Filming resumed the next day and Emma and Regina were given another new script to learn, Emma was beginning to feel the pressure of so much of the talking falling on her, while Regina's whose character had lost her voice communicated largely by post it notes and she was secretly beginning to wish that her character was the one that didn't talk, she had thought that it would get easier as she got used to it but instead it seemed to be getting harder, unable to face it she didn't even open her new script until she was back in the trailer much later on.
After she had popped herself a large bowl full of fresh popcorn, added a small amount of salt and grabbed an ice cold can of coke from the fridge she settled on the sofa with the TV playing quietly in the background and finally turned her attentions to the latest script leisurely flicking through the pages and highlighting her many lines as she went, she was seventeen pages deep when she came across a scene that made her spit the popcorn that she had just rammed into her mouth all over the place,
She had known that this was coming of course but suddenly it was here, in front of her written in black and white, the first kissing scene between Leah and Isabella and Emma wasn't ready for it, had she not felt the way that she did about Regina she knew that she would have been fine just like she was with any other scenes, but she did feel those feelings and she couldn't escape them no matter how hard she tried, and even though it would be Leah kissing Isabella it would Regina's lips on Emma's and the thought made her heart race and butterflies flutter in her stomach.
She was anxious the following morning not knowing when they would film this scene and it didn't get any easier as the day wore on,
"Is something wrong? Only you've been terribly quiet today" Regina asked over lunch
"It's nothing really, I've just been feeling a little overwhelmed with all my lines, it seems like the amount increase's with every episode" she sighed, and it wasn't really a lie as such it just wasn't the real reason that she was so quiet that day,
"We're finishing up early tonight why don't you pop by my trailer later, and I'll go through lines with you" Regina offered
"Really" Emma grinned "that would be amazing thanks Regina"
"You're welcome, shall we make it around six?" Emma nodded in agreement and Regina mopped her mouth with her napkin, cast it to one side then stood up to leave, "That's sorted then, play your cards right and I might even make you one of those hot chocolates" she teased making Emma laugh and blush at the same time.
She had managed to forget all about the pending kiss until they got back to the set and Gold announced that it would be the next scene that they would be filming bringing all of Emma's anxiety rushing back in.
Licking her lips nervously Emma stepped onto her mark, clammy hands clenched as she watched Regina move onto hers, then the camera's started to role and she flawlessly delivered her lines to Regina who silently handed her post it in return,
"Are you sure?" she heard herself ask then watched as Regina nodded and moved purposefully closer to her stepping into her personal space looking at her with eyes brimming with desire,
Emma began to feel uncomfortably hot under the collar as Regina's face hesitantly moved closer to hers, she swallowed, tried and failed to look anywhere but into Regina's eyes, she just couldn't help but be pulled into those deep brown eyes that were talking to her like they always did when Regina looked at her during filming, they were asking her something and remembering her cue Emma swallowed nervously then nodded once, and suddenly Regina's soft full lips were on her own in a sweet tentative lingering kiss that set off an explosion like fireworks going off in Emma's head and heart, If this was what it was like when Isabella kissed Leah, Emma could only imagine what it would be like if Regina ever kissed her for real,
"CUT" Gold yelled and Emma felt relief when Regina stepped back creating some space in between them "That dearies, was perfect" he continued "now I just need you to do that a few times and we'll have everything we need for this scene" he smiled, Regina nodded with Emma following suit just because she didn't know how else to react but inside she was in knots unable to untangle herself or stop her bodies reactions every time Regina's lips made contact with hers.
Kissing Regina didn't get any easier for Emma no matter how hard she tried to tell her self that It wasn't them it was Leah and Isabella, she couldn't escape from the fact that it was Regina's eyes she looked into before each tentative kiss, or that it was the taste of Regina's lips that lingered on hers for far longer than the seconds that their lips actually touched between cuts as Gold got all of his angles.
Some part of her brain told her that she was being unfair not telling Regina how she truly felt when they were shooting scenes like this, but what good would it do she wondered, at the moment only she wrestled with this, she couldn't control her feelings but she wasn't truly acting on them, she was literally acting and the only reason that she was kissing Regina was because a script called for it, she didn't kid herself that Regina felt the same and she was afraid of making her feel uncomfortable if she mentioned anything so she didn't.
She was exhausted by the end of the day and couldn't wait to get into bed, never had she felt so grateful for a day to end early, as she headed back to her trailer, she truly hoped that by the time that the next kissing scenes were filmed she would have gotten all this silliness out of her system.
It was only when she was putting her key in the lock of her trailer door that that her newest problem suddenly hit her with a ping of her phone,
You did great today,
see you at 6pm
R xx
Shit, she was supposed to be going to Regina's to run lines tonight and she was still a hot mess from their afternoon of making out on the set and all that she really wanted to do was to have a long hot shower then crawl into bed.
