The first day of their secret-relationship week passed slowly. They shared secret smiles in the morning when Emma came to drop off some paperwork from Graham at Regina's office. Then in the afternoon when she returned for her shift as Regina's secretary she brought along the mayors lunch, having taken it off Ruby, and suggested they take the food somewhere for a picnic. Regina declined, too busy for an extended lunch break, but agreed to allow Emma to stay so they could eat their lunches together.

Days two and three resulted in long make-out sessions behind the closed door of Regina's office, her schedule mostly clear. They talked a little too, needing a moment to step back when things became heated, because they had both agreed that kissing was as far as they should go for now. At the end of day three, when Henry was having dinner at a friend's house, Regina invited Emma to her home and offered to cook her a meal.

After dessert they made out on the couch, and would have broken their agreement if the alarm Regina had set hadn't gone off warning her that Henry would be on his way home. Trying to find the button that had come off her blouse, and was discovered to have rolled under the sofa after ten minutes of frantic searching on hands and knees, took them dangerously close to being caught. While Regina went to get changed, Emma cleared away signs of her presence (namely the extra wine glass).

"What would you like to do tomorrow?" Emma asked as she stood at the back door, trying to stay a little longer.

"You're at the Sheriff's station all day, remember? Unless Graham gives you a reason to visit…"

"Meet me for lunch? Somewhere private?"

"This is a small town. The day after tomorrow though, I can take the whole day off work and…"

"If we don't see each other does it still count as one of the seven days?"

Regina smiled, "I agreed to one week as the span of time. Does it really matter if we skip one day?"

"I'll miss you," Emma pouted, trying to persuade her to change her mind.

"Breakfast," Regina compromised. "Henry has to go to school early tomorrow. Why don't you come here and I'll come back to meet you after I drop him off."

When Emma continued to stare at her with puppy-dog eyes, she added: "I'll cook you breakfast."

"Done," Emma's pout turned to a smile lightning-fast and Regina shoo-ed her out the door.

There was a motorbike in town. One Regina had never seen before. It was sitting outside the diner as she drove past to drop Henry off at school. He turned to look as they went past, muttering 'cool' to himself. Regina stood at the school gate until she saw Henry greeted by a teacher and then drove back to Granny's. The bike was gone.

Taking out her cell, she rang Graham and asked him to look into the matter. She could understand Emma coming to town – Henry had found her – another stranger was impossible.

On the journey home the mystery threatened to distract her, but Emma was coming for breakfast and she trusted that Graham would find her answers so she pushed her concerns to one side. The blonde was waiting for her, sitting on the front steps to the mansion with her jacket laid across her knees and Regina smiled as she stopped her car, secretly looking forward to spending more time with Emma.

"Good morning Miss Swan, I hope you're hungry."

Emma stretched her arms above her head before standing, watching Regina close the car door and walk towards her, "yeah, I've been up for a couple of hours but I rationed myself with just some coffee."

"Trouble sleeping?" Regina sounded concerned as she unlocked the front door and looked around for eavesdroppers before motioning Emma inside.

"Just nervous I guess, excited-nervous… to see you again."

"You saw me barely twelve hours ago."

As the front door closed, Emma moved closer to Regina, her hands moving to the Mayor's waist as the other woman turned to face her, "is this really just a one-way thing? Last night…"

"Last night nearly went too far."

"Only because you set an alarm. Who knows how much farther…"

"We can't," Regina's words belying her actions as her hands wandered down Emma's arms, feeling the soft skin.

"Why not? We're both adults…what are you afraid of?"

You. "Nothing."

Emma grinned, pulling her closer, "so what's the problem?"

Regina let out a slow breath and looked into Emma's eyes, "you're still leaving in three days, right?"

"I promised, didn't I?"

Not all promises were kept; Regina had learnt that the hard way. Of course, now she was older and had the power of the mayor's office, but still she worried. Her eyes flicked down to the watch on her wrist.

"I need to be at work in one hour."

"Do you want to set another alarm?"

Regina ignored the question, "would you like breakfast first?"

"Why don't we work up an appetite?" Emma raised one eyebrow suggestively before leaning in for a kiss.

She pressed Regina's back against the door, fingers sliding through the mayor's short hair. Regina grabbed the front of Emma's white t-shirt, holding her close, drawing out the kiss. When they finally broke for air, Regina reached for Emma's hand and led her up the stairs.

Day five. Emma crossed off another square on her desk calendar and frowned. She knew she should be happy to be going home. There was nothing to worry about – Henry's adoptive mother clearly loved him and could provide a better lifestyle than she had ever dared hope for him, Storybrooke appeared to be a great place to grow up with its low crime rate and friendly inhabitants. If she was honest, Emma felt a little jealous. She wondered whether her life might have turned out differently if she had grown up with a foster family in Storybrooke.

"Or would I have screwed that up too?" she muttered to herself, before shaking her head. "Face it Swan, you can't change the past, and you can't change who you are."

Graham knocked gently on the door to Regina's office. He was nervous. There was no sign of the motorbike the mayor had seen. The staff at the diner had confirmed that they served a stranger that day, and that they had seen him ride off on the bike but their descriptions didn't match anyone in Storybrooke that he knew and none of them had asked his name.

The mayor would not be happy.

Of course, Regina had rarely been happy in all the years he had known her. Unless she was with Henry, or thinking, or talking about Henry, she retained a professional distance from everyone in the town.

"Any news?" she asked, after giving him permission to enter.

"I've checked at the B&B, asked everyone who saw the motorbike where it went, but…"

"Yes?"

"I think it has headed back out of Storybrooke."

"But you don't know that for sure?"

"Forgive my asking this, but has the stranger done something wrong?"

"I'm just curious about our visitor. We don't want any trouble, do we?"

"Of course not, madam mayor."

"Perhaps you should take a look in the woods, see if you can find any tyre tracks heading away from the main road. Just remember, stay within the city limits, you don't have jurisdiction outside of Storybrooke. If the visitor has truly gone, there's nothing to worry about."

Graham nodded and Regina dismissed him.