A/N: Surprise :) 2020 is stupid so I hope this helps xxo

Emma was startled from a restful sleep, her alcohol-induced buzz, now a dull ache in the back of her head. She wracked her muddied memory of the evening that led up to going to bed and blinked her sleepy eyes so they would adjust to the dark faster. Sprawling her fingers over the soft comforter, she remembered the way this blanket felt on the backs of her hands as they were tucked up under Regina's thighs.

Regina's soft, nude thighs.

Sitting upright in the large empty bed, she suddenly recalled all of the non-friend things she and Regina did the previous evening. Remembering how Regina looked spread open, clear desire clinging to dark, wet curls, closing her eyes, she let out a small whimper. The sounds Regina made echoed in her mind's eye, and a familiar pull of desire tugged at her lower abdomen. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she flopped back against the soft luxurious pillow. Knowing how the Queen tasted caused her mouth to water and her legs squeeze together with want. Slipping her fingers down under the comforter, she pressed them into the soft cotton of her night shorts. Feeling how wet she was, she remembered how Regina's tight opening wrapped around her fingers, and she bit her bottom lip to prevent a moan from escaping.

Emma's eyes slammed tight as she recalled how Regina had tucked her into bed. How sweet and loving she'd been, in a way Emma had never felt before. Sure, since becoming friends with the woman, Regina had always been gentle and warm toward Emma, but this felt different. She recalled how the Mayor's strong hands felt holding her as she rocked her in her arms. How she fussed over Emma's injuries and how she took charge of the situation and eased her pain. She remembered how safe she felt with Regina, and Emma's heavy breathing reached its peak as she reached her own. Covering her mouth, she muffled her cries of release into the stillness of the dark.

It didn't take Regina Mills long to realize Emma had left the manor in the wee hours of the morning. It took her longer to come to the conclusion that Emma had no intention of giving her an explanation on the matter, and for the remainder of the weekend, she desperately avoided looking at the silent face of her phone, longing for messages she wasn't receiving. She'd spent the entire weekend in supersonic cleaning mode and detailed every inch of the mansion with fine attention.

The entire world was silent of Emma Swan.

Come Monday, Regina had herself convinced that all she did was get Emma liquored up and took her home for the night. The blonde had been in such a state at the bar, and Regina's need to feel control over the younger woman struck a chord. How those green eyes looked up at her with all the trust in the world, and what did Regina do? She did what she always does, took what she wanted without thought or care for anything but herself. Her selfish desire controlled every aspect of their night together, down to taking her pleasure from the blonde and leaving the girl frustrated and alone.

No wonder she escaped in the middle of the night.

Going over her schedule for the day, she realized she had a security meeting with both Emma and her father, Prince Charming, that afternoon.

Everything within her wanted to reschedule for another day. A day when she wasn't feeling the embarrassment of her current situation. The confusion and frustration of losing the one friend she had in this world over a silly, impulsive drunken encounter. Knowing the meeting was of dire importance, she huffed at the awkward position she was in and silently chastised herself for her selfish incompetence.

She had to work with this woman. She shared a child with this woman. Emma was her friend! What the hell was she thinking?

I swear I will never drink whiskey ever again!

Letting her eyelids fall, she remembered big green orbs looking up at her from the floor of the spare bedroom. The way she clung to her when she picked her up and the baby powder smell of the blonde as toned arms wrapped around her. She felt weak with need as she longed to feel the woman in her arms once again, knowing that it would never be.

Emma made her decision. She left. She didn't care to even ease the worrying mind of the Queen with a fancy, "Got home safely," or a cheery, "That was a mistake, and you're an awful human being!" No. Regina got complete and total radio silence.

So she did what she felt was best, and gave Emma the space she seemingly desired. No matter how badly it hurt to let go of that hope of things that could have been. She would miss the sarcastic banter and trust they'd built. Trust that was broken in the span of a handful of shots.

Had she been that drunk?

"Does it still feel weird?" Regina asked in a low tone. "Hugging me, that is?"

"Maybe," Emma breathed out a sigh of contentment and added, "I like it, though."

"I like it, too, Emma."

