The rest of the semester seemed to fly by, and before Emma and Regina knew it finals were upon them. Both girls (along with their friends) buckled down and devoted all their free time to studying so they could finish off the year strong. Emma was particularly worried about one of her finals. She had gotten C's on two earlier tests and needed to get a high A on the final to guarantee she'd get at least a B in the class and wouldn't lose her scholarship. Luckily she was now friends with Regina, who offered to help her study. She made flash cards and practice tests and worked with Emma to know the material backwards and forwards. And her effort paid off, for she ended up getting a 98 on the final.

In the end Emma's final grades for her classes were 3 A's, an A-, and a B+. She sighed in relief when she found out how well she had done. She might not have done as well as say Regina (who had the highest GPA in their class) or Belle (who had the highest GPA in the entire school), but she was still in the high percentile. And more importantly, she was in no danger of losing her much needed scholarship.

Lucky for her she had Regina, who had made sure she could stay.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Everything looks good," the fourth floor RA said as he finished inspecting Ruby's room. "Since your roommate already left just close and lock the door when you leave and turn in your key at the front desk."

"Thanks!" Ruby called out as the RA left before checking over the room one more time to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

"Hey," Emma said as she came to the door. "You pass inspection."

"Yup, no problem."

"Cool," Emma replied before she felt herself being pulled into a tight hug. "Hey-"

"I'm going to miss you," Mary Margaret said before releasing Emma and hugging Ruby. "Both of you."

"Calm down, it's just for the summer," Emma exclaimed. "We'll see each other in a few months."

"If this is how you're acting to us leaving, I don't even want to imagine what your goodbye to David was like," Ruby said.

"Probably involved acts of passion not suitable for children to hear," Emma said with a chuckle.

"Shut up," Mary Margaret replied good naturedly as she released Ruby.

"You should come by for Fourth of July," Ruby told her friend. "Granny throws a big party every year."

"I'll see if I'm free," Mary Margaret said.

"Good," Ruby said as she picked up the last of her boxes. "Bye M M,"

"See yeah Mary Margaret," Emma said.

"Bye! See yeah," their friend replied as she went to say goodbye to other people.

The two girls made their way to the lobby so Ruby could hand in her keys, then went outside, where Granny was waiting by her already filled car. "You two about ready?"

"Yup, just finished checking out," Ruby stated as she put the last of her stuff in the trunk.

"What about you? Where's your stuff?" Granny asked Emma.

"Most of my stuff I put in storage," Emma explained, figuring it was inconvenient to move everything back and forth. "I'm just bringing a couple bags of clothes and my laptop to your place, and I put that in my car already."

"That's all you're bringing with you for the summer?" Granny asked.

"That's all I need," she simply replied, not revealing she didn't want to wear out her welcome by having all her stuff take up a lot of room.

Granny sighed, sensing there's more to it than she was saying, before stating, "Alright. Are you ready to go then?"

"I just need to turn in my key and say goodbye to my roommate."

"Alright. We'll wait until you're done and then we can leave."

"Okay, I'll be back in a bit," Emma said before going back inside. As she got in the elevator and went to the sixth floor she thought about how much she was going to miss her dorm room. While she was happy she'd be living in a townhouse next year, that room would always mean a lot to her. It was the first place she had truly felt to be home. And that was a feeling she'd always cherish.

As she walked into the room she saw Regina putting several outfits into a garment bag while her mother zipped up an overstuffed suitcase. "I think you have more stuff now than when you first moved in. Next year you're definitely bringing less stuff," Cora exclaimed.

"Yes mother," Regina simply replied.

"Hello Mrs. Mills," Emma said.

"Hello…Emma, right?" Cora asked.

"Yup."

"Very good," Cora said.

Regina hung the garment bag on the door handle and went over to Emma. "So I guess you're leaving then?"

"That's the plan. Just have to drop my key off and then I'm off to Ruby's."

"Great," Regina replied. Both girls stood in front of one another, not sure how best to say goodbye after everything that had happened between them that year. Finally, Regina leaned in and lightly put her arms around Emma. Emma did the same, both of them giving each other a somewhat awkward hug.

"I think I'm actually going to miss you," Regina said as she pulled back.

"Thanks your majesty," Emma said lightly, unable to keep from smiling at Regina's statement. "I'm actually going to miss you too. You're going to be here for room inspection, right?"

"I still have some packing to do, so yes."

"I told you to get it all done last night," Emma exclaimed, still surprised for once she was more responsible than her stickler roommate usually was.

"I got most of it done last night. I didn't think the rest was going to take this long."

