CHAPTER 1
As he stepped out of his police car, feeling the obvious pain that shot from his chest down to his left arm. He couldn't help but to care more about the heavy pain that had been building up in his chest after knowing the truth about Norma Bates. That in fact, her late husband, had not been killed by a shelf in their garage. That her little story she had made up, was just one thing, and one thing only; a lie. She had lied to him. After everything that he had done for her and how the things were going between them lately Alex thought she trusted him completely. But maybe all that he felt was one-sided only? What if Norma was actually just using him? And that thought killed him, he couldn't help but to feel like a failure. All he ever wanted, was to protect her, to keep her safe. But he can't do that unless he knows the truth. The whole truth.
He passed her car on his way up to her house. The car he had brought her back, knowing how much it meant to her. If he could put a smile on her face, he gladly would. Why had he done it? Was it because he was a cop and observant? No, not exactly. It was not that, even though he tried really hard to convince himself that it was the case. Was it because he couldn't stand the thought of her being sad about it? Yes, partly yes. But deep down, as much as he tried to hide it, to deny, Alex Romero had feelings for Norma Bates. The car was a gesture of something more than just a kindness and deep down he knew it. She did too maybe, at least he hoped so. But for the sake of his sanity he needed to know the truth, even if that meant to confront her about it.
Alex made his way up the stairs to her house. It was around 6pm, she was probably going to have dinner soon. He knocked on her front door with a little too much force for his likeness.
"Hi Alex." she greeted him with a soft voice lightly leaning on the door frame. Why did she had to look so pretty? With her bouncy small, blonde curls framing her delicate face he would more than willing to call a piece of art. That's what she was. Art.
"I'm just heating up some leftovers. You want to come in?" she asked while he gazed at her. He was right about that she was probably going to eat at this time. Alex Romero knew Norma Bates too well.
His response to her question was a tired sigh, which she clearly noticed. The look on his face made her worry a bit. He turned around, away from her, trying to keep some sort of distance between them. Her closeness made him lose focus and he had to stay focused if he wanted to confront her. If he wanted the truth.
"What?" she asked quickly, feeling him pull away from her.
"You remember the first time that I talked to you on this porch, Norma? It's kind of funny 'cause you were standing right over there, and you were lying to me, and..."
"What are you talking about?" Norma interrupted. She looked at him, trying to tell by his facial expressions if he was showing some sort of emotion at all. She knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Do you want to come in? Did you talk to Bob Paris?" she asked right after, just wanting him to say something. She wanted him to elaborate his sudden statement.
"Yeah, and I talked to Bob, but I don't want to come in, and I want to ask you something, and don't tell me a story, okay? Tell me the truth. I know what your impulse is gonna be, but don't do it. Just this once." Alex said.
"Just this once?" Norma frowned. She felt slightly offended at his words but let it slip aside because she was too worried about what Alex was gonna ask her next. Even if deep down she could guess.
"How did your husband die?" he asked.
"You know how he died. In an accident in the garage. A heavy shelf fell on him." she blurted out like it was no big deal. She had told this lie so many times that the lines of that story were in her blood. It felt like the truth to her. Norma tried to act casual like she had no idea why he was even questioning it. As much as she tried to keep her posture cool her heart was beating painfully hard and fast in her chest.
"You have a last chance, Norma." Alex said calmly, trying to control himself to not shake her and ask her why she wouldn't just tell him the truth already.
"That is the truth." she replied while staring into his dark hazel eyes that always brought her the feeling of safety and calmness and something else she couldn't quite explain.
"Goodbye, Norma." he said in a low tone and moved towards his car. He couldn't even look at her right now.
"Alex," she said in a normal voice but he ignored her. If she didn't want to tell him the truth, he was not going to talk to her at all.
"Alex." she said a bit louder this time. He kept on walking, doing his very best at ignoring Norma Bates.
"Alex!"Norma almost yelled this time, left standing alone on her porch. He was done.
