A/N - Swan Queen Week, Day Six: No Curse/Alternate Curse AU. Sorry about the delay, these last two were supposed to be posted last week but I had an impromptu trip and I couldn't write. But here we are. This particular one gave me the hardest time, I had no idea what to do so that's why you have this… thing. Oh, well. The title was taken from the song Give You What You Like by Avril Lavigne and I strongly suggest you listen to it while reading this because the story is loosely based on the song. Oh, and there's no curse and no Henry in this. I hope y'all read it and like it! xoxo

I'LL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU LIKE

Emma is lying in bed drawing random patterns on her companion's back, thinking about how she got into this mess.

It's been two years since she was appointed sheriff and started working with the insufferable mayor Mills, and it's been a year since she had knocked on said mayor's door (drunk off her ass) to yell some truths at that unfairly pretty face and instead they ended up having sex; that was the first but not the last time. Now they have this thing going on where they hate each other and hurt each other all the time but in bed.

"Why do we only stand each other in bed?" she asks out loud, not sure if rhetorically or to the woman beside her.

"Weren't you here five minutes ago?" the raspy voice on her left side says. "The sex is good."

"No Regina, the sex is amazing," Emma corrects her because, really, 'good' doesn't even begin to cover. "But that's it? It's just sex?"

"What else it could be?" the other woman asks in a bored tone. "You said yourself; we only stand each other in bed."

"Yeah, but what if…" she trails off. 'What ifs' aren't good; thinking about what it could be or what it could have been only hurts you and drives you insane. Emma knew that too well. What if her parents haven't abandoned her? What if she had been adopted by a nice family that would teach her what being loved feels like? What if she had believed love exists and given more chances to it? What if she and this woman beside her right now could love each other?

Truth be told, Emma wasn't sure if she hated Regina Mills at all. Their little banter is like foreplay to her, she actually likes it. Fighting with Regina is challenging, funny and hot as hell. Of course sometimes it hurts, Regina can be truly mean and it looks like she doesn't care, but if she did it would be good. Mayor Mills is the most passionate woman Emma had ever met, and if she decided to love Emma, it would be the most beautiful romance ever seen.

Because Emma is pretty sure she's falling for this mesmerizing brunette lying next to her. Even with all the venom and all their fights, she's falling for Regina and she wants more than these moments in bed where she pretends Regina is truly hers. She wants more than to be the cure for the woman's loneliness every now and then; she wants to be there all the time, loving her everywhere and not just between four walls.

What if they could make it?

"I should go," Emma says shaking her head and coming back to reality. It doesn't do her any good to muse about things that'll never happen.

"Already?" Regina asks turning to face Emma. "There were times when you could handle a few more rounds, Sheriff. I miss those times."

Emma doesn't answer; she doesn't look at Regina's face actually. She just turns to the other side and gets out of bed, already picking her clothes. She shouldn't have left her emotions get to her brain, she shouldn't have thought about those things, about Regina. She was now feeling more broken than she was before, and if she looked at the other woman's face she probably wouldn't hold the tears that are burning the back of her eyes.

"Well, you're in a hurry," Regina comments from the bed. As Emma remains silent, she asks "What's going on?"

"Nothing, I just have to go," Emma answers simply, but her voice cracks and it's obvious something's up.

Regina wraps a sheet around her torso and gets out of bed too, and walks towards Emma. She pulls the woman's chin to look at her just as a stubborn tear falls from Emma's eye. "What happened?"

Emma wipes the tear angrily, now more distressed because Regina had never seen her crying before. She just shakes her head and moves around the woman to get to the door and leave this place.

When she's at the door though she stops and decides that there's something she has to know, and it's gotta be now or she'll go crazy. "Can I ask you something?" she questions, looking back at Regina.

The brunette walks back to the bed and sits with the poise and composure of a Queen, it's breathtaking. "Sure," it's all she says looking at Emma.

The woman takes a deep breath. "Have you ever thought about us?"

"What do you mean?" Regina asks frowning.

"About this, this thing we have. Have you ever thought about it?"

"Why are you asking?" the other woman questions. "Do you want to stop? Because that's fine, but we both know it's not going to last. We tried before, and we always go back."

Emma smiles internally at this. They did try to break up at least a million times but they always come back. And that's gotta count for something, right?

"No, I meant…" she hesitates a second, but her resolve remains. "Actually I meant, have you ever thought about us becoming something more than this?"

Regina just stares at her for a few moments. "Does that have anything to do with why you were crying just now?"

Oh, she's good. Emma knows she can't deny it, Regina isn't stupid, so she just shrugs. "Well, have you?"

More silence before the brunette answers, "I have."

Emma's heart skips a beat at this. "Really?"

Regina rolls her eyes. "Contrary to popular thinking, I'm not a heartless bitch. We've been carrying this affair for close to a year now, of course I have thought about… us."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Emma asks, suddenly having trouble breathing.

"I didn't think you would care." Regina says with a shy smile. She looks more beautiful than ever right then.

"I would," Emma says sighing.

"Well, I know that now." Regina says back rolling her eyes again but still smiling.

Emma smiles back, and they stay like this for what seems forever.

"Do you want to come back to bed?" Regina asks patting her side on the bed, with a smirk on her lips and a new gleam in her eyes.

"Always," Emma says smirking too while crossing the room and jumping in the bed.

Maybe they could make it.

the end