To my beautiful readers, I'm sorry for having such a big gap between updates. Amid depression, picking up a second job, and the loss of my grandmother I've been trying to put this chapter together little by little. I first want to thank Karla my wonderful coconspirator for all of her help and words of encouragement. I love youuuuu. And I want to thank all of you that are reading this because you could have said "to hell with her" and I'm glad you didn't. Please let me know what you think. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ! ! Depending on the response and comments I could change my outlook on chapter 12 (that will be published on the 12th). Get at me on twitter thelovemasheen_ or tumblr or PM .

Chapter 11

"Yo, let me get that pink v-neck. There's this thing on campus next Sunday for breast cancer awareness, and it's the first day of my new Artistry class; I have those yellow Doc's that I bought a couple months ago still in the box. I've been waiting to showcase. I sweet talked the lady at the registrar's office and got her to slide me into the program director's class." Ariel called over her shoulder, as she styled her hair in the floor-length mirror, to the woman who just rolled out of bed at 1:30 in the afternoon. Ruby's zombie-like figure mumbled something of a positive response as she slowly made her way to the bathroom.

"Cool. Are you still excited about living on your own or has boredom crept in and made you soft for Granny's company?" The redhead laughed when she noticed Ruby's reflection let go of the lime green tooth brush and give her the finger. She turned back around to fawn over her reflection some more. "Because I know your little boo isn't coming over here to climb into bed with you. Look at all this damn exercise equipment you brought from home. You're either training to be the first female winner on American Ninja Warrior or you're not getting fucked." Ariel howled as she tried to deflect the purple Aussie Shampoo bottle flying at the back of her head.

"Oh fuck you;" Ruby rolled her eyes and leaned against the frame of the bathroom door, a rosy blush coloring her cheeks. "I've just been a little stressed lately, With Gran, and trying to keep up with my online classes, and I've- I've just been…" She turned her head slightly and attempted to get the words stuck inside her throat, "…waitingfortherighttime."

"What?"

"You heard me," She huffed and disappeared into the bathroom to turn the shower on.

"Yeah, I did." Ariel grinned wickedly, "She hasn't even put it on you and you are already cutting up your playa card. You've gone soft! I thought you vowed never to feel so whipped again?"

"Yeah….well maybe I have, maybe I haven't. Maybe I like this. Like her. I'm not whipped. It doesn't feel like before." Ruby said thoughtfully as she fished through the top underwear drawer. "It feels better in a way," She straightened her posture and turned to look at her best friend. "Like…we fit, ya know? Her personality," she tried to fight the urge to smile. "The part that only a handful of people get to tap into and witness makes you feel like everything around you, no matter how fucked up, doesn't matter. With her demeanor alone, she has the power to captivate your attention. And she's so freaking hot," she growled and raked her teeth over her bottom lip while doing an obnoxious hip thrusting motion. They both fell into a fit of laughter.

"So the force is strong with this one, eh? I can dig it, take your time maestro." She said plucking a pink and white tie-dye top and dropping it into her red Nike duffle bag.

"Yea, she's coming over for lunch in about 45 minutes. And I love you, but you've got to get the fuck out." She marched over and with a sly wink gave her a kiss on the forehead and fled into the bathroom.

"Yeah, I had a great weekend with you too. No need to thank me for letting you sublet. See you tonight at 6." Throwing the heavy bag over her shoulder, she started down the hallway towards the kitchen. As soon as she turned the corner, three short unsure raps sounded from the opposite side of the door. "Oh; hell yes." Ariel laughed as she dropped her duffle by the couch and looked back down the hallway to confirm that her best friend was otherwise occupied in the shower. With a deep maniacal breath she wrapped her fingers around the shiny golden doorknob.

"I'm early; my 11 o'clock was 15 minutes late to our meeting. I got tired of waiting so I left; he can cancel any favor he needed. I hate when idiots waste my time. I was going to call, but I can't find my phone. Did you remember where I put it last night?" The woman's dark hair covered most of her face as she tried to dig through her Hermes purse; adamantly searching for her lifeline.

"Uhh…no?"

When her brain registered a voice that she'd never encountered her head popped up worriedly. "Oh, hello." Regina eyed the number on the door uncomfortably and immediately dropped into professional mode. "I apologize for that outburst; does Ruby Lucas happen to be staying here?"

"That depends on who's asking." Ariel waited a few beats before opening the door wider and motioning for the woman to come inside the apartment. She watched her closely, nodding approvingly at the well-tailored slacks and slim fitting grey vest as the sophisticated woman strode into the room tentatively. "So you're the one?" She raised an eyebrow menacingly.

"Now that depends on who's asking." Regina took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest. Within milliseconds she accounted all of the woman's features; hair color, style, the caramel tint to her skin, their height difference. Or what wouldn't really be a difference if the brunette kicked her too tall heels off; they'd be standing eye to eye as equally matched opponents. For a fragment of a moment, Regina wondered if men gave each other the same once over when they were encountering new males for the first time. Or was each woman's assessment of the other strictly belonging to their gender.

The arrogance radiating off the beautiful woman in front of her caused Ariel to smile wildly. "Ariel Sears, best friend." She extended her hand in an overly friendly gesture..

