Chapter Fifty-Two: The Car

Emma was driving the cruiser tapping her hands lightly at the steering wheel while singing along with the song. It was relatively late, a little bit past ten and the streets of Storybrooke were pretty much empty. Emma liked when she had the night rounds. The quietness of the city, especially a city like Storybrooke, always made Emma feel at peace. She loved looking at the empty streets and the dark sky. She always felt captivated by the yellow city lights glowing on the ground, illuminating the dark night.

Emma rode all of the city of Storybrooke before getting into the woods streets, as she liked to call them. There was this part of Storybrooke, right before the city limits where you could only see trees from both sides of the road, that was the country part of Storybrooke where most of the farms were located. Emma was, in fact, just approaching the entrance to Regina's stable when she saw a car parked on the side of the road with the headlights on. Emma maneuvered the cruiser to the right and hit the brakes, stopping right behind the car. The lights were too bright, from both hers and the car parked in front of hers and Emma had to close her eyes for a second or two when she left the Sheriff's cruiser. She unhooked the button from the holster and put her hand on top of the gun while walking slowly in the direction of the car.

"Do you need any assistance?" Emma asked in an authoritative voice.

"Emma?"

"Regina?" Emma said as her eyes adjusted better to the figure in front of her.

"Hey," Regina said, "What are you doing here at this hour?"

"I have the night shift," Emma said as she walked closer to Regina and buttoned the holster again "I'm sorry, I didn't recognize the car"

"It's okay," Regina said "I'm starting to think I'm gonna have to buy a new one"

"Did it die again?" Emma asked sympathetically.

"It sure did," Regina said "I've been trying to call Billy, but I guess it's too late now even though his card says he offers twenty-four hours tow"

"Oh, yeah. Except when he is not in town" Emma laughed.

"What?" Regina frowned.

"Billy's shop is close," Emma said "apparently all the mechanics went out to this conference things in Boston. They are closed until Monday"

"Oh great," Regina said throwing her hands in the air "How do you know that?"

"Billy has a contract with the Sheriff's Department," Emma said "His shop is responsible for all of our vehicles and he called a few days ago to say that if we break anything, we are own our own"

"Ah, damn it" Regina cursed "They are all closed?"

"It's on The Mirror," Emma said "Didn't you see that? I'm pretty sure you are the only one in Storybrooke who still receives a printed version of the paper"

"I haven't read the newspaper lately" Regina sighed.

"Are you alright?" Emma asked worriedly.

"Do I look like I'm all right?" Regina shouted at Emma.

Emma took a step back and stared at Regina, eyes widened. She opened and close her mouth a few times as if she was going to say something, but nothing came out. The way Regina shouted at her was something Emma wasn't expecting and now she was unsure of what to do.

"I'm sorry," Regina sighed heavily "I'm sorry, Emma. That was uncalled for, I… I just had a long, long day"

"It's okay," Emma said softly "It's not like I don't deserve it"

"I can't take my anger out on you, Emma," Regina said seriously "That's not right"

"Well, you should" Emma clenched her jaw "I hurt you a lot"

"You did," Regina said looking in Emma's eyes "But that's not the point"

Emma looked down at her boots and shoved her hands inside her jeans pockets. She bit her lower lip and closed her eyes for a second. The old Emma would probably burst into tears now and say empty words to Regina. But Emma was working hard not to be that kind of person anymore. Sometimes in life, actions say more than a thousand words. Emma lifted her head back and looked at Regina.

"You are right, it isn't," Emma nodded "May I give you a ride home?"

"No, that's fine," Regina shook her head "I'll just call a cab"

"It's late, Regina," Emma said "My car is right here"

"I don't want to bother"

"It's no bother at all," Emma said "I'm doing my rounds after all"

"I don't know, Emma…"

"It's just a ride, Regina," Emma said softly and made a movement with her head "Come on"

Regina hesitated for a moment but then she sighed in a what the hell manner. She made sure the Mercedes were locked and then followed Emma inside the cruiser. Emma maneuvered the car out and turned around driving back into the city.

The silence stretched between them and Emma started to feel a little nervous. Her palms were sweaty on the steering wheel and her stomach was making all sorts of flips and colds as if she was on her way down on a rollercoaster. She looked to her side and saw Regina thoughtful looking out the window. Regina shifted on the seat and Emma immediately looked ahead of her again. She gripped the steering wheel and took a breath in before breaking the silence.

"If you give me your keys, I can tow your car tomorrow morning," Emma said.

"I thought you said they were all closed," Regina said looking back at her.

"They are, but the fire department has one," Emma said "And since we shared a garage, I can ask Ariel to pick it for me. I can leave it at the Station's garage until Billy comes back"

"You don't have to do this, Emma," Regina said rolling her necklace from one side to the other between her fingers.

"I want to," Emma nodded.

"Why now?" Regina asked.

