Emma couldn't handle it anymore. She was tired of her mother laying in bed all day, sulking. She dropped Henry off at school then sat in her yellow bug for a few minutes in the parking lot as she tried to calm down.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The second she relaxed her shoulders, thoughts of Regina came into her head. Memories flew around like pesky gnats and she couldn't escape them. She saw the way the brunette had looked at her when she'd called her a bad person. In that moment, her eyes shot open.

Her mind went on autopilot as she put the car in drive and sped off.

When her brain switched back to manual, she found herself parked on the curb, staring down the pathway at an all too familiar white door. She blew out a sigh through her nose as she gave herself a minute to collect her thoughts.

She faced forward again and looked down at the ignition as she removed her keys from her Volkswagen. She opened the door and slammed it shut then made her way up to the porch. She slowed her pace the closer she got and licked her lips before she came to a complete stop.

She looked down at her shoes and stuffed her hands in her jean pockets. Without realizing it, she'd pulled down the waistband of her dark denim to reveal skin the hem of her navy blue sleeved softball shirt didn't cover.

She shook her head and started to rethink her plan when the front door opened.

"What the hell are you doing here, Miss Swan," Regina bitterly but softly asked.

Emma nearly gave herself whiplash when she quickly looked up and met the brunette's gaze. What she saw in brown eyes could only be described as a mixture of pain and anger, similar to the look she gave Emma at the well.

"I...came to see how you were doing," she slowly replied, nervous about not knowing where they stood.

For a while, she thought during Regina's attempt to redeem herself, the two of them had finally started moving toward a good place. She started to have hope that they could both exist in peace in Henry's life. But she misunderstood what she'd seen in the dream catcher and Regina disappeared. By the time she found out Regina had been framed and got the chance to apologize, though, Cora had beat her to the woman.

She didn't have a chance to apologize when Cora had convinced Regina to take down the Charming's, finally get Henry back. She only had a chance to defend and protect herself and her family.

"I don't need to be looked after and you are certainly not my keeper," Regina shook her head.

"I know we've had our problems in the past, but...I want to resolve those issues right now."

Emma stood her ground. She started to speak firmly and with less timidness.

Regina chuckled.

"You think you can just stop by any time you like and talk this out with me? I hate disappointing people, but I think I'm going to enjoy this," Regina walked across the porch as she spoke.

She stepped down the first step and left some room between the two of them.

"You are no longer welcome here unless you are dropping off my son. There. We talked. Did that resolve those issues?"

Emma rolled her eyes and got closer to Regina.

"I took him from you because I couldn't trust you anymore. What kind of mother would I be if I let him stay with someone as unstable as the Evil Queen?"

Regina tensed at Emma's words as she pushed herself to keep her composure.

"You've been his mother for five seconds. I've been his mother for ten years. Eleven if you count this one even though you took him from me, which, just so we're clear, I do count."

"I'm just looking out for him, okay? I'm trying!"

"Yeah, just like I was!"

Emma looked away from Regina and took a deep breath. She released it when her eyes found the older woman's again.

"I know you were, but..."

"But what? My efforts weren't good enough for you?"

"Regina-"

"No, I don't want to hear anything you have to say. Leave. Now."

Regina turned and started to head back inside, but Emma stopped her.

"Why did you listen to her?"

"Excuse me?"

"Cora. You knew what she was capable of."

"You have no right to talk about my mother. You don't know anything about me or her."

"Which is why I'm asking," Emma calmly clarified.

She'd played that game with Regina before, one pushed and the other pushed harder. Things would escalate, but nothing changed. She needed a new approach so she played nice.

Regina sighed and pursed her lips as she faced Emma again.

"It doesn't matter now, does it," she stated from a place of hurt.

"It matters to me."

Regina took a moment to look over Emma. She'd once said she didn't know how to love very well and truth be told, she didn't trust very well either. She needed a minute to process what Emma had said and relied on the woman's green eyes to tell her if the blonde had told the truth.

"She was my mother. What other reason did I need?"

"That's not the whole story, though...is it."

"Why do you care?"

Emma shook her head.

"Look...I'm sorry."

"Sorry for blaming me for Archie's death? It's a little late for that, don't you think?"

"No. I mean, I'm sorry for that, too, but...I'm sorry about your mom."

Regina scoffed.

"Right. I wasn't a fan of hers. I'll give you that," Emma started. "But how it all happened? It was... That was unnecessary. Mary Margaret. She shouldn't have tricked you like that."

