Thank you so much for reviewing, favoriting, and following this story. It really means a lot to me. I hope you all like this chapter.

Many thanks to Tris again! You're a lifesaver!

Regina woke up with a throbbing headache. She refused to open her eyes, unwilling to face the light of day just yet. How much alcohol had she consumed the previous night? What had happened?

She kept her eyes closed as she tried to recall the events of the previous evening. There had been alcohol. And Emma. Emma leaving Hook. Some more alcohol. Emma saying she was in love with her? Had she dreamt that? She knew she had dreamt about Emma reciprocating her feelings more times than she liked to admit, but the conversation in her head was too vivid just to be a product of her subconscious.

She let out a groan when she realized how dry her mouth was. She would have to get up at some point. She really needed to have a glass of water, and going to the bathroom sounded pretty good, too. She really needed to get out of bed.

As she opened her eyes, she was faced with a sight she wouldn't have expected in a million years: she was staring right at the sleeping face of Emma Swan. Emma looked so peaceful, a lock of hair fallen on her face and her mouth slightly open. Despite her smudged mascara, she looked as beautiful as ever, and Regina couldn't stop admiring her.

She soon came to her senses, though, when she realized Emma was still in her dress, but her bra was gone and the dress covered only Emma's body from the waist-down. What had happened? Why had she let it happen?

Regina sighed. It didn't take a genius to deduct that something she definitely hadn't planned had occurred in the bed they were lying on just mere hours ago. This wasn't good at all.

She got up, as careful as possible to not wake Emma, and made her way towards the bathroom. She ended up leaning on the wall of shower as the warm water splashed on her. She tried to come up with some sort of recollection of the events from the previous night, but that turned out to be harder than expected. There had been more shots after they'd discussed their feelings, they had purchased something from the store across the street and they had taken a cab to go somewhere…

Regina's headache increased. She wasn't sure if she wanted to remember what had happened and if that was keeping the memories from surfacing.

She squirted shampoo on her left hand, and that's when she saw it. There was a cheap-looking ring on her ring finger. No.

She almost immediately jumped out of the shower, but decided to wash her hair first before stampeding into the bedroom and interrogating Emma about the events of the previous night… She was married. Again. To a person she loved this time, so it was really an improvement, but… This was a mistake. They couldn't be together. She thought she had already made that clear. What had she been thinking?

When she finally walked out of the bathroom, she was met with the sight of mussed-haired Emma wrapped up in a white sheet and staring at her ring finger in confusion. Her old engagement ring was gone, and she was wearing a ring similar to Regina's. Her head shot up when she realized Regina was there, her expression guilty, uncertain, and afraid, and alright, maybe Regina wouldn't be too mad at Emma when she looked like a lost puppy.

"Hi?" Emma said carefully, her expression nervous.

"Did we get married last night?" Regina felt the need to cut to the chase, because frankly, she wasn't in any condition for small talk with this kind of headache.

She really needed coffee.

"Um, yes? I guess? I'm sorry," Emma lowered her gaze to her hands, looking guiltier than ever. "I think it was my idea."

Regina hadn't been suspecting that. She had thought Emma would've been as clueless as she was, but apparently the other woman had a better idea of what had happened.

"Your idea?" Regina said a bit more angrily than she had intended.

Emma raised her gaze again, her cheeks crimson. She seemed to be fighting back tears. "I'm really sorry, Regina. Please don't hate me."

The sight of Emma so hopeless broke Regina's heart. She decided to abandon her original approach on the matter and walked towards Emma, sitting down on the bed as she said, "Emma, I could never hate you." She took Emma's hand in hers. "Tell me what you remember."

Emma exhaled slowly before starting to talk. "I thought it'd be fun. Really. After everything, we just needed something to… lighten up the mood, which I know isn't really a good reason to get married." She sighed. "I shouldn't have watched so much Friends in the 90s."

"Did you just compare us to Ross and Rachel? Because I won't have that," she informed Emma.

"What?" Emma seemed confused by the turn this conversation had taken. "What's wrong with R-" She stopped. "Monica and Chandler?"

