A/N: Woo, I got 'er done! I know, *finally*. But it's quite a long chapter this time, I hope that makes up for it. I have been absolutely scattered these past few weeks. It's nearing the end of the school year and I have tests up the wazoo. (And I can also blame RP and lack of sleep to my lack of inspiration to write). I have most of this all planned out to the end, so hopefully I'll be getting these things up more quickly than I had been! Next week I'll probably have quite a bit of free time, so!

On that note, here is a fresh chapter for you! And after that season finale, I'm quite sure you all need it. (I think I lucked out, having missed a great portion of it due to horrible internet streaming).

Anywhoodles, I would like to thank you for all of your wonderful reviews from last chapter! :D They really do make my day, hell, my entire week. So, thank you so very much, I greatly appreciate the feedback and I do encourage that you leave me some for this chapter and the direction that I'm taking this.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: CHRISTMAS NIGHT

Cora Mills arrived to her apartment at the top floor of a lavish building in downtown New York. It had been late in the evening by the time that she had finally landed on Christmas night. She had just returned from visiting her daughter in that small, godawful town that she resided in.

But it was that godawful town that was supposed to change her ways, or so the lawyer had thought. It had worked for the most part until Zelena had mentioned a possible female lover that had her going haywire. It may not have been the first time that she had caught wind that her daughter had been seeing women, but it was the first in a long while. She had spies scattered throughout the small town of Storybrooke and they were her faithful eyes, or she had hoped that they would be or they would no longer be watching anything.

Though, upon hearing this news of a new lover that had come into Regina's life, she had wanted so desperately to get to the bottom of it. She wanted to get the truth out of the brunette teacher, but that woman seemed too adamant. She wouldn't spill whatsoever and that had only irked Cora.

Of course, that was after she had mentioned her planned trip to visit Regina. She firstly had no intention of digging around in her daughter's life, not having a single worry about her ways.

Perhaps that was a little lie. The older brunette had a few tricks up her sleeve, and those tricks were the reason entirely why she had ever thought about visiting her daughter. She had hopes to cure her and to eliminate any problem that might prevent the conversion she had planned for these five years that she was gone.

Oh, how she had been unamused by her daughter's revelation all those years back- or more so her exposure- when she had first found out her daughter was a lesbian. It was a heart-wrenching time. Regina was her only daughter, or so she had only wanted to claim her as her only daughter since Zelena had been long out of her life by then. And being her only daughter, the younger brunette had to be the one to bear her heirs for her firm to keep it running.

But that dream was cut short when she found her eighteen-year-old daughter in bed with a woman.

That could have given her a heart attack, goddammit. She had been so stressed out, she had nearly had one that day after screaming at her daughter to get the hell out of her house with her sick and twisted ways. Regina had absolutely no respect for her and had discovered as much upon their departure. Her little girl was rather defiant and had dared stand up to her.

She would surely pay, and it was at a high price that she would not like but Cora would thoroughly enjoy.

Regina would, one way or another, learn to never disobey her mother.

But that wasn't exactly on Cora's mind for vengeance as of current. Her mindset was more on her original plan to expose whatever her daughter was hiding from her and deal with it once and for all. Whoever this blonde girl that she was hiding from her… Cora would find out her identity soon enough. If Zelena's assumptions were correct, and the brunette teacher was lying to her, Regina was something of what Cora had feared the most. That woman must be desperate, alright, if she had to now chase after the very kids that she had taught.

Her eldest daughter had described the girl that seemed to have brought out Regina's possessive side as a teenager, no older than seventeen or eighteen years of age. A petite blonde with the face of a child and the sparkle of youth in her eyes. Regina wore an expression that of a lover, protecting their significant other from harm as she would. The way that the blonde had reacted was a thing in itself. A student would never touch their teacher in such a way.

"And why the hell would she have a student at her house? Why not the school?" Cora thought aloud, dropping her purse on her bed.

It was true. If Regina were to tutor a young pupil, wouldn't she be doing it inside the school instead of on her own time in her own home? That was a little private, wasn't it? That girl had no business being there unless something else was going on. Something that wasn't exactly the teacher-student relationship that it should be.

"What was that?" A familiar voice rang through the otherwise desolate apartment. Cora gasped at the voice, jumping slightly in her spot. She hadn't expected anyone to be here. Or at least so soon.

Cora moved swiftly through the loft towards the source, which had been lounging on her creamy leather couch, sitting in front of a lit fire. She clucked, eyes narrowed on the auburn haired woman.

"Zelena," she greeted with exasperation. "I hadn't realized you were already here. However did you beat me?"

"Directly after our chat, dear mother, I had left on an earlier flight. I figured that I would let myself in and start up our… investigation." It was then that Cora had noticed a laptop in front of her daughter on the coffee table, open to a page that looked too complicated for her to understand.

It was Zelena that had brought this idea to mind. This idea to spy on her little sister to help Cora get to the bottom of whatever her daughter had going on. She had embraced this idea, the perfect idea.

It had all started when she had found that worn out scrap of a toy that Regina had loved so much. That panda bear was the perfect item to use for what Zelena had in mind. It was a small procedure, a slice into the bear's back and a small bug that captured sound slipped into the fluff with a stitch to close it up.

It had worked, as they had soon found out on the laptop that Zelena had some inane program installed on. It hooked up with the strange voice thing and all of it had Cora's head pounding.

She was just glad that it worked and was sufficient enough to do the job.

And her daughter had embraced that bear welcomingly, which was the first successful step to the plan.

The next was to listen in on what would be going on through the other side. Hopefully Regina would put that bear somewhere the two of them could hear activity because if she had decided to throw that rag up in the attic, their plan had failed and they would have to come up with a new one.

Hopefully that wouldn't be the case.

"I had started on it already."

"Did you catch anything?" Cora asked, perching on the edge of the couch next to her eldest daughter.

"It was dead quiet for a few hours, sans holiday music and the occasional hum from our dear Regina." Zelena picked the computer up and sat it on her lap so her mother could have a closer look. She pressed a few buttons. "I hadn't been keeping tabs on it, but, going back, I can see that the vocal activity had changed significantly. I listened in on some of the conversation being had with this new guest and, lo and behold, it was that same girl."

"How can you be so sure?" Cora asked as Zelena had backtracked the audio to the conversation from earlier that day.

"Are you warm, Emma?" That was Regina's voice, Cora immediately recognized.

"Yeah, thanks…I know I probably should have waited, but I didn't really want to. I wanted to give you your gift on time. On Christmas." The brunette frowned at this new voice. It was feminine and much younger sounding than that of her daughter's. Was this that student Zelena had been talking about? She had claimed that it was.

"My gift? Now, Emma, you didn't have to get me anything…"

"I didn't. I made you something."

"Is that her?" Cora asked, looking over towards the ginger haired woman.

"Yes," Zelena nodded, a smirk on her lips. "I recognize the voice."

"Anyways, after that, they're just opening up gifts so I fast-forwarded. They had left the room for quite some time." Zelena clicked a few buttons on the computer and skipped ahead on the audio track to a spot later on.

"I don't understand." Cora furrowed her brows.

"What don't you understand, mother?"

"Why on Earth would she go after someone so young?" It had baffled her. Of course, she was against Regina going after women altogether, but a young one? One that was surely half her age.

"Because she is sick, like you had said." Zelena curled her upper lip into a sneer. "That is why we are doing this. To rid of that."

"It's disgusting." Cora mumbled, her attention breaking from the conversation to listen to her daughter's voice.

"I bet they're screwing." Her daughter suddenly said, interrupting Cora's concentration.

"Oh, please. My daughter would know better than to-"

"Sh-shit, Gina!" A sharp cry, louder than the other audio had rang through the otherwise quiet room.

Cora gawked, wondering when the hell something like this had started. She gazed to Zelena who had mirrored her expression, eyes glued to the screen of the laptop.

"Nuh-uh-uh…My story isn't over." Regina's voice was not like something the lawyer had ever heard before. It was deep, sultry, and held a tinge of breathlessness. There was a sound rather unpleasing to her ears as she could just hear exactly what they were doing. She could vomit.

"Hng, please! Tell me!"

"And just as I was about to orgasm, my mother knocked." Another sharp cry from the girl could be heard.

"What the hell is she talking about?" Cora squawked, pointing at the screen as if it would give her answers.

"Congratulations, your daughter has screwed a minor." Zelena turned her sapphire gaze to the older woman, a pleased look on her features. "Is she now officially the largest disappointment in your life?"

"No… No…" Cora slowly shook her head, not willing to admit to that. "She's still able to be helped."

Zelena gave a nasty look and turned away.

Cora merely brushed her look off. Regina was still able to be helped, she was sure of it. She could always turn her daughter's attitude around. She wasn't giving up on that woman so easily, especially not as much as her nasty brat of an older daughter had thought.

There was no wonder why she had been such a huge disappointment to her until recently.

But she would never admit as such. She still had hope for Regina. Hope for the one that she thought would be smart enough to conquer her illness and return to a normal life. The life that she had been destined to live.

There was something, though, that Cora could feel whenever her eldest was around. Of course, she wasn't dumb enough to pass this off. She knew what Zelena wanted from her. She wanted what she was going to give to Regina, and what she had already given to her.

She wanted the love of her mother and the wealth of the business that she ran.

Cora had guessed she wanted more of the latter the way she had greedily ate up her loft upon her first arrival two years ago. Why Cora had ever bothered letting that woman into her house to begin with, she would never know.

At least she was good for something, though. She had gotten a scoop on Regina before she had arrived and came up with the lovely little plan to spy on her. Maybe she would be worth handing the company over to in the end. Maybe she should just let Regina rot on her own.

But something about that thought had Cora's heart crumbling in her chest. Though Regina had irritated her to no end with her brash behavior, she still loved her little girl very much, and had spent thirty-seven years doing so. For Zelena, she had only personally known her for the past two years and had come to like her only mutually. She didn't harbor the love for her eldest daughter as she had for her youngest.

Maybe she had a little love for her. But she suspected it to be a sort of maternal bond than anything else.

Cora sighed and tried to block out the audio still being emitted from Zelena's laptop. Why hadn't she turned that off by now? They were virtually listening to porn.

"Turn that off." She demanded, pushing herself up from the couch. Obviously there was nothing more to listen to now.

When Zelena had obeyed the order, she stood as well. "Are we finished?"

