The thunder angrily crashed against the rattling windows of the big, mayoral mansion, accompanying lightning creating patterns of shadows on the glossy, hardwood floor. Regina's eyes snapped open, and she slipped further under her silky bedspread, rolling onto her side and squeezing her eyes shut again, so tightly that she could see multicolored spots dancing along her vision. She wasn't scared, of course, simply...bothered by the havoc that this blasted storm was creating.
A warm hand brushed against her arm, leaving goosebumps in its wake, and a husky, sleep-ridden voice insisted to her, "It's okay to be afraid."
"I'm not," was the snappish reply, slower than usual, but not without bite. She heard a long sigh and instantly regretted her defensiveness, biting her lip but staying turned away. The hand crawled further down her arm, fingers gently trailing to her own cold, shivering ones
"I didn't say you were...but it's still okay."
She wasn't stupid-she knew an offer when she saw one, and the owner of that annoyingly comforting hand was no master of subtlety. But as resistant and bull-headed as she tried to be, as much as she knew that she was being slightly manipulated, she rolled onto her other side with a sigh of her own, pressing her forehead against another, long blonde hair tickling her nose and cheeks, and the hand stilled.
"What was it this time," demanded the voice, more awake this time. Regina shook her head, both in amusement and to be rid of the last vestiges of the nightmare. A small smile played on her lips as she looked down at the fingers wrapped loosely around her wrist.
"You always know, don't you?"
"It's my job to know when you're hurting." Regina's eyes snapped back up to meet glowing green ones, marveling at those words. It had never been anyone's job to know if she was hurt-truly, she had been broken, and put back together in some places because of her son, but her thirst for revenge had dissolved away at her heart and left it raw and blistered...until the hand, now journeying to her collarbone, had picked it up.
"I love you." The words caught in her throat on the way out, but Emma heard them and she grinned, a glint of white as the room continued to dimly flash around them, and suddenly the blanket was too heavy and the bed was too warm and the thunder was too loud and her heartbeat was quickening…
"I love you too." Her hands skated over her face, thumb stroking the scar on her lip, shattered green eyes meeting shattered brown ones, and Regina didn't even realize she was holding her breath.
"Don't ever doubt that I'll say it back. I always will."
"I know." She scooted closer as Emma lifted up the blanket a bit and wrapped her arm around her waist. The thunder continued to roar throughout the night and the shadows in the room danced threateningly, but the two women slept in peace, the turmoil in their hearts, for once, blessedly quiet.