A/N: And just when you thought you were close to getting rid of me I come back with another one! Welcome all to my newest Normero concoction, full of just as many ramblings as the last. If you've been reading my other fic you know this is an idea I've had in my back pocket for quite some time now, never really planning on making it into anything. But with all the love and support I got on my other one I didn't want to leave you all with nothing once I was completed with that one. I will say beforehand just so everyone knows that I really half assed this story, especially the earlier chapters since I still hadn't decided if I was even going to post this story when I wrote them. And while I could have went back and fixed them up everyone knows I'm too lazy for that, so I left them be the mess they started as. But if you like it anyways let me know to continue, I have a good chunk of it written and planned out if we decide to move forward with this one. First chapter doesn't include Alex, he'll show up in the second one. So let me know if this is a worthy fic and enjoy!

Many people didn't know that her life growing up had never been very easy, she'd been let down by the same people time and time again. People who should have been there for her. To cheer her up when she was feeling down, to make her feel important anytime she felt worthless, and most of all to protect her. But these people were not there for her, these people were actually the ones that she ended up needing protecting from. The world outside is never a safe place. Everyday horrible things happen, things we can't stop and have no control over. So we look to our home as a sanctuary, a place where we can hide from all the bad things. But what happens when the home you live in becomes the place you're scared of, when the people inside are the ones who cause you all the pain? As kids we are taught to fear the boogeyman, the monster under the bed, and the creatures that lurk in the shadows but in hers these things wouldn't be where the real horror lied. The nightmares were not a dream but reality, a reality she was unable to wake up and escape from. The creatures were her depression, keeping her from moving forward. The monster under the bed was her anxiety, keeping her up at night from fear of things to come. And the boogeymen were these people, the ones who caused all of her terror. But similar to the way adults grow out of their childhood fears she had with her own, over the years she tried her best to move ahead of these things and create a fresh start. Unfortunately moving forward wasn't an easy thing to accomplish when you had no way of escaping from the ones who continued to bring you down, at least not yet.

Norma had found it was easier to stray away from her family, taking any opportunity she had to stay after at school even if it meant getting detention on the very last day. One might wonder how you could get in trouble on the most laid back day of the school year. For her it was letting the other students sign different parts of her body instead of a yearbook. It wasn't the classiest thing, but it definitely worked. When her teacher found out she was sent down to the office and spent a good hour in the nurses bathroom wiping off all the ink with damp paper towels. After school detention lasted an hour then she was on her way home, walking the familiar path she'd grown use to. She lived a little over a mile away and most parents would have picked their kids up if they had to stay late. She was actually glad neither of them cared to because she enjoyed the time to herself.

She opened her front door then shut it as quietly as possible, attempting to remain unseen long enough to make it to her room. When the door clicked shut she heard the sound of loud footsteps behind her, surely they were her dads since the man never bothered to take his boots off in the house.

"Where the hell have you been?" Her father Ray asked.

Norma turned around slowly and looked at him, taking her time to word her response so he wouldn't get angrier. "A friend of mine wrote on me as a joke and the teacher got mad, they gave me detention."

"That school doesn't have bigger problems than that to deal with?"

"I guess not." She said then went to walk past him.

"Norma." Ray said then reached out and grabbed a hold of her wrist causing her to flinch. She always tried to avoid looking afraid in front of anybody but the marks on her body and pain of untreated fractures were a reminder of what her dad was capable of doing. "Pack up your things, we are leaving first thing in the morning."

"Leaving? Where?" Norma asked, relaxing some as he let go of her.

"Oregon. My boss needs a couple more people to go out to some hick ass town to work for the summer. Something River or Bay, I don't remember the name but he said you would like working there."

"We're going to work there together? Are mom and Caleb coming too?"

"I'm not going there to work, we are dropping off you and Caleb. Apparently they can run a multimillion dollar business but they can't spring for another van to come pick you two up."

"You are going to leave me there alone with Caleb?" Norma asked, suddenly feeling even worse about the whole thing than she already had been.

