Emma rushed into the locker room, nearly falling down in her haste to make it to her locker. She was late. This was probably first for the books, since Emma Nolan was never late. It wasn't like it was a big deal, she was only late for half an hour and her parents ran the zoo, but it was somewhat a pride thing for the blonde. Ever since she was a child, she showed utmost care when it came to being in a right place, at the right time.

Rushing through her routine of getting ready, her mind was still fully occupied with the reason why she was late in the first place. She had been unable to sleep during the night as her mind was way too busy thinking about Regina, and reading together with her in the library. Her mind hadn't even tried to run with that, but it had only replayed that over and over again. All their conversations and how Regina looked at her and how she said her name.

Emma didn't even notice how her movements were getting slower until she had completely stopped, her overalls only halfway buttoned. What roused her from her thoughts was the locker room door slamming shut and her best friend leaning on the wall next to the mirror with a wolfish smile spread on her face.

They stared each other down, waiting to see who would crack first. It wasn't a surprise for either of them that Ruby was the one who opened her mouth first. "So, I see you're late huh?"

Emma rolled her eyes and resumed getting dressed. When she was able to think about something else other than Regina she was doing really fine with getting dressed and she mentally patted herself on the back. But there was answering to Ruby's question and she really wasn't looking forward to the conversation that was about to follow.

"Yeah, I was."

But Ruby said nothing. She just looked at her, no smirk, no nothing. It seemed like she was searching for something, but Emma was unsure did she find it or not, but a follow up question did come out, but this time with a lot more concern laced into it. "Are you doing okay?"

Emma sighed. Of course her best friend would know something was going on. She wasn't sure did she want to say anything to her yet as she knew Ruby was going to get super excited and it was in her nature not to let it go. This was something that Emma wanted to explore alone for the time being.

"I'm fine Ruby, I promise. I just had trouble sleeping last night which led me to being too tired to care much about my alarms this morning." Emma said and shot a small smile towards her friend who seemed to be fine with the explanation, for now.

They left the locker room together, catching up since they hadn't seen each other properly for few days. They were making their way towards Emma's place of business as her lions were on the road before the wolves were. They made it all the way to the maintenance door before Ruby asked the question she had waited to ask since this morning.

"Are you still coming on Friday?"

Emma let out an audible puff of air that came out as a steamy cloud in the chilly morning air. The last days of summer were upon them and there had already been few definitely more colder mornings. It was still too early to break out the winter gear but fall clothes were becoming more and more common. Thinking back to her promise to Ruby made her feel guilty. She had been ready to stand Ruby up once again, but she wasn't gonna do it this time. So she was gonna go and have some fun. "Yes, I'm still going. I still have to ask my parents if it's okay for me to leave earlier."

Ruby looked suddenly sheepish and blush rose to her cheeks. It was a tell tale sign that the wolf-girl had done something that she definitely shouldn't have. Emma was almost afraid to ask what it was but she knew she had to. And with the bravery befitting for a knight, she asked.

"What did you do?"

"Well I might have..." Ruby trailed off, looking for a way out but it was not being provided so she let out her secret. "I might have asked your parents for you."

Emma couldn't really be angry at Ruby. To be honest she would have put it off for the last possible moment and this way she didn't have to go on an awkward ramble about her plans. Although she was slightly worried what Ruby might have said...

"Sooo, what did they say?" Emma knew the answer before her best friend said anything, since a hug smile spread on her face.

"THEY SAID YES!" Ruby clapped her hands and jumped up and down a little bit. Emma couldn't help but to join in her enthusiasm as it was really contagious.

"So what time do you want me to be ready and where do you want to meet?" Emma wanted to get all the details down as early as possible. She wanted to be well prepared for her first night out in ages as she was getting a little bit nervous. Also it was important for her to be there at the right time. Yeah thought the girl who was late today, Emma rolled her eyes.

"We are all gonna meet at Roni's at 7 pm. I don't know do you know Roni's but its pretty chill and casual. They are supposed to have live music there on Friday though and the owner told us that it will be fairly packet. So be prepared for that." Ruby knew her friend well and she was singlehandedly giving her all the information from the location to dress code. She knew this was the first time Emma was going out in ages and she wanted it to be a positive experience.

