Emma was doing the dishes. She, Regina and Hope had just had dinner, Ruby had left after saying her apologies, and Regina was grading tests at the table. Hope was in her bedroom, still avoiding her teacher.
Suddenly, the girl's bedroom door opened and she appeared with a somewhat confused look on her face. She walked up to the counter and looked at her mother.
Emma stopped doing the dishes and looked at her daughter. "Something wrong?" she asked.
"Nicholas just called me. He asked me if I wanted to come over. His parents aren't home and he wants to talk to me," Hope said. "I want to go, but I don't know if it's a good idea."
Emma's eyes widened and she exchanged a not-so-subtle look with Regina, one that Hope immediately noticed. "You really don't have to discuss this with my teacher," Hope said.
"I'm not," Emma replied. "I'm just thinking. First of all, you have school tomorrow and you have to get up early, so I don't want you to go to bed too late."
"I'll be sleeping over at his place, then. That's not a problem and certainly not what I'm worried about. He's ignored me for over a month, that's the part that confuses me."
"You want to sleep over at Nicholas's? The boy who got you pregnant?"
Hope rolled her eyes and her mother's tone. "Mom, oh my God. Don't overthink this. It's already awkward enough as it is with her in the same room," Hope said. "Nothing's going to happen. You're fixating on the wrong part of the question."
"Well, I do want to think about the fact that you'd be staying there the entire night, with no parents."
"This is taking too long, never mind. I'm going to Nicholas's, and you'll see me tomorrow after school." Hope immediately turned around, without giving Emma a chance to respond.
Regina looked up from her work and smiled slightly at Emma, who was staring at the closed bedroom door. Emma started doing the dishes again, and rubbed the sponge much rougher over the plates than necessary.
"I know you're stressed, but you don't have to take it out on the plates," Regina said as she examined Emma's frustrated expression. "Hope's growing up and she knows what's best for herself. She'll be able to make a good decision. If she feels unhappy with Nicholas, she's coming back. She knows how to take care of herself," Regina said and offered Emma a soothing smile.
"She's also pregnant. And a teenager. And it's a school night," Emma stated and frowned. She looked at Regina, who shoved her chair back and walked towards her.
"I know," Regina said. "And I know she's partly going just to spite you, but there's nothing dangerous about letting her go over there, if that's what worries you most. I have Nicholas in my class, and there are many boys that are much worse. She'll be fine."
"Since when are you on her side?" Emma asked, pretending to be offended, but she smiled slightly. She did feel slightly more calmed, knowing that Regina knew the boy well, and although she still wasn't one hundred percent content, she did feel better talking to Regina - like always.
"I'm not. I just don't want her to sneak out in the middle of the night, like I did, because my mother forbade me things," Regina explained and Emma smirked slightly.
"You snuck out of your house when you were a teen?"
"Constantly," Regina said and nodded. "The fact that she forbade it, made me want to go more. And I didn't get pregnant, but I'm sure I wasn't nearly as innocent as all the students in Hope's class together," she added.
Emma stalled the clean plates and cutlery in the cupboard and cleaned everything that she'd used to do the dishes, before she leaned with her back against the counter and looked at Regina.
She liked that she learned something new about Regina every day, and she liked the woman's attempts to make her feel better. Emma had to admit that Regina had helped lightening her mood, but she would never feel totally secure with the idea of Hope going over to Nicholas's.
But she did know that Regina was right. As much as she disliked the idea of Hope being gone the entire night, she believed it wouldn't be dangerous or thoroughly wrong to let her go, and it would only show Hope that she in fact, wasn't as strict as the girl believed at times.
"Hm.." Emma said and looked at her friend. "Now, you're obliged to tell me what kind of things you used to do when you went out."
"My neighbor was my boyfriend, I don't think I have to get too much into it," Regina said with a soft chuckle. "And too many parties to count. Gosh.. I was such an awful teen."
Emma stepped closer to Regina and chuckled softly. "I bet you weren't half as bad as you think you were. And, you turned out good enough for the world to think you're living the perfect life," she said with a wink.
"Sometimes, when I'm here with you, I keep thinking that maybe I am living the perfect life," Regina admitted. She tried to keep it playful, but both women knew how true the statement was.
