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Your move to Gotham City felt weird, the city was definitely more ominous and grim than your old hometown. But you did it for the job, you finally had the chance to take on your dream job but it was only available in Gotham and so you made the decision to move here. You had money saved from your old job and your money was worth much more in Gotham. You had the chance to buy a pretty big apartment but all the apartments you looked at where low on the ground, it made you feel suffocated. You eventually found an apartment on the highest floor of a building giving you a view of the skyline of Gotham. That’s how you ended up in the same apartment building as Arthur, and that was how everything began.
You saw him everyday in the elevator, you both always came home at the same time. The first few times you just gave him a friendly smile, he always returned a big smile.
One simple Tuesday you came back with a few grocery bags, barely managing to hold them. As always the nice stranger was in the elevator, he pushed his foot to hold the door. You came in, balancing the bags in your arms. You put the bags on the floor and he spoke for the first time; “Can I help you with the bags?” Giving you a small smile. His voice was raspy and soft, you had imagined many times what his voice would sound like and you were not far off. The stranger charmed you, he was mysterious and he stayed in your thoughts time from time. “That’s nice of you but I live a few floors above you…” He quickly cut you off by saying that he really did not mind. You held the door open for him as he carried some of the bags into your apartment. He looked around after putting the bags down on the kitchen table, your apartment was filled with furniture from the past two decades. A small television surrounded by VHS tapes. A bookcase filled with LP’s and worn and loved books. But what he noticed most was the wall covered with pictures; photos and drawings of and from a small child, photos likely of you and your parents and to him most worryingly; some photos of you with another man, there weren’t too many but enough to notice them. “Would you like something to drink?” you offered taking the stranger out of his trance. “Oh, no. Sorry. I should keep going.” He gave you a small smile and walked towards the front door. “Well thank you for helping out with the bags… I am Y/N, by the way.” You smiled at him. “It’s no problem at all, I am Arthur Fleck.” He said. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Arthur.” You offered him your hand and he shook it. You both noticing the irony as you had seen each other everyday now for almost a month. He smiled and took off to the elevator. “See you tomorrow.” He said and gave you a quick grin before the elevator door closed.
That night after failing yet again to fall asleep on the old, sturdy couch he thought of you. He had to admit that he was intrigued by you from the first time he laid eyes on you. Maybe it was because you were a new person in this old, dirty apartment complex and you seemed to give it some fresh, kind air. Maybe it was because you were the only one that smiled at him and meant it. He lay there thinking of you, every small detail of your face, your beautiful eyes and lips, your nose that he desperately wanted to nuzzle his nose against. Wait, what? As he thought the last thought he noticed that it was the first time he actually wanted to give you more affection than a simple smile. Sure, he found you beautiful and mysterious but Arthur didn’t want to fall in love with every simple person that smiled at him, not that there were that many. No, he pushed the last thought away. He was not weak, he already once made the mistake in thinking too much of someones small act of kindness and he was not gonna do it again.
A few floors higher you were also awake and thinking. Of him. You weren’t an extremely shy person but with Arthur you just completely froze and could only offer him a kind smile. You had waited the past month for an opportunity to happen and today it happened. God, you liked him. You couldn’t believe it. You barely knew him, you actually only knew his name and address. But you liked him nonetheless, you liked his beautiful green eyes, his wavy (probably soft) brown hair, you liked how sweet he was. You had to admit that since moving to Gotham you had only met a few kind people and those people were your boss and co-workers, the rest of the people were always grumpy or just plain mean. But Arthur was kind, not a fake kindness but a real tenderness, you could just see it as if it radiated off of him. You wanted to ask him if he ever wanted to come over. In the time that you saw him in the elevator he always seemed lonely, you never saw him with friends or a lover. You also didn’t want to be annoying or intrude in his life. You just hoped that he would like the offer and there was only one way to find out.
The next day you were standing in the elevator with him again, exchanging a quick hello. You breathed in and before you knew it you asked him if he wanted to come over sometime to get to know each other. You breathed out again. He looked at you, puzzled. “I have actually been quite busy lately...” he said. He loathed himself for denying your offer, he really really wanted to hang out with you but he was scared that this wasn’t real, he was scared that his mind would play tricks on him again. “Oh... That’s okay.” you passed him a small smile not being fully able to conceive your disappointment. The elevator stopped at his floor and he got out without looking at you, giving you a small wave and a ‘bye’. The door closed leaving you behind with an awkward feeling. Your minds first instinct was to shrug it off, then your mind went to some kind of small resentment to him. But by the time the elevator stopped at your floor the feeling became a lonely sadness. You opened the door to your apartment. Dropping your bag and taking your shoes and coat off. You sat on the couch and looked at the photos before you. All these happy memories that felt so whole and alive. And you were sitting there just feeling empty and sad. You felt homesick. Suddenly a new big wave of emotions hit you and you started to cry. You laid down on the couch and the last thing you remember is pulling a warm blanket over your head.
A few days went by. You called in sick to work explaining that you had a real bad headache and offered to do some work from home, your boss declined your offer and told you to just get some rest. You appreciated it. Your day would consist of doing things that made you feel useful. You called home and told everyone that you missed them and hoped to visit them soon. You were just changing the album on the record player as you heard a knock on the door.
Arthur was standing in the hallway. You opened the door. You looked nice, just wearing your normal clothing instead of the clothes you wore for your work. “Oh, hi Arthur.” You were surprised to see him. “Hi Y/N.” He gave you a smile. “I just wanted to see if you were okay as I hadn’t seen you these past days and with all that happened last time...” He took a deep breath. “I am sorry for being so rude to you, I would actually love to hang out with you. Some things just happened in the past and I was kind of surprised by the question.” He looked at the ground. “I am sorry. I hope I didn’t make things weird.” You looked at him. “Arthur, you don’t have to feel sorry or guilty. I completely understand, even if you still don’t want to hang out I understand. It is truly okay.” He looked at you. “Y/N, I would love, and I emphasise on love, to hang out with you.”
You both agreed on him coming over that evening.