***Author's Notes: So, this is my attempt at a Valentine's Day fic. It's also my very first story that isn't AU, so please bear with me. ALL of you amazing writers out there manage to get Regina and Emma so perfect in your fanon fics that it is very intimidating, to say the least. I bow down to you! I hope that all of you had an amazing day today full of love and chocolate (which me me, are practically the same thing) and I hope that you are ready for my update of Strangers On A Plane this Friday. It's gonna be a good one!***
Regina gathers all of her things, making sure that she is not leaving any important paperwork behind. With it being Valentine's Day, everyone else in City Hall has gone home already, all the ladies leaving early because they want to get dolled up for a romantic evening with their beaus, while all the gentlemen are more than likely going to stop by Moe's flower shop to pick up their bouquets of pre-ordered roses, lilies, or whatever it is that they think or know will score them some love this evening.
Henry had called her earlier in the day asking if it was alright with her that he went out with some friends to Granny's after school. They were going to grab a quick bite to eat and then try to catch a movie. By the tone of his voice, she could tell that he felt terrible for asking because he probably did not want to leave her to fend for herself tonight, but at the same time, she could tell that he really wanted to go. She agreed, of course, because she would do anything for her "little prince", even if it meant just doing paperwork with a glass of wine while The Vow plays on the television in the background.
Once Regina is back at home, she puts her briefcase on the couch before she kicks her heels off making sure to pick them up before she makes her way up the stairs and towards her bedroom. Normally, she is not one to change into house clothes as soon as she walks in the door, but tonight, something relaxing and more comfortable seems to be calling her name. She pulls her most comfortable pair to yoga pants out of her dresser and then walks into her closet to find something warmer to wear. She eventually finds a sweatshirt that says "Boston" across the front that she recognizes to be one of Emma's. Not really wanting to try and determine how Emma's sweatshirt made its way into her closet, she shrugs to herself and starts to remove her dress shirt so that she can change her clothes. It takes a bit of contemplation but she finally talks herself into removing her makeup and cleaning her face. She has no plans to leave the house again, nor is she expecting any company, so she may as well let her skin breathe.
Once Regina is finished with freshening herself up, she makes her way downstairs and into the kitchen. She had plans to cook dinner for Henry and herself but now, she does not really see the point in it. She had a good-sized lunch today and she can always make herself a sandwich if she gets really hungry. So instead, she walks over to her wine rack and reaches for a bottle of her favorite Malbec. She opens the bottle, pulls a glass out of the cabinet, and walks both into the living room, placing them onto the coffee table. She lights a fire and then pours herself glass of wine, twirling it around in her glass first before taking a sip. "Mmmm." She hums into her glass, a small smile forming on her lips. She puts the glass back down and pulls her briefcase onto her lap. Right as she is pulling out a stack of paperwork from the sheriff's office, her doorbell rings.
Reging looks over at the clock on her mantle. It was only barely 6pm and she was not expecting Henry to be home until at least eight or nine. She furrows her brows as she slides everything back into her briefcase. She puts it down onto the floor, leaning it against the couch, and gets up so she can go check to see who is at the door. Maybe Henry decided not to go to a movie after all and he forgot to bring his key today. When she opens the door, she is surprised to see that it is not Henry, but her son's other mother. "Emma?"
"Hi." Emma says shyly as she rocks back and forth on her heels. It took her all week to bribe Henry into going out with friends tonight instead of spending Valentine's Day at home with his brunette mother. She knows that they have a long-standing tradition of dinner and a movie that they hardly ever stray away from. In fact, the only times that they did were both because of the town being under a curse. Henry was hesitant to agree which is something that Emma was both very happy yet extremely frustrated about. On the one hand, she loved that their son knew how much spending this holiday with him meant to Regina, but on the other hand, she really needed this time alone with the other woman.
Emma knows that she realized way too late that Regina is actually her true love, and the truth is, she really should have known all along. The Savior and the Evil Queen. It really is quite poetic once she could wrap her head around it all. She is not sure why she thought that Valentine's Day would be the perfect time to confess her love, but once she made up her mind about it, there was no backing down or talking herself out of it. She tried everything that she could think of to get Henry to agree to doing something with his friends. Everything that is, except for telling him the truth about her intentions. She has many reasons for that also, but the most important one is that she does not want to get his hopes up. The chances that Regina felt the same about her were slim to none and there was no point in dragging Henry into her one-sided illusion. She eventually convinces Henry that Violet would probably have a much better time if he went to the movies with the group of them. It was a cheap shot, she has to admit, but she was completely out of ideas at that point. She even offered to give him money so that he could buy dinner and a movie for both himself and Violet, and that, was the final push that landed her the opportunity to be standing here, right now, on Regina's front porch.
