Emma couldn't sleep. It had been days, and she hadn't heard a single word from Regina. She kept replaying that moment in the kitchen over and over like a re-run of her favorite show. Maybe she should take the hint. She sighed and turned over.

Emma squinted hard as a blinding light erupted from her phone like the messiah himself and made an awful sound as it vibrated against the wood of her nightstand. She let it ring a few times before slinging an arm out from her sheets to squint painfully at the glowing device. She fumbled with it as she brought it abruptly to her cheek.

"Henry?"

"EMMA!"

"Is everything okay?" she glanced at the phone's clock before bringing it back to her ear, "it's three am."

"Mom is…she's…I don't know what to do."

"What happened?" Emma jolted up and started groping her way through her little bedroom.

"She's having these really bad nightmares and—and I think she might use magic or do that thing again. I don't know what to do," he tripped over some of his words in his rush.

"I'll be right there!" Emma felt a panic bloom within her chest as if it had been amped with dynamite.

"Please hurry!"

"Henry, listen to me, I need you to stay away from her. She might not recognize you or really know what she's doing. Hide if you have to, just don't go near her. I'm on my way!" Emma ripped through her apartment in a half dressed frenzy, grabbing the tank from the floor and some loose jeans.

A yellow car door slam later and she punched it to the floor as she zoomed over to Mifflin Street. Six minutes. It took six minutes to speed through Storybrooke to reach the Mills mansion. Emma arrives at the door in a rush and Henry is already opening it as she reaches the porch.

"Are you okay?" is the first thing she asks and hold him at arm's length to give him the once over.

"Okaymaybeshesnothavinganightmarebutitsjustasbadidkwhattodo,"Henry said nervously, shifting from foot to foot.

"Wait, what? Slow down. What's happening?"

"Nothing?" he said with a lilt but continued on before Emma could interrupt. " Mom's fine. Well, she's not fine, but she's not having a nightmare or anything with the magic."

"Oh," Emma said, more relieved than anything. "Then why am I here at three in the morning?"

"I didn't know what to do," Henry confessed and stared at his feet. "She's been like this for the past few days. It just seems really bad tonight."

"Bad, how?"

"Crying. Off and on."

"Oh."

"I…I don't want her to be sad anymore."

Emma was suddenly unsure of how to proceed. She bent a little to be on his same level. "Oh Henry, I don't know if it's my place to—"she grasped for the right explanation. "I don't think I'm the one she would want to see right now," Emma managed to finish.

He looked up from wriggling his socked feet. "But you always make her better. We all saw you."

The blonde reared back her head. "Huh?"

"At the diner," Henry said. "We all saw you make her feel better. Granny was about to go out there with her bow but then we saw you hugging her. Marian said you stopped Mom the first time too, and she wouldn't stop humming when I came home from Grace's that day you were over either."

Emma took the surge of information in. The blonde might've been mistaken for a fish the way she gaped and tried to speak but words evaded her.

Just then both of their ears pricked up at the sound of a door opening. They listened briefly before it closed again. Henry quirked his mouth and looked at Emma. "She's looking for tissues. The extra box was in the closet in the hall. I was going to take them to her, but…" he looked at his hands and lifted one shoulder. "They're in my room," he said pointedly and looked up at his other mother. "Maybe you should take them to her?"

"You should try some subtlety, kid," Emma breathed out heavily. She eyed the darkened stairs and top floor from where she was. Henry inched over to the foot of the stairs and looked to see if she was going to follow him. Emma tailed her son up the steps, her boots making heavy impressions into the wood beneath.

"Here," Henry pushed out an unopened box of tissues almost shyly from the slit of his opened door. A muffled sniff was heard from where they were standing and Emma glanced over her shoulder towards the sound. When she took the square box from his hand, Henry met her green eyes briefly and then gently shut his door.

Emma made her way down the dark hallway two doors over. She bit her bottom lip and sucked in a sharp breath when she heard a slight whimper through the door. She hesitated outside of the closed door in front of her, her weight shifting from foot to foot before, wondering what to say. It's not really my place but here goes nothing, she thought as her hand graced the silver door handle and she opened it quietly.

At the sound of the door opening, Regina cut off her sniffling and tried to quietly compose herself. She was bundled under the sheets in her massive bed on the far side nearest the window. Emma cautiously approached the edge of the bed.

"Henry, this isn't a good time, honey," Regina managed to say without her voice hitching. Emma set the box of tissues on the nightstand and sat down on the side of the bed.

"Henry—"

"It's me," Emma softly interrupted her.

Regina stiffened, recognizing the blonde's voice instantly. "Leave," she murmured without affect.

"Henry called me. He was really worried about you." The glow of the lamp on the bedside table was casting shadows over what she could see of Regina's face. Emma paused before tendering the question of 'what's wrong'. She knew the brunette better than that.

When Emma tentatively moved from hanging off the edge of the bed to pulling her feet up to stretch out, the brunette allowed her company. When she cautiously scooted over to close the gap between them, Regina didn't protest it either. The brunette was lying on her side with her back to the blonde.

