A/N: Heyyy. This chapter turned out better than I had expected. I'm excited to see the responses as this story picks up. Please review and give me motivation.

"You never forget the ones

who touched you heart;

regardless

whether it's the ones

who broke it

or who healed it."

I felt my anxiety return nearing my lunch break the next day, wondering if she would show up again. Like the true idiot I was, I hadn't even asked her name. What if she never came back?.

Almost as if reading my mind she glided through the heavy glass doors, looking just as beautiful as yesterday. I felt a pang of jealousy as Arielle got to her first and went to seat her. She sat in the booth down one from the previous day. I smiled at my luck but continued to panic. What on earth would I say to her? Beautiful day isn't it? Pff. Fuck that.

That's when I realized she was sitting alone. Had she been alone yesterday? I couldn't remember. I continued to serve plates around her vicinity and tried to come to a conclusion about how to approach. She was a customer, it had to be a light and relatively impersonal greeting. I barely noticed the redhead waitress coming my way, taking off her apron in passing.

"Hey, could you take Regina's table for me before you go to break?"

I glanced at her, "Who's?"

She pointed in the direction of the brunette and told me her order, "Kale chicken salad. Should be out in a few minutes. She's just drinking water, and our other order's are being covered by Nova." Regina. That was her name.

The waitress began getting a glass out for herself at the nearby soda machine, "You haven't seen her here before? She come's in all the time, but usually sits in one of the other compartments. I'm not surprised you haven't though, with all the rich people that come in on a regular basis."

I nodded distractedly, "Yeah. I guess so."

She smiled, "Well I'll leave you to it. Why don't you ask if she wants some company? She always eats alone. She's pretty okay though."

I smiled back as I watched Arielle leave into the separate break room for the staff. Showtime.

I waited all of thirty seconds before her order was ready and I picked up a water pitcher before approaching her table. She looked up at my from the book she'd been reading and smiled. I took a deep breath before placing the meal in front of her and smiling back.

"Hello again. Emma, was it?"

I felt surprised yet strangely honored she remembered my name, "Yeah. Water?"

She nodded and I refilled her glass, clearing my throat.

"You want some company? I couldn't help but notice you were alone, and it's my lunch break."

She laughed and temporarily I felt foolish for asking, "Yes, that would be nice. This is my lunch break too, and my job doesn't really allow for friends."

I was puzzled at her statement but overjoyed she accepted my offer to have lunch.

"I'm gonna take this off and I'll be right back." I walked quickly to the counter and threw my apron under it haphazardly, barely able to contain my excitement.

I made my way back and slowly sat down across from her, "So, what do you do?"

She sat down her fork and patted her lips with a napkin which for some reason I found adorable despite the over-formality.

"I am an author, and I also give lectures. More recently I've been asked to attend a few international seminars on various subjects, and I'm quite thrilled about the response to my work."

"That's great," my statement was genuine, "What do you write about?"

"I write novels from many genres, but I find myself to fancy more philosophical novels. It depends," her eyes widened, "I haven't introduced myself. I'm Regina."

She smiled at me apologetically and I had to take note of how beautiful she looked right there, with the sunlight from the window lighting up her irises to create a bright hazel hue, her olive skin illuminated. It was crazy to think someone this beautiful actually existed; crazier yet I dreamt about her before I was even blessed with the sight of her face.

We talked for nearly an hour before I felt the need to check the clock. I felt my chest squeeze painfully as I realized our time had been up a half an hour ago. It was a miracle I hadn't lost this job yet.

She saw me glance at the clock and her voice took on a tone of disappointment, "I suppose you must get back to work."

I didn't want her to leave. I wanted to reach for her hand that was sitting right there on the dark wood of the table and kiss it. I wanted to-it didn't matter. Someone like her could never feel the same way about me. We were strictly friends, and most likely would never be more. She was well accomplished, wealthy, and extremely intelligent as I had learned during our rather lively conversation; and I was me. I was the orphan; the scruffy unwanted kid dropped by the side of the freeway who made poor life choices, didn't go to college, and amounted to absolutely nothing. She was her, and I was me, and yet, I still asked the question;

"Same time tomorrow?"

Her smile grew impossibly bigger, "Wouldn't miss it."

I popped out of bed like a daisy in spring the next morning, ignoring Ruby's grunts of protest.

"Emmaaaa, babe. Come back to bed."

I sighed, the guilt coming back to me. I straightened the collar of my white dress shirt and kept my eyes focused on my reflection in her mirror. I hardly ever stayed in my own room anymore, and Mary Margaret teased me endlessly over it.

"Ruby, I tell you the same thing every morning. We have work today."

She whined and pressed her face harder into the pillow, "I hate work. I need to become a stripper."

I laughed at that, throwing my hair into a ponytail, "You'd be the best one there."

The day seemed to drag on forever until I saw Regina stride in just in time for my break. Fireworks of emotion went off inside me at the sight of her and this time I greeted her first, menu in hand.

"Good Morning. Right this way," I turned to lead her to her usual black leather window booth.

"Good Morning, Emma. Actually," she tugged gently on my arm and my skin buzzed at the contact, "Take a walk with me?"

There was a park path a few blocks away and we walked slowly under the swaying branches. The trees seemed to envelop us the farther we walked, rays of sunlight coming through the leaves despite the chill in the air.

Regina huddled into her black trench coat, the slight pink in her cheeks giving away her coldness. We walked in silence for a while before she spoke quietly;

"Emma, something about you...something about you... is just so familiar. Like I know you, but I don't." She didn't look at me, only straight ahead.

What? "I get what you mean."

She turned abruptly, "You do?"

I shrugged, "Yeah. You think I just walk up to any old customer and ask to have lunch? No."

She pondered this, resuming the walk, "Why did you do it then?"

I decided to tell her the truth. It wasn't easy to share, but she gave me some easy sense of comfort. I could trust her.

"When I was in foster care, I was the girl nobody picked to take home with them for adoption. I hoped for years, giving strangers my biggest smile, taking the abuse from other kids, giving everything I had away until one day there was nothing left for me to give. And I stopped hoping for a family, because I knew it just wasn't going to happen. And I ran away from my group home."

I didn't spare her a glance before I took a deep breath and continued, "One day, I met this girl, Lillian. I had been sitting waiting for the bus stop when she sat down next to me to wait. She seemed so familiar, and I couldn't place my finger on why, so I talked to her. We became the best of friends in that fifteen minutes of interaction, and I learned that she was an adopted child. It turns out she had been adopted by one of the bad families, you know, the abusive ones. I convinced her to run away with me, to get out of it. She came back with me to the abandoned building I had made my home at the time, and we had the best times two girls could ever have together. I didn't need anything else; money, home cooked meals, or trendy clothes, as long as I had her. She was like my sister."

I heard Regina speak up softly next to me, "What happened to her?"

I felt tears sting my eyes but I was determined to make my point, so I soldiered on.

"We were crossing the road, a block from the house, and this car came out of nowhere. It hit her hard and barely missed me, and she died on impact. The car didn't even stop; just a hit and run."

I heard Regina gasp beside me and felt her thread her gloved fingers through mine. It seemed right somehow, and I wasn't about to question it.

"But we had lived together 3 years before that happened, and it was the best three years of my entire life. So that's why now, when I have that feeling, that gut instinct, I talk to them."

She squeezed my hand, and I was grateful for the minimal response. It was like she knew I had heard it all before; the 'I'm so sorry', the 'that's awful'. I was just content to be with her, and she knew it.