"I'm exhausted," the lawyer bluntly muttered. "I'm going to clean up and go to bed. If there is any more speech from those two, or just from Regina herself, tell me of it in the morning."

"I will, mother." Cora cringed at the use of the word "mother."

"Good." She proceeded towards her bedroom when the auburn-haired woman had stopped her with a hand on the shoulder.

"What are you going to do with her?"

"You know what I'm going to do." Cora shrugged the hand off her and continued on. A groan of irritation almost left her as she heard her daughter's feet patter behind her.

"You said you were going to revert her, I know. But… what about the girl?"

"Don't worry about that." Cora stopped and whirled around to face the younger woman, a devious smirk on her lips. "She will be taken care of when I go back to Storybrooke. We won't have to worry about her getting in the way."

"Will you kill her?"

"Oh, no, darling." The older woman laughed and brushed the question off with a hand in the air. "Regina will do that for us."

STORYBROOKE, MAINE: NEW YEAR'S EVE

Emma flopped on her bed, shifting uncomfortably as her forest eyes were kept on the small digital clock on her bed stand. It was nearing midnight, with only ten minutes to go. And midnight meant a new day. And that new day resulted in a new year.

And that New Year was when Emma had decided to tell her foster parents of what she had hidden so long. She had contemplated greatly on what Regina had told her on Christmas night when she had dropped her off.

The blonde was quite reluctant to ever reveal this news to her foster parents, especially since she hadn't a clue how they would react. They could shun her, send her back into the system, like the others had done when she had revealed her sexuality to them.

That reason was exactly why she kept it to herself.

Mary Margaret and David didn't seem the type to do that, though she couldn't be so sure. People tended to be something far different on the inside than they appeared on the outside. That had terrified Emma. She didn't want to ruin her perfect relationship with the two of them over something that seemed so stupid.

She wished that she could just keep it from them.

The blonde closed her eyes momentarily before opening them, glancing at the glowing green numbers.

11:55.

She swallowed thickly. She had five minutes, even less now, to tell them. Emma had spent days thinking about how she was going to bring it up. She had spent nights, curled up in bed, thinking of the outcomes.

Would they be disgusted? Would they be happy for her? Would they just brush it off?

There was no telling. Only time would tell.

And did she ever hate time.

Time had become something of an enemy to her. There was never enough, and sometimes there was too much.

In this specific case, there was definitely not enough in the world.

She didn't have to tell them. She knew it. She wasn't obligated and she could back out now if she wished. But if she backed out now, she would only wimp out in the future. They would never know unless they had ever caught her with a lover like Regina had.

"Better sooner rather than later. That way they learn to accept it, if they don't, by the time comes."

Regina had said, and she was right. If she were to tell them now, she wouldn't have to worry about any reactions they might have in the future when Emma would be too far into something to take it well.

They wouldn't know about Regina.

And their ignorance to her would be bliss since they would be unable to tear her away from Emma, or guilt the blonde into leaving her.

Regina was safe. And that had made Emma safe. Well, for the most part anyways.

The teenager glanced up at the clock again, the thoughts in her mind swimming away as she sobered up.

11:59.

"Emma?" Mary Margaret called from downstairs. "It's almost time. You going to join us?"

"Yeah!" The blonde swallowed thickly and wiped her suddenly clammy palms on her pajama bottoms. Here she goes.

David turned his attention towards his foster daughter when she hopped down the stairs, wearing an uncomfortable smile on her face. "I didn't think you'd make it. We have about fifteen seconds away from the new year."

"Oh, boy." Emma made her way towards the two of them, who had been standing in the living room with their eyes glued to the television and the countdown on it.

"Five… Four… Three… Two… One! Happy New Year, everybody!" The announcer shouted through the television's speakers and Emma closed her eyes as her foster parents whooped.

"Time to break out the sparkling juice!" Mary Margaret chimed, heading towards the kitchen to pour the three of them a glass of the sparkling white grape juice that she got every year for the occasion.

David grinned and clapped a hand on Emma's back. "It's the new year."

"Feels the same to me." Emma mumbled as they joined her foster mother in the kitchen.

"Time for our New Year's Resolutions!" Mary Margaret chirped excitedly, handing the two of them the glass of sparkling juice.

Emma accepted her glass and took a sip, a gentle sigh slipping from her lips. Here were the resolutions that Mary Margaret and David seemed so keen to have. The years that she had been here, they had done them and normally hadn't fulfilled them by the year's end.

The first New Year she had spent here at midnight during that time, they had told her that she could confess to anything if she had ever wanted. She had suspected they were saying that so she would tell them more about herself, but that never worked. She stuck with simple things and kept closed up, just making simple goals for herself. She hadn't believed in making anything grand, because she knew nothing good would ever come of the year.

Normally she would be gone by the year's end and into a new house for the next one.

It came to her as a surprise that she was still here the very next year. Then, did she confess to something. Only one thing that wasn't anything major. She had told them this was the first time she had ever had a happy new year and had hope for the one to come.

"I'll resolute to reducing the amount of bear claws I eat." David barked with laughter at his own words, patting his gut as his wife joined him with a gleeful giggle.

"But you won't." She murmured fondly, a twinkle in her eyes as she gazed at him.

"What's your resolution?" He turned on her, a wry smile on his lips. Emma grinned at the way they seemed to tease each other, nearly chuckling when Mary Margaret stuck her tongue out at him.

Those two were so in love. Most of the time it was nauseating to watch, but it was quite sweet at other times. It reminded her of Regina in a way and how much she really did love that woman. It was crazy.

The past year was absolutely crazy and she could have never dreamed of what had happened.

"What about you, Emma?" Mary Margaret turned to stare at the blonde and only then did she realize she had completely missed what her foster mother's resolution was.

Gulping, she gave her a shaky smile. She was in the spotlight now. Was she going to really tell them?

"I have a confession for the new year that I need to get off my chest." She found herself wheezing out, her heart thudding in her chest.

What was she doing?

She felt as if she were going to faint.

Her brain seemed to float away and each movement not her own. She was too far gone now. She needed to tell them. How, was the question.

They looked at her expectantly, David's brows rising.

"Oh," Mary Margaret hummed, her head tilted. "What is it, honey?"

"I-I…" Emma chewed on her lower lip. "I probably should have told you this a long time ago. Like… when I first got here."

"Emma…" David frowned now, noticing the way the blonde had started to fidget in her spot. And fidget she did, tugging nervously at her fingers as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, then back and forth again.

"If you don't want to tell us…"

"No, I do. I need to." Emma cleared her throat and dropped her arms to her sides, trying to gain new confidence.

Just say it.

Make it blunt.

"I like girls." She said, casting a worried look towards the two.

David seemed to nod slowly as Mary Margaret just stared at her.

"What do you mean?" She asked, setting her glass down. "It's not a secret, right? Your friends are girls."

David wrapped an arm around his wife's waist. "Mary Margaret…"

He knew what she meant.

Emma looked at him, then to her foster mother.

Was she playing dumb? Or was she denying it?

"I-I'm gay," Emma cleared up, bracing herself for the worst.

"What do you mean?" Mary Margaret repeated her question, this time her brows were furrowed. David's grip only tightened.

"Mary Margaret…" he whispered her name as if to tell her to come off it.

But she didn't.

"How come you hadn't told us this?"

"I just wasn't…"

"You weren't what?" Emma flinched when she heard Mary Margaret's voice rise.

Never once had she ever taken that tone with her.

"Were you incapable of telling us something this important?"

"Honey, don't do this." David tried to calm his wife, giving her a squeeze, but the woman wouldn't have it. She pulled away from him, glaring in his direction.

"David. Don't you do that. Stay out of it."

"Look…" Emma muttered, holding her hands up. "I don't want to make you angry or anything."

"Oh, but you already had! You should have told me this, Emma."

"I would have… But I was scared to."

"What's scary is the influence it will be giving you!"

"What do you mean?" The blonde's eyebrows shot up to her hairline.

Really, what the hell was she talking about? What influence?

That woman made zero sense.

And David just stood there with a sympathetic gaze.

"Why would you do this to me, Emma? You could just have a nice boy…" Mary Margaret crossed her arms over her chest, not moving from her spot.

That was a good thing.

Because the last time this happened the foster mother moved from her spot.

And slapped her.

"It's all a simple mistake, right, Emma? You just haven't had the chance to find yourself a nice boy. I can help you, you know that?" Now she was smiling as if her plan would fix it all. "You can have a nice boyfriend and see how much better men are for you."

Emma stared at her, flabbergasted. Was she really saying this? Was she really going to try to shove a dick down her throat?

Because that thought absolutely terrified Emma and was one of the reasons she was quite gay.

"It's not like that, Mary Margaret." The blonde licked her lips and drew in a breath "Look, I'm not sexually attracted to men. It's not that I can't get a boyfriend, I just don't want one."

"What about Killian?"

"I just went to the dance with him because he literally begged me."

"You led him on."

"Yes," she answered, even though it wasn't a question. "But I told him and he's cool with it."

"That's not a nice thing to do, Emma." The pixie-haired woman huffed, quirking a brow at her foster daughter. "And it wasn't nice to keep this from me."

"I'm sorry. I was just… scared of how you'd react. It's happened before and it had ended badly." Emma admitted, her head downcast. "I thought you were cool with the whole gay thing, like when I told you about that couple in Boston."

"That's them, Emma. This is you."

"So? What's the difference?" The blonde snapped her head up, her voice laced with pain.

Was there something defective about her since she was gay? Was it a sin to be with these two in person?

"You shouldn't subject yourself to something like that! Do you know what people will say about you? About us?"

"Why should you care? I thought you loved me?" Emma narrowed her eyes in disbelief. She looked at David who just stood there, gazing sadly at his wife.

"I do, Emma."

"Then why should you care who I like?" She asked softly.

"Because it's just not right." Mary Margaret argued. "Do you know what the others in this town will say? They'll look at us differently and I cannot accept that."

"They won't have to know."

"But they'll find out!"

"Oh, your poor reputation!" Emma mock lamented, throwing her arms in the air.

Was Mary Margaret conceded enough only to care about herself and her appearance to the public of Storybrooke that she didn't care how it affected Emma?

The blonde was wrong about her, just as she had been with everyone else. Mary Margaret was going to be just like everyone else. She was just going to toss her aside and forget about her.

