Disclaimer: I do NOT own Once Upon a Time or its characters.
Emma already regretted her decision to go along with the stupid Dare Night that Ruby, of her her closest friends, had come up with.
Ruby had spent the greater part of three days trying to convince her to participate and she'd been hesitant to agree until Ruby had so kindly reminded Emma that she had already been spending far too much time by herself and not nearly enough time with her friends.
She now stood in front of a photo booth, a laminated game card held tightly in one of her hands as her eyes scanned the numerous crowds of people around her. She had been trying and failing to find someone whom she deemed suitable enough to convince into helping her get through her misguided friend's idea of a fun night.
Make-out with a stranger in a photo booth.
She sighed deeply, rubbing her other hand over her face as she felt her frustration start to grow. She had been pacing around the general area for the better part of thirty minutes, trying to build up enough courage to ask someone to go along with Ruby's stupidity, but unfortunately for her, she had yet to find someone, anyone, who she would, let alone wanted, to ask.
Emma felt her phone vibrate in her back-pocket, alerting her to an incoming text and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. She didn't have to pull her phone out of her pocket and look at the screen to know that her friends, Ruby in particular, were starting to grow impatient with her. They had all agreed that all of them would be meeting up at Granny's Diner as soon as they'd all finished, but she had yet to give them any signs of life since they'd gone their separate ways a few hours earlier.
Ruby: Where are you? You're running out of time.
Emma sighed as read the text message, shoving her phone back into her pocket before she took a deep breath, steadying her resolve and scanning the crowds of people around her again.
"Are you looking for something in particular? If not something, maybe you're looking for someone?" Emma startled slightly at the question, asked in a somewhat husky voice by someone who appeared to be standing directly behind her. "You're not obligated to answer my question if you don't want to." The stranger continued and the blonde detected a hint of amusement in their voice. "It wasn't my intention to make you uncomfortable." Emma continued to stand there silently, trying to see if it were possible for her to recognize the other woman's voice, but her mind came up blank. "I was just curious."
"Curious?" Emma asked, wincing when she heard the slight quiver in her voice.
"Yes. You've been switching between standing here and pacing in front of the photo booth for the greater part of twenty minutes. It looked to me as if you were looking for something, or someone, and you'd simply had no luck finding them."
Emma turned around slowly and her eyes met vibrant brown that seemed to brighten the longer they held each other's gazes. She swallowed thickly, unconsciously allowing her gaze to break away from the other woman's and roam over her features for a few seconds.
The woman, a brunette, wore a pair of tailored black slacks, a white blouse with a straining third button that seemed to momentarily hypnotize Emma, and black heels that added a few inches of height to her.
She's breathtaking.
"I'm sorry." The woman said, breaking the silence and putting an end to Emma's blatant staring. "I didn't mean to bother you."
"No!" Emma exclaimed, wincing slightly as she realized that she'd managed to startle to the other woman with her sudden outburst." You-you're not bothering me." She said more calmly, a small smile tugging at her lips as she met the brunette's gaze again. "I would've been tempted by my own curiosity to do the same thing if I were you."
"So, does that mean that you're willing to sate my curiosity?" The brunette asked, biting her lip as she looked around, her eyes scanning the crowds of people as they walked by them. "Who knows, maybe I'll be able to help you find whatever, or whoever, it is you're looking for."
Emma rubbed the back of her neck somewhat sheepishly, feeling a blush creep onto her cheeks as she found herself internally debating whether or not she wanted to tell the other woman what it was she was up to. She looked around for a moment, dropping her hand to her side once her decision was made.
"It's uh, it's kind of stupid. Really stupid to be honest." She said with a shrug of her shoulders, trying to appear nonchalant as she looked at the game card that she still held in her hand. "One of my closest friends convince me, along with the rest of our friends, to be a willing participant in another one of her poorly thought-out ideas." She rolled her eyes as she continued. "She planned a Dare Night, and uh- well, I've been trying to- I have to find someone who would be willing to-" Emma was too flustered by the reminder of what it was she was supposed to do, and by the presence of the beautiful brunette woman, to explain herself without rambling and continuing to embarrass herself, so she extended the hand that held the game card to the other woman, silently encouraging her to take it and read it for herself.
The woman grabbed the card, her fingers lightly brushing against Emma's as she did so, and the blonde could do nothing more than watch as the woman read the words to herself, a small smirk appearing on her lips as she looked up to meet Emma's eyes as she re-read the words out-loud. "Make-out with a stranger in a photo booth." Emma lowered her gaze, staring at her low-top Converse with sudden captivated interest. "So, you're looking for a stranger who would be willing to make-out with you because one of your friends dared you to?"
Emma felt her cheeks heat up, a clear sign that she was blushing furiously, and she wanted nothing more in that moment than for the ground beneath her to open up and swallow her whole. "Well, yeah- I mean- I know that it's stupid, but- okay, look, here's the thing," She stuttered out, clearing her throat, and silently willing her voice to stop quivering as she tried to get a grip on her thoughts. "I've been spending a lot of time doing nothing but studying lately, and my friends were starting to get worried, so they all thought that if they were able to get me to participate tonight, maybe I'd unwind a bit, you know?"
God, she probably thinks that I'm a bumbling idiot.
"Your friends thought that daring you to make-out with someone you don't know might help you unwind?" The brunette asked Emma, amusement in her voice as she handed the game card back to Emma with a raised eyebrow. "Obviously, it's had a rather opposite effect on you."
