A/N: Hello, my loves! We are so, so, sooooo sorry about the long wait! We hope you aren't too terribly angry. We bring you a very special Thanksgiving episode of AOTH. Enjoy!
Thanksgiving.
A time when you should be with your family and the people that love you, but being a medical intern didn't leave much time to meet anyone outside of work. So, Regina did the only thing she could think of. She invited all of the other interns and Emma to join her for the holiday.
That was her mistake, apparently. She had invited Emma, of course she had. Everything had been going so well between the two of them over the last three weeks. They had gone out several times since their first date and Regina had even cooked for Emma at her apartment while the blonde was enthralled with Sophie.
There was no reason that the younger woman could see as to why Emma wouldn't accept her invitation to spend the day together. When Regina had gone to talk to Dorothy about Emma deciding not to show up as most everyone else had, she was informed that it was something to do with Ruby. So Regina had settled on spending the day with the few people who had shown up, namely Kathryn, Dorothy and Lacey. Neal and Jefferson had opted to join them though most of their time thus far had been spent in the living room talking quietly to one another over glasses of wine. Her parents had already made plans since she had informed them that she would be spending the holiday in Boston so now she didn't have anywhere to go other than her very sad thanksgiving.
"Baby, stop pouting." Kathryn chided softly as she came from upstairs and turned the corner, putting her hand under Regina's chin gently.
"I'm not pouting." Regina sighed softly, turning her head up so she could look at her friend and picking up her half empty glass of apple cider.
"Well, you're upset, clearly." Kathryn took the glass from her and returned it to the kitchen making Regina follow her. She reached for the tumbler as it was set on the countertop, letting out a soft whine when the blonde moved it out of her reach again.
"I mean, of course I'm upset. I feel like this entire holiday has been a disaster." Regina crossed her arms, feeling Sophie pushing against her legs in an attempt to comfort her owner.
"Over Swan? Are you kidding? Fuck Emma. If she doesn't want to come to Thanksgiving then she doesn't have to. She'll have to enjoy thanksgiving at her own house by herself." The blonde snipped, clearly agitated at the older woman for upsetting the petite woman.
"I'm sure she's not even at her house. I'm sure she's at the hospital, working." Regina sat down on one of the bar stools on the opposite side of the island from where the other woman was cutting vegetables.
"Isn't the hospital supposed to be closed?" Lacey asked as she re-entered the kitchen. She pressed a kiss to Kathryn's cheek as she grabbed the apron she had left on the counter and began gathering the pots and pans needed for the side dishes she would be making to accompany the turkey currently slow cooking in the oven.
"Yeah, it's closed to non urgent cases. Only the E.R and O.R are open right now." Regina confirmed glumly, resting her head on her hand, her fingers tiptoeing across the counter towards the confiscated glass.
"So, she's most likely in there doing surgeries" Dorothy shrugged from her place "No big deal, Mills. She's married to her work."
"No big deal? Are you guys joking?" Regina looked around at her friends and pulled at the necklace around her neck "She gave this to me. She took the time out of her day to buy me something. It looks expensive at that. Listen, all of you may be in stable relationships or at least places in your life where you know what's going on, but I am not. I'm in a place where I think I've fallen in love. Okay!? That's a big deal to me." Regina sighed,slipping off of the stool and went to the hall closet to gather her coat and her car keys leaving the three women looking at one another in bewilderment.
"Regina, where are you going?" Neal said from the living room, his attention momentarily drawn away from Jefferson's charm.
"I'm going to get alcohol!" She stormed out of the house and made her way down to the parking garage, exhaling the breath she had been holding once she was seated against the cool leather of her driver's seat. She slid the key into the ignition and listened to her car roar to life before beginning to purr as it idled.
This ain't for the best
My reputation's never been worse, so
You must like me for me
We can't make
Any promises now, can we, babe?
