A/N - Swan Queen Week, Day Seven: Forbidden Love AU. So we reached the final point of our journey. I don't know about you guys but this has been a lot of fun for me. I really enjoyed writing these little stories (even the shitty ones) and sharing with you guys, and mostly I loved the feedback I got because you guys are the best. Thank you for sticking with me and being so supportive, I love y'all. A special shout out to RexCigni for being such a blessed amazing human being and convincing me to not give up on my dream; you're the one who have a gift my friend, and I'm forever thankful that you shared that with me. Also, a shout out to my Wifey for being so wonderful and just because I love her so much. The title of this one was taken from the song Alone Together by Fall Out Boy, and you should check out their album Save Rock and Roll because it's awesome. Thank y'all for everything, I apologize for all the mistakes. I hope you read this last piece and like it! xoxo
LET'S BE ALONE TOGETHER
It's almost 11:00 pm and hell broke loose in the Mills mansion.
Henry is crying and screaming, refusing to go to sleep or be comfort at all. It's not the first time he throws a tantrum, but it never has been this bad. Regina is already emotionally unstable enough because of her previous fight with Leopold, and adding Henry's fit she's two seconds away of a mental breakdown. She's just so fucking exhausted.
But it's not like Henry wants her anyway. He's been running away from her since this whole crisis started, he doesn't want her touch and that's what's freaking her out the most. Usually he makes these scenes to get the attention of his parents but now he just wants to cry and scream as far from them as possible. And the boy is absolutely terrified of his father. Whenever Leopold tries to hold him, or stand five feet away from him for that matter, Henry's crying increases at least two levels.
Now the boy is on the far corner of his parents' bedroom and both Regina and Leopold are at the entrance trying to calm him down.
"Make him stop!" Leopold yells at Regina with a tone that says if she doesn't succeed at this task in the next few seconds he's gonna take matters on his own hand and it's not gonna be pretty.
"I am trying!" she yells back, her patience wearing thin, before turning to her son. "Henry please, tell Momma what do you need! What do you want baby?"
"I want Emma!" the boy screams from his spot.
"Oh baby, Emma isn't here now," Regina says calmly to avoid another round of crying.
"But I want her!" Henry refuses. "I want Emma! Just Emma!"
"Who the hell is Emma?" Leopold asks.
"His nanny," Regina replies with an eye-roll; of course he doesn't remember the nanny he hired himself. Then to Henry, "I'm sorry sweetheart, it's very late and she isn't here. Can't Momma do anything for you?"
"No, I want my Emma!" the boy screams again before running to the bathroom and slamming the door.
"That's it, he's gonna learn now," Leopold states angrily walking towards the bathroom.
Before Regina can properly panic he starts at the door and struggles with the handle. "It's locked. The little bastard locked the door!" he the starts knocking hard on the door. "Henry! Open this damn door!"
The half second of relief Regina feels at her husband not being able to get to her son ends when she realizes how dangerous the bathroom can be to a 4 year old. Electric outlets, cutting objects, glass, medicines, lots of water, etc.
She then joins Leopold at knocking on the door. "Henry baby, unlock the door, please! You can't be alone in there!"
Inside the bathroom, ignoring his parents' yelling and knocking, Henry is sitting at the floor trying not to cry and be a big boy like Emma taught him. But he's too distressed; he really needs comfort right now, a comfort he can only get from his best friend. He looks around trying to find a way to get what he wants, and that's when he sees the phone receiver on top of the sink. He climbs the shelves under the sink to get to the phone, knocking out various objects in the process, the noise just making his mother freak out more outside the door.
Once he puts his little hands on the phone he tries hard to remember how Emma taught him to call her. On the third go, it works.
"Hello?" Emma's sleepy voice comes from the device.
"Emma?" the boy asks hesitantly.
"Henry?" Emma's suddenly very alert. "Henry, what happened? Is everything okay?"
"Emma come home!" he tries not to cry again but he's so shaken he can't help it. "Please Emma you have to come home!"
"Okay buddy, I'll be there in five minutes," she says while getting up, putting a sweater over her pj's, tying her blonde hair up in a messy ponytail, and grabbing her car keys. She doesn't disconnect the line just in case.
Exactly five minutes later she's knocking at front door of the Mills mansion just to have a frantic Regina answering.
"What are you doing here?" the woman asks shocked.
"Henry called me," Emma answers. She doesn't comment on how scared the boy sounded.
"How did he know how to call you?" somehow Regina seems more panicked with the fact that the boy had actually called his nanny.
"I taught him," Emma says starting to get a little unsettled herself. "So in case of an emergency he could contact me and I could help."
Regina stares at her with frantic eyes for a few seconds, mulling over if this is an emergency or not. She didn't want to bring Emma Swan into this whole thing but she was really nervous with the boy locked in her bathroom. Besides, the woman had already come here and she was definitely not going away just because Regina told her to; Henry probably sounded distressed on the phone and Emma really cared about him.
