A Week Later

Regina Pov.

Emma and i have been together for a week. All we have done is kiss and cuddle. Which im honestly so grateful for. I havent cut since the night before she moved in. But the urge has been creeping up again. I know i said id try to come to her first, but i just dont want her to think im so weak already. I know i cant break her trust though. Shes on patrol right now so i doubt she will even answer. But it's Saturday again and im at home alone. Baby Neal got sick so shes stuck covering Charmings shift for the weekend. But that also means Snow and David aren't coming to family night this week. I grab my phone and shoot off a quick text to Emma.

R- Hey Em, im sorry to bother you at work. But you wanted me to come to you before i cut. And i didnt want to break a promise. Just know im sorry and im not doing it to hurt you. This urge has just been building for a week now and its like i can feel it under my skin. Like im going to pop. Please dont be mad at me.

I stand from my spot on the couch and walk to our bedroom. I open my drawer of tools and grab my favorite scalpel. I ordered it online one day when i saw it on my home page of amazon. I walk into the bathroom determined. Until i hear my phone beep. I pause and read it.

E- Baby please wait till i get there. Im less than 5 minutes away. Maybe i can hold you until the urge settles. Please.

I dont want to wait. But I guess i have to. I sit in the edge of the tub and wait. I text her back.

R- Ill wait. But i dont know if you will be able to talk me out of this. Its been a full week since ive done this and it feels like maybe im going to explode if i dont relieve the pressure.

I hear the front door burst open and Emma runs up the stairs. Shes by my side in less than 30 seconds it seems. "Im here baby. Can you hand me the scalpel please?" I look at her pleadingly. "Please dont make me Emma. Please just let me do this. I just need to relieve the pressure. Just a few cuts and ill be ok. Please." Emma looks at me sadly. "Give me 10 minutes. 10 minutes to try and distract you. Put the scalpel down and come with me. If in 10 minutes its not any better, then you can come back in. And i will be here to help you clean it up. But let me try." I hesitate, but i put the scalpel down on the sink. Emma offers me her hand and pulls me to our bed. She lays me down and gets in beside me. She pulls me on top of her knowing i hate feeling trapped. We discussed it earlier this week. "Regina, you are so beautiful. I wish you could see yourself with my eyes. I love you Regina. You are my heart." I tear up slightly at that. Thats the first time shes said i love you to me. I feel her warm calloused hands brush away a tear before she reaches up and kisses me with so much passion im thrown off balance a little. She wraps me in her arms so we are both laying on our sides. I automatically tangle our legs. With one hand Emma intertwines our fingers with the back of my hand against her palm. I look at her strangely until she extends my left arm out so the under part of my forearm is exposed. I try to pull my arm back. I hate the old scars that line my arms. They are all white and faded now. I havent cut my arms since i adopted Henry. He has never noticed them. Emma doesnt let go though. "Regina wait. Trust me ok. I wont hurt you or judge you. I love you Regina. And these are a part of you. And i accept every part of you. Let me make peace with the parts of you that you hate. And maybe you can make peace with them too." She uses her other hand to draw silly patterns softly on the scarred flesh. I look at her face and see a slow tear track down her cheek. "Emma. Im sorry. I wish i could go back and never start this. I wish i could go back and find a way to deal that didnt involve hurting myself or others. I love you too Emma. I just wish we could start with a fresh slate. But you get to be stuck with the visual evidence of my self hatred." Emma leans down and presses gentle kisses from the inner part of my elbow all the way to my wrist. My breathe gets stuck in my throat for a moment. "Emma?" I gasp out. "You did what you had to do Regina. You survived till now. I will help you find better ways to deal. We can work together. Its been 10 minutes my love. Do you still need to cut?" I swallow thickly. I still want to cut. It numbs me. But maybe i dont need to be numb right now. Maybe i can let her fill me with love and hope for once. "No. I think i can manage for now. Thank you Emma. You are my hero ya know. I dont know where id be right now if i didnt have you. Not just as my girlfriend but as my best friend. You make me feel things that ive never felt before. You make me feel wanted and special and loved. You make me feel desire in a way ive never gotten to experience. I wish i was more ok so that we could be more intimate. And i know we are working our way to it. I just wish i could be all the things you deserve. Because you are everything to me."