"Hey," Emma said quietly and set her hand on her side. Regina sniffed in reply. Emma didn't push, and let her get used to her presence.

"They left the other day," Regina said after a while of companionable silence.

"Who left where?" Emma furrowed her brow.

There was another bout of silence before Regina wiped at her eye with a bent finger and turned in her place to face the blonde. "Robin…with Roland and…"

"Oh." She'd heard from Ruby that the Hoods had struck up a deal with Mr. Gold to get back to the Enchanted Forest. Who knew what the deal was but they had left on Tuesday. Emma felt a stitch of guilt in her side when she realized she hadn't thought about how Regina would feel about the Hoods leaving. She had only thought, good riddance, and had gone about her day.

"He didn't even say good-bye," Regina said sadly. "I think I'm more upset I'll never get to see little Roland again. He reminded me so much of Henry when he was that age."

Emma nodded her understanding, but she was trying not to become too distracted by the make-up free, and slightly mussed brunette glowing softly from the lamp light. "I never liked him, if it makes you feel any better—Robin," Emma clarified, a light grin pulled at a single side of her mouth.

"Yes, you made that clear when we…."

"Separated? Broke up? When you left me for him?" Emma supplied. "You can say it. It's not going to make me leave right now."

Regina sighed. "Why do you have to say it like that? That's not what happened and you know it. I just thought for once, maybe I could get my happy ending."

Emma lowered her eyes. "Were you not happy with me?"

Regina didn't answer right away. "No, it's not that I was unhappy… I just never fully believed that—"

"It could be with me?" Emma said dejectedly.

Regina's dark eyes met the shadowed blonde's. "I didn't say that." Regina sniffed again.

"Here," Emma rolled over to fetch the box of tissues she had set on the nightstand. She quickly popped off the serrated top and pulled one out to hand to the brunette.

"Thank you." She dabbed at her eyes and blew her nose. Regina gazed at Emma and hesitated to confess, "I got so caught up in thinking Robin and I were meant to be together, I couldn't bear not trying to make it work. Magic like that isn't supposed to fail." She shook her head, "I was furious at you for meddling when things were going so well, but I can't begin to explain how foolish I still feel, running off like that because some magical dust said it could guarantee my happiness. I lost track of what was right in front of me and everything I had with you. I was happy with you, I was, but never knowing what could have happened with Robin would have eaten me alive inside. I suppose I thought it likely you were merely a stepping stone to finding my happy ending."

"Maybe that's how you need to find your happiness?" Emma tried. "Step by step instead of all at once?"

Regina thoughtfully considered that suggestion. "Perhaps."

They fell into another easy silence. Emma opened up her arms a bit wider and raised her eyebrows at the brunette. Regina stared at Emma until the blonde grinned. "Fine, don't cuddle with me," she playfully took offense and lay back with her arms up clasped behind her head.

It wasn't long until somehow, by some sort of unexplainable force, Regina had inched closer and closer to Emma until she was pressed against the length of her body, fitting perfectly into her side. A smile threatened to tip the corners of Regina's lips when Emma's arm came down around her. Regina sniffled once more.

"Hey now, you're too beautiful to be this sad," Emma murmured. "There must be something that makes you feel better when you're down."

"I don't know, I've never been very good at being happy," Regina intoned. "What makes you feel better when you're upset?"

"You." The words were out before Emma could reel them back in in. "I mean—you. Talking to you. Seeing you. Being with you. Just…you." Emma bit her lip at her own honesty. She could feel her heart take a steep incline in pace at the impromptu confession.

Regina fingers traced Emma's collarbone. "Me too," she whispered. Emma couldn't stop her beaming expression. "Emma, I think it's been you all along. Every time I feel myself slipping, when I start feeling hopeless and destructive and hateful, you are the only one who can bring me back so easily. You make me feel so safe and cared for."

Emma cleared her throat. "Listen, I know it's never the right time to ask things like this..." she soldiered on, "but can we try this again? Us?" Emma's heart was thudding so hard against her chest she was surprised the brunette couldn't hear it. The silence was deafening.

"I'd like that," Regina finally said with a small smile, and Emma felt like she could fly. Regina reached up to poke the blonde's cheek and she chuckled lightly when she looked at her finger.

"Hm?" Emma hummed.

"You still have glitter on you."

"Figures," Emma groused. "You're welcome to try and wash it all off me, lord knows I tried."

"Maybe in the morning—I'm exhausted."

"I can wait."

Regina felt the blonde grin against the top of her head. She hummed with content and buried her face in Emma's neck as the hold around her tightened and they eventually gave in to sleep.

THE END.

A/N: So this is as much as i had written by the time the submit for the SQBB came around. I left a bit of an ambiguous ending thinking I would work on it more after the final reveal, but my muse pulls me in pursuit of other storylines. It was my first time writing for SQBB, and i definitely will think about signing up for the next one!

Thank you for reading!