Some time in the past
The girl looked longingly at the dolls at the foot of her bed, today as decorations, they were once used to fill her huge imagination, which unfortunately is in total disuse, like her toys.
"Regina!" The girl hears Rainy's voice yelling from the hallway "Regina! Where are you girl?!"
The little girl sighed on her stool in front of the dressing table.
"Oh! There you are! What are you doing that you're not ready yet?!" the housekeeper asks as she enters the room.
"Mom told me to get dressed... but I don't know how to braid it yet" The little girl replied innocently.
The older woman looked sympathetically at the 9-year-old.
"Here, come. Don't forget to bring your brush!" The woman sits on the girl's bed and pats her lap.
With a smile trailing her lip, Regina runs to the woman's legs and settles down.
In a few seconds she feels Rainy's fingers sliding through her long black hair as gently as she can, untangling the tangles along with the brush.
Regina loves those moments, where she can feel the tenderness of a soft touch, a motherly touch that she had never felt from her own mother.
Cora never dressed Regina or braided her hair, at most she would choose the dress she would wear (this was the rule), but the rest were always her tutors and nannies. To be honest, the girl preferred it that way, as unfortunately being in her mother's presence meant being punished by her, no matter what she did, nothing was good for Cora and in the end, she would be tied to a chair or a table leg. with those damn ribbons squeezing her wrists and mouth.
Regina preferred Rainy, the woman who had taken care of her since she was a baby! Not unlike Cora, Rainy was imposing against the other servants and hardly anyone wasn't intimidated by her, but unlike Cora, Rainy wasn't necessarily cruel, and never said anything but kind words to Regina, even when she scolded her. The girl often compared the housekeeper to an egg, hard on the outside but soft on the inside, unlike her mother, who was like a stone, hard and dull.
"What are we even doing this for?" Regina's voice comes out slurred and bored, if her mother saw her talking like that, at the very least, she would get a slap in the mouth.
"Why, didn't you know?" Rainy raises an eyebrow as she starts the braid.
"Mom just told me to go to my room and get ready, she didn't look very happy..." Regina replies.
The child shudders at the memory of her mother's furious face as she read the letter in the middle of teatime, a package hurriedly delivered by one of the servants saying it was the king's official business. Cora tore the letter to shreds and yelled for Regina to get out of the room.
"And how she would be, right?" Rainy laughs to herself "Lady Cora must be furious."
"And what made mother upset?" Regina asks dismissively, many things make her mother angry.
"The queen and the king had a baby" The housekeeper says with a sigh.
This made the little girl practically jump off her lap and turn to face the woman surprised by the girl's sudden change.
"When?! I didn't know Aunt Eva was pregnant!" The girl speaks excitedly.
"Regina for God's sake don't let your mother hear you call the queen that!" Rainy warns "And I don't know how to respond to that, dear... it was a surprise to everyone!Apparently the king and queen thought it best to tell people after the child was born... I heard it was because the queen's pregnancy was risky... now sit up straight, child! You have to get ready!"
Regina settles back on the woman's lap and sighs happily that she is no longer the only real child, she would finally have someone to talk to.
"Do you know if it's a girl or a boy?" she asks curiously.
"Girl" Rainy responds with a smile.
"Oh, Rainy… this is wonderful!" The child's face lights up with a rare smile.
"Yes, yes… now be quiet! Or do you want to be late to see your little cousin?" the woman asks as she puts the finishing touches on the girl's braid.
"ARE WE GOING TO SEE HER?" The girl screams.
"Hush, Regina! Do you want your mother to come here?" The woman alert.
The girl quickly shuts up, but the smile doesn't leave her face.
"Ah Rainy…this is the best day ever!" The child speaks dreamily.
Enchanted florest
Emma Swan POV
We walked in silence side by side, me and Regina, who looked as if she'd never thrown a king down the stairs. And that is something I'm still trying to process, along with my newest magical discovery... I can feel a headache coming on.
