So here's part 2 of 'First love or true love?'. I'm pretty sure it wraps everything up pretty well but I left room for a sequel. I'm thinking a one shot about the awkwardness between Red/Emma/Snow or a follow up to what possibly happened with Emma and Regina (I didn't elaborate after all. Not that I'm saying that anything did happen. Just that if I want to go there in a sequel, I could).

But anyway…I hope you guys like it!

Part 2

Snow walked through the front door only to pause two steps into the apartment at the sight of Red curled up in the corner of the couch, her nose buried in a familiar looking red jacket. Snow took her coat off before cautiously approaching.

"Red?"

Red glanced up and Snow noted her tearstained eyes. "Snow."

"What happened?" Snow asked, taking a seat next to her friend on the couch. "Where's Emma?"

"I told her." Red murmured into the jacket she was clutching to her chest.

"Told her what?"

"About us. About how I felt about you…feel about you." Red answered quietly.

"Oh Red."

"I think she broke up with me." Red bit her lip as tears stung at the corners of her eyes. "She was so upset. She was trying to hide it but I could tell. And I-I couldn't bring myself to do anything about it."

"Red, where did she go?" Snow asked, concerned for her daughter. She placed her hand on Red's upper arm and gave a light squeeze.

"She left. She said that Regina owes her so…I think she's going to stay there."

"And you just let her?" Snow frowned at the uncharacteristic action. Red would never let Emma go to Regina after everything that had happened between the two.

"I couldn't stop her!" Red snapped irritably and shrugged Snow's hand off her shoulder. "I tried but she ignored me. And why should she listen to me anyway? I all but admitted that I'm in love with her mom."

"Red, I…"

"I know, okay?" Red bristled at Snow's gentle tone. It was exactly what she needed and yet exactly what she didn't need in that moment. "I know you don't love me but I can't help the way I feel."

"You can't fix how you feel."

Emma's earlier words echoed Red's own in her head, forcing her to clench her jaw to hold back her tears.

"Red, I've never said that I didn't love you." Snow said quietly, her hesitance at admitting the fact glaringly obvious in her tone. Red's gaze shot to Snow's in shock and the latter offered a small smile. "You just assume that I didn't."

"Y-you loved me?" Red stuttered in shock. "But you told me you couldn't."

"I told you I couldn't be with you, not that I didn't love you." Snow lifted a hand to gently wipe away the tear that rolled down Red's cheek while stubbornly fighting against her own emotions. "I did. More than you know. We just weren't meant to be."

"Why not?" Red demanded, her stare unwavering. "How can you say what's meant to be and what's not?"

Snow smiled sadly at the typically Red response. "Because I know. We both had our separate paths to travel Red. They just happened to lead us in different directions."

"We could have made it work." Red persisted, not because she was trying to convince Snow of anything but because she was frustrated by the whole situation. The idea of what she could have had with Snow just added an unbearable pressure to her chest, a pressure that Red felt the need to talk herself out of.

Snow was momentarily distracted by the thought of what her life would have been like up to that point if she hadn't rejected Red's advances all of those years ago. The thought wasn't at all unpleasant, quite the opposite in fact but Snow hit a block at the thought of her daughter not existing. "What about Emma? If Charming and I hadn't gotten together, Emma wouldn't be here."

Red visibly flinched at the insinuation, unable to imagine a world without Emma in it.

"I'll never stop loving you Red." Snow said earnestly "But it's different now. We're different now."

"Different because you think of me as your daughter in law or something?"

"More like my best friend." Snow answered honestly. Red stayed silent and Snow wavered for a moment before speaking up. "Ruby…"

"Red." Red corrected automatically, her grip on the leather jacket tightening. "Only Emma calls me Ruby."

Snow felt a surge of both satisfaction and sadness at the fact that the point she had been trying to make by referring to Red as 'Ruby' had been made.

"See?" she asked expectantly. "You're different now. You're not just Red, you're Ruby. And Ruby is in love with Emma, not me."

"I haven't forgotten that I love her." Red murmured, glancing down at the jacket she was holding "I couldn't." she fell silent for a long moment before slowly standing up. "Can I stay here? I-I have to think."

"Of course." Snow answered instantly.

Red offered Snow a suddenly teary smile "Thanks."

"Red." Snow said when Red began to walk away. Red paused and turned around to look at her. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah." Red answered rather unconvincingly before she continued on her way to Emma's room.

Snow sighed and sank back onto the couch. She hadn't let on to Red but she was internally panicking at the thought of what Emma must have been thinking of her. She probably hated her…She'd probably never speak to her again.

Snow closed her eyes at the troubling thought and shook her head. Losing Emma was beyond inconceivable. She couldn't let it happen.

