I'm getting really excited at where this story is going and am eager to share with all of you! After some debate, this weekend is going to be a triple feature! Strap down and get ready.
Chapter 17
The doorbell chimed through the house of Mifflin 108 and Regina checked herself in the mirror on the foyer prior to opening the door to a grinning Emma Swan.
"Hey!" Emma said cheerfully. "I come bearing gifts," she waved her hand that held a bag while the other was shoved into her skintight jeans.
"I see that," Regina noted. "Do tell me what's in there besides the movie that you brought?"
"I brought some popcorn because you can't watch a movie without popcorn. Some wine too," Emma crinkled her brows in that adorable way Regina loved, "but you probably own ones that are more up to your standards," she half grimaced.
Regina smiled, "I'm sure whatever you brought will be sufficient for tonight." She stepped away from the door to let Emma in.
"Oh," Emma started when she stepped in, "I almost forgot. Here," she shoved an envelope towards her. "This is some stuff from the Sheriff's department that needs you to look over. No more work talk after this, I swear."
Regina took the envelope and put it on the table by the door. "Well, as the Mayor, I appreciate your promptness in Sheriff's Department manners."
Emma nodded in understanding and headed towards the living room. "So, you said no Disney movies…"
"That was my only request, Miss Swan," Regina began to quip. "I don't need to see the horrendous way your world has depicted the people of this town."
"My world?" Emma responded, pretending to be offended. "I'm one of you guys!" She declared.
"Barely," Regina scoffed with a smile. Emma took out the popcorn and wine and tossed the bag on the couch causing Regina to glare at her. "Seriously? Are you Henry?"
Emma shrugged, "He's like his mother?"
"That trait," Regina noted dryly, "is most definitely not from nurture."
Emma handed Regina the popcorn and followed her into the kitchen so that Regina could get the popcorn made. "I brought the first Harry Potter movie, by the way," Emma tagged on. "It's not Disney but it has similar elements to what we have here! Magic, trolls, even dragons!" Emma got a puzzled look on her face that caused Regina to quirk a brow. "Hang on, does the Enchanted Forest actually have dragons? I know Maleficent turns herself into one… but are there just regular dragons?"
Regina rolled her eyes. "You tell me," she joked, "You did spend some time there."
Emma shuddered, "Don't remind me. That was not a fun place to be. This is so much better." She gestured to the kitchen, "I couldn't trade any of these conveniences up."
Regina murmured in agreement. "I have gotten used to this," she admitted.
"So what else have you gotten used to?" Emma asked curiously.
"Are we here to chat, or watch a movie?" Regina said pointedly.
"This is a hangout! There's bound to be chit chat," Emma exclaimed. "You know, exchanging dirty little secrets and love life and gossip about our love interests? Speaking of," she continued with a grin, "Do you have any?"
"Any what, Miss Swan?" Regina asked warily.
"Emma," she corrected then continued. "Love interests of course!"
Regina sputtered a little bit. "Uhh…" she couldn't tell Emma that her love interest was standing right in front of her, could she? An image of Killian flashed through her mind and she grimaced.
"Think about it," Emma said, a smirk slowly starting to settle on her face. She forged on as if not really caring, "I have one actually." She waved her hands carelessly, "You know I have a few that are interested in me." Regina hummed softly at this, wishing that Emma wouldn't keep going. She really didn't need to hear about that pirate. She was still hurt from what she saw the night before and she felt a sense of guilt at how she'd taken care of herself while fantasizing over a woman that was already taken.
Emma grabbed the popcorn and gestured at Regina to the living room. "I know who I am going to go for," she continued as she plopped herself down on the couch unceremoniously.
"I'm sure you have," Regina muttered softly.
"What's that?" Emma asked, looking over at her as if not hearing her properly.
"Nothing," Regina snapped. "Enough of this nonsense, let's get that movie going, shall we?"
Emma shrugged noncommittally and watched as Regina set about getting the movie set up on the TV. They were getting along until she had brought up love interests. She knew this was going to be a touchy subject for Regina but she wanted to see if Regina would bite and give a little bit of a hint that she was the person behind the letters. It seemed, however, that she was still raw and hurt over what she thought she had witnessed.
Regina would be put out of her misery soon enough anyways, Emma concluded. The envelope she had given her was not, in fact, paperwork from the Sherriff's Department like she had originally said. Emma had gone home and written up responses to most of the letters that she had gotten from Regina. In those letters, she had wanted to know more about Emma, so she compiled her own set of letters admitting that she knew who the mystery admirer was as well as a multitude of things about herself. Deciding she didn't like torturing Regina who was looking like she'd swallowed a bitter pill, Emma started the movie and turned her attention to it.
Before the two of them knew it, the ending credits were seen rolling across the TV and they sat in a companionable silence. Regina had gotten very engrossed in the movie and watched with apt attention as well as shooting worrying questions about what would happen next in the plot line. Emma couldn't help but find it very adorable. This was a person that no one has ever likely seen but Henry since they didn't bother to give her a chance.
"So," Emma started, "What did you think?"
"That was a very impressive movie," Regina replied, nodding in approval. "They captured his awe at magic and the new world revealed in the perfect way. It really connected with the person watching it."
Emma smiled, "Is that how you felt when you first came here?" She waved aimlessly around, "And saw all of this?"
Regina gave a sad smile, "I think I was more conditioned to fear. I was afraid of the things I didn't know so much of this new stuff frightened me when I first came here." She looked out the building. "Honestly, I was a little jealous of everyone else who was cursed. They didn't know what was going on and magically seemed to know how to work everything in this world. They could drive a car, use a stove… everything I had to learn."
"Well," Emma stated, "I think you did a pretty great job learning, especially the cooking part." She scrunched her brows as if thinking, "I'm not so sure about the driving part though," she teased.
