A/N: Another chapter is up! This time a little longer than the previous ones. This is when Regina and Emma really start to write and stuff start to happen. I hope you'll find this chapter to your liking! Reviews are always appreciated, I really love hearing what all of you think. I'm in this to learn and improve, not just for the fun of it! Thank you so much for following this story, much love to you all XO.

May 26th

As Regina finally sent the five words that had been screaming at her for five minutes, she threw her phone down on her bed and buried her face in her hands. She squealed silently. What was she doing? That was way too much. She couldn't even find any coherent answer as to why she'd said that. Maybe one day you will. Whoa. Just whoa. Regina didn't dare to pick up her phone and look for a response from Emma. And she didn't get the chance to, because right then, her mother knocked on her door and walked in without waiting for an answer. As soon as she caught site of Regina's cramped up position on her bed, she furrowed her brows and put her hands on her hips.

"Shouldn't you be doing your homework?" Her voice was stern and Regina shrunk a little. She always felt so insecure around her mother. More than usual, anyway. She straightened up a bit but kept her eyes on the floor.

"Yes, mother, I'm sorry. I will."

Cora's lips formed what were to be the pretentious version of a smile, but whatever it was faded as soon as Regina's phone dinged. She gave Regina a look. A look Regina knew far too well and feared just as well.

"I hope you're not wasting your time chatting with boys. You don't have time for a love life if you're going to succeed with your studies," she paused, her expression going thoughtful like she was elsewhere in time, before continuing, "and we both know what happened the last time you tried."

Regina contorted her face in pain as her mother used that argument on her again. Cora walked towards Regina and closed in on the space between them. She grabbed her daughter's chin sternly and lifted her eyes off the ground. She trailed her thumb over Regina's lips before slowly tilting her head and with pity in her eyes said:

"Love is weakness, darling. And you're weak enough already. You don't need anything to tip you over the edge."

Cora's voice was like ice-cold water running through Regina's veins and she shivered. Her mother was right. Regina was weak. And she was afraid. She'd always been so and she always would be. But that didn't mean that Cora's words didn't hurt.

"Yes, mother."

Cora smiled and padded Regina's cheek.

"Good girl. Now do your homework, sweetheart. Lucky for you, you have your wits."

Regina nodded and rose from her bed to sit down at her desk again. As Cora exited her room, Regina held back the tears that were threatening to spill.

Ever since Regina's experience with her first "boyfriend", Daniel, her mother had been giving her a hard time about it. About anything concerning love, or even caring for someone too much. Anything that would take her mind off of her studies, her mother disapproved of. But she had a right to be concerned, after how the relationship ended. After how stupid Regina had been.

Daniel was an attractive senior at her college. As Regina was way too shy and insecure to even consider flirting with someone, he had been the one to make contact with her. At first he'd been a classy guy, a real gentleman that treated Regina like a lady. Even during their first time, Regina's first time, he'd been gentle and patient. He had made Regina fall in love with him fast and intensely. But soon he turned out to be a real… asshole.

Regina felt the bitter taste of remorse creep around in her mouth. She hated him. She hated him for what he'd done to her. He had ruined her. She had been naïve; she knew nothing about love or trust. She'd never had anyone tell her about it. Her mother didn't touch such subjects with as much as a finger. And her father… well of course she couldn't talk to him about stuff like that. So Regina had been alone in figuring things out. Which meant she'd trusted Daniel with her heart even though she shouldn't have. As soon as he'd gotten what he wanted, her virtue, she'd found him in bed with a girl from his own class. He'd left Regina behind with a broken heart and shattered dreams.

After that, she'd build walls up around herself, for protection. She'd started believing that what her mother said was true. Love is weakness. And you shouldn't waste your time with it, because it can only hurt you. Regina's walls were high. And they kept her scared of commitment. She knew panic better than she knew love. Ever since Daniel betrayed her, she'd fled anyone that ever tried getting to know her. She didn't hate the idea of love. She was scared of it.

