Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, nor do I own anything from the show. Although, this episode made me wish that I did. I just have crazy ideas. So shoot me if I wanna write them down!

Side Note: I realize a lot of other writers have probably written this, but I just really felt like I needed to write my own. So, here you have it. Set after (or during whichever), The Cricket Game. Yes, I did use some of the dialogue, but then I switched it up a bit. Not beta-ed, so all mistakes are mine. Also, I had initially thought I'd be writing a sex scene in this fic, but I changed my mind. If you guys want, maybe at some point I can write the 'missing scene.' ;)

Emma Swan laid in her bed quietly, hanging off the side, courtesy of Henry. For such a little kid, he took up an awful lot of room in the bed. But that's not what was bothering Emma as she stared up at the ceiling. To tell the truth, Regina had been on her mind since she had left the party. The blonde kept replaying their conversation over and over again in her mind. A smile would spread across her face every time she heard Regina's voice echo 'thank you' in her mind, but the smile would disappear every time Regina snapped at her. So many emotions had been swirling between them during that encounter. It had taken her aback when Regina apologized. That had certainly been unexpected. However, it made Emma realize the Regina had indeed been trying to redeem herself. It was the very same reason Emma was incapable of staying away from Regina. Regina was her addiction and the amount of time she had spent in Fairy Tale Land away from the woman had been pure torture.

It was these thoughts alone that made Emma slide off of her bed and throw her boots and red leather jacket on. Her overworked brain was beyond caring that she only had thin pajama pants on and a white tank top. She needed to talk to Regina and talk to her as soon as possible. It was late and she knew Regina would probably be pissed that she had woken her up so late at night, but Emma found her urgency a little too high to really care. Emma sneaked out of the room, barely making a noise as she slipped out her bedroom door, chancing one more glance at Henry before closing it softly behind her. The blonde stepped on a squeaky floorboard once or twice, making her cringe each time. The last thing she needed was Mary Margaret and David catching her sneaking out. Emma suddenly felt like she was a teenager trying to sneak out of her house to see her girlfriend.

The term rang out in Emma's head and made her wonder why she had thought that. Girlfriend. Emma gave it only a moment of thought before rushing past Mary Margaret's bed and to the door. Her worried green eyes cut to the pair lying in the bed before she rushed out the front door and out into the street. She stopped for a moment to let her heart rate go down, feeling it pound in her chest.

"Jesus, Emma. You're acting like a kid trying not to get caught doing something bad." And even as she said those words to herself, she knew that the situation was almost exactly like that.

Fifteen minutes worth of walking later and Emma finally shivered her way onto Regina's doorstep. She was certainly regretting not putting on more clothes before trekking over to the older brunette's home. Especially considering that she had decided to stand at Regina's door and just stare at it. She couldn't seem to bring herself to knock and wake the woman up. Either that or she was just too nervous to actually knock. Emma wouldn't have been surprised if it was both. So, she shuffled for a little while longer, trying to keep herself warm-ish.

There was no telling how long Emma had been standing there when she finally raised her hand to knock on the door. However, just as her fist was about to hit against it, the door was flung wide open. Emma's eyes went wide and Regina jumped back, clearly not expecting Emma to be standing there. The blonde stood with her mouth open, trying to make her brain work as she gawked openly at Regina. The way the moonlight hit her olive toned skin and made her glow made the brunette look like an angel. The darkness turned her usually dark hair even darker. The robe Regina was wearing barely came to the top of her thighs and her nightgown only came an inch below that, leaving her gorgeously long legs sexily bare. Emma's mouth went dry as her eyes hit her legs, but Regina clearing her throat brought the blonde out of her reverie. When surprised green eyes finally met confused brown ones, Emma say a myriad of emotions flicker through Regina's face in a split second. She probably wasn't meant to see them, but she couldn't shake the fact that she saw an almost look of relief in the woman's eyes. However, when Regina blinked, all of that was gone and the confusion was back.

"Emma?" Regina questioned with a skeptically raised eyebrow.