She stayed quiet for a second before replying, "Better."

Emma rolled her eyes. "So, anyway. You said you wanted to see Hook's face at the news before you set him on fire, so you thought it was a good idea, too. You wanting to punish him was actually very sweet in its own way." Emma took a deep breath. "So, yeah, I think we just took a cab and went to a chapel nearby, and boom. Married."

Regina remembered taking a cab with Emma, but everything after that was kind of blurry. She remembered having had some more tequila in the cab, after which her memories became so fuzzy she honestly couldn't remember anything.

"Regina, could you, like, say something?" Emma's uncertain voice pulled her back from her thoughts.

"I'm sorry. Well," she started, but was drawing a blank. How was she supposed to answer? That she actually wanted to be married to Emma? She couldn't do that. That would've been absurd. "I suppose it was fun, although this headache is not. We should probably file for a divorce or an annulment at some point, though, since we can't possibly stay married."

"Right. Of course," Emma answered with a tint of sarcasm in her voice as she stood up. "Because that would be ridiculous." Regina tried to tear her gaze away from Emma when the bedsheet fell off her body as Emma walked into the bathroom in the remnants of her clothing. Emma didn't bother to look back at Regina before closing the bathroom door behind her.

Regina shook her head and laid on the bed. If someone had told her four years ago she'd end up marrying Emma Swan, she would've laughed at their face.

As Emma took her time in the shower, Regina put on a robe and decided to search for her phone which she eventually found in her purse under the bed. After drinking some water and laying back down, she found out that she had eleven missed calls and thirty-two new messages. She couldn't remember when her phone had last looked like this. Probably some time Emma had been trying to contact her because she'd been worried.

This time, however, the person who had been trying to reach her wasn't Emma, but the other Storybrooke residents. There were four people who'd been trying to call her the previous night: Zelena, Marian, Kathryn, and last but by no means least, Snow.

Regina groaned as she came to the conclusion that she was in no state to call any of the women. She opened her unread messages instead, only to find the same women, first and foremost Snow, interrogating her about her and Emma's whereabouts.

Regina where did you and Emma go? You were downstairs and the bartender told me you left together.

Regina. Emma isn't picking up. Tell me she's still with you.

Regina! Pick up

Regina. Are you okay? I can't find you.

REGINA. ASHLEY JUST TOLD ME THEY SAW YOU LEAVE A STORYBOOK WEDDING CHAPEL WEARING A VEIL. WITH EMMA.

Regina scrunched her face at that and looked around the room. There was, in fact, a short veil near the entrance. It looked so cheap. She hadn't planned to ever get married again in the first place, but now she had apparently done exactly that in A Storybook Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas with Emma Swan. This was unbelievable.

Regina. I think you could really use someone to talk to when you wake up. Marian told me what happened. Call me. Regina read on the screen. Kathryn's reaction to her getting married seemed much calmer.

Marian's messages were something else. Apparently, she had been there with Mulan and Zelena after Regina and Emma had gotten married because one of her messages was a picture of them… kissing. Regina's face was covered by her veil, but Emma was wearing a flower crown on her head and grinning into the kiss, her hands resting on Regina's waist. Her original crown was nowhere to be seen.

Regina couldn't stop staring at the picture for some reason. Emma looked so carefree and happier than Regina had seen her in ages. The picture was followed by a similar picture, but it included a photobombing Zelena, grinning and flashing her thumbs up in the background. Marian's last comment said Just in case you can't remember what happened last night. Let me know when you wake up.

She saw Zelena's message next. Morning! Congrats on the marriage, sis. Told you so.

Regina threw her phone on the bed. This would mean everyone knew. If Snow knew, everyone did. What would Henry think? She needed to make sure he wouldn't find out. This would only confuse him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Emma coming out of the bathroom. She was wrapped in a white towel again, and Regina covered her eyes with her hand. She needed to think straight, but Emma - her wife - wrapped in nothing but a towel, after the night they had just had, wasn't really helping her.