Still unconvinced of the woman's motives, Regina reached out and met her handshake firmly. "Regina Mills, Regina Mills."

The unexpected underhanded response earthed a small chuckle from Ariel as she greeted the smartly dressed woman. "Ruby just got in the shower and I was just leaving."

"Well, I hate to run you off;" Regina said dishonestly before walking over and settling her hand on the doorknob.

"Yeah, I bet. But before I go, as a standard Best Friend requirement I have to ask you a series of questions to see if you're even qualified as a love interest for her."

She raised a slightly annoyed eyebrow. I really didn't sign up for this. "Seriously?" she rolled her eyes frankly and gripped a firm hand to her hip.

With an unrelenting sigh, the caramel complexioned tomboy dropped her bag back in its place by the couch. "Dead ass," Ariel mirrored Regina's demeanor down to the inflection in her eyebrow.

Not willing to give up a seemingly worthy opponent, the older woman pulled dark locks from her face and dropped her black Burberry trench onto the back of the chair and closed the door. "Bring it."

"Cool, question one: Musical background."

"First off, that's more of a statement, not a question." Regina looked at her nails for a second before continuing. "Piano from the time I was 7 until about nine years ago. I know basic cello and bass guitar." She clicked her tongue at the look of shock across the young woman's face. "Something I did in college, next?"

"Impressive, I guess." The tomboy's pose remained unchanged, but the light behind her eyes began to dance faintly with excitement.

"Oh you don't have to guess dear," she said honestly, looking down again at her cuticles disinterested.

She hummed amusedly, "The Notebook and A Walk to Remember or An Affair to Remember and American in Paris?" Ariel asked, pleased with herself.

"Eww," Regina stated without skipping a beat. "Absolutely not the first two, keep the last two, but to make it more versatile add When Harry Met Sally and Shakespeare in Love." She was obviously excelling at this impromptu quiz as another look of shock washed over her opponents face. "You have been told that it is impolite to gawk absentmindedly?"

Ariel's lips snapped shut at the realization that she was standing there like a deer in headlights. She cleared her throat to regain some composure, "I didn't expect you to do so…well. Ruby didn't give you these beforehand did she?"

"Oh no, believe that I did not know about this inevitable impromptu Q&A. If I did I would have done better to avoid it. Besides, I don't need to cheat. My relationship or whatever we decide to call it is with Ruby, not you. Whether you approve or disapprove is really not a deciding factor. I only agreed to this silly conversation for fun and attempt to establish faith in someone close to her. Now if I happen to land in your good graces, hooray for you. I on the other hand seemingly do not care." With the last few words she straightened her scarf and put forth her bitchy-est smirk.

Her expression flowed from anger to laugher. "Ballsy," those pearly whites made a preview again as her dimples widened. "I like that. She needs someone to keep her in check. I'm not around much to keep her out of trouble."

"Oh, trust me I will." She stated honestly. Her mind drifted to the leggy brunette and all her tales of situations she's had to climb out of.

"You really like her, don't you?"

"uh-…" Regina stuttered. Am I that transparent? She thought to herself, the invasive inquiry flashed across her mind; causing the furrowing of eyebrows.

"Relax, it's cool. You don't have to answer. I'm just glad she's found someone who feels for her with the same intensity; which brings me to my next question."

"We're still doing this?"

"Are you aware of the age difference between you to? Is judgment a problem for you? You're not going through some kind of mid-life crisis where you're just looking for a pretty young thing to corrupt to validate your ego and libido are you? "

"What?" she shouted offensively. "Mid-life crisis? I'm 34!" Both hands were high on her waist when her scoff reverberated around the living room. "And I really don't need any assistance in the ego or any other category." By the last word her tone was seething.

"Confident; check." Ariel said; deliriously proud of herself for seeing how far she could push before she got a rise out of the other woman. "I must say, I like the fight in you." She leaned over to pick up the stuffed to the brim bag and toss it over her shoulder. "I'm slightly upset that she got to you first." Her eyes raked over the petite Latina's form. "I'm going to have to rethink my life choices on the drive back."

"Oh my God Regina, how long have you been here?" Ruby asked hurriedly almost breaking out into a jog from the back bedroom once she heard more than one voice.

"Not long-" Regina's words were cut off when Ruby's warm body smashing into hers. The tips of her heels scraped across the concrete floor as she was spun around; shielded from the whispered conversation taking place over her shoulder.

"You are so fucking dead." Ruby said through clenched teeth.

"What? Why? We were just talking! I was getting to know your girlfriend. We'll continue this at a later date." Ariel bounced her eyebrows in glee.

"Out!" Ruby pushed hard at the Nike trademark in the middle of the duffle Ariel was holding; causing her to stumble backwards out into the hall. Her flip flops squeaked as she rushed out into the hall, leaving Regina to take a seat cross-legged on the couch repressing a smirk.

SMACK

"Ouch!" Ariel's voice sounded from behind the closed door, Regina snickered quietly.

"Oh shit, I didn't mean to hi-" Ruby's apology was silenced by the sound of two bodies hitting the floor. "Ow! Fuck! I said sorr-…quit!" There was more rustling, but quickly followed by Ruby smoothing her hair back into some semblance of control and popping her head into the apartment. "Hey, you okay?"

