"Emma, where are you going?" Regina asks while pulling back the other woman by the hem of her black sweat-shirt.

"I'm going upstairs" Emma answers pointing at the old wooden stairs with her flashlight "You should wait here with the guys"

"I am coming with you!"

"But you'll be safer here…" Emma defends while deep inside yearning for Regina's company.

"I don't believe in this stuff anyway" her partner says as she takes the lead, the stairs creaking under her feet, and she adds with an accusing tone "you're not going to leave my sight"

Emma shrugs like she doesn't care less but the smile drawing over her face tells a different story. She leans on the dusty guardrail but quickly changes her mind because it is wobbling way too much to her taste. At daytime, she doesn't really like that abandoned house and the already creepy atmosphere is even more oppressive at night. Once upstairs, Emma switches on the light. Or at least tries. Of course it doesn't work. She walks in the corridor wandering with her light, seeing more dust than anything. Regina is now following her and when Emma stops, Regina stumbles on her.

« Creepy » she says, looking at what made Emma stop in her tracks: a painting with a guy hanging upside down in the decrepit old wall of the corridor.

Emma opens the first door she meets and enters, Regina close behind. The first woman can feel her partner's nervousness rising as hers does. She inhales sharply and sneezes.

"Jesus" her partner whispers unconsciously as if talking would awake the dead owners of the house.

"Thank you."

Masks and false faces are hanging on the walls where the old wallpaper easily comes off. Warm air is coming from the mantelpiece. Someone was there not long ago. Or something. Emma shivers. In the heavy silence, a shadow passes. Emma thinks she dreamt it.

"Did you see that?" Regina asks, suddenly huddling Emma.

Or not. It passes again and brushes her. She turns around and her heart quickens as she feels the presence around. She meticulously scans the room and she feels its -or their- gaze on her but she can't see it. It's unsettling. They hide between the faces, she knows.

"Emma?" Regina seems to squeak "let's get out of here. I don't like that. It was a bad idea…"

Emma continues to move forward in the dark. She finally turns back to leave the dark and scary room listening to reason. Too late, she feels a hand pulling her in the dark. She drops the flashlight which switches off when it falls on the ground plunging them into total darkness. A large hand on her mouth prevents her from screaming, the first instinct that tackles in.

"Emma!" Regina screams but meets no answers.

"It's me" her assailant whispers in Emma's ear. Neal.

He scared her senseless. She clenches her teeth and when he releases his hold, she just wants to punch him in the face. Instead, she puts her black hood and walked backwards to melt into the decor.

"Emma?" Regina tries again, her voice is vibrating "If this is a joke, it's not funny at all!"

Emma feels the panic behind the anger. Guilt takes over her but she doesn't move from her hideout. That was the plan. After a too long silence, where Regina, breathless, doesn't seem to make a move.

"If that's a joke, it's not funny" she repeats again but they make no moves.

Neal goes for the door and Emma lightly brushes Regina's shoulder with her hand on her way out. A cry Emma wasn't expecting pierces her ears and she barely avoid Regina's punch. The stairs are creaking, Robin comes rushing in and Emma has just nearly the time to retreat between the masks, her heart beating furiously against her chest.

"I am here. Everything's fine now" he soothes as he takes her by her shoulders and puts his flashlight on the floor "Regina, what happened?"

Regina is crouched down her hands over her heads and a bottomless pit forms in Emma's stomach. What has she done? Regina should have been scared but not that much. She said she didn't believe in it anyway… Emma knows it's too late to have regrets now.

"Emma disappears" she can hear between the sobs.

"So did Neal"

Emma swallows and slowly goes to the open door. That was the plan. The floor creaks under their foot and Regina looks up. But Neal and Emma are well-hidden in the dark. Regina's sobs starts up again with a renewed vigor.

"Calm down, tell me what happened?"

Emma leaves, reluctantly, very reluctantly, so reluctantly that Neal has to pull her outside.

"We need to find Emma!" she hears as the both of them are going downstairs and leave the house they had prepared for that meditating prank.

"She doesn't even want to find where I've gone" Neal whispers jokingly as they finally get out.

"You're the least of her concern" and that doesn't surprise Emma.

Regina never really liked him anyway.

"And you're one of her priorities" he says with the mocking tone she usually likes but not in this instant.

'But not the first one' Emma thinks as she looks one last time at the false haunted house Neal and she had prepared to bring Regina and Robin together. He is a good guy. Regina will be happy with him. But it leaves a sour taste in Emma's mouth.

"What are you doing here?" a dangerous voice asks making Emma jumps from the couch.

Her eyes go wide as saucers when she realizes that, of course, she bet wrong. That instead of going to Robin's flat, they would come back to the flat she shares with Regina. The odds are against her, again.

"Watching X-files?" Emma answers, a dreadful feeling is piling up in the bottom of her stomach.

What's going to happen scares her shitless and she is right to. Regina's eyes are flaring with unveiled urge to murder her. Shit. Fuck.

"While I was worried sick about you, you were watching TV here?" Regina asks disbelieving, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

Emma looks up and Robin is there, looking at her with sympathy and it gets on her nerves. She doesn't need his pity. Fuck. Fuck a doodle doo.

