As promised, I did quite a bit of writing during the break. Of course none of it was for English. But I digress.

I don't think I'll be rearranging the chapters after all. It doesn't bug me enough to risk messing thing up.

Regina would've burst out laughing had she been the type to do anything boisterously. As it was, she gave Emma the most teasing look she could muster.

"They're Mary Margaret's, okay? You said I'd find something. Besides, they're kinda comfy. And don't I just look adorable?"

Regina couldn't restrain herself from laughing as Emma posed in a white tank top and a pair of lime green pajama pants with Thumper and the words 'tickled pink' all over them. The sudden peals of laughter surprised both of them, and there was a somewhat tense moment where both women were shocked into silence. However the next moment the air was full of self-aware laughter from them both.

"Well you're sitting up, so that's good."

"Yes, it is impressive that I've managed not to forget what I learned as an infant, isn't it?"

Emma pulled a face that said clearly 'oh I just LOVE your use of sarcasm'.

"Okay, how about this. I'll sit behind you on the bed. I'll grab a quilt that you can cover up your front with, and we can get your back disinfected."

"No peeking."

"I promise, Ms. Modest."

As promised, Emma sat directly behind Regina. She couldn't help but admire the beauty of the mayor's back; muscles rippled when she moved, her skin was smooth and taut. Smooth aside from the numerous oozing lacerations. She set to work.

Regina sat between Emma's legs, her knees pressed to her chest. She had the quilt wrapped around her as best she could while leaving her back exposed, but she still had goosebumps. As she stared at the chip in the polish on her left big toe she wondered… all sorts of things, really. How Emma could be so kind to someone as wicked as her. How she had let herself let Emma in. Why she had seen Henry again after he ran off on Emma's birthday; her beautiful boy and this caring woman obviously deserved each other. How a woman who seemed to have had a rough 28 years had such soft, gentle, nimble fingers.

Regina shivered, partially from the cold and partially for an entirely different reason.

Emma wasn't oblivious to the goosebumps. "You okay?" she asked, setting a comforting hand on an exposed shoulder.

She expected sarcasm, or a cutting remark. What she didn't expect was a simple "Yeah, thanks."

At the very least she would've expected "Yes, thank you."

A quiet moment passed as Emma gently wiped an injured area with hydrogen peroxide and applied yet another bandaid. The thought occurred to Regina that it might be a nice gesture to buy the household a new box or two. And probably a new bottle of antiseptic.

"Emma?"

The blonde almost didn't respond, so used to being called 'Sheriff Swan' by the mayor. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for getting you wet."

"No problem."

"And I'm sorry for bleeding on two of your tank tops."

"I have plenty more, remember? It's no problem."

"And I'm sorry for seeming ungrateful after you carried me. Thank you for that."

"No problem."

"And I'm sorry for hitting you with the apple."

"Okay, that one might be a bit of a problem we'll need to talk about."

A pang of guilt and worry surged through Regina before she realized the slight humor in the tone.

By thus time Emma had cleaned the scrapes on her upper back and was making her way downwards. She only had a few left when her gaze couldn't ignore the white lines on Regina's hips. She ever so gently grazed her touch over the small ridges, giving Regina a chance to bring them up if she wanted to offer an explanation.

Pure fear overcame Regina. Panic consumed her. Oh god oh fuck she's touching them she's definitely seen the scars I mean she must've seen the ones on my legs oh fuck oh shit shit shit shit what the fuck am I gonna do she knows what is she gonna do she's seen the scars fuck fuck fuck fuck she's fucking touching them fuck

The overwhelming panic Regina was experiencing was unmistakable, even with her back turned to Emma. Her back had straightened significantly, her every muscle froze, her breathing became increasingly rapid. Shit, what did I do? Emma for some reason had an overwhelming desire to embrace the panicked woman, to try to sooth her, but she knew it would be counterproductive. She could practically hear Regina's walls slamming back into place.

She removed both hands from the mayor to give her a moment, then placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "The last couple scrapes go a little close to the waistband." She tried to use a conversational tone. "Just giving you a heads up. Are you going to be okay with that?"

Regina took a deep breath. She could feel the panic receding, but she still felt the effects of the adrenaline rush, which threw her off balance. "Yeah. Yes."

Emma quickly finished up.