Closing the door, she leaned against it and seeing no real way out of it tapped out her reply,
Thanks, see you soon
Emma xx
Then she dropped her keys and phone onto the table on her way to the bathroom, hoping that a cold shower would sort her head out.
Heart pounding in her ears Emma approached Regina's door a few minutes before six, she paused and swallowed trying to centre herself before she raised her knuckles and rapped on the door, the cold shower had helped but apparently not enough.
"It's open" a husky voice sounded from within the depths of the trailer seconds later, so Emma reached for the door handle turned it and pushed it open, took one last deep breath then stepped across the thresh hold closing the door behind her,
Her breath hitched as she took in the sight of the brunette, who was sitting on the sofa, wearing a plain white slouchy tee that hung off of one shoulder revealing olive skin and a single white bra strap, over a pair of black jeggings that finished snuggly at her ankles, her bare feet were tucked up beside her, toenails painted crimson and she wore her damp hair in a messy pony tail, her face was completely devoid of all make-up, making the scar above her upper lip much more prominent than it usually was on set when efforts had been made to hide it which Emma always thought was such a shame because she thought that it was a cute quirk that just added to all around sexiness of the woman before her,
to complete the picture Regina was looking over the top of a pair of black rimmed glasses that made her look even more attractive smiling up at her radiantly a large glass containing red wine cradled in her hand, while a second glass sat on the table waiting for Emma to claim alongside Regina's script ready for them to rehearse together.
Emma had never seen Regina like this before, sporting such a casual attire and without her usual war paint, even on set when she was supposed to look make-up free, a tonne of make-up was used to disguise the so called flaws on the actresses face that the director didn't want seen to so say make her look better on camera, Emma had always thought Regina beautiful but never more so than now, when she had started to get to know the woman on the inside and witness the beauty that lay there, a beauty that had once been hidden to her.
This Regina, so natural and comfortable, smiling up at her so radiantly as she invited Emma to join her on the sofa for a glass of wine and some script reading was by far the most stunning Regina that Emma had seen to date.
She had to force herself to move her feet, so that she wouldn't look strange or make Regina feel uncomfortable just standing there staring and lowered herself onto the sofa not too far from Regina's bare feet, then dropping her own script on top of the brunettes, she picked up her glass of wine and took a sip grateful for the rich liquid gracing her throat that upon seeing Regina had become too dry to permit her to form words,
she thought back to the kisses earlier that afternoon, the kisses that hadn't truly been for her and her heart hammered so quickly and loudly that she felt sure that Regina must be able to hear it though she showed no indication that she had noticed anything amiss as she sat smiling demurely at Emma taking a sip from her own glass, deep brown eyes never breaking contact with Emma's emerald ones as she did, Swallowing again Emma glanced away and distracted herself by picking her script back up and turning to the correct page,
"Thanks for doing this with me" she whispered as she finally built up the courage to bring her eyes back up to meet Regina's again and wondered just how the hell, she was going to make it through the next couple of hours in her company.
As it turned out she needn't have worried a couple of glasses of that marvellous, magical red liquid was all it took to loosen both women up and soon they were both falling around together in hopeless giggles, kisses and crushes a distant, somewhat hazy memory as they tried and failed to get through the script, any prior awkwardness long forgotten.
Still giggling Emma stumbled through her door a lot later than intended slamming it a little too loudly behind her,
"oops" she slurred swaying slightly as she text Regina that she was home safe discarding the phone with a satisfied smile as soon as she had received the same message back from Regina who as per their usual arrangement and despite Emma's numerous protests had insisted on walking Emma to the end of her trailer where she stood watching until Emma had reached her own and waved before turning out of sight.
Her smile only grew as she led in bed looking up at the dream catcher hanging above her head waiting for sleep which was quick to claim her that night.
If she had a nightmare that night she didn't remember it by the morning for the first time since they had begun again and she woke up feeling much fresher for it, even the skinful of wine and the slight headache it had left her with didn't make her feel as bad as the nightmares had something for which she was truly grateful for as she lay in bed staring at the ceiling remembering the fun of the evening before where not much script reading had actually happened.
That day brought with it both a disappointment and an exciting surprise.