"We have to talk about this, you know" I say reaching out to touch her arm "What you did wasn't right."
"Oh, spare me, Swan" Regina rolls her eyes and tugs at her arm "You want to lecture me? You? Come on, we have to do what Rainy says and keep up appearances."
"Regina, you just threw the king down the stairs! The guy's still unconscious down there and not to mention Rainy gave us a hell of a scolding in the kitchen a few minutes ago, and believe me, few foster moms of mine were as scary as that woman, and that's a big deal!" I raise my palms and widen my eyes.
I can still hear the housekeeper's voice like a ringing in my ears, 'Do you have any idea the gravity of what happened? The king will accuse our master of treason if he thinks it was on purpose! Is that what you want? Being jobless?! Now come on, tell me who waxed the floor today!' the old hag rallied the servants in a line as she scolded us. Poor Bob, the unfortunate employee who had the misfortune to wash the floor today, was fired as soon as he raised his hand. I liked him.
"And what do you want me to do, Swan? The person responsible has already been punished." She raises her eyebrow, speaking with total conviction something we both know to be false.
"That's not true" I take a step closer to her.
"And only you and I know that, right? We have bigger worries now..." She sighs and starts walking.
"Regina, an innocent man was fired today! Does that... doesn't that bring you any remorse?" I frown, totally distressed by the mayor's behavior. Does she have no heart?
"It happens all the time Miss Swan... innocent, good people... it always ends badly for them, now I want you to focus on what you have to do now and..."
"We're not going anywhere if he's dead" I interrupt, vaguely remembering Regina's father being accused of treason.
"He's not dead... he's just unconscious" Regina's voice is filled with boredom "Don't you think that if pushing him down a ladder would kill him, I wouldn't have tried?"
"What? But he was your husband! What did you use to..."
"Snakes."
"Snakes?" I open and close my mouth "But... why?"
"The reason doesn't matter... look there's only one place here that can..." I cut her off again.
"Just to make it clear that..."
"I'm talking, Swan! When people talk, you should listen! If you interrupt me again, you'll be the one I throw down the stairs!" She stops and places her hands on her hips.
Although I hate the times (and on this "trip" there are many) that she treats me like a child, I confess that the look on Regina's face is anything but a joke.
"I just wanted to make a point" I cross my arms, of course I wasn't going to lower my head.
"And it's being properly disposed of." She raises an eyebrow.
"But that's not fair! I just..."
"How many times have you been here, Swan?" Regina sighs and places two fingers on her right temple.
"None" I mutter.
"As I expected" She stares at me "Don't think I enjoy being with you any more than you enjoy being with me, but unfortunately I have to take you with me, so if you want to get out of here, you're going to have to listen to me and obey me, understand Sheriff?"
I bite my bottom lip and try to suppress my temper.
Who was she to be talking to me like that? My mom? My mother is in... No, no, no. Swan focus. Think of Henry.
"You said there's something that can get us out of here" I change the subject and look back into her eyes.
"Yes, there is." She shakes her head, silently grateful for our temporary truce.
"So, what are you waiting for?" I cross my arms.
Regina sighs and looks around, seeing if anyone was coming in the palace corridor, she nods and pulls my arm so that we are close to the wall.
"My mother has a special room, there she keeps some spells and anyway... things she wouldn't dream of showing me."
"Great! Have you been there?" My hopes begin to rise.
"No" She frowns.
"So we're back to square one" And as fast as they came, any dreams of seeing my son went down the drain.
"She never let me in there, and she never said what was in there either."
"And things only get better… how the hell do you know there's anything there?"
"I followed her once" Regina bites her lip and stares at the view at the nearest window "I caught a glimpse of the room before she caught me and punished me. If there's one place we can find a way out of here, it's there."
"Do you still remember the way?" I secretly cross my fingers.
"Vaguely" My face forms a frown "But this was my house once, I'll find that place."
