So Does This Make Us Both The Other Woman?

7. Four O'Clock In The Morning (And The Sounds Of Whispers Downstairs)

She hears the low thumping of footsteps downstairs and slips out of bed, checking briefly on Henry and Roland to be sure that they're not the culprits before she spreads a hand and summons a fireball from it. "Show yourself!" she says sharply, stepping onto the ground floor and toward the living room.

She gets only a whining, "Too bright," in response, and flickering light fades from her palm as she catches sight of Emma, stretched out on her couch with an arm flung over her eyes and her head on a throw pillow.

It's three o'clock in the morning, she's never given Emma the keys to her house, and Robin is asleep upstairs, but all she can think to say is, "Are you all right?"

"No. I'm an idiot." Emma peers out from under her arm, and Regina flicks on one of the dim reading lamps and sits on the couch opposite her, tugging at her robe where it stops above her knees.

"If this revelation is keeping you up at night, I have to tell you–"

"I tried to end things with Hook."

The elation that soars through her is by no means unexpected and is certainly useless, but the dismay that follows it has her leaning forward, her fingers tangling with each other on her lap. "Tried?"

Emma doesn't shift, just groans and drops her hand to dangle on the floor. "I picked the lock here in...like, two minutes. You need a better security system. You know, if our son is sleeping in the house."

"Really." She lights another fireball in response, and Emma's eyes shift to the space between her thighs that it illuminates with vague interest. Regina flushes and extinguishes it. "Tried, Emma?"

"It took half the night for me to convince him that I was serious, okay?" Emma says exasperatedly. "He kept insisting that he was going to keep fighting for my heart and that he was going to win it someday even if he took a step back and I had to tell him that I didn't want him to try and win me over and I didn't want him at all." Her voice is agitated but her body barely moves, her chest rising and falling unevenly as she stares at the ceiling. "And so he said he was going to leave town. That it was too painful to be around me then."

She hates to empathize with the pirate, but she understands the sentiment all too well, even if it agitates Emma this much. She's far too attached to Emma herself. Losing their friendship alone would be enough to break her, though she can't imagine giving up and going away when she still has that to cling to.

"And that's a load of crap, right? He couldn't possibly love me so much that he'd just give up on every relationship he's formed here just because I dumped him? I mean, he has friends here! He has my dad and Tink and some of the Lost Boys and Henry idolizes him and I thought..." Her voice is small. "I thought we'd been friends before this. I care about him."

Ah. "So you accepted his ultimatum."

Emma frowns at her. "Don't call it that. It wasn't like he was manipulating me. I just...I'm not hinging everyone else's happiness– my happiness, even if it isn't what I– on trying to ruin..." Her voice wavers. "You're so happy, Regina. I want you to be happy." She smiles with only her eyes, shining out across the room, and Regina can't move in the presence of them. "I never thought we'd get here, but I want you to be happy."

It's three o'clock in the morning and she's searching for answers where she craves them instead of where Emma's actually offering them. "I don't understand," she says finally. "If you and the pirate have settled things, then shouldn't you be there now...minting your renewed relationship?" Her lips curl with distaste. It's the closest she's ever gotten to contemplating the two of them together, and she'd do just as well never doing so again. For Emma's safety, I hope he removes that damned hook beforehand.