It felt like an eternity until her father and her boyfriend came to her rescue at the police station. Mar'i was confused, scared, and tired. She had no idea what she got arrested for or why the police department thought she was involved in the first place. The officer finally released her after an hour of sitting inside of a grimy jail cell. Leonardo was waiting just outside of the door, he looked tired as well.

     She lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder. Any alcohol that was still in here had long left her system after that scare with the police officers. He threaded his fingers soothingly through her long, messy hair and whispered sweet nothings into her ear. It was comforting to know that he was here for her. "Are you alright?" he murmured as she pulled away from the warm embrace.

     The young woman nodded and rubbed her tired eyes with the backs of her hands. "What happened?" she asked as he placed his hand on the small of her back and walked with her to the nearby seating area. They sat down next to each other; she laced her fingers with his and stared at him waiting for an explanation. While being escorted to her cell she was being asked questions by the officer that had incarcerated her. All of them made no sense and she had trouble answering them.

     He gave her a weary smile and looked around to see if anyone was around to eavesdrop on their conversation. Clearly, he wasn't supposed to be telling her. He leaned in, "That friend of yours, Damian had a stash of drugs at his apartment and was apparently selling them to minors. I guess not inheriting your father's company puts a dent in your paycheck." He whispered. Mar'i never imagined Damian to be that type of person.

     Then again she was infatuated with the young man an hour earlier – things changed given time. She felt guilt bubbling in the pit of her stomach, she kissed Damian earlier. Here Leo was making sure she was alright and out of jail, he looked genuinely worried. "Hey, can I tell you something?" she asked, giving his hand a squeeze. Just then her father approached the two of them. Mar'i stood up and let the older man hug her.

     Dick was worried for his eldest daughter more than anything. They pulled away and he sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. "Are you okay Sunshine?" her father asked. She could see just how much this job had taken a toll on him. With the dim lights shining down on them she could see the dark circles around his blue eyes and the wrinkles starting to appear on his forehead and around his eyes.

     After a moment of studying his aging face, she nodded. She was a tad shaken by the whole event but overall she was okay. The officer wasn't too rough with her and she still had everything intact. "Listen to me when I say this: stay away from him." Her father warned; there was a certain level of darkness to his voice. Mar'i knew her father as a light-hearted, hardly angry, human being. Whenever he sounded like this she knew to take him seriously.

     When she was younger she saw and experienced things no ten-year-old should have. So when her father told her something as serious as this she listened. There were too many horrible things that happened long ago that she did not wish to relive. "Okay, I will – I promise." She promised, flashing her father a small smile. Dick turned to Leonardo and gave him a thankful smile. Without his lawyers, albeit expensive and all-powerful, she would probably be in that awful jail cell all night.

     Her father turned back to her and looked up at her. The young woman got her height from her mama that was for sure. She was the tallest of the bunch; Mar'i and Leonardo were the same height now that she thought about it. Dick dropped his hand onto her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Your mothers are worried so I suggest going home and getting rest. Swing by for lunch tomorrow, okay?" he asked giving his daughter yet another smile.

     The older man was called away by a few officers a second later and he soon had to depart. Leonardo braced his hands on his knees and pushed himself up from the uncomfortable wooden chair. He came up behind her, his hand finding its way back to the small of her back, and leaning in to whisper into her ear. "Now how about we get you home, I'll run a warm bath, and then we can cuddle under the covers?" he proposed. Mar'i smiled; he knew how much she loved things like that.

     Usually, he was too busy doing work on his laptop to cuddle with her. Mar'i was always asleep before he went to bed himself. They arrived at a tall high rise in the middle of the city. He explained to her on the way there that Toni didn't like the idea of him hanging around her place. All of her stuff was already there, not that she brought much, but he took the time to pack it all up and bring it over while she was busy with Damian.

