A/N: And to end the night, here is chapter 8! :) I will keep this note short in saying a quick fun fact: The cave that will be mentioned in this story (in case you're all curious) does in fact exist. But the story behind it is more based on war than a romance, so I changed it to my creation. Just for fun. I hope you all like it. Happy reading, all! :) I promise you all more cute moments like what you're about to read before sh*t hits the fan.

Don't forget to drop a review!

Chapter 8: Date or No Date?

Before both of them knew, Emma and Regina were on their second cup as they sat along one of the round tables within the patio area of Moe's Coffee House. It was quaint, private, and Emma had been right. This was the best cup of coffee Regina would ever taste in her life. Emma laughed when Regina assured her that she would no longer buy coffee anywhere else that wasn't here.

By their second cups of coffee, they had engraved each other in a game of This or That, that would after end in long conversations that would help them get to know one another.

"Okay, movies," Said Regina. "Movie theaters or drive-ins?" She took a sip of her coffee. Her eyes never leaving Emma's from across the table.

Emma's long index finger tapped her chin as she took a second to think this over. "Drive-ins. Definitely drive-ins."

Regina grinned, "Why? You get a nice dark room in a movie theater."

"Yes, that's true," Emma nods. "But no room that becomes too cold after a while of sitting in it beats the comfort of sitting in your own car at a drive-in. And, it can just be you and whoever you want sitting beside you. No other people to bother, or bother you, or kick your seat."

"But a cold movie theater gives you the advantage to cling to whoever you're with."

"I don't need a movie theater to do that." Said Emma, bringing her cup of coffee up to her lips to hide her smile.

Regina can feel her cheeks warm that she quickly turns away, hoping the brush of wind that blows her way will cool the skin along her cheeks. "Good point. Is there a drive-in anywhere here?" She asked, hoping to be past her blush.

Emma shakes her head, "There was but they tore it down last year. It was great. I miss it."

"You must have taken a lot of girls there," Regina murmured, dropping her gaze to the black liquid sitting in her cup. Too embarrassed to look up at Emma. It was hard not to think of Emma without a girlfriend.

"Just one." Answered Emma with honesty in her voice.

Just one? Regina wondered who it could be but she didn't dare ask. "Oh," was all she could say. There was a tiny smile playing on Emma's lips that was quizzical. Regina was too afraid to even know the answer behind it.

Did she have a girlfriend after all? The question was at the tip of Regina's tongue that even the hot temperature of her coffee couldn't seem to burn off. But, then again, if Emma was in fact, seeing someone, there's no way she would be sitting outside this coffee shop with her. Was there? Emma didn't seem like the type to play games. And neither was Regina. She had never been in love before, so really she didn't have anything to compare this feeling that was blooming for Emma to compare it with, but if she ever wanted something more with Emma- if there was even the slightest chance- it would be steered right.

As for Emma, she couldn't bear leaving Regina with the wonder of who accompanied her to the drive-in time and time again. "It was Ruby." She informed her.

Regina's eyes suddenly looked up at the mention of a name. "Ruby…" she murmured. "Who is that, exactly? Is it your girlfriend?" She held her breath for the answer she dreaded hearing.

Emma took a slow sip of her coffee, just for tortuous fun that she could see was working as Regina shifted in her seat before her. "Well, she's a girl… and my friend. Yes."

Really? Regina's brow lifted then, having had enough of this game.

A grin spread along Emma's lips, she caught a napkin that was tossed her way, across the table from Regina.

"Very cute, Ms. Swan," said Regina.

"Hey, what happened to Emma?" Emma laughed.

"Oh, I'm afraid you'll have to charm your way again if you want me to call you Emma." Regina teased.

This time it was Emma's brow that lifted. Her head cocked to the side, "Is that a challenge, Ms. Mills?"

Regina leaned along the table, sporting a pearly white grin of perfect teeth. "It is indeed, Ms. Swan. What are you gonna do about that?"

Emma leaned in next, her eyes locking onto Regina's, voice low as she said, "That depends… are you busy for the next three hours?"

