A/N – I started this story under a different title, but as I was writing it, I found there was things about it that I wasn't happy with. So, I decided to restart. I am changing parts of the story, but the main base of the story will remain the same. I hope I have been able to keep many of the previous story followers and I welcome all the new readers. Let's kick it off.

Disclaimer – I do not own any characters with the story. All rights belong to ABC Studios and the creators of Once Upon A Time.

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There are many things you could say about Regina Mills. She is sassy. Smart. She is greatly loved by those who know her. Regina has worked her ass off in everything she has done. At only 24 years old, she had done more in her life than most of us could dream of. But she had been through just as many horrible things. Things we couldn't even imagine happening to people. But even through all of that, Regina built herself back up to be the person she is today. She got along with near enough everyone she met. But no one ever really knew who she was. Regina had learnt over the years to keep herself to herself. Keep herself guarded from the world. It wasn't that she didn't want to let people in. But she found it extremely hard to trust people enough to see the real her. People had made plenty of efforts to get to know her. But she never felt safe enough to let people in.

Growing up, Regina never had much stability. Her father died in a car accident before she was even born. And her mother had a heart attack due to complications with the birth when she was only 1 month old. Regina was put into the foster care system instantly. She had no other family. It was good for the two years. And then everything started going wrong. The family she was with sent her back as they managed to get pregnant with their own baby. They only ever wanted one. And from there Regina got bounced from family to family. Group home to group home. Some of the changes were because of the family. Others were from overcrowding. And sometimes it was because Regina felt she needed to take a stand for herself. The parents could be abusive, and Regina was not a woman to tolerate such actions. Regina rarely stayed in the same place for more than a few months. But the one thing she made sure was always consistent was a gym. Or a boxing ring. Self defence classes. Regina felt she needed to take care of herself. She made sure she could do exactly that.

With all the moving around, it caused Regina to be held back a few times. Especially around exam times. Regina was highly intelligent, but with different curriculums and teaching techniques, it was hard to always keep up. Regina's favourite subjects were anything creative. English literature. Arts. Music. She loved the feeling of being free. She had spent so long under the control of others, any time she got to have her own choices was her most loved times in the world. And then with all the moving around, Regina never felt safe. She never felt like she had somewhere she could call her own. When Regina aged out at 18, she was still in high school. She had 3 years left before she finished. And she was determined to finish. She always knew she would never be advantaged in life. But she was not going to cause herself to be disadvantaged.

Regina started living with people she had met as she was growing up. She just wanted to start living her own life. She got herself a job working as a bartender at a restaurant. It was a good job with nice people, and it paid well. Especially the tips. It was sooner rather than later before Regina was living in her own place. It was this loft near the outskirts of town. Regina loved it. She was near the forest so she could go for a run whenever she wanted. It was close to the college she wanted to attend. And only a 15-minute drive from work. It was perfect. And she has lived there ever since.

Regina was now 24 years old. In her second year of college, after taking a year off to explore what she wanted to do. She didn't travel or explore the world. She stayed in Storybrooke, worked, and took the time to work on herself. By the end of it she had made a course decision for her life. She applied to college for a major in creative writing, minoring in journalism. Her favourite class of them all though was English Literature. And that was for one quite simple reason.

Her name was Emma Swan. Emma Swan was the lecturer for the English Literature. She was an incredibly quiet woman. She never liked to yell at her class. But luckily her classes were surprisingly good. They were there to learn as much as she was there to teach. And she was Regina's favourite lecturer. She has beautifully blonde hair. It was always loose, and it always looked messy with those un-ruling curls cascading down her face. Regina couldn't say how she looked physically speaking. Emma always wore baggy jumpers or loose flowing dresses. The most she had ever seen was a set of defined arms. But Regina craved to see more. Regina had fantasized about Emma since their first lecture.

And now, on a Friday afternoon both women were waiting patiently for the final period. Friday felt like it dragged for both of them. But they suffered through it waiting to catch a glimpse of each other at the end of the day. Regina was already sat waiting in the lecture hall. Emma walked in and glanced around the room looking for those deep brown eyes that she could get lost in for hours.

"Good afternoon everyone." Emma spoke to the hall. There were a few murmurs in response. Emma placed all her files on the desk and took one last chance to look up and over to Regina. Who sat there, laptop at the ready, pen in hand and glasses perched perfectly at the end of her nose. Taking a deep breath, Emma turned her gaze to the whole class. "Alright guys. I know it's been a long week. And it's Friday and everyone just wants to run out of here the second I pull up the last slide." Emma was smiling and the class let out a small laugh together. "But if we all pay attention, sit quietly and listen I promise I will have you out of here no later than 4:30. How does that sound?" Everyone instantly sat up in their seats and looked straight ahead. Emma smiled to herself and got on with the lesson.

