A/N: I don't even know what this is. Swan Queen has sort of taken over my life (which is killing me, because they aren't cannon...yet), so I wanted to write a little something. Several thousand words later, I have my longest one-shot to date. Hope you all like it, and please R&R. Enjoy :)

This was a punishment.

Sure, they'd called it a vacation. Apparently, it wasn't normal to go years without so much as a sick day, so my bosses had insisted that I take the month off. They hadn't even let me pick my destination, saying that I would probably pick somewhere where I couldn't really relax. They said that they would send me somewhere I'd have to take time to myself and really let go of some of the stresses brought on by a life lived in New York and my job. They told me that this was for my own good; that it wasn't healthy to go so long without a break, but it was really out of fear. Fear that I'd take their jobs before they were ready to retire.

And it may have also had something to do with the fact that I verbally slaughtered one of our biggest investors at a company cocktail party when he got too handsy during a dance.

That's how I found myself in Storybrooke, Maine.

I hated this stupid town the moment my taxi drove me past the town limit. It was quaint, the people were cheerful, everyone seemed to know everyone...it was every awful small town stereotype rolled into one miserable place. At one point, I ran into a woman and knocked all of her belongings to the ground, and she actually apologized to me.

It was a town full of spineless idiots. I felt suffocated.

I'd decided to just spend all of my time locked into my room (a room in a B&B of course, since this stupid town didn't have hotels), but that only worked for about a day before I almost pulled out all my hair from boredom. I needed to go out. I decided the safest bet was to go to the diner I'd seen when I first came into town (aptly named Storybrooke Diner...the originality was truly inspiring). People were much less likely to try to start up a conversation with you if you were enjoying a meal in a corner booth.

"You're new," a voice said, and I cursed myself for not considering the fact that the waitress would probably try to chat. "I'm Emma. Emma Swan."

I looked up at her. She was blonde, green eyes, probably a little taller than myself when I was out of heels. She smiled, and I couldn't help but think that she was very pretty. Some would probably even say beautiful.

That didn't change the fact that she wasn't taking my order.

"Do you greet all of your customers like that?" I asked.

"Only the new ones," she replied, smile still on her face. "What brings you here?"

"Coffee. Black. Hot to the point of scalding."

She giggled. "That's not really what I meant."

"I know what you meant, Miss Swan, but I'd like to get my order sometime this century, and I'm sure you'd blather on about your life and this town forever if I let you."

The smile dropped off of her face. "I was just trying to make conversation."

"And I'm just trying to survive the next month without going insane, so if you would...my coffee?"

She laughed, but this one had none of the lightheartedness of the earlier one.

"Great. I switched tables with Ruby just to get a raging bitch."

My eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

She shrugged. "You heard me."

"Need I remind you that your tip is completely dependent on how satisfied I am with your customer service skills?"

"No, but I would like to remind you that the saliva content of your coffee has quite a bit to do with how nice you are to me."

My eyes went wide. "How dare you! I'd like to speak to your manager."

"Too bad. She's not in. Can I take a message?"

"I'll have your job for this!"

"Oh please," she said with an eye roll. "I kneed a guy in the balls last week when he grabbed my ass. If I didn't get fired for that, no way I'm getting tossed for offending you, Miss Priss."

I was fuming. No one had talked to me like this in years, especially someone as low as a small town waitress. I stood up and got right in her face.

"You have upset the wrong person, Miss Swan. You have no idea what I am capable of."

With that, I stormed out of the diner. I made a point to locate the owner (not a difficult task, seeing as it was the same person who owned the B&B) and threaten her with everything I had in my power. She'd offered to fire Miss Swan, and initially, that had been what I was hoping for, but I decided that it would be more rewarding having her remain there and seeing her every day after the thorough reprimand she was going to get from her employer. All of my meals and my stay at the B&B were comped, and I considered it a victory for myself.

I went back to the diner the next day and sat at the same table.

"Hello, Miss Mills," a familiar voice said, and I looked up with my widest smile.

"It's Ms. Mills, actually," I replied. "And how do you know my name?"

"Granny told me," she said. "As I'm sure you know."

"Ah, so she passed along my message?"

I could see the strain on her face from keeping her smile in place. "I was told I was to personally serve you whenever you come into the diner, regardless if you sit in my section or not, and that I was to be on my best behavior."

I nodded. "That's right."

"Granny would also like me to tell you that all of your meals will be coming out of my check," she said through gritted teeth.

"How thoughtful of you," I said, and I saw her eye twitch. She looked like she was about to have a stroke on the spot. "I'll take a stack of apple waffles with a side of bacon and sausage, hash browns with gravy, toast, a bagel, and a coffee. Black. Hot to the point of scalding."

She was gripping the menus in her hands so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.

"Coming right up, Ms. Mills."

She turned to walk away.

"Oh, and Miss Swan?" She looked back at me. "If I suspect that my food has been tampered with in any way, I'll be informing your employer, and you will lose your job. Do you understand?"

She just nodded and quickly walked away. I smiled, happy with my victory. She brought out everything I ordered a few minutes later, fake smile still plastered to her face.

I left everything on the table besides the coffee pancakes, and a tip.

Things continued like this for a couple more days. I had to admit, this was greatly improving my vacation, seeing Miss Swan so bothered. I couldn't put my finger on what it was about this woman that made me so frustrated, outside of the obvious, but I decided it didn't really matter. I had the power, and that's all that mattered.

Until I didn't have it anymore.

I'd been in Storybrooke for a week at this point and outside of my time at the diner, I hadn't found any redeeming qualities for the town. I'd eat, read, wonder what was going on back at the office, eat again, shower, and sleep. It was exhausting how bored I'd become.

It was after one of my showers that I found Miss Swan sitting on my bed. I let out a bloodcurdling scream, but she didn't even jump.

"Do you greet all of your guests like that?" she asked with a smirk.

