15.
~ Norma tried to remind herself to stay calm when she heard the front doors to the massive house open and close. Sounds seemed to echo here in this large, lonely house. The foyer's floors were all marble, seeming to amplify the sounds from wherever you were. She much prefer the cottage with it's smaller rooms and where nothing could be hiding in unseen corners. This house was far too spooky.
At first, she'd been upset by Alex telling her to calm down and to just wait for them. Instructing her that there would be no yelling and to allow him to take care of things. He'd even said he was taking Dylan out for ice cream as though to praise him instead of punishing him for running away. She'd been so angry she was shaking when she talked to Alex.
Alex didn't understand how scared she'd been when Dylan had bolted out of the parking lot. How upsetting it was to have a fight with her ten year old son about leaving a place she knew he'd grown to love in such a short amount of time. She couldn't call the police and tell them he'd run off. What if a strange caught him and Dylan told them things? Things he wasn't supposed to say? Things about who they really were? Or worse, what if a child predator picked him up and she lost her son forever. Dylan had raced into the woods so fast she couldn't even give chase and made her feel just as helpless as she felt back in Arizona.
She hated having to call Alex and admit that she needed his help again. That she needed him and wasn't as brave and fearless as she believed herself to be.
At the same time, it was nice to have him come to her rescue. To have someone else take over. To share the burden of what she had to deal with and spare her from the sordid details of it. It was nice to have someone to call at all. Back in Arizona, she never had anyone she could call for help. When things were scary, she had to keep everything inside and let it all fester like a cancer.
Sam had never helped her with Norman or Dylan. He just created more problems and Norma was hesitant to allow Alex to attempt to parent her child. After all, they hardly knew each other.
Before she could allow her frustrations to really simmer anymore however, Dylan appeared in the kitchen with Alex behind him. Both of them looking wide eyed at the large kitchen knife in her hand. She'd been cutting vegetables for dinner when they arrived home.
Dylan looked hot, sweaty, dirty and tired. He smelled like he'd been rooting around a junk yard and Norma didn't ask, or even want to know, where Alex had found him.
"Go take a bath. Come right back here. Dinner is almost ready." she instructed her son harshly. She tossed the kitchen knife in the sink with a clatter and opened the lid of a simmering pot. She'd been making a soup for them and cooking was always her relief for anxiety.
Dylan said nothing, but looked at Alex who nodded.
As soon as Dylan has vanished into the mudroom, Alex spoke.
"He's fine. I found him-"
"I don't want to know." Norma snapped and let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry, but you have no idea how upsetting that was. Seeing your child run away like that. He was so angry and upset. He's never been like that before. Never."
"Yes. I'm sure it was upsetting." Alex nodded. "I talked to him about it. Running away from your problems isn't the answer."
She glared at him knowingly. Why was he always making these things about her?
"Maybe you should stay another night." he offered and sat down on a bar stool across from her. he nodded to the large cook pot that was simmering on the stove. A combination she'd just thrown together in anger but was still good. She could do no wrong when it came to cooking. It had always been her natural talent. "Dinner smells good."
"I'm making enough to feed you for a week." she said spitefully. She couldn't help the edge to her tone. She wanted to be angry with the world right now and she wasn't even sure why. Dylan was home, wasn't he? No real damage was done.
"Thank you." Alex said carefully. His eyes looking over her as if calculating if she would attack or not.
"Look," Norma said collecting spices and checking the labels. She'd made a trip to the small grocery store for provisions after Alex had found Dylan. "I know you want me to stay. Every day I stay, it makes it that much harder to go."
"That's the idea." Alex said softly.
Norma sat the ginger spice down with a hard clack that almost broke the jar.
"I'm saying, it wouldn't be the worst thing if you and… I mean, you could stay here. Your lawyer could make arrangements for you to come clean about Sam. We could talk to him-" he said.
"And tell him what?" Norma accused.
"That you left your husband. That you took your son and you hadn't any idea the Arizona police would think you were dead." Alex said quickly.
"I've been living under an assumed name since I've been here." she whispered.
"You can explain you were hiding from an abusive husband. There's evidence Sam abused you and the boys." Alex told her hopefully. "All those ER visits. Dylan's broken arm. Plus, his behavior was all self incriminating. The belated missing persons reports, suspicious behavior, It's nothing you did other than just leave."
"If I come forward, Sam won't go to prison." Norma said harshly.
Alex's expression turned cold.
"Not to mention the fact you'll get dragged into this. I don't want that." she added. "I don't want you to be humiliated because of me. Just because you're trying to protect me. People in town will talk."
"I've lived through worse." he told her. "I understand why you had to get away. Dylan told me a little about what Sam did to you."
Norma leaned away from him; a feeling of betrayal sweeping through her. Dylan had talked to Alex about this? About Sam and what went on in that house? Dylan knew never to talk about what happened at home. It had always been engrained in him that they didn't talk about their life in that house. Dylan knew their life wasn't normal. That their world wasn't like other kids he knew. He knew never to tell anyone about it. That they wouldn't understand and would make fun of him.
Alex seemed to read her mind.
"He knows I know. I told him. Look, I get it. I don't blame you for wanting Sam to go to prison forever. I would have killed him if it had been me." he said gently.
"It never would have stopped, Alex." she told him. "He has to pay for what he did. Its' like he took my life."
"And now you'll have a new one, but you can't live it like this. You can't get Norman back as Vicki Deeds." he told her. "We have to do this the right way."
Norma refused to look at him. Deep down, she knew he was right, but refused to admit it.
He didn't understand. She didn't want to be Norma Bates anymore. Norma Bates was a woman who was abused. Norma Bates allowed her children to be hurt and neglected. Norma Bates didn't deserve a fresh start. Norma Bates was dead. She'd happily killed Norma Bates back in Arizona and Alex Romero didn't even know who Norma Bates was.
