Hi there - reposting a very old, but well-loved story among SQ fanfic readers, Take Me Home Tonight. I'll do my best to re-post chapters on an ongoing basis. For those concerned, I appreciate you, but I am the original author, please see bio.
This is the original, unedited story.
With love, please enjoy.
She hunched over the billiard table with her olivine rich eyes focused on the number two ball. She aimed and took her shot sending the white cue ball colliding into the solid blue ball. The blonde stood back and watched as the pool balls trajected back and forth causing loud clicking sounds that interrupted the quiet solace of the bar. Emma Swan smiled to herself as she drank the rest of her cider, she scored not one, but two balls in at once against herself. That's right, she was playing herself.
The bar was filled with empty barstools and empty tables. Christmas decorations hung from the ceiling and covered the walls of the small bar. It was Christmas Eve, and everyone was home enjoying the evening with family, except Emma. She was one of the few people who braved the cold winter weather. She wasn't into the holiday stuff primarily because she didn't have a family to share the experience with.
Emma bent down again and tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear and began focusing in on hitting the last striped ball into the top right corner pocket. Hitting the ball in, she cheered to herself, and picked up her mug and motioned for another round to the spunky bartender, Ruby.
"Hey, do you think I can get a celebratory drink over here, Rubes? The stripes are winning!" Emma laughed at herself. She realized how lame she sounded. She danced along to the music playing loudly from the jukebox as Ruby worked her magic behind the bar mixing her drink.
Leaning on the bar she said, "I spiked it for ya, but don't tell anyone that I did that, or else." She said with a devilish grin.
"Thanks Rubes!" Emma motioned as she took a sip of her warm cider. Ruby always made the best in town during the holidays.
Ruby was Emma's only friend. The two had met only in recent years, but they were thick as thieves.
"So you going to get that eight ball in, or what?" Ruby challenged.
"You know, I'm not sure." Emma walked to the edge of the billiard table trying to find the best angle. Facing towards the door of the bar, Emma swooped her arm back, and hit the cue ball as the door swung open. Cold snowy air rushed into the warm bar and a dark shadowy figure came in. The eight ball meant for the top left corner shot off the table and towards the newcomer hitting them in the leg as the woman removed her coat.
"Shit, I'm sorry." Emma rushed to the door to collect her ball and to check on the person.
Ruby was in the background fighting back fits of giggles as she watched her friend try to save face. It wasn't everyday she got front row seats to watching her friend fumble over her words.
"Watch what you are doing, you could seriously injure someone." The person snapped.
"I know, I'm really sorry. Are you okay? You're not bleeding, or anything, are you?" Emma cringed just a few feet away from the clearly annoyed woman.
"No, are you kidding me? You didn't take that great of a shot." The newcomer deadpanned.
Emma took a step back and really soaked her eyes into the other woman. She was dressed in all black, her lips were rich burgundy, and her hair fell perfectly over her shoulders. There was something about the woman that just interrupted the empty bar. Her dark chocolate tendrils of hair flowed with her movements like a waterfall around her shoulders. It looked so thick and soft, almost like it would be velvet between Emma's fingers.
Emma looked down at herself and mentally criticized her appearance. She was in jeans, boots, and a checkered flannel with a vest. She was polar opposite of the finely dressed woman, it was an eyesore how inexplicably average she was in comparison.
Emma took a few steps back to give the other woman space, "I'm sorry. I hope that I didn't offend you, or anything."
"Well I am certainly not accustomed to having balls thrown at me." Said the smirking brunette.
The blood drained from Emma's face. Unsure how to take the comment, Emma turned and walked back to the bar, cutting her chances of letting the solids win at her game of pool. It wasn't worth nearly taking someone's head off if she were to miss again.
The music playing from the jukebox in the bar echoed off the walls. It was louder than usual as tunes from 80's classic rock vibrated the glasses behind the bar.
"Hey Rubes, think you can turn the music down a little?" Emma asked, slightly irritated that she was even asking. She secretly was hoping that she could talk to the other woman again and yelling back and forth to hear one another didn't seem like it would go over well.
"It didn't bother you a few minutes ago." Ruby innocently stated.
"Ruby! Come on." Just then Ruby clued into her best friends anxious movements as she played with the napkin from under her drink.
"Okay, but turning down Eddie Money is a sin. Take Me Home Tonight is one of my favorites.
"Excuse me? Do you think I could have something to drink, the dark chocolate haired woman asked. Now leaning against the bar, she tapped her fingers waiting for service that seemed to be lacking in an already empty bar.
