This is a SQ friendship story. I think it will end in a romance but I'm letting it flow organically for now. I want it to be as realistic to the show as possible. Being realistic unfortunately means mentions of OQ and CS but it's not anything major so don't let that deter you!

I am writing this as season 5 starts but it takes place after Emma is saved from the Dark One's Curse. Because of this, the story may be accurate to the new information from after season four but I will try to keep it as up to date as possible.

This story is also entirely in Regina's point of view. I've never written a story like this before so it's a challenge. I really love her character though and I couldn't keep this idea out of my head!

As always I do not own any rights to Once Upon a Time!

It began as a joke. A way to lighten an uncomfortable situation. I really couldn't blame her. It was even a relief at the time. If only I had known how long this particular joke would go on for….

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I felt strange waking up today. Good…but strange.

First if all, I didn't wake up to an alarm like I did almost every other morning. But I could tell, even with my eyes still shut, that the sun has certainly already made his appearance.

I started to peak my eyes open and saw that I was NOT in my own bedroom. Panic caught me for a second before I realized it was one of the guest rooms in my own home.

Just as I was starting to put the pieces together in my sleep-addled brain, I felt someone shift next to me.

Immediately my eyes popped open and I bolted upright in the bed. Although I had been starting to get use to sleeping next to someone else every once in a while, (Robin) it by no means felt normal for me.

And it most definitely was not Robin the bed next to me.

Suddenly the memories from the night before came rushing back as I carefully extract myself from the bed and make my way into my own bedroom to get ready for the day.

"Emma? What are you doing here?" I ask as the blonde stands dejectedly on the other side of her door.

"Hey" Her voice sounds so small and…broken. She doesn't even look at me as she says it.

"What's wrong?" My voice becomes much more gentle. I had been a bit harsh when I fist responded. It IS midnight and I was about to go to sleep when I heard the knock.

Suddenly she is looking at me. Her stare is intense. (When is it not?) And I am super concerned because she looks like she's on the brink of tears. And just as I think this, she begins sobbing.

I check Henry's bedroom on the way to my own and see that he is still asleep. Good, that gives me time to take a shower before I have to make your big Sunday breakfast.

The shower gives me way too much thinking time though…

Shock

That's all that my brain can process for about 10 really long seconds before my body instinctively moves. I pull her into a hug (something we are not adapt to doing) and hold her tight while she cries into my shoulder. It doesn't take her very long to loosen her arms from around her midsection to wrap them around my waist.

It feels…nice. Comforting. Even though I am technically the one doing the comforting.

"Let's get you inside." I murmur and slowly pull out of the embrace so I can guide her into the mansion. I keep a hand on her back until you get into your study and place her on the couch.

I would have brought her into the living room (it's more comfortable) but Henry may still be awake and I don't think that she will want him to see her like this.

THIS, being a total miss. I haven't seen her in a few days. Not since the she was extracted from the darkness. If her looks right now are any indication, she's not handling the transition well.

"Sorry." She says quietly and tries to control her breathing. "I just…you just…I thought you'd be the only one to be able to understand." She tries to explain.

I sit down next to her. Closer than you guys are use to, but I get the feeling she likes the closeness when she's upset like this.

"What would I understand? The darkness?" I ask tentatively.

"No…" She doesn't seem to want to explain further but still you wait and after a full minute passes she explains. "What it is like to kill someone you love..."

She says it so quietly, I have to stain to hear it. I am a little shocked by her statement, but not upset, not as upset as she clearly thinks I will be.

"Yes, I do. Although it wasn't quite the same."

"I know. He wasn't the thing I loved most…"

I shake my head free of these thoughts as I step out of the shower to get changed. I contemplate putting on a nice outfit. (I do have a guest after all.) But it's a Sunday morning and I am used to wearing more casual clothing in my own home. Plus, it's not like Miss Swan didn't spend all night with me while I was in my pajamas. So I put on jeans and a sweater and comfy socks and deem it appropriate.

Cooking breakfast, unfortunately doesn't distract me enough from my thoughts.

"I was referring to the fact that you were under a curse when you committed your crimes."

She finally looks back up at me and shakes her head like she doesn't believe my words. And then she sinks into my side. A silent invitation to hold her again.

So I do.

We sit like that for some time. "Let's get you to bed." I suggest. "If you're feeling up to it, we can talk about it in the morning."

I am not letting her out in this state so I gently guide her to the guest room closest to Henry's.

He must have heard us coming up the stairs because as Emma is curling up on the bed, he walks into the room.

"Mom?" he questions me quietly.

I look at him and shake my head. Pleading him not to ask questions at the moment.

He nods in understanding but after a moment goes to lay down on one side of the bed beside Emma. He lays a hand on her back and rubs it soothingly.

I'm so proud of him in this moment. He's gown to be such a caring young man.

Emma, for her part, does not say a word. Her only acknowledgement that Henry is in the room is the pinched look on her face. Her eyes being squeezed even tighter shut.

Henry looks up at me and then down at the bed expectedly. I sigh but do as I'm "told."

'Man, I am really whipped by this boy' I think as I lie down on her other side and face her.

I am NOT going to hold her like this.

But I do put a hand on her arm.

I had no intention of falling asleep. Really I didn't. But I was so exhausted by this point that really, it was inevitable.

"'Morning" Henry says as he walks into the kitchen. "Waffles?" He adds excitedly.

