Emma woke up for the second time several hours later, alone in Regina's bed. After waking up the first time not knowing how she ended up in the older woman's bed for the second time in a week due to drinking far too much, she'd allowed to be coaxed her back into bed, both of them far too tired to deal with things in the heat of the moment.

The first time she'd woken up, her brain was a foggy mess and she could not for the life of her remember what had happened. Yet now, as she woke up to soft sunlight streaming in through the window, her memories caught up to her piece by broken piece. She remembered David picking her, Ruby, and Tink up from the Rabbit Hole after the bartender had effectively cut her off. She remembered being in the bed of David's truck, but not what she was thinking of when she suddenly found herself in Regina's bedroom. Vaguely she remembered rambling on like a spaz, a drunken idiot before she'd kissed Regina. Twice.

Rubbing her hands over her eyes, she inhaled deeply. What had she gotten herself into? She wasn't supposed to be transporting herself into Regina's bedroom in the middle of the night, especially not when she was too drunk to control her actions and clearly her lips. By all reasons of logic, she shouldn't have even been able to perform that spell, not when she had spent hours the day before failing miserably in every attempt to make it work.

She inhaled deeply once more as her body as well as her mind began to wake more fully and she could just faintly smell the intoxicating aroma of fresh coffee being brewed downstairs. She threw back the sheets and stretched out languidly, her shoulder muscles tight from sleeping in an unfamiliar bed and a pillow that had been far too firm for her liking. After a quick stop in the bathroom, she headed downstairs to the kitchen without changing out of the clothes she had no idea how she got changed into and chose in that moment not to think about it at all.

"Good morning, Emma," Regina smiled the moment she entered the kitchen. "Happy Birthday."

"Thank you," Emma smiled, blushing slightly as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Oh and good morning," she added quickly with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

Regina reached for the mug on the counter and held it out towards her. "I thought you might need this when you woke," Regina said quietly. "I heard the toilet flush."

"Oh, right," Emma took the offered mug with a grateful smile. "About last night—"

"Perhaps we should save that particular conversation until you've properly woken up," Regina said quickly, lifting her own mug to her lips. "That is, if you do want to talk about it at all. I will understand completely if you wish not to."

"Because avoidance has worked so well for us so far," Emma muttered under her breath and rolled her eyes. "What's happening between us, Regina?"

Regina withdrew into silence, something that Emma had learned she did when faced with a difficult situation she was unsure of how to conquer. It didn't happen often, but she knew Regina well enough to know when it happened. Emma sighed and sipped her hot coffee slowly before moving to lean against the island counter just a few feet in front of Regina.

"I do remember what happened last night," Emma said after a few heavy minutes of silence between them. "I remember kissing you."

"You'd been drinking. I am sure your judgment was severely clouded by whatever alcohol you indulged in after I left to take Kathryn home."

Emma nervously scratched at the back of her neck. While she was sure that the copious amounts of alcohol she'd drank had been part of the reason behind her actions, she herself was to blame.

If she was being honest with herself—and she knew she had to start doing just that—the alcohol had only given her that small boost of confidence to make that move on Regina the night before. While she wasn't ready to fully face what it meant, it didn't mean that her mind wasn't searching for the answers. Regina hadn't said so much in words as she had in her actions, but Emma knew she had more than just friendly feelings towards her. Even now, with the silence that settled between them once again, she could sense something more there between them and not only that, she could see what she recognized as fear in Regina's soulful brown eyes.

"I want to talk about it, I think we need to," Emma said as she lowered her eyes to the mug in her hand. "But I need to know something before we talk, Regina."

"You want to know if I have feelings for you."

Emma nodded. "I know that you do, but it's not like it's obvious or anything," she said in a rush, afraid that she'd scare Regina off, cause her to close herself off to her completely. "I just don't know what you want from me."

"What I want from you?" Regina asked, her tone light. "I don't want anything from you that you aren't willing to give to me, Emma."

The open admission and honesty caught her off-guard a little bit. Regina was never as open as she was being in that moment, not with her and certainly not with anyone else that she'd ever noticed. Emma licked over her lips as she allowed her eyes to come into contact with Regina's and she found it hard to look away from Regina's intense gaze. Emma swallowed hard as she placed her mug down on the counter behind her, her eyes never wavering away from Regina's for a moment.

What did Regina want with her? Did she want a romantic relationship or was she leaning more towards friends with benefits? Surely she'd want the latter after her heart had been broken one too many times. Emma herself wasn't sure what she wanted beyond friendship, but what she did know was that she'd felt something under the drunken haze when she had kissed her. Had it just been the buzz from the alcohol that made her feel something that likely wasn't even there or was it something else entirely?

Emma licked over her lips as her eyes gazing down to Regina's full ones and back to meet her eyes once more. Just as she was about to take a step towards Regina, their teenaged son's voice rang through the otherwise quiet house.

