Regina was again tired when she stopped by Granny's the next morning to get coffee. After leaving Emma in the park she had gone home and spent part of the evening on the phone with Neal telling him what had occurred.

There was still a sense of disbelief that Emma had thought it would be a good idea to ask her out on a date.

Neal didn't help matters when he said she shouldn't just brush off this opportunity.

"How can you even say that?" she asked.

"All I'm saying is if you are really want to put the past in the past and move forward then it means speaking with Emma. I know she hurt you and I'm not trying to downplay that,"

"It sure seems like you are."

He sighed. "In all the time we've known each other I haven't seen you speak about any other woman as you have about Emma. The fact she can still elicit an emotional response from you shows that she's still there somewhere in your heart. If you are ready to let her go entirely then so be it, but you can't do that by merely turning your back on her and leaving town. Go talk to her. Make her understand why what she did hurt you so much and why it still hurts."

She didn't say anything at first as she thought about what he said. It did still hurt – seeing her hurt because every time she looked at Emma she saw a whole other future than the one she was living. It hurt because when Regina had returned to Storybrooke that summer after her freshman year she had considered not going back to Michigan State. She had debated it over and over again in her mind as the school year came to a close because she missed Emma that much.

But when she came back home it was only to find out that Emma had slept with Killian while she was away.

She hadn't even understood the concept of a broken heart until then.

The pain was visceral and it forced her out of Storybrooke – going back to East Lansing, Michigan before summer had ended.

It didn't matter that it had only happened that one time between Emma and Killian – one time was all it took to strip away that other future.

"I don't know that I can," Regina said finally. "I don't know that I'm strong enough to have that conversation with her."

"You are the strongest person I know so don't give me that crap," Neal said. "It's ok to be afraid. I get it. You loved her with all you had."

And she had which is why Regina worried not only about talking about what happened between them but also afraid of being close to Emma and constantly wondering what if – what if things had been different for them.

"I just think it's best if I don't open that door once again," Regina said.

"Ok," Neal said. "Whatever you decide, you know I'll have your back."

"Thank you."

She walked into Granny's and almost walked back out when she saw Emma was sitting at the counter. She straightened her posture and walked up to the counter.

"Good morning Regina," Ruby said. As soon as she did, Emma who appeared to be nursing a cup of hot chocolate looked over at her. "What can I get you this morning?"

"Coffee with cream and sugar. To go."

"Be just a moment," Ruby said moving away to get it.

"Hi," Emma said.

"Good morning," Regina responded.

"When did you start drinking coffee?"

"Years ago," she answered. She knew a more specific answer was her sophomore year in college, but she didn't feel any particular need to mention that time in her life. She had gone back to college and thrown herself into her studies to keep her mind off Emma.

"Oh," Emma said.

They didn't say anything else as Regina stood there and waited for Ruby to return with her coffee. When she did, Regina paid her and turned to go.

"Hold up," Emma said. "I'll walk you out."

Regina almost told her that was entirely not necessary especially since her car was parked right outside but it was too early for her to get into it with Emma so she paused while Emma got off the stool and walked with her. Emma pulled ahead to open the door for her and Regina thanked her, hoping Emma would see her car was right there so they wouldn't be going far.

"About last night," Emma said, once the door to the diner was closed behind them. "I'm sorry if I caught you off guard with the whole asking you out on a date thing. I don't want you to think I don't want to go out on a date with you because I do, but maybe a date is a little too soon yet. Maybe we could start with um drinks. I'd even settle for coffee one morning if that is what you would like."

So much for keeping this simple, Regina thought. Somehow she got the feeling Emma wasn't going to give up on this idea.

"What I would like is to get to work," Regina said. No sooner were the words out of her mouth than she saw Mrs. Swan coming up the sidewalk. Could this morning get worse, Regina thought as she saw Mary Margaret eyeing her and Emma. "And I agree with you that a date would be a bit much given our history."

"But what about coffee?" Emma said, her expression hopeful despite Regina shutting down the idea of a date.

Regina saw Mary Margaret had stopped outside of Granny's and was openly watching them. She could almost feel the woman's disapproval coming off of her in waves. It also made her want to do something that Mrs. Swan would surely disapprove of.

