Chapter 1: Don't Remind Me

Hello! I got this idea and just had to write about it. I hope you stick around for it! Oh and a quick note for you: This will mainly be from Emma's POV but don't be surprised when you see things from Regina's POV! Enjoy and keep in mind that I do not own the characters of Once Upon a Time.

(Emma's POV)

A chunk of warm, slimy mud hits my cheek. I wipe off the drops that hit my lips and widen my eyes at the pesky brunette who threw it at me, "Regina! I'm going to kill you!"

Regina giggles wickedly and runs out from behind the tree, legs covered in mud. I scoop some up into my hands and chuck it at her but miss since I'm laughing.

Regina turns around, "You suck, Swan!"

I suck, huh? We'll see about that. I charge forward the best I can without getting stuck in the mud, eyes darting back in forth on Regina's long hair bouncing side to side as she ran. And then I pounce on her. She lets out a yelp and we both fall to the ground. Regina lands face down in the mud with me on her back. She grunts as she turns her face to the side, showing that it's completely covered.

This makes me laugh so hard, "Regina...oh. Oh my god. I.." I couldn't even finish my sentence since my laughter kept interrupting. Regina glares but can't hold it long, my laughter causes her to laugh too.

We finally calm down and I look back down at her. Despite her dirty face, Regina still looked so beautiful. Only she could pull that off. "Remember how just a few minutes ago, you said I sucked?"

She wiggles her body underneath me, "Shut up smartass and get off me, would ya?" I re-adjust myself so that I was straddling her instead of lying against her.

I sigh, "But you're so comfy, I think I might stay here a while." I cross my arms and look out into the distance. It was a beautiful day, not too hot and definitely not too cold. The sun was warm and the small breeze felt amazing. I smile as I see my horses running wild in their pen. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a horse, life would be simple and magical.

"Swan, I swear…" Regina mutters.

The back door to the house opens, me and Regina turn our faces to the familiar creaking of the door. My mother walks out and when she sees us, she lets out a small giggle, "Come on girls, I'm going to make lunch soon." She waves her hand, gesturing us to come inside.

I lean down and whisper in Regina's ear, "You got lucky...this time." She shivers and slaps my arm. I finally climb off of her and hold out my hands to help her up. She flops onto her back with a sigh and grabs them as I try to stifle a laugh, she looks even funnier at this direct angle.

When we walk in the door, a towel is the floor for us to put our shoes on. My mother doesn't mind a little mess, but I thinks it's safe to say it was more than a little this time.

I look up to see my mother silently laughing at us, "Can't you two go one day without getting covered in dirt?"

Regina smiles, her teeth looking extra white in contrast with her muddy face, "What fun would that be?"

I nod and point to Regina with my thumb, "She's got a point."

She shakes her head, "Go wash up and when you're done, lunch will be ready for you, okay?"

I grin, "Thanks mom!" I go in for a hug but she takes a step back, "Uh-uh. You're not hugging me like that!"

I wear a fake, pained expression, "What? Denying a hug from your only child? That just won't do." I take her by surprise and hug her anyways. Sometimes, I just don't know when to stop.

"Emma Swan! You know how much I love this dress!" She says, although she says that about all of her dresses. Despite me getting her dirty, I feel her arms embrace me back. My mother is such a different kind of soul in this world, she's probably too good for the world to be honest.

"Love youuu!" I say in a teasing tone. She pulls back with one of her mom looks, "Yeah. Sure you do." She grabs a dish towel and dabs at her dress.

I kiss mom's cheek and grab Regina's hand, pulling her towards the bathroom. Regina says, "Your mom is too sweet. If I did that to my mom, I wouldn't be able to leave the house for a week!" She shudders. I'm sure she would get punished way worse than just 'not leaving the house'. Her mom was very strict and old-school. Although Regina won't admit it, she is afraid of her. I don't blame her, I'm scared of her too and I've never seen her go all mom mode yet. That's why we normally hang out at my house.

I sit on the toilet, "You can go first."

She shakes her head, "No way, I know you Emma. I'm not about to have you get me all dirty again after I just get clean. You first." She crosses her arms. I wasn't winning this one. Regina could be as stern as her mother sometimes.

