C/W T/W Assault, homophobic insult
The airport here was mayhem, so many people seemed to recognise Regina which Emma had expected to a degree, but she hadn't really been prepared for the intensity of it and she definitely hadn't been expecting for anybody to recognise her, but they did.
It made a certain type of sense she supposed after all she had appeared in several magazine spreads now but still she hadn't given it a second thought before they had arrived in LA and it was very surreal to have actual fans of Regina's rushing up with their magazines and plain pieces of paper asking them both to sign, one person who had nothing else with them even held open their passport to receive autographs and then there were the endless questions about their relationship status and the paps here Emma thought made the ones back in Storybrooke look tame, she was glad when Regina managed to secure them access to a private way out of the airport and into the car that was waiting to take them to Regina's home.
The building that Regina lived in was a half hour drive from the airport, even from the front it was impressive and as she followed Regina up the marble steps and stepped through the grand entrance onto the plush red carpet in the entrance hall Emma knew that it must be very expensive to live here.
"Nice to see you again Miss Regina" a friendly man greeted from behind a desk in the entrance hall as they entered making Emma smile as she was reminded forcefully of the security guard who always called her Miss Emma back at the complex,
"It's nice to see you to Gustov" Regina smiled then leading Emma to the elevators she hit the button to call one of them, once inside Regina used a key to unlock a flap that was covering the topmost button and hit it securing the flap back into place and locking it up again as the lift began to ascend.
When the doors opened again Emma found herself in the entranceway of a huge penthouse that spanned across the entire top floor of the building,
"Woah" she breathed as she stepped out of the lift,
"Welcome to my LA home" Regina smiled "let me show you around"
First Regina led Emma to the biggest kitchen that she had ever seen, it was beautiful with white marble counter tops, tiled floor with heating underneath, shiny hobs built into the work surface waiting for pans to be placed on top of them to bring them to life, A huge island dominated the centre space littered with barstools and Regina had a number of fancy gadgets placed strategically on the counter tops including a rather impressive coffee machine, the kitchen extended into a dining area with a long enough table to seat twelve and the outer wall of the room was entirely made of floor to ceiling windows the kind that they could see out of but that anyone outside wouldn't be able to see in.
Emma ventured closer the windows looking out at the veranda that stretched around the building for as far as she could see, there was a much more intimate dining area with several smaller tables outside and down towards the far end of the dining area a spiral staircase rose from the veranda towards the roof making Emma wonder what It was like up there.
Next Emma was shown into several different lounge area's a huge bathroom with a bath that had jacuzzi pumps and finally the room which was to be hers for the weekend which was situated next door to Regina's own room, she had her own ensuite bathroom and just like the rest of the penthouse rooms with an outer wall it had a wall on one-way windows one of which Emma quickly established much to her excitement was actually a door.
Regina left Emma alone in the guest room to unpack, Emma eager to see the view from out on the veranda immediately went to test the door feeling elated when she found the key in its lock, turning it she pushed the door open letting the air flow into the room while she quickly unpacked and then she finally stepped out onto the veranda, approached the railings fitted with the same one way glass as the penthouse was, and looked out over the sea of buildings and streets strewn in front of her, the view was simply breath taking, Emma felt that she must be able to see over the whole of LA from here, some buildings were much lower than the one that she was in so she could see their roofs while others were taller and if they were closer or if she had either binoculars or a telescope she would have been able to see right into their windows she realised which was why she guessed Regina had opted to have the one way windows fitted so that at least when she was inside her home she might have some privacy from snooping paps with powerful zoom setting on their cameras, at night she thought with the city lit up this view must be even more amazing.
Out of curiosity Emma turned and glanced upwards to the roof unsurprised but disappointed when all she could see was the sunlight reflecting off more glass barriers, hoping that Regina would show her what was up there later she began to take a slow stroll around the veranda, she didn't really find a whole lot to see just a variety of seating areas scattered near doors that led into various parts of the penthouse, though which room she was outside of at any given time Emma really couldn't say because her one quick tour from inside wasn't enough for her to have found her bearings yet.
