Norman was back, and Norma was unable to stop herself from feeling uncomfortable around him. Something had drifted and changed between them, and she was sure Norman knew precisely what it was.

As a good mother, the one she's always been to Norman, before picking him up that morning she had to make some rearrangements herself. Her husband had to go back to his old house. Abandon the home he had learned to love so much and call his own.

The look on his face when they both decided that it was for the best, despite everything else happening between them, broke her heart. Norma despised that she couldn't be honest with Norman just yet, even more, that her husband had to go away.

Pretending that she spent his time in Pineview crying over him was simple, but spending so much time separated, a little bit more than they were ever used to anyway, made her feel like granting Norman the access to come home was the wrong decision.

Now she was alone in bed freezing to death. Not knowing if it was because the heater seemed to be broken or because Alex wasn't there to keep her warm. She missed Alex in a way she's never endured before. Not with Sam—not with anybody else. Her chest stings, and she needs to cry. The absence of her husband is too much.

In plain dark, Norma reached for the vintage watch that she always arranged to take off before bed. Her cold hand turned on the lamp on her bedside table, exposing the watch with ease. It was only 11 pm, and she let out a loud cry of defeat.

Assembling up in bed, Norma raised her glare trying to find the location of her phone. Spotting it on her vanity, she promptly got up, and speed walked her way through it, grasping it smoothly and running back to bed.

She turned the light off and covered herself entirely, uprooting the thick duvet all the way, trying her hardest to find the warmth and coziness that her husband readily granted her every night.

But it was gone.

Norman was back, and her husband was gone.

His voice is the song her heart wants to hear. Assembling back in bed was easy, not finding him was the difficult part. Norma unlocks the phone and finds her husband's name on her recent call log, tucking in her lip as she pressed the phone to her right ear, waiting anxiously to hear the sound of his voice.

Her favorite melody.

After two rings, his deep voice swelled her heart with immediate joy.

"Can't sleep either, Mrs. Romero?"

She could tell that he was smiling. She loved the way he answered the phone, praising how he didn't ask if something was wrong. He just solely knew the reason behind her call.

"How do you know?" the same smile plastered on her face.

"Because I can't sleep either," he admitted. "I've been tossing and turning all night."

"I wanted to hear your voice," she stated in a muffled voice, her tone hopeless and defenseless.

"Are you okay?" his voice swelled with concern.

Norma took a deep breath; there was no need to try and answer this question because they both knew he already had the answer.

"Baby?" he whispered. "It's okay. It's not forever, I promise."

Her voice quivering as her eyes shut in dismay. "I just miss you so much," she cried softly, not daring to wake Norman up. The last thing she needed was for him to invade her space.

She detected the second he also released a deep breath, both of them recognizing the circumstances weren't as easy as they made it out to be.

"Don't cry, please," his voice sad and pitiable. "It kills me to know I'm not there with you, where I'm supposed to be."

Norma blinked a few more tears at his words, knowing that he was hurting just as much. The way he said it making it even more painful.

The tears remained, and she wasn't able to stop crying. Her body longing the touch of her husband, the way he pulls her closer to him, the way she feels unharmed.

"I don't like this," she managed to blurt out. "I don't like this at all, and it's not fair to you. I'm so sorry, honey."

"It's okay," he said sweetly. "You're a mother first, and I understand that. We both know that I couldn't stay, at least not until he knows about us."

She managed to smile through the pain, the term soothing out her distress. "Not until he knows about us?"

He let out a shy chuckle. "Yeah."

"What is there to know?"

"That this is real," he muttered. "That it's not only because of the insurance. That we love each other and that being apart right now is killing us."

"I love the sound of that," she sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "Even though I know you've wanted to marry me since the day we met."

"Oh, really?" he simpered.

Her giggle stretched his smile.

"Yes."

"What do you know about that, huh? You read minds now?"

"Something like that," she grinned. "Don't you know your wife?"

"Well, my wife is pretty clever, so I don't doubt it."

After a pleasant silence, she spoke. "How was your day?"

He groaned. "It sucked."

"Why? What happened?"

She could hear him shuffling around in bed. "I don't know; I guess I knew that at the end of the night I wouldn't come home to you."

"Were you grumpy?"

"Yes."

"Were you mean to Regina?"

"Maybe."

"Alex..." Norma scolded with a smile.

"I know, I know," he sighed. "I have to be nice. No need to remind me."

"I was afraid I had to remind you."

"She's just annoying."

Norma smirked, hearing him tell her about Regina was entertaining and delightful. He sounded like a kid back from his first day of preschool ranting about the girl that pulled his hair during recess.

"Sheriff, she's just doing her job. Stop giving her a hard time."

"She asks too many questions. It'd be okay if they were work-related," he explained. "She just talks too much."

"She does talk too much," she agreed with him.

"See? I'm not making it up."

"Just cut her some slack, Sheriff."

"I don't want to," he whined, just a like child.

"My God, one day away from me and look at you, you're a mess."

The teasing in her voice was indisputable, making him grin like a five—year—old. "I am. Your husband can't live without you."

The sincerity in his voice breaks her soul in a swift motion. The way he said it bringing her back to the realization of their current circumstances. Those outburst of honesty between them seems to surprise them both once the words are spoken.

The wall that Alex created for the rest of the world appears to disintegrate when she's near. When he speaks to her. When he touches her. Norma can't help to feel like she's the best thing that's ever happened to him. His smile always diminishing every insecurity.

"Your wife can't either," she confessed. "She's so in love with you that she's unable to sleep if you're not with her."

