26/10/17

"I can't express how sorry we are Miss Mills, I have no idea how this happened," the clerk was sweating nervously, typing furiously into the system and noticeably not getting the results he wanted.

"Being sorry isn't going to fix anything is it?" she grumbled, her fingers tapping impatiently on the desk. It only made the mouse like boy all the more anxious as his search for answers became even more desperate.

The brunette eyed the panic in front of her, rolling her eyes before going to scan the room. Only to be met with a smiley Emma.

Fucking Fantastic.

Regina felt something unrecognisable melt in her when she saw the blonde, flashbacks of their last conversation replaying in her mind. They'd barely spoken since, if at all. And this thought only added to why her anger had been so poignant in the first place.

She hadn't smiled back, only withdrew the contact so she could pin her glare on the receptionist with enough rage that it might make him magically find a solution. It hadn't worked. And soon enough the pair were met with the blonde.

"Hey," she breathed out, placing her suitcase on the floor. The traveling had made her tired and run down, but the smile was sweet all the same. Regina hadn't replied, biting hard on her lips so to keep the insults from spilling inadvertently from them. Emma awkwardly turned her attention to the boy who was still typing down on the keyboard like his life depended on it. And it definitely did if Regina was mad.

"Hey, I have a room-" Emma started quietly, Regina watching as she went to go speak with another member of the reception. A little confused as to why the boy was sweating so profusely but ignoring it so she could get out of there.

"No, you don't," Regina didn't meet the look that was thrown harshly in her direction but did take her lip back into her pearly prison. "We have a room," she continued to bite out in a jagged type of irritated breath, she still hadn't looked back at Emma.

"W-what," the blonde whispered, looking between the frail boy and the woman who held him at gun point with her stare.

"Apparently, this hotel is incapable of making bookings and for some ungodly reason have given us the same room," Regina was spitting venom, the boy below her actively avoiding her stare and trying his absolute hardest to find something on that computer of his. Emma was still confused, her lips parting. This time Regina did look. "They've double booked us Miss Swan," Regina patronised her blonde companion, rolling her eyes at the blank expression written on Emma's face.

"I gathered that," Emma mumbled, clearly annoyed now that Regina had talked to her as if she were a child.

"But you haven't heard the best part," Regina whined, pawing at the counter and smiling sinisterly.

"They don't have any rooms left. None! Which is just so beyond perfect."

Emma sneaked a glance at the receptionist, his face beating with red and his eyes straining to see the screen in front. She felt a little guilty, this probably wasn't even his fault. He just got unlucky this morning with who he was serving.

"Where's your manager?" Regina asked furiously impatient and bored of waiting now, she was done with the games.

"My manager?" the boy whimpered a little, his voice was suddenly tiny.

Regina let out a yes, at the same time as Emma had butted in with a no, which lead the two to stare awkwardly at one another.

"What do you mean no? Something obviously needs to be done and he's about as useful as a brick wall," Regina was nearly yelling now. Looking up at Emma but gesturing aggressively to the boy who flinched under the bat of her hand.

"Well," Emma shrugged, her hands casually slipping into her back pockets as she rocked a little on her feet. "I don't mind bunking, it's only for a weekend," she added, and although she casually shrugged again, her words were wracking painfully with nerves.

Regina just stared at her dumbfounded, blinking irately at the blonde as she tried to process the invitation.

"Miss Swan, I don't think-," she tried to add but was stopped by the nearing blonde.

"Look Regina, you're scaring the shit out of this boy. Plus, it's really not worth all the effort of finding somewhere else to go for three nights," Emma sighed. Regina licked at her lips, eyeing the blonde nervously. She looked back down to the clerk who looked like he'd just been slapped with a relief so sweet he was ready to do anything for the blonde. She looked back to Emma, who was eyeing her with hopeful and silent pleas to just let this go.

"Well I'm not sleeping on the floor, and I'm certainly not sharing a bed with you," Regina looked Emma up and down, her words lacked confidence, but her stance stayed strong. Emma sighed through a smile.

"Fine, whatever."

"I'm sorry but…do you still need me to get my manager?" the boy asked, his voice on the verge of a whisper. He shrunk back down when Regina shot him a glare so evil, he was scared he wouldn't make it out of this conversation alive.

"Okay, let's go Regina," Emma sighed, taking her suitcase and ushering for the brunette to take the lead to their room. She mouthed a thank you to the boy who looked more than grateful for their departure.

Regina walked in front, only a little, but enough that it forced a silence between them.

