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„N- Norman?“
A tall figure was standing in front of her, turning his back to her, not even looking at her when she called out his name. The girl reached out with one hand intending to touch his shoulder but as she hesitated he took that moment to turn around to look at her with a cold but angered expression on his face. It resembled the words he spoke very well.
„Go away, Emma.”
Her forest green eyes filled up with tears almost in an instant, making her vision blurry. The words spoken seemed to have a big effect on her, almost as if her life was shattered right in from of her.
With time and a moment of silence as they just stared at each other, his appearance slowly but surely turned into only a puddle of beautiful blue and white with some shades of pale skin tone but despite her blurred sight, his next words were as clear as a cloudless sky.
„Say, why would I love someone who couldn't even remember me after I worked so hard to find them?“
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Emma woke up with a small gasp, her cheeks stained with the tears she had dreamed about. The girl could feel her heartbeat in her whole body that for a moment she could have sworn her boyfriend would have heard it despite still being asleep safe and sound. He was holding her in his usual embrace and normally, his presence kept the nightmares away but lately, they had just come back out of nowhere and Emma had a theory as to why.
'He's always away for so long, pretty much every day, every week, and every month...'
Her gaze moved up to his face and the women with the orange-colored hair could make out some eye bags under her lover's closed blue orbs even in this state of rest. It pained her, to say the least.
'My Norman...'
Her thoughts were silent and she wiped her tears away on her pillow, also known as Norman's upper arm sometimes. He wasn't going to naturally wake up and comfort her, Emma knew that since the man was too deep in his slumber to notice her struggle. She also knew that Norman would tell her to wake him up and talk to him about it if he well... was awake, which he wasn't which meant Emma wouldn't get this piece of advice even if she didn't do anything.
After a few thoughts of going back and forth between disturbing his peace or not Emma eventually escaped his embrace carefully. Her throat felt tight whenever she thought about the words spoken in her nightmare. The girl replaced her absence with a blanket to fill the space in between his warm arms for her. She also was afraid he might notice despite the small possibility of that happening.
It actually had been like this for a while now. The girl with the antenna had felt guilty for it at first but soon it turned into something unbearable. She missed his presence around the house during the day. While he worked as a CEO in his own company, Emma was still stuck in college doing nothing to help with the financials and basically everything related to money.
Yet it wasn't as if it was urgent or anything. Quite on the contrary, Norman was a very successful man and they had more than they needed. Emma just didn't like it, how he woke up tired, came back exhausted just to go back to sleep with her after a few hours just to wake up tired again.
And before you think Emma thought it was completely boring, it really was but it bothered her more than anything because Norman deserved some rest and she deserved more attention from him too. She knew he'd do anything for her, that's why she was scared to admit it to him.
Emma didn't want him to have to choose between his job and her but when said girl found sight of her boyfriend's phone which usually woke him up in the morning with an alarm, she had made up her mind.
Tomorrow had to be different!
Emma took his phone, opened it since they didn't share any secrets at all when it came to these things and soon the redhead disabled the alarm and put it back on top of the small bedside cabinet they had in their bedroom.
She hummed in satisfaction as another idea flashed into her head.
Sometimes you had to be a bit sly to take care of the ones you loved and Emma would make sure that tomorrow would be great for both of them.
'Sleep well, my love~'
Before she cuddled back into his arms, Emma took the time to drink some water to get rid of the tight feeling in her chest and set some preparations for the day to come.
She had been liberated from college for the last week and more days to come so Emma had had plenty of time to think of things she wanted to do with Norman. It wasn't much but hopefully sufficient to have some quality boyfriend and girlfriend time together...
Soon enough, the girl fell back into a peaceful sleep without any imaginary turmoil going on.
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After a few hours, Norman slowly opened his beautiful blue eyes calmly as he got up with his upper body from the bed. He didn't have a care in the world, being too sleepy and tired still to notice something that had been incredibly off.
'Huh? I didn't hear any alarms...'
