A Whole New Beginning

Chapter 5

Regina left the hospital and went outside, trying to get as much distance between Emma and her as possible. Graham quickly followed behind. "Regina, are you alright?" He asked worriedly. The brunette ignored him and kept walking. She didn't know what to do. She had no idea how to help Emma now. The blonde hated her anyway, I guess she should be happy. She could finally go back to her normal life.

But what was her normal life? Spending days alone, no friends, no family. When Emma came around the mayor actually had a friend, someone to talk to. She looked forward to getting off for the day and cooking dinner for someone. Emma introduced her to Disney movies, and although Regina had thought they were absolutely corny and ridiculous, she loved watching them just to make fun and tease Emma playfully. "Regina!"

"What?" Regina snapped, turning around to face the sheriff. Graham looked at her sadly and grabbed a tissue from his pocket, handing it to her. Regina refused the offer and instead wiped her tears away with her hand. "I just can't go back there. She hates me. Besides, her boyfriend is in there now; he knows how to handle this better than me."

"Regina." Graham said gently. The mayor looked up at him. "You love her."

"That's ridiculous." Regina shook her head and began walking again. "No it's not. You kept up this charade to protect her heart, invited her to stay with you. Chased down a stranger to help her. When you're with her, or even when you talk about her, you light up. You should really see yourself when you're talking to her. It's like nothing else in the world matters."

Regina slowly nodded, looking down at the ground. "Maybe I do." Her voice cracked, and she felt a stream of tears flooding her face. "But I don't know how to fix this."

Graham gently put his hands on her shoulders. "Go to her. Stay with her. Even if she's upset, she'll be glad you're there." He said. "Thank you, Graham." Regina said. He smiled and walked away to his car.

The brunette went back inside to see Neal just leaving. "What's going on?" She stopped him in the waiting room. She noticed the man looked like he was ready to cry. "Emma uh, asked me to leave. She's just really upset. I think she's finally accepting what happened, but she's still hurt. I understand that. I'm gonna head back to Boston. Just please keep me updated, if you will."

Regina nodded and watched him go. "Poor guy. All he wanted was a family and now he lost them." The woman thought. Archie came over to greet her. "I just talked to Emma. She's willing to do a few sessions with me a week, so that's a start. She'll be able to go home tomorrow, and I've scheduled our first appointment for next week. She's asking for you."

Surprised, Regina thanked him and slowly walked back to Emma's room. She stood outside the door for a moment, trying to work up the courage to go in. "Just be her friend. That's what she needs right now." Regina told herself, pushing open the door. "Hey." She said to the blonde. "Hi." Emma said quietly, looking down at the bed. The mayor thought about asking if she was okay, but she quickly ruled that out as a dumb question.

So she pulled up a chair next to Emma's bed and waited for her to speak. "I asked Neal to go." The blonde finally spoke up. "He told me. He said he was going back to Boston." Regina said. Emma nodded, and the brunette noticed a few tears fall down her face. "I just- um- I couldn't be around him. It just brought up a lot of bad memories for me."

"That's understandable." Regina said carefully. "He told me about Henry. About what really happened. I guess in my heart I always knew that something was wrong, that I wasn't really seeing him. But this little boy- even though he wasn't real, he was to me. He was my son, he- "Emma cut off, breaking down in tears. Regina scooted closer and put her arms around the blonde.

"I shouldn't have pretended like he was real. I'm sorry, I really am. I just liked having you around. I was lonely I guess, and you coming into my life changed that. I guess I should have told you the truth." The mayor said. "I'm sorry too. I don't hate you, Regina. I was just upset. I wanted a family so bad, and I failed. I guess I'm just meant to be alone."

Regina looked down at Emma, feeling her heart break. "No you don't, Emma. No one deserves to be alone. And you won't be. You can live with me; we can work on this together. We can be a family, if that's what you want."

"Thank you." Emma's voice was barely a whisper, but Regina heard it. She hugged her closer and kissed her head gently. Things weren't okay right now, but they would be. This was a whole new beginning, and this time, they weren't alone. They had each other. And right now, that's all they really needed.

*I hope you enjoyed this story! Reviews and votes are greatly appreciated. Much love.*