27: A torrid love affair
Yesterday
Regina's nose was red. From the cold of course. And Jennifer liked her. And her feet hurt. And Jennifer had real, serious feelings for her. And for some god forsaken reason she felt like crying.
The hotel Gold had put them up in was rather nice, though that didn't exactly surprise her. Gold had his own room, as did Regina, but Henry and Emma shared. She hated it. She hated how no one thought twice about what Regina might be feeling or even about the fact that she was still, believe it or not, Henry's mother. And she especially hated Gold for putting her in the middle room, sandwiched between the fucking Dark One and the Savior. She scoffed at the irony. Then, of course, as soon as she stepped in front of her hotel room door, Gold's opened, and she jumped. "Speak of the devil," Regina breathed distractedly, blinking as she turned to Gold, hiding her troubled thoughts well.
Gold just curled his lip as he looked her up and down. "What are you wearing?" He mused in his usual droll, ridiculing way as an amused smile tugged at his lips. Regina clenched her jaw and stood firm.
"It's Jennifer's," she explained, brushing her hair out of her face before folding her arms over her chest. He made a noise between a scoff and a chuckle as he sauntered forward.
"Of course," he drawled. "And how was your date with the doctor?" he asked, blinking. Regina's chest tightened, and she swallowed, shifting her weight on her high heel clad feet.
"I don't know what you're talking about. It wasn't a date," she dismissed, shaking her head, blinking, and hoping Gold couldn't see the panic behind her eyes. He just stared at her for a moment that seemed much longer than it was, and she clenched her jaw, breaking the odd tension between them as she waved her room key over the lock and pushed her door open with a jerk. "What do you want, Gold?"
"Nothing you can provide," he told her cryptically. "Unless you happen to have a bottle of bourbon in there," he drawled. Regina scoffed again as she pushed her door open. God, she wished. It had been a rough day for the both of them, it turned out. "Regina," he called before she could disappear into her room. She turned to glance at him. "You've got a littleā¦" he wiggled his finger around his mouth, and she frowned, wiping her fingers along the same area. They came back red and sticky. It was lipstick. Jennifer's lipstick. A blush rose to her cheeks, and she turned away before Gold could see it. Though she suspected he didn't need to see it to know it was there. "Goodnight, madam mayor," Gold drawled, an amused lilt to his voice as he walked past her door. Regina closed it, almost angry, and clenched her jaw as she stalked to the bathroom.
Jennifer's lipstick was all over her lips, faded and smudged but definitely there. Besides the fact that it wasn't her shade, it was rather obvious by the smearing that she hadn't put it on herself. So there was only one other explanation.
Her face blanched, and her stomach churned.
Gold knew.
Trying to shake that thought from her head, she ran both hands through her tousled hair and looked herself in the mirror. Not too long ago Jennifer's fingers had been splayed through the same hair. And Jennifer's lips had been kissing hers. And not too long ago she'd been staring at Miss Alexander with cold disdain as the doctor invaded her town and destroyed her protection spell. And now here she was. In New York. With Henry's father. And Emma Swan. And Jennifer fucking Alexander.
And she found that tears were welling quietly in her eyes. Angry and confused, she braced herself on the sink and inhaled choppy breaths and shifted her weight and stared at herself in the harsh, unforgiving light of a hotel bathroom.
. . .
Today
"What are you doing here?" Emma asked, sitting up straighter. Jennifer furrowed her brow and cocked her head.
"I could ask you the same question."
"Henry invited me," Emma answered.
"Henry invited me," Jennifer responded and watched as the gears clicked together in Emma's head. Then she exhaled forcibly and nodded in realization.
"The kid did know we were fighting. He told me last night that he was worried about us," she explained, leaning back in her chair.
"I'm not sure it's his place to be," Jennifer answered with a furrowed brow, her head cocked as she moved forward to grab the back of the chair across from Emma.
"No, I agree. I'll talk with him later," Emma nodded distractedly, and the silence quickly grew thick and tense. Emma swallowed. "But, hey, you're here now. Might as well sit down, right?" And for some unknown reason Jennifer did as she was told. They were playing right into Henry's hand, and they both knew it. "So Regina came back pretty late last night. What were you guys doing?" Emma asked lightly, trying not to let Henry completely dictate their conversation. Jennifer tensed and swallowed. She had applied new makeup and washed her face and combed her hair, but she still felt like she was living a continuation of last night, every agonizing moment playing back in her head like it had just happened an hour ago.
"I was just showing her around. Took her to the Empire State Building. We had dinner. Nothing exciting really," Jennifer lied. Emma didn't care for Regina much at the moment, so she felt like admitting that she'd tongued the Evil Queen last night wouldn't help anyone right now. Emma leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table.
"Sounds like you showed her a good time," she nodded then swallowed then shook her head briefly. "Anyway, now that you're here, Jennifer, I think we should talk." Jennifer took a deep breath. This was her chance.
