Emma dialed Belle's number as soon as she woke up the next morning, which was long after Regina had left.
"Belle? Hey," she said into the phone, unable to mask the nervousness in her voice.
"What do you want, Emma?"
"Well, 'yo' to you too, homie."
"You're not funny, you know."
"You seem to think I am."
"Yeah, maybe when we're high. Everyone's funny when I'm rolling."
"That's not true. Killian's never funny, even when you're rolling."
With a bright laugh she'd fought hard to hold back, Belle conceded, "Yeah, that's true. And neither is Robin."
"Also true."
After a pause, Belle continued, "So, seriously. What do you want?"
"I just thought we could talk. What time do you have class?"
"Not until eleven."
Emma looked at the clock and saw that it was just past nine-thirty, then suggested, "Meet me for breakfast at ten?"
"See you in a half hour?"
"Sounds good. Bye, twerp."
"Hey," Emma greeted her friend, feeling strangely shy as soon as she saw her.
It was unusual for Emma to be unsure of herself – at least around women – but she did feel guilty for making Belle feel like shit, which made it hard to look the girl in the eyes.
"Hey, butthead."
"Wow, that's a good one," the blonde laughed. "Never heard that before."
"Alright, cum sucker."
"Ha! You wish."
Of course, this was blurted out before Emma could catch herself, and once the words escaped her lips, she wanted to slap herself. Belle didn't look upset, though. She just looked a little hurt.
"Anyway."
"Listen… Belle…"
"Let's not talk about it, okay?"
"You mean, you're not going to hold a grudge against me forever?"
"Then who would I party with?"
Emma smiled when Belle grinned and winked at her.
"Seriously, though…" the blonde said, after a moment of quiet. "I obviously made you feel like shit, and I'm sorry. I never should have said anything about Ruby."
"You were high. It's not like you meant to say it."
"That's not really an excuse."
"Okay. You're right. It's not."
"I am sorry."
"Yeah. You do kind of look it. You've got the kicked puppy thing going on right now. I'm just waiting for the big, wet puppy eyes."
Right on cue, Emma widened her eyes, stuck out her lip, and forced her eyes to well with tears.
"Oh, my God. Stop," Belle laughed, shoving the girl's shoulder.
But the blonde continued to make the painfully persuasive face as she whined, "Pweeeeease forgive me?"
"Oh, alright. I forgive you, shithead. But you're still a cum sucker."
"I certainly could be," Emma told her, dropping the cute puppy act and looking serious again as she put her hand on Belle's knee. "For you."
"Don't, Emma… We talked about this."
"Why not? We're always going to be friends, Belle. We were friends then, weren't we? Why can't we go back to that?"
"Because you're too wrapped up in the women you have now, who are obviously freakier than me."
"Belle, stop it. Don't get jealous. It's just different. You never told me you wanted it any other way. How was I supposed to know?"
"Well, I didn't think you were into that, until you described, in painfully accurate detail, beating Ruby's ass with a whip!"
Emma paused before speaking again, not removing her hand, but rather sliding it further up to Belle's thigh.
"Is that what you want?"
"Look, I was just making a point… Don't… Don't take it the wrong way…"
"How do you want me to take it, then? Because it sounds like you want a piece of the action."
"That's not the point! The point is that you do things with her that you never did with me, and it makes me feel inadequate and mediocre."
"You're the one who wanted to stop sleeping with me. I never said I wanted to stop."
"We were sleeping together forever by the time I said that. You've been seeing Ruby for like… a month."
"First of all, I've known Ruby for a year. Second, I'm not seeing her; I'm fucking her. It's not the same thing."
"That doesn't alter my point at all."
"Okay, so what's the point? Like, what's the bottom line?"
"What do you mean?"
"What do you want me to do?"
"Nothing. I was just… annoyed, I guess."
"You were more than annoyed. I know you."
"Yeah, well. Whatever."
"No, come on." This time, Emma reached for Belle's hand and squeezed it as she said, "Talk to me. What can I do? You're an amazing friend, and I don't want anything to be messed up between us."
