Glad to know you guys are enjoying the story!!! I'm getting a lot more feedback on here than youtube!! Thanks so much!!! Keep the comments coming!!! Xx

--

"I can't believe you made me do that!" I said while walking through the living room in Norman's apartment. I had shed my coat and boots at the door and now I flopped on his couch. Mingus and Norman were laughing the whole time I was complaining.

While walking downtown after having ice cream New York decided to be cool and start dumping snow. Okay so it wasn't New York's fault but you get the point. I looked up and was instantly met by Norman's blue eyes. He had an evil smirk on his face.

"All part of the plan?" I asked him. He chuckled before falling on top of me. He caught himself with his hands before falling on me completely. "Mingus go pack your stuff. Your mom will be here soon," Norman addressed Mingus without even looking up at him.

I rolled my eyes at him. I was always curious so I decided to ask. "Does Mingus live with his mom?" Norman shook his head. "I have full custody but we live close enough that we let Mingus stay where he wants when he wants," I nodded taking in the information.

There was a knock and Norman groaned while getting off of me to go answer it. I sat up and tried to fix myself knowing it would be Mingus's mom. I sighed as I watched a woman, who seemed very high maintenance I might add walked right into Norman's apartment.

She completely ignored Norman, who looked lost, and directed her attention towards me. "Who are you?" What the hell? Who does she think she is? I stood up trying to be polite. "Mandy," I said while offering my hand to her. She looked down at my hand then over at Norman.

"Are you ever going to have a girlfriend your age? Especially since you have a 13 year old son? How old are you? 19?" she was now addressing me. I felt like a stray cat trapped in a corner. "I uh...well," "Helena, leave her alone dammit!" I was a little shocked by Norman's outburst.

We all heard a thud and our eyes followed. Mingus was standing at the end of the hallway with his bag at his feet. "I'll just, uh yeah, Mingus," I quickly walked over to him, placing my hands on his shoulders and wheeled him around back to his bedroom.

Right when the door shut the arguing on the other side began. I sighed as Mingus sat on his bed. I watched as he ran a hand through his hair. I thought back to Helena. Mingus didn't look anything like her. He was a spitting image of Norman. His mini me as I called him.

I went and sat beside Mingus and threw an arm around him. "I'm sorry bud," I said while squeezing him a little. I felt him shrug. "It's okay. She always does this. It doesn't bother me. You're cool," I felt a smile creep on my face at his words. It made me feel a little better.

"Well thanks, bud. That means a lot, but I'm still sorry. I hated it when my parents fought," once again Mingus shrugged and I decided to leave the conversation at that. It was silent on both sides of the door. I was hoping they hadn't killed each other out there.

I sighed as I ran a hand lightly through Mingus's hair causing him to stick his tongue out at me. "I need to go to the bathroom," Mingus said while getting up. I nodded. "There and right back. I don't want you to get in the middle of that out there," Mingus nodded and walked out the door.

I ran a hand over my face and groaned. I was hoping Helena wouldn't always be like this. I was hoping we could tolerate each other for the sake of Mingus. I didn't have to be best friends with her. I didn't have a problem. I respected her. She is Mingus's mom and I will never replace that.

"Mom stop!" oh shit. I quickly shot off Mingus's bed and darted out the door. "Mandy is cool and I like her! Leave her alone!" I walked in right as Mingus was ending his little rant. I placed my hands on his shoulders. "Sorry he told me he was going to the bathroom."

Helena put on a fake smile and motioned for Mingus. "We need to be going anyway." I saw right through her act. Mingus walked over to Norman and hugged him. Norman bent down and kissed his forehead. "Love you buddy," he said while pulling back.

"Love you too dad," I was expecting him to walk away with his mom and leave it at that, but he shocked me when he walked over to me and held out his arms to me. I smiled and pulled him into a hug. "See ya later, kid," he stuck his tongue out at me before walking over to his mom.

She quickly ushered him out the door and closed it behind her. I leaned heavily against the wall and pulled out my phone. I quickly started a new text message. "Next time, warn me about Bitchy Mom," I sent to Stacey. Not even a minute later I received a message back. "Bitchy Mom?" Then I got another one right behind it. "Oh Helena."

I rolled my eyes a little. "Ding ding ding we have a winner." My phone beeped again. "What did she do?" I typed back quickly. "Walked through the door and started saying negative shit! Wouldn't even introduce herself properly." My phone beeped again.

Good Lord she types fast. "What a bitch! Do I need to kick her ass?!" I chuckled a little. "No, I can handle it. I gotta go. Norman's staring at me like I've gone crazy." I slid my phone in my pocket and walked over to sit beside him on the couch. I ran a hand through my hair.

"Sorry about that," Norman said while leaning back on the couch. I chuckled and shook my head. "It's okay. She'll come around. I don't have any problems with her." Norman nodded. "Sorry about Mingus. He's pretty sneaky." Norman chuckled.

"He gets that from me," this time I chuckled. "I figured as much." I felt Norman's arms snake around my waist and pull me back into him. I sighed heavily as I snuggled into him. "Still can't believe you made me go out in the damn cold for ice cream," I mumbled.

Norman's chuckles vibrated against my back. "But it was worth it," he said into my hair. I felt a small smile form on my face. "Whatever," I said trying to hide my smile. Norman's grip tightened around me. "Admit it," "Admit what?" He chuckled again.