XXX

Regina opened her door to a bashful Emma and eyed her disdainfully "What can I do for you Sheriff Swan?" Emma merely stared at her, her bottom lip trembling with fast approaching sobs. Regina's brow furrowed as she took in the state of the blonde. The tear tracks on her cheeks made it clear that she had been crying and she was shaking from head to foot, though that could have had something to do with the fact that she was standing outside in a tank top. Regina felt a twinge at the pitiful sight of the usually stubborn, hard headed woman in such a state and the urge to usher her inside overwhelmed her. Telling herself that she was doing it because Henry would disapprove if she didn't, Regina stepped away from the door and held it open. "I think you'd better come in."

Emma nodded and practically stumbled through the door into the warm house, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Regina closed the door and without another word she walked up the small set of stairs. Emma guessed that was her cue to follow and she numbly walked after Regina, rubbing her arms for warmth. She'd left her car keys in her jacket pocket so she'd had to walk to get there. Without a jacket the chilly wind had been especially biting. She followed Regina into the kitchen and leaned against the table as the brunette started to make tea.

"H-Henry?" Emma finally stuttered, her voice a hoarse whisper from her previous crying.

"He's sleeping." Regina answered curtly as she spooned sugar into two cups of tea. "Milk?"

"Yeah, please." Emma answered politely. They lapsed back into silence as Regina stirred milk into the two cups. She picked them up and turned to offer one of them to Emma.

"Thank you." Emma took the cup from Regina only to find that her hands were shaking so much that the tea threatened to spill over.

Regina resisted the urge to roll her eyes and carefully took the cup away from Emma.

"Sorry." Emma muttered sheepishly. Regina stared at her for a moment and she self-consciously wiped the drying tears from her cheeks.

Regina bit back a scathing remark and nodded instead. "Follow me Sheriff." Without waiting for an answer she walked out of the room with the cups of tea in her hand. Emma obediently followed her into the living room where she set the cups on the coffee table. Regina took a seat on the couch and Emma hesitated before taking a seat, making sure to leave a reasonable enough distance between them.

Not entirely sure why she was being so accommodating, Regina reached up to grab the comfortable throw from the top of the couch and silently offered it to Emma. The blonde stared at it doubtfully and Regina sighed.

"You're cold. Take it."

Emma warily took the offered throw and muttered a thank you before wrapping it around her shoulders. She really was cold from walking from the apartment she shared with Mary-Margaret (and Red, though unofficially so) and the warmth the blanket offered was more than welcome.

"What seems to be the problem Sheriff Swan?"

"Sorry?" Emma asked hoarsely.

"You showed up on my doorstep crying and barely clothed." Regina responded, though her tone was nowhere near as blunt as it usually would have been. "I think jumping to the conclusion that something is wrong is fairly reasonable given those circumstances."

"I'm not 'barely clothed'." Emma mumbled, tightening the blanket around her.

"Miss Swan."

Emma nervously licked her lips, recognising Regina's 'don't mess with me' tone. "I broke up with Ru…Red and I left."

Regina blinked in surprise, having not expected something as normal as that to be the cause of Emma's upheaval. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Emma nodded silently, her tears once again welling up at the thought of what she'd left behind.

"You left your own house?" Regina asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I…I can't be there with them anymore." Emma answered tearfully "Either of them."

"May I ask why?" Regina asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. She would have assumed that Snow would have been the first person Emma would want to be with at such a difficult time.

Emma was silent for a long moment, unsure as to whether she could actually say the words aloud. "Red is in love with Snow."

"Oh." Regina said in surprise. "That's…"

"Yeah." Emma laughed tearfully when Regina trailed off, apparently rendered speechless for once. "It's messed up is what it is."

"I think you need something a bit stronger than tea." Regina said, getting up from the couch.

Emma watched as Regina walked over to her liquor cabinet and opened it. She was slightly confused as to why the usually hostile mayor was being so nice to her but she wasn't exactly going to argue. She didn't after all have anywhere else to go at that moment.

"So…" Regina said as she returned to the couch, this time taking up the seat right next to Emma instead of leaving the large gap between them. She placed two glasses on her coffee table and proceeded to fill them from the bottle of single malt whisky in her hand. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you come to the conclusion that your girlfriend is in love with Snow?" she offered one of the glasses to Emma and met her teary eyes unwaveringly. "I trust you're not merely assuming."

"She told me." Emma answered before taking a long drink from the glass in her hand.

"Why?" Regina asked curiously. "It doesn't seem like a topic which would creep up in casual conversation."

"She turned for a while earlier." Emma answered draining her glass with only her second mouthful.

"Turned?"

"The wolf." Emma explained briefly. "She was going to attack me. She would have if Snow hadn't turned up with her metaphorical whip."

"I'm afraid you've lost me."

"Wolves mate for life. Snow was Red's first love so around her she turns into a domesticated puppy." Emma blinked back oncoming tears and reached out to pick up the bottle of whisky on the table. "May I?"

Regina waved for her to go ahead and leaned back on the couch. It was clearly going to be a long night.

