Regina couldn't deny Emma bringing Ruby, even if she had a bad feeling about all this. But she kept quiet about that and just told Emma to drive safe. As soon as she had ended the call, her phone buzzed again and she when she saw Belle's name on the screen, it made the uneasy feeling just grow in her stomach.
"Hello?"
"HI re.. Miss Mills. I'm sorry for calling so late but ehm.. I have something to tell you," Belle said with a nervous voice. "I bumped into Emma earlier, when I was on my way home from Ruby's place and well, we talked and Emma figured out I was Ruby's girlfriend.." Regina just let out a big sigh, because she knew this was gonna happen eventually. She had just hoped it wouldn't happen this soon. Great. Even more chaos to come the therapist thought to herself as she felt a migraine coming.
"Well I guess I'll see what Ruby says when she finds out I'm your boss.. " Regina replied as she saw the headlights of her car.
"Excuse me, what? " Belle asked with a slightly confused voice.
"Well, Emma brought Ruby with her here tonight.. And wanted her to stay for a couple of nights…"
"Oh…" Belle said, not really knowing what to say. The fact that Ruby had just upped and left with Emma made her almost a bit hurt, and angry.
"I gotta go Belle, Emma just parked the car. But I'll see you on Monday yes?"
"Yes Miss Mills," Belle replied on auto pilot mode and hung up. She screamed and threw the phone into the wall, accidentally scaring Rumple.
Belle sat down on the couch and hid her head in her hands. She had hardly spent any quality time with Ruby since her girlfriend's fight with Emma. She had pulled away, not wanting to do anything then but to be alone and sleep. And when they eventually hung out, it always ended up in some stupid argument..
Belle tried her best but nothing helped. It was almost like Ruby was afraid to let her in and tell her what was actually going on in her head. She could only watch as her girlfriend slipped away... Belle dried her eyes and the memory of that time Emma had kissed Ruby started to spin around in her head. What if she were to do that again? Ruby probably had feelings left for Emma so..
"Fuck," Belle groaned, as she got a glare from her cat. She never swore. But she had never felt this hurt and devastated either..
Emma received a hug and a kiss from Regina as they stepped out of the car. Ruby just smiled tiredly at the therapist and Regina almost gasped when she saw how pale Ruby was. She immediately got the feeling that this whole thing was a bad idea, and she needed to talk with Emma about it, in private, so she turned to ruby.
"Miss Lucas, i have to share a few words with my girlfriend, but can go inside. And I'll promise it won't take more than a minute"
"Yeah ehm sure Regina," the redhead nodded as Emma gave her the keys and pointed at the guesthouse.
When Ruby had left, Emma gave Regina a concerned look.
"What was that all about?" the blonde snapped.
"I don't know if this is such a good idea Emma, having Ruby here.. It's just…" Regina wasn't even able to finish her sentence before Emma cut her off.
"Then why the HELL did you agree to it over the phone, Regina?! I called you before I brought her here and you could have said no! But you didn't. But fine. I can drive her home but I'm staying with her. She needs me!"
"Emma, listen to yourself," Regina said with a stern tone in her voice as she laid her hands on the blonde's shoulders, only causing Emma to pull away.
"You're not stable enough to take care of yourself, and that means you don't have energy for Ruby's problems… i know you have your heart at the right place Emma.. But.. You know… she has Belle. She can take care of her." as the words came out, regina cursed herself. This was only making matters worse.
"So you knew Belle was her girlfriend? Your freaking assistant, and yet you haven't told me that? I thought we said no secrets in this relationship!" Emma was gritting her teeth as she was talking. She was absolutely furious.
"Emma, please calm down. Believe me. I had my reasons."
"Bullshit! But fuck it. Ruby has been my only friend for so many years and now when she needs me, I'm not gonna push her away with the words that she has Belle," Emma snarled and Regina felt her eyes start to tear up. "are you jealous or something huh?!"
"Emma, you're my girlfriend and you're carrying my baby and… " those words made the blonde's blood boil as she cut Regina off yet again.
"Don't say another word! And as far as I know, this baby is mine and not yours! "
Ruby stood in the window in the hallway, watching Emma and Regina with a close eye. She didn't hear what they were saying obviously, but she heard Emma was screaming. And ruby knew they argued about her, and she knew she shouldn't have come here. It had been a bad idea from the start. She should have turned to Belle, not to Emma… oh God what was she really doing here? Belle was her girlfriend. Not Emma.
As Ruby thought about it more and more, she felt terrible. What was she even doing here? She shouldn't be here. Right? The redhead started to pace around in the room but quickly felt dizzy so she had to sit down. Her eyelids felt so heavy and when she laid down, she quickly fell asleep on the couch out of exhaustion.