For a moment, Regina forgot how to breathe. So much that she felt her throat dry up that she had to force herself to clear it. But before she could answer, her phone rang, making her sigh as she sat back to reach for her purse which hung on the back of her chair. "I'm sorry," she shook her head as she reached for her phone, immediately seeing Robin's name pop up on the screen.

Emma watched how her body tensed, and her eyes slightly rolled to the back of her head. "What's the matter? Do you have to get that?" She asked.

"No," Regina's thumb swiped on the end call button, clicking off her screen. "It's nothing. It's not important."

"Are you sure?" Emma's brows bunched together.

"Yes. I'm sure." Regina smiled. "Don't try to drift off your offer of being with you for the next three hours."

Emma smiled, her brows instantly relaxing. "So, that's a yes?"

"Depends what it is. I mean, how do I know you aren't planning to kidnap me and hold me for ransom?" Regina's brow lifts.

"Am I that easy to read?" Emma teases, smirking now.

Regina could get lost in that smirk of hers. And she very well wanted to. "Okay…" she leaned in again, seeing Emma's body movement react to hers like a magnet. "Before I agree to go anywhere with you…"

"Mhm," Emma nods intriguingly.

"Keep in mind I'm trusting you here." Regina gives her a pointed look.

"Mhm." Emma grins.

"I need to know one thing…" Regina holds up a single digit. She braces herself. "Where exactly are we going?"

"To know the answer, I'm afraid you'll have to trust me and come with me."

Regina is startled by her ringing phone once more, and is annoyed to find that Robin was calling again. Only, this time to put a remedy to that situation, she decided to turn off her phone and stuff deep within her purse where she didn't have to worry about it for the next three hours. "Sorry, you were saying?"

"Are you sure you don't need to go?" Emma asked, feeling the tension radiate off of Regina's body once more.

"I don't need to go-" Regina assures her through a stifled laugh.

"Because it's okay if you do-"

"Emma." Hearing her name from Regina's lips stopped Emma's banter. "You keep insisting and I'm going to feel like you're bored of me."

Emma smiles this time. "If I was bored of you, Gina, you'd know about it."

"Gina?" Regina's head tilts. "Did you just come up with that?"

"Yeah. I guess I did." Instantly, a blush coats Emma's cheeks. "I don't know, I just… I feel very… comfortable with you."

"Me, too." Regina smiles.

"Is… that… okay? Calling you, Gina, I mean." Emma asks.

It was more than okay. But Regina wouldn't say it that way out loud. So, she settles with, "It hasn't bothered me yet." Another smile shared, and putting Robin nowhere near the back of her mind, she finally asks, "Now, what did you have in mind for the next three hours?"

"First thing's first," Emma stood, walked over to where Regina sat and extended her hand. "Do you trust me?"

"Now, I'm a little scared to say yes, but yes." Regina couldn't help but laugh as did Emma. Her eyes connect with Emma's as she reaches to take her hand.

And as they come in contact, Emma squeezes it a little, feeling an electric current run up her spine. And she wonders if Regina felt it, too. Regina did feel it. She felt it so badly that she followed Emma without any further questions. They climbed back into her car and she drove wherever Emma instructed her to go, turning at every turn, stopping wherever she had to stop.

Regina didn't stop until Emma told her to pull over near a wooded area. Somewhere where she had never been before. "Alright, shut off your engine." Said Emma.

"Why?" Regina's brow slightly lifts.

"Because we're here." Emma smiled, pushing the passenger door open. Regina watched her as she made her way around the car and pulled open the driver's side door for her, holding out her hand to her once again. "Where are we, Emma?" She asked, not taking her hand just yet.

"You'll see very soon." Emma promised, keeping her hand extended. "Come on, you said you trusted me, right?"

"I'm starting to have my doubts." Said Regina without a trace of humor in her voice, which she didn't know why Emma laughed at that. "Emma, this is how people get murdered."

"Which I have no intention of doing. You're safe with me, Gina." Emma drew an X over her heart. "Cross my heart. Come on." She extends her hand again. This time, her smile widens as she feels Regina's warm hand in hers again.

