"Two weeks, Emma, that's all we have to get through and then we will be in each other's arms again," she whispered against her warm delectable lips as she held onto her face as though she would never see her favorite person again.

Her stunning blonde kissed her with every ounce of passion seeping through her lips and Regina prayed that she would say those three little words before they parted, but much to her dismay they never came.

"Regina!" Doctor Belfrey snaps, forcing her eyes to blink rapidly as she tries to bring herself back to reality.

"Yes, doctor," she politely responds and watches the sneer form upon Doctor Belfrey's permanent scowling face.

"You were not paying attention," the woman argues so coldly that Regina could practically see her frigid breath.

"Yes, I was," she defends, glaring at the older woman, square in the eyes to express her confidence. This woman is a cold-hearted bitch, but she is the best doctor around and she plans on absorbing everything she has to offer. "An acute myocardial infarction," she responds robotically and observes as one of the older woman's eyebrows raises skeptically.

Regina maintains eye contact, so the doctor knows how confident she is with her answer. She knows better than to appear weak in front of this woman by now. Dr. Belfrey exhales loudly through her nose and continues speaking, never acknowledging that Regina was indeed correct.

She listens along to that snippy voice and pretends that she's hanging on her every word, but her and that damn woman both know, she's far too advanced at this point. Everything she is teaching, Regina has already memorized by now.

Still, Regina follows the woman throughout the day, like a puppy in training. She answers respectfully when the doctor asks a question and she is prepared when she thinks she's not pay attention, yet again.

XXXXX

"Mills!" Regina's lips curl into a smile when she hears that old familiar voice. She spins around abruptly in her white sneakers and cringes when they squeak against the polished floors. "Are you coming out for a few tonight?" Ivy questions as she scurries to her side in her baby blue scrubs.

"I don't know...I'm kind of tired," she lamely lies, earning herself an unamused glare from her best friend.

"You're always tired. What else is new?" Ivy bumps her shoulder playfully as they continue walking the beaten path back to their cars. "Come on, Margarita Friday!"

"That isn't a thing," she deadpans.

"You've been back one week now, I need to hear all about this trip, but most importantly I need a drinking buddy," Ivy implores while Regina rolls her eyes in annoyance.

"Fine, but I'm not staying out too late. Pick me up in an hour, I want to go home and change."

XXXXX

Regina fluffs her hair one last time as the phone rings, and she waits patiently for her girlfriend to answer. Finally, when she thinks Emma is about to miss the call, the gorgeous woman comes into view.

Her long golden locks are piled high on top of her head in a messy bun. Her green eyes look slightly dull, nothing how Regina had memorized them to be just one week ago. She's in a baggy t-shirt and she looks utterly exhausted, but to Regina, she's still as gorgeous as ever.

"Hi," Emma quietly mutters while laying down on the bed they once shared.

"Did I wake you?" She cautiously questions, but the blonde is already shaking her head.

"No, I'm up," she dryly responds, and it produces a very strange twist in Regina heart. "You look dressed up, where you headed?" She questions, stifling a yawn.

"Out with Ivy. She insisted on Margarita Friday, which I informed her, isn't a real thing." Emma smiles, a lazy, half-smile and nods along. "Are you okay? You look exhausted?"

"I'm fine," her girlfriend rapidly fires back, taking her by surprise. "It's just early here," she defends, but there's a pull in her gut that says something isn't right. "You look really beautiful," she whispers and for some reason she sounds sad.

"Hey, just one more week, okay? Then we will see each other," Regina vows, hoping to settle whatever sorrow her girlfriend might be feeling in the moment.

"Yeah, Regina, about that," Emma sighs heavily and just like that, Regina's stomach bottoms out. Her heart clenches painfully tight. Stomach acid rises to the back of her throat. Her skin breaks out into a full-blown sweat. "I don't think I'm coming home."

"What?" The simple word hardly squeezes out passed her lips, let alone sounds complete to her own ears, while Emma winces.

"I just...look I have a lot going on and I think it's best for right now if I stay here in Sicily," Emma sadly responds, but she can feel how the blonde is holding back, like she's almost holding her breath.

"Emma, no. We talked about this. We planned to continue our relationship."

"I know and I'm so sorry, but if I told you this before, you would have never left. You would have wanted to stay here, and I couldn't let you do that. You needed to get back to New York and finish becoming the great doctor you are meant to be," she chokes out, desperately holding back her true emotions.

