Part Nine: The One With The Blouse

Emma was sitting by the counter staring at Mary Margaret make breakfast for the both of them.

She tapped her fingers impatiently on the wooden counter, ignoring the way her stomach twisted when Mary Margaret flipped the bacon.

She was starved.

And today, that uncomfortable feeling of having someone else making something willingly for her didn't settle in the pit of her stomach.

Today she wasn't unsure of herself because Mary Margaret was cooking her breakfast, she wasn't thinking about what she would have to give her in return.

Today, she was just hungry.

"Is it ready yet?" Emma asked, almost child-like.

"Almost," Mary Margaret looked over her shoulder and smiled at Emma "Why don't you get the orange juice from the fridge?"

Emma did as she was told and walked to the fridge, taking the orange juice from inside and pouring two cups before walking back to the counter.

Just in time for Mary Margaret to put a full plate in front of her.

"Thanks," Emma smiled before picking a slice of bacon only to drop it again on the plate, blowing her fingers.

"Careful," Mary Margaret warned her "It's hot"

"I know," Emma rolled her eyes playfully.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Not really, no," Emma said, munching on her food "Maybe I'll spend some time with Henry"

"Does Regina know that?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Of course not," Emma smirked.

"Emma, are you sure that's wise?" Mary Margaret asked "Henry is her son"

"Yes, I know," Emma said "Trust me, Regina has made that perfectly clear already"

"Maybe you should talk to her," Mary Margaret said "About Henry"

"She's impossible to talk to," Emma said "Besides, there is nothing to talk about. I just want to help him and then I'll be gone"

"So, you are going to enter his life only to leave again?"

Emma looked at Mary Margaret, mouth slightly open, and bacon hanging from between her fingers, without an answer to give.

Luckily, they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

And Emma sighed with relief when Mary Margaret walked to see who was knocking at that hour.

"Ms. Blanchard, is Ms. Swan here?"

Emma heard her name and rose from her seat, walking closer to Mary Margaret at the door.

"Hi, my name is Mr. Gold," Gold stretched his hand to Emma who shook it "We met briefly on your arrival"

"I remember," Emma said back.

How could she forget?

According to Granny, that man owned Storybrooke.

"Good, I have a proposition for you, Ms. Swan," Gold said "I need your help. I'm looking for someone"

"Really? um..." Emma looked at Mary Margaret when Gold discreetly pointed at the woman and smiled politely.

"You know what? I am going to jump in the bath" Mary Margaret said, pointing to the back of the loft.

She was as subtle as an elephant but at least she got the hint.

Mary Margaret left the two of them together and the second she was out of view, Mr. Gold told Emma he had a photo of the person he was looking for

And Emma swallowed dry as she saw the woman in the picture.

It was the same woman she spoke with the day before.

Ashley!

That was her name.

And she had broken into Mr. Gold's shop and stole from him.

God, how could that girl be so stupid?

Couldn't she have mugged someone like… Granny?

As Gold told Emma what happened she couldn't help but feel guilty about the occurrence.

Not for Gold, never for him.

But for Ashley.

Emma couldn't help feeling responsible for the girl's actions.

Even if they weren't her own.

So Emma asked the necessary questions, asked Gold why not going to the police and then when he saw her last.

And pretended to be satisfied enough with his answers but she knew that whatever Ashley took from him, was worth a lot and probably wasn't legal.

He seemed very concerned about taking back whatever the poor girl stole from him.

"So you'll help me then?" Gold asked when he finished his tale.

"I will help her," Emma said immediately.

"Grand," Gold smiled at her.

"Hey Emma, I was thinking we..."

Both Emma and Gold looked in the direction of the door to see Henry entering the loft.

"Hey Henry, how are you?" Gold smiled at Henry.

"O-kay," Henry answered awkwardly.

"Good. Give my regards to your mother," Gold said walking to the door "And um... good luck Ms. Swan"

When Gold left, Emma walked up to her room to change into the brown blouse and blue jacket she found in the truck of her bug with Henry running behind her.

Even when she left the apartment.

Apparently, Regina was gone until five in the afternoon that day.

And Emma had to bit her tongue not to ask Henry where did she go.

So Emma did what she had to do, told Henry she had something important to do, that she needed to find this girl but Henry was ruthless in his begging.

She knew it was very irresponsible of her part to take Henry with her, she had no idea who this girl really was and where could this quest take her.

