talk of violence and blood, not so vivid but still there. all in italics during the flashbacks.
"What happened between you and Mary Margaret?" Emma asked. She was sitting across from Regina in a booth at Granny's. She sipped her coffee and looked at Regina skeptically.
Regina froze. She looked down at her food and sighed. "Let's just say that Mary Margaret was responsible for my relationship with Daniel ending."
Emma looked shocked. "I'm sorry." She whispered.
Regina shook her head. "It's in the past."
"But you haven't forgiven her."
It wasn't a question, Regina knew, but she shook her head anyway. She hadn't even told Emma the whole story and she knew Regina wouldn't forgive Mary Margaret yet. There was no way she could get over a betrayal like that.
"I trusted her, Emma. Now I know not to do that anymore. With anyone."
Emma looked up at Regina. "You can trust me. You can always trust me."
Regina sighed sadly. "I couldn't trust you to stay."
A tear fell down Emma's cheek. She shook her head lightly. "I am so sorry, Regina. I should have stayed. If I had known what was going to happen, I would've stayed. You needed me, and I wasn't here. I'm so sorry."
Regina smiled slightly. "Stop apologizing, Emma."
"Sorry-I mean, sor-okay I'll stop." Emma sighed.
Regina looked down. She should tell Emma what happened. She just didn't think that Granny's Diner was the right place for the conversation. She looked up at Emma's soft eyes. She smiled.
"Someday, I'll tell you the full story. Not right now, though." Regina fidgeted in her seat.
Emma smiled. "I'd like that. I wanna help you get better."
Regina raised an eyebrow. "Better? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Not anything bad, Regina!" Emma held up her hands. "I just mean that something bad obviously happened to you while I was gone. And I wanna be the one to make you feel better. I wanna help."
Regina smiled brightly. "Thank you, Emma. Maybe you can come to my house later and we can talk."
Emma nodded. "That sounds good. I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll be at my place. Thanks for lunch." Emma leaned down and kissed Regina's cheek like she used to. She smiled and walked out the door.
Regina walked into the woods behind her house where her and Daniel usually meet. She saw him standing by a tree and smiled brightly.
"Daniel." He turned and smiled at her. He visibly relaxed when she touched his forearm. He kissed her forehead, his usual greeting.
"How are you, Regina?" He wrapped his arms around her.
Regina leaned into him. "I'm good, really good." It was the truth, which shocked Regina. She was actually happy, much to do with Daniel. She loved him more than anything.
"What is this?" Regina's mother shouted from behind her. Regina whirled around and saw Mary Margaret behind her mother.
"You!" She walked toward her until Daniel held her back.
"You are seeing this boy?" Regina's mother asked.
"Yes, Mother. I love him." Regina said, leaning into Daniel's side. He sighed.
"Love? Love is weakness, Regina." Her mother walked toward Daniel. Regina instinctively stood in front of him.
"He doesn't make me weak, Mother. He makes me stronger."
Her mother rolled her eyes. "I cannot let this happen, Regina. Mother's know best."
Regina looked past her mother to Mary Margaret. "How dare you tell her? What gave you the right? I trusted you, Mary Margaret!"
Mary Margaret looked down. "I'm sorry, Regina. I thought it would help."
Regina rolled her eyes. "Well, you thought wrong. Next time, listen to me!"
Daniel stepped out from behind Regina and walked toward her mother.
"Mrs. Mills, I would never hurt Regina. You have nothing to worry about."
Regina's mother laughed bitterly. "I'm not worried about you, Daniel. But you should be worried about me." She stepped forward and, with one swift motion, stabbed Daniel in the chest.
"No!" Regina caught Daniel as he fell. "Mother!" She looked up at her mother accusingly. She felt tears streaming down her face as she saw Daniel struggling to breathe. She pressed against the stab wound and kissed Daniel's forehead. Blood pooled through her fingers. Daniel coughed and blood splattered out of his mouth. All Regina could see was Daniel's blood. Her sight was blurred from her tears and she couldn't breathe.
