A/N: So today is my birthday and as a treat I got to spend a bunch of time writing. Therefore, I have another update for you, my lovely readers! I know that people want updates to be frequent, but I don't like holding back chapters if they're ready, so I hope you'll enjoy.

Big hugs and thanks to my betas, Hunnyfresh and Lupwned who are amazing! And thank you for the many follows and favorites and the thoughtful reviews! You guys are the best!

Despite her initial fears that the week leading up to her date would last forever, Emma found herself on Saturday morning waking up in a panic. Like she had the day of the auction, she groaned and pulled herself out of bed before the sun, a feeling of cold dread pooling in her stomach. In this case, however, despite the numerous discussions she had had with Henry and her mother, there was no plan in place. They had discussed what Emma should do with her date, what Regina might be planning, how best to turn the date to her advantage, and what to wear. This last point felt like the one meriting most of the attention to Emma. She wanted to look perfect for the date, but she was unsure what the plan was so she was unsure what to wear.

In the end, Mary Margaret had helped her to select a simple but sexy little black dress. It was not inappropriate for the early hour of their date as the skirt hung to mid-calf and the three-quarter sleeve gave it a very classic look. Still, it fit her like a glove and with the collar exposing her shoulders and her hair pulled back to emphasize her long neck, she looked beautiful in it.

Emma took her time eating cereal while kicking her sock-clad feet, one sock hanging halfway off her foot. She was so absorbed in her thoughts about what the day ahead might bring that she didn't hear a soft knock and did not look up until she heard "Emma?" and looked over to see her mother standing in the doorway.

Snow, for her part, had paused a moment before saying her daughter's name, taking in her nervous kicking and her troubled expression. She knew that Emma was terribly anxious about her impending date. She took in her sloppy pajamas and her tousled hair and knew it had been a restless night. She gently let herself into the apartment and walked over to the table, sitting down and saying, "Oh sweetheart, I'm sure it'll be just fine."

Emma groaned and pushed the cereal away from her so she could lean her elbows on the table saying "I just really want to impress her but I always seem to get all nervous and defensive around Regina."

Snow snorted, "Honey, everyone gets nervous and defensive around Regina. She does that to people on purpose. You just have to be yourself. You are the only one who constantly challenges her. Besides, if she didn't like you as you are, why would she pay $5,000 to spend a day with you?"

Emma's scowl only deepened as she said, "That's what makes it even worse. Why would she spend that much money on a day with me?! She hates me! I mean I had hoped that I could maybe turn that around, but…what do you think she's expecting of me?"

Snow placed her hand atop Emma's on the table and waited until the blonde looked her in the eye, "What she's expecting, I don't know. But once we get you ready and out the door, what she's going to get is the hottest, most eligible bachelorette in town."

Emma gave a tentative smile at this and sighed, nodding her head. "I'd better go get in the shower if I want my hair to be dry in time to get ready."

Snow nodded and automatically picked up Emma's bowl and spoon, taking them into the kitchen and washing them. She knew that she had to help Emma build her confidence for this date, but in truth, she felt extremely apprehensive. Regina's demeanor throughout the week had been much more reminiscent of Emma's first days in Storybrooke than the recent months. She had been snapping at people more often and avoiding contact whenever possible.

Having known Regina for as many years as Snow had, she was unsure what the older woman was feeling, but she was certain that Regina was dangerous when she felt cornered. Although Emma had complained endlessly all week about the presumption of Regina insisting that because she had paid more she should get to plan the first date, Snow felt that giving some ground in this case might just get Emma through this alive, if not unscathed.

Although she had only known her daughter a relatively short time, everything she knew about her told her that Emma's feelings for Regina ran deep. She was not known to engage in romantic relationships, she favored pursuing meaningless encounters. Snow suspected Emma had not put this much thought and emotion behind courting one person for a very long time, if ever. Henry's involvement only complicated things further as Snow knew that if things did not go well, not only her daughter, but her grandson as well, would sustain a broken heart.

Emma emerged from her bedroom, hair hanging wet around her shoulders and dressed in a robe, distracting Snow from her musings and sighing as she sat at the table.

"What in the world have I gotten myself into?"

