Hola, everybody! I'm AllyKat8, joining you all the way from over on Waterloo Road and The Host. I'll admit that although I wasn't completely convinced by Under The Dome at first, it's fast become one of my favourite guilty pleasures. Now, I don't want to abandon my other fics but I just couldn't stop myself from indulging myself in a little one shot in what is a seriously Jorrie deprived part of the tinterweb. I hope you enjoy!
P.S. I am English so please excuse any non-americanisms.
"Norrie?"
Joe kicked himself away from his desk and spun around in his chair. He was met by a sight which, had it not been for his growing frustration, he might have found beautiful. He thought perhaps he would go as far as to say adorable.
Norrie shuffled in her sleep, tucking a previously splayed arm under her head.
Joe let out a defeated breath as Norrie slumbered peacefully, her chest rising and falling gently as she unconsciously buried her face into Joe's pillow.
"Nor," Joe implored heavily as he ragged a pencil blackened hand through his hair.
Norrie moaned pitifully as she clutched desperately at the last fragments of sleep. Soft yellow light filtered through her closed lids, prising her eyes open like claws.
"Norrie!" Joe repeated, his voice bold and laced with urgency.
Norrie emitted an angry growl by way of a response and rolled onto her back, bright auburn hair fanning out around her.
"You got a death wish, McAlister?" she asked, stifling a yawn with her fist.
Joe fought the urge to roll his eyes as Norrie heaved herself into a sitting position. The fire in her eyes danced between a silent challenge and a murderous glare.
"You're supposed to be helping me figure out how to get rid of this thing," Joe said, waving his arm absently behind him.
Norrie grimaced as she followed his gesture to the bedroom wall. The once blue expanse was now haphazardly redecorated with a collage of well worn maps. Maps of Chester's Mill overlapped recently drawn layouts of the Dome, all of which were embellished with lines and equations that made Norrie's head ache.
Norrie curled her legs beneath her exhausted body. She gazed resolutely at a small purple stain on her jeans and fidgeted restlessly with the sleeves of Joe's hoodie before pulling them down over her hands.
"Joe?" she mumbled nervously.
"Yeah?"
Norrie swallowed thickly.
"Does it even matter anymore if we bring the Dome down or not? I mean, that ghost thing, or whatever it was, that looked like my Mom showing up made it pretty clear that the Dome is here for a reason. Maybe we should just accept that."
Norrie gathered her courage and met Joe's look of surprise with her own steely expression.
"Nor, my parents are stuck on the other side of that thing."
Norrie huffed and folded her arms tightly around herself.
"Yeah, and my Mom's dead because of it but it's done now. If this thing ever comes up, which it won't because all we've got to go on is some stupid egg, then what happens next? You finish school, go off to college and meet some girl with an IQ the size of Texas?"
"What?" Joe began indignantly, pushing himself to his feet as Norrie finished. "No."
Joe shook his head awkwardly as if trying to fathom the logic in her ranting.
"Look," Joe started softly, kneeling before her like a peasant for a queen, "if we weren't trapped in here together, I never would have met you. The Dome is the coolest thing that's ever happened to this town and, yeah, most of the time I wish it wasn't here but it bought us together. That's pretty awesome. I don't care about 'Miss Texas;' she's probably too busy preaching to the masses about world peace to care about Chester's Mill anyway."
Norrie fought futilely against the smile that tugged at her lips.
"Yeah?"
Norrie's raised an amused eyebrow.
"Yeah," Joe affirmed, climbing onto the bed beside her.
Norrie shifted closer, her eyes glinting playfully. She eyed Joe carefully and bit her lip with mock innocence as she watched his Adam's apple bob with a hard, nervous swallow.
"I think, you know, seeing as we're trying to work out what the mini Dome wants, we should go back to the big Dome. For..." she paused thoughtfully and slipped her hand into Joe's, "inspiration and such. I mean, the last time we paid the thing an intimate visit we found the mini Dome."
Joe squinted and shook his head slowly.
"That was different, Nor. We were searching for a power source all week so we were bound to find something," Joe confirmed hurriedly.
Norrie rolled her eyes as he continued animatedly.
"So we just need to decide what we're looking for next. The mini Dome must want us to do something or else we probably wouldn't have found it in the first place. It's like fate or-"
"Joe! Stop," Norrie interrupted. Her agitated tone cut sharply through Joe's excited ramblings. She grabbed his flushed cheeks in frustration and pulled his startled face towards her own determined one. "I just... will you just kiss me already?"