"Don't you talk back to me, Emma Swan!" The brunette squawked, glowering at the blonde. She still remained in her spot, unmoving.

Emma only rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry for being gay. Why don't you just send me back like a defective toy?"

"Maybe I will."

Those three words that left Mary Margaret's mouth felt like a sword stabbing Emma right through the heart. The tears welled in her eyes faster than anything.

"Mary Margaret!" David's voice was stern as he moved forward, but it wasn't towards his wife. He made a move to Emma, but the blonde jerked from his grasp.

"Leave me alone!" Her throat constricted as the words choked out of her mouth. She made her way to the stairs, soon finding solace on her bed.

Everything up until that point had been nothing but child's play. They were words that she had heard time and time again, and were all too used to. Even though she had heard something very similar to what Mary Margaret had told her, they still stung her as fresh as the first time.

She really had Mary Margaret written wrong. She thought that woman loved without restriction. She thought she wouldn't never resort to such a threat and wouldn't let go of her. But that was all just a lie in Emma's mind. She was just like the rest. She was just going to leave her out in that world alone again.

Thankfully she was a legal adult now. She wouldn't have to go back in the system. She could do whatever the hell she wanted.

Right now what she wanted to do is get the hell out of this place and go seek out her girlfriend. Maybe she would take her in for the time being.

Emma picked her cellphone up, tears streaming down her face as sobs wracked her body. She was no longer numb to the pain that she had been so used to enduring. She was as fragile as she had been as a little girl and easily shattered. And currently, she was in a million pieces.

The pieces that may never be put back together correctly.

"Emma?" Regina's drowsy voice answered from the other side of the line, sending a shot of peace through Emma's body.

Though she still did not calm.

"G-Gina?" She cried into the phone, clutching it close against her ear as she rocked herself on the bed.

"My God, Emma! What happened? Are you alright? Where are you?"

"N-no…" she answered into the phone, choking down a sob. "I-I told them."

The line went silent for a moment before Regina finally answered. "I take it that it hadn't ended well?"

Emma shook her head before remembering the brunette couldn't see her. "Can I s-stay at your place?"

"Oh, Emma…" The teacher cooed. "Of course you can."

"Th-thanks…" Emma sniffled, her breathing ragged as she stood from her bed.

"Would you like for me to come get you?"

"Pl-please…"

"I'm on my way."

Emma grunted something into the phone before hanging up.

This was why she loved that woman. She didn't question her. She was willing to pick her up at such a late hour of the night.

Sweet woman.

How could her foster mother not see something like this?

Well, the answer was obvious… But the love Emma could have for another was evident, even if that other was a woman. She could love a woman just as she would a man.

Why does she need a man to make her happy? And why would Mary Margaret be so insistent on that? It didn't have anything to do with her, and frankly, it only irritated Emma. It was her life, after all.

She was the one to lead it. She was the one to make the choices within it.

Emma wiped the tears from her eyes as she grabbed her duffle bag from the closet and began to pack important items into it. She wasn't sure how long she wanted to be gone from this place. Currently, she couldn't give a shit to return and would happily live her life away from the Nolans.

She would just grab what was most important to her and leave the rest. She could always come back to get it when things have cooled down. Though, that thought wasn't the least bit pleasant.

Shaking those thoughts away, she focused her attention on packing the duffle bag before moving onto her backpack. When both were full with clothes and items, she set them by the stairs and moved to don her leather jacket and boots.

Then she took the jacket off, flinging it onto the bed before deciding to wear her favorite hooded sweatshirt instead.

The blonde paused, looking around the room to see if she forgot anything. Then it hit her. She was leaving. This would be her last foster house and the final family that would reject her for being Emma. She wouldn't have to deal any longer with the bullshit of the system and could finally live her life.

She was leaving it behind.

But there was something that struck her heart greatly, leaving her in a pain that she never thought possible. She was really going to miss this place. She loved the Nolans dearly and she still did. But Mary Margaret had pulled the last straw by saying those three words that pierced her heart with a pain greater than all others.

She knew how much that would hurt Emma and yet she had said them. She knew what the blonde teenager had been through during her lifetime and she didn't seem to give a lick of sympathy when she carelessly muttered those words.

Well, she would soon regret ever saying them because she had lost Emma now.

The blonde hissed her thoughts aloud and grabbed her bags to head down the stairs. She was immediately stopped by the two of them, their eyes focused intently on her.

"Emma…" Mary Margaret took a step towards her, but Emma quickly shook her head and darted away from her.

"No. You've done enough. You don't want me as part of this family." Saying those words brought fresh tears to her eyes. "And you're getting your wish."

"Don't do this, Emma. I-I didn't mean it." She whispered. "I'm sorry…"

"You already lost me, Mary Margaret. I'm sorry that it had to end this way." Emma avoided looking at her as she headed towards the door, ignoring the pleas from David.

"Emma, think about what you're doing. Don't walk out that door. Please. We need to discuss this."

But she wasn't hearing it as she opened the door.

"If you step out that door, Emma, don't plan on coming back." Her foster mother's words had finally ceased her, and she turned around.

"That's rich coming from you." She recoiled, shimmering forest eyes on the brunette who appeared to regret the very words that left her mouth moments earlier. "And it's alright. I don't plan on it. Ever."

Without waiting for a reply, she stepped through the threshold and into the hallway. She could hear Mary Margaret's desperate apology behind her, but she ignored it and pulled the door shut.

Emma quickly made her way down the stairs and pulled the second door open. The cool night's breeze blew into the building, causing her to shiver. She was definitely glad that Regina offered to pick her up. It was cold as hell and she didn't feel like walking in it.

The blonde sighed, standing in the doorway for a moment. Her eyes were on the black Benz parked in front of the building. She could see the snowflakes as they fell in front of the headlights, shimmering as they daintily floated in the air.

Drawing her attention away from the scenery outside, she twisted her body to look behind her. One last look because she was certain that she wouldn't be coming back. This would be the last time she would be in this building. She would no longer live here. This was no longer a home of hers. It was just another to scratch off the list.

Sighing, she crossed over the threshold once again, her boot crunching on the snow underfoot. She could do this. She felt strong. So strong that she drew her other boot from the hallway until she was standing outside with the door's handle in her hand.

Then she released it.

And when the door clicked shut, she broke.

And when she broke, she sobbed, falling back against the door with her back pressed to it as her body shuddered with sorrow.

She heard a car door, but chose to ignore it as she covered her face with an arm.

How could stepping away from this building be so hard?

She had left homes so many times before.

Or had she?

They were nothing but houses. A home was where the heart was, or so she was told. And her heart never lie in those other places she had been. They had never loved her. They only loved the money that she brought in.

But the Nolans had loved her and she them. She had made a home here in the past years that she had stayed. And the harsh reality of it struck her.

She was leaving her home.

"Emma, honey…" She heard the familiar husky voice call her name as warm arms wrapped tightly around her.

Emma turned into the older woman's arms and sobbed into her shoulder, her arms wrapping the best they could around Regina's petite frame.

Regina was her second home, or so she had claimed. Her heart lie with the brunette as well and she felt at peace whenever around her. She would help her. She always helped…

"I've got you, sweetheart." Regina whispered into the air, pressing kisses to the top of her head. A soothing hand rubbed circles on her upper back as they rocked back and forth.

Emma could already feel herself calming as she inhaled her lover's spicy perfume. Her eyes remained squeezed shut as she clung to her jacket, fists balled into the material when she tried to catch her breath from the hiccups.

"I've got you…" The brunette reassured again, gloved fingers brushing through blonde tangles. "I won't let you go. I'm here."

Emma wanted so badly to respond to her, reassuring that her that she knew that she was here for her. She wanted to tell her thank you. She appreciated what she was doing for her. But the words only caught in her throat and escaped as another sob into her shoulder.

"Sh… sh sh…" Regina hummed softly, pressing several kisses to Emma's forehead.

The blonde hiccupped and pulled slightly away from the brunette, minutes later after she had finally calmed. She stared at the older woman with large, puffy eyes and a nose that could resemble Rudolph's.

"Th-thank you…" She whispered, voice hoarse.

"Don't thank me, sweetheart." Regina cupped her rosy cheek, giving her a reassuring smile. "This is what I'm here for."

"We should go… I don't want to be around this building anymore."

"Of course," the brunette nodded, concern sharp in her eyes as she pulled from the blonde and made her way over towards the Benz still running.

Emma followed her, opening the backseat door to shove her bags in before getting into the front passenger's seat. After she had settled and pulled her seat belt on, the teacher pulled away from the curb and started off towards her house.

"You brought quite a bit of luggage." Regina commented, her voice soft.

"Yeah," the blonde responded, giving her a sheepish smile. "I hope you don't mind."

"I don't." She kept her eyes on the road. It was icy out and Emma could feel the car skitter to the side when she had turned a corner. It gave her high anxiety being out on the streets when it was like this. It was one of the reasons why she hated winter.

"How long do you plan on staying?" Regina asked curiously, mocha orbs transfixed on the blonde now once they had safely got onto the desolate street.

Emma didn't answer the question, instead gazing out the window beside her at the yards with Christmas decorations.

She didn't want to answer that question, because in truth, she didn't want to go back. Yes, perhaps after some time had passed she would change her mind, but she definitely didn't want to bother with it now. And answering Regina's question would give her only a specific time frame to stay, or so it had felt. She didn't want something definite right now.

But how if the brunette teacher didn't want her residing at her house for that long of time?

Emma would have to rethink her options and crash somewhere. Like at Granny's Bed and Breakfast. Ruby could hook her up with a room there. She could even get a part-time job at the diner to pay for her board.

Closing her eyes, the blonde forced the thoughts away. She didn't want to think so quickly of her future right now. She wanted to live right now, right at this moment, and continue out the rest of this night with Regina.

She didn't want to think of the past nor the future. They would only cause her to worry, to panic like she so often found herself doing.

The blonde opened her eyes again, just in time to see a car pulling out of a driveway ahead of him. She tensed at the sight. Regina was going fast and they didn't look like they were going to relent. Her pulse quickened.

"Regina?" she glanced towards the brunette who wore the same panicked expression, her foot slamming on the breaks.

Only they didn't slow down.

The Mercedes still slid across the icy road and straight towards the car that would surely be T-boned by them.