Regina tried not to falter, but she could feel herself wearing thin.

"It wasn't Mary Margaret that did that. It was Snow White. Your mother!"

"Yeah, my mother," Emma softly spoke as she held Regina's gaze. "And yet I'm here to defend you of all people. I'm on your side."

Regina chuckled.

"Are you, dear? Because that's a problem for two reasons. One, I don't need anyone on my side. I have me and that's enough. Second, where were you when I needed you? You can't just switch sides in the middle of a game."

"You needed me," Emma asked as she picked that sentence out of all the other things Regina had said.

"No," Regina quickly answered as she tried to mask her emotions.

"But you just said-"

"I was only proving a point, Miss Swan. I meant nothing by it."

Emma took another step forward and pulled her hands out of her pockets. She dropped them to her side and stopped in front of the stairs leading up to Regina's porch.

"Did you have something to prove to her, too?"

"To your mother?"

"Yours."

Regina sighed out of frustration.

"It's time for you to leave."

Emma smiled and laughed under her breath.

"You think that's funny?"

"The last time you told me that, you offered me an apple."

"It was a threat then."

"It still is."

"Then where could you possibly find the humor?"

"The fact that in the almost two years we've known each other, we've only gone in this giant circle. This...what we're doing...is going nowhere."

"So why don't you just listen to me and go?"

"Henry. I'm not leaving him."

Regina rolled her eyes.

Emma bit her bottom lip and closed the distance between them.

"And because...if I left now, I'd never know...what it'd be like to..." Emma trailed off as her eyes fell from brown eyes to Regina's lips.

Regina furrowed her brow as she tried to figure out what Emma would do, what the younger woman had tried to say. She didn't have much time to think before Emma shifted all her weight to her toes and kissed her.

Emma stood on the step below Regina and held her hands out at the brunette's hips. She wanted to touch Regina, but didn't. She knew she had pushed her luck enough as it was to kiss the woman above her and she didn't want to force anything.

Regina stared at the yellow bug that peaked out from behind the hedges at the end of the walkway with wide eyes. She raised her hands like Emma's kiss was a stick up, like she'd been held at gun point.

Emma's lips pressed against Regina's for the longest four seconds of their lives. She caught the brunette's bottom lip between her lips and held it there, her eyes closed as she slowly balled up her fists to keep from touching Regina.

When Emma pulled back and broke the kiss, Regina stood still with parted lips and a shocked expression. It took her a few seconds to bring her hands back down to her sides.

"What it'd be like to kiss you," Emma finished. "Among other things."

Regina sputtered as she shook her head and tried to find words. After a few moments, she found her voice.

"First you want to check in on me. Then you start talking about my mother. After that, you apologize for yours and now you want to kiss me?"

Emma slowly frowned with worry that she'd gone too far.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I ask myself that every day."

Regina furrowed her brow and shook her head, taken aback by the blonde's response. Emma usually had a quip, some witty remark, prepared whenever Regina tried to put her down. Her answer to Regina's rhetorical question wasn't like the blonde at all.

"Out of everything that's happened this year, you're the only thing that makes sense," Emma admitted.

"What?"

"I found out my parents are Snow White and Prince Charming after not having a family my entire life. I had to go to New York with Rumpelstiltskin to help find his son. By doing that, I found more than his son and then Henry found out about his dad who's engaged and I just... You. Twenty-eight years and all I know is you."

Regina subtly opened and closed her mouth as she tried to speak, but no words came out.

"Henry's father could be having a kid with his fiancee, the world could be on fire, and everyone could be yelling at me to step up and be the Savior I'm supposed to be, but you'll always be there to shut it out. Every time I snap at someone now, it's because I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated because I spend all my time thinking about you."

Regina looked at Emma like she'd found the missing piece to her complicated puzzle. She stepped down a step and placed her left hand on Emma's hip to keep her still. She leaned in, their bodies flush against each other, and kissed her.

Emma rested a hand on Regina's left forearm and used the other to cup the brunette's face. She repositioned herself on the step and slipped a knee between Regina's thighs to keep her from falling backward.

Regina ran her free hand through Emma's hair and kissed her over and over again. The more she kissed the blonde, the more passionate the kisses became. It didn't take long before she lost herself in Emma's lips and touch.

They broke their kiss to breathe, but when Emma leaned in for more, Regina pulled away.

