Emma watched as chocolate pools filled with fresh tears, wrapping her arms tighter around her girlfriend.
"I told her, and she just went silent. And then she dragged me up to my room and told me that I wasn't to see you. That you had corrupted me into something unnatural." She suddenly surged forward, claiming the blonde's lips in a rough kiss before pulling back. "But you didn't. This is always who I was. You're just the first person I couldn't ignore."
Emma smiled. "You're not unnatural. You're amazing."
"Try telling my mother that. She took my phone and my car keys and locked me in my room." She sniffled once more. "And apparently I'm not as skilled as you at sneaking out of my window."
"That's why your jeans and sweater were all ripped?
Regina blushed. "Climbing down between the trellis and the apple tree isn't something I've attempted before." She paused. "I just couldn't stay there."
"You don't have to. You can stay here as long as you want," said Emma.
"What about Mary-Margaret?"
"She'll be fine," said Emma. "And even if she isn't, you're not going anywhere. I'm keeping you right here where I can keep you safe."
Regina smiled, settling back down against the blonde. "I love you."
"I love you too," smiled Emma, placing a kiss to the top of the other girl's head.
Emma gently untangled herself from Regina, the brunette still sleeping as she slipped from the room to first use the bathroom, before going downstairs, taking their dirty mugs with her. Mary-Margaret was seated at the kitchen table, piles of marking in front of her.
"Hey. How's Regina?"
"Okay, I think?" sighed Emma. "Would it be okay if she stayed here for a few days?"
Mary-Margaret didn't hesitate before allowing it. "Am I to guess tonight had something to do with her mother?"
Emma nodded hesitantly. It wasn't her story to tell, but she figured Regina wouldn't mind her foster mother knowing the basics. "She told her about us, and it didn't go well..."
"Tell her she can stay here as long as she needs," said the school teacher. "I was going to put some supper on. I'll call you when it's ready?"
Emma's stomach answered for her, and she blushed. "Regina's sleeping though, so maybe call quietly?"
The pixie haired woman smiled. "I'll come up and give your door a tap, how's that?"
"That would be great. Thank you. Really, it means a lot," said Emma, rising from her seat to fetch a soda before returning to her girlfriend. Slipping back into her room, she frowned on seeing Regina sitting up in bed, her arms circled around her legs, which were drawn up to her chest. "Hey." She put the unopened soda on the bedside table. "What's wrong?" she asked, seeing the strange expression on Regina's face.
Without speaking the brunette tugged her back onto the bed, pawing at her clothes. Emma quickly got the message, stripping them off without further question as Regina did the same. With them both naked, the older girl simply slid under the covers, holding them up for the blonde to follow. Settling on her back, in a now familiar position for them, Emma said nothing as Regina laid her head on her bare chest, an arm draped across her waist and their legs entwined. "I just want to feel you," whispered the brunette.
"Whatever you need, I'm right here," said Emma, wrapping an arm around Regina's back, the other finding the hand that rested on her hip.
Mary-Margaret tapped the door gently, hesitating before poking her head around the gap in the door. She quickly retreated, however, on catching sight of Regina's bare back and Emma's pale shoulders where the covers had slipped as the pair slumbered. Pulling the door over, she made a hasty retreat downstairs. She would just plate up supper and leave it in the fridge.