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Regina stormed into her office at 12:00pm precisely. She was determined to have everything ready to go but everything seemed to be going wrong today. That imbecile waitress at the diner had spilled a cup of hot coffee on her this morning, burning her lap and ruining her outfit. Normally, this would have been enough to set Regina's temper off. But she had painstakingly chosen the perfect outfit for her "appointment" (she refused to call it a date) with Emma in the afternoon. She had been nearly apoplectic and Ruby, who normally was fairly unshakable, made a run for the kitchen before the steam pouring out of the former queen's ears could scald her.

Regina had marched home and changed, but she felt now that all of her planning to carefully ensure that she was in a position of strength had been compromised. She felt edgy and much less confident of her current pinstripe pantsuit than she had her favorite charcoal pencil skirt and blue silk blouse. She was unsure why it even mattered so much to her what the sheriff thought of her outfit; this whole situation was utterly absurd.

Her assistant had been told to be at the office promptly at 12pm and that she may leave at 2pm. She had not, however, shown up until nearly 1pm, complaining about a flat tire or some such nonsense, forcing Regina to fire her and brew her own coffee. She glanced at the clock every few minutes, growing increasingly impatient to get this nonsense over with. Every time she looked at the time, she felt her anxiety and uncertainty swell.

1:03, 1:05, 1:08…

She needed to stop looking at the clock or she was going to go insane. She attempted to distract herself by reading a proposal to build a high school in Storybrooke. Under the curse, there had been no need for a high school, but now that the children were aging, they would need to expand. She read through the thorough fundraising plan and conceptualization.

1:12

Sighing, she gave up on the paperwork and stood, walking to the window and looking out on her town. She forced herself to take a deep breath and reminded herself that this was her town. She had spent decades controlling the flow of events to craft every minute detail to her liking. There was no way that she would allow the daughter of her enemy to make her lose her grip on things.

She was so lost in thought that she completely lost the thread of time passing as she stared blankly out the window. As a bright yellow bug pulled into the parking lot, she snapped to attention and glanced at the clock. 1:37. Emma was early. Indignant that her instructions had not been followed to the letter, she moved with catlike grace to perch herself on her desk chair, poised with pen in hand and waited for the blonde to burst through the doors like she generally did.

1:42

Surely it could not take five entire minutes for the blonde to walk inside. Regina believed she was dim, but even she could not be lost. She huffed and shifted her position, slightly, straightening the papers on her desk and flipping back her hair. The minutes crawled by as her hand, tightly gripping the pen began to cramp and she huffed impatiently.

1:48

Unable to stand it any longer, despite knowing that she risked the high ground if she appeared to care, she stood briskly and marched to the window. The sight that met her caused her hand to cover her lips hastily, suppressing a giggle. Despite her earlier feelings of animosity, the chuckle that left her sounded strangely affectionate, even to her own ears. Emma had stood from her bug and was pacing in front of it, restlessly checking her phone for the time every few seconds. She started to walk toward the door, clearly talking to herself, then glanced at the phone, shook her head, and turned back to the car. She did this two or three more times, Regina watching with a smile and shaking her head.

1:57

Glancing at the time again, Regina decided that the blonde was sure to get up the nerve in a moment and if she wanted to regain her poise, now was the time. She took up her place at her desk again, her lips curling upward again as she felt relieved that despite her own nerves, the sheriff was definitely much more off balance.

At precisely 2:00, a knock sounded at the door and Regina called "Come in" while carefully looking only at the paper in front of her. "Thank you for being on time, Miss Swan. Please hang up your coat and join me."

Emma swallowed nervously before removing her borrowed dress coat and hanging it on the coat rack next to the door. She turned and began walking toward the desk when Regina looked up, her eyes instantly widening.

Regina took in the tasteful yet unquestionably sexy dress Emma was wearing, with smoky make-up highlighting the green of her eyes and her hair pulled up into an intricate braid on top of her head. She looked stunning and Regina was completely unprepared. She had expected the sheriff to show up in her normal jeans and appalling jacket. She mentally shook herself as she realized she was staring and that Emma was sitting in front of her, looking increasingly confident under the clearly appreciative gaze of the mayor.

Standing and walking over to her sidebar, she poured herself a glass of water and asked "May I get you something to drink, Miss Swan? I'm afraid I don't have the disgusting sugary drinks you tend to prefer, but I have water, coffee, or tea."

"Water would be lovely, thank you."

Regina poured a glass and handed it to the young woman, still seated at her desk.

