To her surprise, Regina genuinely enjoyed talking to Mal. The woman was kind and interested. She had a great sense of humor and listened well.
She wasn't really attracted to her, though. Overall, Regina didn't want to sleep with anyone and she really didn't want to get into a relationship, but she enjoyed spending her night like this, and she did feel the slightest spark of chemistry.
Regina hadn't even noticed that she'd put her hand on Mal's knee, until the woman put her hand on top of it. They hadn't been talking for more than fifteen minutes, but Regina did notice herself thinking about kissing the woman.
It was silent between the two of them for a moment and Regina just looked at the woman. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to kiss you."
"That is okay with me," Regina said with a smile and stood up. She cupped the woman's cheek and closed her eyes as she brought their lips closer together.
"Regina!" Regina almost touched Mal's lips, but turned around to look at Emma, who had rudely interrupted their moment. "It's getting late, do you want to go home?"
Regina gritted her teeth and looked at Mal. "You have my number, right?"
The woman nodded with slight smile. "Maybe it's best if I go home, then. Hopefully we'll be able to meet again," Regina said and smiled before she turned to Emma and looked angry at the woman.
They left the bar and Regina looked at Emma beside her. "Why did you want to leave so fast? Weren't there any other guys you could screw in the bathroom?"
Emma rolled her eyes and looked aside to meet with Regina's brown orbs. "That something I'll never do again. That Graham guy came within five minutes. He clearly didn't know how to pleasure a woman, so I faked it," Emma said.
It seemed as though her mind was less intoxicated by the alcohol than twenty minutes earlier and Regina wondered how that was possible.
"After that, I didn't need another guy. Plus, they all looked lame as hell," Emma continued.
"And there weren't any interesting women?" Regina inquired. Frankly, she wouldn't have minded to stay just a few minutes longer. She hoped Mal would call her soon.
"How can any woman be interesting when I lost the most interesting one of all," she said with a serious tone. Regina knew that sober Emma never would've said that, so she took it as the truth.
"Are you.. talking about me?" Regina questioned and a soft chuckle escaped Emma's lips.
"I'm always talking about you."
Regina looked at Emma for a moment. "I think you've consumed too much alcohol," she eventually replied, not truly comprehending the words Emma was saying.
Emma giggled softly. "Probably," she responded with a soft sigh.
~~~~
Regina woke up by the sound of the toilet flushing. She dug her head in her pillow, not wanting to wake up just yet. Especially, now that she knew what to expect when she'd wake up.
She was fairly certain that Emma was hungover and she wondered how much the blonde still remembered from the previous night. Emma had said some things that still confused her.
When the toilet flushed again, Regina figured she had to check up on Emma. Last night, she'd been glad to see that Emma could still take care of herself and that she didn't have to brush the blonde's teeth and change her clothes.
Regina opened the bedroom door and walked to the bathroom, which was near her own room. She found Emma brushing her teeth, probably to get the bad taste of vomit out of her mouth.
"Good morning," Regina greeted and Emma put her hand on her forehead.
"Not so loud," she said softly and groaned. "Good morning to you, too," she added with a soft voice and finished brushing her teeth.
She looked at Regina, who was still standing in the doorway of the bathroom. "Regina, I don't know all the things I did and say last night, so if I said anything offending, I'm sorry."
"I think embarrassing fits better."
Emma's eyes widened and she slowly shook her head. "What did I do?"
Regina shrugged and couldn't hide a slight smile. "What do you remember?" She was leaning against the doorway as she saw the feeling of pure embarrassment and regret wash over Emma's face.
"I remember getting in the bar, drinking those shots and talking to you about.. whatever. And then I remember us going home and.. that's about it."
"So, you don't remember anything about the moment you walked up to a woman, said, and I quote: "Regina over here is super gay and she wants to have sex tonight. I'm not having sex with her tonight, but she does have a tongue that will move and twirl in ways you can't imagine". That's where I pulled you away and you went off to flirt with a guy, then you fucked him - I believe his name was Graham - in one of the bathroom stalls, came back to me, who was meanwhile really hitting it off with that woman. I almost kissed her, but you interrupted by saying you wanted to go home."