"Are you okay?" Regina hummed in amusement.

"Yeah, I'm great." She put a hand around her neck to cover the embarrassing shade of red that she could feel readily creeping around her shoulder blade. "I'm just gonna walk her down. You should pick out three movies you haven't seen. Help yourself to anything in the fridge; we'll make lunch when I get back. See you in 90 seconds."

As the door clicked closed, the word "kitchen", written in perfect calligraphy, crossed her mind and her stomach began to grumble in desire. Hopping off the couch Regina rounded the living room furniture and crossed over into the kitchen. Her Ralph Lauren platforms froze in place as her eyes locked on a bag of homemade brownies. Like a moth to a flame, in six quick steps she was already leaning over the kitchen sink popping half of a brownie into her mouth. Fuck yes. She moaned at the moist texture coating her tongue, closing her eyes when she discovered the ribbon of caramel and chocolate chips between pieces of perfection. Regina tried to recall if she had partaken in any meals today passed her bottle of water for breakfast. She berated her self-control for giving into a brownie as her first source of nutrients for the day. Ok, that's enough. She warned, resealing the bag and removing herself from further temptation and opening the refrigerator. The fridge was packed with all of her favorite fruits, vegetables, and cheeses. Her stomach let out a war cry loud enough to shake the cereal boxes in the far corner. "Holy hell," the petite brunette said embarrassed, as she looked past the door to see if Ruby was back to inquire about the earthquake her hunger started.

"Ok, you know what. You can wait until lunch is ready, maybe some juice will tide you over." Regina said to herself as she lifted a pitcher of translucent pink liquid onto the counter, running her fingers over the word "SNEAK" written in big black sharpie on the side. For a few seconds she pondered over the meaning, but then just chalked it up to perhaps being a moniker for one of the apartment's inhabitants. Plucking a glass from the drying rack over the sink she held it up to the sun coming through the window to check its level of cleanliness. Satisfied with the outcome, she poured herself a sample amount of the label-less juice and held it to her nose. Not picking up anything foul, she held her breath and took it back like the shots she used to do with Kathryn back in her heyday. It tasted like strawberries missed with Jesus; she'd downed two whole glasses before she could hear footsteps in the hall outside the door. Shit. Regina looked at the once full pitcher and noticed that 1/3 of its contents had disappeared. Leave it to me on my first time here to act like I own the place. The front door to the apartment swinging closed snapped her from her thoughts; she quickly deposited the canister back into the fridge.

"Hey, I'm sorry about that. Ignore her; we're super protective of each other, she lik-...Wait, I'm sorry. She's not important right now, how was your day?" Ruby smiled brightly and walked over to place a kiss on her lips. "Mhmmm, you taste good. What have you been eating?" The Latina hid the guilty facial expression crossing her features in the crook of Ruby's neck and sighed.

"Ok, you caught me. I found brownies, I couldn't help myself."

"Ha, it's ok. I'm so telling Henry you've been eating junk all day though."

"Traitor!" she laughed and poked at a hard rib. "And I haven't been eating junk all day, just right now. You really shouldn't have fresh brownies around me, or anything chocolate to be honest; they're like catnip."

"Ha, now I'm going to make them every day to tempt you," Ruby pulled away from Regina to the Ziploc bags of brownies on the counter.

"Please don't make me feel any worse for eating it." Regina tugged at her bottom lip.

"It's okay. How much did you eat? I'm going to be ornery if you've ruined your appetite." Ruby asked, leaning over to turn on the overhead light before placing her hands pointedly on her hips.

"If anything is going to ruin my appetite, it'd be all that juice I drank." Regina said shrugging off her blazer and placing it on the back of the chair.

"What juice? I was going to make lemonade for us because I forgot to buy juice." Ruby pointed to the Country Time lemonade mix and the bag of lemons on the counter.

"This juice," the petite woman sauntered over to the fridge and lifted the half empty container into the air.

"ohhhhhh, that's not juice. Sure it has some juice in it, but I'm positive it's like 99.7% liquor."

"What?" Regina sat down at the small table set. "I…what?"

"See this label," Ruby took the container from the confused woman's grasp. "We call it 'sneak' because it's after effects are going to sneak up on you and smack you in the face."

"When exactly is it going to hit me?"

"I don't know, that's why we call it sneak." The taller brunette shrugged her shoulders and went back to preparing for lunch. When she noticed her guest's unusual silence, ruby turned off the running tap to check and see if Regina was still even in the room. "Relax; you only drank a little. So it won't take that long and it shouldn't hit too hard."

"It won't last that long? Won't hit that hard?" She scratched anxiously at her forearms.

"…"

"Ruby!" She shouted as she leapt from her seat and began to pace the perimeter of the room. "I have to go back to work in two hours. I'm also a government official, I'm not supposed to be participat-."

"Regina relax," Ruby stood in the nervous woman's path and placed a hand around her shoulder. "You're with me, safe, and inside. I'm going to take care of you, nothing is going to happen." She rubbed patterns against tense muscles, "I promise."

