"We don't have much time." Norma burst through the door without knocking, kicking it shut behind her and already pulling her shift dress over her head. Alex was sat on the bed, watching her with amusement as she kicked her shoes off, padding over to him in her underwear, his hands crossed across his stomach, enjoying the show.
"Hi honey. How was your day?" He said pointedly as she clambered over the bed to him, rolling him on top of her with a surprising strength. She giggled up at him.
"Oh, you know, the usual. Laundry, housework..." She lowered her tone, wrapping her arms around his neck. "...Thought about this all day."
"Really? ALL day?" He muttered down at her, pressing a series of fluttering kisses against her jaw. "Well that sounds distracting."
"Mmm. It was." She dropped her head back, letting him kiss her gently for a second, before the flurry of activity was back, hurricane Norma pulling insistently at his shirt again.
"Ok. No time." She panted out against his neck and he chuckled at her. It had been like this all week, and he was only too happy to oblige when she swept into his room in the middle of the night, climbing into bed with him without a word, or knocking at his door with a beaming, professional smile and a stack of towels he didn't ask for. He assumed it was the added excitement of sneaking around, making her insatiable, drawing her back to him at every available opportunity and, as much as he was enjoying it, he missed his wife, missed sharing a bed with her, and waking up early to lazily make love to one another, missed doing up her dress for her, and wrapping his arms around her when she was cooking.
Thankfully, he didn't have to miss her cooking though, since Doctor Edwards had suggested he join them for dinner every night, and Alex was grateful for the suggestion. The first night had been awkward, with Norman shooting him suspicious glances over his meal, making polite small talk about Pineview, and his new friend there, and about how happy he was to be home.
Eventually though, as both Norman and Alex rose from their seats to help Norma with the dishes, a mini stand-off occurring, Norman finally addressed the elephant in the room.
"Why are you here?" He blurted out, bluntly, and Norma's fork clattered loudly onto the plate she was holding, all of them frozen for a second.
"Norman! Don't be rude. Alex is our guest."
"But... why?" Norman didn't sound angry, just genuinely curious, cocking his head at Alex, who floundered for a moment before taking a deep breath, sinking back down into his seat.
Norman followed suit, but Norma remained frozen, half standing, her mostly full plate still in her hand.
"Sit down Norma." Alex commanded quietly, and Norman's gaze flittered to his mother, shocked when she complied with his request. He glared at the man who dared tell his mother what to do.
"I wanted to help out your mom, Norman." He said eventually. "I have good insurance through my job and I wasn't using it, and you and your mom needed it, so..." He trailed off, watching as Norman folded his hands together on the table in front of him, nodded lightly.
"Yes, I know all this. Mother filled me in your... arrangement." He spoke the word arrangement through gritted teeth and Alex just nodded tightly. He knew Norma had told him all of this, but it felt necessary to reiterate it. "But why are you here... for dinner?"
"Well, I didn't really have much choice in the matter." Alex chuckled, working hard to keep his tone light and breezy, shooting Norma a glance that told her to smile, or at least wipe the terrified expression off her face. "Once your mother found out I live on leftover chinese takeout and stale coffee, she was pretty insistent that I should start coming over for dinner."
"It was the least I could do, really." She supplied, warmly, and he saw her fingers twitch, knowing she was desperate to feel the comforting touch of his hand from across the table.
"Alex helped us alot, Norman. I'm very grateful to him." She said evenly, even as Alex and Norman both frowned at her use of the word grateful. Alex hated how it sounded, how it would seem when the truth came out. She seemed to realise she'd said the wrong thing, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
"Alex has been a great friend to me." Alex flinched again, frowning down at his plate, hating how wooden the words sounded on her tongue. He didn't dare glance up at Norman, doubtful he would be buying this.
"It was hard for me when you left." She said quietly, her words much softer and more real now, and he looked over at her to see her gazing at Norman with wide, shiny eyes.