"The bet between you and Robin is already broken, right?" Emma inquired, as casually as possible.
"Yeah, why?"
Emma stroked Regina's cheekbone, before she captured the brunette's lips in a tender kiss. It was the first time they were intimate like this with Hope in the house, but Emma figured it would take at least five more minutes until the girl was fully packed for the night.
She moved her lips along with Regina's, breaking and connecting their lips in sync as they kissed, and pulling each other closer with the second. Emma parted her lips, allowing Regina's tongue entrance to her mouth.
Their tongues moved around each other, not even fighting for dominance, because Regina had claimed that a long time ago. Emma moaned softly in their kiss and entangled her hand in Regina's raven locks.
The sudden sound of Hope's bedroom door slamming shut, broke the two of them apart. "Oh, my God. Ew, ew, ew, ew. No. No. No. God, no. Ew. No, no. Mom, ew. That's my teach.. ew. Okay, I'm gone. Possibly forever. I'm scarred for life, now. No. Ew." Hope shuddered in disgust as she grabbed her jacket and left the apartment as soon as possible.
"Good thing she doesn't know about all the other things I did to you," Regina joked, and although Emma felt incredibly embarrassed - she'd promised her daughter not to show any affection towards Regina when she was nearby - she couldn't help but laugh softly.
"I'll just call her in about twenty minutes, to make sure she's okay," Emma said, calming herself slightly. "I know that she must find it hard to see me with someone other than her dad, but this was just a kiss."
Regina nodded and retracted her hand, which was still on Emma's back. "The fact that I have to teach her history tomorrow has probably something to do with it, as well," Regina said and bit her lower lip.
"Probably, yes," Emma muttered and pursed her lips together. "Well, let's continue where we left off, shall we?" Emma suggested with a smirk and she earned a giggle from Regina, who pressed her lips against Emma's nose.
"I do have to grade all the tests, though. I've finished about half, but I don't want to be busy with it for too long," Regina said with a pout. Emma stole one last kiss from her, before the brunette returned to the table and continued grading the papers. Emma gazed at Regina with a slight smile on her face. A smile that appeared every time she looked at Regina.
~~~~
Regina didn't know exactly what woke her up, but she suddenly was completely awake. She had no idea what time it was, but there wasn't any light coming from underneath the curtains, so she figured it was still night.
She rolled around and saw that Emma was lying awake as well. "Hey, is everything okay?" Regina asked and tried to read Emma's face, but only the woman's side profile was visible and it was dark, so she had no idea what was going on inside Emma's head.
"Do you think Hope's okay?" Emma questioned softly and turned her head to Regina.
"What's the last you heard of her?" Regina asked. She felt awful, seeing Emma so worried, and she hoped that Hope was doing alright.
"Twelve a.m., four and a half hours ago. She said everything was alright and she and Nicholas were just talking."
"I think she's asleep now. Emma, I get that you're worried about Hope, but I think she'd call you if anything was bothering her. It's night, she's probably asleep and you should be, too," Regina said softly. "And if she isn't asleep, she's probably on her phone, so you can text her, then. If you don't get a reply, you can assume she's not awake and if you do, you ask her why she isn't asleep."
Emma didn't reply, but Regina could hear her grabbing her phone from the nightstand. The room suddenly lit up when Emma turned her phone on and Regina squinted her eyes shut. She turned her back to Emma, to grant the woman some privacy.
She had her eyes closed and it wasn't long before she heard Emma sigh. "She's not asleep, yet. She texted me "mom, stop worrying so much and go to sleep. Everything's okay. X."," Emma said and turned off her phone once she'd texted back.
Regina smiled and muttered a soft, "see, everything's alright". She tried to fall asleep again, but she somehow couldn't. And it felt like Emma couldn't either, because she kept stirring and shifting.
"Have you slept at all, tonight?" Regina asked, as she turned to Emma again. The blonde nodded and scooted closer to Regina.
"Yes, I have. But I just can't sleep anymore, now."
"Me neither," Regina replied. Her eyes slowly wandered off to Emma's pajama top, that revealed some of her cleavage. When Regina noticed Emma had caught her staring, she quickly moved her eyes back up.
She sat up straight in bed and cleared her throat. "You know what? I think I'm just going to take a shower. I won't be able to fall asleep anyway, and maybe I can do something useful with my time."
