Norma Bates was sitting in a plane seat, honestly unsure of how she had got there. One minute Alex had been telling her that his brother was getting married, the next she had been telling him they couldn't possibly go, and ten minutes later, after he brokenly mentioned that his brother thought it was what their mom would have wanted, and she had been convincing him to go.

"You have to come with me." He had wheedled, after she had convinced him of the importance of the trip.

"Alex, I can't. I have the motel and-"

"How many reservations do we have for the next week?" He had interrupted, and Norma couldn't help but notice his use of the word "we."

"Well, there's nothing in the calendar but-"

"Please, Norma. When have I ever asked you for anything?" He stepped closer to her, breaking their new pattern of cold indifference and respecting each other's personal space bubbles. "He really wants us to be there. He bought plane tickets for both of us."

"Well..." She pretended to sound unsure for a moment longer, not wanting to admit that she'd been onboard ever since his dead mother had been mentioned. Besides, she enjoyed being convinced.

"Fantastic. We leave Friday!" He had announced before she could even really agree, pecking her warmly on the cheek, excitement clearly clouding his judgement.

And that was how Norma found herself sat in a plane seat, about to fly thousands of miles away from her home, her business and her sons, with someone who could barely stand to look at her three days ago.

She took a shaky breath, trying to discreetly wipe her sweaty palms on her skirt. She wasn't sure which part of the situation was causing her the most anxiety - The thought of being stuck with Alex for a whole long weekend, or being so far away from Norman (it's only for 4 days, she told herself), or meeting his whole family and having to play the good little wife the whole time. More pressing was the fact that Norma Louise had never been on a plane before and the whole process had been pretty overwhelming. For someone who liked to be in control at all times, it felt like they'd been sitting on the runway forever, chirpy flight attendants strolling past, shooting her beaming smiles as she tried to ignore Alex's restless squirming in the seat next to her.

"Stop!" She hissed at him, her hand shooting out to halt his wriggling knee, withdrawing as soon as she realised the intimacy of the action.

"I can't help it, Norma." He whispered back. "These seats are too damn small."

"Yeah well, you're a big guy..." She muttered back, smoothing out her skirt and then freezing when she realised what she'd said. "Big and tall-ish. Well..." She suddenly became fascinated with looking out of the window, staring intently at the baggage handlers loading the luggage while she felt him smirk beside her.

"Mr and Mrs Romero?" A young flight attendant with the whitest teeth Norma had ever seen was smiling broadly at them both, her head cocked to the side while she waited for them to reply.

They glanced at each before both making the same hesitant "errr" noise.

"Well-" Alex started to say.

"Yes." Norma interrupted, linking her arm through his and giving his bicep a squeeze. "Basically." Norma added, with a little shrug. "He's still trying to convince me to take his name." She smiled warmly at the young woman who nodded back at her.

"Yeah, she's very... independent." Alex added, saying the word like it was the highest compliment he could give. She wondered if he meant it.

The attendant gave a little "Aw, that's so cute!" type scrunch of her face in response, before carrying on.

"You've been upgraded to first class. If you'd like to follow me."

She started to walk off, halted by the chorus of "Whoa, whoa whoa"s from the newlyweds. Perplexed, she turned back.

"Whoa, wait. There must be some kind of mistake." Alex started.

"No. No mistake sir. You've been upgraded. It's all arranged." She chirped, her neat little ponytail swaying wildly as she talked. "Now, if you'd like to follow me."

"But-" Norma started, cut off as Alex held up a hand to stop her.

"Now, now honey." He cooed at her, making her roll her eyes. "Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth." He said pointedly, nodding his head at where his knees were uncomfortably pressed up against the seat in front.

Five minutes later and Norma wasn't sure why she had hesitated, as she settled into a seat about 4 times the size of her last one. She watched as Alex stretched out his long limbs happily in his own seat. At least now she could stop worrying about accidentally brushing against him during the flight, although she was already missing his constant fidgeting as a distraction from her own nerves.

"Did you do this?" She whispered, her tone somewhat accusing, even as she smiled at their surroundings.

"On what? My sheriff's salary?" He said, settling more comfortably before noticing the way she was staring at him. "No, Norma. I didn't. Now, just try to relax. Enjoy yourself."

"But..."

"Hi there! My name's Natalie and I'll be looking after you two today. If you need anything, just let me know." She had the same overly bright, perky demeanour of the last girl, but was also holding two glasses of champagne, which made it hard for Norma to hate her the way she wanted to. "There you go. Something to get you started." She handed them each a glass, and fixed Norma with a warm grin. "Have a fantastic honeymoon!" She said, syrupy sweet, before bouncing away up the aisle.

"Honeymoon?!"Norma repeatedly incredulously.

Alex laughed, stretching his legs out lazily.

"Ah Gabe. Always had a great sense of humour."

"She thinks we're honeymooning in Florida?" Norma muttered, mostly to herself, but was rewarded with a hearty chuckle from Alex. They hadn't discussed it, but had shared a little nose-wrinkle of distaste when they found out the wedding was being held in the sunshine state, images of swamps and gators and springbreakers crossing their minds.

"Oh god. What if she thinks we're going to Disneyworld for our honeymoon?"

He fixed her with an incredulous look, gesturing to both their decidedly grown up attire.

