Chapter 8:


"Hey Red," Emma greeted her friend as she entered the establishment at her usual time. Emma only knew how to make a few dishes, therefore she had opted to visit Granny's each morning to pick up her and Regina's lunch. How very domestic of her, she thought. "I need some help."

"At your service, Em. What do you need?" Ruby asked, placing a large paper bag on the counter.

"I need some advice. Relationship advice." Emma told her. It had been bugging her for the past few days, and she just had to tell someone.

"Well you've come to the right person." Ruby placed her hand under her chin and leaned in conspiringly closer. "Who's the lucky guy?"

Emma swallowed the lump in her throat and announced, "It would be the lucky lady, actually."

Ruby gasped and then smiled wickedly. "Oh my god, I knew it!" She cheered.

"What? Rubes, you-you knew? How?!"

"I have an excellent gaydar." Ruby answered. "So who's the lucky lady, then?"

Emma swallowed the lump in her throat. "Regina Mills."

Ruby let out loud shriek. "You have a crush on the history teacher! Emma!"

"Could you say it any louder? Shut up!" Emma chided. "But yes, I do. Don't judge."

"I'll try not to judge you too much Em, you're my friend. Does she know?" Ruby asked, lowering her voice a little.

"No. Well, I mean she's been sending me mixed signals. I don't know, Ruby. I need you to help me out though, what should I do?"

Ruby tilted her head in thought. "Try and give her some signals that you want more. Maybe make her feel sorry for you?"

"Ruby! I can't use that against her."

"Well you do have those therapy sessions. Maybe you just shouldn't turn up? Then, she will want to talk to you about it and you can tell her all about your past and make her feel sorry for you. Be warned though, Miss Mills is a tough egg to crack."

"But my therapy, I like Dr Hopper. Regina doesn't even know that I'm in therapy, as far as I understand." Emma told the brunette waitress. "Maybe, I could tell her that I like talking to her?"

Ruby's face lit up as an idea hit her. "Emma, that's perfect!"

"Go on." Emma said, wanting Ruby to elaborate on her new idea.

"So, you don't go to your therapy sessions - that's the first sterp. Step 2, tell her that you like talking to her and suggest that maybe you two could talk more often. If she likes you enough, she'll help you. She might even open up to you, a little."

"From here, you can get to know her and spend more time with her. By now, she should start to be growing comfortable with you and when you start to feel that connection, that's when you make your move."


Emma had came into Regina's classroom at lunch, her usual time, and her and Regina had made small talk.

Regina though, she seemed tense throughout their conversation. Emma asked what was wrong, and Regina gave in and told her.

"He wants to use you to get me to go to my sessions..." Emma breathed, unsure.

"Yes, but if you-"

Emma cut her off.

"No. It's fine, totally." Emma snapped, grabbing her bag. "I'll go to the stupid therapy sessions. Goodbye, Miss Mills."

Okay, this was harder than Emma thought. She couldn't bear to be nasty to Regina, but she had to put her and Ruby's plan in motion. She just hoped that she had good acting skills.

Emma strode towards the door, desperately hoping that Miss Mills would take the bait and come after her. She had to hide her smile as she felt Regina grip her arm.

"Listen, Emma. I want you to go to these sessions." Yes, Emma cheered in her head, she took the bait. "They really do help, trust me."

"You-you were in therapy?" Emma asked, bewildered. She never once thought that a woman as prideful and as put together as Regina would have been in therapy.

"Yes, as a child, I was. Sit down and I'll tell you all about it." Emma sat down and watched as her teacher smiled at her.

"When I was younger, I was a foster child."

Well today was a day full of surprises, Emma thought. First off, she had admitted to Ruby that she was gay only to find out that she knew. Secondly, she had found out that Regina Mills was a foster kid - just like her. Emma just hoped that Regina didn't have as bad a childhood as she did.

The blonde then put all thoughts aside as she listened intently to Regina's story. Watching as the teacher cracked a sad smile and stared out of the window, lost in thought.

"I was very...difficult; apparently, I threw tantrums all the time. Because of my 'issues', as most of the social workers called it, I was placed into a therapy program."

Damn, that was bad.

"Each week I would visit this children's centre, where I would meet with my therapist Dr. Debra Mcallister. She was wonderful with me. We would spend our sessions play games like dominoes and cards and sometimes we would even go outside for a walk in the park." Regina sighed fondly as she recalled the memories.

Emma smiled lightly as she watched Regina recall and smile at some of her childhood memories. She hoped that her story got better.

"Debra was the only part of my childhood that was even remotely good. Our weekly sessions helped me a lot. For example, because I learned how to play a multitude of games, I could interact with other children and play with them. One day, though, my foster parents at the time found out that they were pregnant and they shipped me off to the other side of the country. I never saw Debra again."

Wow, now that was harsh. That was exactly what happened to Emma, as it happens, but that was a story for another day.

Emma, though, was brought out of her thoughts and revere as she felt Regina place a warm lightly tanned hand over her own. Oh my gosh, Emma's head screamed. She's holding my hand!

"So you see, Emma. Therapy is good for you. It would please me greatly if you would attend your weekly appointments with Dr Hopper. I know from experience that he is very good at what he does, he's helped me out countless times."

"Wow. I-I don't quite know what to say." Emma conceded, flustered by the contact between her and her teacher.

"You don't have to say anything dear." Regina smiled tenderly, removing her hand from Emma's (and making Emma feel temporarily cold and lost, though she quickly recovered). "However, you do have to leave now if you want to make it to your Social Studies class on time."

Damn, this woman. Emma thought, chuckling lightly. Is she my mom or my teacher?

Emma looked at the clock above the teachers desk and sighed. Standing up, she grabbed her backpack and walked towards the door. She smiled as she heard Regina walking up behind her, hot on her heels.

"Thank you, Regina." Emma said. "You've helped me so much today, so if there is anything I can do for you then please tell me."

"Oh, Emma. You've done enough for me, more than you know." Without thinking, Regina leaned forward and placed a light kiss on Emma's forehead.

Emma was going haywire. Her head was spinning, her heart was beating erratically, and multiple sirens and beeps were going off in her head. She kissed me! Oh my god! She kissed me!

Emma masked her feelings well, as the only evidence of her shocked state was the widening of her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it when the bell rang out loudly across the school.

Oh thank god, an excuse to leave!

"Uh goodbye, Miss." And with that Emma ran out of the door towards her next class.

She didn't want to leave Regina, but she was so flustered from that kiss that she couldn't possibly stay.

When she got far enough down the corridor, Emma removed her phone from her pocket and composed a text to Ruby:

Operation Swan Queen is a go.