When Alaska Met Jerome

Dramatic Valeska Boys

When we were finished talking Potter pulled Jeremiah away to take care of the nasty cut Jerome gave him, and I turned on my boyfriend. My emotions were ten different kinds of wack, I knew I had said all the wrong things during the encounter, but when I meet new people that's what I tend to do. Not to mention Potter is most likely pissed at me because of Jerome.

"Look J, I'm not going to fight with you okay. It won't fix anything and quite frankly I'm too emotionally unstable," I say giving him a pleading look so he wouldn't provoke me.

"Okay, I take it your sister didn't like me much?" He jerked a finger towards the bedroom door, "She locked it, not the best start to a family gathering."

I looked towards the door and let a tear slip. Potter and I had always trusted each other, and now my behavior could have just torn an irreparable rift between us.

"Jerome, she's gonna hate me. She'll never forgive me and she'll always look at me in that way, you know?" I was shaking at this point so Jerome came and held me.

"Babe, if it helps I'll talk to her. I'll say that I'm not dangerous to you or her, as much as it pains me to tell anyone I'm not dangerous, cause let's face it," he paused for dramatic effect, obviously, and lowered his voice, "I am."

I rolled my eyes but didn't let go of the hug, "Shut up you dramatic Valeska, and it might take more than that."

He pulled from the hug a bit to give me a questioning look. "You need to talk to your brother. sort out whatever is going on with you two."

"Ugh, really? You want me to talk to that stick in the mud?" He made no attempt to hid his annoyance and displeasure, but I gave him the brown-eyed puppy dog look, that no one could resist.

"Don't you try that with me gorgeous." He looked right at me and within moments he relented, "Fine I'll talk to mister serious, but if I get bored I have no control over my actions."

"If you get bored Ginger, just think of me. Not being boring," I say with a seductive look to which he gave me a surprised gasp.

"My, the innocent Alaska, not so innocent. I might just have to stay over, give me some ideas for my thoughts."

"Shut it Joker, now let's go talk to Potter and your...twin." I laughed at the thought and then pulled Jerome to find the duo.

•*•*•*•

We ran into Potter and Jeremiah in the middle of the hallway and I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey Potter, would ya mind if Jerome crashed at our place tonight?" I smiled at her in an attempt to calm her nerves and get her used to the idea. I knew Jerome was smiling to -seeing as I'd told him to be nice- but his smile wasn't exactly inviting.

"Yeah thats's-" She was cut off by the Jerome look-a-like.

"Actually that's perfect because Potter was staying over at my place tonight, right Potter?" He said looking over to my sister.

They were both distracted, so they didn't see my smile falter, or notice Jerome grab my hand. I had wanted all of us to have a big sleepover to calm the waters, but I guess they wanted alone time.

"Oh yeah I completely forgot," Potter lied. I knew she didn't have a clue to these plans before right now.

"Okay, well we promise we won't make too much of a mess," I joke to try and lighten the mood, I was chocking on the tension.

"Okay you disgusting varmint that's all I need to know," She said causing us both to laugh our heads off.

•*•*•*•

Jerome and I were laying on my bed, my twin and his had left a good fifteen minutes ago and I was sitting there daydreaming about lots of little things when Jerome pulled me from my thoughts.

"You remember our nice date night when you told me about your past?" I nodded in confirmation and put a hand on his red-checkered pajama pants.

"Well, I want to tell you about mine.' He was totally serious. No smile or mischief lurked on his face. He was always different around me, like he had two people in his head. When we were alone the kind and caring, yet sometimes insane Jerome came out to play, but when we were around others or he was by himself he was completely psychotic. He was a mystery, truly.

"My ears are open, I'm here for you." He looked at me straight in the eyes, he's always been big on eye contact, but I don't complain.

"Jeremiah and I were born to Paul Cicero and Lyla Valeska. We both lived with Lyla in the circus and things were okay until I turned five. I started doing things I shouldn't, and looking back now it's what people would call psychotic tendencies. I would hurt things while Jeremiah played mommy's boy. Due to my actions, or maybe it was because mother thought Jeremiah was better, she chose to beat the living hell out of me night after night, with whichever man she picked out to whore around with." He didn't look about ready to cry, he didn't even looked phased. Obviously he got angrier as the story progressed, but it wasn't the type of anger a normal person would have, it was something else entirely. It was at this point that I realized he wasn't telling me this because it was weighing on him, but because he wanted me to know.

"Jeremiah never once tried to help me, or attempted to convey any feelings about it. When we got a little older my uncle took him away in the middle of the night to some fancy school, and Lyla never let it go." My interest was piqued at the mention of an uncle, but I decided to leave it be, he'd tell me if he felt like it.

"Jerome, I- I don't know what to say. Sorry doesn't cover what I feel right now. You're father, Mr. Cicero, he never tried to help?" It was the only thing I could think to say at the moment.

"Nope, he only said a few words here and there that never really meant anything to me." Jerome looked down at me with such intensity that it was hard to hold his gaze. "That family means nothing to me. Now, you're my family and I would die before I let someone take you from me." He pulled me into an almost suffocating embrace. His possessive words should have worried me, but all I felt was safe and maybe, just maybe, loved.

•*•*•*•

We woke up that morning in each others arms, just like we had the other day. I smiled at how we fit together, like two pieces of a puzzle. In this moment, I didn't care what he was or what he did, only that he could put all my broken pieces together and hold them there. I might just love this psycho, and that's what scared me the most.

He left nearly as soon as he woke up, said he had one more public job for Galavan before he could operate on his own. I didn't know how I felt about it, but he seemed completely confident so I let him walk through the door after kissing him for a good while. I knew, whatever he did, it would be dramatic and full of life, even if he'd take a few.

•*•*•*•