***Author's Notes: I have a confession. If you haven't noticed already, this has really been my first attempt at writing anything that isn't a research paper and I really love it. I am actually a bit saddened by the fact that I am only one chapter away from completing it because I am so invested in the story. Right now, I have a total of 23 chapters finished and ready for posting so I thought that I may as well just get them out there. So, here is another chapter that's filled with some of that boring stuff that has to happen in between my favorite scenes of our two leading ladies. Enjoy!***

Emma wakes up the next morning to the sound of Whitney Houston and the scent of coffee and bacon coming from her kitchen. She pulls herself out of bed and walks into the main room to find her best friend in the kitchen using the whisk handle as a microphone as she belts out the chorus to I Will Always Love You. Emma smiles at the sight because it is something that she loves and truly misses.

Ruby does not notice Emma right away but when she does, she turns the music down and gestures for her to get closer. "Good morning, my darling. I'm making you breakfast and it's your favorite." Ruby winks.

Emma shakes her head and chuckles at her friend. "What the hell are you doing up so early?"

"I just told you that I'm making you breakfast." Ruby lifts the mixing bowl so that Emma can see the contents. "See? Chocolate chip pancakes."

"I can see that." Then Emma squints her eyes at her friend. "But, what are you really up to?"

Ruby sighs and and puts the bowl back down on to the counter. "When we left the bar last night, you were in such a weird mood. Then when we got back here, you went straight to bed. I know that something is bothering you and I just wanted to make you feel better, that's all."

Emma manages a small smile. "I'm alright. I just hate that we were the cause of bar drama for Regina last night. She barely said anything to me after those guys left. She's probably upset with me."

Ruby thinks about this for a moment. Before they left the bar last night, she discreetly exchanged phone numbers with Killian in case they needed to get in contact with each other regarding their conversation a few days earlier. She thinks that she will probably have to send him a text message later because she is suddenly very curious to hear what his thoughts are concerning Regina's reaction from last night. Ruby shrugs. "Well, you can always just clear that up with her when you see her again. Or, you can always call her and invite her over and talk it out."

"She gave me the week off, Rubes. She'll be working all week so I doubt she 'll have time to come over. And there isn't anything to talk out."

Ruby shrugs. "Well, you won't know unless you ask."

Emma fills a mug with coffee and leans against the counter as she takes a cautious sip, careful not to burn her mouth. "I guess I could just text her." She sighs again. "Why do I feel like every time I take one step in the right direction with her, I get forced two steps back?"

"Oh, Em. I really think that you're overthinking this."

"Maybe, but I can't shake this feeling."

"Well, I think that I may have mentioned already that I'm making chocolate chip pancakes." Ruby says. "And there is nothing in the world that can't be fixed with bacon and pancakes." She nudges Emma playfully. " And you know that I'm right. So, let's eat while we brainstorm, shall we?"

Emma smiles. "Alright. Put Whitney back on and let me help with breakfast."

Regina has spent all of the night and most of her day trying to get the image of Emma and that red dress she had on out of her head. All morning, she has been replaying bits and pieces of the previous evening. One image in particular lingers and it is the one of Emma leaning over the billiards table when trying to make what looked to be a difficult shot, while all the men they were playing with , as well as all the ones that were clear across the room, were staring her.

Regina remembers how satisfying it was to hear Emma tell the one man to keep his hands to himself, and admittedly, it made her blood boil to see him put his arm around her. She is still quite upset at herself for not being able to control her emotions better but she had had enough of his rude attitude towards Emma and Ruby. Embarrassed and very much flustered after the whole ordeal, she kept to herself the rest of the evening. It was not until after Emma and Ruby left to go home that she finally felt her nerves start to relax.

Killian notices that Regina is lost in thought and nudges her on the shoulder. "Hey." He says softly. "Where has your mind been all day? You seem preoccupied with something."

"I'm just tired, I think." Regina replies quietly.

"Are you sure that is all it is? You can tell me if there is something bothering you." Killian asks again, trying to push for a more truthful answer.

"Killian, I am fine." Regina answers with a convincing smile.

Killian just nods and returns her smile.. He thinks back to Regina's reaction to the group of men the night before. He hardly ever sees her lose her temper, especially with customers, but last night, there was a fire in her that he can only assume was sparked by the man's words and actions towards Emma. He considers asking her about it once more and comes to the conclusion that it would not do him any good to pressure Regina into talking to him. So, instead, he changes the subject. "Oh, I forgot to tell you that I got a text from Robin last night. I think that he and Marian has some free time this week and are going to stop in to see us. They just wanted to know when would be best."

Regina perks up at the mention of their friends. "Oh? That would be nice. It has been a few months since they've had any time. Are they not going to have Roland?"

