AN: All the follows, favourites, and reviews are awesome. I'm glad you all like it.

I feel the need to warn that sex isn't the main objective of this story and it may not even be written when it does happen. So, pussy lover, dude, chill you're gonna pull something ;)

Ruby can't help but notice that when Belle spots Emmett making his way over to their regular lunch spot, she smiles and releases a sigh of relief. Her own sigh, though, is one of dejection. Belle never reacts like that when she sees me, she thinks. She knows they're just friends, Emmett has reminded her multiple times, and she believes him but she can't help being jealous of the attention Belle gives him.

"Oh, so he gets an actual smile from you but all I get is a distracted 'hello'," Ruby says with a playful pout. Emmett sits down on the opposite side of Belle for her, besides Jefferson, and responds by sticking his tongue out and smirking before receiving a light slap on his arm by Belle.

"Stop that. Play nice you two." She turns to Ruby. "I'm sorry, come here you idiot," she says while opening her arms for Ruby. She falls into them before looking over Belle's shoulder at Emmett and sticking her tongue out at him.

"Get a room you two," Graham chuckles when the hug lasts longer than normal. They pull away awkwardly, looking down as their cheeks redden and Emmett kicks at Graham's leg. "What?"

Emmett rolls his eyes before trying to change the subject.

"So, anyone had the new teacher, yet?"

"Yeah, Miss Greene: tall, redhead, pretty cute," Graham states with a shrug while checking his phone.

"Hot but kinda strict, though," Ruby chimes in.

Emmett shakes his head when he spots Belle narrowing her eyes at an unsuspecting Ruby. He has no idea how long they've been floating around their feelings for each other but they've been friends since they were kids so who knows. He's been trying to nudge them towards each other and has stopped himself many times from locking them in a room together and shouting 'just fuck already' through the door.

"You guys wanna hang out after school?" Jefferson asks, noticing the look as well. He's met by a chorus of agreements, plus an 'after work' for Ruby.

"Can't," Emmett says and they all look at him. He just shrugs. "It's Wednesday."

"Are you ever gonna tell us what you get up to on Wednesdays?"

"Eh, maybe one day," he says with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

"Can't you skip?"

"Nope."

"Shame, I was talking to Regina Mills in the hallway." Emmett's head perks up from digging around in his bag for food. "She said she wanted to catch up so I invited her to join us. Belle said you had an encounter with the Evil Queen in the library," Jefferson says trying to hide his grin.

"'Encounter'? I believe I said 'drooling over'," Belle adds with a smirk, receiving a giggle from the others.

"Oh, ha ha." He shrugs. "She's hot."

"Don't bother, mate," Graham says, looking up from his phone. "There's a reason she's called the Evil Queen. She won't let you anywhere near."

"Dude, I may be a bit of a man whore, but I don't try to get into the pants of every girl I talk to."

They all narrow their eyes at him.

"I said not every, most but not every," he says trying to defend himself; it's not his fault there are a surprisingly large number of pretty girls in Storybrooke. He may have broken a few hearts before he realised his living situation was more permanent than he'd thought.

"So why were you late for English?" Belle asks, raising an eyebrow.

"How did you-" he shouldn't be surprised, the woman knew him.

"I saw you chatting up Elsa."

"Oh."

"Again? Didn't the slap stop you?" Ruby asks.

"That slap was because I asked her sister out after our date," he says matter-of-factly. "That doesn't mean she doesn't like me." To be honest he didn't even know they were sisters until after the red handprint was left on his cheek.

They shake their heads and Graham just chuckles.

"What about whenever you've finished with whatever the hell you do?" Jefferson tries again.

"I'll try."

"How was your day, Emmett?" Dr Hopper asks the bored looking blond. Emmett's currently lying on his sofa staring up at the ceiling after sliding into place over the back of the couch.

He shrugs. "Alright." Emmett's still somewhat annoyed that Regina had never turned up at lunch and he hadn't seen her for the rest of the day. Hopefully, I can talk to her at the diner, he thinks.

"How's your hand?" Emmett raises his eyebrows at him in surprise. "You've been flexing it since you came in. You only do that when it's stiff, which normally happens after you've hurt yourself. What was it this time?"

"Wall."

"Why?"

Emmett groans before rubbing his forehead. "I had a nightmare so I decided to go for a run to try and clear my head." Archie nods along to the explanation having heard it several times before. "It usually works, you know, but I just couldn't shake it. I needed something else to focus on."

"Did you try those techniques we talked about?"

"It wasn't a panic attack."

Hopper nods and hums his understanding before jotting something down in his notepad. Emmett hates when he does that. "What about the gym? The membership was meant to give you a place to distract yourself when things became overwhelming."

