A/N: Posting this quickly before I head into work. Chapter 7 already written and will be up soon!

Alex stared at the man sleeping on the small bed in the holding cell. It was his first time seeing Sam Bates. Even lying down, the man looked fairly large and Alex couldn't believe someone his size would put his hands on someone as small as Norma and even as small as Dylan.

"Wake up," Alex commanded in a low growl.

The man stayed in his slumber and even had the audacity to snore. It made Alex furious that he could sleep after what he had done. Alex used the keys to unlock the cell door and kicked the man's bed. Sam groaned awake and sat up in the bed, squinting at Alex.

"Am I getting out now?" Sam asked.

"No. You aren't going anywhere. Do you know what you did to your wife and son?"

"What I do with wife is my business. And that little shit is her son, not mine."

"Dylan had to be sent to a hospital. He had a dislocated arm," Alex balled his fists up, trying hard not the bash the man's face in.

Sam just shrugged. "Well, serves him right. He needs to learn what happens when you don't listen."

Alex had enough. His hand caught Sam's throat and he dragged him up to hold him against the wall of the cell. Sam wrestled with Alex and Alex punched him endlessly in the face. The commotion brought in three other deputies that were working in the station and they quickly pulled Alex away.

Ignoring the questions and confused looks, Alex walked away from the scene, grabbed his favorite leather jacket and left the station. He knew he shouldn't have done that, but the man deserved it.

He found his way back to his house and decided to dial Norma to check up on her. He knew he should wait until morning so her and the boys had time to calm down, but his phone had already connected to her line.

"Alex?"

"Hey, sorry were you sleep?" Alex answered.

"Not me but the boys are thankfully. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Just wanted to let you know Sam is down here at the station in a cell."

"Oh… okay," she said, letting out a shaky sigh of relief. "Thank you for letting me know Alex."

"Yeah. Well, I'll let you try to get some sleep. Goodnight Norma. I'll stop by tomorrow to check up on you guys again. If that's okay?"

"Yes I would appreciate that."

Alex hadn't hung up yet and there was a long silence on both ends of the line. Alex wanted to say so much more like how he wished he could keep her and her boys safe. But he did not want to cross a line.

"Alex?" Norma spoke softly.

He closed his eyes and swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "Yeah Norma?"

"I uh- really thank you so much. I don't know how to properly thank you for all of this without just saying it."

"It's my job. I'm a cop. I vowed to protect and serve the citizens of this town," he explained, but he knew he was protecting her because he felt a connection to her. Plus, he was insanely attracted to her as well.

"Well I've decided that Dylan and Norman are taking a few days off from school to settle down you know..Can I treat you to lunch or something sometime this week as a thank you? I would do dinner but I have to watch my kids once they get out of school."

Alex hoped Norma couldn't tell his was smiling on the other line of the phone.

"Oh that really isn't necessary Norma."

"I insist. Let me do something for you."

Of course Alex couldn't deny her any further. He'd probably do anything she'd ask of him. "Alright then. If you insist."

"Okay. So how's this Friday? That's when Dylan and Norman are going back to school."

"Sounds good. I'll talk to you soon."

*deviatedrift*

When Friday came, Alex got ready to meet Norma for lunch. He combed his hair about 20 times before he was finally satisfied with it. It was ridiculous. He had never put this much effort into his appearance. After putting on one of his best button down shirt and jeans, he went into the bathroom where he rinsed his mouth with his bottle of Listerine. He then opened his medicine cabinet to pull out the bottle of cologne that he never wore.

"God what am I even doing? Trying to impress a married woman?"

Alex put the cologne back down and shut the cabinet. It was 12 PM now and Alex decided he would just head on over to Norma's home. He wondered if they would be having lunch there or if she would want to go out.

When he arrived, he straightened out his shirt and walked up towards the house. He rung the doorbell and heard movement from the other side of the door. When the door opened, Alex held his breath. Norma stood before her as lovely as ever. Her hair freshly curled and she had a pretty baby blue sundress on that matched her eyes perfectly.

"Hi Alex," she cheered.

"Hey." Alex was glad his words formed.

"Come in." Norma opened the door wider and allowed him entrance. He looked around the house. There were pictures everywhere of her two boys, none of her and her husband together. He wasn't surprised. He even noticed Norma had still not worn her wedding ring. He could see the kitchen and saw she had been prepping their lunch.

So lunch is here then, he figured. It felt a little unnerving being in her home having lunch with her.

"Have a seat. I made us some turkey and cheese sandwiches. I also baked cookies and made fresh lemonade. I think I have some potato chips in the pantry somewhere." Norma spoke fast, and Alex could tell she was a bit nervous. Or maybe it was excitement. She seemed to be unpredictable woman, and that drew him even more into her.

