A/N1: okay so here's the thing, I have a new job (yay for the money, not so much for the writing) and at this job I mostly type, like all day, answering emails and such - and that's why I sort of haven't been feeling it. I wasn't really in the mood to write, if you will, because I've gotten quite an overdose. but here's the next chapter, at last. let's just hope I'm over that tiny block. enjoy and review!
27.
Regina slid into the booth with grace, tucking her purse against her thigh. Ruby was beside her in the blink of an eye and she ordered her usual coffee.
It didn't take long for Kathryn to open the door of the small diner and spot her in one of the booths. She made her way over to where Regina was smiling at her in welcome.
"I know I'm late, but I had to take care of a little baking emergency at home," Kathryn said as she slid into the booth across from her.
Regina inclined her head. "Don't worry. What happened?"
"Well you know the school's doing this Bake and Sell tomorrow and one of the teachers called to ask if I could help out."
Regina nodded slowly. She'd completely forgotten about the entire thing, but then again she hadn't agreed to make anything for the Bake and Sell either so she could probably get away with not attending just this once.
"Anyways, I'm just going to throw something together tonight," Kathryn continued.
She ordered a coffee when Ruby put the mug down in front of Regina who took a sip of the hot liquid.
Her eyes flickered up to Kathryn who was staring at her expectantly. "So go on, spill."
Regina raised her eyebrows, lowering the mug back to the table. "Excuse me?"
"Emma Swan," Kathryn said, leaning forward, resting her elbows on the table, "she's back in town, got herself a job and rented an apartment down the street. And I had to hear it from Mrs. Stein in the grocery store."
"I wasn't aware that you were so interested in the happenings of Deputy Swan's life," Regina replied evenly.
Kathryn scowled. "I'm interested in what's going with your life Regina, and it seems like Emma has become quite important in it. Come on, I'm your oldest friend and I've never seen you like this. You forgot about the Bake and Sell, didn't you?"
Regina leaned back with a sigh. She sometimes ignored the fact that Kathryn was extremely observant when she wanted to be.
"Well, at least I didn't go through that miserable haunted trail for nothing," Kathryn added after Ruby brought her coffee.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't tell me you don't remember. The day of the fair I took Henry through the haunted trail so you could go fix with Emma whatever needed to be fixed. And it obviously worked out, so that's something at least. I'll have you know that I had nightmares for weeks after."
Regina laughed quietly at the shiver that visibly ran down Kathryn's back. "Thank you for being such a good friend, I appreciate your support."
"You better. Now tell me, what exactly is going on with you and Emma Swan?"
Regina took another sip of coffee, swirling the liquid around her tongue before swallowing. "That is rather private," she began and Kathryn shot her a dark look, "but I suppose it isn't really much of a secret. Emma and I… we're… sort of trying to see where this between us is going."
Kathryn stared at her for several long seconds before she squealed quietly and reached out to grasp Regina's hands with her own. "That's great, fantastic. Regina, I'm so happy for you."
"Thank you."
"So what happened after you left for Florida? I mean after going out of state to get away from Storybrooke and a certain someone's absence, you come back with Emma in tow and now she's here to stay. I need to hear that story."
Regina exhaled quietly and raked a hand through her hair. "Well, it all started with Emma showing up at my doorstep after we'd already left…"
…
Emma squinted at the pages in front of her before glancing at her phone. It was almost time to leave work and return to her apartment.
She groaned quietly and stretched her arms above her head, her shoulders realigning themselves with mild protest. Moving her head from one side to the other, she contemplated the evening ahead of her.
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips when she remembered Regina standing in the door to the station with a greasy bag from Granny's in her hands. She'd actually brought Emma lunch, something that seemed utterly domestic, and would've scared the shit out of her if she wasn't already committed to this. Now she only found it endearing. Unfortunately, Regina had delivered the treat with the message that she would be working late, which meant very late in Regina terms, and wouldn't be able to have dinner with Emma and Henry that night.
The thought of returning to her empty apartment and not Regina's house and good food was quite the downer. And after the day she'd had, she could've used a home-cooked meal and some time to cuddle.