In her mess of thoughts, Regina barely registered her phone going off again. But as it continued to do so, her conscious was brought back to the present. To Emma. The tears she'd been holding back finally spilled silently down her cheeks. Emma. Again she questioned why she'd sent the message containing those five words. How could she ever live up to the promise they held? What was she even trying to promise? What was going on with this blonde beauty? Was Emma climbing up her walls? Could anyone ever? Regina rose from the chair and kicked at it angrily. It skated across the floor and bumped into her bookshelf, making some of the books fall over. No. You don't even know this girl. What are you even suggesting? Oh god Regina, you've lost it for good this time.

Regina's phone dinged again. This time she picked it up.

"Hi you! Still doing homework?"

"Wow, you must be really into whatever you're doing."

"Are you ignoring me?"

Regina's stomach twisted and she sighed deeply. Damn it. Who was she kidding. There was no way out of this now. She started typing as she sat down on her bed. And I don't want to find one.

May 27th

Emma took a long sip of the beer August had just handed her and put her feet up on the table in front of his couch. She loved hanging out at his place. He was cool and laid-back and his apartment represented that as well. From the band posters on the walls to the never-been-dusted shelves with hundredths of CDs, this whole place reeked of August's passion for music. It also reeked of old pizza boxes and empty beer cans, but you got used to the smell in time. By now, it was almost comforting to Emma. After all, August was like a big brother to her.

"So, what's up, sis?"

Emma smiled warmly. And she was like a sister to him.

"Not much, not much. School is as always. Folks as lovely as ever. I've written a few notes to some new songs I want us to try out."

"What about this resurrection gal? Heard anything else from her?"

Emma stiffened a bit and blinked a few times, trying to think of something to say.

"Nah, I just thanked her for her message and told her to check out our other songs. That was pretty much it."

August quirked an eyebrow. He knew Emma was lying. But he chose not to say anything. For some reason Emma kept hiding the truth about this girl, and even though he found it fucking annoying, it was up to Emma to tell him the truth. He knew the blonde wouldn't respond well to being pushed, but would most likely clam up completely and never even consider telling him the truth. So he'd let her take her time. Better hurry up, sis, before you get yourself in more trouble than you can handle.

Emma took another sip of her beer. It felt good sliding down her throat and it calmed her nerves. Beer was her best friend. Except for Rubes and Gus of course.

"What about you, bro? Any new ladies on the hook? Somewhere I shouldn't shit?"

Emma rose quickly from the couch and made a deal out of looking all over it with wide eyes, before receiving a fist to the shoulder and both of them broke out laughing.

"Em! Come on girl. No, not since that brunette from the bar, last weekend."

August laughed at Emma's expression. He knew she wasn't fond of his way of life when it came to hooking up. But she rarely said a bad word about him, always chose to show interest instead of voicing her disgust. One of the reasons he respected the little weirdo so much.

"What about you? Did you finally cave in on one of Ruby's offers?"

Emma contorted her face in disgust, which only made August laugh again.

"I take that as a no," he took a sip from his beer before eyeing his little sis and digging into more dangerous territory, "What about on your own? Any special lady in your life?"

Emma's thoughts immediately wandered off to Regina. She swallowed thickly. She's not a lady in your life, Swan. She bit down on her bottom lip. Not yet. Her head jolted up from where she'd been gazing at the floor. Shut up! She screamed at herself. Don't even go there. No. Shush. Never happened. You did not just think that.

"Not particularly," Emma finally answered stiffly, trying for a smile but ending up with a grimace that couldn't be pinned on any emotion. August smirked.

"If you say so."

They continued to talk until their beer was empty and the day had gone dark outside the window. They ordered a pizza from their personal spot, a gross joint that had been in the health inspection's black book for years but somehow always managed to pull through. The crust was always burned and the stuffing was oily, but it had been their very first place to order a pizza when they had first moved to Devon, and therefore it remained as their spot.

