Things are about to get a little heated! Stay tuned.

Enjoy!

One Month

The bell rang in Emma's ears, finally signaling the end of the first month of school. Her students were keeping up with their readings in class, and Henry was actually doing much better in school, and all around things where looking up. Besides all that, her birthday was next week and apparently, word is around the school that a few of the teachers are surprising her with a little birthday party. Despite her efforts to keep her birthday on the down low, it turns out nothing can be kept a secret in this school once you let it slip in front of Mary Margaret one time.

She ran through the last of her emails when she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. She pulled it out and read Henry's name on her caller ID.

"Hey. Kid!" She answered enthusiastically. Henry always had a way perking her up.

"Hey, Mom. My friend invited me over for dinner at his house tonight. Can I go?" He sounded out of breath. He probably just got out of basketball practice. Emma frowned a little. Not that she had anything planned but she hated being at the house alone.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Go have fun. Just make sure you are home by 8."

"Thanks, Mom!" He hung up without saying goodbye. Emma stuck her phone back in her pocket when her classroom phone rang almost simultaneously.

"What is this? Call Emma hour?" She mumbled to herself picking the phone from the receiver. "Hello?"

"Ms. Swan, I need to speak with you. Please meet me in my office as soon as possible." Regina stated promptly. Emma was taken aback by the sound of her voice over the phone. Something she hadn't heard since their late night talks before everything went south. She paused, taking in the moment, probably a little longer than she should have because Regina noticed.

"Ms. Swan? Did you hear me?" Her irritation was rising.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll uh, be there in a minute." She stammered.

"Thank you." The phone clicked on the other end. Emma stared at the phone as she slowly set it back on the receiver. She had no idea what Regina could want with her. They haven't spoken since the first day of school a month ago. In fact, Emma hadn't even seen her since that day. If they were any kind of good at being together, they were even better at avoiding each other. She took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts and preparing herself for what Regina would have to say to her that deserved a personal phone call.

When Emma stepped into the front office, Ruby was already gone. She usually left as soon as the final bell rang on Friday's because she worked down at a local bar on the weekends. From secretary to bartender in a matter of hours was something only Ruby could pull off. Emma could hear voices down the hall, growing closer to her. When she reached the door she was relived to find only Mary Margaret and the school nurse, Ms. Blue, heading out for the weekend.

"Hey Emma!" Mary Margaret caught her. "I figured you would be gone already." She asked a little concerned.

"Henry called and said he was having dinner at a friend's, so I didn't rush out." Her eyes darted behind the two women toward Regina's office. The door was shut, but she could see the light on.

"Okay. Well if you're free later, Mrs. Blue and I are going to dinner. You should join us." Mary Margaret said enthusiastically.

Emma's attention was stuck on the closed door of Regina's office. "Uhm, yeah. I'll call you." She forced a thin smile and pushed past the two women, her curiosity growing for what was behind that door. The women went about their conversation, quickly exiting the office, leaving Emma to herself in the empty hallway.

She stopped just short of knocking on the door, her hand inches from contact. She second guessed it and dropped her hand. The feelings of the first day of school flooded back to her. This time she would have to control herself and not let herself be triggered by either Regina or anything she has to say. This situation was delicate and she couldn't risk losing an opportunity to possibly get past things with Regina.

She bucked up and knocked on the door. It wasn't long before she heard the clicking heels calling from behind the door.

"Ms. Swan, please come in." Regina had a thin smile on her face. Emma was a little hesitant but proceeded inside, and Regina shut the door behind her. Emma turned to her, wondering why she had shut the door, seeing as they were almost the only two left in the building and what could she possibly have to say that was so private. At this point, privacy was a luxury that was unfortunately not in their vocabulary anymore.

"Is everything okay?" Emma worked up the nerves to speak as she watched Regina slowly click over to her.

"I have been waiting for you." Regina stated plainly. Emma eye's widened at the woman's words.

"What?" Emma managed, but just barely.

