A/N: Just to reassure some people, this is 100% SwanQueen and I promise we will get there. But Regina has just got out of an abusive 12 year marriage and I don't think it would be realistic to throw her into bed with Emma. Sadly. However, you know me and I promise you won't have to wait much longer thanks to time jumps! Of which there is one in this chapter!
When Regina woke up, she was greeted once again by the familiar ceiling of Emma Swan's guest bedroom. She rolled over and buried her head into the soft pillow, yawning as she did so. She was exhausted. They had been at the police station until well after midnight, filing the incident report, completing interviews and filling in endless paperwork for the break-in. Emma had insisted on Regina staying at her house and she didn't have the energy to argue.
A familiar laugh from outside made her frown. Sitting up in the bed, she shuffled across the mattress and pulled back the curtains. Her window looked out into the street and as she watched, Emma leaned on the bonnet of Detective Nottingham's car alongside the man himself, both of them sipping cups of coffee. So the policeman really had kept his word and remained outside as a guard all night. Something unfamiliar twinged inside Regina as she watched. She didn't know what it was. Flopping back onto the bed, she groaned softly. She didn't want this. She didn't want any of this. All the hassle she was causing so many people. Perhaps it would have been easier if she had just stayed with Robin after all ...
A knock on the door pulled her from those dangerous thoughts.
"Come in."
"Hey," Henry greeted. "I thought you might want some coffee."
"Thanks, dear," Regina smiled. "I'm so sorry about all of this. I bet you thought five days with your history teacher was more than enough torture for one half term break without me moving back in on you unannounced."
Henry shook his head. "None of this is your fault. Me and mum just want you safe and if the safest place is with us, then I'm fine with you staying."
"You're very sweet, Henry. Thank you."
"No problem. I'm off to do my homework now so just give me a shout if you need anything," the boy smiled before he closed the door behind him.
Just as Regina was draining her coffee mug fifteen minutes later, Emma knocked and entered her room.
"Hey, how'd you sleep?"
"Not great," Regina admitted. "You?"
"Same," Emma said, sitting down on the bed and patting the lump under the duvet that was Regina's leg. "But Keith said he didn't see anything at all."
"Is he really going to be our personal guard dog forever?" Regina asked, a slight snap to her tone.
Emma frowned. "He wants us to be safe," she replied. "And until we catch Robin, yes, we will have an officer outside the house."
"Still no sign of him?"
"No," Emma said, shaking her head. "The house on Mifflin Street is all locked up and his passport has been flagged at all airports, train stations and ferry ports. He can't leave the country so they'll catch him eventually. The CCTV from the B and B has him and his crew plain as day climbing into your room and then out of it with all your things. There's no way they'll get off when it eventually goes to trial."
"You've got to catch him first," Regina said darkly.
"And we will," Emma assured. "Keith has his best men -,"
"What is it with you and Keith?" Regina interrupted, anger bubbling up inside her without warning.
Emma blinked. "What do you mean?"
"All morning that's all you've gone on about and I heard you two together laughing outside. Is this just some big joke to you? Look after the scared, stupid little wife and protect her from the truth: that her husband is never going to be caught because he's too rich, too powerful, too untouchable. I don't need your sympathy, Emma. And I don't need Keith to babysit me. If you want him here, fine. But I'll find somewhere else to stay."
She lay down and rolled over, her back resolutely towards her friend.
Emma stared wide eyed at the woman before her. Where had all that come from? Whatever was going on, she knew the real Regina didn't believe what she had just said. But what she didn't know was why the older woman had just exploded at her when all she had been trying to do was help.
"Regina," the blonde said gently. The older woman didn't move. "Regina." Nothing. Huffing, Emma climbed over Regina's curled up form and lay down on the other side of the bed, forcing the woman to look her in the eye as their faces were now mere inches apart. "Hey, what was all that about?"
Regina blinked a few times before bursting into tears. Alarmed, Emma shuffled forwards on the bed and pulled Regina into an awkward hug, her left arm and Regina's right squashed between their bodies. The brunette cried for a long time, Emma wracking her brain to try and work out what had happened.
~
Half and hour earlier.
"Take this up to Regina would you?" Emma asked as she passed a cup to Henry before picking up the other two. Placing the mugs of coffee on the side table, she grabbed a coat and shoved her feet into some old Ugg boots. Slipping out of the house, she walked down the path and across the street. Rapping her knuckles on the window of the car, she gestured to the coffee cup when Detective Nottingham looked up from his newspaper with a wide smile.
"Morning, Miss Swan," Detective Nottingham said as he opened his door and stepped out of the car.
