Summary: Regina Mill is used to having everything done her way. She controls every little detail that goes on in her life and lives for straight lines and even numbers. Her world is suddenly taken by storm when she meets Emma Midas, another teen struggling with her own demons. Swan Queen.
Chapter Three: Chance Meetings.
It wasn't hard to sneak out, especially since her mother was far too concerned with what was going on in Kathryn's life to even notice what she was doing. She didn't have a license, but the one thing she did have going for her was that she could run her ass off. Clad in a pair of skinny yoga pants, a Nike hoodie and a pair of all black runners she was on her way out of the Midas house hold. Despite being one out of three doctors with their own practices in Storybrooke, the others being a free clinic and a dentist office, they chose to live a modest lifestyle. The only thing flashy that they had were the cars that her parents drove. Storybrooke was slightly chilly during this time of year, as she started a slow jog to warm up her blood against the autumn weather. Emma was so into her running, she hadn't even realized she made it into town until she had to stop because of the congested traffic of people on the side walks.
"Hello Miss. Midas, for you..." Mr. French held out a yellow tulip for her, he was always giving her some gift or another whenever she was in town, every since she could remember. He was one of the nicest men she had ever met except for her father.
"Thank you, Mr. French! They look really good today." Emma offered a side smile before she moved along. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going when she literally ran into something hard and rigid before falling to her ass.
"You know if you used your eyes to see where you were going-" The husky voice suddenly stopped, and Emma was once again looking into those cognac colored irises.
"Sorry, I was kind of in a daze." Emma sheepishly apologized before pulling herself up and dusting her hands against each other. What surprised her was the brunette pulling out some wet wipes and a small travel sized bottle of hand sanitizer
"Your hands are filthy now." Regina remarked, holding out the products to Emma who shrugged and took them. Wiping her hands off with the wipe first, she crumpled it up and shoved it into the pocket of hoodie before squirting two drops of hand sanitizer in before handing it back to Regina.
"What are you some sort of germ-a-phobe?" Emma chewed on her bottom lip as she watched Regina flush slightly before narrowing her eyes.
"I suppose you can say that. There are millions of bacteria cells on the ground. When you touch them and then put your hands on something else, you are simply spreading them around. Getting innocent people sick because of your unhygienic ways." Regina remarked before blushing deeply when she realized she had said more than she intended. Had it been anyone else, she wouldn't have cared. But this was Emmalyn, the girl she had been thinking about for the past forty-eight hours, and she didn't want her to think of her as a freak of some sorts. Emma simple stared at her for a moment before smiling slightly.
"Well when you put it that way, it almost makes me want to stay in the shower forever." Emma joked and Regina let out a sigh of relief.
"...I'm Regina! Regina Mills." Regina kept her hands clenched at her sides, as much as she wanted to shake Emma's hands to feel how soft they were she also tended to avoid physical contact with others. That and her hands were sweating profusely but she felt that if she were to wipe them on her pant leg everyone would know.
"Emmalyn Midas, but I prefer Emma." Emma cheekily grinned at the beautiful brunette in front of her.
"Well it was nice meeting you!" Regina said hurriedly, as she tried to quickly walk around the blonde.
"Hey wait! Where are you going?" Emma stopped her by grabbing her arm. The heat radiating from her hand against Regina's covered bicep only felt slightly uncomfortable. Still Regina pulled herself away before clearing her throat.
"I simply was out for a walk. I'm heading on my way now." The brunette responded.
"Well can I come with?" Emma shifted from foot to foot, unsure of why she had asked to accompany a complete stranger. Regina seemed to ponder it before slowly nodded.
"As long as you can keep your hands to yourself. Hand sanitizer only does so much." Regina blurted out before she could stop herself.
"...Noted. Keep my germs to myself." Emma smiled widely before her and the older teen set out on their way. The first few minutes were entirely quiet as Emma tried to think about something to say.
"So how long you been in Storybrooke?" Emma questioned.
"Since I was eleven, so almost seven years...How about yourself?" Regina replied
"Born and raised, never really seen the outside world either. Why'd you come here anyways? It's like in the middle of nowhere, we don't normally get people looking to settle down here." Emma furrowed her eyebrows as they turned in the direction towards the docks.
"...My mother remarried. My step father is the Mayor, it's not like he could just pick up and come live with us in New York. She thought the change would be good for me and my sister." Regina resisted the urge to shrug in her relaxed state. Even from spending only a couple of minutes with the blonde, she could already tell she isn't a judgmental type. However when Emma falter in her steps, Regina turned to look at her.
"Your dad is Rupert Gold?" Emma looked around as if she expected someone to jump out at her.
"Step father." Regina corrected. "Is that a problem?"
"No-It's just... I'm not being set up right?" Emma's tone was borderline whinny as she continued to look around.
"Set up? Are you some sort of criminal?" Regina took a step away, her heart beating frantically. However when Emma shot her a goofy smile, her heart seemed to stop beating all together.
"No, I did my time." Emma responded vaguely while watching Regina's eyes widen.
"Nothing too serious. Just had to rough up a couple of guys who didn't give what was due. Had to slap around some skanks for messing with my money. Who knew prostitution was illegal?" Emma continued her outlandish comment until Regina caught on that she was simply pulling her leg.
