Sunlight filtered in through the curtains, casting rays into Emma's eyes as she tried to sleep. Her eyes felt crusted over, sealed together with sleep as she tried to pry them open. Her mouth tasted a bit like sewage, and she smacked her lips to attempt to rid her tongue of the taste. The pillows and sheets beneath her felt strange, different. They were too smooth, too silky. That's when she picked up her head and looked at her surroundings.
It took a moment, but she recalled where she was; memories of drinking too much and being led to Regina's guest room for the night filing in. Her head pounded a little from the alcohol, and more from the recollection of the conversation she had with Regina last night.
She groaned deeply, and rolled herself over on the bed so that she was facing away from the window. Once confronted with the sight of the bedside table, she realized that Regina had left out a bottle of ibuprofen and a glass of water for her. Reaching gratefully for the bottle, Emma sat up a little and quickly swallowed the pills, chasing them with a large gulp of water.
She rested her head for a few moments, allowing the medicine to take effect before she grunted and kicked the covers back. It took her a minute to disentangle herself from the exorbitant amount of plush blankets the bed was covered in, but she managed to free herself. She walked across the room to where her pants lay on the chaise set near the window. Fishing her phone out of the pocket, she checked the time.
5:46
Emma hummed a little, noting the sunlight coming through the window was certainly watery early morning light. Few believed Emma when she told them she liked to rise early. She supposed her attitude would tend to lead people to believe her to be a late morning dozer. But in reality she enjoyed the calm and the quiet of the early morning. It was peaceful, and she found that she felt safest in the hours the sun was first waking. Foster parents and siblings were still asleep, they wouldn't come to bother her for a little while, and she could cling safely to her one donated teddy and watch the sun rise knowing she didn't have to worry.
But though the comfort of the early morning had its effects on Emma like it always did, she found she couldn't quite bite back the worry this morning. She had crossed a line in admitting her secret fears about her relationship to Regina last night. You're doing it again, Emma. Everything is alright, you have people, but you're messing it up. If you keep this up they're not going to want you anymore. They'll leave you. Your parents want the perfect princess with the perfect storybook love tale. Why can't you just give it to them?
Emma sighed deeply, staring out into the garden of Regina's home. The flowers of early summer were blooming in full force, a colorful array splashed across the yard, filled with beauty that caused Emma to smile even in this moment. But it didn't last long, and soon the sharp downturn of Emma's ever present frown settled into her features once more.
Regina's house was completely silent, and Emma knew now was the best opportunity to leave without causing a fuss. So she quickly pulled on her pants and her button up, having stripped them both to sleep in her tank top and underwear. She made the bed as best as she could, certain that Regina would fix it as soon as she saw it, but she tried her damndest.
Once the bed was made as well as Emma could do, she slipped into the hallway, and tiptoed down it to the stairs in the foyer. She climbed down them as carefully as possible, and went to where her boots rested by the front door. She laced them up soundlessly, and stood fully dressed in the foyer. She reached for the handle of the front door, but made no move to turn it. She turned behind her and faced the stairway, looking up in the direction of where Regina and her son slept still.
A pit was forming in her stomach and a lump was taking hold of her throat at the same time. She wished more than anything that she could stay. Visions of breakfast with Henry and Regina, with her family, played through her mind. They would all be in the kitchen, Emma trying to convince Regina that she could make really good pancakes, Regina challenging that hers were better, Henry laughing at the both of them. Emma would put on the radio and when a song she loved would come on, she would take the spatula from Regina's hand and bounce and dance Regina across the kitchen while the brunette woman rolled her eyes and humored Emma only until she feared her pancakes would start burning.
Emma wiped furiously at the unwarranted tears beginning to spill down her cheeks at the thought with the hand that didn't grip the door handle. She rolled her eyes at herself, wondering if the motion made her look like Regina, and swallowed down the rest of her tears. She felt foolish even entertaining the idea, and she certainly didn't examine why she'd rather dance around with her best friend than spend time with her boyfriend. There was no world in which Emma could be so worry free and full of joy, she knew. So she squeezed her eyes shut and banished the images from her brain. Finding her resolve, she exited the manor and pulled the door shut without a sound.
The bell over the door chimed as yet another customer walked in for the lunch rush. Ruby didn't have time to acknowledge who it was at first, her hands were full of hot plates of food to be delivered to a table that had already been waiting a bit too long for their meals. She expertly maneuvered her way through the crowd to place the food on the table and offer them a huge smile, hoping her charm and friendliness could ease their annoyance with the service. Fortunately, they made no complaints and quickly tucked into their food, leaving Ruby to continue her job.
