A/N: Hi y'all! Hope you had a wonderful New Year, however you celebrated! I really hope you enjoy this chapter and like where it goes! Thank you again to everyone for all your lovely reviews! Not only did you feed my ego, you absolutely humbled and awed me. You're all lovely individuals and I thank you for investing your time into this little story! xx
When I see her standing there, leaning against a pillar and smiling at me, my heart stops.
"Regina?" I smile.
"Hey," she says casually.
"Um, hi," I suddenly get shy. I glance down at my boots and then back up at her. "What're you doing here?"
"I'm here for you," she shrugs. I can't help but blush.
"Well, um, let's walk," I stutter. She giggles and we begin to walk in the direction of the union.
"How was work?" she asks. I feel so ridiculously domestic for almost no reason.
"It was good. Quiet. I was a little anxious, though."
"For this?" I nod. She smiles at me and links her arm with mine, pulling me closer. My breath catches in my throat and I glance up at her. "Is this okay?" I nod.
"More than okay."
She disconnects from me when we approach the door to the auditorium where the movie will be played.
"Dr. Mills!" I hear a girl call as soon as we walk through the door. She waves and the girl approaches us.
"Hi sweetheart, how are you?" I watch as they engage in conversation. We check in and head into the room to sit down.
"Do you mind if I sit with you all?" Regina shakes her head.
"Of course not! We'll save the row for all of our classmates. Ms. Swan, will you please save me a seat here?" she points to a seat on the end, right next to where I'm standing.
"Of course, Dr. Mills." She smiles at me and saunters off to socialize with others. I try not to feel rejected, but I wanted nothing more than to join her and mingle with her coworkers and our classmates together. I sit in my seat and wait, playing on my phone, too sullen to socialize.
A girl sits on the other side of me; she has wild and unruly bright red hair.
"Hi," she says, "is it alright if I sit here? Dr. Mills sent me over." I nod.
"No problem."
"I'm Meredith. Dr. Mills said your name is Emma?" I glance up.
"Uh, yeah. I'm Emma Swan. It's nice to meet you. I've seen you in class before." She smiles at me.
"What's your major?"
"Sociology."
"Hey me too! I'm so glad I finally got to take a class with Dr. Mills. I've been a sociology major since I started here three years ago and I've been dying to take her class." I nod.
"This is my first semester with her."
"That's fantastic!"
The lights flicker, indicating the movie will be starting, and I turn to face the screen. Like a flash, Regina is at my side, moving her purse from the empty space and settling in next to me.
"Did you talk to Meredith?" I nod. "You looked lonely."
"The only girl I wanted to talk to tonight was you," I wink at her. She smiles and pushes the armrest up.
"You've got me now, Swan." She settles into my side and my body flushes with excitement.
The movie is, for lack of a better phrase, both depressing and inspiring. About halfway through, I decide to pull the yawning thing. I let out a yawn and allow my arm to stretch out and over the back of her chair, my fingers brushing her shoulder gently. I see a smile slowly inch up her face and she turns her head so her lips are at my ear.
"You didn't have to yawn, Emma Swan," she whispers. It almost sounds seductive, the way my name rolls off her tongue. I shiver. She scoots her body minutely closer and rests her hand on my thigh. I glance around us, suddenly nervous. On a scale of one to ten how inappropriate is this behavior? Probably a twelve.
"I'll have you know, this sort of behavior is highly inappropriate, Dr. Mills," I whisper in her ear. She smirks.
"I don't see you complaining." The tension between us is literally palpable. When the lights come back on, she scoots subtly away from me and removes her hand. I retract my arm and pull the armrest down.
After a question and answer panel, which consisted of Regina, a campus police officer, and the head of the Women's Center, Regina meets me back at our seats. She grabs my elbow and pulls me close to her.
"Want to grab a drink?" I freeze.
"What? Like right now?" she laughs, a deep and throaty laugh.
"Yes, Ms. Swan, like right now," she mocks me. I roll my eyes.
"Yes," I stammer, definitely wide-eyed, "I would love to." She collects her bag and her sweater and stands. Several students crowd around us to talk to her. I watch in fascination as she engages them all so individually. She's amazing in the way of making people feel like they are massively important to her.
I make eye contact with her and nod, letting her know I'll be outside. I breathe in the crisp, autumn air and try to clear my head. I decide to text Ruby.
I won't be home until late. Regina and I are going for drinks.
I smile as I hit send. It sounds so ridiculously casual, this whole 'drinks with Regina' thing, though I am feeling anything but casual.
You're what?
My phone immediately lights up with Ruby's name.
"Ruby I can't talk!"
"Are you with her right now?"
"No but-"
"You're going to get drinks with her Emma? Emma I swear to god if you don't make a move tonight, I'm going to do it for you!" she threatens, shrieking into the phone.
"Ruby oh my god I'm hanging up!" I end the call with a chuckle before feeling a pair of arms wrap around my waist.
"Let's go, Swan," she whispers in my ear before quickly releasing me. I feel a dampness begin to soak my core.
"After you," I smirk. I follow her down the stairs and into the parking garage. It's almost ten, so the garage is deserted, with only a few stragglers like us left in the lot.
"Did you like the movie?" I nod.
"It's hard to say I liked it, exactly, but it was thought provoking. It was hard for me to watch, honestly. I know people who have been sexually assaulted and it was hard to hear all those statistics." She nods her head.
"Watching it with students from class was hard, I have to admit. The first time I watched it I was alone, so this was an entirely different experience for me."
I see the lights on a Mercedes begin to flash and look at the keys in her hand.
"You seriously drive a Mercedes?" She arches an eyebrow at me.
