Everything You Want

Comic Con- something Norman and Sean had fell in love with right after the success of Boondock Saints landed them on a tour. They attended different conventions every year, and I had many fond memories of being drug alongside both boys to them. They were going to be at one here in the Big Apple this afternoon and begged me to come along for old times sake. I argued, saying my photo-shoot would make me late and I would hate to interrupt anything.

But it’s impossible to argue with both Sean and Norman on their knees giving you their best puppy faces while Cleo is pleading behind them.

I caved, like they knew I would, and was currently running late- like I knew I would be.

My meeting with Victoria’s Secret had taken longer than expected this morning, thus causing my photoshoot with Nylon to be pushed back an extra half-hour. From there, I had rushed to grab a bite of lunch and hailed a taxi cab to bring me to the address Sean had texted.

I grabbed the little toy from the McDonalds kids meal that had been my lunch and shoved it in my purse as I paid the cab driver. I stepped out of the cab, and looked up at the building before me.

With a deep breath, I stepped through the front doors.

I weaved through all the exhibit booths and celebrity stands, scanning through the crowd for one of my three dweebs. A quick glance at my watch instantly told me where they were- the Q and A floor.
Sean and Normans absolute favorite.

“Er, hi,” I said shyly to the big man guarding the back entrance doors. He stared down at me looking rather unimpressed and I pointed towards the doors behind him. “I need in there.”

“You have a pass?” he asked with a stiff, bored voice.

Shit.

“Well, no,” I sighed, running my fingers through my long hair.

“Can’t come in, then. Sorry, Miss.”

“You don’t understand,” I began, laughing to myself. “Sean is my cousin, and I promised him I’d be here. I had a meeting earlier that made me late, though.”

I couldn’t blame him for not believing me; I’m sure he’s heard thousands of crazy stories from people trying to get in without a ticket. I smiled genuinely up at him, but he didn’t blink. Just gave me the same blank stare.

“Look, I’m not fucking with you. Sean Patrick Flannery is my first cousin and his fiancé is my best friend.”

He glared down at me, but grabbed a radio off his belt. “James, we have a girl saying she’s Flannerys cousin and he’s expecting her. Can you check with him about that?”

The radio fuzzed, and another man replied with a ‘sure thing’.

“We’ll see, Miss,” said the security guard, and I pursed my lips. A few tense moments passed before his radio fuzzed to life.

“Let her in,” said the other voice, but before the guard in front of me could move, the doors behind him were flung open.

There stood Sean, a silly grin on his face, and Norman beside him with a shy smile.

I inwardly cringed when I looked past them- there were easily fifty pairs of eyes on me.

“Kenz, you gotta cut the fashionably late routine,” said Sean, and I rolled my eyes.

“Not my fault, blame VS if you wanna point fingers,” I defended, and pulled out the plastic wrapped dinosaur toy from my bag. I held it out to Norman, who eyed it carefully. “It came in my kids meal, and I figured you’d be entertained with it for a while.”

Norman snatched it from my hands and quickly shed the wrapper. A wide grin filled his face and he looked up at me with twinkling eyes. “You’re the fucking best.”

“C’mon, Cleo’s back here. You wanna say hey to everyone?”

I quickly shook my head, and shooed the two boys away with my hands. “I’ll find Cleo, go back to your people.”

Sean winked, and began to walk away- not without a jab to Normans ribs. He was too engrossed in the toy. They quickly returned to the stage, and I edged along the back wall in the direction Sean had pointed. I found Cleo quickly, leaning against the wall near the center of the room.

“Oh my God, I’m so glad you made it,” she laughed, hugging me briefly. “I need someone to properly make fun of those two with.”

“I’m your girl,” I replied, and we turned out attention to the stage. Sean was in the middle of telling a story about Norman from when they worked on Boondock Saints. Norman sat without saying a word for a while, but he would now hold up the toy to the microphone and make the dinosaur roar at Sean. The crowd found it hilarious, much like Norman did, however Sean was more amused at how distracted Norman was and took it as an opportunity to jab more comments at him. I was thrilled to see Rocco was there, and made a mental note to speak with him before I left.

“Damnit, who the fuck gave Reedus a toy!” Sean shouted, laughter in his voice after Norman figured out a way to make the toy even louder between his phone and the microphone. “Oh, wait. My dumbass cousin did! Thanks, Kenz, I love you too.”

My face turned red as a cherry as Sean gave me a pointed look, and Norman shot an apologetic smile before going back to playing with the toy and taking pictures of it. Typical Norman, some things never change.

“You know, he really does love you,” murmured Cleo from beside me. “I haven’t seen him this happy in a long time.”

“He loves toys,” I said simply, choosing to ignore her first statement. She shook her head.

“He loves you, and I’ll bet you twenty bucks that since you gave him that toy it’s going everywhere with him from now on. Hell, he’ll probably put it on the dash of his car when he’s traveling.”

“You’re bloody insane, Cleo,” I laughed, shaking my head but she raised her eyebrows at me.

“Oh, really? Would you be willing to make a bet?”

“You’re so fucking on, Flannery,” I retorted, giving her a wink as pink filled her cheeks.