Regina reluctantly follows her along a trail, leaving her car behind. But not before muttering a 'you better be,' right under her breath. She would be lying if she said her heart wasn't beating against her throat right now. She didn't know where Emma was taking her or if she would even come out alive. Not that she thought Emma could intentionally hurt her, but there was always a possibility for the worst. Wasn't there?

They walked further into a wooded area. Regina could hear a water stream nearby, but she wasn't sure. The air picked up a chill out here that was unexplained. Either that or it was her nerves of her body never being found. But against that fear, Regina followed Emma, and she realized just how familiar she was with this area that until today Regina had no idea even existed.

"You seem to know your way around well for someone that claims to not be a serial killer." She had to speak up.

A light laugh escaped Emma's throat as she continued to guide Regina through, "I can guide you with my eyes closed. I've been here way more times than I can count."

Regina's eyes grew wide. "God, this is where you're going to show me all of the dead bodies you've collected throughout the years before you kill me, isn't it?"

A burst of laughter escaped Emma now. She could still be joking, but Emma didn't say otherwise. Any sensible person would have told her: would you relax? Or: I told you, I'm not a murderer. But then again, that's exactly what a murderer says. Instead, Emma went with, "Watch your step here, it's always muddy. Don't want you to slip." Her hand held tighter to hers as she said this, securing her just-in-case-fall. And to be fair, serial killers tend to be very charming and have very magnetic personalities. Just like Emma. But as soon as Regina was about to protest from going any further, she saw what looked like a tiny cave.

"We're going in there?" Regina finally said, bringing her inner voice to life. Her eyes stared at Emma widely.

"Yeah." Said Emma.

"Why?" Brown eyes narrowed as Regina took a step back. Both feet ready to run if they had to.

"Well, this is where I bring all of my victims." Emma's eyes turned hooded for just a small second until they were bright again as she laughed. "It's just a joke, Gina. To relax you."

Regina scoffed, unable to find the humor in this anymore. "So far it's not helping." She admitted.

It was then that Emma stood closer to Regina, her eyes piercing right through hers that it made it impossible for either of them to look away. She finally looked down once she felt Emma take her by the hand, bringing her wrist upward and drawing the infinity symbol along her skin, like an eight. And somehow, without a way to explain it, that simple and small action, performed with a single finger, calmed her.

"What was that?" Regina whispered, unable to feel the air in her lungs anymore.

Instead of giving a direct answer, Emma took careful possession of Regina's other hand, gently folding all of her fingers. All but the index finger, which she traced its tip along her own wrist and skin, drawing out the same symbol as before. After she drew it, Emma's hand slid along Regina's wrist, grabbing hold of her forearm. Regina's own hand and fingers unknowingly performed the same action, unable to take her eyes off of every movement their hands made together. Their wrists, which had been marked with the invisible drawing, softly touched.

Once Regina's eyes locked onto Emma's again, that's when Emma whispered, "Now we're one."

Regina struggled to find her voice, but managed to finally ask, "What do you mean by that?"

"That from here on out… whatever hurts you, hurts me. Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy. And whatever scares you, scares me. That's how much you can trust me. Because I trust you equally. I'll always trust you." Emma said softly, feeling her heart flutter inside of her chest.

Whatever fear Regina remembered feeling was long neglected. She just recalls feeling her heart was about ready to burst. "How can you be so sure you can trust me, Emma?" She whispered, her eyes locked onto Emma's. "You hardly know me. I hardly know you."

A smile lifted along the corner of Emma's lip. "Because I'm not judging your cover before reading the pages you've allowed me to see. I see you, Gina, about as well as I know you see me. And I'd like to know more. If you let me."

As Regina followed Emma into the cave, Regina wondered if she knew how charming she could be. I mean, really… how could someone know so much? How could someone see her as well as Emma does? That just wasn't normal. It couldn't be.

"What is this place?" Asked Regina. The cave wasn't surprisingly as dark as she expected it to be as she looked around.

"This is King Phillip's Cave." Emma explained. "It's been around for centuries before you and I were even born, I'm sure. The legend was that King Phillip fell in love with a forbidden woman. Someone he wasn't supposed to love. Someone beneath him. And he brought her here to confess his love to her, and as he did, he swore that he would love her forever and that no matter what happened as he went off to war- he promised her to make it. And wait right here for her so that they could finally run away."