"Coffee would be acceptable," she said.

"Really?" Emma said, smiling her biggest smile yet. "That's great."

"Saturday," Regina said opening her car door to get inside. "Call the mayor's secretary tomorrow and we will firm up a time."

"Saturday's great," Emma said. "Thank you."

Regina closed the door and started the car. As she drove off she saw Mrs. Swan approaching Emma. Regina felt a little bad in seeing how grateful Emma was for this small thing of getting coffee. She knew she shouldn't encourage Emma but the idea of Mrs. Swan hearing of this was too good for her to pass up.

Regina was well into her workday when the secretary buzzed in to say Mr. Gold was there to see her. She didn't have him as a scheduled appointment but she told the secretary to send him in.

"Hello Regina," he said as he came closer. He took a seat without her saying anything. "I thought I would stop in and see how things were faring."

"Everything is in order so far," she said. "Most of the items that were on my father's agenda were either simple matters or ones which I could catch myself up on fairly easily. Everyone has been very helpful so far."

She couldn't help but get the feeling he was studying her. It wasn't the first time she had felt this way in his presence. While he was a business owner in town he had also been on city council for many years which meant he had worked with her father over the years. Every time she was around him she thought he paid her extra attention – not in a creepy older man way, but like he was expecting something from her.

She remembered that when she was graduating high school he had asked her about her plans and when she told him she was leaving town to go to college he was practically the one person who was happy for her. He had encouraged her to spread her wings as it were and explore the world.

Every time she had been home and they had the occasion to speak he seemed interested in where she was living at or going to next. Again, it wasn't creepy but it was odd.

"I'm glad to hear it," he said. "So how are things outside of Storybrooke? Your father often speaks with pride about your various projects all the time. You've been in Philadelphia, correct?"

"Yes, but I'm finished with my work there and will be moving on soon."

"Oh, really, where to this time?"

"Georgia," she answered. She saw no reason to say specifically where.

"Where at in Georgia?" he asked.

"Savannah."

"Ah, a very historic city. You are probably eager to get out of here then."

"I'm not going anywhere until I know my father is ok."

"Indeed. Indeed," he said.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Regina asked.

"Go right ahead."

"Why did you propose that I take over as interim mayor?"

"As I said at the hospital, I know you have a background in working with municipalities so you have an understanding that sometimes things take time. I'm afraid to the layperson they often think that a city can merely snap its fingers and like magic things like potholes can be fixed or streets can be paved. The idea was to choose someone that had an understanding that a lot more goes into the decision process than merely wanting something. There are some in this town if given such power would probably bankrupt the city within weeks with their decision-making. I trusted that you, like your father, would be a good steward of the city while in charge. Plus, you haven't been here – at least as far as living here in quite some time which means you aren't likely to be swayed or influenced by others. A mayor must maintain independence, something your father has done well at over the years. What can I say, to me, you were the logical choice."

"I appreciate that you have that much faith in me," Regina said. "Honestly, I'm just trying to keep things in place until my father is well enough to take back over. If he had his way, he would be in this office right now but my mother isn't likely to let that happen for a while yet."

"As she shouldn't," Gold said as he stood up. "After all you have things well in hand so there is no reason for your father to needlessly hurry back. He must think of his health after all."

….

The whole day flew by or so it seemed to Emma. She was unknowingly smiling most of the day and once her shift was over she headed over to see Tink. She had texted her earlier to let her know about coffee with Regina but now that she had a date – well at least some alone time with Regina – she needed to talk it out with her best friend so she didn't blow this chance.

When she got over to Tink's place she was greeted by her husband, Daniel, who also happened to be Emma's cousin.

"I understand you have a reason for that big smile on your face," he said hugging her.

"Maybe."

"More than maybe," he said. "I hear you have a coffee date with the elusive Regina Mills. I think Tink was almost as excited about it as you are so I will leave you ladies to talk."

She always liked Daniel and when he started to date Tink she was worried at first. They were two important people in her life and she was afraid that if things didn't work out that she would be put in a bad position. But thankfully it all worked out for the best and she was beyond happy when they said their vows.

Tink and she settled in the kitchen while Daniel was out in the living room.

