Emma woke up a couple hours later. She placed the pictures safely on her coffee table then put on her shoes and headed to Main Street.
She found Lea at one of the booths,
She smiled at her, "It seems like there's more people here than last year."
"People from a few neighboring towns decided to show their support." Lea said, hardly able to contain her excitement, "I think it's absolutely wonderful."
She turned to Emma and gave her a look, "Why don't you have pie on your face?"
Emma laughed, "On my way now."
The booth she was at was set up with prizes that consisted of small stuffed animals like pink elephants, a monkey holding a banana and racing turtle with goggles on.
"Hi." A young girl said to her as Emma stepped into the booth.
"Hi."
"I'm Grace, I'll be helping you out tonight." She said to Emma.
"Oh cool thanks." Emma said as she inspected the wooden cutout of the clown that stood before her.
"So the concept is easy." Grace said, "You stick your face through the hole and I hand people the pies and they throw them at you."
"It doesn't seem challenging. Everyone wins a prize if they hit me?" Emma asked as she put her face through the hole in the cutout.
"Well no, they have to hit you in the face." Grace said, "And you're a good ten feet from them."
Emma pulled her face out of the cutout then went over to the table of pies. She took a swipe of what looked like cool whip with her finger, put it in her mouth and immediately spit it out.
"It's shaving cream." Grace told her.
"But, why?" Emma whined then spit again.
"The nuns thought it'd be funny." Grace said with a shrug.
Grace handed her a small pair of swimming goggles to protect her eyes and explain that if someone hit her in the face that she'd be sprayed water to clean her off.
"And I'm guessing you get to be the one that sprays me?" Emma asked as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail then put on the goggles.
"You got it."
"Okay then." Emma said as she stuck her face into the cut out, "Let's do this!"
After an hour of pie throwing Emma only got hit in the face few times. She was so thankful some of the parents let their children throw the pies.
Lea came to check the booth and was happy to see how well Emma's booth was doing.
"You're very popular tonight." Lea called out to Emma who was getting rinsed off by Grace.
"Thanks." She grabbled as the water ran down her face.
Emma was wiping her face with a towel when she heard a husky, vengeful voice say, "I want 6 pies."
She looked up from her towel to see Regina standing there, a pie already in her hand.
Emma smiled and put on her goggles before getting back into position behind the clown.
Regina threw a pie and it hit the clowns arm.
"Aw come on now Regina you can do better than that." Emma said with a smile.
Regina threw again and hit the clown in the stomach, then the shoulder then the other arm.
"Wow, you're really bad at this." Emma said, "Why don't you let the little kid behind you have a go, I bet he can throw way better than that."
Regina threw another pie with force and it went completely wild and over Emma's head.
"Do you need glasses maybe?" Emma taunted, "My face is right here!"
She stuck her tongue out and wiggled it around.
Regina threw her last pie with great effort and a grunt and it smacked Emma right in the face. Emma gagged on the shaving cream as she pulled her face from the cutout.
She spit out the cream, took off her goggles and looked at Regina who was hugging the little pink elephant she'd just won.
"I told you not to choke." She said with a smile.
Emma didn't get a chance to reply before Regina walked off because Grace turned the hose on and sprayed her in the face.
She spent another hour being pelted in the face before Grace's father; Jefferson came to replace Emma while she took a break.
"Enjoy." She told him as he put on the googles and braced for impact.
Emma walked around the fair looking for Regina and when she didn't spot her she headed over to the bakery.
The lights were on and Emma could see her behind the counter pulling pies from the display case.
She opened the door and went inside, "Hey."
Regina looked up, "Hey yourself."
"Did you have fun tonight?" Emma asked her smiling.
"Nailing you in the face with shaving cream was the highlight of my night." Regina said to her as she pushed a cart with the pies and cakes into the kitchen.
Emma followed her into the kitchen, "Well I'm glad I could help brighten your night."
Regina turned from the fridge and looked at her, "Why did you buy a house here?"
