Regina's chestnut hues were glued to the blonde eighteen-year-old as she turned away from the hug and left out that putrid green door. Her heart sunk when the familiar click sounded, creating the barrier that officially left the brunette alone with Emma's parents. Her stomach knotted at the thought.

She didn't have a thing against the Nolans. They were nice people in and of themselves and normally that wouldn't serve as such a problem for Regina to be stuck behind with the two; alone. But the Nolans doubled as her girlfriend's parents and left her between a rock and a hard place.

The brunette hadn't been looking forward to this conversation. She knew that it was inevitable, of course, once Mary Margaret had found out and David would be left alone without others around. It was just that, that had the teacher shrinking against the table as the couple cleaned up the dishes leftover from lunch.

Regina knew that, logically, her relationship with their daughter was something generally frowned upon, especially since it had roughly started before Emma had even turned of legal age. Of course, that was considering whether Mary Margaret knew when their relationship had initially started. The brunette wouldn't hesitate to stretch the truth, if need be, to keep from getting slapped a second time; or worse.

She sighed, pushing away from the table with clammy palms. She could feel herself tremble with every step; her breath becoming mildly ragged. When had she become so nervous? Regina felt as if she would need the restroom soon enough; her stomach was clenching in its spot as if someone had reached inside and squeezed it.

The brunette could hear mild chatter from the kitchen between David and his wife, the latter murmuring one last thing before departing to join Regina who had migrated toward the living room. Regina's breath hitched, her stomach doing a flip.

She wasn't at all prepared. She needed Emma here with her. Why had she suggested Emma leave her behind? Why had she suggested that she and Mary Margaret discuss this? Why was she such an idiot?

"Regina." Mary Margaret nodded to the brunette, gesturing toward a living chair. "You can sit if you want to."

"Oh, uh… thank you." Regina offered an all too wide smile, taking the offered seat. She subtly wiped her hands on her slacks, a shaky breath falling from her lips.

"We're waiting for David. He will be here in a minute." The short-haired brunette offered Regina a plastic smile. "He's just drying up the dishes."

"Of course." She nodded in response, eyes momentarily floating towards the kitchen.

A few moments later, David had joined them, taking a seat next to his wife on the couch with a sympathetic smile shot Regina's way. "So, what are we talking about?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Regina started, lifting her gaze. "I merely assumed that you wanted to ask me things. I will answer to the best of my abilities."

"The best of your abilities?" Mary Margaret quietly scoffed, her brows furrowing. "You're dating my daughter."

Regina dipped her head, heat creeping up her neck. Gods, did she wish she could flee from this situation. But, she needed to gather her wits, and her scurrying metaphorical balls, and take this head on. She couldn't show that she was nervous. She had to be confident.

Mentally preparing herself, the brunette straightened her back, her mocha eyes falling on the woman who had spoken. "I am. I meant…" she trailed off. She didn't know what she had meant. This was already a fantastic start to an arduous conversation.

"Uh-huh…" The elementary school teacher leaned back against the couch. David appeared tense beside her. "I wanted to know why you decided you liked my daughter in that way."

Regina's brows stitched together as she attempted to piece together what the other woman was telling her, or moreover, demanding of her. How could she answer that so blatantly? There was far more to it than just waking up one day and deciding, "hey, I like my student, I want to date her."

She was sure that's what Mary Margaret had thought; or so she had seemed to insinuate within her wording of the request. Surely the woman hadn't meant it that way? She had a husband. She knew how those things worked. Or so she had hoped.

"It is far more… complex." Regina enunciated, shifting to cross one leg over the other as she leaned forward on her elbows. "I had initially admired Emma when she started to have lunch with me and I got to know her on a more personal level. Of course, I didn't have these thoughts at all. She was a student. She was a… friend."

"Lunch?" Mary Margaret stared at the brunette, her brows furrowing. "She was having lunch with you? Why?"

The English teacher looked to David for a moment, but he had merely given her a shrug. Her gaze faltered when returned to his wife. "Yes. Emma had decided one day to stay in class and have lunch with me, since the lunch period was directly after the fourth period class. She hadn't told you?"

"No!"

"She did tell me." That was David who finally spoke, eyes on his wife. "I didn't tell you. I didn't think it was important and you never asked."

"Did she start- Did she start before you two moved in together?" The question had Regina taken aback.

"Yes," she honestly replied, "it was just a month after school had started." But her mind caught on track with what she had said. "You knew that she moved in with me?"

"Yeah, David told me." Her gaze fell to her husband. Regina could see him shift, an uncomfortable look on his face. "He said after she moved in with you, the two of you started to..."

Regina nodded slightly, her eyes never leaving the sheriff. Had Emma told her father that the two of them started to date after the New Year? She couldn't recall what the blonde had told her. At the time, Regina had been in a state of disarray after finding out David, of all people, knew.

Half of the conversation was a blank.

The brunette sighed. "Yes, but it wasn't anything hasty, I will let you know."

"How did it happen?" Mary Margaret's question was quiet, just above a whisper.

