A/N: Hello! Thanks again for following this, it means a lot. Don't forget to keep the reviews coming in, even if it's only a couple of words! This chapter earns a little more of it's rating, and the section in bold is a dream sequence.

Enjoy!

Hush, baby don't cry

Just get through this night

Overcome

Cause all that you are

Is broken inside

But they'll never know

They'll never know

-Ross Copperman, They'll Never Know

"So work was good?"

The two women were sat opposite each other at Regina's dining table, Emma feeling uncomfortable at the formal nature of their meal compared to their usual affairs.

"Same old, same old." Emma responded between mouthfuls of lasagne. "You know, this is awesome."

"I'm glad, dear. I had no idea what I was doing, I seemed to be doing everything automatically. But as long as you like it.." Regina smiled reluctantly, obviously as tense as Emma was.

"I do." Emma grinned back, until yet another uncomfortable silence overtook the table. "Regina… what's wrong?"

"Nothing, dear. Other than the usual." Regina attempted another smile that didn't reach her eyes, poking food around her plate.

"I'm worried about you. You're so… down."

"This is the best I can manage at the moment." Regina got up and removed their plates, before Emma could tell her she wasn't finished.

"Regina, put those down…"

"No, I'm fine." Regina raised her voice, and Emma saw a spark fly through her hands, sending the plates flying to the floor, crashing around her. The brunette gasped in pain at what felt like burning on her fingertips, and fell to her knees, defeated. She slowly began to collect the larger bits of debris until a wave of nausea hit her and she was incapable of doing anything other than sink further into the ground.

"I told you…"

"Yes, I know you TOLD me. Can I not even do one thing for myself anymore? Can I not even make it through an evening without completely falling apart?" Regina bowed her head as sobs once again wracked her body.

Emma knelt beside her, amongst the broken plates, and rested an awkward hand on a bony, pale shoulder. Regina was always so pale now.

"Do you want me to give you some space? I could go out, or I could have a nap.."

"Thank you." Regina accepted Emma's invitation, and Emma walked away limping, slivers of ceramic slicing into her legs.

Another day, another battle. This is the mantra that was running round and round Emma's head as she peeled herself out of her jeans in the bathroom. Her legs, especially the left, were covered in blood. She began to pick the larger pieces of plate from the cuts, and couldn't help but think about the conflicting feelings she had about Regina's state of mind.

As twisted as it was, she liked the feeling of being needed. For the first time in a very long time, she felt useful. Somebody relied on her. Henry was doing perfectly fine without her, and so were her parents and brother, and the sheriff's station. But here, with Regina, she had a purpose. She knew that if she left, she'd be missed, and that made her want to stick around even more.

On the other hand, Regina was ill. She had serious issues, and Emma felt physically sick at the idea that she might be appreciating it for her own selfish reasons. Regina needed help, there was no doubt about that. She had to accept that, and, if it meant giving Regina space, or eventually leaving her, then so be it.

Unable to face Regina, Emma spent the rest of the evening in the bathroom, cleaning up her legs and having a long bath, only getting out when the water pooled cold around her.

After a few minutes of deliberation, she entered the bedroom with trepidation, and tip-toed up to the bed, thankfully finding Regina to still be awake.

"Regina… do you want me to sleep in the guest room?" Emma whispered to her, trying to gauge the woman's expression in the darkness.

"No, get into bed. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise." Emma settled down under the covers, and prayed that the nightmares tonight would be few and far between.

This had happened before, she was sure. Regina opened the door, and was greeted by Emma Swan, burning with rage and with hatred in her eyes.

"Sheriff Swan. What are you doing here?" Regina looked at the woman, confused, but Emma seemed to almost look straight through her to the darkness beneath.

"Henry invited me."

This hit Regina like a sucker punch to the gut. "Do you honestly believe I'd allow you into my house, for dinner, after all the threats you made to my family?"

"I didn't come for dinner."

Regina's breath caught in her throat. "Then what did you come for?"

"You."

Regina remembered how this nightmare happened last time, with what she assumed to be the whole town tying her up, but this time was different.

After Regina checked behind her and found Henry to be nowhere to be seen, Emma barged past her into the house, shutting the door firmly behind her and pressing Regina up against it. Emma took a moment to shift her gaze from Regina's eyes to her slightly open mouth, and without pausing, the woman pressed her lips firmly onto Regina's, sucking the air from Regina's lungs. Taking a second to consider what was happening, Regina was soon returning the kiss, pulling Emma's face violently so it was as close to hers as possible, as Emma grabbed at Regina's arms and kept her pressed against the door.