"Get out!" I yelled. "How...how did you even get in here?"

"I pick locks," she said with a shrug. "One of the many things that landed me in prison a few years ago."

"Am I supposed to be scared?"

She laughed. "Oh no, Ms. Mills. This isn't meant to scare or threaten you. This is a warning."

"Of what? That you'll creepily sneak into my room in the middle of the night?" I pulled my towel a little bit tighter around myself.

"No, but here's the thing. I am handy with locks. Locks of all kinds. So one day in the future, you may find that some of your stuff goes missing from this room. And hey, maybe that's not that bad. Maybe you don't think there's anything in here worth losing. But maybe, you might start seeing money being moved out of your bank account, or strange purchases being made on your credit card. Maybe you'll find that your lush apartment on the seventh floor in New York might be put on the market for sale and all of your belongings are being donated to charity."

I rolled my eyes. "Like there wouldn't be a trail leading right to you, Miss Swan."

"Please. The only reason I got caught in the first place was because I covered for my asshole ex. If they'd known everything else I'd done, they probably would've thrown away the key."

"Miss Swan-"

"And let's say that they do catch me. How long is it going to take for you to get everything back? That is if you can even figure out where I've stashed your cash."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I would," she said, invading my personal space. I didn't give her an inch, even though she had the distinct advantage here, being taller...and clothed. "You're going to stop making my life a living hell, or you're going to regret it, because, sister, you have no idea what I'm capable of."

I ground my teeth as hard as I could, trying to come up with something, but I couldn't. This ex-con, backwoods waitress had completely out-witted me.

"We have a truce...for now," she said. "But don't think that this is over."

She smiled and went to walk out of the room, but turned back just before she left.

"Well, when I know this is over for sure, you can have back what I just took." With that, she left the room.

I panicked. What could she have taken? I didn't bring much with me to Storybrooke outside of clothes and books, and those things were replaceable. There was only one thing that I'd brought that I would hate to lose.

She couldn't have taken that, though.

I searched my room, looking on the dresser I remembered setting in on before I took my shower, and on the ground around it. I looked in the bathroom, in the shower, through my luggage, all the drawers, but it was nowhere to be found.

She'd taken my ring.

I wanted to chase after her, find my ring, and beat her to a bloody pulp for even taking it in the first place, but I knew that wouldn't do any good. If she was really as good as she said, which I was willing to believe considering how easily she'd broken in and taken my most valued possession...and also due to the fact that she apparently knew where I lived...I would never get it back. I'd have to play nice.

I went into the diner the next day.

"Hello, Regina," she said with a smile, a lot more genuine than the ones she'd given me for the past few days, but still not the kind one she'd given me that first day. "What'll it be today? Everything on the menu?"

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the string of expletives that want to fly out.

"Coffee. Black-"

"Hot to the point of scalding. I know. What else?"

"Nothing else, Miss Swan."

"Really?" she asked. "Funny, considering the appetite you've had for the last few days. Sure you don't want anything else? My treat."

"Nothing else, thank you."

She actually sat down across from me at the booth.

"Would it kill you to be a little friendly from time to time?"

"I have no interest in being your friend," I said. "I agree to stop torturing you. Now give me my ring back."

She donned a confused expression. "Ring? I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb," I said. "That ring...it's very important."

"Really?" she asked. "Care to share?"

"Absolutely not," I said. "Just because everyone in this town is an open book doesn't mean that I'd like to be assimilated into that mentality."

"Is it worth a lot of money?" she asked. "No, it's not that. The band's pretty simple. I'd be lucky to get a hundred. The guy who gave it to you must've been a pretty big loser-"

"Don't talk about him!" I yelled much louder than I meant to.

"Fine, you wanna continue to be queen bitch of the universe, than I'll just hang onto your ring."

I didn't know what to do. I couldn't tell her about Daniel. I hadn't talked about him since I was twenty, and I had no intention of showing that level of vulnerability to someone that I didn't know and couldn't stand.

"I will get that ring back one way or another."

"Hey, you wanna go about this the hard way, that's fine." She leaned across the table. "Just know that I always come out on top." She was a breath away from me. "I'll get you that coffee now." She walked away with an extra swish in her hips, and I had to shake my head to clear my thoughts.

Frustrating. This woman was painfully frustrating.

And for some reason, I found her slightly intriguing. Maybe it was the fact that no one had tried to stand in my way for years. Maybe it was the fact that she seemed to be the only person in this place with a personality. I didn't know, exactly, but I needed to know more about her.

If nothing else, having information would help me break her.

I started asking around, but I didn't get much that I didn't already know. Single. Troubled past. Works at the diner. Gossip about an ex-boyfriend named Neal. Nothing substantial.

I'd have to go straight to the source.

"Where are you from, Miss Swan?" I asked her one day at the diner.

"Suddenly chatty, are we?" she asked.

"I thought you'd welcome my attempt at conversation, but if you'd rather go back to silence-"

"No, that's not what I meant," she said. "I'm from everywhere. I moved around a lot as a kid. Tracked down some cousins here when I turned eighteen, and outside of my brief prison stint, I've basically stayed put."

"You don't seem to be very quiet about your incarceration."

"Everyone knows already," she said with a shrug. "I don't see the point."

"And what exactly did they throw you in for?"

"Mostly small stuff. Most of it wasn't even stuff I'd done."

"Neal?" I asked, and she stiffened a bit and narrowed her eyes.

"What do you know?"

"Not much," I said. "Just that you two were close to wedding bells before you got carted off. You know most of the people in this town think you corrupted him."

"People only see what they want to," she said, looking down. "He lived here all his life, his dad owns half the town...and I'm an outsider. It'll always be that way."

"Then why not leave?" I asked her honestly. "It can't be because of this place's bustling social scene."

She laughed. "I have family here."

"So?" I asked.

"So...that means something to me," she said. "It's not something I've always had."

