She woke up exhausted. What is wrong with me? What a strange dream, she thought. She quickly check to her mobile phone to see the time Are you kidding me? It was 12 am but she was tired as hell, but it was worth it , she noted to herself as she started remembering the previous night.

She dragged her body out of her warm bed, promptly found some yoga pants and a tank top. I'm in no mood to get dressed, this will suffice. She changed her clothes, her mind still miles away and went downstairs to get her car keys

"Regina" her mother's voice reverberated through the lower floor of their house, making Regina tremble

"Mother" she quickly replied while she approaching her mother who was stretching her back before starting to play the piano. She always waited for Regina to wake up to start playing it since she started to work, usually she wasn't so thoughtful

"Where are you going?" asked Cora, rising an eyebrow

"Red is sick and I wanted to go visit her.. I haven't seen her in a while" suddenly feeling upset for her lack of time with her best friend

"You are old enough to stop calling her that nickname, you are a lady not a child" remarked Cora. Manners seemed the most important thing for her besides Regina's grades.

"Yes, Mother" answered Regina, looking away, trying to hide the tiredness she felt because of her mothers corrections

Cora eyed her with a warning look that revealed that she knew Regina wasn't behaving as she wanted to. Before her mother could say anything, Regina quickly bid her goodbyes

"If you excuse me, I want to get to Ruby's home before it's lunch time. Goodbye Mother"

She didn't look back because she knew what she will see in her mother's eyes, disappointment

She enjoyed the warmth of the sun touching her skin, the heat buzzing in the air. Luckily the heat wasn't suffocating so the short drive ended up being rather enjoyable. She didn't need to go driving, their house was rather close but Regina liked to have her car near in case she needed to get to work earlier.

The Lucas's home wasn't as big nor luxurious as her own but it felt cosy, an adjective you could never add to her own home. It was white and the insides of it looked like it was a cabinet from the woods. It always felt nice in there

She got in through the back door that always was unlocked during the day, and made her presence known

"Hi, I'm here" she said loudly, she didn't expect a response so she shrugged her shoulders and continued making her way to Red's bedroom.

She knocked the door and opened slowly, in case Red was still sleeping.

The brunette was awake, she looked pale and weak, with bags under her eyes. When the brunette saw Regina, immediately her face lit up and gave her a weak smile.

"Gina, what are you doing here?" asked the brunette, surprised

"Excuse me for being worried about my only friend" replied Regina jokingly

"You shouldn't have come, not that I don't appreciate the gesture but you'll get sick and it will get me in trouble with Granny for sure" said Ruby, laughing but at the same time being serious. The laugh started a coughing fit that made Regina's heart clench in worry

"It is my decision to stay here, also, I haven't seen you for a while….. I missed you" Regina said sincerely, grabbing her friend's hand

"Okay, you stubborn woman. So how's everything going in the restaurant" asked Ruby, changing the topic

Regina quickly gave a summary of interesting things that had happened during the time they hadn't seen each other. Red was listening silently, focused on each piece of information she was receiving. When Regina got to the unfortunate event that happened the previous day, Ruby's reaction was obvious. The younger woman was starting to shift in the bed, wanting to ask more questions but also trying to listen carefully to the rest of the story.

"WHAT? WHO IS THAT GUY? I'M SURE I CAN FIND HIM.." Ruby was starting to raise her voice, rage evident in it, her eyes were burning with the perspective of revenge.

"Red, calm down, it isn't good for you to get this fired up, relax, Emma took care of the situation, and the guy can't come back to the restaurant so.." Regina tried to calm her friend tough she liked that her friend, even sick, wanted to go chase that guy and hurt him.

"Okay, but .." Ruby started again, still fidgeting in her bed

"I know" Regina said, looking at her eyes, making evident the sincerity of the moment. Red didn't need to continue, she knew that her friend would do anything for her. "Thank you" whispered Regina

They let the atmosphere of the room change gradually to a more casual vibe. That helped Regina remember her intentions

"I almost forgot, I came here to have lunch with you" She started , and when the younger woman wrinkled her nose and started to make an excuse, Regina continued talking. " You are the worst when you are sick, so I'm gonna make sure you eat something"

Ruby wasn't happy about it for a minute, silence creeping in to the room. Regina knew that when her friend got sick, she was even more stubborn and usually refused to eat. She could get it her own way with Granny but Regina wasn't going to back down. Seen the fiery determination in Regina's eyes, Ruby sighed in defeat and accepted the comfort food.

