Emma returns

1

Regina didn't know what she was expecting when she entered her house after coming back from having a date night with Robin, but, she certainly didn't expect to see Evie curled into Emma's side on her sofa while Emma played with her hair, and they watched Harry Potter together.

They hadn't noticed her yet, so she just took some time to observe them. She and Emma didn't speak anymore. It had been four years now since they had last had a civil conversation, and she had been unaware that Evie and Emma had gotten to know each other and especially to the point that they were comfortable enough to cuddle together.

Regina wasn't a very affectionate person, apart from with Henry. She very seldom cuddled with Robin, and when she did, it was because he initiated it, so she had just assumed Evie would be the same, but clearly, she was wrong.

She briefly wondered how they had gotten to the point of being friends; Emma was very rarely seen in town and chose to hide out in Jefferson's old mansion that had been abandoned when he went back to wonderland with grace.

Evie, even though she now shared some of Regina's lightness, still hadn't been entirely accepted by the townspeople, so she tended to keep to herself, and the only other two people Regina had ever seen her with were Zelena and Mal.

She was yanked out of her thoughts when she heard Evie's low voice. 'Do you really find her attractive?' She asked as she looked up at Emma's face. Regina was sure she heard a hint of jealousy, but then dismissed it a second later because that was absurd, wasn't it?

Emma looked down at her with a smirk. 'Well, she is kind of hot, in a psychotic murderer type of way, and those dresses look incredible on her.' Regina heard Evie scoff before Emma raised an eyebrow at her.

'My clothes from the Enchanted Forest were a hell of a lot hotter than hers, and I was way more psychotic, only I didn't murder children.' Evie crossed her arms over her chest. 'Nobody likes a child killer, Emma,' she pouted with a slight whine.

Regina was quite flabbergasted. She had never seen her other half act so comfortable around another person; even with Regina and Henry, she was pretty closed off and muted, and the only reaction Robin got out of her was a few sneers here and there, and that was on a good day the rest of the time she snapped at him or pretended he didn't exist. It was odd to see her being her true self, with no masks or walls up.

Regina herself had found no one that made her feel comfortable enough to truly be herself around, to let go and let her true self flourish. There was someone a while ago that had come pretty damn close to seeing her completely exposed and vulnerable, but then life happened, and now Regina keeps those memories locked away in the back of her mind just like she does with her feelings for that person, locked safely away where they wouldn't hurt anyone.

Emma let out a soft chuckle at Evie's petulant face and moody posture. 'Is that jealousy I detect, my majesty?' she teased, making Evie scowl at her, though she didn't deny the accusation. 'If it'll make you feel better, then I'll tell you right now that you're ten times hotter than Bellatrix Lestrange is.' She smirked mischievously as she leaned down to whisper in Evie's ear. 'I'd much prefer to wake up with you in my bed.'

Emma wasn't actually very good at whispering, and Regina heard precisely what she'd said, and it took all of her self-control not to gasp out loud. She was so glad Robin had decided to stay in the Rabbit Hole for a few more drinks with Killian.

Regina watched in something akin to horror as a face that was almost identical to her own blushed a deep shade of red before Evie leaned in and-

'Reg,' yelled Robin as he stumbled through the front door with Killian right behind him, making Regina cringe at the volume of his voice.