Their room. It was their room she was stood looking at. It felt weird to say that in her mind, she never thought she would have anything with Emma, she'd hated the woman for so long and now here they stood. Suitcases in hand and an awkward tension between them as they stood and stared at their room. And this wasn't exactly the end of the world, but it was in no way idealistic.

Emma tread carefully over to one of the draws, laying her suitcase down beside it. Regina fled to the opposite side of the room, her suitcase crashing heavily into the bed below it. Emma turned to see Regina unzipping the case, noticing how much bigger it had been than her little bag that sat untouched.

"Are you not unpacking?" Regina asked quietly, not taking her eyes from the dresses she always packed but never wore.

"Nah, I don't see the point," she shrugged, Regina scoffed but Emma didn't comment on it. "So," she extended the word, hesitating before pattering over to the bed. She eyed Regina before she continued to sit on the edge in the corner furthest from the brunette. "What do you feel like doing for dinner?" Emma let the words wobble from her lips, and Regina paused. Sighing as she pressed her hands into a jacket before looking up.

"My dinner arrangements are hardly any of your concern."

"I know, I just thought…this whole thing can't get much worse. Why not get something to eat together too?" Emma was getting a little more confident after Regina hadn't shut her down with something mean. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Regina's lips pursed together, her hands moving from the jacket to press just as hard into her hips.

"No, I suppose it can't get much worse than this," the brunette echoed, but she felt a laugh forming in her words that she daren't let out, eyebrows rising and falling at the notion. Emma laughed a little, standing from where she had been hovering to trace her way to Regina's side of the bed. Regina watched as Emma wrapped her hands around of the bed posts, swinging round so that she could lean

into it.

"So?" Emma asked with a smile.

"So, what?" Regina questioned, taking a step forward.

"What do you want for dinner? and decide quick. I'm starving," Emma pouted.

Regina took in a breath, releasing it in almost the same second before she replied.

"I usually just go the hotel restaurant," she mumbled, retracting the step she had just taken to busy herself with her clothes once more.

"Sounds perfect," Emma beamed, pushing off the post and slipping into the bathroom.

The two had gotten ready in a silence that was almost quieter than silent, with only small mumbles of 'excuse me' or a 'sorry' here and there.

"Are you ready?" Regina asked, taking the room key into her grasp. She hadn't looked back to Emma in a while, not since the blonde had disappeared into the bathroom.

"Yeah," she rushed out. Regina turned then. Noticing that Emma had changed out of the usual red leather and jeans ensemble. Her legs were almost bare bar the tights and black skirt that seemed to hug so perfectly at the curves Regina hadn't noticed before. Emma's top was glistening slightly in the light, and Regina couldn't help but notice the subtle outline of a lacy black bra curving through the near enough see through material. She paused to watch as Emma slid into a pair of black heeled boots, stepping over to her bag to claim a white jacket. Her eyes scanning over the space between them so to look down at her own apparel, remembering she'd changed into one of her more basic black dresses, the darkness engulfed in the white from her pea coat.

She sighed, realising the two had unintentionally coordinated their outfits. Hoping to god Emma wouldn't notice and point it out with some stupid joke.

Regina hadn't looked away soon enough. And Emma caught the stare, her tongue slipping out to trace her inner lips as she let the glare from Regina's dark eyes imbed into her figure.

"Are you?" Emma asked.

Regina nodded, taking a breath and smiling with its release as she quickly pulled from the moment to lead them out of the room.

She held onto the door handle for longer than needs be, not daring to look back at Emma. She felt weird. This was weird. Being with Emma like this was weird.

Never in a million years did she think she would have been put into a situation where she was about to enjoy a meal with Emma Swan, just the two of them. And perhaps using the word enjoy was a little presumptuous, but they were in fact about to dine together, so it was still far too intimate for Regina.

When she turned, Emma was focused on her phone, and a small amount of relief spread through her limbs as their gentle walk along the corridors turned into a much faster run to the restaurant.

Their heels against carpeted floor, and tight breaths that would get loud enough to hear every so often were the only thing to keep them from complete silence.

"Sorry. Work," Emma smiled, her phone being thrown between her hands to indicate she'd finished doing whatever she had been so occupied with. Regina shook her head.

"No need to apologise, I was hardly expecting this to be a sociable evening," she offered without looking over to Emma.

"Is that right?" Emma hushed out, a smallish laugh lilting her words. "Then what were you expecting, Regina?" she asked once the two had stopped at the elevator. Regina snapped her head towards the blonde who was smiling a mirthful grin.

"Well. I just-" Regina was starting and stopping like a car in bad traffic, her lips not being able to form around the words enough to let them slip. "Nothing," was what she finally came up with, her final reply being met with a breathy kind of laugh from Emma

"I think you were very much looking forward to this actually," Emma replied, her hands joining in a knot behind her back as she eyed the two in the elevator mirror. Regina looked a little confused but didn't speak up. "Especially after you went through all the effort of matching your outfit with mine."