"You heard me." The advance was anything but normal as Emma stepped back at the movement toward her. She was lost for what was happening right now. The woman continued her advance despite Emma's backing away. There was only so far Emma could go before she felt the book case behind her back. She hit it awkwardly, knocking the picture of Regina and Daniel off onto the floor.

"Oh, shit. Let me get that." Emma started to leaned down to pick it up.

"Leave it." Regina almost shouted at her. The distance between them was now miniscule and Emma could feel Regina's warm breath on her cheeks. It smelled like peppermint.

"What are you doing?" Emma whispered, her stomach turning in knots. It was suddenly very warm inside the office, the temperature rising by the second.

"This is what you want isn't it?" Regina cocked her head to the side. Her hand reached up to Emma's face but it didn't quite touch it. Her cheek burned at the tease of Regina's fingers. Emma shut her eyes tightly, as her body wrenched and yearned for the distance between them to close.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Emma spoke, her eyes squeezing tightly. Maybe if she didn't look, she wouldn't touch.

"Ms. Swan." She heard Regina say her name, but this time it was more of like an echo rather than like she was standing an inch from her.

She opened her eyes, and Regina was gone. The air lightened around her, and she gasped like she had been holding her breath. She was still in her office but she was alone.

"Ms. Swan." There it was again. She closed her eyes again attempting to rub whatever this was away. Her body was so tense, she felt like she would explode any second. She hadn't been within reaching distance to Regina in months and then in an instant they were inches apart. Her skin crawled with the sensation of the dark eyed woman so close to her, teasing her with the thought of pleasure.

"Ms. Swan!"

"WHAT?" She screamed opening her eyes. Terror shot through her spine at the sight of Principal Mills standing in the doorway of her office. Emma's hand still in a position to knock on the no longer closed door. A single bead of sweat rolled down her temple. Her mouth opened but nothing came out. It followed shapes of words but the sound was inaudible.

"Ms. Swan are you ill?" Regina eyed the blonde puzzlingly crossing her arms obviously uncomfortable with the strange behavior of her colleague.

Emma caught her breath and straightened up, pulling on her leather jacket nervously.

"Y… yes. Um. No. I need to go. Um Henry..." Before Regina could manage a refute Emma turned on her heels and practically sprinted out of the hallway. She came to the realization in that few minutes that she would never be able to be around that woman without everything falling to pieces. Everything she buried inside her every morning before going to work was suddenly sucked out by the presence of the brunette. That's why she had to stay away from her. She couldn't even stand out in front of her office door without having a vision of them together.

Her car windshield had little answers for her, but she stared at it and shouted at it all the same. She was sure she had about five missed calls from Principal Mills feeling her phone vibrating in her back pocket but she didn't have the patience nor the strength to answer them. This situation was bad, and the harder she pulled herself away, the harder she fell back into it. She wasn't like Regina. She couldn't just fall back on a long lost husband and abandon everything and still be okay. She had nothing to fall back on. Henry was there, but he was always there. He wasn't exactly the ideal person to spill her ever growing feelings for another woman too. And she was sure he appreciated not being that person. She had no one else.

Her body fell to the floor as soon as she closed her apartment door. She was suddenly glad Henry was not going to be home for a couple of hours. Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and in her frustration she pulled it out. Four missed calls and one voicemail from Regina. She didn't even want to hear her voice right now, but she did just run away from her office in quite a frenzy after screaming at her for no reason. So she clicked her voicemail and listened.

"Ms. Swan, I don't know what you are playing at but I expect you to be in my office first thing Monday morning. I hope by then you are over whatever it is you are suffering from. We have much to talk about." The message clicked. Emma was fuming. She didn't know why, but her anger raged inside of her at the thought of Regina talking to her that way. Like something was wrong with her.

"AAAH!" She launched her phone across the room, shattering it on the back wall. "Damn it." She yelled, muffled by her hands. Why did Regina have to be such a prick? All Emma ever did was care for her, and then she was just tossed away like a dirty rag, and now the woman had the nerve to tell her that she's the one with the problem? Emma was so glad it was Friday, only because she could calm down before seeing Regina on Monday.