Before anyone even knew how long they had been in the hall, Emma was pulling up the final slide and the students were beginning to close their notebooks and pack away their laptops.

"Please can we make sure that we get the reading done before the next session. There will be a multiple-choice quiz on chapters 22 to 27. If you have any questions, please ask me now or email me at least 24 hours before the next session. Thank you and goodnight." And with that Emma closed the lid to her own laptop and started packing away her things. It was only 4:10, and Emma thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try and speak to Regina. Regina normally sprinted from the classroom on a Friday. When Emma looked up, she was still there. But there was another student walking straight towards her. And she already knew she was going to be out of luck. Resigning herself to another failed afternoon, Emma looked at the student and listened to watch she had questions about.

Regina walked out of the classroom but not before looking back at Emma at her desk. What Regina wouldn't give to have the courage to speak to her properly. Just once. But still to this day they had barely had more than a 3 worded conversation with each other. Once Regina was out of the classroom, she took a deep, steadying breath. Just as she always did when she left Emma's classroom. She looked at her watch and realised what the time was. She decided she would head straight in for work. With any luck she could be there by 4:30. Normally she wasn't able to get there until 5:30.

Regina walked into work at 4:35. Graham, the manager looked at her and then looked at his watch.

"Regina? You're like an hour earlier than normal." He was smiling from ear to ear. Graham was a tall statured man. Fairly muscular but not overly intimidating, but clearly physically fit. He was like the papa bear of the team. He would look after every single person that walked through the doors, but it was still a bar which meant that rowdy customers came with the territory. If anyone crossed those that Graham cared for, he quickly went from a papa bear to protective mama bear. And no one ever wanted to mess with the mama bear.

"Yeah I know. My lecture got out early so I figured I might as well make it in as soon as I could." Regina spent most of her time either at college or at the bar. It was rare she ever had a day off. But on a Friday, one of the busiest nights of the week for the restaurant, Regina didn't finish college until 5 normally. Which made it hard for her to get in during the rush hour traffic. But Graham always understood. He just made the agreement with Regina that she would always make it in as soon as she could.

"Well, I'm not going to complain. Belle's been on the bar since 11 so do you mind giving her a break and restocking the bar?" Regina looked over at the bar and saw Belle already writing out a list for what was needed. Turning back to Graham, Regina had a wide smile on her face.

"Sure. Just let me go chuck my stuff upstairs." Regina passed Belle on the bar as she was heading to the staff room. "Hey beautiful." Regina gave Belle a small squeeze as she passed her. "If you can finish that list for me and then Graham says you can go on a break. Take an hour. I'll do the restock okay."

"No problem. I'll see you in a sec." Regina ran upstairs and dropped her bag off. Giving herself a quick spray with her perfume and she was ready to go.

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Emma had been pacing her apartment for the past half an hour. Her friend Ruby had set her up on a blind date. Tonight. And she was in no way ready for it. Emma had never had any luck when it came to dating. And she was sure tonight would be no different. Feeling nervous, Emma called the very same person who got her into this position.

"Ruby, I really don't think I'm ready for this." She thought for a second and knew she wasn't being honest. "Scratch that. I don't want to do this."

"Well tough. It's already been set up. The table is booked. Your date is getting ready themselves as we speak. You will be meeting them at The Red Apple. 8:30. Don't be late or I will be pissed." Ruby stated very clearly through the phone.

"The Red Apple? Isn't that where Belle works? Did you set me up on a date where your girlfriend could keep an eye on me? Really?"

"It's a cute restaurant and it was the only place I could get a booking on a Friday night."

"You set me up on a date where your girlfriend could keep an eye on me." Emma deadpanned.

"We had a deal okay. And I want to make sure that everything goes okay. How am I supposed to find you the perfect match if I don't know how the dates go?" Emma and Ruby had met when they were 5. They had been best of friends since. They came out to each other as bisexual when they were 17. They were both interested in the same woman. But they had never been interested in each other. They were like sisters. But they had made a deal when they were 23 that if they reached 28 and were still single, they would help the other to find a perfect match. Ruby had gotten lucky. She had met Belle just under a year ago. They were perfect together. Emma had turned 28 just a month ago which meant Ruby started planning for this instantly. And Emma hated it. But they had made a pact and she would honour it.

"Fine." Emma started rummaging through her closet looking at all her clothes. She had no idea what she should wear. "Will you at least tell me if I am meeting a guy or a girl? I have no idea what to wear." Ruby thought for a minute.