"Is everything alright?" Regina asks as she looks around and behind Emma wondering if she had come by alone or whether she had her mother in tow.
"Yeah, everything's fine. Um...Henry told me that he had plans with friends tonight and I just wanted to stop by to make sure you were okay." Emma lies.
Regina frowns. "I'm fine. I was just about to do some work and I'll probably just turn in early."
Emma nods and cannot get herself to look away from Regina's beautiful brown eyes. She finally does look away and sees something that happens very rarely. Regina is actually in stretch pants and a sweatshirt. Her sweatshirt. "Hey! I've been looking for that sweatshirt." She points out.
Regina flushes with embarrassment. "I found it in my closet and couldn't remember how it even got there. I assumed it was alright to put it on. I can change out of it for you if you want-"
"NO!" Emma exclaims. "It actually looks really good on you. You should keep it." She adds with a smile.
Regina's face heats up at Emma's compliment. Neither of them move or say anything and when the awkward silence finally gets too loud, Regina speaks up again. "I wasn't really expecting company, but do you want to come in?"
Emma's face brightens with a wide smile and she nods. "Only if it is not too much of a bother." She says as she desperately hopes that Regina does not change her mind.
"You're never a bother, Emma." Regina offers genuinely. She thinks about this comment as she steps back to allow Emma space to step into her home. When she first met Emma, every single, tiny little, minute thing about the blonde bothered her, but now, she does not seem to even remember what that felt like. Emma can certainly still be annoying, but it is now an endearing kind of annoyance. She is still always pushing Regina's buttons, but not in the terrible, anger-provoking way that she had always done so before. And Emma is still incredibly stubborn, probably the most stubborn person that she has ever met, but at some point in their relationship, Regina grew to admire the woman's drive, her determination, and even her uncompromising pigheadedness. The progress that they have made still manages to amaze her. It is for all of these reasons that she finds herself becoming more and more attached to the younger woman. Sure, she is Henry's other mother and technically family, but this, this feeling that she gets when she is around Emma these days, it feels like so much more than just fondness and friendship. And if she were completely honest with herself, the implications really scare her.
Emma smiles at Regina as her heart starts to race. "So, I stopped by the store on my way over here and they were completely out of Valentine's Day candies. The closest thing that I could find to chocolate was this…"
Regina notices for the first time that Emma has a reusable shopping bag with her and it's filled to its brim. When she sees what it is that Emma reaches for and pulls out of the bag, she raises a brow at her. "Swiss Miss?"
Emma chuckles nervously as she turns her head away from Regina to look down at her feet. "I just thought that we could hang out and maybe make some hot chocolate or something. I would have brought wine but I know how much you hate drinking in the middle of the week, especially since I hit you so hard with paperwork today."
Emma's knowledge of her daily routines and preferences surprises Regina. But, that is not even the most surprising part of everything that Emma just said. Emma wants to hang out with her. On Valentine's Day, of all days. She clears her throat when she finds that her mouth has gone dry. "I actually just opened a bottle of wine. Would you like a glass?" She offers.
Emma's looks up again and smiles. "Kay." She says trying to hide her excitement. She takes a step towards the kitchen but remembers quickly that Regina prefers that people take their shoes off at the door, so she bends down to untie her boots sliding them off. When she is upright again, she finds Regina staring at her with an amused grin on her face. "What?"
Regina just shakes her head and walks towards the kitchen expecting Emma to follow. She walks straight to the cabinet so that she can get another wine glass for her guest.
Emma puts her bag of things on top of the kitchen island and starts unpacking it. She pulls out a bag of marshmallows, a can of whipped cream, a container of strawberries, and a box of instant cocoa before folding her bag back up and stuffing it into her jacket pocket.
When Regina sees everything that is now sitting on her counter, she feels her face get warm. It may be wishful thinking on her part, but she wanted to believe that Emma is trying to create somewhat of a romantic atmosphere with her choice of groceries. She shakes herself from her thoughts when she remembers that she had no plans to cook any dinner. "Emma, I don't know if you have eaten already but since Henry was going to be out until later, I hadn't planned on cooking anything for myself…"
"Oh! That's fine. We can go straight to dessert." Emma says as she grabs the package of strawberries, holding them up with a big smile. Then she walks around the island to where the sink is to rinse the strawberries before grabbing a bowl from one of Regina's cabinets and filling it up with the cleaned fruit.
Regina could not help but smile at how familiar Emma is with her kitchen and her home. "Alright. But don't you dare tell Henry that we ever had dessert before having an actual meal. If you do, I will not only deny it, but I will make you regret that you ever stepped foot into this town." She adds the last part dramatically knowing very well that it was an empty threat.
