***Author's Note: Hello everyone! I have been on a frenzy with writing this weekend. I probably should be doing more homework and less of this but I couldn't really help myself. So, when I started this story, I wrote the very beginning, the middle (the exciting part), and the ending. And I have been just filling in as I get inspiration. Well, I have finally caught up to the middle part of the story and am thrilled because after I go over it a couple more times, I will be able to post a total of three chapters this weekend. This is the first of the three which is the highly anticipated scene of Regina and Emma opening up to each other a bit more. As always, I would really like to know your thoughts!***
Emma finishes up her response to a text message from Killian and sends it when they are at a stop light just a few blocks from Regina's apartment. She turns to Regina and says, "So, I think that I'm going to take off as soon as you drop me off at the car because I want to make a stop by the corner store to get us some beer. I can just shoot you the address really quick so you can put it into your GPS. Will that work?"
"Yes, of course. That will be fine." Regina says.
"Oh, and by the way, I know that I was being a child about it earlier but thanks for driving. You were right. There's no way in hell any of this was going to fit into my car." Emma laughs shyly.
Regina smirks because not only does she love hearing that she is right but also because she is surprised that Emma is being apologetic about it. "Don't even worry about that. It was my pleasure." As she finishes her thought, they pull up to where Emma's Bug is parked. "Here we are, Miss Swan. You are good to go."
Emma laughs at the name that Regina uses. "That sounds so weird. I think that the last time anyone's called me that, I was in grade school." Emma grabs the smaller shopping bags she has had sitting down by her feet and takes them with her. "Well, thank you again, Miss Mills." She says to Regina with a huge grin on her face. "So, I'll see you in a quick sec?"
"Yes." Regina chuckles and nods. Then she watches as Emma drives away before she parks and runs inside to get what she needs.
As it turns out, Emma is located right up the street from where the bar is so Regina is able to find it easily. When Regina arrives, she sees that Emma has parked on the street leaving her a spot to back her SUV in for them to unload the boxes. Regina parks and by the time she gets out of the car and walks around to unlock the hatch in the back, Emma is already waiting there for her.
It takes them about fifteen minutes to get everything into the condo and when they finally have all of the boxes inside, Emma unwraps and cleans the new dishes that she just purchased so they will have something to use for the pizza when it arrives. Minutes later, someone is knocking on the door with their dinner. Emma pays for the food and begins laying it out on the kitchen counter for her and Regina. Emma looks up to see Regina is still looking around the condo taking in what is currently mostly just empty space.
When Regina notices that Emma is looking at her, she smiles and says, "It's a really nice place, Emma. I don't think Janie had ever mentioned that they owned a condo so close to the bar."
"Yeah, it really is exactly what I wanted-a place that's within walking distance to work and it's actually a pretty good- sized place. I'm really relieved, to be honest."
"I'll bet that you are. Although, I still don't agree that you walking to and from work on the nights that you will be closing the bar is something that I will be comfortable with." Regina frowns.
"Regina, it is literally a straight shot, it'll maybe take me seven or eight minutes."
"But at two in the morning?" Regina asks.
Emma rolls her eyes and replies. "Believe me, I've walked around in areas that are much worse than this in New York. I can definitely take care of myself." Before Regina can even reply, she continues, "So, you ready to eat or what, boss? I got a pepperoni pizza over here and a veggie one also. I hope that you don't mind but I texted Killian earlier to ask him what he thought you might like.
Regina's eyes widen in surprise, their previous conversation already forgotten. "Oh. You didn't have to do that. I'm not really that picky."
Emma laughs. "Well, that's not what I hear."
"Well, whatever it is you may have heard are all lies." Regina says as she smiles. "But, thank you, that was very kind of you to check with him first."
Emma returns her smile and just shrugs.
Regina removes her jacket placing it on top of one of the boxes in the living room area and then walks towards Emma in the kitchen. Emma passes her a plate and opens up a bottle of beer handing that to her as well. Regina thanks her and takes two slices of the veggie pizza while Emma fills her plate with two slices of each. Regina takes a seat on one of the boxes that is holding Emma's new bed frame and Emma finds a spot on another box across from her.
The two women eat quietly for a few minutes and then Emma takes a swig of her beer and asks, "So, Janie and Joe seem to be very good friends of yours. Is that just because they come to the bar a lot?
Regina nods trying to swallow her bite of pizza before she answers. "Well, not exactly. I think that I told you this already but I bought the bar from an older gentleman that was trying to retire for a long time."
"Oh, right. And he didn't know what to do with the bar." Emma says.
Regina nods. "Yes, that was Janie's father, Walter. Thinking about it now, it has been about 6 years now so that's how long I've known Janie and Joe. Walt still comes around to surprise us every once in awhile but he's been doing a lot of traveling since he gave up the bar. I don't know where he gets his energy from. The man was nearly eighty years old when he sold the bar." Regina smiles fondly thinking about her old friend.
