Emma tried to open the door, but the key didn't give in. She remembered the instructions Regina had told her: get the key in and then pull up. She did so, but it remained closed. She gave it another try, grunting as she pulled up, but nothing happened until the door suddenly opened. Regina was on the other side, wearing black slacks and a light blue shirt. Her eyebrows were raised and the shadow of a mocking smile hid in the corner of her lips.

"Up and pull," she just said.

"I did that," Emma replied equally bothered and flustered by the fact that Regina looked like a model. "It didn't work."

Regina pulled out the key and stepped outside to stand by her side, closing the door. "Here, look. Key in, up and pull," she listed as she demonstrated it. The door opened and she turned to Emma. "Come here and try."

Reacting immediately, more than Emma would like to admit, she followed Regina's wave and took a step to stop in front of the door. Regina walked around her to stand by her side, close enough for Emma to feel her breath in her cheeks. She got the key in, pulled the door up and then towards her. Regina placed her hand over Emma's and helped her.

"A little gentler," she softly said. The door opened and Regina separated from her, "See?"

Emma followed her inside and noticed the other woman wasn't wearing high heels so she was slightly shorter than her. It felt odd walking into the apartment following her; Emma still felt like an outsider.

"I thought about ordering pizza," Regina announced as she took a seat on the sofa. A paper was spread on the table and it seemed she had been reading it before Emma clumsily tried to make her way into the apartment. Emma tried to hide the surprise at the question, but Regina caught it. "What?"

"Nothing," Emma shrugged, leaving her bag on the dining table along with her keys. "I just thought you didn't, you know…like that kind of food."

"Why?" Regina insisted with a funny smile from the sofa.

Emma felt the blush on her neck and licked her lips, nervously trying to find the right words to say she didn't expect Regina to eat fast food with that body. "You look…fancier than that," she managed to say.

Regina couldn't hold back the soft laughter and raised an eyebrow. "Pizza can be fancy."

"Not the one I eat," Emma pointed out while she pulled out her phone from her pocket. She quickly glanced at it and saw the notification of a text from Mary Margaret, making a mental note to answer it later.

"Well, today I am in a good mood and I give into some guilty pleasures sometimes too," she winked.

Emma nodded, more to have something to do instead of letting the flush on her cheeks to betray her. "Anyways, I'm fine with pizza."

"Thought so," Regina nodded. She reached for her laptop, which Emma hadn't noticed until then, and raised her gaze. "I'm ordering a veggie one, of course. You?"

"Uh, Funghi?"

"No meat. I like it" Regina commented wriggling her eyebrows.

Emma laughed. "You're not getting any from my pizza."

"We'll see," Regina shot back. Then she pressed enter and closed the laptop. "Done. It'll be here in 20."

"Nice," Emma sighed and pointed at the bathroom. "If you don't mind I'm going to take a shower."

"You don't have to ask for permission, Emma. All of this is yours now too," Regina smirked as she stood up.

Emma nodded and tried to resist the shiver at the way Regina had said her name. "I know, I know. I'll just…go," she murmured before disappearing.

The doorbell rang and Emma jumped startled in her room. She was pulling out her pyjamas from one of the boxes while holding the towel together on her body. It rang again and she wondered if Regina had left; she hadn't heard the door. Throwing her pyjamas on without underwear since she didn't have time to find it, she bolted to the door. Regina was nowhere to be seen so she picked up the pizza and gave the deliverer a few bills she saw next to the door as a bill. He shot his eyebrows up and murmured thanks before Emma closed the door. The warmth of the boxes was starting to bother her, so she left them on the table and searched for Regina.

"Regina?" she called, but there was no answer. The door of her bedroom was closed, so she knocked twice, but it was clear there was nobody there when she leaned in to listen. Emma then noticed the study's door closed and decided to give it a try.

This time she leaned in first and heard some shuffling inside, not enough to hear what she was doing but at least to know there was someone there. Emma knocked and pressed the doorknob but she tripped with her feet when the door didn't open. She frowned and knocked again, listening in silence until finally Regina opened the door.

"Sorry. Time flies in there!" she smiled. Her eyes -or maybe her nostrils- found the pizza on the table. "Nice! I was starting to get especially hungry."

Emma watched her walk over to the kitchen to get some glasses and, of course, the bottle of wine from the fridge. She wanted to ask why she had locked herself up inside a sound proof room, but she figured if Regina hadn't said it, she shouldn't ask. Everyone deserves some intimacy, she guessed.

"I think you watch a lot more TV than me," Regina commented while she grabbed the pizza and headed towards the sofa. "So why don't you choose something entertaining to watch?"

"Entertaining?" Emma asked joining her. Regina lifted the bottle and Emma nodded, so her glass was filled.

"Yes. You said you liked to watch reality shows, didn't you?"

Regina handed her the glass and the remote. "Well, yeah. Is there any of them you like?"

"I think I haven't seen one in years. I don't really have time to stop and watch TV." Emma frowned, slightly offended by that, and Regina noticed so she quickly tried to fix it. "I meant that I never had that hobby of watching TV."

Emma nodded, but Regina could tell she hadn't fixed it at all. "We could just see what's on tonight and choose from that."

