"I completely understand." Hannibal warmly responded, watching you open the door and take a step out into the hallway. "But please take my words into account. His prescriptions are always fighting his false pretences instead of fixing them, and the way he behaves...it's just becoming more and more unsafe."

"I'll be fine," You brushed his supposed 'concerns' to the side and flashed him a friendly smile, "I promise. We'll be out in public and besides, I think Norman needs this the most right now, don't you agree...?"

The psychiatrist smiled himself and released a soft sigh; obviously realising that he couldn't win you over. "They say kindness gets people killed, y'know." He lightly remarked, shaking his head as he tried to contain his concealed irritation.

"Well, they also say that kindness tends to make others feel included." You quoted back compassionately.

"Touché." Hannibal chuckled with mirth; amusement filling his facial features.

All of a sudden a certain someone scooped you into a fierce hug - their hold on you tightening tremendously and throwing you off all at the same time. "Wait, Michael...?"

"Hold on a second, Michael." Hannibal folded his arms and faced the silent male with raised eyebrows, "Surely you can't've forgotten that (Y/n) has plans already today. You remember, right? With Norman?"

Michael simply stood there; shrugging uncaringly as his thoughts grew selfish. Because to be perfectly honest, he'd hated the fact that you'd created plans in the first place. "C'mon, c'mon, let's go already!" Out of nowhere Norman appeared at the end of the hallway, clapping his hands together whilst his face filled with extreme excitement.

But then his expression faltered as he saw you engulfed in an embrace with the quiet male, getting the wrong idea almost immediately. "(Y-Y/n)...?" He stuttered slightly, tears pricking at the edges of his eyelids while he tried to keep it together. Oh no—

"H-Hold on now - it's not what you think!" You hurriedly broke out of Michael's hold and hugged Norman instead, feeling stressed-out once more. "I swear! I uh, was just saying goodbye to everyone! Y'know, seeing as you and I are going to be spending the day together. Aren't we...?"

"R-Right...!" The timid male brightened up - cuddling you back as he secretly shot Michael a superior look. "We are, we are!"

"Before you depart on said date, may I ask what time you're deciding on returning?" Hannibal asked in a civilised manner - flashing what seemed to be rather strained smile as he shifted his attention over to you rather than the others.

"Oh, well I guess I was thinking of—"

"I-I don't see why you'd need to know." Norman stood in front of you and glared straight at Hannibal, sounding strangely paranoid for some reason.

"Oh my, it was merely a question." The psychiatrist replied in a patronising fashion; faking a hurt facial expression while he stopped folding his arms. "That hostility was a bit uncalled for, now don't you think...?"

"Why don't we," You paused for a moment to quickly gesture between you and Norman, "Just head out now, and I'll catch you two on the flip side."

"G-Gladly." Norman hatefully muttered, taking ahold of your wrist and forcing you towards the front door.

"See you two later then!" You called back with as much cheerfulness you could muster up, hoping that Michael or Hannibal hadn't been ticked off by Norman's unexpected and obsessive outburst. Perhaps this date was just...incredibly important to him.

"So...where is it that we're going exactly? Did you...perhaps have something in mind...?" You tried your best to steer Norman's agitated mindset with a shy smile, praying that it would work to some degree. Thankfully, it had.

"W-Well I didn't want to disappoint you...and - seeing as we have so much in common - I thought we could—"

"Holy moly!" You spoke in shock, your eyes widening whilst both of you stopped in front of a building. "An aquarium!?"

"Mmhm! I...I thought b-because we both like animals, that...y-y'know..." Norman timidly trailed off, shifting from foot-to-foot while he gave your hand an adoring squeeze.

"Oh Norman, this is amazing!" You flung your arms around him and rested your head on his shoulder - now feeling insanely delighted. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"N...No problem...!" He stammered a little; behaving a little bashful and blushing faintly as the two of you headed towards the front desk. "A-Anything for you..."

"Aw, this was all really sweet of you." You chatted with gratitude, awfully pleased after he'd bought the tickets to enter inside.

"O-Oh, Well I...I don't know about that..." The dark-haired boy stumbled over what he wanted to say and in turn grew a tiny bit self-conscious - worriedly biting his lip.

"Trust me, there's no need to feel so stressed-out." You sweetly declared, wanting to soothe him in some sort of way. "We're going to have a good time, and that's that."

"Y...Yeah...!" He agreed in a flustered tone, letting you lead him into the main building and decide on where exactly to go.

"So where we heading then?" Your smile twisted into a playful grin as you unfolded the aquarium's map of the place and showed Norman the whole venue; wondering where the best place to start would be. 

"H-How about...um...seeing the Neon Tetra fish first...?" Norman suggested with another one of his light smiles, looking tremendously happy.

"Excellent idea! What are we waiting for then?" You affectionately hugged him again and then glanced down at the map once more - making sure you knew where you were heading.

"I...I'm not really su—"

"Trick question, silly." You let out a little laugh and poked the side of his cheek, relief filling your features when you noticed that his underlaying frustration was fading.

The next few hours were unbelievably breathtaking; both of you wandering around the fish tanks, showing each other which ones were your favourites, grabbing a drink from the inside cafe and just all-in-all having a terrific time. In fact time simply ticked on by, the day slowly but surely deciding to come to an end. Of course, Norman wasn't too happy about that, but it's not like you could stay indefinitely. Still, you were over-the-moon, considering that you'd left the building with a cute wristband and a super-duper yummy milkshake - Norman having acquired these wonderful things as well.

"Mm! These milkshakes are just the best, don't you think so?" You commented with a cheery voice; taking a delicate sip before looking back at him happily.

"Mmhm!" Norman beamed back, clutching his milkshake as the walk home became relatively relaxing. "T-Thanks so much for...Well, for coming out with me... It...It um...meant a lot..."

"Aw, Norman." You wrapped your free arm around his shoulders and shot him a soft smile, seeing how self-conscious he really was. "As long as I'm free, I certainly don't mind spending time with you. Today was a blast."

"R...Really...?" He stopped walking and whispered - his eyes absolutely shining with admiration and attachment. "D-Do you...Do you really mean that, (Y/n)...?"

"Of course I do!" You answered at once, concern washing over your facial features when you saw the previous paranoia staining his face. "Do you really think that I'd lie to you?"

"W...Well it's just that...it's hard to trust people right now..." Norman revealed his true feelings with a fearful expression - clearly not wanting to offend you in any type of way. "T-The others, they...they always say nasty, nasty things about me. Like Freddy, Michael and Hannibal do."

Your eyes widened from Norman's last sentence; shocked by how he'd included Hannibal in said accusation. You could understand Freddy - due to the dream demon acting like the freaking devil - but the psychiatrist...? "Hold on now, what kind of things do they say exactly?" You asked in a tender tone - trying to take things down a notch and not cause any drama.

"T-That...That you hate me. That you...That you like the them more than me. I mean, even...even Hannibal said that you just pity me." Norman couldn't contain his tears any longer and began to weakly cry, hiding his face in one arm from shame and humiliation.