She only realised that she had reached the area outside of the kitchen area because she spotted the edges of spiral staircase overlapping the next corner, seconds after that the enticing aromas of food made it to her nostrils and when she rounded the corner, she saw that the doors up ahead up ahead were open, and Regina was busy dressing one of the tables outside.
Emma held back a smile gracing her lips as she watched Regina work until the brunette ducked inside again, then she trailed after her following her through the open doors and into the kitchen where Regina was already back at the stove pouring something that smelled delicious into a large glass oven dish, as Emma drew closer Regina began to lay sheets of pasta over the top of what Emma could now see was mince in sauce, after the pasta sheets she starting adding a white sauce,
"Lasagne, one of my favs" Emma hummed happily as she watched Regina add another layer of everything, topping it off with grated cheese before she popped her masterpiece into the oven setting its inbuilt timer,
"Good" Regina replied "so did you take the scenic route back here after you unpacked" she asked knowingly,
"I sure did" Emma beamed "and I'm dying to see what's on the roof" she laughed looking up and noticing for the first time that the kitchen had a huge skylight that could be tinted because right now it was set to dark,
"I'll show you as soon as I'm finished here" Regina smiled mysteriously, proceeding to prepare a salad throwing chopped ingredients into a large glass bowl and mixing it all up together, when she was finished, when she had she put it in the fridge she finally invited an excited Emma to follow her up onto the roof.
Emma's jaw nearly dropped to the floor when she reached the top, sunk into the centre of the roof was a beautiful pool filled with crystal clear water, near the pool partially sunken into the ground was a covered hot tub, deck chairs were placed strategically around the edges separated by low tables, as she looked into the pools inviting waters the bottom began to clear and Emma realised that she could see into the kitchen below, looking up amazed she saw Regina standing near a control panel, she watched as Regina closed a watertight flap over the panel and moved to stand beside Emma,
"This is what's on the roof" Regina stated matter of factually,
"Man, I wish I'd brought a swimsuit" Emma groaned looking longingly into the inviting water,
"You could always get in without one" Regina replied mirroring Emma's words in the cave, Emma looked up from the clear water that would hide absolutely nothing from view and looked at Regina aghast,
"You're face" Regina burst out laughing "I was joking, I'm sure I have something that you can borrow and if nothing suits your taste there are plenty of shops nearby, we could go and buy you a new one"
Emma let out a sigh of relief and returned her eyes to the pool looking down at the chopping board and knife that lay abandoned on the kitchen island after Regina had finished with them
"I should go and check the lasagne" Regina said interrupting Emma's reverie a short while later,
"Okay" Emma replied smiling at Regina "Is it okay if I stay up here a few minutes longer?"
"Sure" Regina shrugged heading back towards the steps while Emma continued to stare into the pool "I'll see you in a minute" she called back before she began her descent.
Still staring into the pool Emma smiled when she saw Regina appear in the kitchen seconds later she saw her place the lasagne on top of the chopping board on the island, then she discarded the knife into the sink and grabbed a fork poking its prongs into the heart of her dish retracting it and touching the prongs before licking her fingers and discarding the fork into the sink with the knife, finally serving tool in hand Regina looked up at Emma, smiling and giving her the thumbs up when she caught her eye then picking up the lasagne chopping board and all she headed back outside with it, seeing this as her signal to join Regina, Emma finally moved away from the pool and made her way back towards the steps.
The lasagne was the best that Emma had ever tasted she particularly enjoyed the little kick that the chilli flakes Regina had added to the recipe had given it,
"I love to cook" Regina smiled contentedly helping herself to some more salad "but work prevents me from doing it as much I'd like to" she sighed
"I love you cooking too" Emma beamed appreciatively shovelling in another forkful of lasagne,
"Thanks" Regina blushed pleased that Emma was enjoying it so much.
When dinner was done, they decided to go out and have a look around the shops where Emma purchased herself a new one piece swimsuit and Regina picked up some very expensive red wine for later, by the time they had returned from their impromptu shopping trip more than enough time had passed since eating for them to be able to safely get into pool and it was with great excitement than Emma emerged onto the roof ready for a swim, where she found Regina already changed wearing a pretty wrap around over her own bathing suit and attempting to remove the heavy cover from the hot tub, given long enough Emma felt sure that Regina would have gotten off by herself after all she must have done that many times when she had been here alone and used the tub but as she was here Emma stepped forward to help and soon the lid was off and the tub was on and heating up, though Emma noticed that it wasn't stone cold to begin with and the water was fresh, Regina she guessed had had someone come in ahead of them to tend to the tub, pool and freshen up the rest of the penthouse before they had arrived, it also explained how Regina's kitchen came to be fully stocked with fresh food and ingredients.
