A/N:

Every chapter is going to be set in the next night.

Set after 'Queen of Hearts'.

I haven't written anything in forever… But I thought about this idea ever since season 1 ended. Please forgive any spelling and grammar mistakes since my English isn't perfect. And, well thanks for reading!

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Chapter 1

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First Night

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Twenty minutes to midnight.

Regina lay awake in her bed, trying to close her eyes but always ending up staring at the ceiling.

It had been too many times that she'd checked the clock. The minutes were dragging.

It was the second night in a row now that she was having troubles falling asleep.

She had tried to fight it, with warm milk and honey, and - when that didn't work - a glass of bourbon. Shortly, she had considered a little, enchanted drink - a quick, harmless spell that had proven to be helpful countless times before - but shook it off again.

She was going to stick to her promise to Henry.

The boy was in his bedroom, only doors away.

When she had checked on him two hours ago, he'd been tucked under his favorite blanket, steadily breathing in content, deep sleep. From the doorframe, she could only see the back of his head. After watching him for a minute, she whispered "Good night", more to herself than to him, and gently closed the door again.

Now it seemed to her as if she hadn't slept a minute since she had lain down.

The bedroom was so quiet. She felt like being locked inside those four walls. Not a single exterior sound was coming through her door, the windows were closed and only dull moonlight came through the glass pane as if she was cut off from the rest of the house, almost imprisoned.

Of course, all of that was ridiculous, she could walk through the door at any time if she wanted.

In this moment, it felt better not to move, though.

Was it the thoughts that kept her awake or the sleeplessness that kept her thinking? She'd be slowly, silently going insane, unnoticed by anybody, seemingly the same from the outside but something shifting deep inside her. Not that the town folk wouldn't expect anything like that from her sooner or later, anyway.

Enough.

She would make one last attempt to put herself to sleep and fix herself a drink. After that, there still was enough time to feel sorry for herself.

A second later, Regina sat up in bed, pulled her legs out from under the blanket and put them on the floor. It was cold beneath her bare feet. She took her dressing gown from the back of the chair and put it around her shoulders.

Regina went downstairs in the dark and vanished inside the kitchen. Turning on the lamps there, she blinked, the light hurting her dry eyes, and suddenly feeling the tiredness in her bones again. Her body felt so heavy.

She just wanted to sleep, sleep through a whole couple of hours before it would be morning again and another day of having no idea what was going to happen would overrun her as it had been since… since how many years ago?

Maybe a cup of herbal tea would help. It would fill the hole in her stomach, at least.

She opened the cupboard, took the tea box and put a small kettle filled with water on the stove. After a minute, she added the tea into the boiling water and the smell filled her nostrils. It was a familiar scent that calmed her at once. It made her think of the early days of fall when Henry would be prone to colds and loved to have hot tea in the afternoons with her. But their lives won't ever be like that again. She couldn't pretend that none of it had happened, and even if she'd wanted to, the others did not forget.

Regina poured the hot liquid into a big mug and flinched a little when her hands touched the walls of the porcelain but, in the end, it felt good.

When she turned around, she was inadvertently startled. However, she quickly collected herself and smiled, embarrassed.

"Hi", Emma seemed surprised to find her here at this time of night.

"I… I was just getting a glass of water", the blonde said awkwardly, apologetically looking at Regina. She hesitated - Regina guessed she waited for some kind of permission from her. Which she didn't need since she lived here now. Sort of.

"Go ahead"

Emma put her hand on the handle of a cupboard but Regina interrupted her with a "… the one on the left", before she'd be searching the whole thing.

"Thanks", Emma gasped with a smirk, took out a glass and slowly closed it again. Regina had stepped aside appropriately, to let her get to the sink, and clung to her tea cup - still hot - with both hands.

