***Author's Notes: I finished writing this story last night. So, it's all ready to go. Not including this one, there are six other chapters that I will need to post and my goal is to get them all up by Christmas. SPOILER ALERT: This chapter is one of my favorites and it along with every other chapter after this one is really going to pull at your heartstrings. Sorry, not really sorry? Please continue to leave me your thoughts because you all have been really great at motivating me to keep this story going and I really, really appreciate it. Enjoy!***
Regina is finishing up her makeup when she hears a knock at her door. She looks over at the clock and sees that Emma is half an hour early. As she checks her appearance once again in the mirror in front of her she thinks about how her outings with Emma have been becoming more frequent lately. After that day with everyone in the bar, Emma invited her out a couple more times to hang out with her and Ruby. It was a nice way to get to know Emma better, especially with Ruby around to divulge some of the more intimate things that she would not learn about Emma otherwise.
On Ruby's last night in the city Regina closed the bar early so that they, Killian included, could have dinner together. Afterwards, they all ended up at Emma's where they watched a movie until almost everyone except for Ruby was too tired to keep their eyes open.
Just a few days after Ruby left to go back to the East coast, Emma asked Regina if she would accompany her out for some holiday shopping. Regina agrees knowing that if she waited until after Thanksgiving to do her own shopping, she would not have enough time to finish it all. Emma decides on a random Tuesday night and Regina is sure that she is going to use the I.O.U that she still has in her possession. But, Emma never brings it up and so she does not say a word about it either.
When Regina opens the door, Emma is standing there with a big smile on her Bay Mail
"Hey." Emma says. She looks Regina over and beams. "We're just going shopping, you know. You don't have to always look like you're getting ready to walk a runway." It has recently become quite a habit for Emma to randomly compliment Regina on her appearance. She likes to think that she does it because of how cute Regina gets when she blushes but it is mostly because she genuinely believes everything she tells the other woman.
"Uh huh." Regina says as she shakes her head and turns to hide her flushing face.
Emma chuckles and follows Regina into the apartment. "So, I know that I'm a little early but I was thinking that we could get an early start and then come back here to hang out after."
"That sounds good. Let me grab my coat and we can get going." Regina says.
Once she is bundled up and ready to brave the November chill, they walk the short distance to Regina's car so they can drive to the closest shopping area which happens to be in the middle of downtown Seattle.
"I can't believe that you didn't bring a coat. It's freezing out here." Regina says as they are walking away from the parking garage. As she walks, she pulls her coat closer and tightens the belt around it.
Emma shrugs. "Well... I don't really have one?"
Regina looks at her incredulously. "You don't own a coat?"
Emma chuckles. "I used to have this leather jacket that I loved. But, I accidentally left it at Walsh's place when I left him. It didn't seem right to go back just for that. And honestly, this isn't even that bad. I mean, compared to the cold in New York, this is really nothing."
"It's not that bad right now but it will only get colder. And more wet. I can't believe you don't own a coat." Regina reiterates a she is shaking her head.
"If I see something that catches my eye while we're shopping, I promise that I'll try it on, okay? You happy?" Emma says with a grin.
"It's your prerogative if you prefer to freeze. Do whatever you want." Regina says nonchalantly.
Emma feigns hurt. "Oh, and here I was actually thinking that you cared about my well-being. You wound me, Regina." This earns her a punch to her shoulder which makes her laugh happily.
When they are in the shopping mall, it takes them a short time to find all of the items that Emma already has on her shopping list, which consisted mostly of the gifts that she will send to her parents and Ruby. Regina purchases gifts for her parents as well and then follows Emma into a Barnes & Noble store so that she could find something for her younger brother. Regina picks out a few books for Roland and then spends the rest of her time in the music section looking through vinyl records.
Emma walks up to Regina and sees that she is browsing the section with mostly the older vocalists and bands and makes a mental note to look through her records when she gets a chance to see what she may not have in her collection yet. She gets close to Regina and whispers by her ear. "Hey, are you finding everything you need?"
Regina flinches and drops the record that she has in her hand. "Emma! You scared me!"
Emma laughs as she bends over to pick the record up off of the floor. "I didn't mean to. We're in a bookstore and I didn't want to be too loud." Emma looks down at the record that had fallen. "Oh, I love Fleetwood Mac. This is definitely one of the best albums of all time."
"I really like this one, too. I don't think that I have it anymore because the one I had was so scratched, I'm pretty sure I had to get rid of it." Regina says. Emma hands it to her but Regina just puts it back down onto the display. "Did you find a gift for your brother?"
Emma nods. "Oh, yeah. So, I'm ready to check out if you are."
"Yes, I'm ready." Regina says.
On their way out of the bookstore, Emma sees something across the way that catches her eye. "Oh! Let's go in there really quick." She says as she motions towards the clothing shop.