"I'm gonna go get a brush, give you a chance to get your shirt back on."

"Thanks."

Regina slipped the tank top on, watching the bandages on her arms carefully, but none of them came off. She started to play with a loose thread on the quilt in her lap as she waited for Emma to return, but stopped herself. Her eyes darted around as the seconds seemed to stretch on for hours. She was suddenly nervous, realizing fully for the first time that she was in the home of the woman she both hated and feared the most.

"You decent?" The unspoken question was 'Can I come in?' Emma knew she shouldn't have to ask permission in her own room, but she wanted to make absolutely sure no boundaries were crossed with the woman currently in her bed, in her clothes. Before today she had only seen the mayor as an adversary, albeit a sexy one. She had only been a conniving bitch trying to manipulate her and keep her from seeing the kid who stole her heart. But something had changed today. She saw a whole different side of Regina Mills, a side she got a feeling few people had seen. Before she would've loved it if Madame Mayor disappeared off the face of the earth; now she was trying desperately to make sure the beauty in her bed didn't push her out.

"Yes!" Regina's response was a bit too quick, a bit too eager. She inwardly cringed as Emma gave her a sideways glance as she entered.

Emma hopped behind Regina once again. Regina quietly smiled as she glanced down at the pajamas on the legs stretched out on either side of her.

Suddenly a cup appeared in front of her. "The hot water was ready." Emma said, watching her left arm carefully to make sure she didn't spill any of the scalding liquid into the lap of the woman essentially in her lap as she used her right hand to procure several packets. "I didn't know what you'd want, so there's some hot chocolate mix, some earl grey, and some lavender tea."

"Thank you." Regina said. She decided she'd try the chocolate; lavender left a funny taste in her mouth and earl grey just didn't sound good.

"Here, you still have goosebumps." Emma said, pulling the quilt around Regina's shoulders. "Besides, I don't think you'll want leaves in your shirt."

She gently began to brush the dark hair.

Regina expected it to hurt more. She did have lots of leaves and thorns tangled up in there, after all. But really it was more soothing than anything. Emma was incredibly gentle and thorough, and it felt amazing. Something tugged at her heart and at the corner of her mouth. Sitting here, between Emma's legs, wrapped in a quilt and holding a warm cup of cocoa, feeling the blonde's gentle attentions on her scalp, she felt… warm. Secure. Almost… happy.

"There you go. Your hair is back to its shiny, flawless self." Regina could hear the smirk in Emma's voice. "How about I show you to the kitchen, get you a refill, and stick these towels in the wash? I'll check on your clothes."

"Okay."

"How are your feet? Need help?"

She expected a cold rebuke. What she didn't expect was for Regina to cautiously stand up, then reply "I think I can handle it, thanks."

As the two carefully made their way to the kitchen Regina held her empty mug in one hand and grasped Emma's hand in the other. For stability.

"Thank you."

Emma tossed the empty packet into the trash, smiled briefly at her temporary patient, and left for the laundry.

Regina stared deeply into her mug as she stirred the hot chocolate slowly. She smiled slightly as she watched the near-black powder slowly disappear into the whiteness of the milk Emma had heated just for her, just to make her cocoa extra creamy. As she took a sip she reveled in the faint hint of the honey Emma had added to make it "at least a little homemade". She really was sweet.

Emma reentered the room. "Your clothes are now all in the dryer. They should be ready in about forty minutes."

"Thank you."

Emma poured herself a glass of cold milk and sat down. "No problem."

There was a tense moment where Emma gazed intently at Regina, who gazed intently at her cocoa.

"I would appreciate it if you did not bring it up." Regina broke the silence, not looking up. Emma opened her mouth to speak, but Regina added "You know what I'm talking about."

Emma closed her mouth again. She searched her brain for something to talk about, settling on the one thing she knew they both had in common: Henry.

"How's the kid?"

Regina finally looked up. "You're with him almost as much as I am, you should know. And what you don't know firsthand you get from Ms. Blanchard."

"You know that's not true. Well, I do ask Mary Margaret about him, but the time-spending thing. I see him occasionally. You're there when he goes to bed, when he wakes up." Emma looked into her milk and added almost as an afterthought "You always have been."

