A/N: Thank you so so very much for your reviews, fallows and faves… believe it or not the make such a difference… and at the end of the day the best part of writing these is knowing just how much you connect with this story and like it. If you are a new reader, welcome :)
Chapter 4 Break The Rules. (Charli XCX)
That night Emma had sped to the mansion, thinking of what could have driven her daughter to flee yet again. The same hopeful kid she had dropped off earlier, filled with open ideas and expectations of her mothers being able to mend things. Regina's call to aid her on the teen's search had troubled her. What Emma didn't know was that while Regina had coldly rejected her at the front door; Emily had snuck downstairs and got an ear full of her blonde mother's heart break. Em had heard how Regina dismissed her other mother's attempt at waving a silent yet hopeful white flag between them. It had only been hours since they both planned the gesture, Emma would bring Regina a rare flower from the enchanted forest, the brunette's favorite; which Emily had magically procured for her. The teen had seen the hopeful honest gleam in her mother's eyes at the thought of simply bringing the brunette a bit of happiness in the midst of knowing how she had been feeling.
Regina on the other hand, had been so deeply struck by the look of pain in her daughter's eyes before leaving her with words in her mouth, that she immediately put her heart back in her chest and called her wife. The absence of it, didn't make her stop loving her children or Emma; before making the careless decision Regina knew this would only numb the ache in her chest, but she didn't remember just how easily it could be to seem out of touch and detached. An argument ignited which ended with Regina hurting her daughter's feelings.
She felt horrible and she was worried.
After the blonde had arrived, the former queen got into her vehicle and they began to drive around the empty dimly lit streets of Storybrooke. An hour had passed and they had not found the teen girl.
Emma parked the suv in order to collect her thoughts and think a bit more clearly of where her daughter could have gone. Emma had of course called Red, who told her that her daughter herself had actually gone after Emily earlier that night and had not heard from her either.
Emma ended the call and turned to Regina who waited for the information to be shared with her.
"Red said Frankie went to look for her after I left the diner"
Regina sighed and closed her eyes, the look of worry never leaving her face.
"I'm sure Frankie knew where to find her… we should call her" Emma added now less worried.
Regina buried her face in her hands. She was mad at herself, at her behavior towards her daughter and even Emma. All she wanted was her daughter safely back in her arms. She ran a perfectly manicured hand through her dark locks and turned to look at Emma.
"I'm sure the last thing she wants right now is to see me… I was so…"
"Mean?" Emma finished knowingly.
Regina rolled her eyes at herself trying to avoid the tears that stung her eyes, she took a deep breath and looked down at her hands.
"Regina Emily adores you, I'm sure she's hurt but she'll come around… just give her time"
"How can you be so calm? what if she's not with Frankie?"
"I'm actually not, but I know that if someone knows Em maybe better than us it's her"
"I need to talk to her… I need to apologize"
Regina had never meant to be so hard on her daughter, her three children were her weakness and she adored them more than her own existence. She knew she had gone a bit too far.
Emma stared at the empty road and listened to the brunette. She then turned to face her.
"Regina look I…" She sighed "I don't want to bring up the topic of us right now, but we have to find a way to get over ourselves when it comes to the kids… I don't want them to be emotionally stuck in the middle of some tug war"
"Neither do I… What would make you think I would want that? Of course not!"
"What I'm trying to say is that you can be all the horrible you need to be to me, but they don't have to feel the aftermath of this… it's not fair and they don't deserve that" The blonde rested her head back on the seat.
"I know we have to find a middle ground but it just hasn't been easy Emma…" Regina said as she too now a bit more calmed stared at the empty street ahead. "I know that is not an excuse for my behavior but…"
"Look…" Emma turned her torso completely; Regina turned her head and listened.
"I think Emily is going through something right now, and we need our heads in this… She needs our support, not to feel like she has to carry with our shit too"
Regina took the information in unsurprised, she too knew her daughter more than well… and Emma's news were anything but news.
"Frankie…" The brunette said as she took a deep breath and looked back at the deserted street ahead of them. "I know… God, I wish things could be as easy as they were when she was five and needed me to patch up her knee because she had fallen while they played"
Emma let out a small knowing smile, her face as passive as the night around them, she looked into Regina's dark emotional eyes and she saw a hint of honest fear, their baby girl was not a baby anymore. "I know… but we can't just shelter her and protect her forever Regina…"
Regina smiled in agreement with her wife as she continued to stare into the cold dark her head now resting back on the seat also.
"I know… But I still wish we could"
The moment was so easy and normal; neither woman had realized they were actually having a conversation in complete peace.
"What we can do is be there for her… and I know that right now the last thing you want is to be around me, but please… not when it comes to Emily and Jack; I can take anything but I don't want my kids to suffer"
"Neither do I…"
The blonde turned and looked ahead just as Regina did… both women taking in the beautiful glow that showered the night.
