Poison & Wine

Chapter 34

Her head was splitting when she woke up. She let out an audible groan and reached out for her girlfriend. To her surprise, the bed was empty and sheets were cold. Emma practically whined as she opened her eyes to look around. The drapes were open to let in more light than the blonde would prefer. Regina was nowhere to be found and the dogs weren't in the room either.

Green eyes moved to the alarm clock on the end table and she face planted back into the pillow when she saw the time. It was shortly after noon. She grumbled as her body pathetically moved out of the bed and stood stark naked. Her head was pounding as she took slow steps towards the master bathroom to relieve her bladder. After that she went up to the sink and cupped some water in her hand to sip on. She had no toothbrush so she grabbed the mouthwash on the counter and swished it around in her mouth as she ran a brush through her hair.

Once her mouth wasn't so stale of alcohol she splashed some water on her face and pat dried it with a towel. She told Hook that she would put in half a day of work, but apparently she forgot to set an alarm. With her hangover though, she was kind of glad she didn't. She walked back into the bedroom and grabbed her full duffel bag of clothes and chose to wear black shorts and a white wife beater with a sports bra underneath it. Regardless of where she was going to be living, she'd need to do something with all her stuff because she told Marco that she'd give him his trailer back by Saturday afternoon.

Emma cracked her neck before exiting the room and walking down the stairs. She smelled and heard the cooking of food. If her nose was correct, it was some kind of meat. The sheriff walked into the kitchen and saw her girlfriend flipping burgers on the stove. Despite her splitting head, her hangover wasn't making her nauseous so her stomach growled. "Smells good."

Regina was startled by the voice, but recovered well. She sent the younger woman a small smile and pointed behind her at the bar. "Aspirin is right there and water is in the fridge."

"Thank God." The blonde was quick to grab dial out the aspirin and grab the water before she downed the pills. "My head is killing me." She confessed.

"I would assume so." Regina noted as she let the burger simmer. "I know you like greasy food to help you get over your hangover so I'm preparing you lunch."

Emma sat at the bar facing her lover and rubbed her face. "Just remind me to never drink again."

The mayor laughed softly. "I'll remind you to never drink and drive again." She said firmly.

"No." The savior whined, placing her forehead to the table. "Too hung over for this."

Regina nodded. "I know. Which is why I'll wait until later to lecture you about it, but we're both in agreement that it's reckless and life dangering?"

"Agreed." Emma's voice was muffled by the countertop. After a few beats of silence, she slowly lifted her head and drank some of her water. "Where's Henry?" She asked.

"With your father." Regina stated and turned off the stovetop before moving the pan off of the eye and unto an unused one. "They're packing up some of your stuff at the loft and bringing it over here."

Blonde eyebrows furrowed. "What?" She asked. "Regina, I know we talked about it last night, but are you sure that me moving in is a good idea right now?"

Regina cleared her throat. "Are you having doubts?"

The sheriff scoffed. "No I'm not having doubts. You are. That's what last night was all about."

"I'm not having doubts anymore." The former queen told her. "I told you that when you came back from childishly running out on me."

Her headache was still there, and the conversation wasn't helping it at all, but they needed to clear the air. Whatever caused her girlfriend to freak out last night needed to be dealt with. "I didn't run out on you. I needed time to cool off." She explained. "But I'm not the issue here."

"I'm not either!" Regina stressed. "I told you that I changed my mind! I want you to move in."

Emma scoffed. "Yeah, and that's part of the problem. You had doubts last night and did a complete 180 in a couple hours. Yesterday you were looking for an out and now you've sent our kid to fetch my stuff."

The mayor wiped her hands on a nearby cloth and stepped up to the island. "So what are you saying, dear? You don't want to move in now?"

"I do." The blonde insured her. "But I'm just saying that I don't understand you. I don't know why you freaked out so bad about what my mom said and how you could possibly change your mind so quickly. I don't want to move in here and get settled only to have to pack all my shit up again after a couple of days once you start panicking again." The blonde explained.

"First of all, I didn't panic." Regina stated slowly. "I was having some minor doubts. You have to admit that moving in together is overwhelming." She pointed out.

Emma nodded. "Yeah, it's a big step." She agreed. "But there's a difference between being overwhelmed and trying to use money as an excuse to prevent me from moving in."

