So yeah, her arm is on a cast, not casket! Jesus, sorry about that… So, thank you for sticking up with this story and sending reviews that warm my heart!

It's prom chapter…

Chapter nine

After the Halloween incident, Emma's life became a living hell, or some sort of paradise in constant probation.

The plaster cast was surprisingly not her free pass from school. Apparently, going to classes was mandatory while she could still listen and pay attention. And the irony was that it had been Regina who convinced Ingrid about that, when Emma was this close of talking her mother into letting her go on vacation, so to speak.

She couldn't drive, so now everyone had to take the school bus and sulk with her. Regina was the only one who was enjoying it, because she never rode the bus before. And as she couldn't write either, Regina was taking notes for both of them, leaning over her desk all the time to help Emma with something.

And whenever she leaned over, Emma's eyes would automatically drop to her cleavage, and her brain would shoot images of Regina's naked body and fire hormones to her lower half, and there was nothing she could do with an entire arm encapsulated in plaster.

Emma was so grumpy after a few days that she was not even sorry for feeling like a school boy with a Playboy. You can look, but you definitively can't touch.

She was lying in bed, minding her own miserable business, when someone knocked. Regina was smiling from the doorframe, and she was holding her books with an air of mystery. She had stayed in school after lunch to monitor students who were about to fail the semester, and Emma had expected to see her only on the next morning.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sitting up quickly and noticing her bedroom was a pigsty.

"I decided to drop by and leave some notes for you. Extra notes," Regina added with a hint of pride in her voice as she sat down on her bed. "Mr. Medina usually asks things like that on his tests."

"Dweeb," Emma chuckled, pulling Regina to a kiss. "Thank you, but I think you should do the tests for me, you know. I fell from your rooftop, after all."

"You fell because you're an idiot," Regina picked a marker and drew a crooked heart on the cast, adding an 'R' in the middle. "Do you have any idea what my mother would have done if she caught you?"

"Oh c'mon, it's not like I was climbing your window to steal your virginity or anything-"

As naturally as it slipped off Emma's lips, Regina's hand automatically planted a smack on the blonde's head.

"Ouch!"

"Why did you say that?" Regina blurted out.

Emma massaged the sore spot above her ear, fighting to hold back a smirk. She loved it when Regina blushed. "I would never steal it. I would ask gently – Ouch! You gotta control this hand of yours, Mills-!"

"I would apologize for hurting you," Regina smiled. "But you are too-"

"Naughty?" Emma winked.

"Obscene," Regina corrected her. "And that's inappropriate."

"Is it?" Emma breathed, leaning forward, using her left hand to pull Regina to another kiss. She felt the brunette shudder as she placed her hand behind her neck. The pressure of Regina's fingers against her arm was a contradiction to what she was trying to lecture.

"Keep asking gently," Regina whispered close to Emma's ear, and that almost made the blonde lose her shit. "But I'm not giving you anything before p-"

"Oh dear God, my eyes," Ruby growled, taking a few steps back as if an invisible force smacked her in the face. Seeing Regina Mills crawling on top of Emma did feel like a punch, anyway. "I should start knocking."

"Yes, you should," Emma said.

"Emma," Regina muttered, straightening up and getting off the bed. "I should go," she pecked her cheek and collected her books. "Read my notes and do some work with that. Bye, Ruby."

"Be careful," Emma called out.

"I'm always," Regina grinned from the doorway and disappeared.

"You're so whipped," Ruby muttered, shaking her head in disapproval as she slumped down the bed. "You should be careful, you know. Robin is spreading to the entire school that he's winning her back and that he's gonna kick your ass."

"Are you serious? He's got nerves, after I almost broke his face the other day."

"I know you can handle that dillhole. I mean…" Ruby lowered her blue eyes to her lap and then looked at the blonde. "Can you handle Regina actually going back to him?"

Emma sighed. She hated that Ruby knew her so well.

