Merry Christmas
Emma pov
It's around three o'clock when Emma's phone starts ringing. She groans and turns over. An unknown number is calling her at three in the morning.
"This better be good!" Emma groans into the phone.
"Em..ma." Emma wakes up immediately when she hears her voice.
"Regina? Is that you?"
"Emma…Why Emma? Why don't you like me?" Emma raising her eyebrows, the sultry voice she knows Regina has turns into a whiny and clearly drunk one.
"Regina? Where are you? Are you drunk?"
She hears laughter in the background. And she can faintly hear a loud masculine voice close to Regina.
"Regina tell me where you are?" Emma says and starts picking up some of her clothes. She keeps the phone at her ear while walking out of her bedroom and putting on her boots.
"I….at a bar….Emmmmmaaa." Regina giggles. "Remember the bar you picked me up from, before you gave me the best fuck in my life. I'm here and you are not. And I'm missing you Emma. Sooo much." Emma can hear how Regina's last sentence sounds broken. Regina is crying.
"Regina stay there. I'm coming."
Thank god Emma didn't live far from the bar. She doesn't let herself think about when she's going to see Regina, she walks in and looks around. There weren't a lot of people left. She scanned over the room and saw Regina sitting on a bar seat with a bearded man hanging over her. Emma doesn't know what but she feels so jealous seeing the man putting his hand on Regina's thigh.
"Regina…you okay?" Emma asks putting her arm around the drunken woman's shoulders making a statement for the guy. He holds up his hand and drags himself of the chair.
"Emma!" Regina smiles and throws her arms around her neck. Hugging Emma tightly. Emma shoots the man daggers with her eyes and he quickly backs away.
"Let's get you home alright." Emma says and helps Regina up. She pays for Regina's drinks and by the amount she has to pay she finds it amazing that Regina is still standing on her feet.
She walks with Regina to her car, actually she has to carry Regina because of course now the brunette decides she can't walk on her feet anymore. As gracefully as humanly possible Emma puts Regina in her car.
"Regina what's your address?" Regina rolls her head and looks at Emma. "Why? Why don't you like me Emma?" Emma feels her throat tighten.
"I do like you Regina." Emma says but Regina shakes her head. Tears are streaming down her face.
"No one likes me. You hate me, everyone hates me. I'm evil and a bitch and Robin doesn't even get it up for me."
Emma wants to snort at that last comment but keeps it in. she sees how hurt Regina is and how vulnerable the alcohol was making her. She could see the woman behind the mask.
"Regina look at me." Emma asks gently but Regina kept shaking her head. Emma reaches over and places her hands on Regina's cheeks. She forces Regina to look in her eyes.
"I don't hate you Regina. I truly don't. I care about you in a way I don't understand myself." Regina breath hitches and Emma looks down at the brunette lips. It would be so easy to lean forward and kiss the pain Regina was showing in her eyes away but she couldn't. Regina was drunk and vulnerable. The moment the brunette would sober up she would hate her again, even more if she kissed her.
"Let's get you to a bed. You need to sleep this off." Emma says and starts her engine. She hasn't even been driven for five minutes when she can hear Regina's slowly breathing next to her, deeply asleep.
Her back hurts and she knows she didn't have enough sleep to wake up already but she needs to. She pushes herself of the sofa and walks quietly to her bedroom. She looks inside and sees Regina still sleeping peacefully. She doesn't wake her up instead she goes to the kitchen and starts making breakfast. She has just poured eggs into the pan when a noise catches her attention. She turns around and watches Regina stumble into the kitchen. She's squinting her eyes and looking around the apartment in confusion.
"Good morning." Emma says and walks towards the fridge, grabbing a cold water bottle. She had already found some pills against the headache Regina would definably be experiencing.
"Here take these they'll help." Emma says handing Regina the bottle and the pills.
"Where am I?" Regina asks after swallowing the pills and drinking almost all the water of the bottle.
"You're at my apartment. I brought you here after you fell asleep last night in my car." Emma explains going back to the eggs making sure they don't burn.
"I should go home." Regina says looking around to find the door.
"I'm making breakfast. Why don't you stay? You'll have less of a hangover if you eat something." Emma says hoping Regina will stay. She doesn't want the brunette to go.
