This chapter goes out to XxSuperGlxX! You are lovely, thank you!

Chapter Four: Princeton Days

It was a radiant day to be outside. The sun was warm and inviting, encouraging all students at Princeton University to study outdoors. Julia had perched herself under a tree with a stack of reading materials. Finals were rapidly approaching, and she was starting to feel the urgency to study. She had her back propped up against the large trunk of the massive oak tree she was under, with her attentions completely focused on understanding what it was that Nietzsche was saying.

“What an asshole!” She exclaimed aloud, once she came to understand what the philosopher was trying to convey.

A shadow rose in front of her, blocking out the sun.

“I take it you don’t like what you’re reading?”

“Bruce this man is a dangerous idiot!”

“Ooh, that’s the worst kind.” He grimaced as he sat beside her, mimicking her posture against the tree.

“Supposedly Hitler was inspired by him.”

“Dangerous idiot indeed.” He agreed.

Julia laughed glad to take a break from her studious intentions. She closed her book and set it aside, turning to face her best friend.

“So, what brings you to my tree Mr. Wayne?” she used his surname to tease him, expecting laughter, but instead was greeted with silence.

“Bruce, what’s wrong?”

“The hearing’s tomorrow.”

“Oh god, Bruce.” She leaned in and put an arm around his shoulders in sympathy and comfort.

“Alfred wants me to come and stay with him at the Manor for a few days after.”

“That sounds sensible.”

“It sounds like hell.” Bruce dropped his head, looking defeated and tired.

“Will Rachel be there?”

“Her boss is the one that’s fighting to set the bastard free.”

“Bruce, I’m so sorry.” She thought for a moment then added, “Should I come with you?”

“No, I need to do this on my own.”

Julia looked at Bruce assessing what she could do make him feel better, or better yet, distract him. She was almost certain that nothing could actually make him feel better.

“Do you want to go out tonight then? We could get some take out and eat down at Carnegie Lake.”

“Do you mind?” Bruce looked at her uncertainly, kicking himself for appearing so weak.

“Are you kidding me? You’re saving me from this chauvinistic jerk!” She lifted up her copy of Nietzsche and threw it at him. “I should be thanking you.”

Standing up, she brushed off her faded jeans and bent down to gather her things.

“Meet you at the rocks in twenty minutes?” Books in one hand she reached her other down towards Bruce. He grabbed her hand and pulled himself up.

“What do you want to eat?” He started walking beside her as they strolled in the direction of Woolworth Hall.

“I think Chinese is the winner.” She turned and waved over her shoulder as Bruce fell behind her and made his way to get them dinner.

xoxoxoxOxoxoxox

An hour later, Julia and Bruce were finishing the remains of their dinner, digging down to the bottom of the white boxed containers scraping up the last bits of food.

“Suns going down.” Bruce observed as he looked out at the lake.

“I can’t believe it’s already so late, I guess I didn’t realize how long I was out under that tree.”

Bruce was staring straight ahead, obviously lost in thought.

“Bruce?” she asked beginning to worry that her plan of cheering him up hadn’t worked.

Without warning Bruce turned and softly laid his lips on hers. Taking her head in his hands he deepened the kiss, tangling his hands into her wavy brunette hair.

Julia was so entranced in the kiss that she had forgotten who she was kissing. She pulled back suddenly staring wide eyed at Bruce.

“Did you just kiss me? What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Instead of speaking he leaned in again and took her lips with his own, relishing the feeling of her soft, entrancing lips.

She pulled away again, knowing that nothing good could come of what was happening.

“Bruce, do have any idea what your doing?” She looked at him quizzically trying to make him see reason. It wasn’t as if she didn’t want to kiss him. If she was forced to be honest she had wanted to kiss him since she was fifteen years old, but she knew why he was doing this. He was lonely, and needed to fill that void with something that made him feel whole.

“I was kissing you.” Was the simple reply he offered her.

He had no idea that this was killing her inside. Julia had wanted Bruce for years, but knew that his heart rested with their friend Rachel Dawes. It was taking all of her willpower to not give in and just relish the idea that he might be hers, if only for a little while.

“Bruce, this isn’t right. You’ll wake up in the morning and kick yourself and you know it.” Never once did Julia think that she would be turning down the man she was in love with.

‘Wait? Did I just say I love him?’ she thought. ‘Oh this just got a lot more complicated’ was her next musing.

“How do you know I will regret this?” He stared into her eyes, realizing for the first time what color they were.

‘Green with light blue around the iris. My god she’s gorgeous.’ Bruce tried to concentrate but found that he couldn’t while he kept her gaze.

“Bruce what are you saying?” His words had shocked her. He couldn’t possibly mean that he had feelings for her, could he?

He sat there on the ground, looking just past her. They sat that in silence, a silence that was slowly killing every last vestige of sanity that Julia was holding on to. She sat there though, not wanting to be the next one to speak.

