Emma arrived on time and drives Norma and Alex back to the motel, not asking any questions about why Norma was there or why Alex couldn't move his left arm.
When they arrive at the motel, Alex steps out of the car and helps Norma out by opening her door for her. She looks him over, her eyes filled with worry.
"You shouldn't be here, Alex. You took the sleeping pills and you-"
"I'm fine, Norma." he tells her, leading her up the stairs toward the house.
"Thank you, Emma. For helping Dylan." Norma tells her.
"It's no problem. I'm happy to help." Emma tells her, opening the front door for them.
Alex walks in first, looking around for any sign of danger before stepping out of the way to let Norma inside.
"Dylan?" Norma calls out. Dylan appears out of the basement door, a worried look on his face.
"Is everything alright? Where's Norman?" Norma asks, walking to him with Alex trailing her.
"Basement. What happened?" Dylan asks, looking at Alex's arm.
"He was shot. What's Norman doing in the basement?" Norma asks, walking around him to walk down to the basement.
"You were shot?" Dylan asks as Alex walks around him to follow Norma.
"Long story." Alex mumbles, not wanting to leave Norma alone with her troubled son.
"Norman?" Norma says, walking around the table to stare at Norman.
Alex follows her, his eyes staying on the young boy who seems to be staring past them, a dead pigeon in his hands. Norma looks to Alex with worry before reaching over to put her hand on Norman's face.
"Norman, honey, can you hear me?" she asks. Dylan and Emma join them in the basement.
"How long as he been like this?" Alex asks.
"He's been blacked out for a few hours and came down here about an hour ago." Dylan tells him.
"Let's get him upstairs." Norma says. Alex grabs one of Norman's arms while Norma grabs the other and, slowly, they pull him to his feet.
"You got him?" Alex asks, checking on Norma.
"Yeah." she tells him, turning him around.
"You good?" Norma asks Alex, noticing him struggling.
"Fine. The pills are kicking in." he tells her.
"Dylan, do you mind?" Norma asks, nodding in Alex's direction.
"I'm fine, Norma." Alex says as Dylan takes his place.
"Emma and I can take him." Dylan tells Norma. Emma nods and steps forward.
"You take care of the patient." Emma says teasingly to Norma.
"I'm not a patient. I'm fine." Alex says, his voice sounding hoarse again. Norma nods and steps aside to allow Emma to grab Norman.
"Let's get you to bed." Norma says, walking to Alex as Emma and Dylan take Norman upstairs.
"Norma, I am fine. I'm just a little fuzzy." he tells her, trying to walk up the stairs. She grabs his good arm, helping him safely up the stairs.
He tries to walk into the living room but Norma redirects him up the second set of stairs.
"Where are we..." Alex mumbles with confusion.
"You're going to sleep in my bed." she tells him, leading him to her room. He wants to protest but once he sees her large, comfy bed, all he can think about is shutting his eyes and drifting away.
"Careful." she tells him as he ungracefully flops onto the bed. She removes his shoes for him and pulls the covers over him. His eyes feel heavy but he struggles to keep them open.
"Thank you." he mumbles as she sits next to him on her bed.
"Just rest. I'll...i'll be back after I make sure everything is okay with Norman." she tells him. He nods, his eyes slipping shut. She smiles at him, watching him for a moment longer before standing up and walking into Norman's room where Emma and Dylan are pulling the covers over him.
"Is he still out?" Norma asks as Emma and Dylan step away from the bed.
"Yeah. I'm sure he will fall asleep and be fine in the morning." Dylan tells her, ushering everyone out before shutting the door behind him.
"How's Alex?" Emma asks.
"He's asleep." Norma tells them.
"You said he was shot? By who?" Dylan asks.
"I don't...I really don't know. I mean we were standing by his car outside of the supermarket and then Alex pushed me behind him and I heard the gun. I was on the ground, I didn't see who it was." Norma explains.
"He pushed you aside? He saved you?" Emma asks with surprise. Norma's heart skips a beat as she realizes that he did save her life. If he hadn't pushed her to the ground, she could very well be dead right now.
"Why would someone shoot at you guys?" Dylan asks with worry.
"I don't know, Dylan. I'm still trying to process everything that has happened within the last 24 hours!" she says, becoming frustrated.