Regina flashed her an smile before heading to the kitchen to see which kind of food she could manage to make. She wasn't as skilled as Granny making foods, but she spent most of the time with the old woman, learning her abilities, and cooking was one of them. She decided that a soup would be a good idea, but her friend wasn't very fond of them so she would have to be a little bit creative.

When she finished her quick inspection of all the cupboard's in the Lucas's house, she wrote down the things she needed to buy. Gathered her things and went upstairs again.

"Red, I need to go grocery shopping, I'll be back in a few" Regina said" And stay put" ended with a more authoritative tone

"What are you, my mom?" Red groaned , scrunching her face and folding her arms, looking almost like a child

Regina mocked Red by sticking out her tong and leaving her to whine all she wanted while she was gone.

The grocery store was a few blocks away, but she didn't mind because she could get a nice stroll through her neighborhood. The lawn yards were full of beautiful flowers, the trees were full of green leaves. The sound of the birds chirping relaxed her while she enjoyed the warmth of the sun. The sky was had some cotton-like clouds and that pained her a little, she loved the rain, and summer meant that she wouldn't see that very often, but she didn't let that ruin her good mood.

The shop was owned by a very nice man, Mr Sloan. He was in his forties but he was very good-looking and many women had a crush on him.

She quickly busied herself finding the right ingredients, examining each alley thoroughly, making sure she didn't forget a thing. While she was busy in this task she had an awesome idea that made her grin.

When she got out of said shop, she was still grinning, very proud of herself. She started to make her way back to the Lucas's when something made her stop. A motorcycle was parked near the shop, but it wasn't any motorcycle, it looked a lot like Emma's, a black an white fast-looking bike. She didn't know about them so she didn't knew the model ,but she remembered the plate number from seeing it so many times before so she decided that she had to check it out, just in case. Curiosity always got the worst of her and this time wasn't any different.

She looked around, checking her surroundings, she felt like she was doing something bad so she approached the vehicle stealthily, making sure no one saw her. When she was close enough to check the plate number, her suspicions where confirmed, it was Emma's but the blonde wasn't anywhere near. But, does Emma lives near me?

She remembered that she had still the groceries and that she had to make lunch, so she started to walk again but soon , she had to stop again. Emma

Indeed, the blonde was walking side-by-side with a guy. Regina squinted her eyes to get a better look of him. He was a little bit taller than Emma, dark short hair, blue eyes and he seemed quite handsome. Regina quickly positioned herself in a way she could observe them without being seen. She was, again, feeling curious about the blonde. Is that her boyfriend? she thought, a hint of bitterness didn't go unnoticed. She didn't understand why did she cared, but she did anyways and she wanted to know what was going on between them so she stayed in that spot, observing.

It seemed like they were having a great time just by looking at the smiles that never left their faces. They were approaching slowly her hiding spot. Please, please, walk away or something. Don't look here. Regina was starting to panic when they stopped near were she was but far enough to not notice her. Regina sighed relived. Within this distance, she could hear what they were talking about

"So, that's everything that you missed" said Emma

"Oh, Swan, I've missed you" said the guy while hugging her tightly

A swirl of emotions started boiling inside Regina Get your hands off her her inner voice hissed.

She didn't know where this possessive thoughts were coming from, but it didn't bothered at the moment.

Emma hugged him back for a second and tried to regain some space between them.

"Sorry" apologized the guy while shrugging his shoulders.

It seemed like the guy had no shame, he was all smiles and trying to have physical contact with Emma each second. She didn't like him at all.

"You know, all the time I've spent in Ireland and I've never found any girl as pretty as you" said the guy, flashing her a fake shy smile and getting closer to her

"Flattering as always, Hook" Emma said with an small smile and rolling her eyes

"How couldn't I? responded Hook looking her up and down, leering at her

All of this was making Regina sick. She was looking for a way to scape, she had had enough. She found a pathway near her bush that was in the shade. She gathered her bearings and was about to go for it when she saw Hook, getting dangerously close to Emma, looking at her lips He is gonna kiss her, does that mean that HE is her boyfriend? Emma can do much better than that!

She was still observing them when her phone starting ringing very loudly in her pocket. She quickly reached for it and looked at the caller id. Ruby She had forgotten her duty with her best friend .She shut it off and without looking at the couple, not wanting to see the outcome, made her way to the path and started walking very fast, the sound of her heartbeat thundering on her ears, establishing the pace of her steps.

A/N: Reviews, prompts, questions... are always encouraged. Thanks for reading x