Emma groaned loudly and rubbed her temples. She shook her head and looked at Regina. "Please tell me this isn't what really happened."
Regina pursed her lips together to suppress a smile. "I really wish I could."
Emma grabbed some aspirins from the small cabinet that hung above the bathroom sink. She grabbed a glass and filled it with water before she popped two white pills in her mouth to stop the burning headache. She drank the water and groaned again.
"Lucky for you, you still have about nine hours to prepare yourself for tonight," Regina said with a serious voice. She did feel bad for Emma, truly, but she also knew it really was the blonde's fault. If she didn't want to be hungover, she shouldn't have drunk so much.
Emma looked in disbelief at Regina and slowly shook her head. "Oh God.. can we please cancel that? I'm really not in the mood to socialize."
Regina shrugged. "You should have thought of that before. Now, just go get some rest. I'll get you a bucket for if you still need to vomit."
The blonde looked disappointed and Regina felt like she had to convince Emma more if she wanted her to go back to bed. For her, it always helped a lot to just sleep through the hungover.
"I know I promised to go, but you can't let me meet them like this." Emma formed her lips into a pout, but Regina didn't budge. She looked sternly at her ex-wife and sighed softly.
"You do know you did this to yourself? This wasn't my idea, you're the one who dragged me to the bar," Regina responded. "You're coming tonight and make sure you look presentable. I really suggest you get some sleep."
Emma rolled her eyes and twitched her upper lip in contempt. Her head was heavy and she hated herself for drinking so much the previous night. But she disliked Regina more for forcing her to go to a dinner, simply to impress people neither of them liked.
Regina watched as Emma walked passed her to her own room. She wished she could say this was the most annoyed she'd ever seen Emma, but this was nothing compared to the anger Emma had shown her in the past.
She heard the blonde's bedroom door close and smiled slightly as she returned to her own bedroom as well. She maybe wasn't hungover like Emma, but she still felt the lack of sleep in her body and desperately needed to catch up.
~~~~
Emma gasped softly when she saw the figure in her bedroom. She'd been in a deep sleep and she hadn't heard anyone enter her room. She relaxed slightly when she recognized Regina, who was softly closing the door.
"What are you doing here?" Emma asked in utter confusion. She had no idea what time it was, but she knew that if it was time for her to get dressed up for dinner, she really wouldn't go.
Her headache hadn't fully left, but it hurt less than before. Regina slowly walked towards Emma's bed and now saw that she was holding a tray.
"What's that?"
"You're hungover and you still can't stop asking questions," Regina replied with an eye roll and a soft chuckle.
She sat down on the edge of Emma's bed as Emma sat up straight. She looked surprised at the tray, which was filled with food. Apparently, Regina had made her breakfast in bed.
Small croissants and sandwiches, a fruit salad and a bowl of soup, which was evidently very hot. Emma eyed Regina, her expression still layered in confusion.
"What is all this?" Emma asked and swallowed to keep her mouth from salivating. Although the headache was still present, she also noticed her empty stomach now.
Regina shrugged. "I'm not even sure myself," she admitted and chuckled nervously. "I just don't want you to feel unwell, because that would mean we can't go tonight."
Emma rolled her eyes, but she couldn't be too angry with the brunette. "You know you didn't have to say it was because you're afraid my headache is going to spoil the evening. You could've just left it at "I don't want you to feel unwell". It's not that hard and so much kinder."
Regina let out a soft chuckle and touched the duvet covering Emma's leg. "Well, unfortunately for you, I'm not here to be kind."
"But it wouldn't harm anyone."
"Just eat your breakfast already," Regina muttered and smiled slightly at Emma before she stood up. She walked to the door, still with a faint smile on her lips.
