As promised, the latest chapter. Enjoy! :D
Emma sat at a small, round dinner table next to Graham in his quaint but nice apartment, the lights romantically dim. He'd made a simple yet tasteful dinner she couldn't get enough of and talked with her about everything and nothing.
He tried to ask her several things about Henry and why she gave him up, but she didn't really want to talk about that part of her life. Graham backed off, but it seemed to him that anything about the blonde before she came into town was off limits as far as discussion went. He understood keeping the past a secret, especially since Regina was one to keep most things about herself to herself no matter how close Graham tried to get in order to save their relationship. A relationship Emma didn't understand.
"So...why do you even bother with Regina? Do you really think she loves you?"
"No, but I don't think I love her either."
"Then what's up with you two? She doesn't even respect you."
"I don't know. I've just felt...obedient to her, loyal, for as long I can remember."
"And you don't doubt that that's not a healthy relationship?"
"I have my doubts, but...there's just...it's like, when I'm with her I can't leave her."
"Is it pity," Emma asked, desperately trying to figure out what was so special about the Mayor.
Graham shook his head.
"No, no it's not that. I...when I go to see her, at first I feel an attraction, but then it's all on the surface. Before I know it, it's like I'm in a trance and all I can do is please her."
"Ew," Emma tried to keep down the food she'd finished a few minutes ago as she cringed at his admission.
Graham chuckled.
"Sorry. I really shouldn't be talking about being with other women during a date with someone who isn't her."
"Again, who said this was a date," Emma flashed a reassuring smile.
Graham smiled and nodded.
"So...if that's all you feel, which by the way isn't much of a feeling if you ask me, then why don't you just leave her," Emma said as she picked up her glass of wine from the table and took a sip.
"It's not that simple."
"Sure it is," Emma said after a moment as she set down her glass of wine and slowly leaned in toward Graham.
Her kiss fell on his lips sweetly, chaste and soft unlike Regina's kisses. Though her lips were also soft and delicate, he didn't feel the same connection with her as he did with Emma. He didn't feel obligated to be with the blonde. He felt wanted with Emma, not used like he realized Regina left him feeling every night that he discretely left her house.
Emma pulled away, though her kiss still lingered between them.
"Hmm," Emma hummed as she looked into his eyes.
When they met each others' gaze, Emma immediately felt guilty as much as she felt awkward. Her heart raced as she tried to figure out what to do until she tried to do the thing she was best at: run.
"I should...go," Emma hitched a thumb over her shoulder toward the door before she slowly got to her feet.
She turned and took a single step forward when Graham grabbed her wrist, causing her to stop before she took another step. She stayed completely still for a quick moment before Graham pulled her back toward him.
His force made Emma spin around to face him. He stood up and met her lips with his in one fluid movement as he wrapped one hand around her waist, his other hand slowly losing grip of her wrist. He moved that hand to cup her face, his fingers tangling in golden curls.
She clung to his shirt at his chest and held him close as he started to deepen the kiss. She felt one hand roam from her waist over her lower back, and the other down her face to her neck then down further to graze over her breast. She arched her back when the pad of his thumb ran down her nipple and pushed their stomachs flush against each other.
Their belt buckles clanged against and caught on each other as Emma and Graham moved together. Graham backed up, his hands still around Emma, and led them to the couch. He sat down and brought Emma down on top of him.
She instinctively straddled his lap, still fuzed in a kiss though it'd turned into more teeth than lips as they fell onto the couch. The sweetness as well as the passion returned though, as Emma rested her hands on Graham's shoulders, his hands squeezing her hips as he lifted her and broke their kiss.
His lips traveled to Emma's neck and made Emma whimper when his kissed her pulse point.
She tilted her head back a bit to expose more skin to him, feel a harder touch of his lips as he kissed and sucked for several minutes. She removed her right hand from his shoulder and ran it through her hair to pull her curls away from her neck and give Graham further access as she swept her center against the growing sign of affection hidden under his jeans.
She gasped as he nipped at her neck and massaged one of her breasts with his hand. She gulped as she looked up at the ceiling. It'd been a while since she'd been that close to anyone, since she'd made much physical contact with someone that wasn't job related in the field of bounty hunting.
He broke the kiss momentarily as he flipped her onto her back on the couch. He kept a hand on her knee and held it up at his waist to do two things: make sure her leg didn't fall off the couch, and keep them pressed firmly together for more friction.
He kissed her lips again and she parted her lips. He slipped his tongue past her alluring pink lips and moved against her.
She arched her back again and broke their kiss as she extended her neck once more. He took the hint and moved back to her pulse point. They stayed like that, moving together as he feverishly kissed her neck for minutes at a time.
When his fingers sunk between her tight denim jeans as he coiled his hand around her belt buckle, she shot her hand to cover his and pulled it away. Her eyes were wide open then as he moved away from her neck to look at her.
"I... We shouldn't," she breathlessly started. "You're my boss and...things could get weird. Plus, Regina..."
"You didn't care about Regina when you asked me out."