"Alright. Fine. Then try to stop telling me about your escapades with other women."
"Okay, but… then you have to stop getting me high, because you know I have absolutely no control over what comes out of my mouth when I'm rolling or whatever."
"Uhhh… No promises."
Unable to hide the grin that crept over her lips, Emma leaned in and kissed the brunette's warm cheek a few times, then tucked a few strands of hair behind her ears.
"I'll do my best, then, but no promises on my side either. You're the one I go to for everything, Belle. I trust you more than anyone."
"Really?"
"Yeah, man. Why do you think I tell you everything?"
"I… I don't know…"
"I thought you felt the same about me, but I guess I'm wrong."
"No, you're not wrong. I do trust you more than anyone. You're my best friend."
"Then let me make it up to you."
"Well, if you can't promise not to talk about your sexual escapades, what exactly are you proposing to make it up to me?"
"That's entirely up to you, my dear."
"Oh, my God, Emma. FUCK!" Belle screamed, toes curling as she braced herself by pressing her hands against the wall.
With every stinging switch of the whip, the brunette whimpered and nearly crumbled onto the bed. Her legs shook harder with every painful blow, until her thighs were soaked with her own arousal.
"Shit, Emma," she gasped. "I need you."
"You need me to what?" the blonde replied darkly, nearly grinning with satisfaction.
"I need you to fuck me."
"Good girl," Emma cooed, kissing her bare left shoulder blade before using the whip one more time.
Emma crept back into her room around four in the morning with soaking wet hair.
"Where were you? You're dripping all over the floor." Regina mumbled, sitting up in bed as she heard Emma stub her toe on one of the chairs.
"Tell me about it," Emma groaned, holding her foot as she stumbled towards her bed.
"What?"
"Nothing. Long night."
Raising her eyebrow, Regina offered a sympathetic smile.
"Sorry I woke you up," the blonde mumbled. "Stupid chair."
"Yeah," Regina chuckled. "You're also kind of a klutz."
"Hey, shut up. So what if I'm not graceful?"
"Seriously, though… Why are you all wet?"
"I, um… showered at Belle's dorm."
"Is that why you're wearing such skimpy clothes?" the brunette teased with a grin.
"Shut up, Mills. I'll hurt you. For real."
"Oh, I could take you."
"I seriously doubt that."
"Yeah? You really think you'd win?"
"Of course I'd win. Do you even lift, bro?"
Regina burst out laughing at this and shook her head, saying, "God, you're a loser."
"At least I'm not a wimp!"
"You know what? Come get some, bitch!"
Emma hesitated at first, but when she saw Regina grinning, she quickly stood up and charged the girl's bed, stopping just short of it.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Fight me, punk!"
When Regina held up her fists and tried to hold back her laughter, Emma tackled her and pinned her to the mattress with ease. Of course, this surprised Regina enough to stun her into silence. Their smiles fell as Emma stared down into her eyes and bit her own lip.
"I win…"
"Yyyep. I'd say so."
Feeling her own body pressed and molded perfectly into Regina's, Emma's breaths grew shallow as her heart raced.
"You, uh… gonna get off me, or…?" Regina asked playfully, but when Emma said nothing, her hands subconsciously went to the girl's waist, and her fingertips lightly brushed exposed skin of her hips. "I guess that's an 'or' then…"
"S-Sorry," the blonde muttered, but she remained frozen as she stared down at her roommate's full, red lips.
"So… I assume you made up with Belle, then?"
Emma blinked a few times to clear her head before saying, "Um… yeah," and rolling onto her side to lie beside the brunette.
"That's good."
"Yeah."
When Emma didn't say anything else, Regina asked, "You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm good."
But she was still staring at Regina's lips.
"You had fun, I assume."
"Huh? Oh. Yeah."
"Did she, um…" Regina started. "Did she… get what she wanted?"
Slowly, Emma replied, "Yeah, she did."
"And what about you? Was that what you wanted?"
