Hello everyone,

sorry for my long absence, but as I already said with my "Take me to Wonderland" update - the puppies are really keeping me busy.

It's a rather busy time with two huskies and 7 little "wolves", but I enjoy every second of it.

It's an amazing experience to watch the little ones grow up...I wouldn't want to miss a second of it.

Anyway...here is the next chapter of "The Bet". I hope you'll enjoy it.

The story will end with the next chapter though.

Thanks for your patience and understanding - I will answer reviews and messages tomorrow.

Hope everyone is well!

much love to everyone,

raven

The Bet

-Part VI

David had carried the sleeping blonde upstairs and now that Regina was alone with Emma Swan she did not know what to do.

Emma was lying on the bed, bruises covering her face and arms, probably even the rest of her body, and a feeling of guilt washed over Regina as she watched her, standing in the doorframe.

If she would not have sent the blonde away, she would not be in this state right now. Emma would have never left Storybrooke and maybe, just maybe – if she would have listened more closely, if she had cared to read between the lines – they would be…

Well, what?

Together?

It sounded so absurd and Regina still did not know what or how she felt for Emma Swan, but now that the blonde was back she had a chance to figure it out.

Regina knew she should go to bed, to get some rest, but she could not bring herself to leave the room, so instead of heading into her bedroom she sat down on the edge of the guestroom bed, convincing herself that it would be better to be here if Emma woke up during the night.

The minutes ticked away, but Regina could not take her eyes off Emma's sleeping form, especially since the blonde looked quite peaceful - despite all her injuries.

How would she react once she found out that she was back in Storybrooke, in the mayor's guestroom no less?

And Regina caught herself, eager to reach out to touch Emma's cheek, to move the strand of blonde locks out of her face, but she pulled her hand back before it could have made contact with its desired target.

For one because she did not want to wake Emma, but mostly out of fear that the blonde would not react well to her touch.

Truth be told, Regina Mills was scared to death, because she was not used to feel like this, to crave to touch someone, to seek somebody's presence and comfort.

She had sat there, watching Emma sleep till the morning, fantasizing about how it would feel to be able to touch the blonde, but Regina knew that it might never become a reality.

Now that she was standing in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for Henry, she wondered how he would react to the news of Emma's return?

Clearly he would be ecstatic, but what would that mean for her? What would that mean for them?

He had always preferred Emma over her – from the day she had set foot in this town.

Would she lose Henry completely?

"Mom, what's wrong?"

Henry's sudden appearance startled her and she almost dropped his bowl with cereal, but Regina managed to compose herself within a second, putting her façade back in place, "Sit down, sweetheart. There is something I have to tell you."

Henry had been thrilled about the news of Emma's return, although he had been quite worried about the fact that she had been shot, but Regina had managed to reassure him that the blonde would be fine in no time.

He had wanted to storm upstairs to go see Emma right away, but Regina had been able to talk him into waiting till he was back from school, because the blonde's body clearly needed the rest – otherwise she would have woken up by now.

And although Henry had been disappointed he had understood and had stormed off to school in the end.

But once her son had left the house everything had turned into chaos, because first Doctor Whale had told Regina that there was no way that she could get a nurse, because the hospital was already understaffed and then she had heard Emma scream "Ruby Lucas, you're a dead woman!" from upstairs, followed by a dump noise.

Her heart rate had increased drastically, but Regina had headed for the guestroom none-the-less.

She had to make sure Emma was okay after all.

Emma was lying on the floor, wishing herself away, but nothing happened.

Why had Ruby done this to her? Why did she have to bring her back to Storybrooke? And what was she doing in Regina's house?

She had recognized the mayoral mansion as soon as her eyes had popped open and in a moment of shock Emma had forgotten about her injuries and had jumped up, but her knee had given up on her within a second and she had landed on the floor.

Hard.

When the door opened and Regina appeared Emma had switched into defensive mode, because she figured that the mayor would not be happy about her return, "Listen, Regina...I'm sorry...I know I was not supposed to come...I didn't...Ruby...I have no idea how..."

"It's alright, dear. Don't worry about it. Are you okay?"

The worry in Regina's voice was unmistakable and the blonde started to wonder what was going on.
She had expected a lot, but that was definitely not one of the scenarios she had in mind.

"Uh...yeah...I'm good, thanks."
Emma tried to get up, but failed miseralby since one of her arms was in a sling and her knee hurt like hell, not to mention that her muscles were sore, and her bruises were not helping either.

When Regina reached down to offer her a hand Emma was startled once again.
What was going on?

She took the hand none-the-less and let Regina help her to get back to her feet.
Once she was standing she looked into the mayor's sparkling brown eyes, searching for an explanation for Regina's weird behavior, because truth be told, Emma Swan was confused to no end.
Was this a joke? One freaking dream?
Because clearly this could not be happening for real.

Regina stood there, frozen to the spot, drowing in Emma's eyes and she knew she had to get away, she had to distract herself, because she felt so drawn to the blonde and she was not sure what she was going to do if Emma would not get out of her personal space.
And she did not dare to find out, sure that she would scare Emma to death.

When Regina took a step back she realized that she was still holding Emma's hand and she pulled back immediately, shocked by her own behavior.
Emma had to think that she was crazy.

She cleared her throat and tried to regain her composure, "Can you manage to go to the bathroom by yourself? It's right down the hall...second door to the left. There are fresh towles and I put a toothbrush out for you. I take it you didn't bring any clothes? I'm sure I can find something for you to wear...make yourself at home, dear. I'll fix you some breakfast...call me when you need help. I'll be back to help you downstairs in a bit."

And with that Regina left the room, slightly embarrassed by her rambling.

Emma was sitting in the guestroom of the mansion, staring at the wall.
She had no idea what was going on, but somewhen during the day she had started to question her sanity.