"Great! And what are we waiting for?" I start walking until I feel her arm pulling me back "What's up this time Regina?"
"There's no "We" this time, Miss Swan" A slight smile tugs at her lip.
"What?" I ask confused.
"Swan, do I have to draw? It means you're not coming!" Regina rolls her eyes.
"Of course I'm going!" I cross my arms and stomp my foot.
"No, no, it would be very suspicious if we disappeared and besides, you know the order that Rainy gave before we left the kitchen? Well, you're the one who's going to take care of the mini version of your mother!" There's a hint of annoyance in her tone.
"She's not my... look, Regina, that's not fair! She was your responsibility and..."
"And only I know where I can find my mother's spell room" She interrupts me.
"I..." The words are out of my mouth.
She's right, only she can find such a place and only she would know how to handle the stuff inside… but something about it doesn't make me comfortable. Regina going alone looking for the only thing that can get us out of here? Nah, very suspicious, even though neither has killed the other 'yet', I wouldn't bet my ticket out of this place on Regina's almost decent behavior, of all people.
"I know what you're thinking" She rolls her eyes for the millionth time that day "As tempted as I am, I can't leave you here... Henry wouldn't like this at all."
"And why would I trust you?" I raise an eyebrow in distrust.
"Henry" She says just that and I know what she means.
Regina wasn't the best mother, I know that, but she seems to love the kid and that has to count for something.
"Okay" I shake my head and drop my arms "Where is the girl? Is she still in the library?"
"Yeah, I said I'd get her some cookies" She says impatiently.
"She's been waiting all this time?" I ask sarcastically.
"I told her to stay there and well, now she's your problem" Regina starts to walk away.
"Hey! Wait! What do I tell her? Does she know about her father? Do I tell her what happened?" I start to despair.
"I don't know, Swan! How are you going to tell the brat that..."
"Hey, don't call her that!" I felt slightly uncomfortable with Regina calling my mo… Mary Margaret that.
"That her father fell down the stairs and is now unconscious?! Well, I don't care" She looks at me wryly and starts to turn around.
"Regina! Wait!" I call once more.
"What happened this time?!" she asks annoyed, turning around.
"What do I tell her? How do I talk to her?!" After all, I only talked to the little girl for a brief moment "Please Regina, come with me and…"
"Stop acting like a child, Swan! She's just a girl, do anything, or even do nothing! Believe me, there will be no shortage of things to do, that child won't shut up!" She walks back.
"But Regina, she..."
"She's your problem now, Swan! So go and take care of it!" She says without turning her back on me.
I watch as the madame mayor turns the corner and disappears down the hall, leaving me all alone and… with a six-foot problem.
I made my way to the library... well, I think the library was this way... or should I have turned left? Oh shit! Think, Emma... think, Emma... Who am I kidding? Every time I see that kid's face, the little girl in the fancy dress and pretty face, with those green eyes so like my roommate's, so like mine, in my mind... it feels like I've been punched in the stomach.
The little conversation we had a few hours ago took a lot of energy from me, it was so overwhelming to see someone so small and so… childish, become someone who could be my mother?! The very thought makes the hairs on my arms stand on end.
"Where did I get myself in..." I run my hands over my face and sigh "I'm so screwed."
I try to keep myself composed when one of the washerwomen walks past me without even looking at me, it makes me turn around and face the short, plump woman's back, I frown, are the people here really snobby? No excesses?! I huff and walk again.
How am I supposed to look? I know I'm different, Regina made those necklaces to change our shapes, but I still haven't looked at myself in the mirror... I know I'm still blonde, but my tone has darkened a little.
My eyes darted to the far end of the other hallway, where a guard was marching in his shiny silver armor.
"Hey! I mean, sir… wait a minute." I undo the neckline of my dress a little and push my hair back, hoping that face will do the magic my real face did.
"Yes ma'am?" The guard is not ugly, he looks more like a boy. He's without a helmet.