"He's throwing a fit for no apparent reason," Regina explains while moving from the entrance so Emma could come in. "He didn't let me or his father get any closer to him, and now he locked himself in my bathroom and I'm scared he may hurt himself in there."
Emma just nods and follows her through the house. Once they reach the bedroom Leopold throws a death look at Regina. "You called the fucking nanny?"
"She didn't," Emma answers before the brunette can open her mouth. "Henry did."
"How did he know how to call you?"
"I taught him, in case of an emergency," the blonde explains once again.
"Well, there's no emergency here. We're all fine, you can leave now," Leopold dismisses her angrily, probably having his pride hurt for not being able to calm his son and needing the nanny. "Everything is under control."
"Yes, Regina explained me the situation," Emma says trying to not rile him so she can check on Henry. "But I already drove all the way here, might as well see if I can do something, right? Isn't that why you pay me for anyway?"
Maybe she successfully manipulates him or maybe he's just too tired to actually care, but the important thing is that he moves away and Emma can go to the bathroom to talk to the boy.
"Henry, are you in there buddy?" she calls through the door.
"Emma?" he calls back hesitantly.
"Yeah kid, it's me."
There's a moment of silence before he asks, "What color was my tongue when I ate the lollypop yesterday?"
Emma smiles to herself. She had taught him to not open the door to strangers, and if someone claimed they're her he should ask something only the two of them would know to make sure it was really her. He's so smart it makes her insides warm, she just love this kid so much. "It was blue."
"Emma!" he yells before unlocking the door and launching himself in her arms.
"Yeah buddy, it's me. I've got you."
"You did it," Regina says from the entrance of Henry's room almost one hour later. Emma had managed to calm the boy and even convinced him to go to sleep, promising she wouldn't leave his side. Now he was thankfully sleeping and giving everyone a break to calm their nerves.
"It wasn't very hard, he was exhausted," the blonde shrugs. "He just needed to calm down."
"What does it say about me that I can't calm down my own son?" Regina chuckles without any humor to it.
Emma turns to her. "No, I didn't mean… It's just…" Emma stumbles trying to explain herself.
"It's quite alright, I know you didn't mean anything," the brunette dismisses entering the room and closing the door behind her. "I'm just making a note to myself."
Emma just stares at her standing there for awhile, musing how beautiful she could look even on a half dark room with that sad expression on her face.
And then she finally admits to herself something she tried hard to deny it for so long. She didn't know exactly when or how it happened, but one thing she must certainly knew: she was irrevocably in love with Regina Mills.
And that was the worst thing that could ever happen to her.
Emma wasn't sure if they were friends, but since the blonde's job is to help her with Henry they had spent most of their times together for the past two years, and they developed some kind of relationship. Regina was such a fascinating woman; she was crazy smart and they always had something to talk about. She was witty and funny once you warm her up a bit, and she was a great listener (not that Emma would say a lot, she would rather listen to Regina's low sultry voice all day). And she was oh so beautiful; silky dark hair, deep brown eyes, soft skin, luscious lips and a booty that hypnotized.
So honestly, how can one not fall in love with this woman?
It was inevitable, Emma thinks. And also wrong in so many levels. Regina was straight, married and her boss. The brunette was definitely a forbidden fruit. And it only made Emma want her more.
She shakes her head trying to focus on the more pressing issue here. "Regina, what happened? What started Henry's crisis?"
The brunette just shrugs. But Emma sees right through it.
"Okay, if I tell something that I'm not supposed to tell, will you tell me what happened?"
Regina just stares at Emma with concern.
The blonde sighs. "Look, Henry is a very bright boy, as you well know, and he's very sensitive. He can read people's humor and he's affected by it. He's very empathetic," she starts cautiously. "And he's sensing that something's wrong between you and Leopold," at this Regina visibly stiffs and for the first time ever Emma hates being right.
"I know it's not my place to say anything, I'm not judging or nothing of the sort, I'm just saying what I'm seeing," Emma continues before she could be misinterpreted. "Henry asked me not to tell neither of you this but he's been having this nightmare where Leopold is some kind of Godzilla and he eats you; like literally eats you, chewing and everything, and you don't try to run or anything. And I'm no expert on child psychology but I think that's his subconscious expressing that he knows his father is hurting his mother and she doesn't do anything about it. He's terrified of the ambiance of his own house."
At this point the tears that have been building up on Regina's eyes are unapologetically falling. She's silently crying and that's what makes Emma stop. The blonde wants to say more, even to comfort the other woman but the sight of Regina Mills crying is heartbreaking enough that she just gets off the bed and pulls the woman into a hug.
It should be awkward because neither of them is the hugging type, they have never hugged each other before, they barely touch each other to be honest. And they're in a very emotional moment right now, another thing they both suck at. But they're hugging and holding onto each other and it feels right.
