Archive of Our Own ^beta

Each day was the same for Edward. His routine was so bland that even a stalker would get bored and lose interest, and yes, that actually happened once and it was truly embarrassing. That morning he was in for a surprise at work.

While watching his coworkers, Edward fiddled with his glasses for the hundredth time. They barely knew the man existed. He was quiet, a lone wolf but minus the wolf, he was more like an abandoned puppy who did his best to just survive.

Everyone thought Edward was weird. Fair enough, he wasn’t normal by any means. His shaggy brown hair and clunky glasses hid half of his face and all his clothes were earthy tones.

It started with excited whispers, then the women giggling, which always happened when a new, attractive man was around. The company must have hired new employees, it was about that time for interns to start showing up. What he hadn’t expected was to see all the higher-ups walking with someone who he knew didn’t work there, but he recognized him.

Bruce freaking Wayne was in the office and being shown around. Edward nearly spilled his fourth cup of coffee on his desk, thankfully he caught it, but that wasn’t the only thing he caught. He had made eye contact with Bruce Wayne. He felt heat on his face and quickly looked away, back at his work on his desk that he nearly destroyed with coffee.

Bruce Wayne was going to work there now?! His family practically owned all of Gotham City, why would he need to work in the office? Sure, the company was owned by the Wayne family, but even if Bruce was crowned CEO, the position would still be beneath him. The pressure to have all his work done perfectly would skyrocket. He worked with numbers and for the most part it was tedious, but now he couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.

Edward sat down in the breakroom with a sigh of relief. He made it to lunch and he could relax for an hour. He grabbed a can of Mountain Dew and his sad lunch, carrot sticks, pretzels, and an apple. He pulled out his phone and started to scroll through social media, he was quite popular on Twitter and Tumblr. No one knew his true identity, so he could be anything he wanted, and online, he was cool.

The room suddenly silenced. Edward looked up to see that someone had sat at his table. No, not someone- it was Bruce Wayne. The man was laying down a crossword puzzle book and his lunch. Edward was internally freaking out. Obviously, the man made a mistake, and would realize he sat with the social outcast of the office, but Bruce Wayne started to do a crossword puzzle. Voices filled the room once again. Apparently, the show was over.

That’s when Edward took the chance to steal a peek at the billionaire in front of him. His black hair was constantly in his eyes, he was older than Edward, but he pulled off the emo haircut well. He wore a suit that Edward was sure he couldn’t even afford to touch, and his handsome face showed no expression. Bruce Wayne was a total dilf, minus having a child, and he sure could get it. Edward blushed, and realized he had been staring too long. He furiously scrolled through Twitter, trying to take his mind off of the hot man.

The next day at work it happened again. Bruce sat at Edward’s table, didn’t speak a word, and did a crossword. The only difference this time was that Bruce glanced at Edward for a second when Edward gasped. He hadn’t meant to, he just got really excited when he saw his favorite comic had updated.

The rest of the week was the same. Neither spoke and they were constantly stared at by everyone else. A lot of women, and a few men, had tried flirting with Bruce, but either he was oblivious to it or he shut them down. It was almost humorous to Edward, he knew those people only wanted to get close to Bruce for his money.

After a month of Bruce Wayne working at the office, they finally spoke to each other. Each new crossword puzzle book was a higher difficulty and he was starting to get stumped. He chewed at the top of his pen, which Edward found adorable, and he seemed annoyed at the hint he was working on.

“Battery,” Edward said, without looking up from his phone.

Bruce looked up, puzzled, and tilted his head to the side. Edward felt his gaze burn a hole in his head.

“Excuse me?”

“The answer to three across. I have no life, but I can die. What am I? The answer is a battery”, Edward explained.

Bruce thought for a moment, looked back at the puzzle, and then wrote the answer in the boxes. Edward had actually spoken to someone at work, and to a higher up at that! The ego boost felt euphoric. To anyone else it might not be a big deal but to Edward, it was the closest thing to being cool he had ever gotten.