"Yeah, I think that he said that Roland is spending the week with Marian's mum and dad." Killian laughs. "Rob sounded ecstatic about it all."

Regina laughs at that thought. "Tell them to that they should swing by this afternoon if they can. It shouldn't be busy so it'll give us more time to chat."

"Sure. I'll let them know." Killian reaches for his phone and sees that he has a text message from Ruby. He types out a message and sends it to Robin before he reads the new one in his inbox. He simply replies to Ruby's message by telling her that she should try to talk Emma into coming by the bar after they have lunch and once that is sent as well, he smiles proudly to himself. When he looks up, he sees Regina staring at him curiously with one of her brows raised. "What?"

"I don't know. You look awfully giddy about something over there. Is there something that I'm missing?" Regina asks.

"I'm just really stoked that we'll get to see them, that's all. It's been too long." Killian says which is mostly the truth.

Regina is not completely convinced that is why he is suddenly very cheery, but she lets it go. "I'm very excited to see them, too." Then she thinks about everything that has happened since the last real conversation she had with her best friend and wonders where to even begin when Marian inevitably asks her for an update on recent events.

"I still can't believe that woman had the audacity to come in here asking you for closure. What a narcissist!" Robin states incredulously.

Regina does not say anything but looks sadly at Robin and Marian and shrugs. She learned rather quickly that Killian has already told Robin about Danielle coming into the bar to see her. When they arrived, Marian rushed over to hug her without revealing much of a motive but it took Robin only one beer before he brought it up.

"Regina, you're really just way too nice. You should have told her to leave." Marian says with a frown. "What she did to you and Killian is unforgivable."

Regina sighs because she suddenly remembers how much she really hates talking about this particular subject. "What they both did was horrible, yes." Regina tries to emphasize again that it was not just Danielle that hurt her and Killian. "But, I will need to forgive her eventually, or I will never be able to move on. And it was fine. I mean, I never expected to see her again but I've always wondered how I would react if I did. I thought that I would be more sad or feel more heartbroken but that wasn't the case at all. If anything, seeing her again made me realize that I may have actually begun to get over it." She pauses because it sounds so strange saying it aloud but she continues. "Get over her."

"That may be so, but personally, I think that she really should have just stayed away from here. She obviously shows no remorse. I'm surprised she didn't bring Elle in here with her just so she could rub salt in both of your wounds." Robin says as he takes another drink of his beer.

Marian shakes her head and smacks her husband on the arm for sounding so insensitive. Then she changes the subject. "So, anyway you two, how's the new help working out?" She turns towards Regina.

"Killian says that you've hired someone to help out. Does this mean that you're working less and might actually have time to stop by to see your godson some time?"

Regina is about to answer when the front door opens. She looks up to see Emma and Ruby walking in. Her eyes meet Emma's and the blonde smiles shyly with a quick wave. "Speaking of the new help…"

Both Marian and Robin turn around and they both recognize Emma right away. "Hey! I know you." Robin says with a wide smile. "Killy couldn't talk you into a singing a duet with him but he talked you into working here?"

Emma laughs. "Hey, it's good to see you two again. It's been a while. And Killian was pretty convincing but you and I both know that I'm here because of Regina." She realizes the implication of her statement and adds quickly to clarify. "She got me addicted to her burgers." Then she turns to Ruby. "Which you still need to try before you leave. Anyway guys, this is my friend Ruby. She's visiting from New York. Rubes, this is Rob and Marian. They are good friends of Killian and Regina."

"It's nice to meet you." Ruby waves and smiles politely.

As everyone is getting acquainted, Killian shakes his head and laughs. "Emma, it's so strange to see you wearing something so casual after last night. The contrast is like night and day."

"Yeah, well, I hope that you have that image of me from last night burned into your brain because it is not likely that you'll see it ever again." Emma says with a grin.

Regina thinks about Emma's statement and smiles as she tries to hide the fact that she has not been able to stop thinking about Emma since the night before and she is sure that she will not forget that image of her any time soon.

Emma looks over at Regina and notices that she looks uncomfortable with the subject. She thinks that now is as good a time as ever to apologize. "Regina, speaking of last night, I'm so sorry about everything that happened. It's been bothering me all morning. Ruby and I didn't mean for it to get so out of hand."

Regina is genuinely dumbfounded by the apology. "Emma, you don't have anything to apologize for. I'm sorry that those goons made the situation so uncomfortable for you two when you were just trying to have a good time. I would have thrown them out sooner but I really wanted to watch you and Ruby kick their asses at pool." Regina is smiling now trying to reassure Emma that there are no ill feelings whatsoever.

Now it is Ruby who is laughing. "Those guys were so distracted by Emma's dress, it was the easiest win ever." Then she turns her attention to Emma. "I'm almost positive they staged most of their shots just so that they could watch you bend over."