"Ten minutes, what a record," Regina hummed, it only took Emma ten minutes to produce some senseless joke about their outfits, which meant she had spent the entire time it took for them to get into the elevator to think of something she thought was amusing enough to add to the conversation.

"What?" Emma questioned.

"Nothing."

There was a drum of silence when they stepped from the metal doors and out into the lobby, marching in an awkward tension to the restaurant.

"I have a reservation, under the name Mills," Regina sighed out, her hand playing nervously with the buttons on her jacket as she made a further attempt to scan the room. Making note on anyone who might know her.

"Table for two?"

"Yes," Regina swallowed the word before she had let it escape her lips, looking a little over her shoulder to see Emma standing just as apprehensively behind her.

"Right this way," they were led to a table in one of the far corners, dimly lit by candles. Regina had never been more thankful to be tucked away like this, it made it easier to hide if anyone where to come in and see the two of them alone together. She was suddenly grateful that Zelena would only be making an appearance on the second day, it meant she wouldn't have opportunity to intrude on the dinner and gather something from absolutely nothing. Because this was nothing, this meant nothing. Things would go back to normal after this, she was just playing nice for the time being – waiting out the storm that was Emma Swan in her room and who now sat at her dinner table.

She didn't know why she was gulping down her anxiety, she'd never felt so uneasy with Emma before.

"You really know how to make a girl feel special," Emma laughed, her eyes darting down to the menu in front of her, obviously trying not to make eye contact. Which only told Regina she was just as nervous.

"Excuse me?" Regina asked, sitting back in the chair in hopes the straightening of her spine would smooth out the tenseness. Emma looked up then, her smile staining her lips as a hand rose to gesture at Regina.

"Well, you look about ready to jump straight out of that window."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Emma blinked at the response, her mouth opening and closing whilst she searched the air for something to say.

"What did you just say?" the blonde asked, truly dumbfounded. Daring to edge closer to Regina who hadn't flinched at the movement.

"I…apologised?"

"Yes, you did. Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Emma laughed now, the shock rinsing from her body a little. Regina laughed. She laughed at the joke. And it wasn't a fake laugh, it wasn't forced. It wasn't anything other than genuine laughter. And it felt so good, so natural spilling out that she hadn't realised Emma's hand was now resting on her own. And even when she had noticed, she didn't move it away.

They broke out of the giggles in unison, moving their focus to stare down at the menu.

"How's Henry?" Emma asked, moving her hand from Regina's so to pick at the bread in between them. Regina felt the immediate loss from the release but hadn't let it show.

"He's fine. He's upset with me because I said he couldn't come this weekend…but I suppose it works out better that he stayed home," Regina cocked an eyebrow, sighing at the earlier conversation with the receptionist. "Doesn't Killian usually accompany you on these trips?" Regina asked, avoiding asking if the man was okay. Because frankly, she didn't care. Emma chewed slowly on the piece of bread she had shoved into her mouth at the question. Her cheeks paling before she finally had room to reply.

"He's working this weekend," Emma mumbled delicately, not looking up from the table cloth she was picking at. Regina knew when it was best not to pry, so she dipped her tongue into the wine she had to hand instead.

"Well it's just nice to see you finally coming to cons again," she laughed, regretting her words instantly when she saw Emma pale even further.

"Yeah," Was all the blonde could produce. Regina cleared her throat, trying to force the guilt back down her throat.

"Henry won't stop going on about your film, he thinks you're wonderful," Regina beamed, trying to lighten the mood a little. Emma met her comment with a warm smile, her eyes softening with so much love as she shrunk into her shoulders. Regina didn't mean for it to become so personal, realising she had said you instead of it.

"Does he really?" Emma asked, her voice breaking with a tenderness that continued to melt into the air between them Regina nodded, smiling just as wide back. "I was scared he would hate it," she added looking back down to the bread, gently picking into the soft exterior. Regina wondered for a small moment why she cared so much what her son had thought of the film but decided not to question it.

"How's your lover boy?" Emma asked, a little happier now. A smile kindling into her words as she cocked an eyebrow playfully. Receiving a grunt from Regina as she flopped into the palms of her hands.

"He's wonderful."

Emma's smile wavered a little, but not enough for Regina to read into it as anything other than tiredness. Emma knew that wasn't the reason.

