The Perfect Fan

While they ate, Paige kept her eyes on her soup. He took a bite from his sandwich and watched her carefully. Different things were going through her mind, he could tell. Different emotions were playing over her face and her body. A few times her hand were tighten on her spoon and a look of panic seem to leak into her eyes. Then she'd exhale hard and relax, only to tense up again a few moments later.

" So, do you have friends in the FBI?" He asked, trying to make conversation. Paige glanced up at him then shook her head and looked back at her soup. Her spoon was slipping through it slowly.

" No. I mean, maybe....I don't know." She closed her eyes briefly and shook her head again. She sighed and sat back in her chair as she looked at him again. " I guess, yes. There are some people I keep in contact with who are in the FBI. I guess you could call them my friends." He nodded and smiled.

" That's nice." He said. She nodded and looked back at her soup.

' That was stupid.' He cursed himself. ' That's nice.' He mocked himself. ' I'm a fucking idiot.'

" Yeah, I guess." Paige said. Norman sighed and leaned forward in his chair.

" You know, I'm a very open person. I have been told I'm easy to talk too. If you need help with something, I'd like to help you." Paige slowly met his eyes with a pained expression on her face. It made him drop his voice. " If you need to talk, or if you need anything, just let me know. I want to help. I want to listen. I might not have anything to say but I can listen really well." He placed his hand on her arm and squeezed it. Paige swallowed and closed her eyes as she shook her head.

" I'm okay." She said. Her voice was barely a whisper. She sighed and opened her eyes. There was a second where they looked tear filled but she locked down the expression quickly. " I'd really like to not talk about it. It's not something I want to think about or get into it. I came here to leave things in my past and I'd like to keep them there." He nodded slowly but he was frowning. Whatever was in her past was not staying there, that much he knew but he was going to let her go.

" I'm not going to push you. I just want you to know that I am here if you need me." Norman said. That was all he could say.

" Thank you." She said, nodding. " For everything you have done. I mean seriously, you didn't have to do all this." Norman smiled and sat down, letting his hand slip away from her arm.

" It's no problem. I like helping." He said.

" So besides cleaning up book stores, what else do you like to do?" Paige asked.

They ate and talked quietly together, both being sure to stay away from the subject of the FBI and her past. He was aware that whatever it was going on, she had it locked it tight and had no intention of letting him in yet. But Norman wasn't going to give up on getting to know her more. It just made him more interested in her, pulled him towards her more. Something bad had to have happen but she was being brave about it and he liked that.

XXXXXX

For two months they continued to hang out together. Sean was staying in New York for six months because he was filming a movie so he, Hailey, Norman, Paige, and Leo were spending a lot of time together. Norman would come to the store and have lunch with Paige whenever he could. He wasn't pushing for anything with her even though he wanted too. Every day he liked her more and more but there was something holding her back from him and he was letting her work through it.

At the end of the two months, he decided to try a few small things with her. When they were out, he would touch her lightly. Sometimes it was just her shoulder or her lower back. It started out as just a light touch to get her attention or guide her somewhere but when she stopped jumping and tensing up, he started touching her more and for longer times.

Then one night, after Sean, Hailey, Norman and Paige had went out and were walking up the stairs to the apartment Paige shared with Leo. He slipped his hand into hers without looking at her. When she didn't pull away, he interlaced their fingers and squeezed her hand while he talked to Sean and laughed. To his surprise, she squeezed him back. Sean was leading the way to the apartment, his arm around Hailey's shoulders.

" Hey, Paige, there's a scarf tied around your door knob." Sean said.

" What?" Paige asked. Sean and Hailey moved out of the way of the door and so Paige could see the pink and white polka dotted scarf. She sucked in a hard breath, making them all look at her. She dropped Norman's hand and started to shake her head as she backed away from the door.

" What's wrong?" Norman asked quickly. She was breathing hard and still shaking her head.

" Paige, calm down." Sean said. " I'll just take it off." He moved away from Hailey and to the door.

