AN: Reposting my old stuff from AO3.
I don't own OUAT, unfortunately.
Thanks to my beta, Jess.
I should probably put some sort of alcohol warning here, so consider this a warning.
That's all, I hope you enjoy it!
"Everyone deserves their happy ending," Emma finished. She saw Regina's surprised smile widen and couldn't hide a happy grin of her own. They stayed like that for a short while, simply smiling, and Emma swore to herself that she would do everything in her power to keep that smile on Regina's face.
She was jerked out of her thoughts by the sound of Henry coughing. She turned to look at the Kid and raised an eyebrow at his awkward expression.
"I'm just gonna…" the teen started and shook his head. "I'm gonna go look at some other books for clues."
Emma looked at Henry go to one of the bookcases near the doorway and wondered why he had been in such a hurry to leave them alone. She turned to face Regina and was met with a puzzled expression similar to her own. Emma thought it best to change the subject back to the current situation.
"So… You don't know who lives here? Is that a part of the thing where some new people appeared in Storybrooke during the curse with Zelena?" Emma asked and watched Regina's focus shift to her as she spoke.
"Yes, I suppose that would be the reason. I don't know who lives here," Regina replied and furrowed her brow. That had to be the reason, right? Half the time Emma felt like nothing in this town made sense anymore. It was a town full of fairytale characters, though, so maybe she was expecting too much.
"Well, that's okay. We'll figure it out and get you your happier story," Emma said smiling at the former Mayor. Regina's smile returned to her lips. That was also when Henry returned to them, smirking like he had a plan.
"What's up, Kid?" Emma asked. Maybe Henry had found something.
"Nothing." Henry smiled. Emma raised an eyebrow, because she could tell there was something Henry was thinking about but just wasn't saying.
"Emma, do you wanna walk us home? Operation Mongoose." Henry's question seemed innocent enough, but Emma couldn't help the feeling that there was more to it and the Kid was planning something.
"Okay… Should we just come back here tomorrow?" she asked and turned to face Regina who nodded.
"Yes, I guess we… Well, maybe we should take a look at downstairs on our way out, but that should be it."
"I already did before finding the library," Henry said. A thought sprung into Emma's mind.
"Wait, how did you even get in here in the first place?" she hoped Henry hadn't inherited her past tendencies for occasional break-ins.
"Oh, through the window," Henry shrugged. Emma tried to fight her natural reaction that would've made her seem impressed. She turned to look at Regina who was most likely trying to figure out if she should be shocked that their son would break into a house through a window. She was probably just happy that Henry had found the place, though. Emma shook her head and laughed.
"Okay, let's go."
Regina wanted to take one last look at the house using her magic, but they didn't find anyone or any clues of the Author, so they decided to return the following day. After walking to the mansion, Henry said there was something he needed to do, which left Emma standing on the porch with Regina while Henry made his way upstairs. Emma furrowed her brow. She was now certain the Kid was up to something else than the Operation, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.
"Are you coming in to finish those shots?" she heard Regina say. Emma raised an eyebrow. Regina hardly looked like she needed anything to drink anymore, a slight smile still on her face, but Emma wouldn't have missed shots with the brunette for the world, so she smiled back.
"Sure. Show me how it's done in the Enchanted Forest."
This received an eye roll from Regina. The woman closed the front door behind them just when Henry came back down the stairs, claiming he wasn't hungry but just very tired. After making sure that he ate something, Regina let him go back upstairs to sleep. Then, Regina led the way to her study, Emma following right behind her.
After what could've been anything between half an hour or two, Emma found herself drunk on the floor in Regina's study. They had ended up doing tequila shots, and Regina was sitting next to her.
"You know, Regina, you can do way better than him," Emma said as she grabbed Regina's shoulder for balance. Or at least she thought it was for that. She just realized her hand was on Regina's shoulder, assuming she was trying to steady herself. Emma guessed it could've been her subconscious wanting to comfort the other woman, too. "Didn't he smell like forest anyway?"
Regina swayed a bit, trying to focus her gaze on Emma. "How did you know that?"
"I just do," Emma winked, not telling her that Snow had mentioned that as she had gone on and on about what a perfect couple Regina and Robin were. Emma hadn't been exactly interested in that, so the "smells like forest" part had been the highlight of the conversation.
Regina narrowed her eyes, so Emma ended up telling her the truth in about five seconds. Regina laughed and took another swing of tequila straight from the bottle. Emma had never seen the woman like this. She looked at Regina mesmerized in her drunk haze; the brunette was so beautiful, her hair mussed and lipstick almost all brushed off. Regina put the bottle down and scrunched her face.
"You're staring at me, Emma. Why are you sta- oh-" Regina tried to stand up, but gravity combined with her current drunken state brought her back on the floor next to Emma. She laughed and seemed to decide that it was a good idea to go lie on the floor and use Emma's thighs as a pillow. Emma's breath caught in her throat when Regina tried to find a more comfortable position, her dark hair spread across Emma's lap.