XXX

Emma wearily walked along the hallway to the door to the apartment she shared with Mary-Margaret nursing a pounding headache and craving a strong cup of coffee. She was aware that both Red and Snow would be at work and she'd opted to pick up her stuff while they weren't there. She didn't think she could handle facing either of them, the betrayal and hurt she felt still as raw as when she'd first found out about them. She opened the door with the spare key Regina had given her and stepped inside of the house. Closing the door behind her she stepped into the seemingly deserted house and walked straight to her room. The sooner she got it over with, the better as far as she was concerned. She pushed her bedroom doorway but stopped in her tracks at the sight that greeted her. Red was curled up on the bed on top of the covers, hugging Emma's jacket to her chest.

Emma swallowed heavily against the lump forming in her throat at the sight. She took a careful step forward, the urge to just slide onto the bed with Red almost overwhelming. She stopped herself a couple of steps away from the bed however, recalling exactly why she couldn't do what she wanted. She bit her lip unsurely as she took in the sight of Red's tearstained cheeks. Red sniffled in her sleep and unconsciously buried her nose in Emma's jacket. Emma felt the last of her strength crumble and a quiet whimper sprang from her throat as tears welled up in her eyes. Covering her mouth with her hand she turned to walk out of the room. She managed to get to the doorway before a soft voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Emma?"

Emma slowly turned around to see Red sitting up in the bed, a hopeful expression on her tear stained face. "I just…I came to pick up some of my stuff." She looked away but not before Red's hope visibly crumbled. Forcing herself to hold back her own emotions, Emma walked over to her dresser and pulled it open. "I'll just take essentials. The rest can wait." She began to pull clothes from her drawer only to be stopped by a soft voice.

"I don't want you to go."

"You don't have much of a say in the matter." Emma retorted in what she hoped was a monotonous tone of voice.

"Emma, please don't do this."

Red suddenly sounded closer than she had earlier and against her better judgement Emma turned around. She found Red standing a couple of feet away from her. "I have to."

"No, you don't!" Red exclaimed desperately.

"Well, I wouldn't want to be the third wheel around here." Emma snapped loudly, the feeling of betrayal fuelling her anger. "You'll probably need your privacy anyway." With that said, she turned and grabbed a handful of clothes which she flung in the general vicinity of the bed. Red had to duck to narrowly avoid being hit by a stray shirt.

"Why are you being like this?" Red asked tearfully asked as tears stung at her eyes.

"Why am I BEING LIKE THIS?" Emma practically yelled as she spun around to face Red. "I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the fact that my girlfriend, the person I love more than anything else is in love with my MOM!" Emma choked on coming tears. "Not only that but apparently, she's your soulmate." She angrily threw the clothes in her hands towards the bed "Well I hope you're fucking happy together because I'm out." Turning around she braced herself against her dresser, her anger dissipating and her tears finally overwhelming her.

Red watched tearfully as Emma's shoulders shook with silent sobs "Ems…"

Emma whimpered at the mention of the nickname Red reserved for when she was upset or sick. Somehow it felt wrong when Red was the source of her pain. "Don't."

Red felt a twang of pain at the rejection but she forced herself to say what she needed to say. "Snow is my wolf mate. You are my soulmate."

Emma froze, her head inclined towards Red though she made no move to turn around. "What?"

"Snow helped me realise something last night…"

Emma spun around, her eyes flashing with anger. "What?"

"We only talked!" Red said quickly well aware of what had jumped to the forefront of Emma's mind. She walked forward to stand in front of her girlfriend. "I swear."

Emma looked into Red's eyes and knew instinctively that she was telling the truth.

"Snow was my first real love..." Red began softly. Emma's expression registered hurt and she began to turn away only for Red to grip her arms to stop her. "No Emma, listen to me. Snow was my first real love but you're my true love. I'll always love Snow but you're the person I want to wake up next to every morning, you're the person I want to come home to everyday, you're the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Not Snow, you. Snow is Red's love but you are mine. You're my one." Red trailed off, breathless from her heartfelt rant. When Emma merely stared back at her through teary eyes, she spoke up again. "Please say you understand Emma. You have to…"

In one fluid movement Emma shrugged off Red's grip, grabbed her face and surged forward to kiss her hard. The momentum caused them to stumble back and Red's hands instinctively moved to Emma's waist for support. They didn't stop until the back of Red's knees hit the bed and she fell onto her back on the clothing covered bed, pulling Emma down with her. Emma pulled back for a moment and breathed heavily against Red's parted lips.

"Tell me you're not lying." She pleaded softly, her lips grazing against Red's. "Promise me."

"Emma, look at me." Red waited until Emma's gaze met her own before she continued emotionally. "I love you. Am I lying?"

Emma was silent for a long moment before she shook her head. "No." a tearful smile graced her lips "No, you're not." Without missing a beat she leaned back down and kissed Red desperately, the last of her tears spilling from her eyes.

THE END.