꧁𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧..꧂

Norman woke up at 4am and left the house with Ray at 8. Despite having stayed up until 2am studying for his math STAR test, his body refused to get up any later than 4am as usual. They walked the 7 minutes to their school, a k-8th. The doors opened at 8:15, and Ray had already gone inside when they opened, leaving Norman alone to wait for his friend.

Norman and Ash walked into the building at 8:18 to their shared class. Once arrived, they greeted their teacher and made their way to their shared desk with two other boys. Norman's day started out alright. It wasn't that bad besides the slow growing exhaustion.

The morning was a drag, going over information he didn't even comprehend. His brain straying further and further away as the class went on, copying information down but not comprehending what it meant. He held Ash's hand across the table until they were told to let go.

Class ended and they were sent to lunch and recess. One of his favorite parts of the day. Why? Because of his friends and of course, seeing Ray.
Him and Ash walked to their table to see Violet sitting there, eating her lunch peacefully. They sat down in their seats and greeted her. As the three ate and talked, occasionally socializing with others such as Amanda and Nylah. The whistle rang out, everyone grabbed their backpacks and ran out the door, Norman following behind Ash closely. As Ash and Violet conversed, Norman was holding small conversation with Kam who separated from them once they reached the recess area.

He ran up to Jhon as he struggled in Ash's grasp, attempting to drag him into watching 'Don't hug me I'm scared' with her. "Help-" he cried out, mask covering his face mostly. Jhon gasped and pulled him away (With a lot of struggle) and dragged Norman away.

"Nor! Guess what." Jhon said, laughing. Norman looked at him curiously, "what?" "I'm
Pregnant!" Jhon said, cheering. Norman gasped offendedly. "What?! Who's the father?!" Jhon laughed and said, "no one! Actually it was Jayden, but he didn't want it." Norman sighed, "let's go find the father of this kid."

And so they ran around with tons of laughs and smiles, going through 'birth' after 'birth' until they found Andre, the supposed 'father.'

"Hey! Ester! Your friend just fell let's go." Amari said, dragging her by her shoulders. Jhon and Norman raced towards her, reaching Violet's side immediately. "Violet!" Jhon yelled, everyone yelled over eachother checking on her. "Everyone shut up!" Norman yelled, fed up. "Violet, are you okay? Let's go to the nurse." He said, helping her up and holding her arm and waist. "Thanks Norman." She said as they reached the nurse. "No problem, you are my friend after all."

—

The beginning of reading and writing was a blur, until Gym.

"Ash, Amanda, Amaris and I are on a team." Norman said. Their gym teacher nodded and put them on one side of the net, and the athletes of their class on the other side. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." Norman and Ash groaned. Amanda cried out. "Nooo!! We're gonna get beat so bad." The whistle blew.
"You're up for serving."

Bounce. Another point. Another cheer. It was all muscle memory for Norman, keep the ball in the air, let it bounce, serve it, cheer, yell.

"Out! Out!" Norman yelled as Amanda went for the incoming ball. Ignoring his cries, she hit the ball, out of bounds on the other side. "Amanda!" Amaris groaned as Amanda cried out. "Amanda I literally yelled out like 15 times?!" Norman groaned. Ash sighed. "Don't go for the ones too far to the side my gosh-"

The whistle blew. First round over.

The second round was fairly easier, even though they won against the athletes, that didn't mean they could stop being so competitive.

"Ash!" Norman said, sending the ball towards her. She hit it to the other side of the net, where the other team scrambled to hit it. Eric served. Out of bounds. Norman ran for the small ball and came back, bouncing it on the ground before serving. The other team attempted to hit it, it stopped rolling. A point for Norman's team.

The whistle blew and the rest of the rounds were a blur, repeating things over and over.
He said his goodbyes to Amanda and Amaris with Ash, and walked to the nurse for his inhaler, hand in hand with Ash before the two walked back to class.

——

The rest of reading and writing was a blur, he spaced out for most of it. Thoughts plaguing his mind. He craved comfort.

He wished he was home right now, laying in Ray's arms as they watched httyd 2 or 3, something that played a huge part when they were kids. Wished that he was being embraced by Ray and the other kids, Emma cracking teasing jokes at them as Norman curled up on Ray's lap.

He tugged at his hair and re-tied it into a ponytail, fiddling with his bracelet as he continued to space out. He was close to tears. He'd been so disassociating and spaced out today. He was stressed. He was tired. He debated going to the bathroom and puking just so he could go home.

He didn't.

—

Math class came, and everyone got out their computers. Norman was stressed again. He started the test.

Each equation harder than the last, he may have been smart and a kid-genius, but math was never his strong-suit. Yes he was incredibly smart and understood things at a 11th grade level, but he was getting hard equations. Hard. Things that even he couldn't understand. Norman finished the test and anxiety ate away at him as everyone who got a bad score was called out and told to retake the test. Ash had gotten 'nuclear' improvement, as his teacher says. Norman's name was called and he bit his lip. "Norman, good job! Astronomical." He let out a relieved sigh he didn't even know he was holding. He finally relaxed.

He was still tired.

—

Walking home with Ray was always fun, getting to talk about their days and tease eachother. Today was not one of those days, and Ray knew it. He knew from the eye bags and visible exhaustion.

As soon as they reached the house and slipped their shoes, coats, and backpacks off, he pushed Norman onto the couch. "Rest and watch Tv, im going to cook." He left no room for argument, so Norman sighed and turned the tv on.

Norman ended up falling asleep, and once Ray finished cooking, he woke Norman up. "Here." It was pasta, Norman's favorite kind. Norman smiled lightly. "Thanks, Ray." Ray only nodded in response and grabbed his own bowl, sitting down next to Norman.

As Norman ate, he stared down at the floor, spacing out. Ray tapped him on the shoulder. "Want anymore?" Norman only now noticed his empty bowl and shook his head. "No, I'm fine." The taller nodded and went to do the dishes.

The third movie of how to train your dragon played, and for once, Norman could focus. He focused on the animating and the voices, focused on the arm he was laying on. Wait. The arm he was laying on? He turned and saw a familiar tuft of black hair. Oh, right. He was with Ray. He was safe. He was... loved? The question remained in his mind as he watched a rather romantic seen between Hiccup and Astrid. Norman fiddled with his hands, the question lingering on his tongue, not wanting to ruin the moment. "I know what you're thinking, and yes, you're loved." Ray spoke, turning towards Norman with soft eyes. Norman flinched lightly at the sentence. "Huh-? I didn't-" "say anything? Yeah well, I could tell by your expression." Ray laughed slightly. Norman blushed and whined, nuzzling his face into Ray's arm. "How come you know me so well!" Ray only laughed more and moved to hug him. "Because we grew up together, duh." Norman smiled at that, "I'm glad we did." Ray blushed at that, smiling softly. "Yeah, me too."

Ray brushed Norman's hair that went down to his shoulders, braiding the small strands on the side of his face into a braid before peppering his face with kisses as Norman giggled, pushing him away for the need to breathe. Ray smiled, glad to see the boy back to normal.
The room door burst open, "Norman! Ray!" The kids came in, clambering up onto the bed. Norman smiled. "What's wrong?" Ray asked. "Nothing, but we wanted you to come play hide and seek with Emma and the rest of us!" Norman shook his head, laughing lightly. "Alright, alright. C'mon Ray, it'll be fun." Ray couldn't say no to the soft smile on Normans face. He sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll play." Everyone cheered.

It was worth it to see the huge smile on Norman's face, and Ray knew Norman would do anything to keep him safe and happy, so Ray would return the favor.

End.

—-