The Cast Mate

The next night, Norman was walking down her hallway, texting her as he came to her door. She had told him not to knock and to just walk in. They were not used to people knocking. He took a hold of her door knob and opened the door. The apartment was mostly quiet but he could hear Nick talking. He shut the door and came into the apartment. He looked to his left and down the hallway towards her room. Nick was laying on her bed with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed. Silver was sitting indian style on the bed. She looked up as Norman started towards them.

" Hey." She said with a smile. Nick looked over at him and pushed himself up so he was sitting.

" Hey here, man. I'm glad you're here. We need your opinion." Nick said. Silver shook her head but was smiling.

" With what?" Norman asked as he put his hands in his pockets. He walked into her room and leaned against her door frame.

" So I think Silver should do more piano pieces but she thinks it will turn fans off." Nick said. " You have been to two of our concerts, what do you think? Should we bring in more slow songs?" Silver was shaking her head no behind Nick's back.

" I think Silver sounds awesome either way but I think Nick is right." He said.

" Yes!" Nick said as he stood up.

" What? Did you not see me shaking my head no?" Silver asked, making Norman smile.

" What's going on?" Winston asked as he came out of his room. " Are we having a roommate meeting?"

" No. No meeting." Silver said as she shook her head.

" Sam! Meeting!" Winston called out as he walked into her room.

" No, we aren't having a meeting!" Silver said quickly.

" A meeting? Great! I have somethings I want to go over!" Sam yelled as he came out of his room, carrying a notebook.

" Why is Reedus here for the meeting?" Winston asked.

" There is no meeting!" Silver said. Norman walked towards her bed and sat down so Sam could come into the room.

" Is he moving in with us?" Sam asked. Nick crossed his arms over his chest with a grin. " Is that what the meeting is about? Because I think you guys are moving kind of fast if he's moving in and what's he gonna do with all his stuff? We don't have any room for anymore stuff."

" For fuck sakes! He's not moving in and we aren't having a meeting!" Silver snapped. Winston frowned as he looked at Sam.

" You brought a notebook?" He asked.

" You know I like to take notes." Sam defended.

" Alright, we aren't having a meeting. I was talking to Silver when Norman got here. Let's go and leave them alone." Nick said as he started towards the door.

" Oh I see how it is. Silver and Norman are going to have a meeting of their own." Sam said. Winston started to laugh and walked out of the room.

" Someone kill me now." Silver said as she laid down and covered her face. Norman started to laugh.

" You still got that thing I gave you?" Sam asked.

" Let's go, Sam." Nick said as he pushed his friend out of the door.

" I just want to make sure he still has the condom." Silver heard as Nick closed the door. She dropped her arms and sat up quickly.

" Did he say condom?" She asked. Norman laughed and started to rub his chin as his face flushed. " Did he give you a condom?" She asked as she moved closer to him. He turned in her bed so his left leg came up and rested on her bed.

" Ah, yeah, he did. He gave it to me when I came to pick up on Monday." He said as he nodded.

" What is wrong with him?" She asked in disbelief. " I can't believe he did that." He smiled and took her hand.

" Yeah, I'm not going lie, I was a little shocked." He said. " You ready to leave?" She nodded.

" Yeah but just so you know Sam's going to be right outside my door." She said. He looked at the door then back at her.

" Is trying to hear us?" He asked.

" Yeah. He's a sick pervert." She said. She slipped off her bed and walked over to the door. She took a hold of the door knob then faced him. When she pulled open the door, Sam stood up quickly.

" Oh, hey." He said. Silver was shaking her head as she looked at Norman. " I was just making sure Silver wasn't still upset."

" Can we go now?" She asked Norman who smiled and stood up.

XXXXXX

" So, tell me more about your family. I know you said you were raised by your grandparents but how did you end up there?" Norman asked as he poured her a drink. She was sitting at his table and he noticed that she instantly tensed up.

