Emma lays face down on her bed, head buried in a pillow. When she hears the door open, she doesn't move a muscle hoping to discourage either Henry or Regina, neither of whom she particularly wants to see.
The bed depresses next to her and a small hand rests on her back. She turns her head to peek at Regina with one eye.
Regina smiles at her and rubs her back. "Dinner's ready."
"Why are you in here?"
"Because dinner's ready, and I know you're hungry."
Emma puts her head back in her pillow.
Regina tugs at the pillow to encourage Emma to look at her again, but Emma just grunts and fights against her. "You're acting like a child, dear. This is how I would expect to find Henry."
Emma just shrugs but freezes when she feels Regina's lips on her ear. "Come eat," Regina whispers.
Emma flips over on her side and yanks Regina down onto the bed with her. Regina yelps and her eyes go wide when she crashes down next to Emma.
Emma looks between Regina's eyes. "I really want to kiss you right now, but we just had a fight so I'm pretty sure you don't want me to."
"You're correct," Regina responds with a small nod. She studies Emma's face too and glances at her lips. "Apologize."
"I'm sorry."
"I forgive you," Regina barely gets out before crashing her lips against Emma's.
Their eyes flutter shut before their lips start moving together. The kiss is full of want, yet at first too timid to press forward. They move their lips in perfect sync, neither opening their mouth for further exploration. Finally, Emma leans into Regina, but senses no reaction from her. She tries to open her mouth to Regina, but Regina doesn't respond.
Emma pulls back and pecks Regina on the forehead before getting out of bed. She puts out her hand to Regina.
Regina stares at her hand then up at her face with a furrowed brow. "Did I do something wrong?"
Emma shakes her head but Regina can tell her jaw is set.
Regina sits up and takes Emma's hand, but instead of standing, she tries to pull Emma down to sit.
Emma shakes her head again.
"Emma, talk to me. Please." Regina clasps both hands over Emma's, scooting close to her on the bed.
Clenching her eyes shut, Emma tries to take a deep breath, but it's shaky.
Regina stands and wraps her hands around Emma's waist pulling her close. She pecks Emma's lips. Emma pulls back from the kiss and turns her head, her eyes still shut. Regina grabs her face and turns it back. That's when she notices the tears threatening to fall.
"Emma, why are you crying?"
Emma opens her eyes and laughs derisively, pushing out of Regina's hold.
"You wanted to kiss me, Emma. We kissed. What happened? I don't know about you, but I was certainly enjoying it."
"You sure about that?"
Regina stares at her. "What did I do? All I was doing was kissing you. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"Did you kiss me just because that's what I wanted?"
"No. I kissed you because that's what we both wanted."
Emma shakes her head and looks down. "It just didn't feel like you really wanted it as much as me."
Regina moves to step forward, but Emma leans away from her so she stops. "I don't understand what I did. I'm sorry, Emma. Whatever I did, I didn't mean to hurt you."
"It's okay," Emma says softly. "I didn't expect you to feel the same anyways. It was stupid to get my hopes up." She turns to leave.
Regina grabs her arm and pulls her back around. "What makes you think I don't feel the same?"
Emma shrugs. "You haven't given me reason to think otherwise."
Regina steps back and glares. "You told me not to respond to you right away. I opted to respect that. I'm sorry if my timeline for a response didn't match your expectations."
"I don't have any expectations, Regina. It's not important. Let's just go eat."
"No, it's obviously extremely important, Emma."
Emma bows her head. "You didn't kiss me back."
"What! How was I not kissing you back?"
"I felt compelled to kiss you deeper, and well, you apparently did not." Emma shakes her head. "But as I said, it's okay. You don't have to feel the same way. At least this kiss was better than the last one."
Emma tries to smile but it falters.
Regina ducks her head to catch Emma's eyes. "Have I not already asked you to stop telling me how I feel and to stop making assumptions?"
Emma raises her eyes to look at Regina.
"You don't know how I feel because you have never actually asked me."
"Then tell me, Regina. Please tell me."
Regina moves closer to Emma. "I love you, Emma. I really do."
"But you're not in love with me," Emma says quietly.
"I don't know if I am or not. Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've been in love? I'm not sure I remember what it feels like."
"Well, I sure as hell do, and it kinda sucks." Emma sighs and looks down at the ground again.
Regina lifts Emma's chin. "Believe me when I say I want nothing more than to be in love with you."
Emma rolls her eyes. "You can't just make yourself fall in love with someone."
"Falling in love is a journey."
"Ugh, you sound like Henry."
"Well, he is a wise boy." Regina kisses Emma's cheek softly. She leans up to whispers in Emma's ear. "Let me fall in love with you."
Emma's breath hitches, and she pulls back to stare at Regina. She sees the sincerity in her eyes. "You realize how much this is going to hurt if you don't end up feeling the same about me? How long do I wait until you finally turn me down? How am I supposed to know if any of this is real or just you trying too hard?"
Regina strokes Emma's cheeks. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
She puts her hand over Emma's heart. "Then trust me with this."