Ready for this!? I am! Starting to get some of those built up feelings out.

Sorry for any mistakes. I only had time to run through it once. Hope you guys enjoy! I'll get the next chapter up asap!

The Confrontation

Regina stood frozen and puzzled at her open door, watching the fritz of blonde hair run from her doorway. Her heart was still racing from Emma screaming at her. After waiting for some time for Emma to get to her office, Regina was growing impatient and decided to seek her out rather than calling her again. She was unpleasantly surprised to find her at her door, standing there like she had seen a ghost. And then to just run off like a lunatic?

"What was that all about?" Regina's other guest in the office stood up, supporting himself on his cane.

"It seems she had a family emergency." Regina made up an excuse as to hopefully soften the blow of the blonde's first impressions on her guest.

"Well I do hope everything is alright." His wormy grin pierced her skin, and she resented his presence more than she ever had. Mr. Gold had been after everything she had strived for since she started working in this town. So far he had gotten most everything, except for this principal job. She kept this job as a reminder to Gold that she was not someone who was just going to roll over because she didn't get what she wanted. It took more than money for Regina to get where she was and Gold wasn't going to stop her progress now.

"Perhaps we can postpone this meeting till Monday. I'll make sure she is here first thing Monday morning." Regina forced a casual smile in his direction.

"I suppose another weekend won't put us back too far." His cane clicked on the ground with his right foot as he made his way toward her now open office door. "Oh, and Regina?" He turned before heading out. She stopped her movement toward her desk and turned around, her smile now disappearing from her face. "Don't make me regret this decision." He smiled eerily.

"Good day, Mr. Gold." She said plainly without even an ounce of respect. He headed out of her office and finally out of her presence. She wasn't exactly thrilled that she would be seeing him again first thing Monday, but seeing as Emma was a mess, maybe it was the best thing.

Since the year started, Regina had been avoiding contact with Emma. She knew it took everything inside of her to do so, and she was growing rather tired of it all. Things at home were getting worse with Daniel. He still couldn't figure out what was wrong, and she still couldn't rack up the nerves to tell him that this was just not working out the way she planned. She wouldn't kid herself, she was absolutely beyond herself when she found out her MIA husband wasn't dead and was very much alive. The months after she found out that he was missing and there was little hope of finding him, she was absolutely distraught.

She grabbed her phone and tried to call Emma and figure out what was going on, but each call only ended in a voice mail. Finally she just left a message and threw her phone down on her desk in frustration. She felt terrible for what was happening between them. Neither of them wanted it so much as she could tell but there was just too much to decipher right now and Regina needed time to figure everything out. But unfortunately for Regina, time was something she was quickly running out of.

She grabbed her cell phone again and after finding the name she wanted, she clicked the screen. Her heart raced a little at the rings. The man on the other end answered.

"Hello?" His voice was familiar, but Regina hadn't heard it in a long time. Regina didn't really know what to say to him. She hadn't spoken to him since she went with Emma to a "family" Christmas two years ago. Too long.

She hung up.

"Shit." She hit the table. She stared at his name on her phone and took a deep breath. She clicked the screen again.

After one ring he answered again. "Hello?" He sounded more annoyed this time.

"August?"

"Yes, who is this?" She could hear a lot of wind in the background and a honking horn. He must be busy, probably driving somewhere.

"It's Regina." She finally admitted. She sucked in a breath, holding it in tightly. She wasn't sure if Emma had told him about everything that had happened. August hesitated on the line but then the name registered.

"Regina! It's good to hear from you. How are you?" He sounded enthusiastic enough. Maybe Emma hadn't told him yet. If that was the case then this was going to work out for the better. He didn't need to know about her and Emma, and when he did find out, she didn't want to be the one to tell him. She knew Emma would want to do that.

"I'm doing just fine, thank you August." Out of all the people she had ever met from Emma's past, he was definitely Regina's favorite. She liked knowing that he was always around in case something happened. Now was her time to call in her one emergency.

"That's great, how's Emma? I think she forgot how to use her phone because I haven't heard from her in a while."

"She's doing okay I think. I've kept her pretty busy at the school so I wouldn't blame her. But maybe you should give her a call and check in on her?" Regina tried to sound civilized talking to him. She didn't want to rouse too much suspicion or make him think something serious had happened. She just needed him to check in on her. Maybe Emma could explain better than herself.

"Is everything okay?" His voice became a little more serious. She kicked herself. She wasn't being very convincing.