She was worried. She didn't want to be Regina's summer experiment. She didn't want to be a fun story in college. She didn't want Regina and Robin laughing at old age, looking at pictures of their kids, remembering that one time Regina almost let Robin slip away when she thought she was attracted to Emma Swan, that school weird lesbo. Because it didn't matter that Robin was an ass; Regina had been stuck with him for three years, and it felt like she could easily slip back into that if things got too intense with her mother.

"I don't know what's gonna happen," she shrugged. "I'll just enjoy it while I can, Rubes. It's not like… I'm gonna marry her or anything, you know. What?" she rolled her eyes at the condescending look was receiving.

"I'm your best friend. I know how you really feel about her, Em," she sighed. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

Emma stared at Ruby for a while. She was so beautiful, but she always looked so… wounded.

"Thank you," she muttered, completely at a loss of what to say.

"Sure," Ruby smacked her lips. "Deal's still on, though."

When they were fifteen, they vowed inside Killian's tree house, with spit and a handshake, that they would marry each other in case they were still alone when they turned forty.

Emma let out a deep chuckle. She loved Ruby, and she hated herself for the sad look on Ruby's face.

"I think you can do better than me, but if you are still single when you're forty, Rubes… I'll have to punch you. And then I'll marry you."

"So romantic," she scoffed with an eye roll. "Are you this sweet with-"

Emma cleared her throat, and Ruby went silent. Friends as they were, it was still impossible to bring up some topics.

"I'm going to prom with Killian."

"You are?" Emma laughed. "Holy fuck."

"I know," she rolled her eyes. "But he's the only guy I know that would take up the challenge."

"There's a challenge?"

"Oh, there is always a challenge..."

"I have a feeling you'll be the reason he'll lose the rest of his hand before we turn forty…"

XXX

Emma was sitting on the kitchen table with her right arm stretched on top of it, craning her neck expectantly as her mother worked on removing her cast with a scissor.

"You got it?"

"Not yet," Ingrid muttered, concentrating on cutting the plaster without hurting Emma. "We should have gone to the hospital-"

"Whale would not let me take it off yet."

"Maybe you shouldn't," her mother said sternly, making a dangerous maneuver around her daughter's elbow.

"It's fixed already. And I can't go to prom wearing this."

"I'm sure Regina wouldn't mind."

"I would. Actually, I might need both of my arms to-"

"I'll send you to Christian Camp if you pick up a fight at prom-"

"I need my arms to dance," Emma finished her sentence awkwardly.

"Oh," Ingrid raised both eyebrows in genuine surprise. "Well, okay. That's fair."

Emma knew that look on her mother's face. It wasn't blatant like Ruby's, but it denoted concern as well. Emma had never had a girlfriend, and she had never been in love. Regina Mills had potential to be the rise and fall of everything good that happened in Emma's life.

"It's just prom, mom," Emma said before her mother could voice it. "I have no idea where we'll be next year. She'll probably leave for college and I'll be… somewhere else. I'm not getting my hopes up. I know what I'm doing."

"Okay, fine. If you say so," Ingrid pretended to let it go, offering a smile to her daughter. She finished cutting off the plaster and removed it almost intact. "Oh wow, this must go to the trash as of now-"

"Don't throw it away, I wanna keep it-" Emma whined, flexing her right arm in several ways.

"It stinks!"

"I just want a piece of something scribbled there, I'll throw away the rest."

Ingrid sighed and caved. Then she smiled.

"So… Prom, huh?"

"Don't give me that look, mom…"

"It's my proud look! I was pregnant at your age, I didn't get to go to prom!" Ingrid chuckled. "Thank you for that, by the way. Your dad took me on a road trip on his Wagon before we could figure out what to do with our lives. Prom was too…"

"Lame."

Ingrid sighed. "It will be fun, going with a nice girl, though, huh?"

"I guess," Emma shrugged. She was trying as hard as she could to build up walls and protect herself, but the nagging feeling of loss was there, all the time since that first kiss.

Having a crush on Regina Mills was easy to handle. She had never even talked much to Emma, and Emma could keep on being a school terrorist.

After the kiss, Regina became a tangible idea, within the reach of her hands, too real. The possibility of not having her just…

Prom was the end of a cycle. Prom was the rite of passage to college.