She looked at Emma for some sort of permission and the woman nodded. "I get that," she mumbled softly and pulled the duvet higher over her body.
Regina got out of bed and opened the closet to look for some clothes. Emma had made place for some of Regina's clothes in her closet. She was beyond grateful for Emma's hospitality.
Within a few minutes, Regina was enjoying the hot water cascading down her body. She couldn't help but think about Emma. She knew Emma had told her that she'd slept the entire night, but she wondered how much of that was true.
The blonde was obviously very worried and Regina felt horrible, because she didn't really know how to help Emma. From what she'd heard, Hope was doing okay. She believed everything was okay, but she didn't know whether she'd given the right advice to Emma, by saying that Hope would be okay sleeping over at Nicholas's. Especially, now that she saw Emma in such a worried state.
Regina sighed softly and grabbed the almost empty bottle of shampoo. She poured some of the liquid on her hands before she started massaging the shampoo in her head.
She heard the bathroom door close. Regina furrowed her eyebrows and bit her lower lip. She moved the shower curtain somewhat away and saw Emma looking at her.
Emma was naked, but she was holding a towel to hide her physique. "Hey. What, uh.. what's up?" Regina inquired and Emma inhaled deeply.
"You can say no if you don't want to do this, but.."
"Come in," Regina said with a slight smile and moved the curtain further aside. "If that's what you meant, at least."
"I'm naked in the bathroom, while you're showering. You didn't have to be a detective to figure out why I'm here," Emma replied and dropped her towel to the floor.
"You feel that bad, huh?" Regina said as she tried not to stare at Emma's magnificent body.
"We're not going to talk about feelings now," Emma responded and looked Regina intensely in her eyes, before she connected their lips.
The kiss was nothing but lust and desire, and Emma felt the temperature rising immediately. She moved her body closer to Regina's and slid her hands down the woman's body.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Regina asked as she felt Emma's lips against her neck.
"There's no stopping now," Emma replied and moved her head back up to Regina's face. "Unless you want to, of course."
Regina moved her hand to Emma's neck and pulled her into a searing kiss. The hot water droplets wetting their skin, made the entire situation much intenser and a loud moan vibrated in Emma's throat.
It was the first time in almost a month that Emma felt Regina's body against her own, and she loved the familiarity of Regina's touch.
In the weeks before Regina decided to start that bet with Robin, they'd gotten to know each other's bodies pretty well. That was evident to Emma a moment later, when she found herself leaning on Regina for support, because she didn't trust her trembling knees anymore.
Both women were frantically panting in each other's arms when Regina decided to turn off the shower. Both she and Emma had her eyes closed and were leaning on each other, careful not to fall, because of their weak legs.
Regina felt her entire body tremble. She hadn't gotten the touch of anyone in over three weeks and the way Emma had gone down on her, had given her one of the most mind-blowing orgasms in her life.
Suddenly, they both heard the doorbell ring. Emma immediately pulled away from her embrace with Regina, causing the brunette to lose control and almost fall with her head against the wall, if it wasn't for Emma breaking her fall and pulling her up again.
"Thank you. My knees are a little.. a little weak," Regina said and held Emma's hand tightly as she stepped out of the shower with trembling legs.
Emma would've chuckled, if she wasn't so concerned about who was at the door. "If you don't mind me getting a robe and opening the door. I think it might be Hope," Emma said and Regina nodded as she sat down on the edge of the tub.
As Emma left the bathroom, she started dressing up. "Crap, I forgot to use conditioner. Why does she keep distracting me?" Regina muttered out loud to herself.
It wasn't long before Emma was in the bathroom doorway again and smiled uncomfortably. "So, it wasn't Hope. Turns out your soon-to-be ex-husband wants to talk to you," Emma said. "He's waiting for you at the table."
"You said you were going into the bathroom, while I'm dressing up, here?" Regina asked confused.
Emma walked towards her and helped her button all of the buttons on Regina's blouse, because the woman still seemed to be recovering from their time in the shower. "I said you were putting on some make up. He doesn't need to know that we just fucked."
"What is Robin doing here so early?" Regina asked, once she deemed herself appropriate enough to present herself in front of the man.
"I don't know. It's your job to find out."