A/N: A big, giant MWAH and thank you to everyone following this story so far! And thank you so much for all your reviews and kind words. They really feed my will to go on. So here you have chapter 3, lovely people. XX

May 26th

Regina jumped in her chair as her head dropped again and she opened her eyes, her eyelids flickering. She looked around her to make sure no one had seen her fall asleep. Especially not her professor. His steady voice was the loudest sound in the room, followed by the scribbling sound of pencils against paper. This had been happening ever since her alarm went off early this morning. Her eyes would flutter shut without her having any power to stop it. She'd always hated Mondays, but then again who didn't. This Monday was particularly tough however, if you were to measure it by how exhausted Regina was. She could only blame herself though. Regina giggled silently and shook her head. She'd been up all night writing with Emma. When she'd received her second message from the blonde, only twenty minutes after she'd sent her own, they'd spiraled into a long conversation of everything between heaven and earth. She still had no idea as to how and why she'd let it go on for so long.

"Regina. My first name is Regina."

"Wow. That's an unusual name. I don't think I've ever heard it before. It's beautiful though."

"Thank you. It's Latin. It means queen."

"Are you serious? That's precious. So you're Latino?"

"Well, since I'm a girl, I'm Latina, to be exact. But yes, I'm Spanish. That doesn't have anything to do with a Latin name though."

"Oh come on, cut me some slack. I'm no expert on this. You can lighten up a bit, your Majesty."

Regina smiled as broadly as she'd done when first reading that message. Unbelievable. Emma Swan was simply unbelievable. She was funny, hilarious even, and very sarcastic, but Regina felt like she might have a soft side to her, even though she tried hard to hide it. I'll discover that soon enough.

Regina had learned that Emma was originally from America, such as herself, but had been living in England for the past five years. She hadn't asked why though, since Emma seemed to tiptoe around the details, and Regina didn't want to pry. They'd only known each other for two days after all. She'd also learned that Emma taught the first grade in English and math. And well, she already knew that the blonde played in a band.

The conversation hadn't stayed focused on names, origin and hobbies though. Soon they'd started asking each other all sorts of silly questions, or just started chatting about whatever sprung to their minds. When it was 1am Regina had reluctantly called it quits. Emma had just as reluctantly let her go to bed. Four hours later, a little past 5am, Regina's alarm had gone off. She lived a good way from the University, and had to take her first bus at 6:20. She'd fallen asleep on the bus and almost not gotten out in time for her stop.

As Regina's thoughts centered around Emma, not paying the slightest attention to what was going on, on the board in front of her, her phone buzzed as if on cue. Regina sneakily fished it out of her pocket.

"How tall are you?"

Regina smiled at the bluntness of Emma. She hid her phone under her desk and typed in her answer.

"I'm 1.65. You?"

Not a minute passed before she received an answer.

"A shortass like me! But I'm 1.67. Ha! Taller than you."

"Oh we can't have that. I might have to check up on that when I get home."

Regina tried to hide her laughter in her palm. So far no one paid any attention to her.

"Damn. Thought I could win one here. You at school?"

"I am the Queen after all. It's only fitting that I win most battles. Yes. At a sucky lecture about who-knows-what. I'm not really paying much attention. I see some numbers on the board though. Might be math."

She imagined Emma laughing at her joke, but she wasn't sure if it was that funny. She wasn't used to being funny. But somehow, she wanted to be, when she was writing with Emma.

"Lmao! Math is the best. You should pay attention!"

"You're so wrong. Math is the worst. I don't want to learn any of this!"

"Then what do you want to learn?"

Regina chewed on her bottom lip. Not even Kathryn or Belle knew how much she resented what she was majoring in. They didn't know what she really wanted to do. But she felt like she could tell Emma. You don't even know her. She typed in her answer and hovered over the send button.

"Cat got your tongue?"

Emma was as feisty as ever. Regina held her breath and pressed send. She had no idea why she was so nervous.

"Writing. I want to write."

"A writer, huh. That's amazing. So are we talking poems, novels?

"Everything. But mostly I want to be a script writer."

"That's really cool. I just want my band to go worldwide and famous."

"But that's amazing too, Emma! You make incredible music."

"Thank you."

Regina's stomach twisted uncomfortably. Had she said something wrong? The minutes stretched and still no answer from Emma. Regina typed in something quick. She couldn't bare the silence.

"So, what are you up to, Emma?"

"Just having a break in-between lectures. I'm teaching a math class in 30 minutes."

"Oh okay. How many classes do you teach?"

"Well I teach all the first graders at the school, in both math and English. It's a big school, so five classes, but I only teach eight times a week."

Before Regina could reply, the bell rang and the class was over. She noticed Kathryn staring at her with a quirked eyebrow. Dammit. She smiled awkwardly and rose from her chair to walk out of the auditorium, trying to avoid any questions from the blonde. As she walked in front of Kathryn, Regina quickly typed in a goodbye to Emma before slipping her phone into her pocket again. Ninety minutes had passed, and whatever the professor had been talking about, Regina had learned nothing. This can't go on. I'll fail all my classes. And then the whole thing will have been in vain. But even so, she found herself excited to get to her next class and continue her conversation with Emma.

Emma was pacing uneasily around the classroom as the students were occupied with the worksheet she'd just given them. The silence was only broken by a few whispering questions around the tables. She chewed on her nails. Her fingers were itching to text Regina, but it was against school policy to text during classes. For obvious reasons that Emma couldn't care less about right now. You texted with her all night dumbass. And all morning. You can go an hour without her. Pull yourself together, Swan. She sat down at her desk and started flipping through the endless amount of papers in her folder, all papers that needed to be sorted out. Might as well kill the time. And get my mind off of her.