"Why is that a problem? You two spend all your time together anyways."

"Because he never leaves me alone."

"He's your brother, you will be fine with him for a few months. Now go get your things packed, if you aren't done by the time we leave then you aren't going to be bringing anything." Ray said then walked off.

Norma wanted to panic. It'd be so easy to scream out all the things she had been holding in, each of them sitting on the tip of her tongue. But she knew better to let them out, if her father knew the real reason she was so against staying alone with her own brother he would kill him. Instead she took a few deep breaths and walked down the hallway, stopping in front of her parents room. She noticed her mother sitting on a chair in the corner, clenching her old blue ribbon and staring absently into the room toward an open suitcase filled far past it's capacity with unfolded clothing and supplies. "Mom, are you alright?" She asked, stepping into the room.

Francine lifted her head and looked at Norma, although they were only a few feet apart her gaze was as if she was in a completely different world. "I can't get it to close." She said, sounding more like someone who was programmed to talk.

"I can handle it." Norma said, walking over to the suitcase and tipping everything out so she could start over.

"Are you happy Norma?" Francine asked randomly while Norma was folding a sundress she knew her mother would never wear, but for some reason packed anyways.

"No mom, I'm not happy." Norma said. Sure she could have lied but it didn't matter, nothing she said now would even process in her medicated brain.

"Me either." Francine said, wrapping the ribbon around her wrist. "I don't remember what it feels like anymore."

Norma used to try and comfort her when she got like this, she knew better now than to waste her energy on something that could never happen. She stayed quiet as she finished packing up her bag and zipped it closed, setting it onto the floor. "Good night mom." She said before leaving the room to go pack her own things.

Everything she cared about fit into one single bag. It was kinda sad that after seventeen years all her life amounted to was a few raggy sets of clothes, some cheap toiletries and a pearl necklace her grandma had left her that she kept hidden otherwise her father would have pawned it by now. The thought crossed her mind that she could pick up this bag and leave that second, get away from everything once and for all. However she knew if she didn't get away completely things would not end well for her, so instead she pushed those thoughts aside and got ready for bed.

The next day Norma woke early and despite her father saying they would leave right in the morning they didn't get out of the house till afternoon. And that began their twenty hour road trip to some town she had never heard of to do god knows what during her summer before senior year. It was silence the whole way, no one in the vehicle having enough in common to start a decent conversation. She glanced around the car at the people around her, a father with a temper as hot as a burning flame, a mother so stoned out of her mind on pills she couldn't figure out what year it was anymore and a brother who had an unhealthy obsession with his little sister. They would make one great low budget movie, maybe she could sell their story to some desperate writer and make enough money to get far away from this life. Of course that would mean letting the world in on her deepest secrets and that was something she was never willing to do. She looked out the window as they passed a sign welcoming them to the town of White Pine Bay, she sat up some and watched better at the things in town. There wasn't much of anything. A small neighborhood of houses, some local shops, and a lot of bodies of water. It looked peaceful, like somewhere she always imagined herself living. It didn't take them long to reach their destination. Some little motel just off the highway that looked to be littered with teens and young adults out on the porch, blasting music through their boombox and smoking what if she had to guess by the smell of the air were not cigarettes. As much as that setting might have appealed to anyone else Norma's age she was never a fan of the whole sex, drugs and rock & roll persona those types of people lived by.

"So do we get our own room or do we have to share with other workers?" Caleb asked, peeking out the window at all the surroundings.

"We get one room with two beds, once we leave next week you will be sharing the room alone." Ray said and Norma noticed the smile on Caleb's face that made her skin crawl.

After they got checked in the four of them went to one of the rooms, Norma came up with a quick excuse to get away from her so called family by saying she was going to go out and explore the town awhile. She took the next few hours to walk the outskirts of White Pine Bay and ventured down Main Street where all the businesses were located. She didn't go inside any but instead just got an idea of the places she could visit once she had money to. The evening was actually quite enjoyable and it made her think she could make this place work. Sure she would still have her brother to deal with but she could go out on her own most the time. When she got back to the motel she walked toward her room, stopping when she saw where rowdy teens once sat now replaced with her mother perched off her chair and leaning onto a patio table out cold.

