I couldn't help but give a quiet laugh, at the girl who I now know goes by the name Emma. "What?" She asked, her brows furrowed, which again I thought was cute and I had to fight hard against the blush that wanted to creep up onto my cheeks. "You stole watches? That's it?" I asked giggling once more. "Yeah, and I didn't even do the crime, I was just picking them up at the station for a friend." She said with a sigh and with that statement, all previous amusement I felt about her just stealing watches, drained and I began to realize the situation that lied in front of me. I frowned and she looked at me sadly. "I told you I was broken." She said turning her head to look out the window. I could see a single tear slip down her cheek and was illuminated by the street lights. I slipped my hand in between the seat of the car and her back and began rubbing her back in attempt to comfort her.

Regina! What the hell are you doing? This is so unlike you. What has gotten into you?

I thought but pushed the thought away with a sigh. "We are all a little broken dear." I say quietly. She reaches up to the chain around her neck and grasps the pendant in her hand before turning her head back to look at me again. "Yeah? Your broken? Because right now you seem to have more than I could ever imagine. I mean the clothes, the fancy car with a personal driver, and you probably own a mansion too." She said. I scoffed at her words. "Those are just things Ms. Swan. They don't make us happy. They may make life easier, but things aren't what I need." I said a little more gently towards the end. "What do you need?" She asked quietly, her eyes still locked on me. I sighed, not knowing exactly how to answer that. I removed my hand from her back and pondered about what I was going to tell her.

You can't just flat out tell her what you need! What if she takes it the wrong way?

"Being alone is not the way anyone should live their life Emma and unfortunately I've been alone for longer than you could even fathom." I said and I turned my gaze to focus on hers. Her beautiful blue green eyes. "Try me." She said with a smirk and I couldn't help but giggle. "Years. I've been alone since I was a girl, my mother..." I said but trailed off, suddenly realizing that my eyes were filling with tears and I look down embarrassed.

Damn it Regina! Now look at yourself! Your completely vulnerable in front of probably a teenager, whom you just met less than an hour ago and your telling her your life story? Since when have you ever told anyone? She doesn't even know your name!

I feel a soft hand on top of mine and I looked up to see big blue eyes look sadly into my own and they were filled with sympathy. "Don't worry I get it, my life has been pretty much the same. God, I don't even know why I'm telling you this, I don't even know your name, let alone know who you are." She said and I couldn't help but giggle and I quickly wiped my tears away. "Regina." I say with a weak smile. "So, tell me who you are Regina." Emma says kindly, her hand still wrapped around mine. I look down at it, and so does she before quickly moving her hand away. "Why do you want to know about me? I'm just some stranger who just happened to see someone who looked like they could use some help." I say, really wondering why she would want to know me of all people. She looks down at the floor board and shrugs before returning her gaze back to me. "I dunno, I just have this feeling... Ugh, I don't even know, I've never been so comfortable around anyone before, let alone someone I just met, it's just not something I'm used to." She said her voice filled with honesty and vulnerability. I smile at her, knowing exactly what she's talking about. This time I place my hand on hers. She looks at me confused before she continues to look at me waiting for a response. "I'm not used to it either dear. You know, I think you and I are a lot alike. I feel the same way around you, I've never told anyone about what happened to me, hell I've never even saved someone who just knocked me over and caused me to rip my dress pants." I said. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about that." She said looking down at the rip on my left knee of my pants. I chuckled. "Emma, it's fine really. I just... I don't really know how to feel about this, I've never felt so..." I paused trying to find the right words to describe my feelings. "At home?" She asked and I nodded. "Exactly." I respond. We are silent for a few moments, but it's not awkward but comfortable just like everything else about this mysterious young blonde. "So where can I take you?" I ask her. She looks at me some what embarrassed.
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"Oh...um..." I bit my bottom lip.

Emma, you sure as hell know you can't go back to Neal! He's going to leave you. You have no where to go.

"I don't exactly have anywhere to go." I finally answered after a moment of deciding weather or not Regina could be trusted.

"Well, I was going back home to Storybrooke tonight, but I guess that could wait until tomorrow. There isn't really anything a mayor of such a small town needs to do anyways." She responded. My eyes go wide as I realize what she just said. "Your a mayor?" I asked shocked. She giggled."Yes dear, but it's nothing too spectacular. Storybrooke is just a small town that doesn't have much use for law enforcement or a mayor." "Wow that sounds great." I said with a sigh. "It has it's ups and downs, but it's a lot better than living in the city." She responded while scrunching her nose. "But gets lonely spending all day by yourself in an office every day." She added and I nodded understanding how that must be lonely and not to mention, boring as hell. A comfortable silence fell between us once again for a few moments until she finally spoke up once more. "Is there really no place I can take you?" She asked looking at me with... I don't even know, the look in her eyes was something new to me. It was something I couldn't read. I sighed and looked at her sadly. "I don't exactly have a family..." I said and she looked at me confused. I sighed again when I saw the confused look on her face.

You've already told her more than you've ever told anyone else swan, you can trust her.