"Okay, I will meet you at Roni's just before 7 pm." Emma promised, smiling slightly.

Soon after that Ruby got a call to join her partner into the wolf cave to check on one of the older wolves. That meant Emma got to enter her own little heaven. Giving her signature whistle, so got to meet everyone like she did every morning. She let her cats out before sitting down to meet Bianca properly.

The little lion cub was getting bigger and bigger by the day and Emma could have strangled the time. It was so special when lions were cubs, but it only lasted for such a little time. There was something so pure and free and so utterly curious about then and how they saw the world. Emma could relate to that on some personal level since ever since she was granted a home like she had with Nolan's, that's how she had felt too. As a young girl, it had felt utterly impossible to be like that. But with time and care and love, that's what she felt like she had become. She felt like she was a lion cub.

Pure and free and curious.

Emma knew she was getting really deep and that often wasn't the case, but she couldn't help herself. She felt... content and happy. Partly it was because she was sitting down in her favorite place, staring at her lions, having achieved her goals in becoming their carer. But mostly it was because of Regina. Last night Emma had admitted to herself that she might have a teeny tiny crush on the brunette woman.

She knew how insane that was considering they had only met a couple of times and knew next to nothing about each other. Emma couldn't really stop herself but she wasn't going to build her hopes up because as said, she knew nothing about the other woman. Regina could be straight and married, and have a kid for all she knew. It seemed rather unlikely and Emma felt like Regina might fall somewhere in the spectrum of gay but she didn't want to assume. She hated when people assumed things about her and she refused to be the one to do that to others.

Emma couldn't wait to see her today. Regina felt like a person who would keep her promises and Emma truly believed that at some point today the brunette would show up. But at that time her day really kicked itself into a high gear. Before she noticed it was lunchtime and she hadn't even sat down once after arriving to work. She tried to subtly escape the office building but then her mother needed something and Emma was sucked back into work.

It was late afternoon when she made it back to her lions. She had only came back for the daily feeding bit for the audience but she had been called off the second she was done. And during that time she hand't seen Regina. Emma was dragging her feet slightly, holding loosely onto a water bottle. Taking a quick look around and detecting that there was no one there, she leaned on a familiar railing outside her lions and pressed her head against the cool glass of the enclosure. As always it was like her lions knew who was there as they all huddled around her and tried to push against the glass to get to her.

Warm smile spread on her face as she pressed her hand against the glass and pretended to pet them. She was really tired and wanted to go home to sleep til the next morning. There was only an hour left of her day and she planned spending the rest of it with her lions.

"They are really beautiful."

Any other time Emma would have snapped up and swirled around, but certain calmness had laid on her and she just lazily turned her head towards the speaker, without lifting it up from the glass. An amused looking Regina was leaning her hip against the railing, her arms crossed over her chest.

"They really are." Emma said, 'and so are you' dying on her lips as it seemed a bit too forward.

Regina's eyes searched for something for a while, before she cocked her head slightly. "A rough day, dear?" she asked sweetly, taking in Emma's exhausted form and the fact that she was yet to lift her head from the glass. One of the lions was sitting just cents away behind the glass her eyes confused on Emma. Emma glanced at the lion, shrugged and lifted herself upright. At the same time the lion stood as well and took off to find it's friends who had already spread back out into the enclosure.

Now Regina's eyes were no longer fixated on Emma but they followed the lion closely. Emma took her time answering as she wanted Regina to see as much as possible of the lions before they laid down again. When the brown eyes turned her way again, it was clear to see how brightly they were shining.

"It was a busy day for sure and I cannot wait to go home and sleep." Emma said but smiled warmly because no matter how tired she was, she loved every second of her work. It was that special to her.

Regina notted understandingly. She was no stranger to being busy but for the first time in her life she wasn't. "I tried looking for you earlier." Regina switched the leg she was putting her weight on. "But if you had a busy day, it makes sense that I couldn't find you."

Emma could feel her face break into a wide smile and her cheeks flush. Regina had been looking for her and waited around just to see her. It made her feel... special. It felt really really nice.

