Author's Notes: A couple of things I should mention… Norman obviously has a mental health condition in this fiction; however, no one believes he's truly a threat at the moment. In my other 2 stories I had Norman be incredibly dangerous, but I wanted to do something different in this story. And, everyone knows Caleb is Dylan's dad, except Romero.

*I was able to sneak this chapter in. I was really nervous about the last one so I'm relieved people liked it!

*I love suggestions and am happy to somehow incorporate them. As always if you would like more, let me know by leaving a review!

Sorry I didn't edit yet. By the way, this chapter is a bit deep but I hope you enjoy anyway…

Chapter 5: Balancing Act

The Sheriff hears Norma's sniffles turn quickly into loud and uncontrollable sobs. It breaks his heart, leaving him with a dilemma. He simply can't allow this to continue without devoting his whole attention to comforting his love. Nothing is more important at the moment than to wrap his arms around her, not even driving.

The unfortunate issue is, the couple is nowhere near White Pine Bay. In fact, they're still over an hour away from their destination.

Romero briefly glances at Norma, who has now buried her face in the palms of her hands as her whole body shakes wildly. Seeing the scene in front of him, the Sheriff makes a split second decision.

Luckily, he's been in this area before due to some assistance he provided the local police department on a few investigations. He knows the perfect place to go to provide Norma his undivided attention and comfort.

With a tiny grin, the Sheriff changes his course without Norma even noticing.

When he pulls off the road and his tires hit gravel, Norma snaps out of her distressed trance and gradually slides her hands down her face to scan the area. Her eyes widen confusion with the realization that she doesn't recognize her surroundings. "Alex?" She questions in a whisper with a sniffle, feeling the vehicle slowly come to a stop. "What are you doing?"

"Do you trust me Norma?" He asks in a sudden tense posture. In witnessing her nod once, his shoulders immediately relax. Instantly he swings the driver's side door open and walks to the back seat, grabbing a few items that Norma is unable to see in the moonlit darkness.

Norma unbuckles her seat belt and turns to peer in the back seat where her boyfriend once was standing. The overhead light has turned on automatically now, allowing her to see a little better. Not knowing what is currently happening, she remains puzzled. The only sight she catches a brief view of is the backside of the man with his arms full of something she can't quite determine.

She's just about to reach for the handle of her door when she notices Romero jogging back toward the SUV. With a brief exhale, he shuts both driver's side doors and rushes around to where Norma is sitting.

The click of the outside handle of her door and the sensation of the tiny breeze of fresh air touching her skin, causes goosebumps to tickle her skin under her thin sweater. The night wind is very mild on this still evening, but the change in temperature leads to a slight sudden chill.

Romero is standing directly in front of her, waiting with an extended hand and a grin. Without hesitation, Norma takes his offered grasp and tentatively steps out of the vehicle.

Once the door is slammed shut and the vehicle is locked, Romero wraps his arms around her shivering shoulders and cuddles her snuggly against his chest. A soft hum leaves her lungs as she instantly feels the warmth of Alex's body.

With his free hand, the Sheriff shines a pen flashlight to the ground in order to illuminate the faintly worn grassy path. The couple carefully maneuvers their steps, avoiding any holes that are present on the uneven surface.

Once Norma sees the area in front of her, she can't help the gasp she releases. The scene is breathtaking with tiny lights of a distant bustling city casting a dull light on a bench harboring a perfect view. The sky is clear as twinkling stars add a touch of natural light to the calm atmosphere.

A brightened smile graces her lips while she allows herself to be carefully led to the bench. She remains speechless and completely entranced by the landscape, even when the Sheriff's thick jacket is slipped over her shoulders. "This is beautiful Alex."

He smirks at her reaction, mentally patting himself on the back for remembering this place. Romero slowly sits down and gently pulls on Norma's right hand to sit down next to him. Once her body touches the seat, she instinctively nuzzles in his side and leans her head on his chest.

As soon as his love is comfortable, the Sheriff places a warm blanket around both of their bodies. After a few minutes of complete tranquility, he can no longer take the silence. "This wasn't a planned stop. I just felt too far away from you in the car," he whispers and then places a kiss to the top of his head.

