Author's Note: Okay, I've decided that while Emma and Regina are (and will continue to be) the main focus of this story, I'd also like to continue exploring the dynamic of the group that I've created. I've figured out where it is that I want this story to go, and I hope that all of you will continue to enjoy it. I don't know how often I'll be able to update, but I'll do my best to get new chapters to you as soon as possible. Thank you for all of your support!
Emma sighed, the relief of being interrupted by the sound of her best friend's voice was short-lived as she turned to looked up to meet his eyes. "Killian, what in the world happened to you?!" She exclaimed as she took in his appearance. He was standing in front of their group, barefooted, his clothing and hair dripping wet, and a large towel wrapped uselessly around his neck as he gripped both ends of it with his hands.
"It was all a part of my dare." Killian answered in his somewhat dulled Irish accent, a proud smirk etched on his features.
"No, no, no. It wasn't." A brunette woman said with an exasperated sigh as she walked up behind him and rolled her eyes.
"It's kind of was, my love." He rebutted with a shrug of his shoulders as he tilted his head in his girlfriend's direction.
"No, you jumping into the lake with all of your clothes on was no one else's doing but your own and you know that."
"Milah, come on! We've talked about this! I had to save it!" Killian exclaimed in outrage as five pairs of eyes followed back and forth between the two of them as they continued to argue.
"Oh, but that's the thing! You wouldn't have had to save anything if you hadn't brought it upon yourself to play the role of its hero in the first place!"
Regina scooted herself further into the booth and quietly patted the now empty seat beside her, wordlessly encouraging Emma to sit down as they all continued to watch on, the two of them appearing much more confused than August, Belle, and Ruby who were all watching on in amusement. Regina leaned into Emma's side and turned her head in the blonde's direction. She made sure to keep her voice low so that she wouldn't run the risk of disrupting the ongoing argument. "Who are they?"
Emma couldn't contain the slight shiver that ran up her spine as she felt Regina's breath so closely to her ear, but she still tried to maintain a certain air of nonchalance as she turned her own head in the woman's direction, meeting the other woman's gaze. "Killian has been my best friend since I was twelve years old." She answered in a whisper that matched Regina's. "Our friendship had a few false starts, but eventually we found common ground and we became practically inseparable."
"False starts?" Regina asked her.
"I may have smacked him hard enough in the chest to break my wooden ruler." Emma said with a guilty grin. She watched as Regina's eyes lit up in amusement and she laughed lightly. "I'll tell you more about that later. I promise."
"I'll hold you to that."
"Good." Emma said with a wink." Now, onto Milah." She tilted her head in the arguing woman's direction. "She's Killian's girlfriend, they were High School Sweethearts. They met our sophomore year in high school and they've been together ever since."
"You are such a moron!" Milah exclaimed, her voice rising in aggravation, putting an abrupt end to Emma's quiet introductions and prompting August to scoot closer into the booth on Regina's other side so that Belle and Ruby would have enough room to take a seat next to him.
"They're in love." Emma said in a much louder voice so that she could be heard by everyone sitting in their booth.
Regina watched as all four of them rolled their eyes in unison, obviously they were all more than used to their friends behaving that way.
Killian and Milah continued to argue for a few more minutes, and while they all watched, Emma found herself questioning her decision to bring Regina to the diner with her. She wished that she'd thought to take the other woman to her favorite ice cream parlor for a scoop of Rocky Road instead of bringing her into the middle of her group of friends without warning her of their typical behavior.
"KILLIAN!"
"What in the world is going on out there?!" A voice asked loudly enough to garner the attention of the few patrons who were still sitting in the diner, as well as Emma's friends, including the two who hadn't stopped arguing with each other since they'd started.
"Oh, shit…" Emma muttered, the entire group looking around at each other with wide eyes. "SCATTER!"
Regina looked around the group with confusion etched on her face. She watched Killian as he grabbed Milah's hand tightly in his own, walking quickly towards the door that led to Main Street as the rest of the group started gathering their belongings. "We'll meet you guys at our apartment." He tossed over his shoulder. "I don't understand why we didn't just agree to meet there to begin with." He told his girlfriend in a lower voice, but loudly enough that Regina was able to hear him as he walked away.
Belle and Ruby got up out of the booth next with August quick on their heels and Emma grabbed Regina's hand to help pull her up and out of the booth, all of them intending to follow Killian's lead.
"Emma, what's happening?" Regina asked somewhat nervously as she looked around, trying to understand what was going on, but unable to get a grasp on the situation.
"It's granny." Emma answered. "We've got to get out of here before it's too late. Come on, let's go!" Emma said as she started towards the door.
"Emma Swan! Ruby Lucas!" The voice boomed.
"Shit!" Emma and Ruby said in unison.
"Damn it. We're too late." Ruby told the group in a rushed whisper. "Emma, you need to get out while you still can." She said as she grabbed onto the blonde's shoulders, shaking her slightly. "I'll meet you guys at your apartment."
"Ruby, wait a minute." Emma said as August rushed past her, opening the door for the rest of them and tilting his head, silently gesturing for the other three women to follow.
"You guys have to save yourselves!" Ruby exclaimed dramatically. "I've lived through enough of her lectures. I know what I'm getting myself into."
