It was late that night, but they managed to get the girl's number out of their daughter's phone while she slept off the high. Regina didn't hesitate to acquiesce to their desperate pleas for help. She arrived at the house about twenty minutes later, around eleven, in a tank-top and tight-fitting shorts. She'd probably just been sleeping when she got the call and hadn't had time to change out of her sleepwear.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Nolan," she greeted them nervously. "Listen, I'm really sorry for everything I've-"

"No, Regina," the man interjected. "We're both sorry for the way we treated you. Our daughter loves you very much, and we should have realized that earlier. We thought it was a phase, but obviously, her feelings still haven't changed."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" the woman started slowly. "We… um… We were worried about her, and wanted to know where she was getting the… um… the drugs… and we found… um…"

"She wrote you letters the entire time she was in rehab," the woman's husband interjected.

"I… She what?"

"She loves you, Regina," Emma's father sighed. "She really, really loves you."

Regina paused, looking embarrassed and unsure of herself, then finally asked, "Where is she now?"

"She's in her room, sleeping it off," Mary Margaret replied. "I think she's still… um…"

"It's okay. I'll check on her."

"Thank you, Regina," the man said softly, touching the girl's arm. "This means the world to us. We don't know exactly what happened between you two, but… we're glad that you're willing to talk to her. I just feel like maybe that's the push she needs to kick this habit."

"I don't know if she's even going to want to see me, after everything that's happened, but I've… I've been dying to see her. And I'm going to do anything and everything I can to help, if it's possible. I promise you that."

"Thank you. You don't know how much this means…" Emma's mother told the girl.

"You know… I love her too."

This brought a smile to their lips, even though Mary Margaret's was reluctant. At that point, all that mattered was their daughter's happiness, which Emma had obviously been lacking for a long, long time.

Regina smiled back weakly, then made her way quietly up the stairs. The door creaked when she opened it, and she saw Emma stir on the bed as she rolled over onto her side. With a soft, shaky sigh, the brunette approached the bed and looked at Emma's face. The brunette bit her lip as she saw the small amount of spit at the corner of the girl's lips, and before she could steady herself, she found that she was falling to her knees beside the bed as her eyes flooded with tears.

"Oh, Emma," she whispered, reaching out with a shaking hand to wipe the spit from the corner of the girl's lips.

Next, she brushed the hair out of Emma's face, her hand still shaking, almost violently.

"Sweetheart," Regina said softly. "My sweet girl."

Emma stirred again, rolling onto her back this time, and mumbled something inaudible. Regina couldn't help but think that it sounded something like her name, though, and her heart leapt into her throat at the prospect.

"Emma," she whispered back, in response to whatever it was that the girl had said.

By then, the brunette was crying hard, but quietly, her whole body shaking at that point. When Emma's brow furrowed and she gripped the comforter in her fists, Regina reached out again and stroked her hand softly.

Without thinking further, Regina, through her tears, began to sing.

"Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend, somewhere along in the bitterness, and I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life."

Hearing this, Emma's eyes fluttered open.

"G-Gina?" she gasped, staring at the girl kneeling beside her bed, her vision spinning.

She could feel the gentle pressure of Regina's hand on top of hers, but couldn't believe it was real. She must have been hallucinating. There was no way Regina would have-

"I'm here, baby," the girl whispered. "I'm right here."

Emma sat up and began to sob loudly, starting to shake as well.

"Gina," she cried, too scared to reach out and touch the girl, but longing to do so.

When Regina leaned in and wrapped her arms around the blonde, Emma let out a cry and choked on the air she was trying to draw into her lungs.

"Shh. It's okay, honey. It's gonna be okay."

"It's not okay," Emma sobbed. "I'm not okay."

"I know, baby, but I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere."

"You shouldn't be here. I don't want you to s-see me… l-like this…"

"I don't care. I'm not going to abandon you during the hardest part of your life."

"This isn't the hardest part of my life…" the blonde told her slowly.

"What?"

"Losing you was."

"I didn't… I didn't think… I was just trying to protect you from how fucked up I am. I was trying to pretend I didn't need you. But I do, Emma. I do need you. And I know you need me right now too, so I'm not gonna leave this time. Not even if you tell me to."

"Regina, please go," Emma said through the tears. "At least until I'm… until I'm sober."

"I don't care if you're high. I'm not leaving."

"But I-"

"I'm not leaving."

"Gina, please… Just let me come down from this, and then-"

But Regina cut her off, crashing their lips together. Emma kissed back, unable to resist the pull. The kiss was even more intoxicating than the drugs, and Emma's head was spinning. She tried to hold the kiss as long as possible, but the dizziness pushed her back onto the bed. The brunette got off her knees and sat down beside the inebriated girl, then leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"I love you," she whispered in Emma's ear, kissing her cheek.

"I love you too," Emma sobbed, grabbing the girl and holding her tightly. "I'm so sorry. It's just... after you kicked me out… I couldn't live with myself. I couldn't live without you."

"You don't have to," Regina assured her. "I'm never going to leave you again."

Emma paused, squeezing her eyes shut, then, after a few moments, asked, "Will you sing to me again?"

"I… I hate my singing voice. I was just…"

"Please, baby. Your voice is beautiful…"

"I… Okay," she conceded reluctantly, then cleared her throat and sang, "Step one, you say, 'We need to talk.' He walks. You say, 'Sit down. It's just a talk.' He smiles politely back at you. You stare politely right on through. Some sort of window to your right, as he goes left and you stay right. Between the lines of fear and blame, you begin to wonder why you came. Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend, somewhere along in the bitterness, and I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life."

Emma, still crying, was put completely into a daze as she listened closely to every perfect note. By the time Regina finished the song, the brunette was curled around Emma, and the blonde had fallen asleep.

A/N: Yeah... That was cheesy. Oops.