Chapter three

They had been in silence for hours now. It was past lunch time and she could feel her stomach complain.

Regina pretended to read the whole time, but in reality she regretted that the friendly bubble had burst so fast.

Emma Swan was a prick.

For that reason, she had no idea why she felt so giddy and flattered when the blonde offered to beat up the infamous artist that liked to graffiti about her personal life on school property – which was surprisingly not Emma herself.

She looked back at the blonde; she had a lollipop between her teeth and was using a huge amount of rubber bands to manufacture a bouncing ball. When she finished, she threw it against the wall once and picked it against her chest. She threw it again. And again.

Okay, she didn't feel giddy anymore.

"Could you stop?" Regina hissed.

Emma didn't answer or even looked back at her; she kept throwing it against the wall and catching it, applying more force to the task so that the noise became more punctuated and annoying. Regina interposed between the wall and Emma, catching the stupid ball in the air.

"Give it back!" the blonde snapped.

"I'm trying to study!"

"And I'm trying not to throw it on your head! You should be glad I'm aiming for the wall!"

Regina rolled her eyes and went back to her desk, but before she did it, she threw it forcefully against Emma, almost hitting her square on the face.

"Nice," she chuckled, catching it with a slight cringe. "You should be on some league, Mills."

Regina looked at her and sighed. There was the smile again. What was wrong with that girl?

"What do you want from me?"

Emma remained silent. She blinked several times, taken by surprised by the raw but plain question, because Regina never spoke to her longer than the necessary to produce a scoff.

She wanted to kiss Regina.

She wanted to squeeze her friends on the back seat of the GTI so Regina could take the front seat. She wanted to drive her to school every day.

A long time ago she stopped lying to herself about the many pranks and teasing she had in store just for Regina – she didn't want to actually hurt or upset the brunette; she wanted to deflect attention.

She was too attracted to be normal around Regina Mills.

And she hated Regina for having that power over her.

"Alright," Emma sighed. "Regina, look… I am… your father."

Regina took a whole minute to understand the thick, robotic voice that had nothing to do with the subject.

"Did you just quote Star Wars?"

Emma grinned that she got the reference. "Don't ruin it, just say NOOOOO!"

"I don't know why I'm wasting my time with you, seriously."

And with that, she buried her face behind her book and ignored Emma until the bell rang.

Damn it, Swan. She was almost talking to you like a human being and you screwed up…

"Do you want a ride home?" Emma asked suddenly as Regina started to pack her bags.

Regina turned around indignantly, but before she had time to voice whatever it was, Miss Blue entered the classroom with Killian Jones and Ruby Lucas in tow.

"Miss Mills and Miss Swan, you can go, now. Take a form and bring it back signed by a parent or guardian. You two… Five foot apart. You know the drill."

Last time Ruby and Killian ended up in detention together, they had built the bomb that exploded his fingers.

"What did you do?" Emma asked her friends, eyes following Regina across the room until she left.

"We sang Dominique when Miss Farris passed by us on the corridor. The rated version you made up, see. French class is wack," Killian said with a scoff, slumping down a desk as he collected a cigarette from his jacket pocket.

Ruby, however, was staring intently at Emma as the blonde eyed the door blankly.

"Swan?" she snapped.

"What?" she asked dreamily.

"You're drooling."

"I'm out," she said absently minded, ignoring Ruby's unhappy frown. Apparently, her crush on Mills was not as discreet as she imagined.

"MM's in the library, said she wouldn't need a ride today," Killian informed her as she collected her backpack to leave.

"Cool," Emma muttered, leaving the room as fast as she could. If she hurried, she might catch up with Regina. And if she caught up with Regina…

Fuck.

She didn't have a plan. It was easy to be unpleasant. It was fun to be an idiot around her, but Emma had no idea what to do to impress the brunette in a positive way.

The school was empty. How hard could it be to find a gorgeous brunette wandering around in her uptight pace?

When she got to the main hall of the building, Regina was nowhere to be found. Emma ran, her sneakers making squeaking noises against the linoleum as she paused at every corner, looking up and down the adjacent corridors.