"Sure. I mean, why would I do it if it wasn't?"
"I don't know. I mean, some people would do it because they felt guilty."
"I did feel guilty, but that's not why I did it."
"Good. You should do what makes you happy."
There was an uncomfortable pause before Emma asked, "What makes you happy?"
"Gosh, I don't know. Taking pictures, I guess. Developing film by hand. Animals."
"All wonderful things."
"What about you? Like, in general."
"Art, of course. Eating. Talking to you makes me feel pretty chill. Some other things."
"Talking to me?"
"Well, yeah. You're pretty cool, Mills."
"Pretty cool," Regina repeated.
"Yeah."
"Alright. What else?"
With a laugh, Emma rolled onto her back and looked up at the dimly lit ceiling.
"What?" Regina pressed, her eyebrows furrowing.
"Getting laid."
"Okay. What else?"
"Getting high."
Regina turned her head to look at Emma, who didn't meet her gaze.
"You really do drugs?"
"Sometimes."
"Sometimes."
"Okay, a lot. So what?"
Suddenly, Emma was sitting up, so Regina followed suit, then said, "So nothing."
"You must be exhausted," the blonde said suddenly. "I'm sorry."
But when she moved to leave the bed, Regina grabbed her arm and told her, "No. It's okay."
Another awkward moment followed, where Regina's hand remained on Emma's forearm, and Emma was conflicted about what to do next, but when the brunette tugged on her arm, she took the gesture as a request and positioned herself beside the brunette once again.
"You have bad dreams a lot, don't you?" Emma asked.
"Yeah, I do. I get through it though. They're just dreams."
"They say dreams are just a manifestation of your fears and desires."
"What do you dream about, then?"
"Falling off balconies," Emma laughed lightly, shutting her eyes. "And getting chased by werewolves."
"What about good dreams?"
"Oh, those? Those I won't get into." With a grin, Emma winked suggestively in Regina's direction, then asked, "What about you?"
"I don't really… have… good dreams. I mean, I've had them before, but not very often."
"When was the last time you had a good dream?"
"Um…"
"It's okay. You can tell me."
"The night you told me about your awesome hate sex with Ruby."
"I didn't really tell you about it. I just sort of told you it happened. Anyway, what does that have to do with… Oh…"
"Don't laugh, okay? I just… I don't know. This is embarrassing. Can we change the subject, please?"
"Okay. What's your favorite color?"
"That's a stupid question. No one cares about that."
"Sure I do. Should I guess?"
"I bet you could."
"It's red, isn't it?"
Regina laughed and gave Emma's shoulder a shove.
"Knew it!" Emma cried, fist pumping the air as a gesture of her small triumph. "I'm the balls."
"Swan, you don't have balls."
"I didn't say I had balls. I said I am the balls."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Seriously, Mills? It means I'm awesome."
"Yeah, okay," Regina chuckled. "Whatever, kid."
"Hey! Don't call me kid!"
"You've called me kid!"
"That's different."
"Why?"
"Because no one who gets as freaky as I do could possibly be a kid."
"Right… Good point."
"I should let you sleep."
"Probably."
But, once again, when Emma sat up, Regina gently grabbed her arm, this time saying, "It's freezing in here."
Not taking the hint, the blonde asked, "You want me to turn up the heat?"
"You are the heat," Regina laughed. "Lay down."
Emma raised an eyebrow but did as she was told, propping her head up with her hand and leaning on her elbow as she watched Regina shut her eyes.
"Goodnight, Princess," she said softly, before settling into the mattress and shutting her eyes as well.
She wasn't sure if Regina heard her or not, but the girl's silence made her wonder and start to regret her choice of a pet name.
Emma woke the next morning to the sound of, "OH SHIT!"
"What? What, what, what?!" she gasped, scrambling to sit up but finding herself unable to untangle her legs, which had somehow become wrapped in Regina's.
In fact, they were pressed so closely together that they had created enough heat to make them sweat beneath the covers, and their thighs were sticking together slightly by the time they woke up.
