That Awkward moment when you met Norman Reedus 2/6 NormanxReader
Hi!!
I come with something more today! The first two chapters are maybe a bit fast in scenes, but it's to place the action in the present, after that things are calmer, or I tried...
I hope you liked it!
That awkward moment when you met Norman Reedus. 2/6
Norman Reedus (45) Reader (29) ’Request’ from @srhxpci : They work together, they became friends, and then lovers, there’s a gap age and I add a little smut (sorry I can’t not do that). Warning this chapter; None. Some insinuations about marriage and threesomes, but nothing serious. Failed comedy attempt Summary: You were part of the cast of the series, but your first meeting with Norman didn’t go too well, now after many years, you can say that you are very good friends. Norman wants to invite you to his own show, why not? it will be fun! N/A: Non canon of the TV show. Taglist: @phoenixblack89 @browneyes528 @purple-serenity @lilythemadqueen @pncnsc @ruinedbythehobbit @darylsgarden
2. The Proposal.
Yes, maybe your first meeting with Norman Reedus didn't go quite right, you both felt uncomfortable in each other's presence, but that changed as the days on set went by. You weren't sure if you apologized to him times enough, but eventually Norman got fed up with your pleas and decided to forgive you, years later he would confess to you that he didn't know what he had to forgive you for, but because he didn't keep listening to you he had.
You also learned quickly that Norman was a man to watch out for, not for himself, but for the people around him. There were always eyes on him. You were sure he was well aware of the effect he had on the people around him. He was kind and funny, a bit of a jerk when he felt he had made a fool of himself and needed people to pay attention to something more than himself, but he generally hit it off easily with everyone around him. You were surprised from the first moment, he didn't just get along with the group he had started the series with. It was fun to watch him interact with Chandles, the kid who played the role of Carl, teasing him and making him mad, playing games and sometimes even dancing with him when the shot stopped because they had to check that everything was okay or because they had skipped something important. With Andrew he spent much of the time, the two of them sitting in their chairs, waiting for their turn on stage, smoking or having a coffee, telling their confidences, laughing or just Norman showing him his photographs, because yes, you had discovered that Norman Reedus was a lover of photography and even had some exhibitions spread out there and there. You would never have guessed it if you had to find out on your own. In general there was a genuine atmosphere, it almost seemed utopian to you that everyone got along so well, even with you people were friendly and relaxed.
You were a little more difficult to open your mouth, always a little apart from the group, self-conscious and worried at the same time that your way of being would automatically separate you from everyone and that this would cause them to stop dealing with you as well. You talked more often with the new characters, like you, Tyreese, Sasha, Julie, your TV show mother, although her role was not going to be exaggeratedly extensive, you felt comfortable with her the time you were practicing your dialogues.
It had already been several months since you arrived, the first parts of the series were almost finished, the heat began to press on the set and often stay inside the building that was the prison, was more dangerous than being on the street, the walls were overheating throughout the day creating a scorching atmosphere inside, sweat and wet clothes was the daily bread. It was an unpleasant and uncomfortable feeling, every day, when you had some rest time you stayed under your shower inside your caravan to temper your body a little. Then you would take a walk around, without going too far. You were not from there and your sense of direction had never been very good, so it was best not to wander off accidentally.
That afternoon off, you didn't have to shoot any scenes until the next day, you decided to go see Sonequa, maybe she was also free and you could both walk around the city for a while, she was older than you, maybe she had other plans in mind, but you felt good when you talked to her, you felt more integrated. You left your caravan to go find your companion, on the way you stopped to discover Laurie and Norman sharing a conversation that seemed quite intimate, the blonde woman was leaning against the caravan, Norman smiled and told her something holding her by the waist, their noses rubbing together before sharing a small kiss.
You felt your cheeks redden as you were a spectator in something that obviously had nothing to do with you, you quickly set off on your way again wanting to eliminate those images from your mind, wishing that the couple had not noticed your presence. If you had already gotten off to a bad start in your relationship with Norman, the last thing you needed now was for him to think you were sticking your nose into his business. Which was far from your intentions, of course.