But when Henry made his perfect puppy eyes and told her he just wanted to spend some time with her, she was doomed.

She let Henry get inside the bug with her and vowed that she would deliver him back to Regina in one piece.

Regina was in the Mayor's office tapping her fingers on the desk while reading a file.

She had left the house earlier because she had a few things to take care of at City Hall before her meeting with Graham.

Henry didn't seem to care that she was going to spend the whole day out when she told him she was leaving.

Lately, Henry didn't seem to care about her at all.

All he seemed to care about was Emma.

And as infuriating as it was, Emma was exactly the reason why Regina had left earlier too.

She needed to think.

And God helped her, she needed to think about Emma Swan.

Regina had run away the night before.

It was too much, too intense, the scent of wildflowers and summer breeze was pulling her.

Telling her that she was home.

And when Regina looked to the side, she was not surprised to see Emma there.

Regina knew damn well to whom that scent belonged by now.

But she was surprised to see Emma's features, the way she inhale deeply the cool air of the night and then smiled.

It was almost like she could sense something in the air too.

And when Emma looked at her, when their eyes locked from across the street… she knew.

She knew Emma could smell it too.

So Regina ran away.

When Emma gave a step forward, her eyes never moving away from hers, Regina ran away.

She couldn't deal with that, whatever that was.

She couldn't deal.

Because it didn't make any sense.

So Regina drove home as fast as she could.

And then she spent half the night thinking about what any of that meant.

Was it because Emma was an outsider?

Someone who didn't belong there?

Could that be it?

But Henry was an outsider too and he didn't smell like that to her, although Henry was her home.

He was her whole world.

At some point between three and four in the morning, Regina decided that she should make an appointment with a real doctor, outside of Storybrooke to check her brain.

Perhaps she was indeed having a stroke.

Why her?

Why Emma Swan?

Why Regina could only smell that scent when Emma was near?

Why did Emma smell like home?

Regina buried her face in her hands and grunted.

Why couldn't she take Emma Swan out of her mind?

Ever since that woman arrived in Storybrooke, all Regina could think about was her.

Even her murderous thoughts always left her with a bitter taste on the back of her tongue.

And Regina hated there more than anything.

She always enjoyed so much plotting about how to destroy someone.

These dubious feelings she was having about Emma Swan were taking the whole fun out of her plottings.

And then there was that pull.

As if the scent wasn't annoying enough, Regina also felt that ridiculous pull toward Emma.

It was so strong the night before, all Regina wanted to do was run in Emma's direction and crawled under her skin.

Every single cell in her body was burning for Emma, aching for her touch.

It was unbearable for Regina to walk away from it.

To break the spell and enter the car, driving as fast as she could away from her.

It hurt her to do that.

Nearly physically.

Her body was only able to calm down when there was a safe distance between herself and Emma.

And then all she was left with was confusion.

But today Regina was determined to forget about Emma.

Everything about her.

She had her meeting with Graham later and hopefully, she would be able to take her mind out of Emma.

Maybe this was exactly what she needed.

It had been a few days since her last meeting with Graham, maybe this was just her body telling her that she needed some adult time.

Some alone time to forget about how terrible things were with Henry and the threat that Emma's presence represented.

She just needed to forget.

Perhaps she would never desire Graham's touch the way she did Emma's last night, perhaps she would never burn for him.

But he was a good distraction and that was exactly what Regina needed right now.

A distraction.

Regina sighed and looked back at the stack of papers on top of her desk.

Another distraction.

One as unappealing as the other.

God, what was wrong with her?

Why now?

Regina shook her head and forced herself to look at the papers.

She read every word as if she was a child learning how to read but by the time she arrived at the second paragraph, she gave up.

It didn't matter how slow she read, the words didn't mean anything to her, not when her mind was elsewhere.

So, Regina rose from the chair and walked to the liquor cabinet, pouring herself a glass of cider.

Then she walked around her office taking things out of their place and putting them back again one minute later just so she could have something to distract herself with.

When the clock finally hit three in the afternoon, Regina left her office.

She drove to the B&B and parked her car in the back as she always did and then walked up the stairs to the room where they always met.

Regina opened the door and wasn't surprised to see Graham already in the room waiting for her.

He was always there before she did.

But today she wished he didn't. Today she wished he wasn't there no matter how much she needed the distraction that he could provide her.

Today she wished there was some sort of emergency, something that would take him away from there with a valid excuse.

Sure Regina could just say no, she could just walk away with no need for an explanation.

