I Won't Leave You

Thanksgiving

Emma's POV

Waking up with her in my arms completed everything. It was like heaven. The apple smell coming from her hair is making me hungry and I feel a smile grow across my face. I slowly pull myself out of bed, making sure not to wake Regina. I walk downstairs in my pajamas and sit at the table waiting for breakfast.

"So when are you going to tell her?" My dad asks while he flips french toast. I give him a strange look and I see my moms smile grow impossibly large. "Oh please everyone can tell except you two. And your boyfriends." He states. I raise my eyebrows unsure of what he's talking about. "We can tell you like her." He informs me.

I look away and shrug my shoulders. I get up and walk towards the stairs not wanting to be a part of that conversation. When I get to my room I open the door to see Regina awake on her phone. She smiles at me and says 'thank you'. I nod and reply with 'of course' before slumping back into my bed.

There's an awkward silence. I almost kissed her last night. I think she can tell. I tried not to make my intentions too obvious. "So..." I say kinda hoping to ease the tension.

"So.." she replies. Then she says, "I know I just said it, but thank you."

I simply nod in response and grab my phone. "I'm here for you Gina." 

She tears up and says 'I know' with a crack in her voice. This happens because she still broken up about her mother leaving her 7 years ago. And her father dying 2 years ago. She's happy to have me here. I can tell. I want to kiss her. Really badly. It takes everything in me not to do it. It takes every fiber of my being, not to pull her close and kiss the fuck out of her.

"I'm gonna go help start tonight's dinner." I excuse and she just nods while wiping her tears. I scurry downstairs and offer to help.

"So are we going to talk about how you ran off during our conversation?" My dad questions.

"I will go back upstairs." I threaten and motion towards the stairs behind me.

My father shakes his head and says, "there's no need Emma. But can we please just talk about it?"

I groan and slump into a chair. "Fine." I drag out. "What do you want to know?"

"How long have you liked her?" My mother asks me.

I respond with, "I don't know. Maybe a year or two?"

"Does she know?" Asks my dad. I shrug my shoulders. "Okay. What about Killian?" I shrug my shoulders again. "Alright fine. We will shut up. Get your but over here and start helping." He finishes and I do just as he demands.

Hours later we officially started thanksgiving dinner. Regina and I make our way downstairs in some simple clothing. My hair is pulled up in a messy bun. Reginas is straight. We take a seat at the table and my parents are just finishing putting food on it.

There's more than enough here for all of us and I just can't stop thinking about how hungry I am. And how not hungry Regina probably is. She's still exhausted but, she doesn't want our last thanksgiving as a group to be bad. Yeah. Our last. Regina has big plans for getting out of here.

Reginas POV

I lend a smile to Mary Margaret when she takes a seat across from me. We quickly give our thanks and say a short prayer. We aren't the most religious people you'll meet so believe me when I say it's short. Emma immediately goes for the mashed potatoes, scooping herself a large serving and making a little dip in them for her gravy. I wait until everyone has their food before I dig in for myself. And when I do, I don't grab much. A few pieces of Turkey and a small scoop of stuffing. I put a little corn on my plate and I call it good. I look to my left to see a certain blonde scarfing down every piece of food insight, when I look at her father I see a resembling action.

I look at Mary Margaret and and we both snicker to ourselves. This causes the blondes to look in our direction and their brows furrow.

"What?" Emma interrogates.

I giggle and shake my head saying, "Nothing."

"Liar!" Emma calls out and I laugh. I laugh a real laugh and suddenly I don't feel so exhausted. The hunger in my stomach rises and for once in my life I don't ignore it. I happily scoop some mashed potatoes onto my plate and pour gravy on them. I continue to eat and look up to see Mary Margaret and David with large grins on their faces while they stare at me and their daughter.

It's now my turn to interrogate them. "What?" I ask.

They shake their heads and look at Emma. "Nothing." They excuse. I turn and give Emma the same confused look. She shrugs her shoulders and goes back to her food. I shrug it off and continue to eat. The smile on my face grows throughout the night as we tell funny childhood stories. Many of them about me and Emma. Or even my dad and David. And I can't help but laugh at the stories of my perfect father whom I miss dearly. Not once did I cry about him tonight. I can't tell if that's good or bad. But I felt a sudden presence. A warm bundle of love. And I knew he was watching over me carefully.