The Chance Encounter

part seventeen

The left outfits are Reginas and the right is Emma's

Regina’s POV

I’m meeting Emma in forty minutes at our spot for some star gazing, but after I’m going to invite her to the castle to spend the night. I find a casual outfit for our outing and I get dressed. I let Edward know I’m healing out, even though he no longer needs to cover for me anymore. I grab some blankets for us and hop on Rocinante. We trot through the forest to our spot and reach there 10 minutes early. I quickly set up the blankets and our snacks, then waited a few minutes for Emma to arrive.

“Hey baby, how was your day?” she asks and kisses me softly.

“Same as always babe, except today I’ll let you take me back to the castle.”

“Really? Yes! I finally get to ride with you back to the castle.” she says with excitement.

We cuddle and stare at the stars for a few hours talking about everything and yet nothing. Before it starts to get too late, we clean up and start heading towards the castle side by side holding hands. When we finally reach the castle, we dismount the horses and kiss goodbye.

Before Emma leaves, I call out for her. “Wait, Babe!”

“Yes, baby?” Emma calls out, as she quickly comes to a stop and turns back around.

“It’s late and dark. How about you just stay the night here and you can go back in the morning.”

“Sure, Baby. Where should I leave Cookie?”

“Just follow me. There’s an empty stall next to Rocinante that she can spend the night in.”

We take Cookie to the stall and get her settled in. Then we walked back to the castle hand in hand.

“Babe, just keep going straight until you reach the hall and turn left. Go into the room on the first door to the left when you turn into the hallway and wait for me there. I’ll be there in a little, I just need to do something first.”

“Got it. See you in a bit.” she says.

I head towards where Edward should be and let him know I’m back. I would’ve done this with Emma, but I would be teased endlessly if he knew Emma was staying the night in my room.

Emma’s POV:

She said keep going straight until I reach the hall, turn left, and there’s a door on the left to go into.

“Emma, it’s nice to see you again. Hopefully we can chat.” Cora says.

“It’s nice to see you again, as well. I’m sure we’ll be able to talk soon.” I say. She nods her head and I continue to walk towards Regina’s room. Ah, right here. I open the door to a bedroom. Her room. It’s not what I expected it to be. Her bed is dark red. The fireplace is lit up on the far left of her room. Above the fireplace is a small shelf filled with books. In front of the fireplace she has a comfy sofa. There’s also some more books on her nightstand with two candles. The right side of her bedroom has a balcony with a rope ladder hanging down. There’s a tree growing on the balcony. Her wardrobe is across from her bed. After looking around and getting familiar with the room, Regina walks in.

“Hey. Sorry about that, babe. Even though Edward no longer has to cover for us, I still tell him where I’m going. I would have taken you with me, but I probably would have been eternally teased if he found out you’re staying the night with me, here.”

“It’s all good, baby. We should probably change, then you can tell me about how much of a bookworm you are.”

“Oh yeah, you don’t have any clothes here. Do you want to pick something from my wardrobe?”

“Sure. Oh and I saw your mom in the hallway earlier.” I looked through her wardrobe, finding the night-gowns past her clothes. “Do you only wear night gowns?”

“You did? Was she rude to you? And, yes, I do. They’re actually really comfortable.”

“Not at all. She was pleasant.

I continue to look through her night-gowns and eventually find a baggy one. I grab that one and go get changed out of my riding clothes. She does the same thing after and we both sit down.

“How many books do you have?” I ask.

“Too many to keep track of, and before you ask, I read most of them. The ones above the fireplace are my favorite. The ones on my nightstand are what I’m currently reading.

“I just thought of a new nickname for you.”

“Why do I have a feeling it's going to be book related?” She giggles. “Go ahead, babe. Tell me.”

“Well, you were right. You’re now my little bookworm”

“It’s actually kind of cute, and I knew it was coming.”

“Well, my little bookworm, I am tired. I know you are too. Let’s go to sleep. Good night, Baby. I love you.”

“Good night, Love. I love you too.”

“Wait a minute, where’d that come from?”

“Well, if you’re going to call me your little bookworm, I’m going to call you ‘love’.”

“I do love that name, so I guess you’re keeping ‘my little bookworm’.

We both lay down and try to sleep. Regina falls asleep first. Just when I was about to fall asleep, she puts her leg over mine and wraps her arms around me, then lays her head on my chest. Aww, she’s a cuddler. I put my arm over her back and go to sleep.

Regina’s POV:

I wake up hearing Edward saying that it’s time for breakfast. He’s knocking louder to wake me up, then I realize I am sleeping on Emma’s chest with my leg on top of her and my arms around her. She has her arm around my back. I look up at her face, she looks so beautiful when she sleeps. I admire her for a moment, then I hear Edward knocking louder. I untangle myself from Emma and answer the door.

“I’ll be right there, I just need to get dressed. One second.”

I tried to close the door, but Edward already saw Emma.

“I see you had company last night. I want the tea later. Tell her to wake up and you both go see Cora. She wanted to see her again anyway.”

“Alright, give me five minutes to wake her up and get ready.”

I close the door and go to wake up Emma, but she’s already up. “It’s time for breakfast, love. And, Cora wants to see you. Go splash some water on your face, brush your hair, and I'll pick out an outfit for you to wear.”

I don’t think she’ll like a dress. I grab a lavender suit and lay it on the bed for her. Then I found a dark green dress and put it on. Emma grabs the clothes and puts them on. Of course she looks absolutely stunning.

“Wow. You look beautiful. But, we can’t make Cora and Snow wait any longer. Let’s go, love.”

We walk down to the dining hall where we see Cora in a blue dress and Snow in a pink dress.

“Emma, you’ve met my mother already. This little ray of sunshine over here is Snow. Snow, this is Emma.

“It’s nice to meet you, Emma.”

We all sit and eat breakfast together.

“Well, Emma. Come back soon. It would be nice to see you again.” Cora says after we finish eating.

I ask Emma to follow me and I take her to the stables. We grab our horses and I tell her to follow my lead. Then, I take her to my flower field. We lay down a blanket to sit on and just enjoy the sun. After about an hour, Emma says she has to go before her parents get worried. We ride back to her house and I hug her goodbye.

“I love you, my little bookworm.”

“I love you too, love.” I kiss her softly and then start my ride back to the castle.

A/n thanks for reading!