— psycho : part ten !

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𝐏 𝐒 𝐘 𝐂 𝐇 𝐎

‘ 𝘵𝘦𝘯 : 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 ’

_______________________________

Norman didn't realise how late it had gotten until they finally arrived at Kiara's family restaurant, The Wreck, and the sun had set. He must have been exhausted after the graveyard shenanigans that he slept through most of the afternoon. He had a tendency to do that when he was stressed out since the longer he was asleep, the less he had to think about the problem. He could probably sleep for a week with all the stress John B has managed to cause him in the past two days alone. He still had yet to say anything further about what he said in the car and it was revealed that he and Kiara kissed so things were going terribly. Still, he was calm and everything was fine. He wasn't going to suddenly sign his life away to stressing over John B just because of a few small interactions and the fact that he was, as Alisha said, letting himself try to figure things out. He would help out on their treasure hunt as much as John B wanted him too, but he wasn't going to risk anything for the stupid boy.

"Stealing drones makes you hungry," Kie sighed as John B stopped the van and everyone hopped out.

"Borrowing," Norman corrected with a cheeky grin, causing the girl to laugh and shake her head gently. He liked Kie, he really did. He still refused to understand how she hung out with these boys all the time, though. After two days of it, Norman was exhausted.

JJ sighed, "What I would do to a beer and shrimp and grits right now."

"It would not be pretty," Pope countered with a scoff as they all unloaded and took a moment to catch their breath. As they entered The Wreck, the four of them stayed back while Kiara went to speak with her dad. It was evident by the man's expression that he was not happy about the Pogues standing hungry in his restaurant. After a moment, they both looked over at the group to which the four boys waved. Kiara's dad seemed to visibly relax when he saw Norman.

With a sigh, Norman took a deep breath and walked over to the pair, causally slinging an arm around Kiara's shoulders and trying to subtly cheer her up when he realised she was getting up. "Mister Carrera, if you guys can't afford to give them some free stuff then I'll happily take care of the tab. Help the local business, you know? Kie and I can't let our friends go hungry."

"You two are friends?" her dad asked with a suspicious look on his face, "I haven't seen you coming around as much, Norman."

The boy shrugged, "Yeah, well Kie spent so long avoiding Kook Academy that it took a while for us to meet. And please, Mr. Carrera, my friends call me Rocky."

The man sighed, "Don't worry about the tab, Rocky, I've got some leftovers that were about to be tossed. You guys can have 'em."

Kie smiled, coming out from under Norman's arms to hug her dad, saying, "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," the man said with a smile, "And good to see you, Rocky, give your family my best."

"Will do, sir," he said with a mock salute as the two walked back over to the boys.

"I almost forgot you're Kook royalty," John B teased as the five of them took a seat at the nearest table, glad they weren't going to go hungry.

Norman's response was mainly to flip him off, saying, "I'm just a parent charmer. Tall and handsome and respectful, dad's love me."

Kie scoffed, "Brag much?"

"I just offered to buy all your dinners, so you guys can't say shit to me right now because if he didn't cave I would have," Norman shrugged, "Don't bite the hand that feeds, bitches."

"You're the reason I hate rich people, thank you for that, Paranorman," John B commented with a teasing sneer on his face. JJ gasped the moment he had said that, his face lighting up like a Christmas tree.

"Paranorman!" he exclaimed with childlike glee, "I totally forgot we used to call you that. Ugh, that's so genius, that's my name for you from now on. John B, you amaze me."

"Dude, we've been calling him Paranorman forever," Pope laughed, "Because John B was always making fun of you, no offence, though, you're actually pretty cool."

Norman just laughed at that, no malicious or offended undertones detected. He genuinely seemed to like these people, which was weird for him since he had kept things so tight within his friend group, he never even gave them a chance. With a chuckle, he turned to John B and joked, "That's right, I forgot that John B was totally in love with me for the past year."

"God, don't you guys just hate Rocky with his perfect hair and perfect smile and ugh, he's so perfect!" Kie mocked in a girlish voice that caused John B to groan with his cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Shut up, you guys are the worst!" John B exclaimed as Kiara's father placed their food down in front of them and they began to dig in. Norman, who hadn't eaten all day, was thankful for this as he began to eat. He noticed the same energy in the boys, but it seemed more desperate than that. Norman wondered how often they got to eat food from restaurants -- leftovers or not. Judging by how little he had seen in John B's cabinets and fridge, he wondered how often they ate at all.

As the night progressed, everyone relaxed as John B threw a fry for JJ to catch in his mouth with a triumphant laugh. Kie shook her head as she poured them more water, lip-synching along to the music as she got John B to get up and dance. Norman couldn't the last time him and his friends hung out like this. Maybe it was because none of his friends had parents that owned a restaurant and let them hang around like this. All he and his friends ever did was take boat trips and go to stupid parties where there's sixteen-year-olds doing coke in the living room. John B and Kiara began dancing together in a way that was so stupidly in sync, Norman was almost jealous. He supposed there wasn't much to be jealous of -- he and Alisha often danced and got along the same way. Maybe there really was nothing there. Besides, John B was in no way his.