"just not wonderful enough for me," Regina added, replacing her hold on her head with the glass of red wine that kept screaming out her name. Emma's smile grew a little at that. A big toothy grin, and it only made Regina's heart fizz when she was suddenly reminded of Henry. "I'm sure it'll get better with time," Regina added, pliably forcing the smile to widen.

Emma could only be confused, pausing from picking at the bread for a moment to look at Regina once more.

"So, you want to be with him?" she asked, sure she already had her answer but thought it best to ask before making assumptions.

Regina hesitated, flinching subconsciously at the question. Nodding forcibly, because she couldn't quite get the words out to say yes. She didn't, she couldn't think of anything worse.

"He's kind," she finally spoke when Emma ogled her with a knowing kind of glower.

"I'm sure he is," she mumbled under her breath, and Regina pretended like she didn't hear the comment. Sipping a little more eagerly at her wine. Realising now that this was going to be a long night.

Their dinner had been pleasant, so much more than just pleasant but Regina was forcing herself not to be anything more than marginally content with the evening. She was still so unsure about this whole situation with Emma. But the numerous amounts of glasses of red wine she had gulped down were more than enough to take the edge off. And Emma in turn, having had an equal amount in whiskey, had very obviously loosened up a little.

Both of them stumbled through the corridors, laughing at nothing and failing to keep quiet for the other guests. They'd brought up an extra bottle of wine with them, which was a stupid idea, because neither one of them were in any state to dive into any more alcohol, they certainly didn't need it.

"What did you even do with that dress?" Emma laughed, they'd absentmindedly fallen into a conversation about their first meeting and it was something Emma found absolutely hilarious, Regina disagreed.

"Well I had to throw it out, there was no saving it!" she pressed, clearly still annoyed.

"I apologised," the blonde pouted, her bottom lip pushing out as she pretended to be sad. "Don't let this ruin our friendship," Emma was clearly teasing, sarcasm bleeding painfully through her words.

Regina smiled but suddenly felt a little awkward, Emma hadn't picked up on it.

"If anything was going to ruin our friendship, it would be because I couldn't handle how irritating you are when you're drunk," Regina laughed, trying to join in the antics in hopes it would help ease her mood. "Or sober… or actually…just in general I wouldn't be able to put up with it. You're very irritating, Miss Swan."

"So, you're telling me all those times you argue back is because you can't stand me?" Emma asked, falling into the other woman slightly.

"Well, why else do people argue?"

"Because they enjoy it," Emma was smiling.

Regina's lips parted, stepping back from Emma a little in disbelief. The nerve this woman had.

"No, Miss Swan, far from it," Regina frowned, walking past the blonde to swipe the key card.

"Okay, so stop then," Emma offered, following obediently into the room.

"You don't possess the right to tell me what to do."

"See!"

"See what?" Regina turn ed on her heel, breathless in her argument.

"You're arguing with me right now, you do enjoy it!" Emma was very clearly proud of figuring it all out, a smile wide across her cheeks and her hand's pressed firmly on her hips, standing as if she had just solved the hardest case in whole of history. Regina didn't reply, only rolled her eyes. Pretending to be annoyed. "It's okay to admit you like me," Emma whispered, teasing obviously but there was a tinge of seriousness in her words. Regina scoffed loudly.

"Jesus, how do you just walk around in these things all day. They're killing me already, and it's only been an evening," Emma whined like a child, throwing the boots off into the room as she dramatically rubbed down on her soles.

"I just learnt how to handle the pain," Regina offered simply, shrugging a little as she placed the bottle down on the side as she in turn took her heels off to neatly place them by the wardrobe.

"So, you have a high pain tolerance, interesting to know," Emma was smiling, and Regina stifled a laugh.

"What does that mean?" the brunette was blushing, and she noticed now how her words were slicing viciously into one another.

"I meant exactly what I said," she shrugged, but then she saw the blush on Regina's skin. Emma's teeth bit down on the words as she quickly dropped her foot to take a step towards the other woman.

"Why? what did you think I meant?" she asked, her voice lower now than it had ever been before.

She was still nearing Regina who hadn't moved since she felt the alcohol dizzying her movements.

"Nothing."

"Were you hoping I meant something else?" Emma purred, her words were melting together but every syllable was hitting the brunette like a tonne of bricks. She was very clearly implying what Regina had been thinking, she could see it in the way her eyes were hungrily pinning her prey to one side of the room.

"What exactly would I be hoping you meant, Miss Swan?" she asked, finally finding her voice again. Even though it came out so small and weak. Emma's tongue was a bright pink against her whiskey stained lips, it dabbed preciously at the flesh. She took a few more steps forwards, standing close enough that Regina could smell the alcohol on the taller woman.

