***Author's Note: There's a little bit of everything in this one. I hope you like it-please let me know your thoughts.***

A few hours into his shift, Killian notices that Regina has been quiet for most of the morning. Besides telling him good morning when he arrived, she has not said anything at all. He remembers detecting a change in her mood the night before but at the time, he thought that it would be best not to bring it up in front of Emma. Everyone that knows Regina well, knows that she prefers to keep her business to herself. Killian has spent too much of the last six months really trying to earn her trust and knows he does not want to screw that up in any way.

There is a very hectic Friday lunch rush and Killian is manning the bar and serving the food while Regina is in the kitchen doing all of the cooking When it finally slows down and everyone has been served, Regina comes up front to fill her glass with water. This is when Killian notices for the first time that day that she looks rather tired. Not at all in the sense that she is any less beautiful and put together than she normally is, but her posture and movements seem slouchy and slow. He also observes that Regina has on her glasses today which he knows rarely happens. She will occasionally wear glasses on days that she is working a short shift but never when she supposed to be there all day.

When Regina finally turns towards him so that she can go back into the kitchen, she catches him staring at her. She does not say anything to him but she does not move from her spot either.

Killian sees sadness in her eyes and now that she is finally making eye contact with him for the first time since he started work today, he can see that her eyes look as if she has been crying. He takes a moment to consider his options. He could ask her about it and potentially piss the woman off or he could just leave it and finish off the rest of his shift hoping that when he sees her tomorrow, she will be in better mood. He finally opts for the former. "Hey you. Is everything alright?"

Regina does not answer right away. She looks hesitant and thoughtful. When she finally speaks, her voice is rough and scratchy. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just really tired is all."

Killian pushes back. "Well, I didn't ask if you're going to be alright." She does not respond so he speaks again, "I know that you're going to be alright, Gigi. But, how about in the present?"

Regina notes the use of his nickname for her. He used to switch between that and "Gina" a lot but because he knows that the latter was the name that Danielle always used for her, he tries his best to refrain from it. She remembers when they first started working together that he had told her about a younger cousin that he grew up with named Geraldine. She had passed away at a young age but was like a sister to him and "Gigi" was what he used to call her. Killian said that it suited Regina just as well. So, even though he does not use the name often, she knows that when he does use it, he is just trying to remind her of how important she is to him.

Regina sighs. "I just had a really bad night. I promise that I'm okay now."

Killian furrows his brow frowning at Regina."Why didn't you reach out to me about it last night? You know that I'm here for you."

"Well, you were preoccupied last night." Regina says trying to hide her bitterness.

Killian, however, picks up on the sharpness of her tone. He narrows his eyes at the woman. "Wait, is this about Emma? Are you upset that she's staying with me?"

"No. Why would that make me upset?" Regina lies.

"I haven't the slightest idea." He thinks for a second. "Are you mad at me? If so, Regina, you know that I can be really dense. You need to just tell me what this is about."

"Killian, I don't want to talk about it. Can we please just drop it?" She walks towards the doorway into the kitchen but Killian moves in front of her stopping her. "Killian, there are still customers in the bar. This is hardly appropriate."

He clenches his jaw. "Fine. But we aren't finished here. I'm not leaving here today until we talk about this, Regina." Then he steps off to the side letting her pass.

At around three in the afternoon, Regina hears a light knock on her office door. She turns to see Killian standing there so she puts her pen down and turns her chair towards him. "I going to assume that you're in here because everyone out there has left."

He nods. "I've put on some hot water so we can make some tea. Will you please join me?"

Regina takes her glasses off and pinches the bridge of her nose. She is really not in the mood to have this conversation. Not after the night she has had. "Can we not…"

Killian however, does not backing down. "Please, Regina. Just talk to me."

Regina sighs and puts her glasses back on. She gets up and walks past Killian and into the front of the bar. She sees that there are two mugs with the teabags set out and grabs one filling it with the hot water that is also already prepared and sitting in the coffee carafe. When it is filled, she sets it down to let it steep and looks up again to see Killian doing the same with his mug.

It is no surprise to Killian that Regina does not say anything so he speaks up first. "Regina, whatever I did to make you upset, I hope you know that it was unintentional. I would never-"

The last things she wants is for Killian to think that he wronged her in any way so she stops him before he can finish his thought. "Killian, you didn't do anything. I just..." She pauses for a second so that she can gather her thoughts. "I saw the way you were with Emma last night and it made me really wish that I could just move on and forget everything that's happened. I was upset because you looked so happy and then it escalated to anger when I realized that I don't know how to be happy like that anymore."