"And did he? Was he here?" Regina asked, feeling her eyes string with tears she did not want Emma to see.

Emma gave a single nod. "Yeah, he was."

"But she wasn't." Regina could pick up the answer in the tone of Emma's voice.

Emma shook her head.

"Why? What happened?"

"I'm not really sure," Emma sighs as she looks around the cave. "Some say she died while he was at war. She couldn't bear the thought of him gone for so long that she died of a broken heart. Others say that she married another. But she was never truly happy. She couldn't love him because her heart already belonged to Phillip."

Regina wiped away a single tear with the back of her hand. "That's very sad."

"It is."

"It's difficult to think… that either way her life went, she never truly got a happy ending. She was never to be with the man she truly loved, ever again." Regina's heart broke. She couldn't imagine being away from the one, one loved. "I think I prefer her dying in her sleep. Is that wrong?"

Emma shook her head, "No. I like that ending, too. Because at least, wherever they are now… they're together."

Regina's eyes traveled to watch the thin lines of Emma's lips. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to kiss them for a moment. She had never dreamed of kissing anyone before, but Emma was different.

Was this love? Only time would tell.

After being back, Regina insisted on dropping Emma home, but Emma insisted on seeing that Regina got home alright, and walking her way back. The house came into view very quickly. It was a massive two story mansion with a gate all around the front. Some of the lights were on, which gave it a homey feel.

"I know it's too big," said Regina, watching how mesmerized Emma had become at the sight of the house. "My dad likes to live comfortably."

"That is exactly the kind of thing a rich person would say." Emma grinned, hearing a laugh escape Regina. "It's nice, though. Sadly I could never afford a place such as this one, not even in my wildest dreams, but… I like it."

Regina smiled. She found it impossible to look away from Emma's eyes again, especially as the sun was beginning to set. "Thank you for today. It was exactly what I needed."

"Thank you for coming along. And your company."

"Anytime." Said Regina. "Emma. Why did you show me that cave?"

Emma didn't hesitate. "Because it's one of my favorite places in the whole world. And one of the very few that only I knew about." She shrugged, "I guess I just wanted you to know that part of me."

"Well, I certainly loved every minute of it. Especially after clarifying that you won't plan to murder me." Both shared an equal laugh that was theirs to share. After a while, they both stepped out of the car, the ignition still on as Regina stood by, facing Emma head-on.

"Do you really not want a ride to your apartment? I don't mind." Regina offered.

"No, I'll walk. You go inside, though. I don't want your family to worry." Said Emma.

"Oh, that reminds me," Regina bent over in her car, standing up while holding out Emma's copy of Frankenstein in her hands. "You wouldn't want to forget your book again."

Emma accepted the book, opening up the cover to reveal her phone number and name written in her handwriting. Closing it back up, she handed it back to Regina. "You keep it. In case you lose my number."

"Does that mean I'll see you again soon?" Regina asked, wanting desperately for the answer to be yes.

Emma's smile said it all. "Try and stop me. I know where you live now. I just may surprise you."

Regina's smile grew. The urge to kiss Emma lingered there, but she fought it. "Until next time, then." However, Regina didn't fight against reaching out to hold Emma's hand, placing it wrist up and tracing her index finger along the skin, drawing out the same infinity symbol. "Good night, Emma."

Emma's heart fluttered again and this time she was sure it would leap out of her chest to the feel of Regina's touch. She reached out for Regina's other hand, placing it wrist up, and tracing her finger along its skin. "Good night, Regina." Her eyes met with Regina's just as their hands joined along their forearms until their wrists touched.

Regina watched Emma turn to walk away as she stood by her car. "Emma," she called out, seeing her automatically turn to the sound of her voice. "Girlfriend or no girlfriend?"

A chuckle escaped Emma, "No. I don't have a girlfriend. Yet."

Regina braced herself for the next question that rested along the tip of her tongue. "Date or no date?"

Green eyes locked onto Regina's. Emma's breath drew in before she said, "Most definitely a date."

Another grin split Regina's lips, so much that her cheeks hurt that night. She waved, mounted her car and drove the rest of the driveway that led toward the house.