A/N: This was meant to be posted for Halloween night, but as always I became held up and couldn't post it when I said, then I decided to fully change this entire story compared to how I first wrote it out. I realize we are now in our Christmas moods, but hey, it's never a wrong time to read a good psychological-scary story, right? lol I hope you all like it and are prepared for how this ends. Here are the first four chapters to keep you entertained as I continue writing the rest of it out and post. Happy reading my lovely readers! :) Thank you for giving this story a shot. This is definitely very different than how I usually write, so I've had to go into a very dark place to get into character. This is Emma and Regina like you've not seen them before.


The hard stream to the water faucet ran high. Pale hands showered in it, feeling the cool water drench around them. Emma brought her hands up to her face, feeling the same cold water coat her cheeks, her eyes, her lips, dripping all the way down to her neck. She took her left wet hand and brushed it across her hair, combing back her fallen strands of hair until they fell back down.

Her eyes darted in front of her, focused on her own reflection that stared back at her through the mirror. She needed to get the frame around the mirror replaced. Regina had reminded her countless times about that.

Emma's long outstretched fingers ran along the faded frame, stopping right at a chipped corner. Her wedding band caught her eye as she brought her left hand up to better examine it. Her hand slightly trembled, and she was forced to make a fist. She took the ring and removed it, feeling how easily it could slide right off. Her thumb caressed along the platinum surface, rotating it against the tip of her forefinger, using her thumb.

It was so quiet.

"Emma?" Her wife's voice echoed outside the closed bathroom door, right after she had knocked.

Emma turned toward the door, quickly placing her wedding band back on before the door was opened by Regina.

"Are you nearly ready? We need to get going before it gets any later." Asked Regina. Her brunette hair straightened and flawless as the day Emma had met her.

"I'm ready." Emma reached for one of the towels on the rack to dab her face with. She tossed it in the hamper before facing Regina. "You ready?" She asked her.

"I've been ready, and so has Henry. He's getting impatient." There's a light smile playing on Regina's lips that Emma never thought she would see anymore.

Not since it happened.

Emma could still remember the look in Regina's eyes. The shame and pain only a wife could feel.

Their marriage had been on the rocks lately, but they managed to stay together for their son. Henry. And even though not every day was a good one, they both managed to create a common ground between them.

Besides, there was no such thing as a perfect marriage. Was there?

"Well, let's get a move on, then." Emma motioned past Regina, allowing herself to walk past her wife.

Regina could still feel some tension around Emma, and the blonde knew that. But Emma was trying, and Regina owed her the same.

Maybe this trip to Storybrooke, Maine would help make things better. Maybe it was exactly what they needed to survive this. A fresh new start, in a fresh new place. Even if it was just for a couple of days.

"Vroooom!" A little brunette boy ran around the kitchen island in circles, with his arm extended out, pretending his toy plane was flying. It was Henry's favorite. It was made entirely of steel, with blue wings that bore red stars inside a white circle. "Vroooom!" He cried out in excitement, running in circles around Emma.

"Hey, slow down there, kid." Emma caught her son before he could run off again, lifting him up in her arms. "Maybe it's time for a landing, what do you say?"

"Are we leaving now?" Henry asked.

"Yes, we are." Regina smiled freely at her son. More freely than she ever smiled at her wife anymore. She stepped closer to the pair, brushing away a few of their son's long bangs. He needed a haircut. "I wish I would have taken you to get a haircut before we left." She sighed.

"But, I like my hair!" Henry protested, his eyes landing on his mother Emma.

"Your mom's right, Hen. A little hair cut never hurt anyone." Emma smiles. Something that doesn't go unnoticed by Regina. "Maybe when we arrive into town, we'll find someone to give you a little trim. What do you say?" Emma's brushing away his bangs now.

"No!" Henry squirms in his mother's arms until he is able to escape her grip and land on the floor safely.

"Alright," Emma places her hands on her hips. "Listen to me, okay?" She kneels before the little boy. "I'll make a deal with you," her eyes look up at her wife before they fall back to Henry.

