[Okay so this story is kind of getting away from me, I keep meaning to write less but end up writing way more than I should, sorry! I'm also not happy with how it's flowing but we'll see where it goes! I'm working on building it up, slowly! Also think i might need to add 2 extra parts to fit in everything i originally wanted to write. I waffle on too much in my stories, hence the extra parts to fit it all in! What should have been 3/4 parts is now looking like 5 or 6!]

As the bourbon flowed well, almost too well, the awkwardness started to fade and the walls started to come down between the both of them. Norma felt the most relaxed than she had done in ages, the whiskey obviously was helping her to let her guard down but she knew deep down that a large part of it was Alex, just being in his company helped relaxed her. He had the ability to sooth her, calm her even, which to her was surprising considering how much he got under her skin. By this point the giggles and surreptitious glances came thick and fast, both getting too comfortable with themselves. Alex shuffled in his seat as his brain raced to think of a question..

'Okay my go'

'No, it's my go Alex! You asked the last one'

'No i didn't, you asked it and then answered it'

'Alex don't be ridiculous. Why the hell would I answer my own question? I swear it's my go'

'Norma. It isn't your go. Remember you asked about my favourite food and then before I could even answer you started babbling on about turkey pot pie and peach cobbler and then you moved onto your favourite Christmas dishes...'

Norma's eyes widened as she realised he was right, and she let out a little giggle.

'Oh that sounds like something i would do... oops, sorry. Okay my bad, it is in fact your go. Ask away, Sheriff.' -Norma gave Alex a devilish wink, secretly hoping he might step it up a bit as she was too shy to ask him anything that was a bit more than the family friendly questions they were asking.

'Okay Mrs Bates...worst date? And details'

Alex also felt slightly shy at asking her anything that might be seen as too much, he didn't want to push her or make her uncomfortable, however Norma froze at his question, she hadn't expected that and dozens of memories came flooding back of some of her worst dates, there were far too many and some that were down right horrific, it wasn't the time or the place to bring these up, at least not yet.

'Oh, right. Hmm..well how long have you got'

As Norma half heartedly laughed out her answer she hoped it would be enough for Alex or at the very least would disguise how uncomfortable she felt. Alex felt a slight shift in the atmosphere, he noticed a very minor change in her body language and wished he hadn't asked the question. He decided to let her answer be enough, the last thing he wanted was to make things awkward. He didn't know much about her past, in fact he knew nothing except that Norma was beaten regularly by her husband and Norman had killed his father in order to protect her. He shuddered at the thought of another man putting their hands on her and hurting her, after briefly reading the case file on Sam Bates he had tried his best to erase the thoughts but it was too late, so many reports on how police were called to the house, Norma visibly hurt and in need of a doctor to check her over but she never once pressed charges, many incident reports from concerned neighbours and teachers. He'd never told Norma that he had read the file, he always felt that one day when she was ready she would tell him, and he would wait until that day that she trusted him completely to do so. But still the images and thoughts plagued him, especially whilst he was alone in his bed trying to drift off, the bourbon helped but it was never enough to stop his mind from wandering. He wished he had been there to protect her, he wished so badly to have known her back then. He would have killed Sam himself. Alex decided to take the heat off of her,

'You wanna hear my worst date, oh boy it was bad. I really messed up. So i asked this girl out to the school dance, she said yes and i was overjoyed as i'd liked her for a while, but she had a twin sister who looked very like the girl i had a crush on...anyway at the dance, it was busy and in my defence it was very dark...'

Norma could tell immediately where this was going and brought her hand up quickly to cover her mouth trying to muffle her giggle,

'And so i seen this girl, her name was Eva, and i tried to be all romantic and stuff, i spun her round and kissed her, she didn't exactly pull away, so i didn't think anything was wrong until i felt a slap across the back of my head, and then i realised right then i was kissing the wrong girl. I spun round to explain but she punched me..'

Norma gasped but couldn't hold back her giggles any longer

'Oh my God Alex! What happened next?'