Regina looks closer and thinks that she knows what Emma is wanting to look at. In the window, there is a mannequin wearing a black jacket. It looks like it is something that Emma would like. She follows her into the shop and finds that she is right.
Emma walks straight to the section with the coats and finds the one that is displayed in the window. She tries it on and turns towards Regina with a smile on her face. "How's it look?"
Regina studies her for a moment. Normally, it would not be something that she would like on anyone. It does not have a particularly flattering look to it and is probably the least practical coat in the store, but on Emma, it actually looks amazing. "It looks really good on you. But is it comfortable? And warm?" Regina reaches out and touches the sleeve of the jacket to feel the thickness of the material.
"Yeah, it's actually a little bit heavier than my old one. Will you take a picture of me in it so I can send it to Ruby?" Emma asks with a smile.
Regina takes her phone out of her coat pocket and snaps a few pictures of Emma pretending to model the coat while giggling the whole time. "Okay, I think I have a few good ones." She will realize later when she looks through them again that there are actually some really great snapshots all because of Emma's infectious smile.
"Thank you." Emma says. "Do you have Ruby's number? Could you just shoot her one of those and ask her what she thinks?" She takes off the jacket and looks for a price tag. When she sees it her eyes widen. "Actually, nevermind. Geezus, who knew that vegan leather would be so expensive."
Regina opens her mouth to speak but is immediately pushed out of the store by her. "Emma-"
"I know what you are going to say and the answer is no. Now, come on, help me pick something out for Killian and then we can go home, have some wine, and be lazy for the rest of the night." Emma says hoping that Regina does not argue with her.
Regina sighs. "Fine. I do have a few things in mind that I wanted to look at for him, so we might as well do it while we're here."
They look for all of the gifts that Regina has in mind and ultimately agree on a watch that Killian's been wanting. It was the most expensive of the items they were contemplating but decided to just split the cost because they both really wanted Killian to have it.
On their way back to Regina's apartment, they stop by a grocery store so that Regina can pick up a few things to cook dinner for Emma and herself. Emma pays for groceries since Regina volunteered to cook and even though Regina tries to argue, she learns that Emma is getting better and better at getting her way and there was no point in trying to fight her.
At the apartment, Emma pours them each a glass of wine and sits down on one of the stools as she watches Regina prepare dinner. Her mind wanders to the day they had and how wonderfully perfect it was. She loves that she can be herself around Regina and she never feels the least bit anxious about it. At the beginning of their friendship, she felt as though Regina was very closed-off and withdrawn but in the last month, everything has become so comfortable. She thinks that she is probably just reading too much into it because she does tend to do that a lot, but deep down, she really wishes that this bond that they are forming would turn into something more. She smiles into her glass of wine as she takes another drink.
"What are you smiling about over there?" Regina asks with a hint of playfulness.
"Huh? Oh! Nothing, really." Emma stammers. "Just that I had a really good day today. Thank you for coming shopping with me. I really hate shopping alone."
Regina smiles wondering what it is that Emma was really thinking about that would make her so happy. She has to admit that hanging out with Emma outside of work is something that she finds herself looking forward to every time they make plans. Not that Emma is any different at work than she is now, but at the bar, Regina is still her employer which makes her feel very conflicted when it comes to her growing affection towards Emma. "Yes, it was a really good day. Thank you for inviting me."
They sit in comfortable silence for a moment longer but Emma all of a sudden remembers something she wants to do. "Um, can I put on some music?"
"Sure. You can look through my CDs and records if you'd like." Regina says. "Or, there's always Spotify or Pandora."
Bingo. Emma smiles. "I've been meaning to check out your music collection anyway. I only got to skim through it that first time. You sure you don't mind?"
Regina shakes her head. "Go ahead." Then she continues seasoning the steaks that she has on her cutting board.
Emma looks through all of the vinyls and is shocked to see that Regina has a very eclectic taste in music. She has something in almost every genre and a wide selection of music that spans at least six or seven decades. Trying to pick something out for her is either going to be incredibly easy or extremely difficult. Right now, her mind is leaning towards the latter.
"Can't decide on anything?" Regina asks.
Emma turns to see that Regina is right next to her now. "Oh, well, there's just so many options." She smiles. "Which is your favorite?"
Regina shrugs. "It really depends on my mood."
"Well, what are you in the mood for right now?" Emma asks.
Without replying, Regina skims to the very back of the crate and finds the one she is looking for. She hands it to Emma. "How about this one?"
Emma looks at it and smiles. "Sure. Do you have a favorite track?"
"I love them all. Do you?"
"Actually, I do." Emma walks over to the the record player and turns it on while Regina sits down on the couch and waits. She gets everything set up and then checks again for the track that she is looking for.
When the opening chords of Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight begins playing, Regina smiles. "Why am I not surprised that this one is your favorite?"
Emma chuckles. "Are you going to ask me why?"
