Chapter two

By the time they left the hotel the following morning, Henry's interest in his mothers' conversations had grown significantly. Normally when they spoke to each other, he used the opportunity to pull out his phone and mentally check out for a while, but as they packed up the car for the next leg of their trip, he began to listen interestedly to the way they talked. Nothing seemed any different to usual - they were civil and sometimes even friendly, and when one of them made a joke, the other laughed awkwardly like they weren't sure whether they'd earned the right to find it funny. There was a distance to their friendship that Henry was slowly realising he himself had wedged there - by forcing them to compete, and by constantly switching between their houses depended on whose parenting style suited him best that day, he'd created reluctance.

Not anymore.

The moment Emma and Regina started discussing who would drive that morning, he butted in. "I didn't sleep too well last night."

They turned to look at him, both frowning. "Really?"

"Yeah. I might just grab a nap in the back."

Before anyone could protest, he tugged open the back door and threw himself across both the seats. Emma and Regina glanced at each other, sharing a momentary shrug over just how much sleep teenagers appeared to need, before settling into the front of the car without another word. With Henry in the back, Emma had no need to drive, and Regina took up the wheel without questioning it.

The arrangement worked just fine until Emma realised that, with Henry pretending to doze in the back, the chatter from the day before had vanished. She glanced nervously at Regina, who had her eyes on the road and didn't seem to have noticed the silence in the car, before looking down at her own hands. They were twitching in her lap.

Silence had always been Emma's worst enemy, so it didn't take more than a few miles before she reached for the radio and started flicking between stations. Regina glanced at her, rolling her eyes, but didn't comment.

At least, not for the first few minutes.

"Emma," she eventually snapped. "For God's sake. Can you just pick a station and stick to it?"

"They're all static. I'm just trying to find something that you can actually hear."

"We're in the middle of nowhere - they're all going to be the same."

"Oh, so you want us to sit and listen to this?" Emma asked, gesturing to the stereo, which was playing a mix of a dull-voiced man talking about traffic updates and some kind of banjo music. Regina tutted.

"No. I was happy in silence."

"Well, you're a freak," Emma muttered.

Regina suddenly reached across the car, her hand diving between Emma's legs. Emma jumped, knocking her head against the window in the process. In the back of the car, Henry watched her cheeks turn pink through half-closed eyes.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded. Regina ignored her, grappling for the glovebox and tugging it open.

"There are CDs in there," she said flatly, returning both her hands to the wheel. "Try and find something that won't drive me crazy."

Emma was burning hot all over, but she swallowed and did as she was told. The car fell into silence again as she clattered through the pile, pushing aside all the audiobooks until she eventually came across a viable option.

"What's this? 'Chill Rockin' Anthems'?" she asked dryly. "Madam Mayor - is this what your version of a wild side looks like?"

"Actually, my version of a wild side involved burning villages to the ground. You should be grateful I've moved past that."

Emma laughed uncomfortably, earning her a smirk from the driver's seat. She slotted the CD into the stereo and waited for the first track to play. This time, when quiet fell, Emma's hands weren't twitching anxiously. Henry settled back in his seat and let this new kind of comfort wash over him.

When they stopped for lunch, he deliberately threw himself into one side of the booth and spread out his gangly body so that Regina and Emma would be forced to sit opposite him. He hadn't seen them together head-on in a long time, and had convinced himself that by positioning himself there, he'd see a new side of them that was perhaps invisible from the backseat of the car. Emma slid in first, looking perfectly at ease with the seating, and settled into the corner. After a moment, Regina followed, sitting more primly with her purse on her lap.

Henry's heart dropped when he saw how uncomfortable she looked. But then she sniffed and said, "This place is a bit dingy."

"Dingier than Granny's?" Emma asked, grabbing the stack of huge, laminated menus from behind the salt and pepper shaker and passing one to Regina. Henry was grinning by the time he received his.

"Yes. Much more so," Regina replied, scrunching up her nose at the selection. "What in the hell is 'sugar on snow'?"

Emma blinked. "What?"

"Right here."

She pointed to the bottom of her menu. Emma automatically leaned in close, her eyes on the bizarre piece of text. "I have no idea. It says 'winter only'."

"How can a dessert only be available in the winter?"

"No clue. Kid," Emma asked, not looking up. "Any idea?"

Henry was still grinning, but neither of them noticed. "Nope. Never heard of it."

"That's a pity. I'd pay good money to see your mom try it."

"You don't have those kind of funds," Regina said airily.

"If Henry and I clubbed together, I think we could manage."

"Not a chance, Miss Swan," Regina replied. Emma was still leaning close to her, and neither one of them seemed to have noticed. "But I might blow your minds all the same by ordering a burger."

Emma threw a wide-eyed look of shock at their son. "Oh my God. She's finally lost her mind."

"Seems so. Mom, you feeling okay?"

Ignoring them, Regina said, "Henry, did you see they have matzo ball soup?"

"I'm not getting soup if you're ordering a burger!"