Alex sat down at the small table next to the window in her kitchen and rubbed his sweating palms on pants. The nervousness took over, and he scolded himself for being that way around this woman. Norma came back with a smile on her face and handed him a glass of lemonade.

"Thanks." Alex nodded. Norma sat down at the small table in front of him and sipped on her own glass, keeping her eyes on him. He looked back at her, not backing down from her gaze.

"Dig in," she spoke.

Alex grabbed one of the sandwiches and looked at its detail. It wasn't just your quick made sandwich where you grab two slices of bread and slap on some meat and cheese. Her sandwiches were made of ciabatta bread. She even added lettuce and tomatoes and some kind of sauce that Alex found delicious once he took a bite of it.

"This has to be the best sandwich I ever had," he complimented. Norma blushed and smiled at him. They ate together in silence for a while. It was a tad bit awkward. Norma felt a little conflicted about having another man in her home, the same man that worked for the police station where he husband was jailed in. But she couldn't help but like Alex. He had gotten on her nerves when they first met, but she started to see the kind and gentle human that lived within him.

"So, any news on Sam?"

"Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about that actually. He was charged with domestic violence against you and child abuse against your son Dylan. But Norma…" Alex sighed. "In cases like these, he'll probably only serve 3 weeks in the jail and will get released. Because his record is clean and this is his first report of domestic violence, he'll get out and will probably only get a year of probation but-"

"So he can come back here? To hurt me and my kids again?" Norma stood up and shook her head. She exited the kitchen and went to the living area. Alex followed after her.

"I know. It's bullshit."

He could see how tense she was and stepped closer in her space, causing her to look into his eyes.

"You don't have to worry. I won't let him hurt you or your sons anymore. I'm going to make sure he gets the highest possible charges. You have my word."

Norma looked all over his face. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around him. Alex stood frozen but then finally hugged her back. It felt so good to feel her warmth and she smelled amazing, like peaches or something. He fought hard not to mold his body against hers.

"I cannot thank you enough. For helping me with this. And for helping me out with Dylan. You're a good man Alex."

"Just doing my job." It was the truth, but he knew he did all of this because of how he really felt about her.

Norma pulled away to look into his eyes for a minute. She kept flickering her gaze back and forth between his eyes and his mouth. Alex felt exactly what she was feeling, however, he let her go before they started making out again like they did in his car that one night.

"Uh," he let her go and stepped away from her. Norma was visibly disappointed. Just then, a call came to Alex's phone. He sighed in relief. Being around Norma made him feel crazy.

"Romero," he answered. It was the Sheriff asking him if he could come into the station to help out with some bookings since they were short handed today.

"I'll be there soon."

He faced Norma again and gave her a smile.

"Sorry, we're going to have to cut this short. They need me down at the station."

"Okay, no problem," Norma assured.

Alex headed towards the front door with Norma following behind him. He turned around to face her once more, and Norma quickly kissed his cheek, very close to where his mouth was. Alex blushed red which Norma found amusing.

"Take care Alex."

He nodded and exited her home. Once inside his car, he let out a loud exhale as he thoughts went a thousand miles per second.

*deviatedrift*

Norma had been really anxious ever since Alex told her Sam might get released after serving only three weeks. He would be so pissed off once he came back and Norma couldn't put herself and her kids through Sam's wrath. He would kill them.

She thought about leaving the country to go to Canada, but that wouldn't work because she had no money. She thought about framing Sam for something and then setting him up, but she knew that wouldn't work and she could get caught and have her boys taken away from her.

"Mommy," Norman's small voice called out.

"Yeah sweetheart?"

"Dylan is crying in his room."

Concerned, Norma jumped up and burst into Dylan's room where he sat on his bed holding his arm crying.

"Dylan, are you okay? Is it your shoulder?"

He nodded his head yes.

"Okay. Let me go get the pain killers the doctor gave us."

Norma went into her room where she grabbed Dylan's medicine and went back to his room after she grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen.

"Here honey."

Dylan took his pain medicine and laid back down on his bed. Norma ran her fingers through his hair as she tried to comfort her child.

"I'm so sorry that I didn't protect you Dylan. And I'm sorry for being such a terrible mother." She started to cry as she looked at her beautiful son. Her relationship with him has always been strained. She wasn't as loving to him as she was to Norman because Dylan was the product of the horrible thing her brother had done to her when she was just a teenager. But she promised to change.

No one will ever hurt her kids again.

"I promise I'm going to get us away from Sam. He will never hurt us again."

Dylan sniffled and finally looked into the eyes he and his mother shared.

"Is that cop doing something about it?"