"Yes, everything is fine. She has been talking about you lately and I just think she just needs you to call her." She controlled her breathing, trying not to sound to0 desperate.

"Yeah okay, I'll give her a shout." His voiced perked up. Maybe she was convincing enough.

"Thanks, August."

"Yeah, you're welcome. Take care of yourself Regina." He was probably one of the most genuine men she would ever met. Too bad he was off limits. Especially now.

"Thanks. You too August." She hung up the phone quickly, letting out the breath she had been holding. This whole situation was so above her. If this was anything else, she would be able to keep her poise and composure. But this was Emma. This wasn't just any other situation. This was the most delicate situation she had ever encountered and with Daniel in the mix, it was even more complicated.

She needed to go clear her head, like she did every Friday after she left the school. Daniel had started getting suspicious about why she was getting home so late and even asked her outright one day if she was seeing another man. She said no, obviously. But she was sure he didn't believe her. He had started drinking not long after he had gotten back from the war. She hated when he drank. He had stopped sleeping in the same bed as her on most days, and he was always angry.

After finishing up a few paperwork ins and outs, she heaved her purse over her shoulder and headed out of the school. Her car was one of only two still left in the parking lot which was kind of surprising since she was usually the last one to leave at the end of the week. But she didn't really care. She was distracted by the tasks at hand. This should have been fixed months ago, and instead she had let it boil over to this. If she waited any longer, she didn't think she would have the strength to keep fighting.

She drove towards the other side of town like she did always did. The docks were always so quiet and she loved the sound of the water hitting the edge of the rocks and splashing up. When she was a child, her father used to take her out on the bay and teach her how to sail. Since then, she had always wanted to have her own boat that she could take out on her own and just sail the waters like before. However, being a principal doesn't really supply her with the funds to do such a thing. She had never even told Daniel about her dreams of sailing, knowing he would never want her to do something so dangerous… so says the military man.

Actually come to think of it, the only person she had ever told was…

"REGINA!" From her spot edge of the dock she immediately turned around at the sound of her name and searching for the source of the shriek her eyes widened at the blonde fuming in her direction.

"Emma?" Regina kept her position making Emma come to her. She had no idea what this was about and she didn't want to rush into it either.

The blonde came within inches of her face and stopped. Regina's heart pounded so hard she could feel it all through her body, but it was masked by the sight of the tears that streaked Emma's face, her green eyes were almost red from the anger, and the smell of alcohol seeping from her. The two women stood there a moment, neither one wanting this conversation to start but knew it needed to happen.

"How dare you." Emma spoke just above a whisper to make sure Regina was the only one that could hear her.

"I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about." Regina took a step back from Emma, but Emma quickly closed the distance again. There was a small hint of fear growing inside Regina. She had no idea what the blondes intentions were, but from the look on her face, it couldn't be good.

"Bullshit. You called him. Why?" Emma was short. Regina had never seen her like this before.

"Called who?" Regina didn't know why she was playing dumb, but she was hoping that Emma would calm down a little before she said too much.

"August! You called August!" Emma was shouting now, raising her arms up in the air in protest. Regina decided to retaliate.

"Yeah I called him! What of it?" Regina shouted closing the very small distance between the two of them.

"Why?" Emma voiced through clenched teeth. Regina looked dead into her eyes wanting to say so many things but stopped herself. Nothing she could say could make this situation any better.

"Because I was worried." Regina was surprised by her own words. For the first time, she let herself say what she really wanted to say instead of what she was supposed to say. She watched as Emma's face went from anger to shock, and she felt their bodies separate a little.

"What?" Emma stepped back, quite stunned by the brunettes answer and it softened her voice.

This was it. If Regina was going to get anything off her chest about their relationship, this was going to be the time to do it. It was too late for sorry's and it was too late for bullshit excuses and avoiding each other. This was going to end.

"You heard me. I've been worried about you for months. Over the summer, I never heard a word from you, and I never saw you. Daniel has been so overwhelming about trying to get us back to the way things were. I didn't know what to say. What was I supposed to say? My dead husband just showed up out of the blue from war. What kind of shit like that happens to a person? I can't live like this anymore. I can't even sleep with my husband without thinking of you." The tears were already flowing and there was no stopping them. Her voice dropped. "Do you know how hard it is, to go day after day, home to a man you don't love anymore? That's what my life has turned into. You… you were there and then you were gone. What was I supposed to do?"

