Ahhhh. Sorry this took so incredibly long. I was struggling with this a bit and then I just got really busy with work and school and I suck. So anyway here's chapter 28.
I'd like to apologize in advance. Don't kill me.
Disclaimer: I don't own it and I'm not sure I'm going to live through the final episodes.
Maybe she's not quite honest with me
Almost all the time
Maybe I know there's someone else in her life
When I climb into bed with her at night
She's almost perfect
She's so close to being everything
She's almost perfect
But she's not, she's not
Almost Perfect by Ingram Hill
Regina pushed open the door to Gold's shop. The metal bell clanged over her head, alerting the infamous shop owner to her presence. Gold took his time appearing, his magic alerting him to just who was waiting in his shop.
"Ah, our illustrious former Queen, what can I do for you this morning?" Gold asked, brandishing his cane.
"I had an interesting visit from the Charming family this morning," Regina began, "One that involved our lovely Prince thinking he could actually brandish a sword."
"And you're here to enlist my help in a coup against the town," Gold asked, smirking.
"No, I'm here to see if you know anything about the sudden attitude shift in their views of me. We'd reached a bit of a truce but this morning it seemed as though they had no recollection of that," Regina explained, "And it reeks of magical involvement to me."
"Hmm. Interesting, no doubt. But I'm afraid I can't help you dearie," Gold said.
"Can't or won't?"
"Both. Now, if you'd be a dear and show yourself out, I have work to do," Gold said, turning away.
"If this is your doing I will find out and I will stop you," Regina said angrily.
She stalked out of the shop, shoving the door open with little regard for anyone outside. Unfortunately the person who happened to be on the other side of that door was Neal. Regina barreled into him, shoving the man aside.
"Hey! Watch it!" Neal shouted.
"Well, well if it isn't Rumple's ill bred offspring. Here to impregnate and abandon some more teenagers?" Regina said angrily.
She knew Gold was up to something and by extension that made her very suspicious of Neal as well. Not to mention this trouble hadn't started until he'd returned to town. It seemed too big of a coincidence for Regina's liking.
"Why don't you just go back to whatever pit you crawled out of. Nobody wants you around. And Henry sure as hell doesn't need a mother like you."
"That's rich coming from the man who let his girlfriend take the fall for his crimes and deal with her pregnancy alone."
"I don't need this from you. What happened between Emma and I is none of your business," Neal said, pulling the door open.
Regina stood rooted in her spot for a moment after Neal disappeared into his father's shop. She shook her head and turned toward Granny's for a much needed cup of coffee. As she walked she sent a quick text to Emma, requesting a meeting at the diner.
Regina's coffee and the hot chocolate she'd ordered for Emma arrived just before the blonde did. Regina couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as Emma attempted to straighten her wind blown hair. She quickly made her way to the back booth where Regina was waiting.
"What did Gold have to say?" Emma asked.
"Not much. Which makes me even more certain that he's behind this. And I'm not sure he's working alone," Regina explained.
"What? Who's he working with?" Emma asked, worry etched across her face.
"I have no proof, but I believe his son is involved somehow," Regina said.
"Neal? I mean, he's not the most upstanding guy, but I don't think he'd get involved in Gold's schemes," Emma said.
"None of this happened until he came back to town," Regina pointed out.
"It could just be a coincidence," Emma suggested.
"Why are you defending him?" Regina asked, frowning.
"I'm not defending him. I'm just saying this seems more like Gold's style, not Neal's," Emma explained.
"Fine. It could just be a coincidence, but just in case it's not, I want you to be careful around him. And I want you to supervise his visits with Henry."
"Alright. Now, what are we going to do about my parents?" Emma asked.
"Nothing, yet. I don't know what Gold has done to them. I need to do some research," Regina said.
"So I'm just supposed to deal with the 'We Hate Regina Fan Club?'"
"For now. I'd offer to let you stay with me but I don't care to repeat this morning's little showdown everyday," Regina smirked.
"Gee, thanks."
"You're quite welcome dear," Regina smirked.
Emma struck her tongue out at the woman across the table. Regina merely smiled at her blonde companion and took a sip of her coffee.
The next few days were torture for Emma. Between work and her new clingy parents, she'd barely had time to see Regina at all. Plus Neal had been showing up everywhere she went. If it wasn't such a small town she'd think he was following her.
Emma was in the middle of scarfing down a hamburger on her well deserved lunch break when Neal appeared at her table. Emma had to stop herself from sighing out loud.
"Is this seat taken?" Neal asked, not waiting for an answer.
Emma barely looked up from her meal. She wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone at the moment. Her morning had been spent running around town after a string of vandalisms the night before. All she wanted was to enjoy her meal and get back to the paperwork that was piling up on her desk. She was hoping to get done early so she could spend some time with Regina before her curfew.
Her parents had begun insisting she come home before dark, because Regina was sure to work her dark magic during the night when all the good people were safe at home. Emma felt like she was fifteen and it was starting to wear on her. It seemed as though Henry had more freedom than she did lately.
"So, your parents invited me to dinner tonight. Henry seemed really excited about it. I couldn't turn him down," Neal said.
"Well, have fun with that, I've got other plans," Emma said.
"Oh," Neal frowned, "Your mom said you were free."
Emma frowned. There was no way she could tell them she had plans with Regina. That would go over like a lead balloon. Suddenly Ruby appeared to take Neal's order.
"Yeah, well I have plans with Ruby," Emma said, looking at her brunette friend, "We were going to have a girls night, right Rubes?"
Ruby stared at Emma with confusion on her face for a beat, "Huh? Oh yeah! Girls night, right."