It felt like it took him 5 hours to get to his house even though it probably took 5 minutes because he was speeding the whole way there. He was furious at her. He was so infuriated. Alex could feel his temper boiling inside of him, he was mad at everyone who had ever hurt her so much that the idea of putting her trust on anyone except herself never seemed like an option. How she had just denied his accusation. Could he ever forgive her for not telling him the truth? For shamelessly lying in his face like that after he thought the growing relationship they had meant at least something to her? No matter how much he wanted to be outraged at her for lying, he already knew it wouldn't last. He couldn't stay away from her too long because he needed to protect her, to keep her safe. Because no matter how much she hurt him, it still wouldn't hurt as much as losing her. But for now, Alex just wanted to be left alone, it was becoming to much to handle at this point.
That woman would be the death of him. She was either making him go fully crazy or frustrated so he couldn't think properly. And Norma knew she had that effect on him, she knew that he would simply do anything for her, in a heartbeat.
Alex wished he could say that the first time he saw her, he fell for her in an instant. That's not the case, at least he doesn't thinks so. He actually thought she was a tad off putting, very uptight and extremely annoying, that was his first impression of her. If he only had known why she was so tense when he first met her, how she had killed Keith Summers an hour before they got there. She had blood on her hands, blood of a scumbag who had sucked the life right out of her. That would have explained a lot if he had only knew it then. But it was her beauty he could not deny. He already noticed how attractive she had looked that time he first met her. It was nothing fancy, no dress, no heavy make up, no perfect hairdo, just simple plaid button up shirt, jeans and her hair up in a half, messy ponytail. And still, she looked luminous. The beauty he first saw in her grew over time. He started noticing how beautiful she was when her eyes sparkled whenever she talked about something that made her happy. How beautiful she was when caring for someone or something. How beautiful she was even while angry, sarcastic and pissed off. Yes, Norma Bates was beautiful. From her outside to deep down to her soul.
The attraction he had towards Norma was like a rollercoaster. You jump into it, unaware how it's going to go and feel. And you think "I can't believe I'm doing this, what is happening? What the hell was I thinking?" And when it starts to move you can feel the twists, and the turns, and the loops. At first you are fine, thinking you will survive this. Because how many people die from riding a rollercoaster? But as it gets further you are not sure anymore. How could you possibly know, rollercoasters were never really your thing. Until now. And that part when you give yourself into it completely, when you finally start enjoying the spinning and twists and that tickling feeling it creates in your stomach. And then, at that time you even start thinking that maybe this is actually it? Maybe this is the way you would want to die? That's how it felt with Norma Bates. It was scary but it was also wonderfully amazing.
As Alex pulled up on his driveway he was still upset and disappointed. Tonight, he would drink his sorrow away, like he always did at the times he felt hopeless. He knew way too well he shouldn't be drinking while taking his pain killers. And still, he didn't care. Not tonight. Not ever.
As he soaked his throat with the very strong whiskey, he let his mind go elsewhere. Away from himself, away from White Pine Bay, away from all of this that was happening.
As Alex was trying to stare into space, without really existing, he heard a knock on the door. Sigh. Couldn't she just leave him alone for at least a few hours?
"I said goodbye, Norma. Just leave me the hell alone" he said forcefully. Not wanting to deal with whatever she wanted to say. It wasn't going to be enough right now.
"Who the hell is Norma?" a female voice asked with the hint of disappointment in her voice.
Rebecca.
"It's not really good time right now, Rebecca. Please, leave." Alex said, staring into the wall. He couldn't care less about what she could possibly want tonight.
"Can you open up so we can talk?" she asked, trying to look into the window. "I won't leave unless we talked, it's important."
Fine, if she wanted to talk, they would.
He opened the door quickly to see her standing there with a smile on her face and hope in her eyes. Poor woman.
"What do you want Rebecca? Bank business at this hour?" he asked without emotion in his voice. He was tired, he was fragile, he was weak and he wasn't someone who would let be seen in this state.
"Can I come in?" she asked while looking into his living room.
"Now is not really a good time…" Alex said. But she just walked in, ignoring his obvious disapproving replies. It was like she was marking her territory, she had her shield up. All because of the name that had left his lips. Norma. She was marking her territory she did not own, to someone who wasn't even there.