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Morning had come and Regina was in the kitchen with Jack. The woman was already elegantly dressed for a day of work, the boy sat in his small chair and table while he put a spoon full of milk and fruitloops in his mouth.
The brunette heard the familiar steps approaching. Emily wore black skinny jeans, along with a fitted navy blue sweater. Very light makeup made her beautiful face glow in perfect synch with her long dark hair.
"Emy!" Jack welcomed after swallowing.
The girl smiled and ruffled his equally dark hair "Hey baby bro"
The girl made her way to the stainless steel refrigerator and opened it.
"Look! I gots the cool cereal!" He said excitedly.
"Have Jack… not gots my love" Regina voiced as she closed one of the cabinets.
"That's cool little dude… tastes good doesn't it?" his sister said as she retrieved a bottle of water from and closed the refrigerator door.
"Yeah! It tastes awesome" He said as he clumsily scooped another spoon full and shoved it in his mouth.
"I'll see you later ok?" The girl said and placed a kiss on Jack's cheek.
"Kay Emy…" He said and went back to his cereal.
The girl turned to leave completely ignoring her mother.
Regina felt hurt but understood her daughter had been hurt too.
"Em…" Regina said and Emily stopped, the girl rolled her eyes and turned.
"Yeah?" She said cheerlessly.
"Em I'm… I'm sorry about last night; I want to talk to you"
The girl could sense her mother's remorse in her voice and felt bad but she also didn't feel like talking to her at the moment.
She motioned to the door "I'm actually late… I told Frankie and Finn I'd meet them at the diner before going to school" She said honestly.
Regina smiled softly and nodded. "Ok… we'll talk later then"
"Sure" The girl said and turned on her heels.
Regina sighed deeply and then looked down at her son. Jack looked up as he chewed and smiled with his mouth closed; his beautiful emerald eyes glowed, Regina smiled back.
"Ready to see grandma?" She asked and the boy nodded.
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Emily sat at a booth at the diner, Frankie sat across from her. Em ate a bear claw and scribbled away on her notebook, the girl had failed to finish her homework due to the dramatic turn of events the night before. The other girl wore a black long sleeved t-shirt and jeans; she munched on a big stack of pancakes. Her black hair, today on a pony tail contrasted with her orbs amazingly. Em looked up and noticed her eyes looked lighter this morning, almost an icy blue… or was it a grayish green?
Frankie chewed and smiled slightly amused and at the same time endeared by the way Emily looked at her.
Em closed her eyes, quickly shook her head and continued with her homework. "Where's Finn anyway?"
"I don't know… maybe he finally fell on his face and swallowed that stupid camera"
Emily let out a small laugh "That's so mean Frankie… poor guy, it's not his fault he was chosen to be in charge of the yearbooks"
"Actually it totally is Em he loves the gig… he's fucking obsessed, the kid's like the paparazzi on crack. I think I'm gonna kill him before the school year ends…"
And just as she finished her sentence the scrawny boy in jeans, a green sweater and black chucks entered the diner sporting his cannon around his neck. Frankie's face immediately fell, the girl sighed annoyed.
"Does he absolutely have to ride with us?" The girl whined.
"Frankie…" Em said.
"Ugh! Alright fine! But I'm not riding in the back"
Finn walked closer to the booth and sat next to Emily.
"Hey Finn…" She said and smiled. Frankie rolled her eyes and continued to eat.
"Hey Emily… Thank you for giving me a ride today"
Emily shrugged. "Sure… it's no problem."
Frankie was concentrated on her delicious pancakes; she was cutting a hearty bite as the boy brought his camera to his face. Emily swallowed a laugh and observed amused.
As she opened her mouth to indulge in her well crafted bite… with the right amount of whipped cream and strawberry syrup; she heard the sound of the flash and was partially blinded by a candid shot.
Emily broke in laughter.
Frankie quickly dropped the fork and blinked.
"Finn… what the actual hell?!"
The boy looked at both girls as if he were at a tennis match; completely clueless. "What?"
Frankie reached across the table and grabbed him by the collar. "Next time you do that Finn… I promise you, I'm gonna take that lens and shove it so deep down your system, your future children will grow up to become cheap wedding photographers "
The boy leaned back as much as he could in the booth and put both hands in the air.
"Frankie, leave him alone" Em said. The girl knew Frankie would never hurt him.
She sat back down and returned to her pancakes giving him a watchful look.
"Ok… Frankie Jeez…" he said as he fixed his collar and swallowed hard. "You took it worse than the revolts when I caught them spray painting the front of the school the other night… at least they gave me a heads up to run"
The taller girl narrowed her eyes and pointed at him threateningly as she chewed on her food.
