TW for eating disorder

Snow insisted on having Emma over for family dinner that Friday night so naturally Emma thought to bring her fiancé. Apparently that was not part of the invitation as she quickly found out by look of shock on her mom's face.

"Oh," Snow said, startled. "I didn't realize you were bringing Hook, Emma." She hadn't stepped out of the way of the door and Emma was growing suspicious. She gave her mom a curious look and she slowly nodded her head.

"Yes mom, I brought my fiancé to family dinner. Why? What's going on?" Emma tried to step in the door but Snow wasn't budging.

"Right, right, umm it's no problem, I will set another plate at the table." Snow slowly backed away from the door and Emma could see Henry on the couch talking animatedly to David and from the looks of it, a third person hidden behind the doorframe.

Emma groaned when she heard Regina's voice. She had been successful in avoiding her until this moment. The last thing she needed was an argument with either Regina or Hook. Stepping inside the house, Emma removed her jacket and hung it in the hallway closet. She headed towards the living room where Regina refused to meet her eyes. David stood up, gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before giving Hook a pat on the shoulder. Henry gave her a stiff smile and a nod before continuing his conversation. Obviously he was still angry with Emma. Feeling like she was unwelcome in the room, Emma left Hook to converse with them while she went into the kitchen to help Snow.

"Need any help mom?" Snow turned towards her with a warm smile on her face.

"No sweetie, thank you. Regina has been wonderful and we finished everything just a few minutes ago. Why don't you find out what everyone wants to drink? Dinner is just about ready." Emma just nodded and headed back towards the rest of the family.

"What does everyone want to drink?" Emma took everyone's drink preference and when she turned towards Regina she simply said 'wine please' and moved to sit on the other side of Henry. Emma nodded even though no one was paying attention to her and set out to get everything ready. She found the bottle of wine that Regina had brought with her and worked on removing the cork. The twisting and turning was almost therapeutic. Emma nearly forgot who she was opening the wine for until the woman herself walked into the kitchen.

Emma kept her head down, focusing on pouring a generous amount of wine into two large wine glasses. When Regina cleared her throat, Emma finally looked up with a rise of her brows.

"You're avoiding me," was all Regina said as she picked up one of the glasses and took a sip.

"Didn't really look like you wanted to talk to me either Regina," Emma answered. She sighed, picking up her own glass to take a long drink. "I honestly don't know what I did that has made you, Henry and even the Queen angry with me. I'm tired Regina, we have enough going on right now, I don't need another lecture or cryptic hint toward whatever it is I did wrong this time. I just don't."

"Fine Emma. I don't know why you're acting like this and shutting me out. We've always talked about everything. Something's going on with you lately. If you decide you want to talk to someone, let me know."

"There's nothing I need to talk about!" Emma nearly shouted. Regina took a deep breathe before finally looking into Emma's eyes.

"Are you even going to eat dinner tonight?" Regina refilled her wine glass before swiftly leaving the room and making sure to take the seat next to Henry so she wouldn't have to sit next to Emma or Captain Guyliner.

Food was dished onto plate and a basket of dinner rolls was passed around the table. Emma made sure to put enough food on her plate to make it look like she was eating enough for everyone to leave her alone. It seemed to be working as everyone chatted and multiple conversations happened around the table. Regina continuously peeked at Emma out of the corner of her eye, noticing that she was merely pushing the food around on her plate rather than eating it. Half of her dinner roll lay on the table, the other being picked at and barely eaten. She kept her mouth shut, not having the energy to start an argument. Unfortunately, Snow didn't have that kind of a filter.

"Is there something wrong with the food Emma?" Snow asked. The look of innocence on her face was almost convincing enough for Emma to believe it, but she knew better. She allowed a tight-lipped smile to cross her face.

"Just not feeling that great mom, that's all. The food is all wonderful." Emma set down the last piece of the destroyed roll and wiped her lips with her napkin. "I actually think it's time for us to go now. I'm really tired. Thanks for dinner Mom, it was wonderful." She said a quick set of goodbyes to everyone, as did Hook, and headed into the hallway to grab her jacket. She and Hook were nearly out the door when she heard Regina's voice ring out.

"Emma, can I speak to you alone for a moment?" Hook looked over at Emma and then back at Regina before nodding his head and exiting the house.

"What can I do for you Regina?" Emma jested.

"Emma," Regina started, placing a gentle hand on Emma's upper arm. "You're not eating, it's clear by the bags under your eyes that you're not sleeping, you've lost a ton of weight, and you're constantly agitated and not just with me but with your whole family. Please, let me help you. I want to help you Emma." Regina looked genuinely concerned for Emma's wellbeing and while she knew she had a problem, she didn't need Regina to help her.

"Regina, I am fine. I don't need anyone's help. I eat enough, I sleep enough and everyone seriously needs to stop worrying about my weight. I'm just naturally thin I guess. So my jeans are a little baggy. Aren't you the one that said I shouldn't wear my pants so tight? Now they're not so tight. I just need everyone to lay off. There's nothing wrong with me." Emma clenched her jaw, recognizing her own lies clearly.

"Really Emma? That's what you're going with? Eat this dinner roll right here in front of me and I'll never mention it again." Regina pulled a roll out from behind her back and handed it to Emma. Emma swallowed hard as she took the roll into her hand, feeling out the soft dough in her fingers.

"I'm just not hungry Regina, that's all. I had a big lunch today," she lied.

"Eat the roll Emma," Regina demanded.

Emma looked back down at the roll and took a deep breath before she took the daintiest bite of the roll and swallowed.

"See? I'm fine!"

"Emma you barely even took a bite of that roll and it looked like it seriously hurt you to do it! Something is wrong with you Emma and I will not let this go. I care too much about you to just forget." Regina was becoming nervous and she hated fearing so much about this woman's wellbeing.

Emma felt like she was suffocating. Her lungs felt like they were collapsing under her ribs, her heart was pounding out of her chest. Her face was flushed and her head suddenly felt heavy at the onslaught of Regina's accusation.

"Regina," Emma suddenly gasped out. "Please Regina, I can't, please, please." Her pleas came out as a whisper, so quiet that Regina would have missed it had they not been alone in the small hallway.

"Emma," Regina sighed. She stepped closer, dropping her hand to Emma's shoulder. "Please let me help you." Emma's teary eyes glanced up to meet brown orbs consumed with concern, Regina's own tears threatening to spill. There was something in those wide brown eyes that struck Emma.

"Ok," she agreed. "Ok."