A/N: Hello again friends! I've been ill so I got this chapter done a lot quicker than I expected. I might get another couple done this week if I'm still ill, so watch this space!
Once again thanks for reading/following/favouriting/reviewing :)
Emma decided that her and Henry would stay at Regina's house that night. She was yearning for her and Regina to spend a proper night together; not just sex, but an actual night, asleep in each other's arms, as cheesy as that may be. She'd had a hard time convincing her incessantly protective parents that she wanted to spend another night on 'stakeout' while Henry stayed with Regina, but they'd eventually relented.
As Emma and Henry walked up the path to Regina's house, Emma felt the now-familiar butterflies in her stomach. Even being in the same room as Regina was making her feel more and more incredible and she could barely keep her heart from beating louder than a fog-horn when she saw her.
They reached the door, and Emma stepped back behind Henry, a little nervous. Regina opened the door, and, standing there in the same outfit as she had on earlier, only now without her shirt and only a black camisole on with her pencil skirt, Emma nearly passed out.
"Hey Mom," Henry was the first to speak, greeting his adoptive mother cheerily.
"Hello Henry, why don't you go into the lounge and select a film for the three of us to watch." Regina smiled at him, touching him lightly on the shoulder.
"Okay!" Henry rushed past her and into the lounge.
"Miss Swan.." Regina glanced over Emma, pausing a little as she looked up and down her legs.
"Madame Mayor" Emma responded, taking a hand and stroking it lightly up Regina's left arm.
"Come on in," Regina opened the door more, and Emma crossed the threshold.
For the first 10 minutes of the film, Emma and Regina sat a little stiffly next to each other, with Henry on the floor inbetween them. As the film progressed, however, the two women began to relax more and more in the presence of their son, with Regina eventually pressed up against Emma, who was resting with her back in the corner of the chair. Emma wrapped one leg on top of Regina's, and stroked the brunette's hair with a crooked arm.
"Guys that's a little gross, even if you are awesome together," Henry directed at the legs wrapped around each other. Regina swiftly unattached herself and sat up a little, stroking her hair back into place.
"Yes, Emma. Hardly appropriate." Regina mocked Emma teasingly.
"Right, it was all my doing." Emma poked Regina's arm.
"You two will never stop fighting, will you?" Henry laughed at them, exasperated, as Emma grabbed Regina round the shoulders and started to protest how much she loved her, in spite of Regina's protestations.
Once the film was over, and Henry had said his goodbye's to his mothers, the two of them walked sleepily up to Regina's bedroom. After Emma took off her jacket and hesitated a little, Regina announced she was going to the bathroom to prepare for bed, leaving Emma alone in the room. The last time she was in here she hadn't really paused to take it in (she'd been a little distracted), but this room was really gorgeous, and really intimidating.
She felt incredibly out of place, like the opposite of a rose between thorns. She took off her jeans and shirt nervously, and stood awkwardly in her remaining tank top and underwear, before finally deciding to sit up against the headboard in what she hoped was a 'casual' way to wait for Regina to return.
When Regina did return, Emma was absolutely mesmerised by her. She had an almost innocence about her; fresh-faced and wearing a light blue nightgown and leaning against the doorframe.
"Holy crap." Emma whispered unintentionally, taking it in, as Regina smirked at her and crossed over to the other side of the bed. "We're just sleeping tonight, right?" Emma inquired, a little hopefully.
"I'm afraid so. I don't trust you to be quiet if I fuck you." Regina said this so matter-of-factly that at first Emma was at a loss for words. Regina's voice as she said "fuck" was not something to be taken lightly.
"Hey, you should take it as a compliment."
"I most certainly did…" Regina settled down under the duvet, and turned onto her side to give Emma a long, passionate kiss. She ran one finger through her hair, and one up her tank top as Emma grabbed the back of her head to pull them further in together. This continued for a few minutes, until Emma pulled away a little, sighing into Regina's mouth and laughing.