Prom was the last event that the brilliant kids went through before they left Storybrooke for good. Regina was one of the anal geniuses in school.

Enjoy it while you still can, said the little voice inside her head. When her mother left the kitchen, she used the knife to extract the heart with an R from the cast. She put the square piece inside her pocket and took the rest of the split plaster out of the house.

Emma locked the thoughts somewhere deep inside her brain as she took a warm shower. When she was done, Ingrid's blue eyes were sparkling. She looked expectantly at her daughter.

"Okay, Ingrid Swan," she said with a dramatic eye roll. "Dress me up."

Never in her life had Emma accepted to put on a dress, but today she had let her mother lent her some pants that flared like one. It was made of a thin fabric in salmon shade, and it looked incredible with the black jacket she put on.

She looked like a fancy delinquent.

Ingrid used a picture of Cindy Lauper from a magazine to do her hair, and the result was better than Emma had anticipated. Her mother was so happy that Emma even indulged in for a picture before she left.

"Have fun, kid!" Ingrid waved from the doorstep.

XXX

Henry smiled when Regina came out of her room. She looked stunning.

He had watched his daughter hurry up and down the house all day long, and he had been following her with his camera for about half an hour now. That smile had to be recorded. He had never seen her smiling like that, and he decided that he didn't care if the reason was a troublemaker who happened to be a girl.

He liked Emma. He barely knew her, but he liked her, because Regina did.

"Dad!" she complained with a giddy smile, trying to reach out for the camera and cover the lens.

"You look beautiful, my darling."

Regina was wearing a long skirt with patterns and a dark blouse with shoulder pads. She had spent most of her day fixing her hair and selecting the shades of her makeup. Cora was surprisingly supportive, staying out of Regina's way and not daring to say a word about Emma Swan.

Henry should have suspected something was wrong.

There was a car honk outside, and Regina went downstairs like a thunderbolt. He kept following her with the camera, capturing an awkward-looking Emma Swan stepping out of the GTI in front of their house.

Henry waved at the blonde, kissed his daughter and got inside. The look on Cora's face was the warning sign. She was sitting on her usual flourished armchair by the window, going through the pages of a magazine as she hummed satisfied.

He had expected her to go out and insult Emma, or worse, ask that stupid boy Locksley to come pick Regina instead. It was her silence that was worrisome. He shrugged and lowered the camera.

"I'm surprised she didn't show up in a smoking and a bow tie."

"You look smug," he muttered.

"Emma Swan will break your daughter's heart, and then she'll finally come to me. Just you sit and wait, Henry."

XXX

Emma closed the door after Regina and came around the front of the car to take her seat. By the time she did, she seemed slightly out of breath.

Emma was surprised that Regina managed to look hot without showing any inch of skin that she hadn't seen yet. Her mouth did not obey to her brain and she was unable to greet her.

As they drove in silence, Regina cleared her throat.

"So. You removed the cast," the brunette said.

"You look damn beautiful," Emma mumbled.

Regina chuckled, smiling softly as her body warmed up to the mere presence of Emma Swan, who looked ridiculously pretty in that outfit.

She reached out for Emma's hand; the blonde let out a sigh of relief and squeezed her hand gently.

"I'm a bit nervous," she grinned. "I thought you'd change your mind and go with Robin."

"I thought you would change your mind and leave me hanging."

"Well, aren't we the most unreliable pair?"

"I don't know about unreliable," Regina chuckled. "But we're definitively a good pair. You look beautiful yourself."

Emma looked at her, with that smile that Regina had seen in some rare occasions. Emma was a guarded person, but sometimes she let her walls down a little, and she would smile like that, and Regina's stupid heart would flutter.

"That's true, Mills. We are a good pair…"

The school looked packed when Emma parked in their usual spot. Muffled music and laughter were coming from the gym, and many were the students walking around the school grounds, making out and smoking pot.

"This is for real, then," Emma muttered, spotting the entrance decorated with balloons.