Emma was present. During Regina's cyclone-cleaning event over the weekend, she picked apart every word she said, every caress, every silent look, everything from the evening that could explain away the blonde's behavior or shine a light on what went wrong. Regina imagined every slight and inflection and studied how anything and everything she said could be misinterpreted. Eventually, Emma would be forced to talk to her, and she wanted to explain away any and all arguments that would inevitably come up.

Could she still fix this?

David arrived in a timely fashion, and Regina hadn't realized how much she'd wanted to see the Savior until the woman didn't show up for their meeting. David informed the Queen that Emma was running late and they would need to start without her.

A cold sinking feeling fell in the pit of Regina's stomach, but she silently nodded an acknowledgment to the Prince and took a seat behind her desk, gesturing for him to take one of the empty chairs in front of her. If the man knew anything about what happened, he was playing it close to the chest, and they promptly got to work. Feeling the blush crawl up her cheeks as she imagined what Emma said to her parents. She was uncertain of how much detail the blonde would give to them about their intimacy and that scarce speculative knowledge consumed her.

After Regina had gone to the edge of the worst-case scenario Snow-reactions and twenty minutes of partially paying attention to the endless droning of the witless Prince, the door to Regina's office burst open, and a disheveled blonde stumbled through, cutting off David's rant about stop-signage cost and the common-sense of his kingdom.

Regina's mask of indifference slipped when she saw the state of the Savior and wanted nothing more than to toss the Prince out of her office and ease whatever was stressing her Princess. Willing her mask back into place, she spared a final glance at the blonde when the woman quietly apologized for being late. The greens of Emma's eyes were bright against the stinging red of her visible upset, and Regina felt torn between wanting to comfort the younger woman and holding fast to her cool detachment.

As it always did, the detachment won out. The rest of the meeting took a chilly professional feel, and when it was finally over, Regina dismissed the pair with a lazy wave of her hand. Emma hadn't contributed to the discussion in the slightest, and Regina was not in the frame of mind to compel her to talk when it was clear her worst fears were being realized in vivid technicolor.

It was the scratching of her pen as she signed her name in an elegant script that filled the still silence of her office when the door on the other side of the room clicked closed. Dread filled her completely, and instead of dealing with the devastation of her heartbreak, she focused vehemently on her work.

After several long moments in the quiet of her office, a pair of black boots silently inched into her peripheral. Regina recognized the scuffed-up leather of the footwear, and she stopped her pen mid-stroke. Dark eyes flicked up to see an uncertain Swan standing awkwardly next to the desk.

Confused and slightly startled, Regina asked, "Miss Swan?"

Emma stood, eyes downcast, fingers fidgeting, displaying her anxiety loud and clear. She was making herself stand there. A forced effort to be in her presence. The moment Regina realized the Savior disappeared in the middle of the night, a blanket of dread settled over her, and with Emma forcing herself to be alone with her in her office, that slight nagging turned into full blown panic.

Instead of answering for herself, the blonde took a tentative step closer. Another step and Emma was standing next to Regina. The Queen rolled the chair back and looked up, perplexed, waiting for some semblance of explanation when Emma opened her mouth and hesitantly asked, "You… said... I could have hugs any time I felt like I wanted one."

Unable to mask the surprise in her voice, Regina asked, "Do you feel like you want one?"

With a quick shake of her head, Emma admitted quietly, "I do want one."

Realizing Emma was expressing her needs in no uncertain terms, Regina got up from her computer chair and stood in front of the Savior, arms open. Leaving the last few steps before the women could embrace up to Emma, Regina watched in awe as the Sheriff slid into her embrace like she belonged there. The Mayor cupped the Savior's head and whispered with relief, "When you left, I thought..."

"I know." A small voice apologized, "I'm sorry. I'm an over-thinker."

Rubbing the blonde's back, Regina reassured, "I know you are, Darling."

Pale arms wrapped around her neck, and then the wiry frame of the Savior melted into Regina's embrace. For the first time in days, Regina was able to breathe. The worry she felt lifted from her chest, and she hugged the blonde tighter, suddenly feeling like if she let go, Emma would disappear.

Noticing the brunette's upset, Emma whispered, "Did you need a hug, too?"

Regina nodded her head and let out a deep breath, and said, "Yes, Miss Swan. I definitely needed your hugs."

Emma pulled back before looking up at Regina and said, "I'm sorry, I just left the way I did. I don't want you to think I left because of anything we did."