     The guilt in her gut only seemed to flourish. Leonardo spent his time doing things for her while she was off with Damian messing around. The feeling was eating her alive, she could feel it tingling under her skin. He guided her down the corridor on the twentieth floor and into the spacious condo. It wasn't as large as Damian's and it didn't quite have the same view but it was perfect for the two of them. "My father has had this condo for some time for the odd trips him and mother come to Gotham on. I've stayed here a fair share of times as well." Leo said loudly from the front foyer.

     Mar'i was already busy exploring the large condo to familiarize herself with her new home. Of course, this place was only temporary until they headed back to their home in London. She was missing their quaint little townhouse in the heart of Europe's most visited cities. Gotham was quite different from London and it would take some getting used to. "I'm going to start the bath." He announced before trailing off into the nearby bedroom.

     She followed and watched him enter the on suite washroom. The large, plush bed was in the center of the room against the wall and a large flat screen television was mounted to the wall opposite of it. This was standard for most rooms she had stayed in throughout her years of travel. In the next room over she could hear the water rushing through the tap and into the tub. Mar'i sat on the edge of the bed letting her body sink into the fluffed blanket.

     The picture on the nearby bedside table caught her eye and she reached over grabbing the small picture. It was the photo of her, Damian, and Melody from when they were children. Leo must have grabbed it from her room at Toni's apartment on his way out. Time was a lot simpler back then when compared to now. "Reminiscing about the past, love?" Leo asked from the washroom door. She jumped and looked over to where he stood, leaning against the on suite door frame.

     His sleeves were rolled up, blazer nowhere in sight, and his cheeks were slightly red; this being the result of the drastically different temperatures between the two rooms. The washroom was steamy from the hot bubbly bathtub in the corner of the tiled room. "Just thinking about how it was before everything got so screwed up. This city has tainted all of our lives including my own." She said while putting the photo frame back in its place on the bedside table.

     The young woman stood up and moved past him into the on-suite washroom. All of the mirrors were fogged up and the bathtub consuming the corner of the tiled room was filled with bubbles. She hadn't seen so many bubbles in one tub since she was twelve years old. Mar'i looked back at the door seeing that her boyfriend had disappeared without a trace. This gave her the time to change out of her clothes and climb into the tub.

     It was hot – the welcoming kind of hot that made your skin tingle the further you would lower yourself into the water. There was no doubt her skin was going to be slightly red when she got out but for now, she was enjoying the warm feeling. The white crackling clouds of bubbles went all the way up to her neck, she was almost covered entirely. She sunk further into the hot water and bubbles, closing her eyes and letting her head rest back against the tile wall.

     For a few minutes, she laid there quietly letting her mind run blank. From the tub, she could hear Leonardo banging around in the kitchen. He wasn't always the quietest; certainly not as quiet as her anyways. The noise died down a few seconds later and then it was back to the silence. She heard him come back into the washroom, his feet padding against the tile floor. "Move forward." He said nudging her in the shoulder with his hand.

     Mar'i hummed and sat up scooting forward making room for him to climb into the tub. She situated herself at the other end of the bubbly bathtub across from him. Leo was barely visible behind the mountain of bubbles between them. "How was your hour in jail?" he teased.

"Oh ha ha very funny, for your information it was absolutely dreadful sitting in there for that long." She laughed sarcastically.

     This was the first time any of the two of them had been to jail. Any jail cell anywhere was probably nicer and or cleaner than the one she was put in. "So, lunch with your parents tomorrow?" he asked, she could hear the nervousness in his voice. Leonardo has met her mama before but had never actually sat down for a meal with all three of her parents. She couldn't blame him if he was stressing out; her family was a wild bunch.

     Under the water, she stretched her leg out and poked him in the stomach. He narrowed those honey gold eyes at her in a playful glare. She adored his eyes, they weren't quite as beautiful as Damian's striking emerald ones but she didn't adore them any less. It was one of her favourite physical features of Leonardo. She hated his hair; all he ever did was gel back the brunette locks. It made his head look like a giant snail's slimy dirt pathway.