Emma was so drunk, and she really shouldn't have felt this strongly about closeness with the woman, but that didn't stop her from realizing that if Regina had turned her head and Emma had been wearing less clothes, the whole situation would've looked a lot more different. Emma stiffened when she realized how welcome the thought actually was.
"Emma. You're still staring at me," Regina said, looking up.
"Um, yea, sorry," she managed to respond as she grabbed the tequila bottle next to them and brought it to her lips. She shouldn't have felt like this. More than anything, it was totally inappropriate. She wasn't exactly single, and hadn't Regina just lost her… true love? No. Soulmate. What was the difference?
"Regina," she said after gulping down some more tequila. "What did you see in that guy anyway?" She should've probably known better than to ask something like that, but Emma couldn't help herself because the alcohol had lowered her inhibition to the extent that questions about Robin were the least of her worries.
Regina looked at her for a while before answering. "He… made me feel safe, he made me feel wanted and forget about other things. It was simple. It was nice," Regina slurred the last words.
"It was nice?" Emma snorted. "Regina, a bubble bath is nice. You deserve so much more than simple and nice. All that stuff about your destiny being mapped out for you. Isn't soulmate just like that? You wanted to make your own destiny, right?" The guy had strong adultery tendencies, and Emma couldn't fully understand why Regina didn't think she could do so much better. "You deserve someone who understands you and someone to whom you always come first."
"How about you, then?" Regina inquired. The woman sounded surprisingly sober considering the stage of inebriation they were both in.
Emma felt her cheeks flush. "How about me what?"
"I meant how about you and the pirate, then? Does he understand you? Would you come first to him even if you weren't in a relationship with him? Is it more than just settling for someone who is easy?" Regina crossed her arms while her head still rested in Emma's lap. "It certainly isn't settling for someone with personal hygiene," Regina muttered partly to herself and partly to Emma.
Emma narrowed her eyes at that. Regina still wasn't meeting her gaze.
"You sound awfully jealous," Emma pointed out. Now that she came to think of it, this wasn't the only time Regina's actions could be interpreted as such. Emma suddenly remembered the woman's remarks about Hook's eyeliner and the snarky comments about him being Emma's boyfriend in fucking Neverland. Regina stiffened and got up to sit.
"No, I don't," Regina said in a stern voice and let out a small laugh, but her eyes betrayed her. There was something else there, and it seemed like she had almost got caught. Regina looked around and grabbed the tequila bottle, taking another swing.
"Okay," Emma responded. She knew Regina wasn't being honest, but what was she supposed to say? This was getting weird very fast, and she was so very drunk. Emma closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she found Regina looking at her.
"I think I should go back home to sleep," Emma finally said.
"I fully support your will to do just that, but you're not going anywhere in that condition," Regina mumbled, swinging her arm in Emma's direction. "You're going to the bedroom. Guest. Guest bedroom"
"I can just poof myself back to Snow's," Emma decided to try, but apparently Regina wasn't satisfied with her answer.
"And lose a limb in the process? No, you're not using magic in that state and neither am I. Come on, Emma," the brunette said and attempted to get up, searching purchase from the coffee table next to them.
Emma finally got up from the position she had practically been glued in. She followed Regina up the stairs, trying not to fall and wake up Henry.
Regina stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at Emma.
"Wait. You need nightwear," she announced, making her way towards one of the rooms. Emma followed, not knowing why she should've waited in the dark hallway. She opened the door after Regina and was obviously brought to the woman's bedroom. Regina jumped when she heard Emma had followed her, but then she just continued her way into the walk-in closet.
Standing there waiting felt incredibly unnecessary to Emma, so she made her way towards Regina's bed, just to sit down. She really did know better than that even in her current state, but she just wanted to rest her legs. Maybe a part of her wanted to see Regina's reaction as well. She collapsed on the bed, which felt absolutely heavenly after sitting on the floor for so long.
Time passed, and when Emma couldn't hear Regina come back, she decided to rest her eyes for a little while. They had all had such a long day. When she finally heard steps return from the closet, she didn't want to open her eyes anymore.
"Emma," she heard Regina whisper.
"M-hhmm," Emma managed to answer as she snuggled one of the pillows on the bed.
"I'm not sleeping in a guest room," Regina responded and sat on the bed next to Emma, trying to scoot her over and placing a hand on her thigh. "This is my bed."
"Well, sleep here with me, then," Emma mumbled into the pillow she was clutching now, refusing to open her eyes. Then she realized what she had said. "Well, you know what I mean. Just sleeping… I'm not moving," she let out with a final sigh. Not that I'd mind the other kind of sleeping with you.
"What?" the shock and incredulity in Regina's weary voice made Emma realize that she had probably said the last part out loud. In any other state, she would've panicked because of her revelation, but right now she was barely conscious and just wanted to sleep her drunken state off. She kept hugging the pillow.
"I'm not moving. Just sleep, Regina," Emma muttered just before slipping into unconsciousness, Regina's hand still on her thigh.
This is gonna be three chapters long, I think. (Reviews make my day, just so you know :D)
A non-native English-speaker here, so if you saw anything out of place, please tell me. Thank you for reading!