So sorry for not updating yesterday! I was doing Christmas stuff, and then got a bad headache so I went to bed. Enjoy this chapter!

Emma was forcing Regina to go to a stupid Christmas party. Snow and David were throwing it to celebrate Neal's first Christmas, and of course Emma had to go. But she didn't want to deal with her parents and their ridiculous cooing all alone.

The only problem was that Regina had yet to tell Emma about her little problem with crowds. She hated feeling weak, and admitting her fear was definitely being weak. Not to mention that it was a ridiculous fear anyway.

They arrived together, and on time thanks to Regina, and were immediately bombarded by Snow and David. Neal was dressed in a little elf outfit, and didn't look at all pleased about it.

The party started off nicely enough, with a small group of close friends. But then more and more people started to enter the apartment, and Regina felt herself begin to panic. There were too many people. She wouldn't be able to escape if she needed to.

Regina looked across the room and saw the door. There was a group blocking it, and that meant there was no way to leave. Unless she jumped out of a window. She couldn't shove past the group; that would be rude.

Meanwhile, Emma was walking around the party with Neal on her hip. Snow and David had wanted to play the good host and hostess, which they claimed they couldn't do with Neal. Emma called bullshit.

She was currently trying to find Regina, but she must have disappeared. Emma hoped that she hadn't left. After all, they had arrived together in Emma's bug, which Emma had the keys to in her jacket. If Regina had left, she would have had to walk home.

Finally Emma spotted her across the room, standing behind the kitchen counter where food was laid out. Emma smiled and headed over to her. After all, Neal loved Regina.

But as she got closer, Emma could tell that something was wrong. Regina looked frozen in place, and was shaking. Emma's eyes widened as she recognized the symptoms. She herself hadn't had very many panic attacks, but she knew what they were like.

Emma looked around her and saw Ruby talking to Ashley. Emma hurried over to them. There was no way that she could help Regina with her little brother in her arms.

"Hey can you do me a favor?" Emma asked. "Either one of you. I don't care. Just take Neal."

Ruby and Ashley looked at Emma in shock before Ruby reached over and picked up Neal. Before she could say anything, Emma walked quickly over to where Regina was and grabbed her arm.

Normally Regina would have flinched at the sudden contact, but she barely even moved. Emma pulled on her arm gently and led her away from the party back to Snow and David's bedroom.

Regina didn't even register being pulled away, all she could think of was the fact that she was going to die in this apartment, completely trapped and unable to leave. Was Emma around? Had she gotten out of the apartment safely? Regina hoped so. This place wasn't safe.

Emma pushed Regina gently onto the bed before kneeling in front of her. "Regina? Can you hear me?"

The answer to that question was no, but Regina obviously couldn't say that. She was too far into her head, thinking only about how there was no escape.

"Emma?" Snow asked, walking into the room. "Why are you in here? And what happened to Neal?"

"Neal is with Ruby," Emma said. "And I'm in here to help Regina. I'll explain later, okay? Right now I just need to be here for her."

Snow just nodded before quickly leaving to find Ruby. Maybe she knew what was going on.

"Regina, please talk to me," Emma pleaded. "I can't help if I don't know what's going on. Why are you panicking?"

Regina finally registered Emma's voice. But why was Emma still here? It wasn't safe. There was no escape, and now they were both going to die.

"No escape," Regina said. "We have to go before we die."

Emma looked at her in confusion. "What? Why would we die?"

"There's no escape," Regina said. "The only way to leave would be to jump out of a window now. The door is blocked."

Emma peeked out to look at the door, but saw no one in front of it. The group that Regina had seen earlier had moved to a new spot in the room.

"Regina, look out at the door," Emma said. "There's no one there. You can leave anytime you want."

Regina turned and looked at the door. Emma was right, there wasn't anyone in front of it. She was safe. There was an easy way to leave.

Emma sighed in relief as she saw Regina relax. She had no idea what had just happened, but it was scary.

"I'm sorry," Regina said, turning back to her. "I'm sure I just seemed insane, saying things about not being able to escape and whatnot."

"You just scared me, that's all," Emma said. "But care to explain what was going on?"

"I don't like being in crowds," Regina mumbled. "Once I'm in an enclosed space like the apartment and there are lots of people, I feel like I can't escape. There was a group of people blocking the door, which just made it worse."

Emma sighed. "Why didn't you tell me before we got here?"

Regina looked down at her lap. "Because it's an irrational fear that I can't control. A weakness."

"How many times do I have to tell you that being afraid of something isn't a weakness?" Emma scolded gently. "It's completely normal."

They had talked about this several times before, and each time with the same result. Regina would hide a fear from Emma, but somehow the fear would always become known.

"You know, you could just stop hiding these fears from me," Emma said. "I never do anything but support you with them."

"I know," Regina mumbled. "I'm just used to it."

"I know," Emma said gently. "That will be the next thing we work on. But right now, we're going to work on this fear of yours."

Regina's head snapped up. "What?"

Emma smiled before grabbing Regina's hand and standing up, pulling Regina with her. "We're going back out to the party."

"No," Regina said quickly. "I don't want to have a panic attack again. I'll just stay in here."

"No, you're not," Emma said. "We'll go out there together. Less scary that way."

Regina bit her lip before hesitantly nodding. "Okay. But slowly."

Emma smiled. "Slowly."

For the rest of the party, Emma and Regina walked hand-in-hand around the party. Regina slowly realized that Emma was right. It was less scary with Emma by her side.