It was a silent scream that resonated in Emma's mind as her mouth formed an O when the brunette suddenly jerked the steering wheel to avoid the car, who had finally gained enough wit to pull back forward.

The cars met, the front of the Benz ramming into the silver automobile before crashing into a large snow pile from the street cleaners. Both women gasped, Emma's heart feeling as if it had stopped when the car had.

The blonde was thrown forward, though the seat belt had luckily stopped her from flying through the window and left her with an uncomfortable pain on her chest bone.

"Shit, that was close…" she breathed, emerald eyes wide as she fell back in her seat.

Emma's breathing heavy, matching Regina's as she stared back to the car that they had hit. It was already driving down the road, its rear lights fading off in the snowy distance.

"Asshole," she muttered, turning back to take a peek at her girlfriend.

That's when it had hit her that the teacher hadn't said a thing about the accident. All she heard was the other woman's breathing, heavy in the suddenly thick air.

"Regina?" Emma whispered.

Regina was currently slumped in her spot, her head bowed with hair shielding her face from Emma's view. She remained unmoving, hands on lap and seat belt totally not on.

This had panicked Emma.

She was always the one to insist on safety first. She wouldn't even start the car without Emma first putting her seat belt on. And, the one time that Regina hadn't followed her own rules…

"Regina!" She said more urgently, shaking the brunette's arm.

There was no response. She only moved limply with each push, her head bobbing.

"Oh… shit… shit shit shit… Fuck… Regina, please wake up." Emma shifted in her seat, standing on her knees as she moved closer to the older woman and tilted her head back, pushing the raven locks from her face.

That's when she saw it. There was a nasty cut on her forehead with dark, crimson liquid seeping from it and down the side of her face. Deep colored streams also ran from her nostrils, seeping down her face like a bloody waterfall. They must have been from hitting her head on the steering wheel. It was like a damn gore scene with all the blood she saw and that panicked her. It didn't help that the blood from her nose continued to drip, spilling down the sides of her face and neck.

God, why hadn't she noticed Regina's knocking herself out?

"Regina, please…" She cupped the brunette's olive cheek and stroked it with the pad of her thumb, willing those beautiful brown eyes to open. "Please…"

Emma's eyes misted with tears. What the hell was she going to do?

With a shaky breath, she pulled her hand away and dug in her pocket for her cell phone. She had no other choice than to call an ambulance. There could be more damage dealt to Regina than what appeared. She could have a concussion for all she knew.

Trembling fingers dialed numbers as tears streaked down her face. Oh, god, why the hell did she let Regina pick her up? It was all her fault. She was the one that had called the older woman. She was the one who had agreed for Regina to come get her on such an icy night. She should have known better. She would have been better off walking.

If she had walked, they wouldn't be in the current position they were in right now.

"Emma..?" A confused voice sounded from beside her. The blonde could barely hear it and glanced towards the teacher to be sure her ears weren't playing tricks on her. Regina was staring at her, those big beautiful chocolate eyes were open and focused on her.

"Gina!" The blonde squeaked, dropping her phone onto her lap to give the teacher a tight hug. She had flown across the seat and nearly settled herself into the older woman's lap. "I was so afraid that you weren't going to wake up."

"I'm fine, Emma…" Regina's arms, warm and comforting, slid around the blonde's petite waist. "I'm alright."

"Are you?" The blonde pulled away and looked at the wound on her forehead, a finger moving to give it a gentle prod. The brunette winced, hissing in a breath. "You have a cut."

"Mm, so I see." The teacher murmured, flipping the visor down to peek in the mirror to see that she had, in fact, had a cut there. "Oh, god," she gasped.

"It's really bad…" Emma shifted in her seat. There had to some sort of napkin in here somewhere…

She searched the car frantically, eventually opening up the glove box to find a single napkin. With a sigh of relief, she licked the end of it and started to clean the drying blood from Regina's face and neck.

"What are you doing?" The brunette absently questioned, her brows furrowed as the blonde had continued with her ministrations until she had cleaned the blood up to the wound. Then she stopped.

"I'm cleaning the blood up."

"We shouldn't do that here." Regina grabbed the blonde's wrist as she made a reach for the cut on her forehead. "Better lighting at home and medical supplies."

"Are you sure that you're able to drive? You really took a nasty crack on your noggin. And your nose is… well, it was bleeding. It could be broken." Emma tossed the soiled napkin onto the floor, earning a disapproving look from Regina.

"I am fine, Emma." She reassured. "Though, I'm not sure about my car…"

"We're in snow."

The brunette teacher turned a glare on her that could melt the entire block's snow. She shrank back into her seat and buckled up once again.

"Put your seat belt on." She reminded Regina who had already set the car into reverse.

"Right…" she quickly clicked the seat belt into place and began to pull slowly away from the large bank of snow.

"Are we moving?"

"Slowly, yes."

"I'm sorry for making you come get me." Emma muttered as the brunette continued to reverse, the car tires spinning relentlessly in the snow without the car actually moving.

"You didn't make me. I offered." Regina sighed, pulled her foot off the gas and undid her seat belt.

"Yeah, but… I should have just walked."

"Emma, darling," the brunette turned and grabbed Emma's face into her hands. "Don't worry about it. Focus on getting your ass out of the car and helping me get this snow out of the way so we can go home."

"Sorry…" Emma mumbled sheepishly, staring doe-y eyed into Regina's warm gaze.

A soft curve lifted on the brunette's pink lips, gentle and adoring. She leaned forward, bringing the blonde's face closer to her own as she parted her lips and smashed them against the eighteen-year-old's.

The blonde's breath hitched at the contact and she remained stiffened from surprise for only a moment before melting completely into the kiss, returning it. Their lips slid together in perfect harmony, their labored breaths filling the car's enclosed atmosphere.

Then Regina pulled away, gave her an impish smile, and chuckled. "Come on. I'd like to get home."

"Yeah…" Emma murmured breathlessly and tugged her seat belt off so she could get out. Her cheeks were flushed, and not just from the cold air that bit into her skin as soon as she exited the car.

That woman was all sorts of hot, even when she was injured.

Damn.

The blonde joined Regina at the front of the car and began to kick the snow surrounding the tires away with her feet. When the two thought it sufficient enough, they both entered the car again, buckled up, and tried against to reverse from the spot.

It worked this time and they were on the icy road again, Regina this time fully alert as she drove extra slow on the desolate streets.

It was well past one, Emma was sure, and that was definitely late in a small town. Normally everyone was locked up inside by nine or ten, leaving very few to roam the streets.

That was a reason to love and hate small towns. She loved the closeness of the, the smallness of area to go from one destination to the other. There was rarely any traffic out, especially late at night, which was normally when she liked to be out.

What she hated was that, yes, people were usually at home this late. And people being home, stores were usually closed and that meant she couldn't buy late night munchies if she wanted them.

And the town felt so dead when it was so late. It felt almost abandoned with street lights changing futilely in the late of night.

Emma loved the big cities for the opposite of that. She loved the liveliness that they had with people bustling in the streets at all hours of the night as if the time of day didn't matter. She was a night owl herself and preferred to be around others who were as well. She didn't want to walk the streets as a loner with nowhere to go. Small towns sucked for that.

She loved the buzz. That's why she wanted to hit up a college in Boston. It was a big city and she and Graham would no doubt stay out late. She wanted to paint the town like girls her age would do. She wanted to live.

But what was holding her back and making it such a conflict to decide was Regina. She wanted to stay with that woman. She didn't want to leave her and live in a large city where she barely knew anyone. Hell. She only knew one out of thousands.

She wanted Regina with her, but she also didn't want to get stuck in Storybrooke.

At least not right now.

She wanted to live out her prime years and actually live them like she never had.

It had been her dream since a little girl to get away.

But that didn't sound so appealing now. Not if it meant leaving Regina behind in a boring little town, working at a job she was constantly criticized at. She wanted to strap a handcuffs on that woman and bring her along.

The only problem was: Would Regina be willing to go with her? Would she be willing to do something like that? Leave the town that she had settled in?

It was a new year, Emma told herself. That meant a new start. A fresh start. The conversation that she needed to have with Regina. It had been bothering her for weeks now and, though it was still early in their relationship, she felt as if they had been together for years and she wanted to plan a future for them.

Only if Regina would have her.

The blonde sighed and set her bags on the chaise lounge in Regina's room. Her thoughts had taken over her conscious she hadn't realized where she was until she looked around.

The beautiful bedroom. One that she had grown used to. One that she was sure Regina had as well. Would she want to leave it behind?

Emma drank in the familiar surroundings, smiling when she had spotted her painting just above the armoire with the raggedy stuffed panda sitting on top.

"I put it up as promised." Regina's husky voice sounded from behind the blonde and she jumped in surprise, too occupied by thought to have heard the woman come up.

"I see. And with your little panda there."

"Indeed," she chuckled softly, wrapping her arms around Emma's waist. The blonde closed her eyes, letting her lover's sweet, apple scent fill her senses. She leaned into her, hands drawing up to cover Regina's.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" She asked, turning slightly in the older woman's arms. "We still need to get your cut all fixed up. Come on." The blonde escaped Regina's grip, pale fingers slipping into olive ones as she led the chuckling woman to the bathroom.

Once there, she sat the toilet seat down and had Regina take a seat as she searched for the first-aid supplies that the teacher had in the medicine cabinet.

"So, are you going to tell me what exactly happened?" Regina asked, striking a conversation as the blonde brought out a bottle of peroxide and a cotton ball.

Emma sighed, dabbing the little white fluff into the liquid before bringing it up to the cut on Regina's forehead, earning a wince and hiss of pain in response. "I told them."

"Blatantly?"

"Well, there's this thing that they had me do on New Year's instead of some resolution- because they do those- but, that's beside the point. They wanted me to give them at least one confession for the New Year, you know, a fresh start?" Emma hesitated as she gently dabbed the wound on her lover's forehead until the blood was mostly washed away to reveal a rather nasty scar. It started in her hairline and extended down towards a good portion of the upper half of her forehead. It wasn't deep, but it was a nasty surface wound with a slightly purple tint surrounding it that had the blonde cringing. That steering wheel did a great deal on her.

"I understand…" Regina's eyes darted to the bathroom counter where the blonde set to work with a bandage.

"Yeah, so I confessed that. I said that I liked girls, you know? But Mary Margaret had to act dumb and ask what I meant." She let out a sigh and turned to stick the bandage over Regina's cut, nearly covering a third of her forehead.

