Regina stared silently at the woman sprawled comfortably on her couch. For the life of her she couldn't fathom why Emma had shown up at her home, considering how things were between them. And while her heart would be at the point of bursting from seeing her right now, she couldn't afford that luxury. Not with the state the blonde was in. Anything could happen. After what felt like ages, Emma sat up. Her green eyes meeting Regina's brown ones. Regina sighed. Her feet were killing her but she couldn't make herself as comfortable as the other woman was. She was in desperate need of answers.

"Emma, why are you here? Not that I'm not glad to see you…but it's awfully late. Something could have happened to you!"

"I just had to see you…" the blonde replied after a while.

"Why? Couldn't this have waited till tomorrow, when you are more…sober? I know we need to talk…"

"That's not why I came. I don't want to talk"

"Then why are you here? Because I'm really tired and you just took me out of bed…" Regina almost yelled, suddenly losing her patience with Emma.

"Is that the only reason or is there something else?"

"What are you talking about?! You are the one who just knocked on my door at an ungodly hour, drunk and with for apparent reason!"

"You don't look like you were having much sleep anyway so why are you being such a bitch about it? Is he here, I he in your bed? Is that why you are so pissed at me?"

"He who?!"

"The guy from the diner! The one with a kid, you two were all smiles and warm with each other I'm sorry me and Henry ruined the cute family scene you had going. Tell me, I'm I that easy to replace? It's been less than a day and you have had no trouble finding a replacement for me and Henry…" she didn't get to finish whatever she was saying because Regina's palm collided with her cheek.

When Emma looked up, Regina was shaking with tears in her eyes, her state mirroring that of the blonde's.

"Dammit! Emma…Emma I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" she whispered. But Emma just stood there, no trace of anger or pain Regina had seen on her face just a moment ago. She took a step towards Regina and stroked her cheek so gently, the brunette's eyes filled. "Please don't give up on me, on us. I'm scared that while I'm busy being stubborn you might get tired and just forget about me. But I just can't find my way back so easily. I need time and I need you. Seeing you with him tonight and seeing how he was looking at you…it made me realize that you deserve so much better than me. You deserve someone who'll not look at you like you are an angel one minute and like a monster the next. Not like I did…" she choked. "I know that. But I can't help being jealous. I can't help being selfish and wanting you for myself. It killed me to see how happy you were with him while I'm doing nothing but making you sad. So I'm going to use all the time apart to prove to you that I love you, past, flaws and all. No matter who you were or what you did in the past, I will always love you. I will fight for you like you deserve to be fought for and I will make myself more deserving of you"

That was it. That was all it took. As if Regina's protective walls were made of sand and Emma's voice and words were the tide coming in, they simply disintegrated. There was no loud crashing sound, no shocked feeling of more destruction. The barrier around her emotions was there…and then it had slipped away. All the pain, all the sorrow she'd felt in the last twenty four hours, hell all the rejection, judgment and pain she'd suffered all her life, came pouring out as she crumpled. Emma's arms suddenly around her, holding her despite her intoxicated state, trying to cushion her descent with her body and they ended up on the floor, a tangled mass of limbs.

Regina cried like a child she felt like the heart which had been shattered into a million tiny pieces never to be repaired, was finally mending. Emma held her and rocked her and whispered comforting words as her lips pressed to her hair, to her temple, as her arms wrapped tightly around her. Regina fisted the blonde's shirt in her hand and let it all out, her pain, her anguish, her insecurities, sobbing against Emma's chest and feeling such a sense of calm and warmth, she wondered if she'd ever recover should the blonde not recall any of this tomorrow morning.

She had no idea how long they sat there. She must have dozed a bit because the next thing she knew, Emma was snoring softly, her frame wrapped tightly around Regina's warming her body.

"Hey, you should get to bed," Regina said softly. "You need some decent sleep. Come on"

Regina somehow managed to stand up and pulled Emma up too, without letting her lose contact with her body. Her arm tightly around the blonde's shoulders and holding her close, she walked them up the stairs and into the guest room. She didn't want Emma to feel uncomfortable or pressured when morning came and she didn't remember. Slowly she undressed her, helped her into a T-shirt and pulled the covers on the bed. She softly stroked Emma's cheek and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. With one last look at the almost drowsy woman she started walking towards the door only to be stopped in her tracks by her voice.

"Don't leave," Emma croaked. "Stay with me"

"Emma,…I don't think that would be…"

"Please…just for tonight" Her body felt like lead and like her eyelids were lined with sandpaper and they didn't want to stay open. She turned on her side. Tears blurred her vision and she buried her face in her pillow so she could muffle the little sobs that were threatening to start. This was going to be the last time she was going to be in such close proximity with the woman she loved in a while.

Sleep must have claimed her for a while because the next thing she felt was Regina crawling under the covers with her. The room was fully dark then and Regina smelled of apples like she always did. Magnificent to be exact. She spooned up behind her, wrapping Emma in the warmth of her embrace.

"What about Henry?" Regina asked, worried about Emma leaving their son alone in a place He considered strange at the time, not registering that Emma would never do such a thing.

"He's fine. David and Mary Margaret have him."

"What? What did you tell him..."

But Emma interrupted her. "He understood that we have a lot to talk about and we will get to that." Regina's lips grazed her ear in a sweet kiss then. "But for tonight, I just want to be here, in your arms"

"Why?"

"Because we need it."

"We do."

Regina wasn't surprised by her own admission and she wasn't so sleepy and emotionally wrecked that she didn't understand that whatever they were doing then didn't make everything between them magically better. She wanted to grab onto Emma's comment that they had to talk, but her brain was too fogged with exhaustion. She was simply grateful to have Emma here and chose not to look beyond that, at least for the moment.

"Regina?"

"Hm?"
"I'm sorry. About everything. About tonight and about last night. I don't know how to fix everything, to fix us. But I swear I'll die trying."

"it's okay. I'm sorry too. Everything will be fine." Emma let the relief wash over her, so much better than the fear and anguish. But the funny thing about fear is that it never quite goes away. It just hides for a little while and then pops back up like a spot of grease you washed out. "Regina?"

"Hm?"

"Do you still want to be with me?" she sounded eight years old and she knew it and she didn't care. It was how she felt.

"I would never ever not want to be with you." Regina's arms tightened around her almost worn out body and scared soul. "I Love You and you'll always have me"

Emma wanted to think about that, to ask her exactly what she meant, to tell herself she was just trying to make her feel better. But her mind couldn't hang on to any individual thought. They floated away like bubbles on a sunny day as grogginess overtook her and she fell into a deep, untroubled and dreamless sleep just she always did when in the other woman's arms.

Hi guys. I know I disappointed a lot of people with my last update and I am sorry. This chapter is shorter bit I'm going back to work tomorrow and I didn't want to leave you without another update for such a long time. But I hope I'll be able to write more often. Thank you so much for the reviews, follows and favorites. I can't believe how far we've come! Also I'd like to say that the inclusion of Robin is just something I came up with as an incentive for Emma. Never in a million years would I make OutlawQueen canon in my stories so don't worry. If OUAT was my show, Hood's and Hook's lifespan on the show would have been shorter than Blue Fairy's death in season 3 ;) Let me know what you think.

Xoxo, Abbie.