He feels her nod into his chest as she moves even closer to his torso. "You want me to continue, don't you?" She asks with a hum.

Internally there is nothing more he desires than for her to confide in him. This would serve as proof of how close they've grown in their relationship, but he also doesn't want to push her. "Only if you want to," he responds in a volume barely above a whisper.

After about a minute of stillness, Norma begins to speak much to Romero's relief. "Please don't look at me when I say all of this, ok?"

"I promise I won't." He assures, tightening his hold around her.

With a sigh, Norma allows herself to let go of the memories that have been plaguing her for years. "I forgot about my son. What kind of mother forgets to care for her own child?" A question she asks, meant only for her to answer.

Norma briefly pauses before she continues. "When he was born, I thought he was my saving grace. That no matter what had happened to me, having Dylan would bring happiness to all of the ugliness that I went through." A tear slides down her cheek as dark recollections flood her mind. There is one buried secret from her past she's vowed to never share with the Sheriff, no matter how close she becomes to him. She only prays he never asks why she remembers that certain time with such disgust. "I wanted nothing more than to protect the newborn baby I held in my arms with bright blue eyes and chubby little cheeks," she smiles at the mental picture. "He was the most adorable thing ever, Alex."

The grin quickly fades, "But, my thoughts didn't last when I felt the need to move on from John and ultimately from my own son."

"I met Sam and I instantly felt fireworks, something I never felt for John." The Sheriff can't help the jealously that seems to grow within him, but he actively restrains himself and continues to listen. "I couldn't face John after what I had done with Sam, so I snatched Dylan from his bed late one night while John was asleep."

Norma feels Alex's body tense a bit around her, but decides to move ahead with her confession. "I need to say that John wasn't a bad man, he was just always so distant and I couldn't take the loneliness any longer." She sighs, "Sam was different in the beginning, but grew cold and abusive relatively quickly. He never liked the idea of raising another man's child, especially an active and happy go lucky 3 year old. To deal with him, Sam ignored him and eventually with time so did I."

Feeling lighter by acknowledging her own wrongdoing she can't stop herself now from uttering her troubled past. "When Norman was born, I was completely consumed. All of my love and care went to him, while Dylan was pushed to the background. At 4 years old, he was basically on his own. Of course, he had clothes on his back and food in his stomach, but he was an afterthought and considered to be more of a nuisance to me than anything else. John never came to look for him either. Basically he was a forgotten child, a burden I was forced to deal with. It didn't help that he gradually became a walking reminder of his father," she shivers with the thought of her brother.

Norma squeezes her eyes shut briefly and takes a deep breath. "I signed him up for school, but my only motivation was so he wouldn't be a distraction for the family. For the life of me I can't remember how he got there or how he even returned home. Eventually he stopped coming home altogether. I found out later Dylan was popular at school. Because of this he had many friends he could live with, varying the places he would stay every night to give the illusion he lived at least occasionally at home. He didn't want to concern the various parents who were actually caring for him."

Nearing the end of her emotional release, Norma feels the Sheriff cuddle her tighter in his embrace. "He disappeared after he completed school and I hadn't heard from him until he showed up on my doorstep in White Pine Bay. I asked him to leave, to never return. Did I ever tell you that?"

The Sheriff, swallows the lump in his throat. "No you didn't Norma," barely mustering a whisper.

"Well, I did. I couldn't take the memories of what I did to him, a constant reminder of how badly I screwed up his life. I was trying to start my life over, not be reminded of the past. After all of this time, I finally realized that I need both of my sons in my life to be whole. Now, I've messed things up and I feel like I'm losing Dylan all over again."

Norma sits up abruptly in the Sheriff's arms to stare into his eyes, "I loved one son too much and the other not enough." She sighs with a deep feeling of regret, "I ruined them both."

XXXX

After basking in Romero's attention and support from her emotional verbal release, Norma finally feels free of the invisible handcuffs she's slipped into years ago. In her newly found comfort, she falls into a deep sleep in her love's embrace, simply exhausted from the night's rollercoaster of events.

