A/N Hey guys, just to let you know I have added my upcoming fics to my profile so feel free to check them out and send me any ideas you have that I could use for them XD

Chapter forty-five

"Picnic, Miss Swan?" Regina smirked as she inspected one of the sandwiches that the blonde had packed, "it's rather cliché, isn't it?"

Emma rolled her eyes and scooted closer to her girlfriend on the patchwork blanket that they were sat on, "there's not many options in Storybrooke, and it's only stage one."

Regina smirked and brought the sandwich up to her mouth, "I didn't mean offence, it was merely an observation."

"Well then if you have a better idea, you can plan the next date," Emma chuckled.

Regina swallowed the peanut butter and jelly, and pretended to grimace at it, though she had to admit that it was rather good.

"Rather presumptuous, aren't we sheriff?"

The blonde leaned closer and whispered, "did I presume wrong?"

In answer, Regina closed the distance, though the kiss was promptly cut short by the loud neighing of a nearby horse, which caused Emma to huff, "this is why I hate horses."

Regina snickered and asked, "has a equine preventing you from kissing in the past?"

"I think you meant to say cock block, madam mayor," Emma smirked.

"I can assure you that I would never mean to say that," the blonde laughed and they fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes while they ate. Once the sandwich was fully consumed, however, Regina asked the question that had been on her mind for a while, "why do you hate horses?"

Emma picked at the pattern on the blanket for a few moments, until she finally looked up at her girlfriend, "one of my foster homes had stables."

Regina furrowed her brow, "and that was a bad thing?"

The saviour blew out a breath, knowing that it would probably be better if Regina understood her fear, so she decided that she would finally open up to someone, even if it was just something small to begin with. "They locked me with one of the horses because I asked for dinner, there was a thunder storm and the horse got spooked."

In that moment, Regina felt like a complete moron, and she quickly placed a hand on Emma's shoulder, "you don't have to ride."

Emma's eyes met Regina's and she smiled broadly, "I'm trying to be romantic."

The brunette brought her arm around the other woman's shoulder, and replied, "that's very chivalrous of you, dear, but I would much prefer you to not be any more traumatised than is necessary."

"We had a deal Regina," Emma quickly hopped up, bringing to stand close to her, "you took down the ogre, now I have to learn how to ride a horse. Besides, your here now, so if the horse gets spooked you can just do something magic-y."

"That's very technical of you dear," Regina chuckled, as she brought her arms around the taller woman's neck, instinctively, Emma's arms snaked around her waist.

Their lips connected again, this time lasting much longer, until Emma finally remember that she had a whole thing planned and pulled back.

"Stop distracting me," she pouted.

"If I knew it was this easy to stop the saviour, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble," Regina teased.

"I wouldn't have said no to that plan, your majesty. Now come on, I got you a present."

"Present?" Regina asked apprehensively, she admittedly didn't know much about first dates, but she was sure that presents weren't typically until later, "and why would you do that?"

Emma pulled Regina towards the stables, surprisingly with Regina's hand in hers, she wasn't even thinking about the fact that she was heading towards the little beasts that had been the manifestation of fear for a good portion of her life.

"Because I'm the best girlfriend in the world, duh," Emma chuckled.

"I don't doubt that, but I also don't doubt that you want a present in return."

"I don't give to receive," the blonde replied in faux outrage as they finally stopped outside of the stable door.

Regina kissed the pout of the other woman's lips, and she instantly smiled despite herself. She was instantly reminded of just how much she loved the woman, and though Regina had yet to return the sentiment that she had displayed in the pawn shop, she had no doubt that her feelings were returned in full force. Though horses were the blonde's biggest fear, it had become clear that Regina's was far more serious, she was afraid of love, or more specifically, the possibility of losing it. It was for this reason that Emma hadn't brought up the issue, it wasn't like she was particularly comfortable with the subject herself, but she also hadn't seen her mother rip out her first love's heart, so she was sure that it was more a genuine fear for Regina rather than a anxiety.

Shaking her head from her deep thoughts, she quickly pulled the mayor into the stables, and stopped at the last compartment which contained a brown stallion.

Regina tilted her head, "you brought me a horse?"

The sheriff nodded profusely, "Henry said that you don't have one anymore and I didn't want you to have to ride on a rented one every time you come here, he said something about connection being import..."

Before she could finish, she was instantly enveloped in a hug, "I love...the present, thank you."

Emma brought her arms around the other woman, and whispered, "that's not the whole gift."

Regina furrowed her brow, and pulled back to allow Emma to continue her presentation. From behind her she produced a saddle, and Regina's mouth dropped open.

"How...?" couldn't even finish her sentence as she ran her hand across the embroiled leather, her family crest as her father had ordered to be put upon Rocinate's saddle all those decades ago.

"It wasn't easy," Emma chuckled, "I am terrible at magic."

Regina smirked, despite the few stray tears of joy she felt at the corners of her eyes, and waved her hand to place the saddle upon her new steed.

"Well then perhaps you need some lessons?"

"I wouldn't learn much with you as my teacher, you would just distract me," Emma replied, bringing the smaller woman closer to her once again.

"I have a different lesson to teach you now at any rate," Regina smirked as she led Emma towards the gift.

Emma's tight grip on Regina's waist fell away almost two hours later, and she began to laugh joyously as the horse galloped at top speed.

"This is awesome!" she shouted in glee, which caused Regina to grin broadly.

"Did you ever doubt me?"

"The idea of riding gave me pause," Emma teased as they finally slowed to a canter.

"If you ever use that phrase again, then you will need to a much bigger gift to get back into a good graces," Regina scowled playfully.

The pair finally dismounted, and Regina caught the wobbly legged blonde.

The horse turned his head to Emma and she quickly jumped back in fear.

Regina rolled her eyes and stroked the stallions head, "at least we made progress."

Emma nodded in agreement, still hiding behind the other woman, "when we was riding it was kind of like a motorbike, but the face reminds me that he's a horse."

The horse, who Emma had 'cleverly' called Chestnut, seemed to neigh indignantly and Regina snickered, "that's still progress I suppose."

Regina thanked one of the stable hands as he led Chestnut away, and turned to Emma.

"Thank you," she said genuinely.

Emma's fear melted away instantly and she replied, "so you liked the date?"

"I loved it," Regina smiled, connecting their lips in a small peck, after a few moments, she took a deep breath and added, "I love you."

Emma nodded as she processed the words, and a flash of rejection went across Regina's face, until the pale pink lips crashed against hers in a much more passionate kiss.

"I love you too," Emma mumbled against the other woman's lips.

A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, just a heads up I can't write much when I have work and I'm doing more shifts to save, so updates for all of my fics may become less frequent, though when I don't have work I'll write as much as possible XD

Reviews would be much appreciated