A/N: Happy Sunday, hope you enjoy!

Regina woke slowly the following morning, drowsy from the depth of her sleep. The first thing she became aware of as she gradually came to was a warm body wrapped around her, a thigh slipped between her own and a firm hand resting just under her shirt against her stomach, holding her close. Emma was breathing softly behind her, gentle puffs of air tickling the back of Regina's neck and making her shudder slightly.

At Regina's stirring, Emma's grip tightened, her hand sliding upwards, thumb now brushing the underside of the brunette's breast. Regina froze, breath caught in her throat. Heat began to coil deep in the pit of her stomach, tugging tighter and tighter with every whisper of breath against her neck.

Emma's thumb stroked once. Twice. Regina bit her lip, feeling goosebumps erupt across every inch of her skin. Her breathing became shallow as the heat dropped lower, an ache beginning to form between her legs just from the mere presence of Emma's hand on her body.

The blonde's thumb rubbed at Regina's skin once again, missing where she was dangerously sensitive by mere millimeters. The brunette whimpered. Her hips unconsciously twitched, longing to grind down on the thigh pressed between them.

Regina's body was taut, clenching with the effort not to move, to writhe, to lose herself in this moment. It was too much. Regina suddenly felt anxiety creep into her mind, a fear that Emma would be repulsed, or at least panicked, if she woke up in their current position.

The blonde would never consciously do this. It felt wrong that Regina was allowing it, enjoying it even. And with that, she reluctantly slipped out of Emma's grip, the blonde murmuring an unconscious protest at the movement, and began to get herself ready for the day.

Regina later discovered that the day would involve a surprise for her. Emma drove them into town at around 4pm, the sun already hanging low in the sky, and Regina feared for her life throughout the entire short journey. She still didn't trust that 'vintage' yellow car.

The surprise element of this trip was also cause for concern. She had asked Emma multiple times where she was being taken, accusing her of kidnapping when the blonde simply laughed and told her to wait and see.

Eventually, they pulled into a parking garage and Emma led her out into the streets until they reached a huge open air ice-rink. It was almost dark now, the sounds of Slade and Mariah Carey playing faintly into the night and Regina took a moment to drink in the fairy lights strung up and the stalls in the style of a German Christmas market dotted around.

"Emma." Regina said, turning to the blonde with barely concealed excitement. "This is wonderful."

"It's cute isn't it." Emma grinned, looking almost proud. Regina wondered how long she had been planning to bring her here. "Come on."

Emma offered her a gloved hand and she took it without hesitation, following the blonde into the main building.

They purchased their tickets, Regina refusing to let Emma pay for hers too, handed in their bags and shoes to the coat check, and collected their skates, before settling down on a couch beside the window.

"I have a confession." The brunette said quietly as she looked out onto the rink. She hadn't wanted to tell Emma, had thought she might be able to get away with it. The surprise was so sweet and she could tell Emma was excited so she hadn't wanted to ruin anything.

Emma placed a gentle hand on her thigh.

"What is it?" She asked, her expression concerned.

"I, um." Regina blushed and smiled awkwardly. "I'm really bad at skating."

Emma let out a relieved sigh and shook her head, chuckling quietly.

"You had me panicking for a second there." She said, squeezing Regina's thigh softly. "Don't worry though, I'll look after you."

"Yeah?" Regina smiled, grateful.

"Yeah, I'm actually pretty good." Emma smirked. "Not to brag or anything."

As it turned out, Emma was not bragging. Not at all. She was incredible at skating, moving across the ice effortlessly, even gliding backwards at one point, talking to Regina as she did so. The brunette, however, spent the first 20 minutes of their session clinging to the side of the rink.

"Let go." Emma tried to encourage her, skating alongside her and holding out a hand. "Hold my hand and I'll pull you around."

"I can hardly stand without falling." Regina whined.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes." Regina said without question.

"Then take my hand, I promise I won't let you get hurt."

Regina sighed.

"Okay." She said, taking the offered hand and letting Emma pull her away from the edge.

Regina kept her feet still, focusing only on keeping herself upright, whilst Emma skated forwards, moving Regina too as she did so. This wasn't so bad, Regina thought. It was worth it to see Emma smile. The blonde was beaming as she dragged Regina along, spinning herself around occasionally to take both of Regina's hands and glide backwards, before twisting back round to skate alongside her.

It was all going a bit too well, however, and when someone whizzed past Regina at full speed, she lost her balance, falling onto her ass with a thump. Emma stopped immediately.

"Fuck! Are you okay?" She asked, reaching down to pull Regina back up.

"You broke your promise." Regina pouted and scrambled to get back on her feet.

"I'm sorry." Emma said, sounding genuinely guilty.

Regina tried to grab her hand to hoist herself up but she couldn't get herself steady and suddenly, Emma was falling too. Her palms slammed either side of Regina's head, saving her from landing completely on top of the brunette. The blonde's forehead was almost touching hers, breath warm against her lips.

Neither of them moved for a moment, their eyes locked as Regina remained still underneath Emma. The blonde's weight felt solid above her and she almost wished she could stay like this, safe beneath that strong body.

After a moment, however, she managed to gather herself enough to move. She tried to wiggle out from beneath Emma, stopping however as she realized the full awkwardness of their position. She thought the situation she had found herself in that morning had been bad but this was somehow infinitely worse.

This time, the blonde's thigh was not just between her legs but pressed tightly against her and as she moved to get up, she unintentionally rubbed herself along the firm muscle with a poorly stifled moan.

Emma must have assumed the noise was of pain because she leapt off of her, mumbling an apology as she got to her feet. She then reached out for Regina again and the brunette carefully took her hand, pulling herself up as steadily as she could.

"Sorry." Emma repeated. Her cheeks were pink from more than just the cold.