"I want to be with you," Emma shrugged as she took a step closer to Ruby, taking her hands in hers. Their eyes locked and it was like time just stopped. It was just them in the whole world and Ruby felt a smile spread across her lips.
"I love you Emma," the redhead said, as her lips brushed against hers.
"I love you too Ruby, and so does the little one," Emma chuckled as she laid their hands on her big baby bump. The baby kicked and the blonde's lips brushed against ruby's.
"You're gonna be such a great mom," Emma added and pressed her lips against Ruby's again.
"Just.. FUCK off Regina, won't you?!" Emma spat as she grabbed Ruby's bags and turned towards the guest house.
"Emma please, I just want what's best for you!" Regina shot back as the tears started to flow down her cheeks. She was slowly slipping and Emma refused to listen to her and it made her heart break. "Emma please, I love you."
"I'm going inside. And I don't want to see you anymore tonight. Just leave me alone!" Emma growled and just left Regina by the car. The therapist wanted to run after her but she knew there wasn't any point in doing so.
Emma was too worked up to talk with so she just had to let her go for now, even if it made her heart break. Regina just hoped she would be able to talk with the blonde tomorrow. But a part of her feared Emma would chose Ruby instead of her. Please prove me wrong. Don't leave me. Regina thought to herself as she dried her eyes and went inside her house.
Ruby snapped her eyes open and rubbed her eyes. She hadn't dreamt about Emma for a long while. But when she had, it had always been this exact dream, every night. On repeat. She reached for her phone and was just about to call Belle, but she chose to put it away. Suddenly it felt like she was on this emotional rollercoaster again, as everything with Emma started to spin in her head again. With a groan she laid down on the couch and started to cry.
I can't take this anymore…
When Emma came inside her house, she found Ruby crying on the couch. The sight made her drop the bags immediately and run up to ruby.
"Hey, what's wrong?" the blonde asked with a shaking voice as she sat down and wrapped her arms around Ruby.
"I think I'm losing my mind Ems…" Ruby shrugged as she snuggled close to her. "I don't know what the hell is going on in my mind.."
"Then we're two.. " Emma sighed. She had not really meant those things she had thrown in Regina's face but when it came to Ruby… She would always come first. Always. And nothing could ever change that. Not even Regina. But Emma felt terrible anyway.
"Let's go to bed Ruby and just sleep. Okay?"
Ruby hardly made it up to the bedroom and when they finally reached the bed, she collapsed. Emma kissed her on the forehead before she reached for her phone. The blonde couldn't sleep after having such a huge argument with Regina.
Emma : I didn't mean those things I said before. I just.. I don't even have an excuse for my behavior. Would you please forgive me?
Regina was sitting in her couch with some stupid TV show on in the background, not even paying attention to it. She was just thinking about Emma, and wondering if they even were a couple anymore. The terrible thoughts were spinning around in her head but when when her phone buzzed she snapped back to reality. She hoped it was a text from Emma, and it was. Regina let out a big breath of relief as she read the text. She felt a smile spread along her face. All anxiety and doubt just washed away.
Regina : I don't blame you for reacting like you did. I should have been honest with you from the beginning.. I just want what's best for you Emma and I will always feel like that.
Emma pressed her lips against Ruby's forehead again, making the redhead blink her sleepy eyes open.
"Is something wrong?" Ruby asked a bit confused.
"No Rubes, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to say I'm going over to Regina's and maybe sleep at her place to... If that's okay with you that is"
"of course. You guys had quite the fight over me and you need to solve that," Ruby smiled and Emma nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Yeah. Sleep tight, I love you."
"Love you to Ems," Ruby said as the blonde stood to her feet and left the room. I love you way too much Emma.. What the hell am I gonna do about this…
When Regina heard a knock on the door, she couldn't help but smile. She walked up to the door and opened it.
"Can I come in?" Emma asked carefully as she tugged on her lower lip. Regina just nodded and closed the door behind her.
"I didn't mean those words I said, you know that right? Especially not that with the baby. It's yours as much as it's mine, okay?" the blonde said and grabbed Regina by her waist and dragged her close. The brunette pressed her lips against her girlfriends. It was a short but meaningful kiss.
"I know Emma, but sometime we say things that comes out of fear. And I know how much you love Ruby. I guess I just have a lot of fear inside of me as well," the therapist shrugged and tucked away a bit of Emma's blonde hair behind her ear.
"I hope you know how much I love you Regina, because I really do," the words surprised both women since this was the first time the blonde had said it out loud.
"I love you too Emma. And our little unborn baby." Regina said with a small smile on her lips. "I know we have been through one hell of a ride of emotions and we probably have a few more rides to come so to speak, but I'm willing to do that because I can't picture a life without you in it."
After Regina had said those words, Emma suddenly heard herself say:
"Regina, do you want to get engaged to me?"