"Henry! Get a wiggle on!" Emma called up the stairs for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. It was the same thing every time his Dad stayed over to watch him, Emma was convinced that Neal had him up to all hours of the night, leaving Henry exhausted and struggling to get back into his normal routine. Life with Neal used to be fun and carefree. But time went on and their son grew up, but her husband didn't. His immature actions landed him in trouble more times than Emma could count, job after job, chance after chance. It was up to Emma to provide for her family - something that drove Neal crazy - she set up her own interior decoration company and business was good. At first, Neal was involved with the business, but in the end, he ended up costing Emma more money, he'd spend more time cracking jokes and slacking off than actually working, so Emma had to let him go. That was the beginning of the end for the couple. Neal gave up on the job search and spent most of his time at his friend's bar or on the couch. Soon his behavior began to overweigh the love that Emma had once felt for him, and that was it. She swore she'd never stay with anyone who she didn't love, not after watching her Mother waste her life with a horrible man. One family home turned into two apartments, two family nights, two birthdays and Christmas'. Henry chose to stay with his Mother, and Emma promised that he could see his Dad how much he wanted.
"I'm...coming…" Henry yawned as he slumped down the stairs.
"You look wrecked." She pointed out while she pushed his hair out of his eyes. "What happened to following the rules, Neal!" She turned around to shout at the laid-back man, who froze mid-bite and looked at her like a child who'd been scolded.
"He wasn't tired." Neal tried to defend himself, his mouth full of milk and cereal.
"He's twelve, Neal!" The blonde snapped and threw a pair of rolled-up socks at his head.
"Guys…"
Moving to clean up Neal's mess left in the kitchen, Emma tried and failed to calm herself down.
"You were the one who had to go out with your friends. You can't complain about my babysitting practices when I'm here free of charge." He called out in response as he leaned back in his chair and rested his feet on the coffee table.
"When it's your kid, it's called parenting!" Emma shouted as she stormed back into the living room. Soon heated words were quickly shouted over one another, as Henry exited the scene to get dressed for school. Fights like this one were a regular occurrence as of late. He knew that they were both trying to make things as normal as possible for his benefit, but the painted-on smiles and fake getting along, only made things worse.
Slinging his backpack over his back, he slumped his way back downstairs to find his parents still engaged in their heated argument. "I think I'm just gonna walk," Henry spoke loudly, cutting through their voices and forcing the two to turn and face their son.
"No, I'm heading out now anyway." The blonde shot her son an apologetic look as she moved to grab her jacket and wallet. "We'll pick up something on the way."
"You're welcome Em!" Neal shouted after the pair, still fuming from their fight.
"Screw you!" Emma yelled before slamming the door and leaving the man child to his own devices.
The sound of her alarm clock was like a lightning strike to the head and the source of the disturbance was quickly discarded across the room. Mornings weren't usually like this; Regina Mills didn't wake up with a vendetta against her clock and she most certainly didn't wake up to a blaring hangover. As someone who owns a bar, she knows how to limit herself, how to make a drink last and not roll over into more and more. But something about last night seemed to make her forget all of that. She let herself get out of control, she practically threw herself at the first stranger - well, the firsts strangers friend - to walk by. As she closed her eyes and tried to lure herself back to the land of dreams, she could see Emma's face smiling back at her. She saw her cheeks redden, her eyes dazzle. She saw the lump get stuck in her throat as she reached over to touch her and she remembered the heat that radiated from her. Slowly her fingers danced along the waistband of her sleep shorts, she'd gone to be thinking of what could have happened with the mysterious blonde and woke with the same fleeting thoughts suffocating her mind. She needed the fog to clear. At last, she allows her fingers to pass under her waistband, but before she could even get a moment of clarity, her phone on her nightstand jumped to life.
In a flash, her hand was torn from her shorts and angrily snatched her phone. "What?!" Regina snapped down the line, before taking the chance to look at the caller ID. Her anger mellowed as a nervous voice informed her about a delivery schedule change that needed her attention and a quick apology was muttered from her lips.
"Until next time…" She muttered to herself as she threw her phone to the end of her bed and finally started her usual morning routine.
Lily was already there when she walked into the bar. The younger woman wore no signs of a hangover as she happily swayed along to some ridiculous pop song on the radio.
"Top of the mornin' boss," She shot a mock salute Regina's way, but the gesture was quickly shaken off as she turned the radio down to a barely audible level. "Or not?"
"We've got stock coming, I'll be in the office." Regina's voice held little emotion as the office door was loudly slammed. Taking a deep breath, the brunette sank into her chair and allowed her head to fall against the hardwood desk. Her mind immediately went back to that morning, to the release she had almost felt. Her fingers itched to feel the warmth of her skin, but the thought was soon replaced with that of her mother, and for the second time in twenty-four hours she brought back to her adolescence and the words of her Mother played on repeat in her mind. She had a long day ahead of her, especially when all she wanted to do was crawl back into bed with her memories of the cute blonde that got away and her Mother to keep her company.
The tension between Emma and her son was unusually thick. Fights with Neal were usually reserved for when she was sure that Henry was fast asleep, but Emma had woken up on edge and honestly wasn't prepared to find her ex shifting through her cupboard when she went downstairs.
After her father died and her mother remarried, Emma spent her childhood days and nights listening to the heated arguments that flowed through the house. When it was just them, when friends were over, Christmas' and holidays were spent holding her ears. Their marriage was one big argument and Emma swore that she'd never let her son live like that.
"I'm sorry." She mumbled as she turned down the radio. "It's just...never mind."
"I get it, Mom." Henry forced a smile onto his face and reached over to turn the music back up even louder than before.
Annoyed, Emma hit the off button on the radio. "That's not the point, Henry. You know that I never wanted any of this. All this fighting makes my skin crawl," She spoke again, trying to make sure she was getting her point across to her son, who was already reaching for his headphones.
"John's parents fight way more and way louder than you and Dad." The teenage boy shrugged and made a point of showing his Mom that he was turning his music to full blast.
"It's not a contest," She muttered to herself before letting out a drawn-out sigh.
The remainder of the car ride was spent in silence, Emma swung by Wendy's for two of their breakfast sandwiches and received only a grunt in response. She hated this. Emma knew that most of his behavior was the usual teenage boy attitude kicking in. But it still didn't stop her from feeling guilty about the fight that transpired that morning.
As they pulled up at Henry's school, the blonde barely even had a chance to say goodbye before the teenage boy jumped out of the car to find his friends. Exasperated, Emma let her head fall against the steering wheel and a loud groan escape from her lips.
Looking at the time, she could already tell that she was going to be late - not that anyone could reprimand her - so she turned on her car's hands-free service and pulled out of her parking space as she said a clear, "Call Killian," but was annoyingly met with nothing but silence. "Gotta do everything my-" as she pulled up to a traffic guard, she quickly checked her pockets in search of her phone, but when her hands were met with nothing but a few empty gum wrappers and a receipt from 'The Poison Apple' all that Emma could muster was a forceful, "Shit."