"I have a question..." I approach, with my eyes on his armor, which has now become my mirror.
My God! This is me? My pale skin is slightly tanned, my face is a little oval, my nose is thin and slightly long, my bottom lip is full, my eyes are brown... and Oh Gosh, I look like a fucking teenager!
"Ms?" He starts to look at me strangely when he sees my mouth slightly open staring at his armor.
"What?" I still look at him in amazement "So, do you know where the library is? I'm new and I think I got lost."
I steal a few glances at his armor, still fascinated by my new appearance.
"Oh yeah! You're pretty far away, huh?" He laughs and shifts the weight of his foot "Just go back left, go through the dining room, turn right twice and then go straight, the last door is the library!"
"Oh, sure, thank…" My words trail off when I see, almost imperceptibly, over the guard's silver shoulder, a girl with long brown hair running down the next aisle.
I pass the guard and head towards the path I saw the girl walk by.
"Miss, the direction is this way!" He yells, confused.
"I know! I remembered a shortcut!" I quicken my pace without acknowledging the presence of the guard at my back.
When I reach the other end of the brightly lit hallway, my eyes are quick to notice the teenager's shadow disappear as she turns and changes her path.
I don't know if she knew she was being followed, but that girl is giving me a hard time. There's no way in hell I'm going to find the mayor with all the steps I've given here... I desperately need a map.
I hide behind a pillar when the girl finally stops in front of a door, I peer between the stone monument and notice that stains of tears make their way over her face, some have been dried and others have been contained escaping through the teenager's tear ducts.
She looks from side to side, as an older version of her did several minutes ago, then opens her bedroom door and enters.
And now? What do I do? Do I knock on the door? I just enter it and... Calm down, calm down... shit, now I'm in the habit of talking to myself.
I shouldn't even be here to begin with! That's it, I have to go to the library and keep an eye out for the paperback version of Mary Margaret Blanchard.
Where did I even come from?! I silently curse my poor sense of direction.
I have two options: 1- Go back with my tail between my legs and try to find the damn library, which apparently is much further away than it was before or 2- go after the teenage version of the other mother of my son.
The hard option or the easy one?
Well, maybe the girl knows a shortcut to the library, after all, she lives here... and she was crying... she didn't look well... yeah, that's what I'm going to tell older Regina when she starts to fight me for the mess I made. I can already imagine her superior tone of voice saying, 'I only asked you one thing, Swan!' You know what... fuck it.
I take a few tentative steps to the doorway, trying to gather everything I know about teenagers. I realize I only know one thing... they are unbearable.
I knock three times on the door and wait… silence. I'm sure she was here, and It wouldn't give her time to leave without me noticing! I frown and open the door, worried about the girl.
"No, no, wait!" The soft voice, so different from Regina's original voice that I remember, started screaming as soon as I turned the knob.
Nothing, absolutely nothing would prepare me for the scene I saw.
The girl still had tears on her face, she was half dressed, as if she was undressing, just wearing a thin white nightgown, she looks at me with big brown doe eyes and parted lips, totally horrified, and horror was the exact feeling that etched on my features when I finally notice where the girl's shaking hands rest. She was holding a rounded bulge below her breasts, her belly... Is Regina pregnant?!
"GET OUT! GET OUT OF HERE!" She screams, more tears streaming down her face and her hands gripping her stomach tighter.
Shit. Shit. Shit. What the hell do I do now? Run. That's it, Swan, run. I've always been good at running. I try to close my open mouth and turn to leave the room, but the teenager's sobs stop me.
No, I can't run away now. I have to stay.
I slowly turn back to face the girl, who is now kneeling on the floor, holding her six… maybe seven month old belly? How could she hide it?!
I swallow hard and close the bedroom door.
"Regina..." I try to approach the young woman.
"Didn't I tell you to get out of here?! Just leave! You've never seen me like this!You've never seen me here!" She screams at me, but it's nothing more than a whimper of pain, just words scrambled by sobs and tears.
