Previously: "I couldn't say," Regina replies while scanning over her menu, extremely relieved in the change of topic. "Why don't we start with breadsticks with a side of small talk? I'd love to get to know you, Emma Swan."

Emma sets down her own menu and folds her hands, staring intently at the brunette in front of her. "Alright, I'm game. What do you wanna know?"

Regina stops; reflects. She aware that she has to be very careful about what she asks, not wanting to sound suspicious, but also not wanting to accidentally let out that she knows much more about Emma than the blonde could possibly imagine. "Profession?" She questions warily, testing the waters; she has no intention of letting her guard down.

"Bailbonds woman." She answers rather proudly, flips her hair over her shoulder then smirks. "My turn. Favorite color?"

Regina laughs then: unexpectedly even to her, and the sound rings out jovial, loud, and clear. "How professional," she remarks, but calms herself down and answers nearly instantly. "Black."

"Black? Oh, come on, that's boring." Emma giggles, taking another sip of her wine.

"Well, can you come up with a better answer? Pink, perhaps?" Regina teases back, ignoring the fact that she's enjoying this much more than she should be. 

Emma makes a highly unladylike fake barf sound, one that shouldn't be causing the corners Regina's eyes to genuinely crinkle. "No way. And a better answer is red or something."

"Oh, since it's your favorite?" Regina continues to jest, until she realizes what she'd said. She pales.

Emma's eyes narrow the slightest bit and she cocks her head to the side. "How do you know that?"

Regina racks her brain for a suitable and smooth answer, and luckily, years of lying and deceit have given her some skills. "Aside from the fact that you sounded a little biased, I can't think of another reason why one would by a leather jacket in that exact shade."

To Regina's relief, Emma's suspicions cease and she chuckles. "Perceptive, Dr. Mills. And you remembered my jacket?" She places a mock hand over her heart, sounding touched.

"It would be hard not to," Regina mutters with a uncharacteristic snort, "And also, I'm only a receptionist there." She reminds her, referring to the title previously given her.

"Yeah, but Doctor sounds sexier." Emma smirks, holding eye contact with the brunette  all the while.

Sweet Jesus! Regina blushes scarlet, placing a shaky hand against the stem of her glass. The other woman certainly isn't playing, and Regina, while finding herself growing increasingly more uncomfortable with this twist on their relationship, also doesn't understand the chills that erupt down her spine. Luckily, she's saved by the waitress who'd returned, pen poised ready to take their order. Regina inwardly instructs herself to let loose and try to earn herself some points with Emma. With how well this is going, she muses with a distracted smile, she'll have her son back in no time at all.

A full hour and the better half of the second later, Regina's standing and slipping her arms through the sleeves of her expensive coat. Emma scoots her chair back and meets her at the other end of the table, one hand rubbing up and down her other arm.

"Well, thank you for dinner Miss Swan, it was lovely." Regina expresses her gratitude with class and formality, but also authentically. As much as she's secretly concerned about how much she'd genuinely enjoyed a date with Emma of all people, she can at least accept that she did.

"Well--let me drive you home," Emma offers, obviously not wanting their time together to end, and for the first time during the evening showing some vulnerability.

Taken aback, Regina darts her drifting eyes over the restaurant, trying much too hard to look anywhere but the blonde as she stammers out a reply. "Er, I'm...that's really not necessary," This, at least, is true; her apartment is really only a block away, so Regina had just made her way here on foot. "My apartment is only minutes away, so I can walk back."

Emma shakes her head with determination. "No, you shouldn't walk back by yourself, in the city, when it's dark. It's not safe," Emma informs her, face showing concern before her mouth twitches into a smirk. "You know what's safer? My Volkswagen Beetle."

Before she can help herself, Regina audibly scoffs. "That thing? Hardly."

Emma cocks her head to one side, the same way she did when Regina had made the slip-up over the jacket. "Why, you haven't even seen it,"

Regina's obviously getting better at this, because she finds herself smiling. "I don't have to, dear. A Volkswagen? However, you do make a point about the walking."

At this, Emma brightens and instantly forgets about the comment made concerning her car. "So, is that a yes?"

"I believe so."

--

"So...you weren't trying to let me down easy, and you really do just live a minute away from here?" Emma confirms, placing her bright yellow Bug in park while peering out of the windows at Regina's apartment complex.

"Well, I could have told you that, dear." Regina sighs, stretching behind her and collecting her purse from the backseat.

Emma lets out a throaty chuckle and crosses her arms over the top of the steering wheel. "I like it when you call me 'dear.'"

This time, Regina doesn't have to call upon the smile that decorates her face. "Hmm, you do, now?" She surprises herself with all of her playful teasing; when the hell did she get like this? She was helping run a kingdom only months ago. Maybe the wine is getting to her head; yes, that's it.

Emma grins and turns off the ignition. "Come on, I'll walk you up."

"Contrary to what you think, dear, I don't believe I'm going to get mugged during the ten-foot walk to the entrance of my building." Regina's playing hard to get and she knows it, but at this point, it's really all she knows how to do. And sitting alone with Emma in a hot car with increasingly flirty conversation exchanging, Regina knows that maybe it's safer for her to walk up alone. Safe from what, exactly, she doesn't know.

Emma raises her eyebrows and kicks open the unhinged car door with her booted foot. "And if I just want to spend a little more time with you?"

Regina steps out of the vehicle herself, welcoming the fresh cool air whipping her locks about her in the wind. "That, I suppose, I can accept." She hates herself for it, but she can't seem to let the blonde down more than once; Emma happens to be extremely persistent and Regina is finding herself less and less authoritative.