She pulled herself up and headed into the kitchen. She needed something to drink… now. She pulled down a bottle and a glass, then stuck the glass back in the cabinet and decided there was no time for delicacies. She popped open the bottle and took a swig. She stood in the opening of the kitchen and looked around the room. Her phone was shattered in the corner but she really didn't care. She heard the couch call her name and she couldn't resist. She plopped down and took another swig. She never took herself for an alcoholic, but desperate times call for alcohol. She took a third swig, this time taking a couple gulps before setting the bottle down on the floor next to the couch.

Above the T.V hung a picture of Henry and herself from last summer. Regina had often took herself for an amateur photographer and this particular one was one of her handiwork. Emma often stared at it late at night, imagining the beautiful woman behind the picture. She remembered that particular day Henry wanted to take a mini vacation to the city. Emma thought it was a great idea, and Regina had only been to the city a few times so they packed up Emma's yellow bug and headed out.

They found a nice hotel a little ways out of the city and then spent most of the week exploring places where Emma had grown up. Henry made them stop at a little park that Emma said she used to play at when she was a kid. He practically pulled them out of the car when they got there, and raced over to the swings. Emma pushed him for a while and Regina took a few shots of them playing. Emma had insisted the brunette take photos with Henry but she felt more comfortable behind than camera than in front.

Emma took one last swig of the bottle, washing away the memory. She remembered she was pissed. But not pissed enough to keep her from passing out on the couch.

A heavy knock on her front door jolted Emma off the couch.

"Who is it?" She called out, getting up slowly to look through the peep hole. Her head throbbed from the alcohol. When she opened the door, a very tall, dark haired and scruffy man stood in her vision. He was rocking back on his heels with a handsome smirk stretched on his face. Her eyes lit up at the sight of him. She knew who he was.

"August!" She let go of the door and lunged into the man's arms.

The man was taking off guard by her body but caught her, holding her tight.

"Hey, sis!" He hugged her tighter, then set her down in front of him. "God, you look terrible." He joked, taking her head in his hands and kissing her forehead. "And you smell like you've had one too many drinks."

"Yeah well you look great yourself. Look at you!" Emma hadn't seen her brother since she graduated college, but she talked to him on the phone every once in a while. He had moved up to New York for work when she was still in school and surprised her at her graduation by coming to stay for a few days. She was grateful for him being around, helping her sort out what her next move was going to be. It always seemed like he showed up at just the right moment in her life.

"What are you doing here?" Emma asked, looping her arm through his and escorting him inside.

"Just dropping in to see how my little sister was doing. Is that a crime?" He nudged her.

"Of course not. I'm so glad you're here!" She truly was glad he was here. She needed something to get her mind off of things. They walked over to the couch and sat down. Emma scooted closer to him curiously. "So what have you been up too?" He was looking terribly good. She always thought he was incredibly handsome and still to this day puzzled at the fact that he was not married.

"Well, work has been good in New York. Since the last time I talked to you, I've gotten nearly 10 new clients."

"Oh. Big, popular detective are we now?" Emma teased him. For as long as August was her brother, she knew he wanted to be a private detective. "I do hope you are good at your job. Otherwise there would be some very unhappy people around in your life."

"You just can't go a minute without tearing me down. You're lucky that's what I love about you. Anyways, besides all that, how are you doing?" August turned to face her more, his shirt tightening around his muscles and Emma noticed.

"Oh you know same old. Henry has been doing well at basketball, and thankfully it seems he's made a few friends this year. As you can see he doesn't even come home to eat dinner with me anymore. Would you like some coffee?" Emma pushed herself off the couch and headed for the kitchen without letting him answer. She knew he didn't drink coffee, but the look on his face as she spoke made her strangely uncomfortable.

She put a pot on for the coffee, and then grabbed a couple cups from the cabinet. August walked into the kitchen examining the pile of dirty dishes in the sink and an overflowing trashcan.

"I didn't ask about Henry." He stated quietly, swiping some crumbs off onto the floor.

"What?" She went about gathering sugar and cream for the coffee. She really didn't hear his question, but probably because she didn't want to hear it. The last thing she wanted was more attention on herself after today. Why was he so curious anyway?