"Alex?" Norma questions. Dylan nodded.

"Yeah. He's going to help me. We can trust him."

Dylan seemed pleased for now, much to Norma's relief. She stayed with him until he finally fell asleep and then went to get Norman ready for bed.

*deviatedrift*

A week and a half had passed and Norma had finally decided to file for divorce from Sam. She had found a job recently as a maid at the Seafairer Motel. The owner, a woman named Maggie, seemed nice and said she would pay Norma cash every day she came in and worked so it was good enough for her.

When she felt comfortable enough with how things where going, she went to the courthouse and got the proper paperwork and now she needed to get the papers delivered to him. He was transferred to the county jail a few days ago, so she thought Alex might be able to help her.

It was 9 AM and she had already dropped her boys off at school. She texted Alex, hoping he wasn't too busy at the moment.

Hey Alex. I need a favor

She put her phone in the pocket of her apron and went to the kitchen where she grabbed a mop bucket and pine-sole so she could start cleaning the house.

She had to go to her maid job at the motel in 2 hours, so she used cleaning as a way to pass the time. She wished she could do something else to take her off the edge she's been on lately.

The buzzing of her phone interrupted her routine.

How can I help? Alex replied.

I am filing for divorce from my husband. Do you know anyone at the station that can deliver the papers to him for me?

I can do it. Do you have them with you right now?

Yes. Do you want me to meet you when you take your lunch? Or maybe I can drop them off tomorrow morning when you get to the station

I can come get them right now

Norma smiled. She did want to see him.

Don't you have work to do now Deputy?

Haha. I do but if I can get out of paperwork by granting you favors, then I'm all in

Her heart jumped. They've been dancing around the elephant in the room for weeks now. Alex hadn't mentioned their night at the bar ever since the day they talked about it, but she knew they both still felt some way about it. She enjoyed it very much, and knows he did as well.

I'm at my house. You should come

Norma put her phone up and hurried with her cleaning. Maybe 30 minutes had passed when she heard her doorbell ringing. She got up from the couch and fluffed her hair up a bit. She swung the door open and smiled at the sight of Alex.

"Hi," she said.

Alex smiled and stepped inside her house. Norma closed the door behind him and locked it.

"Thanks for stopping by. I really appreciate this."

"Yeah, no problem. I'm just glad you're finally going to get away from him. Have you told the boys about it?"

"Ahh, not yet. Norman is too young to understand fully, but he does understand that his daddy isn't coming back to live with us. Dylan will probably be glad to hear it though. I'm just waiting on the right time to tell them together."

She moved to the kitchen table where the divorce papers sat and handed them to Alex.

"So, how long do you think he'll be in the county jail?"

"I know I told you about three weeks, but things have changed. Since you're pressing charges, he may be booked in there longer. He is admitting to what he did so you and Dylan will not need to go to court over this. I'd say three months give or take. But you can still go through the process of divorcing him while he's locked up. Now... I don't know him that well, but if he doesn't agree to the divorce, you may have to get a lawyer. Divorces can be really messy..."

"Is that what happened to you? A messy divorce?" Norma wondered.

"Oh no. She is the one that asked for the divorce and I 100% agreed. She didn't ask for any of my assets and just left to go back to her hometown. I guess I got lucky."

"Hmm," Norma sighed. "I don't know with Sam..."

"It's okay. I'll be here to help you every step of the way," Alex confirmed. Norma glanced at him with gratitude, so thankful that he was a friend to her.

"Thanks Alex. You don't know how much it means to have someone like you in my life."

Norma pulled him in for hug. Alex closed his eyes as her warm body touched his. He sniffed in her sweet scent and hugged her tighter which Norma had noticed. She went ahead and wrapped her arms around his neck and thread her fingers through his hair.

Alex gripped her even tighter once he felt her playing with his hair. He wasn't sure why she kept... teasing him.

"Norma... you have to stop doing things like that..."

"What things?" She whispered into his ear, causing Alex to let out a shiver.

"This," he let her go and looked into her eyes. "It's too much for me.. I don't know..."

"What do you mean? You can't stand to be around me now?"

"No c'mon. That's not what I mean. It's... Look. I'm gonna' be honest because we're two grown adults."

Norma grew intrigued as she waited for Alex to explain himself.

"All this hugging and touching and close proximity, it's a lot for me."

"Okay..." she said slowly as she bit her lips. Alex watched the action and let out an exhale. Even things she did without realizing what she was doing drove him crazy with a desire for her.

