Seatbelts on people! Hope you're having as much fun with this story as I am.
Just after 7 am, a tiny treacherous sliver of sunlight breached a gap in the drawn curtains, pulling Emma from a dream. She momentarily forgot where she was and looked around to reorient herself. She looked beside her, and Regina was burrowed under the covers, her dark hair cascading over the pristine white pillow. They had fallen asleep wrapped up in each other, but Regina had drifted away in her sleep, the tide of the night washing her away across the vastness of the king size bed.
Emma rolled over to her, wrapping her arms around her once more, pushing Regina's naked body onto her side so she could tuck her limbs against her. She pulled her hair carefully to one side so she could bury her face protectively into the back of the brunette's head, first leaving a neat little kiss where her neck and shoulder met.
Regina let out a sleepy little noise, registering Emma's presence, but returned to her steady breaths and light chuffing, still sleeping soundly. Holding her like that, it felt so good, and Emma realized she was finally start to trust it, to rely on it, to need it like air. Part of her hated needing someone else because she knew that pain of being cast aside so well, but somehow Regina had pushed through all that scar tissue and found the soft flesh underneath.
The words, they were on the tip of her tongue, pushing at the outskirts of her mind, trying to get out. Wanting to be realized. Waiting to be said. And as she rewound through the previous night, she knew Regina felt the same—giving herself so willingly to Emma had been a big step for both of them, for their relationship.
So she let some of the words weave their out, the letters coalesced, formed, and escaped in a breathy puff of air, left to linger in the atmosphere.
"I'm falling for you."
Content to have put voice to persistent thoughts, Emma nuzzled her nose into Regina's spine, tightened her arms around her, and fell back to sleep.
Regina's eyes cracked open, her lips forming a tiny smile.
—-
"Open your mouth."
Something smells like doughnuts. Emma opened her eyes, and sure enough there was a black basket in front of her filled with something that looked like a cross between a jelly doughnut and a scone.
Emma obediently opened her mouth, and a light, sugary pastry was gloriously overpowered by a burst of tart, creamy blueberry, and the blonde closed her eyes and moaned in satisfaction.
"Oh my god. Yum. That is incredible. Mmmm."
She opened her eyes to see Regina wrapped in a white robe, sat indian style on the bed in front of her, a a smile painted crookedly across her face.
"I'm starting to regret this. That beignet is making me incredibly jealous," Regina said smartly.
Emma reached over and smoothed her hand across Regina's exposed thigh.
"Nothing to be jealous of. I'm pretty sure you coax those same sounds out of me. This beignet doesn't hold a candle to all of that," Emma said, gesturing to Regina. "How long have you been up?"
"About an hour. I figured you'd be starving since we never went to dinner last night. I hope you weren't disappointed. You were going to take me to your favorite place," she said.
"Disappointed? After last night? That would make me a crazy person. Last night was…" Emma shook her head, trying to conjure the right words. "Earth shattering. I'll never forget last night."
Regina landed a light kiss on her lips.
"I feel like a different person," Emma said, stretching her arms lazily. "I can hardly remember what a shit day I had before I got here. Or that fucking jerk Gold."
"Gold? What are you talking about?" Regina said, her voice sharpening.
Emma sat up a little straighter, pushing her hair behind her ears.
"Oh that's right. I didn't really have a chance to talk to you much last night. He came into the restaurant yesterday to see me," Emma explained.
"What did he want?" Regina said, her face pulled into a frown.
"Oh, he insinuated he knew that we knew each other and threw around some threats. That guy is such a creep," Emma said. "But I told him to get lost, and that was basically it."
Regina stood up, forking a hand into her hair. She put the basket of beignets on the desk and began to pace worriedly. Emma pulled herself completely upright, scanning the floor for a shirt to throw on. She found her tank top and underwear, and pulled them on quickly, glancing over at Regina who had grown pale and withdrawn.
Emma moved to stand in front of her and grabbed her hands in her own, pulling them into her chest to bring her girlfriend's focus back to her.
"Regina? What's wrong?"
"He threatened you?"
"Sort of indirectly. He said something about me being able to convince you to change your mind or something and how quickly things can go bad in a restaurant. I kind of tuned him out at that point. He's a total douchebag. But I'm not scared of him."
Regina looked up at Emma, her eyes filled with tears, her face pinched and drawn.
"Not again," she said, so quietly Emma almost missed it.
"Not what?" Emma said, trying to bring Regina into her arms.
But Regina was suddenly on hyperspeed, scampering around the hotel room, collecting her things, slinging her laptop bag over her shoulder.
"Regina! Honey, please stop a second. Talk to me. What is happening?"
Regina took a deep, shuddery breath and looked at Emma square in the face.
"What is it? Is this about Gold?"
"No, Emma. I'm so sorry. But I need to go. This isn't going to work between us. This might seem… harsh, but I just can't. I thought I was ready, but I'm not. Please don't follow me, don't call."
Emma suddenly felt like she was hyperventilating, her heart racing, her stomach churning. Her eyes filled with tears, and she felt that violent, searing rejection cut her in from deep inside her. She looked again at Regina's face, trying to find her, but the lines were harsh and her eyes were cold.
Her throat was tight, and she couldn't find her voice, a thousand thoughts screaming to get out, to stop Regina, to shake her.
