I'm just watching the world cup final. Germany has just won and there's lots of ceremony stuff. If there are any Germans reading this, congratulations! Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it!

As they rested on the sofa, Emma's fingers moved down Regina's face slightly and she noticed the circular blue bruise once again. It was slightly swollen and looked sore.

Emma looked over to Henry. "Hey, kid?" Henry looked up at her in response as she spoke. "Could you possibly give Mary Margaret and David a hand in the kitchen?"

"Sure. I'll leave you two in peace." He raised his eyebrows as he stood up. "I understand that you two want your alone time." He smirked, holding the book under his arm.

"Henry, it's not like that!" Emma exclaimed. "We need to have words with you about what you said before actually. You can't just throw out accusations like that!"

"Sorreee." He shrugged. "But look at you, are you still denying there's any kind of relationship between you?"

Regina narrowed her eyes and lifted her head up to look at him. "Henry that is private matter. I'm sure you will be the first to hear if Emma and I do decide to establish a relationship in the way that you're implying. She is simply being a friend right now. A rather good one at that."

Emma smiled at the compliment. Henry wasn't so convinced though. "If you say so." He shrugged. "But if you to do decide to be together, I don't want to be lied to. Just tell me it straight. I don't want to know anything else, trust me. Just the facts that are on the 'need to know' basis." He said as he stood in the living room doorway.

"I think that's fair." Emma responded, directing it at Regina also, who nodded in response. "Okay kid."

He nodded with satisfaction and left the room. Emma looked down at Regina. Regina's long eyelashes blinked back up at her. Her brown eyes were like dark pools and the light reflecting off them made them look impossibly large and beautiful.

"This may not be appropriate, but you look absolutely stunning right now."

Regina smiled modestly. "It is always appropriate to compliment me. But I highly doubt that though with my odd skin colour at the moment, the everlasting pink rims around my eyes and all of the bruises appearing here and there." She shrugged on Emma's lap.

"I find 'imperfect madam mayor' the most beautiful of all." Emma said meaningfully with a soft smile.

Regina looked up at her through her eyelashes and smiled. "Are you hitting on me, Swan?"

"Partly. And I partly just wanted you to hear those words. You deserve to be complimented, you obviously aren't enough."

"Does this mean that I have to compliment you?" Regina raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, no." Emma shook her head. "No, I'm as bad at taking compliments as you are. They make me uncomfortable."

"I have my own reasons, what are yours?"

"I don't know. I just feel surprised and uncomfortable when I get them. It depends on what they are anyway. I've had my fair share of old pervy guys in my time and I've learnt that not all compliments are good."

"I'm sorry to hear that. What if the compliments were from me? Would you accept them then?" Regina tilted her head slightly more towards Emma's stomach so she could see Emma's face better.

"I don't know. Like I said-"

"You know, you're very pretty, you're strong. You're brave."

"No, you really don't have to Regina."

"You're actually rather beautiful."

"Really it's fin-"

"You're incredibly loving. You fight for the ones you care about."

"Regina please-" Emma shook her head feeling a bit emotional.

"You're extremely loyal. You have this soft little frown whenever you're worried about someone and that's rather a lot. It shows what a caring person you are. You have a beautiful personality."

Emma simply shook her head now. For some reason there were tears coming to her eyes. She couldn't fight them away. It was just that nobody had ever really complimented her like that before and meant it.

"You're independent. You don't rely on other people to live. You look after yourself and you always job done, you should be incredibly proud of yourself for that."

Emma was fighting her facial muscles as they scrunched up and her eyes became glassy.

"You're so loving towards Henry. You also always look effortlessly beautiful when you don't even try. You have natural beauty which is a very rare gift."

Emma used her hand to quickly wipe away escaped tears and continued shaking her head.

"You did it by yourself and you survived. Your family love you dearly for the woman you are today and you're rather inspirational, miss Swan. You really have shown a rather large quantity of bravery and selflessness on many occasions." Regina became quite enveloped in her words, really thinking about them and how much she actually appreciated Emma. "You're quite a significant human being Emma Swan and I respect you very much." She finished with after much thought.

She looked up at Emma and noticed the tears on her cheeks and that her hand was covering her face. "Oh Em, I'm sorry. I didn't know it would upset you this much." Regina lifted her head up from Emma's lap and rested it on Emma's shoulder instead. She wrapped her arms around Emma's front and back, squeezing her tightly. "I'm sorry Emma. I'm sorry it upset you but I strongly believe every single thing I just said to you, it came from the heart."