But how would she explain that to herself?

What was the alternative?

"Hi," Graham smiled at her.

"Hello, dear," Regina smiled back, forcing her lips to move up as she closed the door behind her "Is everything okay in town today?"

"Yes, everything is perfect," Graham said walking closer to Regina "The town is calmer than never"

"Are you sure?" Regina moved to put her purse on the armchair "You know, ever since that woman arrived here things have been chaotic"

"What things?" Graham asked.

"Everything," Regina gestured with her hands.

"Emma is fine, Regina," Graham said.

"I'm sure she is," Regina swallowed dry.

Graham walked closer to Regina again and put his hand on her arm, gently moving up her shoulder.

Regina felt nothing with his touch.

He looked into her eyes and leaned forward to capture her lips in a kiss and Regina kissed him back automatically, just moving her lips like they were supposed to be moving during a kiss.

But when Graham pulled back, something strange happened.

Regina saw her.

Regina saw Emma where Graham was supposed to be, saw Emma smiling at her, saw her green eyes looking back at her full of desire.

So Regina leaned forward again and kissed Graham and pretended that it was Emma who was there, that it was Emma's touch that she was feeling, that was her body pressed against hers.

And because of that Regina didn't stop Graham when he pulled the zipper of her dress down, letting it fall to her feet.

Instead, Regina let herself fall into the mix of pretending and distraction, of forgetting and remembering Emma at the same time.

Emma was at the hospital, walking impatiently from one side to the other in the waiting area.

The whole day had been a rollercoaster of emotions and Emma was unsure of how to feel about everything.

So she decided to focus on what she could right now which was Ashley.

God, she had found her already giving birth to her baby.

Emma honestly thought she wasn't going to make it and then there were the things she told Ashley when they were in the car, about how she could never leave the baby if she decided to keep it.

With Henry in the backseat.

He had tagged along with the whole search for her.

Emma tried to get rid of him, she really did, but Henry was very much like his brunette mother when he wanted something.

And Emma was kind of proud of him for it.

But once again, here she was, proving to herself why she couldn't be a mother.

She couldn't believe she dragged a ten-year-old kid around town searching for a pregnant girl and let him watch her nearly bringing a new life into this world in the back seat of her car.

Although, maybe that could have given him some sort of sense of reality.

Yeah, right.

At least he wasn't scared.

God, what a mess.

And Emma wondered why Regina wanted her head.

"You know Emma, you're different," Henry said, pulling Emma out of her thoughts.

"What's that?" Emma asked, still walking back and forth.

"You're the only one who can do it," Henry said.

"Break the curse?" Emma asked defeated "Yes, I know. You keep telling me that"

"No, leave," Henry said "You're the only one who can leave Storybrooke"

"You left and came and found me in Boston," Emma shrugged.

"But I came back. I'm ten. I had no choice," Henry said "But if anyone else tried to go, bad things would happen"

"Anyone, except me?" Emma asked and kneeled in front of Henry.

"'You're the savior. You can do whatever you want. You can go"

Emma stared inside Henry's eyes, eyes that looked so much like hers, and understood what he was telling her.

He was using his fairy tale analogy, the only language he knew how to communicate, to tell Emma that she was free to go whenever she wanted.

Free to leave him whenever she felt like it.

Emma felt a small pang of pain in her heart, but luckily she was interrupted by the doctor before she needed to say anything at all to Henry.

Because honestly, she had no idea of what to say to him.

"Ms. Swan, the baby is a healthy six-pound girl, and the mother is doing fine," The doctor said.

Emma rose from the ground and smiled at the doctor, not really sharing her enthusiasm.

"What lovely news," Gold said entering the waiting area "Excellent work, Ms. Swan. Thank you for bringing me my merchandise"

Emma felt her blood run hot as she stared at the man, her hands closing into a fist ready to punch him in the face.

Because now, she truly understood what his possession really was.

She understood why he didn't want to go to the police, why he had hired her to find Ashley.

He had bought her baby!

And Emma didn't even want to imagine what kind of transactions were behind his little arrangement.

What would he do with the child!

Gold walked to the vending machine and Emma quickly followed him.

"A baby? That's your merchandise?" Emma asked, leaning on the vending machine "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, because at the time you didn't need to know" Gold simply answered her and started to limp away.

"You're not getting that kid," Emma said firmly.