Regina sighed into the comfort of the dark beauty's words, wrapping tighter around their embrace. "I always find myself in these situations, don't I?" She sighed in defeat, the situation was almost comical. Her arms found their way across her chest in faux hurt as the younger woman's chest began heaving with laughter in front of her. Its pitch growing as she tried to avoid the smaller woman's sharp pokes. "Shut up! I forgot to eat today. And you had brownies; they were so tempting. And then I got thirsty; it's the brownie's fault."

"Really?" Ruby snickered pulling her into a kiss. "That's your story? I left you alone for two minutes."

"And your point is?"

"Oh nothing," She disappeared into the fridge, and reappeared with fresh vegetables and chicken; "no point to make here."

"What's for lunch? If you haven't gotten the memo, I'm starving." Regina's face lit up excitedly at the sight of food; her crisis temporarily forgotten.

"On the menu this afternoon we have Marinated Chicken Pitas and southwestern pasta salad. That I may or may not have swiped from Granny while she was asleep last night."

"You are terrible."

"Only if I'm caught," she said with a sly grin. Getting everything in place to grill the chicken on the stove, she gave Regina directions to everything in the kitchen so that she could do her part and set the table. They settled into comfortable conversation as they moved around the kitchen in tandem. Regina began to pull elements from all over the house, making the kitchen table look like a display out of Better Homes and Gardens. Ruby watched silently as she worked, captivated at how much attention to detail she paid to an environment she'd spent less than an hour in.

"What are you smiling at over there?" Regina asked slyly, her voice heavier than normal.

"Nothing, the food's almost ready. You okay?"

"Strangely, I'm feeling nothing short of fantastic. I'm surprised I'm not mid anxiety attack, yet on the contrary I feel rather relaxed and happy, which is tends to happen whenever I'm arou-…. I can't stop talking." She covered her mouth. "This is not good."

"What's not good? We talk all the time, I like listening to you." Ruby gave her a perplexed glare after plating the chopped chicken and carrying it to the table to join the rest of the diced vegetables and cheese.

"That's not it, I said more than enough. It was too much detail. I never give up that much information about the true nature of my- oh my god." Regina laughed nervously in spite of herself, "what is happening?"

"Ha, Relax. It's not that deep." She kissed the brunette's warming temple and held her chair out giving her the cue to sit down.

"Am I….tipsy?" She giggled at the vibrations the word left on her lips. "I can tell this is gonna be one of those situations where I have no filter."

"Is it bad that I'm a little excited?" Ruby asked with a smile.

"I think so; I hope I don't embarrass myself."

"Well, it's only me here."

"That's what makes me nervous." She cackled as she dropped sour cream on her plate. "Damn, I'm hungry. This is a shame. I can't believe I didn't eat again today." She said; her tone carefree as she spent all of her attention creating a colorful plate from the dishes spread across the small round table..

"Why are you not eating?"

"Too busy, you know. The usual" She sighed before taking a bite of the fluffy flatbread, "doing my job and the mayor's." Regina tried to keep her eyes focused and trained on the woman in front of her, but the more she stuffed the delicious food into her mouth the harder it got.

"Why are you doing his work? What the hell is he doing that's so important?" Ruby rolled her eyes, thinking over all of their less than stellar encounters.

She placed the sandwich back on the table and wiped at her mouth with the napkin, "What's he doing? Well I guess it's increasingly difficult to juggle time between staring at his own reflection, being a piss poor example of a human being, and an oversized man-child." Regina laughed and rolled her eyes when her lunch partner began a failed attempt to keep the contents of her sandwich nestled between both pieces of flatbread and not in a pile in the center of her plate. "I work this hard because I need to keep him popular and afloat so that he can endorse me next fall. It's not much, and it's giving me practice for when I'm in his office officially."

"Well it sounds like more than it's worth if you're not making time to feed yourself."

"I make time to feed my son, that's good enough." Regina went back to attacking her lunch.

"Yeah babe, but you have to take care of you too." Ruby said picking at the chicken on the plate with her fork. She realized she had done it again, dropped the sentimental noun; awkwardness hung over them like a cloud. After their night of binge drink and rescue, romantic idioms somehow wormed their way into Ruby's vernacular; only displaying themselves when she was her most serious. Originally only present when there is more than a legal amount of alcohol swimming around in her bloodstream, now fluffy words were popping up left and right. Heavily used in situations that proved to be exactly when she didn't need them. She cleared her throat to remove the discomfiture from around the table, "I just want to make sure you're taking care of yourself. She placed her hand under the table to grab the one in her house guest's lap, "who else is gonna bake me cookies from scratch at three in the morning." Ruby put forth her best puppy dog impression, while Regina just rolled her eyes. Within a second they were both giggling honestly, twirling their pinkies around the others until they began to eat in comfortable silence; for all of 45 seconds.

"Stop fidgeting, you look like you're about to take off into outer space."

"Whatever, am not."

"You are too. Can you not sit still for more than a couple of minutes?"

"I just have a lot of energy. I don't know what to do with it."

"Well what do you usually do to relieve stress?" Regina asked as she picked up their empty plates and deposited them into the soapy dish water.