"Okay, you know that little red dress? The skin-tight one. The one that pushes your boobs up to your ears." Emma couldn't help but laugh to herself. Ruby loved getting Emma to show off her body. It wasn't something Emma did very often, but Ruby pushed Emma to have some confidence in herself. And it mostly worked.

"Okay, I got it. Give me a second and I'll send you a picture okay." She hung up the phone and grabbed the dress and quickly got changed. She gave her hair a little ruffle and then sent Ruby a photo. Calling Ruby back quickly to get her opinion. "What do you think?" There was no immediate response. "Ruby, are you still there?" Still no response. Just some deep breathing. "Ruby, are you drooling over the photo? Belle won't be particularly happy if you are drooling over another woman. Even if it is your best friend."

"Belle has been at work since this morning. Friday, remember? The bar boss lady can't get in until the evening. The bar is Belle's territory until some time tonight."

"How do you still not know the names of the people Belle works with? Even just one of them."

"I do. I know Graham the boss. But I don't want Belle feeling like I'm controlling every bit of her life. She is a free spirit just like me. I just want her to feel like she has her own space and then our space. Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

"Yeah. And to be fair, I think it is actually quite respectful if anything." Emma thought about the kind of love Ruby had for Belle. She assumed that Belle had the same love for Ruby considering she hadn't killed her yet. And as she thought, she kept thinking about the kind of love she herself wanted. "Okay Ruby, I think I'm about ready then. I'll let you know how it goes afterwards. Or Belle will. Either way. I'll speak to you later."

"Okay gorgeous. Have fun. Love ya."

"Love you too. Bye Rubes." Hanging up the phone, Emma finished up sorting herself out. Some light make-up. Packed her bag. And she waited.

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Regina had finished stocking up the bar and was now making sure the cocktail area was fully set. Speed pourers cleaned. Fruits chopped. The restaurant was starting to get into full swing now. Customers were arriving and tables were quickly filling up. Regina walked around to the hosts stand where Graham was checking out the booking system.

"How are we looking tonight?" Regina asked.

"Well we are fully booked 3 times over tonight. It is going to be pretty back to back."

"Which means the bar is going to be slammed."

"Yeah, and we have a gig or something just up the road tonight, but they aren't admitting anyone until 10, so we are going to have some people coming in for drinks beforehand. So be prepared. Make sure you and Belle have done some premix for the cocktails. I have a feeling you guys are going to be hit harder than you think tonight." Graham gave Regina a pat on the shoulder. He couldn't do much else for her.

"Thanks Graham." Smiling at him she started making her way round to the bar, but Graham had one more thing before she carried on.

"Oh, one more thing. If we have people going in for a gig tonight you know what that means."

"Big gig. Lots of drinks. Pretty women meaning rowdy men." Regina loved nights like these. She was as much of a mama bear as Graham could be. And she loved it when the men underestimated her.

"But you know the rules." Graham pointed at Regina. He knew how she felt like a kid in a candy store on nights like these.

"I know I know. No excessive force and don't be the one to start it. Just be the one to finish it." Regina put her hands up in acceptance and headed down the bar to Belle. "Hey, we are going to get slammed pretty hard tonight. Can you make some premix of the Pornstar Martini's, Mojitos and Daiquiri?" Belle nodded her head and started prepping the jugs straight away.

As the night drew on the second turning of tables started. Regina and Belle really did get slammed. They made their way through the premix within the first hour. They were waiting for a quick lull so one of them could make some more for the next round. All the waitresses and even Graham were going around like headless chickens. Bringing food. Checking tables. It was a little chaotic, but at the same time it looked like a choreographed dance.

Emma walked through the door and took a quick look around. It was a nice little restaurant. Cute. She walked up to the hosts stand and waited. She was a little early, but she had spent too long waiting alone in her house. She decided she might as well wait alone with a drink in her hand. Soon enough, she saw a rather handsome man walking over to the host stand.

"Good evening. Have you got a booking with us this evening?" Graham pulled the booking list up on the screen.

"Hi yes. Although I am not sure under what name. My friend Ruby Lucas made the booking, but I don't know if she used my name. Emma Swan." Regina was stood on the bar pumping drinks out at a rapid-fire rate. But hearing that name, it stopped her dead. Her hands stopped moving and she looked up to the stand and saw that blonde hair that she couldn't mistake for anyone else.

"Miss Swan." It was quiet. Barely audible. But whilst Graham was checking the booking screen, he moved to one side slightly and it meant that Regina could see Emma clear as day. And something must have made Emma look up because before Regina knew it, their eyes were locked.

"Regina."

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A/N – Okay guys, like I said, the first few chapters will be nearly identical, but with some minor tweaks to how I have written it. Or some small details have changed. But I hope you guys do like it. Let me know in the reviews.