Stay

Chapter One

Re-written: 13/08/2020
Updated: 16/03/2021

It had been just over two weeks since the naming ceremony for her younger brother at Granny's Diner and over three since she had been back from the enchanted forest with Hook. Everything seemed to be going fine for everyone but her; Snow and Charming were adjusting to parenthood. Henry was back in school and seemed to be excelling in his work. Regina was busy getting ready to hand the mayors office over to Snow.

The only one that didn't seem to be doing so well was Emma. She had been living with her parents in the attic, and since Neal had been born, she hadn't had a single night where she had slept peacefully. Most nights, she just laid there and took the screaming, but on nights like tonight, she had to get out of there.

It was currently one AM, and she was sitting on the curb outside Regina's house. She had been contemplating asking if she could crash there for the night because she knew it would be the last place her parents would look for her. Still, it was late, and she didn't want to disturb her, but she knew there were only so many nights she could sleep in her car; she was thankful that it was nearing the end of summer, so the nights were still relatively warm in their small town.

She took a long sip from her bottle of rum, wincing at the after-taste; if there was one positive thing she could say about Hook, it was that he had good taste in liquor, everything else about him just repulsed her, and she hated that her parents liked the idea of dating him.

Looking up at the sky, she couldn't believe what a beautiful night it was; it was one of the things she loved most about being out of the city; the skies were so much clearer throughout the night. She looked for all the different constellations that Henry had been teaching her when she saw it; a shooting star.

"Make a wish, Ms Swan."

The voice behind her startled her, and Emma almost dropped her liquor. She turned slightly to see who the voice belonged to. "Regina?"

"I was just heading to bed, and I saw you from my room. I just wanted to check if you were okay," Regina said with a smile. "Now make a wish before I make one for you."

Emma wasn't the kind of person to make wishes on shooting stars. She had done it all her life as a child while being in the system; none of them had ever come true. The only wish that had ever come true for her was the one she made on her 28th birthday, and Henry had turned up on her doorstep.

I wish I could get a decent nights sleep, she thought to herself.

Regina pulled her robe around her to keep the cold out and took a seat next to Emma. She was curious about why the blonde was sitting outside her home in the middle of the night when she had a perfectly good bedroom at her parent's house.

"What did you wish for?" she asked.

Emma nudged Regina with her shoulder, "If I tell you then it won't come true," she laughed meekly.

Emma held up the almost empty bottle of rum as an offering to the brunette. She knew she exclusively drank wine or her apple cider, so she was surprised when Regina took the bottle. She watched as Regina drank from the bottle and laughed when the brunette grimaced at the taste.

"How is he?" Emma tilted her head back towards the mansion, "Henry, I mean."

"He's fine, in bed. He's been working hard on his science project."

"Yeah, I figured. He tried roping me into helping him, but I had no clue what he was talking about."

"I called his science teacher to send over the lesson plan, just so I looked like I knew something so I could help him," Regina confessed. Her schooling had been very different in the enchanted forest, and she hated to admit that she didn't know what Henry was talking about most of the time.