Emma holds me for another hour or so before i hear the door open downstairs and Henry shouts up to us. "Moms, im home." I look at Emma and chuckle. Emma yells back down. "Ok kid. We are up here in our room." Henry wanders up the steps and stops in our doorway. "Im so glad you guys are together now. But I'm bored. Do you guys want to play cards or a board game downstairs with me?" I chuckle lowly. "Of course Henry. We will be down in a minute. Why dont you go choose a game." Henry smiles. "Awesome ok see you in a minute."

Emma pov

1 hour later

"Ha you landed on Park Place. Pay up kid." Henry groans. "How are you so good at this game ma? I dont have enough money to pay you. Would you take a trade instead?" I hear Regina laugh and when i look at her she has the brightest smile on her face. It makes me happy to see her happy. "Yea i guess a trade will do. You have both brown pieces. Ill take those so i have that whole corner wrapped up." Henry glares at me. "Highway robbery ma. You're a crook." He giggles. "Are you two done with your dirty dealings? Its my turn and i have a good feeling." I laugh and hand Regina the dice. She rolls the exact number she needed and lands on Marvin Gardens. Which she quickly purchases along with hotels for all three yellow squares. "Finally. Now just one more trip around the board and we see who the winner is now that the last property is bought. Emma, i think its going to be down to us. Poor Henrys struggling over here." Henry rolls his eyes. "Gee mom, thanks for the vote of confidence there." He laughs and Regina pushes his shoulder enough to jar him. "Hey, if i win how about we all go get ice cream my treat?" She says. With that Henry grins ear to ear. This kid loves his ice cream. "From Grannys? She has the best hot fudge sundae with extra everything." Regina nods and Henry looks at me. "Maaaa, you have to let her win. I neeeeed ice cream." I laugh at that. But im very competitive. "I cant just let her win. But i can counter offer. If i win its my treat. So either way we get ice cream. Does that work for ya kid?" Henry gets excited like a little kid. Sometimes i forget that hes 16 now. "Hell yea ma. That works great." Regina frowns. "You get exactly one Hell yea. I hope you enjoyed it." She shakes her head after she finishes speaking and clicks her tongue. Henry smiles nervously. "Yes ma'am. Sorry." I grab the dice from Regina. "We better finish this game up before Granny runs out of ice cream."

Somehow Regina ends up winning and as we get out to her Cadillac she hands me the keys. "Wait. Really? You never let me drive the Cadillac." Regina just smiles. "Well, things are different now. You are my girlfriend and i love you. So… ya know. You get special privileges. Get used to it babe." Excitedly i get into the drivers seat as Regina sits passenger side. I automatically take her hand over the center console. I adore this woman. Ive never been happier in my life than i am now.

Regina pov

When we pull up to Grannys, Emma jumps out of the car and runs to open my door. Henry hops out of the backseat and is inside before my foot even touches the ground. Emma grabs my hand and helps me out of the car. In doing so she pulls me into her body and wraps her arms around my waist. "You know how precious you are to me, right Regina?" I blush and look down. "I think im beginning to learn. I love you Emma." She smiles and kisses me tenderly before she pulls back. "Are you sure you're ready to tell everyone about us Em? Because that was pretty public. And we havent even told your parents yet." Emma just hugs me tighter. "I would scream it from the clock tower. But thats a little dramatic, even for me. You are my true love and we both deserve to live our lives and our love out loud. Anyone who has a problem can go kick rocks because i dont care. We have both saved this whole town more than once. They can learn to deal with it. And my parents can either accept it or not. If they dont then i guess they never cared about my happiness in the first place." I lay my head on her shoulder for a second and then kiss her. "We should go in. Henry is probably ready to kill us for making him wait for his ice cream." Emma nods and takes my hand again. We walk through the doors together and immediately spot Henry at our regular booth. Emma and i both sit on the same side of the table. Our hands are resting on the table when Ruby comes to take our orders. "Hey guys. What can I get for…" she stops talking when she notices mine and Emmas hands intertwined. "When did this happen? Are you two together?" Emma brings our hands to her lips and kisses the back of my hand. "Weve only been together a week. But yes we are together." Ruby smiles and i see a hint of something in her eye. It looks almost like sadness. "Well, congrats you guys. You both deserve it. What can i get ya?" Henry pipes up first. "Ill have a hot fudge sundae with extra everything please, Ruby." At least he kept his manners in his excitement. Emma orders next. "Ill take a sundae with oreo topping please." Its my turn now and im torn between oreo and m on top. "Ill have the hot fudge sundae with oreo and m with extra whipped cream please. Thank you Ruby. We appreciate the congratulations as well. You are officially the first person outside the three of us who knows." Ruby smiles and bows slightly. "Its an honor to be the first. Ill be right back with your sundaes."

