"You're freaking out," Ruby said, making Emma to turn away from her closet. She had a problem deciding what she was going to bring to the cabin.

"No, I'm not. I'm packing," Emma countered, before turning her head back in to the closet.

"Yes," Ruby said. "You're packing and it's Tuesday. You never pack until the night before, at the earliest. You usually throw something together the morning you're leaving."

"You're right," Emma said, closing her closet and practically throwing herself onto her bed.

"So what are you freaking out about?" Ruby asked, sitting down on the bed, opposite Emma.

"I told Regina I was ready," Emma admitted. The thoughts had been fluttering around her head since she had told Regina. She knew she was ready. She couldn't quite explain why but she knew. She knew she wanted this, and she knew she wanted it with Regina. She loved Regina. She loved Regina like she had never loved anyone before. It was a new feeling, one that felt different than anything else.

"Ready for?" Ruby asked, and Emma just looked at her. "Oh, for sex."

"Yeah, for sex," Emma said. "And I am. At least I think I am, and now we're going to be spending the weekend together, mostly alone. I told her I didn't expect something to happen, but I think we both know that this weekend is going to be it."

"And now you're freaking because of it?" Ruby asked, a look of understanding crossing her face.

"I don't know," Emma admitted. "I mean, I'm not worried about it, not really. I guess it's just starting to hit me that this is a thing that I really want and I want it to be with her, and I guess it scares me. All of this scares me."

"And it's okay to be scared," Ruby said. "It doesn't have to be a big deal, but it can be. And you love Regina, I know you do. You may not be ready to tell her, and I know you have your reasons for it."

"I do," Emma said and smiled. "Sometimes I feel like I've loved her since before we met, like somehow it's always been there, in the back of my mind. But other times, I don't know. It's scary. I don't trust easily, and I love even harder, and there she was, just fighting her way through all of my defenses without even trying."

Ruby reaches over and grabs Emma hand, "I know all of this is hard for you, Em. Trusting people, letting them in. It's hard for me too. When you lose as much as we have, when you feel young and abandoned, it's hard to let new people in."

Emma knew Ruby was right; Ruby was always right. Well, most of the time anyway. Before she met Regina, Ruby was the one person in her life who truly understood her. Her father and her sister tried of course, and the loss of Eva had made both of them realize that life is fleeting, but it wasn't quite the same. Ruby's parents had been ripped from her, unexpected and without warning, and she had felt abandoned and alone even with Granny doing her best to make Ruby feel at home in Storybrooke. Ruby's past, and the pain of losing her parents, was what connected the two of them in the first place. Emma had been lost, Storybrooke had been different than what she expected, and she was still terrified that it would somehow all be taken away from her. She had never had anything that lasted, and despite Leo's best efforts to make Emma believe that she would never have to be alone again, she had trouble believing it. Social workers lied, foster parents lied, people lied. Emma had spent her whole life trying to find something true in forest of lies, and when she finally found something she was terrified it was going to be taken away from her.

Ruby understood that fear in Emma, that need to keep everyone and everything at a distance so that she wouldn't get hurt when they inevitably left, yet these two broken girls had formed a friendship and trust unlike anything Emma had ever had. Ruby broke down Emma's walls because she understood why they were built, and Emma made Ruby believe that good things could last. It was a strange friendship to begin with, both girls unsure of the future and still holding on to the pain of the past. But suddenly one day, Emma didn't feel so scared anymore, and she started to believe that this could actually last; that she could have something good in her life not being taken away from her.

Ruby was Emma's best friend, and Emma was pretty sure she was going to be her best friend for the rest of her life.

"You know you're my best friend right?" Emma asked, and the question obviously took Ruby by surprise.

"Where did that come from? Of course I know, you're mine as well," Ruby countered.

"I don't know. All this talk about trusting people and letting them in made me think about how it was when I first came to Storybrooke," Emma said. She remembered the first day she met Ruby as if it were yesterday.

Storybrooke Elementary School was smaller than Emma expected. The last school she had gone to was huge, and she hadn't even learned where all the classrooms were before her foster parents had sent her back to the group home. She was supposed to go back to her old school, but then one conversation with Leo had changed her life, and now here she was. In the middle of nowhere. Leo had kept her at home for a week, saying she needed time to familiarize herself with her circumstances. Whatever that meant.

As Emma walked into what would be her tenth school – or maybe it was eleven, she had lost count somewhere along the time – Emma wished that she would be going to the same school as Mary Margaret, but she was still a year away from middle school. Emma wasn't sure what to make of her new foster sister, but at least she would be a familiar face.

She was too busy taking everything in that she didn't even notice the brunette girl walking straight into her.

