AN:: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, I appreciate them more than you will ever know! If you ever have any concerns as well, I am not opposed to hearing those.
Also, please don't judge the spelling/gramatical errors as I do not have a beta reader yet, AND... frankly, I don't really give a shit about if something is all clean and polished. We're all adults; you can figure it out.
Andway.. ENJOY! :) (R&R)

Day One

Regina and I didn't say much to eachother from that point on.. or not for a little while. And I didn't want to bother her. She told me that we'd have to wait until the wind and snow died down for us to drive back, and that I could look for something to eat in the kitchen. And that was fine with me.. except I couldn't cook and all she had there was canned food and things in the refrigerator I didn't know what to do with.

Eventually I found some vegetables and ranch and ate a few of those. It wasn't a meal by any means, or even a little bit satisfying.. but like I said; I wasn't going to bother Regina. So I just sat in there, trying to make as little noise as possible.

I could tell all of this was sort of new to her - trying to let anyone who wasn't Henry in. She was just quiet, and I could tell she was trying to keep some of the back-handed things she was used to saying from coming out of her mouth. And I just had to deal with it, for now. I couldn't force her to be more personable, especially when she'd been used to the exact opposite for so long. It must have been hard.

"Just sitting here?" she asked somewhat monotone, waltzing into the kitchen gracefully. I wondered how she managed to do everything that way; gracefully, yet cold at the same time.

I shrugged. "I ate, and then didn't know what else to do."

"Would you like anything in particular?" She explored the pantry area.

"Uhm.. I'm not sure."

She looked at me like I had about four heads. "Well do you or don't you?"

"Well-uh.. I don't know... I can't really make anything so I just had vegi's and ranch."

She laughed at that, and then went to the refrigerator, looking for a moment. "You are as helpless as Henry."

"He's with Mary Margrette?" I asked.

Regina nodded, pulling out bread and butter and various luchmeats, along with cheese and lettuce. "Apparently he 'took the long way to school'..." she sighed.

I immediately shied away a little at that. "Oh."

That earned me a sideways glance. "What does 'oh' mean?"

I decided to scratch at something that wasn't there on the countertop. "It-uh... I came up with 'the long way.'" I laughed humorlessly.

For a moment, her face twisted into that sneer I was so used to her giving me, but she pulled it back, instead resting on something just slightly irritated. "Why would you do that?"

"I want to spend time with him, too, Regina. Sometimes we would take 'The Long Way,' back to your house, just so we could talk about his day or.. whatever."

She didn't look at me anymore after that. Just kept making two sandwitches. Her movements were a little more robotic than usual.

"What?" I asked, my tone a little annoyed, and I didn't feel like hiding it.

"Nothing." she said, coldly.

"It's not nothing." I told her. "Remember you said you'd try?"

Her hands stilled, though she still kept her eyes down. "It's just.." her voice was a little choked. She shook her head and started to put the lunch meat on the bread.

"Say it." I prompted.

"Say what?"

"Whatever's on your mind."

She sighed, and I could see the pain in her face. "He never.. tells me about... his day. Or anything."

And there it was; that pain she hid from everyone with her icy persona. Her son - the one person she loved more than anything, and who she let into her fragile existence - didn't even want to speak to her. I couldn't imagine how much that had to hurt her, or any mother.

"You really love him, hu?"

Tears swelled in her vision, which she tried to blind away. "I do."

I stood up and took a step in her direction. "You know I love him too, right? That I only want what's best for him?"

She nodded, though she refrained from actually speaking.

With the skilled hands of a mother, she cut both of our sandwitches in half, scooting one towards me, and going to the sink to wash her hands. I didn't eat mine right away. Instead I chose to watch her. And I think I knew what was coming before she did.

It wasn't even a minute before her crying was louder than the running water, and before I knew it, I was up and turning her around. She tried to pull away at first, but I kept pulling her closer to me and into my arms. Pretty soon she just clung to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders for support as I held her, running a hand up and down her back. I wondered briefly how long it was since anyone had done this for her, and how much she might have needed it. And maybe this was the reason she was the way she was; because she didn't have anyone to comfort her through all the things she endured as a mother. She needed someone to lean on.

Her cries softened, but I didn't let her go. I could feel her cuddling into my neck more, taking deep breaths between sniffles in order to calm herself, and I wasn't about to make that process go any faster than she was comfortable.

"Ssh.. It's alright..." I whispered, not knowing any other appropriate words. I don't think she cared, she just kept trying to breathe regularly.

Eventually, she pulled back, more than a little out of her element, so I didn't say anything, just stayed close incase there was another round of tears.

"God, look at me... I'm not this-this.. mess of a woman all the time, am I?" she tried to laugh, wiping her face.

I just offered a smile and shook my head. "You're not."

