Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time, The Notebook or any recognisable characters.

AN: This idea has been following me for a really long time so I finally gave up and went with the flow. ;)
Although the story itself was inspired by The Notebook, it significantly drifts away from the original plot.

Enjoy!

Every great love starts with a great story.

~ Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

It was a hot summer day, the hottest Emma had ever seen, and the temperature in the crowded amusement park only seemed to increase when she spotted a brown-haired beauty not twenty feet ahead of her. She stopped short and nudged her friend's side. Hard.

"Ouch, Jesus, Emma!" he shrieked, jumping away.

"David? Who's that?" she ignored him completely, her eyes still glued to the girl.

"Regina Mills. Kathryn's friend, they came here together."

"What!?" Emma almost spilled her drink. "But Kathryn arrived like two weeks ago?"

David just shrugged indifferently. "Yeah, I know. I guess she doesn't come out much."

"Well, her loss," the blonde put on a cheeky smile, walking over to the two girls. After throwing a polite but not too interested "hi" Kathryn's way, she turned her whole attention to the brunette.

"I'm Emma," she said, reaching out her hand, the smile still in its place. The girl eyed her up and down with – well, Emma could've misinterpreted it but she was almost one hundred percent positive she hasn't – a disgusted wince before finally grabbing the blonde's hand for a split second and almost instantly pulling away.

"Regina."

"Do you wanna dance?"

"What?"

Kathryn cleared her throat awkwardly, a gesture that went unnoticed by both girls. "Um, guys, I'm gonna be over there," she mumbled quickly, practically running towards David and his girlfriend Mary Margaret who were now standing in the line for a Ferris wheel.

"Do. You. Want. To. Dance," Emma repeated patiently. God, was she a freaking five year old.

"Are you crazy?" the brunette took a step away from the girl as if she had some infectious disease. Emma just rolled her eyes.

"Not an answer to my question."

"I'm not going to dance with you."

"Why not?"

The girl huffed with annoyance as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. "First of all, there's no music," she muttered angrily and Emma just chuckled.

"Well, aren't you imaginative."

Regina ignored her completely. "Secondly, you're a girl and it would be weird." Emma rolled her eyes, already opening her mouth to send some smartass remark Regina's way but the girl didn't let her. "And last but not least, I don't know you. And I. Don't. Want. To," she added, mimicking the blonde's tone from earlier.

"Why not?" Emma whined, not really caring if at that moment she was the one sounding like a five year old.

"I believe that's reason enough," Regina shrugged, walking away to join Kathryn and her friends.

"You're infuriating!" the blonde yelled after her, folding her arms on her chest.

"And you're crazy!"

Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately? – for the brunette, Emma was not the one to give up easily. She watched the four of them with a smirk, sipping on her beer slowly, a perfect plan already forming up in her head. Five minutes passed and they finally got into two separate cabins, Mary Margaret and David first, Regina and Kathryn following them.

Time to play.

A split second later, the cup landed in the middle of a litter bin by her side, beer splashing everywhere. Not even glancing at the mess she just made, she ran towards the ride, pushing past the people waiting excitedly in line. As Regina's cabin lifted into the air, Emma hopped over the separator, making a jump for the bar hanging adjacent to Regina and Kathryn. She hung limply, gripping tighter on the metal pipe when she felt a soft pull after the wheel started moving. She heard both girls squeal, turning people's attention towards her but completely ignored it and looked down.

"Sorry, Carl, I'll pay when I get down!" she yelled to the guy operating the aging machine who was already doing his best to stop the wheel from moving.

"Emma what the fuck are you doing, get the fuck down!" David screamed from the cabin above her but she wasn't paying attention, her focus turning fully to the brunette in front of her who was visibly shook up and was just opening and closing her mouth, unable to make a sound.

"Go out with me," Emma said, grinning at the girl.

"Oh my God, you really are crazy," Regina whispered, staring at the blonde with wide eyes.

"Jeez, you really need to focus and start answering people's questions correctly, Regina," Emma chuckled as the machine finally stopped moving, leaving them halfway to the top. "Go out with me," she repeated.

"No!"

"Fuck, my fingers are slipping," Emma muttered dramatically, struggling to hold on to the bar. "I think I won't make it," the brunette hid her face in her hands, groaning as Kathryn was almost standing in the cabin, reaching her hand towards Emma.

"Emma, take my hand," she said quickly but the blonde just smirked at her.

"Come on, Regina, go out with me," she asked once again and the girl looked up and shook her head.

"I don't want to go out with you!"

Emma let her left hand fall to her side making everyone gasp in horror.

"Jesus, Regina, just say yes!" Kathryn yelled, grabbing the girl's shoulder and shaking it violently.

"Fine! Fine, I will go out with you, just get down!" Regina exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in resignation.

"No, I don't want you to go out with me out of pity, tell me you want to go out with me!"

"What!?"

"Regina, please!" Mary Margaret pleaded, holding onto the edge of her cabin and looking down at them as if she was about to pass out.

