Swan Queen Week Day 2: Roommate AU I made Regina slightly OOC, but only because I feel like she would have been a bit softer without Daniel and her father dying.
Emma could hear the whispers going around the large auditorium. If the wide berth they were giving her was any indication she was the topic of their gossip. She refused to give them the satisfaction of bowing her head to them though, it wasn't in her to be ashamed of the opportunity she had been afforded.
Her last foster mom, Ingrid, who had just adopted her had pushed her to be better at everything she tried. At first Emma had rebelled but Ingrid was patient and seemed to understand Emma better than she knew herself. She had excelled in school under Ingrid's tutelage and had found a talent for soccer. She didn't know if it was her grades or the soccer that had sealed the deal on her scholarship to Maine's prodigious Storybrooke Preparatory Girls School.
A presentation was starting on the stage and Emma fully expected to be bored to tears. She started shuffling through the paperwork she'd received upon arriving. It looked like her class schedule was going to be pretty grueling. It was a good thing that soccer was guaranteed because she was going to need to blow off steam.
She pulled out a map of the campus and found her dormitory, Midas Hall. The diagram of the dormitory provided a location, northeast corner, far from the entrance in the furthest dorm from the main building. It looked like she was going to get a lot of exercise this year.
Regina and her mother had a fight the morning of orientation, Cora always wanted Regina to be the paradigm of perfection any time they went out of the house and all Regina wanted was to get the damn day over with so she could get away. She hadn't wanted to wear the mini me suit her mother had picked out for her, she was perfectly capable of picking out a pair of decent clothes and had been looking forward to wearing a dress her father had just bought her. She really wished that her father hadn't had business to attend to out of town, her mother became unbearable when he was gone.
"I'll not have my daughter leaving the house in some slutty dress. Especially not when meeting some of the most influential parents in the area." Cora's calm façade was enough to make Regina want to pull her hair out.
"Mother, I'm going to wear the dress. To compromise I will wear the blazer over it to make you more comfortable with the amount of skin being shown." Regina refused to back down completely.
Her mother's lips pursed, she was clearly frustrated with the backbone Regina was showing. "I suppose I have no choice in the matter." She spun on her heel and began walking away. With a look over her shoulder she gave one more jab. "I will not be attending with you."
Regina could feel her mouth gaping at the announcement; she had never been forced to navigate the social minefield of these gatherings by herself. Her mother was just doing this to spite her. "Fine," she muttered to herself, "I'll just go by myself."
So Regina drove herself, got her student ID herself and got her orientation paperwork herself. She didn't know most of the people around her. The only person she knew was going to be here from the local public school was Kathryn. She didn't see her anywhere, though with a dormitory named after her father she was probably exempt from things like this.
She stood on the outskirts of the auditorium as Mr. Gold, the headmaster, and his wife greeted the gathered mass of people. It was quickly becoming apparent that standing had been a bad choice, the balls of her feet were beginning to ache and her toes were going numb. She scanned the crowd for a place to sit, the only two seats available were flanking a haughty looking blonde girl.
Walking to the open seat was excruciating, but as she sat in the plush chair it was well worth it. She glanced at the blonde and quickly looked away, steely green eyes had met hers in a glare that was meant to intimidate. It worked.
For a moment the only thing the only thing Regina could hear was her own heartbeat, a breath finally brought reality crashing back down. When she had taken the seat the buzz around her had intensified. Words like charity case and poor girl reached her ears. She knew they weren't talking about her, the outfit she wore was easily recognizable as designer.
A look down at her lap confirmed that the girl next to her wore jeans that had seen better days and even the hem of her button up shirt was worn from use. She turned her attention back to the stage.
Emma glanced up as somebody took the seat next to her. If this was anything like 90% of the foster and group homes she'd been in she had to be on the defensive. She looked at the other person, a glare twisting her countenance into an intimidating mask. The brunette looked away, but not before Emma saw the most beautiful woman she'd ever laid eyes on.
She regretted her move immediately, but refused to back down. Emma could still hear the whispers buzzing around her, about her. She just sat through it all.
When the students and parents were dismissed from the auditorium most of them moved to mingle with each other. Regina had no reason to stick around, she got up and left to find Midas Hall and room 214. Classes didn't start for four days so she had plenty of time to get situated.
Emma watched the brunette book it, wishing she could do the same but if she wanted to be moved into her dorm by dark she needed to get moving. Ingrid had given her a beat up yellow bug to drive while she was at school and to make her way back to visit. She moved it from the main parking lot to her dorm's parking lot and grab her stuff.
Ingrid had insisted on going on a shopping spree at the local thrift store before Emma left. They picked up sheets and school supplies that the 16 year old would need for her home away from home. For the first time in years Emma had more stuff than what could be carried in a black trash bag. Ingrid had even insisted on getting Emma a large slightly used duffel to carry the majority of her stuff.
