On one hand, Emma Swan can count the number of times she had been this nervous. That number was 4. Was. The first time happened when she was taken to her first foster family. Emma Swan was a shy, reserved 5 year old that had only known heartbreak in her life up to this point. She was afraid of the new "mommy and daddy" the social worker assigned to her case had told her about on the drive over. Emma, even being that little, had never had a mother or father because she had been in a state ran foster home until then. That was the first time Emma was so nervous. The second time Emma was this nervous was when she found out she was pregnant. 19 and pregnant isn't the best place to be. Especially when you're in jail for the duration of your pregnancy. The third time Emma was this nervous was when that same baby she carried for 9 months took a bite of a poisoned apple turnover that was meant for her. She was so afraid she was going to lose the baby boy she had just gotten back. The fourth time was when Pan talked Henry into giving up his heart. Since then, things had been pretty normal for Emma, save her short stint as the Dark One, oh, and then there was that whole Snow Queen situation. But those were temporary, all of them. From the foster family to the sleeping curse Henry was under to being the Dark One. It all ended. But as Emma stood on the front step of 108 Mifflin Street like she had just a few days previously with her little brother in tow, she then added this moment to the list. Emma fidgeted with her hands as she worked up the courage to ring the doorbell. This time, there was no plucky little boy standing in front of her to take the attention away from her. She had to actually deliver with this date. But if she really thought about it, and she did, Regina hadn't exactly been wowed on any of the dates she had been on since she'd been in this world. Robin, while he was a nice guy, was even more clueless about this worlds' customs when it came to dating then Regina was. Graham was literally not even on the list of anything anyone would consider a date or stable relationship, though ironically, it was the longest relationship Regina had ever had, so to speak. So though Emma didn't exactly have any competition, she still wanted this to be the best date either of them had ever had. And if she was being honest, she hoped it was the last first date she would ever have to go on.

So as Emma stood on the front step and pressed a shaky finger to the illuminated button, she was sure she would faint. It took a matter of 12 seconds and about 150 heartbeats for Regina to open the door. And when she did, the sight of her made Emma's already fast heartbeat increase ten fold.

"Wow…"The blonde said as she searched for something a little more poignant to say. The smile Regina gave her grounded her and made her mind come back into focus. There before her, stood Regina Mills in a deep red dress that showed off her cleavage. It hugged every curve perfectly, almost as if it were made for her and her alone. But it was also the classiest and sexiest thing Emma had ever seen. It came right above the knee and a pair of 4 inch fuck me heels adorned her feet. Regina Mills was a damn goddess.

"Wow yourself. I think I'm overdressed." Regina said as she took in Emma in a pair of her best jeans, boots, a gray thermal shirt and a red vest. Her hair was in perfect waves down her back.

"Oh…yeah, well you see…. about what I'm wearing.."Emma said with a smile. On the outside she looked calm but on the inside, she was a ball of nerves. "..it's a little more appropriate for what I have planned. It's not that you don't look amazing…because my God, hot damn that dress, but it's not quite right for where we're going.."

Regina nodded slowly and looked a little surprised. But really, knowing Emma, she shouldn't have been. She should have really figured the blonde was taking her to Granny's, and that is exactly what she thought.

"Alright then, let me go change and I will be right down." Without even inviting Emma in, Regina shut the door and stormed upstairs, muttering something along the lines of Granny's not being an acceptable first date venue and 'I should have known.' But, because she had agreed to go on this sham of a date, or what she thought would be a sham, she put on a brave face, jeans, boots and a light jacket over a red button up blouse. It was Maine and it was Maine in the fall. It could get chilly and with the way she was feeling right now, she would not be letting the brainless blonde currently standing on her stoop keep her warm.

Meanwhile, Emma had picked up on the immediate change in Regina's behavior. See, Emma wasn't stupid. She knew how to plan a proper date. Unconventional…? Maybe, but it was still proper. Emma smiled to herself as she waited for the door to open again and her date to reemerge.