Emma laughs but bows her head. "Yes, your Majesty. And you know I wouldn't dare."
Regina shakes her head and watches as Emma also grabs the can of whipped cream and walks towards the living room. She watches as Emma puts everything down onto the coffee table and then finds a comfortable spot on the rug right next to it. She hands Emma the empty wine glass. "I do have living room furniture, Miss Swan."
Emma flinches at Regina's use of that name. "I wanted to be closer to the fire." She says quietly. "And can you not with that whole 'Miss Swan' bit? Everytime you call me that, it makes me feel like I'm in trouble with you or something…" She probably sounds more irritated than she intends, but she came over to the mansion tonight so that she can woo the woman she believes to be her true love, and so far it has been as if it were like any other normal night after they have had dinner with Henry.
Regina frowns. "I'm sorry, Emma. I...it's a difficult habit to break. I promise, I'll try harder."
Emma manages a smile. "It's fine. I'm sorry that I made you feel bad about it. It's not really that big a deal, I guess." She reaches over for the bottle of wine and carefully pours herself a bit of it. She would hate to splash anything onto Regina's rug giving her more reason and ammunition to force her onto the couch.
Regina studies Emma for a second before walking around to where she is sitting, making herself comfortable right next to the blonde. Without thinking about it, she puts her hand on Emma's thigh. "Hey, I'm honestly sorry."
Emma takes a drink of her wine to take her mind off of Regina's hand that is currently still on her leg before nodding. "I know you are. Seriously, don't worry about it." She smiles at Regina hoping to reassure her. When Regina is still looking at her with a frown, She reaches for a strawberry and the can of whipped cream. She sprays a small dollop onto the tip of the strawberry and holds it out towards Regina.
The brunette just shakes her head with a happy grin before grabbing Emma's wrist and guiding it towards her mouth. Then she sucks off all of the whipped cream before grabbing the strawberry from Emma's fingers and taking a bite of it.
Emma's eyes go wide. Why was that so hot? She chuckles nervously and then takes a strawberry for herself, adding a generous amount of the fluffy white cream, and sticking the whole thing in her mouth.
Regina laughs when she sees that Emma has gotten whipped cream all over her face in the process, and once she has swallowed her bite, Regina instinctively reaches over to clean Emma's face, specifically the corner of her mouth.
When Emma feels Regina's thumb touch her lip, she feels a spark of electricity shoot through her entire body. She lifts her own hand and grabs onto the other woman's wrist lightly. She looks into Regina's eyes then and even though her first instinct is to look away, she forces herself to hold her gaze. C'mon Emma, it's now or never.
Regina's heart is suddenly racing. Before she can say anything Emma is leaning in towards her and in another second, she feels Emma's lips on hers. She widens her eyes in surprise and pulls away. "Emma…"
Emma is mortified. "Oh my god, Regina. I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that. I should probably go." She quickly pulls herself up, nearly tripping over her own feet as she half crawls and half stumbles towards the front door.
Regina is still in shock when she realizes that Emma is no longer in the room. She quickly recovers as she gets up to chase after the blonde. "Emma! Wait!" When she reaches the foyer, Emma is still putting on her shoes.
"Ugh, stupid boots." Emma mutters to herself. She gets both of of her shoes on and reaches out for the front door without even tying her laces.
Before Emma can get the door open however, Regina grabs a hold of her arm, stopping her. "Emma, please wait."
Emma takes a deep breath and turns towards Regina. She hardens herself even though she can feel her heart breaking and hopes that the other woman cannot see right through her. "Regina, I-"
Regina cuts her off with a kiss.
The kiss is slow and sweet. And it is incredibly soft. When Emma can feel her brain functioning again, she grabs ahold of Regina's waist pulling her in closer. When the kiss ends, Emma is in a daze. "Um...I forgot what I was going to say…" She says absentmindedly.
Regina chuckles but her expression turns to a more serious one. "Well, I think that we need to talk. So maybe you should take your shoes back off and we can go into the kitchen and make some hot chocolate. Only, I refuse to use those pre-package things that you brought over. We will make some proper hot cocoa."
Emma rolls her eyes playfully. "Fine." She lets go of Regina so that she can pull off her shoes again. Regina is already walking away when she's finished so she hurries after the brunette. "But, hey!" She says barely catching up with her. "How about the strawberries and whipped cream?" She asks.
Regina turns around so she can look at Emma again. "I don't know about the strawberries, Dear, but depending on how this talk of ours goes, we may need that whipped cream for later." Then she winks and walks away leaving Emma standing there with the biggest, most goofy grin on her face.