Emma shook her head.
"This is...it's moving too fast. ...I can't. I need to go."
Emma pushed him off of her and smoothed out her shirt then grabbed her jacket off the chair she left it on. She opened the door and looked over her shoulder at Graham as he remained on the couch running a hand through his hair and licking his lips.
Emma took a deep breath and left, not letting out that breath until she shut the door and took her first step toward the entrance of the building.
The next morning Mary Margaret unintentionally woke Emma on her way out the door. She was off to work and had accidentally shut a few cupboards too hard for Emma's liking at such an early hour in the day.
When Mary Margaret closed the door, it swung shut with a little more force than either woman wanted and Emma was wide awake then. She slowly sat up, felling sluggish and groggy like most mornings, especially mornings in which her sleep was interrupted.
She shuffled to the kitchen and rubbed her eyes as she tried to focus on where she was walking instead of feeling like she was stumbling through heavy clouds.
She opened the pantry and grabbed one of the two boxes of cereal then took a bowl out of one of the cabinets. She placed the bowl on the island and poured out the cereal. It barely made half a bowl and she frowned as she looked into the box to make sure it really was empty. She tossed the box into the trash and went to the fridge. She pulled out the gallon of milk that was almost completely gone and took a quick sip as she headed back to her bowl.
Immediately after the liquid touched her tongue, she placed a hand over her mouth and cringed as she rushed to the sink and spit it out. She ran the water and cupped a hand underneath the faucet then drank what little she'd collected in the one hand. She put her hand back under the faucet and collected more water that she then swished around in her mouth and spit back out, desperate to get the taste of the milk out of her mouth.
No matter how much water she consumed, the milk still lingered in the deepest corners of her mouth.
She turned off the faucet when she came to that realization and lifted the gallon of milk to eye level. She checked the expiration date printed on the side and noticed she'd just had a taste of five day old milk.
She dumped out the rest of the gallon and watched as some of it slipped out of the container like fresh milk while most of it sloshed out in clumps, clearly curdled. The wretched smell weakened Emma's gag reflex and it took all the strength she had so early in the morning to not throw up last night's dinner.
She disposed of the empty gallon and looked at the digital clock on the microwave.
7:47am.
She was supposed to be at work in forty-three minutes, but as she inspected the kitchen she noted how little she and Mary Margaret had to eat. If there even was food in the refrigerator or the pantry or even in the cupboards, at least half of it was inedible due to past expiration dates.
She groaned and figured the best course of action would be to solve that problem first. The super market didn't open until eight so she jumped into the shower to pass the time before she could head out and replenish the sad, food-less apartment.
After she dried her hair in only jeans and a black bra, she checked the time on her alarm clock while the bathroom mirror was fogged up by the steam from her shower.
8:04am.
She was running out of time. She sighed and flipped her unruly curls around a few times, trying to make herself look presentable. She grabbed he cell phone off her nightstand and sent a text to Graham.
'Might be late. Need to get a few groceries. Sorry.'
She didn't pay too much attention to the phone in wait for Graham's response as she threw on a fairly transparent white top and slid into her usual boots.
She pulled back a small portion of her hair into a loose ponytail as she allowed the rest of her hair to fall around her shoulders and drape over her chest. She looked herself over in the less foggy mirror and noticed a red and purple mark on her neck. She sighed and flicked a few strands over her chest to cover it up. She picked out her blue leather jacket from the closet and headed out the door with her car keys and wallet in hand, no purse on her shoulder and nothing in her pockets.
As she parked outside of the store, her phone buzzed with a reply from Graham.
8:20am.
She turned off her Volkswagen bug and sat in the car to read the text.
'No problem. See you when you get in.'
She shoved the phone into her jacket pocket and proceeded into the store.
She went blindly through the aisles trying to find the basics of what she and Mary Margaret needed as well searching high and low for generic brands to keep within her extremely low budget. If she'd have gone to college, she would've probably felt her voyage similar to living off a college kid's budget of Ramen noodles and other cheap pasta.
With a few items in her hand, she stared at the section of soups as she reached the end of an aisle. Without looking in front of her, she rounded the corner to make her way to the next and collided with someone.
The two of them grunted upon impact as Emma dropped her groceries and accidentally knocked an open bottle of water out of the other person's hand. Everything landed on the titled floor in a wet mess and immediately, they both reached down to retrieve their things before taking notice of the other person's identity.
"I'm sorry," Emma started as she crouched down and reached for the water first. Her hand met the other person's hand and the two finally looked up at each other.
"Oh," Emma said as she immediately took her hand back.
Regina looked over at her with a clenched jaw and slightly pursed lips, her eyes intensely locked on Emma's.
"Of course it's you," Regina growled as she picked up her water before much of it could escape from the bottle.
She stood up and Emma followed her with her eyes, never breaking their gaze.
Emma couldn't think of anything to say. Even if she apologized, she knew it wouldn't help. She'd gone out with Graham the previous night even after Regina warned her to stay away. She knew Regina knew she'd done it and a simple apology wouldn't get her out of the dog house with the brunette no matter how many times she said the words.