"I'm sure you could think of something if you tried hard enough Regina," Emma was whispering now, her eyes drawing circles around Regina before they fluttered shut. Thinking things Regina hadn't hoped to hear voiced.

"We have to be up early tomorrow," the brunette near enough shouted her reply, and the sudden shrill startled the woman in front so much she nearly toppled over. Regina reached out to take whatever she could grab hold of. Only to feel her hand moulding into Emma's waist in the sudden panic, she wanted to pull away, but Emma was holding onto the tanned arm just as tightly so that the two were near enough standing on top of each other.

"We should go to sleep," Regina added in the mouse like voice she'd been using before. Her fingers tinged with electricity as they tore down into the pale skin below it, and her heart pumped flames of desire wantonly through her limbs. She looked up to Emma a little, raking in the way she had been staring back and for only a second, she was lost in the moment. It was like they were two different versions of themselves. This wasn't them, this wasn't her and this certainly wasn't the Emma she had grown to hate. She didn't do this kind of thing. And especially not with women named Emma Swan...

This version of them was impossible for all the wrong reasons. And Regina realised this could never be them.

And when she felt Emma's fingers denting purposely into her skin, she shoved her away, storming from the moment to hide in the bathroom.

She slammed the door behind her, using its frame as a support system. She could feel that throbbing between her thighs get more demanding as it carnivorously pleaded to be heard. Her hand wobbly released from tightening around the wood, dripping down her front to skim at the hem of her dress.

She wanted to quiet the thrumming, but she felt so dirty with Emma right outside, she felt so wrong. But the wine was dancing merrily around her mind, telling her to do it. She needed to, she needed the release. She wanted to be sinful, to do the wrong thing.

But she couldn't. She didn't. Instead she pushed off the door and scrubbed her face clean of the makeup. Scrubbing further down her chest, her arms, her thighs. Scrubbing the thoughts and the needs and the desires away, hoping that if she ignored the pain it would wither away without much of a fight.

When she looked up into the mirror, she scolded herself, she was really about to touch herself thinking about Emma Swan. Out of everyone in the world it had to be Emma. She hated herself for it, more so for the fact she so wanted to give into the temptation, she so badly needed to be touched when she first saw Emma moving tactfully closer to her that it didn't matter who she was.

When she re-entered the room, she saw Emma was already in bed, clothes thrown clumsily across the room. A trail leading up to the side of the bed Emma had claimed. Regina thought she'd made it clear that she had no intentions of sharing a bed, a room was far enough. And now the thought of being that close to the woman after what she had almost done in the bathroom was virtually treacherous to her own body.

She stood hopping from one foot to the other at the end of the bed, giving reasons in her mind for and against getting in or sleeping on the floor all whilst awkwardly watching as the blonde slept.

"Regina just get in the bed," an irritated voice mumbled from under the sheets. Her eyes darting furiously to Emma who, apparently, had been awake the entire time. She wanted to argue, but didn't have the energy or the will, so she paced reluctantly over to the other side of the mattress. Slipping in a little cautiously so not to nudge at the woman beside her. Scoffing and acting as though it had been her choice, not Emma's demand that willed her to comply.

"I hope you don't think this little arrangement is permanent," the brunette hissed, her back to Emma who hsf sighed into the sheets in response. And then she felt movement beside her, she couldn't see but she was sure Emma was lying on her back now.

"Do you really think I'm an awful person for Henry to be around?" she asked, her words a little more formed now, but still messy as they slopped together above her. She sounded a little torn down, nothing much like how she had sounded only moments before.

"What are you talking about?" Regina spat out, she was annoyed that she hadn't even been allowed to sleep without having some sort of stupid question thrown at her.

"Well you say it all the time, that I'm a bad influence. And so now I'm asking, do you really think I'm that bad?" Emma asked, clearly ignoring the sternness in Regina's tone as she enquired further into the topic. She was showing no signs of stopping until she had an answer, but Regina was done for the evening. Done with everything Emma Swan.

"It's late."

"Regina I'm being serious, if you can't not be stubborn for five seconds this isn't going to work," Emma huffed, her hands flopping down to her sides. Brushing at Regina's back for the briefest of seconds, but it hadn't mattered that the encounter was so short for that burning desire was aching once more. Regina sighed as the pain reformed again, clenching her teeth before replying. Then she thought for a second, what wasn't going to work? She prayed silently that Emma wasn't thinking they were suddenly best friends.

"No."

"No, I'm not a bad person or…"

"Well I think it's pretty obvious what I meant," but Emma didn't say anything after that. Regina turned a little, seeing Emma staring blankly to the ceiling. She mimicked the woman's position so that both of them lay on their backs. Arms touching so very slightly. It only added an addictive kind of fuel to the already heated fire burning in the brunette. Regina sighed. "No, I don't think you're that bad."

