Here's a pretty long chapter for everyone!

Thanks for the reviews 3 I appreciate everyone one of you that reads, reviews, follows, and favorite this story. It motivates me to keep writing!

This is a continuation from the previous chapter :)

Chapter 7

When the door clicked shut behind her, Emma felt a brief moment of panic. Was this a good idea? Not like Regina would hurt her. But this could potentially turn into an awkward night. They've never spent this much time together like this.

"Mom, mom," Henry urged. "Can I show Emma my Lego game?" With just that, Emma inwardly laughed at her doubts. Of course it would be fine. Henry was here.

Regina looked down disapprovingly at Henry. "It's your bedtime," she said firmly.

"But"

"No buts. Go get ready for bed. I will tuck you in when you're ready." Regina's gaze flickered over to Emma's. "If Miss Swan is here when you wake up, you can show her the game."

Henry sighed and nodded. He turned to Emma, "I'm glad you're here."

"Uh, same here, kid." Emma responded uncertainly. He gave her a big smile and rushed up the stairs to get ready for bed.

Emma shifted uncomfortably, not liking being left alone with Regina. "I don't know how you do it."

"Do what, Sheriff?" Regina asked as she brushed past Emma on her heels and into the kitchen, knowing Emma would follow.

"Get him to listen to you like that."

"How else do you think I'd raise him?" Regina asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Well it just never works with me." Emma shrugged and leaned on the counter while Regina rustled in a cabinet. This was comfortable. Henry was a safe topic.

"That, dear, is not my problem. Coffee?"

Emma chuckled under her breathe. "No, you'd rather he doesn't listen to me at all so you can have him back."

Regina shot an indecipherable glace at Emma. "Not true." She lifted a coffee mug in emphasis to her other question.

"Right," Emma said, a little skeptical. "Sure, thanks," she reached out and accepted the mug from Regina.

"So," Regina started, taking a sip from her mug. Emma hated the way she could do that so regally. Leave it to her to make everything elegant. "Why run so late?"

Emma flushed a little, remembering why she went. "No reason..." she trailed off as her hands absentmindedly traced her pocket at the letter. Regina glanced down but her eyes quickly shot up to meet Emma's. She had forgotten just how short Emma's running attire was. A small blush rose to her cheeks and Emma lifted a brow.

Quickly turning around, Regina pretended to put a dishcloth away. Emma was silent for a while as she thought back to her run. When it reached Snow and Charming, her face turned almost grim.

Regina turned around to catch that expression on her face. "Coffee too bitter for you?" She quipped.

"Wh.. what?" Emma asked, clearly lost in thought. "No, it wasn't that," she shook her head. Regina waited patiently. "Mary Margaret is pregnant." Emma blurted suddenly.

Regina's eyes widened slightly, surprised at her candor, before it turned into a grimace. "Great. Just what we need. Another annoying, self righteous Charming." She sneered.

"Hey! That's going to be my… little brother," Emma ground out.

"That word unfamiliar to you, dear?" Regina asked, smirking.

Before Emma could retort, Henry yelled down the stairs. "I'm ready, Mom!"

Regina put her cup down on the counter and tossed over her shoulder as she walked away. "Feel free to move to the study, Miss Swan. I trust you know the way." Then, she was gone.

Emma looked around helplessly, unsure of what to do. Why did she even tell Regina anyways? Not like she cared. She probably just needed someone to talk to. Man, she wished that mystery person was here. It would probably be less awkward then being here with Regina. Wishful thinking.

Deciding to be useful, Emma grabbed Regina's mug and went into the study. It was as she remembered it and she took her usual seat. She put Regina's mug down on the desk, unsure where she planned on sitting herself. She walked to the fireplace to see the photo that was on the mantle. It was a picture of Henry and Regina. Must have been before she showed up, Emma mused. He looked really happy.

"That was the Christmas before you showed up." A voice said softly from somewhere behind her.

Emma turned around to see Regina leaning on her desk, mug in hand, studying Emma. "Better times then now, huh?"

"Different times." Regina stated instead.

"You like Christmas?" Emma asked, jerking her thumb in the direction of the picture as she moved to the seat she had picked.

There was a slight pause before Regina replied. "My favorite."

Emma got an image of Regina in a santa hat, watching happily as a younger Henry tore at the presents. She was sure that Regina spoiled him rotten when it came to Christmas. She smiled slightly at that thought.

A throat clearing made her look up. She realized that Regina had been talking and she had not heard a thing.

"Sorry. Lost in thought. What was that?"

"I was saying your parents…"

"Oh. Right." Emma grumbled. "Why are you not congratulating me?"

Regina laughed. "Miss Swan. I despise your parents. Why do you think I would care they are having a child? And go as far as congratulating them? Please." She scoffed at the idea.