"Yeah, I've been wanting to talk with you actually. It's about Regina. She told me what happened with Captain Hook and the protection spell you asked her to cast." She could tell that Emma knew what she was referring to. "And I just...I mean..." she sighed and shook her head. "I don't understand how you could do that to a person, really. I mean, blackmail? And it's not just that either. You're different in Storybrooke. I know people change, but you're, frankly, unrecognizable. I don't expect you to martyr yourself like you used to, but at least have a little empathy, Emma, please."
"I do for the people who deserve it," Emma countered defensively. "I had to grow up a lot quicker than you, Jennifer. I had to sacrifice for you long before you ever had to sacrifice anything for anyone. And I'm not holding that against you. It's just that you can't have everything all the time." Then she lowered her voice. "Gold would have killed Hook if Regina hadn't cast that spell. The only way she was going to cooperate was if I blackmailed her. Now, I like Hook just about as much as I like Regina, but I don't think either of them deserves to die. Just think about that when you put Regina on a pedestal."
"She's changing, though. She's not the Evil Queen anymore," Jennifer insisted, a frown etched deep into her brows.
"How would you really know, Jen? The Regina I knew before you got here did worse things." She paused, really looking at Jennifer. When she spoke again her voice was much softer. "Look, when I said that I was just a kid when I ran away I meant it. I didn't say it to dismiss our time in foster care. I said it because I changed so much in the five years after I left. I'm the person I am today because of that time. You have to understand that I can't regret leaving because I got Henry out of it. But I do regret not being more open with you about it. I regret not staying in touch with you. Look, I'm sorry I made you think I abandoned you. I really, truly am, Jennifer. I had good intentions. It's just the execution that was a little messed up."
"A little messed up?" Jennifer smiled slightly. Emma fought a smile, and Jennifer figured, with a deep breath, that it might be time to put this feud to rest. "Well, I'm sorry too. I attacked you without really letting you explain yourself. I think this whole thing has just been us unloading a decade worth of shit we never bothered to deal with," Jennifer shrugged, and the look in both their eyes told them that they had a lot of other shit lined up to tell each other later. And it made Jennifer happy, as odd as it sounded in her head.
After a moment of content silence, Emma shifted in her seat. "You know, for better or worse, I still consider you family."
Jennifer smiled softly.
"Me too."
. . .
Then they talked for a while about Jennifer and what she's been doing since high school, and they soon came to the topic of Val. "She's family," Jennifer stated simply.
"From flirting with you in a tattoo parlor to family?" Emma teased. Jennifer hesitated, a blush rising to her cheeks. She'd come out to more people than she could remember by this point, but coming out to family was different, apparently. She hadn't really known that up until this point.
"It was reciprocal," she bunched her shoulders together, fighting a smile as a small blush rose to her cheeks. Emma grinned.
"Was it a torrid love affair?"
Jennifer's lips stretched into a hesitant smile, amused but scared. Her heart pounded, and she hated herself for it. This was Emma she was talking to, remember? "You're ok? You're not...surprised?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know, I just...guess I just expected a bigger reaction."
"Jenny, I knew you were gay since you were like 13," Emma laughed, and Jennifer blushed.
"I didn't even...how did...you know what, nevermind," Jennifer laughed and scrubbed her hands down her face, taking a deep breath. "Anyway, no it was not a torrid love affair. It was more like a hot mess. We're just much better as friends," she sighed, the blush subsiding from her cheeks. She swallowed. "Hey, on a more serious note, can I ask you a question...about Regina?"
"Sure."
"I read the storybook, and Ruby's told me some stories."
"And?"
"They never say anything useful about before Snow White and Charming got married. I'm just curious, I guess."
"About Regina?"
"Before she was the Evil Queen," Jennifer clarified.
"Well, she met Mary Margaret when she was a teenager. Mary Margaret was like 10 or 12. Regina saved her life actually. Apparently they got along really well until Snow told Cora about Daniel."
"Daniel?"
"Regina's torrid love affair," Emma clarified with a knowing smirk but quickly sobered. "Who Cora then killed when she found out about him. According to Mary Margaret that's what really turned Regina into the Evil Queen. And she took her anger out on Snow. Before she actually adopted the title, Cora married her off to Leopold, Snow's dad. Cora orchestrated the entire marriage, actually, so that Regina could be Queen. But after Regina killed Leopold, the rest is history. She threw Snow out of the castle and put a bounty on her head."
Jennifer's throat was tight when Emma finished. "Wow."
"I'm sure you read it or Ruby told you about it, but Regina burned entire villages to the ground because she suspected them of protecting Snow. She was heartless."
"She was hurting."
"That doesn't excuse massacre."
"No, I know," Jennifer nodded, and she did. But there had to be more to the story than Emma knew about. The Regina she knew wasn't that single minded. Maybe Snow could tell her more. She was there, after all.
a/n: In other news, I hate how the writers explained why Regina became the Evil Queen. Part two on this in chapter 28. In other other news, sorry for the month in between chapters. I just got settled at college. It's been a little crazy.
