Miles To Go

Chapter Nine

Emma didn't make the same mistake again. For the next two days, she delivered more letters to Regina's house, dropping them in the mailbox when she wasn't home. She didn't care if every single one was ripped up because every single one she dropped in that mailbox made her heart feel just a little lighter, like she was letting go of whatever grip Regina still had on her after all these years.

Ruby had been the one that encouraged her to keep delivering the letters after her first failed attempt in trying to get through to Regina. And so she had, every day for the next full week, she delivered all but one, the one she was saving for last was the one she'd written on her third night in Storybrooke.

She hadn't seen Regina since that day a week ago when she showed up at her door to hand deliver the first letter personally to her. She hadn't seen her around town, at the Diner, any of the stores, and that alone didn't surprise her, yet it didn't stop her from spending time in Storybrooke with Henry and Ruby, all three of them falling in love with the quaint little town and its residents almost instantly.

Every morning, after Emma had waited until she saw Regina leave her house and delivered a letter, she'd join Ruby and Henry for breakfast at the Diner before they either spent the day down at the beach or exploring the woods around the cottage. It wasn't like there was anything else to really do in the town, but the three of them had found ways to pass the time and sharing more than a few laughs and memories along the way.

Emma pulled up in front of the Diner, parking in her usual spot. Her hands were shaking slightly, the last letter meant to be delivered at some point that day. She had it safely tucked in the back pocket of the same jeans she wore the day she showed up at Regina's house the first time. Ruby's car, she had seen parked down the street a little ways and she knew that they were waiting for her in the Diner to have breakfast.

It was twenty to nine and when Emma pulled up in front of 108 Mifflin Street, she knew Regina was still home. Her car was still parked in the driveway. It was the first time she showed up while she was still home since that day last week when she had to stand there and watch Regina rip up that first letter and slam the door in her face. Could she really put herself through that again? Emma wasn't sure she could.

And so she sat there for the next twenty minutes with the windows down, the car idling as she kept her foot on the break, her hands itching to slide it into park instead of feeling like she could flee at any given moment. As soon as she heard the sound of high heels against pavement, clacking rhythmically as Regina walked out to her car, her heart started to race wildly and her eyes were trained on the review mirror, watching as Regina backed the black Mercedes out of the driveway.

Emma held her breath, knowing she'd missed her chance to give Regina that last letter, at least the one chance she had that day. She gripped on to the steering wheel tightly, watching as Regina drove past her and made a left turn at the end of the street.

She sighed as she thought back to what had happened nearly ten minutes before and yet, Emma sat in her car, her hands gripping at the wheel as she stared at the street ahead. Regina had literally seemed to fall off the face of the earth in the past week, or at least from Storybrooke and Emma feared that maybe she had left just so she wouldn't have to see her again. Catching her leaving for work earlier had proven that she was still very much in Storybrooke, just avoiding being seen while Emma was anywhere in town. With a shake of her head, she got out of the car and headed inside the Diner and she spotted Ruby and Henry sitting in what had become their usual booth, both of them talking and laughing quietly while they waited for her to join them.

"Hey, Em," Ruby smiled, one that faltered as soon as Emma sat down in the booth next to Henry. "You didn't...?"

"No," she replied with a shake of her head. "I sat outside her house for twenty minutes then I drove here."