Author's Note: Hey! This is going to be a Swan Queen university AU story. Don't worry, the title is deceptive! In the AU nature of this fic, it does not follow canon Storybrooke story lines nor does it coincide with any events of the Enchanted Forest. It is just a stand-alone fic with our lovely duo as students and a few other characters I wished to include. If taken well, I'd be more than willing to make this multi-chapter so just let me know! I did a little research and couldn't seem to find any fictions similar to this so I'm sorry if there are- no plagiarism was intended, It's just such a brilliant idea!
Hope you enjoy the first chapter and let me know what you think!
~Morgan
The Neighbour From Hell
Chapter 1.
Three days in a row her infuriating neighbour had hosted a party. It being only the third day of term, Regina wondered how the insufferable woman had even had time to make enough friends. She only knew that her neighbour was a woman-or teen rather- as she'd caught a flash of blonde hair going upstairs to the apartment above hers the previous afternoon. Perhaps she'd even made the effort to attend one of her classes…
As an Ethics student with an already (admittedly) tightly wound personality, Regina Mills was getting on her last nerve. Her professor had already set her an assignment and due to her devil-neighbour, she couldn't even hear herself think. As the slightly muffled bass upstairs undoubtedly dropped and all hell broke lose, Regina physically screamed. It was official- she hated her.
A loud bang thundered through the floorboards and was followed by screams of laughter. The seething brunette was almost certain she was going to snap the pencil pressured between her fingers. Attempting to soothe her inflamed temper, the woman stood and shakily exhaled, raising her thumb to ease the throbbing in her forehead. As she began pacing, (yes, that's what she had resorted to) she couldn't help but clench and unclench her fists with frustration. Her mother had always teased her for her outbursts of anger, it was apparently improper for the daughter of the chief solicitor of Mills Solicitors to have such furious tendencies.
The steady stamp of dancing in time to the bass above seemed to be increasing. Was it possible for the music to have gotten louder? Regretfully, Regina knew she couldn't go up and yell at them. She couldn't afford to be hated on campus within the first week-she'd never make any friends and one of her biggest fears would come true. The student bit her lip and glanced back at her course handbook anxiously. If only she didn't have to be so uptight.
Hearing the front door creak open upstairs, Regina listened for the tell-tale footsteps of more guests arriving. Upon their absence, her eyes darted to her recently mounted wall clock. It was only ten-thirty, surely people couldn't be leaving already? A knock at her own front door a moment later made her immediately tense. Despite the ever-present thrum of the music upstairs, it was certainly audible. Perhaps one of the guests had wandered to the wrong house… She went to the source of the noise and biting back her hesitation, unlocked the door and twisted the handle. She swung the door towards herself, grasping the smooth wooden edge with her other hand. She was remarked by the sight before her.
"You! Your music," she began furiously. Her eyes met deep pools of blue and an easy smile which made all of her fury momentarily dissipate. The woman wore a simple close fitting blue dress which finished mid-way up her thigh and a pair of black sneakers. It was a comfortably informal outfit whilst equally alluring. For some reason, Regina couldn't tear her eyes away.
The visitor's eyes roamed up and down the brunette's body with equal interest, taking in the stranger's pinstripe shirt and smooth black pencil skirt. She was so formally dressed that the only indication that she wasn't going out was that her nylon covered legs did not adorn any shoes. God damn she's beautiful, Emma thought to herself.
"I'm Emma," the young woman outstretched her hand with a smirk. Regina didn't appreciate the knowing gaze affixed to her features. Nevertheless she participated in the mandatory handshake, her mind being instantly reverted back to the repetitive handshakes she had to give her mother's law firm colleagues when she held their legal meetings at their home. "Um," the blonde began, glancing down at their uncomfortably still conjoined hands.
With embarrassment, Regina realised that she must have spaced out and refused to let go of the woman's hand. She pulled away quickly and rubbed her now sweaty palm against her side. It had only been a mere number of seconds and she'd already made a fool out of herself. Why was the stranger looking at her so fondly?
"Regina," she blurted out, immediately cursing to herself. What was wrong with her? "...I'm Regina." It seemed she had forgotten every social skill that had ever been rendered into her brain.