There was a sheepish chuckle from Emma. "Dumb question."

"Indeed." Regina paused as if contemplating something. "You, on the other hand, don't seem ecstatic either. Trouble in paradise?"

"I'd hardly call my family paradise." Emma leaned back into the sofa. "They just don't understand how I feel I guess. I have to pretend to be so excited." She sighed. "It's tiring."

Regina hummed quietly in agreement. "It must be hard." She continued in a soft tone. "Mary Margaret was your closest friend and suddenly she's your mother." She looked up to see Emma nodding along, agreeing. "If it was me, I'd want someone to talk to." She paused a little before continuing on hesitantly. "I could lend an ear if you wanted to vent."

Emma caught Regina's eyes at this, surprised. "Uh.. I mean," Emma rubbed the back of her neck. "I think I'm okay now actually." She let out a small chuckle. "Honestly, I feel better already from just talking to you." She traced the rim of her mug with her finger while contemplating. Deep in thought, she missed Regina's expression as she gazed almost wistfully at Emma's hands.

"It's strange," Emma declared suddenly, pausing her entrancing hand movement around the mug.

"Excuse me?"

"How we can talk like this." Emma explained. "We go from hating each other to this."

"And what's… this? If I may ask," Regina inquired, curious.

"I think we're friends."

Regina's eyebrows slowly, but deliberately arched up. "Oh?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Come on, don't give me that face. You might not agree, but that's what I think."

Regina nodded, stopping a smile from gracing her lips. "Perhaps you're right." Emma grinned, triumphant that she won at least one thing today.

It was silent for a while but this time, it wasn't an uncomfortable silence like those in the past. This was comfortable. Two friends, having coffee, and just chatting.

"So, who's the other person?" Regina couldn't help but blurt out after a while.

"What?" Emma looked up, confused.

Regina smirked, "You know what I'm talking about."

Emma flushed when she remembered that Regina knew about a possible other person because she stupidly let slip the other day. She groaned quietly. Of course she'd bring it up. That's what Regina did, she tried to make others uncomfortable. Seriously, if Emma didn't see Regina eat, she'd think she fed off that.

"No one…" she started.

"Uh huh," Regina responded, clearly not believing.

"I just get these letters, okay?" Emma flared up defensively.

"Oh?" Regina asked, pretending to be surprised. "What kind of letters?"

"I don't know." Emma said almost exasperatedly. "Random letters. At times they're romantic and other times," Emma remembered the blatant sexual tone of some of them and couldn't help but blush. "not so much."

"Is that so? Is that what you are?" Regina asked, nonchalantly.

"Huh?"

"Are you a romantic, Miss Swan?" Regina rolled her eyes and said slowly to make sure Emma understood.

Emma shrugged a little embarrassed. "Yea… I kinda am." She looked up curiously. "You?"

"I wouldn't know." Regina stated. "I have never been on a date."

Emma's face scrunched up at that comment, as if remembering something. Coming up blank she focused on what Regina had said instead. "Wait, seriously?" Emma chuckled. "No one wanted to take your royal highness out on a date?"

"There were… complications." Regina responded quietly.

Emma caught the tone in her voice and realized that something must have happened with Regina to make that happen. It probably wasn't a good idea to joke about that without knowing the story. Cursing herself silently, she berated her and her untamed mouth.

Regina abruptly stood. She had let slip far too much tonight without intending to. She patted her clothes so that they were perfect and looked up at Emma. "It's late, Miss Swan."

"Wh…"

Regina strode to the door putting her walls back up. "The guest room is up the stairs on the right. Bathroom is across the hall." She turned and sneered at Emma. "And for the love of God, Sheriff. Please shower. I don't need your sweat seeping into my sheets. I'm sure with that stench, it would never come out."

Emma's mouth opened and closed without a sound coming out, still in shock from Regina's abrupt change in attitude. Before she could respond, Regina had swept out of the room, leaving Emma with her arm half raised as if wanting to stop her. She had no idea what just happened. For once she thought Regina and her were getting along. Then she had to get all snobbish and so queen like. She grimaced at that.

With a sigh, Emma grabbed her mug and rinsed it at the sink before heading upstairs. She quickly found a bathroom and realized that Regina had thoughtfully left pajamas for her neatly folded on the counter. Silk ones. Of course.

As she got ready for bed she thought back to her conversation with Regina. Despite her usually cold demeanor, Emma found out more about her then she had ever before. Who knew she was able of divulging personal information. Emma smiled at that thought. She liked this Regina way more than the Evil Queen persona she carried around sometimes. The brief talk about Snow's pregnancy also helped too. She could be real around her because Regina didn't see her as a Savior. Regina saw her as a person who struggles with things as well. That made Emma grateful. She doesn't really have anyone she's close to since the curse broke. There was Ruby… but Red was Snow's best friend back in the forest so Emma finds herself saying less to her in case it got back to Mary Margaret.

