Bold - inserts from Regina's journal.

Acquaintances

The harsh northeastern January winter bit at all of Regina's exposed body. It nibbled at her ears, her nose, her heels when the wind would pick up the back end of her jacket and expose her thin hose covered legs. It was a bright Monday morning, and she walked her usual path into town as she did every single day of the week. It was her routine, the one part of her routine she insisted she did alone even when Emma would try to go with her. Emma didn't like her going out alone by herself, but Regina honestly didn't care.

The small town had began to feel smaller as Regina became more accustomed to it all. On her walks she normally saw Mary Margaret on her way to school, Dr. Hopper doing his usual repairs outside of his building, his Dalmatian seated politely near him, waiting for the occasional stranger that walked by and liked to give him attention. She had stopped seeing Dr. Hopper sometime in November despite his protests, but in the end he couldn't force her to be there. Dr. Whale had encouraged her to go for at least a month, and she had surpassed that number by quite a few months. She finally got to a point where she felt she could live with not knowing what had happened. Her nightmares just turned to bad dreams as she forced herself to move on every day and just live for the present… at least, that's what she told Emma.

As Emma became more engrossed in the school year and Henry had started basketball season in November, their house always seemed busy. Regina didn't mind though, it kept her mind off of everything else. And it kept Emma from asking so many questions. The less questions she asked, the less answers Regina had to have. Her morning walks however were hers and she took it as a time of de-stress and mental rejuvenation to get her through the day.

This morning was no different as she took her seat in her usual booth and Granny brought her usual cinnamon spice latte.

"Thank you so much, Granny! It smells delicious." She took the large cup with both hands and brought it up to her lips.

"Of course, dear. And your cinnamon role is in the oven, it will be out for you shortly." Granny turned on her heels, the coffee slushing in the pot she held in her hand and made her way around to the tables to refill cups. Regina smiled at the taste of her latte and as she set it down, she grabbed for her black journal in her purse and a pen.

She scribbled her heading at the top of the next blank page and began to write.

Regina Mills

January 14, 2019

8:07am

Last night was more of the same. I didn't sleep much, and the little I did, I saw him. I still can't make out a face or a name, but I know it's a "him". I can sense that I know him, but he still hasn't talked to me. This was one of the few nights that I didn't wake Emma. I watched her sleep. She is so beautiful. I envy her so much though, her ability to sleep peacefully at night, and run around all day. I feel like a burden sometimes, and I hate keeping her at arms length but I feel like it's the best for both of us. I just feel so distracted by this.

I saw him in the diner again yesterday. I didn't think I would see him again after we talked, since it had been almost a week. I figured I had scared him off with the whole story. He didn't talk to me though. Didn't even act like he knew me. Maybe he just didn't see me, or he was in a hurry, or both, I don't know. Nevertheless, I still can't get him out of my head.

"Here you are, love." Granny appeared with a warm, still steaming cinnamon roll, and Regina shut her journal quickly.

"Oh, Granny this looks divine, thank you!" Regina smiled. For a moment, Regina kept her mind on other things. Like the yellow rose wallpaper that surrounded the inside of the the diner, which did not match the red plastic linings of the chairs, and the grey marble-like tops of the tables. She admired the red-haired waitress who often waited on her, but worked diligently taking orders of other customers, some new, some regulars like Regina, and busied herself behind the counter while Granny usually took the lead in the kitchen behind the scenes. Regina appreciated how this diner ran like a well-oiled machine, much like how she used to run her school.

Being a principal was all Regina had ever dreamed of being. Well, and being crazy, because no one in their right mind would ever want to deal with what a principal deals with on a daily basis. Crazy parents, kids who constantly tested their limits and made mistakes, but it was what she remembered loving to do. Emma often talked about Mr. Gold and how awful he was. Regina vaguely remembered him, and Emma swore she wished she was gifted with the ability to forget him as well. Emma had also encouraged her to try and get the job back, seeing as she had been getting better, maybe another routine in her life would be good to help establish a balance. But most importantly, Emma missed her.

I don't know what I would say to him if I saw him again. Truly he is so mysteriously enticing to me, I can't figure it out. It's a silly thing to think, but only because I have no other leads, I'm beginning to wonder if he is the man in my dreams. But no of course that is silly. He is a stranger at best. I wish I had let him talk more when we last spoke. That way I could have more information on him or at least have some way to track him down. Instead…

"Is this seat taken?" A deep voice interrupted her writings and her face instantly went red when she saw the man's face standing next to her booth, a small innocent smile across his cheeks.

