CHAPTER 12

A/N: This has been a long time coming so here is another update. This will be the last chapter but I might make a small one shot sequel to this.

"Why were you in the woods?"

The question was low but it gave pause to the blonde as she hovered by the doorway, fear grasped solidly in her gut, knowing that the words she spoke next could ruin any attempts of reaffirming any sort of tentative friendship she had been developing with the brunette; even if she had the revelation of wanting more than that.

"I... just sort of found myself there..." Emma replied carefully.

"That's not really an answer, Emma," Regina sighed softly, "At this time of night you just found yourself in the woods?"

"Well, I didn't really even mean to go there," The younger woman continued, inching hesitantly back into the room and at the lack of protest, sat gingerly down on the edge of the bed and hoped that the act itself wouldn't stir the pot.

"You are so infuriating sometimes," Regina stated but there was no venom in her tone, not like usual, at her inability to get to the point and sepia orbs lifted to take in the nervous blonde seated beside her. The slight blush to her usually pale facade, tangled blonde locks, petite pink lips parted just enough to... no... she wouldn't allow those thoughts, it was too painful, "What were you doing before you found yourself in the woods?"

"Oh," Emma muttered, the way the older woman had looked at her for a moment had thrown her off, the glistening of brown orbs, followed by a brief flicker to her lips as if she might have been thinking things that would actually delight the blonde, before a slight glaze and refocus back on green orbs, "I was at the bar..."

"So you're drunk?" The brunette quipped, any or all malice that would have been present replaced with a commadarie that was almost comfortable, filling a loneliness that had almost hollowed her entirely recently and she smiled softly at the blonde.

"Not any more," Emma countered, "I may have been on the way to it but sitting in the cold woods and then this whole transporting thing and you are very sobering."

"That's something every girl wants to here," Regina replied sardonically, "I'm sobering..."

"Not in a bad way," The blonde replied sharply before inhaling and realizing her mistake. There was a brief silence between them before she cleared her throat, "I broke up with Hook."

"Oh, Emma," The way the brunette breathed her name was enough to make her stomach flip, without hesitation Regina clasped the blonde's smaller hand within her own and squeezed, "Are you okay?"

"I'm... fine," Emma replied slowly, almost scared to move an inch in case she lost the physical contact, "In fact, I'm kind of more than okay... it was a relief."

"Well, I guess that's a good thing," Regina noted then the almost hesitant response to her touch and her own thoughts trailed off to how exactly the blonde ended up here and her brows furrowed. How had she not seen it before? Or maybe she was just not willing to admit it. She should have been repulsed by the thought of the blonde and any sort of feelings that she may have had for her but instead her body responded, a warmth spread through her entire being, she had admitted to herself a long time ago of a physical attraction to the blonde and upon that thought, she cleared her throat, "So then?"

There was no mistaking the tone, nor the change in body language that Regina had pieced together from the events, what exactly had been going on with the blonde and to say that it didn't terrify her would have been an understatement.

"Then..." She sighed softly, her head tilted forward covering her face with blonde tresses, "Then we got into a fight and I did what I was good at..."

"You ran," Regina supplied, smiling understandingly at the younger woman as her head whipped up and sepia and emerald connected.

"Ye...yes..."

"It's okay," The brunette murmured and while the hurt that had been present before, Emma's betrayal suddenly lessened and she didn't know if it was just because since the blonde had come to Storybrooke, she had held some attraction to the brunette but she had refused to acknowledge anything more than a carnal desire for the other woman and when Robin had come into the picture, she hadn't needed to. She had been comfortable hiding in something that she had been so desperate for again and Graham had been a good substitute for other needs but that hadn't fulfilled everything.

"I think to be honest, I liked the attention at first because being alone sucks," Emma admitted and they smiled at one another, an open honesty developing once again between them, coming almost naturally, even if the ultimate point of the subject would leave an open sore that could either be covered or have salt rubbed into it. The blonde finally realized that if Hook had figured it out then she wasn't hiding it as well as she thought she was.

"Yes, that it does," Regina glanced up through her lashes trying to read through the blonde's almost shy expression, she noted the rawness in the look that was returned and realized that she had never seen the blonde so exposed, not with anyone, "But that's not just all..." she pressed gently, her tone was husky and she tried to keep the note of hope out of her voice. She never thought she would ever associate that word with the blonde before her; let alone anything else that she might feel in regards to the other woman.

"And..." Emma swallowed, then realized, Regina hadn't entirely moved her hand, it still rested on the dark comforter between them and her long pause caused olive fingers to grip the bedding, "I tried convincing myself for so long with him that I could try and be happy but I kept coming back to one realization..."

The blonde could feel her heart hammering in her chest, her stomach flipped at their proximity and her breath caught at the thought of what would finally happen when she admitted it out loud to Regina, the fear of rejection now also had a sense of hope, that felt almost as terrifying to her as the probability of rejection. Especially when Regina had not moved an inch, she could have, she could have let her leave a long time ago or she would have sent her packing already. Regina wasn't afraid of confrontations so why would that change now?

"Emma?" The brunette whispered, that alone sent a jolt through her and their gazes connected again.

"I realized..." She swallowed, "He was a bad replacement for who I really wanted him to be. A band aid I guess..."

"And who exactly was he a replacement for?"

Emma did not dare say anything, in fact for a moment instead of verbally responding it was as if her body started to move of it's own accord and she leaned forward.

Regina's breath caught as the blonde's face closed in on hers and her eyelids fluttered closed in anticipation, her being literally allowed all sense to leave and she wanted Emma to close that gap.

"You," At those words, petite pink pressed to hers almost tenderly and she felt the tremble that went through the blonde. She hovered there for another moment and she felt the fear well in the pit in her stomach before she pulled away, it was only the sudden grip on her hand that stopped her from moving further back.

"Don't play with me..." Regina murmured, it would have been a threat at any other time but Emma could hear the almost literal plea from the brunette.

"Regina," She replied quietly, "I mean it."

Her hand was left empty then but instead of the brunette pushing her aside, like she had mainly anticipated, fingers tangled in her hair and she had no choice but to kiss the brunette once again.

Their kiss was passionate, arousal spread through them like a wild fire and it took all of Emma's control not to press hands beneath the silken bed shirt. She pulled back but rested her forehead against the older woman's, "Regina?"

"Yes?" The brunette replied, full lips pulled between teeth as she too, tried to control her overwhelming desire and she smiled, their hands still entwined.

"Does this mean we're okay?" Emma asked tentatively.

"Yes, Emma, it does," Regina responded with a small chuckle.

"Regina?"

"Yes?" The brunette sighed softly while these sort of questions would have irritated her at one point, she suddenly found them almost endearing and that thought itself amused her.

"Would you go on a date with me?"

That question, however, had not been anticipated and she inched backwards so she could get a good view of the blonde's face and she smiled softly.

She didn't answer at first, simply choosing to kiss the younger woman more tenderly than she had ever kissed anyone, even Robin and he was much more demanding than most people would have expected. As it was she had let him because she believed she had loved him.

Though in comparison to now, as her fingers trailed a path down the blonde's neck, that in itself elicited a small moan that continued to fuel her desire, in a way that Robin never had and she smiled into their kiss before Emma halted it once again.

"So... is that a yes?"

"Yes, Emma, that's a yes," She moved her hands back up to cradle the blonde's head carefully, rubbing her thumbs along the sides of her cheeks as she did so and as Emma went to open her mouth to ask another question, Regina quickly swooped in and covered her mouth.

I always thought this might be the only way to shut her up.