"So how was your day?" Emma asked, cocking her head to the side, observing the woman in front of her. She felt like every time they talked it got less and less awkward and it was like they knew each other somehow.

Regina huffed a little bit. "I got more settled into my new place, opened some more boxes and cleaned up. I had coffee in my favorite coffee house and after lunch I came here." she finished off with a smile.

Emma was floored. Regina had been in the zoo since lunch? That was several hours worth and the blonde felt suddenly guilty of being so busy. She knew she couldn't help it and this was her job, but she didn't want to keep Regina waiting either.

Her emotions must have been easy to read on her face because Regina rushed to reassure her. "Emma, no it's okay! I know you were busy and I really enjoyed walking around here. I saw every animal that you have here and I had some coffee by your lions earlier. I didn't mind waiting, because..." she trailed off but the look she was receiving from the blonde made her continue. "... because I wanted to see you."

Emma's cheeks had started to hurt a little with the amount of smiling she had been doing during their ten minute talk. But she couldn't help herself. She was quite sure she was suddenly living in a movie or a book, because these things literally never happened to her. The fact that they actually were made her want to pinch herself to make sure she was wide awake.

"You did?" she had to confirm because it was just a little bit too good.

A blush was covering both of Regina's cheeks but she bravely confirmed what she had just said, because the reaction she was getting from Emma made her suddenly feel brave. She didn't think she was making a fool of herself since the gorgeous blonde in front of her seemed to be experiencing at least some of the same things she was.

"Well, I waited for the entire day to see you too." Emma said quietly, half wishing Regina couldn't hear her but if her bright smile was anything to go by, she had heard and Emma's heart felt suddenly full with the fact that she was the cause of that smile.

They were quiet for a while, just staring at each other with no awkwardness between them. Emma suddenly had a thought and she felt excited to share that with Regina. "My shift ends in less than an hour. Do you maybe... wanna have some coffee after that?"

Regina definitely wanted to and she felt so special that Emma had asked her. She doubted this was a date yet, but maybe it was the first step Regina so wished for.

"I would love to." she smiled and at the same second she received an even brighter smile from the blonde standing in front of her.

"Great! Let me go see that everything is okay with the lions, and I will meet you at the gate?" she was nearly bouncing as she wanted to make sure everything was set for her to leave. She also wanted to radio her dad to tell her to take extra good care of her babies tonight since she was away.

"I can't wait." Regina said and quickly sauntered past the other woman to the direction of the gates. Emma looked after her and half lifted her hand to an awkward wave that Regina of course couldn't see, before sprinting to the maintenance door. She knew she had done all the paperwork required of her but she wanted to sit down with her lions for a bit.

She did want to go and get coffee with Regina but her lions were her heart. They hadn't really seen each other all day and Emma missed cuddling Bianca. So she settled on the floor next to the cage and just like that the lions gathered around her. She pressed her hands against the bars and the lions took turns to press their heads against it.

This was magic that only happened when Emma was alone with these animals. She had never taught them anything as that was not what they were doing but they knew her and she knew them. Which is why she closed her eyes for a bit and then whispered into the quiet.

"I'm going to take this really beautiful woman for a coffee today."

She was only met with silence which did not surprise her. She had been talking to her animals ever since she was a child and animals only talked back in animations, not real life. The silence was actually often more appreciated than an answer would be. It gave her time to think, clear her head without anyone inserting their opinions into her mind.

"I really like her. She is so beautiful... and I really enjoy talking to her." Emma whispered again, looking at Bianca who had snuggled against the cages. She was slightly tracing her fingers against the soft baby fur, deep in thought.

"I should be terrified and maybe somewhere deep down I am, but I cannot really feel it right now. Which is weird you know?" she knew she was rambling a bit but no one ever told her to shut up and the lions would leave if they lost their 'interest' so she continued on.

"I feel like I can trust her and with my track record that is actually saying a lot..."

Emma was unsure how to continue her trail of thoughts but it seemed like she didn't have to as her walkie talkie rattled to life on her hip. And who else was it than her father.

"Emma, are you still there?"

Picking it up and pressing down a button, Emma swiftly answered while getting up from the floor. "Yeah dad."