But you can make me a drink
Regina sat in her car for a while waiting for it to warm up. She just sat there and thought about the last few weeks. Emma had been acting fairly normal around her. Nothing crazy. They had been normal. It wasn't like Emma was uncomfortable around Regina. Or was she? Regina sighed, she didn't know anymore. It seemed like every time she and Emma were getting somewhere, something would go wrong. It was bothering her far more than it probably should have.
Dive bar on the East Side, where you at?
Phone lights up my nightstand in the black
Come here, you can meet me in the back
Dark jeans and your Nikes, look at you
Oh damn, never seen that color blue
Just think of the fun things we could do
'Cause I like you
Regina sat back in her seat and put the car in reverse, backing out of her parking spot with ease and steered her car towards the one place she knew would be there no matter what. The hospital.
—~•~—
"Dr Swan. "
"Dr Nolan."
Emma erased the double bypass surgery off of the OR board before replacing the eraser into its holder, green eyes scanning over the list of remaining surgeries which ranged from mild such as appendectomies to more severe cases such as shrapnel from an exploding turkey fryer lodged in a man's spine.
"Success?" David asked casually as he surveyed the board.
"Of course" Emma nodded, keeping her own eyes averted.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" David asked Emma, giving her a knowing look. It had been quite obvious that Emma was interested in someone working in the hospital. Not everyone knew it was her intern but most people suspected as much after having seen the young brunette lingering in the parking lot after her shift on more than one occasion.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Emma countered, looking at him with that same knowing look. David was supposed to be somewhere with Mary Margaret for Thanksgiving and instead he was here with her.
So here they stood. Both of the doctors knowing they had women at home waiting for them yet neither of them had the backbone to make an appearance.
Emma reached for another surgery chart. "Dr. Nolan" she nodded before leaving
"Dr. Swan" he nodded and picked up another chart as well.
Regina walked into the E.R and started picking up small cases. Nothing that would require surgery and nothing that would be revolutionary. She just wanted something that was small and simple that would keep her busy.
She had just walked down the hallway for a suture case and ran straight into Graham.
"Oh I'm so sorry I didn't see you there" Graham apologized,grasping Regina's shoulders to steady her.
"It's okay, I wasn't looking where I was going." She shrugged, looking up at the man she called her brother. He had looked sad lately but any inquiries to the fact usually ended with the man denying the accusation or insisting that he was just tired or hungry.
"What are you doing here? Didn't you take off for Thanksgiving?"
"I did, but things don't always go as I plan them so I'm here." She shrugged again, tucking some hair behind her ear. "Kat and the others are at my apartment cooking right now. Well except Killian. He went home for the holiday since his brother was granted leave from the Navy for the week."
"Did Swan make you come in?" The taller man asked, looking concerned at how sad the brunette looked.
"No no no. I chose to come in. I was going stir crazy at home and I just needed to work a little to get my mind off of it."
"Oh, well okay then."
"Anyway what are you doing here? I thought your new girlfriend would have been all over you coming to thanksgiving with her."
"I mean, I'm sure she was, but she's not my girlfriend anymore."
"Oh no why?"
"I have a lot of things I need to figure out before I can devote my life to someone like that. It wasn't really fair to either of us the way that things played out."
"Understandable."
"I'm gonna go check on the Peds case I'm working on, but I'll try and stop by for Thanksgiving dinner later." He kissed her forehead before stepping around her.
"That would be great thank you."
"No problem little sis" Graham walked off down the corridor in the direction he had been headed before their impromptu heart to heart.
—~•~—
By mid-afternoon Thanksgiving dinner was nearly ready. The turkey was in for its last few minutes of browning and cooking, sauces were bubbling and reducing on the stove top and the smell of macaroni, potatoes and green beans filled the kitchen. Kathryn pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed Regina's number. She had been gone long enough and the blonde was not about to have the younger woman ruin her own Thanksgiving.
"What do you need?" Regina asked as she answered her phone, holding it to her ear as she looked over a patient chart.
