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Lithe fingers softly tapped the outside of Emma’s jean clad thigh twice before resting gently against the fabric, bringing her attention to the hand, then the eyes of the owner. Dark pools blinked slowly down at her before the hand raised from her leg to offer the blonde a hand up.
“Walk outside with me, Emma.”
Emma sighed deeply, taking the hand that was offered to help, but using the arm rest to push her weight up before dropping the helping hand of her best friend as she stood. They exited the noisy room to stand on the back porch connected to Regina’s house. Regina followed closely behind, pulling her blazer tighter around her body to fight off the slight breeze that Maine has brought them tonight. No matter the weather, she could see from a mile away that Emma had needed to take a breather from the crowded room bustling with happy, smiling people.
Emma’s hands reached for the bannister, extending her arms fully and leaning her head between her elbows to stretch her lower back. The brunette turned to lean her back against the same bannister, allowing Emma to breathe deeply a few times. A farewell party had been Emma’s idea, and after seeing Henry’s excitement, she was incapable of saying no. Her arms crossed her chest to fight the cold as she stood there, staring down at Emma’s emotionless face.
“I don’t quite understand what is happening in your head, but I will remind you that it was your idea to invite these people into my home, and you’ve simply sat there in silence for nearly the entire night.”
The brunette was not angry, honestly, she was concerned. Something was weighing on Emma’s mind. They had grown so close over the years, even before the failed marriage - but especially after when Robin and Hook were both out of the picture. After a year or so, with no attempts from the blonde to be more than friends, Regina had pushed every bit of her love for Emma into being a determined friend. Regardless of her feelings, she knows Emma, and this silence worries Regina.
“That’s not true,” Emma mumbled.
Regina rolled her eyes before reaching over to grasp Emma’s beautiful face, pulling her chin up to force eye contact. A perfectly arched eyebrow raised in question.
“I... I was talking earlier when everyone got here,” Emma kept her eyes on Regina before taking a deep breath and staring out into the yard.
She moved her hand from Emma’s face to the hand resting closest to her. She knew she shouldn’t keep touching her, but she couldn’t bring herself to end the contact between them.
“You were, and then you stopped. You’ve been in the corner staring a hole through Henry.”
Emma licked her lips, “He wasn’t supposed to grow up. I’m not ready to let go of him, Regina.”
Regina immediately brought her hand back up to cup Emma’s cheek as her right hand moved the arm closest to her from the bannister to step in front of Emma. She tried not to think of the position she had forced herself into as Emma stood taller, and locked her hand against the rail again; effectively pinning Regina between the warm body of her friend, and the cool bannister of the porch. She shook her head and focused on the task at hand. Her fingers stroked Emma’s skin gently as she thought of the right words.
“We have raised him to be an amazing person, Emma. I am just as saddened by his choice to leave, but we have to trust that we have prepared him to be successful, and independent.”
Her fingers gently pushed hair behind Emma’s ear as sad blue eyes looked up into Regina’s. Emma couldn’t deny the way she felt, the softest fingers caressing her face and comforting her when she needed it the most. She should have married Regina instead of hook, she knew that, but now they were here. She had to try.
“What does this mean for us?”
Regina’s brows furrowed as she smiled softly and raised her other hand to fully hold Emma’s face between her hands, “Miss Swan, if you’re implying that we will no longer be friends, I can quell those worries. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Henry doesn’t have to be here for me to want you around.”
Emma’s eyes bounced to the ground, “I’ve just... I’ve gotten used to seeing you so often, and I know that with Henry gone, we’re going to be apart more.”
Regina tilts her head and raises Emma’s Head again, reestablishing eye contact, “that isn’t necessarily true, Emma.” Regina smiles, “You’re always welcome here.”
Emma licks her lips at the soft smile gracing Regina’s lips, “I don’t want to lose you both, not again. I almost did, Regina. I almost lost you both.”
Emma’s breathing has sped up as she remembers all the time she had spent trying to appease everyone else, without Henry, and without Regina. Making herself miserable and doing what she thought was right for everyone else.
“Emma,” Regina leaned in to wrap her arms around the blondes waist, but felt muscles tense as her fingers grazed the exposed skin of Emma’s lower back. She pulled away quickly, afraid that she had made her friend uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, dear. I didn’t mean-“
Bare arms wrapped around her tightly, barely allowing her access to her own arms to return the strong hug. Two women standing in the cold fall air, clinging desperately to each other as though they were the only people left in the world. Emma’s nose brushed the side of Regina’s neck, and she couldn’t stop herself from moving her lips softly over the same spot. Regina’s body snapped rigid, before relaxing when Emma’s lips continued to move gently against her skin.