"We kissed," Regina murmured, half hoping the other woman didn't hear her. "It was something- It just happened, I suppose you could say. Neither of us meant for it to, but, it did. From there we discussed our feelings and tentatively took a step forward."

Mary Margaret stayed silent for a moment as if processing the words that Regina had just told her. Regina watched her closely, attempting to translate the other woman's stone expression. She merely remained quiet as her husband sat beside her, doing the same.

It was then, when her eyes landed on David, did she wonder what Emma had told him. The blonde didn't elaborate too much aside from reassurances that he wouldn't take any action against their relationship; or at least, all what Regina could remember.

Too much had happened from that point to this day. She wondered why Emma had lied and told David they started dating when she moved in.

Regina's mind reeled at the thought as she attempted to put together the strewn pieces of the puzzle laid before her. Perhaps Emma had thought it would be too extreme for her father to know of their relationship before winter break; which would promptly exclude Boston.

The teacher didn't waste much time on the thought. She would ask her girlfriend later. As of current, it looked as if Mary Margaret had finally gained the ability to speak once again, another question falling from her lips.

"How did you know you felt like that?"

"Felt like what?" Regina frowned slightly, fingers gripping the arms of the chair.

"That you liked her? Were you attracted to her before?" Her eyes flashed with an emotion that Regina couldn't decipher, but it made her press her back against the chair with an unwillingness to answer.

"Pardon?"

"Do you find all of your female students attractive? Have you tried to seduce them, too?" Her tone was accusatory, bringing Regina back to a dark place.

She saw her mother's face staring back at her in that moment, forcing her to completely freeze.

"No." Her answer was a soft as she pressed herself further against the chair, attempting to find ground to keep her composure.

Her actions were noticed.

And they were taken the wrong way.

"You're lying! You do this to them, don't you?" Mary Margaret's voice only grew into a menacing lilt. "You force them into having lunch with you and you take them home and- and you take advantage of them! How many little girls have you done this to, Regina?"

"Mary Margaret!" David grabbed his wife's arm, and it was then that Regina noticed she was preparing to get up from her spot.

Regina felt frozen in her own. Anger was stirring within the bowels of her mind, but it was easily stifled by the flashbacks she had of Cora. It felt as if the woman herself was in this room, looming over her with those haunting eyes, burning like liquid fire, and those hands… Gods, those hands.

Her chest tightened. She couldn't breathe. It felt as if Cora had personally resurrected herself and tore her way up from Hell just to wrap those cold, bony fingers around her neck.

"She can't even answer me!" Regina could hear the other woman complain to her husband. Her voice sounded far away as the buzzing in the brunette's head drowned out the world around her.

She squeezed her eyes shut and counted down from ten, taking deep breaths. Her fingers dug into the arms of the chair, growing white under the pressure.

When she reopened her eyes, the couple were staring at her. Their expression had changed. It wasn't hostility directed toward her anymore, though she could still feel the heat radiating from Mary Margaret.

"Regina, are you alright?" David asked, much to his wife's dismay.

"I- yes. I am." She released the arms of the chair, attempting to regain her composure. Her fingers ached.

Regina took another deep breath, allowing the oxygen to flow through her, bringing logic to her brain once again. She turned toward Mary Margaret. "No, Mary Margaret. I do not chase after my students, much less little girls. In fact, most of the students do not taking a liking to me."

"Because Emma took a liking to you, you did this?" The anger never left her eyes.

"No! That's-" Regina pinched the bridge of her nose. There was a mild ache behind her left eye. "I was grateful that Emma kept me company, but I did not fall in love with her for that. I got to know her as a person, Mary Margaret, and more specifically, a friend. I had thought nothing more of her until we did kiss.

"I was honestly confused at first. I found no problem with it at that moment, but when I thought over it, I felt dirty. But the more I mulled over my thoughts, the more I grew to discover that I had, in fact, felt something for Emma. I always knew that she had an eye for me, but I learned to push it away." She sighed softly, eyes falling to her lap.

"I was never confused about my emotions after that night," she continued when Mary Margaret blankly stared at her. "I knew that I wanted something more. I tried to dissuade Emma to keep away. I knew it was wrong. But I stopped fighting and let myself drown in her. After that, we were each other's rock."

Regina hesitated, eyes still downcast. "I fell in love with her and it was then that I knew I would risk everything if it meant having her. I can't say that I regret any of it. And I won't apologize for it, either."

Regina finally met Mary Margaret's gaze. It didn't hold hostility, much to her relief, but it held another emotion that had the brunette on the edge of her seat. It was contemplation as the gears in her mind ground against one another, processing those words still.

"I see," Mary Margaret murmured, but spoke no further.

Silence was met like an old friend once again, this time far more comfortably as Regina relaxed the muscles she didn't know were tense.

It was a few moments longer before the other woman spoke, hand balling up in her lap. "You said that you love her?"

"I did say that, yes." Regina nodded, the smile splitting her face dug deep into her cheeks. "She is my world. I honestly couldn't imagine a day without her."

"Oh." The pixie-haired woman leaned against her husband, an absent smile on her face when the man wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I just- I'm not sure what to say. This is a lot to process."

