"Morning."
Norma glanced up to see Norman standing in the doorway, his gaze only focused on her, like Alex wasn't sitting at the kitchen table.
"Morning honey." She said sweetly, glancing pointedly at Alex who folded his paper up, clearing his throat awkwardly.
"Good morning, Norman." He said formally, like they had never spoken before.
"Sheriff." Norman nodded at him with mock formality. He'd promised his mother he'd be civil and that was all he was prepared to be.
"Coffee?" Alex sprung up, rushing towards the coffee maker, glancing over his shoulder to see Norman glaring at him curiously.
"I can do it-" He started, his tone confused as he stepped forward, watching as his mother's husband bustled around, pouring him a cup, adding cream and then reaching for the sugar. Norma shook her head, holding a hand up to stop him.
"Uh uh. No sugar. He's-"
"sweet enough." Norman finished for her, smiling as they spoke the words she'd said so many times to each other. Alex chuckled awkwardly, nodding and reaching over to slide the coffee to Norman like it was some great prize.
"Thanks." Norman muttered, the smile dropping from his face like it hurt him to be polite for more than a second.
"You and Alex are going fishing today!" Norma blurted out brightly, as she slid a plate of eggs in front of both men, smiling a little too widely at Norman as his expression darkened.
"Oh, are we?" He raised his eyebrows at Alex, who shrugged back. "And do I get a say on this?"
"Of course-" Alex started, feeling mildly relieved that Norman didn't want to go. He didn't want to go either.
"No!" She snapped, slamming her own plate of eggs down and sliding angrily into her seat. "You're going and that's final."
Norman opened his mouth to speak again, before resting his head on his hand, frowning unhappily at his eggs. "Are you coming with us?" He perked up at the thought. Alex glanced up, hoping against hope she might say yes.
She placed her fork down, rolling her eyes at him.
"I can't go fishing, Norman." She stated simply, as if he was the stupidest person in the whole world. "I'm pregnant." She clarified, as if that made any sense, like he'd invited her to play contact football, not sit quietly round a lake. Neither Norman nor Alex knew how fragile (or not) pregnancy actually made a woman though, and both nodded seriously, as if she was making complete sense.
"You want a beer?"
Alex held out a beer from the coolbox he had brought with them, watching as Norma glared at it haughtily.
"I wont tell your mom." He said, waggling the bottle a little.
"I can't drink. I'm on medication." Norman snapped, turning his attention back to his line, jerking it with disinterest. There were actually no warnings on his pill bottles about drinking, but Alex didn't need to know that. "And I would have thought a law enforcement official such as yourself would have known better than to offer liquor to an underage boy." Norman said mildly, and Alex puffed out an exasperated laugh, placing the beer back into the coolbox, along with the one he'd got out for himself.
"Yeah, well. Maybe it was a test. And you passed. Congratulations." He said, deadpan, pleased when he saw a tiny quirk of a smile tug at Norman's lips.
The silence descended upon them again and Alex shifted uncomfortably in his chair, shooting little glances over at Norman the whole time.
"They're not biting." Norman frowned grumpily at the placid lake.
"Yeah, well sometimes they take a while. That's the beauty of fishing. It's mostly men sitting around a lake for hours on end, talking."
"Oh joy(!)" Norman bit back, rolling his eyes again and Alex laughed gently.
There was another long, uncomfortable silence, where Alex silently prayed for a fish to bite, if only to have something else to focus on other than Norman's mild resentment coming off him in waves, when Norman spoke suddenly, breaking the silence.
"You know, Deputy Shelby took me fishing too." Norman observed lightly, keeping his face neutral.
"Did he now?" Alex nodded back, already seeing where Norman was going with this.
"Yep." He kept his attention on where his lure was bobbing in the tranquil lake, suddenly fascinated with it, pretending not to sense Alex's glare boring into the side of his face. "He was a law enforcement officer too." He started, as if he'd only just thought of this. "Another man in a position of power, whom my mother needed something from. Another man who used that to his advantage-"
"Stop." Alex spoke quietly, holding his hand up, not letting himself be pulled into Norman's little theory.
"And now you're taking me fishing to make yourself feel better. Maybe you and Deputy Shelby have more in common than you think?"
Alex closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to keep his cool, opening his eyes to find Norman glancing at him.
"I am nothing like Zack Shelby." He said calmly. "Zack Shelby was a scumbag who used and hurt women and got what was coming to him. I'm only sorry it was at your brother's hand and not my own." Norman cocked his head at him curiously, clearly not expecting that answer, before he rearranged his face back into his aloof expression, turning away from him again.
"At least he had the sense not to knock her up-" Norman pointed out coolly, and this time Alex was on his feet, freezing as he stood. He desperately wanted to cross those few feet between them and make Norman regret his words, but one look at the smug expression on Norman's face told him that was exactly what he wanted and he sank back down again. His body sagged into the chair, hearing Norman huff out an irritated sigh as Alex rubbed his hand across his eyes, trying desperately to remember why he was here. He imagined Norman, much younger, finding his mother, bleeding and broken on the same kitchen floor where he played with his toys, having to figure out how to help her, for the first of what he imagined were many times throughout his young life. Alex thought his own childhood was traumatic, but it was nothing compared to that.