"Then why do you hate me spending time with him?" Emma turned then, only her head, and Regina hadn't fully been able to make out her expression, because there was a shadow of darkness blanketing her face.

She swallowed again. Not going to meet the blonde with her stare. Emma sighed once more, the air brushing through the darkness to itch at Regina's open skin.

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to," Emma reassured her, the hand that was already inching towards Regina's still arm took home on her shoulder. And the cold was so heavenly against the tanned skin that was burning with a fever.

"I used to be the only person Henry needed," she instantly brought her fingers to pull at her lips. Pulling the flesh violently as punishment for being so foolish in letting the words slip so freely. She sighed once more, this one a little more hopeless. The wine that was simmering in her mind probably hadn't helped. She left her explanation there, turning once more to leave Emma with her cryptic message. Something the blonde obviously hadn't been happy with, but there was a tension building in the room and neither one was about to cut through it with prying any further.

"I can back off if you want," Emma whispered, she hadn't moved from her position. The hand that was resting on Regina's shoulder now sat lame against her back. Neither holding her nor resisting the urge to caress the skin. The brunette didn't shrug the touch off. She savoured it, hoping it would be enough to fill the need between her thighs.

"Don't be stupid, it would only cause more harm now. What's done is done," that time Regina did get a little more upset than before, edging away from Emma's cold hand – feeling the loss of having someone there. But also feeling freer, perhaps she hadn't quite gotten over the Henry thing as much as she thought she had.

Emma didn't say another word, she hadn't been brave enough. Instead she moved around so her back was to Regina. They fell into a silent sleep, both hoping the next morning would be better.

27/10/17

The first day of the con had dragged by, neither Regina nor Emma had made much effort to hang around one another. They knew it would only make things worse when they still had to get through a three-day weekend with one another.

But now Regina was back in the room, washing the events of today off in a steamy shower. She was humming lightly under her breath. Emma had left about an hour ago, saying she was going to do a few laps in the pool. Something Regina had sighed at and pretended not to care about.

Emma did ask if she wanted to join her, but the brunette rejected her before the question had even been fully asked. Waving her hand out in the air as she battered the thought away. Emma made some sarcastic joke that Regina pretended not to laugh at and left.

Regina's eyes beat open at the thought of Emma in the pool.

Emma, dressed in basically nothing as she did laps… in the pool. Her eyes fluttered shut once more and that same desire was building impatiently in her core. She thought of Emma's arm muscles in the water. How each tiny bead of liquid dripping slowly from the sharp edges would trickle down to trace the rest of her bare body, and how those same wet arms could take her so violently against the wall. She was panting now, breathless almost and she found it hard to think of anything other than Emma dripping wet.

Her hand pressed firmly against the wall, the other was searching her own body. Circling her breasts and brushing so gently against her nipples that were already so painfully hard. She sucked in her bottom lip to stop a moan from slipping – still nervous that the walls weren't thick enough to keep her voice prisoner.

She slid her hand down her torso, slow enough that she'd given herself enough time to stop at any given moment. But she didn't. her hand was lapping at the water that still trimmed down her body, finally reaching the top of the place she knew needed the most attention. She was wet, and it hadn't been the showers fault.

Her fingers hungrily ground hard on her centre, forcing a rough kind of pressure as if to make up for all the times she'd ignored the area so reluctantly. And now she couldn't stifle the moans, the bathroom only echoing the noise and inflicting a need for more contact to run in her mind. She used her other hand to knead into her breasts, as she worked hard at her sex.

She felt a new tremor ice through her limbs. Her mind flashing images of Emma in the pool, Emma in their bed, Emma's skin on hers. Her body was practically begging for its long-awaited release, and Regina was more than happy to fulfil that need. She was taking in air and pushing it out aggressively, her chest heaving with the movement as she twisted two fingers inside herself.

It didn't take much longer for her body to finally cave. She came with a final weep of mercy, her hand slapping the cold tiles, aimlessly holding onto it so that her legs wouldn't fully give up on her. But it kept slipping, and finally Regina gave in, sliding down onto the shower floor, wrapping her arms around her still shaking body. She went limp and weak for a moment, her body in a sweet kind of addictive thankfulness for a second longer before guilt and regret and hatred started steaming the

air.

She reached up to turn the shower off, eyes shut tight as she felt herself shake with anger. She stood then, feeling a little renewed, or at least that's what she told herself. The shaking legs below her seemed to be telling a different story. She wiped the mirror clean from condensation, but she couldn't bear to look at herself. Not after what she had just done, not who she had done it for.