She had just disappeared.

Damn.

Emma lit up a cigarette grumpily as she walked towards the parking lot. It was her third detention in two weeks; her mother was going to be disappointed. Emma kicked a soda can across the pavement, noticing her car was the only one left.

Then she saw Regina Mills, a few feet away across the street, walking towards the bus stop.

Emma flew to the GTI, hit the gas pedal and drove to the same direction. In a few seconds, she caught up with her.

Regina was holding her books against her chest as she walked, and she didn't spare a glance sideways when Emma reduced the speed.

"Hey," the blonde called out. "Get in. I'll drive you home."

"No thanks."

"C'mon, your house is on the way to mine."

"I'd rather take a bus in flames than enter this tuna can."

"The reason why you missed Daddy's ride is because you put us both in detention! I'm being more than nice to offer you a ride and you say that? I thought Mommy sent you to Princess Class when you were younger, Mills."

Regina gasped with indignation, but before she could voice anything remotely un-Princess-like to that imbecile, Emma had already sped up.

XXX

"Fuck fuck fuck," Emma hissed, hitting the steering wheel repeatedly with her fists. She watched Regina disappear through the rear view mirror and sighed. Damn it. Why did she have to be such a jerk? Why couldn't she just be nice and take the first, polite 'no' for an answer?

She was almost considering turning around the corner when she remembered what she saw in the morning – the way Regina's face lit up when Robin arrived.

Gross.

He was a moron, a pig, and Emma hated his guts. Only someone as stupid as him would ever take Regina for granted and sleep around with other girls. Not that she was a lot better, being a first class moron herself, too, but she would probably never look to another girl if she had Regina.

Emma's blood boiled. Where the hell was that bonehead when his beautiful girlfriend needed a ride?

She looked again at the rear view mirror and realized Regina was running behind the car, waving frantically from the middle of the street. Emma scoffed for a second, but then she saw the huge dog chasing the brunette. She instantly hit the brake and turned off the engine.

"Hurry up, I'll tackle him-!" she yelled, getting out of the car after flaring open the passenger door so Regina could jump inside.

Before Regina could reach out, the dog attacked. Her scream made Emma's heart stop for a second; when she realized it, she was pulling the huge bulldog away from the brunette, taking a bite on the wrist as a result.

She barely registered the pain. Her eyes were glued to Regina's bloodied face.

The dog's owner came hurrying after them with a leash on his hand. Emma had no idea what that prick was saying, but he sounded like he was apologizing.

When the beast was properly chained again, Emma kneeled down next to the brunette on the asphalt. Regina's brown eyes were drenched with fear and pain.

"I got you," Emma muttered, picking her up and dragging her to the GTI. She closed the passenger door and turned around to take the steering wheel. "Keep your chin up and hold this against your lip," she said softly after ripping a piece of her t-shirt and making a crumpled ball with it. "I'm taking you to the hospital, okay?"

Regina stared at her for what felt like an eternity, and then finally nodded.

The white rag became red within instants. Emma hit the gas pedal and possibly broke several traffic laws, but she didn't care. She parked in front of Storybrooke General Hospital and got out to help Regina out of her seat.

Suddenly, opening the door for her and offering a hand seemed like a dream come true, except for the fact that both were covered in blood and dog's saliva. She bravely passed an arm around Regina's waist and guided her to the entrance door.

Regina was a public figure because of her father being a politician and possibly the next Mayor of Storybrooke, so there was a doctor next to her the second she was recognized.

"What happened?" he asked Emma, having two nurses helping Regina to a wheelchair.

"A dog attacked her."

"Okay, you did a great job, but you'll need stitches as well. Miss Mason-" he called another nurse to tend to Emma.

"Wha-? No, I'm fine-"

As the nurse ignored her protests and took her to another exam room, Emma could take one last glimpse at Regina until she noticed a chunk missing from her wrist. It was dripping blood all over the floor.

"Fuck," she grunted.

Bonus update because I'll only have access to a computer on Monday. Keep sending feedback and I hope you enjoy it!