Notes:

Pics of a Swan Queen road trip sparked my creativity and this story :) It's only my second fic and the first one was only a one shot, so don't expect literary genius. And also, constructive criticism is always appreciated.
Fluff, fluff, and more fluff because why not?

No beta. All mistakes are my own.

I do not own Regina. I do not own Emma. I do not own Lily. I own nothing but this story.

Enjoy :)

DAY 1

"Is that really necessary?" She scorned Emma like she was a child.

"The fancy hotel that we spent hours searching for because none of the other ones were good enough for you, isn't just gunna give us free food. It's gunna be really expensive and I don't feel like emptying my wallet every time I want something to eat. It's bad enough we had to go to the next town over just to find a grocery store that meets your standards," Emma absent-mindedly added items to their grocery cart. "And Pop-Tarts are an easy snack, so yes, it is necessary," she tried to convince Regina.

"Really?" Regina quirked a single brow. "All six boxes of cinnamon brown sugar Pop-Tarts are absolutely essential to our survival?"

The blonde broke out her puppy dog eyes, "I like my Pop-Tarts."

"You're a child," Regina deadpanned.

Emma gave her a cutesy smile as a silent thank you, and they began moving forward once more, but Emma barely took a step before her eyes widened in shock and she ducked behind Regina.

"Crap!"

"Excuse me," the brunette asked in confusion, turning to face the blonde.

"Crap, crap, crap!" Concern covered Emma's face as she glanced around the older woman.

Regina was having none of her foolishness. "Do we need to find you a bathroom," she drawled, "Or perhaps a dictionary?"

Emma rolled her eyes and huffed. "No, I-," she peeked over Regina's shoulder, "Crap!"

"What?" She turned around trying to find Emma's source of apparent distress, only finding two women further down their aisle, and turned back to Emma, brows raised in questioning.

"She's walking this way," Emma stated in a stressed whisper, and Regina just stared at her, waiting for elaboration. "Quick, I need you to be my girlfriend."

Regina's eyes shot open wide. "What," she asked in disbelief.

Emma could see the two women rapidly approaching so she began talking as fast as her brain would allow. "I'm begging you, Regina, I am begging you. Just pretend to be my girlfriend for a couple minutes and I'll do anything you want. Please."

"No," she stated simply. Regina wanted no part of whatever Emma was trying to pull off.

"Please, Regina. I'll put the Pop-Tarts back and eat salad every day and I won't bug you at all for the rest of this trip."

"No." Regina remained un-amused. Emma was less than convincing despite her best efforts in that moment.

"But-"

"Emma?" A voice came from a few feet away.

Emma turned around to face the source with a smile, "Lily."

Regina gave both strangers the up-down as that woman pulled Emma into a long hug. The woman on the right was tall and thin with a blonde bob haircut styled perfectly and dark blue eyes. She came off very calculated and had a smug look that Regina wanted to slap off her face. The woman on the left was a few inches shorter, with dark hair and eyes – her name was apparently Lily. That woman seemed much more pleasant, but Regina remained wary.

"How have you been? I've missed you," the dark-haired friend asked as she pulled away, seemingly genuinely interested in Emma's well-being.

"Uh," Emma fumbled for words, "Good, I guess." She plastered a smile on her face. "I'm a sheriff now."

"Emma, that's amazing!" Lily flashed a proud smile, but based on Emma's posture and current speech pattern, Regina questioned whether the woman really had any right to be proud. It was already clear in the forty-five seconds they had been interacting that Emma was uncomfortable and not quite acting like herself.

"I'm a social worker," the woman added. "I want to help kids like us, you know?"

Regina watched as the woman next to Lily looked Emma up and down, trying to disguise her distaste, but didn't try hard enough. That woman clearly thought she was better than Emma, and that's when it clicked for Regina. Two can play that game. She placed a smile on her lips and prepared for battle.

"That's great-" Emma started, but she was cut off.

"Oh my God," Lily exclaimed when she looked at Regina. "I totally forgot to introduce you!" The as yet unidentified woman resumed her smug smile. "This is Rachel, my fiancé," she gestured.

"Oh, congratulations." Emma shook Rachel's hand, "It's nice to meet you, Rachel. You're a lucky woman."

"I know," the tall blonde answered, holding her self-righteous grin.

Regina's upper lip briefly curled in disgust before settling back down into a beautiful smile.

Emma glanced at Regina as she spoke, "Uh, this is-"

"I'm Regina," she introduced herself, shaking Lily's hand. "It's so nice to finally meet the infamous Lily." She then return to Emma's side and hugged the blonde's arm, entwining their fingers, and looked Rachel dead in the eye, sending a message that Rachel's reaction confirmed was received loud and clear.

Emma somehow managed to keep her surprise in check, only glancing quickly at Regina before "resuming character".

"Infamous Lily," the long lost friend repeated in question directed to Emma, to which shrugged her shoulders and gave a tight-lipped smirk.

Rachel's reaction wasn't nearly as smooth as Emma's which, of course, only encouraged Regina to further drive the point. She reached into her pocket for her phone, pretending it was vibrating. "Oh, excuse me for a moment." She stepped aside, making sure to keep them within earshot, and had her one-sided conversation while Lily asked Emma about her sheriff position. Rachel tried to disguise the fact that she was eavesdropping Regina's "phone call", but yet again, failed to be successful.