"A part of me still can't believe she was willing to have coffee," Emma said after relaying exactly how things had gone that morning. "I mean this could be my chance. This could be the turning point."

"Ok, slow down," Tink cautioned. "The fact Regina was willing to have coffee with you means she must be over giving you the cold shoulder, but there is still a long way to go. From what you told me about your talk last night she is still hurt over what happened with you and Killian."

"I know," Emma said. "But I knew I was going to have to deal with that at some point."

"You two never really talked about it."

"She never gave me the chance to. I regretted it the moment it happened and if Killian could have kept his mouth shut."

"Even if he hadn't you would have had to tell Regina the truth. You couldn't keep something like from her."

"You're right," Emma said. "Maybe if she had heard from me first then all of this could have been avoided. Maybe I could have explained …"

"What would you have said?"

For nearly a minute Emma sat there saying nothing and Tink waited patiently for when Emma was ready to speak.

"I would have told her that before I slept with him, I had been at the town line. My bug was sitting there. I had a bag packed and sitting in the back seat and I was just there staring at that town sign out there. I was trying to psyche myself up to drive across that line, to leave Storybrooke and head toward Michigan."

"Wait, what?" Tink said. "You never told me that you were going to go after her."

"Because I didn't," Emma said. "I must have sat out there on that road for two hours or more. And I couldn't do it. I couldn't leave. I wanted to. I wanted to surprise her up there at the university. I wanted to tell her that I loved her and I couldn't bear being in Storybrooke without her. But I couldn't leave. I don't even know why I couldn't, I just couldn't. So when I finally decided to stop being a fool and sitting out there, I came back into town got pissed drunk, and ruined my life by sleeping with Killian."

"Wow," Tink said, sitting back. "I can't believe you were going to go after her. Yes, we had talked about it back then but I can't believe you were going to do it and you never told me."

"Like I said, I didn't go through with it and after what happened with Killian I didn't see any reason to bring it up. I mean if I had just left, made it across that line then I would never have gotten drunk and slept with him. I would have made it to Michigan and I would have … I would have stayed with her forever."

"You need to tell her that. Tell her that you were coming for her."

"Yeah, but I didn't. What if she thinks it's some ploy on my part?"

"Good point," Tink said. "Still, she did agree to coffee so that means at least a part of her is willing to give you a chance. Maybe you should start slow. Don't bring up her leaving or staying away. Don't mention that you were going to come for her and whatever you do, do not mention Killian."

"Not mentioning him was something I figured out on my own, thank you," she said. "I just hate it that she looks at me like I'm this horrible person. Yes, I get why she does, but there has to be something I can do to make her look at me like she used to."

"Sorry to interrupt," Daniel said. "I couldn't help but overhear a bit. Do you mind if I give my two cents?"

"Go right ahead."

"You want her to look at you like she still loves you," he said. "Which means you are going to have to make her fall in love with you again. So the answer is to go back to the beginning. You barely knew her when you decided to approach her that first time. Well, forgive me for saying, but you barely know her now. None of us do. She's been gone for so long. What you need to do is get to her know her all over again."

Emma thought about it a moment. When she was getting to know Regina that first summer it was as if the world was on speed up because she could easily get lost in talking with her for hours on end. They used to spend time wherever they could and Emma loved it that Regina was also a good listener. She would sit there and listen to whatever Emma had to say – despite how silly it was at times – as if it was the most important information she had ever heard.

Regina made her feel important.

"I can do that," she said, nodding her head.

….

"Hi daddy," Regina said, after coming home Friday night from work. She kissed him on the top of the head and took a seat on the chair. "I see mom let you come downstairs."

He was lying on the couch, a place he had tried to go to the day after returning home, but Cora had shut down that idea. She didn't want Henry having to go up and down the stairs and so he had been put on bed arrest by her.

"She couldn't keep me a prisoner forever."

"I heard that," Cora yelled out from the kitchen.

"You were meant to," he yelled back.

Regina smiled at the banter. Her parents often went back and forth like that playfully and it wasn't until that moment that she realized she missed it. She had avoided coming back to Storybrooke for so long and even when she did come back she never stayed long. She had distanced not just from the place, but also from her parents.

"Hey, where did that beautiful smile go?" he asked.