Emma couldn't help but laugh a bit at the other woman's words. She felt the tension leave her shoulders slightly as she nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, well, yeah." She finished with a shrug, finally finding the courage to meet the brunette's gaze again, her lips twitching upward, seemingly wanting to match the amused smile on the beautiful stranger's face.
"Okay, come with me." The brunette said as she grabbed Emma's arm, the blonde immediately following behind her as she pulled her into the photo booth behind them and sat down, patting the empty spot next to her, silently requesting that Emma sit down next to her as she pulled a $5 bill out of one of the front-pockets of her slacks and fed it into the machine.
Emma simply watched the brunette, her eyebrows furrowed and confusion etched on her face. "What are you-" Emma's question was cut off by a set of full lips pressing onto her thinner ones, a small sigh escaping her as she felt the brunette's tongue gently gliding over her bottom lip, silently asking the her for permission to continue exploring her mouth as her arms wrapped around the blonde's neck. Emma's own hands finding purchase on the other woman's hips, her grip tightening as she struggled to keep her hands from wandering.
They detached their lips, Emma not hesitating to continue as she kissed down the other woman's jawline, quickly reaching her neck. She barely resisted the sudden urge she felt to bite down on the brunette's pulse point as a hand settled into her hair, fingers tangling into her curls, silently encouraging her to continue on her current path of exploration.
"There are people out here waiting to use the photo booth. Stop hogging it!" A man's voice exclaimed, breaking into their make-out induced fog and reminding them non-to-gently that the world around them still existed.
Emma groaned, not bothering to contain her disappointment. Her lips tilting upward in a smile as she heard the other woman chuckle somewhat huskily. "Well, it seems to me that you were able to go through with what you were dared to do after all, dear." She bit her lip, trying and failing to contain her widening smile as she met the other woman's gaze. Emma knew in that moment that she didn't want their time together to come to an end, let alone so soon, and she was already thinking of ways that she could possibly extend it.
Emma startled slightly as her phone chose that moment to vibrate in her pocket, once again alerting her to an incoming text, but she ignored it this time. Instead, she turned her attention back to the woman that held a newly printed photo strip in her hands, her eyes moving over the images, her lips tilted up in a smirk.
Emma just sat there quietly, watching as the other woman carefully ripped the photo strip in the middle, her eyes shifting between the two halves for a few seconds before she nodded to herself. The brunette gingerly placed one half of the photo strip in the back-pocket of her slacks before grabbing the blonde's hand in her own. She turned Emma's hand palm-side up and placed the other half of the photo strip in it.
Emma smiled as she grabbed the photo strip in a tighter grip, lifting one side of the black leather jacket she wore, and placing it in the hidden pocket that the jacket had. She smiled as she felt the other woman's hand grab her own, their fingers intertwining as she helped her off of the bench and out of the photo booth. The two of them walked out, completely ignoring the group of people who were stand outside waiting for their turn, some of them were wearing knowing looks on their faces.
"I think I've given you quite the souvenir, wouldn't you agree?" The brunette woman asked with a teasing smile on her face.
Emma couldn't help but laugh lightly as she met the other woman's gaze, one of her hands reaching up to unconsciously tuck a loose strand of brunette hair behind her ear, her own hand stopping to gently cup the woman's cheek. "Yes, you did. I agree. You didn't have to do anything, but I'm really glad that you did."
The brunette turned her head slightly, kissing Emma's palm gently. "It was my pleasure. Truly." She said with a somewhat shy smile that seemed so different to Emma from the confident woman who had taken the initiative to pull her into the photo booth and kiss her a few minutes ago.
"Will you tell me your name?" Emma asked her in a whisper as she took a step closer to the woman, their faces coming closer together, the temptation to lean in and close the remaining distance between them again weighing heavily on the blonde's mind.
"Why do you want to know my name?" The other woman asked her with a tilt of her head, her gaze burning into Emma's, seemingly searching for the answers to questions that she hadn't asked.
"I'd really like it I didn't have to consider you a stranger anymore." Emma answered her honestly, making sure to keep eye-contact with the woman, letting her see the sincerity in her eyes.
"That's quite a charming thing for you to say." The brunette said with a small smile as she took a step back and reached up to straighten the collar of Emma's jacket. "My name is Regina Mills."
Emma couldn't help but smile as found herself enjoying the other woman's attention, the pit of her stomach warming considerably at Regina's gesture, and she decided in that moment that she wasn't going to let this be the last time that she interacted with the beautiful woman. "It's very nice to meet you, Regina." She said as she extended her hand out towards the her, silently inviting the brunette to shake it. She watched the other woman's smile brighten as she grabbed her hand, shaking it in a confident grip. "My name is Emma Swan." She said, noticing that they were still shaking her hands, but seemingly just as reluctant as Regina to let go. "Did you want to go get something to eat?"
"That's not some kind of euphemism, is it?" Regina asked her with a smirk.
Emma's eyes widened and she felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment as Regina started to laugh. "No! No, no, no. I mean- I- we just met, so, no. Food. I was just asking you if you wanted to get some food." Emma stuttered out, clearing her throat roughly as she silently cursed her inability to control her rambling.
"That sounds lovely, Emma. I would love to."
Emma took a step back, a brilliant smile on her face which only seemed to grow more vibrant when Regina smiled back at her. "Yeah?" Regina simply nodded her head in the affirmative. "Great! Awesome. We can go to Granny's Diner. It's only a fifteen-minute walk from here." Emma continued as she grabbed onto Regina's hand, intertwining their fingers once again as she led them out of the shopping mall and in the direction of the diner. "We can start getting to know each other a little bit better on our way there, if that's okay with you, of course."
Emma smile widened as she felt Regina's hand gently squeeze her own.