"So I'll have to pass on the family dinner," Emma said.
"Alright, maybe we can reschedule," Neal said, smiling.
Emma faked a smile in return and followed Ruby to the counter to pay her bill. The brunette waitress was waiting for an explanation.
"Why am I lying to Neal for you?" Ruby asked.
Emma grabbed Ruby's arm and led her to the back of the diner for some privacy, "Something happened to Mary Margaret and David. They've been acting really weird and we're pretty sure Gold had something to do with it. But until Regina can figure out what he did, they're treating me like I'm twelve. I have a curfew and I'm not allowed anywhere near Regina. It's driving me crazy. I was planning to pretend to go see her tonight and just tell them I was working late, but apparently that idea didn't pan out since they invited Neal to dinner, so thanks for covering for me there."
"You think Gold cursed your parents?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know. He definitely did something, we're just not sure what. But it's made all the progress we've made with Regina disappear from their brains," Emma explained.
"Well, if you guys need any help let me know. And I look forward to a real girls night when MM and David are back to normal," Ruby smiled.
Emma gave her friend an extra large tip and headed back to the station to finish her paperwork. There was a mountain of it and she needed to get it done in the next few hours if she had any chance of spending time with Regina.
Emma did manage to finish her paper work just after five. It wasn't as early as she'd hoped, but she'd still be able to manage a few hours alone with Regina. Emma straightened the piles of papers on her desk and grabbed her keys. She all but ran out to her car and threw it into gear. She was driving too fast for the small streets of Storybrooke but she was the Sheriff, who was going to stop her.
Emma had chosen to park a block or two from Regina's house, just in case her currently crazy parents came to look for her they wouldn't see her car parked at Regina's. Emma walked as quickly as she could the short distance to the mansion and let herself in. She could hear Regina in the kitchen and smell delicious food cooking. Emma pulled off her boots and headed toward the kitchen.
"Smells delicious," Emma said.
She smiled as Regina jumped.
"Miss Swan, are you trying to give me heart attack?" Regina cried.
"Sorry," Emma smiled, walking toward Regina.
Regina smiled back and leaned into the blonde as she wrapped her arms around Regina's waist. She was still smiling as Emma pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
"I missed you," Emma said as she pulled away.
"I missed you as well dear, but I'm going to burn your dinner if you don't get out of my way," Regina smirked.
"Well fine," Emma said, pulling away and crossing her arms.
"Instead of pouting why don't you go pick some music in the den and take the portable stereo outside. I thought we could eat on the patio since it's so nice out tonight," Regina said.
"Sounds like a good idea to me. You're the best," Emma said, kissing Regina again.
"I know, dear, now get moving, I'll be out in a moment," Regina smiled.
Emma headed to the den where Regina's collection of CDs were hidden in a wooden cabinet. She stared at the stacks in front of her, looking for something mildly familiar. There was a lot of classical music, a stack of jazz CDs, a few other random artists Emma had never heard of.
As Emma grabbed a few CDs she remembered the new CDs she'd just burned sitting in the passenger seat of her car. She'd promised Ruby that she would update her on popular music but there was one that would be perfect for dinner. Emma alerted Regina that she had to go grab something from her car and headed back down the street.
Unfortunately for Emma, her car wasn't alone on the street where she'd parked it. Neal was leaning against the yellow hood. His arms were crossed and he was alternating between Emma and the house she'd just come from.
"So, girls night with Ruby?" Neal asked.
"You know what, don't even start with me. I'm a grown ass woman and I can spend my evening with whoever I want," Emma said angrily.
"Why would you want to spend your time with the Evil Queen?"
"Don't you dare call her that."
"How can you forgive her Emma? For everything she's done to you and your family? And yet you're still mad at me?"
"I can forgive her because unlike you, she's actually shown some remorse and shown me that she wants to change. You just waltzed back into my life and expected what? To pick up where we left off?"
"I though we could at least give it a chance. I mean, I know what I did sucked. It was horrible, but I had no idea you were pregnant. I was just doing what August said. I knew you had a destiny and I couldn't stand in the way of that."
"Bullshit. You abandoned me, Neal. That's all there is to it. You abandoned me and you got me sent to jail."
"And I regret it every day, Emma. I wish that I hadn't done it. I wish we could have gotten that money and moved to Tallahassee together and raised our son together."
"But you did it. And I gave Henry up to a mother who loved him and gave him all the things we wouldn't have been able to. And I'm always going to be grateful that she raised the wonderful boy she did."
"But you don't have to be grateful by disobeying your family and turning against the town to spend all your time with the Evil Queen."
"I'm not disobeying anyone because I don't take orders from my family. And they were perfectly fine with Regina and I until you showed up!"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I think you and I both know that your father isn't the most noble man either, and he'd do anything to help his son get what he wants and we all know you want to play happy family with Henry and I. Well, news flash, no matter what your father does, it's not going to happen Neal. I love Regina."
"Well I love you, Emma," Neal said, grabbing her arm.
He pulled a stunned Emma in and kissed her. It was at this moment that Regina decided to come see what was taking Emma so long. Through the pain and anger, she missed Emma pushing Neal away.
"Don't bother coming back here, Miss Swan," Regina said coldly, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Regina! Wait!" Emma cried as the woman she loved disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.
Emma turned toward Neal, furious at the man she'd once cared for, "Neal, if you know what's good for you, you'll get the fuck out of here right now. I'll work out a visitation schedule with Henry, but I want you out of my life. Now."
Neal nodded and turned away. Emma ran back toward the mansion, determined to explain things to Regina. The doors were locked so Emma sank down beside the door to wait. She'd wait as long as it took.
