Forbidden Kiss

Emily heard the knock at the at the hotel room door and walked over to carefully peer out the hole to screen visitors, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw Norman's face on the other side and his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth, eyes crossed, being completely goofy. Just for her. She grinned and opened the door.

"Get in here, ya big goof," she said, reaching down and gripping his wrist tightly and pulling him inside, glancing down both sides of the hallway before closing the door behind them.

"What's with all the cloak and dagger shit, Em?" he looked down at her, concern etching his features. Norman noticed for the first time that Emily's signature smile was not gracing her lips and he fought the urge to pull her into his arms and just kiss it back into place. He ignored the thought that it was getting harder and harder to keep himself from doing so. It had been this way between them since they had filmed the back part of season four. He had been excited to get to work with her finally but he had not been expecting the havoc it was now wreaking on his emotions.

Emily walked further into the room and settled herself on the bed, criss-crossing her legs and patting the place beside her. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was wise to sit so closely to her. They were all alone here in her room, not in front of thousands of fans, producers and fellow cast members looking on. It was just them.

Emily pulled out her phone and handed it to him, her email pulled up to a bunch of Twitter notifications. "Look at some of these. It's kind of freaking me out, ya know?"

She had pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and was worrying over it and he again fought the urge to pull her into his arms. She looked so impossibly small, sitting there in her black stretch pants that accented curves and dips that he probably had no business admiring, but he did it all the same. She was wearing another of her crop tops, the hem coming just above her belly button and he wondered what it tasted like. He shook his head to banish his errant thoughts and blamed the shots of Herradura he and Greg had downed a couple hours ago. He took her phone from her, studying the display even as he took his out. It had been dead for a few hours now. "Can I charge my phone with your charger? It's been dead awhile." He said.

"So that's why I couldn't get you to text me back? I thought you had forgotten about me," Emily pouted at him prettily and he reached out and smoothed one errant strand of her golden locks behind her ear.

"Now why would you think that? It was a crazy day is all," he tried to reply smoothly but her disarming smile and beguiling charm did things to him. Things that he wasn't sure he was ready for.

He looked down at her phone in his hand and he scrolled through the emails, "Leave Daryl alone." "He belongs with Carol." "You were just a replacement. Wish you had died in season four." It went on and on and her voice broke through the angry tirade going through his brain. Because no one deserved this kind of hate. Especially not her.

"I deleted them all, but they were so mean. I still have the emails so I could show them to you and to security" She looked miserable and he wished he could email every single person and tell them what fucking morons they were.

His phone chirped from beside him, finally having charged up enough to turn itself on. He glanced at the display and saw her tweet from a few hours ago. "Hiding out, huh?" he looked over at her and winked.

"I didn't know what else to do. I was a little, I don't know…." Her voice trailed off. Emily knew she was probably being a big baby about the whole thing but she felt better with him here with her. His left hand was braced on the mattress and she was very aware of the fact that his hand was close to hers. She wanted him to touch her. Not just like they were in front of everyone the day before. But really touch her, and know that it was just for the two of them. Not for the whole world to see and love but something just for the two of them.

"Can you stay here tonight?" Emily breathed, looking at him uncertainly. She didn't want to ask but she knew he would do it and she truly was a little disturbed by all the hate she was getting. Most of the fans were just completely awesome but there were a few that had scared her here lately. She chalked it up to being famous. She was still getting used to all of it, the fame, the attention, and the prying eyes of the public.

"Of course I can," He said without hesitation and she smiled in relief. His first thought went to how in the hell he was going to be able to keep his hands off her because mother of god, she was beautiful. What's worse is he already knew how sweet her lips tasted. After that one kiss. That one in his trailer after they had finally wrapped 4:12, their sole episode together. That episode had taken days to film and he had spent a lot of time with Emily and yelling at her like he did in those scenes. That had done things to him too. He had spent a lot of time since then thinking about the kiss they had shared, fueled by the passion they had ignited in one another, getting so wrapped up in the characters and their story that it was hard for him to tell where Beth ended and Emily began.

But when they had stood there at his trailer door, her fingering the doorknob and turned to say goodnight he had thrown all good sense out the window and grabbed her wrist, spinning her around and pulling her to him, one arm slipping around the small of her back to pull her close and the other sliding up her neck, through her hair to cup the back of her head, pulling her lips towards his. As he sealed his lips over hers, he had felt her mouth open willingly and a delicate sigh escaped her lips and he swallowed it. Swallowed it along with his own deep growl at finally tasting her, all sweetness and Diet Coke and as her tongue entered his mouth he knew he had never felt anything more perfect than kissing her. She responded to him like a drowning person does to a life raft and he wasn't sure he would be able to stop. Wasn't sure he wanted to.

Getting involved with a cast member. Especially her, he knew it was a bad idea. Could only end badly. These things usually did. He had pulled his lips away from hers and held onto her shoulders to steady her, to steady himself, he wasn't sure. He had staggered back, "I'm sorry, Emily" he had said and turned away. She had pressed her fingers to her lips, held them there, and opened the door, leaving quietly. They had never spoken of it but it hung between them now. It was palpable, real, and demanded their attention.

And sitting in this hotel room, alone, with Emily beside him, he found he wanted to explore it. He had become addicted to touching her. Found that he needed it, like he needed to breathe. He reached over and skimmed his fingers up her arm and she inhaled sharply and looked at him, her eyes full of expectation and wonder. Would he kiss her? He didn't know. But he liked to think he would. He liked to think he'd kiss her right on until dawn, not caring one way or the other if it ended badly at the moment. All he could think about for this small space of infinity was how her lips had felt beneath his and how he needed to feel them again.

Emily saw his eyes stray to her lips and she knew it then; Norman was going to kiss her. Finally. She had thought of little else around him since that time in his trailer. That kiss had been hot, passionate, and left her wanting more. Her heart fluttered wildly in her chest, beating against her rib cage like it was trying to escape. She held her breath waiting for him to make the first move. Willing him to.

"To hell with it," he murmured and her eyes went wide as he dipped his head to hers. She parted her lips and he was lost, mesmerized, as he brought his lips to hers, sealing them together, seamless, as one as he drew her bottom lip in between his, suckling softly, warm and pliant. She sighed. He sighed. It was as he remembered. Perfect.