AN: Yes, yes, yes. I'm a mess and always delay updates. Sorry, I lead a busy life. Thanks for sticking around!

I hope you enjoy and please review/favorite/follow because that makes me want to write more. Any writing mistakes are mine so, I'm sorry if anything bothers you, you're completely welcome to blame me. Once again thanks for reading! Any doubt on any music terminology or name of an important figure I might use on this chapter or later, my PM and my tumblr ask box are always open.

Note that there are also many made up names.

Much love,

-Lily Rickman

Chapter 4: Friends.

Regina Mills was walking through the Julliard corridors as fast as she could without running when she heard her name being called from behind, she turned around and she saw a familiar face popping out one of the practice room's doors, it was her friend Malleficent, well, 'friend'.

"Hello Malleficent" she said forcing a small smile.

"We went to your concert at Carnegie the other day" Malleficent said almost spitting out the word Carnegie. "I thought it was... good. Full of people, right? And out of all the conductors that are helping with these small debuts you got Gold, lucky you"

"I'm glad you were able to go" Regina said, hoping the blond soprano would leave her alone.

"You know Ursula, Cruella and I are also having a concert soon. No biggie like Carnegie, just here at Julliard's auditorium" she handed the brunette an invite that had the trio of singers printed on it together with some information on the concert. "I hope you can go. Also... we were wondering if you would mind accompanying us both on the rehearsals and the concert? Not that we didn't have a pianist since before, but he quit"

"I wonder why..." Regina said sarcastically.

"Come on Regina, you know we are the best singing trio at Julliard right now. At least will you accompany me right now while I practice? I'm completely lost and I'm having trouble keeping up with the tempo" the singer said, ignoring Regina's comment.

"You know I would love to but right now I have to get out of here because I have something to do. I can tell Kevin, he's a good pianist and I'll be sure to go to your concert"

"Oh but I hate Kevin!" the singer protested.

"Well then I can't help you. Use a metronome!" and with this Regina turned around to keep walking to the school's entrance.

"Bitch" she heard Malleficent say from behind. She laughed.

Going through the corridors of Julliard was hell that day, Regina had to excuse herself to countless people who wanted to talk about the concert, she really had to get home. When she finally got out she had to run between the crowds of people in Lincoln Centre to finally get to the subway, which was also incredibly crowded. It took her about half an hour to get to her house's stop and then 5 more minutes to get to her apartment, where she could finally breathe in peace.

She walked to her room where she threw her school bag to a corner and took off her clothes and dived in her closet to take out a black low cut shirt, tight blue jeans and a pair of heeled black boots that she put on. She then went to her bathroom where she brushed her hair and teeth and put makeup on (basically eyeliner and bright red lipstick). She grabbed a black handbag where she threw everything she thought she might need in the day: cellphone, wallet, a book, makeup bag, keys. a notebook. a pen and her glasses case. She put on perfume and took a last glance of herself at the mirror, everything seemed to be in place.

She was so nervous, this was her first date in ages... was it even a date? She damn hoped it was because Emma Swan was beautiful both from the inside and outside.

Regina went out of her apartment and then out to the street again, she walked to the subway and headed to 116 street, that was the subway station Emma had told her was the closest to her dorm. When she finally arrived at campus she was completely blown away; campus was like another tiny city inside Manhattan, Julliard was ridiculous in size compared to that. She nervously walked to the person she thought looked the nicest near her and tapped his shoulder.

He turned around and opened his eyes widely at the sight of her face. "Woah hello gorgeous, what can I do for you this lovely sunday morning?" he asked her.

"Hi" she said with a smile. "Do you mind telling me where..." she took out her phone and read from her text messages. "...dorm rooms 600 West 116th street is?"

"Sure. I can walk you if you want" he said grinning.

"I..." Regina stammered.

"Neal stop it, she's obviously here to see someone and she doesn't need you bothering her" a red headed girl said from behind the young man. "You're giving your back to the building, cross this street, it's the white building. And sorry, he's a dick"

Regina smiled at them. "It's okay, thank you"

"Will you at least tell me your name or your major?" Neal asked when she was about to start walking again.

She laughed lightly. "Regina Mills, pianist. I'm gay"

The red headed girl laughed loudly and 'oooed' her friend. "Take that man" she said punching his arm. "Nice to meet you Regina!"

"Nice to meet you too guys"

At last she turned around and crossed the street to get to Emma's dorm building. She unlocked her cellphone and texted the beautiful blond: I'm here, wait for you in front of the entrance.

Seconds later an answer came in. Emma Swan: Got it! See you in a sec. ;)

Regina didn't have to wait long until the blond woman who had been haunting her dreams since the night of the concert came out of the building's front door, she was dressed in a very different outfit than the night of the concert but she still looked amazing: red leather jacket, tight blue jeans, black boots and a white tank top. Actually, Regina found it quite appealing.

At first, Emma didn't see Regina, but the moment she turned to her right she saw the amused (and great looking) brunette sitting on the step that separated the building from the street watching her.

"Hey! You look great" she said pointing at the young pianist's clothing when they were finally both standing at the same level.

Regina felt her face heating, but stopped the imminent blushing by taking a sharp breath of air. "Thank you. You look great too!" she answered.

"So... where do you want to go to?" Emma asked her rocking from her toes to her heels.

Regina shrugged. "I don't know. A cafe or something like that would be nice... this isn't really my area"

"Okay, follow me then!" Emma said with excitement and started walking down the street.

They walked on the 116th street to get to Broadway, then there they turnedto the 114th street that took them to Amsterdam Avenue, where they walked to the 11th street where the small cafe was. The place was called The Hungarian Pastry Shop, and Regina thought it was very beautiful: It had a place to sit outside and inside it was lit by a warm light that went perfectly with all the wooden furniture and decor. They sat at a table inside that was next to the window that showed the street.

