I'm very sorry for this. *hands you a flower*

So apparently when you tell Regina – or at least elude to the fact – that you have feelings for her and then she gives you this really fucking belated warning to not do so she reacts by pretending it never happened.

Regina's been strategically avoiding Emma for the past month and it's starting to seriously piss Emma the fuck off.

Because seriously?

You can't hear something like that, you can't fucking say something like she did and pretend it just never happened. You can't.

Or at least Emma can't.

She really, really can't.

Emma supposes it must be super easy for Regina to ignore her so effectively when she's always with forest boy.

Literally a week after That Night, these three broads (and seriously, seriously – Ursula, fucking Cruella de Vil, and Maleficent – and didn't she throw a sword through her very big dragon belly and turn her to ash?) showed up and cast this curse, with the help of Rumple because of course he had to be involved in it, but her and Regina intervene and stop it (the only time since That Night that they've actually been within touching distance of each other) and as a result, the town line and that annoying magical barrier goes on the fritz and it's about a day later when Robin, Marian, and Roland (okay, forest boy is a big eh, but that kid is fucking adorable, I mean really who has dimples like that?) show up out of thin fucking air and Marian's just like completely, 100% okay with Regina and Robin being back together and what the actual fuck but Emma helps Marian and the little dude find a place in Storybrooke because yeah, she may have a few choice words for the woman but they need a place to live and she's not that bitter and okay, maybe Regina had asked her to help with it and yeah, she lied, actually she's really fucking bitter.

Just not toward Marian. Or Roland. Or even Robin.

Okay, maybe a little bit toward him.

Regina, Robin, and Roland. R cubed. How cute.

Emma mentally elbows herself then because what the fuck, brain.

It's supposed to be their weekly Sunday lunch at Granny's. Something Henry had insisted on the night after Emma had joined in on Operation Mongoose and she and Regina both agreed to because well, he's their kid and they can't actually deny him something like wanting to spend time with his two mothers. Together. The three of them. As a family.

Regina, Emma, and Henry. That has a nice fucking ring to it too, goddammit. Just because it's not a fucking alliteration -

"You okay, Ma?"

Emma's head snaps up and Henry's looking at her with this amused little smirk thing that looks exactly like Regina and Emma wonders if she had been speaking out loud.

"You pulverized your fries," he nods his head in the direction of the plate in front of Emma as he takes a slurp of his chocolate milkshake.

She's indeed mashed them to the point where it looks like mushy vomit and she grimaces before sliding her plate away from her.

"Yeah, I'm fine, kid. Just full."

He tilts his head, looking at her curiously, and sometimes she forgets that he's almost fifteen, that he was precocious even at ten and god only knows how much he's picked up now so Emma scoots out of the booth with a mumbled 'bathroom' and 'be right back' and then curses herself because yeah, that wasn't a glaringly obvious dodge at all.

Emma bursts through the door of the bathroom and grips the edge of a sink.

Regina's late. Because of course she is. She's always late and Emma doesn't know if that's a queen thing or if that's just a Regina thing.

They hadn't done this lunch since the Sunday after That Night and Henry was beginning to get suspicious, had accused Emma of doing something to upset Regina, (and she's still a little miffed about that one because, excuse him she has done nothing to her…Regina's the one who's been ignoring her) and after a rather heated phone call, Regina had relented and well, here they were.

Or at least here Emma and Henry were.

Emma splashes some cold water on her face and looks at her reflection, taking in a deep breath before walking out of the bathroom.

Where Regina and Robin are engaging in a rather noisy kiss against the opposite wall, hidden in this little alcove off to the side and his hands are on her ass and Emma feels bile rising up in her throat and she tries to slip past them without being seen, she really, really fucking does but she hears Robin's startled sound of surprise – which is muffled a bit by Regina's mouth and Emma wishes she could claw that particular sound out of her memory for like fuckingever – and she turns just as Regina's head whips to the side. Emma watches as her eyes widen.

Watches as she jumps away from Robin in a hurried, jerky movement.

Watches as her hand comes up to wipe away her smeared lip stick and forest boy saliva.

Watches as she fixes her dress and fusses with her hair.

Watches as apologetic, soft brown eyes try to plead with her, ask for forgiveness, for understanding.

All of which Emma is definitely not going to give. Not anytime soon anyway, and certainly not two seconds after catching her competition's tongue down Regina's throat.

She thinks even bleach wouldn't be enough to rid her of the images.