"Sorry?" Emma asked looking at her.

"Why now?" Regina asked bitterly "When we were together, I asked you a thousand times to take my car to the shop. You never did! And you even lied about it" Regina laughed bitterly.

"Regina…"

"Why didn't you take my car when I asked you to?

Emma sighed heavily before answering Regina's question.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know," Emma said "I asked myself that a thousand times, you know? If I had just taken your car to the shop, maybe everything that happened that night wouldn't have happened"

Emma bit her lower lip in an attempt to stop the tears that were forming behind her eyes.

"I could tell you that it was because I loved taking you to work," Emma said "And I did. I loved our mornings together, I loved eating breakfast with you and then taking you to work. But that wasn't it. When you asked me to take your car, I remember writing a post-it note and sticking it in my computer at work, so I wouldn't forget and for some reason, everything that happened during my day felt more important than just call Billy and ask him to stop by the house and pick up your car"

"Why?" Regina asked in a small voice.

"Honestly?" Emma said and turned her head to look briefly at Regina "I think that was when I truly started to sabotage myself. I was so scared to lose you, Regina. I was so scared to lose you all at once that I decided to lose you little by little"

"But I was there, Emma," Regina said her voice choked "I was yours"

"I know," Emma let the tears fall down her face "But at some point, in our relationship, things started to get really dark for me. You and events from my past started to mix all together to the point where I couldn't tell the two worlds apart"

"Why you didn't tell me?" Regina asked.

"Because I didn't know," Emma said "I didn't know, Regina. Things started to happen and we started to fight so much and…I don't know. Hell, if it wasn't for Archie, I would probably still be in the dark"

Regina looked out the window again and Emma could see on the reflection of the window Regina brushing the tears from her face. Emma felt her heart squeeze inside her chest at the acknowledgment that once again, she made Regina cry. That once again, she was the one responsible for Regina's pain and the simple thought of that made Emma's insides twist. She was so tired of this, so tired of hurting Regina. She didn't deserve this.

Emma entered Regina's street and parked the bug in front of the mansion. She turned off the engine and stared at Regina, waiting for her to say something or simply leave the car. She did neither.

"I know I said that a million times before, Regina," Emma said breaking the silence "But I am sorry. I am truly, truly sorry for everything I've done to you, for every pain I caused you. If I could go back in time, I would do things differently, I would ask for help, I would do anything to avoid all of this"

"But you can't," Regina said without turning around.

"I know. I know." Emma nodded "But please believe that my apology is genuine. I loved you, Regina. I still love you. That part was never a lie"

"I don't know if I can put everything behind me, Emma," Regina said and turned around to face Emma.

"It's okay," Emma nodded sadly "You don't owe me anything, Regina"

Regina closed her eyes and let the tears fall down her beautiful face. Emma let hers fall too and suppressed the urge of leaning forward and take Regina in her arms, kiss her lips and say everything was going to be okay. That they were going to get through all of this, that they were going to make it. That the love they felt for one another was bigger and stronger than all of this crap. But how could Emma say that? How could Emma say those words to Regina when she was the one who caused all this crap, she was the one who caused all this pain? Emma felt her heart broke at every little droplet of tear that left Regina's eyes. How could she have been so careless with the heart of the woman she loved the most? How could she put Regina in the same position Lily had put her? And even if Regina did forgive her, could she ever forgive herself?

"I should go," Regina said cleaning her face with the back of her hands.

"Are you going to be okay?" Emma asked with a choked voice.

"I will," Regina nodded and even managed a weak smile.

Regina turned around and opened the cruiser's door. She put one leg out on the sidewalk but then stopped. Emma stared at her back for a few seconds, her heart racing inside her chest. She waited for Regina's next move and every second felt like hours. Emma swallowed thick as her breathing started to get erratic. When Regina turned around, she was holding something in her hand that she gave to Emma.

"Here," Regina said holding the keys in front of her "Can I trust that you will take care of my car?"

"Yes," Emma whispered.

"Then take the keys"

Emma stretched her arm to take the keys from Regina's hand and for the briefest of seconds, she felt Regina's warm skin on hers again. It had been so long since the last time she touched Regina in any way and Emma felt like she couldn't breathe as her whole body came to live at the simplest touch. She looked into Regina's eyes and they were so full of emotions, and Emma knew that this was about more than just taking her car. It was the beginning of a second chance. One that Emma wouldn't screw up.

"Call me to let me know the car was towed?" Regina asked.

"I will," Emma nodded.

"Goodnight, Emma" Regina said as she left the car.

"Goodnight, Regina"

Regina closed the door and walked inside the mansion. Emma stared at the keys in her hand crying and smiling at the same time. She put the keys inside her jacket pocket and turned the engine on to finish her rounds. Emma smiled and trapped her lower lip between her teeth as she turned on the radio and sang on the top of her lungs with the music.