"I asked how you were doing. Not Henry. I mean I love Henry as much as the next guy, but I talked to him last night. I know how he's doing. You, on the other hand I have not heard from in a few weeks." He eyed her curiously, watching her movements slow as her wall came crumbling down.

"Did Henry ask you to come or something?" Her eyes darted to him, but she didn't fully turn.

"As a matter of fact, no, he did not." This caused Emma to turn. A sudden flush of anger flicked in her eyes.

"You know, something tells me you weren't just in the neighborhood. Someone told you to come. Why are you so curious about me all of the sudden?" She advanced on him, her emotions growing quickly unstable. August had never done anything like this before. He was usually so innocent, but he had motive for this visit and she was going to figure out what it was he was playing at.

"Isn't that what brothers do? I'm just looking out for you. You seem… on edge a little. And… I'm not allowed to discuss who sent me." He admitted remaining in his position despite Emma's advance.

"Excuse me? I'm not one of your clients, who sent you?" Her face grew red with each step she took toward August. He took a step back, unsure of what she was going to do.

"Emma, I have it on good authority that you needed me to be here. It's fine, no big deal. You needed some help and that's why I am here. It doesn't matter who sent me, it just matters that I'm here right?" His step back turned into a half step, knowing that if he moved away it would show her she had the advantage.

Emma's mind raced, her eyes moving around sporadically searching for the clue to who could have sent him. The only people she could think of who could be remotely worried about her were Henry and Ruby. She had never given his number to Ruby, and he just said Henry didn't tell him to come. Mary Margaret has been away too long to realize that something was wrong with her. The only other person who would have his number was…

"Regina?" Her voice was low and whispered, but it echoed through every part of her body. She looked up at him, their eyes meeting. She didn't know what she was feeling, she was so conflicted. She was hurt that he wouldn't just tell her, and the only reason he was here was because he was called. His silence confirmed her suspicions.

"I don't understand." She fell back onto a chair sitting at the island in the middle of her kitchen. He moved to the opposite side as her, still unsure of what she was going to do.

"For the record, she didn't ask me to come, she just told me to call you. I decided to come anyway. She sounded… desperate." He tried to explain, but Emma felt like if she took in any more information today her brain would explode.

"Desperate? When did she call you?"

He looked at her a little confused by her own confusion. "Uhm, about an hour ago." He twitched his head, studying her surprise at his answer.

"How did you even get here so fast?" The tears began to fall down her cheeks, but they were tears filled with all kinds of emotion. She couldn't even tell what she was feeling anymore. Sadness, hurt, anger, fear. It was all just a mush.

"Well as things would have it, I was already driving this direction. I had a meeting with someone in a town not far from here, and they insisted that I come and meet them. And you know me, I can't turn down my clients. It was like fate that she caught me just a few minutes out of town." He sounded quite pleased with himself for his timing ability. He had been holding back the question as long as he could, wondering if he really wanted to curb his curiosity by asking.

"Uhm, is there something I'm not understanding here?" He stepped toward the island, closing the distance between them. He quickly regretted the decision when she jumped up, knocking over the chair and slamming her hand down on the table.

"Emma…?" He came around the island to grab her but she was out of the kitchen before he could reach her. He followed her out of the kitchen and out of the door. She was faster than he expected her to be, and he rushed down the stairs after her. "Where are you going?" He shouted, busting through the door to the street. Her yellow bug flew by him in a streak of color.

Emma wiped her frenzied tears from her face. She smacked the steering wheel and floored the gas pedal.

"If she wants to know how I'm doing, she can ask me to my face." The words were like tar in her mouth. She checked her rear view mirror, knowing August would be on her tale as fast as he could. She knew he came only because he suspected something was wrong. Regina was probably right to call him. He was always so protective of her. Even after he left their foster home when he turned 18, he always told her he was just a phone call away if anything happened.

He would be on her trail probably before she reached her destination. She knew exactly where she was going. Even if they hadn't been together in a few months, Emma still knew exactly where Regina liked to go after she got off of work on Friday evenings.