"It's okay." Regina reassured her breathlessly. "Shall we try again?"

Emma smiled and took her hand and then they were off again.

After a while, Regina felt almost confident in her abilities. To stand upright, at least. Feeling a little brave, she called for Emma to slow down.

"I want to try and skate on my own." She said, tongue come out to wet her lips nervously.

"Are you sure?" Emma asked but she was smiling brightly.

Regina nodded and the blonde released her hand. She skated a little way forwards and then turned to Regina, holding her arms out to her and beckoning her encouragingly.

"You've got this." She called. "I believe in you."

Regina felt a rush of warmth at the words, pressing her lips together to keep from grinning. Okay, she told herself. You can do this. She nodded determinedly.

Getting started was the most difficult part and she felt herself wobble as she tried to push off from the ice. Emma kept smiling at her though, her arms open and waiting and Regina tried again until finally, she was moving. She shuffled forwards, her legs shaky beneath her as she picked up a little speed.

"I'm doing it!" She exclaimed, laughing in disbelief.

And then she was gliding, moving closer and closer to Emma until she fell into the blonde's arms. Emma managed to keep them upright, hugging Regina to her tightly. She pulled away just enough to meet Regina's eyes, beaming at the brunette.

"You did it." Emma breathed, her face mere inches from Regina's.

"I had an excellent teacher." Regina said with a warm smile.

Emma laughed and pulled Regina back into her arms.

When they returned to the house later on that evening, breathless from laughter and bantering back and forth as they hung up their coats and took off their shoes, Mary Margaret, David and August eyed them suspiciously from the living room.

"You girls have a nice time?" David asked.

"We did." Emma said, smile never faltering. "We went ice-skating and Regina did so well!"

Regina felt heat rise in her cheeks and she quickly shook her head.

"Emma was much better than me, I only managed to skate by myself a little bit at the end." She admitted shyly.

"Yeah but you improved so much!" Emma said, taking her hand. For a moment, the two of them forgot they had an audience. The blonde continued, her voice softer. "I'm so proud of you."

Regina's heart clenched in her chest, her stomach erupting into somersaults at the quiet comment.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"So." August cleared his throat, bringing the two of them back to reality. "You wanna watch a movie with us?"

Emma looked to Regina for an answer.

"Sure."

August nodded and patted the couch beside him as Emma's parents took up the other one. Emma let Regina sit in the corner and placed herself in the middle. August nudged her with his shoulder, raising a brow at her and Emma just blushed and shook her head. Regina frowned at the silent conversation, wondering if there was some kind of inside joke she was missing out on.

"Any preference for a movie, Regina?" August asked, pulling Regina from her thoughts.

"Um, no, not really." She said, feeling everyone's eyes on her. "Something Christmassy perhaps?"

"Something Christmassy it is." August nodded with a smile and turned back to the TV, searching for the holiday category.

Emma placed an upturned palm on Regina's thigh, causing the brunette to look down. She wriggled her fingers in encouragement and Regina smiled, bringing her hand to Emma's and linking them together. Emma squeezed gently and Regina looked up, meeting her eyes with a shy smile.

The excitement of the evening had taken it out of Regina more than she realized. At some point, she must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew, she heard Emma's voice calling her name quietly and her eyes fluttered open to see the credits of Home Alone playing. Her head was resting on Emma's shoulder, their fingers still intertwined, and when she yawned and sat up, Emma was watching her with the most gentle expression.

"Hey." She smiled, brushing a strand of hair from Regina's face. The brunette's chest fluttered, instantly reminded of the first time Emma had done that. They had come so far since then. "Do you wanna head up? I'll be up in a minute."

Regina nodded, she couldn't believe how tired she was. She made her way upstairs and got ready for bed, feeling like she could fall asleep the second her head hit the pillow. As she finally crawled into bed, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. There were two voices, one definitely Emma's, she would recognize it anywhere, and one slightly less clear but she was almost certain it was August.

They stopped just outside the room, the door slightly ajar, and Regina was able to hear the conversation more clearly.

"What's going on with you and Regina then?" August asked, his voice hushed but still audible.

"August, don't." Emma sighed.

"I'm just curious." He said defensively, pitch rising ever so slightly.

"There's nothing going on."

"That's not what it looks like to me."

She could hear Emma huffing and imagined her rolling her eyes.

"We're just friends."

"Right." August said, clearly not believing her. Regina didn't even know if she believed that anymore. She didn't know what they were but 'friends' didn't sound right. It was odd. Underwhelming. And she was pretty sure friends didn't react to each other's mere touch the way she did to Emma's.

"August." Emma said, impatience clear in her tone.

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't."

"Okay." August sighed, clearly done with arguing. "Well, whatever you guys are, she makes you happy, doesn't she? I can see that."

"Yeah." Emma said and Regina could hear the smile in her voice. "She does."

Regina's heart soared, a burst of light coursing through her veins. Her face split into a grin and she smiled at the ceiling, not even trying to contain her joy.

She heard Emma and August say their goodnights and then the door was being pushed open and she forced her lips into a more neutral expression. Emma wordlessly gathered her pajamas and disappeared down the hall to the bathroom.

Regina waited patiently, not wanting to fall asleep before she got back. Not that she would've been able to, her heart still beating wildly.

When Emma returned, she closed the door quietly behind her before crossing the room and climbing into bed. She slipped under the covers and when Regina felt the mattress dip, she moved closer. Without speaking, she wrapped an arm across Emma's middle, tucking herself into the blonde's side. Emma automatically reached an arm around her, holding her close, and then there were fingers combing through dark hair and Regina sighed contently.

"Goodnight, Regina." Emma whispered.

A/N: We're getting there, slowly. Thank you for all the love so far and especially on the last chapter! Feel free to follow me on twitter (lovesicksapphic).