At the sound of the door opening, Beatris scrambled down on all fours, seeking fortress behind the counter in her coffee shop. She buried her face in her hands and with the darkness that came after, she was a little relieved. Certain that whatever man here to oppress her would not see her.

"Beatris, are you in there?" A loud voice beckoned her.

It could be the voice of her father. Those were always his words before he'd pull open the wardrobe door where she and Brianna always hid to give her the beating of her life while she formed a protective cover over her sister and stayed numb through it all.

But it couldn't be her father. The crazy old man was long dead from alcohol poisoning. The same alcohol that was dancing down her throat.

"Beatris, I saw your car parked outside. I assumed you were still in here." The voice got closer. Obviously she'd been found. There was very little one's hands could hide. "A-are you drunk?"

She put her hands away from her face shamefully and looked up at the young man in front of her. "Hello, Marcus," she said grinning as she picked up the almost empty bottle and took it back to her lips.

He walked towards her in attempt to take the bottle away but she crawled backwards. She didn't want him close enough to hurt her. Because, that was what all men seemed to do. 

"Please, don't hurt me." With a slurred speech, she crouched, burying her face as tears filled her eyes.

He took a few, slow steps further cautious enough to not scare her because he could sense she was in severe distress. "I'm not going to hurt you. You can trust me."

Trust? That wasn't even a word that existed in her dictionary anymore. She hadn't been bitten once or even twice and now, she'd be forever shy. "No. That's what you always say." She raised her head, in search of her drink but seeing that it was empty, she muttered, "Fuck! I need another drink."

"Beatris..."

"Marcus, please help me. Help me get another drink," she said with a pout.

"No. You're way too drunk."

"Fine. If you won't help me, I'll help myself." She struggled to pick herself up from the floor but taking one step, she staggered and almost fell but for the strong hands that had caught her.

"Why are you doing this to yourself, Beatris?" Marcus asked, his eyes displaying compassion. He couldn't believe this was the same excited woman he'd met the previous day.

Beatris struggled to get out of his grip but he held on tightly to refrain her from falling.

"I'm trying to get away from all of them. But they won't let me be!" She broke down in his arms.

She was referring to her memories from the past. All of which she'd hidden away in a corner of her mind that she never visited. But Norman had managed to bring all of them back not minding the fact that they were too painful to deal with.

"Beatris, can you help me with your address, I need to take you home. It's not safe for you to stay here."

"Home?" She laughed amidst her sobs. "I have no home. I'm an orphan. Where's my sister? Is Bibi missing? I need to be with her. Please, I need to find my little sister. I need to protect her." She rummaged the words as she cried helplessly, once more neglecting the fact that she needed to protect herself.

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Leonard stood in front of the large white house, all his strength, gone. Not because he'd stayed up all night or ignored Sara's one thousand calls and texts or driven the whole way to Norman's house, but because he couldn't believe half the accusations Elaine had leveled against his best friend and brother. There had to be some plausible explanation.

He raised his hand to the door and put it down again before finally summoning enough courage to ring the door bell but to his disappointment, there was no reply. He hit the bell again and again but still got nothing.

Was everything right with Norman? It didn't seem like he was out of the house. Leonard was relieved as he recollected the security code. So, he took his only chance to get the truth.

The door was opened and revealed the man lying on the ground with his eyes firmly shut and headphones blocking his ear. He was drowning in a sea of his thoughts, accompanied by music.

"Norman." Leonard called out as he examined the surrounding which didn't look like anything bad had happened. "Norman." He bent down and tapped him and only then had his friend acknowledged his presence.

"Hey." Norman took off his headphones and picked himself up from the floor with his friend doing likewise. "What are you doing here?"

Leonard let out a deep sigh. It was taking everything in him to remain calm after all the despicable things he was supposed to believe Norman had done.

Norman narrowed his eyes questioningly. "Leo, is everything alright?"

"I don't know. You, tell me," Leonard replied, leaving his friend shocked.

Due to the fact that Norman was conveniently a very good pretender, the shock was wiped off his face almost immediately.

"Shouldn't you be at home packing your boxes?" He asked with an indifferent look on his face.

"I'm not leaving." Leonard's reply was unexpected and he'd read off the confusion on Norman's face.

"Why not?"

"But I thought you didn't want me to leave. Or maybe I don't know what you actually want." Leonard was struggling hard to maintain an eye contact with this unbelievable man he thought was his friend. Right now, more than anything, he felt stupid.

Norman seemed to have perceived the tension in the air as he looked up at Leonard with a serious expression. "What made you change your mind?"

"I talked to Elaine," he said and the name had caused Norman to let out an emotion filled with both shock and disgust. "Is that surprising?"

Norman took out his phone from his pocket and fixed his attention on it instead as he asked, "Why are you here?"