Regina slammed her black book closed and nervously scooted it away. "No, please." She motioned for him to sit across from her.

His plain white coffee mug was filled with plain black coffee, but of course he was much more than a plain person.

"I must apologize for my absence since we spoke last. The commanding officers don't always allow me to get away when I would like to." He sipped his coffee naturally and calmly.

Trying to play cool, Regina motioned away the comment. "Oh, it's fine really. I figured I scared you away with the craziness of my life the last time we talked." She chuckled.

He grinned handsomely. "No, truthfully I have thought about it a lot lately."

Regina tried to hide a smile. "You have?" She questioned excitedly. She fidgeted nervously with her wedding ring, the man taking notice and clearing his throat.

"How's your wife? Emma is her name correct?" He quickly changed the subject.

Regina stiffened up and nodded as she spoke. "Yes, Emma. She is fine. Busy with the new semester starting and everything." She said generally.

"That's good." He took another sip of his coffee but remained silent. Regina was nervous. It was like she was thirteen again, sitting at the table with her boy crush, not knowing what to say or how to act even though she had gone over this scenario thousands of times before.

She finally broke the silence. "So, we've talked so much about me, I don't really know much about you. Are you married?" She asked casually. He held up his left hand, palm facing him and wiggled his naked fingers. They both laughed. "I guess I should have been more observant." Regina admitted.

"It's fine. I actually was married once, so you were half correct." His eyes fell down to his coffee and Regina could instantly see that that was probably not a happy memory.

"I'm so sorry." She had a sudden urge to reach out and touch his hand. She didn't know why, she didn't even second guess the motion and when she touched his skin, it sent goosebumps up her arm like he was charged with some kind of electricity. "May I ask what happened?" It was only then when she realized what she had done, and quickly pulled back her hand.

He looked back up at her, a small smile played across his lips but it quickly went south when he cleared his throat to explain. "Uh, she died in a car accident."

Regina looked surprised. "Oh my. That's awful. I'm so sorry." This time she controlled her urge. "That must have been so hard."

His gaze drifted back down to the table but he continued. "Yes, I was in a very dark place for a while. But I've been able to keep myself busy." He assured her.

"Did you have any kids?" She continued absentmindedly.

"No." He answered. "We were trying though. Been to the doctor and all that, but we just couldn't get it right." She watched him as he thought back. His eyes were so piercingly blue that she thought she could have stared at them forever. They were soft looking compared to the rest of his chiseled self. His hands were worn, calloused and very much used to hard work. She didn't know what life was like for him at the base, but she could tell he had seen things that not many humans had ever seen.

"Do you write?" He interrupted her obvious stare.

Regina blinked back to reality. "What?"

"You're book." He pointed to her journal as he took another sip.

'Oh, that. No, it's more of a catalogue of things. I have trouble remembering things, so I tend to write down as much as I can. A little trick I've found helps me out sometimes." She word vomited.

He smiled at her.

"What?" She asked noticing his look and smiling back.

"You're cute when you are nervous." He stated plainly.

Regina was taken aback by the comment. She didn't really know how to handle it, and she was unsure of how to respond. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, and butterflies building up inside her.

He noticed her sudden change in demeanor. "I'm so sorry." He apologized quickly. "I realize that was probably not appropriate. Sometimes I just speak without thinking. I apologize if I've made you uncomfortable."

Regina swallowed hard, eyeing the tables around her nervously. "No. It's quite alright. This is just… new for me." She admitted.

"Well I will admit, you are doing great!" He continued, and he looked at her long and hard. Before she could say anything else, a figure appeared next to them and when she looked up, Graham was beaming as he stood, both hands on his hips, his gun protruding from his belt, looking back and forth between the two of them. Snow dusted the top of his cap and shoulders, but he paid no attention to it.

"Good morning!" He spoke, bending down and placing both hands on the table heavily.

Regina smiled back at him. "Good morning, Sheriff." She replied. He awkwardly looked at them, his hat turned this way and that every time he had to turn his head.

"Regina, I am so sorry to have to bother you, but I need to speak with Daniel here for a few moments. If you don't mind?" He stood and dipped his hat. Daniel didn't move.