"Lucky for you," I said under my breath, and she looked at me.

"How can you say that?" she snapped.

"Sometimes your better off without a family, believe me."

She shook her head angrily. "That's not possible. Whatever lame crap that your family has done to you to make you such a bitch was probably better than you would've gotten without them."

"You don't know anything about me," I said, trying to stay calm. "You don't know what kind of life I've had."

"What, did your mommy not buy you the Lexus you so desperately wanted?"

I left the diner without another word. This wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to be getting under her skin, not the other way around. I'd been so close to telling her about some of the horrible things that my mother had done to me while my father sat by and watched. I'd almost opened up to her.

I didn't go to the diner for the next couple of days. I couldn't handle seeing her. Something about her was...I really couldn't identify what it was that was different about her, but there was something, and it was throwing me off of my usual ability to make people fall in line. It wasn't until I'd almost thrown my bed out the window just to have something to do that I decided that I needed to get out of the B&B. I tried very hard to find something else to do in town, but besides going to the park and staring off into a field of nothing, I couldn't find anything worth my time.

When I sat at my usual table, I was greeted with my usual cup of coffee...delivered by someone else.

"Where's Miss Swan?" I immediately asked the girl I'd heard Emma call Ruby.

"She's got the day off," she said. "Told me that if you walked in, this is what you'd want."

I could feel myself scowling at the girl, even though she hadn't done anything wrong.

"When will she be back?" I asked. I began to wonder to myself why I cared who was giving me my food, but decided that wasn't really important.

"Tomorrow," she said with her eyebrow raised. "Why?"

"That's really none of your business," I said.

"Oh...I'm sorry. I'll just get out of your hair. Do you need any cream-"

"No," I said, and she walked away. I couldn't help but think that Emma would've made some comment about my sour attitude before sauntering off and getting me something to eat because she insisted that I couldn't live off coffee alone. Emma wouldn't have just walked off with her tail between her legs, eager to please.

It was irritating to me that I'd come to expect a verbal sparring session when walking into the diner. It irritated me even more that it was something that I'd been subconsciously looking forward to. Someone to challenge me, to not just take my abuse like it was expected.

Someone who made me feel like I hadn't become exactly like my mother.

Emma was back at the diner the next day, as promised.

"I was starting to think that you weren't coming around here anymore," she said as she gave me my coffee.

"You should've known that wouldn't be true," I said. "I need to get my coffee somewhere."

"Fine, you don't have to admit that you missed me," she said with a smirk, and I almost went to assure her that my return to the diner had nothing to do, but I realized she was joking.

"Yes, well, you do seem to be better at this than your friend Ruby."

"Are you kidding? Ruby's our best waitress. She gets twice the tips I do."

"I can assure you, that has much more to do with her attire than her actual service. If you dressed like a street walker, I'm sure you'd get ten times what she gets."

"She is my friend, you know," she said. "I'll still take the compliment, though." She took a few steps away from me before she turned back with a look like she wanted to say something.

"Were you going to sit there and stare at me all day?" I asked.

"I just...I wanted to apologize about the other day."

"It's not necessary," I said quickly.

"No, you were right. I don't know anything about you or what made you how you are now."

"How I am? What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

She sighed. "All I'm trying to do is say I'm sorry-"

"Well don't. Your best attribute is that you don't bend easily."

"You'd be surprised," she said with a wink and she started walking away.

My eyes went wide and my throat went a little dry. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Uh huh," she said over her shoulder before walking into the kitchen. I felt a little confused. This argument didn't have the usual amount of annoyance that the others had. It was almost like it wasn't an argument at all.

Conversation? Banter? Teasing? I didn't know what to call it...but it wasn't an altogether unpleasant shift to our exchanges, so I just accepted it and moved on.

Days went by, and my conversations with Emma continued to become less and less hostile. She'd even taken a few of her breaks at my table, which I'd found bothersome at first, but eventually started to like, because it gave me something else to do with my day. I found myself spending more and more time at the diner to the point that I found myself spend an entire day there. Outside of a few customers here and there, Emma always kept me company. We'd grown closer, and she was the sole thing keeping me from going crazy in this town. I'd almost go as far as to call us friends, if I were the type to accept such childish labels for relationships.

We'd dropped into a routine that went undisturbed until one day when I came in and Emma was behind the counter talking to a man I didn't recognize. That wasn't that surprising in and of itself. The diner did have other customers, and I didn't take the time to memorize their faces. What caught my attention was that Emma looked distressed as she talked to him.

"I don't know why you're being so weird about this," he said to her as she wiped the counter.

"I'm being weird?" she said. "You don't think it's a little weird to come in here unannounced?"

"I'm just trying to make amends, Em."

"You got me thrown in state prison. That's not exactly something you can make amends for."

Ah. Neal.

"Look, I've said a thousand times how sorry I am about that. There's nothing I could've done."

"You could've not run to California when you figured out the cops were on to you. You could've warned me that anything was up. You could've taken me with you."

"Is that what this is really about?" he asked with a cocky grin. "You not being over me?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know that's not my point."

"But it's true right?"

"Just looking at your face right now is making me nauseous. Does that give you a hint?"

Why did I feel so relieved by that answer?

"Just hear me out-"

"No," she said. "You left without so much as a word, and now you're back asking me to hear you out when you're just bothering to apologize, hell even talk to me, now?"

"I told you that my dad didn't want me talking to you anymore."

"Oh, yes. Of course. Wouldn't want to risk your trust fund to talk to the girl you were supposedly madly in love with, did you?" She looked over and saw me standing by the door. "Just get the hell out, Neal. I've got customers waiting to be seated."

He looked over at me, and I couldn't imagine how someone as attractive and intelligent as Emma had fallen for a man (if you could call him that) like Neal. Sure, I was just going off of his looks and his conversation with her, but I could already tell that the man was nothing to write home about. He certainly wasn't good enough for Emma.