"Regina?" Emma's voice made Regina stop walking and the brunette turned around to meet the blonde's gaze. "Thank you. It was really nice of you to do this."
Regina gave Emma a curt nod as acceptance of the gratitude and turned around again. "It reminds me of old times. I like that."
Emma confession caused Regina to turn around once more. For some reason she wanted to continue on the topic, though she knew that it would only pain her.
"Doesn't this entire week remind you of old times?" Regina questioned softly and flashed Emma a sympathetic smile.
"Yes.." Emma replied with a tone that was just as soft.
They looked at each other for a moment in silence. "Not everything used to be bad, you know?" Emma looked at Regina, who slowly nodded, agreeing. "We had plenty of good times together. With the family. Even in the last two years."
Regina kept quiet for a moment and slowly nodded. "I know," she whispered and swallowed. For some reason, she felt her eyes becoming watery. The fact that her life had changed drastically over the past months and was never changing back suddenly hit her harder than ever before.
Probably because she'd seen a glimpse of what her life now could have been.
"The only difference is that you used to come lie in bed with me when I was feeling ill," Emma said with a hint of a smirk and patted the empty spot beside her.
"You feeling ill is your own fault," Regina said, though she had to admit that she was slightly tempted to lie down beside Emma. She knew it was wrong and it would only make things bad, but she couldn't help the feeling.
"That doesn't make my headache any less. Come on, I'd like your company," Emma said with a pout, but laughed softly.
Regina shifted uncomfortably on her feet and glanced at the door. "I'm not sure. I don't think it's a very good idea and I still have to clean up the kitchen."
"The kitchen can wait and I don't know why you're so afraid. Nothing's going to happen, it's just much more fun to have company while eating."
Regina swallowed, but slowly approached Emma's bed. She carefully sat down beside Emma, but left quite some space between the two of them. She was barely even touching the bed.
Emma rolled her eyes, but didn't comment on it. "Do you want some food?" she questioned and looked at her ex.
"No, thank you." Regina looked back at Emma with a slight smile. The distance between them made the situation much more uncomfortable, but Regina didn't dare to move closer to Emma.
The blonde took a bite of her croissant and chewed slowly as she observed Regina. She swallowed her food and nodded slowly. "Okay, this is not much better than eating alone. Just come sit here."
She saw Regina hesitating. "Regina, you can just come sit here in a platonic manner. As friends. You don't have to be so terrified of sitting close to me, God, you used to fuck me every day, is this so hard?"
Regina scooted closer to Emma and gulped. She forced a smile and inhaled deeply. "Why do you want me here? I'm not fun company to have while eating breakfast."
Emma was chewing her strawberry and had her eyebrows furrowed. She'd raised her voice and she still felt her head pounding.
"We're not fighting anymore, but I don't want to feel uncomfortable around you either. It's simply unnecessary," Emma replied.
"Hm.." Regina softly said and contemplated Emma's words. She wasn't sure whether she agreed with them. Of course, it was nice if there wasn't anything uncomfortable and awkward between the two of them, but it made sure that they wouldn't make any mistakes.
Deep down, Regina feared that the two of them might become too comfortable if they continued like this. She still cared deeply for Emma and she knew that would only grow stronger if she grew closer to Emma again.
Emma smiled sweetly and Regina felt her heart pounding faster. Emma's arm brushed against hers and she didn't know why but the touch sent shivers down her spine.
"I really should go clean up the kitchen, now. I hope you enjoy your breakfast, though," Regina said and quickly stood up, before Emma could say anything. "If you fall asleep again, I'll wake you up when you have to get ready for dinner."
Emma groaned softly, but she couldn't talk, because her mouth was full of croissant. Regina flashed her a smile and left the room.
She sighed softly once the door was closed and closed her eyes for a moment. She didn't know why she felt this conflicted, why she felt anything at all. She and Emma were past, but this week made it so much harder to keep her away.