"It's back," Regina said, greeting Emma in her foyer. She held out her hand for Emma to see the swirling purple shimmer.

It was late. Emma had stayed at the station as long as possible to avoid dinner, once again unsure if she would be able to handle Robin making googly eyes at Regina all evening. The hot dog she had microwaved for herself sat in her stomach like lead.

"Good," Emma sighed, removing her dirty boots before she tracked mud all over Regina's tile. She wiggled her fingers and saw the white sparkle, pleased with this new development. "This will make the rebuilding efforts a hell of a lot easier." It also meant that it would be time to move out of Regina's house and back to the apartment. Emma's emotions were mixed; she didn't want to leave Regina, but she certainly didn't want to be around the painful domesticity, real or imagined.

"It will," Regina said, distracted. "We can begin working on that tomorrow. Henry and Roland are in bed, and you parents just went up a few minutes ago."

"So it's just us?"

Regina shook her head.

Robin came out of the kitchen holding a bottle of wine. "Babe, do you mind if I open this one?"

"That one's fine," Regina said, and Emma couldn't help but feel a pleasurable little jolt at the coolness of her tone.

Emma followed Regina into her study, where they sat side by side on her leather sofa. "David thought you were really mad this morning," Emma told her, smirking.

"Good."

"He did keep looking at me funny. I wondered if he actually knew what was going on, but I think he would have said something. Maybe he thought we were fighting."

"I really did follow you in there to talk to you. You have to stop being so irresistible. You're disrupting my impeccable sense of order and stability." Regina smiled at her and winked seductively.

"I literally kept think-"

"Here we go," Robin interrupted, sitting on the other side of Regina with three wine glasses in his hand. He poured one for himself and one for Regina and handed an empty glass to Emma.

She suppressed an eye roll and filled her own glass, nearly to the brim. She took a long sip and closed her eyes.

Robin placed a hand on Regina's thigh and gave it a squeeze. "Roland is really loving spending all this time with Henry."

Regina looked at his hand, then at Emma. At this point, she didn't even know how to react. It was all so awkward and uncomfortable, but he really wasn't doing anything wrong. She couldn't take her discomfort out on him. It wasn't fair.

Emma could see the uneasiness in Regina's face. Rather than walk away and be the bigger person, easing Regina's disquiet, she decided she would add to it.

"Yes, Regina," Emma added, placing her own hand on Regina's other thigh. "Your hospitality has been amazing. We all appreciate you allowing us to stay here. Temporarily."

What is she doing?! Regina thought, her eyes growing large. Neither of them made a move to take their hand away. Robin raised his eyebrows, but did not address Emma directly. Their mutual...indifference for each other was never so obvious.

"About that," Robin began, putting his glass down on the coffee table. "Regina and I have been talking about making things…not so temporary," he said, smirking in Emma's direction.

"You have?"

"We have?" Regina sat up straighter.

His smile faltered a little. "Uh, yes, Regina. Remember? How much easier it would be?"

Emma stood abruptly. "Okay, I'm out. You two obviously have a lot to discuss." She glared at Regina for a split-second, burning a hole through her. She picked up her glass of wine angrily, splashing some over the side. She looked down, ignored it, and walked quickly out of the room toward the stairs.

Robin and Regina both watched her go. "What's her problem?"

Regina shook her head. "Why would you bring that up in front of her?"

"Bring what up? Us living together? Why wouldn't I bring that up in front of her?" Robin asked, confusion washing over his unshaven face.

"We haven't decided on anything," Regina told him, side-stepping his question. "I don't think we should be discussing personal matters in front of my guest. It's impolite."

"She's your friend. I assumed you had already brought up the possibility of us moving in together. We're soulmates for god's sake. Even if you didn't tell her about it, that's our obvious path," he said, nuzzling into her hair.

Regina stood. "Whoa. I'm just feeling a little…suffocated. With everything that's being going on, I honestly haven't been giving this," she gestured between the two of them, "much thought. I'm very busy, there's still a lot of work to do, and I'm stressed out about it, okay?"

Downing the rest of his wine, Robin sat back and nodded. "Glad to know where I fall in the list of priorities."

"Robin, don't be dramatic. I just can't right now. Please, just let it go for tonight."

Robin stood, kissing Regina lightly on the lips. "We'll talk when things get back to normal. I love you."

Regina concealed a frown by grimacing and squeezed his hand. "I'll be up soon."

XXXX

Waiting what she deemed an appropriate amount of time for Robin to fall asleep, Regina made her way up to her bedroom. She stopped at the closed door that obscured the real reason for her indecision and uncertainty.

She heard the door unlock without even making her presence known. Regina pursed her lips and turned the knob slowly. She was accosted the second she made her way through the door.

"Thank god, I've been waiting for you," Emma said breathlessly, pushing Regina against the door. She immediately dug her hands into soft brown hair and pressed her lips to the other woman's. Regina moaned softly and wrapped her arms around Emma's waist. The hungry fervor became softer and exploratory, their lips and tongues teasing and nipping lightly.

Before she lost control, which she was already on the verge of doing, Regina pulled away slowly. "Emma," she whispered, taking her wrists and bringing them down to rest in between them. "What are we doing?"

"Kissing."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. I meant in the broader sense."

Emma sighed heavily and dropped onto the bed. "We've tried talking about this. We always end up in the same place. Bad idea, lives ruined, different worlds, blah, blah, blah."

"Well, we can't just keep doing this."

Feeling some of her resentment at the earlier conversation creep back in, Emma decided to be direct. "Did you ask him to move in?"

"No. It's been on the table for some time, but nothing has been discussed recently. I think him staying here has brought it back to the forefront."

Emma swallowed hard. "When we all leave tomorrow morning…is he leaving too?"

Thick silence filled the air. Reinga opened her mouth, then closed it again. She was walking a delicate line. "I don't know."

Emma's face fell. She sucked in a breath. "Yeah. I suppose everything will go back to status quo now that our ordeal seems to be over. I'm having dinner with Killian tomorrow night. And then we have Ruby's wedding on Saturday."

Regina bristled. "Oh? Dinner?"

"I've really been blowing him off the last few days. For obvious reasons," Emma laughed bitterly. "But this puts it all in perspective."

"Mm-hm." Regina quirked an eyebrow. "Well, have fun tomorrow night. Since you'll probably gone by the time I make it downstairs tomorrow morning, I'll see you Saturday at the wedding."

Emma flipped the covers and scrunched down, facing away from Regina toward the wall. "Yup, see you then."