"I'm sure she can find a table by herself," he said, looking me up and down.

"Actually, I can't," I said. "My table's dirty. Maybe it wouldn't be if you weren't keeping Miss Swan from doing her job."

He smirked. "No offense, but I think what we're talking about is a little more important than Em wiping down a table for you."

"From the sounds of it, I highly doubt it," I said, not liking the way he called her Em. "I suggest you leave like she asked you to."

"This doesn't have anything to do with you-"

"Oh, I don't really care about what you're talking about. You're standing between me and the only person in this miserable town that knows how to make a decent cup of coffee, so if I were you, I'd back away slowly before I make you regret ever speaking to me in the first place. If you can even call that mumbling mess that you seem to do speaking, that is."

Neal opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to get his slow mind to churn out a decent response, no doubt, but (un)surprisingly, nothing came out. He finally turned back to Emma.

"We'll talk about this later."

"No we won't," she called after him as he walked out the door.

"Well, he seemed charming," I said. "Can't believe you let such a winner go."

"Yeah, well, it's hard to hold onto something so fantastic. At least that's what most of the town says."

I knew she was joking, but I could tell that she was bothered. She went and wiped down my table.

"You don't really have to do that," I said.

"I know, but since I can't offer to give you your coffee on the house, since it already is, I figured the least I could do is make sure you don't sit down on crumbs or gum."

"I suppose I should thank you."

"Not really," she said. "Considering that I probably put the gum there."

"I'm not surprised you'd resort to something so childish," I said as she finished up, and I sat down.

"Seriously, though," she said. "Thank you for chasing him off. He probably would've hung around all day."

"It was nothing."

"It wasn't," she said with a sincere smile, and I had to look away before I did something stupid like smile back...or blush.

I decided not to question why blushing was a possibility at all.

"My coffee?" I finally said, and she walked away and brought it back a moment later. I didn't even question her when she sat down across from me with a cup for herself.

"Why'd you stand up for me?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"I'm fairly certain I already explained myself-"

"Yeah, yeah...coffee. What's the real reason, though?"

I decided to completely ignore her question. "What brings Neal back to Storybrooke? Begging money off of daddy?"

She looked at the table. "No. He just...he's getting married."

"How unfortunate for the woman involved."

Emma smiled a little. "You don't even know him."

"I know enough," I said. I know he hurt you.

"He was just...I don't know, letting me know? I think he was trying to invite me."

"Classy," I said with another sip of my coffee.

"Most people would say it is, since they don't know the whole story...or they don't want to listen."

"How many times do I need to remind you that the people here aren't worth your time. They're sheep."

"Yeah, well, I'm greatly outnumbered by sheep, here," she said. "It's just hard...seeing him around again. God, I hope they don't move here."

"You...don't still have feelings for him, right?" I asked. I know she'd said she didn't. How could she? He'd gotten her arrested. Still, you can't control what your heart wants at times.

"No," she said with a firm shake of her head. "I just feels like he came in here to throw his great life in my face. Engaged, wealthy, successful. Look at me. What do I have?"

"You have the fact that you're not him," I said, and she laughed.

"Seriously, Regina, what do I have? I'm a waitress who's been crashing on the couch of her cousin and his wife since moving here. I have a criminal record, and my love life is pretty much non-existent. Christ, I haven't even had sex in god knows how long-"

"Inappropriate," I said as I desperately tried to keep the image of a naked, writhing Emma Swan out of my head. Not like that was happening with more and more frequency...

"Sorry," she said. "It just...it sucks to see an ex be so much better than you in every way, you know?" She looked down. "No, of course you don't. You're a super ultra successful businesswoman. I bet you don't have a single ex who's bested you."

I felt my jaw clench.

"No, I don't," I finally forced out. "And neither do you."

"I just told you-"

"Having life treat you well does not make you better than anyone. Some people are born into families that can take care of them, emotionally and financially. Some people just seem to have everything land at their feet with little to no effort. They aren't better than anyone, Miss Swan. They're just lucky. People like you, who have had to struggle just to stay alive and sane. People who life seems to want to break and they don't let that consume them...don't let that make them cold, hollow people...it's people like you who are better than everyone else."

Emma stared at me for a long moment, and I felt like she was trying to look into my soul. I tried to look away again, but it was like her gaze was holding mine. Finally, she reached across the table and held my hand. When she pulled it away, I felt that she'd left something behind.

My ring. I was ashamed to admit that I'd almost forgotten that she still had it.

"I'm sorry," she said. "For taking it. It must be important."

I sighed. "It is. It was given to me many years ago."

"What happened?" she asked, and my first instinct was to tell her off for being so nosy. I didn't, though. Something about her...I knew that if I could share a part of myself with anyone, it was her.

"His name was Daniel, and he..." On the few occasions that I'd talked about him right after everything that happened, I'd said that he was the love of my life. That didn't feel right, though, as I looked at Emma. "...he was my first love. I met him at an office party at my father's work. He was the man walking around offering champagne flutes, and he spilled one on me." I smiled at the memory.

"Stellar first impression," she said. "Hard to imagine that you didn't rip his head off."

"I was more forgiving in my youth," I said, letting my smile fall a bit. "We started seeing each other in private, because we knew my mother would never approve. She's extremely controlling, and she didn't see the point of seeing someone if it wasn't improving your status. We were together for a year when she finally found out and forbade me from seeing him."

"Weren't you an adult?" she asked. "Couldn't you have just told her to screw off?"

"You don't know my mother. There was no way I could flat out disobey her, even if I wasn't legally hers anymore. Still, it didn't mean that we didn't try to be together." I felt a tear roll down my cheek. "I wish every day that I'd just let him go."

Emma grabbed my hand again. "What happened?"

I took a deep breath. "We tried to run off together. We figured that we could get married and live a simple life together so my mother wouldn't bother us. We hoped that if we were far enough away, she wouldn't care enough to follow."