Regina eyed the two of them. She could tell Graham was covering something.

"Is everything okay?" She questioned. Regina could have swore she saw Graham's hand move closer to his gun, but she hoped she was just seeing things.

After another small silence, Daniel finally decided to take his leave. As he scootched out of the bench he smiled at Regina. "It's alright, Regina. I've been helping Graham out with a case he's been working on from the base. I'll catch up with you later." He grabbed his jacket, awkwardly moving past Graham and heading toward the front door, popping his collar preparing for the snowy midmorning weather outside.

"Enjoy your breakfast." Graham spoke distractingly as he quickly followed Daniel on his heels out the door. Regina, acting quickly, shoved her black journal into her purse, plopped a twenty down on the table and rushed out, her coat only halfway on as she reached the door.

Granny met her there and made due at helping her with her coat. "What is your rush, dear?" She said helping Regina with her coat. "You can't go out there without your coat, you'll freeze to death."

Regina, annoyed, quickly fixed the jacket with Granny's help. "Thank you, Granny." She swung the door open, the winter air bursting through. "Money is on the table." Her voice retreated out as the door shut between herself and Granny.

Granny gave a worried look to the red headed waitress, who quickly pulled out her phone and sent a text.

Regina slowed her pace as she exited the outdoor seating area that was neatly arranged in front of Granny's Diner. She looked around furiously trying to find where the Sheriff and Daniel went. She did not like how things were left and thought Graham was being awfully weird, and she wanted to find out why.

In a rush decision, she picked a direction and headed down the sidewalk, listening closely for their voices. For all she knew, they could have immediately gotten in a car and headed to the station, but she figured she would keep an eye out either way.

As luck would have it, just between the building next door and Granny's diner, she found them, already in a heated discussion. She quickly darted behind a small shed, trying to listen closely to the conversation. She may not remember everything anymore, but her senses were still on point. She knew something was wrong, and from the vibrant conversation happening between the buildings, she was sure she had stumbled upon something good.

"What in God's name do you think you are doing? Have you lost your mind?!" The sheriff whispered harshly. Daniel remained quiet. "You shouldn't even be here." He continued at him.

Daniel chimed in in his own defense. "I have every right to be here!" Daniel matched Graham's aggressive whisper, trying not to attract any unwanted attention.

"Not with HER!" Graham motioned back toward the diner. "She is 100% off limits. And you knew that!" Graham shoved him backward. Daniel didn't flinch. "Do you have any idea what this could do to her?"

"I haven't told her anything but the truth." Daniel insisted.

"The truth? Oh, you told her the truth? About everything. She knows?" Graham threw up his hands, pacing in circles. Regina hid her face quickly when he turned her direction, only to quickly turn back to Daniel waiting for an answer that would never come. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Daniel frowned hard and stared down at the ground. "She doesn't have to ever know."

Graham scoffed. "You don't expect it to come out eventually? Are you a moron?! Daniel, she is off FUCKING limits!" Graham's true voice came through.

As the conversation seemed to come to an end, Regina, in a panicked state disappeared from her hiding spot. The only reason she knew she was running was because of the cold air icing over her lungs. Her legs were numb, her fingers, her nose, her everything was numb. She ran as fast as she could home, and as soon as she shut the door behind her she splayed out the innards of her purse out on the dining room table. With shaking hands and short pulsed breathing she wrote down everything she had just heard in her journal. When she finished, she sat down, reading over the conversation a thousands times making sure she didn't forget anything.

What the hell was going on?

Emma slumped back in her chair, the end of the day finally coming to a close, and took a deep breath. She remembered the first time she ever set foot in a classroom. She was absolutely terrified, constantly questioning her career choice. She hated speaking in front of crowds, all those pairs of giant eyes staring back at her in want. The small whispers of the kids in the back of the room. Where they talking about her? Did she forget to brush her hair? Was there something in her teeth? She would never find out.

Now, she was like a master of her craft, or at least that's what she told herself in the mirror before she left for work in the mornings. No, truly she had just become comfortable with her situation. Truly, right now, all she wanted was a nap. She knew Henry had basketball practice for another hour or so, so closing her eyes wouldn't be too much of a worry.