Killian is shaking his head. "Regina, are you saying that you think that I've moved on? And onto Emma?" He laughs at how ridiculous it all sounds. "Regina, what I went through with Elle is not something that I can just move on from. She was-is the love of my life. And believe me, every morning when I get out of bed, I still think about her. I really hate myself for it."

Regina is taken aback by his confession but does not say anything. She does however, feel both ashamed and embarrassed that she has made an inaccurate assumption.

Killian continues, "Emma is a friend. She doesn't know anyone in this city. I was trying to be a gentleman. If you had seen how disheartened she was when we left that last apartment building yesterday, you would have offered up your place, too."

"I did, actually." Regina says quietly.

"What?"

"I did offer for Emma to stay at my place. I did it right before you did and she turned me down. She was so quick to accept your invitation, I guess that I just thought-maybe she is the one that wants more than friendship from you." Regina shrugs.

Killian sighs. "If she does then she's really just shit out of luck. I haven't got my heart back from the last one to give to her. Or to give to anyone else." He picks up his tea and blows on it so that he can cool it enough to take a drink.

Regina grabs hers as well and they stand there in silence for a minute. "I'm sorry for snapping at you."

Killian looks up then and smiles at Regina. "That was hardly you snapping, Love. I've seen you snap at people and I would never want to be caught in the crosshairs of that nasty business."

Regina smiles for the first time all day but it disappears with her next thought. "Every once in awhile, I catch myself thinking about how I may still be in love with Danielle. I mean, why else would it be so hard for me to let it go?"

"Well, all of it is still pretty fresh, isn't it? Wounds like that don't just heal in a few months. Regina, please just come to me the next time you are having it bad. You're one of my closest friends. I don't like coming into work seeing that you've spent all night crying. It makes me feel like I'm not doing my job properly."

"It's not really your job to make sure that I don't go off the deep end."

"No, you're right. That's your job. But, when you can't manage it all at once, I'm here. Regina, please stop pushing me away."

"I know." She nods.

"Are we good then?" Killian asks.

"Yeah, we're good." She smiles and then finishes her cup of tea. "Now, get out of here and go take a break. Emma should be here soon and you have to be back here in a few hours."

"I'm gonna go grab a sandwich, then. Have you eaten?"

"I have a salad in the fridge."

"Very well. But you better eat." Killian tells her because he knows how she neglects herself when she is distressed or too busy.

Regina nods and watches Killian grab his jacket. When he is nearly out the door, she calls after him. "Hey..." Killian stops and turns back towards Regina. She walks over and hugs him. "Thank you. For being a good friend. And for forcing me to talk when you know that I don't want to."

Killian hugs her back and laughs. "I'd expect the same from you."

"EMMA, I COULD SLAP YOU!"

Emma flinches. "Geezus, Ruby. That's my ear that you just fucking screamed into."

Ruby could not care any less at the moment. "I can't believe that you moved in with your hot-ass bartender friend and you didn't even tell me. I had to find out through a picture that he tagged you in. Some best friend you are, Emma Swan."

Emma grunts in irritation. She has finally checked out of the hotel and has moved her things into Killian's place. She has only been there for a little over a week and she had planned to tell Ruby right after she got settled in, but then Killian goes and snaps a candid picture of her lounging on his couch with pizza and beer and even posts it on his Facebook page announcing it to everyone before she could even send a text to Ruby. She knew the second that she got the Facebook notification that she was going to be in the doghouse as far as Ruby is concerned. And Emma does know that she has been a terrible friend. "Rubes, I swear that I was going to tell you. I have been so busy with work and that night was my one night off. I have been so tired."

Ruby does not buy that for a second. Emma hurt her and she is not going to back down. "Right. Because I can totally tell that you were so exhausted from that picture of you laughing your ass off at whatever was on TV with that beer in your hand. Em, I'm not stupid. How much time would it have taken for you to type out a few words to your best friend? It's like you packed up all your shit and decided to leave New York, you find yourself a brand new life, and now you barely have time for anyone else? That's bullshit and you know it."

Emma can tell Ruby is really upset. Her friend spends a lot of time joking around but Emma can always hear it in Ruby's voice when she is dead serious about something. Not only does she feel extremely guilty, she is also very disappointed in herself because in a lot of ways, Ruby is right. It would not have taken her very long to just type up a message or dial Ruby's number on her way to work every once in awhile and yet, she has not even thought about doing so in the last month. "Rubes…"

"It's okay. Really, forget that I even brought it up. I don't even know what I was trying to accomplish by calling you. I really, really wanted to make you feel like shit for it but talking about it only makes me feel worse."

