A/N: Ok, so it was longer than a week. My apologies, but I am back. The muse is hard at work again because, well, tis the season.

Friday October 10th

Tucked away in a dark corner of the haunted house, Emma sat rubbing her eyes, not giving a damn about the greyish green zombie makeup she was undoubtedly rubbing off. The house was relatively quiet, so she had way too much time to just sit and stew in her head. Her thoughts kept floating back to a certain brunette that she should absolutely, positively hate. At least according to what she knew of girl world… she should at least dislike her. And she should definitely not be craving her company.

Now that the sting of betrayal (and right now she isn't quite sure where exactly the sting originated) had dulled, Emma couldn't stop thinking about the easy flow of conversation between them or the way the shadow on that lip scar deepened in the soft blue light. At one point during the week, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" was on TV and she found herself wondering if Regina was a fan. I mean, she's a Burton fan, and it's a classic, but not everyone likes the stop animation… gah! She just wanted to be able to call her up and discuss the choice of using two different voice actors for Jack.

To make matters worse, she and Killian weren't exactly having the best week. Every time they talked, she found herself getting short with him. She kept getting all snippy for no good reason and ended the calls prematurely. She just wanted to talk - about music or movies or life - and his one word answers grated on her nerves.

The one time she suggested they just go for a cup of coffee so they could sit face to face and maybe have a decent conversation there was already a party planned at some dude's house. Naturally, he wasn't going to miss it and tried his hardest to talk her into going with him, but she didn't want to go sit alone on a stranger's couch and watch him get drunk with his friends. Eventually he'd probably seek her out and try and find them an empty room, but that was one situation she was still actively avoiding.

Ruby wasn't much of a help either. She not only wanted to go to the party, but seemed to only want to hang out with Emma when Graham could be there too. And when they talked, it was all about Graham. The boy craziness was starting to drive Emma a little batty. She couldn't decide if it was because she just wanted some time with her best friend or because she just wasn't THAT boy crazy. It wasn't for lack of trying, she just couldn't get that excited to see Killian all of the time like Ruby clearly wanted to do with Graham.

Being a girl was exhausting.

Somewhere in her head she knew she was over the Regina hitting on Killian thing and had let it go. It was probably customary to hold on to shit like that, but she found herself not really caring. So when the house rolled around on Friday night and she got and extra helping of passive aggressive bitchiness from Regina (well, it was directed in the general direction of Robin because she wouldn't even look at Emma, but she knew she was the intended target) she was just tired and decided maybe it was better to just lay low. So here she was, crouching in the dark trying to figure out what in the hell she was thinking or supposed to be thinking about any of it.

She didn't blame Regina for the ice queen treatment, not really. Her reaction towards Regina last week was a bit dramatic. That initial spark between them was eclipsed by what was really a forced expected reaction and Emma wasn't sure they could get back to those strangers in the dark discussing B movies. And maybe flirting a little. She didn't know if she should want that. It occurred to her that she never really put this much thought into possibly trying to be friends with someone. Someone she only spent a few hours with. Someone who was not only genuinely easy to talk to, but also easy to look at.

Fuck.

In the back of her mind a tumbler of emotions churned and a warning in the form of a conversation with Mary Margaret came around:

"Emma, did I tell you I ran into Ashley's mom at the store? She was showing me pictures from homecoming. Ashley's dress was so beautiful. Oh and her hair! She looked just like Cinderella going to the ball." Mary Margaret's eyes glazed over as wistful thoughts of yesterdays and what might have beens danced through her mind. "It's such a shame you couldn't talk Killian into going to the dance."

Emma pulled at the back of her neck anxiously, "I didn't push the issue. I know it's not his thing."

"I remember when David asked me to our first dance. It was prom, actually. I made him ask three times before I said yes. But I knew from the minute I saw him we were destined to be together."

"That's great, MM."

"He always made me feel like such a princess." She leveled her gaze at Emma. "Never settle, Emma. You make sure you find a guy who makes you feel like that."

Emma's stomach twisted.

"If you want, maybe I'll give the next dance a shot. But, I don't know, MM, I don't really think fancy dances and puffy dresses are my thing either."

Mary Margaret snapped out of her trance at that. "Nonsense. You are a beautiful young lady. You could have easily been thefairest of them all at that dance. You teenagers and your rebellious streaks. Sometimes I think you just like the idea of not fitting in because you think that will somehow make you look cool."

A tight smile sat rigidly in place while Mary Margaret continued talking about Ashley's dress, past high school dances and the conformity of non-conformity.

A crackle from her headset brought her back to the grimy trailers.

"Take 15, gang," Leroy grumbled through the headset.

"Break!" A voice boomed through the house.

Emma made her way to the emergency exit, popped the lock and held the door open for everyone to file out for their break. The death glare she got from Regina was a small step above the complete cold shoulder she got when they first got there. It's not like she expected anything different. Or could want anything different. She was the one who drew the line in the sand.

