Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of the characters.
Emma was at the Sheriff's station when her phone began to ring. She picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hi Mom, it's Henry."
"Henry? Where are you?" Emma didn't mean to sound frantic, but it kind of came out that way.
"Mom, relax. I'm at school. Regina called me and told me to tell you to come pick me up. She said she'd explain later."
Emma sighed and rubbed her temples. "Alright, but tell her she can't blame me if I don't finish the reports she wanted by tonight."
"Thanks, you're the best." Henry said before hanging up. Emma put her phone in her pocket and shrugged on her jacket. She still had a ton of work to do, but that could wait until later. Henry couldn't.
Twenty minutes later, Emma was pulling up to Regina's house, Henry in the seat beside her.
"You got everything?" Emma asked.
"Wait, you're not coming in?"
Emma opened her mouth, then closed it, her mind turning over the idea. "Henry, I wasn't invited-"
"I'm inviting you. That's enough, right? I mean, I live here too." He opened the door and stepped out of the car. "Come on!"
Emma drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. "Fine, you know what? I'll come in for a little while. You need any help with your homework?"
Henry grinned and ran to the door, backpack bouncing with each leap. He dug into his pocket and took out a key.
"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," said Henry as he bounded in.
Emma walked in and shut the door behind her, looking around. She had been in Regina's house before but not without her there. It felt empty and quiet.
Emma turned a corner and opened the door of the library. Regina had talked to her here when she first brought Henry. Since then, she had always wanted to take a closer look at the books, but never got a chance to. She ran her fingertips over the worn leather spines and stopped. In the bottom corner of the wall-to-wall bookshelf she saw a book much shorter and thinner than the rest.
Bending down, she carefully tugged it out of the shelf and flipped through the pages. It was completely handwritten. The first page started with,
I don't have much time to write now, but I just wanted to let you know that everything is going well and I feel more at peace than ever before. Perhaps I have found my happiness.
The page went on but Emma flipped forward.
A strange woman came to town today. I have a strange feeling about her.
Emma flipper further forward, to the last page, where the words stopped.
I thought about her today. I don't know why I feel the way I do. I should hate her, I do hate her. Only, it's different now. I haven't talked about it before, but I've noticed myself making excuses for her to come see me. I say I have more paperwork, I say I need to talk to her. There's just something about her, how she's both calm and intense at the same time. I think I love her, the new Sheriff.
Emma slammed the book closed, her heart pounding in her ears. It was about her and it was in Regina's house and that could only mean one thing: Regina had written this.
She scrambled to shove the book back on the shelf.
"What the hell are you doing?" Regina asked behind her.
Emma whirled around and stood up, brushing off her jacket. "I didn't- I mean, Henry said-"
Regina's arms were crossed. "Henry said you were to pick him up from school and drop him off at my house, correct?"
"Well, yeah but he-"
"So what were you doing just now?"
Emma's face turned red as she scrambled for an answer. "I was just- your books-"
Regina raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips.
"I've always wanted to look at your books and Henry said I could come in but he had to go to the bathroom …" she trailed off, realizing how childish her actions were.
"So you decided you could just barge into my personal space?"
"Whoa, okay. There was no barging-"
"Get out."
"Henry-"
"Get out." Her tone was dangerous.
Emma kept her eyes fixed on the ground as she walked by Regina, out of the library, and out of the house.
As soon as Regina heard the door slam, she rushed to the bookshelf and crouched down next to it. She swore under her breath. The diary was sticking out, as if it was hastily put back.
She sat back on her heels. There was no way of knowing how much Emma had read. Regina closed her eyes tight and mentally smacked herself. The door was closed for a reason, couldn't that woman just take a hint? Even Henry wasn't allowed in here, this was her space. No one was supposed to ever be in here.
Panic tore through her as she thought through the consequences this might have. She had to do something. Fast.
