The rest of the night with Graham was as boring as expected, Regina playing on her mind. She did feel bad, and she decided to explain to him today that she just wasn't interested- In a nice way. She'd also agreed to meet Henry Mills, for her first day at the office. It was going to be a long day.

She made her way down stairs, to find him sat at a table, with two coffees. He noticed Emma come down the stairs and smiled up to her. 'Good morning, Miss Swan. I got you a coffee, ready to go then?' She nodded, and they walked to her office, whilst discussing future plans. 'So I hope you can see why you're the perfect candidate for this. After you.'

They walked in to her office, and Emma's eyes widened. It was amazing. If she could, she would just sleep here, it was beautiful. 'Wow, this is wonderful.' Emma eyed the room, listening to her new boss.

'I won't be in town a lot of the time, so you'll be alone in the office a lot. But you'll get an assistant, or a deputy, if you like. Graham will be getting an assistant too soon, just like Regina has one, you need one. There is only one other person in the town who's had any training in law, so I'll send them your way. I think that's it. The sheriff will being around to give you your work, you'll be around there a lot too… Oh, and I'll see you tonight, at Mary Margaret's.'

He let himself out, leaving Emma with the keys. She bounded up and down, and assessed everything in there. It was so much nicer than her previous work place. She remembered about the party-thing at Mary Margaret's and her mind wandered back to Regina once more.

She wasn't sure how long exactly she'd been sat at her desk thinking about the mesmerising woman, but Graham had arrived already, and it felt like she'd only been alone five minutes. He'd let himself in, carrying quite a few files.

'Here's a couple of cases I'd like you to look through, requesting your legal advice. You will be representing any of them should they need to go to court.' He grinned and then took a seat in front of her desk. It felt quite surreal; Emma noted how different it was from yesterday. She felt much more empowered, and she found she could tell him how she really felt.

'Thank you, and thank you for the meal last night. It was lovely.' Graham smiled in response. 'But, it's just… I'm not looking for a boyfriend…'

'I know, Emma. You were staring at the mayor all evening. Look, I'm not angry, and I get it. I think we'll make great mates. It's much better for professionalism. I was just testing the water when I held your hand, and it confirmed my guess. You like the mayor.' Emma blinked, not expecting that response.

'I don't…' She began trying to deny. 'Please don't tell her. Or anyone actually.' He laughed a little then and shook his head, muttering that he wouldn't. 'Have you and her ever…?' She couldn't help herself ask, after the conversation last night.

'God no, nothing like that. We have a bit of rivalry, but I like her. She's pretty funny once you get to know her; she just pushes me away a lot. She'll do the same to you, it's like she's always wearing a mask, that's the mayor. But really she's just soft, that's Regina. At first, I immediately thought the mayor wasn't gay, but I've never seen her with a man, and she was definitely returning those looks last night.' At this Emma's eyes rose, he said it so simply. Like it wasn't complicated at all.

'You really think so?' She couldn't help herself asking, she simply thought Regina hated her. 'I mean, she really seems to hate me right now.' Graham looked knowingly.

'Well, she's hardly going to admit it. She's probably so far in the closet… I don't know. Just please, make an effort. You'd be doing the town a massive favour.' He chuckled, and Emma followed suite. Perhaps there was hope for her and Mills yet. 'Do it tonight.'

'I thought she wasn't invited?' Emma replied, confused. 'She wasn't, but I told Mary Margaret about our… Incident and she felt bad about it and invited her. She's not the Mayor's biggest fan, but she's a lovely woman, so Regina and Henry have been invited, and are attending.'

'Great, I'll talk to her tonight. Thank you. I can really see us becoming great friends.' She stood, and made her way over to Graham. She pulled him in to hug, feeling comfortable in his presence again. 'I'll see you tonight then.' He smiled, nodded and then promptly left.

Emma was on top of the world, everything was going great for her. She began her work, hoping to finish early so that she would have longer to get ready, for once she was going to spend time on herself.

Across town, Regina was thinking once again about Emma Swan. That's all that had been on her mind. With that, she decided to leave work early, she simply wasn't getting anything done, and returned home to her father.

She'd convinced herself the only reason she was going to the stupid party at Mary Margaret's was to 'keep an eye' on Emma and Graham. But honestly, she was glad to be invited somewhere, she felt less of a pariah.

She returned home to an empty house, and wasn't surprised. She had no idea where her father was, nor did she care at that moment. Regina was used to an empty house, so she decided to run herself a bath, and pamper herself a little before the party.

Both women were nervous for the night before them, but for different reasons. It was six o'clock, and both women were completely ready, just waiting to set off. Regina decided to make herself something to eat, and on her way in to the kitchen there was a note on the table.

Gina, I'm sorry honey. I've been asked to attend a meeting tomorrow, and had to set off now to make it. I'll be gone for a couple of days. I'll give you a call tomorrow night.
-Henry x

Sighing, she rolled her eyes. Wow, a note, more than last time. How considerate. It finally reached seven, both Emma and Regina set off for Mary Margaret's. Emma, Ruby and Graham got there first; the flat was full of people. The music was loud, and they could barely hear themselves think. Regina wasn't far behind them.