     After a few seconds, she felt him poke her back in the stomach with his foot. They were sitting there playfully poking and prodding each other with their feet for a few minutes until she finally decided to gather up a clump of bubbles and blow it into his face. She nearly drowned when she slid back into the water while laughing. There were clumps of bubbles on top of his head, sprinkles of it attached to his eyelashes, and more clumps dispersed around different areas of his face.

     Her laughter soon stopped when he grabbed her by the hips and pulled her towards him. An unexpected kiss was pressed against her lips; he tasted like chemicals from the soap and bubbles on his skin. He was the first to pull away from the kiss, resting his forehead against hers and smiling to himself. "I love you Mar'i Grayson." He whispered.

"I love you too." She replied just as breathless as he sounded.

     The scent of charcoal or something burning wafted into the room and hit her like a brick wall. Anything burning always had such a sour and powerful stench to it. "Is there something in the kitchen you're forgetting?" she asked trying to fight the smirk wanting to so badly appear on her face. He groaned pulling away from her; she watched as he stood up and climbed out of the bathtub. Mar'i covered her mouth to muffle her laughter when he nearly slipped on the tile when reaching for the nearby towels hanging on the wall.

     Leonardo managed to make it out of the washroom without slipping and in one piece. She climbed out as well and grabbed one of the black towels wrapping and securing it around her body. The bathtub was just about all the way drained when he stepped back into the washroom still holding the towel around his waist. "What were you making anyway? It's late." She asked while staring at herself in the mirror and brushing her damp tangled hair.

     Her boyfriend came up beside her and opened one of the drawers taking out a brand new toothbrush and some toothpaste. "I was trying to cook some frozen pizza or whatever these people eat for quick meals but I seemed to have burnt it. "He said while squeezing the minty blue paste onto the toothbrush. Mar'i rolled her eyes and continued pulling the brush through her unruly damp hair.

     She swept back into the bedroom soon after and pulled on some underwear and her black silk robe. This smooth article clothing has been with her for years, she originally bought it in France when she was there for a modelling shoot. It sounded cheesy but Mar'i thought of it as a good luck charm. She believed that if she wore it to be the night before good luck would be brought to her the following day.

     When her boyfriend saw her wearing it he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Personally, he thought it was utterly stupid to think that a silk robe would bring someone good luck. He learned the hard way a long time ago not to bother her as to why she was wearing it. Every time he did she always ended their little debacle by out-arguing him. Mostly because she could talk for hours and hours and he couldn't.

     He climbed into bed and under the blankets after her, leaning over her to turn the lamp off on her bedside table. It was quiet and his back was to her, she watched him intently in the dark. "I kissed Damian tonight." She admitted to him. As soon as she started talking she couldn't stop, everything seemed to be spilling out. Mar'i hated lying but some secrets had to stay kept, her family's secret was one of the ones that could never see the light of day.

     This, however, was different; she just had to tell him. It was silent and she swallowed the lump in her throat when he turned to face her. "I was angry and upset with you and Damian was right there." She explained in a flurry of quick whispers.

He grabbed her hands. "It's completely understandable. I'm just glad it was him and not some random bloke you found on the corner" he laughed.

     The weight seemed to fall from her as if she were shedding a heavier skin like a snake. He brought her hands to his mouth and lightly kissed the tips of her fingers. A warm feeling spread through the both of them, she adored his affection more than anything. "Are we still seeing your parents tomorrow?" he asked once she was cuddled into him. Mar'i hummed in response, pressing her face closer to his neck.

     Leonardo was nice and warm, he was comfortable. Any bad thought she had ever had about him earlier seemed to vanish. Maybe just this once this horrid city wouldn't tear them apart like it usually did. Leonardo took her low hum as a 'yes' and sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a nightmare for him and a dream for her.

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Skycrystal23 ;)