"Oh, wow. That's pretty cool. They really love you a lot. I mean, all they ever talk about is how great you are and I guess they're pretty spot on." Emma smiles as she takes another huge bite of her pizza.
Regina blushes at the compliment but does not acknowledge it. "They are both the sweetest. Janie has always been very grateful that I was able to convince her father to retire. So, for the first few years, when I wouldn't be able to make it home for the holidays, they would invite me to their house to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with them. And then last year, I helped Janie to convince Joe to finally retire as well. She says that I'm her retirement whisperer. " Regina laughs. "But I'm really happy they had this place vacant and that the timing worked out so well for you. You looked so devastated when you and Killian couldn't find anything that you liked."
Emma laughs. "I can laugh about it now but that was actually very heartbreaking. I think maybe I had my hopes too high. Plus, Killian talks a lot of game but most of the places he liked were so shady! The two of you made me think that it was going to be a breeze."
Regina gets up to grab more pizza. "I said no such thing. All that I insinuated was that Killian would be the best man for the job." Regina says. "Would you like anything else while I'm up?"
Emma nods with her mouth full and just holds up two fingers. "Two, please." She adds.
Regina shakes her head and puts the two slices on her plate so she can bring it back to Emma. She is very surprised that Emma can eat as much as she does and still manages to keep her perfect figure. She walks back to where Emma is and sits down reaching out her plate so that Emma can take the pizza.
"Thanks. So, my best friend Ruby has been wanting to come visit and that couldn't really happen until I found a place of my own. When I told her about this place, she was pretty excited also."
"She lives in New York?"
"Yeah. I miss her a lot. She is probably the only reason I'd ever stay there and she knows it. But, she also knows that I needed to do this. You know, get away for a while."
Regina does not push or pry knowing that Emma dislikes talking about her reasons for leaving the East coast. "It must be nice to have someone that knows you so well. I can't really say that I have very many close friends. Marian, Robin, and Killian are about the only people that I ever see outside of work."
Emma feigns hurt and disappointment. "Uh, hello. What am I? Chopped liver?"
Regina smiles. "Well, today is the only time we've seen each other outside of work so I couldn't very well add you to the list yet. I'll be sure to reassess and maybe you will get added on. Or, maybe not. You will just have to see."
Emma returns her smile. "You and Ruby would get along really well, I think. She's a huge smartass, just like you."
"She sounds lovely." Regina says genuinely.
Emma nods. "She really is. She is probably going to be here for a couple weeks around the end of the month. She's excited to meet you and Killian. She thinks that Killian and I have a thing going on between us, so that will be interesting."
"A thing?" Regina asks curiously.
Emma shrugs. "You know, like a THING. Something between us that is more than just friends."
"Hmm...well, is there?"
Emma laughs. "Really, Regina? No! And I'm sure you would know if there was. Killian probably tells you everything. I mean, he's handsome enough and certainly charming, but that's exactly the kind of guy that always gets me in trouble."
Regina raises an eyebrow. "That's interesting."
"What? What's interesting?
"I don't know. Just the fact that he's your type, I suppose."
Emma smirks. "Well, he's definitely a ladies' man. Is he not your type? " Emma asks hoping for Regina to open up.
Regina scrunches up her face in what looks to be distaste which makes Emma burst out in laughter. "He's actually not my type at all. And he is a very good friend. I don't know if I would ever want to jeopardize that even if I thought for a second that anything would work out between us."
"I have to confess, that night when I first met you and the two of you sang karaoke together, I thought for sure you were at least sleeping together."
"EMMA!" Regina shrieks. "I can't believe that you would think that!"
"What? You guys sang a duet together. It was about making love." Emma is laughing again, unable to stop herself. "How could I not think that?"
"It is bar karaoke, Emma. People sing all sorts of things." Regina counters.
"So, of all the songs to pick from, you pick that song?" Emma is still very amused.
"I happen to like that song a lot." Regina shrugs and finishes the rest of her beer. "So, are we going to put this bed together or would you rather spend the rest of the evening discussing my karaoke song preferences?"
Emma laughs again. "I want to do both honestly. This is fun."
Regina rolls her eyes and gets up. She reaches out so that she can take Emma's empty plate from her. She walks them back into the kitchen and runs the water so that she can clean the dishes. "Why don't you grab the tool box and start opening up the boxes to see what we will need?"
"Oh, hey, you don't have to clean those. Just leave them there and I can clean them later."
"I'm already doing it. It will only take me a few minutes. Do you have any dish soap?" Regina asks after looking around the sink area and not spotting anything to clean the dishes with.
"Oh yeah." Emma reaches around in a grocery bag on the counter behind Regina and grabs a dishrag and soap for her. "Here you go." Emma says as she hands them off to Regina. "I'm gonna change into something a bit lighter, it is so damn hot in here."