"What?"

"You let me or mom take you to get a haircut, so everyone can say what a handsome little boy you are, and I'll buy you the biggest ice cream cone you've ever had in your entire life."

Regina lets out a small scoff, but doesn't protest against it.

"The biggest one?" Henry asked Emma.

"The biggest one." Emma nods.

"Of whatever I want?"

"Whatever you want. You name it."

"Even chocolate?" This time Henry looks up at Regina as he grins. And Regina can't help but roll her eyes. She would never allow him to have so much chocolate in his life, but this was the seal to their deal.

"Fine. You can have chocolate." Regina says, hearing her son whoop from excitement and run right up to her in a tight hug.

Henry's smile was everything to his mother's.

He was the glue that held them together.

Had it not been because of their son, they would continue to fall apart.

Emma pulled the driver's seat forward and stepped aside, "All aboard, kid! We'll be taking off soon."

"To the sky up above," Said Henry, looking up at his mother expectedly.

"And the clouds down below." Emma smiled, ruffling her son's hair once again, watching him jump right into the backseat before she pulled the driver's seat back, snapping it back in place.

Seat belts clicked, and Emma flashed a little smile.

"Everyone strapped in?" She asked, glancing at her wife who nodded but smiled at Henry as she reached in the back seat.

"Yep!" Henry beamed, his feet wiggling with excitement.

Emma smiled as she moved the gearshift after turning on her car. An old, yellow Volkswagen beetle.

Regina's eyes looked down at her wife's hand resting against the gear lever. Without the company of her touch, her own hand to comfort it and embrace it through this journey. She wanted to hold it, more than anything.

All she had to do was reach out and touch.

Regina's hand jerked as it rested against her lap, but it didn't budge. And by the time she was considering reaching out to take her wife's hand, Emma had already removed her hand from the gear lever to rest it along the steering wheel. Regina frowned, and looked out the window at the speeding New York road, its buildings, its cars.

Why couldn't she just hold Emma's hand?

It really shouldn't be this hard to reach out and take the hand of someone you love. Should it? Because Regina did love Emma, and she hoped Emma still loved her, too.

"Ten bottles of beer on the wall… Ten bottles of beer…" Henry's sing-song voice filled the car, and that was enough to make both of his mother's smile.

Emma's eyes looked through her rearview mirror, wrinkles forming at the corner of her eyes that went along with her smile as she looked at her son adoringly. Henry was the cord that pulled their family together. And Emma hoped that it was also because Regina still loved her.

"Take one down, pass it around, nineteen bottles of beer on the wall."

"You really had to teach him that song?" Asked Regina with a smile toward her wife. A smile Emma couldn't look away from.

"He wanted to learn it." Emma shrugged, smiling back.

"Seventeen bottles of beer on the wall. Come on, mom!" Henry cheered Emma on.

"Oh, my God," Regina murmured under her breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her ears filled with her son's and Emma's voices singing along.

"Seventeen bottles of beer on the wall… Seventeen bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, sixteen bottles of beer on the wall!"

"Sixteen bottles of beer on the wall- mom, come on! Sing along!" Henry cheered on Regina this time, who shook her head.

"Sing along, mom!" Emma grinned, looking over at her wife.

"Come on, mom!"

"Sixteen bottles of beer on the wall… Sixteen bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around, fifteen bottles of beer on the wall." Regina joins in, hearing all of their voices sing in unison inside of the privacy of the car.

It was moments like these, Regina and Emma missed the most. Moments like these where they felt like they hadn't felt for a long time. A real family.


Emma held a road map in her hand, constantly exchanging her gaze from looking down at the map in one quick read, to looking ahead at the empty road. There was a bit of fog along with a light chill in the air, which didn't help her see any sign like she had been told. Maybe she had been misinformed. You really couldn't trust the internet these days.

"Maybe you took a wrong turn." Said Regina, taking the map from Emma and noticing the spot she had circled with a black pen.