"I didn't set my fucking alarm!" the brunette shouted, staring at the screen of her cell phone.
"What time is it?"
"It's fucking nine-thirty! My class started at eight!"
"Well, there's no use stressing about it now. It's just one class, hun. It's not gonna make that much of a difference."
"No, you don't get it! Our first portfolios were due today! It's worth twenty percent of my grade!"
"Okay, okay. Deep breath, alright? What time are your professor's office hours?"
"Three-thirty to four-thirty."
"Great. So here's what you do. You go to the nurse, barf in the bathroom, and get a note saying you're hella sick. Then, you give it to me, and I bring it to your professor with your portfolio. Problem solved."
At first, Regina wasn't sure how to take this. Why would Emma offer to go so far out of her way? Then, when she saw that the girl was completely serious, her expression softened and her racing heartbeat slowed.
"Would… Would you really do that for me?"
"Of course."
"What about your classes?"
"I only have classes between two and three-thirty today, so it actually works out perfectly. I got your back, Mills," Emma told her with a smile, giving her a firm pat on the back.
Regina fell backwards onto the bed with an exaggerated sigh and rubbed her temples, then asked, "Then what am I gonna do about my other classes?"
"Go to the nurse, then go to class. You have a break at one-thirty, right?"
"Um… Yeah? How'd you know that?"
"Uh… Your schedule is posted on your wall?"
"Oh. Right. Anyway, yeah. Why?"
"I'll meet you outside your classroom to grab your note and your portfolio. It'll work out great. No worries."
"Okay… Thank you."
"No problem, kiddo. Any time."
Regina scowled at the use of such a childish nickname but was unable to hold the face for long. Emma's smile was contagious, and Regina was so flattered by the gesture of kindness that she couldn't help but wrap her arms around the girl as she held her in a tight embrace.
"What's this for?" Emma chuckled, gently rubbing Regina's back.
"For being amazing."
"I'm really not-"
"You kept me warm all night, and now you're totally saving my ass and my grade. You are most definitely amazing."
"Amazing in bed, maybe, but not-"
"Oh, my God. Shut up, Swan," Regina laughed. "You're ruining it."
But she didn't pull away. Instead, she held the girl a little tighter and rested her cheek on Emma's shoulder.
"You're a good kid, Mills. I'm happy to help you out."
"I wish you'd stop calling me a kid," the brunette huffed, finally pulling out of the embrace. "And why do we keep calling each other by our last names?"
"I dunno. It just kinda happened. Why do you do it then?"
"Well, I just did it 'cause you did it!"
"Well, that's silly. If I jumped off a bridge, would you do that too?"
Regina shoved the girl's shoulder but laughed brightly.
Then, as though suddenly realizing just how close their bodies were, she wiggled away awkwardly and mumbled, "Sorry."
But Emma's hand rested on her shoulder before she could completely move to the other side of the bed.
"It's okay. You were keeping me warm too."
The two stayed busy over the next week or so, and, to Regina's surprise, Emma spent most of her time in the studio, painting and working on her portfolios for two of her classes. When they did run into each other, the interactions were brief, as they were both usually in a rush to get somewhere or do something (or one of them was sleeping).
Every night when Emma slipped back into the room, though, she always found Regina fast asleep in her bed. Unfortunately for Emma, the first time she found the girl gone, she had come in around three in the morning and was high on a mix of things.
I'll just try to sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Oh, God. But… wait…
As soon as Emma opened the door to their dorm room, she could see in the dim light that Regina's bed was made neatly – unlike Emma's – and that the girl was not in it. Immediately, her heart began to race, knowing that the girl was always asleep by eleven, usually earlier, and that she never stayed out later or spent the night in someone else's room.
Fighting a strange and sobering sense of panic, Emma pulled her phone out of her pocket and attempted to send a coherent text message.
Wher u at?
Once three minutes had passed, she sent another.
U k?
