As Norma rushed through the doors of the hospital, she slammed right into Dylan.

"Dylan" she crooned, grabbing him and squeezing him in her embrace.

"Hey, Norma. Norman is fine, he's resting comfortably in the ICU" he explained, clutching her.

He wasn't used to the maternal side of his mother, he'd gone without the caring and affection for so long it almost felt foreign to him, other worldly almost.

"Thank you so much for helping find him, Dylan. I love you, I love you so much" she said, her eyes squeezed shut, holding her son like he was the only person on the universe.

"I'm going to go find the doctor so he can talk to you" he said, his face pressed into her hair.

She let go and gave him a parting smile before walking to Norman's hospital room.

She rushed over to her son. He looked pale, hospital IV's poking into his skin, his face at peace. She grabbed his hand and placed a kiss on his forehead.

"Norman? Sweetie, can you hear me?" she asked, her soft voice humming in his ears.

Norman's eyes flickered open and set on Norma. He had never been so grateful to see another human being.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this, honey" she rested her forehead on their clamped together hands.

"Mother, Ms. Watson's father put me in the box. I had these dreams-" he began, but Norma placed a satin skinned finger on his thin lips.

"Shhh, Norman, don't talk about it know. I want you to put all that stuff out of your mind. You need rest" she kissed his cheek and observed him as his eyes scanned all over her face.

"What?" she asked, worried that he was still foggy from the kidnapping.

"I missed you so much, mother" he said, his lips pursing into a smile.

She hugged him and sniffled.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, I honestly don't know" she kissed his temple again.

A few days later, she was able to bring Norman home. He got set up in his room, his mother not allowing him to leave his bed except for dinner and to use the bathroom. Though he loved the passionate smothering she gave him, he felt he was going stir crazy sitting in his room all day, but he let Norma have her way, he always did. Along with her checking up on him every half an hour, Dylan stopped by a lot. He would sit in Norman's room with him and they'd talk about different things, his job, Norman's taxidermy, sometimes they'd even bring up the past, though it was filled with tight lipped secrets, bruises, and scars.

Once Norman had been on bed rest for four days, he confided in Dylan, telling him he couldn't stay in bed any longer, he was going insane. Dylan complied to his brothers complaint, he exited his lukewarm room and headed downstairs to find Norma cleaning the floors. Though many things in her life had gone wrong, Norma always found solace in cleaning, her life had been filled with dirty secrets, it was nice to wipe some of that dirt away, even if it couldn't be personal.

"Norma?" he called behind her, she was facing away from him, swabbing bleach around on the linoleum tiles.

"What do you need, honey?" she asked, throwing her sponge back in the soapy water bucket.

She had been much sweeter to him, after that night in the hospital. He believed half of it was because he found Norman, but pieces of Dylan wanted to think that Norma's new found affection towards him was out of the kindness of her heart.

"Um, actually, could I talk to you for a minute?" he asked coyly.

He had just found a good connection with his mother, he didn't want to mess it up, he was going to stay meek through the conversation, she tended to be kinder to bashfulness. If there was anything he'd learned from his her it was that he acquired her stubborn attitude, and stubborn people did not mix well with overly confident, pushy people. He decided that to make Norman happy, he had to level with his mother.

"Of course, what about?" she smiled slightly, getting up off the floor and facing her eldest son.

"Well, it's just you haven't left the house in five days, I think...I think it would be nice if you got out for a few hours" he said, his tone quiet, but his point clear.

"Oh, I'm fine, besides Norman needs me" she said, now getting a larger mop from the closet.

Dylan halted her by placing a hand on her shoulder, she turned immediately and their identical eyes locked.

"Mom, he's seventeen years old, he doesn't need you by his side all the time. I was talking to him, and we both thought you should get out for a little bit. We think it'll be best, I can keep an eye on Norman for you" he offered.

Norma wanted to argue with him, but once she looked into his softened, sincere expression she couldn't fight him, the recently mended relationship was too valuable to her.

"Well..." she started, she sighed and flashed a small smile his way. "Okay...George did invite me over to his place tonight, I'd feel bad if I cancelled" she admitted, biting her bottom lip.

"That's nice, why don't you go get ready, and I'll finish everything up here" he offered motioning to the unattended puddle of dirty water on the floor.

"Okay" she smiled, kissing his cheek. She sprinted up the stairs and Dylan smiled to himself.

"That wasn't so bad" he muttered quietly.

An hour later, Norma came back downstairs. She had changed from her cleaning attire into a lovely red spaghetti strap spring dress, nothing too fancy.

She entered the living room, to find Dylan sitting on the sofa with a beer in his hand.

"I'm heading out" she exclaimed, grabbing her purse off of the coffee table.

"You look great" he smiled, examining her soft makeup and outfit.

She gave him a sweet smile and kissed his forehead, her lip gloss leaving a semi-visible ring on his skin.

"Don't hesitate to call me if you or Norman need anything" she said, heading into the hallway.

"Have a good time. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Norma" he joked, chuckling to himself.

"Ha Ha" she said sarcastically, shutting the door behind her.

She waited on the motel porch, keeping an eye out for George's car. He said he'd pick her up at around 7, she was a few minutes early.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Alex sitting on a chair outside the motel, a highball glass resting in his hand.

He smiled to himself as he observed her. His eyes not missing a single curve or edge as he examined her frame. She looked stunning, as always.

There wasn't a single flaw to this woman, was there? He thought silently.

"Hey, Norma" he greeted her, and she turned to face him.

"Hey, Alex" she gave him a sly smile.

The smile that could shatter his thick, seemingly unbreakable exterior to pieces.

"How's Norman doing?" he asked, focusing on the ice cubes in his glass. He needed to shield the passion burning in his soft brown eyes.

"He's good, he's been sleeping a lot actually" she explained.

"Well that's good, after all he's been through he should be getting as much sleep as possible" he informed her taking a sip of his scotch.

Suddenly, George pulled up. Norma smiled at him through the glass window. She turned back to Alex before getting in his car.

"Have a good night" she smiled and shut the door behind her.

"You too" he forced through gritted teeth and a clenched fist.

He got up from the seat once they were out of sight and went back into his motel room. He noticed his skin was hot, his shoulders were tense, and his heart was pounding.

Alex didn't know who the man in the car was that picked Norma up, but he would love to bash his face in. He sighed as he realized how jealous he was.

"Unbelievable" he muttered, his lips touching the rim of his glass.

He was envious of a man taking Norma out and she wasn't even his...yet.