"Happy Birthday!" He laughed as he rushed over to throw his arms around Emma tightly.

"Hey, Henry, what are you doing here so early?"

"Early?" Henry asked with a shake of his head. "It's almost eleven, Mom."

"It is?" Emma looked at her son in confusion and then over at Regina. She quickly covered it as she wrapped an arm around his neck and ruffled his hair. "I had a late night last night."

"I heard," Henry replied and he moved to hug Regina with a smile. "Why aren't you ready yet?"

"Ready for what?"

"Brunch at Granny's," Henry said pointedly. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"Must've slipped my mind," Emma shrugged. "How about you give me ten minutes and I'll be ready to go, okay?"

Henry nodded and went off ahead of her upstairs to retrieve a few comics from his room that he'd left there during the week. Emma sighed and picked up her mug, drinking what she could before she placed it back down on the counter again.

"Uh, do you have any clothes I can borrow?" Emma asked. "I can't exactly go in what I wore last night. Pretty sure I'd reek like booze and Snow will have a fit."

"I'm certain she'll have a fit if you show up in clothes that clearly belong to me," Regina replied with a hint of a smirk dancing over her lips. "Unless," she paused, looking Emma up and down for a moment and with a wave of her hand, she magically conjured up a fresh pair of jeans and a white sweater. With another wave, Emma's tan jacket and boots appeared on her and Regina nodded, looking rather satisfied with herself. "Much easier, wouldn't you say?"

"Okay that is another thing I need you to teach me," Emma laughed as she looked down at her clothes. "I might even be able to save a small fortune on a new wardrobe."

"You cannot conjure something that does not already belong to you or another who is willing."

"Right," Emma nodded with small disappointment. "There goes that idea then."

The moment they were about to have had been shattered and Emma had a feeling it would be rather difficult to get that moment back again anytime soon. If it hadn't have been for Henry, she couldn't help but wonder what would've happened next. Would they have kissed or would one of them stopped it from happening just before their lips would meet for a third time in less than twelve hours? She frowned and shook her head, trying to dislodge those thoughts from her mind.

"You should get going, dear. Wouldn't want to keep your family waiting," Regina said gently at the sound of Henry's footsteps thundering down the stairs.

"Regina?" Emma asked as Henry called out for her to hurry up and get ready because he was hungry. "Do you want to come with us?"

"Brunch with the Charming's?" Regina asked with a raised eyebrow. "How could I ever possibly resist?"

"Is that a yes?"

"That is a no," Regina replied, rolling her eyes playfully. "Another time, perhaps, preferably without your parents and your irritating little brother."

Emma was used to those jabs that Regina regularly made regarding her family. It didn't matter that they all got along, at least for the most part, Regina still distanced herself from becoming too close with her former nemesis and her family. That obviously hadn't included Emma, but their relationship, their friendship had been formed on entirely different grounds, and their past was not as colorful as the one Regina had with her parents.

Emma fidgeted with the ends of her unzipped jacket, suddenly feeling at a loss for words. She wanted to tell Regina that she wanted her to come to brunch with her and her family, it was her birthday after all and she wanted to spend it with those she cared about, Regina being one of those handful of people. There were a lot of things that she wanted, she realized, that involved Regina and coming to terms with that was becoming easier, slowly yet surely.

"Happy Birthday, Emma," Regina smiled lightly at her. "Do enjoy brunch with your family."

"Thank you, I will," she smiled back at her before closing the distance between them. "Thank you for letting me stay here last night."

"It is not as if I had much of a choice as you took it upon yourself to pass out in my bed."

Emma shook her head as she bit back her laughter and ran her tongue slowly over her lips. Without thinking twice, she leaned over and kissed Regina lightly, letting her lips linger just for a handful a seconds before pulling back. With a small smile, she turned on her heels and headed for the front door, ignoring the fact that her heart was hammering wildly in her chest and she was definitely trying to ignore that tingling sensation left behind on her lips just from sharing a small, chaste kiss with Regina.

She knew as she joined her family in the Jeep Wagoneer that was parked on the street with David behind the wheel that she had a lot of things to think about, things that would have to wait until she wasn't with her family. The one thing that lingered in her mind was the words that Regina had said to her: I don't want anything from you that you aren't willing to give to me.

[X]

Late in the afternoon, Emma found herself lounging on the couch in her apartment while Henry went out to ride his bike with Nick and a few other boys from school, trying to make the most of the last of the fall weather before winter hit with a vengeance. There weren't many occasions where she found time to watch TV by herself and even then, especially on a Sunday in October, the only thing that was on the TV was football and baseball, and a host of random infomercials on the handful of channels she actually had.

So, she just lay there in complete and utter silence, her eyes closed but her mind far from falling off into a light sleep. Her phone was resting on top of her abdomen, her boots on the floor while her feet hung over the arm of the couch, her feet swaying in a rhythm to the beat of her still rapidly beating heart.

