Work Text:
To say your day has been long and stressful is an understatement. The guest who checked in was one of the worst human beings you ever met. Basically checking every box on the 'what makes someone an asshole' list. Terrible.
First he tried flirting with you but after finding out that you are married he got more aggressive as if that would change your mind. Flirting turned to insults and you tried your best to keep that fake customer service smile going you had on for the sake of the motel.
You liked the job, you really did and your husband was running the place without any flaws but sometimes the customers are such pieces of work. Luckily the man won't stay long though so he's out of your hair soon.
As you close the reception for the day, putting away a few things and wiping the desk, two arms snake around your waist, pulling you against the person behind you. If you hadn't known it was Norman looking for affection after work, you might have punched him by accident. But by now this has become a kind of ritual so you didn't.
"What happened?" Norman asks, watching the man pull a suitcase up the stairs without any regard for the wood.
"Just a rude guest again, nothing serious" you brush it off, putting away the cleaning rag. Those words made Norman tense and he quickly turned you around, "Did he hurt you?"
"No he didn't. I would have told you if he did." That seemed to calm him a bit down. He tends to have anxiety over you leaving or something happening to you, especially with strangers around. Serious childhood trauma probably as you know his past wasn't great.
"But," you add, "he was rude. You know how it is. See a pretty face and they start flirting and then have the audacity to get pissed when it doesn't go their way.."
"That isn't an excuse to act that way" he huffs. It's really adorable seeing him getting annoyed at guests and pouting.
"It's ok. He'll be gone tomorrow so no need to do anything stupid mkay?"
"Fine" he sighs, crossing his arms and pouting. To be honest he wouldn't have done anything anyways as he wasn't the type to be confrontational to strangers, always letting you handle such things. And you liked telling people to fuck off so he let you take the lead in those cases.
You pull him into another hug, breathing in his sent of perfume. Calming, nice with a hint of dust and pine, just how you like it. Norman couldn't stay upset long when you cuddled him and gave him attention. It was like having an insecure dog at your side who needs constant petting to feel encouraged.
"Come on, let's go home." You give him a small peck on the cheek to calm him down before taking his hand, dragging him with you, "I need some alone time with my husband after this long day"
-&-
You wake up in the middle of the night to an empty bedside where your husband should be. Weird. Usually Norman sleeps through the night without any problems besides a few nightmares from time to time. But even then he doesn't just wander off. Did something happen?
Slightly concerned you throw on some clothes and make your way through the house, searching for Norman. He can't have disappeared off the planet just like that after all. But nothing. It's like he disappeared in the middle of the night.
Concerned, you make your way to the motel. Maybe he had to take care of something there that he forgot. He tends to overthink even the little things so it's possible. Wouldn't be the first time that happened.
As you reach the hotel lobby you hear sounds coming from upstairs where the guests reside. Or rather the one guest who's staying here. The rude jerk who flirted with you and couldn't take a hint or no for an answer.
You head upstairs, hoping that nothing terrible is going on. To your surprise you find the door to his room ajar, giving a perfect view of the chaos going on inside.
There he was. Norman, your husband, wearing a wig and wearing a dress. He's holding what looks like a knife dripping with a dark liquid. It's one of those you have in the kitchen and use to cut meat. You can't see more as he's blocking the view of the room but someone is in there. And by the gurgling sound it's not looking good for them.
"Baby?" You ask carefully, watching Norman jolt from shock. He slowly turns towards you, the look in his eyes switching from cold to scared Bambi. He looks down at his hands, which you can now see are covered in blood and shaking, then towards the ground. You can see the horror as he realizes the truth of what happened in real time. The way his eyes go big, his hands shake and he starts mumbling frantic no's.. he's panicking.
You step closer into the room, noticing the ground under the window where the rude guest is laying in a puddle of blood. Guess his escape was short lived.. just like his stay. He sure ain't getting a refund for that. A last breath escapes the body, then it's so silent, you could hear a pin drop.
Norman is seemingly struggling with himself, his eyes flickering from the scene towards the knife towards you and repeat. His hand clenches and unclenches before he ultimately drops the bloody weapon, stumbling backwards away from the body.
Quickly, you pull him into your arms, whispering small 'look at me' and 'you'll be fine, everything is okay' in hopes of calming him down. You know he didn't mean to. He never does.
After a few minutes, he somewhat calmed down, still shaking and grasping with what was going on. Norma had taken over before he could stop her and slaughtered the poor guy in cold blood. She was enraged that someone dared to be rude to her employee and significant other of her son and acted out again. It happens more often than you like to admit. She wants grandkids after all and you were the only person that kept Norman together to function properly and keep the motel running.
"I should have stopped her" Norman whispers, clearly shaken by the whole ordeal. He hated this. You on the other hand were more annoyed about having to clean up the mess and blood while Norma just went silent and didn't take responsibility. It sucked as you had to get rid of the body and everything. You really needed to have a talk with your mother-in-law.. after consoling your husband of course.
"It's not your fault, okay?" Gently and carefully, you brush a loose hair strand out of his face, tucking it behind his ear.
"It is," he sobs into your shoulder while you hug him tighter, "why.. why, why, why?"
You rub his back slowly, drawing small circles with your hand while shushing him, "Shhhh" You would have sat him down but the bed was bloody and messy so that's a no. Finally he stopped hyperventilating, acting a bit more like himself. After making sure he won't fall back into the panicked frenzy you just pulled him out of, you look around the room.
With a sigh, you let go of your husband, nodding towards the scene, "Let's clean this mess up, shall we?"
Norman nods slowly, heading off to get the cleaning equipment. Seriously, you need to have a long conversation with his mother tomorrow and explain the whole 'we don't kill guests just because they are rude' thing again. Hopefully, she'll listen and understand it this time as it clearly didn't stick last time. Oh well.. now it's a romantic crime scene cleaning with your hubby in the pale moonlight coming from outside and some nice midnight tea and cuddles afterwards <3