"Yeah…" she doesn't know what to say "but you said you don't believe this stuff…"

When Emma's gaze comes back to Regina, she barely registers what is happening and the hand that hits her. She brings her hand up to her stinging cheek. Regina has just slapped her. Emma doesn't want to believe it but the hurt she feels is real. Well, she kind of deserves it.

Before Emma gathered herself from the shocking truth, arms circle her neck and Regina is crying on her shoulder. What?

"She thought something had happened to you and wouldn't leave…"

Oh. Emma brings down her hand over Regina's back to run a soothing hand. She looks up at Robin who seems to be suddenly uneasy.

"Neal sent me a text saying he left. I thought you were together" he says, unaware of the two other friends' scheming.

Emma raised her eyebrows.

"Well I should leave"

'Yes you should' is on the tip of her tongue but she only nods at him.

Once he left, Emma flops down on the couch pulling her roommate down. The guilty woman says soothing words as she gently rubs Regina's back while her roommate's sobs slows down. Her eyes fall on the rerun of X-files but her mind is elsewhere. She chides herself for being so stupid, for agreeing with Neal's stupid idea.

When Emma looked away from the TV, Regina is sleeping on her. She sighs and inadvertently lifts her roommate's shirt and freezes. She really, really wants to brush that hot skin she can feel under her palm and with an impossible strength of mind she slowly put back the shirt.

"Your hand is cold…" a drowsy voice said stirring Emma from her lurking desires.

"And?" she says with a false confidence tone.

"You woke me up" Regina stated be grudgingly.

Once awake, her roommate finally stretches and gets up without ado. She freezes on her way to the bathroom.

"What?" Emma asks curiously.

"Nothing" Regina answered stiffly before disappearing in the bathroom.

::::

Emma finally gets up after the second episode and walks to her bedroom. She stops in front of the bathroom where the light is on. Regina in still in there.

"Hey… Regina?" No answer. Well she as well may talk to the door "I am sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you. You know I wouldn't do it, right? Hey, Regina?" her voice is weak and she almost begs "Talk to me please."

No answers. Emma frowns.

"Hey? Are you okay?" Her voice raises from apprehension. What if something happened to her? "Regina?"

"I am okay."

"Oh" Emma feels the anger radiating from these three words.

Regina doesn't want to talk to her.

"Well, goodnight."

She waits a little but Regina doesn't answer. She is at least furious, at the most murderous. Emma shivers and flees like a coward. In her murderous state, Regina can be quite irrational. And it's an understatement.

Emma goes to her bedroom and puts her pajamas. She checks her phone, no messages apart from Neal. She sighs and opens the conversation when she hears her door creaks. She turns around and Regina is there, in her silk nightgown, leaning on the closed door. Emma has a hard time to pry her eyes away from her roommate's intent gaze. Her eyes are darker than usual. Her aura is more eerie. Her scent is more addictive. Maybe because of the dim light of the bedside lamp. Emma doesn't know what to think of it.

"What?" Emma tries, breathless.

The trespasser closes her eyes and breathes slowly like she is taking a really big decision.

"Regina?" Emma is afraid of what is going next.

Murderous state… Irrational mind… Vindictive woman… What if Regina kicks her out? What a fucking great Halloween…

"You know, I didn't really wanted to scare you off!" she declares, fear suddenly overflowing and Regina glares at her" Okay, fine! I'll take my things and tomorrow I 'll be out of your hair!"

"Emma?"

"What?"

"Why did you do this?"

After a silence, Emma exhales.

"Well, we scared you so Robin would save you and you would jump in his arms and then, you know, live happily forever after."

Regina burrows her frown and Emma just wants to pass her thumbs on it to make it disappears.

"I don't understand…"

"I thought you had the hots for Robin…" Emma explains, playing with the hem of her T-shirt.

"What? I don't have the… hots for him!" she repeats almost appalled by this very idea or by saying those very words.

"You always talk about him!" Emma exclaims surprised.

"Because you always talk about the dumbass!"

"Hey! the dumbass is my friend!" Emma defends and blinks in realization "So you don't like him?"

"I like him. But as a friend" Regina sighs and clenches her jaws before revealing "I have someone else in mind"

"What?" Emma shouts herself hoarse, not expecting this at all. Her head spins with that new information "Who's that? Do I know them?"

'Who is the new enemy?' Stays hanging in the air and new fears bubble up. She looks into Regina's mesmerizing eyes and her roommate's plump lips half curled up.

"Oh my God! Since when?" Emma recoils and runs a furious hand through her hair.

Regina looks at her amusedly. It only adds fuel to the fire.

"You didn't even tell me!" she almost yells accusingly.

The agitated woman stops and breathes audibly in a too oppressive silence. Regina doesn't say anything, her gaze hasn't left Emma since the beginning. After some time, Emma finally voices her fear.

"So… you're not kicking me out then?"

"Oh, Emma!" Regina's behavior radically changes to 180 degrees and she purrs with a voice even deeper than usual that sends chills down Emma's spine "Actually, quite the contrary…"

"What… what do you mean?" Emma stutters as she feels being pushed down on her bed while Regina hops on the double bed like a panther circling her prey and smirked.

« I am going to make sure you don't disappear on me again… »

And happy Halloween…