Emma plopped on the bed and groaned at how comfortable it was. She felt like she was sinking into the bed. She wasn't surprised. Regina's own bed was probably even better than this one. She sat up in the bed and dug the slightly crumpled letter out of her pocket to reread. Rereading it, she furrowed her brows. This mystery person was so similar to Regina in interests. Strange… Christmas as a favorite holiday… never been on a date… even the words of comfort sounded similar.

Except this person was romantic and much nicer. Unlike Regina most times. Though today she was alright. Pondering this, Emma fell into a fitful sleep, a small smile gracing her face at the overall ending of the day.

The next morning found Emma quietly throwing on her old running clothes and sneaking out of Regina's place. She didn't want to intrude any longer than she needed to. The bed was made and clothes folded neatly with a scrawled note.

Thanks for letting me stay and listening to me.

~Emma

P.S. My running clothes didn't stink. My sweat smells like perfume.

It was true too. Emma had self-consciously sniffed her clothes the next morning and they didn't smell like anything. Of course, it didn't smell like perfume, but Regina didn't need to know that.

Emma silently let herself into Mary Margaret's apartment and was relieved to find neither of them awake. She wondered if they even knew she hadn't spent the night. Guess she'll find out. Now though, she didn't want to deal with them yet. Emma was in a good mood today and was determined to keep it that way. That night at Regina's was more refreshing then she'd ever imagined. Maybe she could do it again soon. Emma chuckled softly to herself. Yea right.

She tossed on some other clothes when she got to her room and pulled on her boots and grabbed her leather jacket. Might as well start the day off with Granny's before going to pick up Henry. She'd left quite early and wanted him to be able to sleep in. Regina wouldn't mind. Whistling tunelessly, she set out in the direction of Granny's.

"Emma!" A voice called out.

Stopping her whistling, Emma saw Neal coming across the street to her from Gold's shop. "Oh hey Neal." She responded with a smile. "What are you doing out so early?"

Neal came and began walking next to her. He shrugged. "Doing a couple errands for my dad. It's much faster this way. I don't have a cane."

Emma laughed. "That's true."

"Oh! And guess what I have?" He asked with a big grin.

"What?"

He brandished a bag in front of Emma's face so close that she had to pause walking to avoid running into it. When her eyes focused, she saw a lot of pink.

"Is that cotton candy?" She asked with a puzzled glance at Neal.

"Yup! Remember how you used to love this stuff whenever we went to carnivals?" Neal asked happily. "Thought we could have some!"

"Uh," Emma glanced at her phone pointedly. "Now?" She gestured to the screen that had a lit up 7:02AM. "It's 7 in the morning."

"Aw, come on, Em," Neal reasoned, "You never cared when we had cotton candy. Live a little."

Emma considered it briefly. Why not? She was in a good mood and it didn't seem like Neal wanted anything. It has also been a long time since she'd had cotton candy. It looked extremely tempting.

Giving a small smile, she responded, "sure, why not. Let's eat it at Granny's." Emma looked at him curiously, "Unless you have somewhere else you need to be?"

"Nope! Not a thing." He said enthusiastically. Emma rolled her eyes playfully at him. He was such a child. But then again, she could be too.

She pushed open the door to Granny's and sat down at a booth. He slid in across from her. Across the store, Ruby quirked a questioning eyebrow when she caught Emma's eyes and Emma just shrugged. Nothing wrong with having breakfast with a friend. Neal opened the bag of cotton candy and offered some to Emma. She ripped off a chunk and let it melt in her tongue with a content sigh.

"Nothing like candy for breakfast," she said with a smile.

"Delicious, isn't it? Want coffee to go with that?" Neal asked.

"Nope. I'm indulging today. I want a hot chocolate." Emma looked over to Ruby who came over immediately. "Can I get a hot chocolate with cinnamon?"

Ruby eyed the cotton candy. "Sure. Does that go with the cotton candy?"

"Everything goes with cotton candy," Emma responded as if that was obvious. Ruby looked at her skeptically.

"Whatever you say…" She turned around to get her order, casting one last curious glance at the two of them.

"So," Neal began. "Since you're here."

"Yea?"

"I was thinking we could take a trip out of town with Henry."

Emma paused with a piece of cotton candy halfway to her mouth. "What?"

"You know. Show him around a little. Take him to New York or something. Show him amusement parks. Maybe he'll like it out there."

"And what? Want to move out there?"

Neal shrugged. "Well, that wouldn't be a bad idea. I was thinking of moving out of here soon."

Emma shook her head as Ruby silently gave her a cup of hot chocolate. "I don't think so Neal. What about Regina?"

"I don't know. She'd stay here?"

