ONE YOU'RE STILL HERE

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     One year later, everything had changed. Well, not everything, Norman was really just giving in to his asshole tendencies a lot more these days. That didn't mean his friends loved him any less, though, they were still stronger than ever. Well, at least they tried to be. Then, they got to the stage of their teenage years where hormones got in the way and Kook-on-Kook action fucked way too many things up. If they ignored the problems, though, they'd probably just go away. Right?

Of course, none of his friends knew about the kiss. All they knew was Norman started hating Pogues a whole lot more than he used to. However, that was fairly on-brand for him and his Kook friends.

However, hating Pogues certainly never stopped them from attending the infamous Boneyard parties. They simply stuck to their own corners and Norman made sure never to wander off again. Even though John B had managed to get even hotter in the year since they last had a real conversation, but Norman would never voice such a thought out loud. He still hated the boy for what had happened last year.

"Dude, Rocky, where's your head?" James asked him, knocking on the side of Norman's skull gently with a teasing laugh as he pushed a cup into his hands, "C'mon, let's get drunk."

"Where's Alisha?" Norman spoke with a furrowed brow, looking around at his friend group as he took a sip. His black-haired friend had wandered off since the last time Norman was paying attention. "Flirting with JJ again?"

Lila shrugged, "Probably. I don't know what she sees in him, but oh well."

"You're just mad she hasn't been hitting you up lately," Norman overheard James whisper to his sister. Clearly, no one else was meant to hear it, but the girl punched him gently on the arm and Norman snorted at the action but refused to say anything. If they wanted to keep something a secret, that was none of Norman's business. He had his secrets, so they could have theirs.

"Hey, play nice, dumbasses," Gemma teased, sticking out her tongue at Lila as she tied her long blonde hair into a ponytail in a poor attempt to beat the summer heat. Hopefully, it would cool off later in the night, but as long as the sun was out it was scorching. That was summer in Paradise on Earth, he supposes.

Norman sighed, looking down at the yellowish-brown liquid in his cup. "I don't think I feel like getting drunk tonight. Anyone want this?"

"Don't have to ask me twice," James said with a shrug before taking the cup from Norman and pouring it into his own. "What's up with you? You're always getting wasted with us."

"Ugh, we're all gonna end up being alcoholics anyway. Might as well speed up the process, Rocky," Lila contributed with a smile. It was teasing in nature, but Norman wasn't sure how funny he found it. He simply shrugged and began to fiddle with the buttons on his navy blue shirt. He was aware of what a Kook asshole he looked like in his khaki shorts and navy-blue shirt. Literally the poster child for rich asshole, but that was pretty much who he was anyway so he might as well look the part. He ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh, smiling at his friends as they chatted and drank.

After a moment he interrupted to announce, "I think I'm gonna go look for Alisha, I don't really see her anywhere."

"If you find her and JJ boning on the beach somewhere, take blackmail pictures please," Lila exclaimed, but Gemma smacked her playfully. "What? You never know when you'll need some! Ugh, I can't believe she's sleeping with a Pogue."

"She never told us if they're actually hooking up," James added on, "Give her the benefit of the doubt. I thought she had better taste than to shack up with Pogues."

Gemma shrugged, "JJ got hot. I wouldn't blame her."

With that, Norman stood up and took off across the beach looking for his friends. He worried about Alisha sometimes; she got herself into trouble with Pogues more time than he could count and he wasn't just talking about her growing body count. He couldn't give less of a shit about that. It was more the bums and drug dealers she seemed to be spending her time around, even though he knew the closest thing to hard drugs she ever did was smoke weed. He trusted her, but people loved to take advantage of a pretty girl like her.

Thankfully, when he found her, she was right where the group said she would be: flirting with JJ Maybank. He didn't mind JJ, but JJ sure seemed to mind him.

"Hey, Alisha, everyone was looking for you. You good over here?" he interrupted her conversation with the blond boy, clearly irritating him, but he didn't care. Alisha smiled the moment she saw him, so he knew she was okay with him being there. He didn't care much about JJ's opinion, he knew what expression Alisha would make if he was crushing her moment.

"Yeah, I'm good, but hi, how you doin'?" she exclaimed, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. It was a little hard for them, considering the height difference, but it was still her favorite thing. She also claimed he gave the best piggyback rides because of his height, so he had that going for him.