"The old bat at the inn was charging me too much." Emma joked which she realized wasn't the right thing to do when Regina just turned around and continued unloading the baked goods off the cart.
"I bought the house because I need a place where we can call home." Emma told her.
"We?" Regina scoffed, "You got a mouse in your pocket or something?"
"You know who I'm talking about Regina." Emma told her.
"I have to close up now." Regina said Emma as they stood in the kitchen.
"I think you've already done that." Emma said to her, "Haven't you?"
Emma didn't wait for a response she just pushed through the kitchen doors and headed out of the bakery and back to her pie booth.
At the end of the night Emma helped the work crew clean up and made sure everything was secure before she went home, took a long hot shower then climbed into bed and fell asleep.
In the morning Emma drove the teacup over to Mulan's garage. She gave the car a little pat on the hood before going into the office and handing Mulan the keys.
"Thanks for all of this." Emma said to Mulan.
"Not a problem." Mulan said as they walked into the garage. Mulan then tossed her the keys to her Bug.
"Seriously though, take better care of this classic or I will confiscated it and you will never get it back." Mulan warned her.
"Yes Mom." Emma said to her then got into her Bug and started it up. She smiled at the familiar rumble of the engine.
She puttered down the street then parked outside the diner and went inside for breakfast.
"So, how's the new house?" Ruby asked as she poured Emma a cup of coffee.
"I love it." Emma said to her with a smile, "And when I get really settled in you and Gran need to come over for dinner one night."
"We'd like that." Ruby said to her before she was summoned away by another customer.
Just before going to help the set-up crew for the last night of the street fair, Emma went into Enchanted Delights.
"You know my offer for dinner is still out there." Emma said to Regina who handed her a slice of pie.
"And my answer is still no."
"Are you coming to the street fair tonight?" Emma asked changing the subject.
Regina didn't answer her as she helped another customer.
"I'll be in the dunking booth tonight." Emma told her, "Maybe you'll get lucky and I'll drown."
"It's a 4ft deep tank. I highly doubt you'll drown." Regina said not looking at her, "Unless you're completely stupid."
"Well why don't you stop by later and make sure I'm not completely stupid?" Emma asked her.
"If I stop by I'm going to do my best to make sure you drown." Regina told her.
Emma smiled, "Okay then see you later."
The dunking booth was pretty simple. A tank filled with water and a little bench for her to sit on above the water. There was a Plexiglas wall in front of the tank so no one's wild pitches would hit Emma.
Emma wore a blue bikini top and Hawaiian board shorts that had tiny little hula girls dancing on them.
"Emma, this is Peter and he'll be helping you at your booth tonight." Lea said introducing her to a tall sandy blonde hair boy with big ears and an even bigger smile.
"Nice to meet you Peter." Emma said to him with a nod.
"So here's the drill, they dunk you they get a small prize." Lea told her as she showed off the small prizes that were hanging in a booth near the tank.
"You stay in the tank and Peter will do all the rest." Lea told her.
"Okay I think I got it." Emma told her and then pulled out something from her pockets. She popped a small clear plastic tip open and started to blow into it.
"What are you doing?" Lea asked her.
"Um, blowing up my water wings." Emma said then took a deep breath and blew into the plastic tip.
Lea just rolled her eyes and walked away.
After Emma put her hair in a ponytail and put her water wings on she climbed the small metal ladder then took her seat on the red plastic bench.
As Emma sat on the bench she started heckling people as they walked by until a small line formed and they started chucking balls and hitting the target.
She shot up from the water and brushed the hair back from her face.
"Good one there Archie!" She yelled at her lawyer who despite the casualness of the fair was still dressed as if he was going to work.
Peter handed Archie his small prize and Emma climbed back up onto her seat.
She adjusted herself then smiled, "Okay let's see who's next?"
Emma spotted Regina as she was walking by, "Hey Regina!"
Regina ignored her as she continued down the way.
"What's wrong Regina? Too scared to throw a few balls?" Emma called after her as she plucked her water wings off and tossed them to the side of the tank.