No, it wasn't for Emma. There must have been something else in the back of her mind.

Regina sighed irately before turning to get her towel, only freezing instantly in her tracks. Her hand being held at a safe distance from the white cloth. The heat was draining into an icy chill and she felt the colour in her cheeks melt to drip with the water on her body.

She had never had a healthy relationship with spiders. An irrational fear of them spawned from her early childhood. She could pretend all she liked that she was fine, but it was times like this when one the size of a thumb sat on top of her towel like it owned the place, did Regina feel genuine fear drip through her blood.

Emma shouldn't be back yet. She could slip out and get another towel, and then perhaps she wouldn't need to re-enter the room ever again. Without taking her eyes from the creature she backed to the door, feeling around behind her for the handle, tugging gently at the metal so that the cool temperature of the room next door was brushing at her wet skin.

Only jumping almost out of her skin when she was met with someone on the other side. Both women screaming out an oh my god, at the sudden surprise encounter. Emma had caught Regina in the rush of everything, eyes darting all over her naked body to figure out what the hell she was holding. Only realising a moment too late as she'd already seen everything. More than Regina had ever wanted her to see.

Regina jumped from Emma's arms, lacing her own around her very naked body. Soon she forgot all about the spider and now her mind was filled with the showers main event. Guilt and dread building up in the form of anger as she saw the blonde panic. Emma pivoted on her feet, shielding her eyes as she continued to scream out fuck and oh my god at the same time as Regina had been calling out don't you dare turn around.

Regina jumped to the bed, claiming a pillow as her designated cover, angrily pinning it to her still dripping body. Her eyes digging into the blonde's back, scowling down the lines of her muscles that were only emphasised in the sports bra she wore.

"Emma? Explain yourself," Regina screamed out in panic, her hands clinging onto the pillow searching the room for an extra towel or something she could quickly throw on.

"Explain myself?" Emma near enough screamed out of embarrassment, her feet padding against the floor as she desperately searched for something to do other than stand still. "Regina why are you naked!"

"Because I was taking a shower?" Regina was breathless, damning Emma for being so stupid. "And yes, explain why you thought it best to start groping me," she was hysteric now, they both were. Shouting their responses at one another. A frenzy of confusion in their argument. "You said you were going swimming!" Regina argued, getting angrier by the second. And this alone willed Emma to turn, to which Regina had hidden behind a bed post, pillow still pressing to her dripping body.

She could only think back to how wet she'd been not ten minutes before; how wet Emma had made her. And now how her fantasy stood directly in front of her, only angrier. And she couldn't figure out if it worsened the situation or made it all the more arousing. But the heat that was building in her core was sure to give her all the answers she needed.

"Because I did! And then I came back. Like people do," she argued, trying not to stare but falling into the trap of outlining the skin that was on show. "And I didn't purposely touch you. You jumped into me!"

Regina felt small under the stare, feeling so completely vulnerable that it only made her anger rise in her chest.

"What are you even doing wondering around naked when you know I'm here?" Emma asked and she almost sounded accusing, but Regina shut her down immediately. Feeling her cheeks flush when she remembered the reason she had left without a towel. She looked away, lips pursing together.

"It wasn't for you," Regina bit out, regretting her choice of words because it made it sound like it definitely was for Emma. To this the blonde did react a little, shuffling around on her feet as her eyes scoped over the droplets of water sliding over olive skin. "There was a spider," she mumbled under her breath, relaxing a little on the pillow. Emma took a step forward.

"What?"

"There was a spider," Regina said sterner now, trying to be intimidating but the sentence only made Emma laugh a little as she realised the silliness of the situation. And how the woman she had feared for so long now sat trembling on the bed because of a spider.

"Where?" Emma asked through stifled giggles, relaxing back on her foot as she crossed her arms over her chest. Not caring much anymore that Regina stood completley naked in front of her. Regina seemed to relax a little too, focusing now on anything other than Emma in her tight gym gear.

"It was on my towel, that's why I came out. To get another one," she was biting out her sentences like a child who had been told off, rolling her eyes to try and show how annoyed and unbothered she was.

Emma disappeared into the bathroom for a moment, coming back out seconds later with cupped hands.

"Open the window," Emma pointed with her head, and Regina hesitated a little, realising that Emma must be holding the foul creature in her hands. She stepped sideways, so that her back was covered at all times, opening the window and then darting quickly away as Emma slowly approached. She released the grip and let the spider fall free out into the cool winds of the outside. Then the blonde closed the window again, turning to Regina who had fallen back onto her knees on the bed. Regina saw her swallow before she started to walk away.