I took a deep breath, trying to pull myself together, not wanting to break down in front of a total stranger. "I'm supposed to be in the foster system." I finally said. The brunette looked at me sadly. "And why aren't you?" She asked. I shrugged, trying to come up with the right words to say. "I've been in the system my whole life, moving from family to family every couple of months. I never really had any friends let alone a place to call home. About two years ago, shortly after my 16th birthday, I ran away from my last foster home and I haven't been back since." I finally said. She nodded wanting me to continue. "I left because I hated being lonely and moving all the time. I was in a town just outside of Portland at the time, and I've just sorta..." I trailed off suddenly feeling a knot form in the back of my throat. "You sort of what dear? How were you able to live all by yourself?" She asked in a quiet voice. I had to take another deep breath to try and rid of the knot in my throat, but it didn't work. "A few days after I left the last foster home, I found an abandoned beat up yellow bug in an alley, so I stole it only to find out that someone was in the car with me... Apparently he had stolen the bug before me. He was nice about it though, and since then Neal and I have just kind of always been together. It was better than being alone in the system." I finally said and that's when I realized I was crying. I feel a pair of arms wrap around me and Regina pulls me closer to her and allows my head to rest on her chest. It's a whole new feeling, but it feels amazing and right in that moment was when I needed it most, so I just sat in her arms allowing her to comfort me. "Oh dear..." Regina says sadly as she runs her hand through my tangled blonde hair. "Was this Neal guy the one who wanted you to steal the watches?" She asked and I nodded against her chest. "He stole them before we even met. I went to get them because we wanted to sell them and move to Tallahassee and get a nice place of our own." I choked the tears not stopping. "I knew the risks, but I didn't want to risk losing him. I dropped the watches when I was climbing over a fence trying to get away. I can't face him again, not without the watches. I didn't want to disappoint him like I have disappointed everyone else in my life." I cried loudly.
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I don't know what has gotten into me. The last person I had ever saved and comforted was Snow White when she was just a girl... When I wasn't much older than Emma seems to be now. I don't know why, but there's something inside of me that's telling me to comfort the blonde who is crying in my arms, and after hearing what she had just told me, my heart broke. I knew I couldn't just leave her alone. She needed me and maybe I needed her too. Feeling her wrapped up in my arms brought me comfort, which hadn't been anything I've felt in a very long time. It was something I yearned for. "It's okay Emma. Your okay" I whispered while I continued to stroke her hair. She slowly sat up and looked into my eyes. "Now that you know, please don't send me back into the system, I'll be 18 in two days but even if I was in the system for an hour, I don't know what I would do." She begged. I gave her a weak smile and wiped away her tears gently.

She's so young yet has already gone through more than what most people go through in her life time, just like me. She needs someone to take care of her, and that is exactly what I'm going to do.

"Don't worry Emma, I'm not going to let that happen to you, I promise." I said hoping she would trust me. She looked at me stunned for a moment, before she wrapped her arms tightly around my shoulders and buried her face in the crook of my neck. "Thank you." I heard her whisper and I couldn't help but smile at her child like actions. We are silent for the rest of the 45 minute drive back to the hotel. About 10 minutes after she said thank you and realized she hadn't said anything in a while, I glanced over to her, her head still resting on my shoulder with her eyes closed and her breathing slow. I couldn't help but smile at the blonde. I listened to my thoughts as the lights and sounds from the city went by us as we drove.

I can't fall for her. Everyone I've ever loved has been taken from me, and I'm sure the blonde has had more than her fair share of disappointment too. I can't let her down, I can't let her go, not this time. I have to help her, she needs me.

"But what if she doesn't need me? I asked myself.

If she didn't need me, she would have gotten out of the car already. She's sleeping on my shoulder and told me about her... Story, which I'm guessing she hasn't told anyone else. She trusts me. This girl needs me. I have to take her home with me.

But then I realized that maybe it's not just her that needs me. Maybe I need her too.

Of course I need her! I spilled my feelings to her too and I NEVER do that. There's something about this girl that is pulling me to help her, to be with her. Be with her? Date her? No. She's probably not like that. But if she is...

"Regina, stop." I mumbled under my breath. This girl was having a strange effect on me, something that hasn't happened since Daniel. Of course there were other...people, who I forced to have sex with me, but that isn't the same. There's just something about her that's making me fall-

"Ms. Mills, we're here." The driver said quietly so not to wake up the still sleeping blonde on my shoulder. I look out the window, realizing that the car has been parked in front of the five star hotel I had been staying at for the last few days. "Thank you." I responded with a smile. I gently moved a strand of blonde curls behind Emma's ear, before whispering to her quietly. "Hey, Emma, wake up, were at the hotel." Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she took in her surroundings, obviously not remembering that she had fallen asleep on my shoulder in a car, but when she sees my face, she smiles at me happily. She looks out the window and sees the huge hotel were in front of. Her eyes go wide in surprise and then she looks back at me. "We're staying here?" She asked excitedly and I nodded as I realized that this hotel would probably be the nicest place she'd ever been in. Her smile grew bigger as did mine at the sight of her eyes lighting up in excitement and I couldn't help but giggle. The driver got out of the car and walked over to the door on my side and opened it. I got out but not before subconsciously grabbing Emma's hand to follow me, luckily, she doesn't seem to bothered by this and she doesn't let go either and for some reason I don't either. It just feels right...