"I'm really pleased to meet you," the student nodded and even seemed to mean it. "I live upstairs."
"I know," Regina stated, a hint of that previous irritation seeping back.
"You do?"
"You're not exactly quiet." She crossed her arms and managed to regain the frown she'd had just a few minutes ago. All she wanted was nice, quiet neighbours who respected her wishes as she would theirs. Apparently she wasn't so lucky. She needed to ignore Emma's appearance, she was merely being superficial, and remember the issue at hand here.
"I'm just settling in."
"By keeping me awake all night? How am I supposed to settle in?"
"Don't you have," Emma leaned forward slightly to glance behind the figure into her apartment, "friends to hang out with?"
Regina scowled, a wave of insecurity flushing through her stomach. "If you're here to mock me, I'd rather you just left."
"Hey, I wasn't! Why don't you come up to the party?" The blonde looked at her hopefully. The last thing the blonde wanted was to fall out with probably the most attractive woman she'd seen ever -and she was already making a dick of herself. Admittedly, the music was so loud from down here that she could even make out the exact song- It was one of her favourite new mixes… "Please," she added a moment later, meeting eyes so dark she thought she'd get lost. Her furious neighbour was so enchanting that she couldn't help but stare too.
"I have an assignment to do."
"But we just started."
"Well some of us care about our courses."
Emma groaned and rubbed at her forehead with one of her hands. "Look, I'm sorry, I've clearly made a bad impression." She sighed. "Just give me a chance, I think we really could be friends, y'know?" The blonde internally cringed at the thought that she'd already alienated her new neighbour. Especially as she looked so otherwise kind.
Regina glanced down shyly at the floor. Surely she couldn't forgive her for all this? If she let her off this easily for the disruption then the troublesome blonde would likely repeat the action again and again… She sighed to herself softly, trying her hardest not to meet those bright blue eyes, knowing her resolve would diminish immediately. A warm hand to her wrist finally forced her to look up. "Emma," she startled, meeting her eye. She pulled her wrist away quickly, causing her acquaintance to frown. "Look, just turn the music down, okay?"
Defeated, the woman crossed her arms and nodded. "I promise. Goodnight, Regina."
"Goodnight, Emma," Regina mumbled, stepping back and finally closing the door. She turned around and leant up against it, now crossing her own arms. What the hell was that? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake her neighbour's disheartened expression. It was her fault didn't she realise? The woman's highly antisocial behaviour was the reason she wasn't attending…
Emma wandered back up the stairs and into her apartment. She ran her hands back through her hair frustratedly and manoeuvred her way through the streams of people. She didn't even know most of their names, she thought begrudgingly. Finally reaching her objective, Emma twisted the dial of the speaker to significantly lower the volume. She was met with groans of dismay and she scowled at the individuals. "By all means, go somewhere else!" They didn't, she thought smugly as she watched them all contemplate it for a moment before resuming to dance. They probably didn't have anywhere else to go. She reached for a tray of shot glasses and took one, immediately relishing the familiar burn down her throat. Maybe that would clear her mind from the curious brunette downstairs. She wondered if she wore glasses. God, that would only make her cuter, Emma moaned to herself. "Em!" She heard someone shout from across the room. She'd know that voice anywhere. With a grin, she watched as he waded through people before finally getting to her.
"Yes…?" She smirked.
"What are you on? I want in!" He laughed, noting her haziness. He hadn't seen his best friend and foster-sister this elated since, well, last night.
Swallowing another shot for herself, she handed another to August. "I'm on my neighbour-hopefully."
He laughed. "What?" He knew Emma could be blunt about the women that caught her eye, but not usually this blunt. His friend was positively glowing. At the elusive wink she gave, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Go on, Swan, tell me about her..."
"Well," she began, her voice long and drawled out. The two shots she'd just had not boding so well with the five she'd had earlier in the evening. "She hates me, for starters."
"Emma," he mocked, "who could possibly hate you?"
She groaned with a laugh and shoved him. "Shut up. I'm working on it, okay? And it's sort of your fault, too!"
"What?"