Regina had been patient and supportive, the brunette even had went to get her some sweatpants and tank tops and they had enjoyed a delicious dinner together with Henry.
And Regina had tried to be nice. Well, in fact she had more than just tried. She had been nice.
In her own weird way.

Emma had not missed out on the almost touches or the ones that had lasted a bit too long when Regina had helped her up the stairs or something like that.
Countless times she had thought the brunette would reach out and cup her cheek, but she had never done it.
Of course not.

But something about Regina was off.
The way the mayor looked at her had Emma worried.
Why did Regina act so strange? And why had she agreed to take care of her?

Mary Margaret and Ruby had been there for a short visit in the afternoon and to Emma's surprise Regina had been somewhat nice to them as well.
Had hell frozen over after all?

"Emma!"
Henry's appearance had her out of her thoughts within a heartbeat.

"What's up kid?"
She was truly grateful for the chance to see her son again, especially since he seemed to be more than happy to have her back.

"I just came to say 'Good night' and check if you would need anything before I go to bed", Henry stated with a bright grin on his face and dropped on the bed beside her.

"I'm good, thanks. I don't need anything right now."

"Okay", he nodded and turned serious, "Care to tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, kid. I was just thinking..." but Emma did not dare to continue the sentence.

"About what?" Henry eyed her curiously and when his blonde mother did not continue he decided to push her a little, because he was worried, "You can talk to me about stuff, you know. I'm not a baby anymore."

Emma had to smile at her son's comment, "I know...it's just...I don't even know what to say...is it just me or is your mom acting...weird?"
"I'd say she is rather nice", he answered simply.

"She is, isn't she? But why? I mean...don't get me wrong...I'm not complaining, but I was wondering what happened?"
Emma watched her son's features, recognizing the shift in his expression, "Tell me what you know, kid...you know something, right?"

He nodded slowly and sighed, "It might be...because...because she found out that you have feelings for her."

Emma's eyes went wide, her heart was racing in her chest, "That's impossible! How would she know that?"

"I might have mentioned it?" Henry gave her an apologectic smile, but Emma was frozen to the spot.

This could not be true.

Emma had not been able to sleep that night.

Her whole life was nothing, but chaos and being back to Storybrooke, wounded, and in need of Regina's help and support made everything even more complicated.
Especially now that the mayor knew about things she should have never found out.

Emma felt so uncomfortable in her own skin, she wished that the ground would simply swallow her, but of course she had no such luck.

She would have to figure something out, because Regina's behavior confused her more and more.
She had always thought the brunette would laugh about her if she ever found out that she was in love with her, but it had not happened.
Yet.

Regina probably treated her nicely because she pitied her or something and Emma could not bear the thought.
She had to figure out what to do.

Two more days of almost touches and lingering looks later Emma could not stand it anymore.
Everything felt awkward and weird and she knew there was just one thing she could do - talk to Regina.

She dreaded the conversation and what it would reveal, but she had no other option.
So, confrontation it was.

Limping downstairs she made it to Regina's study, where the mayor was sitting at her desk, reading some reports and for a moment Emma stood in the doorway, watching the brunette at work, but then she cleared her throat to make her presence known.

"Take a seat, dear."
Regina said it without looking up.

Emma did as she was told and sat down on the couch, nervously playing with the hem of her shirt when Regina finally dropped the file and looked at her, "Do you need help with anything?"

"Uhm...no...I actually came to...to talk to you...about something", Emma stammered and regretted her decision to face the brunette, because when she met Regina's eyes all courage had left her within a second.

"Talk to me about what, dear?"

"I...uh...Henry said...that he told you...that I..."
Classic fail.

When Regina tilted her head Emma took a deep breath, because she knew she had brought this on herself, so she had to deal with it now.
God, damn it!

"Okay, listen...Henry...he said that he told you about my...my feelings", Emma stated and dropped her head, "For you..."

"He mentioned something, yes...but..." Regina was interrupted right away.

"Regina, before you say anything...let me tell you that...while Henry hasn't lied...things are different now. I mean...when I left Storybrooke I had time to think...a lot. And I realized that I might have gotten a little lost here...and I just needed some time away to...to understand that this was some kind of crush...you know...nothing too serious. I just needed the distance to see that...so you don't have to worry about it anymore, okay? It's over...I don't know what I've been thinking..."

Emma sighed in relief, glad that she had managed to explain herself, but she was too occupied by her own thoughts to see Regina's trembling hand, to see the tears welling in brown eyes.

"Right. Sorry for disturbing you...I just wanted to let you know...to set things straight...you know..."
That said Emma got up and left the room, not able to stand the awkward silence any longer.

Regina felt like somebody had stabbed her right in the chest.
She had come to cherish the blonde's presence over the last couple of days, she had enjoyed taking care of her and she had realized that she indeed cared about Emma Swan.
That the former sheriff meant more to her than she had ever thought possible.

Why she had not realized that a lot sooner would always stay a mystery, but at least she had figured it out now.

She had caught herself how she had watched Emma's every step, how her hand had lingered on the blonde's back or arm a little too long more than once, she had caught herself thinking about making a move, about kissing Emma, but she had not dared to make it a reality.
Not once.

Regina had waited for Emma to make a move and when she had entered her study today, announcing that they had to talk, she had thought that the moment had finally come.

And then Emma had told her that it was nothing, just a little crush that had faded away when she had been forced to leave town.
And in that moment Regina realized that the bet, that was supposed to be her greatest victory, was in fact her downfall.

She had gotten what she had wanted.
She had gotten rid of Emma Swan.
But Regina had never thought about how much it would cost her and now that she knew she had no idea how to handle loss and the pain.

That was when her first tears fell.