Edward's POV
I felt my breathing become more unsteady, and my heart started beating really fast. Why was this happening to me? I have never felt this way before, it's weird and a little unsettling if I'm being honest.
"Ed?" Oswald questioned with concern. I can't do this, it's much too difficult.
"Um...I..." I quickly took my hand away from his and stood up. "I'm so sorry Oswald...I-I've forgotten...um...I'm going to go. I'm sorry" I pushed my glasses up a bit and hastily left the room, leaving poor Oswald there alone and confused. Hopefully not upset.
I went into my room and closed the door quickly. This was the first time I'd been in here properly since coming back. I came in briefly earlier to get fresh clothes at Oswald's request. I hadn't even noticed my pillows were a bit roughed up, and the covers weren't as neat as I had left them.
"Was he...sleeping in here?" I walked over to my bed and picked up a pillow. I inhaled it deeply, and took in the sweet scent of Oswald's hair product that had been rubbed off into it. "Yeah, he was" I let out a small chuckle. "That's pretty cute" but why would he...did he really miss me that much? Leaving was a horrible decision to make.
This was still a bad time to confess. I mean, I don't even have it all figured out myself. My whole life I thought I was straight, but my hallucination self has to come along and protest against this. Well I have always had my suspicions I was bisexual but maybe hallucination-me was just trying to get under my skin? What if I don't have feelings for Oswald. I need to properly figure this out. But...the way he makes me feel. Come to think of it, he's made me feel whole ever since I took him in at my apartment last year. So say I do truly have feelings for him, is it mutual? I-I don't think Oswald Cobblepot is the type to get romantically involved with anyone. There's the fact that it doesn't fit him, and the fact his greatest weakness is love. I don't want to ruin the best friendship I have ever had by coming out to him with all this. He might hate me, or at the least find it too awkward to be around me. Oh god, I'm thinking too much into this.
I had changed into some pajamas and curled up on my bed. I lay awake for a while, hoping I hadn't hurt Oswald by leaving like that, and feeling awful if I had. Maybe I should go see him. He might be angry at me...These thought's are keeping me up, I just can't relax. That settles it! I need to go and apologise right now. I got up and walked over to my door. I slowly opened it, and it made such an eerie creaking sound. Typical old house. I started down the hallway, towards Oswald's room. Hopefully he was in there. Hopefully he wasn't so mad to the point he'd try and kill me. The lit candles along the hallway and the moonlight shining through the odd window here and there made this place seem so much more creepy. Is it always this creepy?
I finally reached the door to Oswald's room. I knocked softly a couple of times, but no-one answered. Should I call out? No. I should just go in. I knocked a couple more times, but still no-one answered. Was he already asleep? Was he even in there? I sighed and went for the door handle, carefully and quietly pulled it down. I placed my other hand against the door so I could steadily push it open, hopefully this one didn't creak. Once it was open, I let myself in and looked to the bed and saw a sleeping Oswald.
So he has already fallen asleep. Well, looks like my apology will need to wait until morning. I was about to leave when I was stopped by a small quiet whine coming from his direction. I turned back around to face him. He started to fidget a lot under his covers, and his whimpers got louder, more intense until they were basically screams.
"ED!" I heard him scream. Well that was it. I run over to his bed and gently grabbed him for comfort. I pulled him close to me, but this didn't help so I tried to shake him awake.
"Oswald, Oswald wake up it's, you're having a nightmare"
His eyes suddenly shot open, and his breathing quickened. Once he realised I was there holing him, he grabbed a hold of me tightly and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Heyyy it's alright, I'm here. I'm here Oswald, you're safe, you're ok" I hushed softly. I didn't loosen my grip on him, but instead pulled him in closer until his head was resting against my chest. I nuzzled my chin into his soft black hair, and comfortingly rubbed his back to let him know he was alright.
"Do...do you want to talk about it?" I quietly asked. He hesitated before giving me one small, slow nod.
"Y-you..." he let out shakily. He took in a deep breath before continuing. "T-told me...you were a-ashamed that someone l-like me could..." he stopped talking.
"It's alright, you can tell me" I reassured him. He sniffed and took in another deep breath.