But Emma didn't feel like she had much to apologize for anyway. She'd purposely defied Regina's orders and got the exact reaction she wanted out of the Mayor. There was no taking it back even if she felt it was the right thing to do.
"Relax," Emma decided to go in a more forceful, unapologetic direction with her tone of voice as well as her actions as she picked up her things. "It's just water. I'm sure you've got plenty at home."
When she looked back up at Regina, she suddenly realized how tired and drained Regina appeared, still presentable but probably in need of that water.
Regina used the hem of her shirt to wipe off the rim of the water bottle and took a long sip from it. Without realizing it, Regina's eyes wandered down Emma's body and took notice of the black bra she could make out through the thin, white fabric of the younger woman's shirt.
"You should watch where you're going, Miss Swan," Regina bitterly managed after she swallowed and lowered the water from her mouth, a basket with a few items resting on her right forearm.
Emma grabbed the last grocery she'd lost control of and flipped her hair with a swivel of her head to get a few rogue strands out of her face.
In the process she uncovered the right side of her neck and drew Regina's eyes to Emma's fresh hickey.
Regina's lips parted as she stared at it for a moment before Emma realized what the problem was, feeling the the cold air from the nearby produce section run across her exposed neck.
Emma's eyes went wide as Regina looked from the hickey to Emma with an angry glint in her dark, coal-like eyes. Emma hadn't known Regina long, but she'd seen enough of the woman to know her eyes were hazel and not normally the near pitch black they were at that moment.
"Uh, I've got to go," Emma awkwardly said as she scrambled out of Regina's way and hurried to the register, not getting everything she'd planned to when she left the apartment.
Regina let out a slow sigh through her nose as she clenched her fist around her water and crushed it, the rest of the water inside splashing out over the top of the recycled plastic. She looked pale and sickly, but she no longer felt that way as rage boiled in the pit of her stomach.
Emma didn't want to run away from Regina. She wanted to upset the brunette, but the look in Regina's eyes sent shivers down her spine. She couldn't help but do what she was used to, what she almost did last night at Graham's before he pulled her into a kiss and got her to stay longer than intended.
She bought her pathetic amount of groceries and dropped them off at the apartment before she grabbed one of her newly purchased Pop Tarts and a can of soda that had already started to warm up by the time she headed to the station.
She walked in with a worried though less shocked expression, Graham sitting at her desk.
"Hey," Graham happily greeted before he saw the look on Emma's face. "What's wrong?"
"Regina."
Graham frowned.
"It's not even nine o'clock. How is she already a problem?"
"I ran into her at the store."
"Oh."
"But running into her wasn't the problem. This," Emma said as she swept her hair behind her shoulders to show him the hickey. "Was the problem."
"Oh," he said in more of an "ah-ha" way that time, but kept calm. "It'll be fine."
"Really, because right now it's a nightmare."
Graham got up from her desk and grabbed a doughnut from a box Emma had failed to notice until his hand slipped inside it.
He walked over to her and placed his left arm on her bicep as he held out a bear claw. The doughnut was inches from her mouth as he smiled and kept it in reach while he tried to calm her down.
"You're tough. Tougher than Regina because she has to hide behind her job title. You fight everyday in ways Regina never has to. You're better than her. ...Now eat the bear claw. It'll make you feel better."
Emma slowly smiled as she took the doughnut between her index finger and thumb.
"You don't know that it'll help," Emma made her eyes into slits as she grinned up at him then took a bite.
"Last night I asked you if you had a habit of bringing donuts for breakfast and not real food, you said donuts are real food. I also noticed that you get a few different kinds of donuts but only seem to go after the bear claws. If a bear claw doesn't make you feel better, I doubt much else will."
Emma laughed.
"Nice to know after twenty-eight years and all the people I've talked to, you listen," she sweetly said before she took another bite of the doughnut.
Graham smiled again and lowered his hand from her bicep to her hip and pulled her against him. He kissed her seconds after she'd managed to swallow and shared the sugary taste of the bear claw with her.
They kept the kiss short but lingering as they broke it and smiled at each other, still close.
Without warning, the door to the station burst open and Regina sauntered in like she owned the place, which, even though she was Mayor, she didn't own anything in the town. Mr. Gold did.
"Graham," Regina practically barked as she kept a fist clenched around her purse strap.
Emma immediately tensed at the sound of her demanding tone.
Graham's chest deflated in a silent sigh as he directed his attention to the brunette behind Emma.
"Yes, Regina."
"I have a bit of problem and I need your help."
"My help specifically? Why not Emma?"
Emma tried not to scoff as she dropped her jaw and stared up at Graham with wide eyes.
When Graham looked down at her, she mouthed, "Unbelievable."
Graham grinned as he stifled a chuckle then looked back over at Regina.
"No, Miss Swan couldn't assist me even if this was something anyone else but you could handle," Regina quipped.