„Wait- WHAT?!“
Norman immediately rushed out of there, grabbing his phone that was placed just about as far away as it needed to get him to stand up in order to reach it. You should never have your phone in your reach right away when you wake up since you might just fall back into the warmth left behind on the spot you were resting on that night once you turned your alarm off. A small and simple but highly effective technique to initiate a day in the morning but utterly useless if said alarm didn't even ring at the right time.
'I couldn't have possibly overhead it, right?'
The white-haired man turned his head to see Emma sleeping calmly, the cutest smile on her face almost too perfect. Norman knew that at least one of them would have gotten up if his phone actually went on as it should have but it didn't but why?
'Wait I should be panicking...'
Ray would end him over this, they had a lot of work to do today and Norman didn't feel like it but he had no choice, he couldn't disappoint them by coming up with some lame excuse and after all, the man was pretty determined and tough when it came to doing his job. He wasn't one to slack off.
The platinum blond one would have loved to stare at his lover for some more time because her face was truly adorable in this state but Norman had no time. He went out of the bedroom and got ready as fast as he could but when he tried to pack his papers he couldn't find them.
'I really need these!'
As he continued his search for his papers, Emma had already woken up long before Norman actually realized. She had been pretending to be asleep once he had opened his eyes and from what the girl could tell, her plan was going smoothly so far, however, Norman was likely going to suspect her soon for being responsible for his morning troubles.
'He'll thank me later for it~'
Emma got out of the bed with a yawn and decided to be quick to enter stage 2 of her plan to keep her boyfriend at home for today. Who knew how long his mission stuff was actually going to distract him?
The 18-year-old changed her clothes into a nice and comfortable orange sweater and some black pants. Her and Norman's wardrobe smelled like flowers, she liked it.
Emma was also quite the good girlfriend. She usually kept everything clean in his absence and when he came home he was always met with some prepared dinner that Norman always wished to return the favor when he had time, which he
Ray's food was better but Emma and Norman had a natural talent to learn quickly, so when their best friend thought them some things in the kitchen it didn't take long for the cheerful redhead and the tall man to make something decent enough- Yet, that's beside the point.
The girl walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge to get out some eggs and bacon. They didn't eat meat and overall animal products very often and when they did they made sure to get it from somewhere special that treated the animals right by letting them live a life in the wild.
She washed her hands, got out the frying pan, and put it onto the gas stove to start making breakfast. The short-haired girl also got out some vegetables and cut them into bite-sized pieces. It was important to have some variety when eating.
Norman had not noticed what his girlfriend was doing, he had been too busy trying to get everything. He finally found it and soon realized he wasn't even dressed for work yet, his gaze shot towards the clock on the wall and he could already hear Ray's complaint.
Perhaps his raven-haired friend would even try to tease him with it. He still got called Emperor by Ray at times in the worst scenarios since he knew how much Norman disliked the nickname, mainly in that ridicule tone of the other.
He slipped into his suit and grabbed his stuff, when he was about to leave the smell of food finally made its way to Norman.
'She's awake?'
„Good Morning!“
A familiar female voice called out behind him as his left hand was already on the doorknob. Norman turned around to see Emma standing there with a food-filled plate in both hands as if she was trying to silently tell him that it was for him and he couldn't go yet. Scratch that- It was exactly what the girl with the antenna wanted to tell him.
Her big emerald eyes stared at his clear and light blue ones that held a soothing pastel pink inside of them before she smiled sweetly and spoke up.
„I made breakfast for us.“
Suddenly everything that happened this morning made more sense to him.
„Are you trying to get me to stay, Emma?“
His grip on the knob loosened and he eventually let go of it fully to face the smaller girl who was now looking away with a slight taint of red covering her cheeks which gave the answer away.
„Maybe? Don't you just stand there! The food's getting cold.“
Norman sighed in defeat, she was too sweet. He wore his signature smile when he took the plate out of her hands and bent down to give her a quick kiss on her cheek to which Emma replied with a warm smile of her own. The young woman was satisfied when she saw him walking into the dining room with the food, placing it down on the table.
„Are you coming, dear?“
He said with a chuckle. She had spaced out for a moment and forgotten that she needed to follow him to have breakfast with her boyfriend.
Emma entered the room as well and now he noticed how there was a lot of food on the table. Like a lot-
„Dear, are you secretly trying to feed a third person here?“
Emma raised a brow and simply giggled at his silly assumption.