"No- I'm not upset." Emma shook her head, gathering herself. She looked at Regina's head on her shoulder. She leaned down slightly and kissed her forehead. "I'm just overwhelmed by your compliments. I don't really- I don't really get compliments that much, I never grew up with them and I guess I didn't think I deserved them so I've always fought people against them. It's one of my things."

"I understand that. Everybody has things." Regina smiled softly. "I'm sorry if that outburst of things I said was a shock for you, I know you didn't want it and I should have-"

Emma grabbed Regina's chin, guided it towards her own lips and kissed her, partly to get her to stop talking. Regina was a little alarmed at first but quickly melted into the kiss, enjoying Emma taste on her lips. Emma gently sucked on her bottom lip and Regina's tongue swirled against hers. Emma relished the sensation and put her arms around Regina's neck.

At that point, David came through the doorway to the lounge. He raised his eyebrows at the sight before him. "Oh, right. I'll ask later." He said awkwardly to himself. He went back into the kitchen and tried his best to hide his uncomfortable blush. If Mary Margaret noticed it then she was bound to start asking questions and he didn't want that. This was between Regina and Emma and he wanted it to stay that way.

"What did they say?" Mary Margaret asked with a friendly tone.

"Umm.. They do want salad, lots of salad.. We should make lots, we might as well keep ourselves busy." He lied the best he could. He thought of himself as a rather cool dad at that moment. If his daughter wanted to make out with her girlfriend on the couch then so be it. He wasn't going to burst her bubble; they would simply make lots and lots and lots of salad instead.

When Mary Margaret, David and Henry returned back to the living room (David was a little apprehensive) they were happily surprised to see that Emma and Regina were both fast asleep on the couch in each other's arms. David smiled; he was rather relieved they hadn't walked in on something a little more explicit at the rate it was going earlier.

Mary Margaret looked at them both, "Cute aren't they." She smiled. Henry and David both nodded.

"It's funny seeing two angry people cuddled up together." David smiled.

Henry nodded. "I'm really happy that they're together, even if they say they aren't."

"Were you not surprised?" Mary Margaret asked curiously as she sat down on one of the armchairs near the sofa. Henry sat down on the one beside her and David perched on the edge of his wife's.

Henry shook his head. He'd been anticipating this for a while, longer than he cared to admit.

Mary Margaret looked at the closely sleeping figures on the couch. "I'm a little concerned how much Emma is sleeping at the moment. It's certainly more than usual." She said to David.

"She's taking care of Regina, right now it's a full time job and we haven't really done anything to help. She's doing it all alone and it must be burning her out."

"You're right. We should help more with looking after Regina."

"She should be better soon anyway."

"Hmmm, hopefully." Was all Mary Margaret could respond with.

"Shall we wake them for dinner or not?" David asked Mary Margaret and Henry. It was nearly four o'clock so they had decided they would call it an extremely early dinner instead.

"Regina slept through dinner last night and hardly ate this morning. She's still unwell so I think she definitely needs to be eating more regularly. We should wake her up, she needs to build her energy back up." Mary Margaret said to them.

"She walked with you today, did she not have any energy then?"

"No, she was exhausted. She passed out actually, but I don't know how much of that was due to just her health. The other aspect of it was probably my fault."

"She collapsed!? What did you do?" David outburst with surprise.

"She just got overwhelmed with some of the things we were talking about and she's still not very well, I think it was just a few things combined. I'll talk to you about it later."

Henry listened to them and remembered the powerful wave of light. "The wave of light earlier, why was that?" He asked Mary Margaret.

Mary Margaret looked at the dark haired sleeping figure. "She'd just fainted and I was a little upset about some of the things we were talking about. I leaned down over her and one of my tears must have landed on her cheek or something as the next thing I knew, a golden wave was pushing past us in all directions. She woke up quite quickly after that."

"So it was from you caring about her?" Henry asked. Snow thought for a moment and then nodded.

"I think we should wake them up." David interjected. "Like you said, Regina definitely needs a meal if she's going to build her strength back up properly and Emma needs to eat too, it's been hours since breakfast and even that was minimal."

Mary Margaret and Henry nodded. She then walked up to them and crouched down in front of the sofa. She put her hands on both of their knees. "Regina, Emma, you need to wake up now. The early dinner is ready and you both need it." She lifted her hands up and patted their arms instead. "Wake up, Em, Regina." She shook their arms a little and Regina opened her eyes.