He moved his gaze up to her face, her hair illuminated by the setting sun; he looked at her and answered her, not knowing if was doing it because he meant it or because his spirit was desperate for any sort of love.

“I’m saying I want you.”

“The next morning he left for the hearing, leaving me a note by my bed. He said that he was sorry for what had happened that night, and that he hoped I knew how much he cared for me. He said we would talk about it when he came back, but he disappeared instead.”

Without her permission, tears were flowing down her cheeks at the memory of waking up to that note. She was now sitting on her couch with her knees drawn in, covered by her favorite blanket with her phone still held to her ear, waiting for Rachel to say something.

“Everything makes so much more sense now.” Rachel’s mind was reeling with the information she had just heard.

“Like what?” That was definitely not the reply that Julia was expecting Rachel to come back with.

“When I told you about Chill and what happened after the hearing, about Bruce having the gun.”

“Oh, yeah. When you told me that I knew; he didn’t think he was going to come back. I was his last opportunity to be with someone before he thought he would go to prison essentially.” It made Julia sick to even think that he used her that way. He had been the only man she trusted, and he had completely broken their life long friendship in the course of one night.

“Oh Julie, I’m so sorry.” Rachel could hear her friend’s sobs, and wished she could castrate Bruce for what he had done to her.

“After a year I really thought he was dead. I couldn’t hold what he did against him, but when he strutted back into Gotham like he had never been gone…” she was sobbing louder now, not caring if Rachel thought she was crazy or weak.

“Rachel I spent years trying to forget him and forget what happened. Then he came back and you could tell all he wanted was you.” her voice had dropped to a whisper as she spoke that last part.

Julia’s last words drove into Rachel’s chest like a jackhammer. Her closest friend had been in love with a man that loved her instead, and that she couldn’t love back because he had hurt her by disappearing that day as well. ‘Things like this just don’t happen in real life’ Rachel thought.

“Jules your right, he is an ass.”

Hearing Rachel swear made Julia chuckle weakly. It felt great that her friend was defending her, and it felt even better to finally be free of all the weight that she had felt for so long.

“Thank you for listening. You have no idea how much money you just saved me.”

“Really? How is that?”

“After seeing Bruce tonight I thought I might need to see a therapist. Thanks for saving me hundreds of dollars.”

Rachel laughed, grateful to hear her friend’s humor again. “Do you want me to come over? If you still need to talk it through, I can come and stay the night for old time’s sake.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ve had enough of the old times for tonight, I really just want to sleep and stay that way for about a week.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure that as soon as I lay down I’ll be gone.”

“Alright, get some rest. If you need me just call.”

“Do you still want to have brunch on Sunday? I know I was a bitch earlier at the Gala but…”

“Bitch or not I will never make you eat brunch alone.”

Julia laughed loudly, knowing that Rachel’s appetite would always win out over her mind. “Good night Rachel.”

“Night Julie.”

Staying true to her words, Julia slept soundly into Saturday afternoon, spending the rest of the day holed up in her apartment reading and stewing in her memories. She had put off confronting her emotions for the better part of a decade, hoping that she would just get over it. So when Sunday came she was more than ready to make contact with the outside world and meet Rachel for their brunch date. A normally social person, the lack of human contact for only the one day left her craving it, and she felt giddy just at the thought of giving or receiving even just a hug.

Groggily she moved about finding pieces of her outfit strewn across her bedroom. Picking up her cleanest pair of jeans, she slipped them on and trolled lazily through to the bathroom to take care of her hygiene routine. Moving fast she picked a low cut, casual black t-shirt and her fitted burgundy jacket and began moving towards her front door. She wanted to be on time, knowing that she was always late for get togethers of any kind. She could leave on time to be somewhere, and something always seemed to happen en route to make her dreadfully late.

This morning happened to be the first time since she’d been back that she was actually early to meet Rachel for anything. Not seeing her anywhere she grabbed a booth for two near the back of the café, happy to find that specific area of the eatery to be secluded and private. Knowing what they were going to talk about, Julia didn’t want to look like an idiot in case she began to cry again.

“Is this seat taken?” Julia was pulled away from her thoughts by a voice to her left.

“Yes actually, I’m waiting for…..” the wind was knocked from her gut as she looked up at Bruce.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she whispered.

He moved into the booth seat opposite her, shifting to make himself more comfortable. He didn’t answer her question; he simply grabbed a menu and began looking at its contents.

Infuriated by him she asked again. “What the hell are you doing here?”

He answered, “Eating brunch, I’m starving.”

“Bruce would you just stop being so evasive and tell me how you knew I was here?”

He looked up at her, his face turning serious. “I can’t tell you that.”

“Why, afraid I might kill the woman your in love with?” she knew, without a doubt that Rachel had been apart of this.

“No, I’m afraid you might harm Rachel.” She did not miss his distinguishment of their relationship.

“Well I hope you enjoy your meal, see ya around.” Julia moved out of the booth, and started to walk away when she felt herself being pulled back by a hand gripping her wrist.