"I want answers," Leonard said trying to get his nerve under control and he was getting very little result from his effort. "I need answers."

His friend looked up at him knowing what was coming, unable to utter a word.

Leonard took steps closer to him so he could read the details clearly from his eyes. "Did you give Elaine money and try to make her leave me?" He asked.

He didn't reply but only stared at the devastated man, dumbfounded.

"Are you going to make me ask again? Is my question not clear enough?"

"No. Is that what she told you? She wanted to go away. She asked me for money. I was only trying to help and now she... This is ridiculous." He turned away but Leonard moved towards him to get his attention again.

"She asked you for money?" He scoffed. "Norman, you're lying to me."

"No. You know me. I would not do that," he said defensively.

"I'm not so sure anymore."

Norman ran his hand through his disheveled dark hair seemingly worried. "Why would I want to do that?" He asked innocently.

It was as though Leonard couldn't keep his emotions in check anymore. "You tell me."

"I can't believe you'd think so little of me." He looked disappointed. "I don't know what Elaine told you but all I know is she's a liar and you shouldn't trust her."

Leonard chuckled, quite contrary to whatever he was feeling. "I shouldn't trust her? Or I shouldn't trust you who stole my phone, forged my signature and tormented the woman I love!" He yelled. "How could you?"

He watched the man before him go cold instantly but he always managed to deal with his emotions. "Leo, you know that is not true." He shook his head. "All Elaine wants is to ruin what we have. As if trying to ruin your marriage is not enough for her. What exactly does she want from us?"

Leonard shook his head as he watched his friend with despair. Heaven knew it was taking so much in him not to give this man a resounding punch in the face. "Just, stop it. Unlike you, Elaine would never lie to me. I don't want to hate you, Norman but you're making it too easy for me." He couldn't believe Norman would still lie to his face even when all the evidence pointed at him.

"So, you're going to believe Elaine over your best friend? It's fine. Get out of my house." He looked hurt as he attempted to pick up his headphones but Leonard prevented him.

"I came here to get answers and I'm not leaving without them!" Leonard yelled. "Why have you been so desperate to keep Elaine and I apart?"

"Get away from me, Leonard." He tried to walk forward but Leonard refused to get out of his way.

"I'm not leaving!"

"Leave me alone!" He yelled and pushed the unsuspecting man to the floor.

Leonard looked up at him with anger evident on his face but Norman remained remorseless.

"Everything I've done is for your own good!" Norman yelled. "You're such an ungrateful asshole."

Leonard got up and moved towards him. "My good?" He pushed him roughly and Norman had staggered backwards. "You're a selfish and manipulative bastard!" He stared at him unbelievably.

"Get out of my house, Leonard. Get out, now!" Norman threatened before turning away to leave.

Leonard chased after him, grabbing his arm. "Why? Why do you hate her so much?"

"Because you love her!" He grabbed his arm away forcefully. "If you have Elaine, you have everything and where does that leave me?" His voice reduced to a barely audible whisper. "Let me guess, out of your life? Somewhere in the past? A memory you've forgotten?"

"No." Leonard shook his head.

"You're weak, you need someone to have your back, you go to Norman. You're too dumb to take charge of your father's company, you go to Norman. Hell, I went to college with you. For you! I'm always here for you, Leo. Yet, anytime that stupid little brown haired girl waltz into your life, you're so ecstatic, you abandon me like I'm some worthless piece of trash and when she inevitably leaves you again, I'd be there nursing you, cheering you up, helping you get laid like the good little sidekick that you want me to be." He smiled, pushing his hair that had fallen on his face, backwards.

Leonard could hardly believe his eyes or his ears. "What happened with Sara was not an accident, was it? That was all orchestrated by you."

Norman couldn't deny it as he stared at his friend. "Well, it helped that you knocked her up."

"Goddamn son of a bitch!" Leonard attacked him, grabbing him by the collar but as he fell into the pools of his friend's sad blue eyes, his grip dwindled. "Why would you do that to me?" Leonard's voice broke just as his heart.

Norman sighed deeply as he got out of Leonard's grip but they were standing so close to each other, he could hear his ragged breaths. "If only you cared about me just half as much as I care about you. I gave up my dreams for you but to you, I'm just the guy you go to when you're unhappy."

"All of this, keeping me unhappy so I'd need you is definitely not the way to care for someone, Norman. You're sick."

Norman smiled. "And I'm done with your stuck up, narcissistic ass," he said retreating to his initial position on the floor, with his headphones.

Leonard watched the cold, heartless man, dumbfounded for a few seconds before garnering enough strength to walk out of his friend's house, bearing in mind he was just in like manner walking out of his life.

A/N

Hey there, thank you so much for reading this chapter. Don't forget to comment your thoughts and like if you enjoyed it.

Who would you say cared the most in the Norman/Leonard friendship?