Blue Valentine

Before Emma left Storybrook for the week she decided to stop by Granny’s, grab a bite to eat, maybe see her friend Ruby. She needed a pick-me-up after what happened at Regina's. In retrospective it was a little bit her own fault, she knew better than crossing that line.

"You're looking kind of rough tonight." Ruby said to Emma as soon as she sat down on the stool. "And I got just the thing for you." She said with a smile as she handed Emma a cup of hot cocoa.

"Thank you, Ruby." Emma said. "I really appreciate it."

"So…you want to talk about it?" Ruby said as she sat next to Emma.

"Talk about what?" Emma asked after enjoying the first sip of hot cocoa.

"About whatever it is that is bothering you." Ruby said as she gently wiped some whipped cream off of Emma's top lip. "Regina?"

"You are correct." Emma said. "I swear that woman will be the death of me. Don't ever get married Ruby, marriage is evil." Ruby let a small laugh when they heard the door open.

"I'm guessing this is a bad time?" Mary Margaret said as she walked into the diner.

"Hey!" Emma said as she stood up to give her former roommate a warm hug. "How have you been?"

"I've been doing great." Mary Margaret said as she joined Ruby and Emma. "How about you? I feel like I haven't seen you in ages.""I know. It's been way too long." Emma said with a smile. Mary Margaret had a certain warmth to her that made Emma feel at ease around her. It was nice to be able to let her guard down for a chance. "I was made partner at my firm last month so things have been really busy."

"Look at you Ms. Big Shot Lawyer." Mary Margaret said. "We're very proud of you." Ruby nodded in agreement.

"Thank you." Emma said with a slight blush.

"I bet Henry is super proud." Ruby said.

"He- He doesn't know, I haven't told them." Emma said taking another sip from her cocoa.

"Why not?" Mary Margaret asked.

"I don't know…." Emma said. "It hasn't come up I guess."

"So marriage is evil. Why?" Mary Margaret asked. She had big news to share but didn't want to just spring it on her friends. She wanted to test the waters and see what the mood in the room was.

"Its nothing, I'm a bitter divorcee who has to deal with custody arrangements." Emma said. "What's going on with you, you're looking extra chipper tonight."

"I- I'm- I'm engaged!" Mary Margaret burst out loud.

"Holy shit." "Oh my god!" Both Emma and Ruby said at the same time.

"That's- that's –" Emma failed to find the words.

"That's amazing!" Ruby said as she hugged Mary Margaret giving Emma a stern look. "I'm so happy for you! Let me see the ring." Mary Margaret shyly showed her the tasteful diamond ring that David, her now fiancée, had put on her finger just hours earlier. "Its gorgeous."

"Congratulations." Emma said sounding sincerely as she gave her friend a hug. "I'm really happy for you."

"Thank you." Mary Margaret said. "To the both of you, your support means the world to me."

"On that note, I should get going, I have work early tomorrow and I have a long drive ahead of me." Emma said before she hugged her friends goodbye.

"Visit more often, you're missed around here, Emma." Ruby said after Emma gave her a hug.

"I'll try." Emma said with a nostalgic smile. Looking into Ruby's eager, happy eyes it hit her how she not only left behind a wife and a son in Storybrook but how she also left behind the best friends she has ever had. It really made her miss her old life in this small town.

"I'll walk you to your car." Mary Margaret offered.

They silently walked over to where Emma's car was parked. Emma sensed that Mary Margaret had something on her mind but she didn't mention anything until her friend decided to break the comfortable silence.

"I- we- David and I, we're having an engagement party." Mary Margaret blurted out.

"That's what engaged people usually do." Emma said with a dry chuckle.

"Since you moved out of Storybrook a lot has changed, Emma." MaryMargaret said with a look of compassion in her eyes. Emma hated being on the receiving end of that look.

"So I've noticed." Emma said as started playing with her keys. She didn't like where this conversation was heading.

"David has been working over at the Sheriff's station and David and Graham have become really good friends." Mary Margaret started to explain but Emma was getting impatient.

"Where are you going with this?" Emma asked.

"Graham will be at the party and…" Mary Margaret said but was rudely interrupted by Emma.

"And he is dating Regina so he'll be there playing house with my wife and my kid." Emma finished the sentence for her.

"I didn't mean it like that, Emma." Mary Margaret said with a glance that looked an awful lot like pity. "I just want you to be prepared, I know you still have some unresolved issues with Regina and I didn't know you knew about her and Graham and I just- I wanted to make sure you knew."