Just hearing Regina say her name sent shivers down Emma's spine, but she tried to ignore them and focused on making her brain work and her mouth form words. The young woman licked her lips once and stood up straight, putting conviction in her stance the best she could. Still, Emma found herself at a loss of words. She had even planned her conversation with Regina, but clearly it was not going as planned. Emma had planned to go all shpilkes when Regina opened the door.

"Emma, it's cold outside and past two in the morning. What are you doing here?" Regina's tone had the tiniest bit of irritation in it, but nothing compared to what Emma had heard before.

"I…" Emma had begun, finally finding her voice. "I just…wanted to talk to you." The blonde's cheeks went red, her embarrassment showing quite clearly.

"At two in the morning?" Regina asked in a disbelieving tone. However, she quickly fell into the line of worry and her face turned pale. "Is something wrong with Henry? What happened? Is he hurt?"

Emma quickly waved her hands in the air, stopping Regina from going too far with her worries.

"No, no. Henry is fine. He's asleep in my bed. He's fine."

As quick as it had came, Regina's worry washed away and irritation replaced it.

"Then why are you here? It's cold and it's late and I want to go back to bed. I only came down because I heard noises. The last thing I expected was to see you, in your pajamas, on my front porch." The very end of Regina's sentence almost sounded as if she had pictured such a scenario before, but Emma knew she was not about to get that kind of information out of the brunette.

The blonde took in a deep breath, trying to steady her shaking. Whether it was from nervousness or the cold, Emma wasn't sure.

"I told you, I wanted to talk to you. I couldn't… Look, I felt bad about you leaving the party when everyone ignored you. We didn't even thank you for the lasagna."

For this, Emma sounded entirely sincere and it shocked Regina. The shock showed on her face and Regina could bring herself to mask it. She had been doing it for too long and besides, she couldn't control herself around Emma. There was just something about the woman that made all of her defenses slip. It had scared her in the beginning, but now she wasn't sure how it made her feel. Regina was still scared, but there was far more to it at this point. However, Regina's response in no way reiterated what her mind was saying.

"Well then, you're welcome for the lasagna." Regina was just about to turn and close the door, but Emma stepped into the doorway before she even came close.

"Regina," Emma started, inching a little closer inside. "Let me come in? You know we have more to talk about than just your lasagna."

Regina hesitated, her eyebrows scrunched together as her forehead crinkled. She let out a small sigh and opened her front door wider, waving her hand towards the study she had been sitting in. The older woman hadn't been to bed yet. In fact, when she had heard the noises from her front porch, she had been staring at the fire while her mind kept her hopelessly awake.

"Fine. Come in."

Emma gave a quaint smile and moved past Regina, making her way towards the study. Regina watched the blonde for a moment, shaking her head as the infuriating woman made herself at home. She sighed once more before following and closing the door behind her. When Regina entered her study, Emma was sitting in the exact chair she had been sitting in prior, gazing down at the fire in a similar manor.

"Drink?" Regina asked as she made her way towards the table holding her decanter of apple cider.

"No, thanks." Emma responded with a shake of her head and another small smile.

Regina only nodded in response and poured herself a glass; her third for the night. Taking one sip before moving, Regina finally sat across from Emma, positioning herself on the edge of the couch and staring at the fire once more.

"What is it you want to talk about?" Regina questioned, taking a small sip from her cider and closing her eyes as it slid down her throat.

"Us." The blonde mumbled, unable to move her eyes away from the fire.

Regina's head snapped up, sure she hadn't heard Emma right. She gave it a moment, waiting for the girl to continue. When she didn't, Regina spoke up.

"What?" The brunette tilted her head, hoping she'd get a more clear answer from Emma.

"Us." Emma said with conviction this time, but still not turning her head to meet Regina's questioning eyes. "I want to talk about us. I know you felt something at the diner tonight, too. And I haven't been able to sleep because I need to know what it is that's going on between us."

"What exactly is going on between us?" Regina knew exactly what Emma was talking about, but of course her usual wall slammed up rather quickly.