"Hey, watch it!" Emma said, all of her defenses coming out at once. When you spent as much time in a group home as Emma had, it was hard not to become tough. And unwelcoming touches were one of the more annoying things Emma had ever had to deal with. It didn't take long before kids realized that it was better to keep their hands off Emma Swan and her things, at least if they valued their life.

"Look, I'm sorry," the other girl said, and Emma took a look at her for the first time. Her hair was brown, or at least it used to be, now it was mostly red highlights. Emma was a little taken aback at how the other girl looked, as it was a look she recognized from the mirror. An always on guard, never let anyone in type of look.

"Hey, no worries," Emma said and paused before adding, "Red."

"It's Ruby," Ruby countered.

"I don't know. I like Red better," Emma said. "It suits you." All anger and rage, Emma added in her mind. She had a feeling this girl could be explosive if given the chance.

"Whatever," Ruby said dismissively. Emma could tell that this girl liked her, even if she wouldn't admit it anytime soon, and if Emma was being completely honest with herself, she couldn't help but be drawn to this girl. She was clearly though as nails.

"What's your name anyway? I don't think I've seen you around here before," Ruby said. "I mean, I've only been here two weeks, but this place is tiny and new faces are rare."

"Emma," Emma said. "My name is Emma."

"Nice to meet you Emma."

It hadn't been an instant connection, but close enough, despite Emma pushing Ruby into a fountain the next time they met. She would still claim it was instinct that had made her do it, but she knew it probably wasn't.

"Also I feel like I've been neglecting you for Graham and Regina, and I want you to know that you'll always come first. Even if I have a girlfriend, and a Graham."

"You haven't been," Ruby said. "Actually ever since this entire romantic comedy you call your love life began last fall, you made every effort to include me. I'm on the freaking social committee Emma. Me, Ruby Lucas, who you had to drag head first to track try outs because I refused to believe that spending time with people who weren't you was something worthwhile."

"You got a point," Emma said. "And when those scouts show up wanting to recruit you, I expect a thank you card, maybe a little gift."

"You're so arrogant at times that I don't even know why I'm friends with you in the first place," Ruby joked.

"Because you love me," Emma answered, as she always did whenever Ruby "questioned" their friendship.

"Yeah, I do," Ruby said, and smiled.

It was Thursday morning, and the nerves that Emma had felt when talking to Ruby had almost completely disappeared. She knew she had created the nerves herself. She had made the choice on her own, and she had done it completely without influence of either Regina or anyone else for the matter. She wanted to share this with Regina.

"Hi," Emma heard behind her, and turned around at the familiar voice.

"Hi," she replied, and kissed her girlfriend softly. Every kiss still felt new to Emma. It felt like she had waited her whole life to be with Regina, and she knew that this was all she wanted, all she had ever wanted. She had spent her whole life looking for home, and she had found one in Storybrooke. She'd found it with her dad, and with her sister, and with Ruby. All of these people she never expected would be in her life.

But with Regina, it felt like the last piece had finally come into place. She knew it was completely cheesy and also out of character for her. But she wanted this, she wanted this so much. She loved Regina.

"Is everything okay?" Regina asked. "You seem a little out of it."

"It's just been a weird week," Emma said. It was the truth; well most of the truth. Her week had been weird, and not just with the whole 'birthday weekend' nerves that had been plaguing her for longer than she liked to admit. Her father had been nervous and he clearly had something on his mind, but he refused to share. Mary Margaret had gotten a couple of acceptance letters to places that weren't Thomas, and they had argued about it again. She didn't want her sister to throw away her chances to go to a great college just so that Emma would have a chance to go at all. Emma wasn't even sure that she wanted to go to college.

"But everything's fine?" Regina asked, and Emma could tell that her girlfriend was worried.

"It will be," Emma said. "I just had a fight with Mary Margaret. It'll blow over. It always does."

"I'm sorry," Regina said. "About what?"

"College. As always," Emma said and sighed. "I know she says she wants to go to Thomas, and they do have a great education program and they are pretty decent in women's soccer. But she got into UPenn, Brown and UCLA. Only none of them offered her a full scholarship."

"And you still think she's choosing Thomas so you can go to college?" Regina asked, and Emma remembered that she already told Regina about her sister and Thomas that night at Granny's.

"Why else would she?" Emma said. It was an argument she had many times with her sister … and a couple with their father.

"Maybe she wants to go to a smaller college, or go to a school close to home because she doesn't want to leave you and Leo behind? Or maybe she wants the chance to play college level soccer and she knows she'll have the chance at Thomas?" Regina asked, and Emma could tell she was making sense.