"There's nothing between Regina and I. We are divorced we share a kid. Nothing more nothing less." Emma said with bitterness in her voice. "What she does with her life is none of my business, not anymore."

"I'm sorry, Emma…" Mary Margaret said when she found herself at a loss for words. She knew Emma wasn't one for expressing her feelings but deep inside those bluish-greenish eyes she could see how much she did care and how much she was still hurting.

"Don't be." Emma said before she got in her car and drove away.

**************

On Monday morning Emma woke up extra early so she could have time to call Henry just like she told Regina she would. She still hasn't completely processed the fact that Regina was seeing someone new. She didn't want to think about what that really meant.

"Good morning." Regina answered the phone in her Mayoral voice.

"Can you put Henry on?" Emma said curtly.

"Hello to you too, Miss Swan." Regina said just as curtly.

"Are you going to put Henry on yes or no?" Emma asked not having any time for Regina's shit.

"Hey, mom!" Henry said and she could tell he had his mouthful.

"Hey, kid. Sorry I left without saying a proper goodbye." Emma said. "You left some of your books here and some of your video games too, I was thinking that maybe I could go to Storybrook on Wednesday and give them to you."

"Awesome!" Henry said. "Can you check if I left my Spiderman comic there? I can't find it anywhere."

"Sure, I'll check for you." Emma said. "If you like we could go for some ice cream on Wednesday after you're done with school."

"Of course. I'll tell mom not to pick me up." Henry said excitedly.

"Ok, talk to her and let her known our plans for Wednesday." Emma said. "I'll see you then, have a good day at school." Even after two years it felt weird to send off Henry to school via phone call.

"I'll tell her. Have a good day at work." Henry said. "Eat all your veggies."

"Don't mock me, kid." Emma said with a silent smile. "I have to go now. Be good for your teacher.

"Be good for your boss. I love you, mom." Henry said with certain sadness in his voice. Emma felt guilty at the change of tone in her son's voice.

"I love you more, Henry." Emma said before Henry ended the call.

***********

Emma decided to work from home; she didn't have any meetings scheduled for the day so she didn't see the point in getting dressed and going over to the office. She was hard at work reading up on some cases when her phone began to ring, when she saw it was Regina she debated with herself whether to answer the call or not. She didn't want to deal with ex-wife Regina but ex-wife Regina was also mother of her son Regina so whether she liked it or not she had to answer the call.

"This better be important." Emma answered her phone.

"Good afternoon to you too. Were you raised in a jungle? I sure hope those are not the manners you are imparting onto my son." Regina said.

"Is there a point to this call?" Emma asked. "Some of us have to work for a living. Especially me, given the fact that I'm stuck paying alimony to my bitch of an ex-wife."

"Was that really called for?" Regina asked. Even though she was used to this kind of banter with Emma it still hurt when she called her names.

"I'm sorry. I'm not having a good day." Emma said. "What can I help you with?" she said with a softer tone of voice.

"It seems that Henry left his science book in your apartment." Regina began to explain.

"I know. He left a bunch of his stuff, I'm bringing it to him on Wednesday." Emma said.

"Could I please finish a sentence without being rudely interrupted by you?" Regina asked.

"Please go ahead." Emma said exhausted.

"Henry has a science test on Thursday and he needs his book to study. It just so happens that I have a meeting out of town today and I'm able to go to Boston so if you're willing to meet… we can." Regina said.

"Sure, I'll text you my address." Emma said.

"I know where you work, dear." Regina said. "I assume you'll be at your office?"

"Your assumption, Ms. Mills, is incorrect. I'm working from home today." Emma said. "I'll be here all day so you can just come over whenever."

Regina smiled at the playful banter; she missed that from her relationship with Emma. Emma was like a kid trapped in the body of a very attractive adult, and she liked to act like she was irritated by the childish behavior but deep down she found it endearing, even if she only ever admitted it to herself.

"Very well then, I'll see you soon." Regina said sounding very formal. "Have a good day."

"Yeah, you too." Emma said before she ended the call.

***********

Around mid afternoon Regina found herself hypnotized by the view Emma's apartment had to offer.

"Can I get you anything?" Emma asked awkwardly. Having Regina in her apartment wasn't something she'd ever expected to happen therefore she didn't know how to act.

"This place is not at all what I imagined." Regina murmured ignoring Emma's question. "Maybe your bitch of an ex-wife should ask for a raise in her alimony."

