Author's Notes: I just want to thank everyone who continues to read and review and follow and like this story. I haven't had time to respond individually and with my work schedule, I use pretty much all of my free time that I can (which usually is not a whole lot on any given day) to write, so I apologize if anyone is expecting a personalized thank you to your reviews, just know that I appreciate you and every single review that is left more than words can even describe. Also, I will warn you all now that this one is going to be a long one with many little twists and turns and I cannot wait to share it as it all unfolds! I hope you continue to enjoy it!
Side note, I don't have a beta. I skim over each chapter before I post and I know there'll be typos...I apologize for that in advance...
"I'm done," Emma declared to herself as she tied the last garbage bag and let it fall to the floor with a heavy thud. "Are you finished up there yet, kid?"
"Just about, Mom!" Henry called out from one of the bedrooms upstairs.
Emma sighed heavily, wiping at her forehead with her sleeve as she carried the garbage bag outside to join the others in the pile near the front porch. For hours on an end, she and Henry had gotten straight to work with cleaning the cottage and yet, the only thing that was on her mind and pushed her move faster, harder, was the cold smile she'd received from Regina when they'd been in town. It had hurt, but it also sparked something deep inside of her, something she hadn't allowed herself to feel in a very long time. Pain. Guilt. Loss. Heartbreak. All of those things, she'd felt all over again with one simple look.
"I caught two of them," Henry said as he came out the front door holding the trap with two of the field mice scurrying about inside. "Maybe after we have dinner we can let them go?"
"Sure, kid, sounds like a plan, and no," Emma said with a look that and Henry smiling guiltily. "I'm not gonna let you keep them no matter how much you beg me. They're field mice, they belong you know, out in the fields."
"Can we still have s'mores for dinner, Mom?"
Emma looked back at her son, not wanting to disappoint him. A big part of this vacation was for him, to give him a chance to have some time out of the city, just as much as it was for herself. For his whole life, she'd been putting him first and there would be no exceptions made now, not even with the fact that Regina was there in the very same town without her ever having knowing about this beforehand. If she'd known…
You still would've come here, Swan. No sense in denying it now.
"Mom?"
"What, kid?"
"S'mores for dinner?"
An ominous boom of thunder suddenly squashed those plans of building a fire out in the back and making s'mores for dinner. They both barely made it back under the cover of the front porch before the rain poured down from the sky above. Emma placed her hands on Henry's shoulders after he put the small cage he'd used to trap the mice down on the front porch, well out of the reach of the rain coming in from the storm.
"Well, kid, looks like s'mores are off the menu for tonight," Emma said and she shook his shoulders gently upon his dejected sigh. "Tomorrow, okay? I promise," she said, pausing as lightning streaked across the darkening sky. "Given we don't get any more freak storms like this one, okay?"
"So, what are we having then?"
"We did buy other food," Emma chuckled, ruffling his shaggy brown hair as she ushered him back inside the cottage. "What do you say about having breakfast for dinner, kid?"
"Because it's the only thing you can make better than anything else?" Henry asked as he grinned up at her. "Of course. Breakfast for dinner it is, Mom."
"Did you get finished up upstairs?"
"Yeah, but…" Henry trailed off as the lights flickered. "Once I saw the mice in the trap, I kind of got distracted trying to play with them."
"Henry…"
"Don't worry, Mom. I changed the sheets and swept the floors, cleaned up the broken glass—"
"The window!" Emma gasped as she quickly turned on her heels and ran up the stairs and into the bedroom on the right, the one with the broken window. Rain poured in from outside and she struggled to push the double bed as far away from the broken window as she could. "We'll have to get that fixed tomorrow. You can stay in the other room tonight, kid."
"What about you?"
"I'll take the couch."
"Mom, I can sleep on the couch."
"No, kid. You've got the dry bed. Now come on, let's get dinner going, okay?"
Henry nodded reluctantly and led the way back down the creaky stairs and into the kitchen. While they busied themselves with cleaning pans and utensils to cook with, the lights continued to flicker, making the threatening loss of power grow bigger with every minute. While the bacon sizzled in the pan, Emma's mind started to wander yet again, thinking back to the night Regina showed up at the door, soaking wet from the raging storm outside and all because she wanted to see her and with the power out, the phones were down and there had been no other way for her to reach out to Emma that night.