"Regina!" Cora huffed, gesturing to the clothes that still needed to be packed up. "Can we finish this? I don't want to be here all day."

"Alright, I don't want to get you in trouble. Have a good summer and I'll see you next year. Bye," Emma said.

"Bye," Regina replied, looking almost mournfully as Emma left the room.

XXXXXXXXXXX

It didn't take long for Emma to fall into a daily routine. She'd get up and get dressed, then go to waitress at Granny's diner. It could be stressful at times, especially when the weekend rush hit, but Emma worked hard and did her job well. And between Granny's wages and tips Emma was making more money a week then she did working at the gym at school. At first she had planned to pay rent for staying at Granny's house over the summer. But Granny immediately shot that idea down, insisting Emma was a guest and didn't have to pay anything to stay.

When work was over she'd go out and do something with Ruby, or they'd stay in and watch TV or play video games. Or if they worked different schedules Emma would do something herself. She liked to go to the nearby park and read a book in the shade. Or she'd simply people watch.

True, there were days that broke up the monotony. Like Fourth of July when Mary Margaret and Belle came over and the four girls went to the park to watch fireworks. Or the day Emma and Ruby went on a day trip to the beach and Emma's car broke down where there was no cell service, forcing them to walk several miles so they could call a tow truck. But for the most park things remained the same throughout the summer for Emma. At least for the first two months.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

One more month, Regina thought as she finished another chapter of the book she was reading. She was bored and wanted very much to be back at school. At first it had been nice to come home and be away from having to do school work. But now she was ready to go back. She missed being on her own and college life. Hell, at this point she was even looking forward to seeing her insufferable housemates again.

Just then her phone starting ringing. Her eyes widened as she looked at the screen, since the caller was someone she hadn't heard from in a long time. "Mal?"

"Hello Regina."

"Hi. How's it going? I haven't heard from you in…over two years."

"Sounds about right. Sorry for not keeping in better touch. Cell service wasn't usually reliable. And I regret that I couldn't be at your dad's funeral. If I could have scraped together money for a plane ticket I would have been there."

"Thank you. I know how hard it would have been for you to have made it. Especially with not much notice. That was a very thoughtful text message you sent. So, how are you? How's back packing around Europe going?

"I'm back in the states. It was amazing, but I was finally ready to some back. I'm living in Maine again, so I wanted to see if you wanted to come by so we can see each other."

"Sure, that'd be great," Regina replied. "Are you living in Litchfield again?"

"No, I got a place in Summersville. It's about an hour from your place. I got an internship at city hall, but it doesn't start until September. So I'm pretty open for August. Could you come by on Friday?"

"Hold on a sec." Regina quickly checked her schedule before replying, "Yes, I'm free then."

"Super. I'll text you my address and directions."

"Great."

The two of them chatted for a bit before ending the call, since they would be seeing each other in a few days. As Regina pulled up a map to plot a route she noticed Summersville wasn't that far from where Ruby lived. With that realization an idea started forming, to where she might be able to see two friends.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Emma frowned at her cell phone, seeing the caller was unknown. "Hello?"

"Emma?"

"Regina," she replied in surprise. "How did you get my number?"

"It was on the roommate contact sheet we got last year."

"Right," Emma said, feeling foolish for not realizing that. "How are you? How's your summer been?"

"Fine. I'm ready to go back to school though. How's yours been?"

"Busy. Been waitressing at Granny's diner almost every day."

"That's good. The reason I called is my friend Mal is back from Europe and wants me to come visit her. Since she's living not far from where you are now, I wanted to see if you wanted to come with me in seeing her."

"You want me to come with you while you visit a friend?" Emma asked.

"Yes. I haven't seen her in almost three years, and I haven't seen you since school ended. This way I can see two friends at once."

Emma thought about it for a second, not sure how to reply to Regina's odd request. "When does she want to do this?"

"She said this Friday, but her schedule's pretty open. So if that's not good for you we can reschedule."

Emma quickly looked at her schedule, seeing she was actually free that day. "Just checked and I'm free this Friday."

"Great. So you can go?"

Emma inwardly melted at hearing just how vulnerable and hopeful Regina sounded, which pretty much made her decision for her. "Sure, I'll go with you."

"Great. I'll text you the address and get back to you on when exactly she wants us to come over."

"Okay, sounds good."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Emma sat in her car, which was parked in front of Mal's place. As she waited for Regina to arrive she again wondered if this was a good idea. She kept remembering how awkward it had been hanging out with Mary Margaret's friends over Christmas break. What if Regina and this Mal ignored her too? If that happens I'm leaving, she thought.

