AN: Hey! Sorry for the wait, I'm going to be trying to update weekly from now on. Watching the new season last night really inspired me to finish this hahah hope you enjoy. Happy reading!
Chapter 5
Emma had just gotten home from dropping Henry off at school. She still had a day of furlough so she figured she should get some chores done. Being a sheriff meant working 10 hours a day which was usual a pain in the ass but getting those three days off made it completely worth it when she got to spend all of her weekends with Henry. She opened to fridge and made a quick list on her phone. Mary Margaret would kill her if she didn't get the groceries this week. She had definitely been slacking on that, but there had been a lot going on at the station the past week and that was why Emma had asked her to be her roommate in the first place. Her thoughts are interrupted by Ruby who struts in the apartment and asks, "How'd it go?"
Emma stares at Ruby for a moment until she figures out what she's referring to. She shakes her head, "not well."
"Not well? What do you mean?" Ruby looks almost offended, "Mary Margaret said that this woman was all over you when you were there with Henry. What happened? "
"I guess she wasn't all that into me." Emma shrugs her shoulders and attempts to continue making the grocery list to avoid Ruby's questions.
"No way I don't believe you." Ruby takes a seat at the bar stool across from where Emma is currently standing. It is at this moment that Mary Margaret walks in the apartment carrying two bags of groceries.
"What don't you believe, Rubes?" She asks placing the bags on the counter near Emma.
"That the hot doctor wasn't all over Emma."
"She totally was," Mary Margaret leaves the groceries to sit beside Ruby at the bar. Emma is completely baffled by Mary Margaret's entrance and is paying no attention to their conversation. She begins pulling things out the bag and realizing that she bought all the things Emma had written down on her list. Apparently Mary Margaret is the best roommate ever.
"Right Emma?"
Emma looks up at Mary Margaret when she hears her name, "What?"
"Didn't Dr. Mills come in every ten minutes to check on Henry and didn't she keep unbuttoning her blouse every time. Oh! And she wouldn't stop biting her lips."
Emma nods in agreement. She too had observed all this things.
"So why did she say no then?" Ruby's tone is suspicious, she doesn't believe one of the two roommates but she has yet to decide which.
"Apparently she just got out of a tough relationship-" Emma is interrupted by an impatient Ruby who asks, "When has that stopped anyone before?"
"She just didn't want to jump into anything new. That's all."
Mary Margaret eyed her suspiciously. Now both women didn't believe her. They had seen suitor upon suitor follow Emma like lost puppies. Nobody turned her down, she turned them down. Emma is trying to play this off as casual, but both the other women know it isn't.
"Well it's her loss." Ruby shrugs it off. She's trying to ensure that Mary Margaret doesn't start getting all emotional about Emma's lack of self confidence in the dating field. "So when do you go back to work?" The topic change is a relief to Emma who happily goes along with it as she empties the groceries.
"Tomorrow," Emma placed the milk and butter in the fridge.
"We should go out! How about brunch?" Ruby asked excitedly. She pulled out her phone and starts checking for local places to grab brunch.
Emma nodded in agreement and finished up putting away all the groceries. She eyed Mary Margaret who didn't seem to react. Brunch was her favorite outing. Ruby seemed to notice the woman's dull reaction and raised an eyebrow. At first Mary Margaret tried to pull it off as nothing, but she was an awful liar. Ruby raised her eyebrows higher and Mary Margaret caved.
"I kind of have a brunch date with David." Mary Margaret answered sheepishly.
"OMG!" Ruby's hands were flailing in the air, "Is that cute doctor?"
Mary Margaret blushed and nodded avoiding Emma's gaze. All the blonde could think about was how that could've been her, had Regina not just gotten out of a relationship. Of course they wouldn't have gone out to brunch. Regina seemed like the fancier kind of person. Emma could have taken her out to the new fancy Italian restaurant that opened last week. Had Regina just taken a chance with Emma, or had Emma had better timing, maybe that would have been them not Mary Margaret and David.
Having finally let the cat out of the bag Mary Margaret went on and on about how David had asked for her number at the hospital and how they'd been texting all day for the past few days. Emma tried very hard not to be bitter and to be happy for her friend. It was a very difficult feat. She distracted herself with the groceries while Ruby and Mary Margaret continued to gush.