"I was too far away. I went there after to shower and change but I wanted to run through the forest. It's where I normally relax-" he cuts himself off growling slightly in the back of his throat at himself. "I don't want to talk about it," Emmett almost snaps his last sentence before Archie can ask a follow-up question.

He shouldn't snap.

The man is probably the best psychiatrist he'd ever talked to, not that there had been many, actually, there had been none. No family had ever forked out money to better his mental state before. They'd relied on school and state funded counsellors, never anyone with the correct degree. Archie's a genuinely good person, good at his job as well. He'd been one of the reasons Emmett finally started to trust the Nolans and Belle.

"What do you want to talk about then?"

"Nothing."

"You know you can do whatever you want to in these sessions." And with that, Dr Hopper pulls a newspaper off the coffee table in front of him and flicks it open.

Emmett just lies there, closing his eyes and trying to block everything out the dream leaking back into his conscious thought.

The impact of the floor.

This is why he doesn't like thinking about it.

Trying to scramble to his feet and slipping.

He attempts to focus on seeing his friends once the hour's up but his mind isn't capable.

The hand coming into contact with his chest.

He rubs his palms over his forehead and into his now scrunched up eyes becoming frustrated.

The stairs.

Distraction! Think of a distraction you idiot, he shouts in his head. Regina.

"I think I made a new friend today," he says without thinking when his eyes snap open. He furrows his brows, friend?

"Really?" Archie asks calmly after watching Emmett's frustrations from over the top of his paper. He folds his paper back up before dropping it onto the table. Making friends had been hard for Emmett when he'd first arrived. Emmett had truly believed he wouldn't be here long enough for it to matter. Archie had had a meeting with him the second week he'd lived here, before the boy had agreed to actual meetings only a couple of months ago. Archie had found out he'd only ever had three real friends in his life. And one was more of a brother figure while the other two had betrayed him. Trusting was one of Emmett's biggest problems.

"Yeah, her name's Regina."

"Mills? I heard she was back in town. Poor girl." Emmett looks at him with a raised eyebrow, he's about to open his mouth to ask but is waved off. Archie isn't one for gossip. "What do you mean by you think you made a new friend?"

Emmett doesn't bother pushing the man to answer his unasked question, knowing it wouldn't help so instead says, "Well, I'm not good at being friends with girls, Belle and Ruby are enigmas. Or guys to be honest, apparently they don't like their girlfriends being stolen." He smirks to himself. Graham can be just as bad as he can in that department and Jefferson's gay so their group kind of just works. "And Regina and I kinda flirted but I had a feeling she was holding back so it might have just been friendly banter. Plus, she's looking for a new group of friends to the ones she had before she moved away."

They keep the talk causal until their time is up. Sometimes the kid just needs a break, Archie thinks as he tries to hide a smile at one of the blond's jokes aimed at a particularly strict teacher. I wish he could have moved here sooner.

Emmett crosses the road quickly hoping to say 'hi' to his friends before going home to crash. As much as he wants to spend some time with them outside of school, his sessions take a lot out of him and after barely sleeping last night; he's left exhausted. He smiles and shakes his head at having friends. Yeah, maybe he can only really talk to one of them about deep stuff when he can't handle it on his own anymore but he'd given up on the thought of ever having people he could trust even just a little bit in his life.

He pushes through the door and makes his way to the back booth where he sees Jefferson giggling about something. "Hey," he says when he reaches them and moves around Graham who's sitting on a chair he's pulled up to the booth from another table. He stifles a yawn as they return his greeting and falls into the empty space opposite Belle and Ruby leaning his head on Jefferson's shoulder.

"I'm not staying just thought I'd stop in on my way home."

"I know you got all these girls to please," Graham says with a smirk, "But you gotta sleep more, Em. You look dead."

"Thanks," Emmet mumbles. "I'll take that into consideration. Why-" he's about to ask Jefferson why his shoulder is so comfortable when a throat clears beside him grabbing his attention. He raises his gaze up to the side, finding an amused looking Regina with her arms crossed over her chest and a quirked eyebrow.

"I'm gone for five minutes and you steal my seat." She tuts while shaking her head. "Mother was right about you."

Emmet puts on a playfully offended look and says, "I'll have you know I've stolen nothing… from your mother. But don't worry, Your Majesty," he says with a wink as he stands up into her personal space. He hears a couple of breaths being sucked in behind him and Ruby whispering 'oh, shit'. "I'll return the seat."

"No need," she says leaning round him and bending over to pick up her school bag. "I was just leaving." She straightens up and swings her bag over her shoulder. Emmett's friends release their breaths and he wonders what they were expecting Regina to do. Other than the slight bitchy remark in the library, she'd been perfectly civil to him. How different was she before she left?

"What a coincidence, so was I. May I escort you, milady?" he asks with a smirk, offering his arm to her.

