Emma woke up with a smile on her face. She had a dream of Regina Mills and the kiss they had shared. It replayed in her mind but instead of her freaking out, dream Emma was smooth and the dream would end with different scenarios played out. Emma groans and buries her head in her blankets. Only she could mess up a first kiss the way she did. It happened so suddenly, they were watching a movie together but all Emma could focus on was Regina Mills sitting next to her, her warmth drawing the blonde woman nearer. Eventually, Emma was close enough that she was intoxicated by the woman's perfume and then she blindly kissed her. She ran out of the room to the bathroom, leaving Regina in silence.
Emma got out of bed, refusing to dwell on it too much. When she got close to Regina, butterflies whipped up a storm in her belly and she would lose her train of thought. It happened more often lately now that they have been spending more time together as a family. She was excited by what they might become and was open to the possibility of a future with Regina. She has to force herself not to get too excited because she has yet to figure out Regina's feelings for her.
If she could actually sit down and talk to her. Emma groaned again at her own awkwardness, while picking out a pair of jeans for the day. Why couldn't she just be honest and straight forward. Emma honestly felt like knocking her head against the wall sometimes. She decided that she was going to speak to Regina about the kiss next time they are in private. The silence has been going on for too long, and Emma owed to the other woman to explain her behaviour that night.
Emma squared her shoulders. She's a grown woman, independent and smart, and who also fought a dragon and won. She can be open and honest with Regina. She will tell the brunette that she feels an attraction towards her and would like to date her… or something along those lines. She hasn't figured the exact words yet.
After putting on a loose blouse shirt over a white tank top, Emma set out for the day. Her mom is already up with baby Neal, sitting on the sofa with him watching the news. As soon as baby Neal saw Emma come down the stairs, his arms reached up towards her. She smiled brightly and walked over to pick him up.
"Ugh mom. Why are you watching this?" Baby Neal settled on her hip as she went and got her cup of coffee ready. Snow watched the blonde amusedly, a natural with her baby brother on her hip and holding him firmly. "The baby is not allowed to watch that. I said that."
Emma settled on the couch with the baby on her lap. Snow had changed the channel to a kids program and left it at that. She turned to watch her daughter interact with her baby brother and her heart melted. He was situated on her thighs while Emma played peek a-boo and it was clear to Snow that Neal already adored his big sister. He giggled each time and laughed joyfully when Emma moved to kiss his neck. Snow smiled at the pair.
"Mom has got that weird look on her face." She noticed two sets of green eyes looking at her as she looked to the pair again. "Let's hope you didn't inherit that." Emma made a funny face at the baby.
Snow blushed. "Emma." She laughed.
Emma chuckled. "Sorry." She went back to playing with Neal. "What are you thinking so hard about anyway?"
Snow smiled at Emma. "I was just thinking that you look very happy," Emma's eyes immediately met her own and teared up, "and that makes me very happy." They shared a soft smile.
Emma looked to her brother and then back to her mother. "I am happy mom." She reached over and clasped her mother's small hand. She smiled brightly at the woman who had tears in her eyes and Emma thought about her son and Regina and all the friends she now have in Storybrooke. "The happiest I have been in a long time."
When did it get so serious? Snow didn't mind. They shared a comfortable silence as Emma continued to play with Neal, the kids tv show playing in the background. She was waiting for her dad to wake up, she wanted to make her family breakfast. Snow was content to just watch her two children interact with each other; she cherished the little moments like that.
Eventually, Emma heard her dad wake. "I'm going to get started on breakfast."
It was later that morning that she ran into Henry and Regina at the diner as she was grabbing her cup of coffee. Cup in hand, she stopped to talk to them, they were sitting in a booth finishing breakfast. "Good morning! Henry, am I still picking you up after school?"
Henry nodded happily. "Yup, and then we're going to the park."
"That's right." She smiled at her son, his happiness evident on his face. The moment was interrupted when Regina slide out of the booth. "Hey. Can I talk to you for a moment in private?"