Emily furrowed her brows and looked at him. Emma had mentioned something about the night of the incident with the mystery woman; she had been at the school checking out some disturbances, chances were… this could lead her to some sort of helpful information. "You were taking pictures the night the school was vandalized?"
Finn held on to his camera as he closely looked at Frankie. He turned to Em. "Yeah… I had been working on some pieces in the lab… and the new principal was there, she let me stay after class"
"That Zelena chick?" Frankie asked slightly shocked "She's been nothing but a bitch to everyone … I can't believe she actually let you do that"
"Finn… do you still have those pictures?" Emily butted in.
"Yeah… why?" He answered coolly.
"Just curious…" Emily narrowed her eyes charmingly "Do you think you could show them to me?"
He shrugged "Sure Em… why not? … I don't have them with me though…"
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After picking her boy up, Regina drove to the mansion and started to prepare tonight's dinner. Jack was lying on the couch smitten on a movie as he sang while playing with a couple of ninja turtles figurines.
The brunette was thinking of what she would say to her daughter. They would eat dinner together and talk things out she planned.
After an hour Regina had finished setting the table. She looked at the clock and realized Emily had not returned from school and it was now getting dark. The woman sighed and took her phone.
"Can you please come to the house? Emily hasn't come home…" Regina asked with a mixture of sadness and worry. She knew her daughter was more than likely avoiding her.
"Of course… I'm on my way" Emma answered.
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Regina was right; Emily didn't feel like being home. At the moment all she wanted was to get her mind off of everything that had been going on. Being with Frankie had become different, the girl provided her with a kind of euphoric feeling at the base of her stomach. She understood her and saw her; the feeling of liaison between them was like a rush… addictive. New.
The girls were in Frankie's room. Em sat on the bed looking at the lights that hung on the wall entwined like vines. The taller girl came in. holding a bottle filled with amber liquid and a red label.
Emily laughed.
Frankie busted into laughter too. "This is all I could find" She passed the bottle to Em.
"Tennessee fire…" She examined it curiously and opened the cap.
"Granny loves the stuff…" Frankie said casually stuffing her hands in her back pockets. Lately being alone with Emily had become a constant attack of sweaty palms and butterflies in her stomach… hell they felt more like birds than tiny insects.
Em smelled the liquor expecting it to reek less than desirably. Her face contorted into a pleased surprise. "It smells like cinnamon"
"Here" Frankie took the bottle and poured a small amount on each of the small glasses on the nightstand.
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Emma patiently waited outside as Regina came to open the door.
Baby Jack poked his head from the kitchen and ran to the blonde.
"Mama!" He shouted as he crashed on her legs.
Emma picked him up and kissed him. "Hey there baby… how's my favorite boy?"
"I'm good mama… I missed you today." She said with his hands still around her neck.
"I missed you too…" She looked at him and smiled lovingly.
"How much?" Jack asked.
"All there is… actually"
The boy smiled satisfied.
Emma noticed Regina was trying her best not to show Jack how sad she felt.
"I just drove by Red's house… Em's car is there… don't worry, I'm sure she'll be home soon… let's give her a couple of hours; if she doesn't come I'll go get her." Emma said trying to ease Regina's mind.
The woman crossed her arms "She finally texted me a few minutes ago… said she'd be here after dinner" Regina finished disappointed.
The brunette looked at the table and sighed defeated "Why don't you join us? I have a table set for three and a ridiculous amount of ñoquis…" Regina offered and Emma's eyes lit up. The blonde smiled coolly and nodded still holding her son who now rested his cheek on her shoulder.
"I'd love to…" The taller woman said looking into her wife's beautiful eyes, wishing she could just kiss her… hold her. "Did you hear that Jack? Let's have dinner just the three of us"
"Yeah!" He smiled throwing his fists in the air.
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After tasting the cinnamon whiskey, both girls agreed that it was good and had a couple of sips; though they quickly forgot about the drinks and talked away comfortably. Emily showed her a few ways to be able to feel her magic and Frankie was fascinated. They sat on the bed facing each other as music played in the background.
Frankie Had her arms stretched out towards Emily with her palms facing up; while the other girl ran her finger tips softly on Frankie's skin. Emily traced her veins or at least what she could see of them. White hues of magic could be seen, leaving a pattern at their gentle pass.
Frankie felt the amazing sensation echo faintly through her veins… it traveled all around her body, she closed her eyes and got lost in the amazing sensation of feeling this connected to Emily.
Em smiled as she watched her friend; she traced patterns all the way to Frankie's finger tips and then gently stopped. The other girl opened her eyes enthralled in the sensation leaving her body. An engrossed smile on her face.
"That was amazing…" She said.
Em let out a small laugh and plummeted onto the mattress; Frankie fallowed. They were both looking into the ceiling, listening only to the music playing and the sound of each other's laugh.
The sound of their laughter quickly died, they could only hear each other breathe.