"I used to be heavy into sports; captain of the varsity cross country team and women's soccer team in high school." The towering brunette pointed cheekily to her flexing bicep, "I threw for Storybrooke Track and Field and was first base starter for community softball." She walked over and placed her hands on both sides of Regina's under the foam-covered water, running her pinkies along small olive wrists. "Then there's always weed and sex." With the last words, Ruby's lips were climbing beneath the smaller woman's collar. "I have the stamina of a champ," she whispered onto shuddering skin between sopping kisses. "And a yearning to leave you very…" a wet hand found its way to the neck of the woman grinding her hips into her. Ruby gave it a gentle squeeze before letting black painted fingernails lead a fiery trail of desire down her perfect olive toned chest, "…very happy."

"I think you need to do something about it then," she moaned softly into the air. Turning slowly, she reached up to wrap her arms around the dark beauty and pulled her closer. They sighed in unison when Regina's hands climbed down from her shoulders and journeyed under her sports bra. The leggy brunette leaned back and looked at her under hooded eyelids; before either of them could speak or think about an alternative, Ruby was dragging them towards a closed door at the end of the hall.

With a soft kick they were behind the mysterious entryway, drowning in the sounds of a soulful song playing through various speakers strung around the room. The heaviness of the guitar soothed the racing of their hearts. Regina gazed around the room, noting the music and movie posters that she could recognize adorning each wall. The room had an out of the ordinary aura to it she couldn't quite put her finger on, this moment she found herself in began to stir the same internal reaction. Stop thinking! She screamed at herself for trying to sabotage the situation at hand. But this could get messy; you know how you are with feelings. The decibel level of the music encasing the room began to grow around them; the down stroke of the bass guitar rattling their chests with each beat. She found herself trying to focus her mind to pay attention to the words of the song.

"Stop thinking," Ruby said moving her hips to the slow tempo against the smaller woman's back and humming along to the tune.

"Hmmm?" Regina hummed, pivoting slowly with eyes closed. She kissed fervently at the taller woman's neck to dispel any feeling of retreat. She ran her hands down the other woman's torso, grinning furtively when she noticed no layers between her fingertips and bare skin. "My my, you are very crafty. When did this happen?"

"That's not important," Ruby pressed them towards the unmade bed. "This, right here is what I'm focused on." She stated, standing confidently before reaching out and pushing her soon to be lover onto the bed. Without hesitation she began to kiss uncharted skin while unbuttoning Regina's shirt. With a moan she straddled the feisty brunette and snatched the shirt from her arms.

They pushed at each other's skin aggressively, kissed impatiently, and panted heavily; their soft cries lost to the music blaring around them. Regina could process nothing beyond the fact that there was a gorgeous woman on top of her stirring up delicious heat within her pelvis. A gorgeous woman who was naked and whispering her name between fiery kisses to her neck and chest. She thought about how long it had been since she'd felt this alive, felt this wanted. In an instance the woman's petite frame was flipping them over, giving Regina leeway to claim control. Rolling her fingers across soft pale skin, she pulled at her bottom lip. Moaning into the younger woman's nails running down her back, she nibbled at the underside of the dark beauty's ear as a distraction from the fingers finding their way between toned thighs.

"Fuck", Regina whispered wantonly as slick heat coated the digits making a voyage down the other woman's pelvis. The sound of her name spilling slowly from kiss swollen lips was the perfect encouragement. Regina's skilled ministrations gained alacrity; her insistent lips devouring every hungry moan escaping the fiery woman who was rapidly approaching climax.

When it hit, Ruby's body tensed under the assault of the other woman's trained palms; with her head buried in the crook of Regina's neck she let out a clipped sigh. Bringing her hand from between them, Regina let out an arrogant hum as she inspected the amount of liquid covering her fingers. Neither of them noticed that the soulful music acting as the soundtrack to their first time had long since stopped, letting the sound of Regina's ringtone steal away their attention, "my phone!"

"Yeah, you left it in my jacket last night. I charged it for you." Ruby said dragging her tongue along the underside of her breast.

"Thank you," Regina said with a kiss; the alert for a missed call sounded before the ringtone started again. She growled and made her way to the edge of the bed.

"Let it ring," Ruby said scrambling lazily after her.

"It's my assistant; he wouldn't call twice if it wasn't important." She groused before finger combing her hair back into place. "Speak and fast."

"Regina, the mayor is looking for you. His meeting ended early and he wants to move your 5:30 meeting to 10 minutes ago, he's on the war path." Jefferson conveyed his message with all of the sass he could muster up as he typed away at his computer. "I bought you fifteen minutes. You're welcome; I'll expect my Christmas bonus to be extra hefty, mama has been eyeing a Caribbean vacation." With a sigh the line dropped.

"Duty calls?" Ruby asked solemnly, pulling the covers over top of them. She traced patterns down the curve of the sophisticated woman's back and nuzzled her neck blissfully.

"Unfortunately…" she sighed; entranced by the feel of the rambunctious woman holding her tight and humming the mesmerizing bass line of the song that led them up to this moment. "Let me go before you make me abandon my responsibilities," she said, chuckling softly when the arms around her tightened instead of setting her free.

"Just a little while longer?" Ruby asked. Reverting to a tactic she was beginning to master at getting her way; she trailed wet kisses across her clavicle, flashing tongue in the dips that made the cultivated woman squirm.