"But she found you?"

I shook my head. "We didn't even get a chance to get away. I don't know how she found out our plan, but she did. We were driving on a small road when a car pulled up behind us. I recognized it as one of my mother's guard cars. I shouldn't have been surprised that she sent someone to follow us...to try to stop us...Daniel tried to lose the car, we lost control..."

The tears were streaming freely down my face at this point. I hated the part of me that heard my mother's voice...telling me that I was showing weakness. Fear is weakness...pain is weakness...love is weakness...don't let anyone see you feel it...don't let yourself feel it...

"Oh my God." Emma's voice shook me out of my thoughts. "He...he crashed?"

I nodded. "I came out of it with nothing more than a laceration on my upper lip that would scar, but Daniel..."

"He died?"

"He died," I said in response. "And there's not a day that I breathe where I didn't wish it was me instead."

"Don't say that!" I was surprised by Emma's tone and thankful that the diner was deserted and she didn't draw any attention.

"Emma-"

"No! You just-you can't say things like that! You can't just say that you wish you were dead!"

"The better person died."

"That's bullshit! Look, I don't know Daniel, he was probably great and all, but you...you're amazing, Regina."

"You're only saying that because you pity me."

She glared at me. "I'm not letting you turn this into another back-and-forth. I know that all that stuff you said before...about being cold and hollow and everything...I know you were talking about yourself, and it's not true. You're one of the strong ones. You're one of the good ones. A cold person wouldn't have listened when I talked about my childhood and tried to cheer me up. A shell wouldn't save me from my douchebag ex-boyfriend and then tried to play it off like it was no big deal."

"A good person wouldn't try to get a person fired upon meeting them."

"Are you kidding? Almost getting fired because of bitchy customers is half of what food service is about," she said with a smile, and I allowed myself to return this one.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do," I said. "It's not necessary."

"I think it is," she said. "No one should feel like they don't deserve to live, least of all someone as incredible as you. You're worth something, Regina. You're worth everything."

More tears sprang to life. No one had ever said that to me before. Not even Daniel. Emma would never know how much it meant.

"Thank you," I said, and she responded by coming over to my side of the booth and hugging me. I stiffened. No one hugged me, especially with as much force as Emma was right now, but I found myself relaxing into the embrace. It felt nice, having someone hold me. It had been such a long time since someone had. I found myself wanting to pull her closer when I felt her start to let me go.

"Just promise me that you'll start believing it, okay?" she said with a smile, and I found myself nodding, because she made me feel it. Emma Swan made me feel like I was worth something.

I left a thousand dollar check on the table for her when I left the diner that day.

It wasn't until I got back to my room that I realized that I was leaving Storybrooke the next day.

Had it really been a month? A whole month spent in this room, occasionally walking around the town, and (mostly) spent in the diner? I wanted to feel relieved. I still hated this town, and I still longed for the comforts of my home, but part of me just didn't want to leave. It was the part of me that thrived in every interaction that I had with a certain blonde-haired waitress that had managed to open me up more than anyone had in over a decade.

I decided I needed to go to the diner one more time in the morning...just to say goodbye.

"Hey, Regina!" she said with a smile as I sat down.

"Miss Swan," I said with a tilt of my head and a small smile. She already had my coffee ready for me at my table.

"It's still hot," she said. "If that's what you're wondering."

"I wasn't," I said honestly as I sat down. "I trust you not to test my patience when it comes to my coffee."

"Yeah, well, definitely not if I'm getting tips like you left yesterday. I'll totally understand if you meant to write down ten bucks, though."

"Do you really think I'd make such a careless mistake?"

"No, I just don't get it."

"It's what I owed you, seeing as I've been taking from your check since I've been here."

"That's a lot more than what you ate here," she said. "You didn't have to."

"Yes, I did," I said. "And even if I didn't, I wanted to."

"Yeah, well, thanks," she said. "It'll help with rent."

I nodded. "Listen...Emma..."

A jingle of the door caught Emma's attention.

"Sorry, I've gotta help this guy out. Think we can talk later?"

I just nodded and let her get to work. Of course, this had to be the busiest morning that I'd ever seen at the diner. Every time I'd think I had a chance to talk to her, someone would walk in the door, or need coffee, or would spill something that Emma had to go clean right that instant. Of course it was too much to ask to just have this moment...this one moment to say good bye to someone that had touched me so deeply...someone I would probably never see again. Sure, we could exchange numbers, try to keep in touch, but that never works out well. Besides, I didn't even know if she would be interested in something like that. I may have just been another customer to her.

No, that wasn't true. She made me feel...something. She made me feel anything, and that couldn't just be her being friendly. She'd shared things about herself in our times together, too.

Still, I was sure that all of this had meant much more to me than it did to her. She may look back on our times together fondly, if she remembered them at all as years passed, but I'm sure she didn't feel the same way I did. I wasn't even sure how I felt...but I knew she couldn't feel the same way.

I decided to just put ten dollars on the table and leave. It was easier this way.

"Hey!" Her voice stopped me at the door. "Leaving so soon?"

I nodded. "Yeah. You seem busy."

"Eh, it'll pass. Just stick around a little longer."

"I-"

"Emma!" I heard Ruby call. "I'm kinda slammed over here! A little help?"

"Just a minute!" she yelled, then turned back to me.

"It's been nice, Emma," I said as I turned to walk away.

"I'll see you later, though, right?" I heard her call, but I pretended not to. I walked back to my room and began packing, feeling like there was a lead weight in my stomach. Should I have said something? Would she wonder why I'd left without saying goodbye? It didn't matter. My vacation was over.

I hopped into the shower, knowing that I had a little time before my flight that night, and I couldn't help but think of Emma. How had someone like her touched me like she had? How had she in the course of a month done what no one was able to do no matter how long they'd tried?