"I didn't leave, Mother. You had me committed." Norman said calmly, his voice sounding more sad than angry, like the betrayal still stung him. She cast her gaze down to her plate, sniffling a little, nodding. Alex wanted nothing more than to cross over to her, to hug her and remind her that she did the right thing. But he couldn't, so he watched as her face crumpled, his daze darting back and forth from Norma to Norman.
After a long silence, Norman's face finally softened as he seemed to realise something.
"But you were alone." He said, nodding down at the table, his eyes suddenly flicking up at Alex with an unreadable expression.
"And the Sheriff here needed feeding." His words had a slight edge to them, that made Alex nod warily at him, flashing him a cautious smile.
"I'm a growing boy." He quipped and Norma laughed much too brightly, some of the tension finally leaving the room.
"Well, thank you for keeping her company." Norman said, an air of finality in his voice that made Alex and Norma shoot each other panicked looks. "She hates to eat alone." He added, somewhat patronisingly, as if she wasn't there.
"No problem. It's been a pleasure." Alex smiled, immediately kicking himself for talking about it in past tense, watching as Norman rose, grabbing their plates from the table before Alex could move a muscle, a tense smile frozen in place.
"Sheriff, will you be joining us for dinner tomorrow?" He asked, pausing in the doorway, and Norma's face lit up as she glanced over at Alex. He puffed out a relieved breath before answering.
"If that's ok?" He pretended to address the question to Norma, but he was really asking Norman.
"Of course. We'd love to have you." She trilled brightly, looking over anxiously at Norman who finally glanced back over his shoulder at them. "Right, Norman?"
"Right." He nodded, cocking his head suspiciously at Alex before sweeping out of the room, leaving a slightly uneasy feeling behind.
Finally telling Norman the truth had gone about as well as could be expected. They had spoken to Dr Edwards about it extensively beforehand, and gone with his suggestions for how they should approach it. At his recommendation, they had chosen dinner time, and had spent the week before making sure Alex was present at every dinner, to get Norman used to him being there. The dinners before had gone well, with Norman and Alex actually getting along better than anyone had expected, with Alex somehow promising to take him fishing at some point.
The only uncomfortable moment was when Alex had accidentally trailed his fingers across Norma's back as he passed her. It had been an unconscious action, but Norman had frozen, his eyes narrowed at Alex from across the room. No-one mentioned it, but they all knew that Norman knew in that moment. He had suspected as soon as he got home, but that little brush of Alex's fingers had been so natural, so comfortable that it had confirmed it. So he wasn't surprised when the conversation finally came about a few days later.
"Norman, we have something we'd like to talk to you about."
Norman placed his knife and fork down very deliberately, folding his hands together to regard his mother intently.
"I suppose the Sheriff will be moving his things back into your room now?"
There was obviously no use in pretending, and Alex and Norma shared a glance before Alex spoke up.
"Not if you're not comfortable with that, Norman." He spoke slowly, deliberately, like every word was heavily considered. "That's the most important thing here. Your recovery."
"My recovery?" Norman parroted back to him, laughing mirthlessly. "Please don't act like my recovery is your primary concern, Sheriff Romero. What was your plan? To take me fishing a few times so I wouldn't mind that you were fucking my mother?"
"Hey!" Romero interjected, slamming his hand on the table. "Don't talk like that-"
"DON'T speak to me like you're my father!" Norman shouted, regaining his cool at little at the end of his sentence as his hand twitched on the table. "Don't pretend that you care about me to make yourself look like the hero to her."
He nodded contemptuously at his mother, who looked at the table, her expression crumpling as he sneered at her.
"Norman-" Alex started, and Norma could hear the shake in his voice as he struggled to control his anger. Doctor Edwards had warned them about this. They had known what to expect. "Please try to calm down. Maybe we could call Doctor Edwards-"
"Oh, great idea!" Norman shouted, slamming his hands down again. "Yes, let's call the loony bin. Tell them Norman's having another breakdown. I'm sure you'd much prefer I was locked up again, so you'd be free to prey on my mother."
