A/N: I want to thank everyone who has left reviews and have followed and/or added me to your favorites. It's because of that, that makes me want to keep writing my awfully written story, haha.
Emma's eyes widened slightly as tears prickled at them. Her breathing had noticeably quickened, and she bit down on her bottom lip to stop it from trembling. She opened her mouth a little and went to speak, but no words would come out.
After a few moments of silence, Regina she wasn't even sure if Emma had even heard her, so she thought she'd ask the question again. "Emma, has something serious happened?" She watched as Emma blinked and saw the tear fall onto her still rosy cheek from breaking down on her. "You can talk to me." she said softly, and hoped she sounded reassuring enough to get Emma to open up to her. She knew hardly any students, if any at all, had ever heard her use a tone this soft and gentle before.
Emma swallowed thickly and wiped the tear away with a shaky hand. Her mouth opened again and started to nod "Ye-" then stopped herself "I... I have to go now." She said hurriedly, picking her bag up from the floor and opening the door to the classroom for the second time. She rushed out of the room without even looking back behind her.
Had she been about to say yes? "Em-" she started as Emma opened the door "-ma." she breathed out to herself once she saw the blonde hair disappear down the hallway. She was certain that Emma was about to say yes, that something serious had indeed happened. She sighed as she was left alone in the classroom. She looked up at the ceiling and she run her hand through her dark, silky hair, feeling completely and utterly helpless. She was concerned and honestly, she was a little worried too, but what more could she do? She couldn't force it out of her, and make Emma speak to her. She walked back over to her desk and sat down, nudging the mouse pad of her laptop and waking it up from it's sleep. She clicked onto her lesson plan for the rest of the week, that she had needed to finish, but she just couldn't get her mind off Emma, and seeing her lash out at the wall and then break down in tears like that. What had happened?
Emma headed straight for the exit of the school, and pushed open the doors, walking straight out into fine rain that she hadn't even noticed yet. She leaned over the railings of the steps that led up to the doors she just came through and took a few deep breaths, willing herself not to throw up as she looked down at the hedges below her. After a few moments of deep breathing she felt a little calmer. She took one last deep breath as she pushed herself off of the cold metal and made her way down the steps. As soon as she reached the bottom step, the rain started coming down heavier "Oh for fuck sake." she grumbled, putting her head down, to try and avoid her face from getting wet. She didn't have an umbrella or even a coat with a hood for that matter. She never expected to need one, as she normally always went home with Ruby, and the few times that Ruby couldn't take her, she'd make sure she had the right coat or an umbrella with her. Before she realized it was raining, she had planned on walking home but now decided that she definitely wasn't going to walk home in this weather. Bus it is then. She tapped the pocket of her jeans as she walked along, to make sure she still had change in there, and made her way along to the bus shelter, located just outside of the school grounds.
Emma glanced at the bus shelter once she reached it "Seriously?" she said out loud, knowing no one was around to hear her. "Are you fucking kidding me?" The bus shelter was missing it's roof, and all that was there was tape streamed across it, the kind of tape to let people know that it was going to be replaced soon. She kicked the row of seats in frustration and then peered up at the bus timetable. "Okay, five minutes shouldn't be so bad." she said to herself, and huddled herself in the far corner of the shelter, which looked the most driest. She was glad that the bus stop at the other end was right outside of her apartment building, so she could just head straight inside and not have to endure walking in the rain and getting anymore wet than she already was.
Regina's classroom door being pushed open knocked her out of her thoughts. She didn't even know how long she had been sitting there, staring blankly at her laptop for. All she knew was that the whole time she had been thinking about Emma.
"Sorry Miss Mills, I didn't know you were still in here. I.. I can come back." Leroy, the short bearded janitor said. He'd always been a little afraid of Regina, well he'd been afraid of Cora actually, so that automatically meant he was afraid of Regina too.
She closed the lid of her laptop, realizing she wasn't going to get anything done right now. "No no, it's fine, I was just about to head home anyway."
Leroy wheeled in his cleaning trolley "It's raining out, so take your umbrella." he advised as he got to work, giving the floors a sweep over.
"Oh.. Thank you." she nodded at the usually grumpy man, as a way of thanks. She picked up her purse, taking her car keys out and putting them in her jacket pocket for easy access, and then put the purse strap over her shoulder. After grabbing the quiz papers off her desk, she walked over to the coat rack beside the classroom door. As she picked up her umbrella from it, and frowned as she glanced at the now slight dent in the wall, where Emma had punched it, not only once, but twice. It wasn't really that noticeable, well, it wouldn't be to anyone else, but it was to her. She was glad she had managed to stop Emma from punching it a third time, and not only injuring her hand more but putting a noticeable hole in the wall, which would end up needing to be repaired and then Mr Gold would want to know why there is a hole in the wall, and she didn't exactly want to have that conversation with him, especially when she despised the man.