A pang hits my heart and a feeling I never thought I'd feel for Regina Mills (or any version of her) begins to grow... empathy.
I remember being in the same position as her almost eleven years ago, but in jail, owning a stolen car, no boyfriend or money, and a pregnancy test in hand. I was 18 years old. This person, this girl, is much younger, she is what the Evil Queen used to be.
I ignore her requests and approach slowly, trying to crouch next to the teenager without making too many sudden movements. She's still crying and it seems like anything can startle her now, almost like a wounded animal.
"Regina... princess..." I extend my hand but the girl pulls away.
"I asked you to leave... get out of here... please just leave me... alone" She crawls to the foot of the bed and tries to pull her legs to her chest. Her voice, now fragile and uncertain, is totally different from the one she'd used to kick me out of the room.
"I won't hurt you, princess..."
"That's what everyone says" The girl says bitterly "Get out."
"I won't." I set my jaw.
"Why do you care? You're just going to get out of here and tell my mother anyway, so take your chance and do it soon! After all, it's all ruined! By the time you get back I'll be far away from here." She stares at the empty space in front of her.
"And where are you going?" Slowly I try to find a place to sit next to her.
"Why would I tell you? Why would I trust you?" Two tears fall from her brown eyes at the same time.
"Because I know exactly how you're feeling" I know it's the wrong thing to say, but that's the truth.
"You don't know anything about me!" She looks at me and walks away.
"Whatever you're going through, princ… Regina, you don't have to go through it alone. Hey look at me" I reach a hand to her face and make her look at me "I won't tell your mom, I won't ask what happened, just let me help you."
"Why are you doing this?" The girl frowns.
"Because I believe there is a connection between people… even strangers" I don't know where I got that, I just remembered the moment I knocked on Mary Margaret's door looking for a bed.
"I… I…" She stutters and I see a new wave of tears form in her eyes "I don't know what to do."
I thank my quick reflexes as the girl throws herself into my arms and starts crying on my shoulder. It takes me a second to notice what's happened and then I wrap my arms around her.
"It's okay… it's okay" I quote the words my jailer said when she was giving birth to Henry.
My hand reaches my face as I feel an involuntary tear fall, the girl's heart is pounding against me and her sobs shake her small body. God… she's unusually thin and small for her age, well, that's what I think.
Even with my muscles aching, I stay in the same position until she calms down.
"Can you get up?" I ask, after her sobs have turned to soft sighs.
"I think… yes, I think I can." She tries to smile but fails miserably.
"Good. Lean on me, okay? Like this…slowly" I place my hands on her shoulders until she balances herself.
Only now I notice that the teenager is dirty from head to toe, her hair is a tangle of dark curls, arms smeared with dirt, a slight cut on her right hand, I look across the room at the clothes she discarded before my entrance, all covered in mud.
"I..." She tries to speak when she sees my gaze "I don't... well, I wanted to change, clean myself up before my mother arrives, she can't see me like this, she..."
"I know, don't worry" I interrupt, seeing the beginnings of an anxious attack flow through the girl "I think you'd better wash up, I'll wait here if you want… in fact, I want to stay here until I'm sure you're okay."
"Then you're going to have a long wait" Regina says sarcastically and laughs, then lowers her head and covers her stomach with her arms "Sorry, it's just that today hasn't been my best day."
"Oh, I can bet that." I try to laugh but my laughter doesn't reach my eyes.
She looks shyly at me and we share a meaningful look, I can see how grateful she is for what I'm doing.
"I'm going to take a shower... I won't be long... you don't have to stay, you know..."
"I know" I say and sit down on her soft bed "I want to stay."
Regina looks slightly surprised, her mouth opens and closes twice, until she nods and turns to pull a towel out of her closet, then turns to a door inside her bedroom, the bathroom, and disappears through it.
As the teenager leaves, I feel the breath I didn't know I was holding, leave my lungs.