"It's not something that's talked about, but there are a lot of rumors and none of them seem uncomfortable with it." Your coworker told you when you rolled up to her house and told her what you'd seen.
"Really? Wow..." You muttered staring off into nothingness.
"It's true that you're not very set in this world, I see." She laughed as she saw you lower your head sheepishly and you shook your head.
"It's never been something that has caught my attention too much..." You shrugged. "Well, maybe when I was thirteen, but I was young and crazy, now I'm just crazy sometimes." You joked and Sonequa laughed at your words I understand what you meant.
The rest of the day you escaped with your new friend, plus the group was joined by Laura, who played Maggie, Emily and Danai, escaping all of you to Senoia to be able to spend a quieter day, although some of them were already known for other previous roles in other series and it was a little awkward to stay apart to let them take pictures with them. You weren't really sure if you would ever get used to that kind of thing.
If it ever happened at all.
In that episode you had more prominence, not too much, but you were with the main cast of the series, your character's duty was to help Rick's group to rescue Maggie and Glenn, but you were discovered and you lost Daryl on the way due to the Governor's men. Your character went back to rescue him, looking for Sasha and Tyreese as well because in the prison you had been rejected by Rick who was still suffering from the pain of the loss of his wife, however that community was not as safe and peaceful as they had tried to lie to you. So you have to go back for your companions and the archer.
There were a couple of scenes in which you were alone, you had to move quickly and stealthily between the abandoned cars, kill some Walkers that came too close to you, try to go unnoticed by the guards and get to your companions. The conversation with them was rushed, nervous and urgent, you didn't give them much explanation you simply led them to the front door giving them a gun you had taken from one of the downed soldiers and went back to look for Daryl.
"Where are you going?" Tyreese asked you.
"To find the stupid redneck who is Rick's boyfriend!" you shouted back.
There was a thick silence on the set and suddenly laughter began to flood the place as Norman peeked out from the side of the scene waving and wiggling his hips.
"Hello? Did I hear my name?"
"Sorry..." you said laughing, cheeks burning feeling embarrassment overtake you as you covered your face with your hands.
That wasn't your line, you didn't even have a line at that moment, but it had slipped out without you being aware of it. You had messed up the shot, after all the stress you had gone through to make the stealth scene as good as possible, you had cleanly killed those extras disguised as zombies and when you didn't have to say anything, you had screwed up. The laughter kept reaching your ears and you just wanted to make yourself small and disappear. Then you felt it, Norman's arms wrapped around your body, trapping you against his chest, hugging you on the shoulders and rubbing your back wanting to get the embarrassment off of you. You didn't expect that, of everyone there, he would be the one to reach out and try to comfort you. When you pulled away from him, he had a kind and warm smile painted on his face, gently pinched your cheek and pulled away from you.
"It's been a long day, hasn't it?" he said to you, but he said it loud enough too for everyone to hear.
"Okay, understood, that's enough for today, let's all go eat and sleep, but tomorrow I want you all here at six in the morning!" Agreed and ordered the director hearing sighs of relief from many who were there.
"Thank you..." You whispered looking back at him out of the corner of your eye still feeling embarrassed. Norman just winked at you complicitly and walked away going with the rest of the group.
NOW.
If you thought about it, Norman had always been there to save your ass when you needed him. You weren't bad, you liked to interpret, you had found that you didn't do badly at all either and very rarely drew a blank, but you did come in late or stumbled more than the rest, Norman always had some excuse or a joke ready to play it down. You didn't feel special about it either, as you had already discovered, his affection was special to each of you and he always had funny ways of provoking any of you.
After that scene, magically everything seemed to take a simpler, more dynamic path between everyone, the group opened up completely, all of you feeling much more at ease. There were a lot of jokes, afternoons sitting around doing nothing, just resting, mornings when you were in the area preparing the fights, maybe sometimes too asleep to pay attention to what the monitor was telling you, maybe too bored of his indications and doing whatever you wanted.