Again, no reponse. After another five minutes, Emma's panic became more intense, so she called the girl and waited anxiously for her to pick up. When Regina didn't answer, Emma left a voicemail.
"Yo… Where are you? You okay? Call me back. I'm worried."
She wasn't one to share her feelings, but the drugs lowered her inhibitions (and increased her paranoia) and made it easier to confess her distress. Ten minutes later, when she received no reply, she turned her phone's ringer on as loud as it would go, tucked it into her pocket, and left the room.
Knowing that all of the studios would be locked at night, she resolved to do the stupid, potentially dangerous thing: wandering the campus at night in search of Regina, just in case she happened to be outside. Just as luck would have it, once she'd made her way a few buildings down (stumbling most of the way), it started to pour, and it was only a few moments later that she found herself completely soaked from the rain.
"Jesus Christ," she mumbled. "Where the fuck is she?"
She wandered around clumsily for another thirty minutes, covering most of the campus, before nearly giving up on her quest.
"C'mon, Regina. C'mon."
Not caring if her phone got wet, she decided to call the girl again, and again, she got no answer.
"C'mon, Regina. Pick up the fucking phone. I'm worried about you."
She tried one more time before she started to sweat, even covered in the cold blanket of rain. It didn't help that the drugs were still affecting her judgement (and her vision). After she pushed through a few more light hallucinations (small amounts of acid tend to do that), she decided to check their room again, hoping that the girl would have headed back to the dorm when it started to rain.
When she got to the room, it was still empty.
"Fuck!" she cried. "This has got to be the worst fucking time for this shit to happen."
She wasted no time heading back outside, feeling more desperate than ever. This time, realizing that there was only one more place on campus she hadn't checked, she made her way to the nearby sports field. To her relief (and horror), she found the girl sitting at the top of the bleachers. Of course, without thinking, she ran towards the girl and tripped as soon as she made the first stride up on the steps, falling nearly face-first but managing to catch herself with her palms. Of course, she bruised and scraped the skin there, but ignored the minor wound as she scrambled back to her feet.
Hearing the commotion and the loud bang as Emma fell down onto the metal steps, Regina lifted her head and stared in shock as the girl barreled towards her.
"Swan," she said. "What… What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you, idiot!" the girl bellowed, looking terrified, relieved, and furious all at the same time. "What the fuck are you doing? Why are you out in the rain and-" she trailed off as soon as she saw the tears welling in her eyes (the ones on her cheeks were mixed with raindrops) "-What happened, babe?"
Even in her slightly sobering distress, Emma was having a hard time standing still and upright, still high enough to have her vision warped and her mind slightly muddled.
"What's wrong with you?" Regina asked, her confusion and concern expressed on her face.
"Uhhh…"
"Are you okay?"
Emma felt a wave of dizziness and tried not to laugh as she nearly fell on her ass, but Regina caught her arm and helped ease her down onto the bench.
"Fine. I'm fine. Perfectly fine."
Wiping her eyes on the back of her hand, Regina pressed, "Seriously, what's the matter with you?"
"Okay, okay. Okay. Okay. Wait. Listen. I…"
"Oh, my God. Please tell me you're not-"
"I'm tripping, man," Emma groaned, then added, "Just a lil' bit. And you're not helping."
"Me?!" the brunette snapped. "What the hell does that have to do with me?"
"You," her roommate shot back, "scared the shit out of me. Now… Are you gonna tell me why you're out here in the pouring fucking rain, crying?"
"N-No…"
With a heavy, unintentionally exaggerated sigh, Emma reached out and touched the girl's soaking wet shoulder.
"You are spinning, dude," she told the girl, biting her lip, knowing the situation was far too serious for her to allow herself to laugh. "Seriously, though. Talk to me, babe."
"You're high," Regina sniffled. "You won't even remember this in the morning."
"That's… not… entirely true…" With another sigh, Emma removed her jacket and draped it over Regina's shoulders, saying, "You should have brought an umbrella."
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You're-" Emma blinked a few times in an attempt to clear her head "-Is that a fucking bear, dude? Like, are you seeing that?"
