When Emma woke up the following morning, she was surprised to find that Regina was already up, the glass of water and pain killers that Emma had left on her bedside table the night before were gone and so was the bowl that Emma had placed on the floor which to her knowledge had gone unused.
She snuggled deeper into the duvet inhaling the warm familiar scent of Regina with a contented little sigh wishing that she could wake up like this every day or even better still in Regina's arms. She wondered what Regina remembered of the night before whether it meant anything to her or if it was just the actions of an overzealous drunk. The beginnings of a headache thrummed in her head growing in intensity with each passing moment that she was awake until with a reluctant groan she stretched rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed reached for her own glass of water which was still waiting for her and the two pain killers that sat next to it.
When she was done, she got up and headed into the guest room shrugged on her robe then padded down the hallway in search of Regina empty glass in hand, she hadn't gotten far when the mouth-watering aroma of bacon and waffles reached her nostrils, following it to the kitchen she found the welcoming vision that was Regina standing by the cooker wearing her robe over the long t-shirt that Emma had put on her the night before humming gently over the frying pan,
"Morning gorgeous" Emma smiled brightly "Something smells good"
"Morning" Regina laughed "sit yourself down and I'll bring it over"
Nodding Emma perched on the nearest island stool watching Regina dish up the breakfast after which she placed a plate laden with food and a mug of freshly brewed coffee in front of Emma then sat across from her with her own food,
"Did you sleep okay?" Emma ventured in between mouthfuls of deliciousness,
"Like a baby" Regina grinned across from her "Thanks for taking such good care of me"
"Anytime" Emma smiled back,
And that was it Regina didn't mention anything about her drunken come on and so following suit Emma didn't bring it up either, she just assumed that it hadn't meant anything to Regina and that she was either embarrassed by it or had simply forgotten and not wanting to embarrass her further if it was the prior of those two conclusions, Emma didn't draw attention to it.
As the morning wore on however Emma began to notice that Regina was a little twitchy and seemed to be maintaining more distance from Emma than was usual, their carefree banter and casual touches had given way to a strained distance which Regina was maintaining so efficiently that she hadn't made physical contact with Emma a single time that morning it made Emma feel a bit sad and it also made her feel certain that Regina remembered at least some of her actions from the night before and that she regretted them, she thought that maybe the distance that Regina was maintaining was her way of making sure that Emma knew that she had made a drunken mistake and wasn't really into her that way, if it was then Emma was getting the message loud and clear and found herself feeling even more relieved that she hadn't given into Regina's drunken advances, she didn't even like to imagine how much worse Regina's regret would be now if she had or what irreplicable damage that would have done to their friendship, she also hoped that Regina's embarrassment wouldn't last too long because she missed the little touches and relaxed atmosphere between them, this strange new way of dancing around each other felt awkward and unnatural.
"I thought we could go on a proper shopping trip today" Regina smiled from across the kitchen island sipping her third coffee of the morning,
"Sounds good to me" Emma replied secretly relieved to be leaving the penthouse for a bit maybe, she hoped they would leave the weird tension that hung between them behind.
They met in front of the elevator ready to go less than twenty minutes later, Emma reaching for the call button at the same time as Regina and for the first time that morning their fingers brushed lightly against each other, it was a feather touch for the merest of milliseconds but still it was enough to send familiar lightening like jolt sensations shooting from Emma's fingers up her arm,
"Sorry" Regina blushed withdrawing her hand so fast that it was as though Emma's lightening jolts had shocked her to though Emma knew that that was impossible,
"You've nothing to be sorry for" Emma replied offering Regina a lopsided grin as she watched her distract herself by tucking strands of silky brunette hair behind her ear and smoothing her flawless outfit down, she looked uncomfortable and Emma felt terrible this was not how she had wanted their weekend to go at all, last night she had, had a great time creepy tv judges aside and she longed to get that feeling of warmth and fun back with Regina, she wondered if she should try to clear the air assure Regina that what happened last night didn't matter she understood that they were just friends and that was more than okay, but she was so afraid that, that might be the wrong thing to do and that she might make matters worse with the foot in mouth syndrome that she seemed to be cursed with that she remained silent as the lift began to descend with Regina still fidgeting nearby.