They had a lot of those. Having known each other for most of their lives will do that to you. When Emma had first arrived in the system, only days old, August had been the one to take care of her, even if he was only a 7-year-old boy that could barely take care of himself. He'd later explained how Emma had been laying in her crib crying for hours without anyone checking on her. As soon as he'd walked up to her and picked her up, she'd stopped crying and given him the most beautiful toothless smile he'd ever laid eyes upon. At least that was his way of explaining it, even though Emma always rolled her eyes at him when he got all sentimental in retelling the story. Nevertheless, he'd sworn then and there to always take care of her. Which was why he'd followed her to Devon when the Nolans had adopted her, even though he was long out of the system. She couldn't remember ever having felt that loved by someone. She would always owe August more than she could ever give him.

When it was time for Emma to head home, school the next day and all, they shared a bear hug and a fist bump before Emma excited the apartment and quickly made her way home. For the first time in hours she checked her phone. No new messages from Regina. She felt her stomach do an uncomfortable twist and found herself somehow disappointed. Sad, even. Was she seriously missing her? Well, might as well do something about that.

"I'm borded."

Emma smacked one hand against her face. You're an idiot.

"Booored."

"I meant bored, damn it."

Regina laughed out loud as she read Emma's three little cute messages. She hadn't heard from her all day and if she was honest with herself, she'd missed the hell out of her. She decided not to let this one slip.

"Well I'm borded, too."

Regina couldn't help but smile at herself. It didn't take long for Emma to answer, and when she did, Regina laughed loudly once again.

"Fuck youuuu."

Regina mainly sent four very happy smiley faces. Emma continued the conversation.

"I'm sooooo bored... I could write on my songs, ya know but I'm just not inspired... Ok not completely true. I'm kinda inspired to write yet another song."

"Then why don't you? Perfect way to use boredom time! I was thinking about listening to more of your songs on YouTube."

"Becaaaause I should rather finish the ones I've already started & I could always do sth for school. Or lets put it this way: I should rather do sth for school since I have a lot of lessons to plan so it could get fucking stressful."

"Ah yeah okay… Kind of how I feel about starting to read new books! I really want to, but it's so time consuming... Maybe you could just watch a movie? I'm so bad at coming up with stuff to do, my apologies…"

"No I actually just got more motivated & inspired thanks to you. So I'm gonna just write & see where it goes."

"Oh really? Well you're welcome!"

"Yeah, thanks!"

Regina couldn't stop smiling. Somehow she felt honored to have inspired Emma, even tough she didn't know how she'd actually accomplished that. She giggled goofily as she rose from her bed to get her laptop. If Emma was going to be busy writing, she might as well listen to some more of the band's songs as she'd promised. But then her phone dinged again. Regina furrowed her brows and went to pick it up. Her smile grew even wider as she read it.

"You know what? The song can wait. I want to write with you. So, what are you up to?"

Regina sighed heavenly and let herself fall down on the bed. Emma Swan. You little charmer.

"It just so happens that I'm doing nothing at all. And I want to write with you, too."

"Awesome! Sooo…"

"Yes. So."

Emma chewed on her nails. What should I ask her? How to start a conversation? She stumbled around inside her own head, trying to form coherent sentences and questions but failing miserably. The only thing she could think of was the lamest question anyone could ever ask someone in the history of questions being asked. She sighed. Nonetheless, it was a question.

"What's your fav color?"

She closed her eyes, willing the lameness of the question to seem less lame. Regina answered quickly though.

"Purple and blue. I can never choose."

Emma smiled and pursed her lips.

"Go for blue."

"Why did I know you'd say that?"

That made Emma laugh out loud. A second message ticked in before she could come up with a withy answer though.

"What's yours?"

The blonde smiled tenderly. Regina never seemed to find her dumb or lame. She always found her jokes funny, and showed her as much as interest as Emma did in her. It was amazing.

"Green."

"I like green, too. But it doesn't look good on me."

Emma laughed again. Such a girl.

"Well, does purple and blue look good on you?"

"That's the thing. I really adore purple, and I think that's truly my favorite color, but blue looks better on me. It fits with my hair and skin tone. Purple pretty much looks awful on me."