“Not yet,” she mumbled, suddenly bashful but nonetheless sporting the bride-to-be glow. “We still have a full year.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’ll fly by, though. Before you know it, we’ll be having your bachelorette party.”

We both laughed a little and continued to make small comments about the boys throughout their session, but we were mostly content to watch them interact. Or, Sean interact while Norman continued to hide behind his Ray Bans and the dinosaur toy.

I couldn’t help but smile when I noticed every so often Sean would glance out way, his eyes knowing exactly where Cleo was. When she excused herself to the restroom, I met Sean’s gaze and mouthed ‘bathroom’ to him, and he visibly relaxed. I rolled my eyes as he sent an sheepish smile my way, never once missing a second of his story regarding the donuts he sent to Norman.

The story that never actually happened.

Because if he actually had sent Norman a box of donuts and have a polaroid put in the mailbox after Norman finished the box of Sean with a donut on his Jimmy Johnson… believe me, I would have acquired that photograph and it would be everywhere now.

“Is he telling that story again?”

I almost jumped when Cleo sat back down beside me.

“Yeah, he is. It gets bigger every time I hear it,” I laughed, and she shook her head with a smile on her glossed lips.

“I hope you know, no one believes a word you’re saying,” said Norman, finally interjecting as he leaned towards the microphone with his head turned completely to Sean.

“I don’t see why they wouldn’t!” replied Sean, and Cleo nor I could contain our squeaks of laughter that we tried to hide. Sean and Norman both heard us, though, like the bats they are with supersonic hearing.

Seans eyebrow quirked as he smirked devilishly at the two of us. “Do you lovely ladies have something to say?”

“Kenz does!” chirped Cleo, her high voice carrying easily across the room.

“Then, please. By all means, get your ass up here and fill everyone in on what the devil is so hilarious.”

Cleo playfully shoved me forward, and after a moments hesitation I made my way to the stage.

Sean and Norman both stood as I neared, Sean motioning for me to stand between the two of them.
“Now, please. Fill us in.”

I couldn’t tame the smirk that equally matched Sean’s as I leaned over to Norman. He held the microphone up as I spoke slowly.

“Because, Sean. If such a picture did exist, I assure you that Norman and I would have put that shit everywhere years ago.”

The crowd roared with laughter, and the shock that filled Sean’s face only made me giggle. Norman slung an arm around my much smaller shoulders, drawing me into his side with a proud grin.

“Ladies and gentlemen, meet Sean Patrick Flannerys cousin… McKenzi. The only woman I’ve ever met who can best Sean at his own game,” he laughed, reaching his microphone gripping hand around the front of my shoulders and clapping. I quirked an eyebrow at him, but played out a curtsey for the crowd.

“She just gets really lucky,” quipped Sean, laughing alongside everyone else.

“Sean, shut up. You’re fucking engaged, you wouldn’t really know about getting lucky anymore,” I muttered with a roll of my eyes. The crowd ‘oooo’ed, and while Norman beamed Sean simply got a lopsided grin.

“You’re damn right. In fact, how about you all meet my wonderful fiancé? She also goes by ‘The Most Amazing Woman in the World’.”

Cleos eyes were wide as saucers when Sean shoved the microphone into my hands before dashing off towards the back of the room. There was a brief exchange of words, mostly with her shaking her head in horror and Sean giving her a pout, before he scooped her into his arms bridal style.

“You practicing, Sean?” asked Norman, the teasing grin plastered onto his face.

“You’re just jealous you can’t carry Kenz around like this whenever you want!” shouted Sean, and immediately my face turned a deep red. Norman lapsed into silence as the duo hopped on to the stage to introduce Cleo.“Guys, this is Cleo. My other half.My best friend. The woman I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with.”

There was a chorus of “aww’s” that ruffled through the crowd, and the moment Cleo stood on her own two feet Sean swooped forward and gave her a quick kiss.

“He’s so happy,” murmured Norman, low in my ear. I nodded, smiling at my best friend and cousin.

“Yeah,” I whispered back, suddenly becoming aware of his arm still draped around my shoulders. “They both are.”

He nodded and we both sat back, content to let Sean handle the crowd. It wasn’t five minutes later before the moderator announced the session would, regretfully, have to come to an end.

“You two look cozy.”

I almost jumped out of my skin at the sound of Rocco’s voice. I tore from Normans grasp, and leapt into Roccos arms with a slight squeal. The two men chuckled, and when I was set back down I playfully shoved Roccos chest.

“Hey, I missed you. Shove off.”

That earned more laughter from them, and I rolled my eyes playfully..

“I missed you too, kid. Good to see you again,” chuckled Rocco. “If I had known you were gonna be here I would have cleared my day to catch up, but I’ve got a plane to catch in an hour.”

“You’re not missing much,” teased Sean, entering the conversation with Cleo at his side. She pinched his ribs and he yelped a little in surprise.

“Be nice, Sean,” she growled, and I couldn’t help but smirk.

“Sean, everyone likes me more than you. Just get over it.”

He pouted a little bit, but before any bickering could ensue Rocco bid us all a farewell- giving me a quick kiss on the cheek- before he departed.

“Let’s go, guys,” yawned Sean, stretching his long arms. “I’m hungry and sleepy.”