"I hate it when you use logic on me," Emma pouted. "You may have a point, but it's easier to make this choice be about me."

"You're scared that when Eva's relatives say that you're no good, they're right aren't you?" Regina asked.

"I didn't," Emma said. "Until just now." She hadn't really thought about it like that before. She had just been sure that she was costing her sister this big opportunity she had always dreamt about.

"When you spend a large part of your childhood feeling unwanted and like a burden, it must be hard to leave that behind," Regina said, and Emma was once again struck by how well Regina knew her.

"You know, I spend a large amount of time in therapy to figure things like this out, and here you are just throwing out advice I didn't even know I needed," Emma joked, but what Regina had said had really struck a chord with her. She'd never thought about it. She always thought that she just shrugged off what Eva's family said about her. That it didn't matter because she had a family now and they loved her.

"You know, this life thing is hard," Regina said, and she reached out and claimed Emma's hand. "We all need a little help at it from time to time."

"When did you become so wise?" Emma asked, while squeezing Regina's hand.

"I've always been this wise. You just never listen," Regina teased.

"You may have a point there," Emma said. "Guess I'm lucky to have such a patient, clever girlfriend."

"You sure are," Regina said, and kissed her. This kiss was more passionate than the last one, but still appropriate enough for school. Regina was usually pretty careful about PDA in the halls. Only the hall outside of the student council room seemed to be exempt from that rule. As was the actual student president room. Emma couldn't help but be grateful for the fact that Regina was student president; it did give them the privacy and opportunity to just make out in the middle of the school day.

Emma had never really been big on the whole PDA deal. Even with Fiona she had been a little careful about it. Fiona hadn't pushed exactly, but she had been a little bit more aggressive in regards to PDA, and Emma hadn't hated it. But she always felt a little uncomfortable about all of it. But with Regina, it felt different. It felt safe in a way it hadn't before.

"Everything ready for this weekend?" Emma asked when they broke apart.

"I have no clue," Regina admitted. "It's all up to Graham."

"You're letting him plan all of it?" Emma asked, surprised that her girlfriend would give away all of her control like that. As long as Emma had known her, even though it had only been around six months, Regina had always had a need to be on top of everything, to double check and to be in charge.

"It was his idea," Regina said and shrugged. "The only thing I care about is that you're gonna be there."

"As if I would be anywhere else," Emma said, and it was the truth. She was really looking forward to the weekend, and for the couple of days they could let go and stop worrying about everything. Emma would stop worrying about the fact that most of the people she loved were leaving in a couple of months, and ideally Regina would stop worrying about her mother. Hopefully the two of them, just for a weekend, could be a couple of teenagers having fun. Emma really couldn't wait.

It was Thursday night and Emma was finally done packing. After she was done panicking about everything, it had gone pretty smoothly and she had – as history had shown – finished packing the night before leaving. They were leaving pretty earlier in the morning, since it took about five hours, without breaks and in good traffic, and they wanted to get the most out of the whole weekend.

Emma heard a knock on her door. "Come in."

Leo stuck his head in the door. "Hi, Em. Can we talk for a second?"

"Of course, dad. Come in," Emma said. Leo made his way into her room and sat down on her bed. Emma was reminded of a conversation they'd had nine months earlier.

"Dad, can I talk to you?" Emma was nervous as she approached her father. It had been almost a month since she told her sister, and Ruby. But her dad was something else entirely. He was her dad and she was terrified about how he would react.

"Of course, Em. You can always talk to me," Leo said, and Emma felt her heart race. This was it. She wanted to tell her dad, she really did. They had never had any secrets between them, probably partly because Leo had read her file and every dirty secret she'd ever had was in that file. She had told him the first time she had kissed a boy, and the first time she'd gone to a party. Her father knew everything, and she wanted that. She cherished that. She had never had anyone who wanted to know everything before, and now that she had someone, she didn't like to keep things from him. But now there was this big thing, and she hadn't told him.

"Is everything okay?" Leo asked, and Emma almost fell apart at that moment. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey…" Leo said. He got up from his chair, walked over to Emma, and hugged her fiercely. "What's wrong?"

"I am," Emma said, and the tears stung in her eyes.

"You're a lot of things, Emma. But wrong is not one of them," Leo said, and Emma pulled her father closer, never wanting to let go. She felt safe in his arms. They were the first place she'd ever felt safe, and she was terrified that would change. Logically, she knew her father wasn't homophobic and she knew he wouldn't throw her out or refute her adoption, but years of rejection spoke much louder than her brain at the moment.

"I can tell that you are scared of something, would you please tell me why?" Leo said, and Emma let go of her father so she could look him in the eye.