A few minutes later, Regina came out with a tight smile and her hands folded neatly in front of her. She allowed Emma to follow her to the car, open the door for her and close it when she was safely inside. The car smelled wonderful. It smelled like Emma; leather and cinnamon and those were two of the most calming scents to Regina, though she had no idea why. Emma rounded the hood of the car and climbed in on her side. The poor ancient thing roared to life as soon as the key was turned in the ignition.

"Emma, it really is a wonder this car hasn't fallen apart yet." She didn't mean it in a nasty way and Emma knew that. Emma smiled, patted the dash affectionately and shrugged. "We've been through a lot. I'm attached." Not another word was spoken that night about the condition of the car.

Emma put the car in reverse and the two women drove towards town in relative silence. Emma because she was so damn nervous and Regina because she was so damn agitated. As they neared Main Street, they moved right on passed Granny's. This surprised Regina and Emma could see the look of surprise on her face in the low light of the evening. She smirked internally to herself. This was going to be a good night.

After passing Granny's, Regina came out of her shell a little bit. They talked about their respective days and about Henry. But mostly they sat in content silence. It wasn't until they were nearing the town line, did Regina begin to get nervous. She could of course leave without running the risk of losing her memory, but she was still uncomfortable leaving. But as the sign proclaiming "Leaving Storybrooke" came into view, so did David and the truck he drove. This really had Regina confused.

"Are we having the date with your father?" Regina asked incredulously.

Emma only chuckled and shook her head. "Absolutely not. We're using his truck. I just knew I could get you into the bug easier than his truck, but now, I need you to get in the truck." Emma smiled.

That smile made her heart go crazy in her chest. She looked at the truck and back at Emma. Emma was picking up on the hesitation Regina was having and reached over and took her hand gently. "Hey, it's me. We need the truck for where we're going. Do you trust me?"

As soon as the question left Emma's mouth, Regina was turning her head back to look at Emma. And if Regina was being honest with herself, there was no one she trusted more in this world. Regina smiled and nodded her head. "I trust you, Emma." That was enough for Emma. She smiled and jumped out of the bug, rounded the car again and opened the door. Emma helped Regina out and Regina could see the bright smiled on David's face as he and Emma exchanged only keys and knowing glances but no words. Once safely in the truck, Emma made a sharp right turn onto a path that Regina didn't know about which was odd because Regina knew everything about her town. They drove again in comfortable silence until they came to a small clearing. As soon as they were in the clearing, Regina saw the reason she was no longer in a dress and in jeans instead. She gasped at the sight before her.

Emma Swan, in all her life had never been more proud of her abilities to plan dates. As soon as the small gasp left Regina's lips, she knew she had done well. In the small clearing was a large tree in the middle of it with a large white sheet turned projection screen and on the ground about 10 feet away from that was a complete couch with pillows galore, blankets and she could see a small dinner set up at a table not far from that. A projector sat off to the right of the screen and a DVD logo bouncing around could be seen. As Emma pulled the truck up and put it in park, Regina was still taking it all in.

"Now do you see why the dress would have been uncomfortable?" Emma said with a warm smile. Regina, still stunned speechless turned and did the only thing she knew to do, she closed the distance between her and Emma and wrapped her arms around her neck and hugged her tightly. This caught Emma off guard but she quickly fell into the embrace.

"Thank you." Regina whispered. No one had ever gone out of their way to do something like this for her. It warmed the deepest part of her soul. A 'You're Welcome.' wasn't necessary from Emma. After a few moments, Regina pulled away and smiled brightly. "Should we go?" She asked. Emma smiled and nodded and moved to open her door and Regina was right behind her. Emma reached for Regina's hand and Regina more than willingly took it. She walked Regina over to the table and pulled the chair out for her. Chivalry, after all was not dead and if her father found out she hadn't pulled her chair out for her, she'd never hear the end of it. Emma took her place across from Regina and the smile she had only moments earlier was gone without a trace.

"Emma, I'm so sorry…" she said gently.

Confused, Emma was bracing for the worst. "Sorry? For what?"