"I understand that," she agreed, nodding slowly. "Sometimes it's hard for myself to process."

"I do have a question, though," the other woman started, moving slightly from David's grip. "About you."

Regina froze. "What is it?"

"How did you know?" Mary Margaret tilted her head, her brows scrunched together. "That you were… you know?"

"I was wha- oh." The English teacher's own brow creased in thought. "I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps it was my first crush on a girl in high school? Before that, my mind was quite hazy. I really didn't have much thought about it, and when I did from time to time, I denied it.

"I knew that my mother wouldn't have been- I didn't want to think like that. I didn't want to be… different. After a while, I just learned to accept it. I learned to accept myself." She frowned in memory. Her entire life felt as if it were one giant blur. She often found herself blocking out most of her youth.

"Did you ever tell your mom?" Regina could see David's hand press into his lap after his wife had spoken, a distant emotion in his eye. Her heart squeezed in her chest for the man. He probably hadn't gotten over the ordeal with Cora.

Regina shook the staining memories away, focusing her attention on the woman in front of her. She exhaled when she processed the question. "She found out, yes."

"What do you mean by 'found out'?"

"I had a girlfriend." Her voice was quiet as she relived the memories once again. "My mother walked in on us while we were- She was supposed to have been on a business trip and-" Regina attempted to swallow around the lump that suddenly formed in her throat.

She heard Mary Margaret make a soft noise, a frown on her own face. "How did she react?"

"Not well." The brunette found herself digging her fingers into her thighs. "She kicked me out."

"What? How old were you?"

"I was eighteen at the time." It felt as if a tremendous weight had been dropped onto Regina's chest in that moment, dragging her down into the black abyss that she often found herself treading.

"Did you ever reconcile?"

The questions kept coming from that woman. Regina felt as if she were drowning in the memories that they brought.

"Yes," she quietly responded. "But she tried to set me up with men and pretend that it was a phase. When I proved to her that it wasn't, she kept trying to change me, regardless. She died, though, telling me how she had been wrong, but… I'm not quite sure I believe her."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Mary Margaret offered her an apologetic frown, fingers curling into her husband's when he took her hand.

"It's- it's alright. If not for her, I wouldn't be where I am today. I wouldn't have Emma, and the thought of not having her is… Unimaginable." Regina gave a tight-lipped smile, but nothing more.

"What do you two plan on doing?"

The question caught Regina off guard, but it lifted the veil that was placed by the previous inquiries.

"Live, I suppose. I am uncertain what will happen in our future." Regina smiled. "Perhaps get married and start a family. It is up to Emma, of course, if she would want that. Right now, we're getting settled in our apartment and trying to step into the city life."

"Married?" Mary Margaret's eyes widened as if she the thought were inconceivable, but it was David who had squeezed her hand and spoke.

"Believe me, I thought they got engaged when I helped move them." He laughed, flashing a smile that cast away the previous demons haunting him.

Regina chuckled softly, thinking back to that day when Emma had "proposed" to her. "Don't worry, though. I am going to let Emma live her life and decide those things for herself. I don't want to tie her down."

"She's still young." The elementary school teacher's absent smile was demolished into a grim line.

"I know." And, like that, Regina had been weighted down by the stone that pressed against her chest.

The staining reality was always there of their relationship and their age difference. She never paid it any mind unless spoken about outright. Emma's age was nothing, nor did it matter, when it came to her love for the blonde. But, sometimes, it still gripped her heart. She didn't want to take anything away from her.

"Emma knows what she's doing." David pulled Regina from her thoughts, offering her a friendly smile. She attempted to return it, finding it hard to keep the upturn on her lips. "She's a smart girl."

"She is," Regina's voice was weak, the words barely leaving her lips. She cleared her throat and tried again, "she is. And she's full of love."

Regina yearned for the blonde's warmth. The ache in her heart told her how much she hated being away from that petulant woman.

Mary Margaret smiled softly at Regina and it was then that she noticed that she had a smile of her own on her face. She could never help it when Emma was on her mind. That blonde was everything to her.

"Why don't you go to her? We've got to start dinner soon, anyhow, and there's not much more I can think of to ask you right now. I still need to wrap my head around this." The short-haired brunette pulled herself away from David and stood, her husband following suit.

Regina felt her heart skip a beat.

She stood as well. "Of course. I am here if you do wish to ask me about anything else."

The other woman nodded. "You really do love her, don't you?"

The teacher blinked for a moment at the question. "I do."

"I can tell. You smile whenever she's mentioned." Mary Margaret let out a soft chuckle, her head shaking. "And when she's here… I didn't want to see it, but I did. It's… amazing."

"It is," Regina breathlessly replied.

"Go to her. I know you're itching to." She chuckled softly. "I'll let Emma know when you should be back for dinner."

"Alright, of course." Regina was already moving towards the door, grabbing her purse from the table to pull her phone out. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me." Mary Margaret's voice sounded behind her. "See you later."

"Yes, I will see you later." Regina offered her a quick smile before disappearing out the door, sending a message to her girlfriend for an address.