As soon as she felt herself drift off, she heard a knock at her door. Peaking through one eye, she saw a pale peppy faced woman waving enthusiastically at her through her door window. Emma reluctantly rose and greeted Mary Margaret at the door.

"Oh, Emma, so sorry to bother you. Were you taking a nap?" She smiled just as she always did when she talked. Today she seemed genuinely more peppy though and Emma did not have the energy for it.

"Trying to. Henry is at basketball practice and I've caught up on my grading so that seemed like the next best thing to do." Emma went on.

"I'm pregnant!" Mary Margaret suddenly shouted.

Emma froze, turned to her giddy friend, and stared at her wide-eyed. "What?!" Emma asked excitedly.

"Yeah!" Mary Margaret jumped up and down.

"How do you know?" Emma asked absentmindedly.

Mary Margaret laughed. "Well I peed on a stick obviously!" She giggled again.

Emma laughed at her own stupidity. "But, you are sure? What did David say?" She asked.

Mary Margaret stopped jumping, a smile still wide enough to see her teeth. "Well I haven't told him yet. I wanted to surprise him." She admitted.

"Well he is going to be surprised no matter what." Emma chuckled.

"I know! I've been holding it all in though. I needed to tell someone. You can't tell a soul. Do you promise?" Mary Margaret asked lightly.

Emma motioned zipping her lips together, locking, and throwing away the key. Mary Margaret sprang forward and wrapped Emma in a hug. "Oh, THANK YOU!" She squeezed so tight Emma thought she was going to break a rib. Who knew such a strong woman had so much strength. Must be the hormones from the pregnancy. "Okay, I have to go, I'm meeting with David's mother to plan the surprise. Remember, not a word!" She wiggled her finger at Emma.

"Promise!" Emma assured her, and as fast as she appeared she was gone. Emma's smile lingered at the thought of Mary Margaret being a mother. Both her and David were such a match made in heaven and it made her happy that their family was growing. They would both be amazing parents. And speaking of being a dutiful parent, she figured with this happy news there was no way a nap was going to happen, so she packed up her stuff and headed toward the gym.

Emma perched herself up in the bleachers to watch the end of practice. The boys were scrimmaging, Henry definitely one of the stars on the team. Every time they went for a water break, his teammates were patting him on the back and giving him high fives. She was so proud of him. He had grown almost three inches in the last two months since the season had started and as his muscles started filling out, he positively looked like an absolute athlete. Emma couldn't figure where he got it from. She was more of the "fake cramps to get out of conditioning" type and his father… well… he didn't get it from his father.

She felt her phone buzz in her back pocket and realized she hadn't looked at her phone all day. She had received an email from Mr. Gold about a faculty meeting coming up, and as she scrolled through her notifications she saw that she had a text from a phone number she didn't recognize. She clicked it open and read the message.

Call Graham.

Her eyebrows furrowed and she calmly tried to call the number that had text her. It went to voicemail after 2 rings. She didn't feel comfortable leaving a message so she hung up and tried Graham. It rang and rang but he never answered. She shrugged it away, thinking that maybe he just needed to get a hold of her for some reason but maybe didn't need to now.

Killian's whistle blew to signal the end of practice and as the boys rallied in the center of the gym and broke out of the huddle, Henry jogged over to Emma.

"Hey Mom!" He said, placing a kiss on her cheek. The other boys whistled and teased him. "I gotta go grab my stuff but I'll be out in a minute."

She nodded at him and headed across the gym to wait for him in the hallway. Killian caught her attention before she could exit.

"Hey, Emma!" He called out for her and excused himself from his other coaches. The other coaches headed out in the opposite direction of the boys, leaving the two of them alone in the gym. Killian was not a large man. He was actually quite thin with dark features. His less than perfect black hair matched his black eyes, black beard, and for what he was worth he was handsome. Emma would never have a negative thing to say about him. He was sweet, genuine, and everything he did was from the goodness of his heart. He had been a role model for her son this year, and she couldn't really thank him enough for that.

"Killian, practice looked good!" Emma met him as he approached.

"Thank you! Uh, big thanks to your kid. He's really propelled the team to another level. If he has anything to do with it, we'll be a state contender for sure." He said with a twinge of excitement in his voice.

"Well Henry has loved every minute of being here. And that has a lot to do with you." Emma continued.

Killian blushed under his beard. "You are two nice, Emma. he makes my job easy! You have raised a great kid." He smiled. "Actually I wanted to ask you something."