She made her way out and awkwardly approached the rest of the group. Killian half ass attempted to stand by her, but she easily shrugged him off and distanced herself from the others, instead going to lean against the black painted trailers. Taking a long, slow drag off her cigarette, she kicked at the gravel and looked up to assess the group. Ruby was cozied up to Graham and Gwen seems to have turned her attention to a new boy Lance this week, which had Arthur grumbling on the other side of the group from them. Meanwhile, Belle was sizing up Arthur and Killian appeared to hold court over them all. If she wanted it, she could be right there along with him. Continuing their scan, her eyes locked with a pair of brown ones that were studying her, but quickly averted themselves when they were caught. Regina didn't look nearly as pissed when she didn't think Emma was paying attention.

Robin caught the exchange, assessing Emma's demeanor and broke away from the group, heading her way. He leaned against the trailer next to her and took in the cool October evening in front of him.

"So. How're things with Killian?"

"Fine, I guess. Why?"

He just shrugged, like he wasn't really looking for an answer. "She wasn't hitting on him, you know. She's not into him."

She looks over at him carefully studying his face. "Look, Robin, I can appreciate-"

"To be honest, he hit on her. He's an idiot, but I think you know that."

Emma couldn't even argue. She looked back at the ground gauging her reaction of feeling more relieved than outraged. This couldn't possibly be a normal reaction to finding out her boyfriend had been hitting on another girl. Regina's smile flashed through her mind and she realized that relief came from knowing that smile had only been directed at her, not him.

"There is nothing for you to worry about. He really isn't her type."

"Oh?"

"I'm not entirely sure he is yours."

"Robin, I- I don't-" she stammered.

"Emma, I know about Lily."

The previous October

The ill-advised house party of a random cast member one night after the house closed was in full swing.

Downstairs.

Upstairs, on the floor in the bedroom of what was most likely a sibling of said cast member Emma gripped tightly to Lily's shirt while they kissed. What started as a hesitant flirtation quickly turned into hungry exploration. Lily was out, pretty and gave Emma a lot of attention. Emma soaked it up and gave into her curiosity. Later, after they broke it up from almost getting busted and final goodbyes were said, Emma could blame it on the alcohol, even if they were both relatively sober.

Because there was absolutely no way…

"How do you know about that?" It came out a panicked whisper. She couldn't even meet his eyes.

"I saw you slip out of the room not long after she did. Don't worry, I don't think anyone else saw and I haven't said a word. Not that I think you did anything wrong, obviously. Really, Emma, it's ok if-"

Emma turned away abruptly and said nothing as she ground out her cigarette and walked back into the house.

Saturday Oct 11

The fog over Emma's brain from the night before is half gone, but things are more confusing than ever. The conversation with Robin keeps replaying in her head. The previous night she couldn't seem to get past the fact that he knew.

He knew.

He KNEW.

The anxiety moved into the back of her throat and her jaw clenched. It spread like molasses through her veins and took up space in her gut. Enough to prevent her from processing the rest of the conversation.

Until tonight.

Once Emma was a little less terrified of Robin outing her as anything other than straight as an arrow, his other words repeated themselves over and over until they didn't make sense anymore. Ultimately, it all boiled down to if the comparison of her and Regina a coincidence or not.

Was Regina something other than straight?

A shock wave coursed through her system.

It didn't matter anyway.

She grimaced.

Emma changed things up a little that night in the arrangement of the house. Gwen begged Emma for the cage because she was sick of the tug of war between Arthur and Lance and just needed some peace away from both of them. Emma acquiesced and split the three of them up. Regina ended up in the cave, a low lit hallway towards the front of the house decorated with spray-painted foam, fake bones and skulls and flickering torch-like lamps. A low bench was built into the wall to either hide or, like most of them did, to rest on. It's not like the cold, metal floor was much of an option if you wanted to sit for a minute. It also happened to be right next to the pitch black maze Emma liked to hide in. For the second night in a row any time she passed by Regina she was met with yet another an icy glare until eye contact was made and Regina would sharply turn away.

After a particularly lackluster group moved through (really, if you are just going to shuffle through without so much as making a peep or cracking a smile, what's the point?) Emma headed up front to start her rounds. Regina was concentrating on her black nails as Emma passed through the cave.

"Everything ok?" Emma tries to at least be professional towards her.

"Yep." Quick, cold.

"Can I-" she tried

"Nope." Distant. Final.

Okaayyyyy, so much for that attempt. But hey, Regina actually spoke to her, so they were making progress, right?

As she passed through the other scenes she got a couple stories of good scares and one person asked for a quick bathroom break. There seemed to be a lull in traffic, so Emma waved him off and continued to the front. She had to stop Killian from grabbing her as she bypassed his scene and went straight to the entrance. After a quick word with Leroy, she started heading back through. Killian was right in her path when she turned around. He grabbed her around the waist and spun her into the wall.

"Not now, Killian."

"Come on, love. No one is coming. We have a few minutes."

"I have work to do."

"Swan, everyone is fine. They're probably happy for a little break in the dark." He arched an eyebrow suggestively.

"Which is why I need to walk around," she huffed, clearly not into her current situation.

"Jesus, Emma." He sighed, exasperated with her continued withdrawal.