"I didn't say you had to."

"Ladies, stop bickering, please," Emma interjected, earning herself a swift jab to the ribs from Regina's elbow. Henry watched the movement with sharp eyes, noticing that Emma didn't even flinch away from it. If anything, she seemed pleased with herself. She grinned and returned to her own menu, still not noticing their son observing them from the other side of the table.

Once they'd ordered their food, Henry settled back and continued to watch as they made small talk. It was kind of fascinating - Emma was never the one to pick the topic, he noticed, but as soon as Regina started speaking, she turned to her with full attention and allowed the conversation to flow. She didn't ask questions, though - that was always Regina. Instead, she responded to Regina's anecdotes with enthusiasm, and Henry could see in Regina's eyes that she appreciated that. Now that he thought about it, it had probably been years since she'd had someone to talk to like that.

Just as their food arrived, Emma glanced across the table and spotted the expression on Henry's face: half amused, half fascinated. She frowned.

"What's that look for?" she asked as a huge sandwich and a pile of fries landed in front of her. Before he could respond, Emma had opened the top of her sandwich and, upon spotting a dusting of fresh cilantro inside, began to scrape it off with her fork. Once she'd gathered most of it up, she guided her fork toward Regina's plate, who scooped the herbs off and onto her own food without a word.

Henry stared at them like he'd just witnessed them breaking into a spontaneous song and dance routine. When Emma didn't receive an answer to her earlier question, she looked up once more and raised her eyebrows.

"Kid?" she prompted. Beside her, Regina was removing the onion from her burger and passing it over to Emma. "You okay?"

Henry just grinned. "Yeah. I'm great."

Regina was slightly disappointed to arrive at their hotel that night. She'd had a very pleasant day in the car - the CD Emma had found made the driving go faster, and Henry seemed to be in such a strangely good mood that even the occasional traffic jam didn't dampen his enthusiasm. Although she was looking forward to settling down in a comfy double bed, she wouldn't have been averse to carrying on with the day's trip for another hour or two.

When they attempted to check in to their hotel for the night, that feeling only grew.

"I'm sorry, Ms Mills," the pale young girl on the desk stammered. "It says here you've only got two rooms booked."

Regina scowled back at her. "I confirmed yesterday that we had three rooms booked. Your manager said it was all set. Is she here?"

"Not right now. I'm so sorry, but the system says there was a last minute change to your booking." The girl opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped when she saw the furious expression on Regina's face.

Behind her shoulder, Emma wasn't too worried. They still had two rooms, and that was far more than she'd ever had on roadtrips growing up. But behind her, their son was grinning into his fist, making sure he was facing the other way so no one would notice his mischievous smirk and ask why he looked so pleased with himself. Thankfully, everyone was too preoccupied to turn around - just like they had been on their second stop that afternoon, when he'd snuck off into an empty corner of the gas station to make a quick phone call to the hotel.

"Well, we'd still like three rooms," Regina eventually huffed. The girl turned even paler.

"I'm so sorry. We don't... They're all booked up."

"You're kidding."

"Regina," Emma said quietly. "It's okay. It's kind of a waste of money anyway."

Regina turned to glare at her, but eventually let out a huff of agreement. "Fine. Henry and I have shared before, I suppose."

Henry stepped forward, his former grin carefully schooled into a scowl. "Mom. I can't share with you anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm 18! It's weird!"

"Henry," Regina sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Please don't make this even more difficult for me."

But he'd had nearly two decades of dealing with his mother by that point, so the rage on her face didn't even make him flinch. "I'll sleep in the car, then."

"Oh, don't be so ridiculous. You're being a baby."

As if to prove her point, he folded his arms and scowled.

Emma eyed him for a second, noticing that the corner of his mouth was twitching. But she was aching from being in the car all day and really wanted to grab a shower before dinner, so she turned back to Regina and touched her elbow. "You can take the room and I'll sleep in the car, if you want."

"That's even more ridiculous," Regina replied sharply. She let out a noise that sounded almost like a growl. "Fine. Miss Swan and I will share tonight, but if this happens again, Henry, I'm not going to let you keep having your way." She turned back to the receptionist and asked, "Tell me the room has two beds, at least."

Much to Henry's disappointment, the desk girl nodded. "It does."

"Fine. Then let's go upstairs before I change my mind."

Emma thought she was comfortable with the situation. After all, she'd slept in far stranger places than this before: the back of her Bug; the front of her Bug when the backseat was covered in boxes; even someone's bathtub when they promised her a room for the night and then forgot that there had been a flood the week before. The thought of having to share a room with Regina for one single night hadn't remotely fazed her at first. But then, when they got back from dinner and found themselves staring at two beds lying side by side, she finally realised the extent of what she'd agreed to. She swallowed.

"Which, err..." she started, rubbing the side of her nose. "Which one do you want?"

Regina was standing just as uselessly beside her. When they'd arrived earlier, she'd deliberately dumped her suitcase under the desk to avoid having to make this decision.