A couple of hours later, Norma stirs from her restful slumber. She slowly moves her head from the Sheriff's chest to lightly rub the tip of her nose along the side of his neck, taking in the subtle scent of his cologne. Norma loves waking up this way and only hopes there will come a time when this will become a ritual versus an isolated incident.

Without disturbing her partner, Norma takes a peek at his wrist watch which happens to be laying above the blanket draped over them. When she notices the time, her heartbeat quickens as panic sets in. "Alex!" She whisper yells while pushing on his chest to get his attention. "Come on, we need to get going."

Romero groans and adjusts his arms to enclose her in his grasp a little more, which earns him another shove to his torso.

"Get up, Alex! It's late!" She exclaims again, leading to him blinking his eyes open.

"What time is it?" He mumbles while attempting to sit up.

"It's almost 11, come on we need to go! I don't want to get caught doing the walk of shame again, especially when we didn't even do what we usually do to earn that label," she shouts while whipping the blanket covering herself off of her body. "Oh God, where's my phone!? I need my phone!"

"Alright calm down, Norma. I guarantee Dylan won't be home to catch you in the act of sneaking into your own home again. I think he'll be busy for a while," the Sheriff says with a yawn.

"Very funny," Norma responds in a sarcastic tone.

Reluctantly, the Sheriff stretches his limbs and stands on his tired legs with a roll of his eyes. He gathers the blanket they've used for the last few hours and wraps a protective arm around her waist to safely guide her to his car.

After assisting Norma to her seat, the Sheriff rubs his eyes to free them from sleep and then proceeds to his side of the SUV. Once inside he starts the engine and slowly drives back onto the road leading to White Pine Bay.

Inside the vehicle is quiet while the Sheriff drives until Norma breaks the tranquity with some words she forgot to say. As she studies the phone in her hand littered with many missed calls and text messages from the same number, she speaks in a soft tone. "I really loved tonight, Alex. I'm sorry I ruined it by having an emotional breakdown," she glances to her left and then holds her stare to see his jawbone slightly clench then immediately loosen. "I know we didn't get the chance to, well, you know."

Romero smiles when he catches a glimpse of her face before focusing back on the road in front of him. "Norma, I've never felt closer to you than I did listening to you speak tonight. You proved to me tonight that you trust me and care enough about me to share what you're thinking. This is the first time you just let your feelings go without any sort of control," he pauses. "This was an incredible night and I hope you continue to feel this comfortable with me. And, before you even think it in that beautiful but sometimes irrational head of yours, I'm not judging you for anything you told me. You're a different person now Norma."

"I should tell them," she sniffles as those butterflies once again appear throughout her insides. "I just don't know how to."

"How about I slowly start coming around?" He suggests, "Not often or anything and maybe in a pretend professional capacity just so they get used to me being there."

Norma wipes her damp cheeks, stalling a bit to think a little more about his idea. "Well, that could actually work!" She responds in an excited tone, setting a gentle hand on his thigh. "How about we start this experiment tomorrow."

"The sooner the better." He says with a chuckle, already internally planning his reasoning for dropping in on the family in the morning.

XXXX

When Norma returns to her home, it's well after midnight. She's greeted by a panicked Norman, pacing the living room. The young man is absolutely frantic believing his mother left him due to their lack of communication for a majority of the evening.

Already drained due to the evening's events, Norma gives in and allows her youngest son to sleep in her bed. She's too tired for this fight and knows the best way to handle this situation before it blows up is to allow Norman to stay with her.

She falls asleep peacefully, dreaming her relationship with the Sheriff is known and accepted by both her children.

The sound of quiet footsteps force her eyes to open and her body to move slowly. Norma glances at the clock on her nightstand to see it is after 2am. She narrows her eyes and then catches a glimpse of her youngest son by her side still fast asleep even with her sudden movement. Soft snores ensure he remains in a restful state when she carefully removes herself from the bed to investigate the noise coming from outside her bedroom.