He looked up to find Norman staring at him, his expression unreadable.
"You didn't mean that." Alex said calmly, as Norman rolled his eyes.
Alex sighed, before carrying on, not wanting to dwell on Norman's harsh words. There was no point - He knew he was just trying to get a rise out of him and he wouldn't play ball. Not today.
"I know you don't like me. And I know you don't trust me. And you have every reason not to." Norman frowned at him, narrowing his eyes mistrustfully like this sudden change of tact was all some trick. "She's... She's told me a little about the other men in her life." Norman's only reaction was the tightening of his jaw, his knuckles white as he gripped the fishing rod hard. "And they were not good men. And I know you were always there for her. To protect her."
"I tried." Norman said, in a small, broken voice, that didn't match the stony expression that was frozen on his face. He was staring at the floor, his eyes wide and glassy and for a second, Alex was afraid he was having another blackout. "I couldn't always do anything."
Alex understood that helpless feeling. Any horrifying admission about her past felt like a stab in the gut, knowing it had already happened. That there was nothing he could do about it now. He nodded, noting how Norman shook himself, trying to rid that haunted look from his eyes. God knows what horrible childhood memory he was reliving.
"You don't need to protect her from me." Alex muttered gently, watching as Norman immediately shook his head, his eyes wild.
"Not yet." He corrected. "You all change eventually." He said, sounding more jaded than he should have been at eighteen. Alex lost the will to be mad at him in that moment.
"Not me. I'm not going to change. I promise you." Alex said seriously, feeling a tug at the end of his lure, releasing the line a little, letting it go on purpose. He didn't care about the fish right now. There was a long silence, where Norman just carried on lightly shaking his head, looking entirely unconvinced.
"I know you killed your father, Norman." Alex whispered, glancing up to see Norman's mouth drop open, his eyes glinting dangerously.
"Did she tell you that?" He muttered angrily.
Alex shook his head, telling the truth, since it was Bob Paris who had told him. Norma had simply confirmed it.
"No. She didn't have to."
Norman sighed heavily, flopping back into his chair like the weight of this secret had been physically crushing him.
"I don't blame you." Alex blurted out. "If someone had been hurting her, I would have done the same."
Norman nodded briefly at him, clearly thinking talk was cheap. It was easy to say you'd do something, harder to actually do it.
"I've killed for her too." Alex said suddenly, and Norman gasped, placing his fishing rod on the floor, giving up on the pretence of catching any fish.
"There was a man, a real nasty son of a bitch, who found out you killed your father, and he was going to use it against her. He was going to blackmail her and I couldn't let him. I couldn't let him hurt your mom."
He chanced a glance up at Norman. He was staring right at him, his eyes wide and wild, his whole body frozen as he listened.
"So I lured him out on his own boat, and I shot him three times and I sank the boat with his body on it."
Norman blinked slowly a few times, casting his gaze to the sandy bank and then back up at Alex, narrowing his eyes.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"Because I want you to know. I want you to know that I've killed for her, just like you have. I killed Bob Paris to protect her, and to protect you. We're not so different, you and me, Norman."
Norman scoffed at his words, but his face was much softer than before, his eyes still wide and uncertain like he didn't know what to think. Alex reached into his pocket, pulling a small object out and tossing it to Norman, who fumbled for a moment before catching it clumsily against his chest before looking at it.
"What is this?" He turned the small key over in his hands.
"It's the key to Bob Paris' safety deposit box."
Norman's mouth dropped open and he held the key out like it was a grenade, pulling his hands into his sleeves to hold the key through the fabric, his expression horrified.
"Why are you giving me this? Are you going to frame me?" He stuttered, his words coming out too fast, and Alex couldn't help but laugh gently at the boy's panic.
"No, no. I'm giving you that, because-" He took a deep breath, taking a huge leap of faith. "Because the only way I could have that is if I murdered Bob Paris. And I've told you where the body is now. If you still want to, if you still hate me and want me away from your mother, away from my child, then you can now turn me in. I've given you all you would need to put me away for a long time."
Norman gaped at the key in his hand, his gormless expression turning to Alex, who took a deep, terrified breath, his heart pounding wildly in his ears. This was all so risky, so dangerous, and yet, deep down, he desperately hoped Norman wasn't as bad as he thought.
"So, that's for you to keep. I want us to trust each other. You can trust me to keep your secret, and I'll trust you to keep mine. And if I ever do anything to lose that trust, or if I were to ever do anything to hurt your mother - which I NEVER would - then you could turn that over to the police and-"
He was cut off as Norman suddenly flicked his arm back, throwing the key into the lake. They both watched as the little piece of metal glinted in the low sunlight, before splashing into the water and disappearing forever.
There was a long pause, where both men turned to slowly stare at each other. Alex raised his eyebrows in shock, not knowing what to say, knowing they weren't about to become best friends, but feeling incredibly grateful nonetheless.
"That was the key to like, three million dollars." Alex observed casually, watching as the ripples drifted out across the surface of the water, eventually disappearing to nothing.
"Shit." Norman breathed out a soft, shocked laugh, turning his attention back to distant spot where the key had disappeared into the murky depths.
"I think I'll take that beer now, Alex."