Regina offered her usual greeting to Gustov on their way past his help desk and then she and Emma stepped out onto the bright LA sidewalk next to which a car was waiting for them,
It wasn't a long drive-in fact Emma wondered aloud whether it would have been quicker to walk to which Regina had insisted that it wouldn't, they were dropped outside of a restaurant as was previously arranged by Regina who thought that they should enjoy their midday meal before they proceeded with their shopping trip. Lunch was like the rest of the morning had been, Regina dancing around Emma, after the lift incident she seemed to be being even more intent not to make physical contact with her, always double checking to make sure that Emma's hands showed no indication of reaching for something before she would reach for it herself, Emma's heart felt like it was in her feet it had plummeted so low and she struggled to eat her way through her food, she just wanted them to be okay again how they usually were but she also knew that she needed to give Regina time to work through whatever was happening in her head, she just hoped that the brunette would do it quickly.
Emma's spirits lifted a bit when they hit the stores after their light lunch, she was on the hunt for gifts for Ruby and Granny and quickly found the perfect little wolf pendant for Ruby to hang in her car, Wolves were her favourite animal and Granny had often joked that Ruby would have gone to live with them as a child if it had been up to her, Ruby of course would come back with a witty comment about how she did live with one while eyeing Granny pointedly, so Emma knew that she'd love the pendant, Granny however was proving to be a much more difficult customer,
"Maybe she'd like a new hat" Regina suggested pointing towards a hat stand in one of the stores,
"I'm not sure that these are really Grannies style" Emma replied taking one with a particularly wide rim from the stand putting in on, pulling the sides right down over her ears and making a silly face,
"You're such an idiot" Regina howled with laughter suddenly giving Emma a playful slap on the arm sending Emma's heart souring, she quickly grabbed another hat and started to parade in that one clowning about, four hats later they were laughing helplessly together as though nothing had happened the ice it seemed had been broken and Regina at least for a now had let go of whatever inner turmoil that had been keeping her at a distance.
The rest of the shopping trip was much more pleasant after that, the awkwardness had gone, and the playful banter was back. They eventually happened upon a craft store which a very excited Emma pulled Regina into happily noting that the brunette hadn't pulled away when she'd taken hold of her hand, Emma happily rooted through the shelves selecting several sketch pads and other art supplies, she was on the way to the checkout when she finally found her gift for Granny,
A bag with various pockets for her knitting, needles and several balls of wool, this Emma thought would be ideal for Granny who often took her knitting to things like town meetings where she would sit needles clanging wildly as she listened to the latest town news she always gave herself away when she was getting worked up over something because the needles would start to flash faster something that Emma and Ruby had teased her about mercilessly numerous times, at home she had a large wicker basket next to her chair full of various balls of wool she just placed her knitting on top whenever he paused for a bit and used a carrier bag to take to the town hall for the meetings, this bag would allow her to take her knitting anywhere safely tucked away in its own section, balls of wool, knitting patterns of which Emma chose some new ones to gift with the bag and her needles all had a place to go to and Granny, Emma thought would love it.
Outside of the craft store Regina called the car company and had them pick them up, Emma began to feel nervous again as they approached Regina's building, the tension had finally lifted, and Regina was behaving completely normally towards her again Emma was happy but also deeply afraid that it wouldn't last, and that the tension would be waiting, lying in wait for them to return to.
Her fears it transpired had gone unfounded, as soon as they got in, they discarded their shopping bags into their rooms then met on the roof for another swim and hot tub session before dinner at Regina's suggestion, and later they decided to watch a movie before bed.
Leaving Emma to choose a DVD in what she referred to as her cinema room, Regina went to prepare some cinema worthy snacks, it wasn't really a cinema of course, it was just the lounge with the biggest tv mounted on its wall, still it was fun concept Emma thought as the rummaged through the films settling on a comedy that she hadn't seen before.
Regina still wasn't back by the time Emma had inserted the disc into the player and switched the television on and Emma quickly becoming bored began to wander around the room looking first at Regina's trinkets dotted about the place and then at the framed pictures that she displayed along the top of a long sideboard. She smiled as she recognised little Regina sitting on her father's knee, Regina with a very familiar looking red head that Emma just couldn't place right that second, she must be another celebrity Emma thought she just couldn't think who she was or where she had seen her before, she had always been useless at placing faces, but the two women in the picture looked very close and happy.
The next picture Emma looked at showed Regina and the red head again this time standing between Regina's parents her father sporting an open friendly smile while her mother who Emma had instantly recognised from several movies that she had seen over the years wore a formidable look on her face that made Emma shudder, right in the centre of all the photos sat one of a smiling teenage Regina with her arms around a teenage boy that Emma didn't recognise at all, she picked up the picture looking over the handsome features of the boy who appeared to be as happy as Regina as he returned her embrace and wondered who he was.