Regina found herself fighting to suppress a smile as she looked around at the remaining members of Emma's group of friends. She'd been utterly confused when they'd all gotten up out of their booth like bats shooting out of Hell, but now she understood that all of their supposed panic had been nothing more than a game between all of them, something that they'd surely done more than once by the sound of it, and she found herself wondering how many times a similar scenario had played out within the group.
Ruby caught Regina's gaze in that moment, and she smiled when she saw that Regina now knew that there was no genuine need for any of them to be worried. She winked at her before she turned her attention to her girlfriend. "I love you." You told her, as she cupped Belle's cheeks and pulled her into a passionate kiss. She pulled away, turning her attention to Emma. "I expect you to protect her, you know. There are dangers in Storybrooke after all. Like cracks in the sidewalk…right, Regina?" She asked with a smirk in Regina's direction.
Emma rolled her eyes as she turned towards the door, Regina's hand still held tightly in her own as the four of them stepped into the cool autumn air, Belle and August bringing up the rear as they made their way onto the sidewalk.
"Ruby Lucas, what were those two morons arguing about in my diner now?!" They heard granny ask as they started walking in the direction of Emma's apartment.
"What exactly happened with Killian?" Emma turned her head to look behind her, meeting her brother's gaze as she asked.
"He's a moron. That's what happened." August answered her with a chuckle. "He was dared to break into Storybrooke Zoo and steal any animal of his choice."
"Wait, seriously?!" Emma exclaimed, stopping in tracks to get a better look at August who was trailing behind her and Regina with Belle at his side. "Please, tell me that he didn't actually do that." She groaned.
"Oh, but he did." Belle said, laughing lightly as Emma groaned again.
"What exactly happened?" Regina asked, lightly tugging on Emma's hand, silently urging the other woman to keep walking so that they wouldn't block the pathway.
"He ended up stealing a turtle, a very dangerous turtle. He'll tell you so if you ask him." August said with a roll of his eyes. "While he and Milah were driving back to Granny's Diner, he got the brilliant idea to save the turtle by letting it loose into the wild. So, they drove to the lake so that Killian could put it in the water, and while they were there Milah decided to start looking into what kind of turtle it was that her boyfriend had stolen." He cleared his throat as he felt the laughter starting to bubble up there. "Well, Killian, as we all know, is rather notorious for being impatient, more so than Ruby. OW!" August said as he rubbed his arm where Belle had smacked him. "I was joking, Belle." He exclaimed. "Anyway, he didn't bother to wait to see what Milah's Google search came back with. He put the turtle into the water while, according to Milah, rambling on about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
"Okay, but when exactly did he turn into that soaked mess that we saw standing in the diner?" Emma asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Oh, well, that happened around the same time that Milah kindly informed him that he'd just put a saltwater turtle in freshwater." Belle stated matter-of-factly, amusement on her voice.
"God, he's such a moron sometimes." Emma scoffed out as she turned her head to look at Regina, catching the amused smirk on the brunette's lips.
"I imagine that he took it upon himself to retrieve the turtle from the water." Regina said, turning to look behind her to where August and Belle were both nodding their heads.
"He decided that he wasn't going to put the turtle's life at risk…any more than he already had, so they drove back to the zoo, snuck in again, and returned the turtle to its home." August said. "Oh, and he convinced Milah to take a few pictures of it all."
"Milah managed to get a great shot of Killian holding the turtle out of the water in triumph." Belle added.
"Your friends are quite the interesting bunch. I'd really like to get to know them all better." Regina whispered into Emma's ear as they continued to walk.
"Oh, yeah?" Emma asked her in a whisper as she raised her eyebrows. "What about me?" Emma continued with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Do you want to get to know me better?"
"Absolutely." Regina answered her with a smirk.
"Is that so?"
"Belle, I think that Regina and my little sister might've forgotten that we're walking right behind them." August said loudly, popping the bubble that Emma and Regina had unknowingly created for themselves.
"I think you're right, August." Belle agreed with mock-sadness in her voice.
Emma rolled her eyes at their teasing, keeping her attention on Regina. "Let's go get something to eat. You and me." She mouthed to the other woman. Regina simply nodded her head in agreement, continuing to walk as Emma got the attention of the two people walking behind them. "Regina and I are going to go grab something to eat." Emma told them without turning around, hoping that they'd simply agree to meet them at the apartment whenever they were done and let them go their separate ways.
"Oh?" August started knowingly. "Well, why didn't the two of you grab something to eat earlier while we were all at the diner?"
"You know; we could always send Ruby a text message." Belle stated with a smirk on her face as she watched Emma's shoulders tense slightly at the suggestion. "I'm sure that she wouldn't mind bringing the two of you something to eat." She continued, her gaze dropping to Emma and Regina's entwined hands, her smirk turning into a genuine smile as she took notice of the subtle movement of an olive-toned thumb rubbing soothing circles over pale skin and the tension slowly dissipating from Emma's shoulders.
"No, that's really not necessary." Emma stated, a smile on her lips as she felt Regina's thumb on her skin, calming her with its continuous movements. "I already have something else in mind."
"Well, okay. If you're sure, Duckling." August said, biting his lip to keep himself from laughing as he thought about the look of horror on his little sister's face the moment she realized that he'd called her by her childhood nickname in front of Regina. "We'll meet the two of you at your apartment whenever you're done."