"Do we look like Disney people? Besides, we're about 200 miles out if we're going to Disneyworld."

She nodded thoughtfully, quietly impressed at his geography knowledge, before an image popped into her head and she smiled at him.

"You might look kinda dashing in Mickey Mouse ears." She said seriously, unconsciously tapping her ring against her glass.

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head at her.

"Ok. Just drink your champagne, Mrs Romero." He replied flirtily and she just shrugged and took a sip of champagne and for a second they both forgot that they had had a falling out.

A beat passed between them, before he stretched out again, sinking a little deeper in his chair and taking a long gulp of his drink.

"Ahh, a man could get used to this."


Norma had three glasses of champagne and realised too late that she hadn't eaten anything, taking one bite of a cheese cracker before promptly falling asleep.

She awoke half an hour before landing, staring sleepily at the leather jacket that was covering her.

"You looked cold." He said, without looking up from his book and she wondered how he knew she had woken up.

"Oh." She said uselessly, struggling to sit up in her chair, feeling groggy from her nap. "Didn't they have blankets?" She asked, without thinking, pushing his jacket off her to pool on her lap. He reached over to snatch it back.

"Ok. Freeze next time." Her mouth fell open in surprise at his harsh words but when she glanced at him, he flashed her a little look, letting her know he hadn't meant them.

"You talked about Mickey Mouse in your sleep." He said, with no emotion whatsoever, and she had to stare at him for a long time to figure out if he had said what she thought he'd said.

"Ok." She said slowly, licking her dry lips, as she tried to clear the grog from her mind. "Well, secret's out, I guess. Mickey had a better insurance deal so..."

The words died on her lips. She had meant them as a joke, but if she had been more awake, and not slightly headachey from three glasses of champagne, she would have realised it was probably too soon to joke. There was too much tension still, too much weighing heavily on them to joke about their current situation. She realised all this too late though, and closed her eyes, sighing to herself as he tensed up in his seat.

There was a pause, and he let out a little snort, before shaking his head and reaching for something by his side.

"Here." He handed her a bottle of water, looking away from her, and she took it gratefully, gulping it down while keeping her eyes trained on the side of his face. She just couldn't work out where she stood with him. One minute, he seemed entirely in love with her, the next he hated her, the next he was begging him to join him on a family trip. One minute snapping at her about his jacket, the next handing her a water. It was exhausting trying to keep up with him. But then, she supposed she didn't make it any easier than he did.

"Enjoy it. It cost me eight bucks." He said, jerking his head at the water, while he folded down his page in his book, stowing it back in his bag. She panicked that they were going to have to chat now that she had his full attention and she floundered, suddenly finding herself with nothing to say to him.

"Huh. Champagne is free, but you pay for water." She said pointlessly, taking another long sip to buy herself a moment.

"How the other half live, eh?" Their eyes met and they looked away nervously, like kids at prom.

"Hi there!" Natalie popped up out of nowhere again, that same fake smile on her face. They were both secretly grateful for the interruption. "We're gonna be landing soon, so if you could pop your seatbelts back on for me, that'd be great." As she spoke, her eyes drifted down pointedly to Alex's lap, where Norma's foot was casually resting. She flushed, trying to jerk her foot back, struggling when she realised she'd slipped it under the low barrier between their seats and it was now stuck. How she had managed to manoeuvre her foot under it in her sleep, or how she had managed to not even notice that her foot was intimately lounging against his thigh, she would never know.

"Help me!" She hissed at Alex, as she pulled her ankle painfully against the arm rest, shooting Natalie an awkward smile as the girl turned and walked away.

He watched her struggle with amusement for a moment longer, a small smile playing on his face as she tried to twist her leg back and forth, barely caring that she was kicking him with every movement.

"Alex!" She whined, and he casually reached over to grasp a button on the side of the armrest, lifting the whole thing up to release her.

"I can't take you anywhere." He laughed at her and she pretended not to have to fight a smile while she retreated back into her seat, huffily putting her seatbelt back on.

"Shut up." She pouted out of the window, gazing down at the world below for the first time.

"Careful honey. Natalie's going to think we're not enjoying our honeymoon." She could hear the laughter in his voice, and continued staring out of the window, watching in awe as the vivid greens and blues of the ocean started to give way to the whites and greys of sprawling cities.

There was a long pause, and she felt her seat dip slightly as he shuffled over to look out of the window. His thigh pressed against hers, his hand rested on the wall next to her head, leaning in close enough to feel his breath stirring her hair, and she suddenly felt her breath quicken as he crowded her.

"I hate you." She said playfully, still pouting as she rubbed her sore ankle against her uninjured one. He leaned impossibly closer under the pretence of getting a better view of the never ending coastline beneath them, and her eyes fluttered closed as his chest pressed against her shoulder. Her head dropped back a little, her hair tickling his face.

"Careful." He whispered, right in her ear, making her shiver. "Keep saying that and I might start to believe you." Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, and she started to turn her head, very aware that when she did, their lips would be millimetres apart.

"Sir!" Natalie's voice rang out and they sprang apart guiltily. "Please take your seat! We're about to land."

He shuffled back over to his own seat, shamefaced, and obediently plugged his seatbelt back in, while Norma pulled a face at him, delighted that he had been told off.

"Can't take you anywhere." She said, shaking her head at him.


Such cuteness! Very unlike me. Don't get used to it...