“Sit down Julia, if you run I’ll find you, your only delaying the inevitable.” He looked stern and unwavering, thoroughly aggravating Julia’s patience.

She looked at him challengingly while she contemplated her options. She could walk and leave him behind or she could stay and see what their talk resulted in. She felt like she would be taking the easy way out if she left and then belatedly thought ‘If I stayed than he would finally get a piece of my mind.

“Fine.” Refusing to disguise her anger, she pulled her wrist from his grasp and made her way back and sat down. Taking off her jacket, she set it aside with her purse and made herself comfortable. Once settled in, she folded her hands on the table and looked at him straight on.

“So? I’m all ears Mr. Wayne.”

Bruce looked over her carefully, taking in her in for the first time since he’d seen her at the Gala. Every muscle in her body was tense demonstrating just how angry she was, if he needed any other indication. He knew that this was going to be hard for both of them, but accepted the necessity of it. Of all the things he had done in his life, nothing plagued him more than what he had done to Julia. She had always been there for him after his parent’s murder; taking him out of the darkness he had created around himself and making him see some sort of light. He took her years of friendship and kindness and threw it in her face all those years ago, having no idea what had happened to her in the process.

“Bruce listen, I don’t have all damn day so if you could please just say what you have to say, that would be great.”

“Why did you move to California?” It wasn’t the best place to start he thought, but it was better than nothing.

“I went to Berkley.”

“Why didn’t you finish out at Princeton?”

“I hated it there.”

“You loved it there.”

“Not when everything I saw reminded me of you.”

“Julia I…”

“No.”

Bruce stopped and tried to assess what to say next, luckily he was saved with the sound of her voice.

“You used me.”

Keeping her gaze, he said, “I know.”

“Did you know how I felt about you or was it a lucky guess?” She tilted her head down trying her best to keep control over her heated emotions.

“What do you mean?” Bruce was looking at her intently now.

Julia decided to not pursue anything involving her feelings for him, as she then saw he was in fact ignorant.

“Our friendship meant everything to me Bruce.” Her voice was lower, dark with emotion and resentment.

“It meant everything to me too Julie.”

“Don’t you dare say that! You have absolutely no right to say that to me.” She practically shouted at him, leading to some curious glances from bystanders seated in the café. “You didn’t have any intention of coming back to school or coming back to me and dealing with the mess you created did you?”

“No. No I didn’t.”

They sat there in a tense silence, neither one of them knowing what to say.

‘I am sorry Julie.”

She looked at him then, conflict written in her eyes. Her heart wanted nothing more than to accept his words and regain his presence in her life again. Her mind on the other hand wanted to slap him and tell him that sorry would never be enough for how he treated her.

“Sorry isn’t enough Bruce, it never will be.” As she got up and grabbed her things, making her way for the exit, she stopped next to the table leaning toward Bruce.

“You made me think that you wanted me, all of me, and then when you had me you left. You always said you wanted to protect me, but you hurt me more than any other person could have.”

Bruce waited for a moment, letting her words sink in before he replied, “I did what I thought I had to do, but believe me it wasn’t my intention to hurt you in the process.”

Julia stood still for a moment, letting his words swim over her. ‘What he had to do?’ she thought. Anger was flooding her veins, making her feel cold on the inside; wanting to leave before she caused a scene, she started walking with determination out of the café. Halfway across the dining area, she realized something; there was one question that she wanted answered before she left, a question that had plagued her for years.

She turned around abruptly and made her way back to Bruce. Slamming her free hand on the table she asked him in a low voice.

“Why did you sleep with me that night?”

Julia watched his face transform, never settling on an emotion before he regained his calm reserve.

“I needed you.” Bruce stated with a simplicity that made Julia’s blood boil. She lifted her hand and slapped him hard across the cheek, causing the whole restaurant to look in their direction.

“Did you ever once think about how I might feel?”

“Julia, let me explain.”

“I think I have all the explanation I need Bruce, have a nice self-indulgent life you piece of shit.”

With that she turned and left the eatery deciding to put Bruce Wayne behind her once and for all.

Authors Note: I want to thank you all for reading thus far! This story has received such a fantastic response and I couldn't be happier!

I hope you all liked this chapter, I know I did...it was a bit hard to write parts of it though. I have never written so much of a story all at once before, but I am having such a blast with Julia.

A huge thank you and shout goes to all my reviewers:

Vilofied

Ohiojones

Silence is Silver

Gaia-drea

hotredhead

You are utterly fantastic! Keep the reviews comin'! The more reviews I seem to get, the harder I work on chapters, which means I post faster! For those that aren't reviewing, I still want to thank you for reading my story and I hope that your enjoying it!!

Here's a little sneak peak:

"You bought the whole building? What is it with you and buying entire city blocks like monopoly?" -Julia to Bruce

"You look nervous." -Joker to Rachel