Emma pressed a leg inbetween Regina's, lifting her thigh up forcefully to press on Regina's center. Regina gasped at the action, and began to pull off Emma's leather jacket. As they continued to kiss, however, and Emma took a hand from Regina's neck and pressed it to the base of her spine, she noticed she wasn't able to catch her breath. It was as if her chest was bearing a heavy weight, and the more Emma kissed her the more it pressed down on her.

She pulled away from Emma's lips, and it subsided a little as Emma began to unbutton Regina's shirt. Testing what she was now thinking, Regina lifted Emma's face to once again meet hers, and kissed her passionately, feeling yet more of her breath leaving her body. Emma was literally taking her breath away. As Emma once again pulled their faces apart, this time to plant desperate kisses onto Regina's neck, Regina continued to lose her breath.

She began to panic, and choke, and Emma opened her mouth wide and laughed heartily as Regina fell to the floor, convulsing under the invisible weight.

Emma woke as Regina suddenly sat bolt upright in bed, panting for air.

"Hey, its okay." Emma went to touch Regina's hair, but the woman shrunk away from her touch. "Another dream about me, huh?"

"Yes. In a way." Regina spent a few seconds getting her breathing back to normal before lying carefully back down. It was worrying to Emma how much of a routine they'd got into with Regina waking up sweating in the middle of the night, and how accustomed they had become to settling back down after.

Emma checked the clock; 3:18am. "Are you gonna get back to sleep? I might go for a run or something, I wont be able to get back down now."

"Could you… stay?"

Emma hadn't been expecting this. Normally, if Regina had a nightmare, especially involving her, she would be the first to suggest that Emma leave.

"Of course I could, if you want me to."

"That thing you do. When you reassure me. Could you… do that?" the sleep deprivation was clearly getting to Regina, and her words sounded as jumbled and confused as were her thoughts.

"Where I tell you all ridiculous things about myself? I'm sure I could do that."

The two women settled back down, and Emma began to tell Regina stories about both herself and her family. The hilarious, the unbelievable, the mundane. As she told Regina stories from their own old relationship together (Emma considered their relationship to have started afresh), her friend's face became more and more engaged. She would smile along to the stories, laughing a few times, and even, on one occasion, let out a snort and a "That sounds like me." The old Regina had almost become another figure in their relationship, just as dream-Emma was.

At one point, the leg of Emma's pyjamas rolled up, and Regina became aware of the cuts covering her.

"Because of me." she whispers simply, as if she had come to terms with the destruction she thought she was causing, and began running a hand over the bandages Emma had haphazardly placed on herself.

"Don't." is all Emma has to respond, because she knows that Regina is right, but has no way to comfort her in that.

"Let me do this again for you, properly." Regina sniffs and gets out of bed purposefully, and after Emma directs her to her first aid kit, Regina returns with the box and begins to unwrap Emma's legs.

"You don't deserve this." Regina sighs, avoiding Emma's eyes in a way she has became so adept at, despite being only inches from her face.

"You've said that before." Emma winces as Regina rubs her wounds clean.

"I mean it."

"What, and you do deserve it?" Emma questioned.

"Perhaps." Regina shrugged too easily for the words that were coming out of her mouth. "Perhaps I do. Maybe I committed… unspeakable things, and this is some form of karmic punishment. Only what I deserve."

Emma implored herself to tread carefully. "I know these dreams, this… whole situation, has seriously done a number on you. But do you really think that about yourself?"

"I don't know what to think. That's the problem." Regina admitted, as she began to wrap a bandage tightly around the worst affected area of Emma's leg. "It seems I have a problem with catastrophising when there isn't an alternative."

"You know, it doesn't mean feelings are unjustified, just because there's nothing to back them up. Even the happiest-seeming people can be suffering inside. It doesn't make their pain any less worthy than anyone else's."

"Dr Hopper should take you on as a therapist." Regina smiled loosely at Emma, and patted Emma's leg as she finished.

"Growing up in group homes, you see a lot of lost, upset people. Hell, I was one of them." Emma got back under the covers and turned to lie on her side facing Regina. "But I tend to leave the important stuff to the professionals. Which is why, first thing tomorrow, or in a few hours at least, I'm taking you down to see Archie. No arguments."

"Okay." Regina conceded, attempting once more to sleep.