A/N: Before you get started with this chapter, I have to say this and further on as you read, you will understand my meaning. NO Audrey DOES NOT find out about her mother and Emma's relationship yet in this chapter. With that being said, I hope every last one of my readers enjoys this chapter as much as I did writing it for you. Happy SQ moment, a new step takes place for Regina, and it contains a hell of a cliffhanger. ;) Happy reading!
Emma had driven to the first place that came to mind, leaving Regina clueless as to why they were driving through an entrance car-and-all after Emma had paid a man whom she greeted as Jerry.
"Where are we?" Asked Regina, looking around at the empty wide dirt ground parking lot they found themselves in. Followed by a massive white, what looked to be a projector screen a good distance before them.
They were alone, without any other car in sight.
Just them.
The screen before them lit up, capturing Regina's attention. The drive-in. They were at the drive-in. She remembers Emma had promised to bring her here someday.
A commercial began to play out, when Regina gave her attention back to Emma.
"Jerry is old school. He likes to play a couple of commercials before starting the film. We have a while to talk about what happened." Said Emma.
Looking at Emma now, seeing her eyes shine with hope yet a light sadness made Regina's heart construct so fast, it tightened at her chest. "Emma…" Her voice was soft. "I'm sorry for walking away like that."
Emma shook her head, "You needed your space."
"But I shouldn't have left you thinking that I was about to put an end to this. To us."
The corner of Emma's lip tilted a little, "So… You're not…?" Her eyes couldn't help to tear up once Regina shook her head.
"No, of course not." Regina cupped the sides of Emma's face, feeling the blond's familiar hands cup around her wrists. "Emma. You have given me so much in such little time. You have brought out a side in me that I never knew I could possibly possess. And I love you so much for that, and for many other reasons that I will never be able to tell you."
A tear rolls down the corner of Emma's eye, a tear Regina is quick to wipe away.
"I'm so sorry. I just panicked a little," Regina sighed as she wiped away a tear of her own. "Hearing Audrey say those things. They didn't hurt me as much as it killed me to hear her in pain."
"She's your daughter.." Emma said in understanding.
Regina nods and chuckles. "Who knew that someday I was going to ever have to fight my own daughter for happiness." She sighs so deeply, her chest hurts.
"I'm sorry." Emma spoke, her hand cupping the brunette's cheek once she felt Regina's hands slip off of her cheeks. "I'm sorry that you have to be in this position because of me. But I'm never going to be sorry for loving you, Regina."
Regina smiled a little, her eyes locked onto Emma's. "Neither am I. And for that, I knew that someday I would have to face Audrey."
"So… Are you saying that you're… Going to tell her about us?" Emma's heart constricted.
Regina sighs. "As much as I want to, I don't think she's ready to hear it."
"I don't think she'll ever be ready to hear it, Regina." Said Emma. "I mean, that night at the party… She was lost. I don't know how else to explain to her that she and I could never be anymore. And she is determined to want to meet who I'm with now." Emma chuckles, "Ironic, isn't it? Audrey has no idea she already knows her."
Regina grabs a hold of Emma's hand, lacing her fingers with the blonde's, and studies them. Their curves, their familiarity with one another. Their love.
While Emma, she observes Regina's quiet state. Wondering what could the woman before her possibly be thinking.
"Look," Emma breathes, meeting up with Regina's eyes again. "I don't know what will happen after tonight, but I stand by you. Whether you decide to tell Audrey about us or not. I'm right here."
Regina smiles, squeezing Emma's hand a little. "I'd expect nothing less from you." She pauses in thought. "I just need tonight to think about things. I need to collect my thoughts before I make any type of decision. But, I do know one thing for certain."
"What's that?"
Regina's eyes lock with Emma's once more. "No matter what happens… I'm going to fight."
Emma sees a sparkle in Regina's eyes that she had never seen before come to the surface.
"For the first time in my life, I'm going to fight for what makes me happy. Even if that means going against my own flesh and blood, who I love more than anything in this world…" Regina's hand rests against Emma's cheek. "I'm going to fight for you, like you've fought for me so many times."
Their heads tilt and dip in, lips meeting halfway and melting into a kiss. Such a gentle kiss that doesn't take long to become passionate. Arms tangle along each other's bodies in an embrace, even after they finally decided for their lips to part.
