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Chapter Twelve: Operation Cheetah-Day Thirteen

Rewritten: 13/08/2020
Updated: 16/03/2021

Like most days, Emma made her way to Granny's on her lunch break. Ruby knew her usual order, but Emma added a salad and two bottles of water which raised some questions from the redhead. She waited at the counter and chatted to Ruby while her order was being made in the kitchen, dodging all the questions she had about her personal life.

"So," Ruby drawled, "Girls night is tonight. Are you coming?"

Emma raised a brow at the question; she was still mentally scarred from the last girls night out she had been dragged on. Images in her mind of Ruby running naked through the park stark naked made her shudder.

"Come on," Ruby pleaded, "You have literally nothing else going on."

"I'm probably just gonna hang with Regina and Henry."

Ruby groaned, "Forgot you were shacked up with Regina now."

Emma laughed, "It's not a bad thing, you know."

Ruby heard Emma's order number being shouted from the kitchen and turned to grab the order for the blonde. She handed over the brown paper bag and then slammed two bottles of water in front of her.

"If you're gonna twist my arm–"

Emma grabbed the bag, "I'm doing no arm twisting."

"I miss hanging with you, so please come," she pleaded, "Regina can come too. Henry can stay with David."

"I'll think about it," Emma said as she turned to leave the diner.

"You don't even eat your lunch with me any more, Swan, you owe me that at least."

Emma ignored Ruby as she left the diner. She climbed into her bug and drove the short distance to the mansion. She felt terrible, she had entirely abandoned her friends to spend more time with Regina, but she didn't want them to be just her friends; she wanted them to be Regina's too.

Emma climbed out of the bug, heading to the mansion; she didn't need to knock on the door any more because she knew Regina was expecting her. When she entered the mansion, she saw Regina sitting on the sofa, book in hand.

"I brought food," she put the brown bags down on the side table before sitting down next to the brunette.

Regina marked her page and set the book down, and then leaned over to Emma and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "Grilled cheese?"

Emma laughed, "For me, yes. But for you, a chicken salad with dressing on the side."

Regina took the salad, "You eat like a child."

Emma flashed Regina her best smile before taking the biggest bite out of the grilled cheese she could.

In between eating, the women made conversation; it was mainly about Henry because Regina had avoided talking about Emma wanting to leave. She still had no idea what the blonde wanted to do, and it pained her. Occasionally Regina asked questions about Emma's past; she was careful of what she asked because she knew the blondes childhood was rough, and she didn't want to cause her any more pain than she already had. Emma had answered her questions most of the time, but she avoided a few, which was understandable to Regina because she had some skeletons in her own closet.

When one-thirty rolled around, Emma knew she had to get back to work. She only had a few hours left on her shift before she could head home for the night. She gathered the trash from the takeout, putting it in the brown bag everything had come in.

"I'll see you later?" Emma asked.

Regina nodded, placing a kiss on Emma's lips before she could leave. "I'll see you for dinner?"