Shared Pain

Chapter 2

Emma grabbed the picture from Regina's nightstand and huffed before she set it down and quickly walked downstairs. She didn't want to raise any suspicion by Regina.

But she was angry with the woman.

She walked to the hall and opened the front door. Regina stepped inside and smiled.

"There you go."

"Thank you, Emma, thank you so much," Regina replied with a sincere smile.

Emma plastered a fake smile on her lips and nodded curtly. "You're welcome. I probably should go," she muttered and pursed her lips together.

"Would you.. like something to drink? I was going to open up a bottle anyway."

Regina looked kindly at Emma, who was trying to hide her frustration and curtly shook her head no.

"Did I do something wrong?" Regina inquired when she saw that something was clearly bothering Emma.

Emma knew that Regina had no idea what was bothering her and frankly, after all these years, she'd hoped it wouldn't bother her anymore.

Yet, she still blamed Regina for everything. She hadn't even met the woman before, but if that woman hadn't interfered with her life all those years ago, maybe she'd been in a happier marriage now.

Sadness of the past crept up and Emma shuddered before she shook her head no. She had been there. She had seen everything and it was all because of the very woman standing in front of her.

"You don't look well, dear," Regina said and led Emma to the living room. Emma didn't protest and didn't say anything.

They sat down on the couch and Regina gently rubbed Emma's back. "What just happened?" She questioned softly and gazed at Emma, who was still lost in thought.

Emma blinked several times and shook her head to wipe away the haunting memories. "Nothing. I should go, sorry," she muttered and stood up.

Regina grabbed her wrist to prevent her from walking any further and stood up as well. "We don't know each other very well, but I want you to know that you can trust me and talk to me."

To Regina's surprise, Emma scoffed, but the brunette decided not to comment on it. "Let's exchange our phone numbers, might come in handy if we ever lock ourselves out," she joked, but Emma didn't laugh.

They handed each other their phones to put in the phone numbers and names, while they walked to the front door, which was still open.

"Thanks, goodbye," Emma said before she briefly waved and hurried outside to her own house.

Regina raised an eyebrow as she followed the blonde with her eyes. The blonde who was suddenly in such a hurry to leave.

She then glanced at the screen of her phone. "Emma Swan," she read out loud and immediately bit her lower lip. "Oh, crap."

~~~~

"Hi, honey, how was it?" Emma bent down to pick up her little girl and pressed a kiss against her temple before she waved the parents who'd just dropped her off, goodbye.

"We baked cookies!" The girl exclaimed and hugged her mother tightly. "Can we bake cookies too, soon?" She inquired enthusiastically.

Emma nodded and closed the front door with the five year old still on her hip. "Yes, I suppose we can. Your brother and sister are already home, setting the table, why don't you go help them?" She asked and set down her daughter.