, most infuriating man I have ever met, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I do not care about mistakes you have made in the past; God knows I have made my share of them. What I am trying to say is that…I love you, Oswald. I love you more than anyone else in the entire world. I would shout it from the rooftops of this mansion, if you would let me.”
Oswald could feel the blood rushing in his ears, and his heart pounding so hard it was going to beat out of his chest, he swore it. Did…did Ed just say that…that he loved him? Say something, idiot! Oswald thought, but couldn’t find the words.
“Oswald?” Ed tried, but Oswald was just staring at him. “Are you alright?” Still nothing. Oh, crud. I broke him…Ed thought. “Now, I know this is probably a shock to you. If you do not feel comfortable with me being here anymore—“ At this point, Ed placed the paper he had in his hands on the bed in front of Oswald. “There is my letter of resignation, so all of the paperwork is in order. I have a plan to leave Gotham for a while, until we can put this behind us. At the very least, I do want to continue being your friend. Until then,” Ed nodded once, and turned to leave the room. He felt tears welling up in his eyes, but refused to let them fall. His heart clenched painfully in his chest as he crossed the room.
“WAIT!” Oswald practically screamed, and he got up from the bed. He could NOT let Ed leave, just because he was too stupid to not say anything. Well, in for a penny…
Ed turned to look at Oswald, who was crossing the room. Oswald stood right in front of him, and shook his head, smiling. Ed was now confused. Why was he smiling?
“You—you ridiculous, ridiculous man,” Oswald murmured, still grinning so hard he thought his face would crack from the sheer force of it.
Ed furrowed his eyebrows. Oswald knew he was confused, and it was so cute when Ed did that. “I know it was a lot to take in, but I had to tell you. I didn’t want it to interfere with our friendship,”
Oswald laughed. He threw his head back and laughed. When he finally came back to himself, he sighed and grabbed Ed by the tie he still had on. Ed’s eyes widened. “The only way that would interfere with it, is if you walked out that door right now,”
“Wha—mmph!” Ed began, but was cut off with a pair of soft lips on his own. The scent of Oswald surrounded him, making his head feel light and his knees weak. He wrapped his arms around Oswald’s smaller frame and felt Oswald wrap his other arm around Ed’s neck. Ed ran his tongue across Oswald’s bottom lip, demanding entrance. Oswald moaned with the feeling, letting Ed inside and stroking his tongue with his own. Oswald was in heaven. This was it. He had finally died and actually got into heaven, somehow. He didn’t care how. Because if the feeling of Edward’s mouth on his was any indication to how heaven was, then he didn’t really give a damn. That was until Ed broke away and Oswald literally whined at the loss.
“Does this mean you return my affections?” Ed asked, lips puffy and his face flushed. Oswald rolled his eyes.
“Yes, you ridiculous man. I love you,” Oswald knew Ed needed to hear it. He would have just shown him, but Ed did better with words, and not action. Although…Oswald smirked and pushed him back to where Ed’s back hit the bedroom door and devoured his mouth again. Ed moaned through the kiss and held onto Oswald for dear life. Oswald only broke away from Ed’s mouth, to attack his neck, eagerly. He knew Ed’s neck was sensitive, considering he always wore scarves outside or high collars.
“Oswald…” Ed’s voice sounded utterly wrecked, and it made Oswald moan. Ed gripped the back of Oswald’s head to make sure Oswald would not stop what he was doing for any reason. It felt way to good, and Ed felt like I Oswald had stopped, he might just die. Oswald sucked a possessive looking bruise into the taller man’s neck, leaning back to admire his handy work. He pressed a light kiss to the bruise, making Ed moan again. Oswald knew he could get better access if they were laying down, and was just about to say so, when there was a knock at the door.
Oswald groaned in annoyance. “SOMEONE BETTER BE DEAD!” he growled. Ed giggled at him. “WHAT?” Ed scooted out of the way so Oswald could open the door. It was Gabe, but he looked disorientated and there was something sticking out of his neck.
“Boss…” Gabe began but fell to the floor before anything else was said.
“What--?” Oswald began, looking at Ed.
“He was drugged. But, who--?” Ed began, but stopped to listen to the noises he had heard.
Then, over the silence, both men heard heels clicking through the hallway. Ed glanced at Oswald, but Oswald shrugged. Mostly he worked with men, and Tabitha was now entranced by Barbara, so he knew it wasn’t either of them. But, as the woman came into view, Ed sucked in a breath. Oswald’s jaw dropped.
“Hello boys,” Isabella drawled, smirk on her face, pointing two guns at them.