This fic was inspired by the spanish song Amor y Dolor by Carlos Baute.
Same as my other entry to SQW (which I'll be updating), this will be a one-shot unless people are interested in a second part.
The last thing that Regina was expecting as she walked out the doors leading up to the pool was to find a brunette young man cleaning the pool instead of the regular blonde woman she had grown to love.
Wait... Love? Where did that come from? What she felt for the blonde was not love. It was definitely something strong, but not love.
"Sorry, who are you?" she asked as she wrapped the towel around her body, suddenly self-conscious of her state of nudity.
"My name is Daniel, miss. I'm the new pool boy," Daniel introduced himself.
"What happened to Emma?"
"I wouldn't know," he answered, "She just asked me to cover for her."
She needed to talk to Emma, especially since what happened two days ago, during the party she threw to welcome her best friends back from the summer long trip across Europe.
Emma was not supposed to be there that night, but she was helping out the caterer, who was also Emma's best friend.
During the party her ex, Mal, had been a little bit too touchy feely with her. Emma saw them together when she walked by just as Regina opened her lips for Mal to give a true French kiss. The tray that Emma was carrying slipped from her hands; the glasses of champagne bursting into thousand pieces. Just like Emma's heart.
Which is why she needed to talk to Emma. She might not love the blonde, but she didn't want to see her hurt.
Instead of jumping in the pool or working on her tan, as she had planned that morning when she woke up, Regina turned around and walked towards her father's office.
"Daddy," she started as soon as she walked through the door, "Where is Emma?"
"I thought your mother told you, dear," Henry took his glasses off, "Emma quit yesterday. She said the cleaning company would send a substitute for her until they find a final solution."
"She just quit like that?" Regina almost barked, "She didn't even say bye!"
"She came yesterday around noon. You were still sleeping," her father explained, "I'm sorry. I know you were close."
Close. Close was an interesting way of putting it.
Her parents knew that she and Emma got along. They didn't know that they were having sex.
It was not because Emma was a girl, her parents knew she was a lesbian. And, it was not her parents that she was hiding from. It was her friends. And, because Emma was... Well, the pool girl and Regina was the socialite. None of her friends would approve of their relationship.
"Did she leave something for me? A note?" Regina asked, hoping to understand why the blonde just abandoned her.
Her father shook his head and muttered an apology. He looked at her the same way he had looked at her mother when her older sister, Zelena, had decided to move to England after an argument and never came back. It was as if he understood she was in pain and he wished he could do something to make it better.
But, he knew nothing. Regina didn't love Emma. Not at all.
At least that's what she kept repeating to herself every time she found herself thinking about the blonde.
She didn't miss Emma.
She did not.
But she did.
Because, why would her heart felt like it didn't have enough space? Or why couldn't her lungs expand so easily? Why did her eyes water every time she looked out of her room and saw the pool?
A week passed by, and Regina still felt empty and abandoned. But then, sadness turned into anger.
How dare Emma leave without an explanation? Without a goodbye? Did Regina really mean so little to Emma?
It's not like you ever told her how much she means to you, the little voice in her head whispered, and then added, plus, you were the one making out with someone else. Not her.
She cursed herself. She cursed herself for feeling something towards the blonde that was much more than lust.
Because they'd never work anyway. They were from different worlds. They were doomed to burn out and get hurt.
But they could make it, after all. Because her mother married someone from a lower class, just because she loved him, and they managed to pull through against all the odds.
Determined, she told her parents she'd go talk to Emma. And, they smiled and wished her luck as if they'd know what was going on. But they didn't - they couldn't. Not when she and Emma had been careful with their rendezvouses.
She had been to Emma's house once before. One day, when Emma was in a hurry to get home because her mother was in some kind of accident and someone needed to watch over Emma's little brother so she offered to give the blonde a ride.
Regina parked in front of the house and counted to ten, slowly breathing in and out. When she felt her heart slow down and her anxiety relax a bit, she got out of the car and walked towards the door.
Emma opened the door few minutes after Regina had rang the doorbell. She looked tired and the tan she had gained throughout the summer started to fade away.
If Emma was happy or surprised to see her, she didn't show the emotions on her face. She also didn't invite Regina into the house, instead she stepped out and closed the door behind Her. The message was clear: Regina was not welcomed.
She went straight to the point, then. Not wasting time with small talk, she asked in a tired manner, "What do you want, Regina?"
"You quit," She said angrily, because nothing else came to her mind but the agony Emma had put her through during the last days.
"Yeah, I did. Although, I doubt you came here just to tell me that."
"You quit and you didn't even say goodbye!" Regina tried to shove Emma, but the blonde had always been stronger than her. "Do you know how much that hurt me?"
"That's fucking rich, even for you, Regina!" Emma yelled and Regina looked at her, shocked, because Emma had never been anything else but sweet and gentle to her. "I hurt you? Well, I'm sorry if I was trying to pick up the pieces of my fucking heart after I saw you making out with someone else! You didn't even have the heart to do it somewhere else where I couldn't see you!"
"The kiss with Mal meant nothing," Regina said, because it was the truth. Mal meant nothing to her, not like Emma.
"It did to me!" Emma yelled. Then, she repeated in a softer tone, "It did to me... But I guess you don't care. Not when I am, and I quote you, "The distraction you needed while your friends were in Europe"."
Her words came back to her, and she left like someone poured a bucket of cold water on top of her head. "You heard that?"
"No. Regina. Someone who actually cares for me heard you and told me," Emma explained, even though she didn't know why, it was not like she owed the brunette something, "So I went to ask you, if it was true. And then, I saw you, and well, I got my answer."
"I didn't mean it."
"Of course, you didn't. You never mean anything," Emma agreed with her in a cold tone. "But, your friends are back. So there's no need for me to be around," the blonde continued talking, "Daniel is a decent boy and a hard worker, so, please don't toy with him."
"Emma, wait!"
"Goodbye, Regina," the blonde ignored the brunette and turned around to go inside of the house.
"I'm in love with you," Regina let out before Emma could open the door, because she knew that if she didn't say it now, she'd lose Emma forever.
"And, what do you know about love, Regina?" Emma replied, not even having the decency to turn back and say it as she looked into Regina's eyes. But she couldn't, not when her heart was being torn into shreds and she didn't want to show Regina any signs of weakness on her face.
Emma went into her house and left Regina standing out on the porch, alone with her tears and a broken heart.