„Just sit down and eat, you big workaholic~“
He applied to his girlfriend's request and waited for her to do the same. They did the prayers, similar to the ones she had been told were from Gracefield. The loss of her memories was sometimes very bothering, the fear of Norman leaving her was ridiculous but unfortunately, it was there again. Emma was pretty worried, sorta sensitive, and very emotional lately.
They began to eat the simple but delicious breakfast Emma had made for the both of them but soon the girl noticed how full his plate still was.
'He's staring out of the window!'
Norman was likely thinking about work, the look on his face revealed everything to her. She got her fork and stabbed some bacon with it from his almost untouched food and held it close to his lips.
„Eat.“
Norman froze for a moment at how serious Emma sounded and the way she was squinting her gorgeous eyes at him was almost funny.
„I'm sorry, love but there's no way I'm letting you feed me like that-“
Too late, the girl had already stuffed his mouth full with the bacon and he looked at her unimpressed which made her laugh.
„Don't forget to chew, hehe~“
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Once they finished most of it, Emma packed the leftover vegetables into some boxes and put them into the fridge for maybe later, she didn't like to waste food.
„So what do you want to do now?“
The voice of her boyfriend spoke next to her as she closed the door of the refrigerator.
It was almost midday and Emma looked at his outfit. He looked handsome in a suit but she was reminded of how he was to be at work, he was probably too.
Norman grew a bit concerned to see the girl with the orange sweater stare at him, her eyes moving up and down critically.
„Change into something else first, that thing must be so uncomfortable!“
The white-haired man smiled and had to agree to some extent. So he shifted into something more casual like her, a blue sweater similar to her orange one.
„Satisfied?“
„Very!“
„And what does my lovely girlfriend want to do now?“
Well, that was a good question. She still had a few things she wanted to do but when Emma saw herself in the mirror from the corner of her eyes she had to giggle. Her hair looked even more untamed than usual and Norman's moonlight white hair was also still all over the place, he hadn't brushed it. He didn't even have his 'hair horn' at the side of his head, that's how bad it was.
Norman noticed how she looked at herself again in the mirror and decided to take this opportunity to hug her, closing his eyes to inhale her soothing scent. He still wasn't sure what Emma smelled like but it reminded him of summer and he liked summer despite getting sunburned quite often.
„You're beautiful...“
The girl who was being gently hugged by her lover had a smile on her face as she held both her arms up a little when Norman nuzzled her nape.
„That tickles.“
Emma sighed in relief when he finally stopped but was surprised again when he kissed her left side where her ear would be but isn't.
„Normaaaan!“
She turned around and said, young man, smiled warmly at her. His eyes wandered to where he had just kissed her but it was covered with hair.
„What? I'm just loving you, am I not allowed to do so?“
„Are you playing with me right now?“
Emma sat down on his lap as Norman sat down on the bed. Their eyes met, both filled with care and appreciation for the opposite. Norman chuckled, he was ready to play this game with the girl he had loved for longer than he can remember.
„Did I ever mention how your eyes look like emeralds? They really do shine in such beautiful colors whenever the light of the sun sparkles within them, Emma.“
'Ah, so that's what we're playing, huh?'
The redhead couldn't hide her blush but looked back at him with a challenging glint in the eyes he had just talked about.
„Well, your's looks like the northern lights, Norman! They're so unique and pleasant to look at, it's almost as if they're out of this world, ya know?“
She was good at this, good at reducing the white-haired man to a blushing mess, he looked away and for a moment she thought she had already won. Yes, Emma could make him flustered but it could easily be switched if he wanted.
„I didn't, thanks but are you aware of how your hair reminds me of marigolds, it's very pretty and good-looking~“
„Well-“
„Oh and don't even get me started with your 'antenna'...“
Norman interrupted the one who was sitting on his lap as he twirled said antenna around his finger for a while before letting it go.
„Heh, it wriggles around whenever you do anything and it's just so adorable.“
Now the blue-eyed boy had her wrapped around his finger exactly like with her hair just now and how wanted.