"Oh please! With or without the dress, I would have kicked their butts." Emma says defensively.

Then, Killian is laughing again. "You without the dress on would have been very interesting to watch."

Emma looks to see that everyone else is grinning or holding back their laughter. "Killian, you're an ass. You know what I meant!"

Regina speaks up. "Alright, Killian, stop giving Emma such a hard time. And Emma, I'm going to have to agree with Ruby. Those men were far from the chivalrous type and you were certainly very distracting in that dress." Regina makes sure to look Emma in the eyes with her last comment and smiles at her.

Neither Emma or Regina notice it, but everyone else in the room is looking between the two of them waiting to see what would unfold.

Emma feels her face turn red and immediately looks down at her feet mumbling something that no one hears. When she looks up again, Regina has already looked away.

After a moment, Robin clears his throat awkwardly and speaks up. "Well, this dress that everyone keeps talking about must have really been something but what I'm mostly concerned about is your pool game that you seem to be boasting about. I am very interested in challenging you to a game of pool, Miss."

"Oh, great! That sounds wonderful." Marian adds happily. "You go and play so that Regina and I can catch up over here." She says to her husband before grabbing Regina by the arm and pulling her over to where the sofa is.

Emma nods. "Alright, but you've been warned. I'm pretty good at it."

Robin gets up off of the bar stool and walks with Emma towards the billiards table. "We'll just have to see about that…"

Ruby looks to Killian smirking and then shrugs before sitting down in front of him. "Looks like it's just you and me, Stud." Then she winks at him. "Let's chat."

From the sofa, Marian looks over to see her husband and Emma chatting while she is racking the pool balls and she knows without looking behind her that Killian is keeping Emma's friend company at the bar. She finally focuses her attention on Regina. She takes Regina's hands into her own and speaks, trying to keep her voice low. "Hey, so how are you, really?"

"I'm good, Mare." Regina says with a sad smile. "Honestly, it was hard. I was such a mess afterwards. I didn't think that I would be able to make it through the night, but…" She trails off.

"But?" Marian asks.

Regina thinks about how to say this to her friend without hurting her feelings in any way. "But Emma actually helped to talk me off the ledge somehow, I suppose. She came back here after I told her to leave me alone and she just refused to leave. Talking to her about everything helped a lot. I mean, not that it didn't help when I talked to you or Rob about it...I just felt that Emma was more objective about the whole thing." Regina says as she squeezes Marian's hand.

"I understand. I'm glad that someone was here for you. I know that with the baby, I don't ever have as much time for you as I would like." Marian says reassuringly.

"I don't want you to feel like you're not here for me because you have always been my rock." Regina says.

Marian nods. Then she looks over towards Emma and Rob again and back at Regina. "So... Emma is really pretty."

This surprises Regina. "Uh, yes. Sure, she is." She says trying to sound as composed as she can. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Marian chuckles. "I was watching you when you were commenting on her dress earlier. I think that I've seen that look before."

Regina shakes her head. "It isn't like that. Emma has been a good friend to me. I wouldn't-"

"Hey, I was just going to say that it's nice to see that you are even noticing that other pretty women exists outside of Dani Price." Marian laughs but gets serious quickly after. "I know that it will take some time but you have to allow yourself to love again, Regina. You deserve to be happy."

Regina sighs.

"And, before you start arguing with me, I would just like to add, whatever it was that I saw in your eyes earlier, I'm pretty positive was in Emma's eyes, too. I can see that she completely adores you."

Regina looks over at the billiards table to see Emma smiling smugly as she watches Robin take a shot. Emma catches Regina looking and sticks her tongue out at her which makes Regina shake her head and smile back in return.

"Mmhmm." Marian hums. "That's exactly the look that I was just talking about."

Regina is still smiling but shakes her head again, this time with less conviction. "I don't think that I'm ready for anything new. The idea of it is always nice, but I think that I may have too much baggage at the moment."

"Oh, Honey. This may sound harsh considering your previous situation, but please know that it comes from a good place. It's not like we are talking about a marriage proposal here. Just get to know each other better and see where it goes, you know?"

Regina nods. "I know what you mean. It's just easier said than done, that's all. I'm still trying to do what you told me all those months ago, just take it one day at a time."

Marian smiles and wraps one arm around Regina in a hug. "That's great to hear. Because more than anything, I just want you to be happy." They both look up suddenly when they hear Robin groan in frustration followed by a string of curse words. "It sounds like Emma has bested my husband on the pool table. We should probably go over there and try to help mend his shattered ego." Marian says as she chuckles. She stands up and reaches for Regina to take her hand and she does. She pulls Regina up and they walk hand in hand back up towards the bar.