Graham had left before lunch to do some more police work around the house that they'd been to two days ago. So far he'd found a few shoeprints thanks to the battlefield of squished tomatoes left behind but other than that there was hardly any evidence to identify the culprit. Now he was out talking to neighbors and anyone who could've possibly seen anything.
Emma glanced at her phone again, checking the time. She should probably stop by City Hall to talk to Regina. The papers in front of her had arrived in a large envelope a couple of hours earlier with nothing but her name scrawled across the front.
They were documents from Gold, information about the person he wanted her to find and after a first cursory look she deduced that there wasn't much to go on. At all.
Alas she needed to talk to Regina, to keep her in the loop. If there was something they'd promised each other without so many words, it was that they would not be keeping mountainous secrets from one another, never again.
She got up from her desk and stretched again. Grabbing her jacket, she ambled out of the station, deciding to take a little walk through Storybrooke.
…
Her knuckles connected with the heavy wood of Regina's office door and it took all of her inner willpower not to turn around. She could practically feel Aurora's eyes on her back and she was pretty sure that the assistant was still smiling a little strangely. As soon as she'd walked into the outer office, the other woman had grinned at her as if they shared a secret or something. Emma, however, had absolutely no idea why she would be getting such a look from someone she barely knew. She liked Mulan alright, had talked to her about her car a couple of times, but other than that she'd never actually had a real conversation with either of them.
"Come in," the voice from inside the office called and Emma slowly opened the door to slip through.
Regina looked up as soon as she entered and Emma felt a happy little flutter in her chest at the way Regina's features softened immediately and she smiled a tired little smile.
"Emma, what are you doing here?"
"I brought you some more reading material," Emma offered and raised the folder in her hands, "information from Gold."
Regina scowled and got up from her office chair. She gestured toward the leather couch at the right side of the office and Emma walked over, plopping herself into the cushions.
"It was delivered after you left, so I thought I'd stop by and let you look them over too."
Regina sat down gracefully, crossing her legs at the ankles. She was wearing an ocean blue dress with a sipper at the back. Emma had a hard time tearing her eyes away from the sight but somehow she managed to focus on Regina's face long enough to hand her the envelope.
Regina opened it without hesitation and pulled the papers out, brown eyes flicking over the words written there. With every turned page, her frown deepened until she sighed and shuffled everything back into order. "There's absolutely nothing there that would indicate who exactly Gold is trying to find."
Emma half-shrugged. "Yeah, but I guess I have an idea."
Regina looked at her, leaning forward. "You do?"
"I know a guy, back in Boston, who can track down pretty much anyone with even less information than Gold gave me. He owes me one, so maybe I can convince him to help me out."
Regina narrowed her eyes. "That sounds entirely dubious."
"Hey, there's not much to go on here. The only documents Gold apparently has are some old banking arrangements and the name of a hospital, and that coming from someone who managed to track me down means something. I will need some help with this, because even with my skills I can't produce information out of thin air. I'll have that guy in Boston look these things over and see if he can come up with a connection."
Regina sighed quietly and shook her head. She put the folder onto the small glass table in front of them and closed her eyes briefly, squeezing the bridge of her nose with thumb and forefinger. "I truly am sorry that I dragged you into this."
"I wouldn't say it's your fault alone," Emma answered, pulling Regina's hand away from her face and cradling it between her own, "if I hadn't taken off like a chicken without its head, you wouldn't have had to ask for Gold's help in the first place. I could've handled things much better back then."
"I don't think –" Regina began, but Emma interrupted her with a shake of her head.
"Let's not argue about how we got into this mess, let's just take care of it so we can focus on more important things."
Regina smiled at that and turned her hand around so that her fingers entwined with Emma's. "Alright. Thank you for coming over and letting me know what's going on."
"No problem. I told you I'd keep you in the loop."
Regina sighed again and leaned forward to briefly press her lips against Emma's. "I'm sorry to be saying this, but I have to get back to the rest of my paperwork or else I won't get done tonight."
Emma nodded slowly, a little miffed at the shortness of the kiss. "Yeah, I'll just go and…" she trailed off.
"I wanted to ask you if you would mind getting Henry from Kathryn and taking him back to the house?" Regina asked quietly, squeezing Emma's fingers with her own.
"I'd love to."
