On Friday morning when Regina got to her office she found a dozen dark pink roses on her desk. She had come in almost an hour early so she was curious as to how they got there. Sitting beside the vase of flowers was a note written in Emma's recognizable handwriting. Apparently the Sheriff was very good at breaking and entering. Smiling to herself and wondering if she would ever get tired of these she sat down and read:
Regina,
Dark pink roses mean "gratitude." I want to thank you for taking such good care of me the other night. No one has ever done a better job at giving me ibuprofen. Anytime you would like to play nurse again I will be your willing patient. And yes, I did mean for that to sound a little dirty. I would also like you to know that there is no way I would ever forget the feeling of you taking my pants off, regardless of how much pain meds I have on board. I'll stop with the innuendo's now since I don't want to push my luck. Can't wait to see you tomorrow morning.
Sincerely yours,
Emma
PS-Remember the last time I had to go to the ER because of a head wound? When I suggested that you and Henry and I went to go play miniature golf I was not vying for a date with you but it still ended up going horribly wrong. I just wanted you and Henry to spend some quality time together since Henry was still having a hard time recognizing how much you loved him. I was pretty pissed at the Bacon brothers for cutting our outing short. I mean who thinks it's a good idea to tee off as hard as you can with a putter? I'm glad that I was the one who got hit in the head though and not you or Henry. I'm pretty sure that one of those boys would have ended up at the hospital also if they would have hurt either one of you. I plan to protect you and Henry from harm the best I can for as long as I can.
Regina sat the note down on her desk and sighed. She was falling very quickly for Emma and she found that she didn't want to stop the free fall she was in. The blonde woman was certainly good at reassuring her, despite never having voiced any of the fears she held about being in a relationship. It was comforting to know that someone would fight for you. While they had certainly caused each other emotional harm over the years, Emma had always, from the very beginning been consistent in protecting her from physical harm. No matter what was going on between them she always managed to save her and Regina hoped that it had something to do with Emma knowing deep down or even subconsciously she was the one for her. In fact she was relying on it. She knew that Emma wasn't going to be very happy with her after they talked, but as long as she remembered what was important they would get through it.
Not dwelling on what if's any longer she sent Emma a quick text.
Thank you for the beautiful flowers. Do you have time for lunch with me today?
As she waited for a response she moved the flowers to the coffee table and put the note away in her purse so that she could put it with the rest at home. Asking the Sheriff to come see her was probably a little silly since they would be spending the next two days together but she loved how Emma made her feel when she was close. Patience really was not one of her best qualities and she kept replaying Katherine telling her the rules went out the window when you found the right person. Thankfully she didn't have to wait very long, her phone buzzed quickly.
Sounds good to me, salad from Granny's again? I'll come to you.
Glad that Emma was willing to come to her office since it allowed her to get a little more work done before she needed to leave she sent a response.
Perfect. I'll be here, drop in when you can.
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The morning had drug on forever for Emma. She was thrilled when Regina texted her and suggested they have lunch together. It was becoming increasingly hard to stay away from the brunette and she was glad the suggestion had come from her. She was pretty sure she would become a nuisance if she just kept dropping by unannounced. Since Regina didn't give her an exact time to be there she was trying to wait until at least 11:30. Not to late and not to early. She had decided that this morning during a round of trashcan basketball at the Sheriff's station.
On her way to the diner she saw Snow and flagged her down.
"Hey Em, where you headed?" Snow asked as she crossed the street to the side Emma was on.
"The diner. I'm picking up lunch for Regina and I." She said with a smile. It was still a little weird talking to her mom about it, but she wasn't going to not talk about it just because it was a little uncomfortable.
"Aren't you spending all weekend away with her?"
"Yeah, does that matter?" Emma's voice was suddenly very defensive.
"No, I just didn't know if you should come on so strong with Regina. I don't want you to scare her away after all this time." She put her arm around her daughter as they walked trying to comfort her.
"She asked me to come see her. Thanks for thinking I'd go all Single White Female on her."
"I didn't mean it that way. You seem a little on edge though, what's going on?"
"I think I might tell her about the True Love thing before we go away tomorrow. That way if she gets pissed she won't be stuck wherever we are with me." Emma had grown more uncomfortable about the fact that she was essentially keeping a huge secret from the person she was claiming to want to be open and honest with.
"I would say that lunch wasn't the best time to tell her but I don't think that anytime is going to be a good time. Are you sure?" Snow was worried her daughter wasn't going to handle a rejection very well if it came to that.
"I just need to get it out. I feel really guilty about not telling her sooner and I don't want it eating at me anymore." Emma held the door to the diner open for her mom and followed her in.
"I understand. I'll be at home the rest of today if you need to come by when your done." Emma just nodded her head in response.
"Hey girls!" Ruby yelled from the counter. "Just have a seat anywhere. Emma your order is almost ready."
"I haven't ordered anything yet." She said, confused.
"Regina called it in for you two. Said that you would be in about 11:20 for it. That woman is good." Ruby said laughing at Emma.