She looked out her window as a sleek Mercedes pulled up behind her, surprised when she saw Regina get out of the car. "Where'd you get the car?" Emma asked as she got out of the bug.

"My mom got it for me. She was going to buy me a car when I graduated high school, but she waited a year since freshman can't have cars on campus."

"I'm well aware," Emma said, remembering all the hoops she went through to allow her to have her car on campus last year. "So, what's your friend like anyway?"

"She's fun to be around. I haven't seen her in over two years. I'm hoping she hasn't changed that much."

They walked around to the side of the house and went down a flight of stone stairs to the basement apartment and rang the doorbell, which was opened by a woman with long unruly blonde hair. "Regina, hello."

"Hello Mal."

"And you must be Regina's college friend Emma," Mal stated.

"Yup, that's me."

"Wonderful. Come in, come in. You want something to drink? I can open one of the bottles of wine I got from Italy."

"I'm good," Emma replied. "I have to drive back later."

"Same," Regina said.

"Suit yourselves," Mal replied as they went to the living area, Regina and Emma sitting on the couch while Mal sat in a chair. "Like the new hairstyle Regina. Last time I saw you it was much longer than it is now."

"Thanks," Regina said, lightly tugging on her hair. "It's a little longer now than when I first cut it. I'm not sure if I should cut it again or let it keep growing."

"I'm sure it'd look good long," Emma blurted out.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, that's sweet," Mal said with a chuckle. "So, are you two…? She asked, waving her finger between them.

The girls looked at her in confusion before it dawned on them what Mal was implying. "Oh, no," Emma quickly said. "We're just friends."

"Right, friends," Regina said. "And I'm straight, remember?"

"My mistake," Mal said, smiling as if she knew something they didn't.

"Regina said you were backpacking in Europe," Emma said, wanting to steer away from the current topic. "How was that?"

"Very good. Especially since I stayed away from tourist traps and saw the real countries. Although working odd jobs and constantly living in hostels gets irritating after a while. That's why I finally came back."

"I'd like to go to Italy someday," Regina said. "I'm told I still have distant family there."

"It's a wonderful country. I spent two months in the Mediterranean Basin. I loved it there," Mal stated. She glanced over at the TV before asking, "Do you two want to play Call of Duty?"

"Sure," Regina and Emma answered, giggling over having replied at the same time. Mal got up and turned on her xbox before sitting on the couch and handing out controllers.

"Alright, let's do this."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Bye, thanks again for having us over," Regina said as they readied to leave.

"My pleasure," Mal replied. "Hopefully we don't go another two years before seeing each other again. Nice meeting you Emma."

"Same. See yeah," Emma said as she and Regina walked out of the apartment. "That wasn't bad."

"You're acting like you were expecting it to be terrible," Regina stated.

"It's just…when I stayed at Mary Margaret's over Christmas and we hung out with her friends, they all basically ignored me. So I wasn't sure what to expect regarding today."

"I know she's your friend. But…"

"But what?" Emma asked.

"I just think Mary Margaret doesn't always realize her actions hurt people," Regina quickly plowed through. "I know she's nice and everything, but sometimes she thinks and does things that can be selfish or hurtful, and she doesn't realize it."

"That's a bit harsh," Emma said, even though she secretly didn't think Regina was 100% wrong.

"That's just what I think. Doesn't mean you have to agree with me."

Emma nodded her head over that before saying, "I'm glad I got to see you today.

"Me to," Regina replied with a smile.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

As the rest of the summer unfolded Emma and Regina found themselves communicating with each other fairly frequently. It wasn't unusual for them to text each other at random intervals throughout the day. And once they discovered they both watched the show Amazing Race, they would call each other and watch each week's episode together over the phone. By the end of August they both found they were really looking forward to seeing each other again.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Eventually summer came to a close, and it was time to head back to school. At first Granny was going to accompany Emma and Ruby, but they said that wasn't necessary. They were able to fit all their stuff into Emma's bug, so they were able to go themselves.

"Thank you again for letting me stay the summer," Emma wholeheartedly said to Granny as they readied to leave.

"It was my pleasure," Granny replied. "Anytime you need to stay, don't hesitate to come. You have a standing invitation."

"Thank you so much."

"Bye Granny," Ruby said, hugging her grandmother goodbye.

"Bye Ruby. Call me when you get in,"

"Will do. See yeah!" Ruby cried out as the girls got in the car and set off.

With traffic they made it back to school in about two and a half hours. Once they signed in at registration and got their house keys they parked in one of the townhouse parking lots and went to Townhouse 25, their new home for the next year.