"Okay, five minutes."

[x] [x] [x]

The moon hung over the hills in the distance, its fullness stodgy alongside the cloudless sky as it illuminating the streets with a peaceful hue. Regina couldn't fault how beautiful the scene was as she rounded the curve on the wet roadway. The night was quiet as she brought her sleek Mercedes down the lonely road between hanging willow branches, maybe a little too quiet. She tapped her phone screen, checking for the 6th time in 35 minutes if the address from the flyer in her email matched what she typed in on her car's state of the art GPS system. Okay, so far we have trees, trees, hills, more trees. She checked her surroundings, speeding up when she noticed that she'd been on the road for at least the last 15 minutes without any other travelers.

Earlier that evening as she cited the last footnote on the last page of the last report in her "to do" folder, the crescendo of cow bells and bass guitar reverberated against the tower of classic literature on the bookcase lining her office wall. The golden framed clock attached to her desk couldn't be right or the clock on her computer, it was imperative that she look at her phone to prove their inaccuracies; and not at all because she wanted to reward herself with much needed attention from the twenty something brunette currently across town. Shamefully it turned out that they were all correct, go figure. She noted the time again and hummed delightedly to herself, it was early; early enough to get dressed and be in attendance at the concert the coincidentally featuring a band that held the woman she's been spending every available second getting close to as their front runner. She opened their message thread and deviously typed a short half-hearted good luck message before running off to her closet to ultimately destroy the hard work they put forth organizing her mess of a wardrobe.

"This can't be the right way," Regina grumbled pulling her car over to the side of the road and making sure her doors were locked. Snatching the mobile device from its holder, she over examined the phone's contents again and enlarged the map imbedded in her dashboard. "It says we'll be there in 8 minutes," she stated to herself aloud. "But where in the hell is it? I feel like I'm in the in the middle of the damn Texas Chainsaw Mass-" She clutched at her rapidly beating heart in fright when a blonde haired teenager knocked on her driver's side window disrupting her troubled conversation with herself. Slowly blinking away the panic building in her chest, she let her fingertips hover over the automatic button before she aversely rolled her window down halfway. "Yes?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay? Do you need some help?" the fresh faced young woman inquired.

"Oh yes, I'm fine." Regina smiled wearily at her, struggling to get her breathing back to its normal rhythm. Dark eyes roamed over her form, she looked to be a sweet faced girl, barely out of her training bra; "just a little turned around I believe." The teenager was perfect for a Freddy Kruger movie, one that was apparently about to be featuring Regina in 5 minutes.

"Maybe we could help?" The girl's pig tails swung against her face as she bounced on the heels of her feet. "We live around here; people get lost all of the time," she waved a hand at the gathering of old Victorian houses over the far right in the horizon.

I bet they do, and wind up on the back of milk cartons. Maybe I should tell Kathryn I'm out here. Regina thought over the girl's convenient offer of assistance and hastily grabbed her phone from her lap and began to type a quick SOS txt to her best friend, just in case they found her car abandoned on the side of the road. Out of her peripheral she took in the state of the family styled vehicle her current aid appeared out of, her eyebrows danced slightly struggling to hide the disgust flowing through her mind as she mentally queried if the minivan had been washed in this millennia by anything other than rainwater. "I'm just looking for a club called the Cat's Cradle?" she mumbled, attempting to appear indifferent. At the mention of the venue, the teenager's heart shaped face perked up; a cold sweat broke at the nape of Regina's neck. Jesus Christ, don't say what I think you're about to say.

"You can just follow us!" The blonde yelled as she retreated into the dusty silver minivan blasting heavy metal guitar through cracked tinted windows. As she opened the door, the teenager looked back over her shoulder at the older woman, confusion clouding her features.

Regina watched her retreating highlighter green Chuck Taylor's with her mouth at a hard line. The cultivated brunette rolled her eyes so hard she felt light headed; she forced her back to slump in the chair defeatedly and closed the gap in her window reluctantly. Regina, what in the hell are you doing out here with these children? Please be some kind of sick joke, Stephen King where are you? She asked aloud with another eye roll, her black beauty kicked up gravel as it sped down the path behind the family vehicle. The frustrated Latina groused as the van ahead of her made a jerky last minute turn down a road hidden between trees. Within seconds, her sour mood was leveled as soon as the caravan began driving across a sand lot overlooking a breathtaking waterfront.

Following the multi colored strobe lights, Regina smiled to herself once she noticed the little red sports car that Ruby adored; relief flooded her senses at the acknowledgement of her girlfriend's presence inside the massive structure before her. Girlfriend, really? Well someone is surely ahead of themselves. Pulling down the visor, she let out an offended scoff and flipped the button above her rearview mirror to illuminate her reflection. Affronted at her own reactions at the acknowledgement of her paramour's closeness, Regina's line of thought drifted off lost in thought again as she innately applied a fresh coat of rich burgundy lipstick. We've never discussed that before, what if this is just a temporary thing. Am I really that opposed to the idea? I wonder if I'm the only one she's seeing? Hmm I wonder what she's wearing. She's so irresistible when she's dressed in that chic tomboy look; hopefully I won't have to resist tonight…or in the morning. I wonder if she's any good, I wonder if I'm still any good. She slapped the visor back into place and begrudgingly grabbed her clutch. Okay Regina, now you're being ridiculous. Get out of the car.