"Mom." Norma said, walking over and placing a hand on her shoulder. She gave a few shakes and did a check to make sure she was still breathing, she was. "Mom come on, you need to get up and go back to our room."

"Mhmm." Her mother moaned, making no effort to move.

Norma exhaled and bent down, patting her mom's pockets till she found the motel key inside her housecoat. She walked over and unlocked the door, seeing Caleb sitting on the bed watching television. "Where's dad?" She asked, staying outside the room as she talked.

"He just left like twenty minutes ago, they wanted him to help load some freights."

"Then you come here." Norma said and walked away before he had the chance to ask why. Like a puppy dog he was right behind her within seconds, following her to where their mother sat. "We need to get her back to the room."

"It's warm enough out, we can leave her there." Caleb said, seemingly unfazed by the whole situation.

"I don't care, we are not leaving her out here." Norma said, going over to her mom and grabbing an arm. "Help me carry her to the room."

"But if we leave her out here we can have the room to ourselves."

"I told you I'm done with that Caleb. You can't keep forcing yourself on me, you need to learn to let go."

"I don't want to let go of you, I love you." Caleb said, placing his hand on the small of her back and making her wince at the touch. "Let me show you, please."

Norma pushed his hand off her back and went to tend to their mother on her own since it was clear he wasn't going to be helping. Before she had a chance to try lifting her Caleb grabbed onto her arm and started pulling her back toward their room. "Let go of me Caleb." She said, trying with all her might to release herself from his grip. She was unsuccessful and he managed to pull her into the room, slamming the door shut behind them.

Outside a car pulled into the driveway, having seen some woman looking half dead on the patio furniture when he drove by. He let his headlights beam on the woman in hopes that that would get her attention but when it didn't he stepped out of his car and walked over to her, trying to wake her from her deep slumber. It was clear to him right away what was going on, it wasn't the first drug overdose he'd ever seen. "Miss, miss can you hear me?" He asked, leaning down to her level.

"Yes." She whispered, not moving anything other than her lips.

"I'm sheriff David Romero. I can help you but first you gotta tell me what you have taken tonight." He said.

"I'm sleeping Ray." She mumbled.

"Ray? Is that your husband? Is he here?"

"I can't believe I won." Francine said, smiling as if she was having a fond memory.

David shook his head and stood up. "Okay, do you remember what room you are in?" He asked and there was no reply. He turned to go back to his car to radio it in when he heard her speak again.

"Four." She said, just clear enough for him to understand.

David walked back and went to room four, getting ready to knock when he heard strange sounds coming from inside. He started to doubt this woman's ability to remember her room when he realized what was going on in there, getting ready just to call it in again. That's when he heard it, a plea for someone named Caleb to stop. It repeated again and he could tell by the tone that she was not kidding so he knocked hard on the door. "This is the sheriff, I need whoever is in there to open this door right now." He said and all the sounds inside halted.

"Did he say sheriff?" Caleb whispered, stopping everything and getting off the bed.

"Open this door or I will." The man yelled from outside.

Caleb looked around the room and saw a small window in the bathroom. "I'm going to climb out that window, don't tell them what was going on or dad will find out." He said, rushing toward the window. Before he had a chance to get out the front door flung open with one solid kick from the man standing outside it.

David noticed Norma first. She was still on the bed covered by a blanket, eyes red and puffy from crying. His eyes drifted to Caleb who glanced back at him a second then stepped up onto the toilet to try and open the window. He ran over to him just as he was getting his head and part of his arms out the window then he grabbed him by the back of his jeans and pulled him onto the ground harshly. "Don't even think about it. Put your hands behind your back."

"Please, don't do this. You're making a huge mistake." Caleb said while he cuffed both his hands and pulled him back off the ground.