Emma released a happy and content sigh as she looked into Regina's eyes. "Thank God," she breathes. "You just resuscitated my heart back to life by allowing me to kiss you again," she sees a smile stretch out on Regina's lips. "For a minute there, I was worried that I would have to check myself into a hospital for them to use those shock pedal things."
Regina chuckles and shakes her head. "Is this your way of trying to make me feel guilty?"
"Never," Emma shakes her head. "This is my way of telling you that there is nothing that can make my heart beat like you do. It's a fact, look," she reaches for Regina's hand and places it over her heart. "Feel how it beats." She leans in and places one, two, even three kisses against Regina's lips. "See?"
"Yes, I see." Regina smiles inches away from Emma's lips. Her hand remained against Emma's heart, which was beating pretty fast.
"It's a known fact, Gina," Emma breathes, her eyes kind and gentle just as Regina loved to see them. "I've never needed anyone like I need you to breathe. You're the beating of my own heart, the oxygen that breathes through my lungs, the blood that pumps through my veins-"
"Alright, enough," Regina hears a small laugh escape Emma as she laughs along. "Belle offered me her room to stay with her while I'm here." She says in a more serious note. "I think that's a great idea, taking today into account."
"Okay." Emma nods. "After this, I'll drop you off safe and sound."
Regina smiles. "As much as I love visiting you here, we have to be a little more cautious with Audrey being around here."
"You could continue to stay with Belle, just while you're here." Said Emma. "Would she mind?"
"Not at all. I think she would be more than delighted." Regina chuckles. "And while I'm here, I could help her find a place of her own."
"That's a great idea. Also… What are you doing tomorrow? Any plans?"
Regina shrugged, "I never really have plans, Emma. You know that." Her brow knits. "Why?"
"Well, there's somewhere I'd like to take you. I spoke to David and he will be coming along to help us."
"David?" Regina's head tilted quizzically. "Why do we need him? Where exactly are we going?"
Emma smirked.
Chad's Gym. That's what was written in gold letters against one of the windows of where Emma parked her car the next morning. She had instructed Regina to wear something comfortable, which forced her to head on over to the store with Belle's help and pick out some workout clothes. Whatever for? She didn't know yet. Emma was good at keeping her cards close to her sleeve when it came to not revealing anything about today.
"Why are we here, Emma?" Asked Regina, knowing she would get nothing out of Emma that resembled information.
"Come with me and you'll see." Emma smirked, exiting the driver's side and rushing over to the passenger side door and pulling it open for Regina to step out. As she did, Regina quizzically followed Emma inside the gym, entering the glass door as Emma pulled it back for her.
"Hey, Em," Chad smiles, walking up to the couple.
"Hey, Chad. Thanks for doing this. I owe you one." Emma clapped him along his bare bicep.
"Eh, don't worry about it. It's nice to have the gym to yourself once in a while." He smiles, looking over at Regina. "You must Regina? I'm Chad." He extends his hand.
"I must be," Regina chuckles, cluelessly shaking the man's hand. He was young, no doubt somewhere in his thirties. He reminded her of Daniel a little bit, except the color of his eyes which were a light blue. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Yeah, likewise." He smiled brightly, it reached the corner of his eyes. "Em here said you were beautiful, but her words didn't do her justice."
"Alright," Emma reached for Regina's hand. "Is David here?" She asked Chad.
"He's inside, changing." He looked over to the locker rooms, seeing David step out, wearing a pair of blue shorts and a black t-shirt. "Oh, there he is."
"Well, why don't we head on over, before Chad here thinks about stealing you away from me." Emma said jokingly, hearing Regina laugh along with Chad as he lets them be. "See? I'm not the only one who knows how beautiful you are."
Truth be told, Emma had been checking Regina out the entire time, ever since she saw her dressed in those tight yoga pants that complimented her curves.
"Would you mind telling me now just what you have in mind?" Regina chuckles, hiding the blush that sets against her cheeks.
"Sure," Emma shrugs. "As long as you're ready."
Regina stops in her tracks as her brow lifts. "For what exactly?"
Emma looks over at David, who smiles. "Well, given that I worry for you every single time we have to be apart, and Chief Irons can be in unexpected moods." Her eyes fall on Regina. "David has agreed to show you a couple of self defense techniques."