"Actually, we have an agreement," Gold smiled at her "And my agreements are always honored. If not, I'm going to have to involve the police, and that baby is going to end up in the system, and that would be a pity. You didn't enjoy your time in the system, did you, Emma?"

"You know, no jury in the world will put a woman in jail whose only reason for breaking and entering was to keep her child," Emma said confidently "I'm willing to roll the dice that contract doesn't stand up. Are you? Not to mention what might come out about you in the process. Somehow I suspect there is more to you than a simple pawnbroker. You really want to start that fight?"

"I like you, Ms. Swan," Gold said "You're not afraid of me, and that's either cocky or presumptuous. Either way, I'd rather have you on my side"

"So she can keep the baby?" Emma asked hopefully.

"You see, contracts, deals, well they're the very foundation of all civilized existence, so I put it to you now. If you want Ashley to have that baby, are you willing to make a deal with me?" Gold asked.

"What do you want?" Emma asked.

"Oh, I don't know just yet. You'll owe me a favor" Gold smiled too widely at her again.

"Deal"

Emma said without thinking about it.

What was it to think about anyway?

A favor in exchange for a young girl to keep her child?

Yeah, she took the deal.

That's what any decent human being would do.

As for the favor, well, she would have to think about it later.

After Gold limped away, Emma returned to Henry in the waiting area chairs.

Emma arrived just in time the doctor showed up again to tell them that they could see Ashley, so naturally, Emma and Henry hurried to the hospital room.

And saw the most precious little thing safe and sound inside Ashley's arms.

And when Emma told her that she could keep her baby girl, that she took care of her deal with Gold, the expression upon her face was worth anything.

Ashley wasn't like her.

She wasn't Emma.

She was more than capable of caring for her child.

They stayed with her and the baby for a while until Emma looked up the watch on the wall.

It was nearly five.

Didn't Henry say something about Regina getting home at five?

"Oh, hey kid, it's almost five. You gotta get home,"

Emma said goodbye to Ashley and her baby girl and hurried with Henry to her car, parked outside the hospital.

Emma drove in a hurry, already wondering if Regina would somehow find out she was speeding through the streets of Storybrooke and get her a ticket.

And then she hoped that was the only thing Regina would find out.

Emma parked in front of the mansion and hurried Henry out of the car but when he was almost at the gate, Emma called out his name.

"Henry?" Emma shouted and Henry turned to look at her "About what you said at the hospital, about me being able to leave?

"Yeah?"

"See you tomorrow," Emma smiled at him before driving away.

Regina was in the kitchen, cleaning up what was left of dinner.

Her mind was a hell of a lot of thoughts and Regina either couldn't or didn't want to make sense of them.

The afternoon with Graham was…

God, what was that even?

She went for him to find solace, to distract herself, to make her forget about a certain blonde woman who smelled of wildflowers on a sunny day but instead…

Instead, all Regina found was solitude and mechanical actions.

The only times she felt something was when she could see Emma's face on Graham.

But even that didn't last long and only made her even more confused.

Regina felt worse now than she did before.

So Regina focused on cleaning the kitchen and even washed the dishes and pots by hand.

Anything that would give her something to do.

Anything that could at least distract her a little.

But by the time Regina finished, she still had too much time in her hands, time that could dangerously roam over to Emma Swan, and Regina didn't want that.

To be honest, she was a little fed up with it.

It wasn't even humanly possible to think so much about another human being.

Regina sighed as she put the last cup away inside the cabinet.

She left the kitchen and walked up the staircase, stopping in the middle of the hallway and staring at Henry's bedroom door.

She could really use her little boy tonight.

Maybe just for tonight, they could pretend.

Maybe just for tonight, Henry could pretend he still loved her, maybe he could let her hug him and just spend some time together.

Maybe if Regina was honest with him, just for tonight, maybe her mind could be at ease.

Regina walked to Henry's bedroom, feeling her legs shaken at every step she took.

It wasn't easy for her to feel vulnerable, it wasn't something that came naturally to her.

Regina had learned far too young how to be tough.

And maybe that was exactly the problem.

"Henry?" Regina knocked on his door "May I come in?"

No answer.

But lately, Henry didn't exactly bother giving her one.

So Regina just pushed the door open and entered the room.

And to her surprise, the room was completely empty.

"Henry?" Regina called louder.

Again, no answer.

Regina looked for him quickly around the house before leaving the mansion on foot.

She was so tired of this.

So tired of Henry snicking around whenever he felt like it, tired of him giving her rude answers, tired of him accusing her of things.