"Do you have a preference?"

"No," Emma lied. Regina rolled her eyes.

"Fine. I'll take this one," she said, gesturing vaguely to the one closest to the window. Emma breathed a sigh of relief - years of preparing to run always made her pick the spot nearest the door.

"Cool," she replied, grabbing her bag and beginning to sift through it. She got ready for bed as quickly as possible, aimlessly chattering to Regina in an attempt to pretend that this was all totally normal.

When she returned from the bathroom to find Regina standing in short, silky pyjamas, she nearly dropped her toothbrush. Turning away to hide her burning cheeks, she slid into her chosen bed and grabbed her phone, glueing her eyes to it until Regina was safely out of sight in the bathroom.

It would have been so much easier if she had managed to just fall asleep right then. She was exhausted from a day in the car and from the two glasses of wine she'd had with dinner, but now her head was frantically buzzing and whispering dangerous things. When she closed her eyes, she knew she wouldn't be drifting off any time soon.

Regina returned eventually, deliberately not making eye contact with Emma as she walked past her bed with her bare, tanned legs far too on show for her liking. She slipped into bed quickly and turned off the main light, then grabbed a book without a word. She too wanted to just lie down and sleep, but her muscles were twitching. Emma's presence beside her, even as she sat quietly with her eyes on her phone, felt like the sudden, unexpected rush of a train going past, over and over again.

When Emma spoke, Regina actually jumped.

"What's the road like tomorrow?"

Regina looked incredulously round at her. "What do you mean?"

If Regina wasn't a master of suppressing her own thoughts, she would have considered it adorable that Emma's cheeks flushed red then.

"Just... I don't know. Sorry."

Emma looked away again, wanting to kick herself. She'd run out of social media apps to scroll through but she still didn't feel ready to try and sleep.

Eventually, Regina took pity on her. "It's mostly highway. I found a few good places to stop on the way."

Nodding enthusiastically, Emma said, "That's cool. I can drive for part of it, if you want."

"That's alright. I don't mind."

Silence fell again, and with it, Emma's stomach started churning. She shifted slightly, adjusting the position of her twitching legs, and said, "Cool."

Half a minute later, she found herself speaking again. "Henry seems to be enjoying himself, right?"

Regina sighed and looked round at her again. "I think so. It's hard to tell."

"Is it?"

"Well, he's a moody teenager now. He doesn't show his enthusiasm as willingly."

Emma smiled. "True. But he's also not whining, so that's a good sign."

"Yes. It is."

They settled into quiet yet again and Regina turned back to her book, even though she hadn't read a word of it since she'd gotten between the sheets. It didn't take long before she heard Emma take a deep breath and open her mouth again.

"Emma," Regina cut her off before she could start. "Sitting in silence won't kill you, you know."

Emma felt her entire face flush crimson. She tried to smile, even though Regina wasn't looking at her.

"Sorry," she said flatly. "Silence just never bodes well in Storybrooke, does it?"

Regina smiled faintly but carried on pretending to read. Eventually, feeling hot with embarrassment, Emma put down her phone, turned off her lamp, and rolled onto her side.

She lay there feeling tense and humiliated for a few minutes, the muscles in her shoulders rock-tight. She didn't want to breathe too loudly in case she was disturbing Regina, but forcing herself not to was making her heart beat faster. She screwed her eyes shut and started to count.

On the other side of the room, Regina was looking uncertainly at the back of her head. Her blonde curls were spilling across the pillow, just starting to lose their shape after a long day on the road. Before she could stop it, Regina found herself wondering if she'd get to see Emma crafting them again in the morning.

"I'm excited to see Chicago," she suddenly said. In the next bed, Emma jumped.

She turned her head. "You are?"

"Yes. I haven't seen many places since I left the Enchanted Forest, and it sounds interesting. Have you been?"

Emma blinked at her, wondering if this was a trick of some kind. When Regina just looked plainly back at her, she rolled over the rest of her body so she was facing her.

"Yeah," she said. "A long time ago."

"Where did you stay?"

"In my car."

Regina frowned. "Oh. Right."

"But I still liked it. It's a fun city, and the food's good."

"Henry will be pleased to hear that. I've never seen a boy eat as much as he does."

Emma laughed. "I guess he gets that from me."

The smile Regina offered her in return was warm and calming, and when the lamp went out a second later, Emma no longer felt quite as tense. She heard Regina put away her book and shuffle down beneath the sheets. If she wasn't mistaken, she too was facing the middle of the room, her gaze in Emma's direction. Emma couldn't tell whether she was actually looking at her through the dark or not.

Emma could hear her softly breathing as they both attempted to drift off. It was the strangest, most peaceful sound coming from a woman who burned through life like a raging fire.

She fell asleep to it. What she didn't realise was that Regina herself was wide awake, her eyes open, peering through the darkness until she adjusted to it, so she could see Emma at her most vulnerable and restful while she still had the chance.