The pool was even more heavenly than it looked Emma thought when she finally took the plunge, she treaded water as she waited for Regina to shed her wrap gasping when she did, the red fabric of the two-piece bikini looked stunning against Regina's olive skin, her toned abdomen was on full display, the top had a low plunge and held her breasts up creating ample cleavage and her hair hung enticingly loose around her shoulders.
Emma tore her eyes away distracting herself by diving down into the deliciously cool water wondering what she must look like from below as she stared down into the kitchen, air bubbles escaped from her lips with a silent giggle at the thought but the distraction had worked and by the time she had run out of breath and kicked off from the glass bottom shooting herself back to the top where Regina was now in the pool swimming lengths with the sun shining warmly on her back, Emma's mind was well and truly back out of the gutter and she joined her friend for a few lengths before the two moved to enjoy the hot tub,
"I'm taking you out tonight" Regina announced as they sat together sipping from bottles of ice-cold mineral water which Regina had fetched from a cooler that Emma hadn't noticed on the roof before emphasising the importance of staying sufficiently hydrated whilst using the tub when handing Emma, hers,
"W What" Emma stuttered
"I promised you the full LA experience, didn't I?"
Emma nodded mutely in response,
"I won't have fulfilled that promise if I don't show you the night life" Regina continued "and I never break a promise"
"okay" Emma reluctantly agreed suddenly feeling very grateful that Ruby had brought her favourite clubbing outfit to the trailer a few nights earlier and insisted that she pack it, because if she hadn't then Emma would have had nothing suitable to wear that night, though as she found out later, she actually didn't have anything suitable to wear after all.
"Umm don't take this the wrong way or anything" Regina said when Emma emerged announcing that she was ready to leave a few hours later, her heart dropping as Regina continued "because I love you in that outfit and it's great for the Rabbit hole but I just don't think it's quite right for where we're going tonight" Regina smiled warmly "But fear not, I'm sure I have something here that you can borrow" Regina may have thought that she was reassuring Emma as she disappeared into her vast closet and began to rummage around, but all the notion did was fill Emma with fear as she waited on tenterhooks to find out what her alternative outfit would be.
Regina emerged moments later with a triumphant look on her face, holding out a hanger that had an elegant red sparkly dress with a single shoulder strap hanging from it,
"you'll look great in this" she smiled eagerly pressing the dress into Emma's hand, "granted you're a little taller than me so it'll come up a bit shorter on you, but it'll still look tasteful"
Emma nodded silently in response looking the dress over then seeing no other option she took it into her room to try it on. It slipped on easy enough and hugged Emma's figure in all the right places, Regina was right about it being tasteful and Emma could see it looked great on her, but it just wasn't her and she didn't feel comfortable in it, clearly that showed because Regina was quick to comment when Emma returned to the bedroom next door standing awkwardly in front of her,
"You're not feeling it at all are you" it wasn't a question it was an observation and there was no judgement in Regina's tone or the gentle smile that graced her lips as she spoke
"Sorry" Emma returned her smile, still feeling a little awkward "Don't get me wrong it's lovely, I'm just more of a pant girl" Emma shrugged suddenly seeming to find her feet very interesting as her cheeks flamed crimson, Regina contemplated for second, then raised a finger before disappearing back into the closet,
"I've got just the thing" she grinned holding out another hanger this one held a stunning black jumpsuit with a wide plunging v neckline that would leave both of the wearer's shoulders exposed,
"It's beautiful" Emma gasped as she reached out and fingered the expensive material, "but I don't think I'll get away with wearing this, given our height difference" she sighed a little sadly and stepped back,
"Oh, I'm sure it'll be just fine" Regina smiled knowingly "curse of being short you see" she continued at Emma's look of confusion "I often have to get things altered, and I haven't had a chance to have this taken up yet, it's to long for me at the moment, for you however it should be perfect, now go try it on" she urged.