Regina's mind is spinning, spiraling out of control as she tries to follow the heartbreaking words. She just needs her girlfriend to stop talking, she needs to fix this.

"Emma, stop!" She blurts out, cutting off anymore words that were just about to spew and torment her. "You knew before I left that you weren't coming home? That can't be. You were fine. We were fine. Everything was great."

She's hardly keeping it together, just short phrases are popping out of her mouth uncontrollably and she actually feels herself spiraling.

"We were great. I only made my decision the day before you left."

"So, you've known for over a week now and you're just telling me that you aren't coming home and that our relationship can no longer continue? Am I getting this right?" She suddenly snaps, all her patience and sanity flying out the window from her infamous short temper.

"Yes," Emma meekly croaks out and Regina studies how she swallows hard and how the tears are slowly building in her eyes. She looks just as heartbroken as she feels, but why would Emma do this if she doesn't truly want to end things.

"Why? We planned a future together. How could you do this?" She bitterly questions, completely outraged by what's going on.

"I'm so sorry, Regina. I never meant for any of this to happen, you have got to believe me."

"Then why are you doing this?" She demands, her intestines twisting painfully and the air surrounding her becomes too thin, never filling her lungs properly. "It doesn't have to be this way. Just come home," she pleads.

"I can't Regina."

"Bullshit, Emma! You can come home if you want," she bellows into the phone and watches closely as Emma sucks her bottom lip into her mouth and holds back her tears. "Something is wrong Emma, please just tell me," she softly begs, hoping the blonde will open up and stop carrying around whatever secret she's keeping locked away.

"I can't Regina. I can't come home, and you can't come here. You need to stay in New York and finish your degree," Emma firmly states and it is so blatantly obvious how she's so desperately pushing her away.

"Stop it, Emma. I know something's wrong. Just tell me. We can work this out. Please I-"

"Please stop. Please don't make this harder than it already is. I cannot come home nor do I want to, and you need to stay in New York. We can't be together right now when we are this far apart. This kills me, it does, but I can't allow you to ruin your career, your future for a summer romance."

Her future? Emma is her future...she was her future...

Her chest constricts and the stomach acid is clawing a path up her chest and tingling the back of her throat causing thick tears to spring to life and she just wants to go back in time and end this misery.

"Is that all I was? A summer romance?"

"No," Emma chokes out and holds her breath to keep her tears at bay. "But it's all that it can be for right now." She watches, she watches a single tear roll down a flushed cheek and she knows something is eating away at her. Emma hastily wipes the tear away and quickly averts her eyes from the screen. Regina's scrambling in her mind to come up with something to make this woman stop the insanity, but then she speaks again. "I'm sorry, Regina, but I have to go."

"No, Emma, please let's talk-"

"Please don't make this harder. Just finish your degree and make your parents proud. Goodbye."

And just like that she's gone and Regina's whole world comes crashing down around her.

XXXXX

"Here," Ivy slides a shot glass containing the clear liquid that will settle her haunted mind, "have mine. Uh, waiter," she calls out to the man that needs to slow down on steroids for the sake of his sex life. "Two more, wait, make it six more. And lots of limes!"

Regina snatches the shot of Patrón and quickly tosses back the liquid, not shuddering as much as the first two she consumed moments ago. Her head sags, causing her untamed locks to sway all around her face, just like the mess she is.

"What. The. Fuck."

"Walk me through this, baby girl," Ivy says as her hands flail about recklessly, producing an ache in Regina's heart as she longs for Sicily.

"I already explained everything," she snaps, running her fingers furiously through her hair once again. She clenches two fistfuls at the back of her neck and hangs on for dear life. "This doesn't make sense. We planned everything out."

"Not everyone is so strict with their agendas. You're the only person I know who sticks to every minor detail scribbled down in your planner."

"Would you believe I didn't have my planner the entire time I was there?" Her swollen eyes drift to Ivy's big brown irises which are tripling in size as they speak.

"Shut. Up!" Her friend mocks, happily slamming her palm against the table. "This girl really did a number on you." Regina whimpers and connects her forehead with the high-top table they are leaning against. Ivy leans over and rests her body against Regina's back. "So, a girl...really? What's it like?" Regina whimpers again and buries her face in her arms. "I never thought of being with another woman...thanks guy, can we have two waters too? I need to keep her hydrated...so how did you know you wanted to try being with a girl?"