Regina stopped in her tracks, turned around and headed over to the dunk tank.
Emma's grin widened.
Regina paid Peter and he handed her three balls. She winded back and threw one and it missed the targeting.
"You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn." Emma taunted, "Too bad this isn't darts huh?"
Regina glared at her then threw another ball this time it hit the arm of the target and Emma braced herself but she didn't fall.
"Whew that was close." Emma said, "But not close enough."
Regina concentrated hard and then threw her last ball and again the ball missed and hit the backboard.
"Would you like to try again?" Peter asked her holding out three more balls.
Regina shook her head no and turned to leave.
"Yeah probably for the best. You're not too good when it comes to second chance." Emma called after her.
Regina spun around, grabbed one of the balls from Peter and threw it with every bit of anger she had. It hit the Plexiglas so hard that it startled Emma. She jumped and the motion triggered the seat. It collapsed under her, spilling her into the tank.
Emma recovered and looked around for Regina but didn't spot her. She climbed out of the tank, "I'm taking a break." She said as she ran passed Peter not bothering to grab the towel he held out.
She cut through the crowd as she saw Regina going into her bakery.
She ran after her and pushed open the door and almost slipped when she came to a stop.
"Hey!" Regina yelled at her, "You're getting my floor all wet! Get out!"
She pushed Emma back till she hit the door. "Get out." She said again and went to push Emma one more time but Emma caught her wrists.
"No." Emma told her, "I think it's about time you got a few things off your chest, don't you?"
Regina pulled out of Emma's grasp and took a few steps away from her.
"I have nothing to say to you." Regina said.
"That's bullshit and you know it." Emma said, "I hurt you and broke your heart when I left. You've gotta be pretty pissed off about that."
"Don't flatter yourself." Regina said as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Stop pretending you don't care, stop pretending you aren't hurt!" Emma yelled at her.
"What do you want from me?" Regina yelled back.
"I want the truth! I want you to tell me what's going on, how you're feeling!"
"You said you loved me. You promised you'd never hurt me but you did just that!" Regina yelled at her, "And you did all that for what? A job? An exciting life in a bigger city?"
"You're selfish and a liar!" She yelled.
"It broke my father's heart when I told him you weren't here anymore and you weren't coming back." Regina told her, "He didn't come into the shop for almost a week."
"You didn't just hurt me Emma, you hurt him too!" She yelled as she choked back tears.
"I know that!" Emma yelled, "And I'll have to live with the regret of hurting Henry and not being able to say I'm sorry to him for the rest of my life."
"But I'm here now Regina." Emma said, "I'm here now and I've been trying to say sorry to you since I got back."
"Yes, you're here now. You've bought a house and gotten a job." Regina said, "What are you trying to prove?"
"I'm trying to show you that I'm here to stay that I'm not going anywhere. I want to be here and I want to be with you." Emma told her.
"Of course now that you've had your little adventure and it's convenient for you." Regina said, "Did you even think about me at all while you were gone? Did you miss me?"
She didn't even give Emma a chance to answer.
"Because I missed you. I cried till I couldn't cry anymore and I'm ashamed to admit that." Regina told her, "Because you aren't worth it!"
Emma took a step forward, she saw the tears rolling down Regina cheeks, "I thought about you all the time. I missed you with every beat of my heart."
Emma stepped closer; "I still love you Regina." She said as she reached up and brushed a tear from Regina's cheek with her thumb, "I never stopped."
They looked into each other's eyes.
"Well I did, Emma." Regina said then took a step away from her, "You can leave now."
Emma looked at her, "Who's the liar now?"
She left the bakery and went right back to her booth.
Thank God for being dunked so no one could see her tears.
At the end of the night Emma promised Lea she'd be back early in the morning to help the cleanup crew pack everything away.
"Thank you for all your help." Lea said to Emma and gave her a hug.
Emma smiled and gave her a nod before slipping on her flip flops and heading to her car.