That's when it hit Emma. She'd never seen a picture of Regina. She had absolutely no idea how this mysterious friend of hers looked like, other than what she'd pictured herself, when she was thinking too much about her. And that she was Spanish. Emma bit down on her bottom lip. Was it too much to ask? Regina had seen a picture, no, a video of Emma after all. What the hell. Here goes nothing.

"Why don't you send me a picture of yourself and let me be the judge of that?"

There was a long pause with no answer from Regina. At first, Emma thought she'd stepped over the line and Regina now had no intention of ever answering her ever again. But then ticked in a message. And it contained a picture. She opened it. Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Emma gaped at the screen, mouth open and eyes wide. She even shook her head a little, trying to compose her thoughts. Regina was sitting in what Emma assumed to be her own room, lights dim. Her smile was bright and she wore her dark hair in a braid down one side. Her skin was olive toned, her eyes smoldering brown. Those eyes. Oh my god those eyes. They could turn anyone into a hot mess of goo. She had plum and red lips. And if Emma wasn't mistaking, she spotted a scar on the right side of her upper lip. How did that get there? Emma couldn't define if she looked hot, beautiful or cute. Maybe a perfect combination of all three. Her big doe-eyes and bright smile made her look immensely adorable, but her plum lips and dark skin made her look so… kissable.

Emma buried her face in her hands. She rubbed at her face fast and harshly. God dammit. Why did she have to be beautiful? Why the hell did she have to look like a fucking Greek goddess? Or Spanish goddess or whatever. Even in her misery, she found it best not to leave Regina hanging.

"Regina, you're absolutely beautiful. You're so cute and I fucking love your eyes."

"Are they kinda hazel at the edges or just brown?"

Regina starred at her screen for quite some time before thinking of what to answer. She wasn't used to receiving compliments. She was quite bad at it, to be exact. Horrible. And hearing this from Emma just made her stomach twist and her cheeks burn.

"They're brown. Just brown."

Emma was fast with her reply.

"Well anyway, they're not just brown to me. I really adore them. Sorry, but it's the truth."

Regina was biting on her bottom lip so hard she feared she might break through the skin.

"I don't know what to say really… just thank you."

"You're welcome."

Regina was about to write something else when she got another message from Emma.

"And your smile and your hair, you're just really cute. Ok that's it. Bye."

Regina squealed loudly in an attempt to handle all these feelings roaming around inside her. She rolled over on her bed, laying flat on her stomach with her face pushed into the mattress. She sighed deeply. She's trying to kill me. She sat up in a jolt, knowing exactly what to write.

"Are you trying to kill me, or what?!"

"What? No… I just like you and I think you're beautiful."

An unpleasant feeling settled in Regina's stomach. Her breathing intensified as she suddenly panicked. Had she said something wrong? God no, I didn't mean it like that, Emma. She tried to think of the right thing to say. Then the image of Emma in the music video sprung to her mind. How golden locks fell wildly on her shoulders and chest. Her hair was amazing. Regina remembered how she'd wanted to run her hands through that hair. How her breathtaking emerald eyes almost sparkled. They looked so alive. So hopeful, somehow. She remembered how those thin but perfectly shaped, pale lips had formed beautiful words that touched your soul. She remembered her body, slim and fit. Emma was stunning, beautiful, herself. And her expressions, how she moved, with a little confidence and teasing but shimmering eyes and a bright smile made her look adorably cute. And she needed to know that.

"It wasn't a bad thing. Emma, please. You're so beautiful and cute yourself. Really. The video of you literally took my breath away at the same time it made me want to cuddle you. And your hair is absolutely amazing. I love it."

It took a while for Emma to answer, but when she did, Regina thought her face might split in two with the broad smile she couldn't hide even if she tried.

"Now I'm blushing… Thanks. Let's cuddle."

Regina's face hurt from smiling but she didn't care. She didn't care about anything but Emma right this second. It almost made her tear up how happy she felt right now. She didn't know how to handle all these intense feelings. She'd never experienced anything like it. So there was no doubt to what she was going to answer.

"That's a big yes."