Two days ago, Henry finally had suggested that Emma would move in with them. Or begged for it rather than making it a proposal. After Mary Margaret - or Snow, Regina couldn't get her mind around on what to call her - and Emma had come back from the other realm, the two women had lived in Mary Margaret's apartment just like they used to do. Until it became apparent that Snow really wanted David to be with her all the time - they're married, after all - which was a not-so-subtle hint for Emma to leave. Henry had, right after they'd been back, actually agreed to live with Regina, moving back into the big, quiet house. It probably wasn't more than a sleeping arrangement, though the happiness she'd felt almost strangled her.

And then came Emma. When they sat together for a spell after Regina brought Henry to the diner he suggested - at both their mild shock - that it would be the easiest solution of all. Emma needed a place to stay, their house was really big, and he could have both of his moms at once. Both of his moms, Regina's stomach still ached when she heard him referring to Emma as his mother. Though she should be used to it by now.

Emma had smiled at the boy, and told her that it wasn't necessary, right before Regina, on a whim, said yes. It had been her "fault" that Emma had safely returned from the Fairytale Land as it was hers that the woman was now standing in her kitchen. Sometimes she realized that things really had changed since Emma had invaded Storybrooke. Now she took over her kitchen, too?

Emma wore a tank top and wide pajama pants, feet bare just as Regina's. It suddenly amused her how - after knowing about their true lives in a completely different world - they were all able to carry on with the Storybrooke lifestyle. But Emma grew up in this world, after all. Regina wondered if the blonde had been very relieved to return to the comforts of this obviously more convenient life. But would she actually want to go back to the Enchanted Forest herself?

Emma leaned against the kitchen counter, drinking her water and looking her in the eye, face unreadable.

Regina resisted her gaze for a couple of seconds - as she always did in their cat-and-mouse game, and they weren't going to break with tradition, right - but then glanced down at the floor. She just thought about how to get out of this situation - preparing a line in her head to excuse herself - when Emma abruptly cleared her throat and made her look at her again.

"Couldn't sleep?"

It was the sort of thing to say when you had no idea what to talk about. Regina wasn't really in the mood for it. It was enough that she had to live with the thought of accidentally meeting Emma in her house at any point - in front of the bathroom, searching for her keys, sitting at breakfast with Henry - but did that mean they had to talk?

"It's nothing. I'm a… light sleeper. I heard something and…" Which was a lie. Her throat felt croaky and her voice must've sounded like the one of a tired, defeated woman.

She could see the thoughts bouncing around inside Emma's head, probably thinking about a sneaky response, or detecting her lie. She didn't really look like she was buying it. Not that it mattered much. They might have ridden Regina of a lot of privileges lately, but at least doing what she wanted to do in her own house wasn't one of them.

Finally, the blonde pushed herself away from the counter and took a step towards the door taking the water with her, leaving Regina feeling relieved at being alone again. It wasn't so much that Emma herself was bothering her, she just felt better on her own as a matter of principle. One day, she might've actually wanted to talk to her. As absurd as it would've looked a few months ago, there might be some things they actually had in common. Not to mention the fact that she met her mother not too long ago. Surely lots of things to talk about.

But not tonight.

Before she walked out, Emma turned around - the door knob in her hand - and quietly said,

"You know, hot chocolate always made me sleep like a baby."

The smile accompanying that suggestion was friendly and sincere. Emma Swan and hot chocolate. Figures. This brew, of which Regina wasn't particularly a fan, could probably fix everything for Emma. If it were that easy. Still, she appreciated the gesture.

"I'm already having something", Regina said pointing at her cup, "but I'll give it a try next time".

She returned the little smile that had lately become a kind of habit between them. The smile that said they accepted each other's presence in Henry's life, in their lives, that there was a way to work things out without fighting, together. The best way for Henry, said the slightly alarmed voice in Regina's head, was the two of them working together. Living in the same house was an unusual start but was probably heading in the right direction.

The blonde nodded, barely recognizably, and left the room.

Regina took a deep breath and a sip from her cup, leaned back on the sink again and pulled the gown closer around her waist. She was going to wait a couple of minutes to avoid meeting her on the stairs or in the hallway, before returning to her own bedroom

… . .

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