"I looked at her," she mumbles into the security of her arms, generating a loud whistle from her friend above.

"Please tell me you have pictures."

"I only have one." She slowly lifts her head to find Ivy already with her phone in hand. She quickly straightens her posture, diving for the device. "No, Ivy. It's too personal. We hardly ever had our phones on us."

"Oh, you be quiet, I need to know what the fuss is about." Her friend slides another shot in front of her and pats her arm, like she's some dog who was just rewarded with a treat. "You take your shot and let me see this Emma Swan."

Regina obeys the request because she's too depressed to argue at this point and she knows nothing too inappropriate will be revealed in the one and only picture.

"Before you say anything, I took it the first week I was there when I thought I was coming home. After I took that picture, I decided to stay with her."

"Well, obviously she knows you well and knew you would have stayed and abandoned your career if you knew she was staying," Ivy points out before her sparkling eyes drift back to her phone. "Oh wow."

"I know," she mutters mostly to herself.

"She's gorgeous."

"You should see her eyes."

"Do you think she has a Facebook?" Ivy quickly questions as her fingers go to work, tapping furiously against the screen.

"I don't know, and I don't know if I want to know," she grumbles and tosses back another shot as the waiter brings the two glasses of water Ivy ordered.

"Emma Swan, Boston..."

Regina quickly places the shot glass back down and leans heavily into Ivy's side. "She has one?" She rapidly shakes her head from the stupidity. "Of course she has one, it's 2018!"

Ivy clicks on the profile and they both watch as the most adorable picture of Emma taking a selfie in a grey beanie pops up. There's an older woman in the picture as well, in a white winter hat with a puffy ball on top, leaning her head against Emma's. There are thick snowflakes falling all around them as they both smile from ear to ear and somehow Regina just knows it was the first snowfall of the year.

"Damn Regina, she really is beautiful. You're right, those eyes are stunning," Ivy breathes as she clicks on the picture and zooms in, showing off those mesmerizing green irises with little specks of gold sparkling with love.

"That must be her mom," she whispers mostly to herself, but still Ivy hears and turns to meet her gaze.

"Why do you say it like that? Like you're about to cry?"

"Her mom passed away three months ago. She must have changed her profile picture to her and her mom before she left for Europe."

"Awww, she looks like her momma," Ivy sadly states as her eyes lock on to the older woman. Same shape eyes, her mother's are a tad darker green. Same chin. Same smile. Same pale skin. Now she's crying. Tears are freely rolling down her face in the middle of a crowded bar as she cries over an ex and her mother. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, no, it's just Emma had a hard time coping with the loss of her mother and just seeing one single picture of them together, I know why. Look how happy they are. She told me they were best friends and you can see the bond from this one picture."

"Yeah," Ivy nods along, "You really can. Let's see if she has more." Ivy minimizes the picture and begins to scroll down but stops immediately. "Uh...says here she's engaged."

"She was. Just like I was before the trip. Let's see if she has a picture of Neal," Regina quickly suggests, nudging her friend to resume her stalking work.

"So, you knew about him?"

"Oh yeah, we talked about him and Robin all the time. Now open the pictures."

"Alright," Ivy drawls on the word as she clicks on photos and they begin snooping. "Maybe this guy?" Her friend suggests, tapping on a picture of Emma kissing some guy's cheek. Regina's stomach turns at just the thought of the love of her life kissing someone else, but she tries to push all of that down, so she doesn't empty the contents of her stomach all over the bar.

The picture that Ivy selected is of Emma leaning in to kiss the man's scruffy cheek. He has big brown eyes and little bits of his brown hair are peeking out beneath his black beanie. He's sporting a small goatee and smiling as wide as can be. Her friend clicks on the picture again and sure enough the name Neal Cassidy appears at the bottom.

"Yup that's him," Regina confirms.

"I mean, he's not bad looking," Ivy shrugs, zooming into the picture to get a better look.

"He's fine, I guess," she replies, attempting to seem as unaffected by the picture as possible, but her best friend knows her better than anyone, so Ivy bumps her shoulder playfully to distract her.

"There's no way she would give you up for him."

"I know. I don't truly believe she would even go back to being with men. She said she always felt the desire to be with a girl."

