Chapter Text
Regina awoke with a sharp inhale and a blank stare up at her ceiling. Everything was dark, but she was comfortable, and for that she was most thankful. She immediately recalled - as she had so many other mornings - her earlier life, and the sadness those memories brought her. She had been controlled, ignored, pushed, and unloved. She had always felt alone, and so she often was in her dreams - alone.
Taking a deep breath in, she turned to her phone and unplugged it from her bedside to hold it close to her chest, smiling to think of Henry. If nothing else had worked out as beautifully as she had hoped, there was always Henry.
When the phone started to vibrate, Regina was startled. She clumsily lost her phone in the sheets before finally checking the screen to see that "Take it easy on her" was calling. Then Regina smiled at her own choice of names for contacts in her phone. It was something that often helped her in such tense moments. And after all, she DID need to take it easy on Emma. The previous night, Emma had taken her very kindly out for dinner to discuss Henry's school issues, and driven her home when the rain came down in icy sheets. Emma had been much softer with her as of late, and Regina respected the tenderness.
"Take it easy on her" lit up again on her phone, and after clearing her throat and sitting up, Regina answered it.
"Miss Swan," she said coolly, as if she'd been awake for hours. "What can I do for you?"
Emma on the other end couldn't help but smile at the sharpness of Regina's tone. She could picture the brunette having taken the first few rings to collect herself - still snippy after all that. "Not really something you can do - I just have no idea what Henry has due for class tomorrow. I had a nightmare that he failed school, so I thought I'd ask."
Regina sighed silently and looked over to her alarm clock which was reading 5:36 and shook her head with the beginnings of a smile: "So you decided to call me at this ungodly hour?"
"You mean you're not already at your office?" Emma teased, her grin knitting itself into her words.
Regina chuckled naturally, clearing her throat as soon as she noticed the instinct. "Henry has no big projects due today, and it's Friday, so I would imagine you could ... relax, Miss Swan."
"K," Emma exhaled, her stress clearly assuaged for the moment. "Thanks ... and sorry to call so early. I guess I didn't realize."
Regina felt herself relaxing as well and forgetting old unpleasant memories as Emma spoke, making a fool of herself. Regina smiled at the irritating ability for Emma to soothe her, quickly tightening her lips at the thought.
"I'll recover. Is there anything else, Miss Swan?"
"Yeah, how were you last night after I dropped you off? You ... seemed a little upset."
"I most certainly did not," Regina quickly quipped from earlier days when her state of mind aggravated Regina to no end. She hated her own emotions for the weakness that they were. But when she realized she had snapped at Emma again, she sighed.
Emma waited for Regina as she always did when she was snapped at over their phone conversations. Regina often took a moment or two to regroup, and Emma had found that if she didn't interrupt, it allowed for Regina to piece together a reluctant apology so they could move on.
"I ... appear to be in need of waking," Regina finally offered lamely, uncomfortable with her own inability to properly apologize. "I'm ... sorry, Miss Swan."
"It's fine," Emma smiled, rolling in her own bed from across town. Closing her eyes to the closeness she often felt with Regina, despite their public bickering. "So, was dinner last night really okay?"
After all, Emma understood the need to snap. She had developed feelings for Regina months ago, and being unable to speak about them with anyone had her uncomfortable on edge. Emma had reasoned with herself, however, that nothing would come of it, so she had let it go. But enjoying dinner with Regina had kept her smiling all evening. Regina - despite her tendencies toward sarcasm and reluctance in Emma's company - had admirable traits and an almost unfathomable depth. She was beautiful in that ocean of pain she insisted on treading.
"You know it was," Regina brushed off, finally bringing herself to stand so she felt she could end their conversation. Whenever their conversations turned gentle, Regina felt the need to close them. It was why they had left the restaurant promptly after eating their main courses. "Now, Miss Swan, if you don't mind, I really must be getting back to sleep."
Regina was pacing - Emma could it over the phone but chose not to comment on it. Instead Emma turned onto her back with her eyes still closed, allowing herself to imagine Regina slipping in next to her in bed. Cuddling against her because she needed it. Emma smiled and spooned her fistfuls of comforters in Regina's absence, humming her content at the thought of soothing the woman she had grown to love.
"Are you falling asleep on me?!" Regina whispered, should Henry hear she was having a conversation with Emma at that ungodly hour. "Because if you've called me and woken me just to fall asleep once you've aggravated me-"
"Calm down," Emma chuckled, holding her comforters tight. Nestling her face into her pillow. "Just relax. Go back to sleep."
"An act I find will be next to impossible after all this," Regina quipped, rolling her eyes at Emma's comfortingly slurring voice. It made Regina wonder what it was like to be comforted back to sleep. "I ... I think I'll just get up."
"Nooo, don't," Emma moaned softly, and Regina's smile fell. She listened closely, silently as Emma continued: "Come on ... just lie down and sleep. Think of being all curled up in warm blankets and forget about work."
Regina pushed it immediately out of mind along with Emma's tone of voice - as if she were asking Regina back to bed with her - and cleared her throat again seriously. "I have to go, Miss Swan."
"Fine, fine," Emma groaned, turning in her own bed with a pout Regina could only imagine. "Be that way. But when you're tired all day, don't go blaming me."
"I most certainly will," Regina insisted, curtly listing a goodbye she heard echoed back before hanging up.
It took two minutes for Regina to slip back into bed, allowing for Emma's earlier words to coax her: just lie down and sleep ... think of being all curled up in warm blankets ... and forget about work ...
Regina tucked herself in, pulling the comforters up to her chin, twisting onto her side with a brimming smile at the thought that Emma would never know she was doing exactly as she asked. And Regina closed her eyes, forgetting everything but that strong and loving voice that so often washed over her.
"Mmm ..." Regina sighed, cuddling up in her wealth of comforters. She was all alone, but with soothing words in mind, she found she didn't mind it quite so much.