And this does make Emma feel worse than she already does. "Rubes, you are right. I'm an ass and I am so sorry for being MIA. You know that you're my person and that I can't lose you, right?" The line is still silent so Emma continues, "I'm only staying with Killian for as long as it takes for me to get my own place and when I do, I want you to come stay with me."

Ruby sighs. "Yeah, we'll see. Anyway, I have to go. My break is almost over and I have to run back inside. I'll just talk to you later."

"Yeah, okay. Love you." All Emma hears after that is silence from the ended call. "Shit." Emma knows that she needs to do some damage control and she needs to think of something quickly so she immediately calls hers and Ruby's favorite pastry shop in New York and begs them for a favor. Fortunately, the owner knows the two of them very well and agrees to help her out without any additional charges for the last minute delivery or the impromptu decorating request.

Then Emma waits. Within the hour, she receives a picture message from Ruby of a small Italian cream cake, Ruby's most favorite, with the words "I'm sorry" and "I love you" written in chocolate icing. Emma is replying to the message when another comes through. "You're still an ass, Swan. And I'm still mad at you." it reads, followed immediately by another message, "But I guess that I love you, too." Emma smiles and apologizes again. She also tells Ruby that she has an all day shift today but she promises that she will text her every chance she gets.

Emma smiles to herself, relieved. With that crisis averted, Emma feels like she is now able to relax as she gets ready to go into work.

When Emma walks into the bar, both Killian and Regina are behind the bar. There are a handful of customers having lunch but it is not very busy yet. Regina smiles when she sees her walking up and Emma realizes that she has not seen Regina at all in the last week. "Hey you. I haven't seen you all week! I've missed your face," she says to Regina.

"You probably only feel that way because you've been seeing so much of Killian." She chuckles and adds, "I couldn't imagine both living and working with him."

Emma smirks at Regina. "No, that's not true at all. But you're probably right about seeing Killian too much even though he's actually an okay roommate. I've definitely lived with worse people."

"You two do know that I'm standing right here, right?"

Emma winks at Regina before she answers Killian, "Oh hey, didn't even see you there. I must have been too focused on the pretty lady I was talking to." From the corner of her eye, Emma sees Regina shyly dip her head as she smiles at the compliment and it makes her smile to herself triumphantly.

"Har. Har. Real funny, Swan." Killian says as he throws the bar rag at Emma.

Emma catches it and throws it back at him which he deflects. The rag hits a bottle of vodka that is behind Killian knocking it over. He catches it quickly before it hits the ground "Holy shit. Good save, Killian!" Emma turns to Regina to see that she is glaring at them.

Regina shakes her head. "If you break it, you're buying a replacement."

Emma smiles shyly as she straightens up and scowls at Killian for getting her in trouble with Regina. He just laughs at her.

Regina walks into the back area and reappears with her jacket. "Alright, I'm going to get out of here and let you two work. Emma, will you let me know what your weekend is going to look like? Just text or email me your schedule when you hear from the agency."

"Aww what? I'm closing with Killian again? Why don't I ever work with you anymore?" This comes out whinier than Emma wants but she finds that she is genuinely disappointed.

Regina shrugs. "I have kickboxing tonight. And you always have other jobs scheduled on the nights that Killian needs off so he's just been taking a lot of the same shifts as you."

"Oh. Well, that's a bummer." Emma pouts.

It is so difficult for Regina to not give in to those sad green eyes. "When you send me your new schedule, I'll take a look and make sure we get some time together next week."

Emma smiles when she hears this. "Alright. I'm going to hold you to that." She does not know why but that alone makes her day. "Thanks, boss." Regina rolls her eyes and smirks at Emma before saying her goodbyes and walking out the door.

After an hour or so a few more people come into the bar. Most of them are just having drinks so they order with Emma at the bar while two others are an older couple that seats themselves at one of the smaller high top tables. Emma recognizes them right away as the husband and wife that she sang karaoke with her very first night of work. Emma walks up to their table to greet them cheerily. "Hi there. Janie, right? And Joe?"

"Hello Emma!" Joe says excitedly. "It's so good to see you again. We haven't seen you in some time and didn't know if you had actually stuck around."

Emma smiles. "Oh, I've stuck around, alright. I just have another job too so my schedule is pretty sporadic. You two still come in on Thursday nights to steal the show?"

