This is my second Normero story. It's an alternate outcome to the one in the episode "Norma Louise" (s3e6.) Alex doesn't get shot. Norma doesn't sleep with that psyc professor guy, James or whatever his name is. LOL. So Bob never learns anything incriminating about Sam Bates' death and therefore, Alex won't feel like he has to kill him. I guess I'll write more chapters after this one. We'll see how it goes. :) Obviously, I disclaim any right to the intellectual property of these characters, who in fact belong to the creators of BATES MOTEL (2013-2017.)

Alex loved the smile on Norma's face after their meeting with Bob Paris, but he couldn't ignore the pang in his gut. He knew damn well that neither he nor Norma had anything to smile about, that there wasn't a chance in hell that Bob was going to play along nicely with his part in their "deal." No matter what, he knew the only reason Norma was still alive was that Bob knew she had the flash drive; Bob just didn't know where it was. Bob was buying time, making Norma feel that he had accepted her terms. Norma was just naive enough to think she and Bob were on the same playing field. Norma didn't know Bob like Alex knew him. She couldn't see the snake under the Cheshire cat grin. A lot of women fell for Bob's charming ways, thinking he was being upfront with them.

It was with a heavy heart, full of worry and regret, that Alex dropped Norma off at her home and then drove to his own house to dress for work. He regretted that he couldn't keep an eye on her around the clock. If only he could arrest her for something. At least in a cell at the Sheriff's Department, he would know she was safe. The Sheriff played his part all day, though inside his mind there was nothing but Norma. He had no patience for anyone. He wished people would just be direct with him, quick and to the point, and stop bothering him with bullshit. It was well after dark when he decided he'd done all he could do for one day and proceeded to the grocery store to buy some frozen dinners for his empty freezer. But instead of driving to the grocery store, he found himself pulling up to the Bates place. He was shocked to see Norma running down the steps, a suitcase in hand, followed at a distance by her sons. Norman was yelling for "Mother" to come back; Dylan was trying to restrain Norman. Norma just kept running to her car. Alex jumped out his SUV and ran around it to stop Norma.

"Norma, what's going on?"

She barely registered his presence. She seemed a million miles away. She also seemed on the verge of tears. "Alex, please, I can't do this right now. Please get out of my way."

"Mother, please!" Norman, followed by Dylan, approached his mother, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Please don't leave. Forget about Caleb. It was a stupid idea."

Alex was shocked and horrified to witness the glare Norma turned upon her sons. "Back off, Norman! Why don't you just go to your beloved basement and stuff a woodchuck? And as for you, Dylan, have fun building your little pot farm with your father! Clearly, neither of you needs me around to cramp your style!"

Norman started screaming "Nooooooo!" He tried to reach his mother, but Dylan held him back. Norma was already inside her car, where Alex too was already buckled in. While she put her suitcase in the trunk, he had slipped into the passenger side. He was damned if he was going to let her go off by herself in this state.

As Norma peeled out of the driveway, she didn't even seem to notice that Alex was in the passenger seat. She tossed her purse over toward the passenger side and Alex caught it in his lap. The phone in her purse started ringing. If she didn't, in fact, notice Alex's presence by now, she certainly did when he answered her phone with, "Hello, Dylan," having registered the caller ID.

"Sheriff Romero? I'm glad you're in the car with her. She really doesn't need to be alone right now."

"Alex, what the hell are you doing in my car?" Norma huffed.

"Don't worry, Dylan," Alex assured her older son. "I'll make sure she's safe." He hung up. "Norma, you need to pull over. Right now."

"No, Alex, you need to get the hell out of my car."

"Well, I'm not going to jump out of a speeding vehicle, so will you please just pull over to the side of the road?"

Norma rolled her eyes, but groaned, accepting defeat. She did as he requested, but only stopped with her foot on the brakes.

"Put the car in park," said Alex.

She reluctantly did so.

"Turn off the ignition."

"No. Get out of my car."

"No," retorted Alex. "Tell me why you're so upset."

"No," said Norma, daring him to outdo her defiance.

Alex looked away from her and sighed heavily. "Norma, I'm not leaving you alone."

Norma then did something that completely broke Alex. Seeing her finally give in to the overwhelming sadness and the tears fall despite her heroic effort to prevent them, he felt utterly helpless.

"I don't think I can continue living my life," she admitted sadly, leaning her head against the window. "No matter what, I can't ever get ahead. I was so happy today after meeting with Bob Paris. I felt like, finally, I'm gonna get something out of this crappy town. But no, there's always something lurking around the corner, waiting to grab me and pull back under. I can't win. I'll never win."

Alex had no idea what to say. He just watched Norma with a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. He'd seen her vulnerable before, but unlike the night Zack was shot or unlike her breaking down at his house, begging him to take her to see Bob, he didn't have a course of action up his sleeve. There was no 'fix it' plan, nor even a plan to make a plan.

"Why don't you let me drive?" He finally said once her sobbing subsided. The tears continued to fall but they were silent tears.

She slowly lifted her head and turned to look at him. "I don't want to go home. I don't want to be anywhere near my boys right now."

"OK," said Alex.

She climbed out of the car and so did he. Sitting in the driver's seat at last, Alex waited for Norma to fasten her seatbelt before pulling out carefully onto the highway.

"Where are we going?" she asked after a few minutes of awkward silence between them.

"I don't know. Where do you want to go?"

Norma let herself smile. "Hawaii."

Alex laughed. Then suddenly an idea popped into his head.

Norma kind of checked out, lost in her own thoughts and misery, until Alex pulled her car into the parking lot of one of White Pine Bay's tourist traps. It was a tropical-themed restaurant and bar on the beach called Uncle Bo's.

"Here we are, Mrs. Bates," said Alex, undoing his seatbelt.

"Why are we here?"

He grinned. "Well, since I can't take you to Hawaii, I figured this will have to suffice. The whole place runs on a luau theme." When she failed to show any sign of being impressed, he shrugged. "I figured, at the very least, we can sit down, chill out, have some food and maybe a cocktail, and just try to forget how badly life sucks."

This was exactly what she needed right now. Her face broke out into a grateful smile. "Thank you, Alex."

OK, I've decided to do another chapter. The next chapter, we'll see how "relaxed" Alex and Norma become. Haha.