Tired of being evil before his eyes.

Because yes, Regina was evil.

She indeed was The Evil Queen.

But not to Henry.

Not even once.

To him, she was always just his mom.

Regina walked around Storybrooke, shouting Henry's name every once in a while.

She looked for him behind dark corners trying her best to control her breathing and the mix of anger and fear.

Because what if he had run away again?

Somewhere far away?

Regina was getting closer to Granny's diner when the scent of wildflowers and summer breeze hit her nose.

She was on the sidewalk across the street from Granny's when she saw Emma leaning inside her bug as if she was retrieving something or maybe looking for something inside her car.

"Where is he?" Regina shouted when Emma rose from her leaning position inside the car and turned her head in her direction.

Even before Regina had spoken.

"Where is who?" Emma asked confused.

"Henry," Regina asked angrily "Where is he?"

"I don't know," Emma said back.

"Stop lying to me," Regina said right in front of Emma now "Where is my son?"

"I don't know where he is, Regina," Emma said "I left him at your place a little before five and I haven't seen him since"

Regina gasped for air and let the tears fall down her face, not caring that Emma Swan was right in front of her watching her falling apart.

Because right now, she didn't care about who was watching her like that.

Right now, all she cared about was finding her son.

Emma took a step closer to Regina, invading her personal space, so close that Regina could feel the heat coming from her body and warming hers.

"Look," Emma said softly, taking Regina's hand between hers "He is with Archie. You see, they are at Granny's"

Regina turned her head and looked through the glass window, fiding her son laughing with Archie right in front of him on a booth.

Regina closed her eyes and let a few more tears fall down her face because everything was so confused right now because she was relieved that her son was safe and laughing but she was also so angry because Henry seemed to do that with anyone else but her.

"Hey," Emma said softly again.

And this time, Regina lifted her eyes to look at Emma, and she felt everything all at once, the electricity of her touch, the smell of her perfume mixed with the smell of her soul, and when Emma touched her face and brushed a tear away from her face, Regina let herself feel it and she let herself acknowledge the touch.

Because just for this one second, Regina felt like her heart was finally at peace.

"I'm sorry he keeps doing this to you," Emma said gently, one of her hands still on Regina's face "I supposed I am to blame too"

"He can't keep running away in the middle of the night," Regina said flatly.

"I know," Emma nodded, not moving an inch away from Regina.

And the warmth of her skin was something so powerful that Regina just wanted to curl her whole body around it.

But instead, she gave one step back, cleaning the tears from her face.

Because how in the world could any of this make any sense?

So Regina did what she did best.

She hardened her features and acted.

She was good at pretending.

"Thank you, Miss Swan," Regina cleared her throat "I'm sorry that you had to witness such a moment, I supposed I feel more indisposed than I thought"

"You don't have to apologize, Regina," Emma said softly again.

"Excuse me, I have to go get my son," Regina said.

And just when she was about to cross the street, she felt Emma's hand on her wrist.

And that electricity that ran inside her veins, as if it was awakening every cell of her body.

"I have something of yours that I need to give back," Emma said.

Regina looked at Emma slightly puzzled while she walked toward her bug and then she bit her lower lip when she saw what was in Emma's hand.

"Thanks for letting me borrow it," Emma said, giving the blouse to Regina.

Her blouse.

"I didn't," Regina said, taking the blouse from Emma's hand "Henry stole it"

"It was for a good cause," Emma smiled "But thank you for not ripping it out of my body"

Emma laughed, but Regina swallowed dry.

Just the mental image alone was making her toes curl inside her heels.

"You are very welcome, Miss Swan," Regina cleared her throat.

"I'm not a threat," Emma said, looking intensely at Regina.

"Excuse me?" Regina asked, trying to take her mind off less than pure thoughts.

"I'm not a threat to you," Emma said "Or Henry"

"As long as you are here you will always be a threat," Regina said honestly.

Because that was true.

"Why?" Emma asked "Why..."

"He is my son," Regina said before Emma could finish.

"I know that," Emma said back.

"He is all I have," Regina said "Everything I ever did was only for the sole purpose of becoming his mother"

"And what if you could have more?" Emma bit her lower lip "What if…"

"Goodnight Miss Swan"

Regina said abruptly, not letting Emma finish her sentence once again.

Because what was about to leave her lips, could be scarier than anything Regina has ever faced in her whole life.

Because what could be scarier than letting yourself dare to love again?