"You'd have to put him to bed too because I don't think I'll be home in time.
"No problem."
They smiled at each other and Emma wanted nothing more than to burst out into happy giggles. This felt so incredibly perfect – Regina offering her a way out of her lonely evening without her having to say a single word about it.
Regina had told her back in Florida that she always seemed to know what the right thing to say was and it seemed like Regina was the one to do just the right things.
"Then I'll see you tonight?"
"Yes," Regina answered and leaned forward to kiss her again, this time lingering a bit longer.
Emma sighed against Regina's lips, her hand moving of its own accord, cradling Regina's jaw with her hand. God she missed this, and so many other things.
They'd kissed and touched ever since they'd come back from Florida, but there just hadn't been the time or the right moment for more. And god she wanted more. That night at the hotel was playing a leading role in her dreams most nights and even though she was willing to wait, to take the time for everything to be just right, she was getting…itchy.
Before she could get too lost in the kiss, Regina ended it with several short pecks to the corners of her mouth. They were both breathing heavily and Regina looked deliciously rumpled with her face flushed and glistening parted lips.
Emma took a deep breath and got up from the couch a little too abruptly. She straightened her jacket and raked both hands through her hair. "Yeah, right… I'll just go and get Henry… uhm, I'll see you later."
Regina stood as well, smiling brightly. "Yes you will."
Emma nodded and trudged over to the door, albeit a little reluctantly.
"Oh and Emma?"
She turned around to face Regina who was already sitting behind her desk again. "There are some leftovers in the fridge."
Emma grinned. "Thanks."
…
The door opened before she even had the chance to ring the bell. A grinning Kathryn Nolan stood before her and grabbed her arm to drag her into the house.
"Henry's getting his stuff from the kitchen," she explained and Emma nodded slowly.
"Regina called, she said you're gonna spend the evening with Henry. That's really great."
"Uh, yeah."
Emma wasn't entirely sure what else to do but stand awkwardly in Kathryn's foyer until Henry had gathered his things. She was a little confused because people seemed to be genuinely happy about the fact that she was a part of Regina's and Henry's life. It was great, of course, but she hadn't expected that Regina would be inspiring such loyalty from not only her friends but also her employees and the rest of Storybrooke. She'd been warned. It was a small town after all.
Her train of thought was interrupted when Henry bounded into the foyer, backpack slung over his shoulder and jacket hanging half off lf his other arm. "Emma."
She opened her arms automatically as he fitted himself against her front for a brief but tight hug. "Hey kid, ready to head home?"
"Yup."
She said goodbye to a cheerily waving Kathryn and drove Henry back to the house on Mifflin Street.
Dinner was a quick affair, the leftovers from the fridge almost as good as Regina's usual cooking. Soon after they'd settled on the couch and watched some kid-friendly movie Henry had picked before going to bed. He snuggled into her side and Emma wrapped an arm around his small shoulders.
"Hey Emma?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you like it here?"
"Absolutely, Storybrooke's a great place, I honestly wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
"Cool. But I meant, like, here. This house."
"Huh?"
Emma looked over at Henry and he met her eyes with an innocent expression. "Are you gonna move in with us at some point?"
"I…uh… well, that's quite a big decision and there would be lots of talking before that. Would you like me to move in?" Emma asked slowly.
Henry blinked sleepily at her. "Of course." He yawned and dropped his head against her shoulder, eyes back on the TV screen.
Emma took a quiet breath, staring at the dark room with unfocused eyes. Was that really a possibility? Could she move in with Regina? She'd always needed her own space, somewhere she could be alone, to recharge.
But even now, after having returned to Storybrooke for mere weeks, she felt miserable having to stay at her small apartment instead of spending the evening with Regina and Henry.
Henry's breathing had evened out and he was softly snoring against her. She smiled at his peaceful features and raked a hand through his tussled brown hair.
"I love you so much," she whispered, pressing her lips to his forehead.
A/N2: so I found this gif on tumblr, by helenastacie2, aaaaand don't you think it could be straight out of 'All I Wanna Do'? yay or nay? just google helenastacie2 tumblr and add /post/114126144021 to the URL (gosh I know it's a long number but you can't post links) - lemme know what ya'll think.