Oh My God! What the fuck just happened?! Regina was pregnant! Regina, the Regina I know was once pregnant! Why didn't she say it before? Why didn't she tell that?! Where is the child?! What the hell am I going to say once I find the older version of the pregnant girl in the other room?! Where was the father? A grimace begins to form on my face as I put sex and a 15-year-old girl together.
'You're not the best example, Swan.' I feel the annoying little voice in my head reminding me.
True, I'm being hypocritical.
But that concept didn't seem so far-fetched to me back then, so why should I care now?!
Great, now it's in my brain.
'Thank you, Madam Mayor, you still manage to fuck my psyche!' I want to get up and clap my hands to the empty room.
"Hmm… lady? Is anyone still there?" I hear a shy voice calling from inside the bathroom.
I look from side to side, yeah, she's definitely talking to me.
How many minutes have passed since she walked in?
I walk cautiously to the mahogany door.
"Ah… yes…" I clear my throat "Yes, I'm here… miss."
"Can you please help me?" I hear her muffled voice on the other side of the door.
Why would she need me? How weird would that be?!
I take a deep breath and open the door.
"You called?" I look down at my feet to avoid looking at the teenager in the bathtub.
"Yes… I usually have maids to help me, but I've dismissed them all since… well, could you help me with that…" When the words fade from the girl's mouth, I lift my gaze, still insecure.
I feel my heart drop for the tenth time in a 30-minute period. If before I thought Regina was small, now she looked like nothing more than a child, in the midst of all that foam, sitting in a bathtub too big for her. The teenager holds out a sponge to me and I see her cheeks flush, she's just as embarrassed as I am.
"Oh, yes, of course." I hurry and take the sponge out of her hand.
I'm as gentle as I can when I clean her back, she's definitely fallen somewhere, as I see small fresh cuts on her skin, mixed with old wounds, but different shapes from the new ones... who did that to her?
"Ouch" I hear her complain and involuntarily pull away from my hand.
"Sorry, I'm trying to be as nice as possible. I see you fell bad." My tone is friendly.
"Yes" She whispers and rests her head on her knees.
I want to ask what happened, but something tells me it's not time yet, especially when I see silent tears make their way down the bridge of the girl's nose.
I help her through the rest of the bath, the tension is palpable in the sterile room, as if a blanket of melancholy has descended on the girl. I pull her out of the tub and cover her with a towel, her eyes no longer holding any tears, just empty.
I sit Regina down at her dressing table and pull her long wet hair back.
"Do you want me to brush?" I ask, a little worried by her silence.
She just shakes her head and takes a brush out of one of the dresser drawers.
I split her hair in two parts, starting with the right side, like I did with younger children in my foster homes. The silence still bothers me and Regina shows no sign that she wants to break it.
"You know, when I was a kid" I start to speak, not understanding where the hell I'm going "I hated when my foster moms brushed my hair, it took a while for me to do it on my own but I finally learned" I notice that the teenager is focused on me "But there was a time when I grew up where I couldn't brush my hair anymore, so sometimes it looked like a mess."
"What happened?" she asks frowning.
"In my eighth month of pregnancy, almost ninth month, I wasn't flexible anymore and I couldn't reach the back of my head" I laughed remembering the struggles I had with my own hair at that time, and how many times I threw the brush at the wall.
"Have you been pregnant?" The girl's mouth opens slightly and her hand lands on her pregnant belly.
"I was 17, 18 when I had him" A smile trails across my lips at the memory of the kid.
Regina is speechless for a moment, she starts playing with her nails.
"Where is he?" the girl asks looking at me through the mirror.
"He is far away" My face changes to sadness, after all, Henry was neither in that time nor in this world.
"Did you give up on him?" Regina turns in her seat to face me, causing me to release a piece of her hair.
"Yeah... I wanted him to have his best chance, but it wasn't me."
"Did you want him?" There is hope in the girl's voice.