"I wasn't looking for an out!" The brunette yelled, frustrated. "I'm genuinely concerned about your suggestion of the 50/50 split."

"Well if I move in that topic isn't up for discussion. " The younger woman explained easily.

Regina raised a challenging eyebrow. "Oh really?"

The sheriff nodded firmly. "Yeah. My finances are my business. If I start having trouble I'll suck up my pride and admit it to you, but I won't let you carry the load for us unless I have to."

"Fine." The mayor agreed.

Emma chewed on her bottom lip before she asked. "Why'd you freak out on me?"

Brown eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"Last night you said you were conflicted. I need you to explain that to me before we make any decision about me moving in here." The savior admitted.

Regina sighed deeply. "Why? I told you I was being stupid. Isn't that enough? You know how much I hate admitting I was wrong."

The blonde fought a small smile. Her girlfriend did hate being wrong, but Emma needed to know. "I have to find out if any of your fears are justifiable."

"Well there's several of them. Our finances were a big one. You have to give me that one. Money is important." The former queen reminded her.

Emma nodded. "Okay, but I solved that one."

There was a small pause before the older woman continued. She cleared her throat. "I think you can agree that our relationship is general hasn't been the easiest transition for us."

"There's been a few hiccups, but it hasn't been terrible." The blonde defended their relationship. "At least not for me."

Regina shook her head. "It hasn't been terrible. It's been amazing, honey, but it also hasn't been easy. And moving in together, well that's likely to be even harder."

"Well of course." Emma added on. "It will be a big adjustment for us. We're bound to fight and struggle a little bit at first."

The mayor nodded. "And I'm aware of that, but that fighting we're bound to go through is a reason I had doubts. As your mother pointed out yesterday, we are unmarried. There will be no legal papers tying us together."

"So?" The blonde shrugged. "What? Do you think I plan to move in here and bail the second things aren't perfect? Baby, I'm dating the Evil Queen. If I couldn't handle difficult I wouldn't be in this."

Regina rolled her eyes. "I'm glad you find humor in my honesty, Swan."

Emma chuckled softly. "I'm sorry. I can understand you being worried about finances because you're basically in charge of the town's finances and everything, but married or not married, I'm going to fight just as hard to keep us together. And I hope you feel the same."

"I do." The mayor informed her lover. "But that brings up a whole new issue that worries me. I love you, Emma and I want to spend my life with you, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to wed."

Green eyes widened as her palms got sweaty. While she imagined being married one day, it was extremely too early for either of them. "Uh-" She cleared her throat. "I'm not either!" She stressed.

"I'm glad we agree on that. Your mother though, she pointed out that moving in together would be like being married and she was right for once in her life. We both say we aren't ready for marriage, but if moving is the same thing then why not just wed?"

The savior scoffed. "Please. Being married would be much different."

Regina was confused. "How so? Married couples live together. Do they not? And you just said that even unmarried you'll fight for this relationship so I'm having a little trouble differentiating the two."

"Okay, so moving in together will give us more of an insight to what being married would be like, but we would have all the perks of being married."

Brown eyebrows creased in confusion. "Perks? We're already having sex dear."

Emma laughed. "And sex is a great perk." She pointed out. "But I mean the perks married couples get. Mostly it's just petty shit, but it's the petty shit that makes you feel married. Like having a joined bank account, sharing a lease, having kids, and believe it or not a ton of other tiny stuff that you wouldn't think mattered until it does."

Her true love had named many things, but Regina stuck on a certain one. "Kids?" She questioned, feeling her heart expand.

Emma swallowed nervously and shoved her hand in the air to the side. "Way down the road." She assured the older woman. "But if you think that moving in together is like getting married and you're not ready for marriage, then why did you change your mind about me moving in?" She asked. "I feel like I'm playing seesaw with you."

Regina waved that off. "I had doubts, Emma. I've gone back on forth on the topic a bunch of times. There's so much I don't know about. I don't know what it's going to be like living with someone else. I don't know how well we'll adjust, but I'm certain of one thing and that is that I want you here. When you walked out last night I was left with here with our son, our dogs, your box of pictures, your paperwork from the station, and all I could think about was how much I wanted more of you in my room. I wanted your hideous leather attire flung across my vanity. I wanted your shoes on the floor and you in my bed- our bed. Moving in together is a big step for us and there are a lot of unknowns, but I'm ready for this. I hope my prior doubts don't prevent you moving in because I honestly want you here."