After the sun had been down long enough and they all began to get tired, Mr. Carrera came over to where the five of them were scattered around the now-closed restaurant. He told them, "All right, kids, you've exhausted my leftovers, I think it's time to be gettin' home now. Kiara, are you riding with me?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'll stay to help clean up. You four get the hell out, this place is literally a wreck now because of you guys."

The four of them laughed but followed instructions as the girl bid them all goodnight and kicked them all out into the night. They made their way to the van where Norman made his way to the back, but John b stopped him and opened the enger side door for him motioning to the empty seat.

"Oh, I get shotgun?" Norman spoke with a tone that was partially teasing, but partially serious as well. "Maybe I was right and you are madly in love with me."

John B shook his head with a small smile gracing his features, "Dumbass, it's just a seat."

Norman rolled his eyes, but took the seat regardless, his arm hanging out the window as they began driving. It made the most sense to drop Norman off first considering he was the only one to live on the Figure Eight, but instead, they approached JJ and Pope's homes first and it became just John B and Norman in the car. Maybe he was nervous to be alone with him, but Norman knew he was thinking too much about it.

"So..." he broke the comfortable silence after a while, "Perfect hair, perfect teeth, what else do you think about me is perfect?"

"Norman shut the fuck up," was all John B said with a deadpan expression that didn't last for long before it broke out into a small smile, "I swear, I never said shit. Kie made that up."

The boy shook his head, "Something tells me she's not that much of a liar. But whatever, believe what you wanna believe."

"I hate you."

Norman just laughed at that, a reaction he never expected he would have to such a statement, "You don't though, do you? I don't know what changed in the last like three days but there's no way you hate me. I mean, you called me today for absolutely no reason other than you wanting me around. You picked me up the same way you drive by to get Pope and JJ and you asked me to come the same way you ask Kiara. You like me."

John B sighed as he stopped the van in front of Norman's house. There was something telling Norman not to get out just yet, though. So, he stayed. "Yeah, duh. I literally begged you to stay last night. I think you're the one who doesn't want to it that we're friends. I think you're scared that you're gonna realise how shitty your friends are after hanging out with mine because I think you've forgotten that friends are supposed to have fun, not punch each other in the face."

"My friends aren't all assholes," Norman scoffed, "Just James. And you, since apparently we're friends."

"Do you think we'll ever be more than that?" John B asked, his voice so quiet Norman wasn't even sure he heard him correctly. It was a question Norman had asked himself about a hundred times in the past three days, but he never thought he would hear that question leave his mouth, but here was having to answer but coming up blank.

He signed, not knowing what to do. He had never been in a situation like this, hell, he never even expected to even be friends with John B let alone have the semblance of a question of more.

After a moment of silence, he answered, "I'm not sure. Goodnight, John B."

"Hey," the boy called out as he opened the door, causing him to stop, "Go fuck yourself or something... right?"

Norman laughed, ing the night before. "Yeah, or something."

With a sigh, he got out of the car and didn't look back. Once he opened his front door, he heard John B drive away and he chuckled to himself, knowing the boy had wanted to make sure he got inside. It was something Norman did when he dropped Alisha or any of his other friends off at their homes -- always waiting. His parents seemed to be asleep already, but he didn't mind that. He had been so in and out in the past few days, he could already imagine the onslaught of questions he would receive if they had been present at the moment. He yawned as he walked up to his room, but his brow furrowed as he realised his light was already on. Shrugging, he assumed it was going to be Alisha has he opened the door.

To his surprise, it was James.

The boy stood up from Norman's bed, a relieved expression on his face, "Hi, your mom let me in like three hours ago I had no idea when you'd be home, sorry. I tried to ask Alisha where you were, but she wouldn't tell me anything."

Closing the door behind him, Norman leaned against it and didn't move any closer to the boy in his room. Skeptically, he asked, "James, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Alisha told me the truth," the boy explained. Norman froze, wondering just how much of the truth had been told. He trusted Alisha not to spill any secrets meant to stay sacred, but he couldn't be too sure. "I know that you guys aren't dating. She refused to tell me what you guys were covering up in the first place, though. I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for overreacting. If Alisha was going to end up with anyone from the group, I should have known that you would be a good match for her. It was stupid and childish and you didn't deserve that from me."

Norman thought back to the past few days with John B. The kiss when they were fifteen, the kiss the day before. The bated breaths as he pressed an ice pack to the boy's black eye; his heartbeat when the favour had been returned and John B cleaned up the bloody nose caused by James. He thought to the way John B had looked at him in the middle of those waves, half-ed out after the fight. The way his name sounded slightly less awful coming out of his mouth than it did anyone else's. Norman had a sinking feeling this wasn't a "might" anymore.

"James, what we were covering up..." Norman began, not sure where his mind was going with this. An apology from James was the last thing he had expected, so he thought. What he expected even less were the next words to leave his mouth, "I think I might be gay."