Regina's brown eyes met green and she sighed again. "I was so sure you were going to take me to Granny's or something after you told me I needed to change. I..I was mortified to think our first date would be a grilled cheese and stale beer.." Regina literally cringed at the thought.

Emma, being her usual self only smiled. "I could tell something was wrong when you didn't invite me in to wait while you changed. But it's okay, I promise. I probably would have been skeptical myself." She smiled sincerely. "Is this better than Granny's?" Emma asked with a hopeful tone.

Regina smiled and nodded. "Much better than Granny's."

After a few minutes of talking to calm them both, they began dinner. Emma had outdone herself and made the most delicious chicken and vegetable dish Regina had ever tasted. Regina raved over it, making Emma blush deeply.

After dinner, both women were stuffed. Luckily, Emma had enough foresight to forego dessert. So as they left the table, they made their way to the couch and Emma picked up a small remote. Regina sat down and smiled as Emma sat down beside her and draped a blanket over them two of them. "This seems oddly familiar." Regina commented and Emma smiled.

"Well, I can assure you, we won't be watching anything with superheros in it. We always let Henry pick the movie. Tonight, we get to watch what we want to watch."

Regina nodded and cuddled into Emma's side. "And what it is exactly that we are watching?" Without saying anything, Emma pressed the play button and Regina's favorite movie, You've Got Mail, began to play. Regina smiled wide and looked into Emma's eyes. She held her gaze for a few moments before she leaned in and kissed her cheek gently. "Emma Swan, you never cease to amaze me.." She whispered. And from then on, Emma vowed to never stop amazing the woman in her arms.

After a few hours of movie watching, both Emma and Regina were sleeping soundly on the couch. There had at some point been a shift and Regina ended up laying directly on top of Emma, her head on her chest and one of her hands intertwined with one of Emma's. Regina woke first when she heard the DVD menu music playing. She lifted her head and looked down at the blonde sleeping serenely below her. In that moment, Regina would have given anything to see Emma sleep like this for the rest of her days. Regina lifted her free hand and stroked Emma's cheek gently. She couldn't pin point the exact moment she went from wanting Emma to needing her, but it was as seamless as moving from one breath to another. It was just easy. The feather light touches to Emma's cheek woke her slowly and the sleepy smile she gave Regina made the brunette smile wide.

"The movie is over." Regina whispered.

Emma looked at the screen and nodded. "Oh,yeah. I guess I dozed off."

"It's alright, I did too. I just woke up a moment ago."

Regina smiled and did something she had been wanting to do since a few days previously. She lowered her lips to Emma's and kissed her so softly that it was barely even there at all. It took no time for Emma to deepen the kiss, not much just enough for Regina to know she really wanted her, wanted to keep kissing her. It could have been minutes or hours that they stayed on that couch sharing gentle kisses, wrapped in one others warm embrace.

After kisses were slowed and finally stopped and only given every now and then, Emma frowned. "It's late, I need to get you home."

Regina nodded and sighed. "You're right." She moved off of Emma and sat up, smoothing her hair where it had stuck up from their nap. "So, I have a question." Regina said as Emma stood and took her by the hand and led her back to the truck.

"What is it?" Emma responded.

"Can I plan the next date?" Regina asked with a smile.

Emma smiled and nodded. "So that means I get another date?" Regina smiled wide.

"And hopefully many more after that."

Emma smiled and kissed Regina again and squeezed her hand as they stood against the truck.

They rode back to the mansion in silence. Not because there was nothing to be said, because there was so much to be said but none of it was necessary. They were both right where they wanted and needed to be. They were both happy, blissfully happy. And as Emma dropped Regina off and walked her up to the front door, kissing her goodnight one more time, she couldn't help the goofy grin that erupted on her face. This was it. Emma was sure. It was like everything else in the world disappeared when she was with Regina. She didn't question the happiness. She didn't question the pain of the past or what got them both there, she just thanked whatever higher power there was that they had finally given into one another and into themselves.

For the first time in Emma's life, she walked away from a date feeling better than she had walking into it.

Please review beautiful people!