He grinned. "That's true love, right?"

"It is," she whispers. "And that's how it's supposed to be. Now that I know how you taste like, I can't get enough of you."

"Oh, really?"

They both laugh.

"Hey, that's just me being honest, Sheriff."

"It's fair, it's fair."

A sharp creak next door alarms her, and she feels like she's being overheard. She stops talking, waiting for another creak on the floor. Her eyes fly to Norman's connecting door, looking for some light or movement behind the closed door.

Nothing.

"Baby?" his voice shrieks through the phone after hearing her gasp. The sound of his voice filled with nothing but concern.

"Give me a second," she whispered, her voice almost inaudible.

"What's going on?" he asked, ignoring her demand.

Sitting up in bed, she leaned over to see if she could spot Norman's shadow under the door.

She couldn't.

"Norma!" Alex shrieks.

"Sorry," she said in a much better voice. "I thought I heard something. It's nothing."

Alex could hear her assembling back down in bed, tucking her arm out and over the comforter like the many times Alex witnessed her doing so.

"Don't scare me like that, Norma."

"I'm sorry, honey. It's nothing," she reassured her disquieting husband. "It's nothing."

"Is your bedroom door locked?" he questioned.

"Yes."

"Did you double check that all doors downstairs were locked?"

"I did."

"All right," he said sounding more convinced than a few seconds ago. "I hate not being there."

Her voice fell. "I hate not having you here."

"When are we going to tell him?" he inquired and she loved that he incorporated himself into the equation. "I don't think I can put up with this any longer. I don't like being without you, having a restriction when it comes to you. I hate it."

"You want me all to yourself, don't you, Mr. Romero?" he could tell that she was smiling because of the resonance of her voice.

"Well, isn't that the deal? We're married. You're mine."

"I am," she said between giggles, embracing that possessive side of her husband. "But... I will know when the time is right. Just give me time, yeah? At least until I figure out how to deal with this."

"How is he?"

"I don't quite know... He seems a bit off," she revealed. "It's almost weird."

"He just needs to readjust."

"I know," she mumbled. "I just wish you were here to help me figure all of this out. And to keep me warm. It's freezing in here."

"Is the heater on?"

"It doesn't seem like it. I think it's broken; I don't know."

"See? If I was there..."

"Stop..." she whimpered. "Don't say things like that."

"I was just going to say that I have other ways of keeping you warm, that's all," he said stoically, hiding the real meaning behind his words.

She smiled. "Yeah? And how is that?"

"If I tell you I'd have to kill you."

"You're cruel," she snickered.

"You know how," he said far too deep, making her insides twist. His tone was all she needed to reveal his obvious and known riddle. "All I can say is that you wouldn't get much sleep."

She bit her lower lip, keeping the flesh caught between her teeth. It sounded tentative and delicious. Her eyes shut at the meaning of his words.

"Don't tempt me, Sheriff," she warned. "Don't say stuff like that just to make me suffer."

He giggled first and then she followed, a deep yawn leaving his lips right after.

"Go to bed. I don't want to keep you—"

"Shut it," he breathed. "I'm not hanging up."

"Is that an order?" she smiled.

"Maybe..."

"Would you like me to stay on the phone with you?" she despised how absurd that sounded. Of course, he didn't. They're not teenagers anymore.

"Of course I do," he affirmed. "I'd love that. Let's not hang up, yeah? I'll be able to sleep with the sound of your breathing."

"Me too," she confessed. "I don't want to miss your snores."

"I don't snore."

"Yes, you do."

"I do not!"

"How do you know?!"

"I just do," he grinned.

"I love you, old man," her voice angelic and soft, rolling her eyes at him even though he couldn't see. "I love you so much."

"I love you too. A whole lot. More than you can imagine," he muttered. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah," she mumbled. "I'll come visit you before you leave for work."

"I can't wait to see you."

Her eyes shut at his declaration. No one's ever been this clingy and in love with her and she loves it.

"I can't wait to kiss you," she said dreamily.

"Sleep well, Mrs. Romero. Don't drool all over the phone."

"It's a hard task, Sheriff," she joked. "I don't think that's possible."

"Oh God," he teased her as well. "At least stay on your side of the bed. My side is drool—free."

"Until tonight," she simpered. "I'm already on your side."

"Knew it."

"I do miss you," she said in a soft-spoken voice. "You thought I was joking?"

"Maybe."

"Have a good night, Mr. Romero." Norma hated but also loved how he always teased her.

"You too, baby."

They both hear the sound of the covers and quilts, as they position themselves in bed. Their individual cold beds. She smiled as he whispered another I love you under his breath before drifting away into deep sleep. Both satisfied to know that they couldn't sleep nor live without the other now. Their bubble somehow still intact. The bubble that Norman will try to pop one way or another with his presence and unpredictable state.

Norma's breathing turns soft and soothing. The vibrations of her husband's snores causing her to fall into profound slumber. If she only knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep without them for the rest of her life. But she'll find out soon enough.

Just like Norman will. He will have to deal with it by hook or by crook. Sooner rather than later.

Because he heard everything.

He's been standing behind the connecting door the entire time.

A/N: And then Norma wakes up around 3 am because she's freezing to death. Norman, wide awake, follows her downstairs and complains about the TV being too big and demands that she calls someone to fix the heater at that time.

"It's 3 am. They're repair people, not emergency roadside service. Go back to bed, Norman."

Of course, this is my version of it, hope you like it.

If you're being affected by Irma, stay safe. Too many bad things happening in this crazy world.

Xx