"I didn't take a wrong turn." Emma shook her head, driving on ahead. There was nothing as far as the eye could see, except a line of trees on both sides of the empty road.

"Are we lost?" Asked Henry.

"Of course not. We'll be there soon." Regina flashes her son a reassuring smile slightly over her shoulder.

"We're here!" Emma pointed toward a green road sign that appeared out of the fog.

Henry's loud and excited cheering filled the car, as Emma drove past the sign and it wasn't long when the town appeared. Population wasn't big, and everyone seemed to notice the bright yellow bug as it drove past each building.

"Friendly town." Regina murmured under her breath, her eyes studying every pair of eyes that looked their way.

Some people seemed fairly friendly, but others… Not so much.

"Look! Ice cream and hamburgers!" Henry exclaimed, pointing with his small finger in the direction of a diner. "Can we go there?"

"Remember our agreement, kid. First your haircut, and once your mom has reported back to me that you were a good boy, we can go eat ice cream." Said Emma, looking in the direction of her rearview mirror with a smile.

"Come to think about it… Maybe I should cut his hair for him." Said Regina, eyeing Emma.

Emma's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Emma, if there's anyone who knows how Henry should have his hair- it's me. And besides, look around- is there even a place to get his haircut around here?" Regina motioned toward the town from inside the car.

Emma gives the town a quick glance, not really spotting a building that would remotely represent a barbershop. "You may have a point. What do you say, kid?" Her green eyes look to her son. "Would you rather have mom cut your hair instead of some stranger?"

"I guess." Henry shrugged. Emma knew that if it were up to him, he would say no to a haircut, just like he would say no to taking a bath on any given day.

"It's settled then." Regina grins at her son, watching him through the rearview mirror. "First we get settled into this bed and breakfast, I'll prepare a bath for you and then we cut your hair. After that you are free to go wherever you want."

"Wherever I want?" Henry's little face lit up.

Emma smiled. "Wherever you want, buddy."


Emma's bug pulled into the bed and breakfast, and was happy when they finally dismounted the vehicle, able to stretch her legs. Her arms extended over her head, came back down, bent to the elbow as she pulled on one of her biceps after the other with a grunt.

"Why don't you go check us in? Henry and I will bring the luggage down." Regina suggested, giving her wife a small smile and a nod.

"Okay. Help your mom, Henry." Said Emma.

"I will." Henry promised with a cheek to cheek grin.

Emma grinned in return and ruffled her son's hair, hearing a protest from him as she entered the bed and breakfast building. All while Regina caught a couple of pairs of eyes, belonging to people of this town- she supposed- giving a strange look her way. It caused an alarming crease to form in between her brow. She didn't care whoever had to stare at her, she was used to people staring. What Regina didn't appreciate was for complete strangers to glare at her son.

"Henry, stay up against the sidewalk." Regina extended her arm, protectively, like any mother would toward their son and slowly moved Henry up against the sidewalk. "I'll pass you your backpack." Her eyes remained trained on the three strangers, standing just across the street from them, glaring their way.

She glared right back for a full minute, until the oldest of them all, a tall, slender man with a full grown beard dared to break off eye-contact and go about his way with his family. Regina did reach for her son's backpack, plus hers and Emma's luggage's until she was sure they were no longer staring in their direction.

Ding! "Hello?" Emma called out, after having rung the bell for the third time without seeing anyone pop out from the back.

The bed and breakfast didn't seem like a bad place to spend their nights for the weekend. It was old looking, and certainly smelled old and a bit musty. A faint creak would sound from behind the walls but other than that, it seemed fairly safe.

Ding! Ding! Another two rings followed as Emma's hand was then cupped and grabbed by an old wrinkled hand that popped out from behind the desk.

Emma's hand jerked a little, but she didn't budge, staring at the old woman down with her jaw set.

"I heard you the first three times. Take it easy," The gray haired woman said, pulling the bell toward her, hearing the bottom of it scrape along the old oak desk. Her eyes glaring in Emma's direction. "If you break it, I'll make you buy me a new one."

