Flu Love's Kiss 14
A/N: Sorry not sorry for the evil cliffhanger. There were several people who correctly guessed! Thankyou lovely readers and reviewers. Enjoy :).
Chapter 14 - Home to you
Regina stopped dead in her tracks entering the Sheriff's station where Emma was nowhere to be seen.
"Regina! Henry told me you're back. I'm so glad," said Mary Margaret brightly, sitting on the edge of the Deputy's desk. David also turned around in surprise.
"Miss Blanchard. Why aren't you at school teaching my son something useful," said Regina to cover her discomfort.
"Oh, I just came to bring David's lunch, I have to go in a little bit." Mary Margaret checked her watch.
Regina's grip crinkled around the paper takeaway bag in her hand. "Where's Emma?"
"Out on a call. But she'll be back soon," offered David, but even so he wearing an narrowed expression something like 'what are your intentions with my daughter'.
A round of laughter came from the cell in the corner, attracting their attention. Whale sat on the cot with his foot on the edge and one arm resting on the bent knee. He lowered the book in his hand. Like the others, he'd realised her purpose in coming there.
"You've been cured of love sickness I see, Regina." Whale leered. "Or have you?"
"Whale," warned David with a sigh born of long suffering. "Shut up or I'll waterboard you."
Regina tamped down the temptation to incinerate them all and escaped without any effort at politeness. She berated herself, wondering what she'd been thinking going there at all. As soon as she hit out onto the streets she almost ran into someone.
"Hey, watch it," said Leroy. He was hand-in-hand with that clumsy girl from the nunnery.
"Get out of my way." Regina glowered at him.
"Hey, back up there, sister. I got something to say."
"I'd be delighted to not hear it," said Regina, intending to push past them.
"You better take care of that kid," he warned.
Regina pinned a malevolent glare on the short man. "Excuse me? My son is none of your concern."
"I meant Emma," Leroy lowered his bushy eyebrows and then looked her up and down as if to size her up.
Regina exhaled sharply. Apparently the dwarf's gruff affection for Snow White extended to her child as well. Of course everyone was worried about Emma's heart and not hers. They didn't know that she was the one in the relationship without the benefit of knowing she'd ever be loved in return.
"Hey, it's cool," said Leroy, shrugging. "I dig it. I know what it's like to be in love with a girl who everyone says you shouldn't be with."
He held up his and Astrid's stuck hands and gave her a grin as they walked away.
Regina couldn't be bothered risking walking the rest of the way home and encountering more Storybrookers threatening her against doing something to hurt Emma. She was just about to disappear into smoke when she heard footsteps coming up behind her, expecting it to be someone else warning her off.
"I'm not going to hurt Emma!" said Regina, getting exasperated. She whirled around to see the woman herself standing there with a comically raised eyebrow.
"Glad to hear that," quipped Emma. "But now I'm wondering why you have to say it... and to an empty street."
Regina made a noise of frustration. "Emma, everyone knows about us."
"Yeah, that's gonna happen eventually..." said Emma, unsure what the problem was and thinking maybe Regina was already starting to have regrets.
"When secrets come out... people get hurt," said Regina, looking away into the distance.
"It's going to be ok," said Emma softly, reaching for her hand.
"Emma, just because you keep saying it doesn't make it true."
"Actually, that's exactly why it's true." Emma smiled at her gently and laced their fingers together. "And hey, this is new ground for me too. So if you're freaking out, can you let me know before it gets to the point where you burn the town to the ground?"
"I'd spare you and Henry," said Regina sighing. "And your parents I suppose... if I must."
"What are you doing here anyway?"
Regina cleared her throat and held out the takeaway bag. "I brought you lunch."
Surprised by her gesture, Emma peeked in the bag. "Cheeseburger. Aw, that's so sweet."
Regina grimaced. "I am not sweet. I ruin lives."
Emma snorted and rolled the top of the bag closed. "Well, you were doing a crap job of 'ruining my life' this morning when you had your tongue down my throat."
"You'll have to re-heat that now," said Regina, referring to the lunch.
"Eh. I like it better when it's a bit soggy."
Regina gave her a look of disgust, clearly re-evaluating what she'd gotten herself into. But the frown melted away when Emma leaned in and kissed her.
"You're picking up Henry after school right? See you at home later."
"Home?" repeated Regina, wondering which place she meant.
"Yeah," said Emma, pushing open the door to the station and giving her a wink. "Where the heart is."
Regina decided to walk home after all, bypassing the store on the way in order to pick up a few groceries for dinner. She knew from Henry that Emma had been feeding him all manner of unhealthy things over the last few weeks - dinner was more likely to be pizza or nachos than anything involving vegetables or nutrients.
She stopped on the sidewalk outside of Game of Thorns and after a long hesitation she went inside the shop before she could change her mind.