"But Regina." Regina looked up without speaking, urging with her silence for the blonde to continue, "If we're going to spend the day together, we may as well get on a first name basis. It's Emma."

Regina felt herself off balance again as she watched the blonde give a crooked half-smile and take a sip of water, a drop of it clinging to her lip before she flicked out her tongue to grab it. She cleared her throat. "Emma."

Even to her, it sounded like her voice had dropped an octave. She saw Emma's eyes flash with some unknown emotion and looked away, sitting back behind her desk and taking a moment to regain her earlier feeling of confidence in her ability to dominate this encounter. She mentally pulled on her mayoral mask and said, with an easy smile, "Well, Emma. I'd say we should get started, wouldn't you?"

Emma shrugged, unsure what to make of the rapid change of atmosphere. "I'm game. What did you have in mind?"

Regina reached down into her desk drawer, allowing Emma a glance down her blouse as she leaned over, showing just the barest hint of black lace. Emma forced herself to look away toward the ceiling. When Regina straightened back up, she smirked, realizing that the sheriff was attempting to be chivalrous by not looking at her chest.

"Why don't we start with these?"

Emma's eyes turned down toward what Regina was pointing to on the desk.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Regina lowered her voice seductively and purred "Oh I never kid about this, Emma," she drawled the sheriff's name, adding an extra dose of sultriness. "This is something I take very, very seriously. I expect you to be very, very thorough. You will not be leaving this room until I am completely satisfied."

Emma gulped with wide eyes as she took in the mayor, whose face was curled into a devastatingly sexy smirk. She nodded her head and reached out her hands.

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Emma slammed the door of her apartment as she entered and kicked her shoes off, not caring that they flew across the room, one of them knocking over a potted plant. She growled in anger as she tossed her coat onto the coat rack and her keys and phone onto the coffee table before flinging herself on the couch and throwing an arm over her eyes.

Snow came out of Henry's room frowning at the noise. "Emma?"

Emma merely grunted.

"It went well, I take it."

Emma sat up and looked at her mother with red-rimmed eyes. "It was horrible! I've never felt more humiliated."

"What happened, Emma."

"Nothing! That's exactly what happened. It's the same old Regina bullshit."

Snow sighed, sitting next to Emma on the couch and giving her a moment before she decided to prod again.

"So she mocked you or started an argument?"

"No, it was so much worse."

"She hurt you?"

"She barely fucking looked at me! Do you know what she had me come over to do? Paperwork! She had me filling out police reports she said she had asked for a week ago! She said she resented me not doing it during the hours Storybrooke paid me for, but that she was sure going to get her money's worth with her evening."

As Emma spoke, she angrily swiped at the tears that she could not stop from rolling down her cheeks. Snow felt unsure how to proceed. She could understand how Emma felt and she certainly didn't enjoy seeing her daughter hurt. Still, she couldn't help but feel that this was a really odd way for Regina to show her power. The Regina she knew as the evil queen or even the mayor could have devised a much more painful or humiliating evening for Emma if she wanted to. She also felt that maybe there was more to the story.

"So you just sat there and did paperwork the whole time?"

"Yes! Haven't you been listening?"

"So then you haven't eaten since this morning? I know you didn't eat lunch, you must be starving." She stood and walked toward the kitchen to make Emma something to eat.

"No, that's ok. Actually, Regina brought me dinner."

"Oh, I see. Grilled cheese from Granny's?"

"No, actually she made these homemade wraps and fresh vegetables. It was pretty good."

Snow sat back down next to Emma, her lip twitching slightly in the corner. "So she made you dinner herself."

"Yeah, I guess. She of course said that she refused to eat the greasy trash that I do."

Snow's smile grew. "And she just sat there silently while you worked and then sent you home?"

"Well, no. I mean we talked when we ate dinner about what Henry's been doing in school and stuff."

"I see."

"And when I was leaving, I sort-of kissed her."

"What?! Next time, that's the news that leads, Emma."

"It wasn't a big deal. It was really spontaneous and quick and she didn't even kiss me back."

"Wow. So you kissed her and she didn't kiss you back and then you just left?"

Emma shrugged, "What else was I supposed to do?"

"Emma, honey, I love you, but you are dense. You must get it from your father. He is so completely, adorably clueless sometimes."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Regina, the Evil Queen, the mighty Mayor of Storybrooke spent the day with you. She did not argue with you, she made you dinner, she made pleasant conversation about the son you share. All of these things are indicators that this evening was not a failure."