She turned without another word, walking fluidly to the door. But then she stopped, looking back at Emma a final time, her face final cracked with pain, and she left.
And Emma ran to the bathroom, emptying the contents of her stomach.
—
She sat on the bathroom floor for a long time, hiccuping and gasping for air, until finally she felt dried up. She stood, washed and dried her face, brushed her teeth, and pulled on her clothes. She walked back into the bedroom and gathered her things, picking up her phone and pulling up her contacts and pressing the call button on the one person who could help her make sense of this.
"David? I need you."
—
It was David's day off from work, so she drove to his apartment across town. She stopped at the traffic lights and merged on the highway, but she felt like a robot, barely aware of her surroundings.
She played the last hour over and over in her mind, but she couldn't make sense of it. Something had spooked Regina, but it felt impossible to piece the puzzle together without more information. But really, she was hurting too much to form coherent thoughts. The rejection felt like an anvil in her chest, and not because someone turned their back on her, but because Regina had, the thought once again bringing tears to her achy red eyes.
She parallel parked on David's street and walked up the three floors to his apartment, knocking gently at the door.
David opened the door with a big smile, which evaporated instantly when he saw the state Emma was in.
"Come inside," he said, grabbing a hold of her hand. He pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. "What happened?"
Emma knew she had to rewind from the beginning since she hadn't talked to David since she and Regina got together. How is he possibly going to understand all of this?
"Well, kind of a lot has happened since we last spoke. The thing is, Regina and I—"
"I know about that, Emma. Regina told me all about it. She sounded so happy. She sounded so excited. So, well, in love."
Emma began to cry instantly at his words. He pulled her in to his chest for a hug, rubbing soothing circles at her back. He let her sob into his shirt, emptying her pain out into him. Finally she pulled back, looking apologetically at his wet shirt and up into his face.
"I'm sorry," she said hoarsely. "This just happened, and since you know her so well—"
"What just happened?"
Emma recounted the events, telling him about Regina's column in the Globe, which David had seen. She told him about her ugly interaction with Gold, in more detail than what she had described to Regina, and a knowing expression settled upon his face. He put his hand on hers and squeezed.
"You told her what Gold said, and she left you?"
Emma nodded numbly.
"Oh honey. I'm so sorry. That must have been a killer. But it's not about you, darlin."
"What do you mean?"
David stood up and wordlessly began boiling hot water, pulling chamomile tea bags from a cabinet and dropping them into two mugs.
"You remember everything I told you about Daniel, right? About how her mother didn't approve and made his life a living hell?"
"Yes, of course," Emma said.
"Well, it was more than that. Her mother, Cora, she was directly involved in his death. She had been threatening him for weeks. And although we could never exactly prove it, we believe she drove him off the road and caused him to lose control of his car," he said, stealing a glance at Emma who was gaping at him. "People at the scene of the accident said they saw her car."
"For Regina, the pain of losing Daniel and knowing it was her own mother that caused his death—she felt responsible. It's why she locked her heart away for so long, I think. Why she couldn't even work in a kitchen anymore. I think she believe that allowing herself to love someone could be her—and their undoing—and it was just too much for her."
"Oh my god," Emma said. "Did she go to the police?"
David shook his head glumly.
"There was nothing to go on. And at the end of the day, it was her own mother. Plus, she was pregnant, so she had to try to regroup and gather enough strength and courage to give birth alone and ultimately raise a child," David said, removing the boiling water from the stove and pouring it into the mugs. He set one in front of Emma, pulling the honey down from the shelf and offering it to her.
"Thank you. I wish I had known. I asked her about Cora once, but she didn't seem quite ready to talk about it, and I didn't want to push," Emma said. She rubbed her eyes and looked up at David thoughtfully. "Do you think I lost her? I'm not sure I could handle it. I, I'm… I'm in love with her. Like, hopelessly."
David offered her a gentle smile.
"Did you tell her?"
"Sort of. But I'm not sure if she heard. She was sleeping," Emma said, chagrined.
"Swan! What the hell?"
"I was afraid. And, apparently, for good reason. Am I crazy to go after her if I know it's just going to end in heartbreak? For me."
"First of all, you don't know that. You're the one person who could actually reach her, Emma. And I think if you can't, I'm afraid she's going to be very lonely for a very long time. I know she feels the same way about you, Emma. I had never heard her like this—giddy, almost. Not even with Daniel. Don't give up on her."
"What the hell can I do?"
"Convince her that you can't let someone like Gold or Cora, or anyone else for that matter, dictate who you love. And make her understand that you'd rather fight that asshat with her by your side than live your life without her. I know the relationship is new, but sometimes you just know. She's your person."
Emma raised an eyebrow at David.
"Uh, hello, Price Charming. Are you speaking from personal experience?"
David's face broke into a smile.
"I asked her to marry me, Emma."
"Snow Wh—I mean Mary Margaret?"
"No. Mary Poppins. Yes, and I caught that."
Emma reached over and hugged him.
"David! That's amazing. I'm so happy for you!"
"I'm glad you're here, actually, because we decided not to wait. We are getting married in a month on her parent's farm. Really small wedding. But I want you to stand by me, be my best… whatever."
Emma's eyes were wide, her jaw hung slack.
"David! Congratulations. I am so happy for you."
"Thank you. But right now, we have to get to work. We have a queen to win you."