Her body thrummed as she shifted on her feet, remembering every little detail of that night and wishing she didn't at the same time. Just like her other memories, it was so clear in her mind, as if it only happened yesterday and not eleven long years ago. That trip they'd taken to Boston changed a lot of things and it wasn't until after Regina had spent the night there in the tiny twin sized bed in the room she shared with Ruby, that things had begun to take a turn for the worse.
Emma sighed heavily as she flipped the bacon and looked over at Henry as he fiddled with the toaster, trying to get the plug to fit into the socket on the wall. She motioned for him to turn it around and he laughed as it finally fit into the socket, but not before the lights flickered and the power finally cut out completely.
Moving quickly, Emma pulled the pan off the stove, the bacon still sizzling as Henry grabbed one of the flashlights they'd left out on the small, wooden kitchen table. He frowned as he shown the light at the toaster and then looked over at his mother.
"Was that my fault?"
"No, I don't think so, kid. It's the storm," she replied and she sighed as she poked at the bacon with a fork. "Looks like we're gonna be having bacon sandwiches for dinner now."
"That's okay, Mom. Bacon sandwiches sound good to me, just as good as s'mores and just as good as breakfast for dinner."
Despite their dinner plans changing again in a short span of time, Henry just smiled and it made Emma smile to know that no matter what little blips that popped up in life, Henry always went through them all with a smile and a positive attitude. At least she'd done something right in her own life, raising her son to be who he was. Someone she'd had such a hard time in teaching herself to be.
Long after their dinner of bacon sandwiches, and long after telling stories in the dark with a fire burning in the stone fireplace to provide them light, and long after tucking Henry in bed, Emma found herself sitting in a chair on the front porch, the rain still coming down hard as lightning zigzagged across the sky. She sipped on the glass of warm white wine as she watched the storm and let her mind wander again, this time doing nothing to stop the memories as they flooded right back to the front of her mind.
It didn't matter that she didn't want to remember. It didn't matter that even though these were good memories, happy memories, sex-filled memories that made her ache to have that passion in her life again, it all hurt deep inside, fraying at the edges of her soul and teasing the poorly mended pieces of her still broken, guilt-laden heart.
Seeing Regina again had sparked something else inside of her, something else she wasn't ready to feel again.
Something else she'd likely never would, not with the way Regina had smiled so coldly at her. A smile filled with hate that only grew from Emma's inevitable betrayal.
It'd been raining for hours, long before the first crack of thunder boomed through the sky, shaking the old building and making the lights flicker. Emma had been in the apartment alone since late that afternoon, with Ruby out on a date with one of Jefferson's friends and Granny working the late shift at the diner. All alone in the small apartment and wearing nothing but a pair of worn grey cloth shorts and a white tank top, her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail and preoccupying herself, watching the storm with a pint of ice cream as she stood at the tall window in the kitchen.
When the power had finally went out, that was when she fished out the pint of vanilla ice cream from the freezer and began to eat it, slowly just to savour every spoonful. It had been three days since she returned from Boston with Regina and in those three days, she'd only spoken with her on the phone.
It wasn't enough. It wasn't nearly enough just to hear her voice, to spend hours late at night hearing Regina whisper deliciously naughty things into her ear as she huddled in the bathroom so Ruby or Granny wouldn't overhear the things she said in return. Those conversations only made her yearn for the older woman, to go back to the way things were in Boston, to those endless days and nights spent locked up in that room at the Onyx hotel where the only thing that existed was one another.
A hard knock on the door made her jump away from the window and her heart was racing as she placed the pint of ice cream down on the kitchen counter. At first she thought maybe she'd imagined it, that maybe the knock was something falling or crashing against the building outside in the storm. And then it sounded again, two solid taps on the heavy wooden door.
She glanced through the peephole and found her stomach filled with a hundred thousand butterflies as she saw Regina standing out in the hallway with a hand raised, ready to knock for a third time. Even in the emergency lights that lit up the hallway just barely enough to see much of anything, she could see that Regina was soaking wet, her clothes clinging to her, her hair dripping droplets of rainwater as she stood there idly chewing on her bottom lip before knocking again.