"What?! For fucks sake, Killian, I have a responsibility here. I don't want to play grab ass in the house like everyone else does."

"I just wanted a minute with you. I feel like you're avoiding me."

She puffed out a long breath. He wasn't wrong. She was avoiding him and she was only mostly sure why.

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"It's fine. Go ahead." He sighed in defeat and his arms dropped to his side. He turned his head away, essentially dismissing her.

Feeling a little guilty, she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed.

"Did you hit on her?" She murmured into his chest.

"Ah, so that's what this is about."

Not really.

"Yeah.."

"Ok, I misread signals. I thought she was into me. Yeah, I was kind of into her, but I swear I didn't mean anything by it-"

She didn't need excuses. She didn't even want to hear it. It didn't really matter anyway.

"Just don't, ok? Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Let it happen again."

He studied her for a moment, thinking it was maybe a trick. "Ok, Swan."

She turned away and went on autopilot going back through the house. Her pride was hurt more than anything, but she didn't think she needed to break up with him. Even if she barely justified being with him in the first place.

As she got closer to the cave, she heard Robin's voice first.

"I talked to her last night, you know."

Emma stilled, ears perking up. She felt terrible about eavesdropping. Really. Or at least she should. She knows that. Very slowly, she crouched into the corner, not making a sound and hoping she can't be seen in the inky blackness.

"What did you say to her?" Her voice was curious, cautious and carried none of the venom that Emma had felt directed at her these past two nights.

"Only that you weren't interested in him." A ridiculous amount of emphasis was placed on the him.

"God, did you say it like that?"

"Not exactly."

"Look, I wish you wouldn't have. I'm still a little pissed she flew off the handle at me like that."

"Please, that was straight girl conditioning. She had to react."

"I know, but you said yourself we have no reason to believe she might be-"

"No, we don't." Thank you, Robin. "Regardless, you guys clicked. You could just be good friends. Why let some stupid guy come between that? This was all just a simple misunderstanding."

"I just-" Emma could hear the exasperation in Regina's voice.

Emma's flashlight dropped from her hands with thud on the floor. Cursing herself, she silently prayed they wouldn't see her.

"Shit. People are coming. I'm out," Robin quickly assessed.

They exchanged an air kiss before Robin headed in the opposite direction of Emma.

Regina turned around and put her cranberry red Doc up on the ledge. Her hands ran down the back of her fishnets, smoothing out the invisible creases and straightening the seam. Her short black skirt hiked up to just barely decent and Emma was completely transfixed. Her mouth went dry as she watched black polish tipped fingers run down stocking clad legs. Dark locks fell over her shoulder as she bent over. She stared a moment too long before realizing what a creeper she was being and cleared her throat to warn Regina she's there before entering the scene.

"Hi." Emma said nervously, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Hey." Regina faced her, crossing her arms defensively. She worries her lip, not knowing what all Emma has heard. They stand there for a moment waiting for arguing or shouting or yet another dismissive cold shoulder...

"What do you want, Emma?" It's not so much harsh as tired. Regina sounded sick of this shit, too.

"To apologize. I thought… he made me think…" Jesus fucking Christ, she can't seem to form words. "I… Look, there's no excuse for treating you the way I did, regardless of what happened. And I know you did nothing wrong. He is an ass. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well… it sounds like you and Captain Guyliner need to work this out between the two of you."

"Yeah, we do. Or did. I don't know, I guess it's complicated, but I'd like you and me to start over. To try and be friends. I really liked talking to you last week."

"I enjoyed talking to you, too. And I seem to find that rare these days. So, yeah, it's fine. Just maybe keep your boyfriend away from me?"

"Yeah. Um, yeah, I think I can do that."

"Thank you."

They stood for a moment, awkwardly assessing the new situation between them.

Suddenly, Emma's eyes lit up. "You know I was watching Nightmare the other day and thought about you. I know you're a Burton fan, but we didn't discuss that one."

"Oh, did you catch that on Disney, too? I watched it. I love that movie."

They smiled at each other.

"So."

"So."

"Do you think… I can I call you maybe sometime this week? Ya know, if Child's Play or something is on..." Talking to Regina was so easy up to that point, Emma had no clue why that was the hardest thing she's ever said out loud. If Regina didn't want to, it was cool, it's not like she was rejecting her.

Oh God.

She felt the tightness through her chest in anticipation as she braced herself for Regina to lash out, full on Evil Queen and laugh in her face for trying so hard.

"Couldn't it be Planet 9 from Outer Space instead?"

Emma chuckled. And visibly relaxed.

Regina watched her, nervous in her own right "Yeah. Yeah, I won't hang up if you call."

The static crackled in Emma's ear and Leroy gave the all clear. It was time to go. Voices and shouts rang through the house of kids scrambling to get the hell out of there and head home, or out, for the night. Regina turned away from Emma and started walking to the exit.

"Wait, I don't have your number." Emma called after her.

"You'll figure it out," she called over her shoulder.

Emma's head fell back against the wall and she chuckled low to herself. Nothing about this was going to be easy.