"Emma – "

"Henry's been waiting," Emma says and turns and makes her way back to the booth, trying to not look like she'd just witnessed the woman she's in love with sucking face with another man.

She's not sure she's succeeded when Henry gives her another head quirk and crinkles his brow.

She just gives him a tight smile and shakes her head for him not to ask.

And then she sees Robin walk past and out the door of the diner just as Regina rushes up to their booth; her words breathless, her disposition a bit harried, frazzled.

Emma's never seen her like that and she isn't entirely sure she likes it.

She's 100% sure she's not entirely sure because of how she got like that.

She slides in next to Henry and wraps her arm around him, pressing a kiss to his temple.

"I'm sorry I'm late, sweetheart."

Henry leans into her embrace and gives a little shrug before beaming up at her.

Emma's heart melts a little then because there's nothing more precious than Henry loving his mother.

Nothing more precious than Regina returning that love fiercely.

Emma's bitterness weakens just a tiny bit.

"It's fine, Mom. Emma and I already ate though," he gives a sheepish grin.

Regina chuckles and her eyes flicker over to Emma's briefly before she brushes at Henry's hair.

"That's quite alright, dear, I'm not very hungry. I'm just happy to spend time with you."

And Henry beams again, ducking to take another drag of his rapidly disappearing milkshake and then Regina's turning her focus on Emma.

And Emma kind of freezes because well, shit she has no idea what to even say to her.

Regina senses her discomfort though and gives her a timid smile.

Timid. Regina is acting timid right now.

Emma hates that she looks so beautiful like that. Soft.

Happy.

She's trying to be mad at her, damn it.

"How are you?"

Seriously?

She at least had the decency to look a little embarrassed by it.

"I'm good. You?"

And Regina smiles again, cheeks still tinged a light pink, nodding with a quiet 'fine' and Henry looks between the both of them with narrowed, suspicious eyes but then Regina asks him about his day and he's off on a tangent about how he's really into this new book they're reading in English class and that's about how the rest of the lunch goes.

Henry entertaining and Regina chuckling and sending furtive glances at Emma and Emma ignoring her for a change and they're just exiting the diner, Henry running along ahead of them (something about going to study at a friend's house just a block away from Granny's) with a wave and a 'be home later!' and looks both ways before crossing the street.

Emma thinks it's just for show because Regina's watching him like a hawk.

"Before dark, Henry!" Regina calls after him and he gives another wave of acknowledgment before turning the corner.

Emma turns to head toward her car with a 'see ya later' thrown over her shoulder but a warm hand wraps around her wrist and she inhales sharply at the touch.

"Emma, wait."

"What?" It comes out a bit harsher than she'd intended. She doesn't look at Regina.

She hears a sigh. Regina's hand falls away.

"Are you really going to act like a child? I already have a fourteen year old, Emma, I don't need another one."

That gets Emma to meet her eyes.

"Seriously?" She snorts caustically. "Yeah, okay, Regina, I'm the child. Because ignoring me for a month because you don't know how to handle emotions is so mature."

Regina jerks back.

"I don't know how to handle my feelings? Are you not moping around like some kicked puppy because I'm with Robin again?"

Emma's skin alights, prickles, heat racing and curling low in her belly. She takes a step forward, eyes blazing, her finger jabbing at Regina's chest.

"Fuck you, Regina Mills, fuck you."

She turns and crosses the street, ripping open the door of her bug.

"You're too much of a coward to do that," and she whirls around. Regina's still standing on the sidewalk, her eyes now dancing with challenge.

And Emma's so up for one.

She's in Regina's personal space in ten seconds flat and Emma watches as Regina's eyes track to her mouth before tipping back up. She feels a bit of déjà vu at the action. A chainsaw, a particular apple tree, and a total disregard for personal space flashes at the forefront of her mind.

"You don't need me for that. That's what Robin's for. You were forty-five minutes late because of that."

She spits the last word out, her mouth curling in disgust. Because she had seen it and she's fucking jealous.

"It must be really convenient for you guys. I don't understand why he's staying at Granny's though. Wouldn't it be easier for him to just move in?" Emma asks acerbically.

"That's none of your business," Regina snaps out, Emma having hit a particular nerve. She's not exactly sure which one.