"Oh you should be gone already! I only called to see do I have to come and kick you out of here myself." her father didn't sound displeased, more playful like he always did. Emma couldn't remember a time when her dad would have actually been angry or annoyed at anyone. And never at her.

"No dad, I'm almost on my way. Dad, can you please come and check everyone here before you leave? I want to be sure everything's okay." Emma requested and blew kisses towards the lions as she left the building.

"Of course sweetheart, I will see that the baby is okay as well. Are you still doing the evening feedings with her?" David asked and Emma gave her a crash course on Bianca's schedule. It wasn't like David didn't know it but Emma felt more comfortable if they went through it once more, just in case.

"Well, in that case I'm gonna get going." Emma said hurrying towards the locker rooms. She wanted to do a quick wash before meeting with Regina since she had been running around all day and how was she supposed to impress the other woman if she was all sweaty.

"What do you have in plans?" David asked like he always did and in that second Emma realised that she didn't know what to say. She did want to tell her parents but she wasn't sure was there anything to tell. Everything was still so new and she wasn't even sure was there anything to develop. This was the first time they would have a planned meeting that didn't happen in the zoo.

Emma knew she had to tell her dad something and rather than lying she told part of the truth. "I'm going to this coffee house for a bit and then probably head home. Will you and mom be back for late dinner?" she hoped that changing the subject would serve her and it did.

"We will be back around 7 so be back for dinner at 8." David said and Emma could hear someone talking to David about something in the other end of the line. Before Emma could ask David spoke quickly. "Sweetheart I have to go, Damien needs my help. I will see you later. I love you!"

"I love you too." Emma said and dropped her walkie talkie on top of the overalls she had already shed from her being. She rushed towards the showers and made quick work washing herself. Feeling so much better and dressing in record speed, Emma stepped in front of the mirror to brush through her wild blonde mane. Stopping for a moment she looked at her own reflection. She was excited. Nervous granted, but more excited than anything. She was unsure what was gonna happen or even if anything was going to but that didn't really change a thing for her. This was still so special.

In no time she was ready and flung her backpack onto her back. She speed walked to the gates, her eyes scanning the area for the gorgeous brunette. After a while, her brows started to furrow as she couldn't find Regina anywhere. She walked around the gate area a bit, both inside and outside the gate just in case Regina would have decide to wait in less crowded area. None the less, she was nowhere to be found and Emma was slowly losing hope. She dug out her phone from her pocket and was about to select Regina when she realised they never exchanged numbers.

Emma could feel how her eyes started to burn as she swallowed back tears. She backed behind some of the bushes just outside the gates, where she knew she could be alone. Trying to see the many sides of the situation was getting harder and harder. The gate was big and there were many people, but she had been looking for a long time and she had checked every single place she could think of.

Familiar despair was getting its hold of her and it was clouding her clear thinking completely. How had she been so stupid? Of course none of this meant anything to Regina, no. Emma was probably just another stranger to her that had happened to ask her out for coffee. She was so gorgeous that she probably got that a lot. And on top of it all, Emma had given her a clear out by asking her to wait at the gate. Oh how she had probably laughed at her childish hopefulness. And the fact that they hadn't even shared their numbers with each other...

Starting to walk away the young blonde tried her hardest not to cry. She was not worth it. This had been just a stupid crush that she could now work through. Her old feelings of not being wanted were resurfacing with every step she took but with every step she tried her hardest to push them back down. There was no way this one woman would start to eat out her development and years of hard work. Regina meant nothing... Except that it seemed like she actually did more than Emma had even realised.

It didn't take Emma long to make it home where she curled into a ball on her bed. She tried to keep her mind off Regina but it was impossible. At least she didn't have to no longer worry about her and how she was gonna act and what was she gonna say. It all had solved itself for her, just not in the way she wished.

She had no idea when she had fallen asleep, neither did she know that her parents had come in to check up on her. What she was also unaware of were the concerned glances her parents were shooting each other when they realised the dried up tear tracks that were marring their daughters face as she slept what seemed like peaceful dream.

But it was anything but peaceful. It was more like a nightmare.