"That someone like me...l-loved...you...a-and that everyone I care about...d-dies...then you...then blood started pouring from your mouth and chest...and the l-life just left your eyes a-and the warmth and colour left your s-skin..." he started to sob, and my grip got as tight as it could.
"It's ok, it's ok. You know it wasn't real, I'm here and I'm safe. So are you"
I rested my head on top of his and pulled him up to hug him properly. We stayed like this for a few minutes before he asked me,"E-Ed...um...could you...stay with me until I f-fall asleep?" I could feel him move his head up to look at me.
"Of course I will" even though he couldn't see, I gave him a warm soft smile. I let him go and he slithered back under his covers to try and sleep. I crept in next to him and hesitantly wrapped my arm around him. I felt him jump at this, but soon relaxed into my touch. Within minutes he had fallen back asleep, and I didn't have the heart to leave so I tried to sleep myself leaving my arm wrapped around him.
I awoke to find Oswald had wrapped his arms and legs around me and had clung to me like I was a life line or something. This made me smile. That's pretty cute I thought. His hair was flat, but all over the place. His mouth was hanging slightly open, and his eyes were darting around behind his eye lids. I think he might be about to wake up. I decided I should move before he does and sees us like this. I would be slightly embarrassed, and I'm sure he would be. I gently take one of his arms, which was wrapped around my shoulders, and moved it slowly to his side. I then take the leg that was wrapped around my own and moved it just enough so I could slip away.
"E-Edward?" he muttered.
"Ummm" I mumbled quietly. He hadn't opened his eyes. I took this opportunity to slip out as fast as I could.
"Where are you going?" he groaned a little and turned over so he was lying on his right side.
"I-I should just go back into my own room..." I felt my cheeks heat up while saying this.
Oswald fluttered his eyes open, and moved his head so he was facing me. "I was comfy you know"This made me stop moving. My eyes widened and mouth opened a little.
"You...you were awake?" I cleared my throat.
"Mm-hmm" he gave me a nod.
"Uhh sorry. I-I thought you were sleeping and I-I-I didn't want to em-um-embarrass you..." I stuttered, not turning to face him. I nervously rubbed the back of my neck and heard him getting out of the bed.
"Why would I be? There's absolutely nothing wrong with us having a physically intimate friendship. You said that to me remember? Besides it's not like we haven't shared a bed before" he chuckled. This was true. When he was healing back at my apartment, I had slept in the same bed as him. It started as a way to keep him calm during the night, like last night, and then I just got so used to it and he didn't seem to mind sharing.
"A-aren't you...mad at me from last night?" I swallowed.
"No, why would I be?" I could feel his gaze on the back of my head so I slowly turned around.
"I, I had set that up to tell you something important. And I basically bailed on you, again!" I frowned, totally ashamed of myself.
"It's alright. You were visibly nervous. I understand" he smiled and gave me soft and warm gaze. This made me smile too. I loved seeing him like this. He looked happy, like he had everything he ever wanted right in front of him.
"Oswald?"
"Yes?"
"Did you sleep in my bed when I was...gone?" I couldn't help but slip a little smirk. His face went a pale red and he looked down to the floor.
"Y-yes...how did you figure it out?" he bit his bottom lip.
"Well for one, you suck at leaving things neat. For another, I could smell your hair product stained into my pillow. Not that I mind, it's sweet. It smells almost feminine" this made his face go a deeper red. He pursed his lips then cleared his throat.
"Sorry I left it a mess..."
This just made me chuckle. How can he seem so sweet and innocent? I know he is perfectly capable of...some...things, but right now he just seemed like the most innocent person I have ever met. I told him not to apologise for anything he hadn't done wrong. He gave me a nod in agreement. I started for the door again, thinking we should get something to eat and then start our day. Oswald would need to announce that I was back, and hopefully forget about replacing me. I offered to cook us some breakfast, since I loved to cook and especially for him. He allowed me to, so I cooked us some eggs, bacon and pancakes.