"I'm good, I think I'm DDing tonight if you end up needing to ride with me," he explained with a smile, shooting daggers over to JJ. If he had any say, Alisha wouldn't be leaving this party with JJ, but he knew she probably would anyway. He didn't understand why she couldn't just stay over on the Figure Eight side of boy toys; Pogues were nothing but trouble.

"Chill, Paranorman, she's good here with me. Right, Lish?" JJ cut him off with a stern "dude you're killing my game" look which was exactly what Norman was going for.

Norman shrugged, "Just checkin' up on my friend. Everyone worried when you run off."

"Just 'cause I'm short doesn't mean I'm actually twelve, Rocky, it's fine," she said with a wink and he raised his hands in surrender. In response to that, she playfully smacked his stomach while sticking her tongue out at him. "If you're not drinking go find your own hottie to flirt with, you know damn well I'm off-limits."

"You just spoiled my entire plan to come over here and sweep you off your feet!" he exclaimed, "Kidding, kidding, you two kids have fun."

They both waved goodbye to him as he sighed, walking back down the beach. He didn't want to leave her alone with JJ, but he knew he also had no control over Alisha and that was okay. Friends could look out for each other and that's all he was doing; looking out.

"Aw, Norman Bates made an appearance tonight," an arrogant voice called out and Norman groaned before turning around to see John B leaning against a tree with a cheeky grin on his face. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Been a while since there was free booze worth coming to this side of the island," Norman played it cool with a shrug even though he was internally freaking out. Last time he and John B had spoken very, very bad things had happened. Things he can not afford to have happen again. "Good to see you, Marion Crane."

"Who the fuck is that?"

"Can't afford movies on the Cut? It's the chick Norman murders in the shower, dumbass," Norman explained with a roll of the eyes, "I think it really captures the spirit of how I feel about you."

John B scoffed, "How poetic. I didn't know Kooks had brains."

"Do you ever just like consider shutting the fuck up? You'd be doing the whole world a fucking favor," Norman sighed. "Why are you even talking to me? Did you call me over here just to give me a mediocre insult and send me on my merry way? God, you are pathetic in so, so many ways."

"Don't forget what I know about you."

"Don't forget what I know about you," he retorted with a dangerous edge to his voice. "I wonder what would happen in that little ghetto neighborhood you live in if they found out."

John B rolled his eyes, "You don't know shit about me. You've got nothing to tell."

"God, I can't fucking stand you, idiot," Norman seethed, "I don't even wanna be mean to you because you don't even have anyone to run home crying to, do you? Mommy's gone, daddy's gone, I'd pity you if I gave a shit."

Clearly, his words had stung just a little bit, but John B did his best to keep the confidence up in his voice. He couldn't hide everything; Norman saw all he needed to know in the boy's eyes as he towered over him.

"I'd be careful if I was you, Rockwell." It sounded like a threat, but Norman wasn't afraid.

Instead, he scoffed and walked away. His hands were shaking, but he shoved them in his pockets as he walked back over to his friend group. There were a lot of thoughts racing through his head and way too many of them had something to do with John B. He tried to play it off as he was now in front of his friends and he seemed to do a good enough job of it as no one seemed to question why he looked so nervous.

"You find her?" James asked with a raised eyebrow and Norman nodded.

"Just flirting with JJ, but I doubt we'll be seeing her for the rest of the night if you're picking up what I'm putting down," he explained with a sigh. They nodded along and continued with whatever conversation they were having before he had arrived.

Before he knew it the sun was setting and people were starting to leave. He wanted to get out of there, but his friends needed him and he knew he couldn't leave them.

"All right, come on kids, I am getting you home safely," he said with a sigh as he stood and began to gather the three of them which were all various stages of drunk. He noticed something, though. JJ, with Alisha by his side, had approached Sarah Cameron and her boyfriend, offering her a drink. John B was also next to him, but both he and Alisha looked uncomfortable.

"Sarah, can I interest you in a tasty Milwaukee beverage?" JJ offered, but it was clear he was pretty buzzed.

"No, thanks," Sarah shook her head, offering him a small smile as Topper immediately got defensive.

"Is it not fancy enough for you?"

"No, we were just leaving," she explained, but that apparently wasn't good enough of an answer.