Emma sighed softly and withdrew herself for a moment to look at the brunette before her. Chocolate eyes sparkled with emotion, so strong and rich that it had made her knees weak and her heart swell. Perfect, dark locks spilled down the sides of her face, stopping at her shoulders with a gentle curve. The smile on her pale, pink lips was enough to stop traffic. She was so beautiful when she wore that smile full of love and happiness.

Though, Emma couldn't imagine why. She must be in so much pain what with that nasty wound on her forehead and her nose, which had taken a sort of ugly yellow-green-purple color.

She should have never let Regina come get her. It would have been much safer if she had walked and her lover wouldn't currently be sitting there looking beat.

Emma frowned and cupped the brunette's cheek, the frown faltering when Regina's had welcomingly nuzzled her hand.

"What did they say?" She inquired, the mocha hues disappearing underneath naked eyelids.

God, did Regina look ever perfect without makeup?

Emma blinked and shook that thought away no matter how much it was true. "Well, after Mary Margaret asked that, I just blurted that I was gay. Then she had asked it again."

"What about David?"

"He just stood there and said Mary Margaret's name, you know how someone does that when someone else is going a little too far or something? He didn't really say anything else besides that." Emma scoffed. He didn't even try to defend her. She wasn't exactly sure of his feelings, but he didn't join in with Mary Margaret's little rant about her sexuality. She suspected he was okay with it, but didn't want to argue against his wife.

Though, Emma wished he had. That might have made her want to stay.

Regina shook her head, pulling Emma down onto her lap. The blonde accepted the new position with a weary sigh and leaned against her, an arm looping around the older woman's waist.

"What did she say after that?" The brunette hesitantly asked.

"To sum it up, she wasn't happy and said that all I needed was to find a nice boy. She accused me of having these feelings towards women because of lack of dates, I'm pretty sure." The blonde scowled.

It was utterly ridiculous that Mary Margaret had even suggested that. It wasn't exactly surprising though. This was Mary Margaret after all and those words said were quite often.

Those assumptions. It was just like being back in Mr. Spencer's class again.

"Of course she did…" The teacher sighed, her eyes closing.

"I didn't care that she said that, really. That wasn't what made me just up and leave." Emma's voice wavered as she thought of the real reason she had left. It was the statement that killed her hope for them. Those three words that struck her in a sore place, reopening old wounds.

"What did she say, Emma?" Regina tightened her grip, forcing the blonde closer to her. Emma gratefully accepted the comfort and curled up slightly.

"It may sound silly saying it out loud but…" She sucked in a shaky breath, a single tear shedding from her eye. "'Maybe I will.'"

"What do you mean?"

"She said that when I told her that she should just send me back into the foster system." Emma cracked.

"Emma…" Regina immediately pressed a kiss to the top of her head, her hand rubbing in circular motions on Emma's back.

Emma had told her of the times that she had came out to her foster parents and they had just sent her back. And all the other times that they had sent her back. It was the most painful of memories, being rejected from family after family. Eventually she gave up hope and remained numb. She wouldn't let herself get attached.

But that's what she did here. The Nolans were sweet, kind, warm and welcoming and she thought that she could trust them. She thought that she could trust that they wouldn't send her back because they didn't seem the kind of people. They didn't seem to be the kind that judged.

Oh, how wrong had Emma been?

She had completely read Mary Margaret wrong. She had sworn that the sweet, pixie-haired schoolteacher wouldn't be so harsh as to say something like that, nor react the way that she had.

It was a depressing thought.

Another home.

Another family.

Gone.

Would she ever find stability?

That was a question she asked herself every day. Regina seemed to be the only light of hope twinkling in the far off distance. She could find home in Regina. She could find stability.

But would it last?

Would Regina be willing to stay with her wherever she ended up?

"Why the hell would she say such a thing? That was terribly inhumane." Regina hissed the words angrily, her brows furrowed together as she stared at the wall across from her with molten eyes.

Emma nearly squeaked at the ferocity in her stare. It was rather terrifying.

"I don't know…" The blonde admitted, snuggling closer to her lover to get that look of her face. "And as I left, she didn't stop me, she just said if I walked through that door that I should plan on never coming back."

"I do not like this woman any longer." Regina scowled, her perfect, white teeth baring at the thought of the pixie-haired brunette.

"I trusted her." Emma said softly. "I grew attached to this place. To the Nolans. I promised myself not to do that because I would only end up hurt. But I reassured myself after the first year. They were a nice couple. I didn't think them capable of hurting me in any way, especially purposefully."

The brunette gazed at her through sad eyes and kissed her with tender lips.

Emma sighed blissfully, her fingers curling into Regina's pajama top.

"Gina," she whispered, forest eyes fluttering open to be greeted with mud.

"Yes?"

"Would you ever leave me?"

"Not if my life would depend on it."

Emma smiled at those words. She wanted so much to believe them, but people said crazy things when they were in love. They said crazy things when they were out of love.

But she decided to take those words to heart regardless. They made her feel better. They made her feel wanted.

"Hey, honey. I mean it." An olive hand cupped Emma's pale cheek as Regina met her gaze. She was absolutely sincere about her statement. But sometimes that meant nothing for the future.

"I don't know if I can take you seriously." The blonde gave her an impish smile and Regina blinked.

"I really do mean it, Emma…"

"Yes. But we are also on the toilet, having this deep conversation."

And at that moment, she swore Regina was going to have a brain aneurism. Emma could already see that vein in her forehead popping out, even as the bandage covered it.

Oh, snap. The wrath of Regina Mills was about to be bestowed upon her.

"Then why don't we get into bed?" She suggested coolly, her arms untangling from Emma.

The blonde nodded slightly and slipped off Regina's lap. She gave her a sheepish smile before hopping out of the bathroom, the older woman following behind her with a deep chuckle. Emma's heart fluttered at the rich, melodic sound behind her.

She always loved Regina's laugh and she could never get tired of it.

Her laugh was one of the things that kept her going.

"Get in, Ms. Anti-Toilet-Talk." Regina hummed, passing her to climb onto the bed on the side she usually slept on, the left. The covers had already been pulled back and the bed mussed.

She must have been sleeping when Emma had called her. She did sound tired when she had answered.

"Lemme get comfy first." The blonde muttered softly as she pulled her sweatshirt over her head and tossed it onto her bags. Now she wasn't about to boil any longer. It was rather warm in the house wearing that heavy thing.

After pulling her boots and socks off, she joined Regina on the bed, flipping the covers back as well. Her back pressed against the headboard as a yawn ripped from her throat. She could lay down, she knew, because she would surely fall asleep.

She was emotionally exhausted, and a bit physically as well.

Her eyes glanced towards the bright numbers on the digital clock setting by Regina's bedside, the display reading 2:09 A.M.

It had gotten rather late, hadn't it?

"So, you really mean it, huh?" Emma asked, starting back up from where they left off.

"Of course I do." The brunette responded as if the little intermission in their conversation hadn't happened. "I love you, Emma. I really do and I would be willing to do almost anything for you. I don't know how to explain my feelings or why they seemed to have come so fast and hit so hard. Our lunches together and our deep conversations before we had started dating might have contributed to it… quite a bit, actually.

"Yeah…" Emma bit her lip, her head slightly downcast as she gazed towards Regina. Her heart just swelled with one look, and that smile on her face made her absolutely melt. "I know how you feel. It's, like… It's really hard to explain it."

"That's love for you, my duckling." The older woman pulled Emma towards her and, without warning, the blonde slightly fell on top of Regina's body. She giggled softly, wrapping her arm around the brunette's waist.

"It makes no sense and it makes you feel wonderfully blissful. There are no words to describe it, or so I have concluded." Regina smiled, her chin resting on top of soft, blonde locks as Emma kept her head resting on the teacher's breast.

"It's a magical force that I cannot comprehend." Emma agreed, shifting as she gave Regina a squeeze.

"Indeed," she chuckled. "Though we may not be able to comprehend it, we shouldn't question it. It's there. We feel it. We should enjoy it while we've got it."

"I want to feel like this forever." The blonde sighed, her eyes closing.

She wanted to spend the rest of her life with Regina, feeling this blissful emotion that coursed through her entire being. She couldn't imagine ever being with anyone else nor could she imagine ever living without Regina.

That was the frightening thing.

It shook her to her very core.

"I do, too," she heard that husky voice whispered just above her. A smile broke out on her face.

"Gina?"

"Mhm?"

"I have been thinking." She started, moving to face her lover. A warm smile greeted her and adoring chocolate eyes sent her into a puddle. "What are we going to do after I graduate? What will become of us?"

"I would like to believe we would remain as we are." The brunette simply answered.

"Yes, but…" The blonde trailed off, closing her eyes. "I don't want to stay here… in Storybrooke. I mean, I do want to stay with you, but I want to go to college and…"

"I see what you mean." Regina hushed her, cupping her cheeks as she stared deeply into green pools. The answer was there in them, Emma could see it.

"I will go where you go." She said, releasing the blonde's face but not before giving her pale lips a peck.

"But what about your job here?" Emma frowned slightly. She knew Regina adored her job for the most part. She loved teaching.

"It's getting old," she whispered, fingering a piece of blonde hair. "The students hate me and I am quite sure most of the staff hate me as well. I am not a good teacher according to them and I might as well just move on."

"But you love teaching?"

"Yes, but… I'm not exactly appreciated here and the students do not put in the effort that they should." Regina averted her gaze, but Emma could see the emotion flickering through those chocolate orbs. "Besides, I'm sure they will have open jobs for teaching up in Boston. Perhaps I can land one at a college where the courses will be more hard-put. Maybe then will the students give an effort."

Emma perked up at those words. Regina getting a job in Boston? And a college one at that? Perhaps their relationship as teacher and student wouldn't be over.

That thought sent a pleasant shiver down her spine and straight to her core. It was intoxicating to have such a forbidden relationship. And it was taunting as hell when you were sitting in a desk as your girlfriend was pacing around the classroom in those tight pantsuit outfits or sexy pencil skirts.

Mm, she could get used to that.

"Would you really do that… for me?" Emma asked. Though, it was pleasant and comforting to find out that Regina was willing to go with her, she had suspected that it wouldn't be so easy. Like, what was she going to do with the house here? And what about living quarters down in Boston?