"More than anything" I confess "But I couldn't let him grow up like me, he had to be better than me."
"What do you mean?" Regina looks confused.
"My parents they…they gave up on me too, my childhood wasn't very good and I didn't want the same for him" I didn't want to lie to her because I felt like I need to tell the truth.
"Did you find him later?"
"Yes" The smile returns to my lips "And he was better than I could have imagined."
Regina gives me a smile, the first real smile since I walked through her bedroom door, but it soon disappears.
"I don't want to give up my baby." She turns to the mirror and lowers her head, almost as if she's confessing a sin.
"I understand" I say and sit next to her on the dressing table, putting enough space between us.
"But I don't know what to do... I tried to hide it as much as I could, I found out two months ago, I thought it was a stomachache, but my friend... Claire, she took me to a healer in her village without my mother knowing and there I found out I was pregnant" Regina smiles and caresses her belly "I was so scared, but I was also so happy... I felt so guilty for feeling happy, I slept with someone without being married and I couldn't even imagine what my mother would do if she found out! But I was so, so glad in that moment, I wasn't going to be alone anymore."
"How far are you in the pregnancy? Did the healer say?" I ask, not understanding what the "medical" procedures was like here.
"I'm in my eighth month." She bites her lip.
"Eighth?" I widen my eyes.
Her belly looks like it's eight months old at most.
"Yeah, I know what you're thinking... I was also worried at first, but I see it as a kind of blessing, I don't know... the less evident the belly, the less my mother will notice" She looks at me with eyes glistening with tears "If she finds out, I'm sure she'll take my baby, she'll punish me! So I wore baggy clothes, but mother would fight me, say it made me look fat, so I started wearing a corset."
"Oh God, that must hurt so much!" I think out loud.
"You have no idea." She widens her eyes and shakes her head.
"So you managed to hide like that?"
"I'm still trying, but it gets harder and harder... mother noticed that my waist has widened and now she cut down on my food."
"More?" I ask remembering the little food on the teenager's plate when we serve lunch.
"My mother is… complicated."
I'd say a bitch, but I kept my mouth shut.
"Is the father that red-haired boy?" I speak before my mind processes anything.
She looks at me astonished.
"How do you know about Jasper?" She looks at me suspiciously.
"I saw you two talking yesterday in the garden. It's him?" I ask and her gaze changes.
"Yes" Her voice has a mixture of hurt and anger "He's my painting teacher, we fell in love. Jasper was happy when he found out about the baby, started talking about us running away together, if only I knew..."
"What did he do?" A bit of annoyance starts to build up in me.
"He ran-away. I went to his place this morning, before Uncle Leopold got here. But when I arrived at Jasper's cabin, everything was closed and dark, there was a note stuck on the door sill with my name on it... he said he couldn't help me anymore" The girl laughs a sarcastic laugh "As if he had done some favor for me."
"Idiot" I say. Just boys being boys.
"Yes" She agrees "But I still... I loved him, I think I still do."
"The feeling that stays is the worst part, but you know what? If he didn't want to be here, he's the one who's missing." I put a hand on her shoulder.
The teenager smiles at me.
"Thank you" Regina says "You spent all this time with me and I still don't know your name."
"Actually you do, I told you earlier today when I made you grilled cheese, you know, that stuff you devoured." Realization begins to flash across the girl's face.
"Oh Gods! Yeah! I'm so sorry how rude I was" Regina starts to apologize.
"Hey, don't worry, I think we're past the awkward stage." Finally the tension was melting between the two of us.
"Yes" The girl agrees "Thanks… Emma."
"Anytime." I lightly squeeze the brunette's arm.
The moment was abruptly interrupted by a knock on the door, and suddenly the tension was back in the room.
I feel Regina's eyes on me, but the only thing I can see is the turning of the doorknob, half a second after the knock.
'Holy shit Swan, what are you going to do now?' That question echoes through my head.