"Good morning, Detective Nottingham," Emma replied as she handed over his coffee.
"How many times have I told you to call me Keith?" the man asked as he accepted the steaming beverage with a nod of thanks.
"And how many times have I told you to call me Emma?" the blonde countered.
"Fair point," Keith grinned.
They walked to the front of the car where they both leaned against the bonnet and sipped their warm drinks.
"Anything to report from last night?" Emma asked after a pause.
"Nothing at all," Keith replied. "My guy outside their Mifflin address said there was no movement there either. Every light is off and every door and window is locked up tight. From what we can see, most of the valuable possessions have been removed. Wherever Robin is, I don't think he's coming back here any time soon."
"Is that a good thing?" Emma asked.
"It is for him," Keith replied. "When I get a hold of that bastard I'm really hoping there isn't anyone around to hold me back from kicking him in the nuts."
Emma laughed. "Henry already beat you to that."
Keith chuckled too. "Oh really? Quite the little defence team you've set up here for your friend."
"She deserves it," Emma said. "She can't be on her own at the moment, not after what happened last night. I just ... I just want to keep her safe."
Keith looked sideways at Emma, trying to read her expression. The blonde was oblivious to the detective's scrutiny.
"Emma," he began. "You and Regina, is there anything going on?"
Emma nearly choked on the gulp of coffee she had just taken. "What?" she asked, coughing slightly. "No! Why would you say that?"
"I'm sorry," Keith said quickly. "I just ... it's the way you talk about her sometimes, and you've done so much for her. I made an assumption and clearly I was wrong."
"She's just left her husband," Emma reminded him. "Even if I liked her in that way, which I don't, it's far too soon for anything to happen, which it isn't," she added.
"Ok," Keith nodded.
They fell silent again, both unsure how to move on from the direction the conversation had gone.
"So do you maybe fancy getting a coffee with me some time?" Keith asked. "I mean, when we're not sat on the front of my car outside your house."
"Like a date?" Emma asked.
"If you want to label it, sure," the man said, smiling slightly.
"Um, I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Emma said after a pause. "I mean, what with your involvement with Regina's case and my friendship with her. I ... I think it would make things complicated. I'm sorry, Keith. I do like you but I don't think the timing is quite right."
"Fair enough," the man said. "Perhaps you could give me a call if you think the timing improves?"
"Sure," Emma nodded.
There was another pause, Keith wondering how his many years of experience whilst working as a detective had failed so spectacularly to read Emma and her feelings towards Regina. And himself.
"How long are you going to be out here this morning?" Emma asked as she finished her coffee.
"Someone is coming to relieve me in fifteen minutes," Keith replied. "I have some more paperwork from last night to finish and I wanted to go and reinterview the B and B owner too. There were some more questions I wanted to ask after seeing all the footage."
"Keep me in the loop?"
"Sure. And thanks for the coffee," Keith said as he handed over his now empty mug.
~
"Regina," Emma murmured after the sobs had finally quietened. "What happened? What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry," came the muffled reply.
Emma pulled back slightly, leaving her arm still looped over Regina's waist but allowing herself to look into the tear-stained which was now tilted up towards her.
"What are you sorry for?" Emma asked, her confusion mounting.
"For shouting at you. For accusing you of not caring. For saying all those things about Detective Nottingham. I know you like him and that's fine and -,"
"Woah, is this about me and Detective Nottingham?" Emma asked. "Do you think ... Regina, there's nothing going on between me and Keith."
The parallels between the two conversations of her morning were not lost on Emma.
"There's not?" Regina asked. "I mean, it would be fine if there was. I didn't mean it like that. I just ... I saw you two together and I figured you liked him."
"I do," Emma admitted, "but nothing is going on. In fact he asked me out for coffee earlier and I said no. Our lives are already complicated enough without me starting something between the lead investigator on your case. Besides, I'm not sure I like him enough anyway. I ... I've not dated anyone since Neal and Keith isn't even from around here. I don't think a long distance relationship would be the best way to start getting back out there, do you?"
"So, you and Keith -,"
"Are friends," Emma said firmly. "He's been sat outside all night because we both thought it would be the best thing for you. And I still do but if you want him gone, say the word. It's your life Regina, it's your soon to be ex-husband so however you want to play this, that's what we'll do."
"No, it's ok," Regina said. "I did feel slightly safer last night knowing he was there. It was only when I saw you two this morning that I -," She trailed off, not knowing quite what her excuse was or what it had to do with the scene between Emma and Keith she had witnessed this morning.
Emma rubbed her hand up and down Regina's side, bringing the woman back from wherever her mind had drifted to. "Hey, are you ready to go house hunting?"