Emma swallowed hard as lightning lit up the small apartment. She suddenly felt nervous and uneasy, unsure if she wanted to open the door or just pretend she wasn't there despite how much she really needed to see Regina. They were from two very different worlds and the apartment, although it was home, was nothing short of embarrassingly small and cluttered when compared to Regina's own home.
Swallowing thickly, Emma unlocked the door and opened it slowly, a small smile curling over her lips as Regina's eyes lit up the moment Emma had the door opened all the way. She noticed then that Regina was carrying a small bottle of wine and she looked at her questionably as Regina's smile turned to a shy one and she rolled her shoulders as her short, perfectly groomed fingernails picked at the label on the bottle.
"Hey," Emma said quietly as she held on to the door and the door frame tightly with both hands. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here, Regina?"
"I wanted to see you, darling," she said, her voice just as quiet as Emma's had been. "I did try to call, but with the storm tonight, it's not just the power that is out, I'm afraid."
"Oh."
A part of Emma's mind wondered if that meant Granny would be coming home far sooner than planned, but another part of her mind was wondering whether or not to invite Regina inside. As she let her eyes sweep over Regina's body, an eyebrow raised as she eyed the tight light blue jeans and caramel coloured blouse that clung to her body like it was a second skin.
"Did you…walk here?" Emma asked her and Regina laughed, a nervous sounding laugh as she nodded her head yes. "You walked across the city in this storm? To see me?"
"I walked here from the subway, darling," Regina chuckled and she cocked her head to the side, her nervousness sliding away as that playful, sensual look appeared in her eyes. "Are you going to invite me in, Emma, or did I come all this way just to be turned away at your front door because perhaps, for some reason, you do not want me here?"
"Oh!" Emma nearly jumped back from the door and laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, uh, come in and um, please don't mind the mess." She said the last part in a rush as Regina stepped inside and placed her purse on the table by the door.
"I brought this as a gift to—for Granny," Regina said quietly, quickly correcting herself as she followed Emma into the dimly lit kitchen, her eyes looking around at the candles that lined the kitchen counter. "I thought perhaps she and I could sit down and talk, have a drink and that I could help…disperse the qualms she has about you and I."
"Granny doesn't drink wine," Emma replied lamely as she grabbed the nearly finished pint of melting ice cream and threw it in the sink, the spoon clattering against the stainless steel as she kept her back to Regina for a moment. "But, it's the thought that counts, isn't it?"
"Perhaps," Regina said as she placed the bottle on the counter near Emma, her hands moving to gently trail up Emma's bare arms. "Or perhaps you and I could have a glass together."
"I'm not—"
"Old enough to drink?" Regina tittered as her touch became firm, her body pressing into Emma's from behind. "You and I both know that hasn't stopped you before."
Emma bit her lower lip as she failed to stifle the moan she couldn't suppress. Three days was far too long to go without seeing Regina, without her touch, her lips upon her skin that ached for her every second of every day.
Turning in Regina's arms, her clothes already absorbing the moisture from the rain water that soaked Regina through and through, she shivered as she reached up to thread her fingers through wet hair. Three days was definitely far too long.
"Are we alone?" Regina asked huskily, her voice so thick with the passion it'd taken on in Boston that it made Emma shiver in delight. "Emma, are we alone?"
"Yes."
"Good."
"Good?"
"Yes," Regina said as she kissed Emma briefly. Over and over again. "I've missed you."
Emma wanted to tell her the same, to use those same words, but she felt it so much more. She grasped at her hair, sliding her fingers across Regina's scalp and neck as their lips lingered for a few heavy moments just before they kissed, lips hungry and wild. Emma's hands swept down Regina's back, feeling just how wet her clothes really were and she pulled back from her lips, groaning as Regina's lips moved to her neck, kissing and sucking at her pulse point as she was pressed up against the counter.
"Regina?"
"Mmm?"
"Do you…want a change of clothes?"
"I am fine," she whispered against her skin. "A little water won't make me melt."
Emma moaned quietly as Regina sucked at her neck again while her hands wandered over her body freely, yet not touching her where she needed it the most. Regina pressed her body flush against her own, her fingers tripping over her hips and down to her thighs just below the edge of her shorts, fingers teasing her skin as their lips met again in a heated kiss.
Her body was responding to every move Regina made, every inch of her lips and tongue, the way her fingertips grazed over her thighs. It felt as if every bit of her senses were heightened because of her and she was drowning completely.