In this way the months of the first shooting went by, as well as the following years that your character continued to be part of the main cast. You had to say goodbye to some of them, you cried a lot with the farewell of several colleagues, you welcomed others, but your character was still accepted by the critics and especially by the viewers. As time went by, your character was adopted under Melissa's wing which made your friendship with the woman much more intimate, you liked spending hours with her, you felt good, it was like being with your mother again, in a way, you could tell her some confidences that you didn't dare to talk to other colleagues. Sonequa and Emily were no longer in the series, with Emily things got a little weird when everyone started to say that the blonde had a little affair with Norman and that's why she had left the series, because things had not ended well. You doubt those rumors a lot. Laura had accepted her role as big sister with you and you could also confide some things to her, Danai was going back and forth between the scenes she had to shoot and the movies she was doing at the time. The group had broken up a bit and although you still had contact with some of them off set. It just wasn't the same anymore. Chandler as he got older had become like your little brother, you hung out often when you had some time off between scenes, but when other teenagers like him started to come into the picture the group expanded and you were getting pushed aside knowing that maybe he preferred to have people closer to his age, that maybe he had more in common with them than he did with you.
The only thing that didn't seem to change around your life was Norman.
The man despite being a restless ass was always around when you least expected it. Not in a stalkerish or awkward sense, more like he would drop by your side when you were taking a break from some scene, bring you food when you were too engrossed in your lines that you couldn't get memorized, sometimes he would even peek by your trailer when you came home from your parents' house because he had fallen in love with your mother's recipes.
"One day you have to invite me to your house. I'm going to marry that woman." He had told you once and you laughed because he meant it.
It's strange the way you've gone from mere scene partners to good friends. You'll never measure up to Andrew or Jeffrey or even Melissa, but it's a nice feeling. You know you can count on him if you need anything, just like he can count on you. Sometimes he calls you on the phone to ask about the food your mom was going to make you and asked if he could talk to her, which you would flat out refuse and hang up laughing, hearing him call your mom on the other end of the line like he's being killed.
He's an idiot, but he's your idiot and you love him just the way he is.
That new season is putting a different spin on your character's relationship with Daryl, it wasn't an overnight thing, after the season where Negan's character showed up and tortured Daryl, he and the young woman you played had become close friends, leaning on each other. Negan had tortured Daryl to the point of almost tearing his soul apart, your character had had to endure becoming one of his wives so that the torture would not have been so damaging, however Dwight had continued to have fun with Daryl at the expense of Negan's orders. With Sherry's help you managed to free Daryl and take a motorcycle to get away from there, Jesus met you in the middle of the escape and took you to Hilltop. Once there your characters were not able to talk to anyone, the simple fact of facing others was complicated, the trauma was strong, but you managed to survive it together, your character calmed Daryl's fears and anger, she let a man touch her again after everything that happened with Negan. There was never anything sexual between them, but from that moment a door was opened that let us understand that the feelings that began to be born in them were much stronger than a friendship, they had survived something so traumatic and painful together that that had linked them in a deep and intense way.
That season brought you together as well. Spending so many hours together for so many days, going over dialogue, preparing scenes, made your friendship that much closer. You felt him like an older brother, overprotective and somewhat suspicious, you had had some boyfriends during those years and he didn't seem very convinced with them.
"Be careful with that one, I don't like him one bit." He had told you on occasion.
Nothing bad ever happened that you could regret, neither physically nor mentally to you, nor any absurd dirty laundry that could put you in the mouth of the press, but it was true that they were relationships that did not last too long. Nor did you intend to marry the first man who asked you. You were sure that Norman saw you as a little sister and that's why he acted that way with you.