The previous school dances she had been to – including the one with the punch incident and the trouble she got Regina in – Emma usually crashed without a date, with the intention of ruining other people's fun.

Today, she felt responsible to offer Regina a great time, not only to make up for how horrible she had been with her all those years ago, but because she loved to see Regina happy.

"We can still bail and… go graffiti some walls and drink… rum," Regina said hesitatingly.

"That's your idea of fun?" Emma chuckled. "What are you, an urban pirate?"

"I'm sorry I'm not cool like you and the rest of your friends, Emma-"

"Hey," Emma said softly, holding her hand and squeezing it. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant… Prom could be fun. With you."

Regina stared at her with a doubtful expression. "Really?"

Emma had forced Mary Margaret to teach her how to slow dance. So, yes, really.

"I want you to have fun," the blonde said, her green eyes drenched with honesty. "I made your life miserable for so long… It's time, Regina."

Emma had never called her Regina. It was always Mills or Dweeb, and it sounded strangely wonderful coming like that from her lips, without sarcasm or spite.

"You… You just…" Regina stammered.

Emma frowned, surprised with how natural that had come out.

"Let's get inside, c'mon," she muttered, placing her hand gently on Regina's lower back, guiding her to the gym.

They ran into MM and David Nolan, who were chatting animatedly by the table of snacks. Everything looked oddly flourished with blue crepe paper and purple balloons.

"Wow," Emma chuckled. It looked horribly tacky, but she was afraid to voice it and somehow offend Regina. "Hey," she said instead, waving at the happy pair.

"You came!" Mary Margaret squeaked, not sure what was exciting her more: David Nolan asking her to prom, two girls coming together or Emma's arm around Regina's waist in public. "You two look so beautiful-!"

"Oh, thanks," Regina said with a smile. "I loved your… hair," she said hesitatingly at Mary's weird perm. It was more extravagant, like she did an extra effort on it today.

David wasn't far behind on weirdness with his mullets and the bangs he added to his visual. He was grinning like an idiot, and Regina could tell he was genuinely happy with Mary and her funny-smelling curls.

On regular days, Emma would have joined Killian and Ruby to mock her, but hell, there was nothing regular about this day.

"We should vote for Lame Hair Couple," Emma muttered in Regina's ear. "They would beat everyone in the world."

Regina laughed wholeheartedly. That girl was impossible and incredibly pretty when she wasn't trying to irritate her. In fact, she caused unexpected reactions in Regina, now. Warm reactions, mostly inappropriate ones.

"Where are Killian and Ruby?" the blonde asked.

"Oh," David grinned broadly as he spotted something above their shoulders. "Man-"

The couple marched in looking serious, but for those who knew them, it was pretty obvious they were drunk. Ruby was wearing a brown suit with suspenders, combat boots and a derby. She still managed to look attractive, even though she chewed her gum very inelegantly.

Killian, on the other hand, looked absolutely atrocious wearing a pink fluffy dress with pink lace. There was a chuck of chest hair coming out of the neckline, and his hairy legs looked just too funny in a dress and black boots. He had applied eyeliner and he was smiling goofily at Ruby.

It was all really fun until the director, Mr. Gold, and the students' inspector, Miss Blue, came face to face with them.

"What is this?" Gold asked pointing at the cross-dressed pair. He didn't look slightly pleased with their attires. "Mr. Jones? Miss Lucas?"

"Oh, you mean our clothes?" Ruby chuckled. "It said formal clothes in the invitation, but it did not specify that I had to be the one wearing the dress."

"C'mon, Gold," Miss Blue shook her head as she whispered. "It's the last you'll have to see of them in this school. We're two weeks away from graduation. They'll be gone. For good."

Gold smirked. "That's actually a good point, Astrid-" he waggled his head at the group and left with Miss Blue, limping slightly without his cane.

"Astrid?" Ruby grimaced. "What is that? Are they sleeping together?"

"Yikes," MM shook her head, as if the bad thought would go away with the movement.

"Well, aren't you two looking fancy," Killian winked at Regina and Emma.

"So do you," the brunette patted his arm. "I love the laces."

