Chapter 12

The following week went by fast. Norman and Chloe had brief conversations and continued texting, but there were no deep, serious discussions since that night. He tried to talk Chloe into visiting him, but she kept declining. She was scared and to be honest, he was too. He didn't know how to deal with these newfound feelings. He knew he really liked Chloe and wanted to see her, spend time with her, not just over the phone. Her birthday was coming up in a couple of weeks, which gave him an idea.

Norman had the weekend off and flew into that Thursday night. The next day he hopped on his bike and made the 4-hour drive to North Carolina. Chase had given him directions to Chloe's house and Norman planned to be there when she got home from work.

Chloe was counting down the minutes to 5:00. It had been a long day and she was ready to get home. She had the weekend off from the bar since it was her birthday Saturday and was looking forward to a weekend of doing absolutely nothing. She had been thinking about Norman a lot. She had thought about flying out to see him this weekend, but she didn't have the money and couldn't accept his offer to pay for her flight.

As soon as 5:00 rolled around it was like a mass exodus out of the building. Chloe gathered her things in her backpack and walked outside. It was a beautiful spring day. The days were starting to get longer. She had the windows down on the drive home with Foo Fighters blasting from the radio. When she pulled into her driveway, she noticed a motorcycle parked in it, but didn't think anything of it. She knew several people that rode. It wasn't until she got out of the car that she saw HIM sitting on the top porch step.

Chloe's heart began to pound. She thought it was going to burst out of her chest any moment. She sat there with the car still running for what seemed like an eternity. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Norman saw her pull in and suddenly began fidgeting. He stood up and walked down the porch steps to stand of the sidewalk leading to the driveway. He had a bouquet of wild flowers in his hand that he picked up at a local florist shop. He began biting his thumbnail on his other hand. He felt like a teenager about to ask the most popular girl in school out on a date.

He watched her get out of the car and slowly walk towards him. He couldn't tell if she was happy or not to see him. She had a dazed look on her face. When she was standing in front of him, he could see her eyes well up with tears. He immediately thought he made the wrong decision to come surprise her. He didn't want to upset her. They stood there staring at one another for a moment. Then Norman was completely caught off guard when Chloe wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder in a hug. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and bent his head into the crook of her neck. He felt his eyes water as well.

They stood there, holding each other for several minutes, neither one wanting to let go. It wasn't until the sound of Chloe's dogs going ape shit over their mom being home that they finally broke apart.

"Happy Birthday," Norman said as he handed her the flowers.

Chloe wiped a single tear off her cheek. "Thank you."

Norman grabbed his jacket and backpack off of the porch and followed her into the house. He was immediately greeted by 2 medium sized dogs circling his legs and sniffing anything within reach.

"Berkeley and Bailey, outside," Chloe commanded causing the 2 canines to run to the back door. Before she could get the door open all the way they both bolted outside.

"I'm going to put these in some water," Chloe began. "Please make yourself at home."

She pulled a vase from an overhead cabinet and began filling it with water from the kitchen sink. Norman was watching her every move and noticed her hands shaking. Once she had the flowers arranged, he walked up behind her and gently grabbed her arm to turn her around. He wrapped his arms around her again into a hug. He noticed then that it wasn't just her hands that were shaking.

Chloe snaked her arms around his waist, both hands grasped the back of his t-shirt like she was afraid he would disappear. Norman ran his fingers through her hair trying to calm her, although he wouldn't have been surprised if she felt him shiver as well.

Chloe pulled away just enough to look up into those beautiful blue eyes. She cleared her throat, finding her voice.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice just as shaky.

"I needed to see you," Norman said, his voice quiet and soft. "Is that ok?"

Chloe nodded.

Norman brought his hand to cup her face and gently ran his thumb across her cheek as he stared into her hazel eyes. He bent his head forward so they were practically nose-to-nose. He heard Chloe's breath hitch as he leaned in and kissed her.

Chloe released the grasp she had on the back of Norman's t-shirt and softly ran her hands up towards his broad shoulders. Norman still had one hand cupping her face while the other was rubbing her back as he placed soft, open-mouthed kisses against her lips. Even though they were sweet, gentle kisses, she could still feel her toes curl.

Norman kissed the tip of her nose and pressed his forehead to hers. They continued to stand there in their embrace until the dogs started whining at the back door wanting to be fed.

While Chloe took care of her pets, they had decided to stay in for the night, order pizza and watch a movie. Norman took a shower while Chloe waited for the pizza. They talked while they ate, Chloe telling Norman a few funny stories from the bar. Norman told Chloe about the movie he was working on. She laughed when he told her he had to wear a cowboy hat.

"I just can't picture you in a cowboy hat," she giggled.

After they ate, Chloe went to take her shower while Norman looked for a movie to watch. When she came out of the bathroom in her sleep pants and tank top, she saw Norman standing at the foot of her bed with the remote in his hand. He had that eat shit grin plastered on his face.

"I was trying to find a movie for us to watch," he said, not letting up on that grin. "You can imagine my surprise when I turned the TV on and this popped up." He motioned toward the TV screen as Chloe walked further into the room and turned around to see what he was looking at.

"Oh God," she said, her hands immediately covering her face.

There on the screen was the shower scene from Boondock Saints II. But the scene was paused on Norman's naked backside.

"This your favorite part?" he asked teasing.

"I'm going to go crawl in a hole and die right now," Chloe said, her face the brightest shade of red as she started walking back towards the bathroom. She would stay in there the rest of the weekend.

"Oh no you don't," Norman said. He grabbed her by the arm and picked her up from behind. Chloe's legs began kicking outward.

"Put me down," she squealed.

"Alright, if that's what you want," Norman said mischievously and threw her on the bed. He quickly jumped on top of her and began tickling her sides.

"Lass, if ye wanted to see me arse, all ye had to do was ask," he said in that Murphy McManus Irish accent.

"Get off of me," Chloe yelled through laughter and she was hitting him in the shoulders trying to push him off.

Norman finally stopped tickling her before she peed all over herself. It was then that they realized their position. Chloe laid on her back with Norman on top of her from waist up. His crotch was pushed against her hip. Their faces were a mere inch apart and they both were panting heavily from their playing around. Norman had both hands on either side of her head holding himself up so he could look at her. Chloe's arms were resting by her sides.

Neither one of them were quite sure what to do. Chloe wanted him, but was frozen out of fear. Norman definitely wanted her as the bulge pressed against her hip was any indication but he didn't want to push her if she wasn't ready. Almost simultaneously, they both made up their minds. As Chloe lifted her hands to the sliver of exposed skin on Norman's sides from his raised t-shirt, she raised her head towards his. At the same time he bent his head down and met her lips with his.