"Dinner's almost ready I need you to come home"
"Maybe in a little while"
"No, Regina now. You've been gone for like 4 hours you need to come home. Just because Emma didn't want to come doesn't mean there aren't other people who love you and want to spend the holidays with you. So I expect you home in the next 20 minutes. End of story."
"Kathryn.."
"No. Come home. Thank you." The blonde stated firmly before she hung up.
Regina sighed and placed the chart back into its holder to be dealt with by another doctor. She turned the corner towards the changing room and let out a sound of surprise as she ran into the very blonde who had been plaguing her mind all day.
"Regina?" The blonde sounded concerned, her hands holding the shorter woman by the shoulders.
" , I didn't see you there. I was just leaving so if you'll excuse me."
"Well, from the hole in your scrubs I'm going to guess that you've been here a while and you're just leaving now after doing a few small cases." She guessed carefully, she could see the hurt and betrayal swimming in those brown eyes and she knew she needed to tread lightly.
"You're correct."
"Don't you have somewhere to be? Why are you here?"
Regina looked up at her and narrowed her eyes, stepping back to remove herself from Emma's hold. "I do. Don't you have somewhere to be?"She snapped,stepping around the older woman and pushing open the door to the locker room.
"I..um Regina…."
"Don't. I don't want to hear the excuses." She shook her head and shut the door behind her. She made quick work of changing back into the clothes she had arrived in, avoiding green eyes as she made a beeline for the front door. She kept her pace brisk even as she saw the rain begin to come down in heavy droplets.
The brunette ignored the sting of the falling rain and the cold seeping through her clothes as she bolted across the parking lot.
"How fucking convenient!" She said as she slid into her car still half wet from the rain,slender fingers pushing her hair away from her face.
She drove mindlessly back to the house. She was still extremely surprised that in the process she hadn't broken down and started crying. With the day she has already had why not throw on top of it a wild heart break?
-~•~-
Emma stood there in the middle of the hospital floor and looked up towards the sky running her hands through her hair. This is why she didn't get involved with the interns. Because she got way too involved for it to be strictly professional.
"Looks like I'm making an appearance at Thanksgiving" Emma muttered and made her way back toward her office. She didn't have anything with her that would be even remotely presentable so she had to go all the way home to change. She took off her scrubs and threw on her sweatpants before grabbing her keys and making her way to the door.
" , I see you're making your way to thanksgiving?" David commented as she passed, turning to watch as she made her way down the hallway.
"Yes, I am and you should be too." Emma responded quickly before walking out of the hospital. If she knew, and she did know, the way things would play out when she got home then she knew that she would spend more time wrestling Apollo off of her than she would actually getting ready.
She got into her car and drove back to her apartment. Once she had parked her car and jogged up the stairwells to avoid waiting for the elevator, she braced herself as she pushed open the door. She tread carefully as she moved around the apartment in search of items she needed, casting furtive glances at the snoring canine in the corner of the living room as she did so.
"Of course, when I'm on a time crunch I can't find a single thing." she threw her hands up and took a step causing the board beneath her foot to creak. The sound of Apollo's paws hitting the hardwood in the other room made the blonde groan and she braced herself, forcing him down to a sitting position once he had gotten over his initial excitement of her being home.
"Listen boy, I don't have very much time for you. Can you help me find my shoes?" Emma bent over and asked the dog barely making eye contact with the large animal.
Apollo looked at her and then ran back towards her closet. He rummaged and dug about for a minute before pulling out a nice looking shoe that now had his slobber all over it and offering it to his owner.
"Well, thanks anyways." Emma cringed slightly and set the shoe aside before going to look for herself. She settled for a nice pair of jeans and a button up shirt. She had tried to leave the house a few times but it seemed like Apollo had his own plan. She waited until he was distracted with the new toy she had given him before carefully picking up her shoes and leaving the apartment. She ran down the stairs again, barefoot, nearly slipping as she ran through several puddles crossing the parking lot. She used a spare gym towel in the backseat of her bug to dry her feet before pulling on her socks and shoes. The blonde pulled her phone from her pocket and did a quick search, finding a nice flower shop nearby. If she knew Regina well enough she knew that white roses would at least brighten her day a little.