Then, Topper cut in and Norman knew things were about to go from bad to worse but he couldn't look away. It was like a car crash on the side of the road except it was a clash between two probably violent assholes. "Hey, you know what? I'll take it. Thank you, man, I appreciate it."

"That's nice, but I wasn't asking you," JJ insisted.

"Just chill," Alisha muttered, tugging on the blond's arm gently.

JJ, however, ignored her. It was clear now that he was fairly drunk which was always going to mean bad news. "If you said pretty please, maybe, but you didn't."

"Oh, pretty please?" Topper mocked with a condescending tone and Norman knew this was about to go downhill and fast.

"You can have it," JJ offered the drink to Sarah, but Topper smacked it out of his hand and the drink spilled all over JJ. Some got onto Alisha as well, so the girl backed up with a gasp. Clearly, she was angry as she stalked back over to where Norman and their friends were standing.

Groaning as she grabbed James's jacket out of his hands to begin cleaning herself off she huffed, "I hate men. I can't believe I was gonna go home with him."

"Yeah, definitely saved yourself a lot of trouble," Norman scoffed as he watched the scene. Immediately after the drink had been thrown, so were the punches.

John B cut in to push JJ back, but not before Topper screamed, "Dirty Pogues!"

Clearly that set something off in him as next, it was John B shoving Topper. He came off tough, but one punch from Topper and he was sprawling on the ground. As much as he hated John B, he almost felt bad for him as he was on the ground getting the shit beat out of him. He used his height and strength to his advantage as he ran over to the pair and tried to hold Topper back.

"Hey, hey, use your words, dumbasses," he seethed as Topper writhed from underneath his grip. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough as Topper got an arm free and landed a nice hit to Norman's nose, sending him reeling backward gripping his face as blood began to flow from his nostrils. "I'm trying to help you, asshole! God, this is why people hate rich people."

"There's actually a lot of reasons," spoke a dark-skinned girl Norman remembered from school. With a sigh, he sat down on the sand, clutching his bleeding nose as Topper landed a kick to John B's ribcage.

"Don't make me drown you like your old man," he heard Topper taunt. John B looked up at him with an anger he hadn't seen before as he stood and tackled the blond into the water. Onlookers cheered, but Norman simply rolled his eyes.

"John B, let it go!" a boy Norman assumed was also one of his friends screamed.

"Stop, you guys!" exclaimed the girl who had just spoken to Norman.

The fight carried on and Norman was getting increasingly worried. He never liked violence, especially since teenage boys never knew when to stop. That was clear as John B tossed Topper into the water, screaming at him; baiting him. However, he grew more concerned as Topper got the upper hand and forced John B's head under the waves. He stood, ready to step at the moment this went on too long. He wasn't afraid of another punch if it meant no one died. The scene carried on in a sort of slow motion. One moment Topper was holding John B's head under the waves, the next JJ had walked over and pressed a gun to his head. Norman's heart stopped. They were kids, no one knew what to do when someone brought a gun to a fistfight.

"Yeah, you know what that is. Your move, broski," JJ seethed as Topper raised his hands in surrender. People ran the moment they saw the gun, but Norman was frozen. Part of him wanted to see how this played out; part of him was scared to see such a thing. He turned his head to look at his friends, motioning towards the trees in an attempt to tell them to get the hell out of there. Alisha got the message and began to corral her friends and get them out along with the rest of the crowd. For some reason, he stayed.

"Put the gun down!" Sarah screamed, the fear written across her face.

"Did you say something, princess?" the boy yelled, clearly he was not going to budge.

Topper stood up slowly, stepped away from John B, "We're good. We're good."

JJ stepped away from Topper, this time raising the gun to the air. "Listen up! Everyone get the hell off our side of the island!"

With every shot he fired into the sky, Norman's heart stopped, but he couldn't move. His eyes met John B's before the boy passed out in the water. He knew to stay was dangerous, but he needed to make sure he was alive. While JJ's friends ran over to calm him down and Sarah ran to Topper, Norman found himself walking into the waves to get to John B before he even knew what he was doing. He was out cold, but Norman raised his head above the waves. The boy was fading in and out of consciousness and if he had some sort of concussion, Norman was sure he wouldn't remember any of this. Honestly, that's what Norman was hoping for.

