A eighteen-year-old blonde orphan, who had ran away from her latest bad home, arrived in a small town in Maine; a small town called Storybrooke. Although she had barely arrived in town she had already met the Mayor, Regina Mills, who was barely older then the blonde herself. Thinking about the brunette made the blonde smile. After talking to her for almost an hour, just after she had crossed the town line, she knew that she could trust her and hoped that maybe they could become friends. A few hours after her encounter, the young blonde found herself at Granny's. "Miss Swan, what a coincidence running into you twice in one day." The brunette smiled, making the younger girl smile back. Ruby, the waitress from the diner, handed the Mayor her daily coffee. "Here you go, Madame Mayor." She said with her usual smile. Ruby frowned as she saw the Mayor's smile and followed her gaze to the blonde. "Hi, I'm Ruby." The waitress smiled at the newcomer. "Nice to meet you, Ruby. I'm Emma." The two smiled at each other. As Ruby started to flirt with Emma, Regina interrupted. "Miss Lucas, don't you have a job to do?" The waitress rolled her eyes at the other brunette and turned back to Emma. "Would you like something to eat or drink?" Emma's smile vanished. She hesitated, before she answered, "I'd like to, but I don't have any money right now." She shook her head and looked at the door. "I should go." Before anyone could say something else, Emma ran out of the diner. Regina growled at the waitress for chasing away the runaway girl. She quickly stood and hurried after the blonde. "Emma, wait!" She yelled after her, trying to catch up with her in her heels. The blonde had told her a little about her past and Regina understood. She herself had had a bad past as well. "Where are you going to stay tonight?" She asked the blonde as they rounded a corner. Emma shrugged. "I'll find a place to spend the night." Regina smiled softly. "You could stay with me." She tried hopefully. She noticed the blonde was going to argue. "I live in a big house, all by myself. I could use the company?" Emma's resistance faded. "Okay, but don't ever ask me to cook, unless you want your kitchen to burn down." The brunette chuckled. "Okay. So, if you're staying in town, you'd need a job, right?" Emma nodded. "I'm looking for an assistant," the brunette told her, "I'd like it if I'd had a friend close." The blonde's smile widened. "You think of me as your friend?" Regina turned, but continued leading the blonde to her home. "Do you think I'd invite someone to stay at my house if I didn't think of them as a friend?" Emma chuckled, "I guess not." After a little moment of silence, the brunette raised an eyebrow. "Miss Swan, do you plan on answering my question or do I have to guess your answer?" The blonde thought about what the brunette had asked her. "I'd love to be your assistant and your friend. As for the 'miss Swan', I think that as friends we could call each other by our first name, don't you think, Regina?" The Mayor agreed. A few seconds later, Emma realized they had stopped in front of a gigantic house, she gasped. "This is your house?" Regina nodded, amused by the blonde's reaction.
A few weeks later
"Regina, Sheriff Graham is on line one for you." Emma told the Mayor. "Thank you, my dear. After my phone call we could go to Granny's for lunch?" She suggested and the blonde agreed. It didn't last long, before the brunette exited her office. The blonde immediately stood and took the brunette's coat and handing it to Regina and putting on her own. They had spent all their time together since the blonde had first arrived in town. During their lunch, Emma suddenly got nervous, wanting to ask Regina a question. The brunette noticed the blonde being more tense then usual. "What's wrong, Emma?" She asked concerned. "I- I wanted to ask you something?" Emma stuttered. "You know you can ask me anything you want, dear." She said, trying to get the blonde to relax. "Would you like to, maybe, go on a- a date? With me? If you want." The blonde asked insecurely. "I'd love to, my dear." The brunette smiled, taking the blonde's hand in her own. This made Ruby and everyone else in the diner, who noticed, frown. They had never seen the Mayor so friendly, happy or touchy.
Their first date
Emma was a nervous wreck. She had especially asked a new dress to impress the brunette. She had gotten Ruby, the only other person in town that Emma trusted, to prepare them a pick nick and was on her way to pick it up. While waiting for Ruby to put on the finishing touches, she quickly went to the bathroom and checked her make up, dress and hair. "Thank you, Ruby." The brunette smiled. "What are friends for, Emma? Now, go make the Mayor happy." She winked as Emma accepted the pick nick basket and went back to the mansion to pick up Regina. Even though Regina had given her a key to the mansion, she wanted to be a good date and rang the doorbell. "Shit!" She heard on the other side of the door and chuckled. Regina opened the door with one heel on and one in her hand, quickly putting it on. "Ready to go?" Emma asked happily. Regina kissed Emma's cheek. "I think so, what do you think." For the first time since Regina opened the door, Emma looked at her appearances. "Wow." Was the only thing that Emma could say. Regina blushed and looked down, noticing that Emma had also put on a dress. "You look quit stunning yourself, my dear." Regina answered. Emma blushed, not used to compliments. "So, are you still taking me out or are you just going to continue looking at me?" She asked Emma teasingly. The blonde snapped back to present and guided the brunette to her car, opening the door for her. They drove a moment in silence, before Emma parked in front of town hall. "I know I can be a bit of a workaholic, but a date in the office?" Regina commented confused, making Emma chuckle. The blonde guided her behind the town hall where she had prepared their pick nick under Regina's apple tree. "Emma?" Regina felt the tears in her eyes. "It's beautiful." Emma smiled proudly. "Not as beautiful as you." She smiled, pulling out a chair for Regina. She poured her date a glass of Champaign, but due to nerves she spilled half over her own fingers. "Calm down, Emma, dear. It's just you and me." Emma chuckled and looked Regina in the eyes. "Just you and me, yeah, but have you seen yourself?" Regina rolled her eyes. She stood and grabbed both Emma's hands in hers and kissed her lips softly. "Does that help you calm down?" Emma smiled and kissed her back. "It does help a little, maybe you should just keep doing that." Regina chuckled. "And waste the food you had Ruby prepare for us?" Emma pouted.