Emma turned, finally, and blinked. Her eyes searched Regina's face, trying to find a trace of something that would tell her the brunette wasn't serious. It took her a moment, but there was finally a small look in Regina's guarded brown eyes that told her Regina was just protecting herself with that wall of hers. The blonde had learned to read Regina so damn well.

"Come on, Regina. Don't play dumb with me. The look on your face when I told you I had invited you for Henry. There was some disappointment there. I saw that. You couldn't hide it. And you can't hide it now."

Emma had stood up by this point, moving towards Regina. Regina shifted uncomfortably in her seat, realizing that she had, in fact, found herself disappointed by Emma's excuse of inviting her. Sure, she was happy to know Henry had wanted her there, but she had secretly wanted Emma to want her there as well. It was the most wanting she'd faced in quite some time.

"Alright, so I had thought you had invited me because you wanted me there as well. But what's most important is Henry. I was vulnerable in that moment, so I looked disappointed. Nothing to elaborate on there."

Regina was still slamming up her walls, but the way Emma was staring at her with those fantastically green eyes was beginning to get to her. She needed to get Emma out of her house and quickly. With those thoughts, and the way Emma was coming closer and closer, Regina placed her glass on the table in front of her and quickly jumped up. She took one step forward fairly quickly, misjudged the distance between them, and collided right into Emma. Regina toppled back, but before she even came close to falling over, she felt soft fingers wrap around her wrists and pull her. The brunette's body smacked into the blonde's, but this time she didn't move an inch.

It took a moment for Regina to realize that her body was pressed, albeit quite deliciously (not that she'd admit it), tightly against Emma's and the blonde's arms were wrapped around her waist. Regina swallowed and closed her eyes to stop the room from spinning. Apparently, her cider had gotten to her more than she had cared to admit. When Regina opened her eyes again, she found soft green ones staring at her with…admiration. Emma found herself really taking in Regina's beauty, really, truly seeing it for the first time.

"God, you're so beautiful." Emma let her thoughts spill from her mouth unfiltered.

Regina's cheeks turned a faint shade of red as she found herself staring from Emma's eyes to her lips. On instinct, she licked her own plump lips and she could swear she felt Emma shiver. Regina's mind couldn't wrap around how quickly her night had changed. She wasn't even sure why she hadn't struggled to pull from Emma's strong hold. Her mind danced around the fact that there was, indeed, something between. There had been for a while, but Regina had refused to acknowledge it, even when Emma had been away in Fairytale Land.

"Emma, I…" Regina started to urge, but she was quickly cut off.

The older brunette's breath hitched as Emma Swan's smooth lips pressed against hers. She had dreamt of kissing those lips before, but she had never thought of going through with it. Regina was stunned into silence, into keeping still, but something kicked started within her soon enough and she responded back with a fierce passion. Regina's arms came up to wrap around Emma's neck, holding on for dear life, almost as if Emma was an anchor to bound her. Their lips slid smoothly together, moving in perfect sink. Emma pressed her body tighter to Regina's, completely unable to find herself close enough. Emma hadn't planned this, the way they were kissing and hanging onto each other, but there was no possible way she could force herself to feel bad about it.

Emma was almost to the point of taking their kissing a little further when she felt resistance from Regina. The former Mayor pushed ever so slightly on Emma's shoulder and the Sheriff pulled back, gazing down just slightly at Regina. Emma tilted her head, asking a question without actually voicing it. Regina took a step back, brushing out imaginary wrinkles in her very short robe.

"We shouldn't be doing this." Regina said, swallowing back the need to backtrack on those words.

The blonde snapped her head up a bit, confused beyond belief. She had been so sure just a second ago that Regina wanted this as much as she did.

"Why?" Was all Emma was able to ask.

"Because…" Regina started, but stopped short, finding herself rendered speechless.