"Well, everyone's. She's upset about the party. This girl is mad uptight but she's also probably the hottest woman I've ever come across, August." She suddenly whined. "What do I do?"
"You give her what she wants."
"What?"
"Turn the music down."
"I already did!"
"Turn it down so much so that people won't want to stay."
"I can't do that, can I?"
He reached over and got them both another shot. "Of course you can! It's your house, Em, and if anyone wants a chill thing, they can stay, if not, they're out. That way we can all still hang out but without upsetting the woman. She does live downstairs right?"
Emma nodded, thinking about his proposal for a moment. "Ah, what the hell," she grinned, swallowing the shot and heading toward the speaker.
The thrum of music had reduced to a buzz and now it had reducing to- nothing? Regina questioned. No way had the woman actually listened to her. She'd seemed somewhat irritated through the entirety of Regina's complaining. The brunette chuckled slightly as she heard moans of frustration upstairs and the stomping of multiple footsteps leaving. She didn't even feel a hint of guilt- they deserved it. They were college kids, they were bound to find somewhere else anyway.
With a satisfied smile, the brunette went to take a shower and perform her nightly routine before settling into bed. Victory, she thought, head resting on her pillow and blanket splayed across her body. The summer heat made it too hot for a duvet but being a duvet-loving type, she'd had to opt for at least a blanket as snuggle aid. Perhaps her and the neighbour might be all right.
Emma Swan groaned as a hungover wave of nausea flew from her skull to her stomach. She and August definitely shouldn't have finished the bottle… Looking around, she noticed a few stragglers asleep on the floor, herself included, but an otherwise mostly empty apartment. Rolling over with a further groan as her body disagreed, she found August asleep beside her on the hardwood floor. She smirked and found a half empty cup of something and dipped her fingers in, shortly flicking the liquid at her friend's face.
"Em!" He shouted, but couldn't help the smile that etched onto his face. "What even is that?" He finally opened his eyes, a hand immediately coming up to his forehead to soothe his own headache. He watched her shrug with a wide smile on her face. How on earth could she be so chipper at this time of the morning?
"We gotta go, we both have class." She stood up, running her hands through the questionable texture of her hair and attempting to smooth the creases out of her dress. "Right, get up losers," she announced, one by one lightly nudging the sleeping guests with her foot. "If you don't want the water treatment that August got, I suggest you all leave now."
"That wasn't so bad," her foster brother said as the last person left.
"Well, we did warn them," Emma grinned, drying her hand on a towel.
Later that morning, Emma couldn't help but smile as she saw the familiar brunette curled into one of the student forum sofas with a text book in her lap. She could only see her position from behind but she looked positively adorable. With a mischievous smile, she approached the girl from behind and tapped her right shoulder before swiftly moving to the left. She watched with amusement as the woman twisted to her right before finally glancing back over at Emma.
Regina blushed slightly at being caught falling for such a juvenile trick but it was worth it to see that glorious smile on the blonde's face.
"So you do wear glasses!" Emma exclaimed.
Regina only blushed further, embarrassedly pushing the brown shaped glasses further up her nose. "I do like to see occasionally..."
"And she's sassy too," the blonde raised her eyebrows.
Regina raised an eyebrow of her own. Was she flirting with her? Surely she wasn't into women. The brunette had been under the impression that her personal preference was fairly uncommon. In this case, her personal preference was Emma- "What's your surname?" She asked curiously.
"Swan."
Emma Swan. Her personal preference was Emma Swan. It seemed a highly juxtaposing surname for the woman sat before her. So far her neighbour had come across as far from elegant...
"And you?"
"Mills. Regina Mills."
"Like Bond?" Emma asked with amusement, recalling his famous catchphrase.
"What?"
"Nevermind. So what've you got there, Mills?"
The brunette followed her gaze down to the book in her lap. "An Introduction to Philosophy and Ethics." Emma watched the sparkle in her eyes as she spoke about the subject she was clearly passionate about.
"Philosophy and Ethics, hm? So do you question why we like our potatoes mashed?"
Regina couldn't help but laugh at that. "Something like that..." She looked up at her neighbour fondly, something warm being shared between them. It was strange, she just had the strongest urge to learn everything she could about the chaotic blonde.