Emma swept her hands down Regina's back as she sucked on her tongue and she gripped on to her firm ass in her tight jeans, eliciting a throaty moan that rumbled through her own body. Her body was thrumming with desire and they kissed harder, deeper as Regina's fingers gripped at the back her left thigh and moved it to wrap around her own leg. Emma panted against her lips as her fingers slipped under the edge of her shorts, short and perfectly manicured nails scratching over her flesh.
"I missed you too," Emma whispered against Regina's lips, dropping her leg back down to the floor as she moved to take one of Regina's hands in her own, guiding it between their bodies, needing to be touched. "After what you said to me last night I…"
"Are you wet for me?" Regina purred as she cupped Emma through her cotton shorts and she leaned back a little just to look into Emma's eyes. "Do you want me?"
"Yes."
"Mmm," Regina moaned as she surged forward, kissing Emma again deeply as she rubbed her harder, the cotton scratching at her aching pussy, wanting nothing more than to feel Regina's fingers fully against her heated flesh.
So consumed in the moment, in the lust, losing herself at the mercy of Regina, Emma deftly popped open the button on her jeans and moaned as Regina sucked on her button lip and rubbed over her harder, causing her hips to roll against her hand jerkily. Her body was verging on desperate and she gripped at Regina's shoulders, pushing her back so she could catch her breath.
Regina closed her eyes, her lips parted slightly and all Emma could do was watch her and feel her as she moved her hand up to the waistband of her cotton shorts, moving so slowly it almost felt like torture. Her nails raked across her skin and with the first touch of her fingertips against her throbbing clit, Emma couldn't bite back the moan that slipped out loudly. She moved her hands to cup Regina's face, pulling her back in for a slow, lazy kiss as she came undone under Regina's touch.
"Oh fuck," Emma panted as they parted from each other's lips again, only they didn't move far, their lips barely touching as Regina's fingers slipped lower, teasing her as she languidly eased a finger inside her. "Regina…"
Her only response was Regina's insistent lips as they kissed along her jaw and down her neck. Her heart was racing, her whole body tingling and humming with pleasure and Regina had barely even touched her. Regina nipped at her collarbone before kissing her way back up to parted, panting lips.
"You taste like vanilla," she murmured against Emma's lips.
Emma couldn't find a moment to respond before Regina was kissing her hungrily, two fingers slipping inside of her deeply as she kept her pressed up against the counter. She fumbled with Regina's jeans, trying to slide the went material down her hips a little so she could slip a hand inside, to touch her, to fuck her, to feel her wrapped around her fingers completely.
Not once did she think about the fact that at any given time, either Granny or Ruby would come home and find the two of them in the kitchen. Her brain didn't register anything else other than the obscene amounts of pleasure coursing through her body.
Three days was definitely too long and she was already tipping over the edge, her orgasm already spasming through her tightly wound body. She needed and wanted more, she needed all of Regina, she needed their clothes gone, and she needed to feel Regina completely against her, to touch her, to taste her, to make her come undone just as she was doing to her.
Yet every time she tried to move herself from between Regina and the counter, Regina held her tighter and stilled her fingers as she kept them buried to the hilt, prolonging her orgasm in a way she'd discovered on their second night in Boston.
"Regina…"
"Hmm?"
"Can we…" Emma groaned as Regina's lips found their way to her neck again and she sucked at Emma's pulse point, hard. Marking her. "Oh god," Emma cried out as another wave washed through her suddenly. "Regina…"
Regina responded with a throaty chuckle and delicately licked over her bruised flesh. All Emma could do was grip on to Regina's hips, her fingers grasping at the wet material of her jeans. She threw her head back, completely and fully at Regina's mercy. She had to force her eyes open as Regina's hand slipped out from inside her shorts and she watched with heavy lidded, lust filled, hungry eyes as Regina raised her fingers to her lips and licked each one slowly.
"Delicious."
Emma whimpered at the sight of Regina licking her cum and moaning at the taste of it on her own fingers. She watched as her tongue slipped out between her lips as she trailed her went fingertips over Emma's collarbone, her fingertips dragging across her skin as their eyes stayed locked in a heady gaze.
"Regina…"
"Yes, my love?"
"Can we…" Emma trailed off as she motioned to her right towards the bedroom door.
