A/N: this fic is completely inspired by this headline: article/straight-guy-worries-hes-homophobic-gay-roommate-ends-falling-love. Hope you enjoy!
Their first encounter took Regina by surprise, something which she would soon learn was a common reaction to her interactions with Emma Swan. The brunette was hunched over her desk, trying not to tear her hair out over the painfully long texts she was required to read for her first seminar. A best of the eighties playlist was playing faintly from her laptop but she barely got to hear the opening line of Foreigner's iconic tune before there was a loud crash from the doorway of her dorm.
"Hi!" A female voice called.
Regina, recovering from her heart missing a beat or two, stood, arms folded and frown upon her face.
"And you are?"
The woman laughed and stepped into view, duffel bag slung across her shoulders.
"Emma. Your new roommate. Can I just-" She gestured towards the unoccupied side of the room.
Regina stepped aside, not taking her eyes off the woman, frown etched into her features.
"I was told you were arriving next week."
"Nice to meet you too." Emma chuckled, tucking a blonde curl behind her ear.
"Yes… well." Regina, evidently still startled, took a deep breath and extended her hand. "I'm Regina."
Emma looked at the outstretched hand and raised a brow. Regina retracted her hand with an awkward, tight smile and Emma grinned, shaking her head.
"You're an odd one, Regina."
"You met me two minutes ago."
"I'm a great judge of character, what can I say?" Emma smirked and then reached down to lift the heavy duffel onto her bed.
Regina's eyes followed the movement, a strange fluttering rising within her as the blonde's arms flexed. She couldn't deny that Emma was stunning and apparently toned beyond belief too. She quickly passed off those thoughts and the stirring in her chest, which only increased as the blonde stretched and revealed a sliver of firm abs, as annoyance. Obnoxious individuals prone to crashing about should not be blessed with attractiveness on that level. Annoyance. That was the only explanation.
And Emma Swan was quite the annoyance as Regina very quickly discovered. Within two weeks, there were clothes strewn all over the blonde's side of the room, crumbs everywhere, music blasting so loud in her earphones that she might as well just play it out loud. And there were the visitors. Constantly.
When there was a knock at the door for the second time in one afternoon, Regina sighed in frustration. It was irritating enough just being interrupted but this time, she would have to get up and greet their guest since Emma was out 'grocery shopping', which translated as picking up half a dozen donuts and a few beers. How she kept her figure, Regina would never understand. It was almost impressive. Those abs. Regina shook her head to dismiss those thoughts.
She walked over to the door and opened it to find a brunette girl hovering awkwardly, nervous smile upon her face.
"Emma's not here." Regina said, her tone somewhere between annoyed and bored. She moved to shut the door when the girl protested, quickly holding a hand out to stop the door slamming in her face.
"Hey! Wait, can I just-"
Regina rolled her eyes, not in the mood for being Emma's personal secretary.
"Yes?"
"Do you know how long Emma'll be?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. 10 minutes? 20?"
Regina regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. She could already guess from the girl's sudden smile the question she was about to be asked. She should have said hours. Days even.
"Okay, cool. Is it okay if I wait inside then? Just for 10 minutes?"
Regina sighed, resigning herself to her fate. Entertaining one of Emma's many guests. Death by small talk.
"Sure."
The girl followed Regina inside and sat on what she presumed was Emma's chair when the brunette gestured towards it.
"So… are you a senior too? Like Emma?"
Regina stifled a groan. This was even more awful than she had anticipated.
"Yes, I am. And yourself?"
"Sophomore. What's your major?"
"English Literature."
"Me too! Emma's a Psychology major right? That sounds cool."
Regina nodded. She wondered how Emma seemed to have all these friends, apparently not even ones she took classes with. She didn't attend any societies as far as she could tell. She definitely wasn't on any sports teams. Maybe she met them all when she went out. Or at the gym. Regina was lost in her own thoughts when there was more knocking on the door.
She huffed and got up to answer it, prepared to snap at whoever it was.
"Hey, roomie! Forgot my keys again."
Regina took a deep breath and tried to compose herself.
"Firstly, you're an idiot. Secondly, do NOT call me that."
The blonde just laughed and Regina felt her insides twitch at the sound as well as that bright smile. Annoyance.
"Thirdly, someone is here to see you. Another friend of yours."
Emma snorted and pushed past the brunette, lighting up when she saw the girl sitting at her desk.
"Belle! What brings you down here? Not that I'm complaining of course."
The blonde winked and the girl, Belle apparently, grinned and pulled her into a hug.
"I just missed you." She blushed a little. "I thought maybe we could grab dinner?"
"Ah man." Emma groaned. "I'd love to but I've really gotta finish this write up."
"Oh." Belle was clearly trying her best not to look disappointed.
"You can stay for a little bit? I'm sure Regina won't mind."
Regina WILL mind, the brunette thought, but she forced a smile and nodded before immediately grabbing her headphones and laptop.
'A little bit' turned into an hour and Regina was starting to think they should've just gone for dinner. From her position sat on her bed, laptop resting on her legs, she could see the two of them on the other bed giggling, Belle's head resting on Emma's shoulder. She felt the annoyance again.
Finally, after what felt like hours, and honestly they could've gone to dinner in this time, they stood. Belle slipped her shoes and jacket back on before wrapping her arms around Emma in what Regina hoped was a farewell hug. When they pulled apart, Belle did something which Regina definitely had not been expecting. She placed a hand on Emma's cheek and pulled her down into a kiss. A kiss which apparently Emma didn't plan on stopping anytime soon. The annoyance rose. It almost felt like an anger now. Her stomach erupted into butterflies? fury? She couldn't take her eyes off Emma's lips. Regina cleared her throat.
Emma pulled away, a faint colouring in her pale cheeks.
She walked Belle to the door, kissed her once more and then closed it behind her. Regina took her headphones off. She didn't know what she wanted to say but she wanted to say something.
"So that was your…" The brunette struggled to form the word, her heart racing. "girlfriend?"
The blonde laughed.
"Not exactly. We've slept together a few times."
"I see." She could hear the strain in her voice. "Is that… common for you?"
Emma raised an eyebrow, a smirk on her lips.
"Are you asking me if I have sex a lot or if I have sex with women a lot?"
Regina's cheeks reddened and she stammered, unable to find her voice. She never got flustered, this was ridiculous.
"Both."
"So… you're-"
"A lesbian? Yep."
Regina nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. She didn't really know what to do with that information. Her brain was playing Emma's tongue running along Belle's lips on a loop. Her chest felt tight and her head swam and everything felt hot.
"Will that be an issue?" Emma asked defensively, her hands were on her hips and she was clearly trying to convey an 'I really don't care what you think' vibe but there was a glimmer of worry in her eyes.
Regina hesitated for a second, she knew she didn't have an issue with people being gay, or any other sexuality for that matter. She never had. But the anger she had felt, her discomfort, her desperation to make it stop, her apparent obsession with that moment (she didn't think she'd be getting that kiss out of her head anytime soon). The annoyance was far more overwhelming than ever before. Emma was irritating but it was never this bad. Oh god, was she homophobic?
"N-no. Not at all." She finally choked out.
Oh god, she might be homophobic.
A/N: This is the first swanqueen fic I've ever published so be gentle please! Rating is M for now but may change, I'll also update tags as we go. I have commitment issues but I do really want to finish this so encouragement would be greatly appreciated!