A/N: Hello, all you fabulous readers, followers, and favoritors. Once again, sorry for the wait. It is my goal to update at least once a week, so we'll see how long that holds up before exams and such set in. This chapter will mostly be Regina and her thoughts, so bear with me, and do stick around to see what happens next. If you'll notice, I also changed the genre from romance/angst to tragedy/angst, so be prepared for everything that comes along with that. Lastly, as always, please leave a review if you do feel so inclined with any questions, comments, concerns, fears, or critiques.

Previously:

"Now!" Regina yells before flinging Emma across the room to land on the floor in front of the door to 108 Mifflin Street. Regina can't see or hear anything anymore. It is no longer rage that consumes her, but pain and fear. Tears well up in her eyes again as violent, nightmarish memories cripple her once more.

It has been at least two hours since the last time Regina tried to move from her position on the stairs. She had dozed off once, but woke almost immediately after being immersed in painful nightmares. The brunette now fights silently with everything she has, not to do anything reckless, stupid, or damaging. That pretty much rules out moving a muscle. Instead, memories continue to invade her every thought.

"True love is magic."

"I'm angry all the time, Daddy. She's making me crazy."

"Mother! Why have you done this?"

"Foolish girl! Love is weakness."

"You are going to be queen."

"I don't want this life."

"Must I remind you? You belong to me. You are mine to hurt when I deem fit."

Regina ultimately decides to get up and get a drink. It's not like Henry lives with her anymore anyway. She doesn't realize it, but half an hour later, she has downed an entire bottle of bourbon, and has started on the second. Regina long since ceased to make coherent thoughts, but that was probably her original intention. Regardless, she attempts to stand. The her first several attempts fail and she finally ends up on the floor, covered in alcohol. Damn it! Regina can't manage to find the will to get up, so she just lies on the floor until exhaustion overtakes her broken form.

Sunlight streams through Regina's living room curtains and hits her square in the face. It's a rather painful awakening, and her head is pounding. She groans and drags herself from the floor, using her couch as leverage. Her face screws into a disgusted position and the stench of alcohol reaches her nose. It clings to her very pores. She decides that a shower should sober her up nicely; she just has to manage to stagger up the stairs without accidentally killing herself.

Once Regina gets into the shower, she forces herself to stand under the icy water at full force. I works well enough to clear her head and the memories of the previous night come rushing back to her. She braces herself on the wall and shivers violently. Whether this is due to the water or the memories, she can't be sure. She wanted me there. She wanted me. She wanted me. She kissed me. And then she remembers. Oh, god. She kissed me. And I threw her across... I threw her across the room with... with magic. She'll tell Henry. She'll poison him against me. What am I going to do? Regina turns the water off and sinks to the bottom of the tub. She pulls her knees up to her chest. She feels so helpless that she begins to cry again.

After some time, Regina's tears stop, and she vaguely hears a phone ringing elsewhere in the house. She has no idea what time it is, but she decides to find a towel and pad out of the bathroom toward the ringing. The phone stops ringing before Regina can get to it, but once she does her eyes widen. Four missed calls. How could she have possibly missed the phone ringing three times? The brunette picks up the phone to investigate more closely. The phone clatters to the floor. Four missed calls from Emma Swan.

Emma has called four times.

Regina would never admit out loud just how terrified the blonde made her, so with a shaky breath, she picked up the phone from the floor and padded back to her bedroom to find some clothes to wear. The brunette chose a red form-fitting dress, stopping just above the knees, with a black blazer, panty hoes, and matching two-inch boots. Stability, at the moment, was more important than her stilettos.

The phone rings again.

Imagine that... Emma's name appears on the caller ID. Regina takes in a breath, presses the button, then brings the phone slowly to her ear.

"Regina?" The blonde's voice reaches her ear and Regina's entire body tenses. "Regina, I know you're there. Listen, I think we should talk..." The brunette hasn't taken a breath since she first answered the phone; she can't risk it, but she needs a breath. She hangs up before the blonde can continue. She is too afraid of what might be said. Perhaps she should clean.

So, with a kind of finality that she could only wish wasn't false, Regina makes her way back downstairs. She retrieves the cleaning supplies from various places in the kitchen and downstairs bathroom before setting to work on the drunken mess that she had made in the living room floor. God, it's going to be such a pain trying to get these bourbon stains out of my carpet. That is why she hasn't made a habit of drinking in there. Usually her alcohol consumption takes place in one of three uncarpeted areas of her home: the dining room, the kitchen, or the study. None of which seem particularly appealing last night, come to think of it. It's a wonder she didn't end up an alcohol-drenched mess in her bedroom. At least that would have been a more private spot. Perhaps that was the point she was trying to make to herself. It was what her mother would have done in her situation, so of course Regina didn't do it.

Thoughts of her mother bring her to think of what might have happened if Emma and Snow hadn't come through the well, but instead, Cora. A shiver runs down her spine at the mere thought. Of course, a part of Regina loves her mother, but by no means did that mean she wanted Cora here. Her mother would destroy everything she had worked so hard to build. Her mother would stop at nothing to destroy her happiness.

Regina shakes the thought away before she drowns in it by reminding herself that Emma and, regrettably, Snow, did come through the portal. Not Cora.