"What you looking at?" Regina smiled startling Emma,
"Just some pictures" Emma replied glancing over at the brunette standing near the doorway with a huge bowl of popcorn in hand before dropping her gaze back to the photo in her own hand.
Leaving the bowl on the coffee table in front of the sofa Regina moved to Emma's side glancing down at the photo that she was holding,
"Daniel" she whispered gently taking the picture from Emma, face softening as she stroked the smiling teens face with her fingertips,
"Is he you ex" Emma asked feeling a ridiculous twang of jealously in her heart as she continued to watch Regina smile at the image of Daniel with a love tenderness in her eyes that Emma had never seen before,
"My mother and his have always believed so but no" Regina chuckled shaking her head "Daniel was my best friend since childhood we practically grew up together"
"But you were never really a couple?" Emma asked confused,
"No, I was Daniels beard" Regina explained "Daniel wasn't ready to come out yet and I wasn't ready to date so we pretended to be together to keep our parents off our backs and out of our business" she laughed and placed the picture back where it belonged,
"So, where's Daniel now?" Emma asked immediately wishing she had hadn't when a sad cloud quickly descended over Regina's features and her shoulders sagged beneath the weight of whatever she was about to say,
"Daniel died" she sighed sadly "not long after that picture was taken actually, he was still only seventeen when he got sick then not long after his eighteenth birthday, we lost him" she sniffed,
"Oh god, I'm so sorry Regina" Emma gasped pulling Regina into a warm hug,
"It's okay, it was a long time ago now" Regina assured her, but she returned the embrace and didn't let go of Emma for quite some time, it was obvious that Daniel had meant a lot to her and that she still loved and missed him greatly even all this time later. Emma just stood holding Regina until she felt her legs beginning to cramp, then she gently steered them away from the pictures settling them on the couch together where Regina snuggled in closer to watch the movie with their huge bowl of popcorn nestled between them, fingers often brushing against each other making them both smile when they reached for a handful at the same time.
They slept in their owns rooms that night and though Emma missed Regina she was so tired from her busy weekend that she fell asleep almost as soon as her head had hit the pillow.
Regina had booked an early afternoon flight back the next day which would get them back to Storybrooke by the early evening, so it was a with a heavy heart that Emma packed her bag once she was up and dressed in the morning leaving it on her neatly made bed ready for her to collet when it was time leave before taking the scenic route to the dining room for her final breakfast in the penthouse.
Regina greeted her with her usual beaming smile and a plate of freshly made pancakes with fresh strawberries and honey on top, both of which lightened Emma's mood a little as she joined Regina at the kitchen island where they passed the next half hour speculating about the next weeks filming while they enjoyed their breakfast, and then it was suddenly time to go.
Emma returned to her room to collect her things remembering to lock the glass door that led out onto the veranda before she took a final glance around and stepped back out meeting Regina who had just exited her own room having collected the things that she wanted to bring back with her in the hallway,
"Ready to go home" Regina beamed
"Sure am" Emma replied trying her best to return the smile while a storm of mixed emotions raged inside of her, on the one hand she was looking forward to going home, getting back to work, seeing Ruby, and filling her in on all that she had done over the weekend and on the other she was going to miss this place and felt a little sad to be leaving it. It was when they were seated in the car headed to airport with Regina's apartment building rapidly fading into the distance that Emma's LA blues really hit her, and she had to swallow a painful lump as she realised that she might not ever get to come back here again.
She perked up a bit once they had boarded the plane though, it was almost lunch time and Regina announced as they settled into their seats that, that meant that they would be getting a meal during this flight very soon after take-off and Emma was quite looking forward to her first inflight meal. The food as it turned out was okay, nothing special but it was sufficient and it filled a small hole and the rest of the flight home was as uneventful and enjoyable as the one to LA had been and Emma's blues didn't take a hold again until she was back in her trailer on the complex all alone.
Emma was dropped off first seeing as her trailer was closest to the complexes main entrance and therefore the first that they had arrived at upon their return, she stood for a moment feeling a little lost watching the car drive further into the complex with Regina still inside and then listlessly she turned to walk to her trailer door letting herself in.
She sighed feeling that familiar painful lump forming as she looked around her lonely trailer already missing being with Regina in LA as she unpacked her bag repacking it immediately along with a second ready for the next day, even the prospect of going on location with Regina again which she had so enjoyed before wasn't enough to shake her blues over leaving the penthouse, she just had to hope that they would shift once she was caught up in the excitement over the coming days.