Chapter eleven
"I can't force her to go to school, Lily," Archie sighed as he placed a plate with a sandwich on it in front of his first foster child.
"You could," the brunette sighed.
"Even if I somehow managed to get her to attend, there is nothing that could force her to actually do anything other than physically be there," the therapist argued.
Lily's shoulders slumped and she made to grab the food, but she thought better of it and asked, "didn't you offer one to Emma?"
Archie shrugged and replied, "she hasn't had the biggest appetite in the past few weeks. I have her assurance that she is eating enough to stay alive."
"Is waiting for her to want to talk really the best option?"
"Patience is pretty much the first semester of college," he chuckled.
Lily smirked slightly and returned with, "you're hilarious. But if you carry on being patient, she's going to fail…"
"Then she will have summer vacation to realise what she really wants and I will support her whether she wants to get a job or repeat senior year. I have made that clear to her, so right now, she just needs time to figure out what she really wants."
The brunette looked at the counter and tried to think of a hole in his argument, but she had no doubt that pretty much everything he said was well reasoned. She knew that Archie probably assumed that Emma would get over Regina after some time apart, but she couldn't help the feeling that the two of them were somehow meant to be together.
"Can you at least make her stop brooding in her room," she sighed after a moment, deciding that there was no way she could rationalise thinking that Emma and Regina were some kind of True Love pairing.
The ginger man smiled slightly at her concern and shook his head, "as long as she is physically healthy, I'll let her work through her emotions a while longer. Should anything change, I would force her to leave the little cave she has created for herself."
The brunette nodded and brought the sandwich up to her mouth and took a bite, they sat in silence for a moment, before it was broken by the sound of a frantic knock at the door.
Archie stepped forward to go and answer it and Lily just grabbed the plate from the counter and followed him to the front door.
He yanked it open, shooting a questioning look at the curious teen next to him.
Two sets of eyebrows shot up when they both recognised the brunette standing on the other side, "Regina?" Archie asked in shock.
The teen smiled tentatively at the pair and shuffled from foot to foot, "may I please talk to Emma?"
The therapist shot Lily a look and instantly noticed how happy she looked about the prospect, "er…okay…you know where her room is right?"
Regina smiled in relief, she was somewhat worried that she would be denied access, but they each looked somewhat happy that she was there.
"Thank you," she said and then tilted her head when they each remained standing in her standing in her way.
After a moment, Archie and Lily seemed to register the issue and they stepped out of the way.
Regina began making her way to the room that she had a couple of 'studying sessions' in, but she heard someone run after her and then felt that someone grab her arm.
Turning around, she saw Archie slip past holding a plate with a sandwich on it and then made eye contact with Lily.
"What are you going to say to her?" she almost growled.
Regina considered yanking her arm away, but she had a feeling that this hostility was probably justified, so she just replied, "I'm not exactly sure what I should say?"
The other brunette nodded slowly and said, "I assume that you're not here to yell at her?"
Regina sighed and slightly inclined her head, "I understand that I should have given her more of a chance…thank you for the message by the way…"
Lily smiled weakly as it became clear what had convinced her to come over. She had no doubt that if she read the essay the blonde had written, then she would rush over to come and make amends.
Letting go of her arm, she pointed to the door down the hall and said, "if she ever spends a month brooding in her room over you again, I will destroy you."
Regina felt a shock of fear shoot through her stomach, but a smile quickly adorned her face as she realised that Emma has someone who cared just as much about her as the parents should have.
Lily walked away, fixing her with a warning look and after a moment, Regina made her way to the door.
She held her fist up to the door, but stopped short of actually knocking.
The brunette hadn't seen her ex since the night they had broken up and right now, all she could imagine was a picture of her hurt expression when she had thrown the money at her.
She knew that she had a right to be royally pissed for the fact that she had accepted money to go out with her, but the fact that she didn't really give her a chance to talk about it was worse. Of course, she could never fully understand the insecurities of a girl who had spent her entire life in foster care, but that didn't mean that she couldn't have at least recognised that they were there.
Finally, she decided that she would figure out what to say once she saw her and all but forced her knuckles to rap against the door.
She waited a full two seconds before she knocked again, this time far less aggressively.
There was an audible groan on the other side of the door, and it soon swung open to reveal a blonde teen.
The first thing that Regina noticed was the slight swelling around her nose and she remembered having read somewhere that it could take six months for the nose to go back to how it was, assuming that Zelena's fist hadn't completely reshaped it.