The breeze coming up off of the inland waves was just enough to motivate her towards the crowd of people waiting at the side of the club. Regina spotted the teenagers that guided her away from being potentially murdered and offered her gratitude.

"No problem, everyone gets lost on their first time." The young man offered up before their spokesperson could speak up.

"Nonetheless, thank you again." She smiled honestly and turned to make her great escape to the door.

"Dude, I thought you said she was old? She's not old, she's hot." The boy whispered, but apparently not at a decibel low enough; his face turned beet red when her black and gold Valentino heels halted a few feet in front of them, he held his breath hoping the brunette wouldn't turn around.

"Excuse me?" Regina called over her shoulder, eyebrow pointed predatorily.

"She didn't mean it, not like that. She only said it because she was jealous." The raven haired man fumbled over his words, epically failing at trying to dispel some of the heat from the woman's glare. "I'm Brandon and this is Alicia," he did a poor Vanna White impersonation before desperately extending his hand as a white flag.

Regina looked and the pale shaking palm and black fingernails offered to her, she had to remind herself what generation she was dealing with. "Regina," she left her introduction terse.

Brandon's smile faltered when he noticed both women's attitudes were not softening. He adjusted the red plaid shirt around his acid wash covered hips, the awkward tension around them became too much for the young brunet, "My sister kind of pines over Rub-" His speech was cut short by an abrupt jab to the arm from the no longer sneering teen. "Ow! Dammit man, that hurt." His hands rubbed tight circles over the darkening spot where he was struck. "Fuck this," he mumbled through clenched teeth, eyes burning into the blonde who was clearly losing the battle with everyone around her. "Nice to meet you," Brandon turned back towards the brunette, eyes shining with a silent plea to take it easy in his absence as he walked passed her.

Regina respected his valor; the teen sporting an unnecessary attitude obviously didn't appreciate having a sibling that was born with an innate instinct to protect her. For an eighth of a second the green eyed monster tried pulled at her veins, why was it that this little brat deserved to be fortunate enough to go through the first section of life with at least one person wanting to protect her. In her youth Regina was soft spoken and self-sufficient as an only child, but nothing protected her from an abusive mother and ignorant father. "How old are you Alicia?" Regina asked realizing she was getting ahead of herself and forcing her own history where it didn't belong, turning around to walk towards the gathering of people under the glowing marquee.

Taking her cue to follow, the young girl's silver converses shuffled in the sand in attempts to keep up with the older woman's pace; "sixteen and a half."

"Ahh, I see, almost a woman. That's a very important age; you're coming into your own." Regina watched the girl nod, her face tempering slightly. "What do you want to be when you're my age? Before you answer that, how old do you think I am?"

Alicia paused for a moment, unable to comprehend why the woman she obviously insulted was taking the time to talk to her so candidly. She thought for a second, eyes raking over Regina's for in her peripheral noting her regal posture and the high end fashion choices adorning her lithe frame; "I don't know."

"Good answer," Regina said amused. "And when you become an adult, what career would you like to pursue?" As the pair got closer Regina eyed the massive line, mentally tallying the age differences amongst the boisterous group. With silent disdain she held her breath as she took into account the gaudy color schemes, metal spiked clothing, and daring haircuts. I am above standing in this line, she groaned internally.

"My dad wants me to be a nurse and my mom wants me to be a teacher. So…I guess one of those?" Alicia twirled the frayed edge of her pigtail with her fingertips.

"I asked what you wanted to be." She turned back around to face the muddled teen.

"I…don't know. What do you do?"

"Currently, I am the County Commissioner for Storybrooke; it's a few cities over. Next election season I'll be running for Mayor." Regina stated nonchalantly, buffing her nails against the neckline of her black Givenchy jumpsuit.

"Wow…" It could have been the way the wind rolled obnoxiously over the sea and roughly past their ears making it hard to hear, or the softness in Alicia's voice betrayed the maturity level she was fighting so hard to pretend was natural.

"Yes, wow. It isn't what I thought I would be when I was your age, but I like it and I have a good life. I am the youngest person to ever be in my position; I am also the first woman to ever hold this title. Do you know how I got there?" Regina waited a beat, to see if the girl would engage her with her opinion on how the real world actually works. When she couldn't come up with an answer in the timeframe, the older woman sighed and answered the question. "I commanded respect through my actions, therefore I was never disrespected. We women have to overcome more obstacles than you can imagine, but I can tell you one thing. You will never get to where you want bringing another woman down just to make yourself feel better; we have to be strong and stick together." The Latina's features relaxed as she peered into innocent blue eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." Alicia's gaze dropped to the ground, watching the small puffs of sand cloud around her ankles as she shamefully kicked at the dirt. "I can see why Ruby likes you; you're so smart and pretty."