Emma smirked. She liked that personal attack for two reasons. One, she enjoyed the thought of Regina's face after proving her wrong and two, it flat out stated that Emma was beneath even Regina's messes.
Well played, Emma thought.
"You could've called," Graham said as he stepped around Emma, which caused the blonde to follow him.
She turned and faced Regina to keep close to and involved with Graham.
"I thought the situation would be best discussed in the car on the way to my office," Regina said before her eyes strayed to Emma.
Something about the way the brunette stared at her brought back her confidence. The Emma that fled the super market not too long ago was gone and the confrontational Emma was in the building.
She freed what hair had been swept into a ponytail and ran her hand through her curly locks, exposing her hickey as she moved to stand by Graham.
"You should go. Regina clearly needs an extra pair of hands and I think yours are right for any job," Emma said as she looked from Graham to Regina.
Regina felt her heart pound harder in her chest as her blood started to rise. Emma had successfully gotten under her skin once again.
Graham remained oblivious to the war between the two women and furrowed his brow as he contemplated what to do.
"Can you take over for a while," Graham asked Emma after he took a moment to look Regina over.
Emma nodded.
Graham looked at the mark he'd made on her neck and flashed a subtle smile. He took her hand in his and gently squeezed.
"Thanks," he said before he let go of her hand and walked in Regina's direction.
Regina smiled at him and waited for him to pass her before she looked at Emma with darkened eyes.
Emma stood tall, defiant, and grinned like she knew she'd won that round.
Regina turned on her heel and followed Graham out, unable to say anything to Emma with him in earshot.
Instead, she dragged Graham away from Emma and brought him into her office. She locked the door and told her receptionist to hold her calls for the day, trapping Graham into pleasing her once again.
At that point, she wasn't using him to feel satisfied. She used him to get back at Emma. After all the times she'd used him for his body, though, the weaker she would get when she wasn't getting laid.
As she stripped him, her eyes flashed purple like they had a few times before when she was with him. Her honey-crisp apple tree showed signs of decay in the yard behind the building until she threw her head back in pleasure. Graham fully submitted to her will, giving her everything she needed, the apples went from brown to red in a matter of seconds.
Her eyes glowed for a longer period of time as the color returned to her face and her nails clawed his exposed chest, raking down to his abs the brighter the apples became and stronger her eyes glowed.
She felt a surge of power rush through her and reveled in the new found energy she had.
After a couple hours, Emma spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to forward all the station's calls to her cell. She'd finished all the bear claws about forty minutes after Graham left with Regina and couldn't bare another minute without something more substantial in her stomach.
She grabbed her jacket off the back of her desk chair and made sure to lock up behind herself when she left. She sent Graham a quick text to let him know all of that and headed over to Granny's for a bite to eat.
Ruby flashed her incisors in a large smile when she saw Emma walk through the diner door. She finished topping off a customer's cup of coffee and went back behind the counter.
Emma smiled back at Ruby as she took a seat in the far corner of the bar, closest to the door, and waited for the woman with the red streak in her hair to approach her.
Ruby replaced the coffee pot back under the filter of the machine and strode over to Emma in a few hip swaying steps.
"Hey, Ruby," Emma nearly laughed as the brunette set her palms face down on the counter top and knowingly smiled at Emma.
"Hey, new friend. You're really stirring up trouble around here."
"Am I."
Ruby nodded.
"You're all anyone can talk about lately."
"And what are they saying?"
"Oh, just that you're new to town and you've already got a death wish."
Emma shook her head and chortled.
"People think you're crazy for standing in Regina's way. No one knows what the real problem is between you too, but everyone's noticed the death glares that woman gives you. Plus, we all know you're Henry's real mom."
"Birth mom," Emma corrected. "Biological but not 'real' mom."
Ruby frowned.
"Don't get me wrong," Emma quickly defended. "That kid's growing on me, but Regina's the one that's done all the mothering. I haven't been in his life for more than three days. I don't qualify as his real mom."
"Oh, no. She's gotten to you," Ruby said.
"What? Who?"
"Regina. She has you thinking she's his real mother, doesn't she."
Emma shook her head.
"No, I knew what I was doing when I gave him up for adoption. I couldn't take care of myself let alone a little boy so I gave him a chance, his best chance."
"Uh, we are talking about Regina, right? The Mayor of this depressed little town? She's not his best chance by a long shot."
"Ruby-"
"No, I'm not trying to start a fight...with you or her. But I don't really agree that she's what's best for him."
"He's been fine so far, right? No trouble at school, not getting into any fights? ...He's not like me?"
Ruby's jaw dropped as she sympathetically looked at Emma.
"That's what you want for him? You think his best chance is not growing up to be like you?"
Emma stared silently at Ruby for a moment then nodded and looked down at the counter top.
"Oh, Emma. Whatever part of you you're afraid of him becoming, I haven't seen it. For not knowing Henry very well, you brought him back to Storybrooke and you could've just left. But you didn't. You could've gone in the middle of the night without saying goodbye."