“Huh, how did you know that?”

“I’ve always been really good with riddles. I haven't been stumped by a riddle yet,” Edward stated proudly, “I’m Edward, by the way.”

“Bruce… but I’m sure you already knew that.”

The next day, Edward walked into the breakroom to find Bruce already sitting at their table. Edward walked over to his chair and sat down, then pretended to look at his phone, but in reality he was looking at the riddles Bruce was trying to solve for his crossword. They were all incredibly easy to Edward, but Bruce seemed to be struggling.

"Comb, river, needle, and footsteps," Edward blurted out.

Bruce looked up and studied Edward's now blushing face. He looked back down at the crossword, and then back at Edward. The slight smile that escaped Bruce's lips was incredibly cute.

"How do you do that?"

Edward shrugged, not used to someone finding anything he did valuable. He could tell Bruce was trying to remain stoic, but failing. Those beautiful eyes sparkled and Edward wanted to keep seeing that.

Over the next few weeks, the interactions between Edward and Bruce became more frequent. Bruce would seek Edward out to give him a riddle that he was sure would stump him, but every time, Edward proudly gave the correct answer.

Bruce started to show more emotion, even if it was only to Edward. The office could not understand how the outcast became friends with the billionaire. You could see the jealousy on their faces and Edward would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy that.

Work became fun for Edward. He felt sort of giddy when Bruce would bring over work papers, acting professional and explaining to Edward what needed to be done. The top sheet of paper always had a riddle on it.

A sly smile spread on Edward’s lips as he clicked on the office's instant messaging program, found Bruce's name, and typed out the answer to the riddle. He watched Bruce through the window of his office and waited. Bruce sat down, saw his chat blinking, and clicked on the new message.

Only one word was sent to him from Edward, the answer to the riddle he was so sure would puzzle the quiet man, "time".

Written in neat handwriting on a blank sheet of paper, Bruce had written out, "what has no wings, but can fly?" and Edward had solved it before Bruce had even sat down in his office.

Then, it became a daily ritual, Edward received riddles in the same fashion, and Bruce would receive the correct answer before he could even sit down in his office. They spoke to each other more and more. At lunch Edward saw Bruce smile, actually smile! The cold exterior was melting away.

On Friday during their lunch break, Edward could tell something was on Bruce's mind. He could practically see the gears turning. There was definitely something Bruce was deep in thought about.

"Is something wrong?" Edward asked.

"Oh uh, no. I'm seriously bad at this, but, I wanted to ask if maybe after work, if you're not busy, you wanted to come over to "Netflix and chill"?

Edward spit out his drink and had a coughing fit. He could feel the fierce blush creeping up his neck all the way up to the tips of his ears. But, when he saw the look of utter confusion on Bruce's face, he realized that Bruce most likely didn't know what that phrase actually meant.

"Are you asking me to hang out?" Edward asked cautiously.

"Yes. Did I say it wrong? I've heard a lot of people here say it."

"Yeah, that checks out. Well um, that doesn't mean hang out." Edward started to explain.

In the end, it was worth the awkward explanation to see Bruce look embarrassed. He looked so normal and kinda cute. Bruce apologized but ended up laughing about it along with Edward.

Edward had never seen the Wayne mansion in person before, only photos. He should have been awestruck, but he was more amazed at the man in front of him, speaking to Alfred, his butler, about dinner. He wasn't rude to the staff, in fact he was kind, but still kept everyone at a distance.

"Are you into video games?"

The question brought Edward back to the present and he smiled brightly. He then nodded enthusiastically and when Bruce motioned for him to follow, he quickly followed Bruce up the staircase. Edward felt so out of place inside the mansion, that is, until he walked into Bruce's bedroom.

Bruce was still living in his childhood bedroom. He had music posters scattering the walls, CDs, Blu-ray DVDs, records, and video games for every console littered his shelves. His king sized bed had black and grey bat bedding, one of his walls was painted a dark grey, and Edward noticed there were a lot of pop vinyl figures.