"I'm having a great night, my dear." Regina said as she took Emma's hand in hers. She took a spoonful of her dessert and fed it to the blonde sitting across from her. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, beautiful." Emma responded eating the spoonful Regina had presented her. "So, tell me something about yourself?" Regina asked, but Emma shook her head. "Not now. We're having a great time and telling you about my depressing childhood would spoil that mood." Regina sighed saddened. "I know that feeling. My childhood wasn't that great either." Emma brushed her thumb over the brunette's knuckles. "Let's just promise each other that we'll do everything to make sure we have a better future?" The mayor smiled. "I can promise that." They finished their desserts in silence. Regina sighed in satisfaction. "It's amazing. I feel like I'm dating my best friend." Emma frowned. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" She asked, her insecurity surfacing again. "Relax, darling. It's a great thing. I can't imagine it getting any better." They both smiled widely at each other. "Emma, darling, do you plan on staying in town for a while?" They hadn't really talked about that since the day Emma had arrived in town. "I plan on staying here for as long as you'll have me." She smiled.
They spend the rest of the night together, flirting, laughing and enjoying the company.
First 'I love you'
They had been dating for a few weeks and everything was going great. They spent most of their time together; stealing kisses every once in a while. They were going on their third, which Regina was planning for them. "So what are we doing tonight?" Emma asked. She had been trying to get Regina to spill, but the brunette wouldn't tell anything. "Sorry, darling, but you'll have to wait till tonight." Emma groaned, even though she expected the answer. "Fine, but you at least have to tell me what I have to wear." Regina chuckled at Emma's desperate attempt to try and get anything out of her. "Just wear something casual, my love." A little later, Regina walked into her kitchen and started cooking. Just a few minutes later, Emma wrapped her arms her from behind. "Hi." She kissed the brunette's cheek. "Hi, my dear." She turned around in the blonde's arms, wrapping her own around Emma's neck. "I thought we were going out tonight?" Emma asked, never breaking their embrace. "Hmm… Well, I thought we could have relaxing night in. I want to cook you a romantic dinner. Are you disappointed?" Emma shook her head. "I love your food. It's the best." The blonde said, smiling brightly. Regina loved seeing the excitement in her eyes. She pushed Emma gently backwards, until she stood against the counter. Then she helped her sit on it, while making out with her. "I'd ask how your day was, but since we spent most of it together…" She trailed of. "My day was amazing, just like every other day I spent with you." They kissed a few more times, before Regina went back to cooking. Emma's eyes followed her all over the kitchen. She could never get tired of watching her. "Do you want any help?" Emma asked. "You could light the candles on the table and take a seat. I'll be there in a second." Regina answered, placing a quick kiss on the blonde's lips. The last of the preparations for their dinner went fairly quickly. Regina walked out of the kitchen with two delicious looking plates of food. "God, Regina. Is there anything you aren't perfect at?" Emma asked, making the brunette chuckle, rolling her eyes. Setting the plates on the table as the blonde pulled out a chair for her. "Thank you, darling," Regina smiled as the blonde sat across from her. Taking a first bite under the expectant look of the brunette, Emma moaned. "This is the best thing I've ever eaten." The brunette chuckled. "You do realize you've said that about every meal I prepared for you, right?" Emma nodded. "That's because you're the most amazing cook I know." The rest of the meal was spent with small talk. "Would you like some dessert?" Emma thought about that for a second. "Can we share?" Regina nodded and went to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on her homemade apple pie. A few seconds later, the brunette felt arms being wrapped around her waist from behind. Regina turned around and placed her arms on the younger woman's shoulder. "I love you," Emma whispered. Then her eyes widened as she remembered just what she had said. Regina smiled widely and kissed her deeply. "I love you too, my darling," The exchanged a few loving kisses. "Best dessert ever," Emma mumbled in between kisses.
"Would you like to watch a movie, my love?" Regina suggested after dessert. "I'd love that." Regina grabbed her love's hand and guided her to the couch. They sat down together and picked a romantic movie. It didn't take long for the blonde to get distracted and she moved closer and closer to the brunette. She placed kisses on the brunette's neck. Regina looked down at the younger woman in her arms. "I love having you here," Regina smiled. "Would you like to move in with me?" Emma chuckled. "Regina, I've been living here ever since I got to town." The brunette rolled her eyes. "Into my room," she clarified. "Really?" Regina nodded, biting her lip insecurely. Emma leaned up and kissed her girlfriend's lips. Moving to Storybrooke had definitely been the best decision she'd ever made.