"How have you been?" Regina asked timidly after ordering their drinks.

"Good" Emma said. "How have you been?"

"Good, it has been a little crazy everything after the concert. But I'm good"

"I'm glad" the blond said smiling.

Regina looked down for a second and then looked up again to the beautiful emmerald eyes in front of her. "We don't really know each other, except for the little time we talked on the concert night so... I thought we should try to get to know us better today. If that's okay with you"

"Of course. Regina I called you that night because I want to get to know you better. I told you, I like you. I think we can be great friends!"

Friends. Damn, talk about a bummer; thought Regina. Friends was a good start though, maybe that was what Emma meant...

"I think so too" Regina answered, trying to not sound dissapointed.

"Question, question?" Emma asked childishly.

"Sure"

Emma's face lit up with a smile of excitement and she put both her hands on the table, thinking of the perfect question to start off with. "Okay, I got it: Why did you choose the piano?"

Regina smirked. "Accident. My mother is a ballet dancer, ballet dancers are usually accompanied by pianists, there was a piano in my house for the days my mother had rehearsals there or for when she gave private lessons to some of her students. My mother knows the basics and taught me some to see if I could help her sometimes. Turns out at age 5 I could, I fell in love with it and forced my mother to pay me lessons"

Emma laughed. "Wow awesome! Your turn"

"Umm what do you want to do after Columbia?"

Emma scratched her scalp. "I don't know. Teach, maybe? Write, but not novels more like essays and stuff. Maybe get out of New York. What do you want to do after Julliard?"

Regina didn't even have to think that answer. "I want to go to Warsaw, Poland. Study at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, has been my dream since I was 15 years old. If I'm lucky I shall do that at the end of this school year. After that I would like to stay in Europe, maybe Poland or Russia or Austria or Germany: Be a concert pianist, maybe have some chamber ensambles. Enjoy" she finished with a smile.

"Cool!" Emma exclaimed.

"Your biggest inspiration? Like, your role model"

A waitress arrived with their drinks, interrupting their conversation: Green tea for Regina and hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon for Emma.

"Jeez. Role model: Gertrude Stein, I guess, she was an amazing writer. I guess I can't pick one out of all the amazing historical figures. Yourse?" Emma asked.

"Martha Argerich, argentine pianist. I would kill to meet her. Is Gertrude Stein your favorite writer?"

"No, Sir. Ernest Hemingway, but he can't really be my role model, he was a great writer but he was a prick" the blonde chuckled. "Is Mozart your favorite, uh, composer? I was going to ask if Martha... her last name is hard"

"Argerich" Regina said, emphatizing her spanish.

"That. I was going to ask if she was your favorite pianist but I think that might be a stupid question"

Regina smiled, of course Marthita was her favorite pianist. "No, Mozart isn't my favorite composer. Johann Sebastian Bach is. Why?

"Well you debuted with Mozart..." Emma said, as if it were an obvious thing to have thought Mozart was Regina's favorite.

"Oh, no, I debuted with Mozart because Martha debuted with Mozart. I guess I think it is a good way to honor her. She debuted with the 20, I did with the 21, maybe if someday someone admires me as much as I admire Martha (which I doubt) that someone will debut with the 22 and so on" the brunette explained.

"Nice, your turn" the blond said taking a sip of her hot beverage.

"Um, how old were you when you realized you were gay? How was it?"

Emma counted something with her fingers, then gave her answer. "I was 19. I was currently dating a guy called Neal..."

Regina couldn't stop a small laugh upon hearing the name of Emma's last boyfriend.

"What is it?" Emma asked confused.

"I just ran into a guy called Neal on campus earlier today, coincidences" the young pianist explained.

"Oh, okay. So I was dating this guy and I met this girl called Lily and I sort of fell for her, then I realized I didn't fancy Neal anymore and so I dated this girl. And it opened my eyes to why I hadn't fully enjoyed any relationship to that day" she said amused. "It was pretty awesome, but I know it's not like that for everyone. Tell me about your first love..."

Did the fact that Emma was going to that side of the conversation too mean that she was interested in a different way from friendship?, Regina asked herself. Oh she wish she did.

"Um I was 14 or 15 I think and at one of my theory classes at Julliard I met this girl called Ella; she was an amazing pianist, an extremely inteligent person and the sweetest girl I had ever known. She was always dressed in black, from head to toes, always wore boots and always had long earrings hanging from her ears, God she was beautiful!" Regina smiled at the remembrance of her first love. "Thanks to her I realized I was gay, I guess. I was never interested in men but she was the first woman I ever felt so strongly for. We were great friends for many years"

"Did you ever date her?" Emma asked, intrigued.

"No" the brunette shook her head. "She was just my friend and the love of my life. She was... in love with her piano teacher"

"Ouch" Emma said.

"I know, so unfortunate. For her more than for me! She was crazy for the woman, and I don't blame her, her piano teacher is probably one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, plus, she is the most amazing pianist I have ever heard playing live"

"Wow, she sounds like one of those teachers all the students are dead for"

"She is. Someday she plays you must come with me and see! She's polish so I've been trying to sort of make friends with her for her to help me with the Chopin admission process"

"And what was of Ella?" Emma asked, still unable to understand how anyone could deny such a beautiful woman as Regina.

"She is in Warsaw, living the dream. I have her to blame for by obsession Martha Argerich and Warsaw"

Emma laughed at this.

"What was of Lily?" Regina then asked.

They stayed in the cafe for a much longer time, going on and on with the question-question game. They even ended up having lunch in the place. At 4:00 pm Emma excused herself, she had to finish an essay due the next day and she still had a way to go. They promised to call each other during the week to go out together again.

Regina really, really liked Emma.