Hi! I'm trying to update about once a week, so thanks for your patience! Hope you like this little transition chapter!
Disclaimer: I only own my thoughts.
Walking into Granny's dinner at her usual time, Emma scanned the room for Henry, finding him in their usual booth by the window. Making her way toward him, she winced slightly as she tried to slide into the booth, holding her injured side with her opposite hand underneath her blue leather jacket. Scrunching his eyebrows in concern, Henry asked, "Emma, are you okay?"
Releasing a relieved sigh once she was finally settled in the booth, Emma leaned back and replied, "Yeah, kid. I'm just a bit sore is all." Smiling politely in Ruby's direction, she gave a gentle wave to signal she was there. Nodding her head, Ruby headed back to the kitchen to grab their usual order, while Henry observed Emma skeptically.
"What happened to you?" the boy asked, leaning a little closer across the table to get a good look.
Nervously checking to be sure that her hair neatly covered the bruised left side of her neck, Emma cleared her throat and replied, "I just tripped down the stairs yesterday and bruised my ribs is all. No worries." Henry didn't look convinced, but before he could continue, Ruby arrived at their table with two hot chocolates covered in whipped cream and topped with cinnamon. Emma thanked her before the audacious brunette disappeared back into the kitchen once again.
Deciding that it was pointless to continue on the topic of Emma's injuries, Henry ventured a different topic of conversation. "Emma, I think my mom is on to us."
Knowing all too well what the Mayor already knew, Emma allowed a smirk to tug at the edges of her lips when she asked, "Why do you say that, kid?"
He shook his head solemnly. "I can't find my walkie talkie. I think she took it." He took a sip of his hot chocolate, seemingly deep in thought. Emma couldn't help but chuckle when he moved the mug from his lips and placed it on the table, exposing the little whipped cream mustache he sported.
Handing him a napkin, she said, "She found it, alright. And then stopped by my apartment to yell at me for giving it to you."
Henry wrinkled his nose. "Ouch. Sorry about that." After wiping his mouth, his smile returned to his face as he asked, "Did you bring it with you?"
The corner of her mouth pulled up into a small apologetic smile, answering, "No, I didn't. I don't think it's a very good idea to keep upsetting your mother like this."
"You're siding with her?!" Henry asked, upset that the blonde was actually following his mother's instructions. "What did she do to you?"
Her cheeks reddened at the memory of what exactly it was that the Mayor did to her. Or rather what she did to the Mayor. Shaking the explicit images from her head, she answered, "Nothing, Henry. I just think we need to lay low for a while."
Furrowing his brow in thought, Henry sipped his hot chocolate again, before answering, "Yeah, I guess you're right. We don't want to expose Operation Cobra."
"Exactly," Emma replied. Keeping Operation Cobra a secret was not exactly her reasoning for not returning the walkie talkie, but the reason sufficed to calm Henry. If Emma was being brutally honest with herself, she was feeling kind of guilty for her low blow about Regina's parenting skills, and figured that a subtle way to make up for that was to not return the walkie talkie. Of course, that didn't mean that she was going to stay away from Henry. She just couldn't. But Regina did in fact raise Henry in her absence and, despite being a terrible person to everyone else in the town, Henry had turned out to be quite the respectable and smart young man, due to no efforts of her own. She wanted to be a part of Henry's life more than anything, but she also knew that the harder she tried, the more the poor kid would suffer, being caught in the middle of their constant arguing. She wasn't going to stop fighting to see him. That was out of the question. But she was going to pick her battles wisely, and fighting over a walkie talkie wasn't one of them.
Pulling herself from her thoughts, Emma said, "Well, let me get a cup to take this with me, and I'll walk you to school, okay?" Nodding his head in approval, Henry finished the last of his hot chocolate just as Ruby came to the table, Styrofoam cup in hand.
Handing the cup to Emma, she then took Henry's empty mug. "See you guys later!", she said with a wink to the boy, before retreating away.
Sliding out of the booth once again, Emma bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from groaning as the pain resurfaced in her side. Hiding her grimace as best she could, she stood from the booth, offered Henry a small smile he didn't quite believe was genuine, and grabbed her hot chocolate, heading for the door.
[X]
That evening, Regina was clearing the table after a rather quiet dinner with Henry when she received a text notification. Drying her hands on the dish towel nearest to her, she retrieved her phone and read the contents of the message, discovering it to be from Sydney Glass. He had informed her, as per her instructions to do so, that he had followed Emma and witnessed her once again spending time with Henry at the diner. Rolling her eyes, not even bothering to respond to the love stuck reporter, Regina slipped the phone into the pocket of her black dress pants and ascended the stairs in the direction of her son's room.
Knocking twice before opening the door, she found her son to be sitting on his bed, his legs crossed underneath him and a comic book resting on his lap. She sighed heavily, causing the boy to look up from his book, before running a hand tiredly through her hair, not quite having the energy for an argument this evening. Closing her eyes, she calmly asked, "Where is it, Henry?"