"Sure thing, what will you be having?" Ruby yelled back as she approached the jukebox to turn the music down from the opposite side of the bar.
"I'll have what she's having!" The woman responded.
"What was that?" Ruby yelled back.
"I said, i'll ave what she's having." The music midway through her sentence was turned down and the other woman's husky voice vibrated between the empty walls of the bar.
"Jeez, you didn't have to yell." Ruby playfully jabbed at the clearly non-amused woman.
Ruby went behind the bar and quickly made a spiked warm apple cider. Ruby winked at Emma as she mixed the winter cocktail and handed it to the woman who sat a few seats down from Emma.
"This one's on me, happy holidays." Ruby turned and busied herself with cleaning glasses, organizing liquor, and wine bottles.
Emma Swan for the life of her could not tear her eyes away from the other woman. Her eyes racked the contours of her body, such smooth curves. She was stunning. Emma's mouth watered as she stared and took in the sight before her. More than anything she wanted to reach the pads of her fingers between the obsidian strands of velvet hair. The woman's lust painted lips were perfectly curved, plump, and juicy. Emma's own tongue betrayed her as she licked her lips in response. All she wanted was to kiss the other woman. She was fascinatingly beautiful.
Emma Swan was hypnotized by the looks of the other woman.
"Do you have a problem?" The woman asked without even looking over at the honey blonde.
"What? No." Emma squirmed
"Are you sure about that? Feels like you need to take a picture so you can stare longer."
"I'm really sorry." Emma looked away. She casually drank her drink trying to ignore the other woman's presence. It was unbearably hard. Emma could practically feel her radiating from a few bar stools away.
"You keep saying that to me. Do you know any other words?" The dark haired woman stated back.
"That was rude of me to stare. You're just very beautiful, which I'm sure you have heard a lot and I can't decide if I wish I was as beautiful as you, or if you're someone I would want to…"
Emma caught herself. Internally she cursed at herself. Her mouth always seemed to get ahead of her brain. She was infamous for that.
"Want to what?" The eager brunette inquired.
"It's nothing, my mouth got before my brain. I basically just word vomited on you."
"No seriously, I want to know. What's it going to hurt. I'm a total stranger. You're probably never going to see me again." The woman urged.
Emma tucked a tendril of her golden hair behind her ear. She leaned on the bar and chugged the rest of her drink. Swallowing her last shot she put her mug down and stared into deep obsidian orbs.
"...Or if you're someone I would want to fuck." Emma deadpanned.
"What's stopping you?" The brunette finally turned and locked eyes with Emma.
"I don't even know your name. I think that's rather rude of me not to know, you know, besides the obvious."
"It's Regina, and what's the obvious?"
"It's nice to meet you Regina, I'm Emma, and it's clear I'm not your type because I'm not six feet tall with stunning brown hair and beautiful eyes."
"I prefer blondes and I rather the woman to not be six feet tall. It makes it more difficult in bed."
Emma Swan nearly fell off her barstool. Her legs practically gave way and she felt short of her breath.
"This is some sort of joke, I've been set up?" Emma looked at Ruby for reassurance. Ruby shook her head no in response to the blonde's quizzical olivine rich eyes.
Ruby watched as her friend tried to reason in her mind what was going on.
Regina drank the rest of her drink, stood, and straightened her dress.
"If you keep thinking that way, then you will have no chance in hell with a woman like me."
Regina turned to leave, grabbing her winter coat at the front door. Emma looked to her friend for advice.
"Ruby, what do I do?" Emma full of a bundle of nerves asked frantically.
"Well, I have a shotgun under the floorboards. I'll have to shoot your ass if you don't follow that woman."
Emma nodded and stood quickly slapping an Andrew Jackson on the bar for her bill. As Emma reached the door, she approached the other woman, "Look do you have plans?" Emma took a shot in the dark, what would the harm be?
"Right now no, but I have a feeling that's about to change." Regina cockily responded. She opened the bar door, bells signalling her departure with Emma hot on her heels.
"Where are you going?" Emma asked.
"Where most people go at night, home." Regina yelled over her shoulder as she made her way to her car.
"Oh." Emma stopped with a frown on her face.
Regina heard the blonde stop walking and turned and asked, "Well aren't you coming?" The brunette motioned towards her car.