"Oh, for fuck's sake. No, Swan. It's not a fucking bear, and no, I am not seeing that. You're fucking high as balls."
"I'm not that high... But it's not like I was expecting you to be outside in the pouring rain at four in the morning! I've been looking for you for like seven hours!"
"Nice. I can't believe you even found me if you're seeing fucking bears around campus."
"One bear. I see one bear. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. It has cubs!"
"Oh, my God! Are you fucking kidding me?"
By this time, Regina had stopped crying, completely distracted by Emma's absurd hallucinations and the ridiculousness of the situation. When the blonde said nothing in response, though, she went quiet too and found herself surprised at the girl's gesture of kindness and compassion.
"You walked all over campus in the pouring rain to find me…"
"Of course. You're never out late. You never go anywhere. I knew something was wrong."
"But you're tripping balls."
"I'm not that high! And I don't… Dude. Can otters live on land? Cause, like. I'm seeing otters. Aren't they cute?!"
"Swan! For Chrissakes!"
"Sorry. Sorry. Anyway, of course I did. I… I care about you, okay? Jesus. Don't make it gay."
"You are gay, Emma."
"Yeah, well. So?"
"So you're the one making it gay."
"Whatever. Anyway, the point is, we're going back to the dorm to get you changed, and in the morning, when I'm not quite so high, we're going to talk about this."
"I'm fine. Just go back to the dorm, okay? I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You're hurt. And it's fucking freezing out here. So let's go."
When Regina tried to hand back her jacket, though, Emma refused and wrapped it around her shoulders again.
"Nope. You're gonna wear the fucking jacket. Now let's go."
She managed to stand, but Regina remained sitting, so Emma used all of her strength to drag the girl to her feet, nearly falling backwards in the process, but Regina caught her as she stumbled.
"God, you're a mess."
"You too."
"Shut up, Swan."
"We're going."
"No, I'm not. You are."
"You sound like a child. Let's go."
"Swan. I'm fine. Go back to the room. With the bears."
"I'm not going to argue with you while I'm balls deep in acid, man. And I'm not facing the bears alone. Let's fucking go."
With that, Emma tugged on the girl's hand and dragged her down the steps. In the silence, Regina's emotions had the opportunity to flood back in, and as she finally followed Emma to the dorm, she started to cry again. Emma didn't notice until they slipped inside their room and flicked the lights on.
"Hey," she said softly, stepping close to her roommate and cupping her face in her hands. "Hey. It's alright. Talk to me. What's the matter?" But at that moment, she had the realization that the girl was still soaking wet, and that she probably needed to change her clothes, so she told Regina, "Hold on a sec," and stumbled over to the girl's dresser, where she pulled out a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. "Here," Emma announced, handing over the clothes.
Of course, had she not been out of her right mind, she wouldn't have had the gall to dig through Regina's drawers. (Surely, Regina was capable of doing this herself). However, in her current state of mind, it seemed the most logical solution to the problem.
When Regina stared at her blankly, with tears streaming down her already wet cheeks, Emma offered, "Arms up."
Again, Regina said nothing and simply lowered her head to stare at the floor as she wiped her eyes on the backs of her hands, so gently, Emma lifted the girl's arms and positioned them in the air. She could see the girl shivering, so she fumbled to slip her shirt over her head and replacing it with the dry one. Sure, she took a moment to stare at her roommate's curves, but it was brief, and she tore herself out of the temporary stupor as soon as she realized what she was doing.
"Shorts."
"Um…" Regina protested quietly. "I… I got it."
The brunette blushed as she slid her shorts down past her ankles, stepped out of them, and took the dry ones that were being held out to her, but Emma didn't notice the red in her cheeks. Unfortunately for Emma, the girl's bare thighs were a little too much for her to tear her gaze away from, and until the new pair of shorts were completely covering them, she continued to stare.
"What…?" the brunette asked. "I…"
"N-Nothin'. You need to get your butt in bed. You're gonna be exhausted in the morning."