" Don't touch it!" Paige yelled as she burst into tears. She covered her face with her hands as she started to sob. Hailey rushed forward and grabbed her friend tightly while Sean and Norman exchanged quick looks to each other. " Call Leo, please!" She sobbed out.

" What is going on?" Sean asked.

" Please call Leo!" Paige cried. Norman dug his phone out and pulled up Leo's number quickly.

" What's wrong?" Hailey was asking. Sean came forward and touched Paige's shoulder.

" Calm down, Paige." He said, meeting Hailey's eyes. The three were confused by her reaction.

" Hey Leo, I know you're on a date but something happen and Paige is freaking out." Norman said when Leo picked up his phone. " There is a scarf tied to the door knob and I'm not sure what..."

" Get her out of there!" Leo exploded suddenly. " Take her to your car and no one leave her alone! Call Veck now! I'm coming! Tell her I'm coming!"

" What the hell is going on?" Norman snapped.

" Just do please. Get her away from the apartment. Don't let her be alone, please." Leo begged. Norman frowned but moved towards Paige. Leo hung up before he could ask anything else.

" Come on. We need to go down the car." He said, shooting Sean a look. " I need your phone, Paige. Leo wants me to call Veck."

" What is going on?" Sean asked as they started hurrying to the steps that would lead them down to the parking lot.

" I don't know." Norman said. He took Paige's bag from her while putting his arm around her shoulders. He handed her bag to his friend. " Get her phone out and call Veck, please."

The three moved down the stairs with Paige covering her face and crying. She let him guide her towards his car. Hailey took a hold of Sean's arm while he called the detective that had been maintaining contact with Paige since he came on the case. Sean informed him of the find and where they were going. Veck told him to stay by the cars and that he was on his way with officers. Norman opened the door to the back seat of his car and helped Paige to sit down while she continued to cry. He came down on his knees in front of her and placed his hands on her knees.

" Paige, I need you to calm down and tell me what is happening here." He said gently. Sean took a hold Hailey and pulled her to him while he glanced around. Paige just shook her head. " No, don't do that. Something is going on or you won't be freaking out. You need to talk to me. You need to let me in so I know how to help you." Paige dropped her hands from her face and finally met his eyes.

" You can't help me." She said softly while the tears free flowed down her face.

" Talk to me, please. What is wrong with that scarf? Why is Leo in a panic?" Paige slowly shook her head again.

" It doesn't matter now." She said.

" Yes, it does. Something major is going on. Remember what I said, you can trust me." He said. Paige closed her eyes.

" Not even you can help me now." She whispered.

He kept trying to talk to her. He kept nudging her gently, trying to get to her open up to him but Paige won't say anything else. She kept her eyes closed and didn't opened them again until she heard a car come flying into the parking lot then heard Leo's voice. The second her best friend called out to her, Paige's eyes flew open. She was up and out of Norman's car quickly. Leo and Paige rushed towards each other. Norman stood up slowly and walked over to Sean with a frown on his face. Leo grabbed Paige hard while she started to cry again.

" What the fuck is happening?" Sean asked.

" I don't know. She won't talk." Norman said.

A few minutes later the parking lot was surrounded by police officers with Veck taking the led. He pulled Paige over to his car and deposited her inside with two officers. The other four were told to stay by Norman's car. Veck and a few officers went up stairs to their apartment while the others started searching the area around the apartment complex.

" What the fuck is going on?" Norman snapped to Leo. " And don't you dare say nothing!" He warned. " I didn't say anything when Veck showed up at the store. I didn't say anything about your and her fight about the FBI but I want to know what is going on. Why is she freaking out over a scarf? Why are we being surrounded by the entire NYPD?" Leo put his hand into his hair and sighed as he stared at the car Paige was in.

" What did the scarf look like?" He asked.

" It was pink with white polka dots." Sean said. Leo shook his head and looked at them.

" Because it's not just a scarf. It was one of the scarfs used to tie her up when she was kidnapped. If the scarf was left tied to our door knob then that means her kidnapper has found her." He said, dropping the bomb on them.