Part VI
"I found you sleeping next to me;
I thought I was alone."

Black eyes fluttered open slowly, but quickly slammed shut when the bright morning light invaded the aching retinas. Hissing with the stinging of her eyes and the throbbing of her head, the brunette rolled over in the large bed; her bare arm brushing against something unusual. Lifting her hand lazily, Regina caressed the skin beneath her fingertips and sighed in ease—Henry, she thought. With a tired smile pressed across her red, smeared lips, the brunette cuddled closer to the body beside her. When long, firm arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer, Regina gasped as her eyes flew open. There, tangled in her sheets was Emma Swan; her blonde hair sparkling in the yellow sunlight and her face smooth and serene with sleep. Breathing heavily at the sight, the mayor bit at her lip and ran a hand through her disheveled hair; the cool palm resting on her forehead as she tried to remember the blurry events from the night before.

Pulling away from the arms that cradled her, Regina slithered away from the sleeping Sheriff. The blonde released a sleepy groan of disapproval and the mayor held her breath, her dark eyes growing wide as she watched Emma merely snuggle deeper into the pillow. Blowing out the breath that she had been holding, the brunette vaguely remembered drinking some cider—a lot of cider—and then…Gaping, Regina cursed as the memory of her going to see the blonde surfaced dizzily inside her mind. Chewing on the inside of her cheek furiously, the mayor chanced a glance at the sleeping woman beside her, and she couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips. The Sheriff was breathtakingly beautiful, and the brunette's heart pounded in her chest rapidly—the time for denial was over: she truly cared for this woman. With her mind absorbing the confession, Regina reached a gentle hand forward and swept a golden curl from the Sheriff's cheek—her fingertips grazing the soft skin of a pale cheek. Just as she was about to pull away, the brunette gasped in shock when a hand wrapped around her wrist delicately, drawing her fingers to Emma's thin smiling mouth; the warm lips ghosting across the cool knuckles in a chaste kiss.

"Good morning," the Sheriff murmured as her green eyes blinked open; her smile growing as her gaze fell upon the brunette's glowing face, "how'd you sleep?"

"What—what are you doing here?" The Mayor stuttered as she yanked her hand away from the blonde's grasp. "Why are you in my bed…its morning!"

"That usually happens when night time is over." Emma chuckled, pulling herself into a sitting position.

"Just answer the question, Ms. Swan."

The Sheriff grimaced at the use of her last name; for a flickering moment she had fully believed that everything that had happened the night before would have changed everything between them. Scoffing silently, the blonde couldn't fathom her stupidity—of course nothing would change; a drunken confession would never have metamorphosed into an actual relationship. Shaking her head, Emma sighed as she flung the sheets away from her body and slid off the silken mattress. As her feet touched the cold floor, the Sheriff shivered as she felt dark eyes wander over her form. Shrugging it away, the blonde hurried around the immaculate bedroom as she searched for her discarded jeans and jacket. While Emma scooped up her jeans from the far corner of the room, Regina watched her closely, her gaze drifting lazily up and down the length of the Sheriff's exposed legs. Licking her lips unconsciously, the brunette remembered the way those thighs had quivered against her cheeks—could nearly taste the heady flavor of pleasure that seeped between them. Clearing her throat, the mayor turned her attention to the clock on the nightstand beside her; trying to make the crimson flush disappear from her face.

"Well…" the blonde started as she began tugging on her pants, "…you were hammered last night and decided it would be a good idea to come over to my apartment and scream at me."

"I'm sure it wasn't nearly that—" began the brunette in a clipped tone, but she was interrupted by a pair of green eyes looking at her as if they were saying yeah, right. "Alright, perhaps it wasn't my most professional moment, but I highly doubt I got out of hand."

"You punched a hole in my wall, Regina!" Emma crowed as she zipped and buttoned her jeans. "If that's not out of hand I don't know what the hell is."

"I punched a hole…in your wall?" The Mayor asked, almost sheepishly as she let her fingers tangle tightly in the sheets. Receiving a nod from the blonde, the brunette shook her head and lowered her gaze. "I apologize—I've just been…on edge lately."

"Lately?" The Sheriff laughed, yanking her red, leather jacket on, "you're always on edge."

"More so than usual then…" Regina sneered as she rolled her dark eyes, "…happy, dear?"

"Whatever," the blonde huffed opening the door that led to the hallway, "I'm gonna go check on, Henry…and then we need to talk."

