*DISCLAIMER* I do not own the movie "TiMER", the characters, or OUaT
*Rated M for language and future chapters*
A/N: I've had the idea for this story in my head for months now. This is based off of/inspired by the movie "TiMER". If you haven't seen it, you definitely should. (If you have seen it, this story will not follow the movie much, just the premise.) This story will be AU, Emma and Regina are the same age in their final year of college, and they both have their families. Henry will not be in this story, sorry. I plan on making this quite a few chapters (hopefully 20+). Updates will be at least once a week if not more (depending on the interest shown in this story). Please read and review to let me know what you think! :)
Chapter One
Regina Mills woke up to the sun shinning through her bedroom blinds. She rolled over and looked at the clock. 8:30. Thank god she finally slept in on a Saturday. Well, slept in for her. Since it was the weekend she had no obligations to uphold and school didn't start until next week. The day was completely hers to do whatever she wanted. That meant sleep until 8:30 and finish her school shopping. The brunette was so excited for school to start. It was was her last year in the undergraduate program at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She loved getting assignments and the pleasure that came along with completing them and then receiving them back with an 'A'. So it was no wonder that she equally enjoyed fresh notebooks and writing utensils to help keep her organized.
The young woman stretched out her slender limbs and looked down at her right wrist. She let out a sigh as it appeared no different than usual. There was a blank, gray strip implanted there showing absolutely nothing. The timer had been installed as a gift from her mother on her eighteenth birthday. Well her mother thought of it as a gift, Regina had been thinking of it as more of a curse now. The timer was supposed to tell her the exact moment in which she would meet her soulmate. However, in the almost four years she had it, it never fleshed up a time. She was beginning to think that she may not even have a soulmate. Of course she only said that once to her mother, who in turn told her not to be ridiculous. Naturally, she never mentioned anything about the timer to her mother again.
Regina couldn't help but feel like she would never be worthy of love. With her timer not giving her an answer about the person she should end up with, it drove her crazy and obsessed in every relationship. In fact, her last relationship ended because she couldn't stop nagging him to get one. When he finally did, her timer failed to turn on while his showed a mere few days. They were in love and discussed marriage but Regina couldn't finalize anything until the timer confirmed her beliefs. She ended things because she their relationship would lead nowhere.
So she got out of her bed and started her day like usual; with her head held high and the faintest bit of hope in her heart. She showered and got ready in a form fitting light pink dress that stopped halfway to her knees. Her shoulder length brown hair held a slight wave and looked as perfect as usual. She paired some black heels with her dress to make her short stature appear taller than normal. After she sprayed herself with some coconut spray she was pleased with the final product and left her apartment in the neighborhood of Georgetown.
Regina was truly grateful for all that she had been blessed with in life. She grew up in a rather large house in Connecticut pretty close to New York City as an only child with her mother and father. Her father was a lawyer with his firm based in the city and her mother was a published author. It was no surprise that she wanted to follow in his footsteps and become a successful lawyer as well. She had hopes to open her own firm by the time she was 32. Regina had remained extremely close to her Latino father since she was a baby. Her relationship with her mother was off and on: usually off. She was demanding and critical, especially when it came to Regina's romantic relationships.
When the brunette was sixteen, she realized that she was fond of both the male and female genders. Cora was less than thrilled when she brought her first girlfriend home. Henry, on the other hand, loved his daughter regardless of who she dated. For that, she was extremely grateful.
As soon as it was time for Regina to go off to college she wanted a chance to be on her own and out of the clutches of her mother. Plus, Georgetown would be perfect to prepare her for law school. So her parents decided to buy her an apartment to live in so she didn't have to bear living in a dorm room with a roommate.
Regina's phone beeped in her purse and she went to retrieve it. A smile graced her face when she was that it was from her best friend.
Ariel: Hey bitch! Finally got back to town. Landon's throwing a back to school party tonight and we're going. I'll be at your place at 7 to get ready. Love ya :)
An eye roll escaped from Regina. Her best friend was rather brash and always made Regina go to parties she didn't want to attend. The only thing that made the parties bearable was that she always got free alcohol.
Ariel clicked with Regina immediately in their freshman seminar course. Only Ariel would forget a pen and paper on the first day of class and ask Regina to borrow some. Even though she was not looking forward to going to the party, she was excited to see the California native.
"Oh my god. Regina, you have to wear that tonight," Ariel gushed over the outfit that she was trying on.
"Are you sure this isn't inappropriate?"
"Of course it is, but it's perfect. Especially because when you're about three drinks in you'll be complaining about how horny you are."
"I will not!" Regina was appalled at the assumption.
"Mmmhmm, we'll see about that in three hours."
Regina rolled her eyes and inspected her appearance in the full length mirror. Her hair was slicked back and she wore some daisy duke shorts with a black crop top that could easily pass for a bikini top. She had some fancy sandals on which completed her outfit. She didn't want to seem conceited but she honestly did look great. Anyone would be grateful for the chance to talk to her tonight.
"Shall we go get some dinner?"
The two women left arm in arm to a sports bar a block away.
The bar was packed when they got in. Usually, Regina wouldn't be caught dead in a space like this. The only reason they came here was because the food was cheap and the drink specials were amazing.
Ariel ordered them each a shot of tequila and some food to go along with it.
"Liquor before beer, have no fear!" They toasted themselves before downing the shots.
Deciding to stock up on liquor seemed to be the smartest thing to do since the only thing they serve at these house parties was cheap beer.
Five shots each and dinner later, the two friends made their way down to the party. They were giggling and already walking crookedly. As they opened the door, the party was already in full force. There was noise coming from the speakers that blared music and from the people catching up from their summer and playing drinking games.
Ariel immediately went over to her friends from the English department and began chatting away. Regina looked around the room until her eyes settled on the fridge.
