A/N: As always, I appreciate your thoughts greatly, and the fact that you've stuck with me this far. I don't own OUAT or characters, just the story, and I hope you enjoy~

XX

Emma slammed the door to her bug shut, trying desperately to catch her breath. She was still kicking her own ass for taking off like that after pulling such a devious move, but she knew it was the only way to test the waters, to find out if maybe Regina Mills, the goddess who now claimed Emma's dreams for her own on a nightly basis, was equally attracted to her.

"Judging by the way she bit her lip and softly moaned, I'd say that's a total fuck yes."

Emma closed her eyes and clenched her thighs together, groaning at the mental image of Regina biting her lip, her eyes shutting softly, her hands up in the air as if she were afraid to commit a sin she couldn't take back. Because deep down inside, Emma knew that, at least for the next five days, being entirely too close to Regina could get the both of them into serious trouble, and that was definitely not how she wanted their relationship to begin.

There you go again, Swan, thinking about a relationship with Regina. What if she just wants sex? What then?

Rolling her eyes at her eternally irritating inner voice, she gave a cocky smirk to her rear view mirror as she pulled out of 108 Mifflin.

"Well at least it will be amazing."

XX

Emma arrived home a few short minutes later and heard a ding from her cellphone.

Ruby: Hey Ems, party's back on. Granny's, 9pm. Cool?

Emma: Sure thing, Rubes. See you then.

Emma smiled and set her phone down on the kitchen table. She had a solid six and a half hours until the graduation party Ruby was throwing for herself and Belle, so she had a lot of time to kill, and she needed to expend some pent up energy. She ran upstairs, quickly pulling off her current outfit in exchange for something easier to work out in. After giving herself an appreciative look in the mirror, Emma jogged back downstairs, nearly running into Mary Margaret.

"Woah, Emma, honey, are you okay?"

The concern in her foster mother's voice softened her heart just a little bit more, and she nodded quickly.

"Yeah, Mary Margaret, I'm just gonna go running for a bit before our graduation party."

Mary Margaret patted Emma on the shoulder.

"That's fine, honey. I talked to Ruby, and she said something about you staying there for the night..?"

Emma blinked rapidly, trying not to give away her confusion. Why would Ruby tell Mary Margaret that she was staying at the Inn? Surely there was a reason. Nodding in the affirmative, Emma tried not to stumble over her words.

"Yeah, well, you know, bunch of high school kids having a blast, don't want to wake you guys up when I get home, haha.."

Though Mary Margaret seemed skeptical, she seemed to recognize that her foster daughter was sensible enough not to make a huge mistake. It had taken the trio quite a while to come to this point, as Emma's stubbornness made things difficult at first, but when she finally realized that the Charmings were unlike any of the foster 'families' she had had to endure, she mellowed out greatly. Emma stopped lashing out at the world and grew to trust her peers and family members, and things balanced out in her life. Though the Charmings struggled with Emma at first, they vowed never to give up on her, and although she had only been living with them for a few years, and was almost old enough to age out of the foster system, theirs was a family that wouldn't be torn up by such things. Shaking her head to clear her inner monologue, Mary Margaret shrugged.

"That's fine honey, just don't do anything stupid, alright?"

Emma couldn't contain the snort, and ripped open the front door, plugging her headphones in before taking off down the road.

XX

Two hours later saw Emma sitting at the diner, glistening with sweat. Storybrooke, Maine was an extraordinarily tiny town, where everybody knew each other, and as such, it didn't take Emma very long to grow bored of running the same streets. She was blessed with a high metabolism, so even though she ate every meal like it was her first and last, she never gained much weight. This was to her advantage, admittedly, but she still liked to run whenever she could, and spent as much time lifting weights or swimming as possible. This kept her toned and, if she were being honest with herself, looking quite good. Ruby gave her a crooked grin, sliding her usual bear claw and hot cocoa towards her.

"Hey, Ems, you're gonna be back in time for the party, right?"

Rolling her eyes, Emma blew on her cocoa to cool it down before taking a big gulp.

"Duh, Rubes, why wouldn't I be?"

The bickering pair were quickly interrupted by the sound of Emma's phone ringing, so she pulled it out of her pocket and answered it quickly.

"Hi Mary Margaret. Yeah, I'm at the diner. Oh, she did? Ok, I'll go see her in a bit. Yes Mom, I'll be home in time to get ready for the party. Yes Mom, okay mom, okay love you bye!"

Emma slammed her phone down on the bar and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Damn, woman, every time: yes, I'm alive, yes, I'll come home, yes, I love you."

Ignoring Ruby's irritatingly uproarious laughter, Emma stood up and made her way to Regina's room at the Inn.

XX

Almost as soon as Emma had knocked on the door to Room #4, it swung wide open, revealing a bit of a mess and a slightly harassed looking Regina Mills, who beckoned Emma in quickly. Regina definitely didn't miss the way Emma's skin glistened in the dim light, but she knew this wasn't the time and place to act on feelings, so she quickly went into business mode.9

"Miss Swan, I recognize that we have a little over three days until we leave for the conference, but I need us to be ready. Do you have business attire?"

Emma's blank stare, and requisite 'huh', left no doubt in Regina's mind that she did not, in fact, own business attire. Thanking her lucky stars that she'd been born to a moderately wealthy family, Regina handed Emma her credit card and a rather impressive list of items that she needed to have her pick up.

"As my assistant, Miss Swan, I expect you to look professional at all times, do I make myself clear?"

Emma simply leaned against the door jam, a bemused expression on her face. She wasn't hurt about Regina's apparent coldness, because in a way she understood where the teacher was coming from. So, she just stood silently, watching as Regina flitted about the room mindlessly, muttering to herself, or the room, or Emma, neither could be quite sure. After a few minutes she stopped and slowly turned around, looking at Emma as if she could devour her on the spot. Her eyes roamed slowly up Emma's toned legs, pale in contrast to her own olive skin, to the tight fitting shirt that undoubtedly covered up rippling abs. Regina's eyes grew steadily darker, and her mouth steadily dryer, and Emma was suddenly aware of a chill traveling up her spine. The exact moment their eyes locked, they took a hesitant step towards one another, then another. Both women traveled as if on a wire, something almost magical pulling them together, and they would have finally, blissfully connected, had it not been for an errant knock on the door. Snapping to attention, Regina gravitated towards the door and Emma quickly plopped into the nearest chair.

"Sorry to interrupt, Miss Mills, but Emma left this on the bar, and I thought I'd bring it to her before she left."

Good old Ruby, Emma thought to herself, always taking care of me, even if she doesn't realize it.

"That's quite alright, Ruby, and I'm sure Miss Swan appreciates it. She was about to leave, anyhow."

Regina gave Emma a suggestive look, as if to say 'perhaps that's a good idea', and Emma immediately hopped to attention, giving Regina another nod.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll get all of this taken care of, and talk to you tomorrow. Have a good night."

"You too, Miss Swan."

Ruby's wolfish grin did nothing to assuage Emma's irritation, and although she had at least enough tact not to speak of it, she could not ignore the hint of sadness in Regina's eyes when Emma left.

XX