Emma let out in incredulous laugh. "Not gonna happen."

"All right, all right." Neal put up his hands in mock surrender. "I don't want to fight about that today. Anyways, what did you think of Leroy's drunk performance the other day at the Rabbit Hole?"

Emma rolled her eyes and let out a lighthearted laugh at the memory of Leroy dancing on the table, drunk off his ass. At the same time, the door to the diner opened and Regina and Henry walked in together. Regina narrowed her eyes at the image of Emma and Neal together. Emma was laughing so carefree. It was a beautiful sight. If only it was because of something she had said. Jealousy lurched in her stomach at the thought of Emma sneaking out of the house to have this breakfast date with Neal. Curling her lip in a grimace, she strode quickly past them to the counter.

Henry, however, saw them and ran over. "Hi Emma! Hi Dad!" He turned to Emma. "How come you weren't there when I woke up?"

"I didn't want to inconvenience your mom, kid." She replied. From the counter, Regina scoffed under her breathe at that comment. Lies. "I was going to go pick you up after I had breakfast."

"I'll have my usual," Regina barked to Ruby who was standing in front of her. Ruby gave her a taken aback look and went to get her salad ready.

"Well I'm here now so you don't have to pick me up," Henry said. Regina turned around and strode over to Henry.

"Not unless Miss Swan here wants to finish her date first," Regina hissed.

Emma looked up at her confused. "Good morning to you too, Regina. Cranky?" She gave her a hesitant smile.

Regina sneered. "It was better before I ran into you."

Emma looked offended. "Hey," she began.

Before she could get any farther, Ruby called over that Regina's order was ready. Without a word, Regina turned and stalked to the counter. To think she woke up thinking she'd see Emma. It annoyed her to no end that she had these hopes. As she got to the counter, she heard a sound that she never thought she'd hear come from Emma. A moan. A deep, guttural moan of pleasure.

Her eyes widened and she whipped around to look back at the table. Regina's body betrayed her and she felt a flush rise to her cheeks as a very different feeling settled in her core. Heat rushed through her and settled low, making her shift uncomfortably at the sudden, unwelcome wetness between her thighs.

Emma's face was that of pure pleasure as she had the cup of hot chocolate raised to her lips. Another small moan fled her lips. "This is so good," she said as she took another sip.

Regina forced her eyes to look away from the picture of bliss that was on Emma's face. Forbidden images of Emma pinned underneath her making those faces and moaning flashed through Regina's mind. Her stomach curled pleasantly at the thought at the same time her face grimaced.

Forcing those thoughts out, Regina grabbed her take out bag and took out her wallet to pay Ruby. As she was handing her card to Ruby, she noticed the waitress had narrowed her eyes in Emma's direction. Ruby's nose flared just a tiny bit and her eyes locked on to Regina's. They widened just a little bit and suddenly, understanding dawned on her face.

Regina growled at her as Ruby opened her mouth to speak, "Don't even think about it." Damn werewolves and their sense of smell. Embarrassed, the Mayor snatched her card back and leaned in close to Ruby. "Not a word, mutt." Smartly, Ruby simply nodded her head and let Regina take her bag. When Regina had her back turned, Ruby's face broke out into a shit eating grin. She never saw this coming. Ruby glanced over to where Emma sat and wondered if she knew.

Emma was oblivious to this exchange as Henry had engaged her in a talk about the game he was unable to show her this morning since she had left so soon. Regina was by the door before she heard Emma stop her.

"Regina, wait," Emma said. She looked back reluctantly and saw Emma getting out of her seat, leaving Henry and Neal there. "Leaving already?"

Regina pursed her lips. "Problem, Miss Swan?"

Emma shrugged. "No. You're just acting weird."

"How would you know how I normally act?" Regina sniffed.

"Yesterday." Emma replied pointedly.

She scoffed. "That's not the norm, dear."

"Okay, geez," Emma responded exasperatedly. "No need to be snippy. I just wanted to check to see if you got my letter." There was a single, curt nod from Regina. She had gotten the letter and found herself smiling at it when she read it. Of course, her good mood from that was ruined when she saw Emma with Neal. "Check the sheets to see if they smelled like perfume?" Emma joked, referring back to her sweat smell.

Regina almost groaned at the images that comment brought to her mind again. She really needed to take care of this problem. First the moaning and now she was imagining a sweaty Emma underneath her. A very naked one. Chasing the image away, she growled at Emma. "That was inappropriate. Now if you'll excuse me." With a flourish, she walked out of the diner leaving Emma there.

"Bye to you too, Miss Cranky Pants Mayor." Emma turned back to the booth. "Who stuck a stick up her ass?" she muttered under her breath. Looking up, she caught Ruby's eye who gave her the biggest grin. With a confused shake of her head, she ignored her. What was going on with everyone today?

Thoughts?