"I did. I just...he left his book in my car and I had to-"
"But you stayed," Ruby cut her off. "It doesn't matter that you were leaving town. You said he left his book with you? You could've mailed it."
"Why does everyone keep saying that? I didn't know Regina's address and it's not like we exchanged phone numbers after we met."
"But that wasn't your only option. You returned the book, right? Mary Margaret said you could live with her and then Graham offered you a job. Both offers you could've easily turned down, but you didn't. You stayed."
Emma slowly smiled as she took a deep breath and nodded.
"Thanks, Ruby."
Ruby smiled.
"No problem. I only spoke the truth."
Emma puffed out a sigh and scooped up her hair. She tossed it behind her shoulders without thinking until Ruby gasped then grinned.
"Oh my god," Ruby excitedly stated as she looked from Emma's neck to her face. "That's a hickey!"
Ruby slowly reached out to touch it.
"Shh," Emma said as she covered it with her hair and grabbed Ruby's hand before it got any closer to her neck.
"Who's fine oral work is that," Ruby asked as she took her hand back from Emma and leaned over the counter.
"I...was with Graham last night," Emma confessed after a short moment.
"Scandalous! Tell me everything."
"We didn't do anything," Emma said. "We kissed...a few times."
"Yeah right," Ruby laughed. "You don't get a hickey by just kissing a few times. What else?"
"I'm serious. We kissed. That was it."
"Really," Ruby suddenly seemed less interested and a little bummed.
"Well, it's not like they were harmless, tiny kisses," Emma hinted.
Ruby grinned, revealing her sharp incisors once again with her trademark wolf grin.
"I knew it. Emma Swan, you are a slut," she joked with the blonde.
Emma chuckled.
"I should probably get back to the station. This isn't an official lunch break so if Graham gets back before I do it could be bad news."
"Please. If that happens, all you've gotta do is show a little cleavage. Bend over to pick up a pencil or something and give him a good view," Ruby informed her like she'd done it a hundred times.
Emma chortled.
"I'll see you later, Ruby. Thanks for the talk."
"Any time."
Emma headed back to the station, half expecting Graham to be in his office staring down at mundane paperwork, but she spotted Henry waiting outside the station doors instead.
"Kid! What are you doing here?"
"I tried to wait inside, but the doors are locked," he said as Emma walked toward him.
"Don't you have school?"
"Of course. I'm only ten."
"Then why aren't you there?"
"Because I wanted to see you."
"Okay, but you can do that after school."
Henry shook his head.
"No. This way my mom doesn't have to know we're hanging out together."
"Oh, so you just want to hide this from her."
"Yeah."
"That's not okay, Henry, especially if you're gonna miss school to do it."
"I have to make sure my mom doesn't know I'm with you because she can do way more than anyone thinks."
"What do you mean?"
"I think she can use magic here. When she cursed the kingdom, there wasn't supposed to be any magic in the other world."
"Not this again," Emma grumbled.
"But the other night when Graham came over...I heard something."
Emma's eyes widened.
"Uh, yeah...Henry, that's not magic, that's, uh-"
"No, I'm telling you it's magic. Every time I heard a noise, the lights flickered."
Emma was thoroughly confused, though she was still pretty sure Henry had heard Regina and Graham having sex.
"Henry, I'm sure there's just something wrong with the circuit breaker. Some faulty or crossed wires. Anything but magic."
Henry shook his head.
"Fine. Don't believe me, but I know what I saw."
"That's what I'm worried about. Come on, back to school," Emma led Henry out to her car.
"My mom can use magic. I don't know how, but she can. She has. Ask Graham. She only uses it when he's at the house at night as far as I can tell."
Emma furrowed her brow and frowned as she thought about it for a moment.
She shook her head as she freed the thought from her mind and drove Henry back to school.
After Emma had returned from taking Henry back, Graham had finally managed to beat her back to the station. They didn't talk about what he'd done while he was with Regina because Emma had a well-developed guess in mind.
Instead, the two of them worked quietly for the next few hours. Closer to dinner time, Emma finally decided to speak up. She got up from her desk and stood in the doorway to Graham's office, his door open in case he was needed.
"Listen, I don't want to know what happened between you and Regina today because...it's not any of my business. I just think...we can still talk...about other stuff."
"I honestly couldn't tell you what happened today even if I wanted to talk about it. Everything happened so fast...I didn't have time to process how I felt about being with her. I just...I like being with you. Last night was...it was the first time in a long time I actually enjoyed myself."
"Thanks," Emma awkwardly formed the word into a question, unsure how she was supposed to interpret his admission.
"Not necessarily sexually either," Graham clarified with a smile. "Generally speaking. Spending time with you, I feel...relaxed, happy."
Emma smiled as she then looked down at her boots, shifting from one foot to the other.
Graham smirked as he got up from his desk and walked to the doorway, admiring the cute side of Emma that stood in front of him.
"And...how exactly did I make you happy," Emma coyly smiled as she slowly looked up at him, taking in his full frame from his shoes to his eyes.
