"Good morning, Emma," Regina said softly, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Hi," she replied in a fake groggy voice. She had crawled back into bed with her around 20 minutes ago, and had been pretending to be asleep since then.

"Come on, we've got to get ready." She told her, connecting their hands. "Now for breakfast, we have a few options; I can make something a little bit lengthier, like French toast and hash browns. But we'd have to leave a lot sooner. Or we can have regular toast, and we wouldn't have to rush as much,"

"Oh, that's fine," Emma replied. "You don't have to make anything, I don't eat breakfast."

"Emma, breakfast is part of a healthy diet. You need to have something in your stomach before you start your day,"

"I'll swing by the coffee shop on the way to school and get a doughnut or something,"

"Well that's not very healthy,"

Emma simply shrugged in response. She wasn't in the mood to argue with her new girlfriend.

Wait? Girlfriend? She was shocked that her mind came up with that. Sure, she could admit that she did have romantic feelings for Regina. But saying that she was her girlfriend would be a bit too far of a stretch.

"Although I suppose it does give us more time together," Regina said with a grin. "I'll make some toast for myself, then I trust that you will get yourself some breakfast before school starts."

Emma returned her grin, then gave her a quick kiss.

Regina intertwined their fingers, then lead Emma to the kitchen. She put two pieces of bread in the toaster, then buttered them both as they came up.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can get you?"

"I'm sure, thanks for offering though,"

She sat down next to Emma, then held her hand with one hand while she ate with the other.

"Shit," she muttered aloud.

"What?" Emma asked.

"Did you tell your parents that you wouldn't be home last night? Are they worried about you?"

"Relax, Regina. I told them I would be out, but I didn't tell them where I would be."

"Ugh, I've been too focused on what my family has thought about this that I haven't even thought about yours. I know we can hide this for awhile, but what happens when we can't?"

"Honestly, we don't need to worry about David and Mary Margaret. I doubt they'd even be mad, at this point, they just want me to be happy,"

"Emma, you may think that, but no parent would want to learn that their 18 year old daughter is with her teacher,"

"I mean, they wouldn't be too happy about it. But after everything, they would probably accept anything as long as I'm happy,"

"Why is that?"

Emma's immediate reaction was to say no. She didn't like sharing this piece of information with very many people. Her parents only knew because they witnessed what she went through. And Ruby only knew some of it.

But then she looked at her hopeful face, and figured that if she was gonna open up to anyone, it'd be Regina.

"I've only ever had one real girlfriend before. We got together when I was 15 and she was 17. We were together for awhile, and then she did something really bad. She changed my life forever, and I haven't loved anyone since her. Of course, I've gotten with a bunch of girls since her. But I haven't felt anything for anyone since her, until you, anyway." Emma managed to get out, feeling a knot in her stomach. "And my parents knew how much she hurt me, and they don't really like how I've closed myself off since then. So they'd be happy to know that I'm happy."

"Thank you for telling me that, Emma,"

Emma wasn't sure how to respond, so instead she kissed her. Regina wasn't opposed to this, so she moaned into the kiss.

However, now that Emma had told her that, the back of her mind was filled with memories of her and the last girl she loved.

~1909~

"Lily?" Emma asked, catching up to her at the park. "Can we talk?"

"Emma! We can't be seen together after what happened last week!" Lily hissed.

"Why not? It's not like anyone saw us,"

"That we know of, anyway. Someone could have seen us, and they're just waiting to see what else happens before exposing it,"

"Well, it's not like it was a bad thing,"

"Of course you would say that, Emma Nolan,"

"Swan. It's been Swan my whole life, and living with the Nolan's isn't gonna change that,"

"Right, Swan, sorry,"

Despite Lily looking away from her, and purposely trying to get ahead, Emma jogged up to her. She grabbed her wrist and gave it a slight tug.

"Will you at least look at me?"

Sighing, Lily slowly turned around and made eye contact with her. Emma smiled hopefully, then leaned in to hug her.

At first, she was eager to accept the hug from her. After avoiding her for the past week, she was desperate for her touch.