"Why isn't Alex still in the hospital?" Emma asks. Norma bites her lip, not knowing what to say.
"He...he doesn't like hospitals. I told him I would stop by tomorrow for his medicine or whatever they are going to give him." Norma says.
"Okay. Well, we should get to bed." Dylan says.
"Right." Emma says.
"I...I was gonna have Emma sleep in your bed but...I guess that's not an option." Dylan says awkwardly.
"Oh you don't want to sleep with Alex?" Norma asks teasingly. She seems to realize her poor choice in wording as Dylan and Emma laugh.
"Do you think before you say things or do you just let it flow?" Dylan asks with a smile.
"I can sleep on the couch. It's fine. And...I would rather not sleep with Alex. I think there is some sort of law against that anyways." Emma says with a laugh.
"Dylan, why don't you sleep in my bed and Emma and I will sleep in yours." Norma offers.
"Sounds good." Emma says.
"I have to sleep...next to Romero?" Dylan asks, already feeling uncomfortable.
"It's the only solution that makes sense." Norma says, already walking up to Dylan's room with Emma. Dylan sighs and walks to Norma's room. He opens the door and stares at Alex who is sleeping soundly, luckily only taking up half of the bed. Dylan walks around to the other side of the bed and lays down on top of the covers, facing away from Alex.
"Thanks again for letting me stay." Emma says, slipping under the sheets next to Norma.
"Of course, dear. You're always welcome here." Norma says, smiling at her. She reaches over and clicks the light off, the room being illuminated by the light of the moon that seeps through the curtains on the window.
The next morning, Norma wakes up on her own, sliding out of the bed, careful not to wake Emma who is still sleeping. Unfortunately, Emma is a light sleeper and wakes up, lifting her head to look at Norma.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Norma whispers, slipping her feet into her slippers and standing up.
"It's okay." Emma says, standing up.
"We should wake the boys." Norma says, walking out of the room, fixing her dress that she had been wearing for two days now. She stops in her doorway, her lips pulling up into a smile as she takes in the scene.
"Emma, come quick." Norma whispers to Emma. Emma quickly walks to Norma and looks into her bedroom to see Dylan with his head resting on Alex's chest, one arm crossed over Alex's body.
"Oh...my gosh." Emma says with a smile. They walk further inside of the room and stop at the end of Norma's bed. Emma pulls her phone out and snaps a picture of the boys.
"Should we wake them?" Emma asks, reaching back to slip her phone in her pocket. Before either of them can decide what to do, Emma seemed to decide for them, missing her pocket and dropping her phone onto the wood floor, waking both boys.
Alex is the first to open his eyes, looking at Norma with confusion before looking down at Dylan laying on his chest. Dylan looks up at Alex before jumping off of him, falling out of the bed.
"What the-" Alex says, sitting up.
"What were you doing?" Alex asks, stepping out of the bed to look at Dylan who clumsily stands to his feet.
"Nothing! I was sleeping." Dylan says.
"I fall asleep alone in bed and when I wake up, you're cuddling to me. Thats not nothing." Alex says, getting worked up.
"I wasn't cuddling with you." Dylan says.
"That's not what the picture says." Emma says with a smirk, picking up her phone and holding it up.
"You need to delete that." Alex says.
"Em, don't send that anywhere." Dylan says at the same time.
"Alright, boys, calm down. No one will tell anyone about you two cuddling in your sleep." Norma says with a smile.
"Why don't we go to the kitchen for breakfast?" Norma suggests.
"Fine." Alex says.
"Will you send me that picture? I'm going to make it my screensaver." Norma whispers loudly to Emma as they walk out.
"Good luck with that. You don't even have a phone!" Alex shouts after them. He turns to Dylan who is staring back at him.
"I...I slept well." Dylan says slowly. Alex gives him a weird look.
"I'll be downstairs." Alex mumbles, walking out of the room.
"I...Im not gay or anything." Dylan shouts after him. He doesn't get a response from the sheriff.
"I'm not gay." he says again to himself before walking out of Norma's room.
This chapter was pretty silly towards the end so I hope that's alright. Anyways, leave a comment on what you think will happen next! XOXO