" Ah, well, it's a long story." She said. They had finished up eating and she had helped him clean up. "You know I said my parents were teens when I was born."

" Right, I remember that." He said as he walked over to her. He took her hand and pulled her up.

" Well, when I was born my mom was 18 and my dad was 19." She started while he led her to his couch. " Jared was born when our parents were 16 and 17. By the time I came along, they weren't getting along and my mom was drinking a lot and doing drugs. I was actually born addicted to coke." She said.

" Are you shitting me?" He asked in shock. When they sat down, he leaned forward and set her drink down on his coffee table.

" No. I'm so tiny because my mom did so much drinking and shit while she was pregnant with me. I guess when I was born I shook real bad and I had to have all these IV's."

" So how long where you in the hospital?" He asked.

" Months. My bio dad couldn't handle it so he took off and we haven't seen him or heard from him since. My mom signed Jared and I over to our grandparents and they took care of us. Our mom stayed around but she was in and out. We talked to her everyday but she was always with different men." She took her drink and stared into it. Mostly she just needed something to do with her hands. She hated talking about her mom.

" And you never lived with her?" Norman asked. He was watching her intently, completely shocked by this side of her life.

" I did but Jared didn't. She came to us when I was 13. She said she was clean and she wanted a chance to raise us. So I went. Things were fine for about 3 months then she started using again. She would climb in bed with me drunk or high then one day she made me sit down at the table. She showed me how to write a check and gave me her credit card. She left for work the next day and I didn't see her for four days." She said. Norman sat back in the couch and stared hard at her but she was still staring into her glass.

" I can't image that." He said softly. He was thinking about his son. He couldn't image Mingus being made to care for himself. She slowly took a drink. " So when she came back?" Silver brought her arm down and shook her head.

" She was home for two days the left again. One time she was gone for a week. I walked to the store and brought what I needed when I needed it. Things went on like that for two months before I told my grandparents what was happening. When I left, I told her I just couldn't stay with her. She cried, I cried and a few days later I moved out."

" And now?" He asked. Silver shrugged and finally met his eyes.

" And now she's clean, has been for a few years now. We got along now." She said.

" Do you guys ever talk about what happen?" Norman asked.

" No. I haven't actually talked about it in years. I'm honestly not even sure if the boys know about it because I didn't meet them until later in my teens. I know I never told them about it. I don't think Jared would but you never know." Silver said quietly. He realized what she wasn't saying to him. Outside of her family, he was the only person to know that part of her past. She finally laughed and shook her head when she looked at him. " I'm not a fucked up person or anything. Don't think that." She said quickly. He started shaking his head.

" I don't. No way. I mean, how could anyone think you're fucked up? After going through all that I'm actually wondering how you turned out so normal." He said. She smiled and looked down again

" Can we talk about something else now? I'm not so good with these lifetime moments." She said.

" You don't like expressing your emotions, do you?" He asked. She shook her head.

" No, honestly I don't." She said, rising her eyes up again to look at him. " I'm really uncomfortable right now. I feel completely exposed and I hate it. See, my mom did not like any negative feelings so Jared and I learned early on to hide our sadness or whatever. But once you start to hide those things from one person, you start to hide them from everyone. So now, as an adult, when I feel those negative feelings I want to run or lock them up tight. Or I lash out." She laughed and shook her head again. " I don't even know why I'm telling you all this." He leaned forward and took her hand.

" I'm glad you are. I'm glad your comfortable enough to open up to me." He said. Silver closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

" Please, can we just drop it already?" She asked.

" I love cats." Norman said to defuse her tension. Silver frowned and opened her eyes.

" What?" She asked. He shrugged and smiled.

" I love cats. I have a cat who's around here somewhere and I adore her. She sleeps in the bed with me at night and I like to cuddle with her." Silver smiled and squeezed his hand.

" Thanks." She said softly. He smiled, knowing she was thanking him for dropping the subject.