After the Christmas break you return to the set to continue with the second part of the season, there are many things that must be recorded before the next break and it is better to take advantage that this year the weather is giving a break with the low temperatures. You are nervously standing in front of Norman's door holding a small tray with some cakes that your mother has prepared for his birthday. Because yes, it has been his birthday, your mother knows it and wanted to give him a present. At first your mother wasn't sure what to expect from Norman, she didn't trust the man's way of treating you, but little by little she discovered that there was no malice, that he was like that by nature. You also had to add that the continuous compliments to his food had won her heart.
You don't have to show up there with an excuse, you know perfectly well, your friendship is enough to want to appear in front of his door and wish him happy new year and happy birthday. Nevertheless, you can't stop trembling. Maybe you could just leave the bag there, on the steps of the caravan, wish her happy birthday to nothing and run away.
"Hey, what are you doing there?" you hear from behind you and your back gets a draft to his raspy voice that has deteriorated with the passage of time and the smoke.
"Nothing." You turn around smiling. "I was looking for my trailer, but I got confused." You joke and he smiles nodding.
"Yeah, of course." He pushes his sunglasses up on his head, gathering the strands of hair from his face as well. "You wanted to see me so badly that you couldn't wait?" amusement tinges in his voice, you know he's just teasing you, but you can't help but feel yourself blush. "Aren't you going to come and give me a hug?"
You can't resist, abandoning the embarrassment that has suddenly invaded you, you walk up to him and embrace him sinking your face into his chest, his particular scent invading you at once, cologne, smoke, something spicy and toasty that his own skin gives off, the tan decorating it nicely, the warmth he gives off cradling you for a few seconds as his arms wrap around you with infinite affection and his cheek rests on your head before kissing you in the same spot. You wrap your arms around his waist squeezing him.
"It's good to see you again, Norman." You whisper against his chest, feeling him caress your hair.
"And you, girl." He smiles against your head and you pull apart to look at each other. "What do you have in there?" he asks looking at your bag and you laugh low. "Wait, did you bring back food from your mother?"
"It's for you, she made you some pastries." You nod taking the Totebag off your shoulder to give it to him.
"For me? Why?"
"For your birthday." You laugh at the look of surprise on his face. "Happy birthday, Norman."
"I love your mother." He laughs with you and you can almost see him blush sheepishly covering his mouth with one of his hands nervously. "Come on." He tells you taking the bag and your hand.
"No, no need..." You try to let go but he intertwines his fingers with yours as he sets off towards your own trailer. "But..."
Norman keeps pulling you all the way to what will be your next home in the next few months, but you don't understand why he has taken you to your trailer while standing at the door of his own. But you smile when, upon entering, he sets the bag of pastries down on your small dining room table and glances sideways at your kitchen.
"You brought me here to make you coffee?"
"You know I love that machine you have." He smiles putting his hands in his pockets.
"Yeah, you've got some nerve." You joke giving him a tap on the shoulder.
You walk over to your little kitchen to make him coffee. You grab the Italian coffee pot you took with you from the first day and make coffee for Norman and yourself. You return to the table taking the pastries out of the bag to remove the paper and Norman rubs his hands together nervously and hungrily. They are little sponge cakes with chocolate and cream inside.
"They look so good..." he murmurs biting his lip.
"Take one, try it and see what you think." You offer but he shakes his head.
"I'll wait for the coffee."
"I should have bought you one for your birthday." You tease and he snorts in amusement but shakes his head.
"No, I like coming here to drink it. It works out better for you."
"What a ball you are." You shake your head listening to the gurgle of the coffee pot and grab two cups to make it, leave the milk and sugar on the table and sit down next to him. "Enjoy."
Norman smiles beside you making his coffee the way he likes it and picks up one of the cakes to take a bite, the chocolate on the sponge cake crunching and the cream expanding in his mouth. A soft but happy murmur escapes her throat licking her lips.
"I swear I'm going to marry your mother." He jokes again.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to call you Daddy Norman yet." You tease bringing your coffee to your mouth taking a sip.
"I didn't know you had that kind of kinks." He chuckles taking another bite of cake and you feel your cheeks burn.
