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Emma Swan looked longingly across the diner at the mayor, who was enjoying an evening out with Robin Hood. They looked so happy on their date and Emma felt like she was going to be sick.
“Jealousy isn’t a good look for you,” Ruby teased, placing a glass of the diner’s strongest brew in front of her.
Emma snapped her attention from the couple to glare at her. “I’m not jealous,” she defended a little too quickly.
Ruby just smiled and replied, “Right, and I’m not a wolf.”
Giving a defeated shrug, Emma admitted, “Fine, I may be a little jealous.” She downed the alcohol in front of her, fighting through the burning sensation ripping through her throat. “Nothing I can do about it now. She’s not interested in me that way.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Ruby said and Emma looked up in surprise, “I’ve seen the way she looks at you.”
Emma snorted in disbelief, “Yeah right.” She slid her glass towards the waitress, “Can I get a refill?”
Ruby refilled her glass and Emma drank it just as quickly. “Easy there,” Ruby told her, “You don’t want to have to arrest yourself for public intoxication.”
How is that even possible?” Emma laughed louder than she intended, the alcohol reacting quickly in her system. She saw a few of the other customers give her strange looks, though Regina didn’t seem to notice her presence.
Ruby shrugged, “It’s Storybrooke, anything’s possible.” Emma saw Regina and Robin leave the diner hand in hand out of the corner of her eye. “You want my advice?” Ruby asked as she watched her friend. “Tell her how you feel.”
As Emma considered the advice, Ruby was called to another table. Emma paid for her drinks, making sure to leave Ruby a nice tip before leaving the diner.
Since Henry was out spending the evening with his grandparents and her friends were all busy, Emma stood in the cool evening air, contemplating what to do. She decided to go home and watch TV.
Making her way up to the apartment that she shared with her parents, she unlocked the door and entered the empty apartment. She flicked on the lights and tossed her red leather jacket onto the nearest chair. Grabbing the remote, she turned the TV on as she went to the fridge to grab a drink. She took a bottle of beer out of the fridge and walked to the couch.
The TV was playing a romantic scene from a classic movie. Emma quickly changed the channel, as the scene made her feel sad. The next channel played a TV show where a couple was going on their first date. Emma drank her beer and changed the channel, starting to feel intoxicated.
The universe seemed to be against her tonight, as the next channel played a scene of a man confessing his love to a beautiful woman. Emma turned off the TV in frustration and finished her bottle. She sat in silence for a while until an idea struck her drunk mind. Perhaps Ruby was on to something with her advice. Maybe she should tell Regina how she felt.
Putting her bottle down on the table, she pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts. She found “Mills” in her list and pressed the call button. The phone went straight to voicemail and Emma started to pour her heart out to the woman she loved. She hung up the phone and laid down on the couch, falling asleep almost instantly.
Sunlight streamed through the window as Emma opened her eyes. Her head was throbbing and she wished that she hadn’t drank so much last night. Her mom, dad and son were standing over her and she sat up quickly.
“Good morning,” Charming said a little to cheerful for her current state. Snow handed her an aspirin and a glass of water and Emma thanked her. She eagerly gulped down the pill and chased it with the water. Emma looked towards her family. Snow and Charming were looking at her with concern while Henry had a devious smirk on his face.
Emma sat up and asked, “What time is it?”
“7:15 AM,” Snow answered. Emma groaned, wishing that she had coffee. “Do you remember anything from last night?”
She thought back to last night and the events of the evening played in her mind. She remembered the voice message she had left for Regina the previous night and sat up straight, “Shit.”
“Language Mom,” Henry joked.
Emma groaned, “Sorry kid.” She looked at her parents, “How about I drive him home? I need to talk to Regina before the council meeting.”
“Are you sure?” Charming asked with concern. Emma nodded. She hoped that she could smooth things over before Regina became angry with her.
After a quick breakfast, Emma and Henry climbed into Emma’s yellow bug and drove towards Regina’s mansion. As they pulled in front of the house, Emma stopped the car and Henry unbuckled his seatbelt and ran up to the house. Emma followed him and came up to the door where Regina was hugging Henry.