To be honest, she had no reasoning as to why. She could say it was because she didn't want to confuse Henry, but Regina knew that reason would not fly at all with the blonde standing in front of her. Regina swallowed, wishing like hell she could think as quickly as she had before the curse had been broken. However, no such thing happened and a triumphant smile spread across the blonde's pale lips. Emma moved forward just an inch or two, bringing them close together once more.

"See. You can't even give me a reason. I know you feel exactly what I'm feeling Regina. It's been there the entire time. It just…took me too long to realize it." Emma stopped there, a shaky hand coming up to brush back a stray lock of Regina's dark hair.

It was an intimate gesture that Emma had never done before. And as odd as it was, it felt right soothing Regina like that. Emma was almost positive that Regina had somewhat leaned into her hand when it brushed past her face, but she couldn't be entirely sure. Slowly, and with a small bit of trepidation on how Regina would respond now, Emma placed her hand softly on Regina neck. The blonde stilled for a moment, searching Regina's big brown eyes for confirmation. There was no hesitation this time in Regina's eyes, only fear. The blonde understood that. Neither of them had had such fantastic track records with love. Not that she was thinking she loved Regina. Or was she? Emma mentally shook off the thoughts and stepped forward just once more.

With a good amount of surprise from both women, Regina was the first to initiate the kiss this time. Their lips crashed rather gracefully together and Regina tangled a hand in Emma's golden hair. The way it felt against her fingers was somewhat ethereal, almost as if she was made to tangle her fingers in Emma's magnificent curls. Regina pushed pass that thought though and tried to concentrate on the way Emma's tongue came out to lick at her bottom lip. The action made chills ripple down Regina's spine. The brunette immediately knew Emma had felt her shiver when she opened her eyes to see Emma grinning mischievously at her. The grin itself made Regina shiver once more, but thankfully Emma made no comments.

Suddenly, Emma's smile disappeared and Regina frowned, wondering what could have changed the blonde's mood so drastically in such a short amount of time. With Emma's arms still wound around her waist, Emma opened her mouth like she was about to speak. However, nothing came out and Regina wondered what was going on inside the blonde's brain.

"I'm sorry." Emma finally spoke, having to force the words out.

Regina's heart stopped and her eyebrows knit together. Immediately the older woman assumed that Emma had changed her mind and she was backing out from what was happening between them. Her first thoughts was that Emma had decided she didn't want anything to do with Regina and her heart ached just from the thought.

"I'm sorry I said it wasn't best if Henry could stay with you." The blonde continued, shocking Regina and making her heat beat once more. "It's not right to keep your son….our son from you. That was wrong of me and I'm sorry." Emma finished with a sigh and a quick glimpse down at the floor.

Regina stood staring at Emma quietly, unsure of what to say. She hadn't been expecting Emma to apologize for that. Hell, her screwed up mind had told her that Emma was probably right that Henry stayed away from her. That hadn't made the pain any more bearable though. Regina was at a loss of words, but a quaint smile replaced the frown on her lips before she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Emma's lips.

"Thank you." Regina whispered, feeling like that was even lacking for what Emma had just confessed to her.

This was the third time Regina had thanked Emma and the blonde couldn't help but find that she loved it. To see Regina in this kind of light was breathtaking and somewhat of a revelation. In the beginning, Emma had been sure Regina was void of any and all emotions, but the woman standing in front of her now was proving her fantastically wrong.

Not much time was wasted after that. Emma lunged forward to wrap the brunette tightly in her arms and she didn't stop kissing her until their lungs begged for air. In what could only be described as something out of a romantic movie, Emma swept Regina up into her arms and carried her towards the stairs, making Regina's stomach drop quickly. She stopped just before the first step though and locked eyes with Regina.

"You can stop this now. We won't go any further if it's not what you want."

Regina blinked once before smiling and placing her mouth next to Emma's ear.

"Take me upstairs now." Those were the only words Regina spoke and it made Emma shiver.

That was all the encouragement the blonde needed and before Regina could take another breath, they were inside Regina's room and the door was closing behind them. Emma gently laid Regina on the bed before laying softly on top of her and locking lips with the dark haired beauty once more. Once that kiss was started, the pair did not part for the rest of the evening. At no point were they not touching, even if it was just lips on exposed skin. It was an evening they both would never forget.