"Upstairs," Regina purred.

She backed her way onto the step behind her then turned toward the door and extended her hand to Emma.

Emma took her hand after a moment and followed Regina up to the porch.

Regina waited for Emma to make it inside the house and, with her fingers still laced with Emma's, she closed the door behind them.

She kissed Emma and spun them around to put herself in the lead once again. She led the younger woman to her bedroom and kicked the door shut with her heel as she kissed Emma upon entry.

Their kisses were fiery, heated, as they gravitated toward the bed.

Regina unbuttoned her blouse and stripped herself of it as she pushed Emma further into the room with her body.

The two of them were still fuzed by several kisses, one right after the other, as their passion built.

Emma felt everything melt away. Thinking of only Regina turned into more than thoughts in that moment. Nothing else mattered but that moment. Nothing else but the two of them together.

She felt the back of her thighs hit the edge of the bed and didn't wait before she sat down. She kissed Regina again as the woman had to bend over to keep their lips attached in their position. She used that time to kick off her shoes and unbutton her jeans.

Regina grabbed the hem of Emma's shirt with both hands and peeled it off. She broke their kiss to remove it then dropped it on the floor by their feet as she leaned in for another kiss. She ran a knee between Emma's thighs as a warning. When she reached Emma's center, the blonde spread her legs a little further for her. She pushed against the woman beneath her and reached her hands out to rest on the bed on either side of Emma.

She climbed onto the bed and continued to kiss Emma as she leaned over her, blonde hair trapped beneath the Sheriff's body.

"Move back," Regina commanded between kisses then pulled away to give Emma space to do it.

Emma propped herself onto her elbows and arched her back as she used her forearms to slide herself toward the headboard. She stared up at Regina with curious, wondering eyes.

Regina crawled back on top of Emma, but leaned back and started to take off her heels.

Emma helped stripped the brunette as she sat up and unzipped Regina's skirt.

Regina kicked her heels off the bed and looked at Emma when the blonde had finished unzipping her. She leaned in and kissed Emma as she pushed her onto the bed again.

Emma's head landed on a pillow as she bucked her hips and hooked her thumbs into her jeans. She pulled them down far enough to reveal her red panties when Regina's hands came to help.

Regina broke their kiss to look at the jeans and pulled them off the rest of the way. When the denim was on the floor by the foot of the bed, she laid on top of Emma and kissed her once before she rolled onto her back beside the blonde.

Emma rolled on top of Regina and kissed her before she sat up on her knees. She gripped the waistline of Regina's skirt and pulled it down.

Regina mirrored Emma's actions as she bucked her hips and made it possible for Emma to effortless remove the skirt.

Emma tossed it aside and brought her lips to Regina's neck. She kissed her pulse point a few times then moved south to Regina's shoulder then collarbone.

Regina tangled a hand in Emma's hair as she lifted her chest to press herself further against Emma's lips. Her breath hitched as Emma teasingly licked the tip of her tongue over her left breast. She pushed her head back into the pillow as she allowed Emma to take control.

Emma slipped her hands under Regina's back and unhooked the woman's black bra. She kissed Regina's sternum as she pulled her hands out from underneath the brunette.

Regina lowered herself completely onto the bed again as Emma slipped her bra straps off her shoulders. She relaxed her arms to help Emma get rid of the clothing and within seconds, she couldn't hide behind her bra.

Emma mindlessly dropped the bra off to the side of the bed as she stared down at Regina's exposed breasts. She bit her bottom lip as her gaze moved from Regina's breasts to her brown eyes staring up her.

"Give me a reason," Regina said.

"A reason for what?"

"For this to continue."

Emma leaned in and placed a kiss on Regina's lips. It was sweet and undemanding.

"I need you," Emma answered.

Regina reached up and unhooked Emma's bra. She grabbed it from the front and pulled it toward her.

Emma pushed one hand off the bed at a time to let Regina discard the red material. When it was gone, they took in the sight of each other in only their underwear.

Both bare chested, they were evenly exposed.

Regina looked at her for a moment.

"Come here," she ordered Emma, but without much authority behind it.

Emma leaned in.

"Save me?"

Emma slowly smiled then nodded after a moment.

Emma kissed her as their breasts brushed against each other when they moved.

Regina ran her hands up Emma's body as they kissed, Emma still on top of her. She wanted to feel every inch of the Savior.