She gave him a small smile in return. "I was just thinking. I'm sorry I haven't been back to see you guys in such a long time. I promise, I'll do better though. I'll answer the phone when you call and I'll come back and visit."

"And bring Neal with you?"

"Yeah," she said, even as she felt the guilt from the lie. "I'm sure he would be up for a road trip."

"You must miss him."

"I do," she responded. It wasn't a lie. She missed coming home and having Neal there to sit on the couch with as they talked about anything and everything. Neal could get her to relax after a long day with a simple joke or even a hug. "He understands that this is where I need to be right now though."

"Have you given any more thought about moving to Savannah or staying in Philly with him?"

She had thought about it, but she hadn't come up with an answer. Neither option seemed quite right to her and she didn't understand why. She had never been this hesitant before about a move. With her other moves, she had been confident that the places she was going were where she needed to be at that place and time. It was hard to explain, even to herself, that it was almost like something was pulling her in a certain direction. Before coming here she would have said that Philly was where that pull was at. But since being back, she wasn't so sure.

"I haven't decided yet."

"Is it possible for Neal to move to Savannah with you if that is what you choose to do? Have you two ever talked about it?"

They had spoken about it a little, but Neal was more in the corner of her staying in Philly and going to Georgia as needed. He said he had moved around a lot – been moving around since he was a kid and he was tired of it. His mother had left when he was still a child, leaving him behind with his father. The two of them couldn't see eye to eye on things – his father, he said had turned cruel and power-hungry. When it became apparent his father wasn't going to change his ways, Neal took off. He wasn't even 18 yet and living on his own.

The two of them were so different but somehow made being friends and roommates work.

"We've talked about it," she said. "But I don't think he wants to leave Philadelphia, at least not for Georgia."

"He may not want to leave it for Georgia, but if he wants to leave it for you, that is an entirely different matter," Henry said.

She thought about Emma suddenly. She hadn't been willing to leave Storybrooke to even try to go to university with her. Regina had wanted Emma to go with her, wanted to be able to still see her every day, but Emma didn't want to leave the small town they grew up in. She wondered if she didn't like returning to Storybrooke, not because of the hurt that Emma caused, but because she resented this town and the seemingly supernatural hold it had on people.

"I'm sure he and I will talk about it more when I return," she said.

She excused herself from the conversation after that using the excuse to check on how dinner was coming along. She had made it home in time to eat – something her mother had asked her to do so that her father wouldn't feel the need to push himself to get back to work because his daughter was spending too much time at the office. Cora ate out in the living room with Henry and Regina sat at the empty dining room table for her meal. After eating, she helped clear the dishes while Cora made sure Henry got back upstairs so he could get ready for bed. He was still weak and tired and Regina hated seeing him like that.

She washed the dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher, needing a task to concentrate on. Her mind kept going back to Emma.

"I don't understand why you won't at least try," Regina said.

"It's too late for me to get accepted anyway," Emma said. "And how do you know you won't get up there and hate the place. You never even went to visit before you decided to just up and move there."

"Is it such a bad thing that I want to branch out, experience life, see other places, and not sit around here the rest of my life?"

Their arguments had gotten more frequent as the time neared for Regina to go off to university. Regina knew they were only disagreeing because neither wanted to be without the other, but they couldn't agree on where they should be together at.

"How can you say you love me if all you want to do is leave me?" Emma responded.

"Don't do that," Regina said. "Don't make me feel guilty about leaving just because you are too scared to defy your parents and be with me."

"But I am with you," Emma countered. "My parents know that and they know nothing they say is going to stop us from being together."

It was true that Emma's parents, well it was always more her mother than her father, had backed off the ultimatum that Emma not see Regina. It had all come to a head in the time leading up to prom. Regina had broken up with Emma when Emma had agreed to go to prom with Killian since her parents wouldn't allow her to go with Regina. Emma had tried to convince her that once they were actually at prom where her parents wouldn't be around that Emma would spend the night dancing with her and not Killian and that Killian was aware of this and cool with it.

It was too much for Regina though. She was tired of sneaking around with Emma. Everyone knew the two of them were together, and for the most part, it wasn't an issue with anyone but Emma's mother. So when Emma had told her of this plan of going to the prom with Killian, Regina had broken it off with her then and there. She wasn't going to continue like this she told Emma. She told her that she loved her, but she couldn't be with her, not like this, anymore.