I got out of the shower and almost jumped out of my skin when I saw the object of my thoughts sitting on my bed.

"Emma, you can't keep doing this! Is your shift even over?"

"You were going to leave," she said with a frown. "You were just going to leave without saying anything. Without saying goodbye."

"I didn't think it was necessary," I said with a shrug.

"I have this thing, call it a superpower, where I can tell when people are lying. And you, Ms. Mills, are lying through your teeth."

"I don't have time for this," I said, trying to brush past her. "I have a plane to catch, so if you'll excuse me-"

"No," she said, blocking my path.

"No?"

"Yeah...no."

"No...what?"

"No, you can't just stroll into town and change my life and then just leave without a word."

"What are you talking about?"

"Ever since everything that happened with Neal, everyone has treated me like I'm a piece of trash. All they see is a criminal. I even see it from David and Mary Margaret, but not you. You think I'm better than that. You think I'm better than this place."

"It's an outsider's perspective, Miss Swan. Anyone without a small town mentality would agree with me."

"They'd agree that a waitress with a record is worth something? They'd think that a foster kid with next to no schooling is intelligent? Come on, you know that most people would write me off just like everyone here does."

She had a point.

"Regina, we're so much alike-"

"How? How are we alike?"

"Okay, if you scrtach the surface, no," she said. "We don't have much in common. I'm a kind-hearted, spunky heroine, and you're a she-bitch-"

"You're really gaining points, here."

"But," she continued, "if you bother to look past that, you know that we both had troubled childhoods, and we're both afraid to trust because we were so badly burned when we did. We both just need someone to be there for us. Something real and honest."

"And what, you're saying that we could be that for each other?"

"I'm saying that you're the only person that I've shared secrets with since Neal. You're the only person that I've ever met that I felt like I could trust immediately."

"Even when I was trying to get you fired?"

"God damnit, Regina, stop trying to make this a fight!"

"What else is this, then?" I spat out. "You break into my room when I'm in the shower, not for the first time might I add, and start screaming in my face. What could you have possibly been trying to do?"

"I'm just-ugh!" She balled her hands into fists. "You're so stubborn!"

"What're you gonna do, hit me?" I said defiantly, closing my eyes. "Go ahead, Emma. Take your best shot!"

When I felt hands on my face and lips pressed to mine, it was like the world stopped. Gone were the sounds of birds chirping and the occasional car passing by. All I could hear was my heartbeat in my ears. She was kissing me...she was kissing me, and thinking back to everything, this seemed to be the only conclusion that made sense outside of her beating me to death.

I had to admit, I liked this option a lot better.

It took me a few seconds to even respond, just relishing in the feeling of her lips pressed to mine, but when I did, fireworks went off behind my eyelids. I tangled my hands in her hair and started kissing her with everything I had. I bit her bottom lip, and when she gasped, I took that as a chance to put my tongue in her mouth.

She tasted heavenly. Something like cinnamon. I couldn't get enough.

When she finally tore her mouth away from mine, it was only to trail kisses down my neck to my pulse point. She was driving me crazy, and I couldn't help but think that her mouth would be able to do wonderful things elsewhere. I moaned at the thought and rejoined our mouths. She started lightly pulling at my towel. It wasn't with enough force to get it off, but I knew what she was silently asking. I drew back.

"You're quite sure of yourself, aren't you?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

"You kissed me back. As far as I'm concerned, the rest will be easy."

"The rest? What makes you think...I'll let you go any further?" I barely got the sentence out, seeing as she'd grabbed my chest halfway through it.

"Simple," she said as she rubbed my nipples over my towel.

"H-How?"

"The second you tell me to stop, I will."

"So...you j-just ambush me...and expect me...expect me to give in?"

She lightly pinched my nipple. "Tell me to stop, Regina."

"This is ridiculous."

She kissed the top of my breasts. "Tell me to stop."

"I really should have you arrested for breaking and entering, and theft, and molestation-"

My towel was barely hanging on a this point. "Tell. Me. To. Stop."

"I-" I didn't really have anything else to say to the contrary, and we both knew very well that I wasn't going to stop this, so I finally let the piece of cloth fall to the floor, and I laughed at Emma's shocked expression.

"Where'd all that cockiness go, Miss Swan?"

"I'm seriously starting to think that you're allergic to kindness."

"Then why are you so fascinated by me?"

"Keep talking, and you might find yourself alone in a few minutes."

"I'd probably take that more seriously if you weren't staring at my chest."

She looked back at my face with a blush. "I-I just...oh, whatever."

She took my left nipple into her mouth, and I had to brace myself on my dresser to keep from crumpling to the ground. She seemed to sense this, because the next thing I knew, she was lifting me up and throwing me on the bed. Before I could object to being manhandled, her mouth was back on mine, and her hands were wandering up and down my body. Up my sides, over my breasts, feeling my legs. Before she could get where I knew she really wanted to be (and where I really wanted her to be as well), I pushed her away.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "No more talking. No more teasing. Just shut up and let me fuck you."

I felt my breath catch in my throat, and I very nearly forgot what I was going to say.

"Clothes," I finally managed to get out. "Take them off."

She smiled and peeled her shirt over her head at a torturously slow pace. Hadn't she just been the one saying no more teasing? She finally got it off, and started working on her bra, but my patience had completely worn out at this point, so I took the liberty of practically ripping off the rest of her clothes.

If I'd thought she was beautiful the first time I saw her, it didn't compare at all to what I was seeing now. Emma Swan was perfection personified, and I could help but stare.

"I'm not much," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. I pulled them down.

"I don't think you could be more gorgeous if you tried," I said with more sincerity in my voice than I'd had since I was very young.

"Thank you," she said with a blush, and as cute as I found it, we'd hit something of a wall.

"Enough of that. I believe you were getting somewhere before I stopped you," I said, and she smirked.

"And here I thought you could go a whole minute without a snarky remark."