Frankie turned her head and just contemplated how beautiful Em was… how amazingly she smelled, how she made her feel high, she just looked at her best friend and began to yearn, almost miss her… even though she was right next to her.
Emily felt Frankie's eyes on her and turned to face her stunning face, her eyes were capturing and muting… they looked even lighter contrasted with the scarce black eye shadow she wore lightly. Em felt lost each time she looked into her eyes for the past few months. She noticed just how much she liked the small mole Frankie had on her clavicle. Her eyes traveled to her lips… and then back up.
Frankie did the same, her eyes traveled down to Emily's amazing lips. She wanted to kiss her so badly; she wondered what she tasted like. She simply wanted to feel her… closer.
Frankie hesitated, she was nervous… but she wanted to. She really did.
The girl dug for courage and just allowed herself to feel the moment. She felt drawn by the rise and fall of Em's chest. She leaned on her elbow and her face was now lingering above Emily's. Their eyes never leaving each other.
Frankie slowly leaned down and with the tip of her nose graced Em's cheek, smelling her. She closed her eyes and placed her lips on her cheek.
Emily closed her eyes and then opened them again… she could feel Frankie's warm breath on her skin… she could hear the sound of each breath she took. Frankie smelled so good… she made her feel just so good.
The taller girl could feel her cheeks so flushed and hot… but she didn't care; she wanted to explore her more. Em felt better than she had ever imagined. The nearness was simply fervent for both girls.
They both felt and saw each other in a brand new raw… true way.
Emily fallowed her lead and she was now the one reaching the side of Frankie's face with her lips and kissed her cheek.
Frankie closed her eyes indulging in the sensation of feeling Emily's lips on her skin. She reached for Em's other cheek… and then Em fallowed and did the same; all they could hear was the gentle sound their lips made as they touched their skin. Then they were mere inches apart… just so close… they stared into each other's eyes. Emily began to tremble and Frankie felt her… the taller girl smiled and gently moved a few strands of hair from her face; she then traced her thumb on her forehead.
She knew Em was scared.
Em smiled "I should go…" She whispered still only inches from Frankie's lips. She closed her eyes.
"Ok…" Frankie whispered back.
Their lips never got to meet.
She pulled back and Em sat up. The girl took Frankie's hand and squeezed it gently looking at her. The taller girl curled her lip upwards and blinked softly.
"See you tomorrow?" Frankie asked knowingly.
"Pick you up at seven…" She smiled softly and stood to leave.
Frankie smiled and watched her go.
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Back at the mansion, Emma washed the dishes in the kitchen. Emily walked in and furrowed her brows smiling.
"What are you doing here?
Emma turned and dried her hands on a white kitchen towel.
"Well… hello to you too" Emma joked.
"Did you and mom make up?" She asked with eyes full of hope.
Emma smiled and softly blinked shaking her head "No… not yet at least, but we did come to an agreement"
"What kind of agreement?" Em asked curiously.
Emma sighed. "We'll both talk to you about it after we put Jack to bed."
"Ok… Where's mom?
"She's giving your brother his bath"
"Em… I know you've been going through a lot lately, but your mom loves you… she's just had a shit time with all this… please cut her a break… you don't usually skip dinners" Emma added calmly.
"I know ma… I'm sorry I just… it's been hard ok? and I have a lot on my mind right now, I just needed a break"
"I know Emy… How's Frankie?" She asked casually but with all intention.
Emily sighed and closed her eyes.
"Everything ok?"
"Yeah… well no, I guess… ugh I don't know"
"What's going on? You can tell me anything Em… you know that don't you?
Emily took a deep breath "Frankie almost kissed me tonight…"
"Oh…" Emma widened her eyes lightly. "Almost… Well did you want to kiss her back?"
Emily looked up to the ceiling as if looking for the answer there. She then looked down at her hands as she fidgeted. "I did… I do, I really do but ma if I kiss her everything will change you know?" The girl pierced her mom with her brown eyes.
Emma smiled and nodded softly as she placed a hand on her daughter's arm.
"Probably Em… but the question is… do you want things to change?"
"I do… but I'm scared. I mean ma this is Frankie… the girl that gave me all the red and green gummies the first day of school when we were five… Frankie that dotted my "I's" and exchanged lunches with me... but, something changed… and now she's Frankie… and it just feels so different, but so amazing… I just… I don't wanna lose her ma" Emily finished with a look that Emma had not seen in her eyes since she was just a child, the look of 'I need my mommy' the blonde held her daughter and kissed the top of her head and then spoke onto it.
"Just fallow your heart Emy… I don't think you could ever lose Frankie…"
Emily smiled into her mother's chest and stayed safely in her arms.
A/N: Alright you guys there you have it chapter four… I can't wait to feel your love. Please and always thank you. X