'Well after she punched me and called me a pig she left with her friends and sister, I felt awful about it but my buddies thought I was a legend. I didn't feel like one but it gave me brownie points!'

'Oh Alex I shouldn't laugh, sorry! But it's pretty funny!'

Norma's giggles got louder and before she knew it she had tears in her tears, playing the scene of Alex getting slapped by an angry girl for kissing her identical sister over and over again. Alex started to chuckle, he loved it when she laughed, even if she was laughing at him embarrassing himself. Alex unscrewed the cap from the bourbon bottle and took a large swig followed by another 3 swigs much to Norma's amusement,

'Wow, slow down Sheriff, i don't wanna have to carry you up them steps back at the house'

Alex grinned at her realising that it was her turn again, 'Your go Norma'

Norma grabbed the bourbon from Alex and followed his lead, she was accustomed to the taste and even liked it but she knew she'd taken a bigger sip than intended and carefully had to swallow it down, downing that much in one go would surely have dire consequences, last thing she needed was to throw up in the back of Alex's SUV.

'You ok? You look like you're struggling!'

'Yes Alex, i'm fine! I just had too much in my mouth'

Alex couldn't help himself, the whiskey lowering his ability to suppress his chuckle as he smirked at what she said, he knew she hadn't intended on it being dirty but his mind went there.

'OH ALEX! Get your mind out the gutter.' -Norma tried to be offended and shocked by his crass thoughts but she too under the influence of the whiskey struggled to refrain from laughing.

'Okay, okay, right Alex, truth or dare?'

Alex narrowed his eyes at her and gave her a confused look,

'I thought we agreed not to do dares as there isn't much we can do'

'Yeah well i'm changing the rules, i'm mixing it up'

Alex rolled his eyes, pretty standard that Norma would change the rules to suit her. He sighed heavily,

'Okay fine, I choose dare. Give me your best shot'

Norma gave Alex a devilish gaze whilst biting on her lip...

'Okay...so Alex i dare you to... Do star jumps outside'

'Really Norma? How old are you?!'

Norma giggled and sing-songed

'Oh Alex...you have to do it in your boxers'

Alex's mouth dropped open, there was no way she was serious, surely she wasn't

'What th-'

Norma smiled at him seductively, lowering her voice and gazing right into his eyes making Alex squirm in his seat,

'Yup, you heard me Sheriff, get your kit off.'

Alex gulped, he wasn't sure what was more embarrassing, doing star jumps in the middle of nowhere in his boxers or showing Norma his body and having her be able to see him like that. Alex groaned at the thought. He slid his jacket off his shoulders and undid his buttons one by one, he was aware that Norma's gaze was on him, he decided to take advantage of the situation, now it was her turn to feel awkward. He slowed his pace and undid each button painfully slowly and then pulled his shirt off in the sexiest way he could manage given the small enclosed space he had. Next he moved onto his belt buckle, carefully sliding it out and pulling it from its loops, he glanced up to see Norma wide eyed, subconsciously biting her thumb and he loved it, he loved the effect he had on her, it was an incredible and indescribable feeling. His little strip tease was supposed to make her weak but he hadn't realised he would be just as turned on. Alex finally opened the car door, the ice cool breeze hitting them instantly, causing the both of them to shiver whilst cooling down their arousal. Norma was glad of the cold air as it brought down the heat that was in her cheeks.

Alex slipped out of the car with ease and put his hands on his jeans to pull them down, until he remembered he was wearing boots and he groaned at the thought of having to undo them in order to take his jeans off fully..

'Norma, I'm wearing boots'

He looked longingly at her, his eyes pleading with her to reconsider taking his jeans off. Norma rolled her eyes and laughed.

'Okay fine, keep your jeans on'

Alex was thankful that she'd changed her mind, he took a deep breath and started to do the starjumps, he felt ridiculous, it had been a very long time since he had done these. He felt his heart race, he wasn't unfit but the cold was slowing him down, stinging at his chest causing his skin to redden.

'8 more Sheriff and you're done' laughed Norma wickedly.

