Chapter 5

The next two weeks came and went without being very eventful. The girls worked on their project a few times but that was about all the interaction they had with each other. They were supposed to make a quick presentation on the progress of their project tomorrow. Usually, presentations never bothered Regina. After all, she wanted to be a lawyer, she'd practically always be making presentations.

However, she was particularly nervous about this presentation. Regina didn't want to mess anything up for Emma's sake. She also didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the blonde. So she spent the entirety of her Sunday practicing and memorizing everything she possibly could about their project.

Once Regina was satisfied that she was prepared enough, she attempted to go to sleep. Her nerves were in overdrive though and she played with the timer on her wrist. Some habits were proving hard to break.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Okay, I can do this. I know exactly what I'm talking about. Regina internally repeated this to herself before the professor called her and Emma up for their presentation.

Emma gave her a warm smile and led them to the front of the room. Regina shakily got the powerpoint ready and began her speech.

"I'm Regina and this is Emma. Our project is on William Shakespeare, the great playwright." Her eyes scanned the room and she was suddenly very aware of everyone's eyes on her. She looked to her right and saw Emma give her a nod of encouragement.

"Though he only lived for 53- no, 52- years, he managed to accomplish a lot..." Regina trailed off and was unknowingly fidgeting with her timer.

Lucky for her, Emma noticed the struggle and took over without missing a beat. The blonde finished their presentation without anymore slip ups.

Once class was over, Regina was so embarrassed and nervous to face Emma. They walked out of class together and Emma lightly patted Regina on the back.

"Oh, Emma. I am so sorry. I completely fucked up our presentation." She hung her head towards the ground.

"Hey, Regina. You didn't fuck anything up. You did great, there was just a little slip up. Nothing big."

Emma flashed Regina her usual warm smile and made the brunette instantly feel better.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! I mean you could have thrown up or shit your pants in front of everyone. That would have been bad."

Regina gasped, "Oh my god, Emma! That is disgusting,".

"Yeah, but it's true," Emma giggled.

The brunette laughed in return and Emma gave her a flirtatious nudge in the shoulder. A blush crept up Regina's neck.

"Umm, well I have another class to get to now but I'll talk to you later?"

"Uhh, yes, of course," Regina bit the inside of her cheek to keep from embarrassing herself even further.

They exchanged shy smiles then went their separate ways.

Even though Regina was embarrassed, she felt better knowing that Emma had her back.

Regina was trying to fall asleep later that night but she couldn't shake a strange feeling. It had rushed over her right before she got into bed. She couldn't describe what the feeling was but she knew it was strange. So Regina chewed her bottom lip and fidgeted with her timer until she finally dozed off.

A soft beeping noise woke Regina up with a start. She hazily looked around her room until her eyes stopped on her clock.

2:35 she thought to herself as she scrunched up her nose.

The beeping continued and Regina was puzzled. There was a slight blue glow coming from underneath her covers and she pulled out her arms.

"Holy shit," the brunette whispered as she inspected her now activated timer.

The countdown had begun.

1 day, 10 hours, 5 minutes.

Regina apparently had a soul mate. And she would see that person in less than two days. Heart heart was racing by now and she wasn't sure if she was ready for it or not. It's not like she had much of a choice however, so she tried to think of all the potential good that could come from this.

Her mind wandered with multiple scenarios before drifting off back to sleep.

The alarm clock went off and woke Regina up from the light sleep she fell into just three hours prior. She sat up in a frantic mess and couldn't remember why she felt so nervous for a minute. That is, until she looked down at her right wrist.

1 day, 7 hours.

So it wasn't a dream.

Regina got up and got ready as best as she could without thinking about it too much.

I still have an entire day, I need to save some of these nerves for tomorrow.

The brunette was ready an hour later and she confidently stepped outside. Unfortunately, her confidence slowly slipped away as she began to make eye contact with every person she walked past.

Well, I guess you're not my soul mate, she thought as she exchanged a smile with a passerby.

Good thing it's not you. Not that you're ugly, just not my type.

A woman close to her age walked by and Regina couldn't help but stare.

Damn. Too bad it's not you.

Regina mentally scolded herself as she was reminded that she does, indeed, have a soul mate. Of course she was still a single woman but she suddenly felt as though she was cheating. She lightly laughed under her breath and focused on the day ahead of her.

13 hours, 57 minutes.