Emma disappeared into her bedroom for a second time this time she used the mirror in her bathroom to carefully touch up her make up and added some more product to her hair, which still hung loose around her shoulders, but her curls were more prominent, before she slipped into the jump suit, it hugged her body perfectly while flaring more on her legs, finishing at the perfect place just past her ankles.
When she padded back into Regina's room the brunette was nowhere in sight presumably she was getting ready in her dressing room, so Emma dropped to the bed and slipped her feet into her best heels also packed curtesy of Ruby, she'd have to get that girl a gift before they went back home she thought whilst she waited, she felt that the outfit was deserving of a much nicer pair of shoes than any that she owned but Regina was at least two sizes smaller than her so she knew that there was no chance of borrowing footwear from her to accompany the outfit, her own shoes would just have to suffice and they actually went with the jumpsuit quite well she thought as she stood in front of Regina's full length mirror admiring the end result.
So absorbed was she in her reflection that she didn't notice when Regina entered the room and stopped to look Emma up and down a hungry smile playing across her lips,
"My, my" Regina purred with predatory like undertones startling Emma "Don't you brush up well Miss Swan"
Emma barely registering the tone whirled round and caught sight of the vision of beauty before her, her mouth seemed to lose all of its moisture and she was temporarily robbed of the ability to speak, Regina stood there, hair resting loosely on her shoulders clad in the same red dress that she had previously offered Emma only she looked a thousand times better in it that the blonde had, or at least that's what Emma thought, her heels were impossibly high, her make up perfectly applied and she held a clasp bag that matched the dress at her side, breath taking just wasn't a worthy word to even begin to describe how Regina looked that night.
"Thanks" Emma smiled broadly, then before she could stop herself, she continued "I'd repay the compliment, but you always look this gorgeous" as soon as it slipped out her feet seemed to become very interesting for the second time that evening and she wanted to bite her own tongue out,
"Is that so" Regina slowly made her way forward closing the gap between them stopping at an arm's length away and gently reached out to lift the blonde's chin until their eyes met
"There's no need to embarrassed Em ma" Regina whispered drawing out the blondes name while her thumb gently stroked Emma's cheek of its own accord, Emma couldn't stop herself form leaning into the touch eyes closing as silence fell between, it lasted but a moment though it felt like a lifetime before Regina dropped her hand and moved back into her closet re-emerging almost instantly holding a black clasp bag that matched Emma's outfit which she offered to the blonde announcing that Emma just had time to put her things inside it and then it would time to go.
A car was waiting at the front of the apartment building when they stepped outside and as soon as the driver saw them emerge, he got out, walked around to the rear curb side door, and held it open until his passengers had slid into place the blonde thanking him as she passed while brunette that ducked in ahead of her simply offered a polite nod on his direction.
Emma stared out of the window anticipation rising as she tried to see every part of the passing streets of LA one hand resting on the middle seat so close to Regina's that whenever one of them shifted their position their fingertips brushed against each other sending jolts like electric through Emma's body.
As they progressed through their journey Emma noticed that the streets appeared to get busier until they followed one heaving queue right around a corner and found that they were all waiting to be admitted to what appeared to be a very popular fancy high end club, Emma's hopes that this wasn't the club that they were destined for were immediately dashed when the driver slowed down and pulled in outside of its entrance getting out to open the door for them.
She so wanted everything to go perfectly for Regina this weekend, but the queue was barely moving, and it was so massive that Emma wasn't convinced that they would end up getting in even if they waited outside all night.
