Short chapter but I am working on the next one too and will upload it soon!

1 Day After

It was hours before Regina heard the hotel room door open. Her anxiety calmed and she was just glad Emma had returned in one peace. She had so many questions for her. But now was not the time to talk, she knew.

She had seen a change in her cousin in these past three month, but tonight was different. She never expected Emma would give into Killian. Hell, Regina knew the man was infatuated with her cousin. Hmm…but that never seemed to be the right word for what Regina could see in Killian's eyes. It was just…heat. Pure raw passion. The kind of look only described in smut novels. So was Emma oblivious to it? Or was she just that good at keeping herself in check? Either way, she had faltered tonight. And when she realized her slip up, she ran. Literally.

Regina wasn't stupid; she knew they were in for it. This would not be the last time they saw these men. She only hoped decades would pass before they met again. Hopefully giving all of their minds time to…forget? Inwardly sighing, who was she kidding? None of them would be forgetting this summer for a very long time. And when they were reunited tensions would be high.

Maybe if they were all married with kids they could laugh about it…

Shit, why didn't she heed Emma's warning? Regina knew getting involved with Robin was a horrible mistake, but she could not help it. He was hopelessly and utterly perfect.

Regina didn't know how she fell asleep with all the thoughts (mostly regrets) running through her head the night before. But now her phone was blarring with her early morning alarm. Ugh, the plane ride. That was the last thing she wanted to do after last night.

Slowly sitting up in bed, Regina contemplated what she would say to Emma first. But when she scanned the room, her cousin was nowhere in sight. And all of her belongings were gone too.

Of course she's gone already. Emma Nolan knew how to avoid an awkward situation.

Regina gathered her strength and walked into the bathroom. It was going to be a long day.

Scanning the lobby, Regina did not see Emma. It was before 8am so the morning rush was still a little while off.

Mr. Gold, however, was at the desk and noticed the woman with her luggage. Always priding himself in customer service her walked up to her, "Good morning Ms. Queen. I hoped you enjoyed your stay with us this summer. We are sad to see you and Ms. Swan leave us. Please give my regards to your fathers." The last sentence he whispered to Regina, still keeping up the façade of who she actually was.

"Of course Mr. Gold. Speaking of Ms. Swan, have you seen her this morning?"

"Why, yes. She was down earlier but she is now waiting for you in your car, curbside."

"Hmm." Regina paused, "Do you have a piece of paper?"

The car ride was silent on the way to the airport. Only the soft sound of smooth jazz filled the space between Emma and Regina. She hated this. This was not how they acted around each other. But Regina stayed silent.

They had gotten to the airport, gone through security and had even gotten coffee. All without a word. How was that even possible? It was giving Regina a headache now.

She waited until they were at cruising altitude before Regina turned to Emma and finally said, "Are we going to talk about this?" She tried her best not to sound frustrated.

There was a reason Emma had been silent all this time. She didn't know what to say. But the more time that past, the more crazy she felt. She was torn between anger and embarrassment, so she decided to stick with the easier emotion, "Did you sleep with him?" Her voice was low and callous. There were only two other people in first class with them but Emma did not want to risk being overheard.

Refusing to have the tables turned on her, Regina fired back, "Were you going to sleep with him?" Her voice was not as low as Emma's, making the woman turn in horror at Regina's tone.

Obviously referring to Killian. This was a question Emma, herself, didn't even know the answer to.

Emma bit her lip and cast her eyes away from her cousin, "I don't know." she felt so small.

"Emma," Regina's tone was softer now. Although Regina was still upset, she knew she had to go first. If anything it would give Emma the courage to open up.

"Robin and I didn't have sex. I wanted to, believe me, but I couldn't get your stupid voice out of my head. And I knew if I gave him that part of me, I wouldn't have been able to leave. So we just slept, that's when we heard the noise in the kitchen."

Emma blushed at the memory. But then she concentrated on her cousin's words. Well…at least they didn't have sex…? That was a minor victory I guess. Emma paused, she knew she had to come clean to Regina now.

"I was just sitting there eating gummy worms and then he was just there and then the game and then were just on the fucking jumbo tron thing and then everyone was jeering us on and I don't know I leaned in and then we were kissing but it was fine. Innocent. Then I said goodbye and he fucking pulled me back and then, fuck! I don't know!" Her words were so rushed Regina could not comprehend what had actually happened the night before with Emma and Killian. And now Emma was grumbling into her hands as she covered her face.

"Ok lets try that again…you were eating gummy worms and…?" Regina spoke slowly.

Emma breathed and recounted the story again. But this time much slower and with much greater details.

"Oh." Was all Regina could say now that she had the full picture.

"Yeah."

The two women were silent for a while.

"It's going to be ok." Regina finally said as she grabbed Emma's hand.

"Do you really believe that?" Emma asked pessimistically.

"Listen, it doesn't seem like it now, but whatever we are feeling, towards them, it will go away. It has to. And we will be fine. We'll focus on work. Maybe I'll finally redo my kitchen. You can learn to sew. Life will carry on. This was just one summer. We have the rest of our lives ahead of us. It's going to be ok." She repeated.