Regina twisted her neck slightly despite the lack if space between them and looked up at Emma whom was still soundly asleep. Regina blinked a little more and then started to nudge Emma. Mary Margaret watched from where she was crouching.

"Emma." Regina said sleepily, pushing her head more so against her neck than before. "Em." She muttered sleepily. Emma opened her eyes and looked into Regina's. She sleepily smiled and kissed her forehead.

Mary Margaret raised her eyebrows and smiled. "We're sorry we woke you up but dinner's ready and you can sleep later. You won't be able to sleep tonight if you sleep now anyway." She smiled to them. Emma looked up and saw Henry and David standing a few metres behind her mother also.

"Hey." Emma looked around Mary Margaret and smiled to Henry.

"Hi." He smiled.

"Come here." She used her arm to gesture him towards them. He nodded and walked over to the couch. Regina watched and looked at him lovingly. Henry sat down next to Emma on the couch and Emma shook her head. "No kid, come here." She smiled. She shuffled away from Regina and Regina did the same. Henry smiled at the gesture and sat down between them. They both cuddled up to him on either side. He'd never so loved by his parents, his mothers.

Mary Margaret stood up and walked over to David. He wrapped his arm around her and she happily cuddled into his side. "What a cute little family we have." She said quietly to him, fawning over the image before them.

"I'm proud of our family right now." He nodded. "We all did okay didn't we? We may be stuck in the middle of nowhere but everything seems to be sort of working out. Look at our daughter. She has a wonderful son and a girlfriend to share him with." He smiled.

Mary Margaret nodded and smiled before really absorbing his words. "Wait, did you say girlfriend?"

"What- no? No. It just slipped out, no." He awkwardly looked at any point in the room which wasn't his wife's intense eyes right now.

"Do you know something that I don't?" She poked him in the chest with a playfully stern look.

"No! It's nothing. Let's just- let's all go and get dinner." He said as confidently as he could. He couldn't get image of his daughter kissing Regina out of his head. His nose scrunched up. "Yes, let's definitely go get dinner." He nodded, instantly swerving away from her and walking towards the doorway.

"I think that's our cue to get up." Emma smiled and nodded to her two sofa acquaintances.

They all stood up and Emma and Henry made their way to the dining room. Regina was last to get up and as she did so a sharp pain emerged in the place on her ribs that had previously been troubling her. She put her hand on it and hissed a little. Her eyes watered and she waited a few seconds for it to pass. It didn't completely dissolve but the pain reduced considerably after her body had become accustomed to its new standing position. She walked quickly to catch up and was soon right behind them in the dining room. When the three of them saw that the table was empty, they went to the kitchen.

David and Emma had been cleaning the kitchen during the day, it still needed some work but it looked nice. It was very large and had a large square of island counters with tall stools around it.

There was a large dish full of pasta and sauce and another bowl containing salad and dressing. "Are we eating in here?" Emma asked her two parents.

"We thought we'd tried it out." David responded, taking a seat on one of the high wooden chairs.

Everyone sat down and took a seat except for Regina. They all looked up at her. She looked uncomfortable and reluctant to sit down. "You gonna sit down?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow.

"I hope you don't mind but I think I'll excuse myself. I'm awfully tired and I'm afraid I've lost my appetite."

Mary Margaret noticed Regina's hand come up to the familiar place on her ribs. She saw the pained look in Regina's eyes also. "Regina, can I talk to you for a minute." Mary Margaret asked softly. She stood up and walked towards her. Regina nodded and Mary Margaret grabbed the bag from the pharmacy before following her into the hall.

"Yes?" Regina asked once they were in the hallway.

"It's obvious you're in pain." Mary Margaret loudly whispered. "Why don't you just tell them the truth about it? You're in excruciating pain. Hiding this is ridiculous!"

"I'm just tired of being cared for like a wounded animal. I have my magic but I've not felt this powerless in a long time." She scowled, her hand almost squeezing her ribs now with how tightly she was clutching it.

"You just need to give yourself a chance to recover. Just let us, just let Emma look after you for the time being. She obviously cares a lot about you and she wants you to feel better. We all do."

Regina didn't respond but her breathing increased and her eyes began to water. The pain was getting impossibly worse.

"Have you had any of the medicine we bought yet?"

"No." Regina managed to release between exasperated gasps.

Mary Margaret nodded and quickly walked away from her and back into the kitchen. "David, please could you pass me a glass of water." She said rather firmly. Emma looked at her with a confused expression.