"Hello!" Ruby called out as they walked into the house.

"Ruby! Emma!" Mary Margaret yelled as she ran over and hugged the girls. "How are you?"

"We're good," Emma replied. "Is anyone else here?"

"Belle and Ariel got here before me. Ariel went to visit people once her stuff was in her room, but she said she'll be back around dinnertime. Belle brought her stuff in and then she and her dad went to buy her textbooks."

"Hello girls," Eva said as she came over. "How was your summer?"

"It was good," Ruby said to Mary Margaret's mother. "Worked a lot and had a lot of fun."

"That's good to hear. Let's just get the rest of my daughter's stuff in and then you three can catch up. Leopold!"

"What!" Mary Margaret's father cried out, who was sitting in a chair in the living room as if it was a throne.

"Can you please get up and help!"

"I drove all the way up here and I'm driving back. Let me relax for a few minutes."

Eva sighed as she and her daughter went outside to further unpack the car. Emma and Ruby exchanged a look before going out to the bug to bring in their own stuff. They just finished bringing in everything when Emma looked up apprehensively as someone else came to the door. She smiled as the door opened and Regina came walking in. "Regina."

"Emma, hey," Regina replied as the blonde came over to her. "How are you?"

"I'm good. You?"

"Good."

"Hi Regina!" Ruby called out from downstairs.

"Hey Ruby!"

"Regina," Cora said as she came in holding a box. "Come on; let's get your stuff in the house."

"Okay," Regina said as she looked at the two top floor bedrooms. "Ariel's stuff is in the room with the brock wall, so it looks like mine is the one by the upstairs bathroom."

"Fine. Hello again Emma," Cora said as she hastily put the box in the empty bedroom.

"Hello Mrs. Mills," Emma said as Cora quickly walked out of the townhouse. "Is she mad?"

"She has a meeting tomorrow, so she wants to get home so she can prepare for it."

"Hello there." The two girls looked over as Leopold got up and made his way over to them. "I'm Mary Margaret's father, Leopold. You were her roommate last year, right?"

"Yes I was," Regina simply said as the older man stared at her.

"I remember you from the college pictures Mary Margaret showed me. Any friend of my daughter's is a friend of mine," he said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks," Regina said with uncertainty, uncomfortable with what was transpiring.

Just as Emma was about to say something they all heard Mary Margaret's mother yell out from downstairs. "Leopold, can you please give me a hand!"

"Be right down! Nice to meet you," he said before going downstairs.

"That was weird, right?" Regina said.

"Yeah, definitely creepy," Emma replied, remembering the disturbing way he had looked at Regina's picture last Christmas. She was about to mention that to Regina when Cora stuck her head in the door frame. "Regina," she sternly stated. "Come and help me. I want to be on the road within the hour."

"Coming mother," Regina said as she hastily followed her mother outside.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay and help you unpack?" Eva asked her daughter.

"No I'm fine. I can do it myself. Plus you two have a long drive back home."

"Okay then. Well, goodbye Mary Margaret," her mother said as she hugged her daughter tightly. "Don't be afraid to call us."

"Goodbye Mary Margaret," Leopold said as he hugged his daughter, quietly slipping some money into her hand. "Here you go. For groceries and such."

"Thanks dad."

"It was nice seeing you again Emma," Eva said. "You're welcome to come to our place for Christmas again."

"I'll see," Emma replied, as she wasn't sure if she wanted a repeat of last year.

"Bye mom, bye dad," Mary Margaret replied as her parents walked upstairs. She waited until they were out the door and drove away before phoning David. "Hey…I'm good. My parents just left. So whenever you're free you can come by and we can bring my stuff over…great, see you then. He said he'll be over in a bit," Mary Margaret told Emma.

"Okay," Emma replied. "So, are you bringing everything over there or are you leaving some stuff here?"

"I'm not taking everything, in case my parents decide to come up to visit. Or if I want to come back here for some reason. I'm leaving some clothes here and a few other things. But most of it is going to David's."

"Okay," Emma said. "I only need one closet, so you can put stuff in the other one."

"Thanks," Mary Margaret said. She pulled out clothes from one of her bags and started hanging up dresses and shirts in the closet before putting other various items on the closet floor. "What about your stuff? You can't just have those three bags with you."

"The rest is in storage. The place isn't open today so I'm getting it all tomorrow."

"Hello!" David called out from upstairs.

"Down here!" Mary Margaret excitedly yelled as David came down the stairs, leaping into his arms and kissing him deeply. "Hey you."

"Hey beautiful," David said as he kissed her back, the two of them quickly going into full on make out mode.