Her mind was swirling with thoughts she no longer fought, thoughts of Regina, thoughts of what had happened a week ago and the night before. Thoughts of that small kiss she'd stolen before she all but ran out of Regina's house to join her family for a birthday brunch at the diner. Thoughts of how just even being close to Regina had her feeling all sorts of things she'd denied herself from feeling before. But she was still confused as to what Regina had meant when she said that she didn't want anything she wasn't willing to give. What did that even mean?

Had Regina put the proverbial ball into her court, allowing her to make the next move first? Was it now up to her to figure out what was going on between them and go from there? Did Regina want a relationship, try one out at least, or was she leaning more towards something purely sexual with no strings attached? But the question she knew she should be asking herself was what did she want? Her alcohol-addled brain clearly wanted Regina, her lips had betrayed her in more than just words the night before, that much she was certain of, her mind couldn't seem to stop thinking about the older woman, but she just couldn't figure out what her heart wanted.

Emma didn't have the greatest track records when it came to relationships and it wasn't something she was proud of either. It was just the way she was, her lack of commitment because she was afraid to commit to someone completely only to lose them in a short span of time. It was the result of being an orphan as a child, shuffled like she was a nobody from foster home to foster home, group home to group home, experiencing adoption once when she was very young only to be given back because they'd no longer wanted her.

It hadn't just been romantic relationships that had suffered because of her past; it had been friendships and acquaintances as well. Her time in Storybrooke had produced friendships that had lasted far longer than any others in her life and for that she was grateful. She had her family, the very same family she wished for her entire life, and she had her son after she'd spent so very long trying not to wonder what had happened to him the moment she'd given him up.

It was different now and she found herself constantly in a state of reminding herself just that, even if it happened subconsciously when she wasn't remotely aware. Everything was different now and her whole life had become something she never could've dreamt of. As she lay there on the couch and let her thoughts consume her, she wondered if things could be better than they were at that moment. Life was good, the only worries she had prior to having sex with Regina, had been the Lost Boys constantly stirring up trouble and keeping her on her toes. Now her life was filled with confusion, with not know what to do or how to just deal with what she felt.

Emma had never had a friend she could talk to about the things that bothered her, the things she thought about that she knew she needed to get off her chest, to get a second opinion and preferably some advice. Regina had been close enough of a friend that she'd had some long, heart-felt talks with her, but what she was going through in that very moment was because of her and Regina was the very last person she felt like she could talk to.

She most definitely could not talk to her mother. Snow would go off in a tangent even if she withheld some key information from her. Just the fact that she harbored some deep, intense, and perhaps feelings of a romantic nature would have Snow practically planning her wedding and the rest of her future without a doubt. Of course if she mentioned that it was Regina she had those feelings for, things would surely spontaneously combust right in front of her very eyes and it would not end well for anyone.

There was always Ruby Lucas and she could trust her with just about anything. It'd always been easy for her to talk to Ruby, but maybe not as much as it was to open herself up to her. Ruby already knew about her and Regina and hadn't brought it up since despite the fact that Emma knew she was dying to do just that. If there was anyone she was close to that she could trust to listen to her and not repeat a word, it would be her.

Emma inhaled deeply and picked her phone up, swiping at the screen and quickly punching in her passcode. She debated for just a minute and no longer before she quickly sent a text to Ruby and waited. After three whole minutes, Ruby replied and said she'd take her up on the offer to hang out with her for a little while. While she read over the short text, another came in, this time it was from Regina and just seeing her name on her screen had her heart racing at full tilt.

Dinner for two tonight, just you and I? No interruptions. We still need to finish our talk.

Emma swallowed thickly and glanced at the time. It was still a few hours before dinnertime and that gave her plenty of time to sit down and talk with Ruby for a little while. She was a little hesitant in answering, but she knew if she didn't answer within the next five minutes, Regina in all her impatience would be texting her again.

A queen—former or not—did not like to be kept waiting and it was a trait that had stuck with Regina over the years. Emma sat up on the couch slowly and ran a hand through her hair. Dinner alone with Regina could go one of two ways and she wasn't sure if she was ready for either way that dinner could go between them. Yet, a part of her didn't want to upset Regina, nor did she want to lead her on before she figured out what exactly it was that she wanted.

Dinner sounds great.

Wonderful. I'll see you around six?

It's a date.

Emma hit send on the last one far too quickly and groaned loudly as she pressed the phone screen against her chest when she saw those three little dots that indicated Regina was responding. Her phone suddenly starting vibrating constantly and she pulled it back from her chest, the ID indicating that it was a call from the station.

A call from the station on a Sunday afternoon was never a good sign.

"Hello, Sheriff Swan speaking?"

"Emma?" Tink's voice sounded distant as she said her name. "You need to get down to the hospital now. There's been an accident. It—its Henry."