"Why don't I remind you," he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss.
After a chaste kiss, Emma parted her lips and Graham slid his tongue past them. The instant her chest expanded against his, a flash of memory came back to him, something from his distant past.
He saw himself hunting a wolf, but instead of killing it when he had the chance he looked into its eyes.
The wolf led him through a forest. Graham could feel himself approaching something he felt he'd been missing for a while, but couldn't put his finger on what it was he'd missed.
The more he kissed and touched Emma, the more he remembered. He pressed her against the door frame and sandwiched her between it and himself. He tangled a hand in her hair and kissed her harder.
He could hear a distinct beating in his ear the closer he got to his final destination when following the wolf. Stuck between his past and the present, he felt Emma's heart beat against his warming skin as he saw a special identifying mark above a mausoleum. The wolf stood still in front of the place as an indication that Graham had found what he'd been searching for.
Suddenly, he saw a hand reach into his chest and rip his heart out. His heart glowed in the hands of someone he couldn't recognize, but he didn't think that mattered when he realized not only what he was missing, but where it was.
He pushed away from Emma and took in a deep breath, wide eyed out of shock.
"Graham? What is it? What's wrong," Emma asked as she furrowed her brow.
"My heart."
"Wha- Are you okay," Emma started to panic as she reached out to touch his chest.
"I remember. Someone took my heart and I finally know where it is," he said as he started to look unwell, a little deranged as he headed for the exit.
"What," Emma asked, unable to make any sense out of what Graham had said.
Graham flew out of the station like a bat out of hell and ran full force to the cemetery.
Emma blindly followed him, concerned about the crazy look in his eyes as he took off. She was afraid of what he might do or what accident he could get into with his confusing tunnel vision. It was the only thing she understood out of his babbling. He was out to find his heart and that seemed to be the only thing he was aware of.
Within a few minutes, Emma was out of breath a few feet behind Graham as he stood before the mausoleum, the unique circular symbol he'd seen in his vision marking the location.
"It's here. I can feel it. This is where..." he trailed off as Emma took his hand in hers.
"Graham..."
He pushed forward, slipping right out of Emma's gentle grip, lost in his thoughts.
She frowned, but followed him inside.
"It's got to be in here," he said as he frantically tried to open the rectangular cement shaped like the drawers he'd seen in his vision. "I know it's here!"
"Graham, please. There's nothing here. Let's just go, okay?"
Graham tried to calm down. He took a few deep breaths as his pupils returned to their normal size. When he finally started to relax, he nodded then looked up at Emma.
After a moment of looking into her eyes as she reassuringly smiled at him, he pulled her into a kiss.
Her eyebrows shot into her hairline though she'd closed her eyes and accepted the kiss.
"Thank you," he said after he broke their kiss.
"Mhmm," Emma barely managed to say looking like a deer caught in headlights as she held her fingers less than inch from her lips.
Graham took the hand she kept at her side and guided her out of the mausoleum. Along the short way, Emma dropped her other hand to her side seconds before they emerged from the confined area.
"Well, if it isn't Romeo and Juliet," Regina harshly said as Graham stopped himself and Emma before they nearly collided with her.
"What are you doing here," Graham asked.
"Bring flowers to my father's gave," Regina angrily stated as she raised the flowers up to her chest as proof. "Like I do every Wednesday. I don't suppose you two came here for the same thing."
"Don't blame her," Graham started as he approached the brunette. "I wanted to look in there."
"Really? Why? ….What were you looking for?"
Graham paused before answering.
"Nothing."
Emma rolled her eyes and came to stand by Graham.
"Really, it was nothing."
"You don't look well," Regina looked him over. "Let's take you home."
Regina took Graham by the hand and led him away from the mausoleum, but Graham refused.
"I-I don't want to go home," he said as he pulled his hand out of Regina's grasp. "Not with you."
Emma's jaw dropped and her eyes widened as surprised as Regina at that point. She quickly looked from Graham to Regina.
"Oh? But you'll go with her."
Regina growled as she kept her eyes fixed on Graham.
"Hey, this is between you two," Emma spoke up, hands in her jacket pockets. "Leave me out of it."
Regina slowly looked over at Emma, the blonde tempting fate as far as Regina was concerned.
"She's right," Graham defended. "It's between us and things have changed."
"And I wonder why that is all of a sudden," Regina said as she looked back at Graham and stepped closer to him.
"It has nothing to do with her. You know, I realized that I don't feel anything, Regina? And I know now it's not me. It's you."
"So you're leaving me for her."
"I'm leaving you for me."
Emma was shocked but happy Graham had stood up to her. She was glad to not be the only one with the balls to stand up to the high and mighty Regina.
"Graham, you're not thinking straight," Regina softened her tone as she attempted to close the space between them.
"Actually, for the first time I am. I'd rather have nothing than settle for less. Nothing is better than what we have."
Regina's eyes were watery though she loathed showing weakness. The worst part about the things Graham said to her was that he'd said it in front of Emma. If it had just been her alone in a room with him, it would still hurt to hear those things, but at least she wouldn't be humiliated in front of someone she wanted to control.