He managed to make her feel so special and warm inside, it surely wasn't fair. Norman wondered if their contest was now finally over but Emma wasn't quite done yet.
„W-what about your hair? It looks like moonlight, like- It's really handsome on you!“
„If I'm so handsome why don't you give me a kiss, huh?“
Norman had instantly bitten back at her compliment. Wait, wasn't he supposed to be the embarrassed one in this relationship? Her confidence slowly left Emma and she sighed, slowly leaning in.
When Norman now knew he had defeated the other and waited patiently for their lips to meet. As Emma was very close to his face he felt his nervousness come back all of the sudden.
'I'm never getting used to this...'
Which wasn't a bad thing. They had been together ever since her 18th birthday which was last year.
Time slowed down and when Norman finally got his request fulfilled he felt a pair of soft lips on the tip of his nose.
„E-Emma?“
It was a quick and soft touch and Emma back away once he said her name, a bright grin plastered on her face as the girl in the orange sweater beamed at him.
„I like how your nose looks!“
Yea, this girl was gonna be the death of him. He fell back on the bed with his upper body once she finished these words, covering his face with his hands.
Emma could only laugh, she had gained victory this time even if it had been close!
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„Norman, what now?“
He removed his hands from his face and thought a little. He honestly wasn't sure. There was a lot they could do but he wanted to do whatever she desired to right now. Just seeing her happy was enough for Norman to call it a good day.
„Whatever you want, love!“
„Not again, chose something else as an answer, Norman!
The taller man felt a bit called out, he did say something similar a while ago but he couldn't help it.
„I guess I could go to work?~“
„Denied!“
He did love teasing her. Emma thought for a moment as they both dwelled in silence just being near each other as suddenly she got up, a smile brightening up her features as an idea popped into her head.
„If we're both so good looking then let's try out these new filters I saw on Snapchat!“
Norman didn't look too convinced at that idea and when she got out her phone just to see that the battery was dead Emma suggested using his instead.
„You actually use that? Emma, you do know that you don't need that, I'm not sure if I should support this.“
„Not like that! I just want to do the funny ones!“
He raised a brow. How could something so ridiculous be funny? Wait- That sentence didn't make any sense but whatever, it was too late because she had already grabbed the boy's phone and installed it.
He was sure he'd delete it right after this request of hers.
„Come here!“
He listened and sat down next to her. They both looked remarkably informal but it had a charm to it, with one swipe however they both were shown on the screen with beards and Norman broke out into laughter.
Her loved one needed a few moments to regain his breath. Emma stared at the photo she took and covered up her mouth.
„That should be illegal.“
He started, clearly out of breath.
„Please, you look like Santa!“
„Ah, are we calling each other names now?“
His words had sparked another war between the couple and Norman was ready to not let her go off easily this time.
„Hmm, Sweetheart“
„Darling!“
„Carrot~“
„Honey!“
„Princess?“
Both continued for a while and soon the names turned into what would be considered teasing remarks until Emma said one thing that changed the situation.
„Simp.”
Norman looked at her, dumbfounded by that name, he clicked his tongue for effect.
„Emma, you're on dangerous territory right now.“
His tone was demanding and Norman's eyes shone in a dark blue, he was serious but he still had his smile on him and Emma was feeling rather cheeky today.
„How so?“
„Fine, I'm banning you from using the internet for a whole week then as it seems it's a bad influence on you~“
Her forest green eyes widened in disbelief and her jaw hung down.
„Norman no!“
„Norman yes, Emma.“
„Don't do this to me, please. It's not funny, I'm sorry, I won't call you that again- I-It was a joke anyway...“
The girl pouted a little, cute, she actually believed he was serious when all he wanted was to see her reaction.
„I'm just messing with you, don't worry. I wouldn't want my girlfriend to be bored while I'm at work all day, right?“
'Ah yea, I forgot about that.'
He was supposed to be at work yet here they were taking photos with that strange program.
His gaze drifted to Emma and he excused himself to get up, leaving the girl confused at the sudden change of heart. Was he tired of being with her?
„Emma, I know we just started doing this silly little thing and it's been fun but let's do something else, alright?“
Truth is, he wanted to get away from his phone. Who knew when Ray finally decided to call him and ask him where he had been. Norman didn't want to be disturbed today.