"Henry?...Hi, Hun…..…Did you finish your homework?...Then of course, you can go to the movies…You're welcome, Dear….Bye, Henry. I love you too."

Regina caught Rachel staring at her, but pretended not to notice. Time for the big hit.

"Sorry," she apologized to everyone. "That was our son."

The expression on Rachel's face told Regina she had won and it felt good.

"You two have a son?" Lily's voice raised up an octave or so.

Emma and Regina nodded their heads in unison a couple times before Regina elaborated.

"Henry," she and Emma looked lovingly into each other's eyes. "He's the real love of our lives."

Emma hummed in agreement before they both turned their attention back to the other couple.

Rachel finally contributed her first real sentence since they met. "Well, we really should be going… Lots of last minute wedding things to take care of."

Regina knew that was directed at her – Rachel's final attempt to win the game, which of course, did not work. Regina saw right through it and had no doubt in her mind that she claimed the victory.

"But you guys should totally come to the wedding next Saturday," Lily added quickly as Rachel rolled her eyes. "It would be wonderful to have you there."

There was no way Emma was going to that wedding. "I'm not sure if we'll even still be in town by then," was the first excuse she could think of, but that wasn't enough for Lily.

"Then lunch? Tomorrow?" Much like Emma had done to Regina only minutes ago, the engaged brunette gave Emma her best puppy dog eyes. The puppy dog eyes that had drawn her in over a decade ago. "Pleeeease? I would really love to catch up."

"Uh, okay," Emma responded, checking Regina for signs of anger bursts about to erupt. After all, this trip was supposed to be about helping her find the author, not catching up with ex's. However, Emma surprisingly found no signs of anger whatsoever.

Lily squealed in excitement and named a time and place before Rachel all but dragged her away to finish their errands.

Once they were alone, Regina turned to Emma with her hands on her hips and gave her a death stare.

Emma clasped her hands, "Pretty please? With a cherry on top?"

"We'll keep you updated, I promise." Emma was talking to Henry on the phone when she returned from her trip down the hall, in search of a vending machine with some root beer.

Regina's eyes dashed up as she waved her hand, and Emma chuckled, "We miss you and we love you. Be good, kid," before hanging up.

She treaded over to the bed and handed a root beer to Regina who was waiting for the blonde to share the phone call. "He said he misses us and he loves us and he hopes we can come home soon."

Regina gave a guilty smile. "This is so selfish," she offered.

Emma's brows furrowed in confusion as she sipped her orange soda.

"Leaving Henry just so I can find this ridiculous author so I can have my happy ending." The older woman sat on the right side of the bed with one leg folded under her and the other hanging over the side. The story book was closed, sitting in front of her and she just stared at the cover as condensation from the soda bottle ran down her hand.

Emma had no response. She couldn't deny that it was selfish, but she understood what it was to be dealt a shitty hand in life and given the opportunity to confront the person responsible for it all… Well, she understood.

She stood and watched as Regina seemed to fall into her own little world of guilt and shame, completely zoning out, and she hated that the brunette could never get anything she wanted without feeling bad about it.

"Listen," she began, trying to bring Regina back to reality. "Thanks again for today," Regina finally made eye contact, "And tomorrow."

Brown eyes fell to Emma's hands, "I thought you wanted a root beer."

"Oh, uh, there was only one left," she gestured to her friend's drink.

Regina looked down at the bottle in her hands.

Emma walked around to the other side of the bed and plopped. "But um, anyway, thanks again. I know you didn't have to do it and I really appreciate you helping me save face," she smirked, hoping Regina hadn't changed her mind about continuing their little scheme at lunch with Lily and Rachel.

Regina grinned, "That's perfectly fine, Dear. We're even now, which means I can have the bed all to myself."

"What?! How does that work?"

"Well," she began explaining, "I owed you for coming here with me. It would have been wrong to owe you a favor and then still make you sleep on the floor. But now," she smiled, "We're even."

Emma didn't like that logic. She turned on the bed to face Regina, "If we're even, then why do you automatically get the bed?"

"Because I'm the queen," she stated simply and gave Emma a sideways smile, making it clear the topic was not up for debate.

The blonde pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at the woman staking claim to the only bed in the room. She stood up, grabbed a pillow, and dropped it on the floor at the foot of the bed before laying down with only her jacket as a blanket. Good thing she brought sweatpants.

Regina observed as the scene played out before her and waited until her traveling companion was on the floor before she spoke up. "There's a blanket for you in the closet, you know."

She couldn't see the green eyes once she had laid back, so she explained in the absence of a response. "I had room service bring it up while you were in the shower earlier."

Emma sat up at lightning speed, "You planned on making me sleep on the floor the whole time."

"As soon as we realized we were only going to get one bed, yes," she laughed, finding the situation comical. "Except now, I don't have to feel guilty about it because I don't owe you a favor anymore."

After months of moping around after Robin Hood, Mayor Mills was finally back, and as much of a pain in the ass she could be, Emma had found herself missing the fierce personality and witty banter.

"Regina, you never owed me for helping you in the first place," she said knowing that people only ever helped Regina in the past when they got something out of it.

"Good! Then you owe me for pretending to be your girlfriend," the mayor was clearly pleased with the conversation, "And I'm collecting."

Emma rolled her eyes before retrieving the blanket and trying her best to get comfortable at the foot of the queen's bed.