Author's Note: Thank you again for the reviews! I adore all of you and love hearing your reactions and ideas! Keep them coming!
Regina stares at the phone in Henry's hand as if willing it to disappear.
How to explain this?
"Emma, uh, stopped by last night to make sure I was okay when she heard, uh, what had happened." She smiled slightly at the end for good measure.
Henry eyed her, unconvinced.
But, whatever. She didn't feel like telling him the whole story that much he could tell and he was going to be late for school if he pushed her. He had given up trying to understand the complexity that was the relationship between his two moms by now anyway.
Henry shrugged, brushing passed her and depositing the phone in her outstretched hand as he went.
Emma opened the door to the mayor's office, surprised to find Regina sorting through a file box at the conference table.
She had expected to find her mother behind the desk. Why was Regina here?
Regina's head shot up at the intrusion. "Miss Swan."
"Regina. What…what are you doing here?" Emma gestured with her hand.
"Hello to you too." Regina responded, dryly. She turned, continuing to sort through the box. "Your mother called. Though her approval rating may be higher than mine, she is completely inept at balancing a budget and the day to day dealings of mayoral life."
Regina turned toward Emma, meeting her eye, her tone softening..."and I think she knows I miss having something to do with my time." She shrugs a shoulder, turning back to her work.
"Do you…"
"Have your phone? Yes." She set the folder down, crossing the room to her coat hanging on the coat rack and reaching into her pocket.
Emma took it from her when she reached out, their fingers accidentally brushing.
Emma's eyes went wide when she looked down and groaned. "18 missed calls from my mother."
Regina huffed. "Yes, and it's been quite distracting so I turned the sound off."
"You couldn't, you know, answer it?"
Regina rolled her eyes. "And say what exactly?" She continued with a spark in her eye. "Hello? Yes, Snow, this is Regina…why do I have your daughter's phone? Well, she left it at my place because she stayed over last night."
She laughed, cruelly. "Your mother and I may have made strides but I somehow doubt that would go over well."
Emma glared. "It's not like we have anything to hide, Regina. I slept on the couch." She clicked through her notifications with an air of frustration.
Regina's eyebrows shot up at that. "Well, of course, where else would you sleep?" She snapped.
Emma stared, her eyes searching the brunette's piercing gaze. She left it alone.
"I…have to call her back. She's worried." Emma brushed a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, taking a step back from Regina. "Then I want to have a talk with you."
Regina turned, nodding and crossing the room to continue her work at the table. She pretended not to notice the small shake in her hands as she flipped through city council papers as she waited.
"I…I know" She could overhear Emma trying to explain. "I understand. I'm sorry…I was. I got a call late last night and I …Yes, I know I should have called. I'm sorry to have worried you….I have to go. I'll see you tonight."
Regina rolled her eyes. Snow was an insufferable mother when it came to her grown daughter. But then, she did have a little something to do with the cause of her capacity to think the worst. Best not to continue with that train of thought.
Emma ended the call and crossed the room, sitting across from Regina and letting her eyes fall over her as she worked.
She cleared her throat.
Regina's hand stilled on the file, looking up at Emma under her eyes. "Your impatience is quite childlike. I'm busy, can we talk some other time?"
"Regina—"
"Miss Swan, I think it's best we leave it alone. I have work to do. " Her tone carried an authoritative edge.
She straightened, sitting back and folding her arms, daring Emma to continue.
She was all challenge and sass and Emma wasn't sure why she found it so attractive.
"About last night…"
"What about last night?" Regina snaps, unwilling to even let her finish her sentence. Her brooding anger would be annoying if it wasn't so endearing.
"Well, I said some things…and though I did mean what I said" Emma started…
Regina's eyes flashed with something at that, quirking an eyebrow.
"I was drunk and I shouldn't have said those things to you…not when you had just said goodbye to …" She gestured, not willing to say the name.
Regina pursed her lips, turning away from Emma and taking a breath.
"Okay, you want to talk? Let's talk. Starting with why you are so jealous of my relationship with Robin."
Emma's mouth dropped open, incredulous. "Jealous? Try confused."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Regina's eyes are on her, her tone underscoring her fury.
"Just that you went from nothing to one hundred with him really freaking fast."
"Is that so wrong?" Regina seethes. "That I would want to be with someone? You have the handless wonder in your bed so don't concern yourself with who is in mine." She spits cruelly.
"I'm not judging you." She rubbed a hand across her forehead in exasperation. "You deserve love, Regina. You deserve to feel wanted."
"And, I am not having this conversation." She huffs, standing and making her way past Emma to grab her coat.
But, Emma grabs her wrist as she tries to pass. "Regina, please."
Regina stops, but keeps her back to Emma. Her wrist burns at Emma's touch and there it is again, this indefinable thing crackling between them that had existed since the moment they met on Regina's doorstep. Needy. Desperate. Dangerous.
"In reference to last night's little tirade, people say things…when they're hurt, Miss Swan. Try not to take them so personally." Regina's eyes close as she says it, though Emma isn't able to see.
That was the closest thing to an apology as Regina had ever offered. Emma was surprised.
"Let me go." She commands sharply.
Emma drops her hold immediately. "I'm sorry." She whispers at her back, unsure what the hell had possessed her to grab her in the first place.
