It was four o'clock in the morning and Regina heard a buzz from the side of her bed. She sat up immediately and reached over for her phone. It had been three weeks since Emma had expectantly walked out of their lives. She didn't call as promised. Regina couldn't help but feel the pang of guilt for letting her walk away. She let this strange woman into her and her son's life, and they both fell in love with her almost immediately. It took Henry several days of waiting by the phone Emma to call before he lost interest, however Regina still found herself with her phone as close to her as possible.

The buzzing continued, pulling Regina away from her thoughts; she quickly grabbed the phone. She didn't recognize the number on the caller ID, which led her to answer the phone quicker.

"Regina Mills." She said quickly.

"Hey, um, Regina, it's me, Emma." Regina's heart started racing for reasons beyond her.

"Emma," She let out with a relieved breath. The brunette brought a hand to her chest, as if to calm her beating heart.

"Yea, I didn't know who else to call, because let's face it you and Henry are the only people I really have in my life, and I don't know." There was a pause. "Regina I need help."

"What happened?" Regina said concerned.

"I got in trouble; will you please come pick me up?" There was a hitch in the blonde's voice, and Regina wasted no time crawling out of bed.

"Of course, Emma." Regina replied pulling her jeans slacks from the day before on, she finished getting dressed as Emma filled her in on where to pick her up.

Regina walked quietly to her son's room and scooped him up. She wrapped him in his blanket and rubbed his back slowly when he began to stir.

"It's ok, Henry, Shhh," She made her way to the front door grabbing her purse and keys.

Regina nocked on her neighbors door frantically. The light went on and Mrs. Lucas opened the door.

"I hate to spring him on you, I'm really sorry, but could you take him for the rest of the night, something came up?" Regina rambled on as the elderly woman took the boy into her arms.

"Regina you know you don't have to apologize. When will you be picking him up? In case he wakes up I don't want him to worry." Mrs. Lucas said.

"Later in the morning, I mean I'll be back home this morning but I would rather the house be empty when I get back." Regina said looking at her feet, a tear slowly trickled down her cheek.

"That's fine I'll be over in the morning, then."

Regina nodded and placed a quick kiss on her sons head before turning on her heel and briskly walking over to her car. No matter how often she did this, she hated leaving her son.

Regina opened the heavy doors quickly and her heels clacked through the police department as she sauntered up to the front desk.

"Mayor Mills? Is this one of those surprise inspections, not that we aren't prepared, it's just that it's early. In the morning I mean." The officer rambled on, but quickly shut up when he saw the look of annoyance on the Mayors face.

"No, I am here to retrieve, Emma Swan." She said pushing her hair behind her ears.

"Oh, she called you? At first she didn't want to use her call, but she changed her mind a few hours later. You too know each other? Is this some sort of thing you're doing to reach out to the homeless." At the tilt in Regina's head the Officer stopped rambling for the second time and slid a clip board over the counter. "Fill this out, I'll go get her."

Regina hurriedly filled out the paperwork and began to pace in front of the counter. What could Emma have done? Surely she wouldn't have stolen anything, nor did she have to? What was it about this woman that made Regina's heart and stomach do flips just thinking about her?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud clicking noise and a door opening. She stopped pacing and looked up to meet green eyes.

Emma looked ragged, her hair was tangled, her jeans had been torn by something and her shirt had a few stains, even Mrs. Lucas wouldn't know what to do with. The blonde was thin, really thin; her jeans seemed to sag off her hips causing her hip bones to show under her shirt. Regina looked back up to Emma's face and saw a slight purple and green mark just below her eye.

Emma eyed Regina fearfully; she didn't know what had urged her to call. She was beginning to regret it, until she felt arms wrap around her, and the familiar scent of apples engulf the air. The blonde let out a small whimper of pain and Regina pulled back quickly. She stared intently and the green eyes once more then pulled her in again for a lighter hug.

"Come on," Regina said taking Emma's hand. "Let's get you home."

Emma didn't say anything until they were in the car, her backpack taking its place between her legs.

"Regina there's something I need to tell you and its okay if you don't want to talk to me or let me see Henry again, but I'm tired of lying to you." Emma started fiddling with a loose string on her jeans. "I lied about getting a job somewhere else, and about having an apartment. I just, I'm not really good at having people care about me. So I guess I got scared that I was going to hurt you and Henry. So I left, but really I didn't." She finished and looked wearily at the brunette sitting next to her. She searched the chocolate eyes, for any sort of disappointment, or betrayal, or even anger. Instead she found Regina's eyes brimming with tears, she found compassion and love.

"I know Emma." Regina finally let out after a few minutes. "I knew the day you left, everything happened so fast I guess I didn't have time to respond. I'm so sorry I didn't stop you from leaving. I should have, but I let you down, and I'm sorry." Regina let out, a sob escaping her lips.

"You knew, really?" Emma's eyes widened in disbelief; Regina flinched expecting her to get angry, but instead the other woman leaned across the console and placed a soft kiss on the brunette's lips. Something she had wanted to do since she saw Regina walk across the park. Something always felt ok in Emma when she was with Regina, so she took a chance.

Regina leaned into the kiss and let her hand cup Emma's cheek. As soon as her hand touched Emma's face the blonde pulled away, fully realizing what had just happened.

"Oh my god," She whispered bringing her hand up to her lips, looking at Regina. "I'm so sorry; I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry. I'll leave." Emma grabbed at the door handle but Regina's fingers wrapped around her wrist, and pulled her back in.

This time it was Regina who instigated the kiss, making it deeper, filling it with love. Emma leaned in and let her hand run through brown hair. Regina's hand found Emma's waist and she began to move it up. She felt protruding rib bones and pulled away, lifting Emma's shirt up just enough to see how thin she really was.

"Emma when was the last time you ate." She inquired.

Emma pulled back quickly pulling her shirt down and bringing her bag into her lap, shrugging.

"Emma," Regina whispered placing a hand on the younger woman's thigh. "Please tell me."

"They fed me at the station, but if I eat too much I feel sick. It's been that way for a while. I don't know maybe my stomach got smaller." Emma said shrugging it off as no big deal.

"Well lets go home, and get some rest and I'll make anything you want for breakfast. How does that sound?" Regina said starting the car.

"Home?" Emma asked tilting her head to the side in confusion.

"I will not stand for you living in a shelter anymore, plus you are way too thin for my liking, and Henry misses you like crazy. My home is now your home." Regina said sternly, Emma smiled and grabbed her hand lacing their fingers together.

"Home." She says again, this time more hopefully.


AN: Gosh guys I didn't plan on breaking peoples heart with the last chapter. Hopefully this was a little lighter. Thanks SO much for all of your reviews, they really make my day! Thank you for reading. Next update will be on Friday! I'm really enjoying writing this. Let me know what you think of this chapter! :D