Back at Regina's apartment sat almost everyone from the hospital except Emma and Regina. Shortly after Kathryn had complained about Regina not being at her own Thanksgiving Regina pulled into the parking garage and made her way up to her floor. Between her hair hanging in wet ringlets and her clothes sticking to her body, the petite woman knew she looked a mess. She made a beeline for the stairs as soon as she crossed the threshold.
"Oh no you don't!" Kathryn chased after her, catching up to the younger woman at the top of the stairs.. "You've been gone for a while, where the fuck have you been?"
"I saw Emma " Regina turned around with a sign, pushing her hair away from her face again and grimacing at the feel of wet denim clinging to her legs.
"You've been crying about her ass? That's what this is about?"
"No, Kathryn it's been fucking raining!" Regina threw her wet coat down. "Listen, Kathryn I love you. A whole lot. But not everyone has the luxury of getting over a really good relationship as fast as you. Okay? You and Lacey are perfect. I want to be you guys, but you keep trying to make my breakup or whatever the hell we're calling it better. It doesn't get better! It never does so please go downstairs and entertain everyone. Please. I'm going to get into the shower and I'll be down as soon as I'm done.." Regina turned on her heel and made her way into her bathroom, peeling her shirt from her body as she went and tossing it into the hamper.
Meanwhile, Emma drove up the apartment complex and sat in her car for a while. In her hands sat a bouquet of white roses and an apple pie she had picked up from the store. It was kind of their thing, apple pie. Regina had made her another pie after a difficult surgery the week prior to cheer her up.
"This is it Emma. You've messed up enough throughout the duration of this week. There is no way you are going to mess this up any further. You won't be the one person who spends the rest of their life miserable because you couldn't build enough confidence to tell the woman of your dreams that you had feelings for her. Come on Swan. You're better than this. Get it together." She spoke out loud to herself, getting herself in the right mindset.. "Regina deserves better than this. She deserves to have someone show her how important she is. You can do this. You have to do this or you're going to lose her." She took a deep breath and got out of the car, glancing at the sleek black Mercedes a few spots away that was still glistening from the rain.
She made her way into the building using the visitor code that Regina had given her during one of their stay in dates when Emma had suggested ordering in and watching a few movies together. She fidgeted nervously as the elevator ascended to the correct floor, stepping out into the hallway and striding directly up to the door marked with the correct number, her knuckles rapping against the wood.
"I didn't know we were expecting anyone else." Lacey giggled and got up from the couch before opening the door, "Oh, , I didn't think we'd be seeing you tonight." Lacey looked over her shoulder at the rest of the occupants with a shrug.
"To be completely honest, I didn't think I had the guts to show, but it means a lot to Regina and she means a lot to me so here I am." She confided, having the decency to look ashamed.
"That's sweet, Swan" Jeff remarked, glancing at the roses clutched in pale hands.
"Thanks ."
"Oh no, that's not what I meant, honey. I mean 'it's sweet' as in it's sweet that you think you can walk in here and change how she feels. She's angry Emma. You messed up"
Kathryn came down the stairs and paused for a moment at the sight of the newest addition. She scoffed before retreating back into the kitchen. Lacey shot Emma an apologetic smile and walked over to Kathryn to calm her down. Emma awkwardly let herself in, setting the pie on the kitchen counter and the roses on the table next to the stairs.
Regina stepped out of the shower and started to get dressed. If her father and mother had taught her anything it was that the best way to get someone to miss you was to come back looking better than you left. So Regina did just that. She sat on her bed and pulled on her white jeans and her thigh high heels with a short sleeved silk black top over it she pulled on a black blazer and curled her hair.