Emma stood in front of the crying woman in utter disbelief. Her body felt numb as she absorbed the hurt and the anger and the suppressed feelings coming at her from Regina. All along she thought she was the only one whose life seemed to be falling apart. Little did she know Regina just knew how to put on a good face better than she did. She didn't know whether to turn and walk away or swoop the woman up in her arms or throw herself off the dock. Suddenly she realized she was not the only one to blame for this and she wasn't going to stand there and just take it like she always did.

"I didn't know what to do either. You just dropped off the face of the earth when Daniel got back. Both of you, like you went back to playing house and forgot about me. I don't think you understand how hard it was to go home and explain to my son why you stopped coming around. But you know it's fine. I should have expected it, right? I mean his father left. Everyone that comes into my life just leaves, in the blink of an eye, just, gone. And I really thought you were different. I did. I played along like the happy little sidekick until it was time for you to throw me away." She found a small chuckle in the midst of her tears. She wiped her nose and a thin angry smile stretched across her face. "You were good. Very convincing. But I just turned out to be another one of your little toys."

"God, Emma you just don't get it do you." The brunette, through tears immediately responded and was now pacing the end of the dock. "You and Henry were everything to me. Do you not get that? I thought Daniel was dead. My husband… was dead. What the hell was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to tell him when he showed up on my doorstep at 2 in the morning? Was I supposed to tell him that I thought he was dead so I moved on and now that he's back I didn't want him anymore? What, Emma, please enlighten me on the situation because it's a whole lot more fucking complicated than you are making it seem." Regina could have bitten Emma's head off if she had the strength too, but her strength was busy trying to keep her from throwing herself off the dock into the bay. Her mind was cluttered with so many things, so many words, so many emotions that she didn't even feel like a real person but more like a robot. Things were turning but she couldn't feel anything. Someone could probably shoot her in the stomach and she wouldn't even feel it.

"Well you didn't have to just leave me for dry." Emma's voice was suddenly calm and cool. Regina envied her control. "You could have at least told me that we needed to take a break while you worked things out. I could have at least handled that. That would have given me something to hold onto but instead I've felt like I've just been grasping for some kind of ghost." Emma walked over to the side of the dock and looked down at the water. Her reflection was distorted by the waves, and she wondered if she jumped in if anyone would save her.

"Emma, I didn't know what to say. Please believe me. If I did, I would have. I figured you would understand." Regina hesitated in her direction.

"You give me way too much credit." Emma peaked a smile, actually quite welcome of the compliment.

"No. You were so much better than me. I was a coward. I ran. You… you tried to move on. I couldn't." Regina was lost for words she wished she had.

"You think I moved on? What do you think I'm doing out here Regina. This…" She motioned between them. "This is not moving on. I wanted you to come to me. I wanted you to give me something that I could live with. This… avoiding each other and putting on faces and shit wasn't… isn't working for me. I was hurt. And you know, maybe I did it to myself, hoping that you wouldn't go back to Daniel. I thought that this could still work. Maybe that was just my fault. But I just can't live like this, Regina, I really can't." Emma was almost pleading now. Pleading for Regina to take the pain away. Pleading for someone to explain to her why this was all happening.

Regina wiped a stray tear from her cheek as another one fell right behind it. "I can't either, but I can't just leave Daniel. He needs me."

Emma looked up at Regina, her eyes almost empty from the outpour of this evening. Emma choked back her urge to just walk away. But she had one more thing to say before she left her, possibly forever. "I loved you."

Regina's clenched hands dropped to her side, her body nearly going limp as the words hit her like a bullet to the brain. She took it back, she could still feel a bullet. She brought a hand up to her mouth covering it, as her body was about to lose it. She was hoping the small movement would distract her brain, but it was no use. She cried. Harder than she had ever cried in her life.

Emma stood there, her eyes immoveable from the brunette. Emma's tears had subsided and anything else that could have possibly been inside her was finally gone. Her energy, her strength, her feelings, just wiped away with three simple words. She awkwardly sat down on the wooden dock, right under where she was standing. She wrapped her arms around her knees and sat there. This was it. Everything from the past few years was out on the table, up for grabs for anyone who happened to stumble by. She felt like if the wind was strong enough, it could carry her to Antarctica, and she wouldn't even put up a fight.

"Emma!" She heard her name but she didn't recognize it.

"Emma?" There it was again. She deciphered that it was at least coming from a man. But who could be calling for her?

Suddenly a figure darkened her vision. She looked at it, but her eyes went right through it. She was dead to the world. Her body suddenly felt weightless and the warmth of the figure surrounded her. Was she dead? Was it bad to hope she was dead? She clung to the figure hoping it was taking her somewhere she wanted to be, which at the moment was anywhere but where she was.