"Ha ha ha." Emma said dryly. "Maybe she shouldn't because she already fucked me over enough in the settlement."

"It is not my fault I had a better lawyer than you." Regina said with a shrug.

"So you're a better lawyer than I am? That's what you're saying?" Emma asked with a smirk. They've had this debate since they met in Law School all those years ago. They have always debated over every single thing. It used to fuel their passion for each other. But ever since Regina decided to run for Mayor things started to change. They no longer had cases to discuss and elections, voters and council meeting and Henry seemed to monopolize all topics of conversation between them. Maybe that's when things started to go wrong.

"Take it however you want, dear." Regina said as she took a step closer to Emma.

"I made partner." Emma blurted out.

"That's- congratulations, Emma. I know that's what you've always wanted." Regina said. "When did it happen?" Regina was truly happy for Emma and inside she was gushing with pride and fighting the urge to wrap her arms around Emma.

"Last month. I was working a big case and I was in charge of the team, when we won I got the raise." Emma said with a smile.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Regina asked.

"I- I don't know." Emma answered truthfully. "I was going to but then we had that fight about that PTA meeting and I just- I guess I forgot about it."

"Oh." Regina said.

"But don't worry, this month Henry's child support will reflect the raise and so will your alimony check." Emma said. "So no need to go to the judge."

"I wasn't- I didn't even think of that." Regina said. "I'm really happy for you, Emma." She said as her hand came up to gently stroke Emma's cheek. "I'm proud of you."

"Thank you." Emma said her voice breaking just so. She couldn't handle the closeness so she took Regina's hand in hers before she took a step back to have more personal space. "I- I worked really hard for it."

"I know. You deserve it." Regina said with a smile. After a beat Regina realized that it was getting late and she didn't want to overstay her welcome. "It's getting late, I don't want to intrude so I better get going."

"You're not intruding." Emma said. "I'm glad you're here."

"Henry will worry if I don't get home before it gets too late." Regina said as she walked over to grab the book she came here for.

"You never answered my question." Emma said as she followed close behind Regina.

"Which was…?" Regina asked, as she turned around suddenly trapped between the table and Emma.

"Does he make you happy?" Emma asked. "Is he good to you?"

"He is good to me." Regina answered.

"Does he make you happy?" Emma asked again this time completely pinning Regina against the table.

"Emma…" Regina said her eyes drifting off to Emma's lips. "You- you can't do this." She said as she pushed Emma away.

"I really miss you." Emma said looking to Regina's eyes.

"Now you miss me?" Regina said with a slight hint of anger in her voice. "We're divorced now. I'm in a happy, loving relationship with someone else and now you miss me."

"You weren't in a happy, loving relationship last night when we were fucking." Emma said her voice laced with bitterness.

"What happened last night was a mistake that will not be repeated." Regina said with conviction. "And must you be so vulgar?"

"Yeah, I do because you fucking infuriate me sometimes." Emma said.

"I infuriate you? You infuriate me." Regina said her face dangerously close to Emma's.

*************

"We have to stop doing this. I mean it this time." Regina said as she sat up in Emma's bed.

"So you didn't mean it the last time you said it?" Emma asked just to tease her.

"Shut up." Regina said as she picked up her underwear from the floor.

"I could really go for ice cream right now…" Emma mentioned. "Do you want some ice cream?"

"No, I do not want ice cream." Regina said with a roll of her eyes as she buttoned up her shirt.

"I don't know how you can be so hostile after the mind blowing orgasm I just gave you." Emma hummed.

"I'd hardly call that mind blowing." Regina said.

"I have scratches on my back that would argue to the contrary." Emma said. Regina on her part continued dressing silently. "Regina…come on…don't give me the silent treatment." Regina just sat on the side of the bed with her back to Emma. "I'm sorry." Emma said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't." Regina said removing Emma's hand and turning around to face her. "We can't end up in bed every time we have an argument. This has to end."

"You're right, you're right." Emma said. "Are you going to tell Graham?"

"I- I honestly don't know." Regina said looking conflicted.

"Don't." Emma said as she began to get dressed herself. "Not if you're not completely sure. Once you say it you cant take it back."

"I'll keep that in mind." Regina said as she stood up from the bed. "I'll let myself out."

"You might want to retouch your make up before you get home." Emma said before Regina was out of the bedroom. "Especially the make up covering the marks on your neck. You wouldn't want anyone noticing those."

"I'll also keep that in mind." Regina said before she was out of the door.