A/N: Sorry about the wait. Real life and stuff. I hope you enjoy. And special thank you to everyone who has favorited/ followed/ and reviewed! It means a lot!
By the time Emma was on her way home after practice she was both exhausted and felt terrible for what she had said to Regina before lunch. They hadn't spoken since, and Emma wondered briefly if Regina was still coming over for dinner. She really didn't want to have to explain to her parents what had happened between them, especially since it was her fault.
A wave of relief washed over her when she saw Regina's Mercedes in the driveway. She pulled in next to her and turned off the car. They stared at each other through their windows before Emma shrugged her shoulders and mouthed her apology. She jutted her lip out in a pout, receiving an eye roll in return. Her pout turned into a happy smile when Regina beckoned her over. Emma hurried over to Regina's car and pulled the drivers side door open. She squatted down and placed her hand on Regina's, resting in her lap.
"I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it. You know how I get when I get defensive," Emma said.
"I know," Regina said. "I may have overreacted, a tad."
Emma smiled at Regina's admission and squeezed her hand. "Overreact? Nah."
Regina let out a breathy laugh, and playfully pushed Emma's shoulder. "Well you know how I get when I'm stressed."
Emma let out a loud laugh. Regina always knew how to throw it right back at her. One of the many things she loved about her.
"So we're good?" Emma asked.
"I suppose."
"Does that mean we can go inside now?"
"Perhaps if you pay the toll," Regina said.
"Oh?" Emma stood and leaned into the car. She brought her lips to Regina's ear and whispered, "And how much is today's fare?"
Emma began kissing down the column of Regina's neck. When she started sucking the skin just above Regina's collar, Regina began to hum her approval. Emma knew how sensitive Regina's neck was, she'd probably let her do this all damn day if she wanted. As time went on Emma went to work on Regina's neck, alternating between kissing, nipping, sucking, and even going as far as a few light bites. With one of Regina's hands on her hip and the other wrapped around the back of her neck, Emma had no intention of letting up. At least she wouldn't have if her father hadn't just cleared his throat, sending them flying apart, and Emma's head directly into the door frame.
"Ow, damn" Emma said, rubbing the back of her head. "H-hey dad." She turned towards him as she wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her gray sweatshirt as quickly as possible.
"Hi Mr. Nolan," Regina said. Emma knew she was probably scarred for life. And with a quick look towards Regina, she could see Regina was now a deep shade of red.
"Hello Regina. Emma, I think Regina's neck has had enough for today don't you? Why don't you make your way in soon."
Emma could feel her cheeks burning up. "Sorry... We uh, we'll be right in."
She waited for her father to be out of sight before turning back to Regina.
"Oh my god," Regina said. She leaned her head on the steering wheel, "that was so embarrassing!"
Emma chuckled, "Oh come on, it wasn't as bad as that time your mom caught us in the jacuzzi. I thought she was going to rip out my heart right there."
"Ugh, don't remind me. That was the most mortifying sex talk I've ever received. There was a PowerPoint presentation."
"I remember."
Emma thought back to that day nearly two years ago. Regina's parents were supposed to be out very late at a gala in Portland. They usually didn't arrive home until well past midnight. So Regina had invited Emma over. For some reason Emma can't remember now, Regina's parents had arrived home much earlier than expected. So early in fact that they walked in on Emma and Regina in the jacuzzi making out. Heavily. And if memory serves her correctly, Emma's mouth may have been working on the cleavage exposed from the top of Regina's swim suit. She could hear it all now...
"My God Regina!"
"Mother!" Regina pushed Emma off her and spun to see her parents standing in the doorway. "We were just-"
"Oh it's very clear what you were just Regina," Mrs. Mills said. She grabbed the towels they had left on the table and handed one to each of them.
"There are some things a father just doesn't want to see," Mr. Mills said as he went back into the house.
"It wasn't like-"
Mrs. Mills held her hand up to silence her daughter. "Upstairs, Regina. And I don't want to hear another word."
Regina huffed indignantly as she got out of the jacuzzi and stormed inside. Emma's mouth had gone completely dry as she too got out of the jacuzzi and wrapped herself in a towel.
Mrs. Mills didn't say a word for an excruciatingly long time. Emma wanted to say something, anything, but she knew there was probably nothing she could say that wouldn't make it worse.
