Mac rolled his eyes as he took a seat, begrudgingly. "Would you ever get tired of coming here?" He sighed, picking up the phone which was the only means of communication plausible even though he was sitting face to face with his brother and only separated by a sound proof glass.

"Of course not!" Norman exclaimed with a smile on his face. "I get to see and talk to you, why would I ever get tired?"

"What do you want?" Mac asked coldly. Of course, Norman knew that his brother truly cared about him even though he had a very weird way of showing it.

Norman frowned. "I'm feeling a bit sad. Leonard is getting married today and he didn't invite me," he said.

"So?"

"So? I feel bad. That man is... was my best friend and I know I did some... a lot of wrong things to him, but can't he be the mature one for once and forgive me?" He expressed dramatically as he made a beat on the glass with his index finger.

"He won't forgive you if you don't ask," Mac said and Norman tried to argue only to realise that he was right.

Norman's eyes travelled to the ground as he asked quietly. "You think there's even a slight possibility that he'd forgive me?"

Mac smiled. "I think if you do get better, you'd have so many friends you won't even need Leonard anymore. How are your therapy sessions going?" He asked.

"Ugh." Norman rolled his eyes. "That woman is literally like a thorn in my flesh. She's been trying to force me to do group therapy. She thinks it'll help me improve my communication skills."

"Why don't you want to do it?"

"Because I'm just working on my computer all day, who needs communication skills?" He shrugged

Mac smiled. "You need to stop isolating yourself. Take her advice."

"It's not like I don't want to. It's just... I'm not trying to hurt anybody," he muttered the last statement. "So, how are you?" Norman asked in attempt to divert the attention.

"I'm great actually. Learning new skills, making real connections and talking to my dumb, little brother. I think I'm just finding happiness in a box," he said with an unusual smile on his face and from his eyes, it was easy to tell that he meant every word.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Hello?" Leonard said as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Even with the caller ID hidden, he was at least a hundred percent sure that it was Norman calling. He felt a lot of emotions as he answered the call, but anger was not one of them.

How could he be angry on a day like this? The day he'd been waiting for from the first moment he'd set his eyes on her. The love of his life, Elaine.

"Leonard, Hi." Came Norman's annoying reply. This man just didn't know how to change, did he? Leonard took another good look at himself and admired his tux for the umpteenth time that morning before turning away from the mirror.

"What do you want?" He replied. Heaven knew that he'd missed his crazy, manipulative, annoying, best friend so much. He couldn't believe Norman was not here on a day this important to him. But their friendship had taken one too many wrong turns.

Norman hesitated before replying. "I don't know..."

Leonard sighed as he sat on his bed. "Then you shouldn't just... call me."

After a play of silence, Norman replied. "Congratulations, for the baby girl and the wedding too. You deserve to be happy."

Bloody stalker! Leonard struggled to prevent himself from laughing. He knew Norman probably had full information on everything going on in his life. "Thank you." He replied coldly with no intention of picking up any pieces of their friendship. He'd made up his mind to start over and nothing was going to change it.

"One more thing... I'm sorry for everything. Bye."

"Wait," Leonard said impressed by Norman's improvement. At least, he finally had the decency to admit he was wrong. "Thanks for calling."

"Yeah..."

"Bye, Norman."

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Great job, Norman. Great job." Norman smiled as he took out his journal and flipped through the pages to the present week's entry.

Achievements of the week

- Clean your room (Saturday, I promise)
- Feed your fish everyday (Missing one day doesn't count)✔
- Visit Mac ✔
- Don't think about Beatris
- Make new friends ✖✖✖
- Call Leonard ✔

Norman closed the book and put it back in his bag before getting out of his car, staring at the tall building in front of him.

He took a glance around, watching the happy faces on a bright summer day. Some of their smiles could just be a facade to hide internal battles and  personal struggles, but who cares?

This was not a time to worry or feel bad, It was a time to reflect, to be thankful and just like Mac was doing, to learn the true meaning of happiness.

Norman was determined to fight his demons and overcome them.

He'd spent all his life trying to find love and had completely neglected the only person that could truly love him. But now, he knew the truth and it was going to set him free.

The next time he looked in the mirror, he wasn't going to see the lost, little boy that had no friends and no family because, he could have everything. He could love himself all the love that he needed. He could be enough.

Even though it took losing everything, Norman Patterson had found the greatest love of all.

A/N

I can't say thank you enough to everyone who has supported me through this book. Writing it has not an easy task at all. Dealing with all these issues, making a lot of research, getting discouraged so many times, but I'm so glad I made it to the end!

I do not like happy endings but I always try to give hopeful endings because life is not a bed of roses and it just goes on!

Love y'all 💕💕