Regina nodded her head and took both of Emma's hands in her own. "Would you like for me to stay tonight?"
"If you want to. I mean, I have a small bed, like really small and it's nothing like yours or the one in Boston and—"
"As long as I am with you, I'd sleep on a cement floor if only I had you in my arms."
Emma chuckled and she caught Regina playfully rolling her eyes just before she turned to blow out the lit candles along the counter, taking one with her as she led Regina down to the room she shared with Ruby. Suddenly she felt almost embarrassed having Regina there and taking her to a room that wasn't entirely her own. She didn't even want to think just what Regina would think of it, or how she'd probably laugh at how small her bed was, how scratchy the sheets were compared to the soft ones that were on her own bed back home.
Swallowing her fear, her nerves, reminding herself that Regina wasn't as superficial as she'd thought her to be when they first started dating, she led her into the dark bedroom and shut the door behind them. She placed the candle on the bedside table beside her bed as thunder cracked loudly outside.
"So," Emma said as she watched Regina move towards her bed. "I know it's small—"
"It's fine, love."
Emma just watched as Regina slipped off her shoes and ran her fingers over the soft white bedspread. She licked over her lips as she wrapped her arms around Regina from behind, her hands slipping under the front edge of her shirt, her fingers splaying out across the soft skin of Regina's stomach. Slowly she raised the damp shirt upwards, smiling to herself as Regina easily lifted her arms to allow her to remove it completely.
Being able to touch Regina, to kiss over the soft skin of her shoulders as she dropped her damp shirt to the floor, it made her realize just how much she'd truly missed seeing her, how much she ached to touch her, to feel her, to taste her. The love she had for the older woman had consumed her completely and she was drunk on love and the intoxicating way Regina always made her feel right from the moment they first met.
Emma traced her fingers over the clasp of Regina's soft pink lacy bra as she kissed her way down her spine, taking her time as she unclasped the bra and glided her fingers under the straps, her lips continuing on a slow descent down her back. As the bra slid down Regina's toned arms, Emma moved her hands over her hips, kneeling on the ground behind her as she planted soft, wet kisses along her lower back. She turned Regina around, smiling up at her as her fingers dipped into the waistband of her jeans and tugged them down.
Emma grinned as she placed a hand on her stomach and eased her down on to the bed as she pulled her tight, damp jeans off of her completely. Even in the candlelight, Regina was breathtaking as she laid on the bed in only a tiny pair of matching pink lacy panties. Her hands were trembling slightly as she glided them up Regina's smooth, tanned legs, moving to crawl over her body as she let her right hand linger between her legs, teasing her as their lips met in a hungry, feverish kiss.
She needed all of her and she could feel the heat growing between them, yet they didn't rush as they lost themselves in one another. Regina tugged at her shirt before sliding her hands up Emma's stomach to cup her breasts, her fingers teasing over hardening nipples as Emma rubbed her over her panties, feeling how wet she was for her too.
Leaning back, Emma helped her rid her of her own shirt and she tossed it behind her, smiling down at Regina as she traced her fingertips over Regina's hard nipples, marvelling in just how beautiful and sexy she was laying beneath her. She dipped her head down, planting a soft kiss on Regina's lips before trailing the tip of her tongue down her neck and across her breasts, tasting her skin for the first time in days.
Every time Regina tried to take back control, Emma reached for her hands and pinned them against the bed and would shoot her a warning look that told her she was in complete control at the moment, something Regina rarely let her have.
For hours as the storm continued to rage outside, they made love on the small bed, completely consumed with each other and lost in a lustful haze that without a doubt made the rest of the world just fade away into nothing. Even after Emma was spent, her body fighting sleep, Regina's hands still wandered as they lay on their sides facing one another. Small lazy kisses were give back and forth as they fought sleep together, not ready to stop after three long days apart.
Emma wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep, but when her eyes fluttered open to the sounds of pigeons cooing on the window ledge outside, she found herself laying in Regina's arms with Regina's body pressed fully up against her back, the sheets barely covering them as they slept in the warmth of the room. She smiled when she felt the soft kisses along her shoulder and Regina's hand that had been nestled between her breasts, smoothed over her skin, moving to cup her gently as she slipped her thigh higher between Emma's legs.