"You mean, it's not because it's one of his most favored songs?" Regina teases while she waits for her answer. Regina sees that Emma closes her eyes to take in the words in the first verse. When she opens her eyes again to look at her, Regina asks, "So, tell me, why is this your favorite?"
"So, don't laugh. But, when I was younger, my dad would play the guitar for me. I would always request that he sing this one because the girl in the song is blonde and beautiful and it always made me wish that it was about me." Emma chuckles. "Did you know that he wrote this song for his true love? Doesn't it sound like he's just so enamored with her? I think that the lyrics make my heart clench every time which is the same feeling I get when I am in so in love with someone. I think that's why I love the song so much."
Regina just stares at Emma and is at a loss for words. Everything that Emma just said was so raw and honest. For whatever reason, it was the last thing she was expecting.
Emma sees Regina's reaction and she looks down and begins to wring her hands together nervously. "That was probably too heavy. Sorry, I didn't mean-"
Regina reaches over and puts her hand on top of Emma's. "No, that was really beautiful. A lot of music makes me feel that exact same way. It's so wonderful that a string of words, musical composition, and rhythm has the power to evoke so much feeling. Don't ever apologize for feeling a certain way about something that you love."
Emma's heart starts racing from the warmth of Regina's hand on hers and she barely manages a nervous smile. "Want to hear something even sillier? When I was a kid, I dreamt of my 'prince charming' singing this to me and I would not shut up about it for years. That's probably why my parents freaked the hell out when I told them I was bisexual. I guess that I was always supposed to be their little princess and princesses didn't love other princesses, ya know?" Emma scrunches her face and furrows her brow at her own words.
Regina laughs, mostly to hide her sudden excitement due to Emma's abrupt confession, but also because Emma's current expression was really darn cute. "I suppose they don't. Not in the traditional stories anyway. But I am learning that you, Emma Swan, are far from the traditional princess."
Emma squints her eyes at Regina. "I'm going to take that as a compliment, I think."
Regina laughs again just as the timer in the kitchen is going off. She gets up and walks towards the kitchen but not before replying to Emma. "That most definitely is a compliment."
Regina checks on the roasted brussel sprouts and cauliflower in the oven and turns it off once she sees that they are to her satisfaction. Then she cooks their steaks with some butter and fresh garlic on a cast iron skillet that she already has warming on the stove. The steaks do not take very long and once they are done, she plates them, adds the vegetables and walks them to the dining room table. Emma refills their wine glasses and brings Regina her glass before sitting down across from her.
Emma looks down at her plate amazed. "Holy shit, Regina. This looks so good."
"You haven't even tasted it, it could be quite horrible." Regina says playfully.
"I don't think that anything that smells this good could ever be horrible." Emma replies.
Regina just shrugs and takes a sip of her wine. "Well, you'll find out soon enough. Bon appetit."
They chat over dinner, talking mostly about how much Ruby enjoyed her vacation and how she is ready to come back for another visit. Regina asks her to elaborate some more about their life in New York and Emma is just full of fun stories to tell. They end up finishing a second bottle of wine and as Emma is clearing the table she asks, "So, I've been meaning to ask you, do you have any travel plans for Thanksgiving? Are you going home this year?"
"No, I think that I'm just staying here in Seattle. This will be Killian's and my first Thanksgiving since, well, you know…" Regina does not finish the sentence assuming that Emma knows who and what she is referring to. "So, I plan on making just enough food for Killian and I and he can fall asleep watching football out here on the couch while I fall asleep with a book in the bedroom." Regina says as she shrugs.
"Oh." Emma frowns. "Well that sounds relaxing, at least." Emma says with a smile even though she is a little disappointed that her only two friends in Seattle plan to spend a very lonely holiday together. She wonders if she should just invite herself to the party. "So...is it safe to assume that the bar is closed that day."
"Oh! Yes, it will be." Regina frowns realizing that she never asked Emma what her plans were. "Actually, what are you doing for Thanksgiving? Do you have plans? If not, I would love it if you would come over and spend it with us." Regina says hopefully.
Emma smiles widely. "I would really love that. I was actually just about to invite myself over if you didn't ask first." She says.
Regina laughs. "I'm sorry that I didn't ask sooner. I just always assume you would rather spend time doing other things. You already see Killian and I nearly everyday."
"Oh please, I could never get tired of seeing you." Emma says but then adds quickly, "Or Killian." Good save, Swan. "I just hope that you're the one that will be cooking and not him because you're an amazing cook."
Regina blushes. "Emma, you don't have to keep throwing compliments at me like that's the only reason that I keep you around. Although, I do really appreciate it. You're really inflating my head."
"I promise you, I don't ever say anything that I don't mean." Regina shakes her head and is about to speak when Emma laughs and finishes Regina's thought for her. "I'm ridiculous. I know." Then she winks as she continues to load the dishwasher.