"I'm… I'm not going to class tomorrow."
"Uh… What?"
Emma blinked a few times, not sure if she was hallucinating the whole interaction or if she was simply going crazy.
"I said I'm not going to class tomorrow."
"But… dude… you, like… but… like…"
"Are you always this articulate?"
Even though it was clearly a sarcastic joke, the brunette was sniffling and continuing to cry.
"Only when I'm high, sweetie," Emma laughed, rubbing her own eyes in the hopes that that would help clear her head. "Okay, but really. Like… no. You've… gotta go to class."
"No. I really don't."
With that, Regina turned and made her way back to her bed, where she sat down, but made no move to get under the covers.
"Listen, you're acting all… like… crazy and stuff. So… I'm, like… gonna wake you up in the morning… and you're gonna go to class. Right now… just… like… sleep. Okay?"
Instead of responding, Regina simply shook her head and looked away.
"Alright, man. Really. What's wrong?"
"I'm not a man, you asshat."
Emma had to laugh at this. Regina Mills had just called her an asshat. Doesn't get much better than that. Her smile faded when she remembered the tears in the brunette's dark eyes, and she sat down carefully beside the girl on her bed, then wrapped her arm around Regina's shoulders.
"Talk to me, princess."
"Princess?"
"Shut up, Mills. Just tell me what's got you down."
"You're awfully persistent. And pushy."
With a sigh, Emma flopped backwards on the bed, nearly hitting her head on the wall, and stared up at the ceiling before saying a sincere and melancholy, "I'm sorry."
"I'm dropping out…" Regina said slowly, her voice cracking in the middle of the sentence as the lump in her throat returned.
"You're what?!" Emma cried, sitting up in an instant, making the room start to spin. "You can't!"
"I have to."
"What do you mean you have to? Why? This is everything you've ever wanted. You love photography and art and you-"
"My parents won't pay for it anymore, and I can't afford it. There's no point in finishing the semester."
"Oh, wow. I'm so sorry…"
"Yeah. Me too."
"C'mere."
Without waiting, Emma tugged the girl closer and pulled her into a tight embrace (probably a little tighter than she'd intended). Regina let out a choked sob and clung to her, burying her face in the girl's neck. The blonde stayed quiet for a while, until Regina finally pulled away, sniffling and wiping her eyes.
"I'm kinda glad you won't remember this in the morning."
"Hey. I'm not that high."
"This is so not funny."
"I'm sorry. But hey… I… dude. Bears?"
"No, Swan! There are no fucking bears. Jesus Christ."
The ridiculousness of the moment made her want to laugh, but the weight on her shoulders forced the impulse down and suffocated it before it escaped, leaving her only with a weak smile as she shook her head.
"You're a mess, dude. Go to sleep."
"You go to sleep."
"How about we both go to sleep?"
"Deal," Emma said happily, swinging her legs up onto the bed and wiggling back and under the covers. "C'mere." When Regina just blinked at her, she added, "Did you think I was gonna let you sleep alone after that? Besides, what if I wake up still tripping a little and see, like… more bears or something?"
Finally, Regina did laugh as she rubbed her eyes again, almost grateful for the fact that Emma was nearly unable to hold a serious conversation. At least she was managing to be supportive. Regina imagined that she must not have taken much, given that she wasn't falling on her ass or screaming about bunnies coming out of the wall to eat her face. If all she was seeing was a few bears, Regina could live with that. And amazingly enough, Emma was able to say all the right things, even in her current mental state. As weird as it was for her to have another girl beckoning her to come to bed, it was comforting.
At first, when Emma held her arms out, she hesitated, but when Emma said, "C'mere," again, she scooted backwards until the girl's arm was around her shoulders.
"Lean back," the blonde said softly. "Make the bears go away."
Regina couldn't tell if the girl was joking or not, but somehow, it was funny, so she laughed again and leaned her head back until it was resting against Emma's shoulder.
"The bears won't get you," she promised.
The blonde smiled as her eyes closed.