"Umm Regina maybe we should just go somewhere else" Emma ventured while they were still seated in the car,
"Why would we do that?" Regina laughed "out you get, this is one of the best clubs in town, notoriously difficult to get into but still one of the best"
"That's what I was worried about" Emma sighed under her breath as she stepped out of the car, Regina hadn't heard and was in incredibly high spirits when she followed Emma out and dismissed the driver for the time being handing him a huge tip before he left,
"If I tip him now, it doesn't matter if I'm too drunk to remember tip him later" She explained happily,
"But what is he doesn't come back later now that he's had his tip" Emma queried,
"Then we'd be forced to get a cab and I wouldn't ever use his services again and believe me he knows that; trust me he's coming back for us" Regina assured Emma confidentially "The size of that tip he'd be stupid not to and he knows it"
"Makes sense I suppose" Emma shrugged turning to make her way to the back of the queue prepared for a very long night outside where the light was fading fast and the temperature beginning to drop,
"Uh, Emma where exactly are you off to" Regina called after her "the Entrance is this way" she continued pointing to where the security guard on the door had unclipped the red barrier ready to permit them entry,
"But the queue, I mean I thought" Emma flailed pointing at the waiting people helplessly,
"We, Emma darling are VIP's, we don't wait we just walk on in" Regina laughed hitching up to Emma guiding through the entrance and into and extravagant entrance way with walls trimmed with gold and thick red carpet that muffled the sounds of their heels under foot, "Besides if we had gotten into that queue, we'd have still been outside at closing" Regina continued confirming Emma's initial suspicions.
The club was a big step up from the Rabbit hole but along with the extravagance in the huge city came more space for a lot more people and a lot of noise, so loud was it that they couldn't hear each other over the crowd so Regina who had already been forced to unhook her arm from Emma's reached behind and grabbed Emma's hand simultaneously pulling her in the direction that she wanted them to go and preventing them from getting separated by the rowdy crowd, Emma still wasn't too sure how she felt about this club, It might have been a lot fancier than Storybrooke's only night club but it was also so big and manic that she found herself missing the intimacy of the Rabbit hole.
She had assumed that Regina was leading them to the bar to order a drink, so she was very surprise when she realised that they seemed to be veering off in a totally different direction from where they could order liquid refreshments, it was only when they had come out of the other side of the crowd on the dance floor that Emma spotted the red carpeted staircase on the other side of the doorway that they were headed towards a guard was stationed either side of it and it had a red velvet barrier across the same as the main entrance.
As they approached one of the guards nodded his recognition at Regina and moved to lower the barrier permitting them entrance and Regina continuing to keep a tight hold of Emma's hand, led her through the doorway.
Emma thought that walls on either side of the stairwell must have had some soundproofing in them because the noise levels drastically lowered when they were on the stairs,
"That's better" Regina beamed down at Emma from the third stair still guiding her by hand though there really wasn't any need anymore "We can hear each other now"
They made it up the short flight of stairs in less than a minute coming out onto the upper floor which Emma could see was much nicer than even the ground floor had been and was reserved for VIPs like Regina and as Regina would tell her later in the evening her. Up here the seating was much more intimate, the bar was virtually free of people unlike the one downstairs which was swarming with a dense crowd of people waiting to get their drinks, there was also a much smaller dance floor and while the music playing downstairs could be heard filtering through speakers dotted about the place and filtering over the balcony from below it wasn't nearly as loud or intense up here, it was loud enough to get lost in on the dance floor but still low enough to allow them to hear each other talk when they were sat down.
Regina led them to the bar and ordered a couple of drinks before they found themselves a table to sit at, when their first two drinks were gone and Emma's cheeks were starting to warm up a little from the alcohol Regina invited her to dance, it was then, as they took to the dance floor that Emma began to realise just how many people she recognised in this room from one film or another and some from the music videos that she sometimes sang along to as they played on the tv while she did the housework and she even spotted a celebrity judge from one her favourite tv shows.
"There are a lot of big names in here" She murmured to Regina in awe when they returned to their table new drinks in hand a few dances later,
"Yup, they don't call this place A-lister central for nothing" Regina laughed "and best of all it's a no pap zone",
As the evening wore on Emma grew concerned about how much Regina had, had to drink, she was more than a little tipsy herself but Regina could literally drink her under the table and as she watched the brunette put away drink number she had no idea because she had lost track after number five Emma decided to lay of the alcohol herself for the rest of the evening moving onto the good old cola and insisted that they both have a pint of water before anymore drinking of alcohol beverages happened, they had both drunk about half when the celebrity judge that Emma had spotted earlier approached their table, she tried to make herself appear as inconspicuous as possible convinced that he was headed over to talk to Regina a tiny twang jealousy pulling at her heart when she thought about Regina dancing with anybody else, she was so surprised when it was her that he asked to dance that she accepted without thought and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor totally missing the scowl on Regina's face as she watched them go.