"Morning, love," Regina whispered into her ear, her voice thick and husky with sleep.
"Mmm, morning," Emma moaned as her body was more than definitely aware of the feel of Regina pressed up against her and a strong thigh rubbing against her pussy.
And for a moment they seemed to forget just where they were, and neither seemed to notice the distinct smell of coffee brewing from the kitchen, and neither seemed to realize that the bedroom door had opened until they heard a throaty chuckle coming from the doorway.
"Rubes, get outta here," Emma groaned as she felt Regina stiffen behind her.
"I knew it," Ruby chuckled as she stood there, unmoving, her eyes wide as Regina tried in vain to grab the sheets to cover herself and Emma completely. "Guess it's a good thing I heard you two when I came in last night and slept on the couch, huh?"
Emma grumbled as she grabbed the pillow and chucked it towards Ruby, glaring at her, warning her to leave before she seriously killed her for walking in on her and Regina like that. But Ruby was undeterred by the whole thing, chuckling as she tossed the pillow back at the two of them.
"Well, Granny is making breakfast. Just thought you two would want to know she invited Regina to stay this morning. If, you know, she wants to."
"Get out of here, Ruby!"
"I'm going, I'm going!" Ruby laughed before she backed out of the bedroom and shut the door behind her.
"God, I'm so sorry," Emma said as Regina scrambled to get out of the bed and started to pluck her clothes up from the floor. "Regina…I'm sorry about Ruby. She—"
"Has no courtesy or manners, does she?" Regina asked with a slight coldness to her tone. "Perhaps staying over was not such a good idea, Emma."
"It's fine, trust me."
"Is it?" Regina asked as she slid on her bra and clasped it before grabbing her jeans and pulling them on quickly. "You do not live alone. You don't even have your own room or the privacy you deserve. I do not know how you manage to have a healthy, serious relationship with anyone if you cannot have them spend the night in your own bed without having to wake up to…that."
Emma sat up, leaning back on her elbows as she watched Regina finish getting dressed. She was upset and embarrassed and angry, a pretty lethal combination since she'd never truly seen that side to her before.
"I've never had a serious, healthy relationship with anyone else but you," Emma whispered, but it fell on deaf ears as Regina ran her fingers through her hair before slipping into her shoes. Emma moved quickly to get dressed and she stepped in front of Regina, placing herself between her and the door. "Where are you going? Are you leaving? Regina…"
"I must."
"Stay for breakfast? Please?"
Regina, she noticed then, had a pink tinge to her cheeks. "I cannot, love. I'm sorry."
"Regina…"
Regina shook her head, but she didn't leave without a simple little kiss to Emma's lips. She mouthed "I love you" before Emma stepped away and followed her out of the bedroom. She looked into the kitchen at Granny, frowning as she saw Granny had already made up a plate and had a cup of steaming hot coffee waiting for Regina.
"You're welcome to say," Granny said as Regina grabbed her purse off the table and slid the strap over her shoulder. "In fact, I insist."
"Another time," Regina said without turning to look at her. "I will see you later, darling."
"Regina…" Emma pleaded as she followed her out into the hallway bare footed. "Please stay? I want you to stay—"
"I told you I cannot stay. Another time," Regina said as she paused but didn't turn to look back at Emma. "Come over around four?"
"Okay," Emma frowned as she stood by the open door. "I love you," she whispered as she watched Regina disappear down the stairs without another word.
She ignored the look that Granny gave her when she walked back inside and joined her and Ruby in the kitchen for breakfast. Later definitely couldn't come soon enough…
Emma sighed loudly as she wandered around the cottage, assessing the damage from the storm the night before. There wasn't much, just a few fallen tree branches they could use to burn in a fire once they dried out. With Henry still in bed, she started to gather up the fallen branches, piling them near the wood pile at the side of the cottage.
It had been the storm that brought back that memory of Regina that one night. It had been her endless thoughts of Regina that had made it impossible to get more than a few hours of sleep. She didn't know what was happening to her, or why this was happening now when over the years it had only been a handful of times she'd think of Regina throughout the year, not a handful of times in the past handful of days, every day bringing back another memory that left her heart aching all over again.