"This couldn't get any worse." Emma thought to herself as she stood on the opposite side of the one way mirror with her parents.

"What do we do with her now?" Mary Margaret asked as she glared at the brunette on the other side.

David's response was quick. "We lock her up."

Panic immediately set in Emma's heart. She knew very well that Regina was innocent, but convincing her parents of that without revealing how she knew was going to be tricky. The blonde kept a poker face and pushed her panic down before jumping in.

"We can't lock her up because she didn't do it." Emma began, quickly eliciting a fast turn around from both Mary Margaret and David. Looks of surprise and almost disgust were pointed her way.

"You really believe her?" David questioned incredulously.

"Oh, come on, David! The look on her face when we told her Archie was dead. She had no idea. Why would she kill someone who's been helping her?" The blonde raised an eyebrow, green eyes flicking to Regina for a moment. "Look at her. She's just sitting there. The old Regina would have already tried something by now. God knows what she would have done, but she's not doing anything now. She has changed. I know her. I believe her."

Despite Emma's convincing tone and sincere facial expression, David and Mary Margaret were still far from buying it. Both of Emma's parents were shaking their heads, Mary Margaret's arms folded against her chest as she frowned at her daughter.

"Emma, you don't know her like we do. She…" Emma quickly cut her off, holding her hand up to stop whatever negative thing the brunette was going to say about Regina.

"No. I do know her. She may have been the Evil Queen back in your land, but here she is just Regina. She is different here. She's trying. Regina is changing and she just wants everyone else to see that, but no one will give her a chance." Emma was really fighting for Regina now, unable to filter herself when it came to the older brunette.

"Emma! You have no idea what she's like. That…" David began, pointing towards Regina. "Is not someone who is innocent."

Emma took in a breath as David argued with her and Mary Margaret nodded her head to silently agree with her husband.

"Just stop. Stop right now. I'm still Sheriff. You may have taken over the job while I was gone, but I'm back now and this badge is on my belt again. So as long as I'm Sheriff, I say she's innocent until proven guilty. And she won't be proven guilty." Emma's words rang with finality as she folded her own arms against her chest.

"How do you know?" Mary Margaret asked angrily, taking a step towards her daughter.

With the angered look on Mary Margaret's face and the way David had the gall to look disappointed, Emma's temper sky rocketed and fell horribly short of being able to stop the words that flew quickly from her mouth.

"Because I was with Regina all fucking night! She did not step a damn toe out of her bedroom!" The blonde hollered the words, making them, echo around the room.

Emma's words immediately made her face go red and she looked down at the floor. She was afraid to look back up at her parents, but knew she had to if she was ever going to get out of this room. Inch by inch, Emma lifted her green eyes. The first thing she was met with was the disgusted look on her mother's face. She slowly looked over to David and found that he had a similar expression, just mixed with outrage. Emma opened and closed her mouth a few times, but was at a loss for words. This wasn't how this was meant to go. She was supposed to let Regina go home and she'd have a talk with her later. Emma hadn't meant to let it slip that she was, in fact, seeing Regina. Well, it was a lot more than just seeing. Emma tried one more time to explain, but before she could even let one syllable escape, her mother had turned around and stormed towards the door leading to the other room.

Mary Margaret rushed into the room and Regina jumped slightly, caught off guard.

"What have you done to my daughter?" The brunette nearly screeched.

A smirk slowly formed on Regina's plump lips, her surprise completely gone. She doesn't bite her tongue quick enough to stop what will come out, but in truth, she doesn't really want to.

"Many things, Snow. Many, many things." Regina's tone was smug. It drips with nothing short of dirty innuendo and her smile widens as she sees Emma has turned a bright red from her words. "And I plan to keep on doing them." Regina added, not even coming close to wanting to stop herself.

The wide eyed and distraught looks on Mary Margaret and David's faces are almost good enough to erase the fact that she'd been accused yet again.