"Good." she kept dabbing her face. She looked up at me, probably noticing my idiotic staring. But this was such a different side of her, I didn't know how to look away. "Stop looking at my gross crying face.."

"I'm not."

Her face went bank as she looked into my eyes. And I looked back, wanting to know what she saw, and wishing she could see what I saw. Something so fragile and vulnerable inside of her came out at that moment. She almost coward behind her hands as she made this fish-like movement with her mouth, trying to say something.

"Miss Sw-"

"Emma." I corrected her.

She looked some variation of shocked, but tried it out anyway. "..Emma..." she nodded. She looked down at her hands and smiled a little. "I, uh.. I should... uhm, go, and.. check outside." she stumbled over her words, ending on a confused looking face as she wiggled away from me and into the sitting room we were in before.

Almost as soon as she was gone I realized how close we'd been, and how much I didn't want her to leave. The thought made me shiver with how uncomfortable it made me - being attracted to the mayor. I just stood there in awe for a minute. - She was Henry's mother! And the Mayor!... and a woman! It made absolutely no sense. I didn't know what I was thinking, but it happened; I wanted Regina. And it made me hate myself.

"Damn it." I heard from the other room.

I rushed in, hoping (idiotically) nothing was wrong.

She was standing at the window shaking her head, before she looked at me and motioned past the glass. "Good news; the wind died down. Bad news, there is no way we're going to get out of here tonight."

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Look at the snow! It's covering half of my car! We can't get out there let alone get in it."

"What about walking back to town?"

She looked at me like I was clinically insane, and motioned to herself, or rather what she was wearing, "Are you serious?"

I hated myself; all I could do when she pointed out her lack of appropriate winter-wear was look at her legs, and God, were they toned. I immediately had about four fantacies run through my head just involving her legs, and I wanted to hit myself in the face. "...great..." I grumbled.

Refusing to look at the Mayor anymore, I decided to go back in the kitchen and eat the sandwhich she made me. And it was great. It was almost like one you'd get from the Dehli. I imaginged having Regina cook for Henry and I, and then sending him to a friends house once and a while so she could just cook for me... in an apron... just an apron.

God, what was that! Was every thought I had about her going to be perverted now? Good Lord, I was screwed. I angrily chewed my sandwhich, trying to figure out what was going on in my head. The only thing I knew for sure what that I had to find some way to avoid her for the rest of the time that we had to be stuck in this place. I couldn't deal with this. Not right now and not ever. The fact she's a woman didn't scare me, it was everything else; beign Henry's mom, being the Mayor, being emotionally retarded, and being... well just being everything that she was. I didn't know how to even begin to process what was going through my brain.

"Miss.. I mean- Emma?" she peeked into the kitchen.

"Mya?" I answered through a mouth-full of sandwhich.

She laughed a little, shaking her head. "Wow."

"Hmm?" I swear, I am the second coming of fucking Einstien or something.

"Henry makes that same face." she smiled. I don't think I'd ever seen a smile like that from her before, it had to be one of the most beautiful things that I'd seen in my entire life. "He's so much like you sometimes, it's scary."

I swallowed, trying to just focus on the conversation. "Scary?"

She nodded, tearing a peice of her own sandwhich off and popping it into her mouth dantily. "His smile, his little eye brow twirk, the way he turns his head when he's confused.." she trailed off.

"But why is it scary?" I asked.

She kept looking at her hands. "It scared me of how many times he made me think of you or you made me think of him. You two have so much in common you don't even know about." Her expression darkened, or saddened. Maybe a mix of both. "It scares me to think of how much he's already yours when you don't even know eachother... and that I know him better than anyone and he hates that he's mine."

She was calm this time. No tears. There was just a looming air of heaviness around her I wished I could take away.

"I'm glad he got you." I said quietly.

Her eyes went wide when she finally looked at me. "What?"

I took a deep breath, putting my sandwich down. "I'm glad that, out of everyone he could have been given to when I gave him up, that it was you." I nodded, not wanting to look into her eyes, but I couldn't help it. They were just about as magical as the rest of her. "You love him. You took care of him. You're a wonderful mother, Regina.. Even if Henry can't see that right now, he will."

There was more vulnerability in her face now than I had ever seen before right then. "Are you sure?"

I shook my head. "No. No one can ever be completely sure about anything. But I think Henry's going to see how much you do for him, and how much you care about him sooner rather than later. You've only just recently shown me how much you care about him, and I can see that love that a mother has for her child, and I love that about you."

Her mouth fell open the slightest bit. "You do?"

I didn't realize what I'd said when I said it, but it was too late. So I just smiled. "I do."

She just looked at me for a long moment. I don't think she knew what to do, and I didn't know what I was doing, but that space between us, for the first time, I think was real. I think that she felt it too.