"I'm so sorry, Daniel. This is my fault, it's all my fault." She sobbed into Daniel's shoulder. Daniel was dying and Regina had no control over the situation. She wanted to run and hide so she could never cause harm to anybody else. This was all her fault, just like everything always is.
"Regina..." Daniel struggled to speak. "I love...you."
"I love you, too Daniel." Regina said slowly. She cried even harder when Daniel's eyes closed. "No!" She shouted. Her voice echoed in the woods. "No, no, no, no, no." She murmured into Daniel's chest and sobbed.
"What have you done?" Mary Margaret yelled at Cora.
Cora cackled and Regina laid down next to Daniel.
"Help!" Mary Margaret yelled as she ran out of the woods.
"Now you know what I mean when I say love is weakness, dear. It never turns out the way we want it to."
When Regina finished telling the story to Emma, she looked up at her. She tried to read Emma's expression. Emma's eyebrows were furrowed and her mouth was hanging open. She looked very frustrated.
Emma closed her eyes. "Is your mother in jail?"
Regina nodded. "Yes, Mary Margaret called the police and that was taken care of."
Emma looked at her. She looked angry. "Mary Margaret should've just kept her fucking mouth shut."
Regina chuckled lightly. "Yes, yes she should have."
Emma shook her head. "I always knew Mary Margaret was adamant about you telling your mother about Daniel. I just didn't think she'd tell her about him. Especially without asking you first."
Regina sighed. "She claims that she did it 'for my own good'. She thought my mother would accept him and support it. She should have listened to me. She thought she knew my own mother better than I did." Regina looked down. "That moment taught me never to trust anyone again."
Emma frowned. "Regina," She started. "I said it before, and I'll say it again. You can trust me. I know that that can be hard to believe, especially since I left, but you're my best friend. I wish I had stayed, for you."
Regina smiled. She saw the way Emma's eyes lit up when they looked at her. Regina's heart yearned for Emma in the way it hadn't in a long while. "Emma,"
There was a knock at Regina's door, stopping Regina from making her confession. Regina sighed and got up and Emma followed. Mary Margaret was standing there, smiling.
"Mary Margaret." Emma said, suddenly very hostile.
"Hi guys. I brought cookies!" Mary Margaret held out a box full of various types of cookies.
Regina faked a smile and gestured for her to come in before Emma stopped her. "We don't want anything from you."
Mary Margaret's eyebrows furrowed. "W-what? Emma, what do you mean?"
Regina looked at Emma. Was Emma really going to do this? Was she really going to defend Regina? Regina had never felt anyone defend her before. She loved that Emma would do that, that she even thought to do that.
"You keep acting like nothing happened between you and Regina. Well something did, Mary Margaret. And to my knowledge, you haven't apologized. You even named your child after Daniel. What could possibly make you think that that was a good idea?" Emma was shouting and Regina was shocked and Mary Margaret looked close to crying.
"I have apologized time and time again in my head but I can't seem to get the words out whenever I'm around Regina. I feel so sorry for what I did, I really do. That's why I named my son Daniel. It was a fresh start."
"A fresh start?" Emma and Regina asked at the same time.
Mary Margaret nodded subtly. "I thought we could start over and maybe become friends again."
Regina shook her head. "You still haven't apologized, Mary Margaret."
"I'm sorry, Regina. For Daniel. Every night I wish that I could go back to that day and change it. I wish I had never told your mother and I wish that I wasn't that stupid. It haunts me. Every time I see how much you've grown to hate me, it haunts me." Mary Margaret is shaking with her sobs and Emma isn't even halfway sorry that she's made her cry.
Regina sighed. "I suppose I can work on forgiving you."
Mary Margaret smiled. "Thank you, Regina." She handed her the box of cookies and left.
Emma looked at Regina and smiled. "Well, there you go. She's sorry. Aren't you glad I did that?"
Regina is so overwhelmed with love for Emma that she doesn't even realize before it's too late that she's leaning toward her. Her eyes open wide as her lips press against Emma's with such force like all she's ever wanted to do was kiss her.