Emma got three drinks, and stood with her new found friends. But they soon got pulled away, Mary Margaret said 'hello' then dragged Ruby away to dance. Graham excused himself when he saw some friends. He told her he'd only be a moment. But Emma took no notice of him when she saw Regina sneaking away, putting her empty drink on the side.

She looked as though she'd been alone, and for a second Emma wondered where Henry was. But she went to get two fresh drinks, and set out to follow Regina. She went out the same way as Regina, and realised that she was headed for the roof.

As she reached the top, she heard Regina talking. 'When you get this, call me back, I just want to check you're okay, and you've remembered your meds.' Emma suddenly felt as though she was intruding. She turned to leave, but in doing that caught the mayor's attention.

'What are you doing, Miss Swan?' Her voice sounded strong and hard again. In that moment, Emma knew exactly what Graham had meant about her wearing a mask all the time.

'I just brought you this.' She held out the drink, a smile sent the mayor's way. She looked suspicious. 'Peace offering? It's not poisoned, I promise.' At this Regina managed a small smirk. She walked forward and took the drink from Emma.

From the roof, the town looked beautiful. It was quite dark, but she could just about make everything out, especially with the different lights on around the town. With Regina beside her and that view, she was so glad she decided to take the job here.

They were stood side by side, and Emma had to fight the urge to hold Regina's hand. Her own words played back to her. 'I've known him all of five minutes and he tries to hold my hand', But she couldn't help it, her emotions were all over the place. She hadn't been with someone in quite a while…

'You know I'm not interested in Graham at all, right?' Regina turned, her eyes meeting Emma's. They both turned slightly, so they were looking at each other rather than the town.

'I know.' Regina finally smiled at Emma lightly, genuinely. She then looked down, and pulled her phone out and looked for any messages or missed calls at all. The moment between them had seemingly gone.

'Are you okay?' Emma couldn't help but ask her. The lawyer genuinely cared about Regina, and still she knew she probably shouldn't. She'd known the woman for a day. Expecting the mayor to become irritated, she visibly moved back slightly. But she didn't.

'Yeah, it's just… My father, he's not answering my calls.' Her eyebrows furrowed, and a look of worry passed over her face. She took a seat on the bench nearby. Emma followed, and sat beside her.

'Did you need him for something? Isn't he here?' She looked at the new lawyer for a moment then shook her head. 'Well try not to worry too much.' At that, Regina couldn't help but scoff. Like she would know anything about my father.

'You don't know the half of it, Miss Swan.' She wanted to laugh, but she couldn't quite. Everything surrounding her father made her feel scared and upset. Regina really couldn't help but worry about him.

'I'm sure I don't, and please, Emma.' They were sitting quite close now, Regina realised quite how close. She responded, 'I'm only on a first name basis with people I know quite well.' Emma couldn't resist how close they were. Her eyes fell to the Mayor's lips.

All day she'd been thinking about the mayor. 'Well, why don't you get to know me?' It then became too much, and Regina couldn't do it. She pulled away quickly, and stood. Emma looked up, rejected. Nothing had happened, yes, but still, they both knew what would have.

Regina didn't look back; she just sped down the stairs, back in to the party and out. Emma considered following her once again, but she was too embarrassed. She knew that she wasn't someone the mayor would even consider. They barely even knew each other, she didn't know if the mayor was gay, or if she liked her…

It was only after the fact that Emma realised that. She downed her drink, suddenly feeling a little tipsy, and made her way down the stairs and back in to the party. She drank more, and danced with people she'd never met.

She finally went home with Ruby, in the early hours of the morning, attempting to forget what happened between her and Regina.

Getting up the next morning was a killer, and Emma found herself wishing she could take a sick day. Unfortunately, that was pretty much impossible considering everyone knew that she'd be taking the day off because of a hangover and would know Emma was doing the same. Besides it was only her third day, she should make an effort.

After a few cups of Ruby's fabulous coffee, Emma felt slightly more human. She made her way to the station, to give him the completed files. 'Good morning!' He shouted at her. Am I the only one with a hangover, for goodness sake?

'Morning.' She placed the files on the corner of his desk. 'There's only one person who needs to go to court. It's nothing major, there doesn't seem to be much happening at the moment.' Emma turned to leave, supressing a groan.

'How did it go last night, with Regina?' This was a subject Emma didn't want to discuss. Nevertheless, she responded.

'Terribly. I think I need to get to know her before anything else. But I'm going to give a few weeks, you know, so I can settle in to my new apartment, and my new job. So she can get used to me.' Emma smiled at her plan, and Graham smiled back.

'Looks like you have it all sorted, then.' She nodded. 'Where's this new flat?' Emma then took a seat in front of Graham.

'Well, it's not really been sorted properly, but Mary Margaret mentioned she was looking for a flat mate, so I asked how she would feel about me moving in. She said she'd be delighted.'

A/N: thanks for the reviews, favourites and follows! They all mean a lot and keep me motivated. Hope you liked the chapter