"I just did that with my mom. I'm satisfied for today, you really think I'd do it again?"

She raises an eyebrow at me, "Yes, I do actually."

"Oh fine." I smile anyways, I liked how Regina knew me so well. I run to my room to grab us both some of my clothes to wear. I pick out two pairs of joggers, and two t-shirts. I return to the bathroom and hold up the pants, "Blue or red?"

She ponders a bit, "Hmmm. Blue please. Red looks better on you."

I toss her the blue pants, "What are you talking about? You can literally make any color look incredible on you."

She blushes, "Hurry up, I'm starving." She points to the shower. I roll my eyes.

She sits on the toilet seat, scrolling through her phone as I undress for my shower. I jump in and close my eyes, sighing as the hot water hits my skin. Showers and baths are so nice, once I get in, I often never want to leave.

After I wash the dirt from my body and nails, I wash my hair with my cherry blossom shampoo and conditioner. Feeling satisfied, I grab my towel and wrap it around me. As I step out of the shower, I say, "You're up." I notice her face is now clean but everything else is still just as messy.

"Bout time." Regina stands up and walks close to me, leaning in and smelling my neck. She wasn't touching me but any further and she would be. It sent chills down my spine, "Mmm you smell nice, for once."

I flick her on the forehead, "Hey! I always smell nice, thank you very much."

She raises her eyebrow again and wears a smug expression, "Except that one time-"

I glare at her, "Yes I'm very aware of that! It haunts my dreams still. Thank you for that reminder you jerk." She was referring to the time when I fell off my horse and landed right in its crap. So yes, that day I did not smell so nice.

Regina laughs as she steps into the shower. After I'm dressed, I mock Regina and sit on the toilet seat with my phone in hand. I'm scrolling through twitter when I hear Regina humming a soft tune in the shower. I smile, sometimes I think I could be in love with her. I mean, I've been friends with her since the fourth grade, and here we are now, juniors in highschool and closer than ever.

The thing is, if she felt the same, I assume something would have happened by now. I barely understand my feelings myself, though. Besides, I adore our friendship and would never want to jeopardize that. At school, we sometimes get teased. Because of how close we are, it often seems as if we are dating. Regina just tells them off and says something like, "You're just jealous you don't have as close of friendship with your friends the way we do!"

Which also is another indication that tells me how she sees our relationship: as close friends. But I'm not complaining, I'm so happy with how things are right now.

I hear the shower turn off and Regina emerges with a towel around her. "As much as I love getting dirty, I feel so much better right now."

"True, when it starts to harden on your skin, that's when it gets annoying." I say, nodding my head.

After she's dressed, we go to the kitchen, excited to eat.

XX

I lay in my bed, waiting for Regina to join me. She always takes so damn long in the bathroom. Finally, I hear the bathroom door open and Regina arrives all fresh-faced. Not that she wears much makeup to begin with. She climbs in beside me. "Goodnight, Swan."

"Night, Gina." I smile and turn off my light. When I close my eyes, my arm automatically goes around her waist and she curls in closer to me. It's always been this way, we're just so comfortable around each other to do these sort of things and not think much of it. It was such a nice feeling to know I have someone I can tell everything to and rely on for anything. Even though it seemed impossible, I hoped to God that this would never change.

But I was wrong.

| 11 Years Later |

(Regina's POV)

I stare down at the invitation in my hand, oh how the memories come back to me, just like that. I can't believe I was the person I was back in Storybrooke. I'm ashamed of that girl, at least that's how I was told to feel.

I feel arms wrap around my stomach, "Why do you look so disgusted right now?" Robin asks me with a chuckle.

I turn around in his arms and sigh, "See for yourself." I hand him the invitation.

He scans it quickly and looks up smiling, "Well this is nothing to be disgusted by! It's your 10-year reunion, this is so cool. My school doesn't even do this sort of stuff."

"I understand why, I mean what's the point?" I ask as I throw my hands in the air.

"What are you talking about? This should be exciting for you." Robin says.

I roll my eyes, "Yeah, right."

