AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fic is dedicated to HiddenTreatmentSilentThoughts. Chapters contain potentially triggering content, including self-harm, drug use, and discussion of eating disorders. Please read with caution.

To most high school students, the sound of the final school bell means freedom. To Emma Swan, it meant something very different:

Group therapy.

"Such bullshit," she grumbled, gathering her things into her backpack as she stood at her locker.

Once her things were collected and her locker door was shut, she made her way down the hallway and outside where she waited for her mother's car to appear at the curb.

"Ugh. Finally," she groaned, three minutes later, when the cheerful woman pulled up and waved at her from the driver's side.

"Hello, dear!" the woman said happily as Emma climbed into the passenger seat.

"Hey," Emma replied cheerlessly, crossing her arms as she leaned back in the seat.

"What's the matter, dear?" her mother asked, looking over at her as she pulled out of the parking space and onto the main road.

"Your stupid fucking group therapy is what's the matter, Mary Margaret. I don't need therapy, and I don't-"

"Emma Swan!" the woman cried. "Watch your language! Now, maybe you don't see this as a good thing now, but when you're older, you'll thank me. So please, Emma, just go and try to be positive."

"Yeah, whatever."

So they drove on in silence until they reached the building where the teenager's group therapy was to take place. When they got there, Emma got out of the car and slammed the door without another word. (Well, it's better than 'fuck you,' isn't it?) Once inside the building, Emma looked around, finding a middle-aged woman sitting at the desk near the front door.

"Uh… Hi…" Emma started nervously.

"Can I help you, Miss?" the woman said sweetly.

"I'm… uh… here for group therapy with Doctor Wilson."

"Oh, of course! You're here a little early, but it's right in that room back there."

The woman pointed down the hallway at the only open door and smiled at the young blonde as she walked away.

In the room, Emma found the doctor talking quietly with a young brunette, whose hair, illuminated by the sun streaming in through the window, bounced around her shoulders. As if this wasn't enough to catch Emma's attention, the woman turned around when she heard the blonde enter the room, flashing a stunning smile that stopped the other girl in her tracks.

"Hey," the brunette said, still smiling as she waved at the newcomer.

"Hey," Emma said shortly, her mouth suddenly as dry as sand.

"I'm Regina."

"I… uh… I'm Emma."

There was an awkward pause before the doctor waved at Emma as well and introduced herself.

"And I'm doctor Wilson. It's a pleasure to meet you, Emma. Why don't you have a seat?"

Emma sat down reluctantly on the opposite side of the circle of chairs and watched the two who were watching her just as intently. The silence returned until a couple of boys walked in, talking amongst themselves. Emma turned to watch them enter, but didn't bother to greet them. The other two in the room each gave a wave and a polite, 'Hello.' After a few more people joined them, making it a total of twelve in the room, the doctor cleared her throat to begin the session.

"Good afternoon everyone. I hope you all have had an excellent day so far. I'd like it if we could go around the circle and introduce ourselves." Emma rolled her eyes and sighed loudly, but the doctor just smiled at her and added, "Emma, why don't you start?"

"Uh… okay. I'm Emma. I'm seventeen, I'm gay, and I'm only here because my mom threatened to change and withhold the wifi password."

"That's alright, Emma. We appreciate your honesty. I'm sure most of you would rather be somewhere else right now. What's important is that you are here, and because you are, we should make the best of our time together and try to be productive."

"What's even the point of this?" one of the boys whined. "Therapy is just a bunch of-"

"Why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself," the doctor cut in quickly, stopping him from making any offensive comments.

"I'm Killian, and I'd definitely rather be anywhere else."

"Then what brings you here today?"

"Um… the school said if I didn't go to this stupid group therapy crap I couldn't graduate."

"And why is that?"

"I hit a guy in the face. So what?"

"I'm sure if we could talk to him today, he wouldn't think it was 'so what.' However, we're here today to help you, so why don't you tell us how that made you feel, Killian."

"Are you kidding? It felt fucking awesome. The bastard-"

"Let's try to keep our language PG-13, okay?"

"Whatever. Anyway, best moment of my high school career for sure."

"Can you tell us why that is?"

"Because I felt powerful, okay? Isn't that kind of obvious? When you win a fight, you're on top of the world. No one can touch you."

The doctor nodded her head in understanding and looked around the circle at the other disinterested teenagers, then finally asked, "Can anyone else relate to what Killian just said?"

Emma looked around, then reluctantly nodded her head.

"Okay, Emma," the doctor acknowledged. "Can you explain why?"

"Well, it's like he said. Getting into fights… it makes me feel powerful."

"Why?"

"Because I've never lost one?"

"And is that why you're here?"

"No."

The doctor looked at her for a moment, waiting for her to elaborate, and when Emma didn't, she asked, "Then why are you here?"

The blonde shrugged her shoulders and slouched in her seat, staring down at her shoes.

"Okay," the teacher sighed. "That's alright. We'll get there. Anyway, for now, let's continue our introductions. Who wants to go next?"

"I'll go," the beautiful brunette offered, raising her hand slightly. "I'm Regina. I like reading and writing, and I used to be a cheerleader, before I broke my leg after being dropped from a lift."

The doctor smiled at the girl and nodded her head, saying, "Thank you for sharing, Regina. Would you like to tell us why you're here?"

The girl paused, looking around the circle. Her eyes found Emma, who was clearly staring at her (even though she wasn't intending to, and probably didn't even notice that she was doing so). After another moment or two, she replied.

"No."

The doctor looked a little surprised, but nodded her head again and said, "Alright. Thank you for what you shared, Regina. We appreciate it. Who wants to go next?"

The session went on like that, people sharing a little bit about themselves, a few of them even sharing why they were there. By the end, the only thing keeping Emma awake was the brunette sitting across the circle from her. Occasionally, their eyes met, but Emma quickly dropped her gaze each time. It was only at the break in the session, when they all gathered around the table of refreshments (snacks, juice, etc.), that she was confronted too directly to avoid a response.

"So, you really think it feels good to hurt people?" the beautiful brunette asked her from behind.

Emma, startled, spun around, nearly spilling her paper cup full of juice.

"Huh?" she asked dumbly, staring at the girl's flawless features.

"I said, 'Do you really think it feels good to hurt people?'"

"Well… Yeah. Kinda. What's it to you?"

"I don't know. I suppose some events in my life have brought me to a different point of view."

"Er… That's nice."

When Emma turned around to grab a cookie off a plate in front of her, the brunette gently touched her arm, causing her to turn back around quickly, surprised at the touch.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I was genuinely curious. I apologize."

"Yeah… It's… It's fine," Emma managed, finding herself staring once more.

This time, her eyes moved from Regina's lips all the way down to her feet and back up. The girl's tight jeans hugged her shapely thighs, and her perfectly-fitting blouse accentuated the curves of her breasts. Emma's hormones, of course, were going wild.

There was a long silence, but then the brunette began to smirk, slyly asking, "Were you just checking me out?"

"What?!" Emma gasped. "No!"

"I don't like liars."

"I'm not a-"

"Mhmm. Sure you're not," Regina teased, still smirking at the blonde.

"Anyway, so what if I was?"

"Let me guess: 'What's it to me?'" the other teen laughed.

"Well… No… I mean…"

"I think you were checking me out, and you're just too chicken to admit it."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Listen, if you don't feel like telling people something, you should say so. Lying is even more of a cop-out, and it just makes you look like an asshole. Especially since you're really bad at it."

With that, Regina turned and walked away.