The truth was that the second that she had allowed herself to be led away from the table she had regretted it and wanted to be back there sitting across from Regina. Things quickly went from bad to worse when the high tempo song that had been playing ended giving way to a much slower romantic song, at first Emma was relieved it gave her the excuse that she needed to pull away, but her tv judge partner it seemed had different ideas and as she moved in an attempt to create a greater space between he grabbed hold of her and pulled her closer trapping her in his arms and dropping his hand onto her butt and giving it squeeze,
"Hey" Emma squealed reaching behind to move his hand "stop that"
"Come on now" the man drawled immediately raising Emma's hackles, then he pulled her closer returning his hand to rest on her butt again "Don't be coy" he whispered in her ear squeezing again harder this time,
"I said stop it" Emma replied firmly, stepping back and pushing him away from her, people were beginning to watch now but she really didn't care she wasn't putting up with that, the man however hadn't taken kindly to the rejection, in fact he looked fuming,
"What's the problem?" He demanded though he wasn't really looking for an answer from her, because he supplied his perceived answer himself half a second later "five minutes in the spotlight and you think your too good for me, you're lucky that I ever gave you the time of day little girl" he spat out venomously "remember your little show isn't even on the air yet, you're a nobody and one word in the right direction from me and you" he prodded Emma hard in the centre of her chest making her wince "never will be anything but a nobody"
"Get lost asshole" a voice cut across them and an arm slid protectively around Emma's waist giving it a little squeeze that Emma didn't object to at all "she's with me" Regina spat furiously, glaring at the man with thunder in her eyes,
"Oh, I see, it's like that is it" he sneered back at her screwing up his face in apparent repulsion "I should have known, though I must say I didn't get that vibe from you" he said turning his attention to Emma again "If you ever want something real you know where to find me"
"What did you just say to her" Regina seethed making to move closer to him fist clenched at her side, but Emma prevented her wrapping her arm around Regina's waist and holding her firmly in place next to her,
"I wouldn't come find you if you were the last human on earth" Emma retorted turning to lead Regina away from him before she got away and whacked him one, she didn't want the night to be ruined by them getting kicked out and banned for violence because of that jerk, he wasn't worth it.
Emma guided Regina into the ladies' room where she proceeded to pace for a whole ten minute's ranting in a mixture of English and Spanish which was a new one on Emma and under other circumstances, she would have found it to be quite the turn on,
"Just who does that asshole think he is" she ranted for the third time,
"I think you just answered your own question" Emma chuckled,
"It's not funny Emma" Regina yelled "He, he assaulted you" she choked tears springing in her eyes,
"I know" Emma replied stopping Regina in her tracks by placing gentle hands on the tops of her arms "and I'm sorry I laughed, it's nice to have someone who cares about me so much" she said losing herself in concerned pools of brown for a few seconds "I mean outside of Granny, Ruby, Archie, and Jake of course" she smiled,
"My Emma" Regina smiled back reaching to tuck some stray curls behind Emma's ear, pausing to caress her cheek and just like earlier Emma was powerless to stop herself from leaning into the touch her eyelids dropping as a sigh of contentment fell from between her lips, her heart began to race as she felt Regina hovering in front of her, moving closer, hesitating for a split second then moving closer again was this leading where she though it was leading?
She didn't get a chance to find out because a second later they were disturbed by to the bathroom door opening, Emma suddenly couldn't feel Regina's hand on her cheek anymore and she immediately mourned the loss of contact, when opened her eyes she saw Regina was still in front of only now she was standing a respectful distance away from her looking a little sheepish,
"Come on" Emma said struggling to supress the sigh of frustration that was threatening to escape from her at any second "let's get out here"
They returned to their table and after eyeing their drinks which had been left unattended since Regina had come to Emma's defence suspiciously for less than a second Emma took them to the bar to be discarded and determined not to let one creep spoil their night returned to Regina with two fresh drinks in hand, better safe than sorry she decided.