"What?" Regina's eyes grow wide as she stares at David.
"Nothing too extreme, I assure you." Said David. "Just enough to help you get in touch with another side of yourself. A more instinctive one."
Regina turns to Emma who is grinning. "Emma, I can't. I can't do this."
"Hey, hey, whoa," Emma catches up to Regina and stands before her to prevent her from walking away. "It's going to be okay. David is a good teacher. Hell, he taught me everything I know."
"It's not that." Regina shakes her head as she sighs. "I don't want to hurt anyone."
"This isn't for you to know how to hurt someone, Gina." Said Emma, locking eyes with the nervous brunette before her. "This is for you to feel confident enough that if ever things get ugly again between you and that piece of shit, you'll catch him by surprise defending yourself. Just enough to give you time to escape. If you ever need to." She smiles. "Plus, it'll help to relieve some stress."
Regina hesitated, but eventually she gave in, walking back with Emma to where David stood.
"I'll leave you two to get to work." Said Emma, smiling over at David before she looked at Regina.
"You aren't staying?" Regina asked.
"I am. I'll be working out over there." Emma points to a different side of the gym. "Figured you'd like some privacy. Less pressure. When you're done, just go find me." She smiles and places a kiss along Regina's temple. "David," her eyes glared at David.
"I'll be careful." David nods.
Regina is looking over her shoulder at Emma, and watches her peel off her red leather jacket, wearing only her black tank top as she's heading into the locker rooms to change out of her jeans, no doubt. She turns back to David.
"Shall we get started?" He says with a smile to him.
Regina nods, giving David a small, nervous smile. This wasn't how she imagined her Saturday morning going, but she wasn't about to say no. She trusted David, and above all she trusted Emma.
Down to two hours, and Regina had learned a couple of self defense techniques. David would walk Regina through each technique, step by step. At first a couple of mistakes were made by Regina, which David assured her it was to be expected. But after going over them time and time again, David proudly assured her that she would become an expert in no time. Even Chad had stepped in as the aggressor to help Regina learn everything hand to hand. To her surprise, learning how to anticipate Chad's every move and be able to protect herself from them was the best part for her.
"Enough." David handed Regina a towel to wipe off her sweat. "Your blocking has picked up. You did better."
After wiping her sweat, Regina took a drink of water from a water bottle that had been given to her earlier on. "I'm not sure I did that well. Chad is pretty fast."
David smiles, "Yeah, he likes the competition. Emma has given him a run for his money plenty of times. Made him sweat all the way down to his ass once."
"I heard that. Whatever he's telling you, that's a lie." Chad's voice echoed off to the side.
David chuckles and sits down on a bench, joining Regina. He frowns as his eyes catch sight of the almost faded bruise behind her shoulder blade, given that her top was almost like a tank top.
"It looks worse than it feels." Regina frowns, rubbing away at her shoulder.
"Has he always been a brute toward you?" David asked.
"For as long as I can remember." Regina paused, giving herself a moment. It was never easy talking about her life with Leopold. "It wasn't until I became pregnant with Audrey that he refrained himself. I'm sure that had to be hard for him to do." She chuckles. "But, no matter how savage he's always been toward me, he's always cared about Audrey. Enough to spare me while she was growing inside of me."
David's frown deepens. "Did you ever try placing a restraining order against him?"
Regina shook her head before meeting his eyes. "No piece of paper will keep him from coming after me. One of the advantages that he always has in his favor is money. And his accounts are endless."
"It sounds more to me like he's had incredible luck throughout the years." Said David, studying Regina closely. "But, luck runs out, Regina. Sooner or later. We all pay what we owe. Trust me."
"You sound as if speaking from experience." Said Regina, seeing a secret behind David's eyes.
David looks onto the floor ahead of him, lost in thought when he says, "I don't know if Emma has told you, but I was married before." He turns to a surprised expression from Regina, and nods. "My ex-wife and I, Kathryn is her name; we were together since high school. After I graduated from the police academy, and enlisted myself in the military, we decided to tie the knot."
"Sounds like you loved her." Said Regina, the corner of her lip tilting into a small smile.