"I need to feel, Regina, and the way to do that is to give myself a chance," Graham continued.
Emma smiled for a fleeting second.
Regina reached out and touched his chest, but the instant her fingertips felt the fabric of his shirt, he pulled back.
"I'm sorry. ...It's over."
Regina took a step back and lightly scoffed.
Emma took a subtle deep breath as she kept her eyes on Graham.
When Graham looked back at Emma, it set the older woman off.
"I don't know what I ever did to you, Miss Swan, to deserve this," Regina started to play the victim but maintain the upper hand. "To keep coming after everything I hold dear."
"I told you it's not her," Graham tried to explain once again.
"None of this happened until she got here," her commanding voice returned as she couldn't even bare to look at Graham.
"I'm sorry, have you ever started to think that maybe the problem isn't with me, but with you," Emma defended herself, her hands now on her hips as opposed to in her pockets.
"Excuse me," Regina asked in a low tone as she looked over at Emma.
"Henry came and found me," Emma started as she walked behind Graham and stopped to stand on his other side, closer to Regina.
"Graham kissed me," she started to grin.
She didn't know what had gotten into her, but Emma knew what she was about to say would get Regina back for her comments made during dinner when all she wanted to do was spend time with Henry. She knew it would inspire more than an angry look in Regina's eyes.
"Both were miserable. Maybe, Madame Mayor, you need to take a good hard look in the mirror and ask yourself why that is? Why is everyone running away from you."
Regina flashed Emma a brief grin then threw one hard punch and hit Emma in the face.
Emma fell onto Graham and sent him to the ground. She pushed off of him, never falling to ground, and took a quick breath as she turned back to Regina. She spent less than a second staring at Regina and didn't hold back as she returned the punch.
Regina grunted as the force of Emma's fist turned her around, her back to the blonde.
Emma liked how it felt to finally make one of their fights physical. She didn't understand why that was since she'd only had so many arguments with the woman, but it felt good to get even.
Without another thought, Emma grabbed Regina from behind and spun her around. She slammed the older woman against the mausoleum wall and prepared to hit Regina again.
Graham finally stepped in and pulled her off Regina, but the blonde was ready to go. She wanted the fight. She was raised for the fight, always having to defend herself from a very young age.
She turned her body every which way as Graham held her at her shoulders, a firm grip she needed to break out of. She elbowed him in the chest as Regina moved away from the wall and sent Graham down on his knees coughing.
Emma yelled as she lunged at Regina and threw her against the wall again.
Regina hit the wall with a grunt and tried to protectively raise her hands, but Emma was too quick.
The blonde threw another punch, but decided to hit Regina in the stomach. But as the brunette squirmed against her, Emma ended up hitting Regina's ribs.
Regina yelped as she keeled over and held her injured side. With the limited distance between them, her face came daringly close to Emma's breasts.
"You want a fight," Emma growled in Regina's ear, panting. "Whatever you want, Regina. I'll give you a good time."
Regina charged Emma like a football player and tackled her to the ground.
Emma landed on her back with a thud, her curls carelessly falling around her face as the air left her lungs.
Regina straddled Emma's stomach and wrapped her hand around the blonde's tender neck.
Emma scrunched up her face as she felt Regina increase the pressure on her windpipe. She instinctively clawed at Regina's hands in order to breathe again, but her strength was dwindling as her vision went dark from the lack of oxygen.
She faintly heard a cough before her neck was jolted to the side and air refilled her lungs. She took too deep a breath and coughed as she slowly sat up, her fingertips gently resting on her neck as she looked over at Regina.
Graham wrapped the brunette in his arms in a position close to a headlock as Regina gradually gave up fighting for freedom.
Regina regained control of her breathing and glared at Emma with dark eyes.
Emma didn't recognize the look on Regina, but she could feel the aggression flow from the brunette to her as Graham kept them separated.
Emma used both hands to push herself off the ground and onto her feet. She wobbled a bit once she stood up, but she didn't let it slow her down as she approached Regina in her vulnerable state in Graham's arms.
"You got lucky, Miss Swan," Regina spoke before Emma had the chance.
"When and where, Regina," Emma shook her head. "Just say the word and I'll take you on."
"Emma," Graham warned.
Emma didn't pay him any attention as she invaded Regina's personal space. She looked at Regina's bloody bottom lip.
Graham slowly let go of Regina and the two of them breathed the same air of their own accord.
Emma lifted her right index to Regina's swollen lip and roughly ran her finger across it.
Regina winced.
Emma had transferred the blood onto her finger and showed it to Regina before she licked it clean.
Regina's heart pounded a little harder in chest as she watched, but not out of anger that time. Something else. Excitement.
Emma grinned as she brought her hand back down to her side then turned and walked away.
Graham watched Emma take a few steps before Regina snatched her flattened flowers off the ground.
She made a sound of discomfort as she bent over, but turned to Graham after a moment of watching Emma leave.