Regina looks at her with doubt in her eyes. Emma takes the pan with eggs, puts it on the table. She grabs forks, plates and glasses. She puts everything on the table and gestures for Regina to sit down. Regina hesitates a little but in the end she takes the offered seat and Emma can't help but smile.
"Do you want something else to drink? I have juice or I could make you some coffee?" Emma says walking over to the fridge and taking out fresh juice.
"I would like some juice, thank you." Emma pours Regina's glass full and does the same for herself. She sits down and starts to eat.
She stops eating when Regina isn't moving. "I'm sorry. Is there a problem? Do you want some salt or pepper?" Emma asks already standing up to take the salt and pepper but Regina's hand stops her.
"It's okay Emma. The eggs will be fine." Regina says and Emma takes her seat again. She smiles when Regina starts eating.
"Can I ask you what happened last night? Why you were so drunk?" Emma asks putting down her fork and giving her attention completely to Regina.
"I don't think it's any of your business, is it." Regina says coldly and Emma flinches at the cold voice. Regina is wearing her mask again and Emma looks down at her plate.
"You're right. I'm sorry." She keeps eating, when she finishes her plate she stands up and puts it in her dishwasher. Something her dorm room didn't have and what she's now immensely grateful for.
"I don't understand you." Regina says out of the blue leaning back against her chair and looking directly at Emma. Emma turns around and leans against the counter.
"What do you mean?" She asks.
"Why are you treating me with so much kindness all the sudden?"
Emma swallows the lump in her throat and looks down at her feet. "I….I finally realised what of an awful person I am. What I did to you is something unforgivable and I just want to make things right."
"Why? Because you finally know my secret? You didn't care before you knew, you hate me."
Emma shakes her head. "No! No I do not hate you. I….I was angry with you but I never hated you."
"Yes, yes you did. I heard you, you called me an evil bitch." Regina says angrily.
"I did because I was so angry at you. I was failing your class. Your class was the only class I was failing in and I needed a good grade to graduate. I worked so hard, did everything I could but still it was never enough. I didn't understand and I became very frustrated." Emma breathed deeply in and out and stepped closer to Regina.
"I came up with a horrible plan, I know it's not an excuse but I was most of the time under the influence of alcohol. It made me braver to do what I did."
"You weren't under the influence when you blackmailed me or when you treated me like dirt in the morning." Regina snapped.
Emma nods. "Indeed. If I could go back and do things differently I would but I can't. The only thing I can do is try and apologize as many times as I can. And now I know your reason behind failing me. I must admit that I was angry at first. That's why I haven't reach out in these three weeks but I understand, people do strange things when they are in love and most of the times their stupid. But I understand and I forgive you because I also know you would never actually fail me. But knowing what I know now. I want to get to know you Regina, the real you because you are a mystery to me."
Emma watches Regina's mouth open and close. Emma sits down and watches how Regina debates everything in her head. She hopes her little speech can mend some of the things she has ruined between them.
All of the sudden Regina stands up. "I…I have to go home." She announces. She grabs her things and walks to the door. Emma stands up and runs towards her.
"Please Regina. Say something. Emma pleads grabbing Regina's hand and turning her around.
Regina's face is unreadable. "I was a one-time thing, remember? You didn't want me and I don't want you anymore."
Emma lets go of Regina's hand and watches how the brunette leaves her home.
Regina POV
Regina groans and turns around. She opens her eyes and tries to look around. She doesn't know this room. She sits up and clutches her head. Fuck what did she drink last night? She looks at the room she's in. The room isn't very well decorated, it's like someone just moved there and hasn't settle in yet.
Regina sighs out when she looks down at herself. She's still wearing her clothes, her shoes are standing on the floor. How did she get here?
She puts on her shoes and walks out of the bedroom. Her head is spinning but she ignores it. She follows the smell of food and finds a familiar blonde cooking.
"Good morning." She hears Emma greet her. She tries to remember when she saw Emma last night. She remembers little things, like Emma eyes looking at her with concern. Her strong arms holding her up and a very old car with bad seats.
"Here take these they'll help." Regina looks at the hand that is holding up some pills.
"Where am I?" Regina asks swallowing the pills, she drinks most of the water. She knows how important water is when she's having a hangover.
