You and Tequila

Chapter Thirty-Three

"Swan!" Jefferson's boisterous voice carries easily backstage and startles her heart.

"Chill," Emma breathes out as her two friends come to stand alongside of her, hidden in the shadows of another curtain.

Another concert.

Another city.

Another week.

"Hey, what's up with those circles under Regina's eyes. Are you not her makeup artist anymore? Are you just her fuck-buddy," he mocks in the most condescending tone that provokes Emma to shove him square in the chest, but he just laughs and rubs the inflicted area mindlessly.

"She's stressed."

"Fucking Cora?" Ruby inquires, sounding absolutely exhausted from just having to say the woman's name.

"Yes. Come on guys, she needs a break from working on another album. Plus, she really wants to stay sober and she's struggling. Really struggling," Emma sadly proclaims, staring at her girlfriend in a deep conversation with Mal by the snack table. "Why is she talking to her?"

Jefferson and Ruby both peek over their shoulders to see what Emma is leering at that's creating an image of murder across her face.

"What? You two are dating and she can't speak to women anymore?" Jefferson sarcastically quips with a hint of his protective big cousin instincts shining through.

"No, no. It's not like that...I just don't trust Mal."

"Unless you see Regina suck on that woman's vape pen, you have nothing to worry about. Mal doesn't drink and I highly doubt Regina will smoke anyways," he hastily defends.

"I know, you're right," Emma mumbles as she watches Regina nod along dutifully to whatever Mal is rambling on about.

Never once do her green eyes falter as Mal pulls Regina in for a tight hug and whispers something into her ear before she pulls away and bounces happily off into her corner. The temperature boiling in Emma's face is enough to melt her cheeks right off and all she can do is fidget like a damn junkie.

"Why are you stressing, Ems?" Ruby softly inquires, resting her gentle touch against her shoulder.

She exhales slowly, turning her attention to her best friend. "I don't know. The more she stresses, the more I stress about her sobriety and sanity. I just want to see her happy."

"Look at her, she maybe tired...and a little stressed from this tour and the next album, but she's happy," Jefferson says through a lopsided grin in which Emma simply rolls her eyes from the stupidity behind his words. "Honestly, I've never seen her happier," he vows and Emma's eyes slither back to her girlfriend just in time to see the brunette smirk back at her before strutting away.

~~~~~~~

"With Vegas coming up, I would like to go over the security team. There's been too many slip ups this past year and quite frankly, I don't need anymore mayhem," Regina dutifully explains, her eyes sliding from left to right as she scans over her itinerary again.

Emma exhales and squats down, her girlfriend complicating her job this evening because Regina is so laser focused on the documents in her lap, that she cannot see a clear view of her face. She's certain any minute now Regina is going to bark at her for breathing upon her precious face, but instead the singer scratches something down on the piece of paper and proceeds to chew on the pen cap as she revisits the words once more.

"Regina, look up," Emma whispers, convincing the singer to oblige, but that paper follows her head right up and Regina continues reading.