Emma swallowed nervously. It was not unknown that Killian had feelings for Emma. He was an unfortunate adventure she had when she had first moved to Storybrooke. Before she had really gotten to know Regina, Killian was very sweet about helping her out around her apartment, showing her around town, and the occasional adult night was definitely not something she regretted. She eventually broke it off though, realizing that she did not want Henry's future in basketball to be affected by their relationship. And also, he was a bit clingy.

"A couple of my friends are actually planning on having a cookout on MLK weekend since we have Monday off school. I was wondering if you'd like to go?" He asked politely. He never had any hard feelings toward her when they broke up. He was actually more than okay with it from what Emma could remember.

"Actually, Killian…" She started, but he interrupted.

"Please bring Henry and Regina." He urged. "There are plenty of other people that are going to be there. I promise it won't be awkward. I talked to David this morning and I think him and Mary Margaret are going to be there, also Ruby, and Henry can bring some friends."

"That sounds great." Emma finally cracked. He seemed so excited, she just couldn't say no.

His smile stretched across his face. "Great! Yeah. Uh, I'll text you the details."

"Yeah sounds good."

Hey, mom. You ready?" Henry thankfully poked his head in the gym door, ready to go, hair wet from his shower.

"Yeah. Coming." She waved at him. "Thanks, Killian. I'll talk to you soon."

He waved at the both of them as they made their way out to the parking lot and head home.

"What did Coach want to talk to you about?" He asked as they got in the car.

Emma seemed a bit distracted. "What?"

Henry looked at her puzzled. "Coach? Y'all were talking forever in there. What did he want?"

"Oh. He was actually inviting all of us to a cookout he's having next weekend. Want to go?" She explained.

Henry sighed. "Mom, I have camp in Boston, remember? Leaving Friday? You're dropping me off at the airport?"

Emma gasped in shock. "Oh crap, Henry, I'm so sorry I forgot all about that." She reached out and grabbed his hand. "You're just getting so big." She reached up and grazed his cheek.

"Aw, Mom. Quit it." He chuckled. "I'm not that big, I'm not even fifteen yet."

"Only 2 more months!" Emma nudged him excitedly. "Anyway, that's fine. Yes! Camp! I guess I'll go smooze with the coach for you while your gone. I'm sure Regina would like to get out of the house anyway for some social time." Her grip tightened on the steering wheel a bit. "What do you want for dinner tonight?" Emma finally asked after a bit of silence. "Whatever it is, we are going to need to go to the store before we go home. I bet Regina is starving."

"Tacos." Henry said matter of factly. Emma laughed at his quick response.

"Been planning that one out for some time huh?" She joked.

When they made it home, Emma clumsily tripped through the door with her arms full of grocery bags. Henry was still at the car trying to grab as many bags as he could hoping that he only had to make another trip, because if anyone had to make an extra trip out there, it was him.

"Hey, babe? We're home!" Emma shouted, kicking the door closed with her heel and heading straight for the kitchen. "Babe?"

The kitchen was empty, but when she set the bags down, she finally heard the sound of running water through the walls and figured she must have been in the shower. The front door swung open, nearly crashing into the wall next to it. "Henry, careful!" Emma rushed over to him and grabbed a handful of bags. "Is that everything?"

"You know it!" Henry proudly stated throwing the other bags up on the island.

"Great. Can you start unloading these. I'm going to go check on Regina." She dropped off her bags and as she turned to head out of the kitchen she noticed the mess that was Regina's purse sprawled out on the dining room table. She made her way over to it all and inspected it. Did she lose something? Regina was not the messy type. She always had a place for everything, she had her routine, she did the same thing almost every day. This was new. Something must have thrown her off today.

Her eyes fell on a little black book that was sitting by itself near one of the chairs, an open pen sitting next to it like someone had recently been writing. She turned to check and make sure she was alone and opened the book. Almost every page was full of either drawings or writings or scribbles and words that Emma couldn't read. She continued to flip, as most pages seemed to be almost identical. She stopped on a page when she saw her name. She picked up the book, studying the words and drawings. It was a word for word copy of a conversation they had had only a few weeks ago. Emma remembered the conversation because it sent Regina into a bit of a fit and Emma felt absolutely like the worst person on the planet afterwards.