There was a long pause as Emma let her girlfriend stew in fear. She eventually shrugged. "Well it's not like I can say no. The kid already went to get my stuff." She grinned.

Regina beamed before she walked around the counter and crashed her lips unto the younger woman's. She pulled away just enough to whisper, "Expect to get laid after you eat lunch, Sheriff."

"It goes both ways, baby." Emma smirked and kissed her again.

"On the count of three we lift." The blonde and Hook grabbed each end of the leather chair. "One, two, three."

They both groaned at the strain on their muscles. "I can't believe the Evil Queen is allowing you to bring this crap piece of furniture in her house." Killian said as he walked backwards towards the mansion.

"It's our house, pirate." Regina informed him as she opened the back door for them to squeeze through. "And while I must agree that it's distasteful, Emma pointed out that it's only fair of me to allow it because it's the only piece of furniture she has."

As they moved the chair across the furniture and into the family room, Hook gave his friend an impressed look. Emma grinned at him and held the chair tighter. "It's called compromising." She informed the man.

"Yeah, yeah." Killian complained. "I thought moving day was tomorrow."

Regina directed them over to the open spot by the couch. She had to move the chair that was previously there to the guest room and by she Regina meant Emma and Hook. "Don't ruin my carpet. And moving day is tomorrow. Today we're just doing the heavy lifting and bringing the boxes. Tomorrow is when she'll settle in."

The pirate scoffed as him and the sheriff put the lounge chair down gently. "Yeah. We're doing the heavy lifting."

Emma laughed and wiped her brow. "Relax. That's literally the only heavy thing there is. The rest are just boxes of clothes and other shit."

The mayor looked upon her living room with the new addition. "Perhaps I should have wiped it down with Lysol before we brought it in here."

Killian nodded in agreement. "Probably so. Who knows how many women Swan bagged on that thing."

Regina's eyes automatically snapped to her girlfriend and raised an eyebrow in question when she saw the guilty look on her face. "How many?"

"Just… three." The blonde confessed with a slight cringe. "But you screwed Graham in your bed upstairs so I don't want to hear it."

Brown eyes narrowed with displeasure. "Low blow, Miss Swan."

Emma huffed a laugh and kissed her lover's cheek. "I love you."

The front door slammed open and Henry came in, Charming and Snow right behind him. They were all carrying boxes. "Ma, you have so many clothes!" The boy complained.

David laughed as he lightly kicked the front door closed. "Women usually do, son." He informed him.

"The wolves are getting so big!" Snow gushed, walking over to her daughter and hugging her. She was completely oblivious to all the trouble her words from yesterday had caused and both Emma and Regina planned to keep it that way.. "Killian, yours is the one with the pink collar. Right?"

The pirate smiled proudly. "Yep. That's my Penny baby out there." The puppies were playing in the yard with one another.

Emma nudged him playfully. "Look at Hook being a daddy." She laughed and walked over to her mom, taking the heavy box from her. She looked at her father. "Is all of these clothes?"

Charming nodded. "Yep. We have a few more in the truck, but not all of those are clothes."

"Sweet! Go put them upstairs, please." The sheriff instructed before she grabbed Hook's collar to drag him out of the house. "Come on."

When they left out of the door Regina and Snow faced each other. The schoolteacher awkwardly cleared her throat as she remembered something. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a list before handing it to Regina. "I don't want to overstep, but this is a list of Emma's favorite things to get at the grocery store."

Regina looked down at the list. "This is all junk food." Really, she shouldn't be surprised. Her girlfriend ate like a fifteen-year-old boy.

Mary Margaret nodded. "Yeah. She's never been one to eat healthy."

The mayor read all the items. "Are popsicles really worthy to be on the top of the list?"

Snow huffed a laugh. "I'm surprised you don't know about her addiction to them."

"Addiction?" The former queen asked with a raised eyebrow.