Manicured nails snuck under the young girls chin, forcing her eyes up. "And you my dear are gorgeous and intelligent." Regina smiled tenderly at the rosy hue that was blossoming within the adolescent's cheeks, "Keep that attitude and turn it into ambition; and for appearances sake and you know a little thing I like to uphold called "the law"; let's stick to crushes around your own age." She reached into her clutch and pulled out the stray business card she was using as a decoration to even up the flow of her cardholder and dropped it into Alicia's hand. "Now when you turn eighteen and you feel as if you can give me a run for my money; you know where to reach me." By the time the young blonde was scanning the card for a number Regina was already in the distance heading down to the front of the building around the rambunctious line.

It could have been the way the midnight wind felt as it whipped across her exposed spine; showing that tonight, even the elements were powerless to the magnetic pull of her satiny skin. Or perhaps it was the way the bass from the whatever song being played inside the club made the brick walkway thump so hard against the balls of her feet her gait couldn't dare be anything but seductive. As she approached the front of the line bypassing the cacophony of conversation and even louder fashion choices, she mentally noted the estimated ages of those she passed; all younger than herself. Yet with this gained information, instead of her usual urge of retreat, a surge of determination soared through her nervous system. The muffled tick-tick-boom from the deejay's latest selection within the walls of the club propelled her forward with renewed energy. The vainest part of her ego perceptually tallied the amount of conversations dropped and eyes scanning to measure the curves of her passing figure from the young men and women standing single filed in front of the velvet rope. She was on fire.

Eyeing the first security guard at the base of the crowded mass of people, Regina set her predatory gaze. Before she could open her mouth to request passage around the line, the scruffy man was practically drooling; already holding the gate open he waved her through. With her granted entrance, she could feel his eyes roving over on her back.

"I'm Ke-nny," the man stumbled over his own name. The brunette grinned seductively, feet never slowing, she laughed internally at his less than subtle attempts to show appreciation for her well-kept body. Winking over her shoulder at his lean frame Regina pictured the end of the night, when she finally won over the eternal affections of the woman of her recent dreams; she knew to make it a point to walk past him when the night came to a conclusion. She blew a kiss for extra effect, it was better to give him false hopes; so the blow to his spirit when she and Ruby left together tonight would be all the more detrimental. Tonight was starting to look up; his crushed dreams would be the silver lining to the turbulent journey she was caught on. Eat your heart out. "Bye Kenny." He said something in response, but Regina was already too unimpressed to devote the energy required to listen. She was far too focused on the next challenge in the distance.

Rounding the dark carpeted ramp, the bright light of the marquee illuminated the chiseled silhouette of the next obstacle in the dark haired beauty's race to get inside unnoticed. At the table in front of the glass encased entrance before her stood the super tanned destroyer of the flawless plan to get inside stealthily. Or she thought it was a flawless plan somewhere between the search for her highest pair of heels and determining which shade of lipstick was the most venomous. It was something about the way he growled and rolled his eyes simultaneously upon noticing her approach that raised a small flag with the sophisticated woman; but the way he threw his unbitten submarine sandwich into the greasy paper bag upturned the threat level. Sure she could probably just call Ruby up and get her ushered in, but since when has Regina ever needed anyone to help her get anywhere? Right, she can't think of a time either.

"Yeah?" With his thick Australian accent, the gruff security guard questioned her presence; his body language screaming apprehensive.

"No need to hold off on clogging your arteries any further, I can just walk in." The sophisticated woman bent to untether the divider barring her entrance.

"Hang on a minute, what are you doing?" He extended his long arms to block her path, coming entirely too close to touching her.

"Entering the Cat's Cradle," She couldn't help but form a squint to her eyes and a condescending expression.

"This is the VIP entrance, general admin is around the corner."

"I've deduced that," Regina's voice hardened.

"You're not on the list."

"That's very presumptuous of you; I don't recall giving you my name."

"That's very presumptuous of you to think that I cared to ask." He mimicked her tone

"Meanwhile, I'm waiting for your point." You could see the tension rolling off the pair from space. There are some people in life that are never supposed to interact solely with each other due to their feuding personalities; but for some unseen reason that cosmic law was broken, leaving Regina and this Hulk Hogan lookalike standing outside of The Cat's Cradle gearing up for war.

"If you want to come through here you're going to have to pay our General VIP Price,"

"I'm prepared to pay, if that's behind the reason for your less-than-appreciated attitude."

"Alrighty then; $300." The blonde said, standing to his feet. His six foot three million height advantage towered over her, yet her stance exploded to offensive instead of the docile he was hoping for.

"Excuse you? Maybe you do need to pick up that sandwich, apparently your blood sugar is low if you think I'm about to pay 300 anything to walk into this establishment."

"Well you can get your hoity-toity ass-"

"Whoa!" A fresh faced young man said bounding from the closed door with his hands outstretched ready to diffuse the fragile situation in front of him. "Well that escalated quickly," he said sweeping his bangs out of his eyes. The debonair young man, adorned in tailored Italian fabrics unchained the velvet rope dividing the group. The tall blonde folded his arms in amusement as the young gentleman joined his side.

Shit. Regina scolded herself, when she noticed the downward spiral this situation was caught up in.

"Mikey, Mikey you've got to be nicer to our guests. They're not going to want to come back. And we can't have this as Ms. Mills' last visit."