A/N: So it turns out it's really hard to write a SwanQueen sex scene when the Swan in that equation asks out Hook the very same episodes. Damn shipping a non-canon couple! Plus I don't want to make these women cheat on the men all the time because I just feel bad!

"I really need to get my own place. Night, guys," Emma said as she walked across the apartment and began to climb the stairs.

As soon as Emma reached the sanctity of her bedroom and closed the door she reached for her phone. She had no wish to recount her evening in any details whatsoever to her mother or father. Unlocking it, she quickly dialled the person she wanted to speak to most.

"How did it go?" Regina asked as soon as she answered. She hadn't exactly been sitting around all evening waiting for Emma's call but perhaps she had made sure several times that her phone was on the loudest setting possible.

"Awful," Emma replied as she began to unzip her dress, the tight material feeling restrictive and oppressive somehow. "I mean, it wasn't awful. Hook did his best to be a gentleman but he still managed to aggressively grab and threaten someone who accidentally spilled my wine in my lap. Oh and he's not Hook any more. Gold reattached his hand so I guess that means he's just Killian."

"Gold kept his hand for all these years?"

Emma could practically hear Regina's nose wrinkling in disgust.

"I know. Gross, right? And yes he did but it's now part of Killian Jones once more."

"And how do you feel about that?" Regina asked.

"Well I still don't want him to touch me," Emma said as she flopped onto her bed in just her underwear, the dress discarded in a pile on the floor. "Even without the hook."

"I still don't quite understand why you asked him on a date in the first place," Regina said.

"I had to give it a try," Emma shrugged. "After over a year of him following me around, I owed him that."

"And now you've tried?" Regina asked.

"Now I guess it's time to tell him I'm not interested," Emma said.

"You're mean," Regina chuckled. "Dressing up like that and taunting the man before letting him down once and for all."

"Dressing up like what?" Emma asked.

There was a silence, Regina realising she'd given away her secret.

"You followed us?"

"I merely happened to pass by the restaurant," Regina defended quickly.

"Stalker," Emma laughed.

"It was a coincidence!" Regina protested.

"No one passes by that restaurant by coincidence," Emma said. "It's at the end of a street which goes nowhere. Come on, Regina, admit you were following me."

"I wasn't!" Regina exclaimed.

Emma just laughed harder, imagining Regina sneaking along the dark street and peering in through the windows of the romantic restaurant.

"What did you think?" Emma asked when she had stopped laughing. "Did I scrub up well?"

"I think you looked far too good to be with that smelly pirate," Regina admitted.

"He made an effort too," Emma said. "But I suppose we did look like a rather odd pairing."

"You could do so much better," Regina said, almost more to herself than to Emma.

"Oh yeah?" Emma said. "And who else in this town is interested in me. August's gone, Neal's dead, there's no one left."

"Perhaps you're narrowing your pool of potential lovers a little," Regina said.

"And I should expand it how?" Emma asked. "Leave Storybrooke? There's a massive ice wall keeping us in this town, unless you've worked out a way to fireball it into oblivion and not told me."

"No, we're still trapped," Regina said. "But I still think you're limiting your options."

"And how do you suppose I widen them?"

"Women."

Emma didn't know quite what she was expecting Regina to say but it certainly wasn't that. The two were certainly close friends, even after Emma had brought Marian back and ruined things between Regina and Robin. Robin. A man. Emma didn't even have the faintest clue that Regina was interested in women, despite the many evenings they had spent drinking and chatting together. But then again, she supposed her past with Lily had never been mentioned either.

"Women?"

"Yes."

"How did you -,"

"It took me a while to notice," Regina said. "But I picked up on the signs."

"What signs?" Emma said, wondering how many other people in Storybrooke knew she was bisexual. It wasn't that she was ashamed in any way but it had been years since she had dated women and she wasn't sure how her sexuality would be accepted by fairytale characters.

"The lingering looks, the slightly glassy stares when you thought I wasn't looking. The fact that you're so tactile and comfortable physically with me."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Emma asked, embarrassed that her attraction to her friend had been so obvious.

"Would it have helped if I had?" Regina asked.

