AN: Hey everyone! Thank you so much for your favorites, follows and reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. The song I used is "Misguided Ghosts" by Paramore.
Regina barely focused on all of the paperwork that came across her desk that afternoon. She was now preoccupied with trying to figure out how exactly she had let her friends con her into going out later. It had been several years since she had last gone out. Henry was her first priority and had been since she learned of her pregnancy. He'd completely changed her from the wild young woman she once was. She was so carefree in the few months between leaving home and getting pregnant. She didn't know if she could be carefree again, and it worried her that she might ruin her friends' good time.
She glanced up noticing that it was finally 3 o'clock. She hurried out of her office to pick her son up from school. When she arrived at the school, Henry jumped into the car grinning at her.
"Hey Mom!" the boy said hugging her as best as he could in the car.
"Oh, good. You're in a good mood. Are you sure you want to go visit them? You don't have to you know," she replied while wrapping her arm around him.
Henry ignored her for only a moment while he buckled his seat belt. As they drove off he looked over at his mother thoughtfully. "Honestly Mom, I really think you need to go out. I've never seen you go out, and I know you don't even when I go with Dad."
Regina's stared at her son for a moment and turned her attention back to the road as she began to speak. "Henry, I do not need to go out..."
"Yes you do," he cut her off. "Mel and Tink miss you and I know you don't want to be alone forever. You need to go out and meet people. I think you'd be happier."
"I'm not unhappy Henry," she said, trying to keep the hint of sadness out of her voice.
"Don't lie to me!" He yelled.
"Don't take that tone with me again young man."
"Sorry, Mom. I hear you crying in your sleep. Not everyone is going to hurt you like Dad did." His voice was soft this time, almost a whisper.
"Sweetheart, I never wanted you to know that. I'm sorry," she replied with a watery smile.
"It's okay. Just please go out tonight. I don't mind staying with Grandmother and Granddad. Go have fun, please."
"Alright. We have to go to the house and get some clothes for you. Make sure you grab something Grandmother bought. You know how she is."
"Yes, ma'am."
A couple of hours later they pulled into the driveway of her parents' house. Regina took a deep breath as she walked her son to the door. As she rang the doorbell, she tried to hide the shaking of her hands that always happened when she had to see her mother.
The door swung open a few moments later to reveal the woman Regina tried so hard to escape. She was in an expensive dress, as usual, with her brown hair pulled back in an elegant up-do. "Hello darlings," Cora said as she reached out to hug Henry, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. Regina wasn't sure if she had ever seen her mother's real smile, or if she even had one.
"Hello mother," she responded, her voice a little crisp and her body tense.
"Come in dears. We mustn't lurk in doorways," the older woman said, swinging the door open further to allow them into the house. "Henry, why don't you go put your things in your bedroom?"
"Yes, grandmother," the boy said, wasting no time as he rushed to the stairs.
"Maleficent tells me that you all are going out tonight darling."
"Yes, mother," Regina replied. She really didn't want to get into a conversation about it. "In fact, I should go. I still have to get ready."
"Of course you do," she gave a humorless laugh. "I didn't expect you would go in your work clothing. I just want to tell you one thing before you leave."
"What is it?" she asked. Cora rarely tried to talk to her more than pleasantries and asking about Henry.
"I think it is about time that you try to move on from Daniel," Cora told her.
"Mother, I have been over Daniel for a long time. He wasn't who I thought he was. I know that now."
"He was never good enough for you dear."
"It was never about status for me. It still isn't. I just wanted to be loved, and I thought he loved me," Regina sighed. They'd had this conversation before.
"Go have fun tonight. Maleficent and Tatelyn have promised me that they would look out for you."
"Thank you, mother," she replied. Henry was just coming back down the stairs. She hugged her son, told him to behave and left the house as quickly as possible. As she closed the front door behind her she released the shudder that had been begging for escape. She could not show any weakness in front of her mother.
She took a hot shower as soon as she returned home. She tried to let the scalding water wash away the years of memories that seeing her mother always brought back. For seventeen years Cora had tried to mold her into the perfect little socialite. Regina had always hated that life. She never wanted to act like she was better than anyone. She just wanted to be normal, and to her normal people never behaved that way. She let the last thought of her mother wash down the drain as she stepped out to get ready. She was determined to have a good night.
Emma was pacing back and forth backstage trying to calm her nerves. No matter what she tried, they always seemed to get to her. She knew she was good, but she wanted to be great.
"Em, calm down," Ruby told her. "We play here all the time. You know they love us."