...and immediately regretted it. What was she doing browsing in a flower shop for someone who had never indicated an inclination for flowers anyway? And as dopily romantic as it was, there was no way Emma was going to fall in love with her because she bought her a few blooms no matter what Henry's plan said.
She spied Belle over near the counter and went to duck out of the shop quickly.
"What a pleasure it is to see you recovering so well, Regina," said an accented male voice from behind her, stalling her escape.
"Gold." Regina gritted her teeth and turned around slowly, wondering if her luck could get any worse today.
"How are you getting on with Miss Swan?" said Gold, as though he were making a polite inquiry about an acquaintance.
Regina's lip into a dangerous leer. "Oh, we're getting off just fine, Emma and I. How is it with you and Belle? Remind me, what is the age difference between you... is it three centuries or four?"
Gold just smiled genially through her sass. "How is Mary Margaret taking the news?"
Regina was just about grinding her teeth away at how the entire population of Storybrooke had suddenly become so preoccupied with her love life. Didn't these people have anything better to do? Hopefully, Emma would turn out to be right and everyone would get bored of it soon. But Gold was not as harmless as the rest of them... he had the power to make life very hard for her if he chose.
"Mr Gold." Regina donned her best winning politician demeanor. "In this world we both have much to lose. How about a truce?"
"What do you have in mind," said Gold wryly. "Stay away from my girl and I'll stay away from yours?"
"Something like that."
Gold pressed his lips together and nodded slowly, accepting her proposal. "Sounds more like a stalemate than a truce..."
He leant on his cane and reached past her to collect an enormous bunch of blood-red roses from the stand. He spoke over his shoulder before heading for the counter.
"...there may come a time when you have something I want."
Regina rolled her eyes, dismissing it as Gold's attempt to irk her and get the last word in. She left the shop empty-handed.
Regina waited outside the school in the thick of the chaos as kids chased each other out of the gates and parents waited in groups chatting outside the line-up of SUVs. She'd caught a few looks directed at her here too. She wasn't that well known by sight surely. Hardly anyone in Storybrooke had known the Mayor personally and in the other land even fewer of them had seen her queenly visage in person. How bizarre that they knew her better as Emma's lover than for casting the curse.
Henry was one of the stragglers out of the gate and he was walking with a blonde boy, both of them had their heads stuck in the comic Henry was holding.
"Henry?" Regina called for his attention to let him know where she was among the crowd.
"Mom! Can Tim come over?"
Henry's young face was so full of excitement she wouldn't have said no for anything. Regina was shocked to see that a huge bruise blackened the other boy's eye at the same stage of healing as her son's own bruise. Henry was now friends with the boy he'd been in a fight with?
"Of course."
"Yes!" said Henry, happily giving a high-five to his friend.
"Thanks, Mrs Mills," said Tim politely.
But their little celebration was short-lived. A large harassed-looking man turned up and made a beeline for Tim.
"Get in the car, boy."
"But Mom said I could-" Tim started.
"Go," ordered Mr Montague, before turning on Regina.
"I don't want my son to be around your kind of people," he blustered. "I don't care what my wife says."
Regina's anger flared dangerously but Henry's presence reminded her of all she had to lose by retaliating. She was heartily sorry that her son would have to witness this as it was. Not that she couldn't do it but the last thing Henry needed was seeing her murder his friend's father in front of an entire school of children and their parents. There was no way she was going to give this man the satisfaction of it.
She gave Montague a death glare and put an arm around Henry's shoulder. "Let's go, Henry."
They walked back to the car quietly.
"Are you ok, Mom?"
Her heart ached. "Yes, sweetie. I'm so sorry-"
"It's ok." Henry said but disappointment still sagged his shoulders.
"Maybe Tim can come another day," suggested Regina, though she thought it was unlikely… but Henry's next words surprised her.
"Yeah don't worry, he came last week already. Mrs Montague came over too to have coffee with Emma. Tim lives with just his Mom now. She's nice."
"It's funny," said Henry suddenly, pulling at his backpack straps.
"What is?"
"Mr Montague wasn't afraid of you."
He should be, Regina thought darkly. That moron was more worried about the fact that she was with Emma when he really should've been afraid of her using her powers to snuff out his miserable existence. Her commitment to change had been sorely tested in several ways today after only one day of coming back and starting a new life. What difference did it make being good if it kept you vulnerable to all the hypocrites and liars and dangerous people who sought you out, she thought bitterly.
"You really have changed," said Henry, looking up at her happily.
And then she realised it made all the difference in the world.
When Emma walked in the door to 108 that evening she was greeted with the sounds of laughter and a heavenly aroma coming from the kitchen.
"Is it ready yet, Mom?" she heard Henry ask.
"Henry, get out of the pasta. You're worse than Emma," Regina chastised lightly.
"When's Emma getting home."
"After work, not long I hope."