Just then Emma's phone rang. It was her lieutenant. She walked into another room to answer it away from Ruby and Mary Margaret's conversation that was driving her mad. Her boss was asking if she could come in for an extra shift that night. She contemplated it and finally decided that since she had no date what else would she be doing. So much for Emma's happy relaxing day.
Over at the hospital Regina's day had not gone any better.
Every doctor and nurse in the hospital seemed to be aware of her and Maleficent's splitting up. Wherever she walked people would immediately turn towards her and stop talking. It appeared that many rumors had surfaced about what had happened. Some people had hear snippets of their fight and were twisted the story as they see fit. Most all of the rumors seemed to depict Regina as the evil one. The pediatric surgeon had thought she was well liked and respected in the hospital but apparently she wasn't as popular as the cardiothoracic surgeon. All day long people were shaking their heads at her as she walked by, pursing their lips, trying and failing to hide their disdain.
She kept her head held high all day. There was no way she would let these petty rumors get in the way of her job and her life. It was exhausting glaring at person after person when she caught them whispering about her. When her shift was over Regina almost ran out of the hospital.
The loneliness really hit Regina when she got back to her condo. It had been one thing to spend her night on the couch hoping that Mal would come back but it was another altogether sitting there knowing she wouldn't. It was times like these that Regina regretted her healthy lifestyle and wished that she kept the condo stocked with ice cream, chips, and any kind of junk food. The most comforting thing she had was an incredible large alcohol cabinet.
One sip and her insides were feeling warmer. Two more glasses and she could almost forget about how she ruins every relationship. By the end of the bottle Regina's feeling something that can almost be described as happy. But it was more of a mirage. For the past month she had been slowly going through every bottle there. It was the only way she could get passed all her demons and sleep.
She lay on her couch, where she had been sleeping the past few nights, when she heard a knock on the door. If she didn't answer it she figured that whoever it was would just leave her as everyone else did.
But the knock came again. This time it was accompanied by a male voice, "Regina I know you're in there. Let me in!"
She doesn't budge.
The knock continues for several minutes until she's annoyed enough to get off the couch and answer it.
When finally can see Regina his heart is shattered; she's the image of despair clutching onto an almost empty bottle of whisky. From the way she is swaying it's evident that it was full earlier.
"Regina you need to stop." Robin's voice is calm and soothing.
She looks at him debating just kicking him out for his bluntness. But she's been so lonely. His eyes are so full of caring that she caves. She looks at the ground and let's a tear fall down her face.
"I can't."
Robin stares at the broken woman in front of him. She's usually so well put together. Others are jealous of the confidence she carries herself with. He knew her well but he had never seen her this distraught. Regina had had back luck in life and that made her strong but it also made her frail and afraid to let people into her life. Robin knew he was lucky to be one of the select few included. Even if she would never want to be more than friends, he wasn't going to let her go. So he took a tentative step forward and grabbed onto the bottle of whisky that Regina was clutching with her life. She let go and he placed it on the counter.
He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. She tense at the touch but leaned into him all the same. They stood in silence, Regina trying to calm her breathing. After a while she turned up towards him and whisper, "I'm sorry."
Robin nodded his head and gave her a small reassuring smile.
She reached up and stroked the side of his face, "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, Regina." He looks deeply into her eye as they change from their sad state to one of dominance. She leans forward and catches Robin's lips in her own. For a moment he couldn't resist, but once his mind caught up her immediately distanced himself from Regina. She looked at him with the most appalled glare, people didn't turn her down, not ever.
"Regina I didn't come here for that. I came here to be a friend." Robin reaches out to try and hug her once again but she recoils.
With a glare and cold as ice she hisses, "Then get out of my condo."
Robin looks at her for a second trying to see if she'll break. But she's Regina and he knows nobody as strong willed as she. So he goes back the way her came out of her condo.
Regina had a nasty habit of covering up her feelings with sex and Robin knew this. He had fallen prey to it once before and would not allow it again. Regina needed to get better; to be able to stand on her own, he would not be her crutch. But how could he possibly help her when all she did was push him away? Maybe she did need to get over it by getting under someone else, maybe he would find her the right somebody.
Robin's thoughts were interrupted by his pager going off. He was the orthopedic surgeon on call that night.
Emergency. 30 year old female sheriff, gunshot wound and multiple fractures. Calling cardio and ortho.