"I know, I know. I just can't help it." They fell silent as they heard the cheers from the crowd as Will walked onstage.
"How is everyone tonight?" Will's British accent rang through the bar. His question was met by louder cheers and several whistles. "Are you all ready for the reason you came here tonight?" Again, he was met by louder cheers. "You know them, you love them. Oh, and I'm supposed to tell you they've changed their name, AGAIN." This was met by much laughter throughout the crowd. "Welcome to our stage, The Charmings!"
He left the stage as they all made their way to it. Emma's palms were full of sweat as she walked up to her mic. "How is everyone tonight?" she mimicked Will's question to more cheers. "Awesome, let's do this!"
The first few songs that they played were what they referred to as their "crowd pumping" songs. Emma loved these songs because they really got the crowd into the show and she didn't have to focus too much on the crowd. She could dance and jump around and goof off with her bandmates.
Emma's voice was starting to tire so as she came to the close of her fifth song and she could see that Lily had worked up quite a sweat on the drums. She took a quick swig of water and winked at Lily as she turned back around. "Okay guys, I think we're gonna give Lily and David a little break and slow it down for you a bit if that's okay." She grinned as the bar erupted in cheers again. "Alright Ruby, you ready?"
Her friend nodded and began to strum the intro a slower song, while Emma started to scan the crowd. To make herself less nervous up there, she tried to make the crowd a little nervous. She'd started playing a game where she would make eye contact with a person while she sang, and she would hold it until they looked away. She spotted a hot, olive-skinned brunette somewhere around the third row. The woman was wearing a very flattering red dress that hugged her curves in all the right places and there was a slit below her neck that allowed for peak of her cleavage. Emma grinned and locked her forest eyes with the woman's chocolate one as she began to sing.
Emma sang the first verse and
still the brunette met her gaze. They usually didn't last an entire verse. Somewhere during the second verse Emma watched as a man dressed in leather came up behind the woman and grabbed her waist, trying to get her to sway along with him. She finally looked away from Emma as she tried to pull free of the man. He grabbed her and pulled her back. She tried once more to pull away but he held her tight. Emma began to seethe with anger and finally interrupted her own song.
"Hang on a minute Ruby." Her friend stopped playing and looked up questioningly. "It seems we have a guy in the crowd that can't take 'no' for an answer," she answered Ruby's unspoken question. "Can somebody throw out the creep up here in the leather, please?" As soon as she spoke security came into the crowd from the sides and dragged the man out. The brunette looked at her and mouthed, "Thank you." Emma winked at her and as the crowd cheered the woman gave her a dazzling smile. "Sorry about that guys. Let's start over Ruby." She once again locked onto chocolate eyes as David counted out their opening "1, 2, 3, 4." Emma began the song again.
I'm going away for a while
But I'll be back
Don't try to follow me
'Cause I'll return as soon as possible
See, I'm trying to find my place
But it might not be here where I feel safe
We all learn to make mistakes
And run from them, from them
With no direction
We'll run from them, from them
With no conviction
'Cause I'm just one of those ghosts
Travelin' endlessly
Don't need no roads
In fact, they follow me
And we just go in circles
And now I'm told that this is life
That pain is just a simple compromise
So we can get what we want out of it
Would someone care to classify?
Our broken hearts and twisted minds
So I can find someone to rely on
And run to them, to them
Full speed ahead
Oh, you are not useless
We are just
Misguided ghosts
Travelin' endlessly
The ones we trusted the most
Pushed us far away
And there's no one road
We should not be the same
But I'm just a ghost
And still they echo me
They echo me in circles
Emma smiled at her once more as the song came to a close. Sometime around the third verse, the woman was joined by two blondes that continuously looked back and forth between her and their friend, noticing that they hadn't looked away from each other through the entire song.
Emma wanted to rush through the last few songs of their set or to let the next band take over early, so that she could go talk to the gorgeous woman that had captured her attention. She kept her patience though and made it through their last few songs by stealing more glances with her as often as she could while still working the rest of the crowd. By the time their last song ended, she was dying to meet the woman. She rushed from the stage without a word to her friends and ran into the crowd.
Her muse had moved back toward bar so it took Emma several minutes to work her way over to her. When she was about twenty feet away the woman noticed her again and smiled. Emma hurried over to her.
"My savior," the woman greeted her. "Thank you again."
Emma blushed deeply. "Hi," she said kind of sheepishly. "I'm Emma, Emma Swan."
"Hello, Emma. Regina Mills," the woman told her.