"You want to come with me?" Regina asked.
"I'm pretty sure looking for places on your budget will be much more fun than it was when I came here," Emma grinned. "Plus what else am I going to do? Put off the pile of marking I've been avoiding all half term?"
~
Not only was house hunting much more fun when more money was involved but things also moved much faster too. One Saturday morning, four weeks later and as November was drawing to a close, Regina was handed the keys to her new house. She smiled as she waved off her estate agent and then turned around and hurried up the steps to her porch, the cold winter rain streaming off her coat.
Unlocking the heavy wooden door, she stepped inside and shut it quickly, the howl of the wind dying down at once. Bolting the door, she hung up her dripping coat in the utility room, stacked her wellington boots beside the door, and headed further into the cottage.
She had known the moment she walked through the door on her first viewing that this was where she was supposed to live. The spacious, kitchen cum dining room was equipped with beautiful, bespoke oak surfaces, the large Aga proudly framed in the centre of the rear wall. She ran her fingertips over the cold metal before bending down to fire it up. Rubbing her hands together, she wondered how long it would take for the warmth to seep into the cold stone walls. The house had been empty for months and if it was summer, Regina would have flung open the windows to air out the musty scent. As it was she settled for moving through to the homely living room and lighting the open fireplace. After five minutes, the flames were dancing high against the soot-covered walls, the logs crackling merrily as the familiar smell of pine filled her nostrils.
Sitting back on the new sofa, she glanced around the room. It was bare, unloved, and needed some personality. The exposed stone was beautiful and characterful but she couldn't wait to decorate it with paintings. Remembering the nude she had purchased in St Ives with Emma, Regina headed for the hall and began rummaging through the boxes. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. After all she didn't have much left. Robin had taken almost everything she had rescued from the house. With the framed painting in her hand, Regina returned to the living room. She tried it on one side of the fireplace, then the other, before finally settling for hanging it beside the door where she could look at it every time she left the room.
Returning to the hall, Regina bent to pick up a box and carried it up the curved wooden staircase. The master bedroom wasn't quite up to her standard yet, not least because her bed delivery had been delayed and she would be sleeping on a mattress borrowed from Emma for the next few days. But the previous owners had left an ornate, hardwood dresser and cupboard set so she began to unpack the few outfits she had bought, predominantly for work. As she hung up her last pencil skirt, her phone rang.
"Hey, where did you get to?" she asked, tucking the phone between her shoulder and ear as she continued her task.
"Henry overslept and now he wants to drop me off at Felix's because of the rain. I'm just leaving mine so I should be with you in twenty minutes."
"Ok," Regina. "Could you pick up some milk please?"
"Sure, anything else?"
"Teabags."
"Sorted."
"And some mugs."
"So basically you want a cup of tea and have literally nothing in the house?" Emma laughed.
"We may need to go shopping this afternoon," Regina chuckled.
"Fine by me. I've been wanting to check out how much I can fit in the boot of this new car and I'm betting you'll be buying a lot of stuff."
"Well I have to completely restock my kitchen," Regina protested.
"It's a good job I bought the Golf not the Polo isn't it," Emma quipped. "It's not like your car is at all practical for shopping."
"No, but it would beat yours in a drag race," Regina replied.
"Yes, because we so often go drag racing," Emma said.
"Shush. Just hurry up please. I'm dying for a cuppa."
"Yes, your majesty," Emma said before hanging up the phone and calling for her son to get a move on.
~
Emma and Regina collapsed on the sofa side by side later that evening. The shopping trip had taken hours but now Regina's kitchen cupboards were fit for a professional chef. Emma hadn't even realised there were quite so many different kinds of pans, and it took the brunette at least an hour to choose which knife block she wanted. Now however, the old farm cottage was neat and tidy with all of Regina's sparse possessions unpacked.
"I still can't believe you bought this place," Emma said, looking around the beautiful room, cosy with the warmth of the fire. "It's literally gorgeous."
"It is far more my taste than Mifflin Street ever was," Regina smiled. "And my father would have loved it. He'd be so glad I was spending my inheritance on a proper country home."
"He'd be proud of you," Emma said.
They hadn't spoken much about Regina's father. The subject was still tender as he had only died the previous year. Emma had been relieved to find out that the man, who had been a high flying lawyer in London, had left his only daughter a generous amount of money in a trust only accessible by her. Robin had never known the money had existed, otherwise Emma was sure the brunette would have been in a far worse financial position than she currently was. Much to the annoyance of Regina's disapproving, city loving mother, the inheritance had allowed Regina to live mortgage free despite having relinquished all of the finances tied to her marriage. It was the only way to make the divorce go through quickly without Robin present. Regina had insisted she didn't want any of the money earned through his crimes anyway.