Emma wiped her hands on her jeans as she heard the sound of gravel crunching and the soft whine of breaks. She walked around to the front of the cottage and her heart nearly leapt into her throat as she saw Regina Mills climb out of the black Mercedes, dressed in a grey business suit, sunglasses on and her face stoic, void of showing any emotion at all.
"Ms, Swan," Regina said as she turned to look at Emma as she stood awkwardly by the edge of the gravel driveway. "What a pleasant surprise to see you here in Storybrooke."
"Regina…"
"I see that this place is still, well, hospitable enough for you to stay here," Regina said as she looked over the top of her sunglasses at the cottage. Regina walked a few steps away from her car towards Emma and stopped a few feet from her as she casually removed her sunglasses. "I suppose you're wondering what I'm doing here this morning, but the question is, I came here to find out what you are doing here in my town."
"Your town?" Emma asked and she shook her head at how pathetic her voice sounded.
"Yes, my town, Ms. Swan, or were you blissfully unaware that I have been Mayor of Storybrooke for the last five years running?"
Emma blinked as she stared at Regina. The coldness in her voice was so different than the Regina she remembered—at least from the good memories she had of her. Her mouth suddenly went dry as Regina took another few steps towards her and stood just inches in front of her. She could smell her perfume, but beyond that, she could smell just the faintest hint of apple cider and she could smell a little bit of vanilla mixed in with the scent that was completely Regina Mills.
"I—I had no idea," Emma stammered and she couldn't help but be drawn in to Regina, watching her as her lips curled into a cruel smirk. "Mayor?" She chuckled nervously as Regina stared at her with her hands on her hips. Intimidating, as always. "That's impressive, actually."
"Impressive or not, I do not want you here," Regina hissed through clenched teeth. "I told you the last time I saw you that I never want to see you again. Or did you forget? Did you think that after all these years that I would forget how much you hurt me? Did you think I would forgive you for what you did to me?"
"Regina, I tried to—"
"Apologize? Explain? There was no need. What is done is done," she said and she stepped back from her, putting a little bit more space between them. "I don't care to hear you pathetic little excuses or hear your tearful apologies. It's been a long time, Ms. Swan, and I stand by what I said. When I said I wanted nothing to do with you ever again, I meant it, or did you think that eleven years would change things, hmm?"
The woman that stood in front of her was not the same woman that she had loved so long ago. This was a woman whose heart was still clearly as broken as her own, but broken by betrayal, a far heavier burden than the guilt that plagued Emma's own heart.
"Mom?" Henry called out as he opened the front door and Emma paled as she watched Regina look straight at him with wide eyes. "Who is that?"
"It's…nobody, Henry. Go back inside, I'll be in there in a minute and we'll make some breakfast, okay?" Emma said as she looked back at him and waved him back inside. He just looked at her, completely confused as to why she was acting that way and with a shrug of his shoulders, he disappeared back inside. "Regina…I know you don't want to listen to a word I have to say right now, but you are going to listen to me. You owe me that much after coming here like this."
Regina was silent, something she didn't expect, not from the confrontational tone she'd just experienced. She walked over to her, wanting to reach out, but instead she placed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans to curb that urge. It'd been too long. And she'd lost the right to reach out for Regina a long time ago.
"I came to Storybrooke to get away from my life in New York for a while. Things have happened that I can't even begin to explain and Granny had offered me the cottage for the summer. I did not know you were even here, I honestly had no idea where you even went after we ended things. If you came here to tell me to leave," she paused as a dry laugh escaped past equally dry lips. "I am not going anywhere. Me and my son are going to be here for the next two months whether you like it or not. You want me to stay out of your way, I can do that, but can you say you'll do the same, Regina?"
"Your son?" Regina asked, her voice so quiet Emma wasn't even sure she'd said anything at all.
Emma watched her as she shook her head and placed her sunglasses back on before turning on her heels and walking quickly back to her car. Emma could do nothing but stand there and watch as she drove away and she gripped at her chest, her heart beating rapidly, hurting just as much as it did the day Regina threw her out of her apartment and out of her life.
Eleven years hadn't changed a thing. But, now that she knew where Regina was after years of never knowing, she had a tiny little glimmer of hope that maybe, given some time—and a miracle—that somehow, someway, she could get Regina to finally forgive her for breaking her heart in the first place. Whether that was a good idea or not, she really didn't care because it was time to mend her broken heart. And Regina's too.