Thanks, as always for your feedback and encouragement. I seemed to be addicted to writing this story.

Regina tucked Emma protectively into her body, curling one arm around her head, which lay on her chest, and hooking the other over her shoulder. She was completely overcome with emotions.

There had only been one other time in her life when she had felt this way—when she first adopted Henry. Watching him sleep in his crib that first night, she'd felt a powerful surge build from somewhere deep within her—a serum of intense love and a need to protect him had coursed through her, inoculating her from the mundanities she'd worried herself with prior to motherhood. And while Emma wasn't her child, and she was certainly capable of taking care of herself, the desire to safeguard the innocence and perfection of their newborn love was overwhelming.

The trouble was that part of what she wanted to shield Emma from was herself—her possessiveness, her self-destructiveness, and her propensity to be overprotective. She knew she would never purposely hurt Emma, but even Henry had been collateral damage at times.

Looping on a spindle were whirling threads of an incessant need to change aspects of Emma's life: detonate that yellow death trap and buy her a safer car, assign her a desk job, crush anyone who had ever hurt her.

"No," she whispered, surprised she'd spoken the word out loud.

While the worries were real, she pushed them back into the vault in her mind, letting the regularity of Emma's breathing lull her into a calmer state. She peered down at the crown of the blonde's head, at her smooth, sculpted shoulders and back—all the parts of her she could see before the duvet swallowed up her loveliness. She let her hand get tangled in Emma's hair and make contact with the skin at her neck, the feel of her allowing Regina to marinate more fully in the sensation of being completely in love.

She decided then in that moment that she would not do what she normally does. She would not suffocate this love for fear of losing it. She wouldn't allow herself to tighten her grip around Emma's heart until it stopped beating. Instead, she'd put it all on the line—let the relationship live or die of its own volition. Because, when she really thought about it, what she loved about Emma was her vivacity, her courage, her spontaneity, and her determination.

She was undoubtedly a stunningly beautiful woman, and their physical attraction to one another was undeniable, but what made Emma so precious to her was her conviction and fearlessness that she herself was partially responsible for. Having faced so much ugliness on her own as a child, it left Emma with a nothing-to-lose attitude, and now that she did have plenty to lose, it had become part of the spirit and determination to which she approached life. Emma was incorrigible, direct, self-depreciating, disarming, hilarious, and yet still impossibly feminine, and the combination made Regina want her, adore her, love her with a ferocity and passion that was almost frightening. But she would not try to own her. That was the promise Regina made to herself as her eyes finally slipped shut and she gave in to her exhaustion and the depth of the night.

It was Henry calling out a goodbye and the front door slamming shut that woke them the next morning. Regina pried open an eye and checked the clock. It was 7:40, which meant Henry was off to catch the bus to school.

Emma groaned and took in her surroundings. Her head was resting on Regina's chest, and their limbs were still wrapped around each other. She was warm, sated, and utterly relaxed. She looked up at Regina, who gave her a small smile.

"Good morning, darling," Regina whispered.

"Morning, gorgeous," she said, stretching her chin up to find Regina's lips for a kiss. "You sleep ok?"

"Yes, too well, it's almost 8. We should get moving. I hope Henry remembered the umbrella I left out for him. We're supposed to get a storm today. I'm actually amazed he got himself out the door on his own."

"Good man."

"Yes, but we should probably rise and shine."

Emma looked at her closely. She thought she saw a shadow cross Regina's face, but then it passed. "Ok, yeah. Why don't I make us some breakfast while you get cleaned up?"

Emma threw on jeans and a clean shirt and hurried downstairs to make them coffee, scrambled eggs, and fresh-squeezed juice—she wasn't messing around with that kale crap—and waited for Regina.

She came down a few minutes later wearing black dress pants, a sheer grey shirt, black blazer, and heels. "Mmm, smells great. Thank you for making breakfast."

"My pleasure," Emma said, greeting her with a kiss.

They sat down and ate in comfortable silence, but Emma could see something was on Regina's mind.

"You're a bit quiet. Want a little space, or something you want to talk about?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I guess I'm just a little in my head this morning."

Emma put her hand on Regina's. "I get like that too. Just let me know if you want to talk about anything. I'm here. And I love you."

"I love you, too. Why don't you get moving? I'll clean up. Just call me later and let me know what your plans are."

"Ok, sure," Emma said, frowning a little. She reached over to give her a kiss on the lips, grabbed her bag, and headed out the door.

Emma spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon wondering what had been plaguing Regina. She knew there was something eating at her, and she hoped it wasn't anything that would derail them. She was glad this was her day to catch up on paperwork—logging crime reports into the system was mindless work, but she really didn't want to talk to anyone.

Sometime around mid-morning the skies had opened up, and rain was coming down in droves. She loved the sound—the white noise was soothing—and there hadn't been a soul outside for hours. She walked over to the window and watched the rain for a few minutes, just losing herself in the steady fall and the static sound, but then she saw a figure approach. Someone dressed in a black coat, their dark hair matted down, heels—"Jesus, Regina."

Emma rushed down the stairs and opened the door, calling to her, but Regina just stood there, the rain pelting her body and dripping from the fabric of her coat. Emma ran to her, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her inside. She pulled her into her office and ran to grab towels from the bathroom. Regina hovered expressionless by Emma's desk. Emma returned to the listless form, removed her coat and blazer, dried her face and hair, and wrapped the towel around her. She lifted her into a sitting position onto her desk and removed her shoes. And only then did she look into her eyes.

"Regina, I don't know what's hurting you right now, but nothing you say will scare me or chase me away. And if you don't want to talk, we can just sit here together."

She gently pulled a stray wet hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear, and that's what did it, that simple gesture of kindness, of affection.

"I think it's you. I know it's you. Last night, I realized that after looking for so long and being so hopeless—it's been you all along."

Emma didn't speak—she just waited patiently, keeping her face open and reaching out to hold one of Regina's hands.

"I think you are my happy ending," Regina continued. "And I'm petrified that I'm going to ruin it."

Emma smiled, for the first time all day really. "You know, I think everyone in this town focuses too much on happy endings. You know what I think you are? You are my beginning—this is our beginning. And Regina, it's going to be amazing. Neither of us is going to want to blink because we won't want to miss a minute—a second—of this ride together. Listen to me. You're not going to ruin a goddamn thing. Because what we found together, this thing between us, it's fucking epic."

Regina's face softened, like wax sitting by a fire. She gently leaned over and kissed Emma's cheek, then the other. Her forehead. Her chin. Her eyelids. And finally her lips. She kissed her lips, softly at first, and then with a bubbling energy until they were moaning into each other's mouths, roaming with their tongues.

"Emma?" Regina panted.

"Yeah?"

"I fucking love you."

Emma smiled broadly. "I fucking love you too."