You and Tequila

Chapter Sixteen

"Hey, how did the show go?" Mary Margaret asks the moment Emma tumbles through the door, exhausted as ever and appearing like she just faced three rounds in the ring against Muhammad Ali. "Honey, you look awful."

"Thanks, you really are the best mom ever," Emma sarcastically quips with an exaggerated wink that clearly says, f-you.

"What happened?"

"Nothing really happened." Emma groans when she kicks off Ruby's dressy boots and almost falls straight to the ground, but she catches herself with the very strategically placed wall. "I just didn't really sleep well on the bus and then we spent all day in the sun while I carried around a sack of twenty-five pounds...I'm just drained." Emma exhales every last drop of oxygen from her lungs as she falls carelessly to the couch. "I don't know how the fuck Regina looked so composed and chipper tonight."

Tired green eyes slip away from the never-ending day just as she rests her head against the back of the couch. Then she feels the comfort of her mother's palm gently patting her knee.

"I'm sure Regina was on a high from taking a break from her career and losing herself in an actual public outing for once."

Emma smiles, so very proud of herself for sneaking Regina away and gifting the greatest present, a day where she could actually be herself and enjoy life. Emma noticed right away how once Regina finally relaxed a little bit, she was actually smiling. A genuine smile that consumed her entire face and warmed Emma's heart into chocolatey goo.

"I think she really enjoyed Henry," she hums, her head sliding down the couch to rest on her mother's inviting shoulder.

"Well, who wouldn't?" The proud grandmother gushes which only generates a sappy grin to spread across Emma's entire face. Her mother presses a kiss on top of her head and lingers for a moment, breathing in her daughter just as she has always done since she was a baby. "Are you alright, honey?" She timidly inquires, because yes, she's her mother and they have been best friends since Emma was one and nobody knows her better than Mary Margaret.

Emma's eyes immediately moisten from the sincerity in her mother's tone while her nose tingles and she feels those pesky tears just waiting to escape and embarrass her. She sniffles in a very lame attempt to cling to her emotions, but Mary Margaret wraps her up and holds her close, encouraging Emma to open up.

"Mom, I..."

"Emma, you know you can tell me whatever is bothering you. You know I hate seeing you upset," Mary Margret whispers so delicately into her daughter's hair.

"I know," and her voice quivers, but she can't, she just can't formulate the right words to express how she's feeling. Fuck-she's not even sure she knows what she's truly feeling. "Hey um, I'm going to check on Regina," she unexpectedly announces, tearing her body away from her mother's loving embrace and leaving the older woman completely dumbfounded.

"Em-"

"She's kinda going through a rough time," she admits, shrugging awkwardly and quickly forcing some much-needed space between them. "I just want to make sure she's okay tonight." She leans forward and quickly presses a gentle kiss to the snow-white complexion and hastily rushes backwards.

"Hurry back. I would like to spend time with you too, you know?" Mary Margaret scolds, but there's still a playful tone that eases some of Emma's tension before she escapes the room.

"I know. I'll be quick," she reassures her and then disappears out into the hallway.

She has no fucking idea as to why she just ran out on her mother. Well, that's not completely true, she has an inkling that she was about to confess her confusing feelings for the singer and she panicked. So, she ran away like the chicken shit she is as of lately and is now wringing her fingers together as she walks the abandoned hall.