The next was just how pale she looked and the brunette wondered just how much sunlight she had gotten in the past month, especially considering that she no longer even went out for school.
Her observation was cut short when Emma seemed to have finally decided that this was real, and said in a nervous tone, "I thought you was Lily…"
Regina smiled slightly at the sound of the voice she would only now admit that she had been missing so much, and shoved her hands into her pockets as she tried to think of a reply.
The pair stood in silence for a moment, before Emma stood back from the door and motioned into her room, "er..you can come in…if you want to…"
The brunette instantly took the offer and crossed the threshold, tilting her head at the bed, she went over to it and picked up the rather thick book.
"Why are you reading a pre-med text book?" she laughed while she turned the book around to show the other girl.
Emma grinned slightly and shrugged, "light reading."
Regina laughed openly and the blonde seemed to relax marginally.
Once she stopped, she turned the book over in her hand and threw it onto the bed and let a serious expression adorn her face, "…I'm an idiot…"
"That's just not true," Emma replied instantly, "I should have told you everything as soon as I realised I liked you…I was just…"
"Afraid that I would break up with you?" the brunette asked softly, she suddenly felt like the distance between them was oppressive, but she wasn't quite sure whether she should bridge the gap just yet.
"Yeah…guess I didn't think it all the way through…"
Regina nodded her agreement, but said, "I should have heard you through. Objectively, I should have realised that it wasn't just about the money when you scaled my house…"
"In your defence…I was high…"
"Because my sister broke your nose," Regina sighed, "no offence to Zelena, but I am pretty sure that you would have her beat if you were to fight back."
"So…what are you saying?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow, this was not at all how she had expected this conversation to go. The moment she had seen Regina at the door, she was sure that she was about to be yelled at, but this was very much calm. It was quite obvious that Regina had forgiven her for the money, but she wasn't sure whether that forgiveness meant what she wanted it to mean.
"I'm apologising for being inconsiderate…"
"You shouldn't be the one apologising…"
Regina held up her hand before Emma could say any more and continued, "I should have realised the reason that you didn't try and contact me…it was because I told you to leave me alone. You opened up to me about your past and I should have realised exactly what that meant."
The blonde nodded slowly and considered the other girl's words, she was certainly not expecting that, but then again, she wasn't particularly used to having told someone so much about herself. In fact, it was probably the reason that the break-up had hurt so much. She had told Regina some of the most painful things about her childhood and they had only been going out for three weeks. She had never trusted someone so completely and so quickly, which was why messing it up made her feel like a complete moron.
"What did make you…realise?" the blonde asked after a moment.
Regina sighed and replied, "well, Zelena was the first to suggest that I should consider forgiving you and then I was accosted by your best friend…"
Emma rolled her eyes and ran a hand over her face, before she asked, "what did Lily say?"
"She told me that you gave Killian the money back and…informed me of some of the more intricate parts of your psyche that I am incapable of understanding…she also sent me the appeal essay you wrote…"
The blonde's eyes widened comically and she all but flew across the room to her laptop sat on the bed.
Before she could reach down and grab it, Regina closed her hand around the taller girl's wrist and pulled her back up.
Emma blinked a few times, but then she swallowed hard when she saw just how close they were standing to each other.
After a moment of simply staring at each other, Emma said, "you haven't actually told me why you're here…"
Regina sighed contently, she had forgotten what it was like to be so close to the other girl.
She was beginning to wonder just how insane she had to be to have let this go and she brought both her hands around the blonde's neck.
"I came here to tell you to do your school work so that we can graduate together," she smirked.
After a second, Emma snaked her arms around the brunette's waist and mirrored her smile as she almost squeaked, "together?"
Regina nodded slowly and replied, "can we start over?"
Emma let out a relieved breath and said, "I would like nothing more."
With that as permission, Regina leaned up and captured her lips in a sweet and short peck.
When she came back down, she noted the dopey grin spread across the blonde's face and she laughed.
The taller girl remained like that for a moment before she furrowed her brow and asked, "so was that our new first kiss?"
"Yes," Regina replied instantly, "and you can pick me up for our new first date at eight."
"I don't think I can top the fake first one," Emma pouted.
The brunette laughed again and leaned up to kiss the pout off, "you have six hours to try," she whispered against her lips.
With that, she detached herself from the blonde and made her way out of the room.
Emma watched her go and fell heavily onto the bed, taking a deep breath, she considered whether that actually happened. After a dumbfounded moment, she grabbed her laptop and began looking for somewhere to take, hopefully, her girlfriend.