Emma and Killian walked back into the house carrying boxes as the three wolf puppies followed them, making a beeline to the kitchen. "Baby, can you make sure there's water in the kitchen for them?" The blonde asked as she and the pirate headed upstairs while Henry and David scattered down the steps.

"There are more boxes in the garage." Regina told the deputy and her son. Once they were out of the door she turned to the pixie haired woman. "Thank you for the list."

Snow waved it off. "No problem."

The mayor began to walk towards the kitchen to check and see if the dogs had water and saw all three fighting to lap up the small remaining amount of water the bowl had on it. She picked the bowl up and rinsed it out in the sink.

Mary Margaret walked into the kitchen as the brunette filled up the bowl with cool water. "I wanted to talk to you about your relationship with Emma." She began.

Regina took a deep breath before she shut the sink off and put the water on the floor for the dogs. "I'm listening."

"I know I haven't exactly been supportive of the whole situation, and I won't lie and say I think you two moving in together so soon, but I'm coming around to the idea of you dating her."

Brown eyes rolled slightly. She crossed her arms. Why couldn't her and damn Snow White go one conversation without it ending up in conflict. "That's quite big of you, Snow."

The schoolteacher sighed. "That came out different than I intended. What I meant was, you make her happy. And I can see how infatuated you are with her. That's all I wanted to say."

For the first time in a long time, Regina was sincerely smiling at the shorthaired woman. "I love Emma." She confessed, not sure if the sheriff had informed her parents of that development in their relationship. "I hope to make her happy for years to come." Emma walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the two women looking at each other. She raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend in wonder. "Hi, dear."

"Hey…" The blonde greeted unsurely. She walked past her mom and grabbed the mayor's hand. "I need you real quick."

Regina furrowed her eyebrows but followed the younger woman up the stairs and to the master bedroom. Boxes were scattered about everywhere but the savior pointed to the open closet. "What? I thought we agreed to clear out room for your clothes tomorrow?"

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Lock the door and come look." She instructed.

"Why-"

"You'll want it locked." The blonde assured her.

A confused Regina turned the lock on her bedroom door and walked over to her mysteriously acting girlfriend. When she saw what the savior was pointing to she gasped. "Oh my God!"

Emma nodded empathically. "Yeah! That was my reaction!"

"How'd- who found these?" The mayor demanded to know. She rubbed her forehead. "Please don't say it was Henry!"

The sheriff shook her head. "No. Worse. It was Hook." She grumbled, glared at her lover. "Baby why the hell do you have these?"

Regina was mortified. "God. You're right. Hook finding them is much worse than Henry." She took a quick glance at the strap-on and furry handcuffs that were cleverly hidden a show box that was now open. "That little plunderer."

"I swore him to secrecy." She informed the older woman. "But would you please tell me how the fuck you have these?" Emma asked with fire. "You give me so much shit for even having them and now you're storing them? What for?"

The brunette groaned. No point in lying. "I was just curious about them. That's all. I thought that maybe I might be open to certain… exploration and if I was then we'd already have the equipment."

Emma smirked at the thought, but quickly shook her head. "So you snuck them back with us?" She questioned. "I used those with other girls."

"Don't remind me. I'm quite aware." The mayor said.

The sheriff chuckled. "I've used them with multiple girls." She pointed out.

Regina glared at her true love. "Are you picking a fight?" She asked.

"No." Emma insured with humor. "I just mean that instead of sneaking back used sex toys that you might be into trying one day, why not just buy new ones?"

"Are they not properly cleaned?" The older woman's nose curled up at the thought. "I touched them."

Emma laughed and rubbed her neck. "No. They're properly cleaned, but I still think we should throw them out and- if you decide it's something you're interested in- we'll get new ones."

Brown eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But you were going to bring them back with you the other day."

The savior shook her head. "No I wasn't. You assumed I was. Look, I think that if we're going to go there then it should be with something brand new. That way you can pick out the size and color. Also, I need new handcuffs regardless. I don't suppose you brought the key with you?" She teased.

Regina flushed in embarrassment. There was so much she didn't know about sex. "No I didn't."

A grin overtook Emma's face. She closed the closet and grabbed the older woman's face, looking into brown eyes. "We'll figure this all out later, but those in there are going in the trash." She stated and kissed her. "Now let's get back downstairs."