Her tone sounded just as challenging as this woman's stance to Emma. Her glasses were worn at the tip of her nose, making her seem a little intimidating.

The woman tossed a blue pen onto her desk before she said, "Now, what do you want?"

"I'd like a room. If it's not too much trouble." Said Emma with a snark to her own tone.

The woman released a clearly aggravated sigh as she swung open a giant book that sat in front of her, reaching for her pen. "Is it just one?"

"No. My family's with me. We'll be three of us." Said Emma, her eyes landing on the woman's pen as it hovered over an empty spot on the page.

"Name?"

"Swan. Emma Swan."

The woman scribbled down her name in chicken scratch writing, followed by the number three. "And how long will you be enjoying our little town for?" She delivered a smile this time, but even that didn't seem sincere to Emma.

"Just for the weekend. Until Sunday." Said Emma, watching the woman adjust the glasses on her face, before she focused on the movement of the pen, hearing the loud scratching against the paper.

"That'll be eighty-five dollars, please." The older woman watched as Emma fished out her wallet and threw some money on the desk.

"Until Sunday, eh?" Emma turned toward a male voice speaking right behind her, her eyes taking in the sight of a tall, no taller than her, well dressed man, leaning against a cane. A funny little smile stretched across his lips. "And who might you be, I wonder?"

"Gold, leave the girl alone. By the looks of her state, she's traveled a long way with her family." Said the older woman, something Emma was appreciative for. She didn't like the looks of this guy even if she was standing a mile away from him.

"Oh," Gold's posture straightened, his hand and body hunching over his cane a little more, seeming interested. "So, that sunshine beauty belongs to you, then?"

"I wouldn't think anyone would refer to an old beat up car as a sunshine-"

"Oh, I wasn't talking about your old, beat up car." The corner of the man's lip tilts. "I was talking about the-"

"Gold!" The woman hisses under her breath, and Emma's jaw is quick to set tight.

"Who is she, might I ask?" Gold grinned, his eyes never leaving Emma's angry glare.

"That would be my wife." Emma hissed under her breath. For reassurance, she flashed her wedding band right before him. It was still good for one thing.

Gold's eyes looked down at the wedding band, studying it carefully as his smirk grew. His body appeared to become more relaxed. "My apologies. I didn't realize-"

"Clearly." Emma's next words stepped in. She didn't give a shit who this man was, or if they were strangers in this town. If she caught him looking at Regina the wrong way, she wouldn't hesitate to put him in his place.

"Your key, Ms. Swan." The older woman jumped right in, holding a brass, antique style key before Emma, who took it without removing her sights away from Gold.

"Thank you." Said Emma.

"You'll be staying in room 212. It's just up the stairs. Would you like me to-?"

"No, we'll manage." Emma's eyes finally looked at the older woman. "Thank you." She glared back at Gold, before excusing herself and walking back outside.

"What is the matter with you?" The gray-haired woman whispered, smacking Gold across the arm. "Have some respect. They have a kid with them."

"Oh, come on. It's all in good fun. I didn't mean anything by it." Gold grinned.

The woman sighed and shook her head, beckoning Gold behind the desk. "Come on, I'll get you your damn rent." She whispered, hearing Gold's cane click behind her as he followed her inside a back room.

Regina slammed the trunk shut and carried both hers and Emma's bags, Henry by her side. "Come on, Henry." She said, walking up to the bed and breakfast, her eyes seeing her wife walking toward them with quick, heated steps. "Are we signed in?" Her brow furrowed, seeing Emma's angry demeanor as she said nothing. "Emma? What happened?"

"Nothing." Said Emma, reaching for the strap of her bag. "Here, I'll take the bags. You take Henry inside." Her eyes looked down at Regina's grip as it tightened around the strap before they looked back up into her own brown eyes.

"What happened?" Regina spoke in a much lower voice, standing an inch away from Emma.

Emma avoided Regina's gaze before she whispered back, "Let's just go inside. Please."