"Yeah... so, to be a gentleman, I'm trying to set boundaries between us. Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

"What if I don't want you to be a gentleman?" Norma let out. She had enough of this tiptoeing around each other. "Like you said, we're two grown adults. I know you're attracted to me." She grabbed his neck with her small hand and pushed herself back into him. Those blue eyes gazed into his, the spell she had slowly overtaking him.

"You're marr-"

"It doesn't matter. I'm getting a divorce now. Sam and I are separated."

"Not in a legal sense."

"Alex... who says we have to play by the rules of society? If I want you like I know you want me, we should just do whatever we want without feeling guilty about it," she kissed him softly before he could reply. Alex stiffened, trying hard to keep his hands to himself. But when Norma pushed her tongue out to lick his lips, he gripped her waist hard and pressed her into him.

"I want you," Norma breathed.

"Norma..."

"I want you right now Alex."

Norma pushed him into the kitchen table chair, making him stumble down on it. She straddled his lap and pressed her lips to his over and over again, hardly letting him get a breath of air in.

"Damn it," Alex whispered to himself as he felt himself reacting physically to her actions.

Norma ground herself into his lap and sought out the hardness aching through his pants. She kissed on his neck which made Alex feel like he was about to explode.

He groaned and grabbed her face between his large hands to make her stop and look at him. He studied her beautiful face.

"I don't want you to regret this," he told her. Norma shook her head and reached between their bodies to unbutton his Deputy's shirt.

"Take off your belt," she demanded.

Alex cursed under his breath as she became this sexy goddess sitting in his lap right now.

Norma resumed back to kissing his neck and got his shirt completed unbuttoned. She helped him remove his black t shirt he wore beneath his uniform shirt and ran her hands all over his broad bare chest.

Alex finally ran his hands up her milky thighs, her skin was smooth and soft like a baby's. He reached the thin silk like panties she wore and hesitated.

Norma closed her eyes and moaned as she felt his hand underneath her dress. He hadn't touched her directly yet, so she figured he needed encouragement. She grabbed his hand and pushed them inside her panties.

Alex was shocked to feel how aroused she became. He looked at her face and saw her biting her lips. He couldn't help himself. He claimed her mouth with his own, biting her lips just a bit. Norma's eyes widened as he nipped on her lips. She loved it.

"Alex, I can't get your belt off..." she whined as her hands hurriedly worked on the belt.

"Don't worry about that yet." Alex helped her lift up a bit in order to pull her panties down her legs. He then rubbed feverishly on the flesh of her thighs, only enlightening her more. Norma watched him with a hazy gaze. He met her eyes and stared into them as his fingers reached the wetness between her legs.

Norma gasped as Alex slipped one, and then two fingers inside of her, wasting no time now. The hesitation was out the window. He could hear the wet sounds his fingers made with her body every time he moved them in and out and it only made him harder.

"That feels good," she panted.

Alex nodded and buried his face into her neck where he licked her skin lavishly. Norma rocked her hips against him hand, trying to get as much pleasure as she could from this. She couldn't even remember the last time she enjoyed a sexual encounter with a man, not until she met him. Alex alternated between fingering her and rubbing her.

"Oh God," She came hard and fast and gripped his neck. Alex smiled into her skin as he felt her release. He liked how quick she was.

Norma took a while to come back to earth. Alex finally removed his hands from underneath her dress and smirked at her.

She looked down at him with a tiny smile. Just as she was about to palm the hardness she felt pressed against her leg, her eye caught the clock hanging on the wall in the kitchen.

"Shit!" She jumped up from Alex's lap, leaving him confused.

"I have to be at my new job in 20 minutes. I have to get ready. How'd time go by that fast?"

Alex couldn't form words yet. He was completely aroused and finally ready to show Norma just what she wanted from him ever since that night he first met her at the bar. Norma noticed his lack of words and gave him a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry. But... it's my first week at the job. I don't want to make a bad impression."

He finally cleared his throat and stood, adjusting his pants as he moved closer to her.

"It's no problem. Um-"

"Okay, I have to go get changed! You can just let yourself out," she rushed up the stairs and left him alone in the kitchen.

Alex didn't really know what to do. He was so close to claiming this woman completely, but the moment was taken away like a tumbleweed in the wind. He glanced down and saw her silky panties laying there on the kitchen floor.

She must've forgotten about them. He smiled to himself as he picked up the tiny underwear, placing them into the pockets of his pants. He then went to grab her divorce papers and headed out the door.

Meanwhile, as Norma was stripping off her dress to change into her work clothes, she realized she didn't have on her panties. She heard Alex leave a couple minutes ago and came downstairs to lock the door and to look for the missing garment. They were nowhere to be found, but she didn't have to time to worry about them. They'd show up somewhere eventually, so she thought.

Omg, that last part, I was so nervous to post it lol! How'd I do?