"Of you," Emma said, the words barely forming on her lips. "I'm scared of what happens next."

"You can tell me anything, Emma," Leo said. "And no matter what you say, I'll love you."

Emma almost expected him to ask if she was pregnant, like Mary Margaret had. But that wasn't Leo's style. He wouldn't make assumptions and he wouldn't ask for specifics. He would wait until she was ready to tell him.

"I know," Emma said, and she did. But somehow that didn't make a difference. She was worried about how her father would react. She was worried about how her life would be. She was worried about the future. She was worried about everything.

"Then tell me," Leo said, never pushing but telling her that this was a safe place and it would always be a safe place.

"I'm gay."

Emma couldn't believe that that was nine months ago. She couldn't believe the ways her life had changed since then, how much more comfortable she felt with herself. She still worried about the future. Of course she did, she was a sixteen year old girl. She had her whole life in front of her and she wasn't sure of what she wanted and where to go. But she felt sure of herself. She started to figure out who she was and who she wanted to be. Her gayness was only a small part of her, but it was a part she wouldn't change. She felt at home in her skin, and that was something that had taken a lot of time.

"What is it you want to talk about?" Emma asked.

"You and Regina," Leo said, and Emma realized she should have seen this coming but somehow she hadn't. Her dad wanted to have "the talk". Leo had given her a short, and very straight, version of the talk a couple of years earlier. Emma figured he was giving her a refresher now that she was actually in a somewhat serious relationship.

"Do we have to?" Emma said, despite knowing that, yeah, they probably did.

"You're going away for the weekend with your girlfriend, Emma," Leo said, but he was smiling. "I think we need to. Have you two had sex?"

"Dad!" That was the downside with having a social worker as a father. He had never had problem discussing the harder topics. It was probably a side-effect of dealing with troubled kids and teens for most of his life. He knew what happened when you didn't talk about the hard stuff. "No, we haven't," Emma answered after the look on her father's face made it clear that she wasn't getting away from this conversation. "But we've talked about it."

"I'm not going to yell or be mad, or tell you you can't go. I'm not even going to tell you to always have the door open when Regina is here because I know that doesn't make a difference. I want you to be able to trust me, and I want you to know that I trust you," Leo said, and Emma could tell he was a little uncomfortable.

"But?" Emma asked.

"There is no but. Well, not really. I want to you to be sure. Having sex is a big deal, Emma. And I want you to be safe," Leo said.

"I love her," Emma admitted. She had now told several people, but she still had not told Regina. She knew she loved her, but she was scared Regina would run if she told her so soon.

"You do?" Leo asked. "You've only been dating for a couple of months."

"Yes. I fell in love with her before we were dating, and when we started, it just cemented how I feel about her," Emma said. "And everything that is happening is my choice. You understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, I do," Leo said. "I just want you to be careful. I'm worried about you. I've always been worried about you."

"I know, dad. You've always looked after me," Emma said, leaning over and hugging her dad.

"That's what you've been so afraid to tell me?" Leo said, and the look on his face made almost all of her nerves disappear. He still loved her, she could tell.

"Yeah," Emma said, "I didn't know how…"

"Em, you should never be scared to tell me anything. And if you were scared of how I would react to this? I love you, no matter what."

"I know that. But it's still scary, you know? Everything is changing and I'm terrified about what it means. My life has never fit into a box, and this just… I don't know," Emma said, and wiped the tears from her eyes. She was feeling better now. It felt good to get this off her chest. It had been one thing to tell her sister. It had been terrifying and freeing. But telling her father made it real. It had been the one thing that had kept her from accepting it completely. It wouldn't be real until she told her father.

"Life is scary, Em. But I will always have your back. You know that right?"

"I know."

"Look, I'm not going to tell you that Regina and I won't have sex this weekend, because I can't. But I want you to know that if we do, it will be my choice and that I'm ready for whatever happens. We've talked about it and when it happens it will be because we're both ready and because we both want it," Emma said, saying more than she intended but probably exactly what her father needed to hear. Emma knew that her father wasn't as naïve as he pretended to be when it came to her and her sister.

"That's the most important thing," Leo said. "I just want you to be happy, you know that right?"

"Yeah, dad. I know. I want you to be happy to, you know that right?" Emma said. "I know you've been thinking about something and whatever it is, both me and Mary Margaret want you to be happy. And it seems like Ingrid is doing that. So whatever you're worried about, it will be okay."

"Thank you. I love you, Em," Leo said.

"I love you, too."

AN: Next time: IT'S TIME FOR REGINA'S BIRTHDAY.