Regina knew that look in Emma's eyes well. It was best to find privacy behind the four walls of where they would be staying the weekend before she dared to bring it up again. Besides, Regina was never one to make a spectacle in front of a town filled with prying eyes and ears. And she wasn't about to start now. With a single nod, she grabbed their son by the hand and headed straight for the B&B, Henry by her side.

Emma stood outside for a full minute, raking a hand across her golden hair in frustration and anger. "Fuck," she muttered under her breath before following her wife into the bed and breakfast.

Something Emma appreciated was that no one was in sight as they entered the building. Thank God. Because had that man- Gold- she remembered his name to be, had been out in the lobby as they walked their way up the creaking stairs, with one more comment that Emma considered to be disrespecting toward Regina; Emma wouldn't think twice in cracking him across the chops.

As they stopped in front of what would be their room for the entire weekend, Regina looked down at her son as she felt a tug along her long trench coat.

"These carpets look dirty," Henry whispered in a hushed voice, seeing his mother give him a smile.

Emma pushed the door open, stepping aside and motioning into the room, allowing Regina and their son to step inside first. While stepping inside, her head popped out to have a quick look around the lit hallway, hearing and seeing no one in sight before closing and locking the door.

The older woman's head popped out from around the corner, where the journey up the stairs ended, glancing in the direction of her new occupants with curiosity and a furrowed brow before returning back downstairs.

"Two beds!" Henry exclaimed, looking up at both his mothers. "Does this mean I get my own big bed?"

"Yep." Emma smiles down at her son, placing a hand on his little shoulder. "I'd say you can handle it. What do you think?"

"Yeah!" Henry ran straight to one of the beds, his toy airplane in hand. He struggled a little to push himself up but managed just fine and didn't waste any time in jumping with a giggle here and there.

"Henry, what have we talked about jumping on the bed?" Regina threw a motherly glare.

"But, it's fun!" Henry giggled, his jumping never ceasing.

Emma moved over to the single window, and looked out, down on the town below them quietly with curiosity. She observed a couple walking hand in hand along the sidewalk, with their own child walking beside them. Followed by a man dressed in a mechanic suit, driving a red convertible over to an auto-shop.

"Look, mom!" Henry shouted happily, flashing a smile toward Emma once she looked over her shoulder at him.

Emma smiled, and she looked over at Regina, who was going through Henry's backpack for a change of clothes. She noticed her shaking her head. "Sooner or later, he will get too big to be jumping on beds anymore." She told Regina, turning her sights back out to the window.

Regina looked over at Henry. She couldn't imagine him all grown up and not caring to be with them anymore. The thought making her frown. "Henry, would never leave us. Would you, my little prince?" She looked at her son once more.

"Nope!" Henry plopped down right on his butt as Regina walked over to him.

"Alright, time for a bath. On you go."

"Aw, but mom-" Henry frowns.

"No, buts, Henry. We talked about this. You want ice cream and a burger? Then, into the shower you go." Regina points in the direction of the bathroom.

"Listen to your mom, Henry." Said Emma, her attention given to the displays outside of the window. Or rather, at a slender brunette running along the bed and breakfast with a light gray hoodie and jogging shorts.

Regina handed Henry his clothes and guided him into the bathroom. "Alright, you know the drill- shout when you're ready." She shuts the door to give him privacy to undress before turning back into Emma's direction, who's attention was still near the window.

Next, Regina gathered her luggage and placed it on the well made bed, sliding the zipper all around until the flap parted. "Are you going to want to shower?" She asked her wife.

Emma shook her head, never looking away from the window. "You go ahead. I'll shower after."

Regina could notice the tension built up on her wife's shoulders. She knew perfectly well when something was wrong with Emma. After gathering a few of her clothes, Regina then neglected them on what would be their bed for the weekend before walking behind her wife. Her hand reached up, hovering over the leather of Emma's jacket, right on her shoulder, but decided to withdraw it. "Are you going to tell me what changed your mood earlier?" She asked again.

Emma's eyes remained focused on a small child chasing happily after a bright yellow ball. She remained quiet, even as Regina moved to stand beside her, enough to see her side profile as her jaw tightened.

