Unspoken
Author's Note: Hi! *nervous wave* This is my first time writing for this fandom. I wanted to somehow reconcile Regina's feelings for Robin Hood among the backdrop of what we know underlies her relationship with Emma. Unspoken things. This is my attempt at that. It was an idea I just couldn't let alone. Spoilers up until the season 4 winter finale.
So, without further ado…
Regina felt the warm liquid as it slid down her throat. Tequila.
"Another." She said quietly, looking straight ahead or down but never at Emma.
Emma ordered another two without reply and this time Regina downed the shot without waiting to clink glasses or even an acknowledgement in Emma's direction.
A silence that was not altogether comfortable fell around them like a cloak.
I guess that is the trouble with silence. If left for too long, all the words that should have been spoken in silences past, have a way of bubbling to the surface.
"You think we're special?" Regina's rough voice breathed so quietly Emma barely heard her. Her voice had a vulnerable hitch to it that made Emma's head snap to Regina's profile. She was still looking ahead.
Shit. Emma regarded her wearily, preparing herself for verbal sparring with a woman she knew was very adept at twisting her words.
"I think I understand you…I think we understand each other." Emma supplied quietly.
Regina said nothing for a beat. Emma found it unnerving. Her silence.
She ordered two more shots instead.
"You should go." She swallowed the shot, placing it back on the counter and folding her arms.
"Regina, drinking buddies drink together…it's sort of implied by the name." Emma smiled at her.
Regina finally turned to face Emma, her eyes flashing with something Emma could not define. "You came and found me out of some twisted form of "Savior Guilt", and I'm not in the mood to assuage that tonight."
Emma's face fell, but she remained quiet. Arguing with Regina was the last thing she had come here for. Especially three shots in and with that look in her eye.
Another shot down and Emma Swan was starting to feel it.
"I do want you to have your happy ending, you know." Emma swallowed. "But I am not here out of guilt." Emma chose her words carefully, feeling a bit as if she was walking in a minefield and one wrong step would send everything imploding in on her. It was terrifying.
"You think you can give me a happy ending, dear?" Regina smiled, a cruel tilt to her lips. "I don't need you to save me. Besides, if I relied on your services, I would be left seriously wanting."
"I'm sorry, Regina." Emma grit out painfully.
"So you say." Regina replied, with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"I will keep saying it until you believe me." Emma said quietly, playing with the shot glass in front of her.
Regina rubbed a hand across her forehead, a headache starting to form. Perhaps it was the day from hell and the fact that her heart was left in tatters, but she found herself saying a lot more than she would have otherwise allowed. Perhaps it was the shots. Tequila was not her usual fare. Damn you, Emma. Just go.
"Why do you care?" Regina's voice trembled, betraying her and her eyes shut to shield her from the embarrassment.
"I care what you think of me, Regina. I told you. I want to be your friend." Emma was desperate and a little scared. Regina trusted her with this. It felt important.
"Friends." Regina repeated, but she said it bitterly.
Something about the way she said it made Emma grab her gently by the arm. "Regina."
Regina looked down at where Emma was touching her, her eyes wide but she didn't shrug her off.
Brown eyes met green. "Don't." Regina pleaded, and her voice held a quality that both frightened Emma and made her heart thud hard in her chest.
Emma pulled her hand away quickly as if she had been burnt.
Both were unable to look away and hell if Emma knew what was happening but as she started to speak, a ring from a cell phone interrupted her.
Regina picked up the phone, her gaze still on Emma.
"Hello" She answered. "Henry. No, I'm fine. No need to worry. Just stopped off at Granny's for coffee." She smiled as if he could see and be reassured, but her eyes continued to meet Emma's unrelenting stare. "I'll be right there."
She hung up, breaking her gaze and standing up from her stool. "Henry was worried when I wasn't at home. I have to go." When Regina spoke again it was tinged with sadness. "I guess I'm just not very good at this whole "buddies" thing. Excuse me." She stood up, reaching into her pants pocket, pulling out cash and laying it on the counter before turning to leave.
Please leave a comment. Your thoughts would mean so much and would encourage me to continue. Thank you for reading.