--
It'd been a week since I had asked Oswald if I could help him rule the Underworld. Well not help, but do it with him, as in side-by-side. He promised we'd start working on that today, but it was now 10:17 PM and he hadn't done anything. I don't want to push him but, "Oswald did't you kinda, promise me we'd start work on my position...in the Underworld I mean?". He perked his head up from his desk and looked over to me. He had one eyebrow raised and stuck his bottom lip out ever so slightly.
"Umm, did Victor not come by to talk?" he was confused.
"Who's Victor?"
"Zsasz"
"Wait...that Victor? The professional assassin? He once held the GCPD hostage while I was in there" I could remember that event so clearly in my mind as it was rather traumatising. I should note too, me and Oswald hadn't seen each other for the most part of the day so he's rightly confused by the fact no-one had come to see me.
"Yes, he works for me. I thought you knew that? I asked, no, I told him to come here and teach you a thing or two about--ahh never mind," Oswald raised from his desk and made way to the door "we are certainly going to be having some words"
I followed after him, feeling a little concerned. Should I be? I mean what can Oswald do to Zsasz. "O-Oswald" he stopped and gave a heavy sigh. "It's fine. I don't mind that he never came. It can always wait until tomorrow I mean I'm not that desperate"
"I should have told you he was supposed to come so you could have told me earlier, he never came" Oswald threw his hands into the air. He was visibly frustrated by the fact this man never showed.
"Does he always disobey you like this?"
"Sometimes I wonder if he remembers who he works for"
"You've been busy all day. I think you should rest. Don't over-work yourself" I rushed over to him to offer physical support.
"How would I be over-working myself?"
"This situation has clearly aggravated you, and I don't want you to do something that might have a bad effect on your health..." I realised that was an awful reason as it was coming out of my mouth.
"Why do you care so much about my health Ed?" he shot me a rather concerned glance.
I sighed. "You're a busy man, and I think that rest is very important for you. You shouldn't bother yourself too much with simple and petty issue's like this. Save your strength for the real threats and tasks" I smiled to try and calm him. Why was he even being like this? He gave me a little smile in return.
"Alright, Nygma. You win. I will handle this tomorrow". I do enjoy it when he gives in to me.
"Great" I extended my hand out to him. He just stared at it and blinked a couple times. "Oh I'm offering you help up to your room" I explained.
"Oh" he replied, then took my hand.
"It's just...hasn't your leg been bothering you?" I gave it a quick look. He'd been on his feet a lot recently so I'm surprised he's still going.
"It doesn't bother me much anymore Ed. I've been dealing with it for nearly 3 years I barely notice" he looked down to his knee and moved it slightly.
"I am still helping you up these stairs" I started to guide us to the stair way.
"You seem to have been concerned for me a lot this past week. It's not...well...really like you" he sounded as if he didn't really know what he was saying.
"I'm always concerned for you Oswald. You're my best friend, and I care about you. A lot" I started walking us up the stairs.
"I care a lot about you too..." he mumbled. We said nothing the rest of the way to his room. I sat him down on his bed, and set his cane to the side for him.
"Why are you being so kind?" he asked me. I chuckled softly, my back turned to him. I pushed my glasses up and looked over my shoulder.
"What are best friends for?" I grinned a little.
"Are you going to help me change as well?" I sensed mockery in his tone. I scoffed quietly.
"No of course not" I turned so my whole body was now facing him.
He shrugged as though to convey the message that he figured. "Unless you asked..." Why did I say that? What's wrong with me. His face went a little red, and he broke eye contact with me to stare at his lap.
"I can manage that on my own"
"I know, I was kidding," I sighed "so I should go now" and made for the door.
"Goodnight Ed" Oswald said softly
"Goodnight" I reply and close the door behind me.
When will be the right time to tell him? Who am I kidding. There will always be a right time, I'll just find an excuse to say it wasn't. I don't want to set up a scene or a mood to tell him, in case it's not mutual and he gets furious with me or something. I've only ever had to go through confessing feelings once, with Kristen, and that took...so long. At least Oswald hasn't had loads of different boyfriends along the way. If he ever did get with someone however...I suppose I'd need to remove them from the picture. No-one is going to steal him from me. I will find the perfect time to confess, whether he feels the same or not.