She stopped in her tracks, staring at the button sewn into his face. Her heart sank, causing her world to tip a bit as she tried to comprehend what the hell he was doing. She managed to shake her thoughts and feeling away before snatching his hand.
"We have to get out of here!" she hissed.
After Agatha had helped them escape to the Other World, the Beldam had appeared. While she was distracted, Aggie had allowed them to split up and go for different targets. Wybie headed back home while Coraline went to get their lost friend.
Coraline made it to Norman only to see his Other Father attaching the little black button over his eyes.
She was faster than the short, pudgy man and was able to drag Norman behind her, towards the little door. Hopefully Wybie had already made it.
"Wait, Coraline! Don't." He jerked his arm out of her grip and stepped back. "I like it here."
"Norman, you know what she'll do." She kept the door open, still holding out her hand for him to take it and go with her. But she could already tell that wasn't going to work.
"I know... But I'd rather die happy than live in misery. I hate it back home. Nobody knows how this feels. To be go through so much to only return back to how life was before. To be made fun of and only be seen as a burden. To see what nobody else does and be looked at weird or treated differently because of it."
"Norman, I'm your friend. I may not know how it feels to do what you do or to live the way you do, but I know how it is to be different, to leave your friends behind to start a new life, to lose people you care about. But I do understand. I know how hard it can be." She was desperate. Even if there was just that slight piece of hope to bring him home, she would hold onto it.
"You're happy here too. Aggie is here."
"Aggie is dead, Norman. That isn't Aggie. You may be happy, but it's just a lie. It would only last a couple of days. She tricks you. You'll just be added to that...thing in her home."
"What thing?" He waved his hands to cut her off from answering. "It doesn't matter. I'm staying."
"No, you aren't. You can be happy back home. You'll die here. You'll just be stuck as a ghost." Coraline felt her stomach twist into a knot as she tried to grab him hand. Her voice broke as she spoke, "Norman, please. I want you to come home."
He didn't back down.
Coraline didn't know what came over her.
She grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him closer, face-to-face. Tears threatened to spill over as she grit her teeth.
"I'm going to bring you home whether you like it or not. I'm getting that damn button out of your eye and you are going to live normally with us. It may not seem fair, but you aren't cared for here. That woman doesn't love you. She's lying. Your actual mom does. Your dad is just bad at expressing how much he cares. Come home and I'll fix it... Please."
She didn't know when she started crying, but now she was. She let go of his shirt and rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hands.
When he didn't say anything else, she balled her hands into fists and pushed him away. "But...fine. Fine. Stay here. I lived without you before. I can learn to do it again." She spun on her heel and left.
Coraline had expected him to follow her. To grab hold of her hand and go with her through the door. She waited for what seemed like hours before closing the tiny door behind her.
He didn't come.