"I did." David smiles a little. "We tried for years to conceive but we couldn't. I guess that was part of the start to our rocky marriage. Years passed, we continued to try without any success at all. We tried to make it work, moved here to Portland to try and start a new life. And then I met Mary Margaret, and everything changed. He chuckled. "It was then she surprised me with a pregnancy test." He grins seeing Regina's eyes bug out of her skull.
"You-?" Regina can't quite produce the word.
"Yeah," David nods, giving the brunette a kind smile. "His name is Neal. Neal Nolan." He sighs, "At least Kathryn was kind enough to allow him to keep my last name."
"How old is he?"
David sits back as he counts an imaginary timeline in his head. "He should be… About six, maybe seven years old. About the same amount of years Mary Margaret and I have been together. Of course, once Kathryn and I divorced, she made sure I would never see my son again. She took full custody and used my affair with Mary Margaret to keep him."
"Whatever my consequence is, Leopold will make sure that I suffer for it, too." Regina locked eyes with David.
"If I'm telling you this, Regina it's not so you'll feel guilty for what you have with Emma. It's so you'll know, that even his luck can run out." He pauses. "Emma tells me that your daughter has no idea what kind of man her father really is." He sees Regina give a nod. "Trust me, the day she finds out and sees him for who he truly is- he will lose her."
Regina chuckles, "Not if I lose her first after she finds out about my relationship with Emma. Perhaps that'll be my greatest consequence in all of this."
"Perhaps." David reaches for Regina's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. His head slightly dips to meet her gaze. "But everything always works out in the end. Look at me. I lost a son, but in the process I gained a beautiful daughter and a loving wife whom I adore. Mary Margaret suffered your same fate, forced to live with a man she was too afraid to leave and didn't know how to, until one day she worked up a courage she never knew she had."
Regina had yet to find that courage in herself.
"You bring out the best in Emma every time you're with her." David said, breaking Regina's train of thought. "I can tell you truly love her."
"I do," Regina nods. "I know that I'm possibly not what you envisioned for Emma and how wrong all this might seem, but-"
"True love is never wrong, Regina." David smiles. "Age doesn't matter here. What matters the most to my wife and I is that Emma is happy and well. And if her happiness as well as her well being is you- well, there's no arguing it. And I want you to know that you can count on me. For anything. If you ever decide to press charges against your husband for everything he's done, come and see me. And if you ever need a place to go, just know we're always here."
Regina smiles, giving off a nod of gratitude. It was nice to feel protected by someone with authority. Even if she still thought that it would take more than steel bars to keep Leopold completely away from her life.
"Now," David stands up with a grunt. "Let me show you another defense attack that might be useful to you." He watches Regina stand as he motions toward the wall. "Step over here, right against the wall. That's it." He nods as Regina stands with her back to the wall. She watches nervously as his hand comes up. "Now, I'm going to take my hand and place it around your throat…" David's hand hovers. "Do you think you can handle that?"
Regina hesitated, because she hated being grabbed by the throat, but this was David. "I'll try." She stands still by the wall.
"Okay, so I want you to imagine that I'm him for a moment." He watches as Regina stands perfectly still, he can feel her tensing up as his hand clasps around her throat. "And I have you by the throat, right up against the wall like so." David makes sure to keep his eyes locked onto Regina's the entire time. "Is this too much?"
Regina swallows, "No, this is perfect, because this is actually his favorite thing to do."
"It gets better for you. I promise." Said David. "Now, what I want you to do, is the next time he has you by the throat like this, you're going to grab my arm and rotate your body for me. Go slow."
Regina grabs David's arm with one of her free hands, glancing down at it.
"Good, now after you've grabbed my arm, you're going to rotate your body," he nods as Regina begins to rotate her body as instructed. "Good, keep it grabbed, watch my hand come up and away from your throat," he feels his hand unclasp from her throat as soon as she rotates her body. "Now, bring your elbow up, let it land on my arm."
Regina brings up her elbow, feeling it land on David's forearm, feeling his hand far away from her throat.
"Good! Now, with your elbow pressed against my forearm, I want you to swing your elbow back," he sees her elbow coming toward his face as he turns it. "Good." He releases her and steps back. "That should free you from any grasp and give you time to deliver a couple of blows to the face of anyone wanting to attack you. We'll work on that more. Even Emma can show it to you until you get good at it."
"Thank you, David. For all of it, not just this." Said Regina.