Once Alex was finished and back in the SUV he struggled to catch his breath, his chest pounded and his breathing was ragged, Norma tried to ignore him, he was driving her crazy, his breathing was turning her on and she couldn't escape the thought of wanting to throw herself at him and cover his neck and chest in soft butterfly kisses. She chastised herself for thinking such things. 'Damn it Norma pull yourself together. This isn't real. This marriage is fake. And the feelings you feel are down to the whiskey. Let it go. Stop letting your mind wander. You need to seriously get a grip.'

Norma tore her eyes away from Alex's hot and sweaty chest and made a feeble attempt to reach for her purse to check the time on her phone. Any distraction is a good distraction she thought. Once Alex was fully dressed again she looked back, he was grinning at her, her heart somersaulted, she knew that Alex knew that she was watching him a little too closely. She tried to shake it off. And broke the silence by asking for the bourbon.

'So was that to your satisfaction Mrs Bates? Did I pass?'

'Yes you passed. But I'm taking points off for the fact you only did it half clothed.' She smirked at his over dramatic shocked gesture, his hand raising to his mouth. She slapped him playfully, suddenly realising it was his go and he'd probably want pay back.

'Okay so looks like my go then, truth or dare? I think you should choose dare, it's only fair after all.'

Norma rolled her eyes and huffed, standard that he would want to get one up on her.

'Alright. Fine. Dare. But be reasonable...Please' Norma pouted in a half assed attempt to make him go easy on her,

Alex smiled, he had the perfect dare. Although it was a little risky. He might be pushing her a little too far.

'Okay, okay, I'll go easy on you...Take one item of clothing off'

Norma's face fell and her eyes widened, she was speechless. Many thoughts crossed her mind, and she wondered if there was any way to get out of doing it, not because she felt uncomfortable - she trusted Alex fully- but because she was struggling to hide her true feelings, and taking items of clothing off was not going to help the intense sexual feelings she was experiencing.

The silence that followed his question left Alex panicked and thinking 'Fuck. I've gone too far.'

'Sorry, you don't have to do that! I was just winding you-'

Norma jumped in, she felt bad for making him panic, she really did want to remove parts of her clothing. She wanted to see his face.

'No. No. It's okay. Really. I'm just thinking what to remove.' Her hands reached up to her earrings and she started to take them out noticing straight away the disappointment on Alex's face, she giggled.

'I'm kidding. I'm kidding.'

Norma thought for a few seconds at what to remove, she had considered her silk with delicate lace navy panties that hid under her skirt but wondered if that was a little too much, she didn't want Alex to think she was that kind of woman, although it had never stopped her in the past but she liked how he respected her and she wanted Alex to think she was being respectful. She was relieved to remember that she was wearing a lacy top under her blouse, she thought that was maybe more appropriate to remove.

'Alex don't look. Okay? No peeking'

Alex faked a little sigh and did as he was told, he placed his hands over his eyes, leaving the tiniest gap to have a sneaky peek at her.

'Promise you won't look' She giggled.

'I promise'

Norma secretly hoped he might disobey her, she wanted him to watch her, she wanted him, and more than anything she wanted him to take her shirt off for her and just kiss her the way she craved, but Norma wouldn't allow herself to continue those thoughts. She undid the buttons to her shirt, just enough to be able to pull it over her head, once off she tugged at her lacy top, pulling hastily from where it had been tucked into her skirt, she again pulled it over head head and bunched it up. Alex was mesmerized, he could see her blue lace and silk bra, her nipples hard and pressing against the dainty fabric, he groaned internally not wanting Norma to hear him. He watched her redo her buttons and smooth down her shirt, luck seemed to be on his side as her very dainty flower patterned shirt was just see thru enough that he could still make out the colour of her bra, and just, only just could he see her nipples poking from underneath her shirt. Before he knew it there was something thrown at his face, it smelt like lavender, it smelt like her and he opened his eyes instantly to see Norma smiling at him.

'There done' She smirked.