"Emma, I am VERY disappointed in you. This behavior is not acceptable here, and I know for a fact it's not acceptable at your house either. I'll be calling your mother immediately."
Emma dropped her head, "Yes ma'am."
"Go get your things. You can change in the guest bathroom. Henry will take you home," Mrs. Mills said.
Emma shook her head and followed instructions. By the time she got home, her parents were waiting for her with their arms crossed and scowls on their faces. It wasn't pleasant.
They had both been grounded for three weeks, been given lengthy and mortifying sex talks, and in Regina's case, a presentation, and were no longer allowed to be in a house unsupervised. Emma couldn't believe how much trouble they had been in for that.
"Come on. My dad isn't going to say anything," Emma said.
"I don't think he'll need to," Regina said as she checked herself in the visor mirror. "Look at my neck."
Emma just smirked in response. She was very proud of her handy work. "Hey! You're the one that let me do that!"
Regina grabbed her compact out of the front pocket of her backpack, and began trying to cover the mark. "You know you could have something called self control."
"I didn't hear you complaining when I was doing that to you."
Regina smirked as she finished applying the coverup. Emma noted the hickey was much too dark to disappear, but it was at least less obvious, and with Regina's sweatshirt, it was possible her mom might not even notice. Her dad on the other hand, well, he would know, but he would do everything in his power to make sure he pretended otherwise.
As soon as they entered the house Henry barreled into Regina.
"Regina!"
"Henry!" She hugged him tightly. "I've missed you."
"Please never leave again," Henry mumbled into Regina's stomach. "I missed you too much! And Emma was so boring this summer! She never wanted to do anything other than workout and mope around the house."
"Oh?" Regina said.
Emma could feel Regina staring at her, but instead of giving herself away she just pulled Henry away. "Alright Henry that's enough, let her breathe."
They entered the family room which was opened up to the kitchen, where her parents both sat around the island. "Hey you two, how was your day?" Her mom asked brightly.
"Fine," Emma said. "Practice was brutal."
"It's the first week. It'll get easier," her dad said.
"What about you Regina? I heard your presentation went well this morning. Principle Gold couldn't stop talking about it," Mrs. Nolan said.
Emma smiled, that was the best thing that her mother could have said. Now she would definitely be off the hook for messing up this morning.
"I suppose it did go well, after a slight hiccup," Regina glanced at Emma, "it finished strong."
"That's great honey," Mrs. Nolan said.
Emma and Regina stood next to the island as Emma poured them both glasses of water. She could tell Regina was standing at a slight angle, probably to keep her neck from being on display to her parents. Emma mentally high-fived herself.
"What's that?" Henry asked from where he sat on the back of the couch.
"What's what Henry?" Regina asked.
"That on your neck. Is it a bruise?" Henry asked pointing directly at the hickey on Regina's neck.
Emma tried to stifle her laughter as Regina's eyes blew comically wide and scrambled to cover her neck with her hand. "Oh, um, well, its..." Regina stuttered looking to Emma to help bail her out.
"That," Mr. Nolan said, "is something you don't need to know about until your older Henry."
Henry looked back at Regina who was glaring at Emma.
"Ew. Gross," Henry said. His disgust was apparent to everyone in the room.
"Henry why don't you show Regina your book," Mrs. Nolan said.
"Oh yeah!" Henry grabbed Regina's hand and pulled her towards the stairs. "Come on Regina!"
When they were gone from the room Emma looked back towards her parents. The unamused expression planted firmly on her mother's face was enough to get the hint. Emma grabbed her water glass, "well I'm gunna go shower before dinner."
"Not so fast young lady," her mother said. She pulled out a chair and Emma slunk down into it. "I understand you're getting older and you and Regina are... Exploring your physical relationship..."
"Mom no please stop," Emma said. This was the last conversation she wanted to have right now.
"But, giving her hickeys like that-"
"Don't say hickeys" Emma said, dropping her head onto the cool surface of the island.
"-Is not appropriate."
Emma lifted her head from the counter, "mom what's the big deal? We were just kissing."
"I just want you to be respectful Emma. She's the student body president, she has a lot of adults working with her on a daily basis that could be writing her recommendations for college. How do you think that might look to some of them if she's strolling into meetings all marked up?" Her mother said.