"The ice cream was worth it," he said. He really wasn't going to let this go. "That ice cream was pretty damn good," I said. "HA! I knew it!" I turned around a little to look at him. "Happy?" I asked him. He had an amused look on his face. "Mm very," he mumbled before connecting our lips.

I sighed into the kiss when suddenly my phone started ringing. That kiss was too short. "Damn," Norman whispered as I pulled back. I looked down at my phone and growled when I saw Jordan's name pop up. I was still pretty pissed at him but I answered anyway.

"What?" I said. Norman squeezed me a little as if telling me to be nice. "We have a problem," I heard Jordan say. Wherever he was at it sounded like whatever he was walking on was crunchy. "What's that?" I asked him. I heard him groan. "Somebody broke into the bar."

Well damn. "I'll be there in a minute." I hung up and turned around to look at Norman who looked slightly confused. "I'm sorry. I got to go. Jordan's having problems down at the bar," I stood up and went to grab my jacket. "Problems?" I heard him question.

I threw on my jacket while turning around to face him. I shoved my hands in my pockets. "Yeah I guess someone broke in," I watched Norman's eyebrows arch. "I'm going with you," he said while standing up quickly. I shrugged. "If you want to," I said.

We quickly walked out the door and made our way down to the bar. When I walked in, with Norman right behind me, it didn't look like anything was really that bad. A few overturned tables and chairs, busted bottles, but that was about it. I let out a low whistle.

"Anything missing?" I asked Jordan who was leaning against the counter staring across the room. He slowly shook his head. "Any idea of who it could be?" again he shook his head. "This wouldn't of happened..." his voice trailed. "If what?" I knew he was going somewhere with this. "This wouldn't have happened if you would be more responsible."

I scoffed. Now this was MY fault?! "The fuck are you talking about?" I asked him. Glass crunched under my shoes as I walked over to him. "If you would've locked the door this wouldn't have happened!" I threw my hands up in the air. "I haven't worked the past two days!"

I looked out of the corner of my eye to see Norman standing back awkwardly from us. "Whatever! You've been like this ever since college!" I wanted to throw something at him now. "That has nothing to do with this!" "If Chase didn't cha-," "Do NOT bring him into this! I don't have to deal with this right now! Have fun cleaning this up!" I stomped off towards the back of the bar and walked up what seemed like hundreds of flights of stairs. When I reached the top I flung the door open revealing the cool New York air.

I looked over the edge of the building to downtown New York. It may have been cold but it was absolutely beautiful up here. You could see everything and I loved the sound of New York. I sighed as I leaned against the banister. I heard the door open and shut but I didn't bother turning around.

"I was wondering when you would find this place," Norman. I didn't turn around. I sighed and shook my head. "I found it one day after work," I said. I felt Norman come up behind me. He put his hands on either side of me trapping me between him and the banister.

"What did he mean?" Norman asked me. I sighed. I knew this was going to come up sooner or later. "Last year, I was in college. It was my last year. I was going to graduate with honors. I had full scholarships and it was ripped out from under me," I started.

Norman shifted a little and got closer to me. I could feel his chest pressing against my back. "What happened?" he whispered in my ear. I shivered a little from how close he was. "I, uh, started partying really hard. I met a guy and we all got caught one night. They took away my scholarships."

"Did you graduate?" Norman asked. I barely nodded. "Yeah, but I had to fight for it. I almost didn't and now I'll be paying off student loans until I'm at least 40," Norman hands made their way to my waist and he pushed me lightly to face him. I sighed again.

"The guy?" he asked me. He was just full of questions, wasn't he? I shook my head. "He's an ex-boyfriend now. I figured out he was cheating on me. I regret it and I wish I could take it back," I said. I looked up to meet Norman's blue eyes and I instantly smiled.

"Some boyfriend," Norman said and I chuckled. "Yeah he was a charmer," I said sarcastically. My mind instantly flashed to Chase and I scowled. "What's wrong?" Norman asked. I shook my head. "Nothing...just nothing," I said. Norman's eyebrows pulled together.

"I'm fine, promise," I slipped my arms around Norman waist inside his jacket. "If you say so," he said. I smiled up at him. "Kiss me, dammit," he smirked a little before pulling me closer and bending down. "Yes ma'am," he mumbled against my lips before connecting them.

I smiled into the kiss and ran my hands up his back pushing him as close as possible to me. We pulled back after a few seconds and I smiled up at him. "I could get used to this," I whispered. Norman cracked a slight smile and pushed me back lightly into the banister.

He bent down and kissed me again lightly and I frowned a little when he pulled back. I was met by his eyes again and that's when I noticed. "Your eyes are sparkling," I said while running my thumb lightly under one of them. Norman smiled.

"They do that when I'm happy," I smiled a little. "I need to go home and unpack some more," Norman frowned this time. "Can't you do that later?" he whined. I chuckled at his kid like behavior. "I need to get it done," Norman pulled me off the banister. "Fine then I guess we're going back to your place."

--

Comment, vote, fan, follow, add to reading list! Y'all are awesome! Can't wait to catch up and start putting the new stuff up!!! Reedus kisses for everyone! xxxxxxxxxxx