The room was like heaven for a nerd. It was comfortable, it was so normal and Edward couldn't help it, he really tried not to but he started laughing. Bruce looked at him, puzzled by the reaction.

"I'm sorry! I promise I'm not laughing at you! It's just so unexpected! Bruce Wayne is actually normal?! And a nerd at that?!"

Bruce smiled, he didn't know why, but he liked hearing Edward laugh. He found it cute but he quickly shook his head at the thought.

"Don't tell anyone, I do have an image to uphold," Bruce said with a smirk.

Bruce loosened his tie, took off his jacket, and then rolled his sleeves up. Edward now understood why women had a thing for rolled up sleeves. He had to look away before Bruce caught him gawking, but Bruce grinned. He had felt Edward's eyes on him the entire time.

After that day, Bruce and Edward became inseparable. They grew closer, talked about their past, and began to feel something more than just friendship between them.

While sitting on a comfy couch in Bruce's room, Edward listened as Bruce told him the story of his parent's murder. Without thinking, he put his arm around the other man to comfort him. He hadn't expected Bruce to lean into the touch but he kept his breathing at a normal pace.

It took a bit longer but Edward finally confided in Bruce about his childhood growing up in the Gotham orphanage. He explained how he was always alone, and how his mental health declined drastically once he aged out, when he was thrown into the world with nothing. Bruce had placed his hand on top of Edward's, he wasn't the best at physical affection but he wanted his friend to feel that Bruce was there for him.

After five months of dancing around each other, both too afraid to make the first move, Bruce kissed Edward. It was a quick kiss, mostly because he was terrified of rejection. Both sitting on the floor, the video game forgotten, Edward felt his face grow warm. They were staring into the other's eyes, slowly leaning closer.

This time their kiss was explosive, Edward placed his hand on Bruce's cheek while Bruce wrapped his arm around Edward's back, pulling him into his lap. Bruce wanted to hold Edward close for as long as possible.

When they both pulled away to get some air, they were smiling and then they started laughing. Edward wondered if this was real, he could have been dreaming. It's not like it was the first time he dreamt about kissing Bruce.

"Damn, that was—"

Edward interrupted Bruce with the start of another glorious kiss. Once he got a taste, he felt greedy for more. Bruce had such soft lips while Edward's lips were chapped. He hoped Bruce couldn't tell he had never kissed anyone before. He knew Bruce had, he was a really good kisser.

Two weeks later, Bruce was still sending Edward riddles at work. However, today Edward hadn't received a single ping on his computer. He kept glancing over at Bruce's office but all the blinds were closed. He felt like Bruce was a little off lately and he was starting to get worried. Maybe Bruce felt like they were rushing, or realized how boring Edward was.

Finally, he heard the chat notification. He clicked the chat from Bruce and read the next riddle. "I make people happy but I make people cry. You cannot see me, but you know I am there. I am extremely fragile but hard to break. What am I?"

Edward's mind started to try to solve the riddle, feeling slightly annoyed he didn't know the answer right away. Even as he did his work he was on autopilot trying to figure out what the answer could be.

The work day ended and he was still stumped. The office emptied out until only Bruce and Edward remained. It didn't seem like Bruce was coming out of his office anytime soon, so Edward let himself in.

"I'm kinda offended that you stumped me! What is the answer?!"

Bruce smirked, clearly amused, and stood up. He walked around his desk to Edward and the smug look on his face turned into a fond expression.

"Love. The answer is love. I thought it would be a clever way to tell you that I love you," Bruce explained.

Edward's eyes widened and his jaw hit the floor. He couldn't remember anyone ever telling him those three words. His brain errored out, unable to comprehend that this perfect man was in love with him, the forgettable dork.

"You love me?"

Bruce nodded. He wrapped his arms around Edward's waist and pulled him close. Edward cupped Bruce's face with both hands, a dopey smile on his face and he pulled Bruce into a slow, heartfelt kiss that made their hearts race.

"I love you too, Bruce."