AN: Enjoy!

Norma knocked on the door once, softly. When there was no response, she rapped against the wood a little louder, twice. She knew Alex was in there; his car was parked right outside, and there was hardly anything within walking distance from the motel.

"Sheriff?" she called out, growing impatient. "Housekeeping!"

She leaned an ear against the door, hoping to pick up a sound from inside the room. He simply had to be awake. It was noon, and he was not the kind of man to be so undisciplined that he would still be asleep. She heard a low grumble, and jumped back when the door suddenly unlocked and sprang open.

"Hello."

Alex stood with a forearm resting against the doorframe. He was not much taller than she was, but she suddenly felt quite small. He did not look threatening, just mildly irritated, as though he had just been rudely disturbed. He was wearing a navy T-shirt with black corduroy trousers, and she tried not to look surprised.

She had never seen him in anything that was not his uniform, and it was odd to her that he should own any casual clothes at all. She didn't think they suited his stoicism very well. In casual wear, he looked much more approachable, and she wondered why he didn't do that more often.

Maybe, she thought, that could end all of their bickering.

Alex glanced at the stack of clean towels that hung on her arm, and then he looked at her in the eye. She pulled a face.

"I need to tidy your room," said Norma quickly. She could see his biceps underneath his thin shirt sleeves, and she averted her eyes. She would focus on his face. Yes, that was the idea. His face, his face, his face... she cleared her throat, and he took it as a sign of her restlessness.

"No, no. You don't have to," he responded. "You just did that yesterday, and honestly—"

"It's motel policy," she interrupted him, trying to hold her gaze. "For all your towels, bed sheets, and the like... we require one change a day."

"I really don't—"

"It'll take five minutes." She saw the reluctant look on his face and sighed. "I promise. And then you can go back to whatever the hell it was that you were doing."

Alex looked defeated. It was a bright and sunny day, and he had finally gotten some time off work. The skies were azure, and that put him in a good mood. He did not want to squabble. "Well, alright," he said courteously. "If you insist—"

"—and I do—"

"—yes, I'm aware." He paused, and then he opened the door a little wider. "Come on in, I guess."

Norma got a crisp bed sheet from her cart and draped them over her forearm atop the towels, and then fetched two clean pillowcases. She walked into his room with an air of confidence, noting the empty water bottles that spilled out of the little plastic bin in the corner of the room.

"Oh, sorry about that," said Alex sheepishly, noting her amused expression. "Was a little thirsty."

"Were you?" she asked, and he felt his face grow warm. He did not respond. "I was just teasing," she said, shrugging, noting the expression on his face. She leaned over to strip his bed sheet, and she noticed that he had stuck his foot out to prop the door open.

Alex had deliberately done so to make sure Norma would not feel uncomfortable. He didn't want her to think he had wanted this—to be sealed in with her in such a small space. And he was doing it for himself, too. He already felt too vulnerable, from her waltzing into his private space and rummaging through where he slept. He did not want to make things any weirder for either of them, and he had thought leaving the door open was a nice move until he heard her snickering from the other side of the room.

"Sheriff, your foot looks like it's about to be bent out of shape," commented Norma. She stripped his pillowcases and carried the heap of dirty laundry outside to where her cart was parked.

"I just wanted to make it easier for you," responded Alex dumbly. He crossed his arms because he didn't know what to do with his hands, and she couldn't help but notice his muscles again.

Norma fluffed out the pillows in the clean pillowcases, and then threw him another glance, and there was a glint in her eye. "You know, you make it real hard for me when you cross your arms like that. Your biceps are blinding."

She did get a kick out of mocking Alex. He presented himself to be stiff and distant, but she knew there was a softer version of him inside. It was just tucked away somewhere in the deepest corners of his soul, and dramatic as it sounded, she knew she was right. She imagined it only took the right person to lure him out of his shell, and she took it upon herself to do exactly that, if only as a personal challenge.

She thought she wanted ruffle a few feathers, to see him flustered. That would be good fun, wouldn't it? Besides, she had nothing to do this whole afternoon whilst Norman was at school. She could pass the time like this. It was better than sitting alone in the office, watching the clock go tick-tock, hoping the hours would fly by soon.

"I'm afraid life is hard sometimes," said Alex nonchalantly.

He watched as Norma kneeled on the bed to put his bed sheet into place. He should probably help, but he was still standing by the door trying to prop it open. Besides, he didn't want to be too close to her, because he wasn't sure what to make of her at the moment. Was she really flirting with him? In broad daylight too, might he add? It was uncharacteristic of her. He wondered if something had gotten into her.

Norma clambered off his bed, smoothened her apron, and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She looked at him and gave him a coy half-smile.

"As are some of my favourite things," she responded and disappeared into his bathroom, leaving him standing in the doorway by himself.

Now he knew she was flirting with him. He did not bother to question why; he just knew that it made him feel giddy, and he should not be feeling giddy over Norma Bates. It was not right, and if it took every nerve in his body to fight that feeling, he would do it.

Alex craned his neck to see what she was doing in his bathroom, but she reemerged shortly with his dirty towels in her gloved hands. She dumped them into her cart and placed clean ones on the drying rack, and then shot him a smirk because she knew. She knew that he knew, and it was fun finally winding him up like this. She emptied his bin by dunking it into another compartment, and then she peeled her gloves off and threw them away, and reentered his room.