"It depends what you would have said," Emma reasoned. "Why? What would you have said?"

"Something scathing, I'm sure," Regina replied.

"Naturally," Emma chuckled.

"I wanted to say something so many times," Regina said, her voice softer now.

"Why didn't you?"

"Because there was always some worthless man sniffing around you. I didn't want to make a fool of myself by bringing up something which wasn't going to go anywhere."

"You don't know that," Emma said, her voice little more than a whisper. "Think about it, Regina. All those men who were interested in me, they're not around now. I haven't committed to any of them and there's a reason for that."

"And what reason is that?"

"I think you know."

There was a long pause. "Can I come over?"

"Sure," Emma said at once, scrambling off the bed and reaching for a t-shirt to cover herself up. She was too slow however and the plume of purple smoke was already dissipating as her fingers closed on the soft cotton.

"Shit, sorry," Regina said, turning away from an almost naked Emma, her cheeks flushed.

"S'okay," Emma said, tugging the t-shirt hastily over her head and sitting back down on the bed. "I'm decent now."

Regina turned back towards Emma, her movements shy and uncertain after having appeared so quickly and abruptly. She had been so desperate to see the blonde she hadn't even given her time to dress, although Emma hadn't seemed bothered by being caught in just her underwear. On to contrary she was smiling. Emma patted the bed beside her and after a moment's hesitation, Regina made her way across the room and sat down.

"What's happening with you and Robin?" Emma asked. They might have spoken about the fact that she was breaking up with the pirate captain but neither had mentioned the recent rift Marian's return had caused.

"He's with her," Regina shrugged. "His frozen icicle of a wife. He claims he still loves me but he's not leaving her."

"Do you want him to?" Emma asked, her heart beating faster as she realised just how important Regina's answer was to her future. To their future.

"Not now."

"Not now what?"

"Not now the two of us have finally been honest with each other," Regina said, turning her face to look at Emma properly for the first time since she had arrived.

Emma smiled at the brunette, the brown eyes determined and full of fire. Regina smiled back, her scar on her lip deepening as the skin stretched. Emma reached out, the tip of a finger tracing the thin crevice. Regina's breath hitched. Emma's finger slid down Regina's face to her jaw, tenderly encouraging the brunette to move towards her and she leaned the rest of the way in.

The kiss was slow, their lips brushing delicately before pressing a little harder, the soft skin caressing as Emma's hand wrapped around the base of Regina's neck and tugged her nearer. Regina did so, wanting to get as close to Emma as possible as her lips moved, the passion in their kiss escalating quickly. She felt Emma's tongue slide along the seam of her mouth and opened her lips willingly, moaning as she tasted the blonde for the first time. Hints of a sweet desert and a rich red wine lingered in Emma's mouth as they kissed, reminding Regina of where Emma had been earlier that evening and who with. She bit Emma's lower lip, drawing a whimper from the blonde as she pushed Emma back against the pillows, swinging her leg over her body so she sat astride her, hands on sliding up to cup Emma's cheeks.

"Wow," Emma said when they broke for air minutes later. Her hands were resting on Regina's hips, subconsciously pulling the brunette closer to her. Regina smiled down at Emma, her kiss-swollen lips quirking at the corners.

"I suppose I should ask you on a date now," Emma said, her fingertips moving up and beneath Regina's shirt so they ghosted over the smooth skin beneath.

"Oh really?" Regina asked, shuddering a little at Emma's touch. "And why's that?"

"Because if we're going to do this, we're going to do this properly," Emma replied. "And that means I'm taking you out on a date."

"Does that also mean I'm not getting any tonight?" Regina asked, rocking her hips against Emma's lower abdomen and making the blonde groan.

"Much as I want to ravage you right here, yes, I think we should wait. If we don't want to fuck this up, I don't think we should jump into bed together mere minutes after we finally admit our feelings to each other."

"Fucking doesn't always fuck things up," Regina pointed out, her own fingers now slowly pushing up the hem of Emma's t-shirt, exposing the flat stomach below.

"No," Emma agreed. "But I still want to take you out first. One date, that's all I ask."

"Ok," Regina conceded. "But I have a condition."

"And what's that?"

"You let me plan the evening."