Ivy exits the app and turns off her phone, placing the device back into her purse where it belongs. She retrieves one of the shots of tequila and quickly slams it back with expertise. Her body shudders the slightest bit, but she is quick to recover.

"If you two were that happy, then why would she break up with you? You could at least try long distance until you finish your residency."

"I don't know. Maybe she thinks long distance would be too hard?"

"No, there's something else. If you plan a future with someone, you make the distance thing work. I'm telling you, it's something bigger than that." Regina simply shrugs because she doesn't trust her mouth to breathe one single word without a harsh sob attached to the end. "Maybe talk to your mom. Is Emma planning on living with your parents?"

"I-I don't know. I didn't have a chance to ask."

"Well, you better call your mother and get an answer!" Ivy demands as she reaches for her phone, but Regina rapidly reaches across the table and stills her movements.

"No, Ivy. Not now. I guarantee she's with Emma right now and I don't want to seem desperate. Emma pleaded with me not to make this harder, so she clearly doesn't want to find out about me calling up my mother, crying for an explanation."

"Yeah that's right, you come off this relationship with your head held high. Don't you dare crawl back to her and beg for her. Fuck her. Here, take another shot! We will find you another hot girl...or boy...whatever," Ivy rambles as she lifts a shot glass into the air.

Regina follows her lead and clinks their glasses together, spilling tequila over the rims. They slam back their shots and chase down the harsh alcohol with the tangy limes.

"It's going to take a lot of alcohol to persuade me into sleeping my problems away," she coughs out and quickly reaches for her water.

"Well then...waiter, another round!"

XXXXX

Her phones rings far too early in the morning, agitating her sore temples as they pulsate in retaliation against her poor life choices from the night before. She blindly searches for her phone on the nightstand and answers without ever glancing at the screen.

"Hello?" Her voice sounds as if she smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for the past ten years. She even winces from the hoarse sound and she can only imagine what the other person on the end is thinking.

"Regina? Are you alright, darling?" Her mother's voice is enough to make her want to crawl in a hole and die, but instead she buries her face in the pillow and pulls the sheet over her head.

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine."

"I'm fine."

"Liar. I spoke with Emma," she informs her and just like that she remembers why she drank herself into a stupor last night. "Darling? How are you?"

"Confused."

"I know, but honey, she is right. There's no way you would have left if you knew she was staying." Regina doesn't respond. She honestly doesn't know what to say anymore, she's just more concerned with this ache in her heart. This is far worse than when she ended her engagement with Robin. "Just know, she's miserable, too."

"She chose to be miserable. This is on her. This is her decision. She can come home at any time and fix this," she fires back rapidly.

"Not everything is always so simple."

"This is," she coldly demands just as she feels something warm press into her back.

Her body jerks away, spinning around abruptly to discover what on Earth just touched her back. Her heart hammers dangerously in fear against her sternum as she begins gently lifting the sheet.

Please don't let it be Robin. Please don't let it be Robin.

Short brown hair comes into view and she recognizes the body immediately.

Oh, thank god!

Ivy. She sighs heavily as relief washes over her. At least one of them had enough sense last night to stop her from calling Robin.

"Regina! Are you listening to me?"

"What? Sorry, no," she truthfully answers and slides back into her warm cocoon. "Just tell me what's going on."

"This is not my business."

"Mother! I am your daughter-"

"Regina, you know I love you with all my heart, but it's not fair for you or Emma to put me in this predicament," her mother's word are cut short when she distinctly hears Emma's voice in the background.

"Oh...Cora...you're here..."

There's some ruffling into the phone and Regina's body jolts forward as she strains to hear their exchange of words. "I told you no! Now sit down and eat," her mother sternly scolds before her attention is back on her. "As for you, not everything is always so black and white, but you need to focus on your residency. That's the most important thing right now and all you should be worrying about."

"Whatever, I'm done with this conversation," she snaps and quickly ends the call before she has a chance to say anything else.

"Is Emma with her?" Ivy grumbles from underneath her cave of pillows and blankets.

"Yes," she huffs, tossing her phone back onto the nightstand. She slides back into her spot and fights against the tears that are stinging her eyes. "I'm her daughter!"

"Maybe it's not her secret to tell. Maybe Emma will eventually tell you soon," her friend suggests, never once opening her eyes.

"Or maybe my parents are traitors and Emma played me like a fiddle. Just like Robin."