"Do you have a problem with my choice of vehicle, Ms. Swan?" I shake my head.
"It's perfect for you," I smile. With the car putting some physical distance between us I feel safer. "It's sleek, sexy, classy, got a great engine..." I trail off and wink at her. Her face flushes.
"Get in the car, Emma," she husks out. I oblige and quickly slide in. I glance at her out of the corner of my eye, too nervous to turn my head.
"Was that-" her hand raises.
"I have been dying to kiss you all day," she whispers. I freeze. "That's actually not entirely true. I've been dying to kiss you for weeks."
"Regina-" her hand flies up again, stopping me.
"There's a solid ten year age difference between us, Emma. Not to mention I'm your professor. And probably will be again in future semesters."
"Can I please speak now?" She bites her lip and nods.
"I have been dying to kiss you since the first day of class when you said my name."
In an instant, she surges forward, grasping my head between her hands, and kisses me. I gasp into the kiss and she eases her tongue into my mouth. Her fingers tangle in my hair and I tightly grip the lapels of her jacket. The kiss is intense- soft and sweet but with a sense of urgency.
She groans when her lips finally separate from mine. We are both gasping for breath, the sound amplified in the confined space of the car.
I release her jacket and caress her cheek, trailing my fingers down to her lips, now just slightly plumper.
"Emma," she murmurs.
"Stop," I whisper. "You're overthinking. Just turn the car on and let's go get a drink." She smiles as her eyes meet mine. Her head leans into my caress and she closes her eyes and sighs. She kisses the palm of my hand, sending a shiver down my spine, before straightening up and releasing her grasp on me.
We drive in silence, the quiet tinkle of classical music playing through the car stereo. When we pull up to the restaurant, Regina holds up a hand again.
"You really make good use of your hands," I say. I flush as soon as what I've said sinks in.
"We'll see about that," she winks. Her hand moves to rest on my knee and she leans over and kisses me again, this time far softer and less rushed. She pulls away and rests her forehead against mine. "I couldn't help myself," she whispers.
"Come on, we seriously need a drink." I kiss her forehead and see her smile softly.
We head into the restaurant and are greeted by an overly cheerful hostess.
"Hi, table for two?" I glance at Regina and then shake my head.
"We'll just take up occupancy at the bar if you don't mind." The hostess smiles and I rest my hand on the small of Regina's back and guide her toward the bar.
We take two seats on the end and the bartender approaches us immediately. She looks oddly like Belle, but a bit more badass.
"Hello ladies, what'll you have?"
"A glass of Merlot for me, please. Emma?"
"Dewars on the rocks, no fruit." I see Regina arch an eyebrow. "It's been a long day!" Regina chuckles and the bartender saunters away.
When our drinks are in front of us, I see the tension ease from Regina's shoulders.
"So," I say with a smile. Regina chuckles.
"This is not where I thought this day would go."
"I would have to say the same." We both laugh. "Regina I want you to know this doesn't have to mean anything okay? I'm not expecting anything from you." She bites her lip.
"That's all fine and dandy, except, you know, I want it to mean something." My eyes widen in surprise.
"You do?" She nods.
"Yes, Emma, I do."
"But it's so complicated." She nods.
"Incredibly. But, to be honest, I'm not so sure that I care." My heart is pounding so loud I can barely hear.
How is this happening? How is this happening? Is the Regina Mills saying she wants to be in a relationship with me?
We finish our drinks, veering away from the topic of a relationship and choosing to focus instead on getting to know each other. She tells me more about getting her Ph D and deciding to write her first book and I tell her about applying to college and completing my first year.
Regina glances at her watch. "Emma darling, it's almost midnight. Let me drive you home."
"Are you sure you're okay to drive?" She nods.
"It was just a glass of wine, my dear." She settles the tab, raising her hand as I protest. "Next time you can get it." She smiles at me, and as we make our way out of the restaurant, she grabs my hand and firmly twines our fingers together. I flush again.
On the car ride to my apartment, she holds my hand over the center console. I give her the directions as she needs them and in between I talk to her about living with Ruby.
"Make the next left and it's the second apartment on the right."
"From what I can tell this is a very nice community, Emma."
"It's pretty great. We have a really awesome pool at the clubhouse. Hey what're you doing Saturday?" The car comes to a halt outside my building.
"Uh nothing, why?"
"Come over. We're supposed to have an unseasonably warm weekend. Let's go to the pool." She smiles, nodding.
"How's noon?"
"Perfect. You know how to get here."
"Emma?" I arch my eyebrow. "I'm going to kiss you." I brace myself for the overwhelming sensation of her lips on mine. When it comes, I groan and lace my fingers into her painfully soft hair. Her teeth nibble my bottom lip and I gasp, allowing her tongue access to my mouth. She takes only a moment to laugh before her lips reattach to mine and our tongues play an age-old dance.
An immeasurable amount of time passes before her lips detach from mine and move down to my neck.
"Regina," I gasp as she sucks softly on my pulse point. I tug on her hair involuntarily and she bites down. I'm panting, and struggling to contain the moans that are desperate to be released. When she releases my neck, her lips move to hover over mine. I can't help but wonder how we went from student-teacher relationship to making out in her Mercedes so quickly, but far be it from me to question any of it.
"What the hell are you doing to me, Emma?" She smiles softly.
"I should go inside," I whisper. She nods her head.
"Yeah, I need to go home and... Cool off." She lets out a big breath and I can't help but laugh.
"Today was perfect. I'll see you here on Saturday." She nods adamantly.
"Good night, Emma Swan."
"Good night, Regina Mills." I peck her lips and quickly jump out of the car.