Emma: I just don't understand why I can't go with you.

Me: Because, I would like to be alone

Emma: You've been alone all morning, and we haven't spent much time together lately.

Me: I know and we will spend time together. This is just my routine…

Emma: Routine… got it. Well let me know when you can pencil me in to your precious routines.

Emma swallowed hard. It sounded harsher now that she read it and still felt a pang of regret as she replayed the moment. There was more writing underneath the conversation and Emma continued to read.

She's only trying to help, I know. I couldn't love her more for it. This is just something that I need to do. Right? Would it really hurt to include her in my morning routine? I want to spend time with her, but I also have to deal with this. Maybe when I'm more ready. She will understand.

Emma was thoroughly confused, but so enthralled in what she had found that she didn't even notice the running water had stopped upstairs. So she continued through the pages.

Nov. 12th

Spoke to Dr. Hopper today on my way here. He asked how I was doing, I told him I was fine. I guess that was a lie. But I don't think he really noticed. It's been a week since I stopped seeing him and I'm feeling okay with it so far. Had another dream last night. I finally asked the figure a question. It didn't answer. Hoping for more answers next time.

Dec. 3rd

It's a man, I know it is. I just can't put my finger on who it is though. No name is coming to mind, no person in particular. I thought maybe Graham or David, those are the only two men I know well enough to dream about them. But this is something else.

That man came to the diner again today. He didn't talk to me but he smiled when he walked by my booth and left. Maybe tomorrow I will talk to him. Try to figure out why I'm so drawn to him.

Emma's eyes went wide. Man? Who the hell was she seeing at the diner? She skipped over a couple more pages.

Dec. 30th

We talked today. Well, I talked. He listened. I didn't even catch his name, I can't believe I can't remember it. I knew I'd seen him before. Last summer at the 4th of July picnic, he approached me. I can't even remember what he said and I'm kicking myself that I didn't ask his name. That was a crazy day though. I feel as though I scared him off a little today, he left in such a rush, I was probably talking too much, I haven't talked like that in quite some time. I don't even think I've said that much to Emma in the last few days. She's busy though, I'd hate to bother her.

Emma felt tears well up in her eyes as the thought of all of this happening without her even knowing. She didn't even know Regina had stopped seeing Dr. Hopper. And it looked like she hadn't been seeing him since November. What had she been doing? And come to think of it, Emma hadn't actually asked her. What had Emma been doing to get so distracted? Emma flipped through the pages, not aware that Regina was quietly heading downstairs.

January 13th

Daniel. Unmarried. No kids. Wife died in a car accident. And somehow… he knows me.

Emma's face grew white hot as she read the playback of what had happened that morning. Her thoughts, the conversation she overheard with Graham and Daniel. Daniel. That son of a bitch has been seeing Regina. And Graham. Emma suddenly threw the book down and grabbed her phone. That mystery number was still in her messages and she clicked it open to check the time it was sent to her. 8:30am. Someone was trying to warn her.

"What are you doing?"

Emma whipped around to find Regina standing behind her, eyes glaring, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"What are you doing?" Regina asked again sternly. "Did you read my journal?" She rushed over and snatched it from the table, it was still open to this mornings log. She looked up at Emma in shock who in her own defense was just as angry.

"Regina…" Emma started but couldn't even think clearly. All she could think of was Daniel and how much she wanted to kill him.

"Is there something you are not telling me?" Regina blurted out.

Emma couldn't speak, she didn't know what to say. This situation was far beyond her control.

"Emma, who is Daniel?" Regina asked suddenly. The sound of his name on her lips was just about more than she could handle.

"Don't say his name." She gritted her teeth and looked away.

"Who is Daniel?" Regina asked again.

Henry poked his head in the entryway of the door. "Hey, are you guys okay?"

Regina answered quickly, "Go to your room." He disappeared without question.

Emma wanted to throw up, run away, fight back, tell Regina everything, tell Regina nothing, or lie to her. Truly, Emma didn't know what the hell to do. She felt trapped like a dog in a cage. Regina had been seeing Daniel. And Daniel had been seeing Regina. What the hell did they talk about? Was she cheating on her? With the man that almost fucking killed her?

Emma's flight response kicked in and she bolted. Leaving the door wide open on its hinges and Regina yelling after her, Emma, in a blind rage headed for the only place she could get answers. The sheriff station.