"Granny's?" Regina asked with a smirk.
Emma rolled her eyes and nodded as she parked the car, "I couldn't do a picnic again and there aren't many options without leaving town. I figured that I'm on thin ice with your parents, so this was pretty much the only optio-"
Before she could finish her last word, she was shut up by a pair of lips covering hers and when Regina leaned back, the brunette said in explanation, "you looked like you needed to relax."
The blonde nodded and blinked a couple of times, before she coughed and said, "good call…so you're alright going here?"
"This is supposed to be a first date; you're supposed to be learning stuff about me so that you can make the next one perfect."
"Next one?" Emma asked excitedly.
"We'll see," Regina smirked, before she opened the car door and proceeded towards the diner.
Emma took a deep breath, before she did the same and quickly caught up with her.
Five minutes later, the pair were seated in a booth waiting for their order and Emma tapped her fingers as she desperately tried to think of something to say.
"I'm guessing that you wouldn't be as impressed by me reciting sonnets this time," she asked with a smirk.
Regina chuckled and shook her head, "it wouldn't have quite the same impact."
Emma nodded slowly and continued tapping her fingers against the table until Regina reached across and placed her hand over the blonde's restless one.
"You don't need to be nervous…"
The other girl laughed and shook her head, "how can you be so calm about this?"
"Because I already know that I enjoy your company. All we have to do is start again with no lies," Regina replied.
Emma thought about this for a second and relaxed as she turned her hand over to intertwine their fingers.
"So what do you want to talk about?" the blonde asked after a moment.
Regina thought about this for a moment and she was about to say 'no idea', but a ding came from Emma's jacket pocket and she tilted her head curiously.
The blonde furrowed her brow, she was just going to ignore it, but she had this feeling deep in her stomach that it was important, so she pulled the phone out.
Her eyes scanned the e-mail once and then a few more times before her mouth fell open and she read it once more.
Regina watched her facial expression change and finally couldn't take it anymore, "what is it?" she laughed.
Emma placed the phone on the table and slid it across, the brunette's eyes fell onto the message and she read it as fast as she could.
"You applied for NYU?" she asked when she finally looked up, her mouth slightly agape.
The blonde nodded slowly and said, "I thought it would be worth a shot…they put me on a waiting list though and I assumed that it would never happen. Apparently, my essay convinced them to let me go for an interview next week…"
"Well, it was a pretty good essay," Regina smirked, she could feel excitement flooding her system at the thought of attending the same college as Emma. They had been back together for a matter of hours and she couldn't even remember why she would have even considered not being with her. She couldn't see any reason why they still wouldn't be together when they went to college, and it would just make it all that much more awesome. Blinking a couple of times, she reminded herself that this was moving ridiculously fast again, but this time, she didn't find it as strange. The blonde looked much relaxed without the secret weighing on her mind, and though Regina didn't think it was possible, she found that it made like her that much more.
"It must have been pretty awesome, it got me an interview and a girl…" Emma choked and blush engulfed her cheeks and she began shaking her head.
Regina allowed her to sputter for another moment before she reached across the table and clasped her hand again and said, "you gained an interview and a girlfriend. You should really thank Lily for all of this."
The blonde grinned from ear to ear and was about to lean forward for a triumphant kiss, but two plates being placed on the table stopped the action.
Both girls thanked the waitress and when she walked away they smiled at each other.
"How is it that you make everything so…perfect?" Emma asked after a moment. Regina shot her a confused look and the blonde elaborated, "whenever we're together, everything seems to fall into place…It's like none of the previous crap matters…"
"That's an awful lot of responsibility, Swan," Regina smirked, Emma frowned, but the brunette leaned across the tabled and connected their lips. She leaned back and said, "assuming that you don't do anything incredibly stupid again, I'm willing to bear it."
"I'll try," Emma sighed contently.
"I suppose that this means our next date will have to be a study session," Regina smirked.
Emma tilted her head and popped a French fry in her mouth, "probably, but we would actually have to study if you want to have more 'study sessions' in college."
The brunette rolled her eyes playfully and mumbled, "kill joy," while she reached over and stole a fry.
The blonde just laughed and began wondering just how some insane plan could have resulted in this much happiness.
A/N Hope you guys enjoyed this fic XD
Please let me know what you thought of this admittedly very fluffy chapter, I don't know why, but it just felt right to me, but sorry if you were expecting more drama...
I need to thank QueenApples, my beta for her usual help and PerditusFic for answering all my random questions XD