"If we aren't going to do anything you need to stop being so… you. It does things to me." Emma moans, turning over to lie on her back.
"I'm glad to see you find me so irresistible." Regina answered smugly, pulling Emma into her side.
"You sure are." Emma sighed contentedly, putting one arm behind Regina's head, the hand of which wrapped itself around one of Regina's. "So today was… bizarre." Emma considered.
"That's an understatement. It was great, though. Really."
"Of course it was; I got to spend time with you!" Regina let herself give an almost goofy-smile at this response from Emma, whose comments never failed to make her feel warm inside in a way she never had before.
"You really are a wet blanket at times, aren't you." Regina sighed, feigning displeasure.
"Yep." Emma smiled into Regina's chest. "Night, Regina. I love you."
Regina smiled again. "I love you too, dear. Goodnight."
The next morning, Emma woke up late to see that Regina was already up, and dressing for the day.
"Good morning, lazy. Come on, up." she hit Emma with the shirt in her hands, "Some of us have work to go to."
Emma whined, and pulled her head up hesitantly from the pillow. "Ughh…. I'm up, I'm up."
The two of them walked down into the kitchen, where Henry was already sat playing a handheld video game and sipping a drink of juice.
"Pancakes?" Regina questioned the room, getting two indistinguishable mumbles in reply. "Why yes, loving family member," Regina answered herself sarcastically getting the ingredients from the cupboard.
"Why yes, loving family member," Emma copied in a sickly sweet voice, wrapping her arms around Regina's waist.
"My god, you really are nauseating, aren't you." Regina laughed as she began to make the pancakes.
Later that day, after checking in at the Sheriff's office, Emma returned home and after a while was greeted with a knock at the door. Emma opened the door to see Ruby, in her usual work attire with a big grin on her face.
"Hey Emma! Can I come in? I just thought we should have a catch up, properly. You know, talk about things that aren't the curse or the witch."
"… Sure, come on in." Emma was a little confused about Ruby's sudden desire for a catch up, especially at a time like this, but she had never been one to pass up friendship.
The two women sat talking for a while, as Emma caught Ruby up on hers and Henry's life in the real world.
"So I heard about your boyfriend. Well, ex." Ruby looked at Emma sympathetically, with a slight furrow in her brow.
"Hook, right?" Emma sighed.
"Yeah, he thought it was hilarious. Are you ok though? It must have been awful. I mean, I'm familiar with double identities and all, but this is just something else!"
"I'm getting through. For Henry's sake, more than anything."
"So…" Ruby hesitated, "Nobody else you've got your eye on? We could go out, I could hook you up" The fact that Emma was still wearing her clothes from the previous night hadn't gone unnoticed with her friend.
"Thanks Ruby, but now's not really the time is it," Emma smiled. "I'm not really in the market for anyone right now."
"Out of interest, if you were looking for someone, what would they be like?" Ruby was careful to avoid gender pronouns.
Emma pondered this for a moment, before settling on what was essentially a description of Regina. She smiled at the thought. "They would have to be good with Henry, obviously. Strong, clever, able to take a joke, or at least tolerate me making them, caring, I guess… attractive. Oh and brunette; I have a thing for brunettes."
"Sure you didn't have someone in mind?" Ruby searched Emma's eyes, trying to get an admission out of her.
"Nope, they're just hypothetical."
".. I notice you didn't say 'he', just 'they." Ruby responded, which forced a slight cough out of Emma, followed by a smirk.
"I've always kept my options open, I guess, dating-wise. There's no room for narrow-mindedness, especially not in Storybrooke."
"Says the woman with a checklist." Ruby laughs, and sits back a little in her chair. She decided that, for now at least, it was best to leave things as they were, and to not confront Emma about what she saw. If the smile as she practically described Regina word for word was anything to go by, there'd be plenty of time for Ruby to come clean in the future.