"You're at my apartment. I brought you here after you fell asleep last night in my car." Regina frowns. She brought me here? How did she know where to get me? What time is it? Her mother is babysitting Henry. She should go home and make sure that they are alright.
"I should go home." She says. She wonders where the door is. She wonders where her car is.
"I'm making breakfast. Why don't you stay? You'll have less of a hangover if you eat something." Regina thinks about it. She doesn't think that she can eat but she needs to have something in her stomach. She looks how Emma grabs the pan and places it on the table. She places plates, forks, knives and glasses on the table. Regina sits down and waits until Emma serves her some eggs. She doesn't really understand the way Emma is acting towards her. Why is she being so sweet all the sudden. Regina knows Emma feels guilty for what happened with them but does she really think this will make up for any of that.
"Do you want something else to drink? I have juice or I could make you some coffee?"
"I would like some juice, thank you." Regina answers. She looks at her eggs. They look really good but she isn't sure if her stomach can handle them.
"I'm sorry. Is there a problem? Do you want some salt or pepper?" Emma asks.
"It's okay Emma. The eggs will be fine." She says taking her fork and eating some. Her stomach protests a little but she keeps eating. After a while her stomach settles and she finds herself feeling a little better.
"Can I ask you what happened last night? Why you were so drunk?" Emma asks. Regina stops eating.
"I don't think it's any of your business, is it." Regina says coldly, she's not going to give Emma the satisfaction of knowing what of a mess she has become because of her.
"You're right. I'm sorry." Emma says and keeps eating. When the blonde is done she stands up and gathers the plates to put them in the dishwasher. Everything is so different from that morning. Regina doesn't recognize the blonde that is standing before her.
"I don't understand you." Regina says looking directly at Emma.
"What do you mean?" Emma asks.
"Why are you treating me with so much kindness all the sudden?" Where is the blonde that fucked her and threw her away like dirt?
Emma looks down at her feet and Regina wonders what the blonde is thinking. "I….I finally realised what of an awful person I am. What I did to you is something unforgivable and I just want to make things right." Regina stares at her. She's taking aback by Emma admission.
"Why? Because you finally know my secret? You didn't care before you knew. You hate me."
Emma shakes her head. "No! No I do not hate you. I….I was angry with you but I never hated you."
Regina huffs. She remembers the way Emma looked at her. She saw the disgust and hate in her eyes. "Yes, yes you did. I heard you, you called me an evil bitch." She says angrily.
"I did because I was so angry at you. I was failing your class. Your class was the only class I was failing in and I needed a good grade to graduate. I worked so hard, did everything I could but still it was never enough. I didn't understand and I became very frustrated." Emma breathed deeply in. Regina watches her getting closer. She understands where Emma's anger is coming from. Maybe she's for a part the blame, she was at fault because she put in grades that Emma didn't deserve. But that's something Regina would never admit to.
"I came up with a horrible plan, I know it's not an excuse but I was most of the time under the influence of alcohol. It made me braver to do what I did." Regina let's out a little laugh. Liquid courage she knows a thing or two about that.
"You weren't under the influence when you blackmailed me or when you treated me like dirt that morning." Regina snaps.
Emma nods. "Indeed. If I could go back and do things differently I would but I can't. The only thing I can do is try and apologize as many times as I can. And now I know your reason behind failing me. I must admit that I was angry at first. That's why I haven't reach out in these three weeks but I understand, people do strange things when they are in love and must of the times their stupid. But I understand and I forgive you because I also know you would never actually fail me. But knowing what I know now. I want to get to know you Regina, the real you because you are a mystery to me."
Regina looks down at her hands. The things Emma is telling her are the things she had only dreamed about. She wanted Emma to think about her, to want her, to love her. Just the way she had always loved her. She wishes she could put things behind her, forget what happened but she can't. She still loves her but the hate is slowly fading away but she doesn't think she can trust her. And she will not take the risk of having her heart broken again.
She stands up. "I…I have to go home." She announces. She grabs her things and walks to the door. She feels Emma grabbing her hand and turning her around.
"Please Regina. Say something." Hearing Emma's pleads makes Regina bite her tongue. She needs to be strong.
"I was a one-time thing, remember? You didn't want me and I don't want you anymore."
She feels Emma's hand slip from hers. She opens the door and walks out. She can feel a tear run down her cheek. She whips it away, she can't give in.