"Good Morning." I reply and kiss his head. "Yes, waffles."

"Did you have a good sleep?" He asks with a smirk. I hadn't really thought about it until that moment but he WAS in his own bed this morning and I was not.

"Adequate." I respond. "You could have woken me up so I could sleep in my own room though." I lightly chastise.

"Oh no." He says with a chuckle. "You were comfortable."

The way he says it make me think he is hiding something. However, before I can question him further, a sleepy blonde is wandering into the kitchen.

"Good Morning." She says sheepishly.

I assume that she is embarrassed by last night and try to think of a way to assure her that it was perfectly okay.

"Good Morning." I respond cheerfully. "I have waffles and coffee ready."

"Smells great!" She says more enthusiastically than before.

Breakfast is purposefully light. Henry seems to make it his mission to distract everyone from the elephant in the room.

That's great and works well too…until Henry goes to clean the dishes and it is me and her alone in the dining room.

After the silence starts to stretch, Emma finally speaks.

"So I guess we're bffls now." She says with an awkward chuckle. (Now I know where Henry gets it from.)

"What is a biffl? I say, utterly confused by the word and by this entire line of conversation.

"Bffls" She corrects. Although I don't hear a difference unitl she explains. "It stands for Best Friends For Life."

Best friends? For life? How did this happen?

"I don't think I ever agreed to that." I comment. But it's in a joking manner.

"I don't think it's something you formally agree to." She says thoughtfully. "I think after you commiserate with each other over murders and dead boyfriends, it is just automatic." She says with a self-deprecating smile.

Normally I would fight with her harder about this, but clearly she is trying to lighten the mood, which is something I appreciate at this moment.

"You guys have also already cuddled." Henry says as he walks back in the room. Clearly he had been listening to our conversation the whole time.

"We have not!" I disagree.

"Oh really?" He asks with a smirk. "Then what is this?"

He pulls out his phone and holds it up for us to see. Emma grabs it from him to pull it closer to her face.

Could she not see it? Does the savior need glasses?

The momentary distraction is over when I hear Emma inhale sharply. She seems horrified but highly amused at the same time.

I grab the phone out of her hand and look for myself.

There, on the screen, is a photo of Emma and I. It was clearly taken last night when Henry left the room because it is dark and the only dim light is coming from the hallway.

In the photo, my arm is thrown around the other woman, while Emma's head rests soundly on my chest.

It's not an entirely too compromising position, but it is too intimate for comfort.

If I'm being honest, the photo sends a happy butterfly feeling in my stomach that I can't explain. However, I refuse to dwell on that and turn my feeling outward.

"Delete this!" I demand of my son. I try to figure out how to delete it off his phone myself but he grabs it from my hand.

"Henry Mills!" I say, outranged by his rude behavior.

"Sorry Mom but I like it!" He explains. Clearly he's not sorry at all. "Besides I have already have copies saved elsewhere so deleting it off my phone wouldn't do you any good."

I sigh in frustration. "Show that to no one!" I concede.

"Fine." He agrees grumpily.

Emma seems amused by the whole exchange. She is looking more and more like herself as the morning has progressed.

"Well I guess that is undeniable proof that we are bffls so you might as well admit it." The other woman teases.

"The day I admit that is the day that I get Henry that pet rhinoceros he always wanted." I state.

The word bffl is utterly childish but I can't help but notice the warmth that spreads through me hearing Emma refer to me as her best friend.

I also can't deny the feeling of fear.

I've never had a best friend before. I once called Maleficent my best friend but that could hardly be called a friendship. I've barely had a regular friend. I don't exactly know what a friendship entails.

"A rhino, really?" Emma asks looking at Henry curiously.

"I figured it was the closest thing to a dinosaur as I could get." Henry explains as if it was the most obvious reason in the world.

"Ahh yes, your dinosaur phase." Emma recalls. But then, true to Emma Swan fashion she decides to argue like a petty child with our son about his choice of pet. "That's not true though. You could have picked a crocodile...or hell, even a turkey. Aren't they closely related to dinosaurs?" Emma starts to argue with him.

"They just looked cool! Okay?" Henry says, becoming exasperated. "And I remember you saying that you thought the stegosaurus was cute when we went to the National History Museum."

"When did you go there?" I interject.

They both pause their pettiness to look at me. Emma shifts uncomfortably.

"A few weeks before we came back here actually." Henry answers. Then he seems to feel the tension. "I wish you had been there." He adds.

I try to give him a reassuring smile at his thoughtfulness but I'm sure they can see the stain of it. It's hard to keep up any pretenses to around these two.

"How about we all take a road trip sometime soon and go there." Emma suggests.

"A road trip?" I ask. Really? That's her plan to cheer me up? Sitting in her bug for hours with her again?

"Yeah! That's what bffls do!"

"Haven't we already done that?"

"That didn't count! That was a stressful rescue mission. This will be a fun family trip with our son."

Family trip

"Yeah we should! I could show you my school, and our apartment, and my favorite pizza place!" Henry adds excitedly.

Ahhh geez. Henry. How can I deny the trip now?

"Maybe in a few weeks when you have a school break. " I concede. They both know that means yes, but it makes me feel like less of a pushover.

The trip actually does sound fun. And who knows, maybe Robin and Roland will come and show me what their lives were like in the big city too.