"Pretty, aren't they?" he looked down at his chest.

"Okay," Emma said awkwardly, turning to Regina. She was trying to act normal for once, but it was difficult with her friends going crazy around them. "Do you want me to get you a drink?"

"Would you?" Regina smiled. "I'd love some."

"Great," Emma smiled in return. "I'll be right back-"

Regina followed her with her eyes for a while. Her cheeks were actually painful, because she couldn't stop smiling. Emma's friends were incredibly stupid and fun at the same time, and they made her feel so comfortable that she gasped slightly when she heard someone calling her name.

"Regina?"

She turned around and found herself face to face with Katherine. Katherine had been the closest to a friend she ever had before Emma and the others, but the blonde girl was nothing like them.

She was extremely uptight and possessed zero sense of humor – traits that Regina displayed most of her life because Cora scolded her when she acted differently. In fact, her mother and Katherine's mother were friends and went to the club together, to plan their daughters' future together and scorn other people together.

Regina hated her, and she had no idea if it was her mother's influence that made her evil or if that was the other way around.

The fact was that Katherine never spoke to Regina again after she broke up with Robin, and now she seemed surprised to see her.

"Katherine."

"I didn't expect to see you here. Hi."

Regina frowned slightly. "Why not?"

"Well, after you and Robin split up-"

"I'm with Emma," Regina interrupted her. "Everyone in school knows that."

"Well, yes, but… I thought that was mostly a way to piss of your mother. Now, to come to prom with a girl it's just-"

"Just what?" she placed both hands on her hips.

David, MM, Killian and Ruby were actually watching them like some sort of tense tennis match.

"Well…" Katherine looked sideways, trying to find the appropriate words. "She's a girl and… she's a Swan. Don't they live on… a trailer or something? I mean, what's that when you had a Locksley all to yourself, Regina? What's wrong with you?"

Several things happened at the same time after she said that.

Killian and David had to hold Ruby, or she would probably break all of Katherine's pearl white teeth. Emma arrived with their drinks and caught every word about her, and for a moment she stood rooted on her spot, behind Regina, holding two plastic cups. And then, not noticing that Emma was there, Regina spoke.

"If you think he's so great, go get him. I hope you don't mind sharing that pig with other girls," she said with a shaky voice. "Now, about Emma… If you ever say a word about her, I'm gonna… destroy you."

Katherine scoffed. "Why are you so affected? Are you in love with her or something?"

It was Regina's silence that changed the air around them. It felt louder than a scream, and it felt like a blunt confession.

XXX

Emma felt her heart accelerate when she didn't hear Regina say 'no'.

She ignored her friends' expectant eyes and spun on her heels and marched outside, a mix of anger and fear boiling inside her stomach as she carelessly held the drinks, spilling most of it.

Emma downed the remaining of the contents from each cup and threw them on the grass as she plopped down the school front steps to smoke.

Her mind was spinning, and she had no idea if it had anything to do with the alcohol or if it was the possibility of Regina loving her back.

Because, yes, she did love that girl.

And, yes, that was scary.

She had time for a second cigarette until Regina found her.

"I don't know how much you heard," she blurted out, standing in front of the blonde. "But I'm so sorry about… that."

Emma avoided her eyes as she considered what to say. She didn't want to show how upset she was because Katherine didn't think she was good enough for Regina, and she didn't want to show how desperate she was to know if Regina was in love with her for real.

When she looked at the brunette, Regina's brown eyes lit up in the dark, and Emma couldn't help smiling.

"Have a seat, Mills-" she beckoned her closer.

"You were right. Prom sucks," Regina grunted, slumping down next to the blonde, automatically seeking refuge in the curve of Emma's neck.

The blonde reached out for her hands. "I really wanted us to have a good time. It's… prom. Last celebration before we get out of school."

The last before you go away. The first and last I'll ever get to be with you…

Regina didn't say anything about that. She caressed Emma's hand with her thumb and sighed. "Is your mother at work?"

Emma nodded. "Yeah, she-"

"Let's go to your house."