Feeling the fondness too, Emma smiled and subconsciously shuffled closer to her on the sleek sofa. She'd do anything to see the brunette's heart-melting smile once again.
"Hey, Em!" August announced loudly as he approached the pair. He uncharacteristically had a large pile of books in his arms. "Time for class isn't it?" He smirked cockily to her, glancing between the two. When she was sure Regina wasn't looking, Emma gave him her darkest glare.
Regina looked down at her watch. "Yeah, I better get going too. My lecture starts in ten minutes."
"Mh hm," Emma nodded, standing with her in unison. She gave Regina a parting smile, "See you later, neighbour."
The philosophy student nodded, ducking her head lightly before watching them head off in the opposite direction. She raised her eyebrows as she watched Emma elbow the man sharply in the ribs with a grin. He laughed and shoved her back, causing a few people to look up around them. Probably her boyfriend, Regina noted dejectedly. But why did she care?
"I hate you!" Emma whined, sending a sharp elbow to August's ribs that seemed to barely even affect him. He was a literal cock-block. "You're so rude!"
"I don't know what you mean." He laughed, shoving her back. "I was just reminding you we had class, sis."
"What did I tell you about saying that in public?" She gently sighed. The fond smile gracing her lips showing she meant no offence.
"What, embarrassed to be my sister?" He said overly loudly, causing a few heads to turn around them. Their easy rapport was already noticeable by many.
Emma glanced back, thankful that Regina was long gone now. "You know I'm not," she rolled her eyes. "It just kills our cool vibe if everyone finds out we're foster siblings and not awesome friends..."
"Do you mean Regina perhaps?"
"What?" She stopped, raising her eyebrows in challenge.
"Am I cramping your style by being the more attractive sibling?" He wiggled his eyebrows as they headed into the lecture theatre.
The blonde student grinned, constantly amused by his antics. It was why they'd became friends-and eventually siblings to one another in the first place. As children they'd both been so outrageous that they'd instantly been drawn to one another. Despite being lost children, neither had every truly lost their sense of humour, or sarcasm, or wit. Although hardened over the years by loss and their abrasive encounters with life in care, both teens had managed to mostly maintain their lightheartedness. Emma rarely expressed her fondness for August but the boy always knew it was there. He just had to look in her eyes.
"Firstly, yes you are cramping my style. Secondly, I'm obviously the more attractive friend."
He smirked and poked her shoulder childishly. "Don't you think this is worth clarifying to your lady friend?"
Emma scoffed. "Clarify what, August?" This boy was relentless.
"That we are just friends, not some saucy fling?"
"You do realise how not funny you're being don't you?" The blonde raised her eyebrows. They sat down together inside the lecture theatre beside an attractive dark skinned girl wearing navy blue shorts and a figure hugging white blouse. Why did everyone dress so goddamn fancy? Emma questioned, glancing down at her own slobbish attire of skinny jeans and a plain t-shirt. She thought it had been a victory to even get dressed that morning.
"I think he's being funny," the stranger challenged with a flirty smile to Emma's brother.
"Oh do you?" August smiled just as flirtily back to the woman, shifting so that he almost had his back to Emma.
"Ugh," Emma mock-gagged to herself as she continued listening to their flirty back and forth comments combined with introductions. As she watched the theatre fill up, the student's thoughts wondered back to her attractive neighbour. She wondered whether the philosophy lecture had begun yet and what they might be discussing. She could easily imagine Regina-no matter what the subject matter- intently taking notes, that spark of interest in her eyes that Emma had already caught a couple of times. She reminded herself (slightly guiltily) what the woman had been wearing- Ah yes, a white button up shirt with short sleeves and adorable tailoured brown shorts... God, this is already getting out of hand, Emma internally groaned. She barely knew the girl and she was already getting lost in her thoughts.
Emma's train of thought disintegrated as a loud professor introduced himself at the front of the hall. She glanced forward to see a slim ginger-haired man wearing old fashioned clothes. "Hello, my name is Doctor Archibald Hopper and I will be conducting your lectures on Criminal Psychology. I'd like to welcome you to our university."
AN: Any feedback/Do you think this is worth continuing?:)