Together they walk up to the complex, and while Regina had been expecting the other woman to drop her off at the door, they continue on into the building and up the elevator until they reach Regina's floor. All the while, it seems as though the brunette's brain has mysteriously forgotten how to form the particular word "no," and now, as they're standing right in front of her apartment door, heart beat quickening as each second passes by, she of course wonders how she'll figure out a way to bring them back, but in the moment, bringing them to Storybrooke is one of the last things on her mind.

"So, this is where you live," Emma comments, staring the door up and down before cringing. "Okay, and that sounded incredibly creepy. I promise I'm not a stalker."

"That it did, Miss Swan," Regina jests through a quiet laugh. She thinks Emma's a little closer than she was a minute ago but it could just be her imagination. But then, when Emma takes another step closer, Regina knows she hadn't.

"Well...thanks for an awesome night," Emma says, hands twitching around nervously like she wishes she had pockets to stuff them into.

"I could say the same," Regina replies, than puts on a fake stony exterior. "However, it was less than satisfactory in one area."

Emma's face falls. "What was it?"

"I never did get that story of how you twisted your ankle." Regina smirks, handing her a piece of paper that she'd written her own number on during the drive over. "Could I take a rain check on that?"

Emma's features light up with relief and something else entirely. "God, yes." She moves even closer. "Does this mean we're on for another night?"

"Well, you have my number. You tell me," Regina answers smoothly, lips curling upwards into a small smile that has nothing to do with humor.

That does it. Emma leans in, places a hand on the other woman's jawline, and presses her lips against Regina's. Her heart is thudding in her ears, pulse racing beneath her skin, making it take her a moment to realize that Regina isn't kissing back. She pulls away, drops her hand.

"I'm sorry, I--" Emma falters, "It was too soon, wasn't it? I just got caught up in the moment..."

Regina, stunned into silence, blinks a few times before coming to her senses, brushing her hair away from her eyes. "It's quite alright. I'm sorry," she apologizes herself, mind buzzing with the the difficulty of processing what had just happened.

"Don't be. Did I blow our chance for a second date?" Emma asks, shoulders falling and pink dusting her cheeks.

"No, no, not at all," Regina amends probably much too quickly, but she doesn't want to lost her chance at losing contact with the woman she'd worked so hard to find.

Emma smiles the slightest bit. "Alright. Well, I'll call you," she says, holding up the slip of paper. "Goodnight, Regina."

"Goodnight," Regina whispers, watching the blonde disappear down the hall. She unlocks her door, steps inside, then collapses against the closed door on the other side. She tosses her purse beside her carelessly, and brings a hand up unconsciously to touch her tingling lips.

---

Emma makes an actual effort to close her apartment door quietly, certain that Henry would be sleeping in his room. But, it's dark in the hallway, and Emma was honestly born with clumsiness in her genes, at least she likes to believe, so when she walks straight into the wall, causing a mighty bang to sound, she can't really be all that surprised. However, she is when she hears a low, drawling voice drift from the living room.

"Smooth, Ma."

"Henry?" Emma exclaims, stepping into the light of the sitting room to find him sprawled onto the couch, long lanky body hogging every last cushion. "What are you doing up? It's midnight."

Henry gasps dramatically, splaying a hand over his heart. "Will I turn into a pumpkin?!"

Emma rolls her eyes, crossing the room to sit on the unclaimed couch. "Wow, fairytale reference. That's unlike you," she comments, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Thats crazy. A guy not obsessed with fairytales? There's got to be something wrong with me."

Emma groans, pressing a hand to her forehead. "It's too late for all your sarcasm."

"You sound old, Ma. Twelve o'clock isn't late. So, how was your date?" He questions with genuine curiosity.

"Wow, you waited up for me? That's surprisingly sweet." Emma comments, reclining onto the cushions, mimicking her son's position. "And I'd say it was successful. She gave me her number at the end and basically told me that she wanted another date."

Henry props himself onto his elbows and grins in surprise. "Whoa, score, Ma! I guess you're more suave than I give you credit for."

"Wait, wait, wait! I want that in writing."

"Ha, ha. That's not happening." Henry waves her off, dropping himself back onto the couch.

"Well, it was worth a shot."

"So, at this rate, I'll be getting introduced to this receptionist any day," Henry cracks, and Emma lets out a bark of laughter.

"I highly doubt she'd be excited for that meeting. She seemed pretty freaked out when I first mentioned that I have a son." Emma tells him truthfully, thinking back to Regina's expression at the dinner when they'd started talking about Henry.

"Should I be offended by that?" Henry jokes, before adding, "She must've gotten over it though, cause you got a number out of it. What'd you do, kiss her?" He asks through a chuckle.

"I actually did," Emma confesses, looking away to not see his reaction.

"Wow, that's pretty daring. How'd that go? I see you didn't spend the night," he quips with a smirk, and Emma sends a pillow flying across the living room, smacking him in the face with it with perfect aim.

"For your information, it went pretty badly. But she seemed like she still wanted to see my sorry ass again, so there's that."

Henry lets out a low whistle. "You have a more exciting love life than me, and I'm eighteen."

Emma groans. "Don't remind me."

"So," Henry begins, standing. "Ice cream?"

Emma looks up at him from her reclined position with a grin. "Ice cream. Just bring the whole carton. Two spoons."

"Rocky road?" He calls from the kitchen.

"You know it."

AN: another chapter so soon! Wow, I'm spoiling you guys. Hope you enjoyed my 1:30 AM bullshit. However, I did enjoy writing that ending conversation between Henry and Emma with those couple show references. Did you notice them?

Vote if you enjoyed, and comments are my everything.