But she knew that they couldn't be seen in public together, so she quickly backed away.

"We can go somewhere private, if you'd rather," Emma suggested.

"Alright," Lily agreed.

Emma attempted to grab her hand and interlock their fingers, but she instantly pulled away. Sighing, she knew that they wouldn't be able to do that right now.

So she led them away from the park, and into the woods instead. There, they were covered by the trees and there wasn't a single person near them.

"Now can we talk?" Emma asked.

"Fine," Lily replied.

Emma connected their hands again, which Lily didn't object to this time. Before she spoke, she reached her hand up and brushed her hair out of her face. Lily started to move her hand up to brush Emma's off, but when she looked into her eyes, she couldn't do it.

Emma leaned in, then softly brushed her lips against Lily's. She let out a small whimper, then slowly opened her mouth. Their lips moved in sync as they continued to explore one another's mouths.

Just when they were about to deepen the kiss even more, Lily backed away. She kept her fingers intertwined with Emma's, but kept her upper half farther away.

"We can't do this," she said, looking down. "We're not supposed to kiss each other. We're supposed to kiss boys,"

"Well I don't wanna kiss boys, I wanna kiss you," Emma retorted.

"I want to kiss you too, but we can't. It's wrong,"

"No it isn't. Just because a bunch of old white men say it's wrong, doesn't mean it is."

"Emma! You can't insult them! They're the ones who run things, whether we like it or not. We just have to follow the rules,"

"What if I don't like the rules? Other people shouldn't get a say in who I love, and I love you,"

"But they'll tell us that we're going to hell!"

"And? I don't even believe in that. Even if I did, I'd take hell with you over heaven with them any day."

Lily's eyes darted back and forth between Emma and the ground. Her head knew that she shouldn't do this, it was dangerous. If anyone found out, they would both be put in the insane asylum for homosexuality.

But at the same time, Emma was right. She shouldn't let other people decide who she could and couldn't love. She wanted Emma.

Deciding to go with her heart, she leaned in and brought their lips together again. It was a quick kiss, but when she pulled away, she was met with the biggest smile.

"I choose you," she said to her, returning the smile.

"Good," Emma replied.

They both giggled, then kissed again. Although it was difficult for them to deepen the kiss, considering how they were both smiling from ear to ear.

So Emma squeezed her hand gently, then led her deeper into the woods. She only disconnected their hands when they reached a specific tree.

From there, she hoisted herself up a few branches, then motioned for Lily to join her. She took in a deep breath, then climbed up the tree to join her. Together, they climbed a few more branched until they were well above the ground.

Lily leaned in to kiss her, but this time it was Emma who backed away.

"I have a question,"

"Yeah?"

"Well, most girls our age kiss boys and get boyfriends, right? Well if I want to kiss you, then does that make you my girlfriend?"

"I guess it does,"

"I like the sound of that,"

"Me too,"

With a smile on her face, Emma leaned in and crashed her lips against her girlfriend's. As they stood there together, in the tree, she knew that no matter what happened, it would be okay. It didn't matter what other people thought of them. They had each other, and they loved one another. And that was enough for her.

"So," Regina began. "I suppose I'll see you at school,"

"Yeah," Emma replied, snapping back into reality. "I'll see you there!"

After they both changed(Emma just put on the clothes she had worn over last night) they both made their way to the cars in the driveway.

Regina gave her a long kiss goodbye, then got into her car. Shortly after, Emma got into her yellow bug.

She wasn't a big fan of driving in the first place, but she especially didn't enjoy driving to school with the crowded parking lot.

So instead, she drove home and walked to school. On her way, she texted Ruby.

Emma: i gotta tell u smth. can we meet in private at lunch?

Ruby: this better be good cuz that'll mean giving up eating with dorothy for today

Emma: it is, but no 'i told you so'

Ruby: ooh, it is gonna be good then! see u then

Emma, let out a sigh as she entered the building. Knowing how much Lily hurt her, she didn't want to love anyone ever again. Yet somehow, Regina found out how to break down the wall over her heart.

Now that she knew she had feelings for her, all she had to do now was to be careful