February 25th 2017

Emma had spent an hour filling Ruby in on the happenings of the past couple of months when she'd come to pick her up. Though she was yet to tell Regina, the medication that Whale had put her on meant no driving until she was stable, and so she had asked Ruby to drive her to Boston to pack up her apartment. Ruby had questioned everything, and Emma, despite being annoyed at Regina for trying to restrain her movements, she didn't want to do anything that could put her in serious harm.

The revelation from the mayor the previous day had really thrown Emma for a loop; and, unwilling to upset or anger Regina any further she had agreed, and promised the mayor that she would not drive to Boston. Technically, she wasn't lying. She had called Ruby almost as soon as the brunette had left, and the wolf was immediately into the idea of a 'road trip!' as she called it.

Emma checked her phone again, unsure whether to be happy or upset that she had no texts from the mayor. It meant either, she hadn't noticed Emma had discharged herself, or she had, and was ignoring the blonde. She had decided not to tell the other woman of her plans, only realising that the idea of Regina walking into an empty room with no idea where she was would be a bad idea when she was already on the road. Seeing no texts from her either meant that she hadn't yet realised she was gone or she was being true to her word and they were over. As much as she wanted to be her own woman, she really hoped it was the former.

"Hey… put your phone down. I have not seen you for weeks, and we are on a road trip…" Emma couldn't help but smile at Ruby's infectious laugh, and she switched her phone to silent and shoved it into her pocket, turning to her close friend. She was going to enjoy this time with her friend, assuming that when she returned from her trip, she wouldn't be enjoying her time alone.

"So Ruby, tell me. What's going on in your life? How's Dorothy?" She settled back in her seat as Ruby's wolfish grin told her all she needed to know. Once Ruby got started talking about the love of her life there was no stopping her.

The rest of the journey seemed to be over rather quickly, after a pit-stop for bear claws and coffee for the now-cranky blonde. When she arrived at her apartment she checked her phone again and saw nothing from Regina but a missed call from Henry. Figuring he was now at Nicholas' as he informed her he would be, she decided against disturbing him to return his call, and huffed as her phone was grumpily pushed into her jacket pocket.

Ruby did most of the packing up of the car, powering quickly through as Emma asked her question after question about her love life, while supplying her with iced teas. About 6 hours after setting off from Storybrooke, they were back in the car, and heading towards the town. Emma made Ruby stop for a late lunch on their journey, again checking her phone. This time, seeing no response from Regina made her angry, and she threw her phone in the foot well, crossing her arms angrily across her chest. She knew that she deserved the silent treatment and hoped that it was just that as she made her way back to the woman she loved.

The pair played car games for the rest of the journey, Emma informing Ruby of the ultimatum Regina had given her the previous day, sharing her worries that they would return back and she would be asked to leave by the woman she admired. For the last hour, the blonde and her godmother were quiet, switching radio stations to fill the silence.

As they drew closer to the town line, Emma was filled with a sense of foreboding, and she crossed her arms tighter as she began to shiver. When Ruby parked outside Granny's, Emma got out of the car, spotting Regina leaning against her Mercedes as the other side of the road. She took a hesitant step towards her as the mayor, who looked slightly stressed stood up from her car, she walked slowly to her, unable to read the woman's emotions. When Emma took that final step until she was in front of her, she prepared to start apologising and was surprised when strong arms wrapped around her neck.

"Oh my gods Em, where the hell have you been? I've been so worried! I got to the hospital and you were gone and Whale told me what you've been hiding from me and then you wouldn't answer your calls and I just…" Emma cut her off with a searing kiss, ignoring the fact they were standing in the middle of the street, grinning at the loud wolf whistle from behind her. She took a step back, taking Regina's hands, noticing they were shaking slightly.

"Gina, it's ok. I'm ok. I'm here and I'm fine and I love you."