Robin lays a hand on my arm, "Let's go."

I'm shocked, "What?"

"Let's spend our vacation in Storybrooke and go to your reunion while we're there." He says, a bit too excited for my liking. Don't get me wrong, seeing him happy makes me happy, but not with this.

I hold my hands up, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're telling me you actually want to spend our only vacation in Storybrooke, Maine so we can go to my stupid 10-year reunion?"

Robin nods, "And I would love to see where you grew up."

"Trust me, you really don't." I deadpan. What if...what if I saw Emma there? I erase that thought from my mind and swallow hard.

He grabs my hands, "Please? We could spend half of vacation there and then figure out where to spend the other half later."

I want to reject and so badly. There's many many reasons why I don't want to go back there. A certain blonde in particular being one of them. Things didn't end so well and I don't want to deal with it, whatever 'it' may be. But also, I don't really want to think about the person I used to be, I am so much better now. Why take steps back when the better option is to move forward? I was going to insist not going but how could I say no to those puppy dog eyes? "Oh...alright." I regret my decision as soon as I speak it.

Robin smiles, "Yes! This is going to be good for you, I swear!"

I grin back, "With you, I'm sure it will be." He leans in and kisses me hard until I pull him to the bedroom.

XX

(Emma's POV)

"Oh shit. Elsa, come here!" I yell in the apartment. Elsa is my roommate, we did go to school together but we were just friendly, not really friends. We ended up becoming really close in college, she really helped me get through some stuff. And the rest was history. We're basically opposites most of the time, but you know what they say about opposites.

Elsa appears in the kitchen, "What is it? Should I be worried?"

I shrug, "Depends how you felt about highschool."

Elsa looks confused, "Wait what?"

I put the invitation right in her face, "Storybrooke High is having a ten-year reunion." I honestly wasn't sure how I felt about this. High school was some of the best years of my life, and then some of the worst.

Elsa stares at the paper with wide eyes, then they finally meet mine, "It's really been ten years?"

I nod slowly, "Apparently. Damn I feel old."

Elsa scoffs, "No kidding. But don't because you look hot."

I smirk, "I mean, I suppose I can't disagree with you on that one."

Elsa chuckles, "Why do you make me regret every compliment I give you? Miss full-of-yourself."

"I much prefer the term 'self-love' or 'confidence'." I say with a grin. Elsa rolls her eyes. She sits in the kitchen chair with a spark in her eye, "Speaking of hot, we have to look good for this. Show all those bastards in school what they missed out on."

Emma frowns slightly, for the first time in a while, she thinks of Regina. Would she even be there? Probably not based on how she ended things. Yeah, maybe I don't have to worry, she probably won't even come. I mean how weird would that be if she did, I don't even know what I'd say. I wonder if she looks the same? I wond-

Elsa's hand shakes in front of my face, "Emma, where'd you go?"

Thankful for the interruption, I say, "Thinking about stupid things from the past. But yeah, you're right. Let's look good for this, like really fucking good."

"Hell yeah, that's what I'm talking about." Elsa spins around with excitement, "We need to go shopping!" She runs to her room and shortly returns with her purse.

"Wait, now?" I ask with questioning eyebrows.

"Yesss. Come on!" Elsa says as she clings to my arm. I hate shopping but I suppose this time I wouldn't get away with saying what I have in my closet already will work. This was a bit special.

I sigh, "Fine, let me get my wallet."

Not only was I dreading the shopping trip, but I was also dreading the reunion itself. Sure, I'm excited for it too, I mean I get to see how everyone has grown and if they're married. And maybe my favorite teachers will be there too which would be great. But there's one single person that is making said dread come through, and that's Regina. Even though it's unlikely she would even go, you just never know with these things.

I start to feel a little uneasy. What if I go and she's there? What if I go and I feel the same pain I felt the year we graduated?

I return to where Elsa was waiting and smile. No, I won't let myself feel that pain. That was years ago and I have someone who wouldn't do what Regina did to me. I link my arm through Elsa's and we head to my car.

Hopefully though, Regina would continue to stay away from Storybrooke.

So, is this something I should continue? Let me know your thoughts! :)