That night, Emma couldn't sleep.
She get up from the bed and went straight to the kitchen with extreme precautions, she didn't want to awake her parents or her baby brother. She opened the fridge and took a can of root beer, two in the morning and she decided not to return to her bedroom and instead of it she went to sat up on the stairs outside of the apartment.
She needed time, she needed space and most of all she needed to think about that other day with Ruby in the diner. She hasn't had clear why did she ended crying over her friend's shoulder, I'm happy, she tried to convince herself. And she was, in a way, she was happy.
She had Henry, her parents and against all odds she had a baby brother, she had her stupid boyfriend and she had… she had Regina in her life, in her side, in her thoughts and in her mind every single minute of the day, this isn't normal, she told to herself.
The creamy and smooth taste of the root beer remained in her mouth, it tasted like vanilla, Emma always had loved the vanilla taste, then the flavor took her straight to Regina's eyes, those brown mirrors, those riddled pools, those gorgeous nightmares, those beautiful storms.
The blonde was so drowned in her own thoughts that she didn't even noticed David, he was leaned in the frame door staring at her, he didn't want to scare her but when he decided to join her in the stairs Emma almost let out a shout
"It's just me, Emma" David told her as he sat up beside her "You scared me, Da-vid" she saw the small smile he give to her, that tiny cute and stupid grin she had also inherited from him "Why are you here? It's something bothering you?" and the Sheriff wanted to curse herself for the great idea of coming out to the apartment instead to head to her bedroom.
But the harm had been done. The next part was either lie or tell the truth but Emma didn't even knew what the truth was. She went with the lie.
"Can't sleep" and that was part of the truth, it has to count didn't it? "Well that's clear but what happens?" and the calming and peaceful tone of her father's voice help her a little to regain her strength and keep it up.
"All this calmness, all this peace, all of this seems to be like a spell about to break" David just sighted, he knew his daughter enough to tell she was lying "Emma it's ok to be scared but we don't have to be scared all the time and the best we can do is to be ready" And the blonde felt her father's arm rounding her shoulders
"I know you haven't been here that much, I know you're all invested in helping Regina but-" Emma didn't let him finish "I'm not leaving her" and her tone was firm and strong "Hey, I was about to say that you can't let this consume you. I know why you're helping her and I can't be more proud of you, Emma but you really need to look after you first before try to help her"
And Emma just swallowed.
"You barely sleep, you don't rest enough, you're all about this research that even you're forgetting to live" he knew that somehow he was right "I just want to do the right thing" Emma said leaning her head in David's shoulder.
"Emma, doing the right thing is the bravest act we can ever do" she heard him "but doing the right thing sometimes isn't what the other people need" David caught the sad sigh of his daughter "Or the easiest thing to do" he leaned himself to kiss the top of the Sheriff's forehead.