Tip toeing to the door she strains her eye to peak through the open space only to see her eldest son sneak upstairs and disappear into the darkness. With a huff, Norma steps back to her bed but unfortunately remains awake for the rest of the evening. Deep inside she knows it's ironic for her to be frustrated with Dylan for keeping this secret from her, but she can't bring herself to care.

Right now all she can think of is her son is lying to her, no matter if she's doing the same thing to him or not.

XXXX

Emma scans the few college brochures laid on the small desk in the motel office. Her head is held up with her hand as her elbow rests on the tabletop. She yawns while slowly turning the page of one of the booklets with her finger.

Currently, Emma is facing a dilemma.

She's grown restless in the small town of White Pine Bay and is ready to leave to explore what else may be lying outside its city limits. The problem is she also senses the overpowering need to stay at the very same time, which has made things very confusing and complicated.

Before starting a relationship with Dylan, she was ready to apply for colleges and pack to leave this tiny town behind. But, in doing this she would also be leaving Dylan which simply isn't an option for her.

She's lost in her thoughts when she hears the door to the office being opened and closed. Quickly she swipes the table free of the university catalogs and kicks them under the desk to hide them.

"Hey," a familiar voice greets with a smile. "I brought you a coffee, I thought you could use one after last night."

Her heart melts at the thoughtfulness. "Thank you," she returns the smile while moving closer to take the offered cup from him. She takes a sip and then grabs ahold of his hand to lead him behind the front desk. After setting her cup down on the table, Emma removes the other coffee from his grip and places it next to hers. Once their hands are free, she immediately wraps her arms around his neck and forces his head to bend forward so she can touch his lips with hers.

The couple flinch at the sound of the office door opening and closing once again. Immediately, Dylan drops to the ground in an attempt to hide from the mystery person entering their space.

"Hi Emma," Norma greets as she steps further inside the room. Her brows lift instantly when she notices two coffee containers sitting on the nearby table. "Oh, is anyone else here?" She questions while pointing to the cups.

Emma's posture visibly tenses while she bites down on her lower lip in nervousness. "No one else is here Norma," she blurts out trying to secretly nudge Dylan with her foot to warn him to hide better. In all of the commotion, Emma completely forgets about the college brochures she's shoved under the same space as her boyfriend now occupies.

"Really? Then those are both yours?" The older woman asks, already knowing who the other drink belongs to.

"Um, y-yeah. I was really tired," Emma stutters under the other woman's stare.

"I bet you were," she mutters under her breath before she steps around the young woman. However, she's stopped abruptly when Emma rushes to stand in front her in an attempt to shield her hiding boyfriend.

Norma twists her body a bit to see her eldest son crouched uncomfortably in the corner. "Dylan?" She bends down to gain his attention before resuming her position in front of Emma with a smirk.

"I thought you said you were the only one here Emma?" She questions in accusatory manner.

Dylan moves to stand, hearing his knees crack as he does. "Ah yeah, well, she was the only one here." He stumbles with his words, not able to look his mother in the eye.

Trying to divert Norma's attention from her boyfriend, who is obviously failing at convincing Norma of anything, Emma tries to come up with a reason for him being there. "He was helping me with the computer. I'm having problems with it turning on."

"And Dylan was the first person you thought of to help you?" Norma couldn't help but be a little snarky in her response. The young couple is obviously naïve in the art of telling lies. Norma on the other hand has become rather skilled at it over the years.

Emma continues to nervously bite her lip. "Well, I saw him walking to his truck and I thought I would have him take a look at it."

Norma steps around her eldest son and moves toward the desk. She simply wiggles the mouse of the computer, which instantly causes the screen of the desktop to brighten. "Seems to work now," she mentions while standing upright again to glare at the young couple.

"Oh great! Thanks Dylan, you must've fixed it," Emma claps her hands together once in pretend excitement and then pats her boyfriend on the back.

"Um, yeah no-o prob-blem. Ha-ppy to help Emma," Dylan shuffles his feet a little and falters with his response in noticing how his mother is staring at him with narrowed eyes.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Norma bids them goodbye before stepping toward the front of the office. "Amateurs," she murmurs as she steps through the door.