Emma hadn't really thought about any of that. Like at all. Would having a hickey really override Regina's accomplishments and make people not want to write her letters of recommendation? She didn't want to hurt Regina's chances if that were true. She just really liked kissing Regina's neck.
"I hadn't really thought about that," Emma said.
"Well you need to start. You'll both be applying to colleges in a few months, and it would be a shame if something like that hurt either of your credibility."
"I'll be more careful," Emma said.
Her mother patted her arm, "that's all I ask. Now go shower. Dinners ready in twenty minutes."
Emma showered fairly quickly and dressed in some blue soccer shorts and a white long sleeve t-shirt. She put her hair into a messy bun and slipped on some socks. She could hear Regina and Henry in the room across the hall. He was still showing her his book.
She leaned up against the door frame and watched as Henry flipped through the pages of the book strewn out across both of their laps.
"The evil queen then cast a curse that sent everyone to our world!" Henry said showing her the illustration associated with that part of the story.
"That's so cool," Regina said.
"You two ready for dinner?" Emma asked.
"I am!" Henry said. He shut the book, tossing it onto his bed and bolting out of the room.
"Wow. He must be hungry," Regina said. She let out a little laugh as she stood and moved towards Emma. "So how much trouble did you get in?"
"Not much. She just told me to be more careful."
Regina stepped into Emma's space and hugged her. "Hmm, I could even it out if she thinks you do all the work." Emma hummed her approval as Regina placed her own kisses along Emma's neck.
"As much as I'd love that, I think we've been embarrassed enough today. Plus I'm starving," Emma said.
"Oh I'm hungry too, just not for food," Regina said. She bit lightly into Emma's neck to prove her point.
"Jeezus woman, you're going to be the death of me," Emma said. She pulled away from Regina to a safer distance. Regina grabbed Emma's face with one hand and kissed her hard on the lips, dragging her tongue briefly along Emma's top lip, before she pulled away. "Your loss," Regina said. She tapped Emma's cheek with her hand then left the room. Leaving Emma quite worked up as she tilted her head to watch Regina sashay her hips all the way down the hall.
Regina was happy to be back in Emma's house again. She was worried that Emma's parents would be upset with her about what she had put Emma through this summer, but they were as warm and welcoming as they had ever been. All through dinner they had asked her questions about her trip to Europe, which Regina happily answered.
After dinner Emma connected Regina's laptop to their T.V. So that she could show them her pictures. As she scrolled through, she couldn't help but notice Emma caught up in pure amazement. Regina smiled as she watched Emma stare at the screen completely unaware of her mouth hanging ever so slightly open. Emma had never been out of the country. In fact, the furthest Emma had ever travelled was to Disneyworld in Florida with her family at the age of 12. Regina, however, had travelled to many places, all over the world. Regina knew it had a lot to do with money, her family was quite wealthy, only falling second to Kathryn's. But looking at how entranced Emma was at the pictures, Regina knew right then and there that she would make sure Emma would get to see everything she ever wanted.
"Well honey, looks like you had a great time," Mrs. Nolan said.
Regina nodded her head as she closed her laptop and set it on the coffee table in front of her.
"The castles were cool, but everything else was boring," Henry said. He was slouched down on the couch next to his dad.
"I think it was awesome, all of it," Emma said. Regina squeezed Emma's hand. She knew Emma had enjoyed it. She was glad she could share this stuff with her. Traveling would be a passion they both share.
"Maybe you'll get to do some traveling of your own soon, hopefully, with the women's national team," Mr. Nolan said. Regina watched as Emma beamed. That was Emma's goal after all. To play soccer for the United States team.
"Hopefully," Emma said. Emma doesn't like to talk about it too much, Regina thinks it's because Emma is so superstitious. Like she doesn't want to jinx herself.
Regina laces her fingers through Emma's, "You will."
"Oh! That reminds me," Emma says. She sits up abruptly and glances between her and her parents. "Jamie, Ruby, and I were talking... And I told them I'd talk to you, and my parents, but we all think it's best if we cross North Carolina off the list... Given the knew legislation and stuff."
Regina waited for Emma's parents to say something, but they were lost in a silent exchange. Regina couldn't tell if it was good or bad, so she stepped in, "Are you sure? I know in terms of soccer it's one of the best."