"I have nothing for me here besides you, Emma." Regina left her big-eyed gaze on Emma's face, the smile on her lips only widening. Emma couldn't help but to grin as well, the little butterflies in her belly fluttering in a rapid tattoo.

"Goddamn, I love you, Gina." The blonde sighed contentedly, clutching onto her lover's side.

"And I, you. Like I had said, I would be willing to do almost anything for you. And if that means moving to Boston, then so be it." The brunette ran her fingers through golden curls, earning a purr from Emma as she pressed into the hand with a happy smile.

"How will you buy or rent something?"

The thought had just occurred to Emma. Did she have enough money for that? Teaching jobs didn't really seem to pay much, and she had a rather house here already. The bills must be through the roof.

Would she sell it?

"I have enough money in my account to rent a small apartment or house. I have more than enough, really, thanks to my mother." She easily answered.

"Can't you sell this house?"

"No," she shook her head. "My mother owns it. It'll be a nice place to stay if we ever visit. You have friends here, correct?"

"I suppose you're right." Emma smiled. That would sure as hell save them money if they would ever come down. She would like to visit her friends at some point.

And if she ever calmed down from the mishap with her foster parents, she could visit them as well.

Only if.

"The future sounds nice and less scary." Emma murmured after a few minutes of silence. She laid her head back on Regina's chest and just listened to her rhythmic heartbeat and each breath that she took.

The brunette responded quietly in response. It was then that the blonde had noticed the way her eyes drooped every few seconds, causing her to blink them rapidly before it happened again.

"You're tired," she chuckled softly, using a curled finger to caress her cheek. "We should sleep, Gina."

"I don't know if I want to sleep right now." Regina mumbled sleepily, a smile reaching her tired eyes stretched wide across her face. A hand had found its way into Emma's hair once again. "I like lying here with you. It's peaceful and takes the world away."

"It also rids the fact that school is starting back up tomorrow." The blonde grumbled, glancing at the clock once again to catch note of the time.

3:15 A.M.

School started back up on the second of January, which in Emma's opinion, was quite stupid. She felt as if they didn't get enough time for winter break. Was she happy to not have to deal with high school ever again and its inane scheduling.

"Please, don't remind me." Regina moaned with displeasure, her head thumping against the headboard.

"You shouldn't do that." The blonde lifted an arm and brought the brunette's head back up, a lopsided smile on her lips. "You've already got it all shaken up."

"And I'm starting to feel the headache that should have came hours ago." The older woman groused, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Would you like to take something?"

"No," she simply muttered, dropping her hand back into Emma's hair as she began to absently stroke it.

The blonde hummed happily and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensations around her. The feel of Regina's fingers combing calmly through her hair. The sound of her heart thumping against her hear. The gentle rise and fall of her chest with each breath. The scent of her spicy perfume and the sweet smell of her apple shampoo.

It was all so calming for Emma as she lay there for some time, just letting it all take over. She didn't know how long it had been as she lay there, gently stroking Regina's stomach long after the older woman had stopped combing her hair. That hand had slid to the small of her back now and rested there, warm and comforting.

Emma hummed sleepily. She could feel herself drift off. Her strokes slowing down. She was exhausted.

"Your belly rubbing is slowing, dear." Regina seemed to inform her, voice laced with drowsiness. "Are you getting tired?"

"Yeah," the blonde simply answered, more consciously aware of her actions as she continued, her fingers tugging up the silk pajama top to expose Regina's smooth, tawny stomach. An absent smile crossed her lips as she and her fingers over the immaculate skin.

"Hey, remember when we were talking about babies? And I asked if you ever wanted to get pregnant?"

"Indeed I do, dear."

Emma must have been more tired than she thought as she found herself rambling off about that morning. She didn't know why she was speaking of this now, but the conversation seemed to intrigue the both of them.

"I bet you'd look adorable with a round belly." She commented, looking over at Regina from her new spot beside her. "Scratch that. I know you would."

"Oh, is that so?" A grin quirked on the older woman's lips.

"I would love to have babies with you some day." Emma found herself mumbling, her eyes growing droopy. "You know when I said I wanted to find the special woman for that? Yeah… I meant you, because… I really, really like you."

Shut up, Swan, before you speak too much.

"A part of me was hoping you would say that." Regina's response surprised the blonde.

"Really?"

"Yes," was all she had said before falling silent, her cheeks darkening.

"I think that would be cool." Emma stretched slightly and yawned, sinking into the bed. "I think I'd like a son."

"A son?" Regina chuckled softly, turning her gaze on the blonde.

"Yeah. I think it would be fun to raise a messy little boy."

"Oh, what would I do with the two of you?" The older woman smirked. "You'd mess up my house and I'd be constantly running after you with a mop."

"Yeah, but it'd all be worth it in the end, right? We'd all be sitting on the couch, snuggling, as we watched a good Disney film." Emma gently prodded her girlfriend's side. "And it's be our family. A loving family."

"I think we both deserve a good family." Regina nodded, a yawn slipping from her own lips.

"A family…" Emma whispered in the dark, a smile brighter than the sun itself on her face.

She had always wanted a family of her own. One that would be stable. One that she would actually be a part of. She would be able to love and be loved.

A family with Regina?

What was she thinking?

She was too hopeful, that's what.

Emma felt the older woman snuggle against her and soft lips pressing against her neck.

"Goodnight," a voice whispered to her.

A voice that would always send her heart soaring.

"Goodnight," she murmured back.

She could definitely see this happening ten years from now. They would be lying in bed together, falling asleep in each other's loving arms as their son or daughter slept in the room next to them. Or slept with them, between then, wiggling as they would struggle and snuggle between their mothers.

Was she setting herself for heartbreak by hoping for the future?

Emma could tell this was going to be a long, worrisome night. She wouldn't be able to sleep with those thoughts on her mind. She poked her head up, careful not to disturb Regina as she did so. The woman was already fast asleep, a gentle snore emanating from her.

Bless her little heart, Emma thought with a smile. That woman was precious, even as she slept. She had to keep the giggle in her throat as she gazed at the numbers on the digital clock.

5:45 A.M.

A long night just turned into a long morning.

"You have to get up, Emma. I'm not kidding." Regina was standing at the side of the bed, already dressed for the day, wearing one of her black skirts and a deep red blouse.

It was 7:45 in the morning and school was starting back up today. The alarm had rang at seven, which was when Regina had gotten up and tried to wake the teenager up as well. When she had groaned and flipped back over to fall back asleep, the older woman had grudgingly obliged to give her more time to sleep as she took a shower.

Then she came back out about fifteen minutes later to try and wake her up again.

Emma still hadn't budged by then, pleading for a few more minutes.

So Regina walked off to finish with her daily preparations for the day, drying her hair and putting her face on.

When she was finished another fifteen minutes later, Emma was still asleep, begging for another fifteen.

"Fine, then, I will make us some breakfast. You better be ready to get up by then." Regina had said before going downstairs to fix up breakfast for the two.

And now, here she was again, another fifteen minutes later.

"Just gimme another fifteen…" Emma slurred sleepily, tossing onto her side away from Regina.

"Don't make me get the cold water."

"I'll still sleep. You can't make me go to school." The blonde remained unbothered as she began to snore, falling back asleep.

"Emma Swan!" Regina huffed and smacked the blonde's rear end. The blonde squeaked and jerked her body forward, a hand moving to her bum to rub it.

"Kinky." She murmured and went back to her resting position, her breathing evening out once again.

"Goddammit, Emma. I need to get things prepared." The brunette huffed and climbed onto the bed. "If you won't get up, I will make you."

"Nothing in the world will get me up for school." Emma ignored the weight shift on the mattress and flopped onto her other side. Regina was getting onto the bed from her side. It was always best to face away.

Then she wouldn't feel too guilty.

It was a hand between her thighs that had her green eyes bolt open. Her entire body went rigid as that hand teased the intimate flesh through thin cotton panties. She was instantly wet and aching for more.

Oh, she was good.

She knew what Regina was doing and she wouldn't fall for it. No way in hell. Nope. Not a chance.

Emma lie as relaxed as she could, pretending to not enjoy the fingers pressing so deliciously against her throbbing flesh, rubbing at her nether lips through cotton at an insatiable pace.

She couldn't help but to moan, and once she did, she knew she was screwed.

Fuck, she cursed internally, her hips rocking against the hand that pleasured her. She already lost her composure, might as well just let it take over her.

Then Regina stopped and pulled her hand away.

"Hey…" Emma craned her neck to be met with a devious smirk on red painted lips.

"If you promise to get up, I will continue." She winked, the impish look on her face never faltering. "But you have to get up. School starts at 8:30. We have about a half hour."

"I-I promise." The blonde breathed, her heart pounding rapidly against her chest.

"Mm, good girl." Regina grinned and moved to hover over the blonde, one hand on the opposite side of her as she balanced over the blonde's face. She pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"I am your good girl." Emma purred, closing her eyes blissfully as she turned onto her back.

Regina was on her faster than she could utter her name, her legs straddling her hips as she wore a smirk. Her black skirt was bunched up around her waist, her blouse unbuttoned enough to flash her lacy black bra.

"You're looking sexy as hell today." Emma smoothed her hands up the brunette's sides, rejoicing in the shiver that she earned.

"You always think I'm sexy. I could be wearing footed pajamas and bunny slippers and you'd still think I'm sexy."

"Because you're just all around sexy," the blonde growled, hands roaming over the silky fabric on her back before shifting towards the front to cup the mounds on her chest.

Regina let out a delicious moan and arched into the touch, her hands finding purchase on the blonde's creamy thighs. "So are you, my love."

Her eyes darkened, turning obsidian in color. Emma swallowed thickly as moisture pooled between her thighs, her lower belly burning with need. She thrusts her hips up, bumping into her lover's own needful heat who in return as ground herself down against her with a soft moan.

"Please…" Emma gave Regina's breasts a squeeze, pressing her hips up against the brunette again.

"Only since we are limited on time…" The teacher gave her a wicked grin as she peeled the blonde's panties from her intimate flesh and tugged them off. She lifted herself up, pulling her own panties off before resting in her previous position, her slick flesh coming into contact with Emma's triangular patch intimate curls.

"Have your way with me, Ms. Mills…" Emma grinned up at the woman who had gazed at her with lust laden eyes.