Emma and Regina arrived on set ready to start filming they were deep in quiet conversation together while the cameras were being setting up when the sound of a throat clearing nearby caught their attention,
"Sorry" the word automatically slipped from Emma's lips as she found the source of the noise and assumed that Gold was ready for them and wondered how long that he had been trying to capture their attention for,
"You have nothing to apologise for dearie" Gold replied waving her apology off "I just wanted a quick word before we start today"
"Do you want me to leave?" Regina enquired
"No, no this is something that both of you need to know" Gold smiled
"Okay we're listening" Regina said curiosity creeping into her eyes,
"As you know you were due this weekend off" Gold ventured
"What do you mean were?" Regina snapped eyes narrowing at the irritating man
"Well, we've had to postpone it, only for week, maybe two" he told her,
"What!" Regina exclaimed "But you can't do that, we've made plans"
"Ahh but I can dearie" Gold smiled "I'm afraid your plans will just have to wait"
"So, are you going to tell us why our weekend off has been cancelled?" Emma asked feeling disappointed that Regina's tour was going to have to be put on hold while Regina herself continued to glare at Gold silently seething,
"Location dearie" He replied meeting Emma's eyes with his own "We are going on location, at the end of the day I'll be giving you both two new scripts to look over, we've secured the holiday home that we wanted for some upcoming scenes but we can only have it for ten days starting Friday, hopefully that'll be enough time to film all the scenes that take place there in the episodes that will be filming this time, you'll get Friday off to pack and travel down there, it's a nice place and big so we'll be giving you rooms there, we'll be using the location for both some of the interior and all of the exterior shots and the interiors will be recreated inside the warehouses for the angles that we can't get, any questions?" he asked "then let's get on" he concluded turning away from them and limping towards his director's chair leaving Emma and Regina watching after him.
"Well, it's not a guided tour of Storybrooke but going on location could be fun" Regina said smiling at Emma her anger gone,
"I can't wait" Emma replied eagerly "and Storybrooke will still be here when we get back so I can still give you the tour"
"You'd better" Regina quipped "Now would you like to come over to mine later, for hot chocolate and run through the new scripts" Regina asked
"That sounds great, thanks" Emma smiled brightly knowing that Regina who still had zero lines to learn invited her over for these line running sessions for her benefit rather than her own.
As soon as the final scene of the day was wrapped, they collected their new scrips from Gold and headed back to the trailers together, Emma stopped by her trailer to shower and change, then went to join Regina in hers,
"Hey" she greeted when Regina opened the door, she donned comfy casual clothing again and her hair like Emma's hung damp around her shoulders,
"Hi" Regina beamed stepping to one side permitting Emma entry, Thanks to their frequent texting Regina knew well how long Emma's after work routine was, the two freshy made hot chocolates sat on the coffee table waiting for them was a testament to that fact, Emma sat and drank deeply from hers sighing with satisfaction as Regina sat next to her and mirrored her actions then they picked up their scripts and began to read,
"So, who's playing Thomas" Emma asked when they came to the new characters name,
"No idea" Regina shrugged "I suppose we'll find out soon enough though"
"Yes, I guess so" Emma replied returning her attention to her lines,
"Looks like there is going to be some pretty intense scenes" she said frowning a little "but I can't wait to see this house"
"Let's have a break and look it up" Regina smiled casting her script to one side and getting up to fetch her laptop "It's a holiday let so we are bound to be able to some pictures online"
Emma moved forwards in her seat as Regina returned to sit beside her placing the laptop on the table in front of them, Her breath catching as she felt Regina's arm make contact with hers, they were much closer to each other than when they had been sat at opposite ends of the couch while Regina tested Emma on her lines and Emma's heart began to race as she tried to focus on the computer screen instead of the warmth of Regina's body pressing against hers and the smell of her shampoo mixed with the intoxicating scent that was uniquely Regina that filled her nostrils,
"Here it is" Regina declared mercifully snapping Emma out of her reverie with the distraction of the picture that she had just brought up of the beautiful huge log holiday house situated in a secluded part of the forest overlooking a beautiful lake that they would be spending ten days in soon,
"Wow" Emma breathed as Regina clicked through multiple images depicting both the houses exterior and interior rooms, "It's beautiful"
"It truly is" Regina replied looking at Emma and smiling warmly as the blonde suddenly yawned widely, "bedtime I think" she said closing her laptop, taking her glasses off and placing them folded on top of it, Emma nodded in agreement standing up to shrug her jacket back on,
"You know it's going to take a little over two hours to get to that house from here" Regina pondered as they stood outside saying goodnight a few minutes later "Maybe we should share a car, that way we could keep each other company and run some more of your lines" she smiled,
"Yeah" Emma grinned back "I'd really like that"
"That's a plan then, I'll see you in the morning" Regina leaned in and dropped a light kiss on Emma's cheek,
"Yeah, see you in the morning" Emma replied turning away a little dazed her hand rising to touch the spot still tingling where Regina's lips had touched her cheek as she approached her trailer.