Henry noticed the look shared between his two moms and knew it was a private conversation not for his ears. "I'm going to quickly go the bathroom," Henry mumbled.
"I'm sorry, I need to get to work. I've got a lot of things to do." Regina put on her scarf, and stepped away from Emma. The blonde woman tried to squash the hurt feelings at the noticeable move away, she thought they were past this. Emma fought the angry feelings she felt.
"Is everything alright?" Emma blurted out, grimacing when she realized that she could have used more tact with the question. "I'm sorry. I mean you seem kind of tense." Not that helped any better.
"Emma, I'm fine." Regina couldn't look at her in the eye and that worried the blonde some. "I'm just very busy."
Emma looked at the brunette, trying to decide what to do next. There's obviously something going on, but she knew not to push the older woman. "You're right. I'm sorry for bothering you. Have a good day. Tell Henry I'll see him after school."
Emma turned around and left the diner abruptly, the conversation with the brunette confused her. It felt like that they had taken two steps back and she didn't know why. The conversation was tense and cold, reminding her of days when the Mayor was trying to drive her out of town. At that, her heart broke a little.
She shook herself from her thoughts, walking back towards the sheriff's office. There was a pile of paper that needed her attention and Regina can wait. Work first.
It was in the middle of the afternoon when Emma was finally done with the mountain of paper. She stretched her back and heard a satisfying crack. She groaned as she stood and stretched her legs. This calls for a celebration coffee.
On her way to Granny's diner, she realized that Regina would be having her break soon. Emma didn't really want to have that conversation with her, especially since she got the cold shoulder the last time. But Emma felt that if she let the conversation go unspoken for too long, she'll lose her chance. With a bag and a cup of coffee in hand, she made her way to Town Hall.
Emma knocked on the door and gulped lightly at the small "come in" but she pushed forward on the door. Regina sat behind her large desk, paperwork scattered throughout, and the woman looked tense. She sent a fake smile towards Emma.
"Ms. Swan, what can I do for you?"
Emma stopped short at that and lifted an eyebrow at the use of a formal title. "So we're back to Ms. Swan now?" Even after our kiss? She didn't give Regina a chance to respond. "I thought you might need a snack and some coffee." She held up a small bag and a cup of coffee.
Regina threw her a tight lipped smile. "Thank you." Emma approached the desk, setting the items down. The brunette looked up at her blankly, expectantly.
"How's things going?"
Regina looked down at her papers with a look of disdain, then back at Emma. "Not good at all which is why I would like to get back to it so I could finish it and go home on time."
Emma Swan wished a hole would magically appear and make her disappear. Obviously, her presence is unwanted and she felt like an idiot. "I'll only be a few minutes." Emma pushed forward. "I know right now is not a good time for this conversation, you are a busy woman and I totally respect that. But I was hoping you could find the time so we could talk about what happened a while back."
Regina maintained her blank look. "About what happened? You are going to need to elaborate." Regina Mills knew exactly what Emma was talking about, she wanted to make the woman squirm.
"I was hoping we could talk about the kiss." Emma hated her ability to blush so easily, she can feel the warmth on her neck.
Regina smiled tightly at her. "Honestly, I didn't know there was a conversation to be had, the topic went ignored and I thought that was that." She finally reached over to grab the cup of coffee and took a sip. "Besides, I'm really busy with the new housing project. I've got to figure out where to put everyone since people keep moving here. I'll let you know when would be a good time to talk."
Just like that, Emma was dismissed. Regina bent her head again and focused on the documents in front of her. It hurt, Emma could admit but she knew she deserved it, she did ignore the issue for too long. That didn't mean it didn't sting.
Emma left the office in a surly mood.