Regina walked down the stairs and smiled at her friends, who all whistled and cat called her, before her gaze landed on Emma. Brown eyes widened in surprise at seeing the woman who had been in scrubs less than an hour ago cleaned up in a button up shirt and looking, expectedly, embarrassed.
"You came?" Regina commented as she came to a stop about a foot away from Emma, close enough for the blonde to smell her perfume, but not close enough for them to be touching.
"I did."
"Why'd you come?" Regina asked
"I felt like it wasn't fair to you."
"Oh, so now you care about what's fair to me? Now you care about how I feel about things?"
"Yeah"
"And why is that?"
"Because I realized that I need to stop looking at the label of resident and intern and start looking at the person behind the title. Regina you mean a lot to me and I know that I've made multiple mistakes in dealing with this, but i want to make things better. I really do."
"Then start by taking off your jacket and helping me find a vase for these roses." Regina smiled and hugged Emma tightly, standing on her tiptoes to press her lips against the taller woman's.
—~•~—
Thanksgiving dinner went better than Regina ever could have imagined it would. Once she had a talk with Kathryn about respecting her decisions and backing off the defensive when it came to Emma, the night had continued walked around and gave everyone hugs as they left. Emma smiled and wrapped her arm around Regina's waist, walking her into the living room once the last guest had taken their leave.
"Someone misses you at my place."
"My Apollo? "
"Yeah, well him too."
"Oh?" Regina raised an eyebrow.
"Come home with me?"
"I'll grab my bag" Regina smiled and walked up stairs.
When she returned downstairs she found that Emma had cleaned up the remaining dishes and wiped down the table and countertops. They smiled at one another before Regina fed Sophie and they made their way down to the garage.
Emma pushed Regina through the door of her apartment, their bodies a tangle of hands and tongues and teeth. The blonde kicked the door shut with her foot, pushing the smaller woman against it, a giggle falling from in between their locked lips.
"Emma," Regina giggled out, her breath hot against the older woman's skin. This was happening, and this was happening right now. She tangled her hands in long blonde locks and pulled Emma closer to her, pushing them away from the door and down the hall.
She knew where Emma's room was, she had been here before after all. Both of their laughs could be heard as they fumbled their way down the hall and to the bedroom, removing each other's clothes as they went.
When they finally made it to the bedroom Regina was only in her black lace panties and her matching bra. The doctor wore a matching set of black Calvin Kleins, her boxers bulging with an impressive sized tent, making Regina blush.
"Do you just casually carry quarters in your boxers or are you just happy to see me?" Regina smirked making her way from laying on her back to sitting on her knees with her arms wrapped around Emma's shoulders.
"You make jokes when you're nervous. That's cute." Emma smiled and slid her hands into the lace of Regina's panties and held onto her ass.
"I want you. Now," She whispered, sliding her hands around the blonde's hips and down the back of her underwear.
"A little eager are we?" Emma smirked and reached up, running the backs of her fingertips over the unblemished shoulder of the younger woman. She leaned forward and kissed down the side of Regina's tan neck, nipping at the pristine flesh. Her fingers looped under her bra strap and pulled it down, her other hand doing the same.
"You want me?" Emma's voice was low, raspier than usual. Regina nodded, letting out a small whimper. Emma smirked and pushed her back to the headboard of her bed, the brunette's body hitting it with a light thud. She dipped her head and took one of Regina's exposed nipples into her mouth, letting her tongue flick over the sensitive nub.
Regina sighed, soft and breathy and the sound went straight to Emma's cock, making her moan out.
"Then I'm all yours." She leaned forward and wrapped her hands around the back of Regina's thighs and lifted her, Regina's legs instantly going around her waist.
She carried the small woman around the bed and dropped her somewhere in the middle of it. Emma was instantly on top of her again, ignoring the ache of her painfully hard cock not yet getting the attention that she wanted, needed.
Emma's hands were on either side of Regina's head and she was in between her legs. Her hands had discarded of the younger woman's bra and she had successfully left multiple purpling bruises down her neck. She smiled at her handiwork when she opened her eyes and looked at the woman writhing underneath her.