"Graham?"
Graham looked back at Regina as she took a step closer to him, but he didn't want anything to do with her. Instead, he followed after Emma and left Regina with mixed feelings swirling around inside of her like when adding and blending ingredients to a potion.
Graham made it back to the station less than a minute after Emma. The blonde had already grabbed the First Aid Kit, but hadn't started to do much with it before he joined her in the work room.
"Here," he offered as he approached her. "Let me help."
He stood in front of her as she sat down on the edge of her desk.
He took the gauze out of Emma's hand and dampened it with Neosporin. He applied it to her face just below her left eyebrow, split and bleeding skin caused by Regina's ring near her already present scar.
Emma hissed as the anti-bacterial stung her.
"Sorry," Graham apologized.
"Why? You're not the one that hit me," she said, her voice raspy and strained.
Graham applied a little more pressure to thoroughly clean the wound and protect it against infection.
"Ow," Emma tensed and pulled away from him.
While Graham tended to her wounds, Regina walked into the mausoleum and stared down at her father's final resting place. She set the flowers on top of the concrete surface and took a deep breath before she pushed it out of the way.
She dusted off her hands and composed herself before she walked down the stairs beneath the mausoleum floor. She was in no rush to do what she was about to do, tears forming in her eyes as she thought about her father and her former finance Daniel from her old life. The two people most important to her back then, both suffering the same fate though at different hands. She couldn't deny the similarities between herself and the person that took Daniel from her, but she could see the differences between what happened to Daniel and her father to the situation she faced in Storybrooke.
Graham handed Emma a bag of ice he'd collected from the small ice machine by the water cooler. She carefully held it against the side of her left eye to keep the swelling down, a black eye inevitable after the beating she took.
"Thanks," Emma winced under the cold and jagged feel of the ice against a then sensitive part of her body.
"I can't believe you hit her," Graham started as he thought about it.
"Yeah, well, I was getting really tired of her thinking I can't handle her uptight and privileged ass," Emma softly replied, her voice gravelly at that point.
Graham smiled at her.
She smiled back and lowered the bag of ice.
"What," she innocently asked.
He closed the little space between them and placed his hand under her forearm. He sweetly guided her to her feet and leaned in to kiss her.
Regina opened one of the several drawers lining the wall underground. She lifted the box from inside and lowered it to chest level. She grinned as she took the glowing heart out of the box and held it in her hands.
Her grin slowly faded as she turned the heart from one side to the next, inspecting it. All she wanted was for someone to love her, someone to want her and need her after all she'd lost. It'd been a lonely twenty-eight years since she'd invoked the dark curse, though she'd been lonely long before then.
Just as she'd collected hearts, they were never enough to sustain the emptiness she felt in hers. She'd been warned about that before she took back the curse from an old friend, but she refused to listen. She'd been desperate to win, desperate to feel something other than anger and sorrow.
As she stared at the heart in her hands, a few tears streamed down her cheeks leaving salted streaks on her face.
She took a deep breath and squeezed.
Graham's lips had just touched Emma's as the two of them decided to move slower than they had when they'd first kissed. Though their lips were parted, they kept their tongues to themselves even as Graham initiated a second kiss.
Emma broke their kiss but kept her lips close to his.
Her hot breath on his skin made Graham brush his lips against hers, though careful not to anything more. Not yet.
After Emma's breath hitched at the soft touch of their lips hardly making any contact, he pressed his lips to hers in an actual kiss.
Regina's grip on the heart started off faint and grew until her delicate hand turned into an organ-crushing fist. Blood stained her smooth, blemish-free face from her bottom lip halfway down to her chin. The heart glowed redder the tighter she held it.
Graham suddenly felt a pain in his chest and rushed a hand to it in desperation to stop the sharp torture as he threw himself backward, away from Emma.
"Graham? Graham," Emma panicked as she reached out to help him.
Graham collapsed to the floor, his entire body going numb as he got down on his knees and then curled forward to land on his left side.
"Graham!"
Emma's eyes started to water.
She turned him onto his back as he slowly closed his eyes, taking his last breath in Emma's arms.
Regina had reduced the heart to ashes and let them sift from her hands to the hard, filthy floor as she unclenched her fist. She turned her wrist to hold her palm face down over the floor and stared at the mess she'd made as it lay in a lifeless pile in front of her.
Emma checked Graham's pulse and immediately pressed an ear to his chest when she couldn't find one. Hysterically, she cried out his name and hoped she'd feel a heart beat but never did.
She sniffled as her voice died out, too much stress on her vocal chords in such a short period of time, and rested her back in defeat against the front of her desk. She sobbed as she held Graham against her, his head in her arm and neck in her lap.
She didn't understand what had happened and got lost in her tears as she cried until she could no longer breathe.
Everything went dark for her as she felt his heavy body on top of her, knowing that no life remained within it.
Thanks for reading. Please review. Hopefully I can get the next update posted by next weekend, but this month suddenly became an extremely busy one for me.