"Where is what?" he asked with a bit more attitude than Regina cared for. He lowered his gaze back to his comic book, showing that he had cared little about what his mother was saying to him, a new habit he certainly learned from the Sheriff.
"First, I expect that you make eye contact with adults when they are speaking to you, Henry. Do you understand me?" She was becoming quickly frustrated. Placing his attitude in check for the moment, he closed his comic book and nodded, giving her his full attention. "Thank you." Taking another deep breath as to not begin yelling at her child, she calmed herself once more before saying, "Now I know that you saw Miss Swan again today, despite having asked you not to do so. I can only assume that it was to return the walkie talkie to you. So, I ask again, where is it?"
The brunette boy glared at his mother for a moment before receiving a stern look in return. He wiped the look off his face quickly, then answered, "I don't have it. She didn't give it back."
"Henry," she said, raising her voice a bit more, "if you are lying to me, I'll have to…"
"I'm not lying," he interrupted. "She said that we shouldn't upset you anymore and that she wasn't giving it back." He looked down to his lap before he mumbled, "So thanks a lot," under his breath.
"Mind your manners," she chided. She didn't allow herself to think too much on the blonde's actions before adding, "If she didn't want to upset me anymore, why did she still meet with you?"
Henry scowled at her. "She likes me, unlike you."
"Henry Daniel Mills! What has gotten into you tonight?" she snapped, resting her hands authoritatively on her hips. He said nothing, feeling as though he'd said enough to get himself in trouble already. Pinching the bridge of her nose in an attempt to relieve the pressure building in her head, she sighed. "Why don't you go get in the shower and brush your teeth? Once you're ready for bed, call for me, and I'll come up to tuck you in." Watching as the boy stood, he placed his comic book on his nightstand beside his bed, grabbed some pajamas from his dresser drawer, and brushed past Regina on his way out the door.
Waiting for her son, Regina made her way down the stairs and into the study. She walked to the cabinet in the corner and retrieved a tumbler before grabbing the decanter of homemade cider and filling her glass. Finishing the entire glass of amber liquid in a few quick gulps, she refilled it and made her way to the couch, sitting down and crossing her legs at the knee.
Taking a much smaller sip of her cider, Regina allowed herself a moment to ponder her son's answer. How true could his words be? According to Henry, Emma hadn't returned the walkie talkie because she didn't want to upset Regina any further. But she still met him at Granny's, therefore disobeying her orders. Did this have something to do with their sex in Emma's apartment?
Regina swirled the amber liquid in her glass around a little as she allowed herself a small laugh. Maybe the blonde was trying a little harder not to upset Regina because she thought that the sex meant something. "How ridiculous," she said aloud to herself. She thought of how lonely and empty the Sheriff's life must be if she believed that the rough and one-sided sex was deemed to be a sign of affection. Yet she couldn't ignore that nagging feeling in the pit her stomach, that feeling of something more. She couldn't quite name the feeling, or rather she dramatically avoided placing a name to it. But despite trying her hardest, she couldn't deny that her encounter with Emma felt good, and more than just physically. It had been so long since someone had looked at her like that, with so much lust and wanting. Remembering the afternoon prior, her cheeks flushed and suddenly the room was too hot.
Finishing her cider, Regina stood and took the empty glass to the kitchen to wash it in the sink. As she ran the warm water and squeezed a tiny amount of soap onto a rag, she forced herself to remember what Emma truly wanted, and it wasn't her. The irksome blonde was in Storybrooke to break the curse and steal her son, and Regina refused to allow her lusting to cloud her better judgement. Her upper lip twitched slightly with rage as she rubbed just a bit too hard on the fragile glass in her hands. Realizing her mistake before the glass cracked, she rinsed the tumbler and returned to the study where she bent down and opened the cabinet to return the glass to its rightful place. Sliding the cup across the shelf, she noticed a small bottle with a cork stopper in the top. A wicked smile graced her lips, exposing pearly white teeth, as pleasant memories flooded her mind.
Removing the stopper, the Mayor closed her eyes and sniffed the opening of the bottle, a small moan escaping her throat, the scent of apples overwhelming her senses. She had nearly forgotten about the cursed apple she had recovered from the Enchanted Forest, with dear Jefferson's help. She crushed the apple, previously bitten by none other than Snow White, and made it into a lovely cider, one she was sure to keep separate from the rest. Returning the cork and gently placing the bottle back on the small shelf, the dark woman smiled maliciously. Regina was going to drive Emma out of town, and if the irritating Sheriff refused to leave, she'd just send her off into eternal sleep, never to be heard from again.
Ascending the stairs once more, Regina turned towards Henry's room to find the door closed and the lights off. Sighing quietly, she slowly opened the door and looked inside. Seeing that Henry was sound asleep in his bed, having ignored her instructions to inform her when he was ready to be tucked in, she slid through the door with quiet grace and neared his bed. Leaning down gently, she brushed his soft brunette hair away from his forehead and kissed it gently, whispering, "I only want what's best for you, my sweet prince".