I pulled her down for a kiss and enjoyed the feeling of our naked bodies touching for the first time. I slipped my hand between us and felt her. God, she was so wet.

"Oh fuck," she said when I found her clit. "Fuck...Regina...I really wanna touch you."

"No one's stopping you, dear."

"I-I know. I just can't-oh God!" I slipped two fingers inside of her and kept on her clit with my thumb. "I can't concentrate on-on you if you're...if you're working on me."

"Seems like with your job you'd be a little better at multitasking."

"It's just-fuck-you're so...ugh..."

"You aren't even making any sense," I said with a laugh.

"Shut up!" she yelled, and then she bit down on my shoulder and started riding my fingers. Watching her...feeling her move against me like she was...it was driving me crazy. If she'd been anyone else, I'm sure I would've demanded that she satisfy me in some way. As it was, it seemed to be enough for me, at the moment to just have her humping my hand so wantonly.

So, when she grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of herself, I felt like slapping her until she let me resume my previous activities.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I said, glaring at her.

"This isn't how this goes," she said, trying to catch her breath...and probably resisting the urge to rub herself against my leg. "I'm not cumming first."

"Are you kidding me?" I said.

"No. I came here to touch you. You wanting to touch me is an added bonus that I was really hoping for, but I need you to cum first."

"It's not my fault that you don't have enough brain cells to give and receive at the same time."

She closed her eyes. "If you'd gone two years without it, you'd be a little on edge, too."

"That's what masturbation is for," I said, trying to wrap my mind around how someone could go two years without sex without going on a murder spree...especially in Storybrooke.

"You know that's not the same."

"Miss Swan, if you don't-oh!" I was cut off by her pushing her fingers inside of me.

"Not as easy to talk shit when it's the other way around, is it?" She moved her fingers, and I let out a sound that I didn't even know I was capable of making. I would've been embarrassed if I hadn't seen Emma's pupils pretty much consume the entirety of her eyes. I tried to reach my hand between us again, but she batted me away and started kissing her way down my body.

"What are you doing?" I asked between pants.

"What do you think?" she asked, cocky smirk back in place. "You can't keep your hands to yourself, so I'm moving so you can't reach me...and maybe I'll put my mouth to better use than bickering with you."

We didn't break eye contact her entire way down my body. When her mouth finally made contact with me, I threw my head back and bit my lip to hold in the scream trying to claw its way up my throat. I'd had many sexual partners in my life time...more than I'd care to admit, if we're being honest...but no one had made me feel like she was making me feel. I felt her sucking and licking and pushing and it was all almost too much. I knew I was grinding into her mouth, something I'd never done before because it was much too embarrassing, but I couldn't find it within myself to care at that moment.

I felt myself getting closer to climax much faster than I usually did. Emma must have sensed it, too, because she pumped faster and sucked harder. Right when I thought I wouldn't be able to take any more, my body finally gave in, and I came. Tremors wracked my body, and for a long moment, I couldn't breathe. When air finally did come back into my lungs, I couldn't stop calling out her name. It felt incredible...everything just felt so incredible and I almost gave into the sudden urge to cry and laugh like a crazy person, but instead, I just laid still, trying to catch my breath. Emma finally moved back up my body, and she kissed me, long and slow, which was good, because I didn't think I'd be able to keep up with anything else in that moment. God, I didn't even feel like I had any bones in my body.

"Emma," I finally said after I'd regained some of my composure. "I...my God, you have a talented mouth."

She laughed. "I've been told, yes."

I swallowed the bit of nonsensical jealousy that rose in my mind at the thought of anyone else touching her.

"Yes, well, there's really only one complaint I have right now."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Do enlighten me."

I flipped her over on her back and took one of her nipples into my mouth. She groaned, and I smiled against her chest. I pulled away with a wet pop.

"You haven't cum yet, Miss Swan." I reached down and put three fingers inside of her this time, feeling that she was somehow even wetter than she had been before. "I really don't appreciate that you made me go first."

"I just...I wanted you."

My hand stilled for a moment. "Say that again."

"I wanted you," she said, almost breathlessly. "I wanted to feel you. I needed to feel you."

"Why?" I asked. I was seriously enjoying seeing her like this.

And it was always nice to be wanted.

"I've been thinking about this since the moment I saw you."

"Really?" I said with a smirk, and she nodded.

"I...I switched tables with Ruby so I could talk to you."

I moved in and out of her a few times before I stopped again. "Tell me more."

"I...uh...I still sort of wanted to sleep with you when you were being awful to me."

"Interesting." I curled my fingers and found her g-spot. She cried out in pleasure and looked like she was about to cry when I stilled my movements again.

"Keep talking."

"I...I've been putting sugar in your coffee."

I glared at that. "Excuse me?"

Her eyes shot open. "I...I didn't...I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that you pissed me off so badly at first that I wanted to make you mad, so I put just a little bit, and then I started putting more and more, and then when I started liking you, I was afraid you'd notice if I actually started bringing you black coffee, so I kept putting sugar."

"What if I was diabetic?"

"Then you wouldn't put all that syrup on your pancakes."

I pulled my hand out of her. "We're done here."

"NO!" she said, scrambling to sit up. "Please! I don't even know why I said that! It's just...you're making me talk while you're fucking me. Stupid stuff is bound to come out."

"It's not what you said. It's that you did that in the first place." I wasn't really going to stop. I just liked watching Emma squirm. "You need to be punished." I went to get up off of the bed, but she grabbed my arm.

"Then punish me," she said, and I felt the air leave my lungs for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"Miss Swan, I don't have time for this."

"Please. If you just make me cum, I promise you can do whatever you want with me the entire night."

I shivered. There were so many things that I could think that I wanted to do with her. So many, in fact, that I doubted that we'd be able to do them all in one night.

"I have a plane to catch," I said, trying to sound indifferent.