Janie laughs. "We are here as often as we are able to make the walk. Joe loves Regina's burgers."

"Oh, yeah. Those suckers are really good." Emma agrees. "So, should I get some burgers started for you?"

"Yes, please. Two burgers with everything and one side of fries." Joe tells Emma.

Emma nods. "Alright. And something to drink?"

"Two iced teas, please." Janie says.

"You got it, guys. Coming right up!"

Emma walks back to the bar and enters the order into the computer. She fills two glasses with iced teas and brings them to the table. When the order is up she quickly walks it over to a very grateful Janie and Joe.

Killian is in the back cooking tonight so it is just her tending bar and watching the dining room. It is a pretty slow night so she leans back onto the counter and just lets her mind wander. For whatever reason, she starts thinking about Regina at her kickboxing class. She smiles as she imagines the woman all dressed in workout gear, kicking her sparring partner's ass. Emma realizes that with the exception of these random tidbits, she does not actually know very much about the brunette and yet, she feels very close to her. She has to admit, part of the reason that she wants to work the same shifts as Regina is so she can try to get to know her better. Afterall, Killian and Regina are her only friends in the area and she already knows Killian plenty well.

She pushes herself off the counter and makes her rounds, picking up some empty glasses and taking orders for more drinks. After she drops off the round of beers to the people who have migrated to area with the pool table, she heads back over to Joe and Janie to see how the are doing.

They have finished their food and thank Emma as she clears their dishes. When she comes back around to fill their teas, they see Killian at the bar and wave him over.

"Hello, you two. I had a feeling those were for you when I saw that order." Killian leans in and gives Janie a side hug before reaching out his hand to shake Joe's.

"It was very good as always." Janie says. "No Regina tonight?"

Emma answers this time. "No ma'am. It's her night off."

"Well, that's very good to hear." Joe says. "She hardly ever takes time off."

Killian nods. "Yes, with Emma's help now, both Regina and I are able to work a little less."

"I think that you better take good care of this one then." Janie says as she pats Emma lightly on her arm which makes both Emma and Killian smile.

"Of course." Killian agrees.

"Well, kids, Janie and I had better head on out of here. We have tenants moving out of our rental a few blocks from here and we were going to stop by to see if there was anything that they needed help with."

This gets Emma's attention. "A rental house?"

"It's just a condo that we bought for our daughter years ago. She lives in Texas with her family now so we rent it out." Joe tells her.

"So, you have tenants moving out...do you have any new renters lined up?" Emma thinks that with the current housing market the way that it is, they probably already have a list of potential renters so any chances that it is still vacant is just wishful thinking on her part.

"We have a few people coming by next week to take a look at it. If you know anyone interested and would like to refer someone, Joe and I would much rather rent to someone we know."

Before Emma can say anything, Killian beats her to it. "Actually, Emma has been looking for a place to rent. And I can most certainly be her character reference."

"Well Emma, you are more than welcome to come take a look at the place. It's a small place. Just one bedroom, about six hundred square feet. But, for one or even two people, it works alright." Joe tells her.

Emma is ecstatic. "It'll just be me. And seriously? I would love to come take a look. When do your tenants move out?"

"They should be completely out before the end of the weekend."

"May I ask you how much you're asking for as far as the monthly rent?"

Janie speaks up, "Well, dear, why don't you come take a look at it first and we can work out the numbers later?"

"Okay, sure. Can I stop by maybe Sunday?"

The couple look at each other for a moment trying to determine what their Sunday schedule looks like. Then Joe says, "I think that works for us. Let me write down our phone number for you and you can give us a call Sunday morning and we can set something up."

"Great!" Emma reaches into her back pocket and pulls out her notepad and hands that along with her pen to Joe who writes his phone number down for her. "Thank you so much. I really look forward to seeing the place on Sunday."

They say their goodbyes and Emma and Killian go back to work. When they are closing down the bar that night Emma is talks to Killian about how excited she is. Even though she does not want to get her hopes up, Killian tries to convince her otherwise. He reminds her that Joe and Janie are good friends of Regina's and that they would surely help her out. Emma sincerely hopes that it is true.

She had sent Ruby a message earlier in the evening sharing her good news. After the mess earlier in the day, she wanted to make sure Ruby is once again the first person that she tells everything to. Ruby seemed excited for her and sent good vibes to Emma in the form of the kiss emoji. That night she falls asleep thinking about how after almost four months in Seattle, she might be finally starting to settle in.