"I… the police, the newspapers…" she said weakly. "I left my ID and my car behind."
"You left in a hurry. You were fearing for you life. You had some cash you hid to escape and you came here." Alex finished for her. "We'll tell Larry White all this and he can advise you to go from there. As long as we play this as a big misunderstanding, you'll come out fine. He can help you file for divorce and gain custody of Norman."
Norma could feel her heart beating fast. She shook her head.
"Nothing bad has happened yet." he promised her.
"Yes, it has." she told him weakly. "I checked the computer in the office upstairs while you were having ice cream with Dylan. Sam was arrested yesterday for two counts of murder."
~ They barely spoke over dinner. Alex had pleaded his case and Norma had refused it.
He'd gone up to Nick Ford's office and read the articles about Sam Bates' arrest in Arizona. Norma's estranged husband seemed to have troubles of more than just a simple murder charge. Sam should have already made bail, but there was an addendum to the article about his holdings being frozen while forensic accountants come in. Alex knew that was code for checking for bank fraud, and if Sam didn't go to prison for murder, he might go down for insider trading, embezzlement or something else to do with money.
That was at least a comforting thought. If investigators couldn't make a case against him for murder, which was always hard, they might take an easier conviction that would also mean plenty of prison time. It was almost impossible to prove a murder without a body. Maybe Norma could get her pound of flesh after all.
After dinner, Alex helped her clean up the kitchen and they barely spoke to each other.
"Are you going to stay in the cottage tonight?" he asked in a low voice. Dylan was watching a movie in the next room. Neither one of them had brought up his running away. Alex had promised he'd scared Dylan properly with horror stories that were all true, on the condition that the subject was wholly dropped. Dylan had seemed remorseful and sorry that he'd scared Norma by his antics. Alex hadn't wanted any arguing or anyone being mad at dinner. He'd had enough of yelling in his own childhood to last a lifetime and wanted none of it now.
"Are you asking if I plan to come see you again?" she rolled her eyes at him. Her cheeks going slightly pink and he wondered if it would be too forward to put a hand on the small of her back.
They'd been careful not to show any affect towards each other in front of Dylan. They didn't want to confuse him anymore already.
"Yes." he said plainly. He didn't believe in playing hard to get. He wanted her to come and stay with him tonight and was truthful about it.
She didn't answer.
"We don't have to talk. I know you're sick of talking." he promised.
This invoked a smile from her but she wouldn't give him a promise of even staying the night on the property, let alone with him.
~ It was well past midnight when Norma slipped out of the cottage and crept into the main house. Alex had left the back doors unlocked and she felt like a guilty thief stalking around a stranger's house in the middle of the night.
'You're not sneaking into his room just to get laid.' she lied to herself. She didn't knock when she arrived at Alex's room. Simply opened and closed the door behind her, moved into and out of the shadows and into his bed where he'd waited up for her.
Alex had been half asleep and roused just long enough to mention he was worried she wouldn't make it.
"I wasn't sure if I would come." she said and nestled into his chest. "Today was so…"
"I know." he said.
It felt good to have this human contact. This simple feeling of his physical comfort next to her.
"I don't know what to do." she admitted sadly. "I used to. I used to know exactly what to do. Now, its' like all my plans have been shot to hell."
She folded her arms up protectively over her breasts. As if she wanted to push Alex away at the same time she needed him to comfort her.
"What if they throw me in prison? I could lose everything. Everything I was trying so hard to protect. What if they catch me a year from now? What if Dylan runs away again and tells people who we are?" she asked.
She didn't expect Alex to answer and he didn't. He allowed her to vent her fears in the comfort of each others embrace. The stillness and safety of their bubble made the outside world seem very dangerous once it's borders were crossed. Once the bubble was gone, she would be vulnerable.
"I can't go back to Arizona, Alex. I can't. I'll die there. Sam was killing me. He was killing me everyday; little by little. If he didn't kill me with his bare hands, he was going to kill me with his words. Sam used to tell me how worthless I was. How I was fat and ugly and how no one wanted me." she said bitterly. Her husband's horrible words still stinging in her mind. Still causing her pain even after all the miles she'd put between them.
"I want you." Alex said finally.
She huffed out a laugh and rolled her eyes.
"We hardly know each other." she told him.
"W want to to know you." Alex said in the dimness. His breath falling over her hair. "It's why I want the real you. I want Norma Bates; not Vicki Deeds. I want Norma Bates to call up her lawyer and explain what happened. How she left her abusive husband and came here and how she's alive. I she does all that, she can go on with her life. Then, she can work on getting Norman back. No-one has to be afraid anymore. No one has to live in fear."
"You won't like Norma Bates." she said softly. "Norma Bates is awful. She just let her children get hurt. She was afraid of her husband, afraid to leave him, afraid he would leave her. She let him bully her and her kids. She let him hurt them everyday. She was and awful coward and a weakling."
She felt sick remembering how she was before she'd finally shed her old life. When she took back her life and broke free.
"Doesn't sound like the woman I know." Alex told her plainly. "The woman I know isn't at all like that. You must have her confused with someone else."
He'd meant it as a joke but Norma didn't laugh. What he said felt like a curse had been lifted. Although they were just words, nothing more powerful than that, Norma started to sob at the idea she could finally be safe and free. That she'd freed herself from the ugly person she had once hated in herself. No more pretending and worrying about hiding the truth. It seemed so easy to make this happen. She didn't have to hate herself anymore and she didn't have to hide under another name.
She started to cry then and Alex was soothing her. Kissing her as she sobbed in relief and frustration. He didn't make love to her that night, her crying exhausting her too much for that but when she woke up the next morning, she felt more like herself and ready to make the right decision.