In an instant she was busting through the doors of the station, completely oblivious to whatever was going on around her, who was telling her to stop, or not to go in there.

When she busted into Graham's office, he was already up out of his chair with his hands out to her. "Emma, you've got to stop coming in here like this. I need you to calm down."

"He has been seeing her?!" Emma screamed. "And you knew about it?!"

Graham started around his desk in her direction. "Emma, I only found out today. Granny called me and told me what was happening at the diner. I rushed over there and talked with him."

"You talked with him? Why didn't you shoot him?" She continued to shout.

"Emma, please. He wasn't breaking any laws. He was allowed to be there just as much as anyone."

Emma looked at him disgusted. "Are you shitting me right now? How dare you. He almost KILLED HER." Her voice was already almost hoarse. From screaming in the car to screaming in here, her vocal chords were at their limits. "Do you honestly think that I'm going to stand here and listen to that coming from you? You SAW WHAT HE DID TO HER!"

Graham dropped his hands in defeat. "Emma, I'm the law. What did you expect me to do? I told him to stop seeing her."

"Oh, you told him?" Emma repeated with tears raining down her cheeks. "Did you also tell him how he ruined my families fucking life, that we have to live in the fucking shadow of what he did? Did you tell him that?" She flung her arms about in anger.

"Not in so many words, but he got the message." Graham admitted.

Emma scoffed. Then, in a panic she began searching through the papers on Grahams desk, throwing ones she didn't like on the ground, searching for something, anything.

Graham rushed over and pulled her away. "What are you doing?" He struggled with her, and failed. She pushed him off and he stumbled over the chair and onto the ground.

"His address has to be here somewhere. I'm going to kill him." She continued now through drawers, finding the final one locked and she tugged as hard as she could until Graham regained himself and peeled her away from his desk, out of his office and down the hall.

"Graham, let me go! You can't let him do this!" She kicked and screamed and pleaded. "I'm going to kill him!" He got her all the way outside of the building before he finally let her go. She lunged for the door but she caught her.

"Emma, pull yourself together. Think of your son!" He held onto her.

It was then her madness turned into tears and her body went numb and soft. "I can't do this anymore." She sobbed into his shoulder. He stood there with her as long as she needed. And when she had finally composed herself enough to stand on her own he peeled her away from him, holding her at arm's length.

"Emma, you got to listen to me. You can't let him get to you. If you continue to lash out like this, he wins. Do you understand me?"

She wiped her now makeupless face. "Let him win." Emma managed.

"Please. Think of Henry now. I know how much you love him. You need to think long and hard about what you are doing and make sure it is what's best for him." he added.

She looked at him dead in the eye and in a sudden twitch, pulled herself away from him, a face of disgust on her own. "Don't you lecture me."

"Emma that's not - "

"No…" She backed away from him. "Do not tell me what I need to do for my son. He's MY SON!" She managed one last scream. "Fuck you." Before Graham could protest, Emma was gone, her car tires screeching out of the parking lot.

When she got home, there were no more tears. Her eyes were hot and dry, her cheeks raw, her nose running and without much thought she wiped her face with the back of her hand. She stared at her dark house. Regina's house. It was sickening to her to think that everything was beginning to divide. This was Regina's house. Henry was HER son. Daniel was THE problem. How did she let all of this happen? How did she manage to carry her entire world on her shoulders, to work so hard, just to have it split apart by the same damn person that did it the first time. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

She made her way upstairs. Regina's stairs. She peeked open their bedroom door just enough for the light to allow her to see Regina. She lay in the same clothes she saw her in when she left, curled up in a ball, asleep. Emma wondered what she could be dreaming tonight? Something about Daniel she supposed. She shut the door quietly and moved down the hall.

Henry's door was cracked open and she could see a light on inside. She opened it more, only to find him fast asleep as well, a book laid open on his chest and his nightstand lamp still on. He must have fallen asleep waiting for her to come home. She removed the book from his chest and laid it on his nightstand, and then in a quick motion crawled into bed with him, wrapping her arms around him just like she had done when he was a boy and couldn't go back to sleep because he had a bad dream. She still saw that little boy in him. That innocence. She would fight for that innocence no matter what else was going on in her life. That was all that mattered.

Then she reached over and turned out his lamp, falling asleep with the only person she was sure was still on her side.