"You're the only one who made a mistake tonight." David said, walking him through the room. "I'll be right back. You can throw something on then we'll talk, okay?" He said, looking over at Norma.

"Okay." Norma said, still frozen in place. As soon as he left the room she hopped up and put her clothes back on, trying to come up with some type of cover story before he came back but nothing came to mind.

"Are you decent?" The man said from outside the room.

"Yes." Norma said then he walked inside again.

"I'm not sure if you heard me before but I'm the sheriff, my names David Romero." He said and waited a moment to see if she would say her name. "Can you tell me yours?"

"Sorry. I'm Norma Calhoun."

"Norma, I called in some backup and they are going to take that man to jail while we go over everything. Do you want to talk here, or down at the station?"

"Here." Norma said, not wanting to deal with anyone else right now.

"Okay. Before we talk can you tell me whether you know the woman on the front porch?"

"Yes, she's my mom." Norma said. She expected a surprised look from the man but he just nodded and kept going.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Okay well I'm guessing you are old enough to discuss this. Do you know what drugs she has had tonight?"

"She has a lot of pills, I don't know what they all are."

"Do you know what they are for?" David asked and she shook her head no. "Has she been like this before?"

"Yes. She's always fine in the morning, I was going to bring her to bed."

"Is that when he attacked you? When you were outside trying to help your mom?"

Norma nodded. "I came in here and asked him to help me, he wouldn't do it."

"Do you know that man?"

"Yes." Norma said. She was talking to a sheriff which meant her secret was going to be out no matter what, still it felt so hard to say the next few words. "He's my brother."

Finally shock hit David's face, it went back to normal when he thought maybe there was some better explanation. "Is he your step brother?"

"No, my actual brother. We have the same parents."

"Was there something going on tonight? Like was he drinking, or under the influence of anything?"

"No, he's completely sober."

"Is this the first time that he has tried doing that to you?"

"It's been going on for years, since I was thirteen."

David couldn't believe what he was hearing, he had seen many rape cases in his line of work but never one between siblings that went on that long without anyone noticing. "Do your parents know?"

"If my father knew he wouldn't still be alive." Norma said and for the first time David really looked her over, noticing the bruises and lacerations on several parts of her body that she had normally covered up with makeup.

"Are those marks all from your brother?" David asked.

"No." Norma said, shaking her head. "He never hurts me, not like that anyhow."

"Your father?" David asked and she nodded. "I think we are going to need to finish this conversation at the station, we have a great social worker there who can sit down with you after and work out your next steps."

"Social worker? You are bringing me to child protective services?"

"The environment you are living in is not okay, they will help you find a better place."

"They won't help me, please don't let them get involved. I'm too old, no one is going to want to foster me and I'm just gonna get stuck in some awful group home."

"By tomorrow both your brother and your father will be in jail and your mother is in no shape to be your guardian. Do you have anyone else fit to take care of you?"

"No, I don't have anyone."

"It's protocol, you're under eighteen so without another legal guardian to take you in I have to let them get involved."

"Just let me leave now before any of your officers get here. You can say I ran off on my own and you had nothing to do with it."

"I can't let you go off on your own."

"You don't have to worry about me, I don't need anyone. I've been taking care of myself for as long as I can remember."

"I'm sorry, this isn't up for negotiation. You can't do everything by yourself, you have to let somebody help you."

Norma couldn't hold back any longer and she started to cry. "Please, please just let me go. Nobody will help me, no one has ever helped me."

David watched her as she continued to break down. He'd never had a daughter himself but if he did he would hate to think of her in this situation. Being so afraid of the world around her that she would choose to be by herself. "How about I make you a deal."

"What?" Norma said, calming herself down so she could listen.

"After we're finished going over everything else tonight you can come stay at my house since it's so late. You'll get a good night's rest then tomorrow we will sit down with a social worker and go over your options. If they aren't completely to your liking we will figure something else out, but I'm not letting you handle this alone."

"Thank you." Norma said gratefully.

"You don't have to thank me, it's only one night."