"Prey on your mother?" Alex repeated back to him, incredulously. "Norman. I love her. We're in love. I'm not-"
"Oh please." He interrupted him. He hadn't taken his eyes off Norma as he spoke, watching her silently fall to pieces as the two men spoke like she wasn't there. "She doesn't love you. I know how much Pineview costs. She had to pay for it somehow-"
"That's enough!" Norma spoke up suddenly, rising to her feet, her hand shooting out to grasp Alex's sleeve as he made a sudden move towards Norman.
The two men continued to stare at each other, the tension in the room suffocating.
"Go to your room." She said suddenly.
"Mother. I'm eighteen. You can't just send me to my room like I'm a chi-"
"GO TO YOUR ROOM!" She screamed hysterically, and he stared at her a moment more before pushing his chair back abruptly, stomping off to his room, slamming the door like a normal, average sullen teenager.
Biting her lip, she released her grip on Alex's sleeve, turning to face him.
"That isn't why I slept with you." She said in a quiet voice, not looking at him. "Well, it kinda was at first but... he's wrong. I do love you."
"I know." He ducked his head to meet her gaze, reassuring her as he reached to cup her face. "I know."
Tears were threatening to fall and he couldn't bear it, so he pulled her into one of his searing hugs, stroking her hair soothingly. With everything going on with Norman, she had felt even more emotional than usual recently, constantly feeling like she was spinning far too many plates in one go. Alex's embrace was the only place she felt calm, the only place she felt like she could let someone else spin the plates for a moment.
"He'll come around. He just needs time." He whispered gently, as she sniffled, not hesitating to wipe her face against his shirt. He smiled at her audacity, pulling back to look at her, watching her stifle a yawn.
"Go to bed." He demanded gently, jerking his head at the dishes on the table. "I'll clean up here and be up in a minute." Her eyes lit up at the idea that they could share a bed now without having to sneak around, even as a wave of guilt washed over her for feeling so happy when Norman was feeling so sad. She nodded lightly, reluctantly leaving his embrace to head up the stairs, pausing to listen for any sounds from Norman's room. There was nothing but silence, angry silence and she sighed, heading to her room to get ready for bed.
Downstairs, Alex did the dishes, replaying the evening in his head. He noticed with annoyance that Norma had barely touched the food on her plate, and, though it was petty, he felt a stab of irritation at Norman for putting her off her food. He couldn't help but feel relief at finally being able to tell Norman the truth, but he wished it had gone more smoothly, for Norma's sake. And, on some level, for Norman's. Though he might not understand him, he didn't dislike the kid, and though he sometimes couldn't relate to him, he couldn't deny that he loved Norma as much as he did. Maybe more.
Gazing forlornly out of the window, his eyes caught sight of the motel below them, and he sighed, realising in all the excitement Norma had forgotten to close up the office. Stepping out into the freezing night air, he pressed the door shut softly behind him, not wanting either of them to hear that he had left, though he wasn't sure why. Norman wasn't a danger anymore, Doctor Edwards had assured him of that, but he still had a vague sense of unease, and he found himself hurrying down the steps, not wanting to leave them alone for a moment longer than he had to.
Norma slipped into her warmest nightgown, a long-sleeved, floor-length flowy white nightdress that was a minimum of a hundred years out of fashion. She didn't care though. She had always loved old fashioned things, and besides, it was freezing in the house tonight, winter setting in rather suddenly, and she shivered, tugging the sleeves down.
There was a soft creak from next door, and she sighed, torn between slipping into bed and waiting for Alex to come and wrap her up in his arms, or trying to make peace with Norman. You should never go to bed angry. That piece of advice sprung to her mind. She was pretty sure it was more aimed at married couples than mothers and sons, but it was still a valid point and she made up her mind, tapping tentatively on his door.
"Norman? Norman, honey?"