"Catch another one," she said. "I know you have enough money to buy a ticket on short notice."

"My bosses expect me back in the morning."

"Tell them you lost your wallet or that you felt too sick to fly or that you have a woman in your room begging you to fuck her. Just...for the love of God...please."

I decided to put her out of her misery. I wouldn't be able to stay the whole night, but I would give her what she needed. I pushed her back on the bed and started kissing her neck. I felt her let out a breath of relief, and I couldn't help the small laugh that came out. She was desperate. I could feel her wetness against my leg, and suddenly, I felt the urge to taste it. I ran my finger through her folds, then put them in my mouth. I shouldn't have been surprised that Emma's taste was just like the rest of her: perfection.

"I need more," I heard myself saying. Emma smiled, but looked confused when I rolled off of her and onto the bed.

"Regina, what-"

"Ride my face, Emma." I barely had the words out of my mouth before Emma was hovering over me. I pulled her down onto me and we moaned together when my tongue went inside of her. She started rolling her hips, and I moved my hand to rub her clit.

"Regina...don't stop. Please don't stop."

I almost wanted to tell her that I wouldn't dream of it at this point, but that would've required me to stop what I was doing, and that just wasn't an option anymore. I stuck my tongue in her as far at it would go, and I felt dizzy every time her walls spasmed around it. She begged and moaned a few more times before she finally let go in my mouth, and I swore I'd never experienced anything better in my life. I'd never been this invested in someone else's pleasure before. The feeling was entirely new, much like most things were when it came to Emma Swan. And, just like all the other things, I found myself liking these feelings that she was inspiring in me.

When she finally calmed down, she moved off of me and wrapped her arms around me. I'd never been much of a cuddler, but this felt nice, and she seemed to need it, so I let it continue. She spoke up a few minutes later.

"So, Ms. Mills, what's next?"

I went to say that this was the end, that I couldn't stay like I'd said, but instead, I pinned her to the bed and started kissing her again. Work would have to wait.

Emma had kept her word. Every whim or fantasy that I had, she went along with. Even things that I'd been ashamed to admit to her that I wanted, she'd done without so much as batting her eyes. I never wanted the sun to come up, but eventually, it did, and I found myself lying next to Emma, thouroughly exhausted and sore in all the best ways.

"So," she finally said. "I guess you have to go now."

I nodded. "I do."

Neither of us moved.

"I'll give you my number."

"I'll do the same for you."

"It's been...interesting. This month with you."

"That's one way to put it."

"I-" she took a breath. "I really don't want you to go."

I sighed. "Miss Swan-"

"I know. I know you have to. I know this was a one night deal. I know we probably won't talk much after this. I just...I just had to let you know. I don't want you to go."

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to will away the sudden headache that had come with her words. I'd wanted to leave this town more than words could describe. Small minded people with dead-end lives running a stupid little nothing town...it all didn't seem that bad when Emma was in the picture.

"We knew this wasn't anything other than what it was."

"I already said that."

"Then why are you trying to make this more difficult than it has to be?" I asked, getting out of the bed and starting to get dressed.

"Excuse me for speaking my mind," she said, following my lead. "You're so damn stubborn."

"You mentioned," I said, fixing my hair in the mirror. I really needed a shower, but I didn't really want to wash this...whatever this was...away quite yet. "I believe you've fulfilled your end of our deal, Miss Swan. You're free to go."

She looked like I'd punched her in the gut.

"Fine," she finally said. "Have a nice flight." With that, she walked out of the room. It took me a while to realize that I'd started crying. Why had I let her in? I'd known that whatever was happening between us couldn't last. I didn't do relationships, most of all of the long-distance variety. I knew that this had an expiration date. Then why had I told her as much as I had? Why had I let her into my bed? Why had I stayed past my flight?

I couldn't think about this. It didn't change anything.

I got a taxi back to the airport, trying to clear my mind, but every time I saw anything that even remotely reminded me of Emma, I'd feel my heart leap out of my chest, only to have it sink when I thought of how I'd never be able to see her again. It felt ridiculous. I knew her for a month. I had people back in New York that I'd known for years that didn't even know when my birthday was, much less half of the things I'd told Emma.

I felt myself start to panic. How was I supposed to go back to my life when Emma Swan, in the course of a month, had changed it so dramatically? And besides, what did I have to go back to? A cold, lonely apartment? A job that I hated? A past that I was desperate to escape? Nothing. I had nothing to go back to in New York.

The only thing I had to go back to was Emma Swan.

I called a cab and told them to take me to Storybrooke. The driver dropped me off right in front of the diner without me even having to tell him to...like this was fate. I'd never believed in that type of thing, but how could I not after the series of events that had led me here? Here...to her.

I walked into the diner without a word and sat at my booth. Emma came out from the back and nearly dropped the tray full of ketchup bottles upon seeing me.

"Regina?" she said, looking at me with confusion. "What are you doing here."

"Coffee. However much sugar you've been putting in it. Hot to the point of scalding."

She didn't move. "I...what?"

"I've...decided to prolong my stay," I said. "Even with my month off, I still have vacation time left. Besides, I'm not sure I'm interested in returning to my job anyway."

"What're you gonna do?" she asked, disbelief written all over her face.

"For now, I'm just taking a little more time for myself. In the future, should I see a reason to stay in a more permanent capacity, I'll try to find employment closer to Storybrooke."

"You...you aren't leaving?"

"No, Miss Swan. I'm not leaving."

"You're staying for me?"

I saw the hope in her eyes, and I couldn't help the smile that came across my face.

"Yes, Emma. I'm staying for you."

She smiled and set down the tray before running and leaning over to kiss me.

"I think I'm falling in love with you, Regina," she finally said when she pulled away.

I laughed. "Well then, I think I might be a step ahead of you there."

She just pulled me in for another kiss, and I couldn't help but silently thank whatever suit had decided to send me to Storybrooke, Maine.