"Emma?" Regina called out, and when she got no answer, she said, "May I remind you that it was your idea to come here?" She waited a beat, once again getting no answer, and sighed, "Look, we said we'd try, right? For Henry. We need to start trying. I need you to start trying, otherwise-"

"Otherwise, what?" Emma finally dares to look into her wife's eyes and away from the window. "Hm?"

"Will you just talk to me?" Asked Regina, not backing down from Emma's stare. "Tell me what happened. I'm your wife, I think if you should be able to talk to anyone, it should be me."

Emma turned back around to the direction of the window. If she was going to dare to talk, to keep her promise of trying to work things out, she couldn't look at Regina while doing it. Not yet. "A man. Gold, or whatever his name is- he noticed you."

"Noticed me?" Regina's brow furrows.

"That's right." Emma chuckles. "But, who can blame him, right? Once upon a time, I remember when even I couldn't keep my eyes off of you."

Regina rubbed away at her temple, her eyes closing for a tiny second. "Emma-" She breathed.

"Do you remember that, Regina? Because I do." Emma's voice was low. "How everything was so perfect and then…" She shakes her head.

"Emma, don't do this now." Regina shakes her head, her eyes never looking away from her wife's beautiful profile. "Not with Henry just a few feet away."

"You wanted to talk, right?" Emma turns back to face Regina.

"Not about that." Regina hissed in a low voice, her eyes glaring up at her wife. "Emma-" she let out a small grunt from the back of her throat. "God- why do you always have to do this?"

"Because you did it first, Regina!" Emma hissed as quietly as possible, turning a quick glance at the direction of the bathroom door which was still closed before looking back at her wife. "You," her index finger pointed right at Regina, accusingly. "Did it first."

"I did not-" Regina shook her head.

"You did." Emma nodded.

"No, I didn't-"

"But, you thought about it! It's the same goddamn thing!" Emma spoke through gritted teeth.

And just as Regina was about to challenge back, Henry's voice followed from behind the closed bathroom door. "Mom! I'm ready!"

Regina and Emma remained glaring at one another in anger, and a bit of resentment for a small second before Regina said, "I'll be right there, sweetheart." She told Henry, her eyes never leaving Emma's. "I'm going to help Henry with his bath."

The scent of Regina's perfume lingered in the small space of air that Emma breathed as her wife disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door in place. Emma's jaw grinds from side to side in anger. She was still so angry at Regina for doing- no… Almost doing- what she did. Emma had promised she'd try, but having your wife almost or consider cheating on you wasn't something you easily forgot. After all, both as mother's, Emma just like Regina, had gone through the toughest period in their marriage.

Regina couldn't possibly blame Emma if she had a little trouble not feeling jealous over the first pair of eyes that are set on her. In Emma's place, Regina would feel the exact same thing. She did. She felt it every day, in fear that Emma would leave her side. Regina really meant what she said, she was trying her damndest to work things out. Make them better between them. And even if she had to work extra hard at it, she would.

At the end of the day, Regina loved Emma. And the mistake she was about to make long ago, four years ago, she would never think about again. Not when Emma clearly still loved her, too.

Emma turned to the direction of the bed where Henry had been jumping, seeing his toy plane neglected on top of the wrinkled sheets. She rushed over to it and grabbed it in the palm of her hand, squeezing the life out of it with all of her anger, but not hard enough to break it. The last thing she wanted to do was break Henry's little heart because she destroyed his favorite airplane. Which quickly changed her mind about tossing it out the window or sending it flying across the wall.

With a few steady breaths, Emma's body plopped on the bed, her breathing steadying on her, calming her anger down bit by bit. Opening the palm of her hand, she studied her son's plane, which she knew by memory. His name written in bold marker along one of the wings, the E missing a section, which had chipped off. She had been meaning to fix that.

Emma flew off of the bed, toy plane in hand and stormed out the door. She needed some time to herself, to collect her thoughts before facing Regina again.