Regina let a huff of fake annoyance out. "Please, you can't say anything. Run over and road signs lately?" She asked with a pointed look and a smirk.
Emma held her hands up in mock surrender, "all right, all right, point made." She hesitated for a second then moved her hand slightly and rested it on Regina's forearm, noticing a slight flinch and intake of breath but nothing else. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that alone with no one to help you through."
Regina gave a stiff nod and pulled away, her barriers coming up. "28 years too late, Miss Swan." She looked over at Emma's face which looked almost offended at her sudden change in demeaner. She sighed and softened her features, "but thanks for the thought… Emma." Emma's face brightened almost immediately. "Enough of this talk though, you should probably get going, Henry is coming back tomorrow morning."
"Oh right," Emma nodded reluctantly. She was having so much fun here. "I need to pick him up in the morning."
Regina nodded and smirked, "Right. I'll probably ask to see him to check him over to make sure Neal did everything that I asked him too."
Emma laughed, "You did give him quite a laundry list of things he needed to do or get or make Henry eat. I wouldn't have wanted to be on the receiving end of that."
Regina scoffed, "You probably need that too considering you don't eat healthy when it's just you. Throw a kid in the mix and all hope is lost." Regina opened the front door and looked out into the evening sky, sobering. She really enjoyed her time with Emma tonight. This was what she imagined being friends with Emma would be like. She could relax and be herself. She didn't dare imagine what it would be like if they were actually dating.
"Regggiiina," she heard Emma say and snapped her attention back to Emma who was half waving a hand in front of her. "Everything alright?" she asked. "You looked… pensive and maybe sad at the same time."
"Fine," Regina snapped, uncomfortable at being caught with her guard down.
"Okay," Emma responded with a shrug, "Just checking."
"See you later," Regina responded with a nod towards the front door in a gesture for Emma to take her leave.
"Yea," Emma said, "See you." She walked slowly towards the door with a nagging feeling that things weren't quite the way she wanted it. She knew she wanted to at least give Regina a hug goodbye. Heck, she'd even go for a kiss. The night seemed like a perfect date night in.
With a groan of frustration, Emma said, "fuck it," loudly before spinning around to the door which Regina had half-way shut already. She grabbed the handle and pushed it open and stepped back in.
A scolding, "Miss Swan," came from Regina who wore a look of shock on her face. "Did you need to treat my door so roughly? And what was with that language I just heard?"
"I said," Emma replied as she shut the door behind her and faced Regina, effectively trapping her between the wall and barred in by the door and foyer table. "Fuck it."
Regina's eyes turned wary at the second use of the cuss word. "I'm not following," she said. "And would you please back up a little?"
"No," Emma said, instead taking a small step forward. "I don't think I will." Regina took a corresponding step back and felt her back brush the wall behind her.
"What is the meaning of this?" Regina demanded.
Emma let out an exasperated laugh. "You tell me?" She said, staring intently at her face. "I thought you were a Queen. Queens take what they want. Queens are brave. There's no yearning for queens, there's no unsated desires." She took another step closer and felt Regina's heat coming off her. "So tell me, Your Majesty." Emma placed her hands on either side of Regina's face. "Have you…" She leaned in just a little closer and heard Regina's voice hitch. "forgotten how," she used one hand to lightly brush back a stray strand of hair. "to be a Queen?" she paused, her mouth inches away from Regina's.
Regina found her eyes sliding involuntarily closed. She didn't know what had come over Emma but she was in a trance. Her body was so close and she had just felt Emma brush the hair to the side. She could feel her breath against her lips. Regina's heart ached for contact. Her eyes fluttered open to find Emma looking deep into her eyes.
"I'm waiting," Emma whispered, "for my Queen." Turmoil swirled in the depths of her eyes and before Regina could take another breath and commit the scent of Emma and her proximity to memory, Emma closed her eyes with a slight shutter and she stepped back. "I hope I don't have to wait long," she rasped out, voice in a whisper as if she was pained. Without another word, Emma turned and left.
Regina stood where Emma had left her, fingers ghosting over her lips, remembering Emma's breathe, so close to her own… but not close enough. Her mind ran at a hundred miles an hour trying to catch up with everything that had just happened in a span of less than 3 minutes. Why did Emma trap her that way? Why did she make all those comments about being a Queen? Did she know that Regina desired her?
She glanced at the foyer table that had the envelope Emma had given her when she walked in earlier that day. Emma had said it was stuff for work from the Sheriff's office. Regina should distract herself and lose her in her work like she normally does and deal with these problems later. With a nod, she picked up the folder and played with it mindlessly.
With a frustrated huff, she threw it back down on the table. This was it. She wasn't going to let Emma talk to her like that and walk away. Something Emma had said had jolted Regina out of her cowardly state. She was going to take what she wanted… just like a Queen would. She played the events over and over in her head and nodded. Emma wanted something from her for sure. She didn't know how far Emma had wanted to go but she intended to find out. Everything Emma had done and said pointed to her wanting Regina.
Perhaps Emma had figured out who the face behind the letters, but maybe it was just a result of the two of them slowly moving towards friendship. Maybe it was Emma seeing straight through her like she always did anyways. Whatever the reason, Regina was going to find out and declare her own feelings. Ruby had said at the diner that Emma wanted something more than whatever it was they had now. She was going to find out what exactly.
Regina drew back her shoulders to stand at full height and looked at herself. A small, confident smile grew on her lips. Whisking herself upstairs, she sat in front of the vanity and made sure she looked absolutely flawless. The Queen was back.
Wasting no time, she waved her hands to transport herself directly to where Emma was, leaving the folder forgotten on the foyer.
Thoughts?
I'll post the next chapter tomorrow!