"Nope, this isn't awkward at all," Emma sarcastically stated.

"Sorry," Mary Margaret said with a grin as she separated from her boyfriend.

"How was your summer Emma," David asked.

"It was good. Yours?"

"Good. Helped out at my Aunt's farm for a few weeks, so there was that."

"My boyfriend the farm boy," Mary Margaret said good naturedly.

"Yeah, okay. Let's get your stuff over to my place," he said.

"I'll help pack your car," Emma said. "Oh, remember Ruby said she wants all of us here tonight. Kind of a house bonding girl's night thing. So you have to be back here by seven M M."

"Okay. Looks like you're on your own tonight," Mary Margaret told her boyfriend.

"I'm sure I'll manage," He simply replied.

They got David's truck packed fairly quickly. Once everything was situated the happy couple drove off to their new place, leaving Emma to take stock of her new room. There wasn't much she could do right away, since most of her stuff wasn't there. But she had some ideas on how she could make it a good living space. In the meantime she pushed the two dorm beds together so she'd have one big bed to sleep with.

"Knock knock," Regina said as she knocked on the open door.

"Hey. Is your mom still here?"

"She left a little while ago." She stepped into the room, looking it over. "So this is your room."

"Bet you're regretting not beating Graham in darts now," Emma said, cringing at how bitchy that must have sounded.

"I'll admit, it would have been nice to live here," Regina simply replied. "Though I'm fine with the room I have."

"Well, you're always welcome to hang out here," Emma stated. "Plus, we can watch the rest of Amazing Race in here."

"We'll do no such thing," Regina stated. "We'll watching that on the big TV in the living room. Want to see my room?"

"Okay, sure," Emma said as they walked up the stairs.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Okay girls," Ruby announced after the girls ordered pizza. "So to kick off living together, we're going to play Karaoke Revolution," she said as she showed off the video game. "I found it at a yard sale over the summer."

There was general murmuring as Ariel asked, "How does this work?"

"We'll split into teams of two, and both people on the team sing a song" Ruby explained as she set up the game and plugged in the microphones. "The game measures how in pitch you sing. So whoever sings the best wins."

"I'm with Regina," Emma announced.

"K," Ruby said. "I'll go with Mary Margaret, and Belle and Ariel can be the other team."

"Sounds good," Belle said as everyone sat next to their respective partners. First Mary Margaret and Ruby went, singing to ABC. Then it was Belle and Ariel's turn, who picked Love is a Battlefield. Finally it was Emma and Regina's turn. They scrolled through the choices as they looked at the selection.

"I think we should pick…" Regina said as she looked the songs over.

"Nope, found it," Emma said, quickly picking the song. Regina rolled her eyes as the song began and they started to sing.

"Guess this means you're sorry.

You're standing at my door.

Guess this means you take back all you said before.

Like how much you wanted anyone but me.

Said you'd never come back, but here you are again.

Cuz we belong together now, yeah!

Forever united here somehow, yeah!

You got a piece of me!

And honestly!

My life, my life!

Would suck, would suck!

Without you!"

With that Belle and Ariel quickly got up off the couch as Emma jumped on top of it, pulling Regina up with her. The two girls playfully jumped around as they continued to belt out Kelly Clarkson, grinning like idiots as they looked at each other.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

That doesn't seem like it's going to be that bad, Emma thought as she left class. Course, it's only the first day, so it's a little early to tell. I could end up hating it.

Since her next class wasn't for a few hours Emma went to go get some lunch. She paid for her meal and looked around the cafeteria, seeing if anyone else she knew was having lunch. As she scanned the room she noticed a girl with almost white blond hair sitting by herself. Deciding to be friendly Emma went over to her. "Hello. Mind if I sit here?"

"Okay," the girl said uncertainly.

"I'm Emma."

"Elsa."

"I'm guessing you're a freshman, since I don't remember seeing you last year."

"I'm actually a transfer student. Luckily all my credits transferred so I didn't have to do freshman year again."

Emma nodded her head at that info as she ate her lunch. "So, what do you think of SBU so far?"

"It's not bad. Smaller than my last school, but not bad."

"You'll get used to it. Though I will tell you it gets very cold during winter."

"The cold doesn't bother me," Elsa answered truthfully.

Emma looked at Elsa, thinking she was quite attractive. You should ask her out, she found herself thinking. Remember what Ruby told you over the summer. You won't find anyone if you don't try.

"Listen. Do you want come over to my townhouse tonight? We could watch TV or put on a movie."

"Um, sure," Elsa answered.

"Great. I'm in 25."

See, that's a start, Emma thought.