It had been two months since the events of the Underworld. Two long, whole months since her entire world had changed. Some days it had felt like it was an eternity ago since she had seen his face but other days it felt like it had happened just yesterday. Her pain felt just as raw today as it had done back then on that day; that day when she had to say goodbye to him for the very last time.

She knew that today was going to be one of the hardest days; it was his birthday after all. She hauled herself up from the couch and slowly paced over to the liquor cabinet pulling out one of the birthday presents which she had gotten for him. She took a glass out and opened the bottle of rum; the smell of the liquid instantly reminding her of him. A tear crept from her eye as she slowly poured herself a glass of his favourite drink. Leaving the bottle open she sluggishly made her way back to the couch allowing for the bitter smell of rum to envelope the room. She sat watching the fire in silence for a few minutes, the flames dancing around in front of her providing her with welcoming warmth. She held the glass up in front of her, her eyes not leaving the flames. "Cheers, Captain." She whispered, the wobble in her voice evident. She took a gulp of the liquid and allowed for the tears in her eyes to fall, the memories of her last moment with him playing over and over again in her head just as visibly as it had done the first time.

The empty glass slipped through her trembling fingers and landed on the carpet with a gentle thud. She had been strong all day, too strong. Now she was alone and she could finally release her sadness, her grief.

Fifteen minutes had passed and now she just felt numb. She knew that some days were going to be tougher than others but she wasn't expecting them to be this tough. She wiped her eyes harshly with the back of her hand, annoyed at herself for once again breaking down on her own which was when, according to Dr. Hopper, she was at her most vulnerable. She sighed. She knew what she had to do. She pulled her phone out of the pocket at the back of her jeans and texted the one person who she could rely on the most; the person who knew exactly what she was going through.

'Are you busy?'

She asked ominously, not wanting to intrude on whatever it was that the other woman had planned for the evening. She hated feeling like a burden and she hated for the brunette to see her this way but she couldn't be alone tonight.

In less than a minute after sending the text her phone buzzed loudly and her name flashed up on the screen along with the accompanying message:

'I'm coming over.'

"Who's that?" The red head questioned as she leaned over her sister's shoulder in hope of seeing who it was that she was texting.

"That is none of your business." Regina responded and stood up almost immediately after she had replied to the text. "I have an errand to run; can I trust you to make sure that Henry's light is out by no later than ten?"

Zelena stood and followed her sister into the hallway determined to get more information out of her. "It's a man isn't it?" She teased with a smirk on her face.

Regina stopped abruptly and placed her hands on her hips. "I told you I am not discussing this with you."

"See, it is a guy. That's why you're being so secretive. Ohhhhh. Is it a married man?" Zelena laughed and waggled her eyebrows; since she and Regina had embraced their new found sisterhood she loved nothing more than to tease her younger sibling. "I've got it! It's Prince Charming, isn't it? Ha, the scandal! Whatever would Princess Snow say? "She gasped dramatically and jokingly slapped the brunettes arm.

"Zelena. You're being ridiculous." Regina rolled her eyes but couldn't manage to hide the smile that had appeared on her face. Since she and Zelena had worked out their differences and Zelena and baby Robin had moved in, they had become a lot closer although they still had a tendency to squabble over stupid things. "Lights out at ten, remember?" Regina spoke with finality in her voice before turning and leaving.

"Have fun. Don't do anything that I wouldn't." Zelena called after her sister and watched as she drove off to whichever mysterious place it was that she was going to. She had half a mind to follow her but she wouldn't dare leave Robin and Henry alone. "Hm. I'll find out what it is that you're up to, sis. You just wait." She whispered to herself and shut the door behind her.

Regina checked her phone while she was waiting at a red light. Emma's name flashed up once again.

'Thanks.'

She smiled at the text before putting her phone back in her blazer pocket and carrying on with the short journey to Emma's house. Since the deaths of Robin and Hook, she and Emma had formed a strong bond. They seemed to understand each other in a way that nobody else could. Regina couldn't figure out if they had always had that something between them or whether it was something that came about after the tragedy. One thing that she did know was that she wouldn't have been able to get through these last two months without Emma Swan. The two of them had been each other's rocks throughout the ordeal and that was exactly why she was driving to her former enemy's house in the middle of the night instead of being at home with a glass of wine and a good book.

Regina pulled up and parked her car just behind that yellow monstrosity which Emma called a car. She shook her head as she looked at it, it could really do with a new paint job amongst many other things. She walked up the path to Emma's house which was unusually dark, the only sign of light being from the small glow coming from the fireplace in the front room. Regina frowned, Emma's house was usually lighting up the entire street, like Henry, Emma had the annoying habit of leaving every light on the house switched on even when no one was there. She rang the doorbell and again was surprised. This time at how quiet it was usually she would've been hearing music or voices from one of those trashy reality television shows that Emma was strangely addicted to. Regina tapped her foot impatiently, every second she spent waiting was causing her more reason to worry.