The Heart That Beats For Her

Chapter Sixteen

Since the Fourth of July, something seemed to have shifted in the air between Regina and Emma. Long gone is the apprehension of what is or isn't appropriate for their friendship. Now, they are honest, sometimes brutally honest with one another. They never shy away from the truth that needs to be spoken, but they both understand it's for their best interest to heal and move forward.

Still, not a day has gone by where they haven't been texting or calling one another. Their conversations flowed so easily, never a moment of questioning on what they could possibly talk about next. They shared every detail of every day, nothing too pointless or meaningless to divulge with one another.

Emma's parents, well, mostly her mother, expressed her concern regarding how much time she was spending with Regina. Which has steadily been increasing week by week, but Emma always brushes off the worry, reminding her mother that she sees Ruby just as often. Well, she used to. Her mother also voiced her opinion about the cuddling, yet Emma was quick to deflect, using Ruby once again as a defense. Her mother has walked in on Ruby cuddling against Emma thousands of times and never once did Mary Margret flinch. Her mother was quick with her rebuttal though, claiming that Ruby has been Emma's best friend since kindergarten and there was never any attraction between them.

Emma usually tries to bullshit her way after that before she runs away to hide.

Ruby is almost as bad as Mary Margret, constantly asking who Emma is texting and poking at her blushing cheeks whenever Regina's name is said out loud. Her best friend also likes to point out that even Jamie didn't make Emma swoon like Regina. She has tried on several occasions to vocalize her concerns as well, assuming Regina is still mourning and probably thinks of her husband when with Emma.

And Emma usually shuts down that conversation rather quickly and Ruby almost always backs down from how feisty Emma becomes over Regina.

It's not like Emma spends every waking moment with the woman. Actually, she has been busy as of lately, thanks to Robin and Alice showing off her photographs. It's summertime, which means it's prime time for weddings and special events and Emma has been hot on everyone's list. So, her weekends have been completely booked with work, which is fantastic.

During the week, she focuses on her group meetings with other transplant patients, she continues to maintain a balance with her exercise and is also working hard on getting herself noticed by a gallery. She spends a lot of her free time snapping pictures, because lately, she feels more inspired than ever before with a certain brunette muse by her side. Sometimes, those pictures are just for her, but there are times that she does share and post them to her Instagram. And Emma's Instagram seems to blow up every time she posts a picture of her favorite model.

So really, she only sees Regina maybe three times a week. Sometimes, she will call and ask Regina to meet her for dinner. Other times, when Regina's mind is ecstatic about her little project, that she still won't tell Emma about, she will wake up extra early and call Emma to meet for breakfast. They have also visited the drive-in another two more times. Some nights, Emma will call and ask about a movie night and little by little they are ticking some popular titles off the must-see-list. So, it's not that much.

All of that went on through July.

When August hit, Regina started to see a therapist about her nightmares, because calling Emma every night when she woke up in a cold sweat or hoping Emma could stay the night to chase those demons away, it just wasn't working anymore. She had to face her past head on and so, she finally relented.

She sees Dr. Archie Hopper twice a week and he is helping her cope. She still has nightmares of the accident, more and more pieces of the night slowly coming back to her. Sometimes, she also dreams of a time that Dr. Hopper believes is from when she was in the coma. Luckily, they aren't nearly as frequent as they once were.