Henry ran into the house and Emma looked at Regina. She fought her nerves and said, “Sorry about last night.”
Regina looked confused, “What are you talking about?”
“The voice message last night. I was out of line,” Emma said quickly.
Regina looked even more confused, “I don’t know what you’re talking about Emma.” Emma searched her face and saw the mayor was telling the truth. She had gotten pretty good at telling when Regina was lying.
A wave of relief washed over her. Maybe the message hadn’t gone through at all. She shook her head, “It’s nothing. I thought I called you last night. See you at the meeting later.” She waved goodbye and walked to her car.
She went about her day, her headache had subsided almost completely. She used her extra time before the meeting to get a bear claw and to work on some paperwork.
Soon it was time for the meeting and Emma arrived at the town hall a little bit early. She took her seat and smiled at Regina who was at the podium preparing her presentation. She watched as the town’s residents filed in. Her heart sank to her stomach as Robin Hood came in and smiled at Regina.
When the room was filled, Regina began to address the hall. As she started to go over the updates from the previous meeting, a voice appeared over the loudspeaker.
Emma sat up in horror as her intoxicated voice filled the room. “Heeeeeeey Giiina. How’s it going? I saw you tonight. You’re sooo pretty. I really want to kiss you, I bet your face tastes like apples. But I can’t. You only tolerate me because of Henry, but I looove you. I wish you were with me instead of that treee. I could make you happy. Goood night Regiiina. I’ll be dreaming of youuu.”
As she stared at the ground, Emma could feel every eye in the room on her. She braved a glance at Regina and saw that she was looking at her with a combination of anger and shock. She stood up and met Regina’s eyes, hoping that the floor would swallow her whole. The only thing she managed to get out was, “I’m so sorry,” before she ran out of the building and towards the Sheriff’s station.
She reached the comfort of her desk and slid into her chair, fighting back tears. She looked up at a knock on the door and was glad to see her parents had followed her. Without saying a word, she fell into her parents’ embrace, sobbing into David’s shoulder.
They stayed like that for a few moments before Emma pulled away. Snow was the first to speak. “Why did Regina feel the need to play that message for everyone?”
Emma’s brow furrowed, and she grabbed her phone, “She told me this morning that she didn’t get my message.” She opened her recent phone calls and she swore loudly when she read the top name. Apparently she pressed the wrong button when she called Regina because she had called someone else. Henry.
The station door opened and Henry walked in. Emma glared at him. “Henry Mills,” she said angrily, “You are grounded for the next year…and a half.”
Henry shuffled nervously, “I’m sorry Mom. I got your message and I knew you wouldn’t tell Momma how you felt so I had to take action.”
“By playing that for everyone?” Emma asked incredulously. Even Snow and Charming were glaring at him.
“I had no choice,” Henry replied, “Regina didn’t believe me and I had to get her attention.”
Snow defended her daughter, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
Henry nodded sadly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Let’s go get ice cream,” Charming said, hoping to lighten the mood. It worked as the family followed him over to the ice cream shop.
When they reached the shop, Emma heard her name being called behind her. She turned around and saw Regina walking up to her. Emma’s face flushed with embarrassment but she told her family to go ahead without her. Emma turned to face Regina, “I’m so sorry about that.”
“I’m sorry that our son would invade your privacy like that,” Regina said. “I should have taken the time to listen to what he had to say this morning. It would have saved us that embarrassment.” Emma shrugged and Regina asked, “Did you mean what you said? Do you love me?”
There was no point in denying it, so Emma nodded, “Yes. I was drunk last night, but it wasn’t the alcohol talking. Well some of it was.”
To her surprise Regina leaned in and kissed her. Emma was surprised, but she smiled as she returned the kiss. She pulled away and asked, “What about Robin?”
“I ended things with him. Your message, while extremely inappropriate, opened my eyes and helped me face the truth that I was denying.”
Emma grinned and gestured towards the ice cream shop. “You want to get ice cream with us? And go on a proper date sometime this week?”
Regina smiled, “I’d like that.” Emma and Regina walked into the shop, their hands finding their way to each other’s. Both Emma and Regina couldn’t help but be excited at what was to come.