"Emma?" Her body shook, but nothing was pulling her out of whatever she had fallen into. "Damn it."

The warmth was gone but it was replaced by a warmer air. A door closed in her face, and she realized she was in a car. At least that much she could still figure out. She could see the person who picked her up running in the opposite direction from her back toward the dock. She suddenly felt the need to sleep, and thank goodness whoever put her in the car had the right mind to put her in the backseat. She fell over into the seat, just to close her eyes for a few minutes. This was not how she wanted this to happen. She wanted to fix things, and somehow she felt like everything was worse. Maybe it was better not knowing how each other felt. Maybe it was better not knowing how she felt herself. Unfortunately, it was too late for that.

Emma woke up to a dark room, and under a single light on the opposite side of the room she could see the back of a muscular figure sitting at a desk. He was talking to someone on the phone in a soft tone and she couldn't make out everything he was saying from the spinning in her head. She pulled the bedspread off of her and tried to stand up. She wobbled a little but gained her balance and made her way over to the light.

"August?" The man almost jumped from his chair and apologized to the person he was talking to and Emma laughed a little.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Hamilton can I call you back tomorrow? Great. Thank you. You have a wonderful evening." He hung up the phone and stood up in front of Emma pushing passed her to turn on the light to the room.

"Shit, Emma! You need to warn a man before you scare him half to death." He tossed his phone onto his bed and turned back toward her. "How are you feeling?"

Emma rubbed her eyes as the light burned her temples. "Mm could be better I guess. Where are we?"

"I brought you back to my room at the Inn." He answered.

"Where's Henry? Is he home?" Emma suddenly became very nervous. She forgot about Henry, and she had no clue what time it was.

"Relax. I got it covered. I went to your apartment and left a note. I told him I took you out to dinner and we would be back in a couple of hours." He walked over to his desk and started picking up some of the paperwork spread across the wood.

"You left him home… alone! August!"

"Hey, hey. He's fine. If I know him, he'll be fine. Besides it's only 8:30. How much trouble could he get into? He's probably dying to see me anyway, he won't go anywhere." He grabbed her arms to call her down.

She held her hand to her forehead and sat down on his bed. "Shit. I'm a terrible mother. What was I thinking?"

He sat down next her. "You're not a terrible mother. But you are a terrible sister." He watched as she fell back onto the bed and closed her eyes.

"Gee, thanks." She mumbled.

"Seriously. You could have told me you were having problems with Regina. What am I here for if not for a human punching bag?" He leaned back on his elbow facing her.

"Problems is putting it lightly. I think the shit just hit the fan." She admitted.

"So what happened anyway?" He asked hesitantly. She really didn't feel like explaining everything to him right now but she figured it might help to have an outside look on the situation. Maybe he could help her see something she is missing.

She sighed. "Well… basically, we were doing fine, and then her husband shows up and gets in the middle of everything. And she thought it would be okay to just stop talking to me and act like we were never even together."

"Wait… Her husband? The one who died? In Iraq?" August asked confused.

"Yeah." She covered her face from the light.

"Shit."

"Yeah. And we have been avoiding each other ever since. I'm just pissed that she didn't even talk to me about it. I mean anything would have at least softened the blow. But no. Just gone. And then she calls you to come to my rescue instead of just picking up the phone and calling me and asking me herself. It's like she has made it her life's work to ignore me." She fought the tears back.

"Maybe she just doesn't know what to say to you." He spoke up.

"It's not that hard. I just wanted to know what was going on. I mean… fuck… we were practically living together." She could feel her anger building up.

"Look, all I'm saying is that can't be easy on a person. She thought her husband was dead and she was moving on and then he shows up. I mean that's like trying to explain a double life to somebody. And take it from someone who knows about double lives, that shit isn't easy. It's not easy to live, and it sure as hell isn't easy to explain to a spouse."

Emma hated that August was probably right. I mean, she did have to deal with a lot when Daniel showed back up.

"I guess I just felt like I was just a filler while he was gone. And when he came back, it was like I never existed. Like I didn't matter anymore. Like she had used me and didn't need me anymore. I just wanted to feel like I mattered." She stared up at the ceiling, tracing the patterns in the spackle with her eyes.

"Just give her a second chance. You of all people should know, everyone deserves a second chance."

She looked over to him and met his genuine stare. As hard as she wanted to disagree she knew he was right. Maybe Regina did need a second chance. She had gotten many second chances in her life, and it was time for her to give one to someone else for a change.