"I want to go out with you!" the brunette screamed at Emma making her grin smugly.

"I don't believe you, say it again."

"Jesus! I want to go out with you, now please—" she didn't get to finish her sentence because the wheel started turning in the opposite direction and a few seconds later Emma let go of the bar, falling safely on the ground. She cracked her knuckles and smiled at the girl, not paying attention to angry looks everyone was throwing in her direction.

"Well, then I guess it's a date."

Going jogging every morning was definitely not Emma's favourite thing to do and she almost gave up when she looked out the window the next day and saw a thick layer of dark clouds covering the sky and practically screaming "it will be storming like a bitch in a minute, do not leave your warm bed!" at her.

Gritting her teeth, she bravely threw the sheets off herself and immediately shivered when cold, damp air hit her skin. Well, that should be pleasant.

It was not. But as she was running down the street, already on her way back home, and spotted a certain brunette exiting the town's only bakery, it turned out it was definitely worth it.

"Regina!" she yelled, speeding up to catch the girl when she was mounting her bike.

"Ugh, not you again," Regina groaned, putting overloaded paper bags into a visibly worn-out wicker basket hanging in the front of the old machine.

"Nice to see you too," Emma smiled brightly, not-so-gracefully brushing damp strands of hair away from her forehead. "Are you ready for our date?"

The brunette's eyes widened as she gripped tightly on the wheel. "What date?"

"The one you asked me to go on with you, of course," Emma chuckled, pushing her hands into her hoodie's pockets and looking at the brunette challengingly.

"I didn't ask you out on a date."

"Didn't you? I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure 'I want to go out with you' can mean only one thing in English," the blonde shrugged, frowning a little and looking up when she heard a loud thud from above and felt heavy, salty drops hitting her face. Obviously storms have a fantastic timing.

"You were hanging on a Ferris wheel and practically threatening to kill yourself, I would've said I'd marry you to get you down, I can't be held responsible for that!" Regina shrieked and the thunder in her eyes looked definitely more dangerous than the one in the sky.

"Well, then I wish I asked," Emma smirked smugly, swiftly throwing a hood on her head.

"You're a nutcase," the girl shook her head exasperatedly, jumping on the seat with a furious expression on her face. "Have a nice day," she hissed, leaning forward and pressing on the pedals roughly. The old mechanism gasped and grated in exhaustion and a second later the brunette was speeding down the street, away from the obviously proud of herself blonde who was standing still, rolling her eyes with a small smile.

"I'll pick you up at seven!" she yelled after the girl and she was sure the only thing stopping Regina from showing her the middle finger at that moment were her good manners. Well, that and perhaps the fact that the old road was so bumpy that she definitely needed to keep both her hands on the wheel.

"I told you I'm not going anywhere."

The storm was long gone, replaced by the bright sun and except for a heavy scent in the air there was no sign of it having ever occurred whatsoever but it felt like the coldest winter had found its way to Gig Harbor, Washington when Emma watched the breathtakingly beautiful brunette stand in her front door and eye her angrily.

"But we have a date."

"No, we don't, and you might want to invest in some hearing-aid if you didn't get it yet. Or perhaps a therapy."

"But you promised," Emma whined, looking up at the brunette with the best puppy eyes she could pull off. They seemed to work on everyone else so she had to at least give them a shot, right?

"A no is a no and the sooner you get this, the easier your miserable life will become, I promise you that."

"Regina, come on. What's stopping you?"

"Where do I even begin…" Regina scratched her cheek in feigned wonder, "Well, first of all – apart from the obvious fact that I just don't want to go out with you – going on a date with a girl would definitely be frowned upon in a small town like this."

"We would look like a couple of friends anyway."

"That's not what our friends would think."

"And you really care what they think?"

That made Regina hesitate for a second. But only a second.

"Second of all, the storm may come back any minute now and I don't want to get soaked."

"Look around," Emma waved her hand at the sky. "It's perfectly clear. Not a single cloud. The storm will not come back today and I can promise you that if you get soaked it will be for an entirely different reason," she smirked, earning herself a disgusted glare from the brunette.

"The town is boring."

"It's not and that's exactly what I want to show you."

"I have to practice playing the piano."

"You haven't left the house for the past two weeks and I won't believe there's been anything else you've been doing during them. Your piano will survive one evening without you."

Regina groaned, throwing her hands in the air.

"You won't leave me alone, will you?"

"Nope."

"I can call the police, you know?"

"You won't do that."

"How do you know?"

"Because you are intrigued."

"That's—"

"…True?"

"I was going to say bullshit."

"Sure you were."

The brunette shook her head exasperatedly. Without saying another word, she reached inside the house and grabbed a coat hanging in the hall. Closing the door behind herself, she leaned in, her front flushed against Emma's.

"I hope you've planned it well," she whispered into the blonde's ear and immediately started walking away, leaving her standing on the house's front steps, her mouth opening and closing and her eyes widened for a few full seconds before she finally gulped, running a hand through her hair, and ran after the brunette.