This was the first time since arriving back in town that Emma felt completely defeated when it came to winning Regina back.
Emma shuffled up her walkway and went inside her house. She went upstairs and headed into the bathroom. She took off her damp clothes and threw them in the hamper before getting into the shower.
Once she was dried off, she put on a pair of sweats and a black tank top. She went back down stairs and into the kitchen where she opened the fridge and frowned.
'Why is there never anything in this fridge that I want to eat?' She thought to herself as she closed the fridge door.
Her doorbell rang.
She walked slowly to the front door, not bothering to look through the peephole and opened it.
Mulan stood with a pizza box and a six pack of beer, "Thought maybe you could use a friend tonight."
Emma let Mulan in and shut the door behind her then they went into the living room and sat down.
Mulan handed Emma a beer then opened up the pizza box.
"So, that was a pretty big blow out you had huh?" Mulan asked before taking a big bite out of the slice of pepperoni pizza she held.
"You heard it?" Emma asked.
"No but from where I stood it looked like you guys were having it out." Mulan said as she wiped her face with one of the napkins.
"What the hell was I thinking?" Emma asked, "She hates me. She has a right to but she fucking hates me."
"Why did I think coming back and changing would even matter to her?"
Emma shook her head and took a long sip of her beer. She looked at Mulan, "She's so angry. I've apologized as much as I can."
"I bought a house, got a job." Emma said as she set her beer down on the coffee table, "I've invited her to dinner, I've tried making things right but I don't think she wants it."
"I don't think she wants me anymore."
"So what are you going to do?" Mulan asked, "Are you going to hide out? Run away in the middle of the night? Are you going to revert back to being a scared little bitch that can't commit to her or a life here?"
"HEY!" Emma said offended, "Back off."
"No, see someone needs to give you a swift kick in the ass and tell you to stop sitting here complaining. Go talk to her again, and if she doesn't want to talk now then you keep trying. You keep trying because if you love her like you say you do, and if you've changed like you say you have then nothing is going to stop you from fixing shit and making it right again." Mulan told her.
Mulan stood up, "She's shutting you down because she still loves you, you big dummy."
She grabbed her beer and another slice of piece, "Now do something about it."
Emma watched as her friend walked out the front door then she sat staring into empty space.
As if something pinched her she jumped up from the couch and ran up the stairs she dressed then grabbed her keys and the pictures from the coffee table before heading out the door.
Emma knew it was late but she didn't care and Emma doubted Regina would actually be asleep. She pounded on the door to the bakery and called out for her.
She stepped back to see if a light came on upstairs and when it didn't she stepped to the door and pounded some more.
A light turned on and Emma could see Regina as she crossed the bakery.
Regina stopped short and stood in front of the glass door staring out at her.
"What do you want?" Regina asked through the door.
"I want to talk to you." Emma said, "It can't wait I need to talk to you now."
"We talked already Emma." Regina said, "There's nothing more to say."
"I have plenty more to say." Emma said, "Open the door, please."
Regina shook her head no.
Regina watched as Emma dug into the pocket of her jeans, pulled something out and slammed it against the door.
"Do you remember this?"
Regina took a step closer and looked at the black and white photos that Emma had pressed against the door.
"This was the start of something Regina." Emma said, "I didn't know it in that moment but when I did I came to you Regina and we kissed for the first time."
"I remember how it made me feel to finally kiss you and hold you in my arms." Emma said, "I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest."
"You were the best thing that ever could have happened to me and I fucked it up by walking away." Emma said, "I know what I did and I'm sorry I hurt you so badly."
"And how do I know you won't just leave again?" Regina asked, "How do I know you won't walk away and break my heart?"
"Because I'm here now and I have no intention of ever leaving you again." Emma said then paused as she looked into Regina's eyes, "And because I love you."
Regina reached out, touching the pictures through the glass with her fingertips. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on the cold glass.
Her hand reached up and unlocked the door. She opened her eyes, turned around and walked into the kitchen leaving Emma standing outside wondering what she should do.