So she swiveled where she stood and headed back to the counter to find her new customer. When she saw blonde waves falling over tensely drawn shoulders and a slumped back, she knew exactly who had entered the diner. Taking in a deep breath, she walked behind the counter and placed herself squarely in front of Emma. The woman looked up at her with tired eyes and a half smile.
"Hey, Ruby. Things are busy today, huh?" Emma spoke to her friend upon seeing her.
"You could definitely say that. Saturday lunch rush though, it's how it goes." Ruby smiled wide, already trying to calculate how to cheer the savior up. "Do you want something to eat too, Em?"
"Could I have a cheeseburger, and some onion rings?" Emma asked kindly.
"Coming right up." Ruby winked and turned toward the kitchen to call the order to her Granny, who shouted back in affirmation that she had heard. The lanky brunette turned back around to face her friend, and observed her carefully for a moment.
Aware that she was being sized up by Ruby, Emma sat up straighter and narrowed her eyes at the waitress.
"What are you thinking, Rubes?" Emma asked, her voice laden with uncomfortable suspicion.
"I'm just worried about you, you know? You seem to be in a kind of… funk lately." Ruby said when she finally settled on a reply.
Emma's eyes went to the ceiling and she rubbed both hands across her face in obvious exasperation. Ruby watched and winced, it was apparent she had upset the woman. She shuffled where she stood, and busied herself with cleaning off the countertop for a moment, allowing Emma to collect herself.
After a short pause she spoke again, "Sorry, did I say something?"
Emma sighed a little and turned apologetic eyes to the concerned woman in front of her. She offered up a small smile, and set to soothe Ruby's fears she'd made a misstep.
"No, Ruby, you didn't say anything wrong. I'm just, getting tired of people looking at me like I'm a kicked puppy, you know? Everyone's always worried something's wrong with me. My mom keeps coming by my place to drop off meals, always using some flimsy excuse that she 'accidentally made too much' or she 'just knew how much I loved pot roast' and stuff like that. My dad just gives me these sad smiles all the time. And then there's Regina." Emma huffed out the woman's name in frustration and buried her face in her hands again.
"What's Regina done?" Ruby asked with confusion, "I thought you two were getting on pretty well now."
Emma looked up again quickly, "We are." She said with no hesitation, and Ruby smiled placatingly. "We are getting along great, actually. And that's half the problem." Emma finished her thought.
Ruby furrowed her brow and gave Emma a quizzical look to prompt an explanation. Emma, for her part bit her lip and debated whether she should say anything. But the need to talk about what's been storming through her head for weeks won out this afternoon again, just like it did the previous night with Regina.
"It shouldn't be a problem. I mean, Regina is a really good friend. And I love spending time with her and Henry. They're family to me, is that weird? Not, not Henry of course, he's my son, it would be weird if I didn't think he was family. But Regina, she raised him, and now we take care of him together. It's not weird that I feel like she's my family, right?" Emma rambled nervously and Ruby smiled patiently, knowing Emma would come to a natural halt.
When she did pause and look to Ruby with desperate eyes to let her rant be over, Ruby chuckled and decided to put her friend out of her misery.
"It's not weird at all, Emma. It's like you said, she raised your son, and now you share him together. That's family. Besides she's got all that history with your parents. Good and bad. You know all that though. It's all super complicated and completely intertwined in a way that no one could pull apart. Sounds like family to me." Ruby felt a little proud of herself when her words seemed to ease Emma's burden. But the young blonde's face quickly reverted to its pinched and stress filled expression.
"But that's not everything, is it?" Ruby pressed.
Emma shook her head glumly. "No. Regina's noticed my funk, as you put it too. And then there's Hook." She said with little explanation. But Ruby had seen enough of the man and his temperament to know where this was going.
"He doesn't like you and Regina being family, does he?" Ruby questioned softy.
"No, he doesn't. He gets mad when I spend time with them and not him. He acts like he should be given the privilege of all my time." Emma ground out, frustration and fear swirling together in her words.
Ruby gave her a sympathetic look, and whispered quietly to Emma, "Sounds pretty possessive."
Emma snorted, and returned Ruby's comment with, "You could say that."
"And I'm guessing you don't like being possessed?" Ruby ventured.