"Um, Regina?" she heard Emma's uncertain voice say. "You okay?"

Regina let out a mixture of a scoff and a laugh, unable to form any words that would've described her current emotions. She didn't know what she was feeling.

"Just great," she finally responded as she sat up, sarcasm evident in her voice. She was about to start a rant about her headache or the fact that she would soon leave without Emma if she didn't get ready for brunch in time, but clammed her mouth shut when she saw Emma's face. Despite trying to keep up a calm, brave demeanor, Emma still resembled a kicked golden retriever to her.

"I'm really sorry, Regina. I- I hope we can still be friends," Emma started quietly, her tone uncertain.

Before she knew what she was doing, she walked up to Emma and wrapped her arms around the woman's quasi-naked form. She couldn't bear to see Emma so sad, much less because of her, so she put aside her annoyance partly caused by her hungover state, and held her. Emma stiffened for a moment before relaxing into the hug and letting out a deep sigh.

"You'll never lose me, whatever happens," Regina murmured into the hug. She knew Emma would always feel like people could just throw her away when they didn't need her anymore or got mad with her, and Regina wanted Emma to know that that wouldn't be the case with her. She would always be there as long as Emma wanted her, no matter what. They had been through so much together.

Standing there, they were separated by only Regina's short silky robe and Emma's towel. Emma eventually brought her arms around Regina, too, nuzzling her neck as she did so. It was probably unintentional, but Regina still fought the urge to turn her face and meet Emma's lips with hers.

Regina's inappropriate thoughts were interrupted by knocking on their door, and they suddenly pulled away from each other when they realized how the situation must've looked.

"Regina? Snow is growing rather impatient because you two are still either sleeping or in the middle of some other activities, so please come out," Zelena's frustrated yet simultaneously amused voice sounded from the hallway. "And I want to see the happy couple before I go back to the casino. Granny and I are going casino hopping today."

Emma raised her brow as she made her way towards the door. Regina watched her walk across their spacious room in her towel, water drops dripping from her hair. Her thoughts drifted to the previous night and the bits and pieces that were coming back to her.

She could remember falling down on the bed and Emma's body hovering above hers. There had been drunken sloppy kisses, touches, and moans that made Regina shake her head. Maybe it was better if everything stayed in her subconscious. It would be hard to make smart decisions like this.

"Hello, sister-in-law!" Zelena chirped as she walked past Emma into the room. "And Mrs Swan! Good morning!"

"I'm not Mrs Swan!" Regina hurried to explain even though it was clear her sister was only joking.

"Yeah, we would be Swan-Mills," Emma said absentmindedly as she shut the door.

"No, Mills-Swan," Regina corrected. It sounded much better like that.

Zelena seemed highly amused. "I see. Anyway, looking good… Congratulations." Her expression turned slightly more serious. "Regina, we should probably have a short talk later now that we're both sober. And both of you must talk to Snow. Ruby and Kathryn took her to go to the pool so she'd stop worrying, but she's growing impatient."

"How was gambling yesterday?" Emma asked, completely changing the subject.

"Oh," Zelena started, excitement clear on her face. "It was fantastic, and I can't wait to go back! I mean, I had to leave after Regina's call." She stopped talking to look at Regina. "It's not every day your little sister gets married, but I'm going back today. Granny's already there; she barely slept last night. Ruby was wondering if she needs an intervention of some sort, but frankly Granny's been winning, so there's absolutely no reason for that."

"Well," Regina started, both surprised and impressed by Granny's gambling skills. She was even better than she had thought. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Yes, it's been a real adventure. But I really should get going," Zelena said, her expression turning a bit more serious again. "Regina, would you like to talk now or later?"

"Later is fine," she replied truthfully. She wasn't ready to talk about this with anyone.

"Alright. I'll see you two soon. Enjoy your day!" Zelena flashed them a smile before she turned on her heel and left the room.

Regina scoffed. That would be highly unlikely.

Okay, so just in case: they didn't have sex (yet). When they do, you'll know.

And also oops sorry, but we can't have a happy ending just yet.