"Don't mention it." David waved a hand in the air. "Remember, I'm always here if you wish you talk about anything. Emma isn't the only one with insight in this family."
Regina chuckles, "I'll keep that in mind." Upon David's wave and departure, Regina moves on through the gym until she spots Emma on the other side, impressively doing a couple of pull-ups all on her own. She made them look so easy, but Regina knew that if she were to try there was no way she could accomplish it.
Emma was wearing a pair of earbuds, which prevented her from hearing anyone coming up behind her. She just continued on completing another set of pull-ups, her breathing calm and huffed out.
Not that Regina minded one bit to allow her to finish her workout routine. Especially from where she stood. How Emma's bicep muscles stood out as she pulled herself up every single time, was a sight to see for Regina. Not to mention she always liked how Emma did look in that tank top of hers. And the way her sweat pants looked comfortable around her waist, and hearing each breath that huffed out of her lungs…
Regina chewed on her bottom lip. She could recall always feeling nervous and scared every single time she would stumble upon Emma wearing her tank tops late at night, or that one time the blonde became sick and unknowingly removed herself out of her shirt, exposing a toned stomach to her. Regina remembers hating herself for ever finding Emma attractive while she was still with Audrey, but now… There was absolutely nothing preventing her from looking all she wanted.
Emma huffed out another sharp breath, catching her breath and reaching for a towel to wipe her sweat with. It wasn't until she turned around to reach for her bottle of water that she finally saw Regina. "Hey," she smiles. "All done?"
Regina nods, "But, please, by all means, continue."
"Oh, I'm pretty much done." Emma yanks her headphones out of her ears, pulling on the cord.
Regina's eyes dared to look at Emma's chest, how it rose and fell with each panting breath, followed by the beads of sweat that coated her chest all the way up to her neck. Like diamonds.
"Gina?" Emma's head tilts quizzically.
"Hm?" Regina blinks as her eyes meet green ones again.
"I asked you how your training went." Emma smiles. "Did you feel comfortable with David?"
"Oh," Regina nodded, hoping a blush didn't dare to creep up on her now. "Y- yes. David is an excellent teacher."
"You won't find another one like him." Emma wipes at her neck with the towel, and Regina can't help but watch. "Listen I was thinking, why don't you call Belle up and we can invite her to lunch. What do you think?"
Stop staring! Regina blinks once more, putting on her best smile this time. "I'm sure Belle would love that. I'll call her."
"Okay, you do that. I'm gonna go change." Emma smiles as she's heading back into the locker room.
Regina takes a breath and reaches for her phone that she had neglected near a bench. Opening her contacts, she is surprised to find a new text message alert with Audrey's name on it, followed by a missed call. Her heart starts beating fast as she taps on the message which only contains two words: Call me.
Should she? If she didn't, Regina knew Audrey would worry and possibly call Leopold.
Regina glanced over her shoulder, in hopes of seeing Emma but the blonde was nowhere in sight. And with that, Regina made a decision on the spot all on her own. She opened up her contacts and tapped on Audrey's name, hearing the line ring only once before her daughter's voice came through.
"Hi, mom."
"Audrey, what's going on? Why did you want me to call you, are you alright?" Asked Regina.
"No. No, I'm not alright, mom." Regina could tell she wasn't just by the sound of her voice alone.
"What's the matter?" There was silence, until Regina spoke again, "Audrey."
That's when a few silent sobs could be heard coming from the other side of the phone.
"Audrey? What happened?" Regina used a more firmer tone of voice this time that she didn't know where it came from. But she wasn't about to question that right now. What was important was her daughter's well being.
"I really- I don't want to talk about it over the phone, mom." Regina can hear her daughter take a pause. "It needs to be in person."
In person. "Why in person? Are you hurt?" Regina asked, filling herself with worry.
"Physically, no. But… It's Emma." Audrey sighs. "I just… She doesn't love me anymore, mom. And I frankly don't know what to do."
Regina's heart breaks upon hearing how her own daughter's heart is breaking, her eyes stinging with tears of her own that she holds back with all of her might. "Audrey-"
"Are you home right now? I was wondering if I could come see you."
"Right now?" Regina's heart stops.
"Yes. I- I need to talk, mother to daughter. I need your advice on what to do. Please. I'm still going to change, but after I do I can head on over to the house."