Regina hadn't planned on going to prom at that point but since she was up for prom queen, she felt like she had no choice. She had ended up going with Emma's cousin Daniel, who was in the grade below them.

Emma had asked her to dance not long after they had arrived, but Regina turned her down.

They spent the evening talking to people in their circle of friends, stealing glances at each other, and dancing with other people.

Then came the announcement of the king and queen of the prom. When the class president announced Killian's name, Regina bowed her head in silent prayer that she wouldn't be named prom queen. Then her name was called.

The crown was placed on her head and despite it being some cheap thing, it felt heavy to her. Then Killian had a hold of her hand and was leading her out to the dance floor for the traditional king and queen dance – the biggest reason she hadn't wanted to be named prom queen.

Ever since she had started dating Emma, Killian had not outright done anything to her beyond a few crass comments that he played off like a joke. She could tell he wasn't joking, however. She didn't like the way he looked at Emma like she was some item he had to have. And lately, she didn't like the looks he gave her.

She tried to keep her distance from him while dancing, but he pulled her in closer.

"Looks like one of us is going to get to sleep with Emma tonight. Unless of course, you want to join us. How about it, you up for a prom royalty threesome?"

"Don't be an ass," she said.

She tried to pull back from him, but he again held her tight, this time letting his hand slip down from her back to her butt, which he gave a little squeeze. She was about to push him away this time, but then there was Emma pushing them apart. She shoved Killian in the chest.

"Don't you ever touch her again," Emma growled.

Then she was turning and grabbing Regina's hand and pulling her out of the gymnasium.

They had spent the rest of the night huddled up in Emma's car, saying very little to each other, but knowing that somehow they were meant to be together. The next morning she dropped Regina back off at her house and hours later she came back. Regina had opened the door to see Emma standing there with a single rose in her hand, and asked her if she wanted to go for a drive.

Emma told her how she had spent most of the day talking with her parents, making it clear to them that she wanted to be with Regina and they could either support her or once she graduated she was gone and until they were willing to accept that Regina and she were together they could forget they had a daughter.

Emma apologized to her for not having stood up to her parents sooner.

Now here they were arguing once more.

"I don't want to keep having this fight," Regina said.

"I don't either. I just want to be with you," Emma said. "I wish you would stay."

"And I wish you would go with me."

When Regina finished with the dishes, she poured herself a glass of wine. She was sitting at the table with it in front of her when her mom returned and poured her own glass and joined her.

"Your father tells me you are going to make more of an effort to come back home for visits in the future."

Regina took a sip of the wine. "Well, we all know I'm the one who will have to make the effort since my parents won't," she said. She didn't know why she felt like being antagonistic all of a sudden, but she wanted to be. She wanted an answer to the question she had long wondered about. "In all the years, have you two ever really seriously considered coming to see me for once? Why does it always have to be on me to come back here? I'm the bad person for not returning here, but you, you never even showed up to see me graduate college."

"It's not like we didn't plan on coming to your graduation. You know we got hit by that flood that spring. We couldn't make it through parts of the town, much less get out of town," Cora said.

"Ok, bad example. How about any other day when it wasn't flooding or the snowstorm that happened when I got my masters, what about all those times when nothing was stopping you from coming to see your daughter except for your own decision not to?" she said. "What is so god damn special about this town that it makes everyone want to stay here?"

"Is it such a bad thing to love where you live?" Cora asked. "Your father and I love living here, as do a bunch of other people. When you find the place you feel is home, you will know it too. A lot of that feeling of home comes from the people you choose to share it with. Should your father and I have made more of an effort to come see you, yes we should have. But you never put in much effort in wanting us to come see you. How many times have we talked on the phone where all you have done is talked about how busy you were or how you were about to fly to this city or that city? Or how about all the unreturned phone calls and messages? Your father had a heart attack and you couldn't even answer the phone when I called. Instead of asking what is so special about this town, maybe you should ask yourself why are you so afraid of this town and every other town you have moved to and not returned to?"

Without another word Cora got up, taking her wine glass with her leaving the room and Regina alone with her thoughts.