Knitting her black brows in confusion, the Mayor pursed her lips as she delved into her cranium greedily—if Henry was asleep in his bed why would Emma be putting her jacket on? Then, it hit her as if a stone had collided against her brain: her son wasn't there. Gasping, the brunette put a hand over her mouth as she jumped off her bed and ran towards the door, clumsily banging into the Sheriff. Growling indignantly, Regina tried to slide past the blonde, but she was either too strong, or the mayor was too tired. Either way, after a couple moments of shuffling the brunette gave up and she turned to slouch against the wall. Roughly scrubbing her hands over her bloodshot eyes and down her face, Regina tried to remember where she had left her son—if she had been hoping to portray herself as a good mother she was failing terribly, and in front of Henry's birth mother, no less.

"Where is he?" The mayor sighed, tears prickling behind her eyes from embarrassment and frustration. "Where is, Henry?"

"You left him with, Kathryn," The Sheriff supplied quietly, laying a reassuring hand on the brunette's shoulder, "you did the responsible thing—not having him around while you were drinking." Sighing, Emma cupped Regina's face in her hands until dark eyes met her own. "You're a damn good mother, Regina—don't be so hard on yourself."

"Don't mock me!" The mayor snapped, swatting the offending hands away from her, "you don't know anything about being a mother!"

"Yeah," the blonde yelled, as she slammed her hand against the wall directly beside the brunette's head, "well fuck you, too!"

Pushing off the wall, the Sheriff threw open the door and stalked out into the hallway; her bare feet stomping loudly across the hardwood. Regina's eyes welled with tears as she heard the woman race down the stairs toward the front door. Screaming into her hands silently, the Mayor's body shuddered with sobs—why did everything have to be so complicated with her? Why couldn't she just grab Emma and tell her how she felt. As the idea flickered through her mind, she visibly cowered as the image of her mother clouded behind her eyes, and the truth settled within her stomach with the heat of a fire, and with the pain of a thousand bruises: no matter how far away she was from her mother the woman would constantly dictate her life. The notion agonized Regina, as if someone had ripped the heart from her chest and crushed it to dust. Scalding tears tore down her cheeks like the flick of a whip and the brunette banged her head against the wall roughly; her sharp, white teeth digging into her bottom lip savagely. There was only one way for the Mayor to escape the dark, deadly voice inside of her and that was by love. Love, the word tasted sweet and foreign on the brunette's tongue as she whispered it continuously.

"Wait—" the word echoed from her lips before Regina realized she had said anything and her legs led her to the top of the staircase as her mind tried to process everything. "—Emma, wait!"

"What do you want, Regina?" The Sheriff huffed as she looked up at the tear streaked face gazing down at her. The sight broke her heart, but she clenched her hands into fists as if to stop herself from running up the stairs and gathering the woman into her arms.

"I—" as the Mayor tried to form the three worded sentence, she found that her mouth betrayed her, and she choked on a sob as she realized she couldn't do it—she just couldn't. "I…I just wanted to know what we needed to discuss."

"Oh…" the blonde breathed, disappointment etching her face as she shoved her hands into her pockets. Shaking her head she walked back over to the front door and turned the knob. "Last night…you told me that—you told me that you loved me. Just wanted to see if it were true. It was stupid..."

The brunette's heart leapt frantically in her chest as the memory wafted within her brain—she had, in her intoxicated state, confessed her true feelings for Emma. Smiling through her tears, Regina nearly tumbled down the stairs as the pounding of her heart whispered yes, yes, yes! But, just as she tripped down the last step the front door slammed shut and the Sheriff was gone. Falling into a puddle of emotion against the railing, the Mayor let herself slide onto the floor absently as anguished cries escaped her throat in ragged whimpers. As her dark eyes fluttered closed in submission, the brunette clutched at her heart as she whispered the truth to an empty foyer.

"But I do love you, Emma…"

A/N: Personally, I found that this chapter was really lacking in a lot of stuff. But, it was also really, really hard for me to write. I'm not sure why…but that's one of the reasons why it took me so long. I just felt like I wasn't sure where to go with it. Anyway, there's only one part left, I hope you're still in it for the long haul! So, what do you think, is Emma and Regina going to get their happy ending? Stay tuned for the last part to find out. And, as always, don't forget to let me know what you thought by REVIEWING! :)