Emma dug her boot into the snow, her foster mother wasn't really waiting for her to come home. The woman only cared if the house chores were completed each day. Emma had been trying to keep a good track record, it was her senior year of high school after all and keeping her foster mother happy meant that she might be able to graduate this year. Emma, as well, was a little more nervous, she'd never had a one night stand, but letting this opportunity pass by would be idiotic and she might as well grab the shotgun and point it to her head.
"Yeah, I think I am." Emma bit her bottom lip. She knew she'd lost her mind had she said no.
Getting into Regina's Mercedes, Emma pulled out her cell and quickly texted her foster mother that she would be home tomorrow morning and that she's staying with her friend for the evening. Not that Emma expected her foster mother to even respond. She was too busy not caring.
"How far away do you live?" Emma asked. She didn't know what else to say. She'd never done something like this before, but she couldn't help it. She felt this pull, this urge to go along with the other woman.
"Oh not far, just a ten minute drive from here."
"I've never seen you in that bar before." Emma commented trying to gather some sort of information on the woman.
"I'm new in town, just took a new job, and I noticed that was the only open bar in town, so you'd be right, I've never been there before."
The two engaged in small talk back in forth all the way to Regina's home. Secretly, Emma hoped that she didn't get into a car with a sociopath, serial killer.
By that thought faded quickly in the back of her mind when she walked into Regina's immaculate apartment. "Wow, you actually live in this place?" Emma walked in as if it were a palace.
"Yes." Regina watched as the honey blonde soaked in her penthouse home.
"Look at this view!" Emma gawked out the open floor to ceiling windows. The view was impeccable. The lights and stars glowed into Regina's home from outside, it was magical. Emma had never been in a home this nice before. She was used to small homes with two bedrooms that she always ended up sharing with others.
"This place is gorgeous." Emma said with her eyes still looking out over the view of the town.
"Thank you." Regina whispered in Emma's ear causing all the hairs on her neck to become erect. Emma felt heat rush to her core and shivers went down her spine. Emma noticed the window fogging up as she breathed harder into the window. She leaned her forehead against the glass as the other womans fingers ghosted along her body, teasing her.
"Are you going to fuck me, Emma?"
Desperately trying to not become weak at the knees, Emma turned, inches away from the brunette. She briskly reached her hands behind the other woman's head and brought her mouth closer to her own. Indulging herself, finally, tasting the mysterious woman's lust painted lips. Her fingers became wrapped in velvet tendrils of now ebony locks of hair. In the dark, they stood against the glass walls exploring one another's mouths. Emma could spend a lifetime kissing the lips of the woman she'd just met.
In Emma's mind, this was a mental construct of what she would want to have have happen on Christmas Eve. There was no way this was her actual reality. There was no way the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen was kissing her.
Regina sucked on Emma's bottom lip causing her to moan from painful pleasure. This was definitely happening.
"Where's your room?" Emma breathlessly asked.
Regina stepped out of Emma's grasp and motioned for her to follow her. Emma focused only on one thing, and that was Regina. Emma's heart was beating out of her chest. It was almost as if she had tunnel vision as she followed the sultry sweet stranger down the dark and foreign hallway. Her body buzzed with want as fire burned between her legs. The way Regina's dark velvet hair bounced as she swayed side to side was one of the sexiest things Emma had ever encountered. She wanted nothing more than to bend the other woman over and ravish her delicious body.
Before Emma could make it to the confines of the four bedroom walls, Regina pulled her black dress over her head, and discarded it in the hall.
Emma nearly fainted at the sight. Regina's barely clothed form was covered in red lace that hugged her in all the right places.
"Don't you dare be dressed before we get to bedroom." The brunette woman spoke over her shoulder.
Emma, still following her down her length of her home, started clumsily kicking off her boots and pulling at her socks, before pulling the flannel over hear head. Clothes were discarded all along the length of the brunette's home. Unlike the seductress woman, Emma did not have on a bra. It was laundry day So She was wearing plenty of layers and frankly wasn't large enough to be worried about people even realizing she was braless.
Emma dropped her jeans and quickly followed the woman of her dreams into the bedroom.
Grabbing hold of the brunette, Emma playfully tossed her on the bed and kissed down the other woman's neck, leaving purple and blue markings along the way.
"Emma"... Her name echoed from the woman's mouth as if it was a foreign language. It was sexy and seducing. It was music to Emma's ears, a melody unreachable by others.
Regina captured Emma's eyes, and for once saw not an empty one-night stand that she was used to. Instead, she saw a hopeful person and not the average person she bedded; the super successful mid-twenty girls that were career driven and never missed a day at the gym. It caught her off guard, throwing her off her game.