"Emma" Regina gasped out, her hands clenched in the blankets at her side. Her hips bucked upwards slightly, meeting nothing but air. She growled out and put her hands on Emma's shoulders, pushing her onto her back and straddling her waist, grinding down on the material on Emma's boxers. They both groaned out in unison, Regina's hands falling forward and grasping Emma's still-clothed breasts.
"Off," she mumbled in an almost whiny tone, her mind not able to form a complete in sentence in the heated moment. Emma sat up and pulled her bra off and threw it to the floor, flopping herself back down on the bed.
Regina's mouth was instantly attached to her right nipple, her hand playing with the other. her hips were grinding against Emma's aching member, and the blonde almost came then and there.
"Regina… god," she moaned out, her hands digging into the brunette's thick ass. Regina chuckles against her flesh and she slowly starts to kiss her way down Emma's toned body, taking the waistband of the underwear in between her teeth. She giggled when she felt Emma shiver under her and pulled the underwear down and away from her body without her hands.
She sat back and admired the length and thickness of her. Regina's mouth watered as she leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to the pink tip, licking off the pre cum that got on them. She reached up and ran a finger right down the center, tracing along the veins that were practically pulsing underneath her skin.
"Fuck, Regina," Emma hissed out, hitting the bed with a closed fist. Regina smirked up at her and leaned forward, pressing her tongue flat against the base of her, dragging her wet muscle up the eleven inches of her lover.
When she got to the tip she wrapped her lips around her and swirled her tongue over the slit, finally letting it go with a pop and a sly smirk on her face.
Emma was panting now, her back arched off the bed. Her hands were fisted in the sheets and her bottom lip was caught between her teeth. Regina smirked and climbed up her body, holding herself above Emma's hips. She reached up and grabbed her face, forcing her to look at her.
"Look at me." she said, her voice low almost as if she were trying to imitate authority. The doctor's eyes shot open, blue meeting brown as Regina slid down on Emma, groaning out as she was deliciously filled.
Regina whimpered out as she felt herself stretch around Emma, her breath leaving her body in short spurts. Emma cried out as her blunt nails dug into Regina's flesh, her hips bucking up, thrusting farther into the woman riding her.
When Regina was finally seated to the hilt, she took the chance to catch her breath. She felt like Emma was all the way in her ribs, which she wouldn't doubt if she was, but it knocked the breath out of her. Emma's eyes were traveling down the front of her body and back up again. Slowly Regina started to rock her hips, lifting them up and down, steadily moving them on Emma's impressive mast.
"Now I see where all that Puerto Rican comes in handy" Emma gasped out.
"Oh shut up" Regina breathing became heavy and their bodies became slick with sweat. They moved in sync, Emma's hips thrusting up into Regina, Regina practically bouncing up and down on top of her. Regina leaned down and smashed her lips to Emma's, her hands tangling in her blonde locks, pulling her closer and deeper into the kiss.
"Em… Emma," Regina whimpered against her lips, her forehead pressed against Emma's sweaty cheek. Emma's hands started to guid her ass up and down harder, her muscles rippling beneath her skin.
Every nerve was standing on edge, and the building ball of release in both of their stomach only made them more hyper aware of everything. Their skin was slapping together, their breaths mixing. The sounds coming from Regina's mouth, Emma thought, was the most erotic sound, the most beautiful sound she had ever heard.
"Regina, I'm about to…"
"Come in me."
Before she could get out the rest of the phrase out she was cut off by Emma yelling out and coming undone inside her, thick ropes of cum shooting into her. Emma stopped moving all together, but Regina wasn't far behind her, coming undone around her not seconds after Emma found her own release, collapsing on top of her lover.
A/N: We hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed writing it! Credit to Tris for writing such spectacular smut scenes for our leading ladies! Stay tuned in, you won't regret it. There's lots of sex, scandal and secrets to come!