My mind worked on its own without my permission as I leaned in to close the space between us, my eyes starting to fall shut. Regina just stared, switching her gaze from my eyes to my lips multiple times, until the last second when she leaned in too. Our lips met and I felt as though all of my air was taken away, and my insides did flips. And what baffled me even more was that she was kissing me back.

I decided to take my chances and wrap my arms around her torso, pulling her into me. She reacted slowly at first, letting herself be moved, and then placed her hands on either side of my face, and it was her who deepened the kiss first. I don't think I'd felt anything like that before that point in my life. I'd kissed a lot of people, but it had never been anything like this; tender, and honest. Like I could lose myself in it today and not have to worry about tomorrow.

All of the sudden she pulled away, folding her arms over her chest and shaking her head. "No, Emma, I can't do this. This.. this- it's just.." She looked everywhere but at me. "..I just can't." she finished before bolting upstairs.

I don't know why, but I felt my entire being sink into a hard mass in my chest. That coldness that had seemingly melted away had consumed her again. I could see it in the muscles in her face and all of her movements.

I hated it. I hated the whole situation. I didn't know how I felt, or what to do about it.

The rest of the day and night, I stayed downstairs and Regina stayed upstairs. I heard her come down once to get her sandwhich and go right back up. I ended up falling asleep on the couch, covering my face from the world. I hated myself, and my stupid decisions.

I woke up when I heard a loud thud and a yelp of pain. Then laughing..

"What the hell?" I said groggily, more to myself. I walked to the landing of the stairs and saw Regina, laying on her back, drunk laughing like someone had told her the funniest joke in the history of the world, and in a tiny silk night dress that was barely covering her.

"Misz Swan, I think I fell.." she slurred, laughing for absolutely no reason.

"Where the hell did you find alcohol, Regina?" I said, trying to pick her up.

"Izz my hows!" she barked, not helping me at all. "I know wherrr everythng isz."

"Shit, you weren't this heavy outside!" I said with one last tug. But instead of pulling her up, I fell down and on top of the intoxicated brunette that was on the floor.

She grunted and laughed some more. "Oh! Juzt a little ferward, aren't we Sherrf?" She rolled on top of me and I felt my legs go numb and my... 'parts' start to tingle in the strangest of ways. "Hhmmm, you zmell good..." she trailed her nose along my neck.

"Regina, you're drunk! Please get off of me." I asked, damning myself and her at the same time inside of my head.

"Nnd whaddif I don't?" she whispered in my ear. "Will you kisz me again? Make love toome like.. like ferevvr?" She pressed herself against me and kissed me slopily. I could taste the vodka on her tongue as she intruded into my mouth with absolutely no grace.

I had no choice but to push her off of me. "Stop. You have no idea what you're doing and will hate yourself in the morning, Regina. Remember, you said you can't do this?" I asked her, sitting both of us up and looking her in the face.

Her glassy eyes started to water again, and she cried like a four-year-old who got her cheery-o taken away. "I already hate myslff." she started sobbing immediately, crashing her head into my shoulder.

This time when I tried to pull her up, she helped me a little. I steered her up the stars, letting her lean on me as she continued to sniffle to herself. "Where's your room?"

She pointed to the one closest the the top of the stairs, and I took her there. She collapsed onto the bed as soon as I got her there and cried with her eyes closed. I turned to go, thinking she would fall asleep and wake up with one killer hang over and no memories of what had just happened. But before I could go, I felt her grab my hand.

"Stay wth me." she said breathlessly, still crying the slightlest bit.

"No, Regina.. if you were sober right now, you wouldn't want me here." I said quietly.

"Evryone leaves me.. don't leamme, Emma, pleese?" She looked right into my eyes, and I knew she wouldn't remember this in the morning, but I sat on the bed beside her anyways. "Closer." she pulled me into bed with her and tried to pull the blankets over us. But her drunk fingers couldn't do much of anything, so I got her and I under the covers for her. As soon as I did she pulled me close to her, resting her head on my chest and draping an arm and a leg across me.

I didn't know what I was thinking, but I stayed there. She fell asleep faster than I imagined, and all I could do was let her.

I wondered what was going on in her head. She had to be, easily, the most complicated woman I had ever met. And at the same time, I wanted to know all of her complications. I wanted to help her through all of her problems, and be the one to dry away her tears. I wanted to kiss her again and make her feel secure; feel like I would be the one person to never leave her.

I'd never been one for the romantic crap, but I'd also never had real lesbian feelings toward anyone. I hated what she did to me.

But I couldn't do anything about it then. I just kissed her on the forehead, and fell asleep wondering if the sky would fall on the both of us tomorrow... or just me.

R&R Please.
I hope I can crank another one of these out my tomorrow or the next day :)