Emma opened up the closet, reaching in for something. And much to Regina's delight, a towel reappeared in Emma's once empty hand. She paced over to Regina who was sat so completley still, pillow still covering her indecency's, but the grip was looser now.

The towel was thrown onto part of the bed in front of her, offered with a smallish smile from Emma before she had disappeared into a now locked bathroom.

Regina felt a wash of relief sweep over her, the regret that was building up evaporating a little. But not entirely, and still the feeling lingered in the tips of her fingers. She thought back to jumping into Emma, she hadn't given herself enough time to feel the touch as the moment was clouded in panic. But now she remembered how soft Emma's hands were against her waist, how her fingers were so delicate in the way they held her in place. How given everything and given how humiliating it all was she wanted to feel the cold tips on her skin again. But she brushed the thought away, going over to source her nightgown for the evening.

When Emma re-emerged, she had already re-dressed into her pyjamas, her tank top being almost see through enough that Regina could see everything beneath it, even though the lighting was only dim from the lamp in the room.

She brought her eyes back to the book in her lap, peering down through her glasses at the pages. Ignoring Emma who had automatically slipped into the sheets beside her. Going completely still before talking.

"Oh right, sorry," Emma whispered, suddenly springing back from out of the covers. Cradling a pillow and the thick blanket that lay at the end of the bed in her arms.

"What are you doing?" Regina asked, her knees falling down with the book closing its pages.

"I just thought that…well you said last night that you wanted the bed to yourself so," Emma sounded so innocent, so pure and it only made the already existing guilt peel more in Regina's mind.

"The floor will give you a bad back," she spoke as if it was nothing important, grazing her focus back over her book. Emma looked confused, standing against the bed because she was unsure what it was Regina was saying. "Emma get in the bed," She saw Emma smile in the corner of her eyes before she was joined once more. A small thanks being hushed out through Emma's thin lips as she pulled out her phone.

Regina turned to the screen, its glow being obnoxiously bright. But then she pulled her glare, noticing now how she looked like she was trying to get an eye at what Emma was doing.

"I didn't know you wore glasses," Emma added casually, looking over to check she hadn't made them up.

"Only when I have to," Regina muttered, almost inaudibly.

"Do you not like them?" the blonde asked, placing her phone down onto the bedside table. Regina sighed, acting as if Emma had pulled her out of the excitement of her book. When really, she hadn't been able to focus on the words because Emma's top was even more see through when she was closer in proximity. And now she could see every tiny little detail barely hidden in white cloth, and that was sending an unnerving heat to liquidate and pool in her stomach.

"I don't like the way they make my eyes look," she grouched out, and said eyes darting down to the nipples that were poking through the white material on the blonde's chest. Having to pry her glare away to re-focus on her book.

"I think they make you look elegant," Emma's voice was so small, so cautious and gentle and it was hard for Regina not to turn and stare right into her compliment. But she knew she shouldn't. She hadn't been very good at controlling herself recently, and god knows what was going to happen if Emma were to continue paying her compliments.

Instead the brunette placed her book the bedside table, snatching the black lenses from her face to rest them on top of the paperback. She ignored Emma's comment, snuggling deep into the covers as she turned her lamp off.

"Regina?" Emma questioned, Regina could feel her picking at the covers beside her and she sighed.

Regretting her reply almost instantly as it opened up too many possible outcomes.

"What?"

"Do you have your nipples pierced?" she asked it so innocently that Regina couldn't even believe what it was she had asked.

"What? No? Of course not," she shifted uncomfortably in the bed, eyes pinning to the wall. She lied, and she hated that Emma would know she was lying. It was a stupid, dumb mistake she made when she was young and, goddamn the blonde for being so painfully perceptive.

"Regina I just saw… well you know. All of you," Emma edged out, Regina still not feeling confident enough to turn over. "And I'm fairly confident I can suss out a piercing when I see one," the blonde was teasing, that innocence seeping out into nothing. Regina cleared her throat as she sat up to glare right into Emma's accusations. She'd forgotten that Emma seeing her naked wasn't just some horrendous nightmare. It actually happened. She hesitated before replying.

"If you dare tell anyone, your career will end so quick you won't even be able to blink," she was biting out the words with a vicious kind of poison, trying to be intimidating but only receiving a smirk from the blonde in front.

"When did you get them done?" she was holding back a laugh, trying to be serious but this whole evening had just been nothing but nonsense.

"Good night, Emma," Regina barked out, rolling back over to face the wall. Her eyes shut tight as she tried to force herself into a sleep.

"Good night, Regina," Emma said through a smile, her words comforting her brunette bed partner into a senseless sleep.