Normily: After Effects

Loose End?

Yep, I had to start this. Welcome to the Bethyl coping fanfic where everything will be rainbows and unicorns. But seriously this is to help with the mourning of Beth and Emily Kinney's departure from TWD. -Brett💚

"Cut!" shouted Robert Kirkman.

Why did midseason finale's always end in the death of a character? And why did Beth have to die this time? Why the hell couldn't she have lived?

The cast all huddled around Emily in one giant smothering hug. Norman was the first and then Andy and then Lauren and the rest made one large huddle around Emily.

"Guys," Emily said half laughing, half bawling, "you're gonna make me cry."

Everyone laughed. They were one large family. They would be damned if one little thing like a on-screen death would break their near-inseparable bonds. They walked arm-in-arm back towards their trailers. Tonight they would hit Atlanta for their mourning dinner for Emily as she left the cast. They had even called Scott Wilson up so he could join them for this "special" night.

Norman broke away first and went to his trailer. He'd been crying for an hour preparing for this scene and now he was having difficulty stopping. He went into his trailer and sat down. Norman couldn't tell if he was sadder for the loss of Beth or the loss of Emily as a cast mate. There was a knock on the doorjamb of his trailer.

"Yeah!?" Norman called, sadness evident in his voice.

"Are you decent?" A sweet voice called.

"Yeah, come in," Norman replied, wiping his eyes.

Emily Kinney walked in and closed the door. She sat next to Norman and hugged him. They were best buddies. And now they wouldn't see each other all of the time. This sucked.

"Are you gonna be all right?" Emily asked.

"I've been at this for hours. Kirkman wanted me to cry like I meant it so I did. Now it should stop soon," Norman said.

"Are you coming to dinner?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Norman hugged her tight and began tho chuckle, "I'm sorry I almost dropped you. My arms started to fall asleep."

Emily giggled, "It's all right, I started to fall asleep too. You're like a muscular teddy bear."

"I am not," Norman scoffed, pretending to be offended.

Emily laughed and kissed his cheek. "Come on," she said, "change so we can all go out to eat. You and I are riding together."

Emily left Norman's trailer and walked back to her own. Norman changed out of his Daryl outfit and into a very nice suit. He washed his face and put on some cologne. Norman stepped out and walked to Emily's trailer, entering just in time to catch her taking off her grimy polo.

"Shit, sorry," Norman said as he quickly closed the door. He waited for five minutes before Emily popped her head out of the door. She smiled and laughed.

"What?" Norman asked, confused.

"You have some snot on your face still," Emily said, "Come in before the paparazzi catches you."

Norman stepped in and Emily closed the door behind him. She was wrapped in a towel and her hair was wet. She had to get the fake blood out of her hair so she could eat and not raise eyebrows. Emily handed Norman a Kleenex and went back to the sink. She tried desperately to get the fake blood out but it would only come out in clumps and blobs. The rest was still in her hair.

"Fuck," she cursed.

"Do you need help?" Norman asked.

"Please."

Norman took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and went over to her. Emily bent over the sink and put shampoo in her hands. Norman did the same and together they scrubbed, in vain, to get the blood out of Emily's blonde hair. It didn't work.

"Want me to see if Greg is still on set?" Norman asked.

"Yeah," Emily sighed. Norman left. She was indecent as all hell and the entire cast and crew would probably be dragged into this. Norman and Greg returned a few minutes later.

"Did the blood do too good of a job?" Greg asked.

"Yep," Emily smiled. Greg set his makeup kit down on the table and searched through until he found acetone. Emily's eyes caught the label on the bottle and she frowned.

"Is that safe for hair?" She asked.

"No but I'm not putting it directly in your hair," Greg replied. He poured a tiny amount in a cup and added a lot of water to it. He mixed it around and then added shampoo. He mixed that. "Lean over the sink."

Emily leaned and Greg poured the concoction over her head and then shampooed it and rinsed really well. The sink now looked like the prom scene from Carrie. Emily's hair however was back to normal.

"Thanks, Greg," she said as she rinsed one last time.

"No problem," Nicotero replied, "and for the record, I told Robert not to kill you off this season. You weren't a loose end."

Greg exited with his bag of tricks, leaving Norman and Emily alone. They looked at each other and then laughed. Sure it was sad their time on the show was over but they were still great friends. Norman hugged her and slowly began to unwrap her towel.

"Stop," Emily giggled. He did.

"But you're beautiful."

"And naked, Mr. Professional."

Norman smiled and released her. He had no clue why he just tried that. Maybe he needed to know she wasn't hurt like Beth had been. He turned and walked to the door, "I'll be out here."

"Ok, I'll be out in a few," she replied. Norman walked out and Emily redressed in a classy dress and heels. She grabbed her purse and walked out, closing the door behind her. Norman and Andy ambushed her and picked her up by her arms.

"Hey!" Emily shouted and laughed.

"Where would the princess like to eat?" Andrew asked playfully.

"The Capital Grille." They carried her to the car they had waiting.

"Will you put me down?" Emily playfully demanded.

"As soon as we are seated at our table," said Andrew. He handed her to Norman and got in the drivers side. Norman got in the back and held her in his lap.

"Are you going to do this all the way there?" Emily asked.

"Yep," Norman replied as Andy started the car and began to drive them to town.