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"I must say, doctor Crane, this is... a pleasant surprise. A truly pleasant one."
"Please, Edward. I am no longer your psychiatrist and this is a date. Call me Jonathan."
Ed felt the smile on his face, the warmth that blossomed in his heart and the butterflies in his stomach.
Come on, Eddie, he blamed himself internally. You are a grown man, not an high school teenager blushing at the slightest scraps of attention...
"I didn't suspect following my therapy with the doctor Leland would mean I'd get... invited outside on Valentine's Day."
"And yet, there we go," Jon served them both champagne, a knowing smile printed on his thin lips. "On my side I was convinced I arrived too late and Bruce Wayne would have kidnapped you for the whole weekend at... Hawaii or whatever else fancy and far more romantic than a dinner in this restaurant."
"I wouldn't trade this dinner against any other invitation. Besides... I might have spoken about Bruce quite often during our therapies, things would have never... evolved between us. He is my partner at work and the second greatest detective in Gotham after me, I enjoy his company and I probably had feelings for him at some point, but... he is not patient enough. Not comprehensive enough. My issues, the trial, Stephanie... These are not too much to remain my friend, but too serious to try... going beneath the surface."
"And yet, I'm still here."
"You are a psychiatrist whose patients are survivors from all kinds of abuse, detectives who can no longer sleep after the sordid cases they solved and among them, some had to kill to defend themselves. I know I am not your worse patient."
"Ex-patient."
"Ex-patient."
"Future boyfriend?"
"... Boyfriend. You hanged out with Steph and I enough and you are... such a positive influence in our lives, it's... hu... I didn't think someone like me, with... everything I carry on my shoulders, could interest someone like... you."
"Trust me, Edward. I am not as 'clean' as you seem to believe. But I am honored you think so highly of me. It's a compliment that goes straight to my heart... especially since it comes from someone I hold so dear."
They shook their glasses.
Eddie pretended the butterflies weren't going crazy in his stomach.
It's just a dinner.
Just a nice evening with a charming company, while his adopted ward spends her own pleasant time out watching a movie with her friends Klarion Blood, Jason Todd and Zachary Zatara. It's wonderful Stephanie catches up with an almost normal teenage life, after everything she has been through, between... her mother's suicide, her father shot dead by Edward himself after he solved the murders of those young girls tied to Arthur Brown and managed to save sixteen-year-old Steph from him who used her as a shield when the police arrived at his hideout.
His colleagues supported him the whole time over the trial for the circumstances of Arthur Brown's death and he was already followed by Jonathan Crane for the past two years, after the gruesome murder of Timothy Drake Bruce and him solved together and the nightmares he inherited from that investigation.
Almost one year passed since the Arthur Brown affair. The unexpected part had been... Edward Nashton and Stephanie Brown's growing friendship.
Usually, teenagers with a troubled past don't bond with the man who killed their father.
Except when... their father used to be an abusive bastard who ruined their childhood, half-way pushed their mother to commit suicide and turned out to be a killer who kidnapped blue-eyed blonde girls matching Steph's physical appearance due to a sordid fascination of his.
Stephie had no other family aside from an uncle already unable to raise his own son, her situation had been handled by child services. No one spoke to her at the religious orphanage where she was placed, adult workers and orphans alike were either scared of her or horrified by nasty rumors that circulated around what happened in her family's house.
Edward visited less than two weeks after she was sent there, because he felt devoured inside by the guilt... and the teen made him promise to get her out of it. He owed her at least that.
No one would have guessed they'd become... best of friends, given how they started. No one would have thought that by now, months later, Edward and seventeen-year-old Stephanie would be a... family.
"It's been over five minutes, Edward. Time to return from this 'lost in thoughts' period, or your dish will get cold."
Eddie blushed. Jonathan kept on smiling, his blue gaze shinning vividly behind his glasses.
"Sorry... You remember how... it goes."
"I do. It's alright. I know what I sign for. I know who I decide to sign for. And you know how attached I've grown to both of you."
"I do..."
Next thing Jonathan admitted Stephanie and him planned this evening together, from the choice of the restaurant to the blood red, heart-shaped box of chocolates, the bouquet of Eddie's favorite flowers... and even how he should dress up.
"Your daughter called all my clothes 'hideous' and asked me if I dress like a scarecrow on purpose to get along with my pet crow Lenore. I bought a new suit alongside the flowers."
"I noticed," Edward smiled widely. "I waited nearly three years to see you wearing something classy... and it's a date with me that provoked this miracle. I feel honored. Plus I add this to the list of reasons why I feel proud of Stephie."
They shared a radiant smile.
"Docto... Jon?"
"Yes?"
"I... suddenly realize I never thanked you. For... everything you've done for us."
"You don't have to. I am the one enjoying myself the most right now. I want it to last."
"Does... this mean you ask me on a second date?"
"I do. And a third after this. And one again. And again. If you're up to it. Happy Valentine's Day, Edward."
"... Happy Valentine's Day, Jonathan."