Regina's gaze softened, as did her voice. "He's well. Still talking about the fairytale stuff constantly, or 'Operation Cobra', as if I haven't figured out what it's a code name for." She smiled a little. "He's doing well in school. He eats his vegetables. He's still not really all that interested in interacting with kids his age, though he has talked to those siblings whose father you found." Guilt shot through her, which she tried her best to hide from Emma. It seems like every time I try to advocate for what's best for someone I only ever hurt them. "He used to like apples, but now he won't eat them," she added as an afterthought. She finished in a near-whisper. "He thinks I poison them or something."

Emma's heart hurt for Regina. All she'd done since arriving in Storybrooke was undermine the mayor as a mother, placing even more strain on a mother-son relationship that didn't need any more issues.

"I can talk to him if you'd like. He listens to me." Emma cringed when she realized how it sounded. "I just mean… I've only hurt your relationship with our son, and I'm sorry for that. I mean, I had an apple you brought me and I'm still here." Emma gave her milk a twisted smile. "And if there's anyone you have motive to poison it's me."

Regina placed a hand on Emma's wrist. Emma looked up.

She opened her mouth to say something comforting, something friendly, maybe even something flirty. To deny it. To reassure her tablemate. But the words died in her mouth. Her lips hung open for a moment, then she snapped her jaws shut quickly and blushed, looking down at where they were now touching.

Emma suddenly clutched Regina's hand and words came spilling out. "Regina, are you okay? Did Graham hit you? Did he ever hurt Henry? Did someone else abuse you? Do you… have a medical condition? Do you… Are you okay?" Emma really didn't know where these words were coming from even as she blurted them out; all her internal questions seemed to be taking flight of their own accord.

Regina blinked in surprise. She tried to process the questions one at a time. "Henry's fine, no one has laid a hand on him. Believe me when I tell you whoever would try would very quickly regret it."

Emma definitely believed her.

"I've not been in an abusive relationship. You knew Graham, you know he wouldn't hurt anyone without very good reason."

Emma nodded.

"I'm perfectly healthy. No conditions, cancers, illnesses, lumps, masses, diseases… I'm healthy."

She halfheartedly tried to retract her hand, the urge to fidget almost overwhelming.

Emma seemed to study her, never relinquishing her grasp on her hand. She repeated the conspicuously unanswered question gently.

"Are you okay?"

Regina looked downward, extremely uncomfortable with the elephant in the room finally being addressed. "I asked you to leave it alone. Can't you just respect my privacy?" she spat with more venom than necessary.

Emma lifted Regina's chin, essentially forcing her to meet her eye. "I've done nothing but try to respect your privacy while still helping you all day. I need you to let me help you. It's just one simple question: are you okay?"

Regina's gaze became firey. "Help me? I never asked you to help me. Your hero complex does not give you the right to butt into my private life. With all due respect, Sheriff," She rose angrily. "As I've been telling you since you arrived here," Her voice was as cutting as possible as she leaned forward menacingly, hands gripping the sides of the kitchen table tightly. "Fuck. Off."

Emma blinked, leaning back in the chair, admittedly a bit frightened despite herself. She stood up to place them on equal footing again, leaning forward until their noses nearly touched. With as calm of a voice as she could muster, she replied "Twice you have verbally asked me to help you, as I recall. And in that clearing your eyes were screaming it louder than when we were in a burning building." She tried to inject caring into her voice. "This isn't about me or some hero complex. This isn't even just about making sure Henry has a stable, loving home anymore. I just need to know that you're okay."

Regina's eyes blazed with fury, her voice scorching with contempt perhaps fueled by more than a little resentment. "We were perfectly fine before you showed up."

For a moment Emma simply stared into Regina's eyes, her astonishment and hurt and guilt and many other mixed emotions playing across her face. Regina stared right back, gaze burning with what seemed to be cold hate. The passion, the raw power of emotion between the two was palatable. The air nearly crackled with electricity, an arc nearly forming between their noses.

I could kiss her right now.

The unbidden thought startled Regina, scared her even. The fear, the shock flashed in her eyes for a brief moment before she was suddenly out the door.

Before Emma could even blink the mayor had flown out of the room and out of the apartment, leaving her reeling. Emma collapsed back into her seat, spent. As she lay her head in her arms she had the oddest notion that maybe that was what hate sex was like.

Thanks for reading, as well as for waiting.

Yes, I do own those Thumper pajamas. The matching top is hot pink. No shame.