That was a thing Emma knew turned the brunette on. They had role-played before with her, of course being the student, as Regina was the teacher. Of course, they didn't have much pretending since that had been the reality of their relationship, though not in the bedroom. But once Emma had jokingly called Regina "Ms. Mills" one time while they were in bed together, she had groan quite aroused and nearly attacked the blonde.

And so that had started a whole new thing for the two of them. If there was one way to get Regina horny in under five seconds it was to call her "Ms. Mills." Of course, only coming from her and in the privacy of the mansion. Though, Emma had wondered what it would do to Regina if they were in school and she had addressed her…

Her thoughts were immediately torn away from her as she felt lithe fingers pressing against her clitoris, stroking it in rough, circular motions. The blonde moaned, her mind blanking as she rocked against Regina's hand, yearning for more contact.

She thrust her hips upward, groaning at the sensation of her lover's wetness against her hot skin. Regina let out a guttural moan, grinding herself into the blonde as her fingers continued to work.

"Oh, God, Gina…" Emma breathed into the air, the words after that dying in her throat when Regina had added more pressure to the sensitive nub, her strokes faster and quicker.

"Touch me, Emma!" The older woman begged, her head thrown back in ecstasy as she rocked her hips against the blonde's body, a hand on her own breast.

Emma quickly obliged, the hand left on one of the brunette's breasts had pushed the fabric of her bra aside to find her swollen breast. Her other hand went straight for the brunette's center where she easily found Regina's already swollen clit with her fingers and began to stroke in time with the brunette's pace.

The two of them were a moan, groaning mass of sweaty bodies, rocking against each other as they both sought pleasure. Emma teased the brunette's hardened nipples with nimble fingers, tugging and rubbing at them as the teacher moaned blissfully above her, her strokes growing quicker until she slide those fingers down and slid them knuckle-deep into the blonde.

"Regina!" Emma cried with surprise, her hips lifting thoughtfully as she moved wantonly against the pumps. Her own movements were frantic, as if she were pleasuring herself to climax.

And it wasn't long before it paid off, for her at least. She felt her body stiffen, tingling entirely from the tips of her fingers to the tips of her toes as she rode out the waves of pleasure crashing over her. Regina hadn't relented, her hips rocking desperately against Emma's vigorously working fingers as she helped the teenager ride out her orgasm with contempt, her fingers working at the little pink nub which had ultimately heightened her climax.

The blonde screamed her pleasure, her fingers digging into Regina's breast, painfully by the expression on her face. But that appeared to have been enough to top the brunette, herself, over the edge.

"Emma!" She cried blissfully into the sex filled air, her rocking hips slowing to a stop when her entire body had tensed just as the blonde's had moments earlier.

The fingers that had once pleasured Emma had slowly incredibly, bringing the blonde down from her exhilarating high. Regina's body had jerked with spasms before she had relaxed, her breathing ragged as sweat glistened on her forehead, ultimately ruining her makeup.

Emma held the teacher after they had removed their hands from each other, and held onto her. The two of them lay together, both trying to catch their breaths as their hearts thumped against their chests in the otherwise quiet room.

"Best morning sex ever…" Emma whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of the brunette's raven hair, a hand absently rubbing her back.

"I must concur, my love." The brunette picked herself up, hovering over the blonde as she stared adoringly into her eyes. "My beautiful duckling."

"Oh… pft…" She blushed as the brunette stroked her cheek with gentle fingers.

The same fingers that had just brought her to one of the best climaxes in her life.

"Mm, I love you." Regina whispered, bending down to press a sweet kiss to Emma's lips.

The blonde eagerly returned it, fingers sliding through her lover's hair. "I love you, too."

They stay like that for a few moments, staring into each other's eyes with sated smiles on their faces. It wasn't until Regina had glanced towards the clock did she panic and slide off the bed.

"You need to get ready. I need to fix myself up. And we need to eat." The brunette plucked her panties from the ground and headed towards the bathroom as Emma collected herself. She sat in bed for a few moments longer, trying to grab the pieces to her scattered brain and put them back together.

She was still disoriented from that amazing morning lovemaking.

Holy shit.

That was the best way to start off a school day.

The blonde grinned widely to herself as she got up and quickly gathered her things to get ready. It wasn't until another ten minutes later were the two of them in the kitchen. It was twenty minutes past eight and they needed to get the hell out of there. They had ten minutes before school started and Emma still didn't have her schedule.

She supposed that it was lucky they had their homeroom first.

But she felt rather guilty for keeping Regina. She wouldn't doubt the teacher would have been out of here an hour ago. Instead, she had been caught up in trying to wake the sleeping teenager and bribe her with sex to get her up.

"I'm sorry," Emma mumbled, stuffing the piece of peanut butter toast in her mouth as they exited the house.

"For what, dear?"

"For making you wait… for making you late." She gave her girlfriend a sheepish smile as they piled into the car, Emma's backpack on her lap.

"It's quite alright, dear. It was well worth it." Regina grinned widely. "I was coming down with a headache, but that damned orgasm sure took care of it."

"Good," the blonde smirked and leaned over to place a chaste kiss on her lips. "Now, let's go or else we'll be late."

"That wouldn't be a good thing, considering I'm a teacher." Regina nodded and pulled out of the driveway, driving the few blocks to the school.

Once they had arrived, the two of them popped out of the car and headed towards the building.

"I'll see you later, dear. Do have a good day." Regina smiled as they passed the English hallway.

"Thanks! You too." Emma smiled, trying to keep herself from saying too much to the teacher. There were people around now and she couldn't freely call the woman by her name or any nickname she had for her.

It royally sucked.

But that's what she got for having such a forbidden relationship.

With a sigh, she returned the grin that Regina had flashed to her and headed to Ms. Nova's room. She already knew what she was supposed to have on her schedule, for the most part. And what she did know didn't make her happy. She wouldn't be having Regina as a teacher again.

That thought had sent her heart sinking. She wasn't quite sure what other classes Regina offered and she knew that she should have asked. Perhaps there was one that she hadn't taken before. Perhaps a Creative Writing II class?

The blonde shrugged mentally and took her seat in her homeroom. There wasn't much time left until the bell rang.

They really cut it close today, didn't they?

"Hey, Swan! There you are." Killian's voice immediately broke her attention away from her thoughts. She turned to look at the teenaged boy, a smile on his lips.

"Hey," she greeted in return.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Around."

"Around? What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I got here late." She rolled her eyes as he took the empty seat next to her.

Ms. Nova sauntered over, handing the blonde a piece of paper. Her schedule.

"How was your winter break, Emma?" She asked politely, a pleasant smile on her face.

Emma returned it. "It was pretty good. How was yours?"

"Wonderful!" She chirped and headed towards her desk with a smile that could beat the sun.

Something had certainly made her happy during the break.

Perhaps it was that Leroy she occasionally saw walking with Ms. Nova when they were about on the town.

Good for her. She got laid.

So did Emma. Several times.

"What do you have?"

"Why are you nosy?" Emma sneered and looked over her schedule.

"Just curious…" He pouted petulantly before whipping his own schedule out to set beside the blonde's.

Emma immediately compared them. She knew that he would have some of the same classes as she, no doubt. He always did.

"I have Art II first period." She grinned snidely, knowing that Killian wouldn't have an art class. He groaned negatively at that.

"What else?"

"I have American Literature after that."

"With who?" He suddenly looked curious, though the paper was right in front of him.

"Mrs. Hurst," Emma answered, flinching when he gave a noise that almost resembled a happy squeak. She would have laughed, but she was exhausted.

"I have that, too. Second period, American Lit., Mrs. Hurst." He pointed to his own schedule as if to prove a point. She looked at it and rolled her eyes.

She should have never let him near her when they did their schedules.

"Then I have Economics with Mr. Locksley."

"I have that." Killian smirked. "Third period."

"I'm sure Belle does, too." She lifted her gaze. It was no doubt. She had Government with her friend last semester and the economics classes were few and far between. It would be a surprise if they didn't have it together.

"Then I have lunch."

"Aw…" He groaned. "I have it fifth."

"Sucks," she grinned. It wasn't like it mattered. They had the same lunch last semester and he hadn't seemed to make an effort to dine with her. Unless he had, but she wouldn't have known. She was either isolated for the first couple months until she started to eat with Ms. Mills.

"And then I've got another P.E. class. Aerobics, this time."

"Aerobics? Sounds like it's for girls." Killian snorted and looked over his schedule, a flicker of disappointment on his face as he found to not have the same class as she.

Emma had already scanned over his schedule. They had Algebra II together again, but that also left half the day without him.

Though, she didn't know if she cared so much anymore. He knew that she was gay and dating Ms. Mills, though how awkward that was. She was glad he hadn't teased her about it.

But then again, the threat she had given him would have sufficed. Later she had said she would rip off his testicles and feed them to him if he were to utter one word about the teacher and her.

"I heard there was running, so I took it." She grinned, looking over her schedule again. "Then I have some introduction class to computers. I think it was just some filler, I don't know…"

"You should take Creative Writing II." He nodded, a grin on his face. No. It was a smirk.

"They… They really have that?" Emma looked at him, then to his schedule to see that he had, in fact, that class sixth period. And with Ms. Mills.

"I need to visit Mr. Hopper." She muttered.

"So you can have a class with your girlfriend?"

"Shut up, Killian." Emma turned a glare on him. "I will keep up with my threat. I've got a pocket knife somewhere."

The blood drained from his face at her words and he nodded stiffly. "Sorry. I won't say anything."

"And you better not be checking her out or anything." Emma gave him a hard stare. "Because I will cut you."

"Alright! Alright!" He raised his hands in the air as if to surrender. "I won't. You'll be in there, anyways, if you change your schedule."

"I'll only dream of it." The blonde sighed and stuffed the paper into her backpack. Green eyes glanced towards the clock. They didn't have much time left in homeroom. Two minutes about.

Emma pulled out her phone, bringing up the smiley faces that represented Regina.

Hey, Gina. When do you have lunch?

She hoped to god that Regina had fourth period lunch as well. If she didn't she was utterly fucked.

What would she do for lunch?

Could she go in there fourth period if not?

Perhaps she could just pretend she would be a part of that class. But, of course, she would have to talk to Regina about that. She had nowhere to go during lunch, especially not fourth. Belle would more than likely have it fifth again, and Killian had it fifth as well, so that meant no one for her. She hated everyone else in this school.