Before she grabbed her stuff she pulled the parking pass from her envelope of paperwork, placing it on the rearview mirror with a smile. It looked like it belonged there, if only Emma could feel the same way. The duffel went over her shoulder and she grabbed the one box she had stuffed with the rest of her stuff.
Her ID got her in the front door of her building. She trudged her way up a flight of stairs after being told that the elevator was currently being fixed, by the time she stood in front of her door she was panting. The box went down on the ground as she rummaged through the envelope for her key to room 214.
She had just slid it into the lock when the door opened. The girl from the auditorium was standing in front of her.
Regina heard somebody drop something outside her door and went to investigate. The blonde whom she'd sat next to at the orientation looked up to meet her eyes. For a moment she didn't know how to react. The last time she had even deigned look at the blond she had gotten a scathing reaction, though hearing the gossip she had understood. The moment passed and she moved to the side.
"I guess that answers the question of my roommate." She said lightly. "Let me just grab your box."
Emma moved passed her, surprised that the brunette was being so nice after the way she had been treated earlier. "Did you already pick a side?" She asked. There were two beds and two desks with little else in the room. She didn't see the other girls stuff anywhere.
"Well I was hoping to get the bed by the window, but it's up to you." Regina wasn't sure how to act, but polite was usually the best option.
Emma smiled, moving to place her stuff on the closest bed. "Sounds good. Hey listen, I'm sorry about earlier I just…"
"Didn't want to deal with another bitch?" Regina finished. "I understand, just try not to give me the death glare again. I swear my heart is still defrosting."
Emma smiled at her from behind a curtain of hair. "Will do."
Classes started and before either of them knew it they were halfway through the semester. They had fast become friends, Emma always being on the outskirts because of her scholarship and Regina because she disliked people who acted like her mother. There were a lot of stuck up Cora Mills type girls here.
Regina didn't notice that Emma looked at her when she wasn't paying attention and Emma didn't notice that Regina watched her practice from behind the bleachers every afternoon.
Regina tried to convince herself that she was just trying to make sure that Emma wasn't being picked on or treated unfairly in any way, but her daddy had taught her to never lie. She was attracted to the blonde. It had happened gradually, morphing from friendship to puppy love over the course of a few months. Now she didn't know what to do.
When Kathryn had come to her with a blind date double date Regina had reluctantly agreed with the thought that maybe her attraction was because she hadn't interacted with any men besides her father and teachers in nearly two months.
Emma walked into the dorm after Friday practice to find Regina putting on the last bit of her make up. "Going somewhere?" She flopped down of the bed, exhausted. Her game had been so off today, she'd missed two shots on the goal and taken a header into the turf.
"Actually Kathryn set me up with a guy she knew from her old school." Regina finished her makeup and stood. If she looked at Emma she was going to lose the nerve to leave so she grabbed her stuff and beat a hasty retreat out the door. With one more look at the gleaming numbers on the door she walked away.
Emma stood from her prone position with half a mind to chase after the beautiful brunette, but how would she explain that. Her fists balled in frustration, how the hell was she going to deal with this? She paced.
After a long while she noticed that the room was getting dark, a glance at the clock confirmed that it was getting late. She gathered her stuff to take a shower and set out to distract herself. Once she had settled into her bed Emma pulled out a book to distract her from her thoughts and for a while it seemed to work. She was so absorbed in Dean Koontz that the key in the door caught her off guard. It was only 8.
Regina climbed the stairs with only one thought on her mind, Emma. It wasn't the lack of boys, her date had been a perfect gentleman and handsome to boot, it was Emma. She made her way into the room to find the girl in question on her bed watching her from behind a book.
"I thought you said you wouldn't glare like that ever again." Regina felt her pulse pound, why was Emma mad at her?
Emma forced herself to smile, "Sorry, I didn't know who was coming in." The answer was flimsy but it was the first thing that came to mind.
Regina almost called her on it. After all, who else would have the key, something stopped her. Maybe the look hadn't been out of anger but out of jealousy. It was time to take a chance.
Emma watched Regina approach the side of her bed with trepidation. She had no idea what lay behind those mercurial brown eyes. Regina sat on the side of her bed. She could feel the heat of her thigh through the sheet.
"You would always tell me the truth, right Emma?" Regina looked down at her hands after the blonde nodded in the affirmative. "And you would never hold anything I did against me, right?"
Emma's stomach twisted. Had she slept with her date, or worse? "No." The answer was little more than a croak. She closed her eyes as Regina took a deep breath, obviously prepping for something big. Instead she felt warm lips settle on hers.
Regina took a deep breath before bringing her lips to meet Emma's. Her eyes slipped closed involuntarily as Emma wrapped her arms around her before deepening the kiss. The brunette pulled back to take a breath.
"Do you want me to stop?" She waited for the answer with baited breath.
Green eyes met hers. "Never." Emma pulled her back down for another chaste kiss. They finally seemed to be on the same page and Emma nearly kicked herself for not taking a chance sooner.