After bringing all of the boxes into the house, Regina decided to order pizza as a thank you to everyone that helped out. Emma and Henry would be staying with the Charming's for the final night there, but since all of the blonde's stuff was already transferred to the mansion all they had to get the next day were the clothes and magazine's Henry kept at the loft.

Everyone was eating pizza in the dinning room when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." Regina offered, wiping her face and hands on the napkin before heading to the front door. She was surprised to find Mr. Gold on waiting on the other side.

"Hello dearie." He greeted and heard laughter coming from the house. "I hope I'm here at a bad time."

The mayor took a deeply, frustrated breath. "Aren't you always showing up at bad times?"

Rumple offered her crooked smile. "I need to speak with our darling Sheriff please."

"Not happening." The former queen informed him, crossing her arms.

"Miss Swan!" The man yelled loudly.

Regina glared at him and clenched her jaw. "What do you need from her, Gold?"

He chuckled darkly. "That's between herself and I, dearie."

Emma walked over the front door and put a comforting hand on her girlfriend's back. "Hey… Gold. You summoned?" She joked to make light of the situation.

"I was wishing to speak with you about a matter I have." Gold informed her vaguely.

"Don't go with him, honey." Regina pleaded softly.

The sheriff kissed her true love's shoulder and smiled softly at her. "You worry too much." She turned to the pawnbroker. "What do you need?"

Gold looked at the former Evil Queen before back at the savior. "I'd rather discuss this alone."

"And I'd rather go upstairs and fuck my girlfriend." She shrugged. "But I have guests. Talk Gold. I'm hungry." The older man cleared his throat before he handed her a note. It was in Neal's handwriting. It read,

'Dear Papa. I've left Storybrooke. I don't know when I'll come back, but I needed to get away and figure things out. I love you. I will be back. –Bae.'

Emma handed it back to him. "What do I have to do with this?" She asked him.

"We have to go after him, Sheriff." Gold stressed. "My boy, he's out there all alone."

The blonde nodded. "Yeah. He's been out there all alone for a while. He can handle himself."

"No. His home is here with me. We need to get him back. I need your help. Please." The dark one said desperately.

Emma sighed. "Look Gold, your son isn't in danger of some sea witch. He's not on some ridiculous quest to find someone. He's feeling lost and he went to go figure shit out. What do you want me to do exactly? Drag him back here kicking and screaming?"

"I want you to go after him!" Gold yelled. "This is your fault after all so fix it!"

The savior scoffed. "My fault? I didn't do anything and honestly I've gone above and beyond for someone who's been nothing but a pain in the ass since he showed back up in my life! And I'm not even surprised he left." She told the pawnbroker. "That's what Neal does. He leaves when shit gets tough. I hope he get his shit together and comes back for Henry's sake, but aside from that I don't give a fuck about him leaving and I sure as Hell am not going after him."

Mr. Gold glared at both of the women. "He's my son! He needs to be here."

Emma flicked the note. "Read the note, Gold. He'll be back. And if you're so impatient then go after him yourself." Is what she left him with before shutting the door.

"Are you okay?" Regina asked when the blonde leaned against the white wooden door.

The sheriff nodded. "Yeah. I'm not even surprised." She said honestly. "We have to tell the kid though."

"I know." The mayor agreed. "Can we wait a couple of days though?"

"Yeah." Emma would be happy to wait a few days. "I'd like to settle in here before we move to another crisis."

Regina walked up to the younger woman and leaned against her, placing soft kisses on her neck. "Just think, this time tomorrow we'll be making love in our bed."

"Mm." Emma groaned softly, tilting her head to allow the assault on her neck. "I can't wait."

The mayor pulled away and smirked her Evil Queen smirk. "Now let's discuss your horrible decision to drink and drive."

Emma grumbled.

"You were very irresponsible, Miss Swan. You could have hurt somebody, hurt yourself! You could have gotten into a wreck!" Regina went on and on to thoroughly explain the dangers of drinking and driving to her girlfriend.

So Neal is gone. How long you think that'll last? Next is moving day & some smut along with some adjusting for our ladies. Hook will be a perv after what he found so look forward to that & the Charming wedding plans will be laid out clearly. See you next chapter. Post will be Wednesday!