He could smell her perfume as her hand brushed against his torso, and she tasked herself to readjust the lampshade on his bedside table. It was completely unnecessary, but it did give him a good view of her leaning over, and she knew that any minute now, the real Alex would emerge, the Alex who actually had feelings and showed them too.

"Are you done?" asked Alex, trying not to look in her direction. Still, he had now begun to see her in a rather new light, and he did not care for her response as much as he had just wanted to speak to her about something. He didn't want her to finish dusting the lampshade and walk away. He suddenly wanted her to stay for as long as possible.

"No," said Norma, much to his relief.

She turned around and looked at him. Of course, there were her bright eyes and her fluttery eyelashes, and she was using them to her advantage. He knew all about them, and he had only looked away for one moment before he found himself noticing her soft shoulders beneath her thin dress. He wished he could catch a break, but she was wholly intent on pushing his buttons.

"Why don't you shut the door?" she suggested. "It's too breezy."

She didn't need to ask him twice. The door slammed shut upon the help of a gust of wind, and she let out a demure 'oh!' that seemed to creep up the side of his body.

Alex knew he had to kiss her now, and it was the first time he had felt so nervous about doing such a thing. There was too much uncertainty. What would happen, he wondered, if he kissed her? Would she let him, or would she push him away? He was used to a level playing field, and this was not it.

He inched towards her, and suddenly, he was sitting on his bed, and she had kicked off her shoes to lean in next to him. He held up a palm close to her face and then he caressed her soft cheek. She let him, and he felt his desire spread from the pit of his stomach to the rest of his body, slowly, as if it was being carried in his arteries and veins.

Then he kissed her gently, as if seeking permission, and she kissed him back. She was almost a little too ferocious, but he did not mind. It was just what he had anticipated, and he felt a thrill as the two of them fell backwards into the bed, neither caring that the door was unlocked, that the blinds were barely closed. There was nobody around, and there would not be anybody around for miles. They had this motel all to themselves.

Norma pulled back suddenly, and Alex frowned, his hands still in her hair. She looked a bit stunned, and he guessed that she had not predicted it would lead to this either. She watched him for a moment, her gaze shifting from one of his eyes to the other fretfully. Just as he began to pull away out of embarrassment that perhaps he had made a fool of himself in his overeagerness, she pulled him into an embrace and kissed him again, and he could feel her lips were trembling out of want.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked quietly. He knew he wanted to do this, but he could not shake that agitated glance of hers out of his mind, and he wanted to make sure everything was okay.

"Yes, I do," she mumbled in the midst of sloppy kisses. "Don't you?"

"Of course," Alex responded, and she untied the apron from behind her back.

"Why don't you take your clothes off?" she asked him politely while she undid the zip of her own dress, peeling it off rather slowly, and he undressed.

Norma was soft and delicate, and he could not have dreamt her up if he tried. He felt the tenderness and warmth of her pressed up against himself as their bodies entwined, and then he was panting a little harder than he thought he would. They shifted, and he was careful not to hurt her when he was on top of her. She whimpered beneath him in meows and purrs like a domestic kitten, and then he looked up and saw that she was smiling, and he smiled back.

Their bodies basked in sunlight that seeped inside through the gaps of the blinds, and in the spot of sun together, they felt rather wonderful and quite strange. He longed to ask her how it had come to this, and he wondered if she had done this with anybody else, but there was nothing in him that prompted him to speak. He felt some things were better off unspoken.

Alex suddenly felt a sharp release, and Norma must have felt it too, because she let out a gasp the same time that he did. And then they opened their eyes and lay next to each other for a moment, both of them pleased with what had just happened, before she sat up to reach for her dress. He watched as she zipped it up, and then she wandered into the bathroom without a word.

When she came out again, she had a small smile on her face. She bent down and picked up his T-shirt and tossed it at him, which he only barely caught. Though he was still under the covers, he had sat up, and he watched as she fuddled about her hair, running her fingers through it to untangle any knots. He didn't know about her, but he suddenly felt livelier, as though his muscles had finally learned to relax.

"Nice one," said Norma, and he must have looked unconvinced, because she added, "I mean it."

And what was he to say?

"Thanks."

"You know," she began to say again. "I think I like this side of you a lot more than your usual, stuffy self."

"Compliments abound," he retorted with a smirk. "You are quite the generous lady."

And so it was back to their repartee. She couldn't help it, and neither could he.

Norma picked up her apron that was strewn on the floor and slung it over her forearm.

"Well, that is that," she declared quite contently, and she headed towards the door. She already had her hand on the doorknob when she turned around to look at him. "If you do feel parched at any point, there is water in the office. There should be mugs in your bedside cabinet, too, in case you want to start caring about the environment."

Alex rolled his eyes. "I do care," he said. "And—I don't mean to sound rude, because I know you've just done it..." He looked around the room and felt quite self-conscious. "We're—I think we're going to need another change of bed sheets."

Norma raised an eyebrow, and then she shook her head. "Oh, no. One change a day, remember?"

"But Norma, you can't expect me to—"

She raised a hand to silence him. By then, the door was half open.

"Motel policy," she simply said, and she gave him a smile before she slipped back out into the open world, leaving him sitting alone on his bed and smiling like an idiot.