Her sour mood continued well into the evening. She was sitting in her office, contemplating on signing out early and going to get a drink when her father walked in, asking if she could cover for him (despite just working a shift). She wanted to lick her wounds and wallow her sorrows in rum but her father forgot that he made dinner plans with Snow. Emma had picked up her son from school and spent a few hours with him, having dinner at Granny's before dropping him off with Regina for the night. She had texted the brunette after Charming convinced her to cover for him, with a short "Covering for Charming 2nite. Okay if I drop off the kid after supper?" Regina replied with a terse, "Okay" and Emma wanted to throw the phone against the wall.
While she was dropping off Henry, she refused to look at the house, wanting to forget the sting of rejection she still felt from Regina. The other woman didn't say no but she shut down the conversations quickly that Emma perceived it as rejection. Maybe it was better this way, Emma tried to rationalize; they could never be more than friends. They had too much complicated history between them, too much pain and anger that comes between them. For Henry's sake, Emma hopes that they can remain friends. Or at least get back to a place of peace.
Emma was dutifully sitting on patrol in the middle of town when she got a call from the Rabbit Hole. A random citizen started a fight and they needed her presence.
She was walking into the bar when she noticed a man surrounded by the bouncers. "Hey guys, what's up?" Emma asked as she walked up to the group. The man in question was bleeding from his nose but was held down by one bouncer's hand on his shoulder.
"Great! The savior is here! We are all saved! Sheriff Swan!" The drunk man, a man Emma didn't know at all, yelled out. The bar was clearing out, but the last of the patrons stopped to look. They ignored him.
"Mister here was asked to leave and refused. Started a fight with the bouncer and got a couple of shots in on Rick," The manager said, pointing over his shoulder to a guy nursing an ice pack against his jaw, "we took him down."
The drunk man was mumbling in the background, about not even being drunk and that it wasn't his fault. Emma really didn't want to be there at the moment and could feel a slight pressure build behind her eyes.
"Ok. I'll take him in."
The man started acting up again and he interrupted them,. He stood up and got in Emma's face uncomfortably close. "Listen, I am going home." He then stumbled past Emma, pushing her as he headed towards the door.
She stood there for a moment, slowly counting to ten, silently hoping she didn't lose her cool. "You don't want to push your luck with me, buddy." She walked after him, hand reaching for his shoulder.
As soon as he felt her grab him, the man reached around and punched Emma right in the jaw. The punch knocked her back a moment before she roared back and punched the man. The hit knocked him flat on his face. Emma jumped on him, hitting him a few more times before rolling the man on his stomach and placing him in handcuffs.
"Why do you have to make my job difficult? Mr. Trevor Jones." She had reached into his jacket pocket to grab his wallet and read his ID card. "I was just going to take you in, slap you with a few fines and you could have slept it off and went home." She helped the man to his feet, his nose now bleeding profusely. Emma ignored the pain she felt in her knuckles.
"I'm charging you with assault on an officer." The man didn't say anything more, instead choosing to remain silent. Luckily, it was nearing the end of her shift, and another of her deputies would be coming on. She would start on the report as she waited and finish it in the morning. The drunk man can sleep in the cell until then.
She woke up that morning and groaned in pain. Her right hand was swollen and looked horrible. She tried to extend her fingers but had to stifle a scream. It might be broken. Why didn't she put an ice pack on it last night? Emma was dead tired after arriving home from her double shift. She didn't talk to her parents who were watching TV and just headed straight to the bedroom.
Emma sat up, cradling her hand against her, knowing that she better clean it before heading downstairs. Her mother will throw a fit, and demand she look at it closer. She's going to the hospital before work this morning.
After retelling what happened down at the Rabbit Hole to her parents, Snow turned and slapped her husband on the arm. "You should have been working." Emma was quick to defend her dad, saying that they couldn't know when jerks happened to be out and drunk. She promised both her parents that she'll go to have the doctor look at her hand.
It was later sitting in the parking lot that Emma saw Regina leave the hospital. Concern flooded Emma at the sight of Regina's wet eyes, and smeared make up. The brunette had just finished crying.
Regina didn't notice the bug or Emma sitting inside watching her from across the parking lot. Emma vowed to get to the bottom of the truth as she watched the distressed brunette get into her car and drive away.