"What is it?" he asked looking at her, taking a small sip on his whiskey. He wanted to drink the whole bottle now when she was there. Boy, did he need it. But he was too much of a gentleman, so he took a small sip and put his glass down on the table.
Rebecca took her coat off to reveal her outfit. Black pants. Black shirt. Just that. Nothing with flowers, no dress, no blouse. Not his taste at all.
"I have a problem with my apartment, Alex. My kitchen, it had some plumbing work done and I called this plumber who foolishly tried to repair a leak without turning the water off first. Can you believe it? My whole apartment was fucking flooded! Kitchen, living room, bedroom... There's no way I can stay there till everything gets repaired and I didn't know where else to go. So I thought I could stay here for a night?" she said with a desperate and pleading look on her face.
"Can't you just stay at King's Motel or something?" Alex asked, not feeling like mentioning Bates Motel at this moment and situation he was in. He didn't need Rebecca going there and finding out who Norma was.
"That was the first place I went, actually. And believe it or not, that craphole has no rooms available!" Rebecca uttered in an angry tone.
A lot happened today and Alex was too tired to fight her. Also he felt kinda bad for her too? She was nothing more than just a part time escape, someone to satisfy his man needs so maybe he owed her at least a bit of help at situation like this? And at this point he didn't really care if she stayed or not, at this very moment he was oblivious to things happening around him.
"Ok, fine, whatever. As long as it's only one night. You can take my bedroom bed, I will stay on the couch." he said, trying to mask his annoyance in his voice.
"You know, we can sleep in the same bed? It's been too long and I missed you. I forget about you until I see you again and..." she said with a smirk on her lips, while moving towards him.
"Either you stop this right now or you'll have to leave." he warned, taking few steps back, annoyance now obvious in his tone.
"Whoah, ok. Great. No need to be this tense, jesus." she said waving her hand off.
"You can get your stuff to my room, it's upstairs." he trailed off.
"I know where your bedroom is, Alex." she chuckled.
"Right, ok. I'm gonna go and take a shower now and go to sleep. Lock the door when you leave in the morning. The key is on the table, leave it in the mail box after." he stated, being obvious about the fact that he didn't want to see her here in the morning.
Without waiting for any answer Alex went upstairs to the bathroom. There's no way in hell he would stay in the same room as Rebecca. The more he thought of her the more she actually annoyed him, especially now, when all he wanted was to be alone and here she was, with her own problems and old need for him.
Norma desperately needed to talk to Alex. She couldn't sleep, the image of his expression on his face when she lied to him not leaving her head. And yes, she will be the one this time to go and talk about it with him. Without being drunk and later regretting it later, how it had happened with that therapist. Norma was now completely ready to tell Alex the whole true. Because deep down she knew he will understand and not judge her. That she could finally trust someone, and that someone was him.
After getting out of her green Mercedes she was now standing in front of Alex's house. It was around 1 am but she could tell that he wasn't asleep, because of the lights inside the house. She knocked and heard the footsteps inside approaching the door.
And then it happened. Something she wasn't expecting at all. The door swung open and it was not Alex that she saw. It was a slim, pale redhead now staring at her from the inside of the house.
"H-hi, hey, good evening.." Norma stuttered, trying all her best to keep the shock out of her face. "I'm actually looking for Alex, is he..?"
"Who are you exactly?" Rebecca asked scaning Norma from head to toe.
"I'm Norma Bates, I needed to talk with Alex, can you..?" she trailed off, now noticing that the woman in front of her was only wearing a short silk robe, that type of robe Norma would normally wear to bed.
"Oh, he's upstairs, taking a shower. " Rebecca replied with a smirk, slight of satisfaction filling her face as she realized how it looked to Norma, clearly enjoying her confusion. "Do you want me to call him or..?"
"No no, actually nevermind." Norma gave a fake smile, "It isn't that important after all, sorry for bothering you at this time. Goodnight."
Without waiting for any response Norma turned around and left. Heartbroken. What was she even thinking coming here?