"Of course not. Who does? I'm not a thing, Ruby." Emma bit back, perhaps more harshly than was necessary. She quickly realized the acidity to her tone, and added on, "I'm sorry, Ruby. It's just a sore spot for me."
"It's okay, Em." Ruby smiled, accepting the apology easily. She considered what she was about to say carefully before she opened her mouth, but eventually she went ahead with what was on her mind. "Maybe you need to make a change, Emma. Maybe you need to take a break and think about what it is you really want."
Emma seemed to deliberate on this for a while, without saying anything. She chewed on her lip and stared at a fixed spot on the counter for a while. Ruby said nothing, simply allowing the other woman to think as long as she needed to. As she stood in silence, she heard Granny call to her from the kitchen.
"Ruby! Here's Emma's order. Take it to her and stop yakking, in case you haven't noticed we've got a full house today. Get back to work!" The stern older woman reprimanded and suitably cowed, Ruby took the plate to Emma and smiled at her.
"Eat up, Em. I've got to get back to work." She nudged the plate closer, hoping the greasy food would offer some comfort for her friend.
"Sure thing, thanks for the talk, Ruby." Emma responded, still deep in thought.
"Any time!" Ruby threw over her shoulder as she walked back out into the mess of tables and people chatting to resume her work.
Regina hummed to herself quietly as she worked. She was tending her garden, pulling up weeds around her azalea bushes. She was crouched in the garden, wearing a pair of old jeans she'd deny she owned, and t shirt she had stolen from Emma. That, she would also deny possession of under pain of death. Her wide brimmed hat shielded her eyes from the sun, and her gloves protected her hands and fingers from getting cut up.
Working in the garden always calmed her, it was something she had enjoyed with her father when she was little. He taught her at a young age how to tend to all manners of plant life and to make life grow before her eyes. As she watched plants bloom, and trees take root as a young girl, the passion for it grew and she continued the hobby into adulthood.
Today she felt she needed the peace. When she had awoken that morning, she was sorely disappointed to find her guest room empty and no trace of Emma Swan. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. Emma was a runner, and they had gotten personal the night before. It only made sense that the woman got scared and took off first thing in the morning. But it didn't make the ache in Regina's heart any less persistent. So she continued to pull weeds.
After a while, she was no longer sure how much time had passed, but the soothing effects of the garden had begun to do their work. Her muscles were starting to get sore, but in a good way. In a way that let her know she had done hard work, and she relished the feel of stretching as she stood. She wiped dirt off her pants and moved over to the hose to begin watering all the green life in her yard.
She turned on the spray and relaxed even more as she felt the water course through the tubing in her hands and rain down on her plants. She became absorbed in watching the spray, letting the sounds of the water rushing out of the hose and onto the fragile leaves of the plants fill up her senses. So immersed in it she was, that she didn't hear the crunching of boots in grass in dirt as someone approached her from behind. When she heard her name spoken, she jumped out of her skin and dropped the hose, instantly soaking the legs of her jeans.
"Sorry! Sorry!" The voice called, and Regina rushed to pick up the hose and switch it off. When she finally turned to the intruder, she was shocked to see Emma looking at her with large worried eyes.
"Emma! You scared me half to death! What are you doing here?" Regina asked, one hand pressed to her heart.
"I'm really sorry. I rang the bell but no one answered, so I thought you might be out back." Emma explained. "I was right?" Emma added sheepishly, attempting a smile and holding her hands out.
"Yes, dear, you were right." Regina responded. She took off her gardening gloves and motioned to the patio chairs along the back porch. Both women moved up the short steps to the porch and took seats beside each other.
"Is there something you need, Emma?" Regina asked, determined not to mention Emma's escape earlier that morning. For all she knew, it would simply prompt the blonde to run again.
"Yeah I guess you could say that." Emma put forth. "I talked to Ruby today, and she gave me an idea. I think I need to get out of Storybrooke for a little while."
"You're leaving?" Regina sat up straight in alarm, cutting Emma off.
"No! Well, technically, but not permanently, like a vacation. Just maybe a week or two." Emma rushed to explain.
"Oh." Regina said quietly, sitting back in her seat. "Where would you go?"
"I'm not sure yet. But that's part of why I'm here. See I haven't figured much out yet about this trip. But I do know one thing. I don't want to go alone. I'm tired of being alone." Emma added the last part quietly, looking to her hands in her lap instead of Regina.
"What are you saying, Emma?" Regina asked in confusion.
"I'm saying, well I'm asking, would you and Henry like to go on a family vacation with me?"