Less than 15 minutes later our sundaes arrive and we all dig in. "This is perfect mom. Thank you." Henry says around a spoonful of ice cream and fudge. Emma responds in kind. "Yea babe. This is yummy. Thanks so much." She winks on the word yummy and i get tingles down in my stomach. I place my free left hand on Emmas right upper thigh and squeeze slightly. Her whole body jumps and i feel her clench her legs together. "You ok ma?" Henry asks. Emma shoots daggers at me with her eyes. "Yea kid. Just a brain freeze. Ate too fast." Henry nods. "Yea i hate those." I use my thumb thats on the outer part of her thigh and draw small circles and i focus my attention on my sundae. Once i finish i push my bowl to the end of the table and lean against Emma. We are just waiting on Henry now since he got basically 2 sundaes in one.

Emma wraps her arm around my shoulders and kisses the side of my head. Out of the corner of my eye i see Ruby look down sadly. "Hey, im going to go pay the bill. Ill be right back." I tell them. I walk over to Ruby and look her in the eye. "Hey Rubes. Is everything okay? You seem really sad today." Ruby just sits on the stool and puts her head in her hands. "No. Nothing is ok Regina. I finally found someone im actually interested in. And shes smart and funny and the kindest person ive ever met. But shes with someone else. And i know he doesnt treat her right. Not that hes mean hes just manipulative. Plus i dont even know if she likes girls. Seeing you guys has just brought the loneliness to the surface today because you both seem so happy and comfortable with each other. You are the first openly gay couple in Storybrooke too. I just dont know how to tell her. I cant lose her friendship." I put my hand on her back and she looks up at me. "Its going to be ok. I can help you talk to her if you want. If im reading my memory correctly you are talking about Belle yea?" Ruby looks shocked at me. "H-how did you know that? Oh God, im not that obvious am i?" I smile a small smile. "You arent obvious. Ive just been a closeted lesbian for the last few decades. Since Daniel died. I know exactly how you feel. I was in the same boat with Emma. We were best friends and i assumed she was straight. I was afraid of ruining what we had and then some stuff happened and Henry accidentally told her i had feelings for her. She came to me and shes the one who asked me to be with her." Ruby smiles. "Wow. You are so lucky. Im so glad you and Emma finally get your happy ending. Id like it if maybe you help me talk to Belle. Or at least if you could see if shes at all interested in me in that way." I nod and go to walk to the till. "Of course Ruby. You just let me know when and where to meet you and ill be there. Nobody should have to be alone in this world. Its too hard as it is, even with someone who loves you." Ruby looks at me kind of weird. "Is everything ok with you Regina?" I clear my throat and look away from her. "Of course. Why wouldnt it be? Everything is going great." She gives me a kind but knowing look. "Ok Regina. Just know if you need to talk or anything, im here." She walks to the other side of the till. "That will be 12 dollars even." I hand her a 20. "Keep the change for yourself Rubes. And thanks for saying that by the way. Same goes for you. You know my number. Call me if you need anything." I walk back to my family who are already standing and gathering their things. "Lets go home. Im tired and i think im going to go to bed early tonight." Emma looks at me and runs her hand from my shoulder to my wrist, then holds my hand. "Everything ok babe?" I nod my head but find myself unable to meet her eyes because mine are tearing up. "Yea, yea im good. Lets just go."

A/N: please leave me a review so i know what i can do better. And if there's something you want to happen i can try to fit it into the story. Im trying to stay 3 chapters ahead in my writing before i post an update. So please be patient with me. This is my first published story.