The bell rang and she stood.

"See you second period." Killian smirked, walking out the door as she had.

"Yeah… See you."

The blonde quickly made her way down the hallways until she had reached the art room, relieved to find that her brunette friend was already there. She quickly occupied the seat next to hers.

"Please tell me you have fourth period lunch."

"No, I'm sorry?" Belle frowned at the greeting, a puzzled look on her face.

"Damn." Emma slumped against her seat, wanting suddenly to beat herself in the face with a large textbook. God knows those things are large enough.

"Does Ms. Mills not have lunch fourth?"

"I don't know." The blonde shrugged, her hand hovering over her pocket where her phone resided. Regina hadn't texted her back yet. Her phone hadn't vibrated.

"Sorry, Em." Belle gave her a helpless look before setting her messenger bag on the table. She dug through it, soon retrieving a piece of paper. Her schedule. "What classes do you have?"

"Art, American Lit., Economics, Lunch, P.E., Intro to computers, and Algebra." Emma recited her schedule as she, too, had pulled it from her bag. "All in that order."

Belle peeked over at her friend's schedule and smiled. "I have Economics the same period you do. I took American Lit. last year, though. It was pretty easy." She smoothed her schedule down on the table and Emma looked over it.

She paused once she reached her sixth period class.

"You're taking the second creative writing, too?" Emma groaned with distress.

"What do you mean, 'too?'"

"Killian's taking it, also." The blonde looked at her, frowning.

Was everyone and their dog taking it except for her? What the hell was that? How come she was the last to know?

"I take it you want that class?"

"Yeah." More like fuck yeah, my hot ass girlfriend teaches it.

"Sounds like someone needs to visit Mr. Hopper." Belle quirked a brow at Emma's pained expression.

"I really do. I need to get this shit changed."

"Do it during lunch, then." The brunette shrugged, slipping her schedule back into her bag as the class had started.

"Planning on it if I have nothing else to do." Emma sighed and did the same with her schedule. Was she ever hoping that Regina would come back with a positive message. She didn't want to not have lunch with her. That was their thing. She enjoyed talking with Regina during that hour and if that was going to be obliterated, what the hell was the point in coming to school?

Alright, that was a stupid question. There were plenty reasons why she should go to school, one including Regina kicking her ass. But it would be a goddamn depressing day with the knowledge of not being able to spend an hour with Regina, alone, in the middle of the day.

First period was over in a synch. It had mattered anyways. They did absolutely nothing. It was the syllabus and classroom/school rules like they always had. She never understood why they had to spend days talking about stuff they had already covered the previous semester.

Well, at least they didn't have to do anything. That was the bright side to it, at least for actual classes like Algebra or Economics.

Or American Literature.

It was a boring 55 minutes of sitting there, staring at the screen as the teacher had played a slideshow of classroom etiquette. Emma was pretty sure that she had got it down by down. After spending four years of hearing the same rules, she was pretty sure she could sum them all up quite easily.

No cellphones. No food or drink, except water, most of the time. Do your work. Pay attention. Respect your teacher and peers. Have a pencil. Have paper.

Have this, don't do that. It was all the same and frankly it was annoying.

She could say she appreciated the classes that at least spiced it up by either jumping into something, or filling out a personal survey. Sometimes they did little things to get to know one another.

"Turn to your partner, tell them your name and one thing about yourself." Or something of the ilk.

It was at least more exciting than sitting in the room for 55 minutes, listening to a teacher drone on about missing their class and where to pick up the make-up work.

Yes, yes, Emma got it. Don't be tardy. Don't stick gum underneath the desks. Don't ram your foot up the teacher's ass nor punch them in the throat.

"This is so boring." Killian whispered beside her, halfway through the period.

"Hush!" Mrs. Hurst immediately quieted him. "I will send you to the office."

Oh, well, that was nice. She was one of those teachers that didn't allow the students to talk. Though, she could understand while they were going through rules and such, but still. Killian was right. It was boring as hell.

By the time the bell rang, Emma could have been sleeping on her feet. Her little wake-up bribe this morning had worn her out, miraculously. She figured she'd be walking on a goddamn cloud after that. But, apparently not and now she felt as if she'd run into something at any given point.

And now she had to climb stairs.

That should be illegal.

Emma huffed and reached the top of the stairs before moving towards the Economics classroom. It was nice, she had two of her friends in the class with her. Hopefully Mr. Locksley wouldn't be one of those teachers that would hush the hell out of them.

"And she made it!" Emma huffed at Killian. How on earth he had beat her here, she would never know. He was accompanied by Belle, who wore a smile as she giggled at his comment.

"I was here before everyone else." She patted the seat next to her. "I saved you a seat."

"Thanks." Emma sighed and slipped into the seat next to her brunette friend. Hopefully there wasn't a seating chart in here. She wouldn't know how she'd go on without sitting next to her friend to rant.

"How was your second period?" Belle asked kindly, eyes on her blonde friend.

"I had him. How do you think?" Emma jerked a thumb at Killian who wore a charming smile.

"It was the most fantastic period ever?" The brunette joked, deflating Killian's ego.

"Oh, definitely." Emma let the sarcasm just saturate her words.

The blonde sighed after a moment of giggling with the two of them, sitting back in her seat with a yawn. "I really wish this day would be over with."

"Me too." Belle nodded. "I really wish school wouldn't have started up so soon."

"Ditto." Killian commented beside them. "Why did they think it was a good idea to start it the day after New Year's? Are they stupid?"

"I believe they are." Emma nodded in agreement. They really were. They didn't give them enough time off. How if someone were visiting relatives thousands of miles away and wanted to stay for a bit after the new year had started?

They were fucked. Royally. With. A. Cactus.

The bell rang before Killian could jeer his next comment and Mr. Locksley stood in the front of the room, a remote in hand.

"I would like to inform you that there is, indeed, a seating chart."

And then it slowly faded onto the screen, leaving the trio to sigh.

"You have got to be kidding me." Emma muttered under her breath.

"We need Ms. Mills to work with us, you know. No seating charts." Belle gave her blonde friend a wink and Emma knew what that meant.

She chuckled. Regina probably wouldn't mind if she had insisted they needn't a seating chart, or at least have the three of them next to each other if there was one.

She couldn't survive a class without a friend in it, no matter how annoying they might be.

"I'll see what I can do." Emma nudged her before standing to move to her new seat as a student came to claim the one she was currently in.

The blonde huffed, walking across the room to her new seat at the front of the classroom. Right there. Of course.

She looked over the seating chart and was soon deflated. Belle was somewhere across the room and Killian away from the two of them. It was as if he knew or something.

"Dammit," she huffed and sat back in her desk. Another boring hour to stare at a screen full of rules.

The bell rang fifty minutes later and Emma couldn't get out of there fast enough. She flew down the stairs and straight to the foyer so she could find a spot to stop and check her phone. It was fourth period. Lunchtime.

She hoped Regina had messaged her back. She hadn't exactly been paying attention to what was going on in her pants, though she should be more aware.

Slipping the phone out of her pocket, she checked to see that she did have a new message from her smiley faced sender.

I have it fifth, like last semester.

Oh, great. She was screwed, blued, and tattooed.

Heaving a heavy sigh, the blonde marched herself off to the counselor's office. She might as well get her schedule changed, then, seeing as to how she didn't have anywhere else to go. Emma slowly made her way down the hallway until she had reached the office off to the side.

"Emma! What can I do for you?" Mr. Hopper had immediately greeted, popping from his office. He offered her a friendly smile and she returned it.

"I would like to change my schedule."

"Oh, alright. What seems to be the problem?"

"I want to drop a class for another." Emma shrugged her bag from her shoulder and looked through it until she found her schedule tucked between two notebooks.

"Why don't you come with me?" Mr. Hopper had kindly led her to his office, showing her the chair in front of his desk before he moved behind it. He tapped at his computer as she slid the schedule across the desk.

"I would like to change my sixth period, the introduction to computers. Can I switch it for Creative Writing II?" Emma nibbled on her lower lip, watching as he nodded slightly and typed some more.

It would be just her luck if the class was full.

"There seems to be a spot open." He smiled and Emma nearly cried.

"Can I have it?"

"Of course!"

At that moment, the blonde wanted to stand up and dance like she hadn't danced before. She had turned lucky enough to get a damned spot in Regina's class. Hopefully it would be able to slide into her sixth period without screwing up her schedule, though she wouldn't mind a little screwed up schedule if that had meant changing her lunch.

"Alright, I reserved it for you." He smiled and turned to shuffle around with a few folders. Then he pulled out a pink slip of paper.

Emma stared at it.

"I need your parents' signature on this. It's a school policy."

Emma's heart sank. How on earth was she going to get that signed? Mary Margaret hadn't even bothered to contact her, nor had David. They obviously weren't worried about where she was.

The blonde sighed, but nodded and accepted the paper. She folded it up with her schedule and slipped it back into her bag.

"How if that spot gets taken?"

"Like I had said, I reserved it for you so I know not to give it away." He gave her a kind smile. Sometimes he was just too nice and it screwed with the blonde's brain.

Emma nodded. "So, all I gotta do is get my foster mom to sign this?"

"That and fill out your request, though I already know what you want to do. Just to keep it on record, though." He nodded.

"Alright." Emma stood. She was double, royally screwed.

She would have to somehow forge Mary Margaret's signature on this thing.

"Thanks."

"Anytime, Emma. Have a good day!"

"You too." She called behind her as she floated back into the hallway. Unfortunately, that had only taken ten minutes. She still had a while fifty minutes to kill before fifth period started.

She could always drop by Ms. Mills' room. But would that be inappropriate?

Probably.

She might as well just wait it out and talk to her about that later tonight. Emma pulled out a pair of headphones from her pocket and brought her phone out as well. She might as well sit out here in the foyer and wait until the bell rang.

There was nothing else to do but wait and think. Maybe she could practice forging her foster mother's signature. She knew what it looked like by now and, if she tried hard enough, she could practically replicate it.

"Stupid fucking school," she growled under her breath, sticking the earbuds into her ears, letting the music flow into her ears.

Get psycho, I wanna get psycho

Get psycho, I wanna wanna wanna wanna,

I wanna get psycho

Run you little bitch

I want your power glowing, juicy flowing, red hot, meaning of life

It's not enough to have a little taste

I want the whole damn thing now

Can you dig it?