"Thanks." She responded once she received it. Henry watched as she disappeared out of the doorway again.

She rummaged in the bag from before, screwing off the lid cap and taking out two pills. "I read the label earlier. You can take two every four hours. They're quite strong but they shouldn't make you drowsy or anything." She handed Regina the pills and the water.

Regina put them both in her mouth and swallowed with one large gulp of water. She then drank the rest of the contents of the glass.

"Do you have pain anywhere else?" Mary Margaret asked her.

"No, just my upper stomach area."

"It's worrying me how that is consistently causing you pain. I think we should get you checked by a doctor. It could be internal bleeding or broken ribs causing you this much pain. This looks really serious Regina."

"Since when did you acquire such nursing skills?" Regina scowled. She was still doubled over and her forehead was becoming sweaty.

"How about some dinner. You've not eaten since this morning and even then you barely ate. You told me you were going to fight this. You need to eat and look after yourself Regina. If not for me or yourself, do it for Emma and Henry."

Regina looked at her dismally. "I hate that he is seeing me like this. It is rather damaging for all of us."

"He's a smart kid, he'll be okay." Mary Margaret gave her the most
reassuring smile she could muster.

Regina gave a single nod. "I will eat with you. I'd just like an extra minute to myself first if that's okay."

"Of course." Mary Margaret gave her an understanding smile. She placed her hand on Regina's shoulder for a moment and then left for the kitchen.

Mary Margaret sat down at the table and all eyes were on her.

"What the hell happened?" Emma asked. Mary Margaret didn't respond, she simply looked at Emma's agitated face and then down at her own empty plate.

Emma stood up grumpily and shoved her chair out of the way. "Giving me a little insight once in a while wouldn't hurt!" She shouted angrily. "She'd die and you wouldn't tell me. I have a right to know!" She walked across the kitchen and slammed the door loudly. She walked down the hall to where Regina was.

Henry felt anger, frustration and general sadness teeming through his body. He slammed his fist on the counter and his face scrunched up. Mary Margaret and David stared at him with worry and nervous anticipation. When he opened his eyes again they were wet with tears.

"Henry-" Mary Margaret addressed him with concern. He shook his head and then quickly got up and left the room. He ran out into the hall, passing his two mothers talking in a blur and then ran up the stairs and to his current bedroom.

"Henry?" Emma had called out as he ran past.

"He's upset." Regina said whilst still wincing.

"Should I go talk to him?" Emma asked worriedly. She had calmed down now, her anger softening as soon as she'd seen Regina.

"Give him a little time to himself first. He likes space when he's upset. That's why he used to always go off to the park. He likes his alone time." She gasped. Regina's eyes were watering, her stomach pain was now wrenching through her torso. Emma noticed Regina's suffering and put a hand on her shoulder. Regina was still partially bent over but luckily the medicine was slowly beginning to work.

"Why didn't you tell me you were in this much pain?" Emma asked her with concern.

"I didn't want you to be worried."

"You need to tell me when you're not okay, Regina. I care about you a lot and I can take it. I can handle it if you're not okay, I just want you to stop keeping it to yourself. You're not alone now."

Regina's eyes watered more. Maybe it wasn't just from the pain anymore. Emma looked down where Regina's hand was on her ribs and gently lifted it away from her. Regina watched with uncertainly until she realised that Emma was replacing it with her own.

"We're in this together, whether you like it or not." Emma told her firmly, their faces close together. Regina nodded and felt the medicine starting to work. The pain turned numb and it only felt sore now rather than piercing. She slowly stood up straight, watching as Emma's hand stayed against her ribs. It was comforting in so many ways.

Regina nodded and then leant forward slowly. She seized Emma's lips against her own. She put her hands on either side of Emma's neck as they kissed deeply. Emma's hand came up to rest on the other side of her stomach.

After a long moment, they pulled away. "Are you a secret romantic Emma Swan?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I just might be." Emma smiled.

"I don't know if it was the kiss or the pain medication but I'm starting to feel a little better."

"Absolutely the kiss." Emma smirked. "Just think, if you could be partially healed by a kiss, imagine what sex would do."

"I doubt we'll have to imagine for much longer."

Emma's eyes widened and a flirty smile took over her face. "We really need to talk about that actually."

"What more needs to be said over than 'when'?" She smiled.

"That's my point, when you are healed. I'm not going to kill you via sex."

"That sounds a rather splendid death."

"Maybe so, but let's not try it out just yet."

"The sex or killing me?"

"Both."