Their bodies melted together as they moved as one. Regina had started a slow rhythm as she explored Emma's mouth in a savory kiss. After several minutes, she flipped Emma onto her back and took over out of impatience.

She straddled the blonde and kissed Emma before she slid down her body. She left a trail of kisses from the Sheriff's sternum to her navel.

Emma's breath hitched the closer Regina got to her sex. She arched her back and thrust her hips against Regina's chest.

Regina grinned and pulled away from Emma as she brought her hands to the red panties. She removed the thin material and threw it across the room. She lowered herself once again and kissed Emma's hip. She nipped at the bone with her teeth and caused Emma to bite her bottom lip.

She swiped the flat of her tongue over Emma's hip bone and kissed her way back up the blonde's body.

Emma groaned in frustration, but didn't suffer long.

Regina slipped a hand between Emma's legs and cupped her sex. She lightly applied pressure to Emma's clit with her fingertip and caused the younger woman to appreciatively hum with pleasure.

She kissed Emma's lips and moved against Emma and the hand she held between them.

Emma softly moaned and instantly became wet.

Regina slid two fingers down Emma's center and teased her opening. She flicked her thumb over the Sheriff's bundle of nerves and slipped her fingers inside. She barely sped up her pace, but moved a little faster nonetheless.

Emma took a few seconds to match it and moved with Regina again. She stared at Regina above her, their lips inches away, and lifted her head to kiss the brunette.

Their lips met and Emma felt a tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach. She remembered it from earlier in the year when the wraith was after Regina and the two had made magic together.

There was no magic in the air that time, but the feeling was similar to that experience.

Regina added a third finger and Emma titled her head back.

The blonde broke their kiss as she pushed her head further into the edge of the pillow beneath her.

She brought a hand to Regina's hair and gripped it tight but didn't pull.

"Faster," she breathlessly requested.

Regina obliged and quickened her pace again. That time the change was more noticeable as she leaned in and kissed Emma's neck.

Emma pressed her knees into Regina's sides and pulled her close every inward thrust. She wrapped a leg around Regina's back and drove the heel of her foot into Regina's lower back to help accomplish that goal.

Regina brought her lips to Emma's left breast and kissed her nipple. It hardened under her touch as she flicked the tip of her tongue over it. She sucked on it for several seconds as Emma's chest rose to hold her lips tightly against her skin.

She released it and moved to Emma's neglected breast as her free hand came up to satisfy her left breast. She repositioned herself on top of Emma and used her left knee as leverage as she pushed it into the mattress just a bit above Emma's hip. In doing so, her thigh pressed flush against the back of Emma's thigh.

She ran the pad of her thumb over Emma's hardened nipple and sucked on the other. She moved up Emma's body again and kissed her as she curled her fingers inside the younger woman. She hit Emma's walls and made them tighten around her fingers.

"Why did you come here," Regina softly asked after she broke their kiss.

She looked into Emma's eyes as the blonde struggled to open hers.

"To make sure...you're oh...kay," Emma barely managed to say.

"Do you really care about me," Regina started to pant as she sped up her pace yet again.

Emma nodded.

"But...I also...kinda...love. You."

Regina slowly smiled at her. She leaned in and kissed Emma as she sent the younger woman over the edge. She slowed her pace to a near stop as she allowed Emma to reach her full release then eased her fingers out of the woman.

Their kiss as Emma came had been interrupted as the blonde had gasped and moaned and titled her head back, but the kiss she gave Emma after she started to come down from her high was strong. The one kiss held so much power as she sucked on Emma's bottom lip then slithered her tongue over Emma's.

She laced her fingers in Emma's hair as she cupped the woman's cheek.

Emma relaxed her legs as Regina lay flush against her. She wrapped her arms around Regina and rested her hands on the woman's upper back.

"You can't tell me there's nothing between us," Emma said when they broke their kiss.

"Right now my underwear is between us," Regina joked in her sultry tone.

Emma lightly chuckled.

"That's true, but not what I meant."

"I know," Regina smiled. "And I feel it too."

Emma stared up into brown eyes for a few seconds before she spoke again.

"You should smile more often."

"And why is that, dear?"

"Because it's the most beautiful thing, other than you in general, I've ever seen."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Miss Swan," she purred as she leaned in then kissed Emma.

Emma beamed.

"Your turn," Emma said as she flipped Regina onto her back and straddled her.

"That's why you're still here. In Storybrooke."

"Why?"

"Because you take charge. You're the only one that challenged me."