Regina lie down on her bed later that night and prayed for the strength to not throw up her dinner. This was the last night she would have to sleep without knowing who her soul mate is.

Oh my god. What if they want to come over? I haven't cleaned in five days. Wait, it would probably be too soon to come over. We can go out for dinner or something instead.

Her mind went wild but she eventually managed to fall asleep.

Regina checked her email before heading out the door to her mock trial class. And thankfully she did because her literature class was cancelled for that day. As if on cue, Emma sent her a text message in regards to the cancellation.

Hey, do you want to meet at like 12:30 to work on our project since there's no class today?

The brunette was only slightly annoyed at Emma. She was supposed to meet her soul mate at 12:40 and she really didn't want the blonde around for that. But on the other hand, they needed to work on their project and they were finally becoming friends.

Okay, that sounds fine. I shall warn you though, I do have some plans shortly after.

Okay, so no that she actually had plans, but she was hoping to. It didn't take long for her to get a response.

Ha, no problem, princess ;)

Usual place then?

Of course. See you later.

Regina made it to her class and hoped that it would rush by. Of course all that did was make it go by even slower.

It was finally time for Regina's class to let out and she rushed out of the room. The brunette was early to the coffee shop (as per usual) but that didn't stop her from being annoyed.

15 minutes.

Regina tapped her feet and scrolled through her various social media accounts.

9 minutes.

Ugh, where in the world is Emma?

She angrily typed out a text message to the blonde.

Where are you? I already told you that I have other plans than waiting for you all day.

4 minutes.

Jesus fucking Christ.

Regina got her things out for their project and watched the people around her as a distraction.

The door to the coffee shop opened and Regina heard a crash and frantic apology behind her.

"Fuck! I am so sorry. Let me get that for you."

She recognized the blonde's voice and she was seething when she turned around to scold her for holding her up.

"Emma! It's about time you got here!"

Their eyes met and Regina noticed that Emma looked frazzled yet beautiful.

"I'm so sorry, Regina. I realized I left half my shit at home by the time I got halfway here."

She went to sit down but paused and scrunched up her nose.

"What is that noise?"

Regina was confused until she realized there was a beeping noise in the background. It was hard to hear because of the noise of the coffee shop.

"No. No it can't be."

She looked at her wrist and saw that her timer was flashing and beeping. Then she looked back up at Emma who was doing the same thing.

"No, but you don't have a timer."

Emma held up her wrist to show her equally flashing timer.

"I got one after class the other day," she shrugged.

All Regina could do was shake her head.

This must be some kind of mix up. There is no way this is possible.

Emma's cheeks were red with embarrassment.

"I guess you kind of inspired me to get one. I wanted to know and I wanted my soul mate to know too."

She fell down into the seat opposite of the brunette.

Regina was still dumbfounded when she finally replied. "Wow. I definitely wasn't expecting this."

"Yeah," Emma agreed.

"But you hate me."

"I do not hate you! You might not be my favorite person but I certainly don't hate you. I mean, come on, did you expect to see someone else and you guys would immediately love each other?"

Regina's blank stare and rosy cheeks gave Emma an answer.

"Oh. You did. Well we obviously had some sort of connection when we first."

The brunette smiled thinking back on that night.

"Yes, we did."

They both sat there lost in their own thoughts for a few minutes until Regina found the words to say.

"Can we keep trying to be friends? I really like how we've been doing lately."

"Of course," Emma reached out a hand and put it on top of Regina's. They both stared at their hands for a minute and suddenly Emma felt embarrassed and awkward, so she removed it.

"I like how we've been going too." Emma smirked, looking down at the table. "But that doesn't mean I won't try to hold your hand every now and then."

Now it was Regina's turn to blush again. There really was a lot of blushing between the two in just under twenty minutes. While Regina liked flirty Emma, she wasn't ready to admit that out loud.

"Should we try to work on our project?"

"I guess we should."

Both women were still getting used to this slight change between them but they quickly fell back into their usual pattern.

Emma stole a sip of Regina's coffee.

"Hey! Get your own. Plus, you don't even like yours the way I get it."

"That's true, you should start getting it how I like it. But since we're soul mates doesn't that mean you like have to share your coffee with me now," the blonde gave her a wink.

Regina rolled her eyes in return. "Whatever."

They continued to silently work for another minute.

"You look cute today," Regina softly said.

Emma gave her a wide grin. "Thanks. So do you."