"Yeah. I mean it sucks because they were willing to take all three of us and that's like the shortest step to the national team. But they said they don't want to live in a place that allows people to discriminate like that, and obviously I don't so..."
"Emma, are you sure?" Mr. Nolan asks. "You know how good an opportunity it would be to play there."
"I know. But there are good opportunities at a lot of places. Places that I can be me and not have to worry about it, plus, I'm not just looking out for me."
Regina gave Emma a soft smile. Emma was always looking out for her. Which made Regina feel incredibly guilty, for what she was keeping from her. Regina wanted to tell her, she really did, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"You okay?" Emma asked. Realizing that she had zoned out for a second, Regina schooled her features and gave Emma another squeeze to her hand. "Yeah of course." Emma looked at her like she didn't quite believe it, but Regina was relieved when she didn't press the issue.
"Well if that's what you really want I think we can move forward with some of the other schools," Mr. Nolan said.
"It is," Emma said.
"Can I go play in my room?" Henry asked. Regina chuckled, he was clearly bored of the conversation.
"Is your homework done?" Mrs. Nolan asked.
"I finished it," Henry said.
"Then yes you may," Mrs. Nolan said. She turned back to Emma then, "Emma you got two more letters today. One from Duke, and the other from a school in Texas, the name is blanking on me, I'll have to get them."
"Actually coach told me about Duke, they can't take all three of us. So that's a wash," Emma explained leaning back onto the couch. "And they are also in North Carolina so..."
"Emma, I really don't think you should limit yourself based on schools that will take all three of you," Mrs. Nolan said. Regina grimaced at that. She knew what was coming, Emma hated the idea of not going to the same college as Ruby and Jamie (and her, but that was different).
"Mom! We've talked about this already! We're going to the same school and that's final," Emma said. Regina rubbed Emma's back to try to calm her. Mrs. Nolan had come back to the couch from the kitchen and handed Emma both letters.
"It's okay, there are plenty of really great schools that can take all three of them, Florida St., Penn St., UConn, UCLA, those are all top programs" Mr. Nolan said. That seemed to placate the tension in the room for the time being, which Regina was grateful for.
"Well, I'll file those with the rest of the no's then," Mrs. Nolan said.
An awkward silence fell over the room. Regina didn't want to talk about college anymore, she needed a break.
"So what are you girls up to tonight?" Mr. Nolan asked.
Regina was thankful for the change of subject. She looked at Emma for an answer, unsure if Emma had something planned.
"I don't know, maybe watch a movie here?" Emma asked, "I have practice at 8:00 so I don't want to be out too late."
"Actually," Regina said looking down at her hands, "I'm pretty tired I think I'm just going to go home."
"What's wrong do you not feel well?" Emma asked. The concern was evident in her tone.
"No I'm fine. I'm just really tired. It's been a long week, I didn't get much sleep, and I'm pretty sure I'm still a little jet lagged," Regina said.
"Alright, well I'll walk you out then," Emma said. Regina could tell she was a little dejected, but she needed to go. She needed to think.
When they got out to the car Regina hugged Emma tight. "Don't be upset."
"I'm not upset, I just wanna spend time with you."
"I know. And we will I promise. Call me tomorrow after your practice ends and we can spend all day together," Regina said. She wrapped her hands around Emma's neck as Emma wrapped her arms around her waist.
"Okay!" Emma said perking up. Regina chuckled, then kissed Emma before getting into her car.
"Drive safe," Emma said.
"I'll text you when I get home." Emma shut Regina's door for her.
"Love you," Emma mouthed to Regina through the closed window.
"Love you too," Regina mouthed right back.
When Regina got home, she went straight up to her room and called Kathryn. She was slightly panicked and needed to talk to her best friend. How could she do this to Emma? They had plans and now she was just going to change them? What's worse now is that she lied to Emma. Well she didn't lie per say, she omitted. Okay lied by omission.
"Hey! What's up? I thought you were going to Emma's tonight?"
"Kathryn, I can't tell her!" Regina said, well more like yelled at her.
"Whoa, calm down. Tell her what?" Kathryn asked.
"About Harvard. I can't tell her I'm applying to Harvard."