Alex smiled at her, this was the most fun he'd had in ages. He was a little concerned about the next dare, he was sure she would come up with something better, he thought maybe truth to be on the safe side. He wasn't sure how many of these dares he could do or get away with, he'd already had to discreetly place his jacket over his legs to hide the growing bulge that pressed painfully against his jeans.

Norma felt her cheeks flush so she reached for the bourbon taking a rather large swig and relishing in the slight sting as it burned her throat. Alex decided now that he had a slight confidence boost after his many swigs of his favourite whiskey to answer her earlier question not realising the effect it would have on her.

'So to answer your earlier question..'

Norma gave him a confused stare,

'Mmm hmm' She took another very large swig of whiskey,

Alex took a deep breath and confidently blurted out,

'I like to fuck a woman from behind and make love to her whilst on top, or her on top, either or, as long as i get to see her face'

Norma's eyes widened in complete shock and astonishment at his total and complete honesty, she gulped her whiskey too fast causing her to choke, sputter and retch whilst continuing to remain unaffected by his admission, this only made the whole situation worse. Norma's hands flew up to her face to cover her discomfort and she spent a couple of seconds trying to regain some control over her mishap, tuning away from Alex to hide the hot tears streaming down her face from the sheer amount of coughing, Norma continued to cough, desperately trying to clear her throat and stop the burning she felt in her throat and nose. She finally managed to calm herself and inhale a deep breath of air, gasping at the same time, she grabbed her jacket and wiped her face, feeling the burn now on her cheeks at the thought of Alex witnessing that. Norma buried her head in her whiskey soaked jacket wanting to avoid Alex's concerned look. Alex sat there shocked, concerned even but also trying desperately hard to stop himself from laughing. He tried to ask Norma if she was okay but he couldn't control his laughter.

'Oh shit, Norma, are you okay. Jesus I'm so sorry. I swear I'm not laughing at you, or at least I'm trying not to laugh, but my god that made my day, it came out your nose as well'

'Shut up Alex'

Norma's nose crinkled and she cleared her throat again, she was mortified so she tried to play it cool, like nothing had happened but the laughter coming from Alex made her smile weakly, she wanted to laugh too, she decided to embrace the awkward moment and giggled back. Wiping the tears away from her eyes she sighed, clearing her throat again.

'My God Alex,'

Alex grinned sheepishly, whispering back

'Sorry was that too much? I mean you did technically ask me that earlier on'

'Yeah i know but what the hell Alex, a little warning would have been nice, I literally had whiskey coming out my nose after your little outburst.'

Alex burst out laughing again, he tried to control it but it was no use, the more he stopped himself the harder it got to suppress. His laughter was infectious and before she knew it she wasn't just giggling but laughing back unable to stop and giving him a playful slap on the leg. She whined back,

'Alex, stop. It's not funny. It's awful when it comes out your nose. My nose is burning now.'

'Norma, I'm sorry but that was really funny, you have to admit that! And I'm sorry for blurting out my answer the way i did, maybe i should have worded it better.'

Norma rolled her eyes,

'Alex I don't really think there is a delicate way to put what you just said. But thanks for getting back to me on that!' Norma gave him a wide smile, she wasn't bothered or alarmed at his answer, just surprised, if not slightly more aroused than she was before.

'Whose go is it? I keep forgetting? Is it yours Alex?'

'Well no, i don't think so, you were away to ask me one and i told you my em...you know favourite sex posi-'

'Yup got it, don't need to go over it! Okay Alex, I'll maybe keep this one a little lighter...Most romantic thing you've ever done'

Norma got the impression Alex wasn't a romantic person at all, but she didn't want to assume and offend him.

'Huh, well, I'm not really sure, i don't really do the whole romcom cheesy boyfriend thing, never really have. I'm not really sure it suits me to be honest.'

Norma scowled at him, disappointed in his answer, that the Sheriff wasn't into romancing his other half, if anything she felt a little sad, she kind of hoped he would do that sort of thing with her, she hadn't had many romantic gestures or experiences, most men didn't bother, or they thought that fast and rough sex was the same thing as romance.