„U-uh sure! Maybe we could watch something on TV? Going outside would be great but I'm afraid someone might catch us there and report back to stupid Ray.“
„Alright, sounds like a plan to me. Give me a moment to get something to eat. Would you like popcorn and if yes, sweet right?“
„You know me too well, Norman. Thank youuu~“
He gave her his usual smile of spring before getting into their kitchen once again. Emma was left alone for a while and decided to check their bedroom for any fluffy blankets they could use when they settled on the couch in the living room to have a comfy movie night or something among those lines.
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She didn't search long before finding the perfect cover for both of them.
Emma nearly jumped out of her spot when Norman's phone that was still on the bed begins to ring. Her green gaze was fixated on the screen.
Ray's calling and the noise it made bothered Emma.
'Sorry Ray, don't take this personally but...'
She grabbed her boyfriend's phone and muted it, not responding to the call as she hid the device under their bedsheets which she quickly fixed.
„Emma, I'm done!“
„Coming!“
It didn't take long before Emma made it to the living room and joined Norman on the couch. She threw the blanket over his head and they laughed a little.
„So what do you want to watch?“
He asked Emma, his smile never leaving him when he saw her cuddled up next to her.
„You.“
„You never get bored of doing that, do you?“
The girl in the orange sweater that matched her short hair shook her head ever so slightly to answer his question as she grabbed the remote.
„Let's just skip a little and see what we can find!“
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After some skipping, Emma finally stopped and Norman just stared at the screen of their television with a grin.
„Pokémon, seriously?“
'Offended' by his reaction she threw a pillow at her boyfriend's face.
„What's that supposed to mean? It's a good show! A lot of the younger children seemed to enjoy it so I tried watching it and I liked it...“
He would love to point out how she mentioned the word younger in that argument but concluded to not to do.
„Fine, we'll watch it- It's not as if I could stop you from doing so and it can't be too bad if you choose it.“
„Thank you, you're the best. I promise you won't regret it!“
With her being this close to him and warm, he was likely to not regret it even if the show ended up being something he'd prefer to not watch but it wasn't that bad.
After a few episodes, he actually insisted on watching some more somewhere else that allowed him to stream it. Emma felt satisfied and in the end, they actually spent watching the anime deep into the night.
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„We should go to sleep now, I've got work tomorrow.“
The suggestion was shortly answered with a yawn coming from the sleepy redhead.
„Mhmm, yea sounds good.“
They turned off the TV and when Norman motioned Emma to get off for a moment so they could go into their bedroom to sleep, she snuggled up even closer to him.
„Emma, you do realize I'll never get the end of it from Ray and everyone else the next day, right?“
His voice held a tired undertone despite the words spoken being meant as an obvious joke.
She knew Norman would never want to make her feel bad for something he could have avoided himself. He was quite grateful for today, it had been something else, something both of them needed after this repetitive cycle that had been going on for a while.
„Well, not if you stay home tomorrow as well!“
Emma suggested with a grin, she was honestly half-serious. She didn't want to return to the usual routine that was seemingly endless.
His blue eyes rested on her smaller figure and for a moment he was caught up in how comforting and happy her presence made him feel. He reached out his hand to cup her left cheek and pull her closer.
„We'll see about that.“
It wasn't a no but definitely not a yes. It was a maybe and Emma was more than happy with that.
Another small yawn escaped her and her eyelids felt incredibly heavy. She finally gave him his long-awaited kiss on the lips but it was very short judging by how exhausted Emma was. Strange, normally she wasn't this easily tired. Norman grew a little concerned for a split second but mentally shrugged it off.
„Love you...“
„I love you too.“
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„Oh and Norman?“
Wondering why Emma was still awake he opened one of his eyes to look down at her head that still rested on his chest. They practically already were half asleep.
„Yeah?“
„I also may be pregnant...“
Norman was waiting for the usual chuckle to come from his girlfriend to signalize how she was only messing with him but it didn't. Emma merely turned to face him with sleepy eyes and a warm smile.
It looked like this was gonna be a long night after all.