The TV screen lit up and it showed a long list of channels. For a person who doesn't like to watch TV, Regina had too many even for Emma. She surfed her way through them while Regina cut the pizzas in silence. Just when she finished and picked up one of the portions, Emma left the remote on the table.

"What is it then?" Regina asked, the piece of pizza in her hand while she blew it colder.

Emma, however, picked up one and directly took a bite, feeling the burning sting in her tongue when she did so. She opened her mouth and blew, stubbornly still trying to swallow the bite. Regina offered a funny smile and Emma noticed it was because she was trying not to laugh.

"Just old, plain The Bachelor," she said once she managed to hardly swallow the pizza. Resigned, she copied Regina and blew on the pizza before taking another bite. "There isn't anything really good tonight so."

"This isn't good?" Regina asked with a confused frown.

Emma laughed and shook her head, "None of them is, but they're funny." She saw by the corner of her eye how Regina nodded and glanced at the TV, her eyes narrowed as if she was trying to focus on the show. They had caught it already started, if only for 10 minutes, but Emma was quick to catch which season was and what was happening. It didn't take long for Regina to ask the first question about the show.

"Okay so I understand the girls are trying to get the guy's attention, right?" Emma nodded and Regina hummed to herself. "And he's rich?"

"Yeah, it's like the catch."

"Shouldn't "the catch" be he's a good man and handsome and good in bed?" Regina asked before taking a bite of the pizza and Emma laughed.

"I guess that's what you like in a man?"

"And in a woman," Regina pointed out. "Don't you?"

"If I like that of a woman?" Emma choked.

Regina nodded, "Or a man."

Emma lowered her gaze to the piece of pizza in her hand and felt Regina's eyes on her before she even answered. "I mean, I guess. Those are good traits, but money is a plus."

Regina considered that for a second and then nodded in agreement. "That's true. But I don't see him trying to introduce himself as a good man."

Emma was surprised by Regina's zero knowledge in The Bachelor -had she lived under a rock these past years?- but indulged her questions. "Maybe they like bad boys."

"Those are only useful for one thing and it's not what they seem to want," Regina noted, making Emma swallow at the spontaneity.

"Well, you'll see."

Regina looked at her. "Oh, you've seen it already?"

"Yeah, this was like 2 seasons ago. The new season is on tomorrow."

There was no response but a nod from Regina, and both of them resumed watching it. In the show a party was happening and the bachelor was talking to a few of the girls. Emma was quick to finish her pizza, but she left the last portion to offer to Regina.

"No, thanks. I'm already full," she said with a smile. Emma glanced at her pizza and counted all three pieces she had eaten. "Would you like to try mine?"

Emma had never been a vegetable lover and mixing such a good meal like pizza with them was like betraying the Gods of Pizza, but there was something in Regina's eyes that made her say yes. It was a pleasant surprise when she took a bite and it was a lot more tasteful than she had thought.

"Mmm, it's good," she said through a mouthful of pizza. Regina smiled, pleased with the reaction. "Do you want to go vegan?" Emma asked all of the sudden.

It took Regina a little by surprise, but she quickly recovered after a sip of her glass of wine. "I'd like to. I'm trying but with work I barely have time to choose what I eat so it's proving to be a good challenge for me."

"Vegetarian sounds hard enough for me, but vegan? Cheese is my favourite," she sighed after swallowing another bite.

"There's vegan cheese, you know that right?" Regina pointed out. "I'll buy some for you to try it."

"Oh you don't have to." Emma felt the blush threatening at the back of her neck again. A yawn interrupted whatever she was going to say and Regina glanced up.

"A tiring day today at work?"

Emma shrugged, "Not that much, but there are a lot of floors to clean. Scientist are not as clean as you may expect."

The TV was just a background noise at this point, and both women were facing each other in the sofa, the blinking light from the screen casting a shadow in their faces. A glass of wine hung from Regina's fingers and, by the way it effortlessly danced in her hand, Emma briefly wondered if it was a habit.

"And what exactly do you do? Just wipe the dust and polish tubes?" The brunette asked with a curiosity Emma was already getting used to.

"Mostly. I leave everything ready to use, but I don't even really know what all of those machines and stuff are for. For all I know they could be making drugs and I wouldn't be aware," she laughed at her own joke. "And you? I remember you worked early this morning."

Regina's look was almost feline when she smiled like she was holding a big secret. "It was just a quick job. Anyways," she said waving her free hand and standing up from the sofa. "I will retire to my room and leave you to rest."

Emma watched her picking up the pizza boxes and carry them to the kitchen. That meant Regina didn't have anything to talk about what had happened the previous night and Emma wasn't going to make a fool of herself by bringing it up, so she stood up as well and turned off the TV.

"I can wash the glasses," she offered, but Regina was already at it, shaking her head with her back to Emma.

"Don't worry," she assured. She glanced over her shoulder and shot a smile that left Emma almost glued to the spot. "Good night, Emma."

"Good night," she murmured back before walking to her room.

It was quiet in contrast to the bright lights that came through the windows. Emma's muscles suddenly relaxed and felt heavy, so she didn't waste a minute and slid beneath the sheets, giving in almost instantly.