"You're joking right?" Regina raised an eyebrow.
"Let's just say dear old step Papa, doesn't really like me very much. Apparently he can't take a joke. I only slipped a little THC oil into his brownies. Nobody has ever died from getting high." Emma scoffed, waving her hand dramatically.
"Wait! You were the one who drug him during the last election? Mother was so upset." Regina's lips quirked, and despite her disappointed tone Emma could tell she found some humor in it.
"He really needed to lighten up a bit. I just helped him along! And guess what? The people loved it!" Emma defended, the same dimpled cheek grin on her face.
"I suppose." Regina murmured before looking out towards the boats on the water.
"So what's a girl like you doing walking around out in the open like this?" Emma asked, pulling out a stick of gum before unwrapping it.
"What does that mean? A girl like me?" Regina crossed her arms defensively, watching the blonde shove the whole stick of blue colored gum into her mouth before she slowly began to chew. It was almost as if she was thinking about what she was going to say.
"Mayor's kid. Wouldn't you have like some sort of fancy smancy car?" Emma asked.
"I have a Mercedes, but sometimes I prefer the fresh air and fitting in some exercise." Regina replied looking away.
"What about if you run into some germ filled smuck such as myself?" Emma raised an eyebrow before leaning forward on her toes.
"I suppose your company is tolerable enough to make up for the other area's that you are lacking in." Regina's words came out sharper than she intended for them too. When Emma hadn't spoken for a while, she was prepared to apologize.
"You know, in a way I'm sure that was a fucked up compliment." Emma chuckled, as Regina let out an audible sigh of relief.
"Are you always such an optimist?" Regina questioned watching the smile fall from Emma's face before a look that she couldn't describe flashed over. Almost as quick as it had come, was it gone and Emma turned to her with haunted eyes.
"Actually no. Maybe it's something about your company." Emma shrugged, and Regina fought to chastise her on the lazy movement.
"Anyways, I'm sure I took up enough of your time and I have to head into town for a bit." Emma smiled briefly until Regina nodded.
"Well Emma Midas, I hope to see you again." Regina returned the smile but hers was significantly smaller, merely a flutter of upturned lips. Emma nodded before turning on her heel and leaving.
Regina had only stayed for several moments longer, feeling the unfamiliar sense of being truly alone and being uncomfortable with it. Being left alone to her own devices was something she had often craved but it seemed like the few moments she spent with Emma had affected her somehow. Turning on her heel in the same fashion that the blonde did, Regina headed back to Main Street so that she could grab her car and head home. Knowing that a judgmental Zelena was going to be there, and her personal belongings were going to be misplaced due to the redhead's childish antics, she moved slowly but deliberately. The quicker it was over the quicker she could take a power nap and shower. Thinking about her condition on the way over. Her washing compulsions weren't nearly as strong as her arranger's. Maybe it was because she was more in control in that aspect of her life. There was never really a time she was without hand sanitizer or some other form of cleansing anti bacterial product. She reached her car quicker than she would have like before she headed home.
"Regina dear, you're home early..." Rupert seemed surprised as he glanced at the clock.
"I wasn't aware that you were clocking my coming and goings, Rupert." Regina replied curtly, narrowing her eyes at the man.
"I was simply noting that you are in fact almost a half an hour early. You have had the same schedule for nearly four years. I think I have to right to be concerned." Gold defended himself
"Maybe you would, if I were your child. How is Baelfire?" Regina asked coldly, knowing the man hadn't seen his son since he skipped town earlier this year.
"Must you always be so cold? I simply was inquiring-" Gold started
"Well don't! Just leave me the hell alone and worry about my mother." Regina stormed pass the Mayor before heading up to her room. She wouldn't necessarily say she hated her step father, she simply didn't like the fact that he uprooted her life when he married her mother. They had been fine for twelve years without him, yet somehow he thought he could replace Henry Mills, her father.
"Well that was relatively mild. Dad is only concerned about you..." Zelena stopped her on the second floor before her hand could even grab at her door knob leading to the third.
"You may view him as your father but I had one. He's dead and gone, and Rupert Gold will never replace him!" Regina sneered, watching Zelena's face soften.
"Gina, you know I didn't mean it like that. I miss dad too. But Rupert is trying... he's been there for us for a long time. The least you can do is try to let him in..." Zelena trailed off. Regina simply rolled her eyes before schooling her features and straightening herself out.
"Is that all?" Regina raised an unamused eyebrow and when Zelena simply shook her head before leaving she took that as her Q to go upstairs.
She went through the motions of fixing everything Zelena had touched, her sister acted way too much like a child for her taste sometimes. Peeling off her clothes, she folded them before placing them into her dirty hamper to be washed later. Turning the hot faucet on in her shower and twisting it three times along with a firm twist on the cold handle, she let her bathroom fill up with steam as she thought about her conversation with Emma.
The blonde was the first person who didn't flat out call her a weird, or look at her like a freak during the duration of their conversation. And despite the heavy circles underneath her eyes, she seemed down right giddy just talking with Regina. Maybe she was imagining it...or maybe not. All she knew is that she was looking forward to running into Emma again in the small town of Storybrooke.