More Than Friends

2

A few days later, Norman went to check up on Emily again. He knocked on the door, holding a bottle of wine again and a small pink teddy bear. He didn't intend to look like he was going to ask her out, but if that's how things went, then he'd gladly go with it.

Emily opened the door, dressed in her pajamas. She looked tired and dead. Norman immediately set the gifts down on a small table outside the door and gave her a hug.

"You feeling ok?" He asked, rubbing her back.

"You could say that." She muttered, resting her small chin on his shoulder. After a moment, Emily pulled away. "You wanna come in?"

"Sure." He said, grabbing the gifts as Emily turned around. He followed her into the living room and found several cans of Bud Light and used Kleenex. "I got you some things." He said, making Emily turn around. She stared blankly at the teddy bear, and burst into tears. Norman set them down and gently dragged Emily onto the couch. He held her in his arms, rocking her back and forth. "Shh, I'm sorry." He murmured.

"It-it's not your fault." She blubbered. "It's Jackson's."

After a few minutes of crying, Emily finally stopped and went limp in Norman's arms. She rested her head against his chest, letting him smooth her light blonde hair back. "You wanna watch Game Of Thrones?" Norman asked. "New episode tonight."

"Sure." She mumbled. Norman leaned forward and grabbed the remote, switching the TV to his favorite show. While the intro played, Norman gently let Emily lounge on the entire length of the couch. He smoothed her hair back for a moment before pulling away.

"I'm gonna clean up a bit. You sit back and relax." He said, smiling a little. "And that's not an option."

Emily barely cracked a smile, before turning her attention to the TV. Jackson used to hate Game Of Thrones because he wasn't a gore type of guy. That, and watching someone's dick get cut off probably wasn't appealing to watch for him. So in a way for Emily, it felt like she was spiting him in a way. During a commercial, she watched Norman clean up her little apartment.

Norman picked up some leftover Chinese, and saw a pair of unused chopsticks. He glanced at Emily's dull expression, before turning around and stuffing the thick side of the chopsticks into his upper lip, making them protrude from his mouth. Then he turned around.

"I vwant to suck your blood!" He exclaimed, making a small smile form on Emily's lips. "Bleh bleh bleh!"

"You're a dork." She mumbled, sitting up a little.

"No, I'm adorkable." He corrected her, going to sit beside her. He took the chopsticks out, setting them on the coffee table. "Better?" He asked, referring to the now clean room.

"Yeah." She said, the old sparkle slowly returning to her eyes. Norman smiled, and held her close. They continued to watch Game Of Thrones until around six.

"You want noodles again?" Norman asked, glancing at her.

"Sure." She said, smiling at him. Norman pulled out his cellphone and quickly called the nearest Chinese place. After a few minutes, they came, and Norman brought in the noodles.

"My Lady." He offered Emily a box of the salty noodles.

"Thank you, kind sir." She smiled, taking the box. She took out the plastic fork, tossing the chopsticks to the side. Norman, on the other hand, opened his chopsticks and ate using them.

"Can't use chopsticks?" He asked, glancing at her.

"I can. I just don't like them." She said, taking a bite of a diced pepper.

"Mhm. Sure. I'll believe it when I see it." Norman scoffed, smirking at her.

"Fine." She snapped playfully, grabbing a pair of chopsticks and opening them. She dipped them into the noodles and came out with a single noodle. Norman chuckled.

"You totally can." He joked.

Just as he said that, Emily's phone buzzed. She glanced down at it and saw a notification from Twitter about E! News. She opened it, having a deep feeling of nervousness. Norman watched as her eyes watered again, and she set the phone down. He didn't say anything, just scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She started crying into her hands, leaning heavily against Norman.

"Shh, you're ok." He murmured. "It's ok."

"H-he proposed to her!" She sobbed. Norman felt crushed hearing her cry. He held her tighter, nuzzling her temple.

"He doesn't deserve you. You're way better than that." He murmured. She didn't respond, just continued to cry.

"But I love him!" She cried. Norman's heart pierced, but he didn't show it. Instead, he rocked her for a long time.

Finally, she calmed down a little, sniffling. Norman finally pulled away, and took her hand in his. He raked his mind for ideas to make her happy. Or at least comforted. He finally got an idea.

"Hey, wanna take a bath? Then we could dress up in cuddly onesies and watch The Notebook with stuffed animals and popcorn." He suggested. Emily didn't respond, so Norman stood up. "C'mon. Let's go get you in a bathtub." He said, pulling her to his feet. She followed without protest into the bathroom. Norman found that she had a bathtub big enough for two people, but ignored it as he browsed through her cupboards, looking for some bubble bath.

"It's under the sink." Emily mumbled. Norman nodded and opened the sink, finding two options; sweet watermelon or minty rosemary. Along with some candles.

"Watermelon or minty rosemary?" He asked.

"Rosemary." She mumbled. He pulled the mint and rosemary soap out, along with the candles. The candles smelt like cinnamon, which reminded him of fall. He turned on the bathtub, and filled it with soap and water. Once it was full of white suds and water, he lit the candles, filling the air with an apple cinnamon smell. He turned to Emily.

"I'm gonna head to my apartment and grab the movie and some pajamas. I'll be back in about ten minutes." He stated, opening the door. "I'll see you."

"See ya." Emily mumbled, and she slowly closed the door after Norman.

💖💖💖

About half an hour later, Norman returned to Emily's house with his pajamas, popcorn, soda, and a onesie for Emily. He wasn't sure if she had one.

He opened the door, just as Emily was coming out of the bathroom in her towel. She glanced at Norman, just as he averted his eyes, his face heating up with embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry." He apologized, stepping out.

"It's fine, Norman." Emily called. Then Norman heard her bedroom door shut, so he stepped back inside.

"I got you something. I didn't know if you had one." He stated, opening the plastic bag and pulling out the pink bunny onesie. He also brought his zombie bunny slippers, which were his favorite. Emily stuck her hand out of her bedroom door, and Norman set the pajamas in her outstretched hand. Once Emily saw the onesie, a smile slowly formed on her lips.

Norman dressed in the bathroom, and once he was, he headed out and put The Notebook in. He started popcorn, when he heard the bedroom door open. He turned around, and smiled at Emily. She was wearing the onesie, some rabbit slippers, and was cuddling the small pink teddy bear from earlier.

"That is totally your look." Norman declared.

"Hey, I learned from the best." She stated, rubbing her arms. "This is so soft!"

"Good thing. Now let's watch the movie." He said. Taking the popcorn and soda, he sat on the couch with Emily by his side, and together they watched The Notebook.