"I hate my life," Regina admits a moment later. "I love Henry and he's everything to me, but I hate everything else. I hate my marriage, I hate my husband, I hate not having anyone else, I hate my routine, I hate being alone and bitter, I hate not having a job or a hobby or anything else, I hate having accomplished absolutely nothing in life, I hate not having anything to be proud of, I hate being me. I'm miserable and I hate that I deserve to be miserable."
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Emma cuts her off while holding her tighter. "You deserve to be happy and the moment you accept that is the moment you'll start to be happy. None of those things you said you hate it's too late to change. You can have happiness. I know it doesn't seem like it but you just have to fight."
"I don't know. After tonight I think that I'm just meant to be unhappy."
Emma pulls away from her. "Regina, what happened tonight?" she pleads for an explanation.
The brunette tenses visibly. She looks away, and then sighs. She has to tell now. "We fought earlier, me and Leopold," she starts still not looking in Emma's eyes. "We were both hot-headed and at some point he…," she hesitates and swallows hard before continuing. "He… pushed me."
"What?!" Emma exclaims, her anger already built up.
"It wasn't that hard but I lost my balance and fell," Regina tries to devaluate. "I'm not sure but I think Henry saw it."
Emma breathes deeply three times before asking. "Was it the first time?"
"I believe it was. I mean, I don't even know if he actually saw it…"
"No," Emma cuts her off. "I meant, was it the first time that Leopold raised his hand to you?"
At this Regina looks up at the other woman. She wears a constricted expression, half scared half sad, and Emma doesn't need an actual answer.
"That fucking piece of shit," Emma says under her breath, already seeing red.
"It was just maybe two or three times," the brunette whispers trying to sell that is not a big deal, but ashamed of the admission anyway.
"I don't care if it was minus one times, he's gonna pay for it," the blonde says before grabbing Henry's baseball bat and storming out of the room.
"Emma, no!" Regina runs after her trying to not make much noise and wake up the men in the house.
She grabs a hold of the other woman just outside the master bedroom, and although Emma is really strong she manages to push her into the nearest guest room, locking the door behind them. "Are you out of your mind?!"
"Let me go, Regina!" Emma threatens between angry breaths. "I'm gonna beat the living daylights out of that bastard!"
"And then what, go to prison?" the brunettes snaps back.
"Worth it," the other says back before trying to go past her again.
"No, it's not gonna do us any good!" Regina doesn't move. "What if he retaliates? What if he does something to Henry?"
Emma stops abruptly. "You think he would do something to his own son?"
"I don't know!" Regina exclaims, frustrated. This night just keeps getting harder. "I don't fucking know, and I don't want to find out!"
Emma runs a shaking hand over her face. "Fuck, Regina!" she curses, throwing the baseball bat away. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" she punches a wall before leaning on it and sliding to the floor, burying her head between her knees.
It's when Emma grabs her own hair and her whole body starts shaking that Regina realizes the woman is fully crying on her guest bedroom floor.
She kneels besides Emma and tugs her hands out of her hair and holding them to her chest. "Emma, what's wrong?"
The blonde lets out a humorless laugh. "The fact that you're asking me what's wrong knowing what you just told me is exactly what's wrong."
"Yes, I have a fucked up marriage," Regina huffs. "But why do you care? Why does what happens in my life bothers you this much?"
"Because it's fucked up, Regina!" Emma says exasperated, looking up at the ceiling.
"It's not just that!" the other replies but Emma doesn't say anything else. "Emma," the brunette takes her chin and forces the blonde to look at her. "I only have you, don't lie to me, please."
Emma's eyes fill with tears and she knows she can't escape, it's now or never. "Because I love you," she says staring right into deep brown eyes. "I'm in love with you, Regina, and it's been a while. I love you and it fucking kills me seeing you in this situation. I love you and the thing I want most is not for you to love me back; all I want is for you to be happy," the tears are streaming down her face and Regina's crying too. "It kills me that I can't protect you and Henry from everything, that I can't give you both the happiness you deserve. You two are the things I love most in the world and I want you out of here, away from this piece of shit that can't be called husband or father. I want you to have your own life, a happy life, because I know you can have one and you deserve one and you should fucking have one."
The brunette wipes Emma's tears with her thumb, and the blonde leans in the hand on her cheek. They stare at each other for a little longer, so many things to say but no one strong enough to say them right now.
Regina then buries her face in the crook of Emma's neck. "I feel like I'm Rose and the Titanic is sinking around me, and you're the piece of wood that's gonna keep me alive."
Emma chuckles. "For a moment there I was scared you were gonna say I'm Jack."
Regina shakes her head still buried in the blonde's neck. "Never," she says with finality. "I would never let you die. Either you survive with me or I die with you. But we would be together."
Emma places a light kiss on the woman's shoulder. "And that's how we're gonna get through this. Together."
the end