"You're right, it's not," Emma concedes. "Maybe you should stop flaunting it around our kid then. Seeing a man's tongue down your mother's throat can't be something –"

"You will not bring Henry into this," Regina growls. Emma feels her breath break against her face. It smells oddly like cinnamon and mint and Emma kind of wishes she didn't know that she and Robin had been swapping spit not even an hour ago.

"This is between you and I and we both know that Henry saw nothing. You're fishing."

"And you're settling."

"You had your chance. You had four years, Emma, and now that I've found my soulmate, now that I finally have something that could very much be my happy ending, now you decide that you're in love with me?"

Emma loses her breath. She'd never actually said the words.

You're too much of a coward to do that.

"I warned you, Emma. I told you not to fall for me. Because I won't leave him. I'm not leaving him for you."

"Because you're afraid."

And Regina shakes her head then, a watery, watery smile making her look almost achingly beautiful and Emma's heart stutters in her chest.

"No, Emma," she whispers, and it's colored with so much sorrow that Emma feels it in the very core of her being. "Because you are."

And Emma shakes her head then, her brow furrowing.

"No – I – " but Regina's words echo in her mind, fill up every corner of it and Emma doesn't know what to do. Doesn't know how to react.

She wasn't scared…was she?

No. No, she wasn't. Regina was the one who – no.

"No…I broke up with Hook for you."

Regina gives a mirthless chuckle.

"You and I both know you didn't do that for me."

And what the hell does she know about it? She doesn't know how Emma feels, she doesn't know anything.

She knows everything. She's right.

Emma's brow crinkles, her head shaking back and forth again, curls bouncing.

She's wrong.

"No, I – I sent someone away for you, ended a relationship for you!" Emma yells, because she's not sure Regina understands. She's not sure she even understands.

Regina's always been good at making her feel everything at once. Making everything jumble and intertwine and bleed into one another and it's fucking disconcerting.

"I didn't ask you to!" Regina yells back, her voice cracking, straining; eyes glittering with unshed tears and it strikes Emma with its familiarity.

Tell me the truth.

And Emma sucks in a sharp breath because that sounds a whole lot like a slip up. Like a confession.

"What if I asked you?"

"Emma, don't."

She takes a step forward. Grabs at the lapels of Regina's black trench coat, feels her chest expand underneath her fingers on a sharp inhale.

"Emma." It's shaky, feeble, barely above a whisper.

Very much a warning.

Emma's never been good with those.

"What if I asked you?" She repeats, her voice low, her eyes searching, beseeching.

Regina's eyes screw shut and she presses her lips together, hair falling into her face as she struggles to keep those tears from falling.

"I won't leave him, Emma. I can't. I love him."

And Emma thinks it might have actually been less painful for her to have sliced Emma's kneecaps open with a serrated knife and then poured acid directly into the gashes.

Her fists tighten around fabric.

She feels her heart come apart a little, feels it unthread at the seams.

It's really fucking awful to find out you can't read someone as well as you thought you could.

She thought Regina felt the same way.

She thought she felt it. Their connection. Thought it was two-sided.

Emma thinks that thinking is the goddamn reason she's in this fucking mess in the first place.

So she stops.

She stops thinking.

"I love you."

She says it to her hands. She doesn't look up. She doesn't want to.

She can't.

She surges forward then, arms wrapping around Regina's neck, one hand cradling her head, threading through her dark hair, the other at the place between her shoulder blades.

She feels Regina's gasp in her ear. Feels the shudder split down her spine. The goose bumps.

Regina tenses, her body rigid, but Emma doesn't let go.

She just buries her nose in Regina's hair and soaks it in. Every goddamn inch of her.

Her hair smells like something expensive, something like coconuts.

And then Emma feels tentative hands at her back before one slides up and tangles in her hair.

Emma shudders.

Regina squeezes Emma's back.

"I'm never going to stop."

Regina makes a choking sound.

Emma feels Regina nuzzle at her hair.

Feels the whisper of the reply against her neck.

"I know."

And it almost sounds like Regina's happy about that. That she wants that.

I'm not leaving him for you.

She needs to get away.

She shifts a little then, pulls away. Just enough to press her lips against the softness of Regina's temple. She lingers.

Hears Regina let out a trembling breath.

And then she's out of her arms, turning, her heart feeling dull and cumbersome in her chest. Out of place.

She doesn't look over when she passes Regina in the bug, still standing on the sidewalk.

She doesn't cry.

She's not thinking.

Or well, maybe she is.

She's thinking that she'd always known Regina would be a good hugger.