Notes:

Hope you like it. Please review! I'd love to know what you think.
This is going to be a slow burn fanfic with lots of angst and humor.
Paragraphs of italics represent a past event.
Be patient with Regina, she's not a bad person.

*Thank you for my betas. I couldn't do it without your help.*

Work Text:

Chapter 1 – Late

8am
"Merda! Vou me atrasar pro meu primeiro dia!*" (Shit! I'll be late for my first day!)

The clock startled Emma as it went off for the third time. She was supposed to get up at 7am, but instead of being a morning person, like everybody else, she stayed up late playing World of Warcraft and watching Netflix.
She threw her cellphone across the room, directly to the wall before it goes off again.
"Que legal, Emma. Agora você vai ter que comprar um celular novo." (Oh, that's nice, Emma. Now you're gonna have to buy another cellphone!)

She groaned as she tried to get up, feeling a little nauseous and light headed.
"Quando foi a última… ok, I'm in the US to practice this damn language, so… let me start it now. When was the last time I ate something?"
She couldn't remember exactly the time, but it was between the dungeon on Warlords of Draenor and the 5th episode of Grace and Frankie.
"Was it mac and cheese? God, how can't I remember the things I eat?! Ok, Swan, stop talking to yourself like an old crazy lady. You are late to your first day already!"

She wrenched herself off the sheets and stood rubbing both eyes.
"Maybe I should take a shower and eat something. No, I have to eat something, take a shower and brush my teeth. Hmmmm… No shower, yes food and no brushing teeth." The blonde considered her options as she walked towards the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and sighed when she realized she only had three bottles of water and a pack of beer. "Great, I have no food, so… Shower, no food and yes to brushing my teeth and also a big yes to stop talking to myself".
She took all her clothes off in the kitchen, put them on the counter and walked towards the bathroom. What's the point of living alone if you can't strip anywhere, right?!

She stepped into the bathtub and turned the shower on. What's the deal with the bathtubs, anyway?! Why does it seem that in every American house people are supposed to have a bathtub? Was it a cultural aspect or people just liked to get themselves pruned?

She took a long hot shower. Who cares about schedules? She was going to late anyway.
As she stepped out of the bathroom her skin crawled, that's another thing she hadn't thought about. Of course she knew the United States had a severe winter and all but when she saw all those snowmen and people wearing tons of clothes in the movies she haven't thought of how cold it really was.

And, of course, she wasn't used to it. "I miss the beaches and the sun already" the blonde wallowed nostalgically, yet she didn't have time to complain about the weather.

"I need something warm" her voice shivered "I can't believe I don't have a single warm coat! Earmuffs? Of course not! Who needs them when you live in a city that snows?! Maybe thermal underwear? Ugh… How naïve can you be, Swan?" She groaned.
She wore the first outfit she saw: a pair of jeans, a white tank top, her favorite red leather jacket and a pair of brown leather boots.

Her first week in Portland, Oregon had been a mess between looking for an apartment to live, which was quite an adventure, by the way. How could she know what 'landlord' meant? And 'tenant' sounded so funny she couldn't help but making jokes the poor real state agent couldn't understand:

"Here's your key, Miss Swan. As you already know, Mister Gold, your landlord, likes to know if their tenants are taking good care of his apartments. So you'll probably hear from him soon"
"My land what?" She looked at him confused.
"Landlord."
"But I'm not buying any land, I'm just…"
"It means he's the owner of your apartment, Miss." He interrupted as his patience was running out.
"Oh…But you might want to tell him that I've never been a soldier, let alone a tenant"
She burst into laughter, the real state agent just stared at her.
"Tenant, like the people who work in the army? No? Never mind…"
"You mean lieutenant?" He corrected her.
"Oh… in Portuguese that would make more sense." She said embarrassed.
"Right, here's the key. Have a nice day."

She also took some time off to get to know the city, visit the touristic places, took hundreds of pictures and posted them on Facebook, of course. And last but not the least she signed up for an "English School", because that was the main reason the moved to the United States. Although the weather was considerably cold it wasn't snowing either, consequently it hadn't crossed her mind it would actually snow. Also, she planned this trip so quickly and recklessly she hadn't considered all the sorts of events she would encounter.

Shaking her head as if to brush unwanted thoughts off, the blonde grabbed her Grammar books and sprinted out of the apartment.

Luckily she had found a condo a couple of blocks from the school so everything she had to do was run, literally.
She had considered the idea of living in on the campus, but she was used to being alone. Growing up as an only child made her a lone wolf. She also couldn't stand the idea of sharing a room with a random person.

As soon as she got to the school she spotted a cozy cafeteria.
"Excuse me?" She said smiling shyly.
"Yes?" The waiter gave her a bored glance.
"Do you have rolls?" She asked as she carefully examined the menu.
"Pardon me?" She got his full attention with the question.
"Yeah, you know… Rolls of bread? I'd like one with some butter, please." Her mouth started to water.
"We don't serve this kind of thing here, lady." He tried not to laugh at her unusual request.
"No? Hmmm… Maybe tapioca?"
He stared at her, blinking a few times.
"Okay… so, how about some coffee, please?" She smiled embarrassed.
"Espresso, cappuccino, late, iced coffee, Frappuccino, mocha or Americano?" He asked so fast she didn't understand a word.
"I just wanted to have breakfast!" She pouted like a child.

So breakfast was not an option. What's wrong with the Americans? A roll of bread and black coffee was not something out of this world.
"How am I going to survive here?" She whispered
as made a mental note of things to buy after class.

She was walking down the corridor when she looked at her watch.
"Puta merda! São nove e meia!" (Holy shit! It's nine-thirty!)
Now running was definitely an option, and that's what she did.

As soon as she found her classroom she also noticed everybody was already on their seats, except for her.

Emma saw a vacant desk near a gorgeous brunette and sat down, gasping for air.

"Easy tiger. Are you running away from someone?" The brunette had a strong accent, stronger than hers. She was wearing a tight red dress, some red locks of her hair matching her outfit.

"No, I just thought I was late." Said the blonde, gasping for some air. Unconsciously she studied the female form beside her. She couldn't help but notice the brunette was really something.

"You're lucky, the Evil Queen is not here yet, oh, I'm Ruby, by the way." As she reached out her had towards her.

"The Evil…" She didn't have the chance to finish her sentence. The door was abruptly opened as the teacher walked towards the board.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Author's note: The word "tenant" sounds like "tenente" in Portuguese that means lieutenant. Tapioca is a typical Brazilian food and it's also delicious. ;)