They quickly got back on track, danced a few more dances and knocked back a few more drinks until several hours later in the wee hours of the morning Emma stumbled out onto what would now be a pitch black street if not for the many lights illuminating it lulling people into feeling safer to be out at this late hour with a very drunk and happy Regina, the driver who was already waiting outside for them opened the car door in his usual fashion and waited for them to settle in before he pulled away, Regina's head was resting on Emma's shoulder and she was snoring gently by the time they got back to apartment building and any other time Emma would have simply picked her up and carried her in but though she wasn't nearly as drunk as Regina she was still way to far on the tipsy side to trust herself to be able to perform such a task safely and so reluctantly Emma woke the sleeping woman up and helped her into the lift, borrowing her key to unlock the button that would take them into the penthouse just as she had seen Regina do before.
"I don't feel so well" Regina groaned as they stepped out of the lift, suspecting that the lifts motion had pushed Regina over the edge so to speak Emma wasted no time leading her into the nearest bathroom staying with her to hold her hair and rub soothing circles on her back while she threw up, then she helped Regina into her bedroom leaving her in her personal bathroom to brush her teeth and wash up while she ventured into the kitchen pouring them both a glass of water and tapping four painkillers into her palm from a bottle that she had found whilst rooting around in the cupboards, then unsure as to where Regina kept things like buckets she grabbed a clean mixing bowl off of the drainer from dinner wedging it under her arm before heading back to Regina's room.
She could already hear Regina calling for her when she got back to landing that led to her room,
"I'm coming" she called back quickening her pace
"Where'd you go" Regina slurred from her new position spread eagled flat on her back on her bed,
"I just went to kitchen" Emma explained leaving her glass of water and two painkillers on the nearest surface to the door, then moving further into the room she placed Regina's glass and the other two pain killers on one of her bedside tables ready for the morning, then she lay the bowl on the floor nearby before moving to sit next to Regina who for no apparent reason had begun to giggle.
Emma helped her out of the dress replacing it with an oversized tee shirt and settled Regina into bed on her side, gently pushing her hair away from her eyes before turning to leave the room,
"Where are you going?" Regina slurred sleepily just before she made it to the door,
"To bed" Emma replied,
"Stay with me" Regina requested rolling onto her back again and looking at Emma imploringly,
"Okay" Emma agreed afraid to leave Regina lying on her back just in case she was sick again "just give me a second to get changed" she smiled then rushed next door leaving the beautiful jumpsuit where it landed on the floor in her haste to get back to Regina, her ears straining for any sounds of retching in the otherwise silent night as she pulled on her shorts and vest top and hurried back to Regina's room where the brunette was watching for her return still lying on her back,
"You really need to stay on your side sweetheart, just in case you're sick" Emma whispered concern heavy in her tone as she slipped between the sheets next to Regina
"Okay" Regina slurred rolling to face Emma with mischievous look on her face that would have looked incredibly sexy if she weren't so inebriated, in this state to Emma she just thought that she looked incredibly vulnerable, the brunette suddenly reached out and began to pull at Emma's night shirt while clumsily attempting to plant a kiss on her lips taking the blonde by surprise,
"No Regina" Emma spoke firmly but gently as took Regina's hands in her own moving them from her body and pulled her head back out of the rosy, red lips reach, "Not like this"
"What's the matter?" Regina pouted "don't you like me"
"Of course, I like you, I love you, you big dope" Emma let out a small laugh "and that's why I could never take advantage of you after the skinful you've had tonight, I'd be in the guest room I wasn't so worried to leave you alone in case you're sick"
"Oh" was all Regina could say as she blinked at Emma in the darkness
"Come on" Emma gently prompted "roll over" Regina complied, and Emma edged closer to her in hopes that her body would stop Regina from rolling onto her back again in her sleep or at least she would wake her up if she tried,
"Would you hold me" Regina whispered into the darkness
"Of course, I will," Emma smiled turning to become the big spoon and wrapping her arms around Regina, who promptly fell asleep,
"I am you know" Emma whispered remembering Regina's earlier words in the club bathroom,
"hmm" Regina sighed in her sleep and Emma replied unheard,
"Yours" she said dropping a light kiss on the back of Regina's head before she too closed her eyes and quickly followed Regina into the land of dreams.