"I didn't...I meant...you're an idiot." You defend yourself by smacking him again at the same time he laughs loudly covering his mouth so he doesn't spit out the pie.
"Oh come on, wouldn't you like to see me every day?"
"I already see you every day and I don't know if I'd like to be aware of you...well you know." You grimaced as you pictured Norman with your mother.
"Hey, I'm sure she's a very attractive and very active woman..."
"Oh for God's sake, shut up." You laughed hysterically covering your face with both hands. "She has a son your age, you know?" you insist and he shrugs drinking from his coffee.
"Age is just a number, it's how everyone feels." He shrugs raising an eyebrow at you.
"Yeah sure, but you're talking about my mother, if she was a widow I wouldn't mind, but poor my father." You pout before taking the last sip of your coffee.
"He can always join, I didn't say no."
The coffee gets stuck in your throat, the laughter bubbling in your stomach propels the liquid upward and shoots violently and comically out of your mouth and nose. Norman's shocked expression turns into a violent guffaw as you do your best to hold in your cough and clean up the mess you've made.
"Oh fuck, I'm sorry, are you okay?" Norman's voice sounds like a squeak as he is unable to control his own laughter.
"I hate you..." you manage to mumble feeling your nose burn and your eyes fill with tears.
Norman needs a little more to control his laughter, he strokes your back by way of consolation, but you can't stay annoyed with him for long, you know that humor is part of him and he hasn't tried to annoy you at any time.
"Was the cake good?" You ask him after a while talking about anything that didn't involve your parents.
"You know I like your mom's food, but yes, the best birthday cakes." He jokes picking up his phone and walks over to you putting an arm around your shoulders.
You settle in next to him leaning on his shoulder looking up at the camera phone as he raises it above your heads and kisses you on the cheek as he takes the picture.
"Hey, I'd like to propose something." He says looking at the photo and smiles putting the phone away again.
"No, Norman, I told you my mother is married." You tease and he nods with a wide grin.
"No, that's not it. I've started the TV show again." He gives you a sidelong glance. "The one about the motorcycle tours."
"Great, people liked to see you out there getting into trouble." You prod him and he looks at you offended.
"I didn't get into trouble, it's just that people would lock me up."
"Yeah, call it what you want, what's up with that?"
"I'd like to invite you to come with me."
You open your eyes wide hearing him say that, you gasp wanting to respond, but your mind is blank. Norman is still staring at you, with a lopsided smile resting an elbow on his knee and hand on his cheek, not taking his eyes off your reaction. You finally find the words you were looking for.
"But... I don't have a motorcycle. I don't even have a driver's license..."
"I know, it still seems incredible to me that living in New York, you never use a car."
"I've always been a public transportation person." You stand up for yourself, it's true, you moved back to the big city after your character was more solidly grounded in the series, although you liked to see your family after each shoot, you always had a nice apartment in New York to come back to. Maybe that's also why you had more contact with Norman than with other co-stars, as you often coincided there. "Or as a cab if it got too late..."
"What I was saying, unbelievable." He scoffs again and you roll your eyes. "But you don't have to worry about that, we can find a car or you can go with me, as a package." He shrugs. "It's no big deal."
"It all depends on where you want to go... if the ride is too uncomfortable, the two of us on a motorcycle is going to be devastating..."
"I'll leave that up to you." He smiles biting his lip and your face reflects confusion again as you don't understand what he's referring to. "I want to see your hometown, get to know your surroundings."
"But... you went there once before, if I remember correctly."
"Yes, but your town is different and I want you to make the itinerary."
"Me? I don't know where I could take you, maybe in the village I could show you the old circuit, ask them to let you into the new one, but..."
"I don't care, I don't care if it has nothing to do with motorcycles." He shrugs once more.
"Okay... I don't know if people will like that, but maybe we could..."
"Don't tell me about it. I talked to my people who are in charge of the program, they'll get in touch with you, I'll find out when I travel there."
To be continued...
I hope you liked it!
See you in the next chapter!