As she started scribbling, marking and sorting, she did find her mind drifting on to other topics. What she was going to eat for dinner. I wonder what Regina's favorite food is? If she should watch a movie tonight and which one. Typical romantic comedies must just be Regina's thing. That she should really get started on that book her parents got her for Christmas. Maybe I can read some of Regina's stuff one day. As this went on for the entire hour, Emma ended up not finishing any of her paperwork, but instead she had a whole bunch of new questions for Regina and figuratively red cheeks from mentally slapping herself.

As her class finished and the students rose from their chairs to exit the classroom, Emma felt her heart flutter in her chest. This was her last class, which meant she was now free. Free to write with Regina. She rolled her eyes and gathered her stuff before rising from her own chair.

"Have a nice day. I'll see you all on Wednesday."

She didn't like how the level of authority in her voice sometimes rose when she was speaking to the students. She wanted to be their friend, even if she was their teacher. She hadn't become a teacher to "rule over others" or feel like she had "power" over someone. She just wanted to be important to someone, to enrich someone's life even if it was with simple knowledge of the English language and mathematic skills. She loved teaching. And she loved feeling like she was accepted by all of the kids in her classes. She loved kids in general. They were always so bright-eyed, full of life and open to learn as much as possible, as fast as possible. Not like many of the adults in this world. Children bring something else to your daily life that Emma was sure she couldn't be without at this point.

Of course it had also been her easiest way out when she was done with high school. Because of her amazing grades, Mary Margaret had been able to give her an apprentice spot at the school she worked on as a teacher herself. Emma had soon proven her worth and was hired full-time. She couldn't believe her luck at first. She'd never really succeeded in anything in life, maybe apart from the band. We're not really successful though. It was new to her, to feel like she was floating with the stream instead of against it.

Emma drove home in her beloved car faster than usual. Old reliable Granny. Even being almost twenty years old, Granny still ran as good as ever. But speeding a bit too much was not healthy, after all. She padded the roof of dear Granny as she got out. She'd been handed down to Emma as a graduation present from Mary Margaret and David. Another reason why her new parents were simply amazing and the best ones she'd ever had. That sounds fucked up. She laughed at herself while entering her home, finding both her parents in the kitchen eating lunch. Her father smiled broadly at her.

"Someone's in a good mood. Kids good today?"

Emma walked over and gave them both a kiss on the cheek.

"Yes I guess so. No trouble, as usual."

Mary Margaret smiled warmly and cupped one of Emma's cheeks. The pride in her eyes was evident and Emma squirmed under her gaze. She was still not used to the genuine care these two showed her. She smiled awkwardly before sitting down at the table with them, and started grabbing small pieces of food from their plates. David chuckled.

"Why don't I get you your own plate, young lady?"

Emma smirked.

"Thanks, dad!"

Emma saw how David inhaled deeply at that. She knew how much they appreciated her calling them by their parental terms. And she really did love saying it to them, unlike in her other families. Because this was the first time she really felt it.

David put a sandwich and French Fries in front of Emma. This was when her phone dinged. Emma's breath caught in her throat and she swallowed thickly. Regina. At first she thought best to ignore the brunette, since her parents were present. But the dinging went on. She counted five dings, and with each of them her parents' brows quirked further.

"Someone's eager to get a hold of you." Mary Margaret's voice was low and somehow teasing. Does she know? How could she? Emma laughed nervously and bit down on her sandwich. As her phone dinged for the sixth time, David laughed and patted his daughter's shoulder.

"You can check it if you want to, sweetheart."

Emma fished her phone out of her pocket without a second thought. She couldn't help the beaming smile that spread on her lips.

"Hi Emma! How was your day?"

"I hope your math class wasn't as boring as mine, ha!"

"I'm sorry, was that too rude?"

"I'm sure your classes are much more fun than mine."

"You're certainly not boring, Emma."

"I'm rambling. I'm sorry. Don't even mind me."

Emma had to bite down on her tongue to keep from laughing. Regina was being cute beyond words. She typed in her answer, still with the broadest smile on her lips.

"Lmao, Regina, you're not being rude! You're simply being immensely cute and I can't stop smiling, to be honest."

Not more than a few seconds went by before Emma received an answer.

"Okay thank god, I was getting anxious that I might have upset you…"

"Not at all, believe me."

"I believe you. Now I'm smiling, too."

Emma felt her stomach flip at that and she looked up from her phone to find both her parents staring at her. Her smile faded instantly and she felt her cheeks burn. Dammit. Mary Margaret lifted an eyebrow in question. Emma knew her mother expected an answer. For some reason Emma felt like she needed to lie.

"Um… Rubes said something funny."

The way both David and Mary Margaret looked at her, Emma knew they didn't buy that for even a second. But for some reason they chose to leave her be. For now. Instead they continued eating in silence. Emma looked down at her phone again to see a new message from Regina.

"So, what are you up to, dear?"

Emma had to shake her head. If only she knew.

"I'm eating lunch with my parents. You?"

"I'm just doing some homework. Exams are soon and I need to be fit and ready."

"Shouldn't you be, I don't know, not texting me then?"

Emma smirked and chuckled low in her throat. She liked teasing Regina.

"Yes… I guess so. But you're just way better company than my assignments."

Emma felt her stomach flip again and bit down on her bottom lip.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

Somehow Regina's short and clipped answer made the sincerity all the more evident. Emma's smile was broader than ever as she typed in her response.

"I'd love to accompany you and your assignments."

There was a long pause where Emma didn't get any response from Regina. She started feeling a bit anxious, her stomach knotting unpleasantly. She chewed on her nails as she waited. Had she stepped over the line? But then came the response from the brunette, five minutes later, and all of Emma's knots turned into butterflies.

"Maybe one day you will."