Regina left her classroom and made her way through the hallways. She normally went to see Kathryn before heading home, but today, she just wanted to go straight home. Even though she didn't know what was wrong with Emma, the whole situation had traumatized her a little bit. She knew whatever it was, that of course Emma was more traumatized, but in the few years working at the school, Regina had never had dealt with any kind of situation like that before. She also didn't know how she would react when finding out what it was that happened with Emma.. if I ever find out, she thought. Once she reached the exit, she pushed the door open, and opened up her umbrella as she stepped out into the rain. When she got to her car, she pulled her keys from her pocket and unlocked her Mercedes. She collapsed her umbrella and got in, trying her best to keep the papers in her hand dry. She dumped them and her purse onto the seat beside her and put the dripping wet umbrella into the foot well on the passenger side, and closed the door. She buckled herself in, started the engine and reversed out of the parking space, making her way across the pretty much empty parking lot, and heading out of the school.
Emma was already angry, upset and frustrated, but now to add to that, she was also cold, wet and highly irritable. All she had wanted all day was to go home and cry, and after her major break down on Miss Mills, she had wanted to get home even more and now because of this damned bus, it was putting that on delay. She decided she had waited in the rain for long enough, she just wanted to go home now and take a nice, long bubble bath. After waiting for the bus for at least twelve minutes already, she had finally accepted that it wasn't going to show up "Fucking stupid bus service in this town." she spat angrily, and gave another swift kick to the seats before she started walking. Her hair was dripping now wet, almost like she had just stepped out of a shower, and her blue jeans, which now looked black, were completely soaked through, making her legs feel cold. She heard the sound of a vehicle in the distance, and looked back just to make sure it wasn't the bus, and with a groan, she turned back with her shoulders slumped when she saw it was just a flashy looking car.
Regina just so happened to glance again when she saw someone walking in the rain. She was sure she recognized the blonde hair, even thought it was darker from being wet and had lost it's wavy curls. Is that Emma? She squinted as she looked through her slightly distorted windscreen where the wipers were moving quickly across it. Oh my god, it is Emma. She was completely sopping wet. She pressed the button which made her window go down, and pulled up next to her. "Emma?"
Emma heard the car pulling up beside her, but carried on walking anyway. There wasn't much crime in this town, but having a car that she didn't recognize pulling up beside her, still made her think otherwise, but then she heard that familiar voice say her name. Miss Mills. She turned around and kept her head low as she peered into the window of the Mercedes. "Hi." was all she could muster.
"Emma, what are you doing out here in the rain?"
Emma chose that moment to respond with one of her sarcastic comments, trying to forget the fact that she had broke down in tears on the older woman just a little while ago. "Well, one of my lovely teachers decided to keep me behind, so I kind of told my ride home to go without me and that I'd walk or get the bus, then the stupid bus decided to not show up, so here I am, walking home in this fu.. freaking rain." she managed to stop herself from saying 'fucking rain' and attempted a chuckle, although it didn't make her feel any better, so she settled on a smirk, as she wiped a piece of wet hair out of her face.
Regina knew Emma was trying to make light of the situation, but felt a little guilty when she had heard what Emma said, and knowing it was her fault she had lost her ride home. "Let me take you home." She said, already turning to pick up her purse and the papers off the passenger seat and placing them onto her lap, even though Emma hadn't even accepted her offer yet.
Emma internally smiled at the gesture, but she couldn't accept the ride. "It's fine, it won't take me long, and besides, it's not like I can get any wetter than this." she shrugged.
Regina wasn't having any of it. "Miss Swan, it's not fine at all. I couldn't care if you only lived five minutes away. Please? Just let me take you home, before you end up making yourself sick by being out in this weather. After all, it is my fault you missed out on your ride home."
"But I'm soaked. I'll ruin your seats." Emma tried to protest.
"They're leather dear, they'll dry, besides my seats are heated," she smiled a little proudly at that fact, knowing Emma would probably want to warm up. "Please, just get in." Regina asked with what sounded like a slight beg to her voice. When she saw Emma nod in agreement and make her way around to the other side of the car, she leaned over and opened the passenger door for her.
Regina turned on the heated seats, before Emma's butt even hit the leather. She still couldn't get her mind off the fact that she was sure Emma had been about to tell her that something serious had happened, but she didn't want to scare her out of the car just yet. "Thank you." she smiled once Emma had closed the door and buckled herself in.