“I should have done this years ago,” Emma whispered, as Regina’s arms tightened around her body. Her head leaned back to catch Regina’s eyes as she brought a hand up to weave through brunette waves, their eyes caught for a second before Regina noticed the question hanging in the air, “May I?”
A soft nod gave Emma the affirmation she needed, and she brought her lips down to press against Regina’s. Their lips moved gently together, their bodies locked in place around the other.
It only took a few light kisses before Emma felt sharp teeth nip at her bottom lip, and her tongue slid out to brush against Regina’s lips. Emma brought a hand down to regina’s jaw as she opened her mouth and moaned as she felt Regina’s tongue brush against her own. Whimpers came more frequently as the kiss intensified. Their lips were swollen from the force of the kissing, their tongues moving faster in competition to bring the other to moan louder. Emma pressed Regina further into the bannister, kissing her harder as her hand slid down to grip the lapel on Regina’s blazer. A strong hand pressed at her back to keep her steady as Emma moved a leg between strong thighs and felt Regina grind into it.
They didn’t realize the back door swinging open, but Henry’s voice sounded and Emma sprung back as though she had been burned.
“You couldn’t wait until I left to start macking on my mom?”
Regina cleared her throat, “Henry,” she smoothed her hair, trying to erase Emma’s finger tracks, “we..”
“I was talking about her,” he pointed to Emma with a shit eating grin spread across his lips, “I knew you were coming over for more than dinner.”
Emma’s eyes widened and she ran her hands down the front of her jeans as her mouth opened and closed while she fought to come up with anything to say. Soft fingers pressed against her jaw and closed her mouth.
“Don’t worry, dear. He’s grown, remember?” Regina quirked an eyebrow as she looked back to Henry, “If you must know, this hasn’t happened before now, Henry.”
Henry’s brows furrowed, “But... what about the mines, and Neverland, and the trip to New York alone? You’re telling me you’ve both been crazy about each other, and all of this time you’ve both been so chicken shit that you hadn’t even spoken about it?”
Regina stared at her feet, shuffling them slowly as she switched her weight from one leg to the other and leaned back against the bannister. Emma’s hands wrung together as she smiled shyly at Henry, “It hasn’t always been that simple, kid. You know that.”
Henry folded his arms, looking more like Regina than he ever had. His eyebrow arched, head tilted, “You aren’t referring to the Evil Queen, or Hook and Robin, or Neal, or even me, are you?”
“Henry-“ without even getting a chance, Emma cut Regina off, stepping in front of her and addressing Henry.
“If you must know, yeah... a lot of things had a lot to do with why I haven’t been honest about how I feel, but no, it wasn’t those things. It was about who we were, and letting your mother make her own choices. I wasn’t going to force her to make a choice that she might regret. If she loves me the way I love her, I knew we would get here eventually.”
She knew she was rambling, and if she had eyes in the back of her head, she could have seen Regina’s eyes filling with tears. Instead, all she could see was her sons face, reflecting the shock she felt inside for spilling her guts.
“And you know what else? We’ve been friends through a lot, and I think that’s important, you know? We take care of each other, and we keep each other happy, and if she liked kissing me half as much as I enjoyed it, then yeah... Maybe she’s going to choose me, and I’m going to Mack on your mom whenever I want to. You got a problem with it?”
Henry chuckled, as Regina placed a hand on Emma’s shoulder, squeezing gently to help release the tension, “I think you’ve made your point, dear.”
Emma deflated a bit, turning to meet Regina’s eyes, and losing her confidence at the silence. She rested her back against the bannister and watched as Regina walked up to Henry, tiptoeing to place a kiss on his forehead, “Please step inside, I need to speak to your mother. Alone.”
Emma nodded softly, dropping her head into her hands as she heard the door shut. She rubbed her face, her hands falling to slap against her thighs, “You dont-“
“Shut up, Miss Swan,” Emma looked up to see Regina stepping up to her, placing her legs on either side of Emma’s, she slid her hands around emma’s neck. Her fingers slid through the soft curls and gently pulled to tilt Emma’s face up toward her own. Blue eyes slammed shut as Regina’s lips pressed softly to her own, gently sliding together until Regina deepened the kiss. Their tongues moved softly, sucking and teasing while Emma brought her hands up to wrap around Regina’s waist. Her hands moved lower to tease the skin under Regina’s blazer, hands resting softly at her lower back.
Regina broke the kiss, resting their foreheads together as she refused to move from the embrace.
“Emma, look at me.”
Emma’s eyes fluttered open, and met regina’s stare. One of Regina’s hands moved to cup her cheek, “I love you too. I think I always have.”