"But I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted it to be a date. I wanted her to kiss me back." With each sentence, Emma slouched down more in her seat, her voice dropping off to a petulant mumble.

"Sweetheart, when you kissed her, did she slap you?"

"No."

"Did she threaten you with sexual harassment or threaten to take Henry away or yell after you."

"No."

"What did she do?"

"I…I don't know, nothing. I can't be sure. I sort-of ran for it."

"Then you don't know what she felt about it. Maybe she just wasn't ready. Or maybe she just wants to be friends, wouldn't that still be better than all the fighting?"

Emma sighed again, deeply, "It would. But now I've screwed it up again. Who's to say that she won't threaten me now that I kissed her. Or that any friendship would even have a chance when I'm such a bumbling jerk."

Snow reached out and pushed a stray curl back from Emma's forehead. "Honey, you can't change the evening now. All we can do is plan an unbelievable date for when you get your turn."

Emma pulled a throw pillow and groaned at the thought that now she had to begin planning her own date. They had agreed on next Saturday, so she had less than a week and now she felt like she had no idea where to even begin.

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Regina took another sip of the scotch in her study, feeling the smooth liquor burn down her throat and warm her belly. She probably should have stopped after the first, but she feels so out-of-sorts that the heady intoxication she is building feels infinitely more comfortable than the dizzying thoughts racing through her mind.

Emma had truly wished for a date. Despite Emma's words outside the diner, she had never considered the younger woman to be serious in calling it a date. But she had been certain that the blonde truly did wish for one from the moment she strode in wearing that dress. Of all the possible motivations that had occurred to her for the sheriff's clear stretch of her expenses to purchase an evening with her, this was the most frightening.

She could acknowledge that the younger woman was attractive, but they had spent so much time at each other's throats that the thought seemed entirely foreign. Well, perhaps if she was honest, not entirely foreign. And they had been getting along much better recently.

Emma had clearly dressed for a date, not for an evening of paperwork. Regina had found her gaze wandering more often than it had toward her clock in the early afternoon toward the lovely woman in front of her desk. From under her lashes she had noted the way Emma pushed the tip of her tongue out of the corner of her mouth when she concentrated, a trait that thier son mirrored. She had noticed that when she got really frustrated, the blonde would try to run her fingers through her hair only to be foiled by the intricate braiding. She would pout for a moment each time this happened and then return to her work.

Regina found herself smiling softly at the recollection and shook herself, reaching to take another healthy gulp of her scotch. She had no reason to be noticing these inane details about the sheriff, let alone recalling them later in the evening when she was trying to unwind at home.

She had felt it only appropriate to provide dinner as she was certain they'd both have been forced to eat some greasy monstrosity from the diner if Emma had her way. She had taken care in preparing the meal, enjoying the opportunity to cook for someone other than herself for a change. Now that Henry was no longer at home, she felt most nights it was pointless to really cook and had taken to eating salads alone.

Their dinner conversation had been pleasant enough, but she certainly would not have considered it a date by any means. They had stayed on common ground, discussing Henry, and kept their comments brief and to the point.

But the thing that had her refilling her glass now for the second time was the thought that Emma had kissed her. She had leaned in as Regina reached to turn off the light when they headed out of the office and pressed her slim pink lips against Regina's plumper red ones. Before Regina could even formulate a response, the blonde had turned and fled, jumping in her car.

Regina had merely stood stunned for several heartbeats before pressing her fingers to her lips, marveling at the tingling they retained even after the blonde had driven away. The thought of the kiss now made her stomach churn. It was presumptuous and inappropriate and…wrong. Still, she couldn't help noticing that as she recalled the kiss now, her fingers had drifted back up to ghost over her own lips. She couldn't forget the taste of Emma's lip gloss on her lips when she licked them as she drove home alone. She couldn't deny the warmth she felt at the thought that maybe the blonde had something special in store for their date.

Even if she had planned something though, surely she would not carry through with it now that Regina had behaved as she did. She groaned and leaned her head back over the back of the couch, allowing it to hang over the back. She tried her best to shut out the thoughts that sought to force her eyes open once more and sighed deeply, the scotch helping her to put aside her disturbing thoughts as she fell asleep.

A/N: Reviews make awesome birthday presents. ;)