"Rocky?" he heard the boy's voice but it was garbled and rough. The boy's eyes were blinking open slowly and it was clear he wasn't in the right state of mind considering he used Norman's actual nickname and not some shitty one he loved to call him. "You're bleeding."

"And you probably have a concussion," he shot back, trying to get the boy up and out of the water, "Don't worry about it."

With that, the boy passed out again and Norman took a deep breath as he tried to lift him. Turning over to where John B's friends were all still yelling out at each other, "Hey! This kid's almost as tall as I am, can I get some fucking help over here?"

The girl ran over to him, along with the dark-skinned boy but JJ stayed on the beach, clearly in some sort of power-hungry daze. The three of them worked to lift John B out of the water and get him into at least the sand. He was out of breath, but with the help it was manageable.

"Do you guys have any way to get him home?" he asked, "He's gonna be out for a while, he was under for pretty long."

"Yeah, yeah," the girl nodded, "Come on, Pope, let's try and get him to the van. Can you help us? Why are you helping us?"

Norman shrugged as they worked to get John B up. Once he had a good grip, he tossed the passed out boy over his shoulder while the boy, Pope, and the girl helped Norman maintain the weight. "I don't like violence. I also don't like Topper."

"Understandable, is your nose okay?" the girl asked, "I'm Kie, by the way, that's Pope."

"Yeah, yeah, it's good. Nice to meet you guys, wish it was under better circumstances," he said with a small laugh, glad he could find some humor in the situation, "Topper can't throw a good punch to save his life, it's not broken or anything. I'm surprised he could even reach, I've got like six inches on him, but whatever. Where's this van of yours?"

"Over here," Kie led him through the trees. Once they had a decent balance, she looked over at Pope, "Can you go check on JJ? Get him to the van without killing anybody, please."

Pope nodded and ran off, leaving just the two of them. "Why are you really helping?"

"How else were you planning on getting John B home? JJ's drunk and you and Pope can't lift him by yourselves. I just... wanted to do a good thing."

"I don't think I've ever heard a Kook say they wanted to do a good thing," the girl scoffed, "but thanks. Here, just drop him in the back."

They worked together to get the boy in the back of their van without hitting his head. If he wasn't concussed already, they couldn't risk him getting one. Just as they were getting him down, the boy's eyes opened for just a moment.

"You're still here."

"Yup, still here, dumbass," he muttered, getting the boy's salt-water-soaked hair out of his face, "Sweet dreams."

With that, he was out again. Norman sighed, leaning against the door of the van with Kie as they waited for JJ and Pope. "I should probably get going. My friends are probably waiting by my car, they're all drunk off their asses so I need to get them home."

Kie nodded, "Thanks again."

"Yeah, no problem, just tell your friend to leave the gun at home, next time. Pogue gets caught with that thing, can't afford a lawyer to skirt a juvie sentence," Norman instructed with a sigh as he heard JJ and Pope coming through the trees. "That's my cue to leave. See you around, I guess."

"See ya," she bid goodbye and he walked down the road where his car had been parked. Although he couldn't legally drive his friends, he would rather get a ticket than have his friends be stuck wasted and walking alone.

"Dude, why didn't you run out of there?" Alisha, the only truly sober one, exclaimed the moment he came into her sights. The other three were sitting on the curb, clearly sobering up from the cold and the events of tonight.

Norman shrugged, "They needed help. John B was passed out and I knew they wouldn't be able to get them to the car without me. No big deal."

"He had a gun."

"I know."

"Just be smart, please," Alisha said with a resigned sigh as he unlocked the car. They managed to get their friends into the car before he got into the driver's seat.

He sighed, not sure if tonight had been real or not. He couldn't stop thinking about the way John B had looked at them as they were sitting in the waves. He had looked almost relieved like he knew he was safe. Norman knew he was thinking too much about this as he drove his friends home. Alisha pressed a kiss to his cheek as she was the last to get dropped off. He made sure she got inside because one could never be too careful, but after that, he drove over to his house ready to hit his bed and not wake up until at least noon the next morning.

When he got home, he still couldn't stop thinking about John B. However, that didn't stop him from passing out the moment his head hit the pillow. Yeah, he was done partying for a while.

this chapter was almost four thousand words am i OKAY? i really do be lovin' norman and john b the most