Emma smiled while watching them both through the doorway, hardly believing how lucky she was. Most of her life she'd spent alone, relying on only herself, and now she had found not just her parents but a family of her own to come home to as well. Only yesterday she'd been dragging her feet through the day, missing the one who was missing from her life. Today, she'd sailed through everything on cloud nine and raced home eager to see her. That feeling would never go away.
Henry noticed her come in to the kitchen to join them at the bench where Regina was dishing out the steaming hot pasta onto three plates.
"Emma!" cried Henry happily.
"Hey kid," Emma ruffled his hair on her way over to Regina. "Hi. Need a hand?"
Regina smirked at her choice of words and finished pouring the neopolitana sauce over the meals. "Not if we want dinner to be edible."
Emma pretended to be wounded. "That hurts, Regina. How was your day?"
"Terrible," said Regina dryly, taking the saucepan to the sink. "Started off well, then it only got worse. But things may improve now though..."
"You know, saving the day is kinda my thing," hinted Emma with a lopsided smile. She grabbed Regina's waist and pulled her towards her to capture a kiss...
The Storybrookers eventually got over the novelty of them being together since they were only one of many couples who were united by Love Flu infection. Following the known history of Love Flu epidemics, there were an unprecedented number of marriages in Storybrooke that year but there were also a number of relationships that fell casualty, including Timothy Montague's parents'. As the bruises faded on both their faces, Henry and Tim became best friends upon finding common ground in their shared interest in fantasy fiction.
Back in the dining room, Henry watched his mothers steal look from each other over dinner and tilted his head at them curiously. "So you guys are together now?"
"Yeah. Is that ok with you kid?" said Emma, hoping like anything that he wouldn't say no.
Henry grinned happily. "Yeah! This is gonna be great. But Emma, I thought you didn't even like Mom."
Emma swallowed nervously and shot the brunette a look. "I uh, I do. I like her a lot."
Henry persisted with his questioning. "But how long have you liked her? You guys were always fighting!"
"I dunno. Maybe I was just trying to get her attention?" Emma's lips twisted into a smile.
"Ohhh," said Henry, happy with that explanation. "Hey! It's just like in my book- Snow White and Prince Charming didn't like each other at first either."
Emma tried to contain a burst of laughter at the look on Regina's face at hearing her own love story compared to the one she tried to destroy...
Mary Margaret and David were able to push aside old prejudices and fears to accept that their daughter's life was now joined with their former enemy's. It was complicated at times but all of them made a strained kind of effort to get along for Emma and Henry's sakes. Having essentially traded Emma's childhood for the price of the breaking the curse they decided they would never again compromise their daughter's happiness. Regina riled them up at every chance, stubbornly maintaining that the only thing she liked about Mary Margaret was her chin.
After dinner, Henry ran off to play in his room and Emma cornered Regina before she had a chance to clear the table.
"I know what would make today much better..." Emma whispered like a song and wrapped her arms around her, holding Regina tight before she could escape.
"Emma Swan you are so easy. Don't you want to wait until you're in love?"
Emma pretended offense. "Hey, I'm just trying to be consistent here. We've already done this whole thing backwards: first we had a kid, then we moved in together... I figure we're due to have sex and then we can go on our first date."
"Henry's got a plan for us." Regina smirked and took Henry's folded-up paper out of her pocket.
"Smart kid. He gets that from me. It's obviously my genetic influence."
Regina just looked at her in amusement. Emma scanned the plan written in Henry's scrawl, noting that the young boy's plan was good but he had left out a fair few of the more adult things that she had in mind.
"Geez our kid is somewhere between creative genius and evil mastermind, you know that right?"
"Yes. He gets that from me." Regina smiled wickedly...
Predictably, Emma and Regina's first date did not go well despite the grand plans that Henry concocted. In fact it led to a fight, neither the first nor the last by far, but it was their first one since becoming a couple and there was plenty of hurt in the air. Two people with nothing between them have nothing to fight about and since the stakes were higher now, there was more kindling between them than ever before to catch alight.
At first Regina outright refused to talk about certain things but as she and Emma got to know each other and spent time together over the days, weeks, and months that passed, the secrets fell between them one by one. Regina realised that she had been the one standing in her own way and came to trust Emma's promise that things would work out. She finally got to experience love with the one she loved, having only had one or the other exclusively in her previous life.
One small change led to another and though neither of them could see it, Emma's heart began to soften in her chest and it gradually suffused with a blood-red glow. To Emma, it felt both the same and yet completely different to the first time she'd fallen in love. After a decade of stoic loneliness it felt wonderful to finally have someone in her life, someone in her bed, and someone in her heart. And the best thing was they were all the same person - the woman she'd long held an attraction for - never thinking it was anything more than one-sided until it began to grow into love.
Emma and Regina had been stuck together when Love Flu first came to Storybrooke... but they'd been inseparable ever since.
A/N: Epilogue to follow.