Regina just nods and silently finishes cleaning everything up. When she is done putting the leftover pizza away in the refrigerator, Emma emerges from the bedroom in running shorts and a tight tank top. Regina takes a quick glance just long enough for her to admire and appreciate her view of the other woman but looks down again so that she does not get caught staring for too long.
Emma is pulling her hair into a ponytail when she looks over to see that Regina is all finished and waiting for her. "Alright, you ready for this?" Emma stretches and asks as she smiles widely.
"Yes. Let's get this done so you have something to sleep on tonight." Regina says.
It does not take them very long to get the frame put together. Both women are very efficient as they take turns either reading the instruction manual or working with the parts and tools. Once it is completely assembled, Regina helps Emma unbox the mattress.
Regina stands back to admire their handy work as Emma leaves the room to find the new bedsheets and comforter that they picked out. Regina sees that the king-sized bed takes up a large portion of the small bedroom leaving very little space for anything else, but judging by the very few boxes that Emma has scattered throughout the place, she does not think there will be much that the blonde is wanting to add to the room.
Emma comes back with the sheets and Regina helps her to get them onto the new mattress. When everything is finished and the bed is made, Emma falls balls onto it happily. She sighs loudly and then rolls herself from one end of the bed to the other, "Man, this feels so nice!" Then she pushes herself up to look at Regina. "Thank you so much for helping me with all of this today. I don't think that I could have pulled all this off by myself."
Regina smiles. "It was fun, actually. I had a good time."
They smile at each other without breaking eye contact for a while, neither one of them saying anything, until they are interrupted by Emma's phone.
Emma smiles at Regina again and jumps out of the bed running towards the ringing phone. She sees that it is Ruby and sends it to voicemail but quickly shoots her a text message letting her know that she will call her first thing in the morning since it is pretty late on the East coast already. She looks up again to see Regina is in the living room area putting her jacket on. "Oh, hey, are you leaving?" She says with a frown forming on her face.
"It's pretty late, I should probably head home."
Emma really wants to ask Regina to stay for awhile longer. "I guess it would be unreasonable for me to ask you to stay and hang out when I don't even have a TV or any living room furniture. It will make for a pretty lame invitation, huh?"
Regina chuckles. "Yeah, it's difficult to find anything entertaining to do with guests when the only thing you have in your place is a bed."
Emma feels her face warm up at Regina's comment. She awkwardly rubs that back of her neck as she looks down at her feet so that she can hide the grin on her face. She can surely think of a few very entertaining things that they could be doing but she pushes that thought away reminding herself that Regina is not only just a friend but also her boss. Even though Regina is definitely gorgeous, and her type. "Yeah, you're not wrong." Emma looks up again and adds. "I had a really good time today, too. And I don't have any friends here in Seattle so it feels nice to have days like this. Just any sort of interaction with another person that isn't just work related, ya know?"
Regina studies Emma for a second. Then she looks down at her watch and sees that it is not quite 8pm. Before she has too much time to mentally talk herself out of it, she asks, "Do you want to come over to my place for a little bit? I do happen to have both a television and living room furniture. And I made an apple pie yesterday if you have room for dessert."
Emma's eyes go wide with excitement. "Do you have ice cream, too?"
Regina scoffs. "What kind of horrible person do you take me for? Of course I have ice cream."
This makes Emma laugh. "Are you sure that it's okay. You don't have to feel forced to invite me over just because I gave you that spiel."
"Emma, I'd never allow anyone to force me to do anything against my will, believe me." Regina says.
"Are you absolutely sure?" Emma asks again.
"Absolutely." Regina answers smiling. "So, are you coming over?"
"Yes!" Emma nods enthusiastically. "Why don't you go ahead and take off first. I'm going to change really quickly and I'll be a few minutes behind you."
Regina nods. "Alright. And I assume that you'll have more furniture that you will need to put together so I'm going to just leave my toolbox here for you until you are finished putting this place together?"
"Oh, yeah. I hadn't even thought about that. Thanks. I'll just bring it back to you when I'm done with it."
"Alright. You remember how to get to my place right? I'm in building two, apartment twelve."
"Yep! And two-twelve. Got it." Emma says excitedly. "I'll be right over."
Regina nods and sees herself out while Emma runs back into the bedroom to change back into her jeans.
On Regina's drive home, she thinks about their shopping trip and how it turned out to be more enjoyable
than she had originally expected. That in large part, she has to admit, is due to how easy and comfortable it is becoming for her to spend time with Emma. It reminds her of the first time they ever had a conversation with each other and how easy that was despite a horrible first impression. She smiles to herself thinking about how excited Emma got at the thought of the two of them spending more time together. She is finally starting to feel better about spending time away from the bar again and it also feels pretty good to have made a new friend.