"Maybe that's because I wasn't under your spell."

"If you weren't under one of my spells, I don't think you'd be here right now."

"Yeah, well, that's a spell of a different kind. One you didn't exactly cast, but powerful all the same," she admitted as she leaned in and kissed Regina.

She reached between them and removed Regina's panties. She didn't care where it ended up as long as it wasn't on Regina anymore.

Emma kissed her way down Regina's body and went one step further than Regina had. She licked her way up Regina's sex with the flat of her tongue then flicked her clit with the tip of her tongue.

Regina was wet. She had a feeling Emma would make her come undone much faster than she had got Emma to let go. It didn't matter, though. She finally had someone in her bed she truly cared for. She wasn't alone anymore. Someone loved her.

Emma didn't waste time, though she took it slow, and slipped three fingers into Regina's slick opening. She kissed Regina then nibbled on her neck. She lowered herself to Regina's stomach and kissed to the left and right of her belly button. She licked from just below Regina's navel up to her breasts and dipped her tongue in Regina's belly button along the way.

Regina bit her bottom lip and writhed beneath the blonde. She felt Emma's hot breath on her nipple and got goosebumps.

Emma grinned as she swooped in and sucked on Regina's nipple. Afterward, she licked away the goosebumps and ran her free hand down Regina's arm as she used her knees for balance.

She gently gripped Regina's wrist and pulled her into a sitting position as she pulled back and rested on her knees. She never broke their kiss as they moved together slowly, deliberately, until they were both sitting on the bed.

Emma spread her legs and let her center press against the sheets and slid her knees out from under her weight. She moved her legs underneath Regina's thighs and crossed them behind Regina's backside.

Regina relaxed her legs, the backs of her thighs pressed to Emma's hips as she mirrored the younger woman's position. Regina ran her hand down Emma's arm from the woman's shoulder to her bicep. She stopped at Emma's bent elbow as the blonde had her hand on Regina's side. She moved her hand to her left and cupped Emma's right breast.

Emma ran her hand up Regina's side and rubbed the pad of her thumb over one of Regina's nipples in a circular pattern. She continued to kiss Regina a little longer before she dipped her head to Regina's neck and kissed her pulse point.

She kissed, licked, sucked, and lightly bit Regina's neck as she gradually sped up her pace. She didn't move too frantically inside Regina, but it wasn't all that slow a grind either. She pressed her palm against Regina's center as she pumped in and out of the former Mayor.

Emma snaked her hand from Regina's breast to Regina's back. She lightly clawed at the smooth expanse of skin and left pinkish red scratch marks.

Regina threw her head back and thrust herself further against Emma's hand. She used her body to push Emma onto her back. Her blonde hair cascaded around her face at the foot of the bed.

She came down on Emma's fingers as she leaned in and kissed the woman under her. She balanced herself on her hands as she dug her palms into the sheets above Emma's shoulders. When she sat up, she moved her hands to rest on either side of Emma's abdomen and rode Emma's fingers.

She closed her eyes as she sensually moved against Emma, the younger woman's left hand on her thigh. Her breathing became troubled and jagged as she occasionally moaned at Emma's touch.

Emma watched with wonder and amazement as Regina moved. The darker woman was so graceful in her movements. She looked at ease, at peace with herself, the closer she got to her release. Emma sped up the process and curled her fingers inside Regina. She ran the pad of her thumb up and down over the woman's clit.

"Emma," Regina moaned as she came undone.

She fell forward onto the younger woman beneath her and caused the blonde's breath to hitch.

Emma smiled as she slowed her fingers to a stop. She removed them and used her other hand to brush away brunette strands. She kissed Regina's temple as the woman rested her head on her chest.

"You said my name," Emma said as she laid her head back on the bed after the kiss.

Regina hummed.

"You're the reason I was able to get Jefferson's hat to work. You're the reason why my heart beats faster," the brunette hazily confessed. "I love you...Emma."

"I love you for your flaws as much as I love you for you," Emma said. "But I'm gonna help you with that vengeance in your heart. I'm gonna save you. I promise."

Regina slowly lifted her head to look Emma in the eyes.

"I trust you," she repeated from earlier and kissed Emma.

She brought her head back onto Emma's chest and closed her eyes.

Emma reached out and pulled the covers over them, though it rolled them into a human burrito. She closed her eyes as well and the two of them drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

Thanks for reading. Hope everyone enjoyed it. :)