Alex continued speaking, feeling slightly guilty at the lack of romance he's shown to his partners in the past. Maybe there had been a reason after all why he could never settle down. This was why Rebecca had been perfect, she didn't care about all that, she was just in it for the fun and the sex.

'I mean it's not romantic, but every Valentine's Day i used to buy my mother a rose and a card, my father never really bothered or he would forget, so i would get her something, didn't want her to think nobody loved her. When I was little I used to have to make my cards and i'd steal the neighbours flowers from their garden but when i was a little older i was able to pull my pocket money together and buy her something from the shop, wasn't anything lavish or spectacular, just a simple red rose and a card with a cheesy poem on the inside. She used to love it, said it was the best Valentines gift she'd ever had, and sadly I believe that. She wasn't appreciated enough by my father..'

Alex trailed off, worried to say what he wanted to say next in fear of Norma thinking he was totally pathetic. But Norma was close to tears, it was the most thoughtful thing she had ever heard, and she would have never guessed that Alex could be like that, but then she remembered her car and how he got it back for her and it suddenly dawned on her he was romantic, just not in the obvious way, not in the over the top hearts, flowers and chocolate way, but in showing people how much he cared with gestures of genuine kindness, things to make people smile, little mundane things that meant something big to someone.

Norma could see the pain in Alex's eyes, remembering his mother and speaking about her was hard for him, she remembered when he was drunk that time and he let her into his heart, he trusted her enough to tell her about his mother and her suicide. Although Norma didn't know the details she was very aware how much it affected him.

'It sounds really, stupid, ridiculous in fact but...I um, I still do it, even now. Every Valentine's Day I buy a rose and a card, I can't bear not to.'

Alex struggled to hold in his emotions, tears started to form in his beautiful brown eyes, Norma took a deep breath in, she was overcome with emotions. She also felt such love and warmth for Alex but was so incredibly sad for him and the turmoil he was going through, how very alone he must have felt growing up, how alone he must feel now. Norma couldn't cope a single second more at how vulnerable he looked and she reached over and pulled him towards her, he didn't resist and allowed her to squeeze him tightly whilst she soothed him with her words,

'It's okay Alex, you aren't on your own, and i don't think its stupid or ridiculous, i think it's incredibly touching and endearing to know that you still do that for your mother. It's so thoughtful Alex and so beautiful. She'd be so proud of you Alex. And you are romantic! Remember my car you got for me, that's romantic. I believe there is a big softie under that tough sheriff façade, you just don't like to show anyone, but I've been lucky enough to see that side of you because you trusted me enough and let me in. Thank you Alex.'

Alex smiled and lifted himself up out of her arms suddenly being very aware of the proximity between them, their noses almost touching and their shallow breaths echoing in their ears.

Norma pulled herself away also and retreated back to her seat whilst Alex acted like nothing had happened and that he hadn't just been crying into Norma's chest, despite the fact her blouse was now marked with his tears. He gave a little cough and discreetly wiped his eyes, Norma smiled warmly at him trying to be so manly and pretend that he hadn't just bared his soul to her, if this had been another situation she would have teased him but this moment was special and she wanted him to know she was always there for him.

After a little silence Alex returned the question to which Norma openly admitted to being a hopeless romantic and that she loved all the romance films, especially the old ones, but she wasn't really lucky in love and didn't get much of the romance that she craved, especially the romance she envisioned having when she was a little girl and reading stories about Princes doting on Princesses. Alex made a mental note to spoil her with all the little things she adores in life, new plants and flowers, fixing up all the things she needs fixing in the house or motel, treating her to a meal out and dancing until she needs to be carried home. He wanted to spoil her and he didn't know why, he'd never felt the need or even wanted to be the cheesy man that he now found himself wanting to be, and it was all down to her.

Alex ran his hands through his hair, trying hard to think of new and interesting questions but kept coming up short...

'Uhh...Norma I think I'm running out of interesting things to ask, I can't think of any.'

'Oh come on Alex, use your imagination, anything, you can ask me anything' Norma said seductively.

Alex's eyes widened at the endless possibilities for truths to be asked and dares to be tried.

[To be continued]