"For what, offering to drive me home? I should be thanking you," She said with a slight shiver, as she held her hands in front of the hot air blowing out from the heaters to warm her hands up. "So no, thank you. I really would have been fine walking though." she shrugged, when in fact she was really quite grateful to get out of the rain.
"It's no problem at all," Regina smiled as she pulled away from the sidewalk. "So, where am I taking you?"
"It's the crappy, old apartment block on West 10th Street."
"Oh yeah, I know it." Regina nodded. She knew exactly where it was, as she always passed it on her journey to and from school. Mifflin Street was only a couple of blocks from there. She glanced over at Emma, who still held her hands in front of the heater. "Are you feeling a little warmer now?"
"Much. Thanks." Emma smiled, her legs already felt a lot warmer.
"Good, I'm glad" Regina smiled back at Emma, and it had been the first genuine looking smile she had seen on Emma's face all day.
Most of the ten minute drive had been in silence. Regina kept going to say something but then stopped herself, because even though she wanted to know if Emma was okay, she really didn't want to pry and force it out of her, and Emma too, had been considering whether or not she should say something, anything, to the other woman, but couldn't bring herself to speak either. Neither one of them had wanted to break the silence. That was until Regina slowly pulled up outside Emma's apartment building. "Thank you for the ride home Miss Mills. I really appreciate it."
"It was my pleasure," Regina smiled. "Sorry again for making you miss you ride home." She noticed that Emma's hand was lingering on the handle of the door. "Emma.. wait a moment," she turned a little to face the younger woman. "I really am here if you need to talk.. about anything, okay?" She was hoping that Emma would listen to what she had to say and not try to run again, but she watched as Emma rest her hand back upon the wet denim of her jeans. Emma turned her head to face her, but didn't say anything. She noticed Emma swallowing thickly and could see tears building again in her eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"
The thing was, Emma didn't want to talk about it, but at the same time she really did. She could feel her heart rate quicken, not at the fact that she was sitting in Miss Mills' car, and sitting this close to her that she could still smell the scent of her perfume, but at the fact her mind was racing. She was thinking of something she could say "Um.. it.. I.. he, he kissed someone else." she blurted out really quickly. She knew it sounded really pathetic and she mentally scolded herself for it. She blinked hard and opened her eyes, seeing a pair of suspicious brown eyes looking back at her.
Regina could tell right away that Emma was lying. It was the way Emma had taken a few moments to think of something, the fact that she stuttered and more importantly the fact of how quickly Emma had said it. If if had been said any quicker, Regina was sure she would have gotten whiplash from it. She knew whatever Emma was hiding had obviously upset her and she was treading on thin ice, but she chuckled a little "Oh, come on Miss Swan. You are a terrible liar. Do you honestly expect me to believe that you broke Neal Cassidy's nose, just because he kissed somebody else?"
Emma was a little taken aback at the bluntness coming from Regina, which made her eyes widen a little more and her pulse speed up. She bit her lip nervously and let her shoulders slump in a defeated sort of way. Ruby had often told her that she was a bad liar too, and she had even heard it from her parents on occasion too.
Regina could have kicked herself for being so blunt, and outright accusing Emma of lying and she instantly felt guilty about it. "Emma, I apologize, I shouldn't have said that." She said softly. Even though I know you are lying. She leaned over and placed her hand over the top of Emma's still cold hand. Please talk to me. She silently pleaded.
Emma looked down at the warm hand that was now resting on top of hers. She swallowed again and wet her lips "Don't apologize, you.. you're right." she admitted and then looked up into the warm eyes looking back at her.
"I wasn't trying to be right," she admitted, which she rarely ever admitted when she was wrong. "So, do you want to tell me what really happened?" she asked softly, and gently squeezed Emma's hand to reassure her that it was okay to talk to her.
Emma felt the sting in her eyes again but blinked quickly to clear them. She took a deep breath and nodded slowly in answer to the question "But not here though." she shook her head. She knew her mother would be home from work at any time now and she really didn't want to be seen sitting in her teachers car. If it was a day she knew her mother was working later at the elementary school, then she would have invited Regina up to her apartment. "Um.." she thought for a moment. She knew they couldn't go to Granny's because too many people would be around, not that she was embarrassed to be seen sat with a teacher or anything, because for all anyone knew they could just be talking school work, but she didn't want anyone to end up overhearing what she was going to say or for anyone to see her sitting there crying.
Regina could sense Emma would rather talk elsewhere, somewhere more private and she couldn't think of anywhere better than her house. She didn't care that she was technically going to invite a student back to her home. "How about my place?"
A/N: Don't worry those of you who keep saying about Neal. He will get what is coming to him.