Regina tenderly reached out and stroked Emma's jaw line, and really finally looked at the honey blonde woman. She was soft, so soft it was painful to touch her porcelain skin in fear that she would crack her beautiful exterior. Emma was right earlier, she wasn't her type, but there was something about her that captivated Regina.
Regina flipped Emma on her back, surprising the blonde. Emma wasn't used to being in this position, but looking up at the mysterious and breathtaking woman, she found herself unable and unwilling to move away.
Regina curled a tendril of her feathery soft hair behind her ear, "You're beautiful, Emma." The blonde didn't respond. Never before did Regina ever talk sweetly to a person she picked up at the bar. It was uncharacteristic of her. Normally, she fucked them and sent them on their way, just another nameless face she'd forget by morning.
All the while, Emma never had someone call her beautiful before. Cute maybe, but beautiful? Never. She didn't know how to respond, so...she didn't. Her body spoke for her as she revealed in this moment with the mysterious woman on top of her.
Regina's lips brushed anticipating skin as if it was a just a whisper waiting to be heard. Emma's body grew goose bumps in response to the woman's addicting touch. Emma closed her eyes and just felt. She felt the other woman's skin, her breath, and Regina's velvet hair tickle her flesh as they became a mess of tangled limbs.
A husky voice broke the silence, "Open your eyes."
Emma's eyes slowly parted and she took in the woman above her.
She was radiant. Her heart beated faster as she slipped the straps of Regina's bra down her arms. Emma traced her movements with her eyes, absorbing every fine detail as if this woman was a piece of artwork framed in the Louvre in Paris. Surely she'd be the most popular attraction. One Emma would selfishly want to hide away from the world to keep all to herself.
Unclipping the red lace, Emma freed the other woman. She shared shy and timid glances with the woman above her. She was nervous to look directly at her, but when she did, it was further proven that Regina was perfect. She filled Emma's hands is if they were magnetically attracted to each other.
The two strangers started moving in slow rhythms together, rolling their hips as they just felt the other's body against their own. Somehow, it all felt familiar in a way that was clearly impossible, yet tangible in every touch of lips and skin.
Keeping an arm around her to hold her close, Emma moved Regina onto her back. She slid down a toned, but soft stomach, leaving a few soft kisses as she went. Slowly, she removed thin, red lace panties, keeping them tight between her teeth and not letting go until they left the other woman completely. Breathing in Regina's scent, Emma knew she'd never forget it. Or more importantly, this moment.
She watched as Regina threw her head back on her white sheets, velvet hair fanning her white pillow as Emma slipped her tongue through slick, smooth folds. She kept her eyes on Regina as she moved up to tease her bundle of nerves and felt a surge of pride in watching the gorgeous woman suck in a quick breath, before moaning it's release. Sheets were clenched and sweet sounds echoed from the woman's throat. Sounds that were music to Emma's ears.
Leaning over Regina, Emma captured the other woman's lips again. Her heart beat faster as she observed the vulnerable facial expression Regina tried to hide.
In all of Emma Swan's life, she'd received nothing on Christmas. Except this year. For once, Emma was given the most precious gift ever. Regina. Even if it was for one night.
It was early morning when Emma's eyes shot open. Instantly, she felt the other woman nuzzled into her neck. Taking a few minutes to figure out her surroundings, she remembered the night before. All Emma wanted, was to embrace the moment and stay in bed with the mysterious woman that she could see herself with. However, Emma knew it wasn't practical. She was a foster kid who still was in high school. She had a foster family to go home to, one that she may not have loved, but at the very least, was one of the better ones.
Besides, she knew she was nowhere in the same league as Regina. She knew her type. It wasn't dumpy foster kids who wore moth eaten clothing that were handed down from previous foster siblings. Emma had no idea what the next day ever held and she was struggling to finish school. She'd changed schools one too many times and many credits she'd taken were not transferable. She was the top student at her current school and wanted it to stay that way.
Even if Regina was a promising relationship, it was one that could easily distract her and affect her finally gaining her independence. A one night stand wasn't worth her entire future. More importantly, once the other woman figured out she was a foster kid, she'd probably want nothing to do with her. She probably was a young successful twenty-something who had no time for charity cases.
Slipping Regina's arm away from her body, Emma slid out from her warm grasp and stood from the comfortable queen bed that begged for her to climb back in and snooze a little longer.
Grabbing her clothes that were scattered along this beautiful stranger's halls, she quickly dressed and took one last look at the home that very well could have been a palace, at least to her, and left.
It was for the best. Or so she reasoned.