"I wish he could have seen this place," Regina sighed. "My father loved the countryside and he always wished we could have lived outside of the city. I so badly wanted a horse when I was growing up but my mother refused to be anywhere near even a speck of mud. She hated how I spent my weekends down at the stables as a child. As soon as I left home to go to university, she forced my father to move into London where his law firm was. She had only stayed in Kent so long because neither of them wanted to interrupt my schooling. I doubt she'll ever come and visit me down here. Not that I'm complaining," she added.
"Really?" Emma asked. "I want to meet her."
"Why?"
"I'd just be curious," she shrugged. "I'd like to meet one half of the pair who helped make one of my best friends."
"You're sweet," Regina said. "But foolish. Trust me, my mother is not someone you want to spend time with."
"Well my fellow Oxford alumni would probably say the same about you," Emma joked.
Regina laughed. "That is a good point. Although, looking around here right now, you wouldn't know I spent a good six years of my life buried under a mountain of books in various Cambridge libraries. I really need to replenish my book collection so I can start filling those shelves." Her eyes drifted to the enclaves on either side of the fireplace where several wooden shelves had been carefully built into the walls.
"Speaking of which."
Emma jumped up from the sofa and disappeared into the hallway. Frowning, Regina sipped her wine as she waited for her friend to return. Which she did, bounding in a few seconds later with her hands behind her back.
"What's that?" she asked suspiciously.
"A housewarming present," Emma grinned, holding out the large, wrapped gift.
The fact that it was a book was obvious. Regina took the rectangular package and placed it in her lap. Emma fidgeted impatiently next to her as the brunette took her time carefully sliding her fingertip beneath the tape so as not to rip the wrapping paper.
"Oh hurry up!" Emma laughed as Regina turned the book in her lap to get a better angle at a particularly stubborn bit of tape.
"I like the paper," she protested. "It's pretty."
"Then next time I'll just buy you a roll of wrapping paper," Emma joked.
At last the paper fell to the floor. Regina stared at the book for a moment before looking at Emma who was trying to stop herself from giggling. It wasn't working and seconds later peels of laughter sounded from the walls. Despite the joke being at her expense, Regina felt her heart swell at the sound.
"Thanks," Regina chuckled, laying aside the copy of Introduction to Geography and rolling her eyes at her friend who was still wetting herself laughing.
"I got you something else too," Emma said after she had managed to regain control over herself.
"Do I want it?" Regina asked.
"So ungrateful," Emma smirked, pulling a second, and much larger book-shaped gift from behind the sofa and thrusting it into Regina's lap.
This time the paper was ripped from the book in seconds and Regina let out a little cry of joy.
"Oh Emma! Where did you find these?"
"I googled a lot," the blonde shrugged. "Do you like them?"
Regina looked up at Emma and the younger woman was alarmed to see tears in her friend's brown eyes.
"Oh Emma, I love them! Thank you!"
They hugged for a long time, the books slipping between them on the sofa.
"I can't believe you found them," Regina said, picking up each tome in turn and opening them. "And they're all first editions? Emma, no, this is too much! I can't accept this."
"Of course you can," Emma smiled. "I know how sad you were when Robin took your last set and I'm so proud of how you've moved on with your life. I think you deserve a little gift."
"A little gift?" Regina repeated. "This is the complete set of Michel Foucault. This must be thousands of pounds worth of book. Emma, I really can't."
"You really can," Emma smiled. "Rose and Ruby chipped in by the way. I think they're still trying to make up for not noticing anything was wrong sooner. Plus look at all that space on the bookshelves you need to fill. If it'll make you feel any better, why don't you thank me by throwing a house warming party?"
"How will me throwing a house warming party be a gift to you?"
"Because I won't have to clean or get ready for it and I'll get to spend time with you and our friends," Emma reasoned.
"Deal," Regina grinned. "But you're not allowed to buy me a Christmas present either."
Emma's cheeks went a little red.
"You've bought me one already?" Regina whined.
"I was googling a lot when I was trying to buy these books and I just came across a few things I couldn't resist," Emma reasoned. "Honestly, I'm not usually this organised."
Regina huffed. "Fine, I'll throw a party to thank you for my extravagant present but you have to promise not to bring any alcohol or food. Deal?"
"Deal," Emma grinned. "Now, where do you want to hang your divorce certificate?"
With another flourish, the blonde pulled a large, ornate gold frame from behind the cushion. Regina momentarily wondered when the grinning woman had time to hide these things all over her house before she collapsed in a fit of giggles.
~
We're getting close, I promise!