Why not? It would be a good time to talk, seeing as Audrey was determined to make the trip.
Regina wasn't sure what had come over her, whatever possessed her to say the next thing that came out of her mouth, but a part of her wanted to see Audrey, not just as the girl's mother, but as a woman. A woman who was very much in love and willing to fight for what she wanted for the first time in her life. And if this was about Emma, Regina couldn't keep avoiding it.
"Mom? Are you still there?"
"Yes, dear. I am." Said Regina, composing herself. "Give me two hours before you come to see me. I have to shower and I'm not even home from grocery shopping yet."
"Thanks, mom. I'll see you in two hours."
"Drive carefully, dear." Regina's eyes fall on Emma as the blonde is walking toward her with a puzzled look in her eye.
"What's wrong? What did Belle say?" Asked Emma.
"That wasn't Belle." Regina replied, taking a moment's pause. "It was Audrey." She continues despite Emma's wide-eyed expression. "She wants to talk to me. About you."
What could Audrey possibly want to talk to her mother about? Her broken heart, no doubt. Emma takes a short moment to collect her thoughts. "So… What are you going to do?"
Regina sighs, "Well, Audrey thinks I'm back in Boston so… I'm afraid I'm going to need you to drive me home. If it's not too much trouble."
"Of course." Emma nods. "Whatever you need. We'll just stop by on the way and put some gas in the car."
"Well, we should probably shower first."
"Right. Yeah."
Regina was lost in her thoughts through their entire drive back to Boston. It wasn't until she felt Emma's hand melt into hers that she looked down at them, followed by Emma's eyes and gave the blonde a knowing smile.
"Have you thought about what you might say to Audrey?" Emma asked, needing to know.
Regina releases a heavy sigh. "I have a plan in motion."
"Care to share?"
"Well, I know for certain Audrey is looking for comfort and she will most likely share what happened last night with you, because as her mother she will want me to guide her on what she could possibly do to fix it." Regina rubs at her temple.
"That's a normal reaction on Audrey's part." Emma replies, keeping her eyes on the road.
"Yes, it is. And I as her mother should listen. I will." Regina assures her. "But the woman in me, a woman who is very much in love with you- has other plans. A way to let her down easy without having to actually reveal anything to her. Not just yet, anyway. I prefer Audrey to be a little more collected with herself before we tell her the truth about us."
Emma's brow lifts as her eyes travel to Regina. "And what plan is that?"
Regina sat in her library, constantly looking out the window. She couldn't see Audrey's car through this window well enough, but it was a habit. She decided to lose herself in a book while waiting for her daughter's arrival. Ever since last night's incident with Emma, and hearing how she didn't want to give up on her, it awoke something in Regina to plan her next move carefully. She had talked about it with Belle, and she expected nothing less than to be cheered on by her friend.
"Ma'am," Sidney's voice made Regina look up from the pages of her book. "Ms. Audrey is pulling up the driveway."
"Thank you, Sidney." Regina smiles. "Have her step into the living room, please."
Sidney nods and goes on his way, while Regina leaves her book on the tea table in the library before making her way into the living room, where not even a minute passed before Audrey appeared before her.
"Mom," Audrey huffed out, running to her mother, seeking her embrace, which Regina was more than happy to give back.
"Audrey," Regina's eyes closed, opening back up as she parted from their hug. Her thumb quickly wiped away a fallen tear.
"I'm sorry to come barging in on you like this," Said Audrey, wiping away the rest of her tears with the sleeves of her long sleeved shirt.
"Nonsense, dear. You know you are always welcome to come home when you need to. Come, sit down." Regina motioned toward the couch, joining Audrey as she sat.
"Mom…" Audrey sighed, plopping down onto the couch. "I'm glad you were home because I really need to talk to you about Emma."
"I'm aware of that," Regina looked into her daughter's eyes. "Actually, I'm glad you're here, because I've been wanting to talk to you personally about Emma as well." She takes her daughter's hands. "In fact, I think Emma needs to hear this as well…" Regina rotates her body to look over her shoulder.
And Audrey's eyes fall on Emma entering the living room directly from the kitchen. "Emma?" She stands from the couch. "What the hell are you doing here?" Her eyes shift down to her mother, who holds her gaze.
"I think it's important that we all sit down, Audrey." Says Regina in a calm tone of voice.