"Great, now she can read my mind."
"All good women can Em. Snow what would you like?" Ruby snapped back into waitressing mode and took down her order for a turkey panini.
A bell sounded from the kitchen alerting Ruby an order was up. Grabbing a sack to put it in she said, "Order's up Emma. Two grilled chicken salads and before you ask Regina already told me not to let you order a burger and fries. No offense, she trumps you in the scary department. Where exactly does she keep your balls?" Ruby asked, clearly enjoying winding Emma up.
"I assume she just carries them around in her purse. I really am that whipped already aren't I?" Emma said with a shake of her head. She really wouldn't have it any other way.
"Fraid so. Now go, I have things I need to talk to your mom about." Ruby said, practically pushing Emma out of the door. Once the door was firmly shut behind her Ruby spun on Snow. "True Love thing! I need details. And don't play dumb, I have werewolf hearing."
"Oh God, Emma's going to kill me. I can't tell you." Snow looked like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her or at the very least open up so she could make a quick escape.
"It's worse if I just let my imagination run wild. Pun intended. Out with it."
"Ok, you just have to promise not to tell anyone. I'm terrible with secrets." Snow said wryly.
"I promise." Ruby said trying to look very serious about it.
"4 years ago Emma woke Regina up with True Love's kiss after we defeated Cora. Emma told her at the time she had just been unconscious and so Regina has no idea."
"Holy Shit! This is huge. Emma's a walking dead woman." Ruby couldn't believe it, she always thought they would make a good couple but she never thought it could be True Love.
"Yes she is. I hope they can work through it. I just want to see her happy." Snow couldn't believe how much things had changed over the last few years. Her relationship had always skewed to the extreme with Regina, whether good or bad. Now she was relying on her to make her daughters happily ever after happen.
"We all do. On the plus side you kept this secret for 4 years, that's got to be some kind of record for you." Ruby said with a bump to her friends shoulder.
"Asshole." Snow said glaring at her best friend.
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"Hey Pete! Brought the Mayor lunch. She's expecting me." Emma said brightly. Despite what she was about to do she was still excited to see Regina.
"Yes, I've been instructed to let you go right on in." Peter said, not thrilled with the situation. He still wasn't sure Emma wasn't going to hurt his boss and until he was proven wrong he would continue to be suspicious of her.
"Thanks!" She replied as she opened the door and walked in. She took a moment to study the woman sitting behind the desk. She was wearing a white long sleeve button up with a black vest over it. The buttons on the shirt were undone all the way to the point where the shirt met the vest. It was a beautiful sight. "Hey Regina, ready for a little break?"
When she looked up at her and smiled Emma's heart fluttered. She loved that feeling and she loved that look Regina had on her face.
"I think I can fit one in. Shall we eat over on the couch?" Regina purposefully ignored the fact that she had a large table in her office that was much more suited for eating at. She just wanted to sit close to the blonde.
"You got it. I'm glad you liked your flowers this morning." Emma made her way to the couch and started unpacking their food. "What were you going to do if I didn't grab our lunch until later and you ended up with soggy salad?"
"I know you Sheriff and there was no way you were going too long without eating. I also assumed you would be in a hurry to come see me." Regina smiled at the blonde and let her eyes roam over the body in front of her.
"Well, you were right on both counts. So you pretty busy today?" Emma asked as she sat down next to the brunette, close enough that their legs were touching.
"Yes, I'm trying to get everything finished up so I can leave early. I have a few things to prep before tomorrow. And no I won't tell you where we are going." Regina looked over at the woman next to her and noticed she looked a little pale. "Are you ok? You look a little sick." She reached out and placed her hand on the denim clad thigh next to her.
"Um, no I'm not ok. I need to tell you something." Emma looked at the floor as she said it and tried to ignore the pounding in her head from the stress of the situation.
Regina was surprised, she assumed that it was her head bothering her. She quickly decided that she was not going to let Emma go on, knowing that whatever she needed to get out would more than likely ruin their chances at a weekend away together so she blurted out, "No."
Emma jerked her head up and looked hard at the woman next to her. "What?"
"I said no. Whatever it is that you need to tell me is clearly troubling you and I don't want to hear it yet. You agreed to a date with me and I'm going to get it. I have a feeling that whatever was about to come spilling out of your mouth would ruin that. You can tell me later."
Emma didn't know if she was feeling relieved or if she was disappointed she wasn't going to be able to come clean. She had tried though, so maybe that would help dissipate the guilt for a few days. "Ok."
"Good. Now that that settled let's hurry up and eat. If you're lucky I'll let you lay your head on my lap and you can take a little nap. I'm sure that your head still isn't feeling right."
"You really do carry my balls around in your purse." Emma mumbled under her breath. She had without a doubt lost control of this situation and Regina really was a mind reader.
"No dear, I keep them locked up safe at my house. I'm not about to let anyone else get their hands on them." Regina smirked at the Emma, happy that Emma didn't insist they talk. If she had, Regina knew she would have had to come clean as well and she wasn't ready to do that.