Unable to stop the question from falling from her mouth, Regina asked, "Why did you leave then?"

"I felt happy."

"You were happy, so you… what? Left?"

A blonde head nodded when green eyes lowered with embarrassment before a mumbled explanation replied, "Any time I've ever really been happy, the other shoe drops, and I get smacked back into reality. I started thinking about all the things that could happen to smack me back to reality, and there's some really bad stuff that could happen, Regina."

Regina cupped the Savior's cheek and asked, "What's the absolute worst thing you thought of?"

Emma rolled her eyes a little and huffed her entire body in a soft groan before begrudgingly admitting, "I don't want to tell you because I don't really think it."

"I think you should tell me anyway."

"Do I have to?"

A gentle smile crossed red-painted lips, and the Queen hissed, "Yes."

"Really?"

Regina leaned in and whispered, "Be a good girl and tell Mommy what's the worst fear you had."

Emma swallowed thickly as the Queen pulled back away and said, "Jesus Christ, Regina, that's hot."

"Tell me."

The command was a bit stronger, and Emma cleared her voice before answering, "The worst thing that I can think happening is that we start this and I get all the way invested and mess something up, and you change your mind, and we still have to deal with one another with Henry and with work and our family situation is pretty well joined at the hip, and there's no way I wouldn't see you like all the time, and I'd die a little tiny bit every time I did."

Regina hummed, placing her finger to her chin in contemplation before nodding her head and said, "I can see how that could be a problem."

A worried look crossed the blonde's features before she asked, "You can?"

"Uh-huh," Regina replied before explaining further, "I think that is a fairly likely scenario if we do not communicate our thoughts and feelings." Her finger hooked under the blonde's dimpled chin, lifting her up to meet the dark gaze of the Queen. "So, I suppose that means we are going to have to talk about our feelings when we have them and not hold onto thoughts until things start to hurt. Do you think we can do that, Miss Swan?"

"But what if I mess up?"

"If you ever do anything that resembles messing up, I'll be sure to discuss the matter with you."

"What if it's so bad…"

Dark eyes pinned the blonde with a look the Mayor knew was effective and cut her off, "Do you trust me, Miss Swan?"

"I - I do."

"I want you to believe me when I tell you there is nothing you can do to mess up that we can not talk about and fix, but you can't keep things from me. Can I trust you to tell me when something is wrong?"

A blonde head nodded, and Regina firmed up her tone and laid a proper command, "Use your words."

"You can trust me, Regina."

The Mayor cupped the Savior's cheek and reassured, "I know I can, princess."

During the first months that the Sheriff was in town, Regina did extensive research via Sidney Glass on everything to do with Emma, her career, life, and past, and she knew the woman's fear stemmed from being abandoned by more than just her birth parents, even if that wasn't the entirety of the truth. Emma Swan had several opportunities to be placed in homes, and none of those families ever went through with the full adoption for one reason or another. Regina could imagine that Emma's issues with commitment stemmed from these blatant issues.

Cupping the Savior's cheek, Regina leaned in and whispered, "I understand you, Miss Swan. I'd like the opportunity to explore this little side if you allow it." Bloodshot eyes darted disbelievingly between clear brown, and Regina asked, "Because no matter what, you're the Savior, and I'm your Evil Queen."

Crimson colored the Sheriff's cheeks when a devious smirk crept across her lips before she asked, "You're my Queen?"

With her tongue darting out quickly to lick her lip, the Mayor's eyes dropped to Emma's own before she agreed, "You were born in my kingdom, under my rule." Her voice dropped an octave before she added, "I am your Queen."

Covering her mouth with the back of her hand, Emma burst into giggles and said, "I like that. My Queen."

Regina took the opportunity and playfully tickled the Sheriff's sides, making the younger woman genuinely laugh, twisting to pull away. A strong hand grabbed the trim waist with authority, pulling her in, she asked, "Let your Queen cook for you tonight, little one. Would you like that?"

Instantly all of the playfulness was gone, and wide green eyes searched dilated brown. "Will you make lasagna?"

Regina nodded with a satisfied smile, "With the red pepper flakes to give it some kick?"

Emma vigorously nodded and said, "I'd like that."

Poking a pale, freckled nose, Regina said, "Anything for my little princess!"