Drinks. Finally.
As she reached her hand into the fridge a voice called out behind her.
"Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing in there?!"
She whipped around and was prepared to defend herself until she realized it was her friend.
"Landon! I've missed you, how are you," they grabbed each other in an embrace.
"Missing some Regina Mills, that's how I've been. Grab a beer, have some fun."
Regina smiled and downed a beer, ready for a second. She hung out with her friend for about thirty minutes before they made their way over to the beer pong table.
Immediately, Regina's eyes locked on a tall, skinny blonde dominating the current game. She scanned her body and appreciated her long, toned legs that housed a pair of shorts and a torso (which she could only assume held toned abs as well) which was covered with a black muscle tank showing off her lacy bra underneath. Her long, blonde hair hung in waves down her back almost to her perfectly sculpted ass.
"You know, if you take a picture it'll last longer." Landon snapped Regina out of her daze.
"Pardon?"
"Emma. You're staring at her and not even trying to hide it. You can always go talk to her."
Regina blushed, "Oh no, I can't do that,". She felt her heart start to race.
Landon laughed at the flustered brunette. "Come on, I'll introduce you two." He grabbed her by the hand.
"No, no, no. Not yet. I need another drink first."
Regina spun around to go to the fridge and failed to notice that the blonde girl started watching her as well.
She pulled two drinks out of the fridge and found Ariel in the living room flirting with some guy she'd never seen before.
"I know, right? I mean Ariel isn't even my favorite Disney princess. It's Jasmine!"
Regina rolled her eyes yet again at the conversation that Ariel so often had with guys she had just met.
'Here, I think you need one of these. I know I do," Regina handed her friend a drink and started to down her own.
Ariel introduced Regina to her new friend and they made small talk before Regina left to get two more drinks. Her heart was pounding but she definitely had more than enough liquid courage in her for what she was about to embark on.
The brunette stumbled into the other room where she found Landon and saw Emma sitting on a couch on the opposite side of the room. She was laughing and joking with some of her friends and Regina thought she looked gorgeous.
"You said her name is Emma, right," Regina half slurred.
"Uh, yeah. You gonna go talk to her?"
"You betchya."
"Don't you want to know if she's even into girls first," Landon held her back.
Regina smirked, "Landon, this is me we're talking about. It doesn't matter if she's into girls or not. She will be into me,".
He laughed as he watched his friend crookedly strut over to the blonde.
"Is this seat taken," Regina asked as she sat down next to the blonde without waiting for an answer.
"Umm yeah. By you now." Emma turned her attention to the brunette that she was sure was way out of her league.
"Good. I'm Regina." She introduced herself and handed Emma the extra beer.
"Thanks, Regina." She took a sip of the drink. "I'm Emma."
Regina tried her best to bat her eyelashes in her drunk state. "I saw that you're pretty talented when it comes to beer pong. What else are you talented at?"
"Well, thanks. I'm pretty good at art. I'm a senior art major. How about you?"
"Political Science, pre Law."
"Impressive," Emma raised an eyebrow at the brunette. She scanned the brunette's body before settling on her right wrist. " You've got a timer, huh? Too bad it's not lit up. I bet there's a million people wishing that theirs would match up with yours."
Regina quickly covered up her wrist, embarrassed.
"Ummm, no. Not many people. Let's not dwell on my misfortune. I don't see a timer on your wrist."
"Nope," Emma replied simply.
"Nope?"
"I never wanted one so I never got one. Simple as that."
Regina was dumbfounded. "But how will you know who you're supposed to be with?"
"You just know when you're in love. Have you been in love before, Regina?"
The brunette swallowed. "I think so. I'm not really sure though."
Emma leaned in closer. "It doesn't matter if it's the first or the 600th time you see them: they always manage to take your breath away. You get tingles all the way from your ears, to your heart, to your stomach, then to your toes. Every day with them feels like the first day because you always learn something new about each other. Sometimes your heart physically hurts because you love them so much. That's why I don't need a timer. I'll just know."
Regina was at a loss for words and she just stared into Emma's eyes.
"Anyways, at least I hope that's how it'll be," she said before taking another sip of her beer.
"Yeah, me too," Regina said barely above a whisper.
The two of them continued to get to know each other for a little bit although Regina wouldn't remember most of it in the morning.
"It's getting late. Or early I guess. Where do you live? You want me to walk you back to your place?" Emma helped Regina up as she realized it was 3 am.
"Umm I live like two blocks away. Sure, thanks."
Emma helped Regina to her place even though it was a hassle getting directions out of the drunk girl.
"Alright, is this your place?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah," Regina muttered looking up. "Here, put your number in here so I can thank you in the morning." Regina handed Emma her cellphone.
The blonde giggled and put her name and number in the phone with a winky face next to her name.
Emma handed the phone back and noticed that Regina was staring at her lips.
"Or, I could thank you personally in the morning."
She leaned in and let her lips meet the blonde's. Their lips started moving against each other's and Regina felt herself melt into Emma. She felt hands on her hips so she decided to press further and slipped her tongue into the beer tasting mouth that was on hers. The brunette could hear herself moan into the kiss and she could swear Emma returned her moan.
Emma gently pushed Regina off her and broke the kiss.
"Do you want to come upstairs," Regina battered her eyes.
"I'm not really the kind of person who sleeps with someone they barely know. Sorry."
Regina suddenly frowned, embarrassed, and started playing with her wrist.
"Oh, okay. Well thanks for walking me back."
"Hey," Emma grabbed Regina's wrist before she could walk away." You have my number though. You can text me when you wake up if you'd like to grab some coffee."
"Okay. Thanks, Emma." Regina offered up a small smile.
"Goodnight, Regina." She watched the brunette walk inside and smiled to herself as she made her way back home.