Regina just stares at him, raises an eyebrow, and re-crosses the arms. If you didn't look into her eyes, you would think she's genuinely angry but there's a playful glint that Emmett spots and latches onto.

Emmett raises his hands in mock defence and chuckles. "Sorry, I'll stop. My car's just round the corner, do you want a ride home?"

She hums in consideration. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt," she says before waving over her shoulder at the rest of the group as she walked away. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Later nerds," Emmett says to his friends. He follows Regina and lightly slaps the back of Graham's head as he passes when he notices him watching the brunette walk away. He chuckles when he hears a jealous sounding Graham whisper 'I really hate him sometimes' behind him.

He catches up with Regina where she's stopped for him out of the front of Granny's. "So, I didn't see you at lunch."

"I only told you that I'd think about it," she says with a wicked smirk before they start walking.

"Oh? And you decided to stay with your friends. Let me guess, Kathryn and the rest of the bitches?"

"How did-"

"They're the only group in school that I can think of who'd 'encourage' bitchy behaviour. I actually think it's a requirement to be accepted into their friend group."

"They're not- Okay, yes, they are pretty bad. But they're masters of gossip and they managed to catch me up on a year's worth of information in a single hour. I just have to sort through all the false rumours."

Emmett stops walking and turns to the brunette. "Anything thing interesting about me?" There had been a lot rumours flying around about him. His favourite is the one where he had been in a gang but became an informant for the police and had to be put in witness protection. The bandages on his hands were covering up gang tattoos and if a member of his old gang found him, they'd kill.

"A few. It seems you have a reputation with the ladies."

"Good or bad."

"Depends who you ask." She smirks before furrowing her brow. "Why have we stopped?" she asks, finally realising they'd stopped walking.

He waves his hand behind him. "My car."

"Really? A bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle?" Regina scrunches up her face in disgust. "It's a monstrosity."

Emmett leans over the car pretending to cover its 'ears'. "Ssh," he hisses to Regina before resting his cheek against the roof of his baby. "It's okay, Buggy. She's just jealous." He laughs at the horrified look on Regina's face. "Come on, get in. It's safe, I promise."

Regina appears to be considering it before Emmett gets into the car and with a slight huff, she walks around to the passenger side and slides into her seat with her bag on her lap.

She cringes when she sees the state of the inside of the car. "Ugh," she picks up some of the wrappers littering the dashboard. "Do you ever clean this thing?"

"Of course I do, see?" He takes the rubbish from her and throws it in the back. "Done," he says, flashing her a charming smile. He starts the car and pulls away from the kerb while Regina shifts in her seat, looking around it, hoping there isn't more.

They drive in an almost comfortable silence once Regina's given up her search. Emmett sneaks looks at her, and he's pretty sure she doesn't notice because she staring out the window watching all the familiar but different parts of the town pass by with an odd sense of fondness that seems to leave a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Can I ask you a question?" Emmett asks when the question he's been wanting to ask all day burns too much and he finally breaks.

"Sure, but I might no answer it," she says with an air of nonchalance but he can tell she knows what he's about to ask and isn't very comfortable with it.

"Fair enough. Why'd you move away?"

With a sigh, she says, "My mother and father got a divorce and I moved away with my dad." Here comes the real question, she thinks. She's dreaded it. Several people have asked it today and she's managed to dance around the answer or lie, but she's been holding it in all day - all week if you count having to be neutral around her mother because 'moping' isn't very ladylike. She just can't take it anymore. Maybe he'll understand and it won't change how he's been treating me, she thinks. Daniel's been great but he just treats me as if I could break at any moment. No different from usual, I guess.

"Not that I'm complaining but why'd you move back? It's just Jefferson said you were living in Boston. I've lived there a couple of times, and there's a lot more to do there."

Thinking about how to say the next part or to even say it at all. She isn't sure she could even say it if she wanted to because of the lump forming in her throat. She clutches on to her bag with one hand and wraps a secure arm around the waist. "Daddy died of a heart attack," she manages to push out even though her voice cracks and she wants to cry.

"Oh, Regina, I'm sorry." He wasn't expecting that. He pulls the car over and turns in his seat. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he attempts to comfort her but he's never been good at finding the right words in times like these so they're silent for a while as Regina forces herself back behind a mask.

Wiping away a stray tear and taking a deep breath, she looks straight ahead and lets her face drop into indifference. "I had to move back here, with my mother."

Emmett removes his hand when he realises it's not welcome anymore, now that Regina's walls are back up. "I've never had to lose an actual parent before but I had this amazing foster dad that died in the army. I know it's not the same," he shrugs completely unsure what to do, "But if you ever want to talk…" he trailed off. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut, he thinks to himself.

Emmett had never been any use at comforting people. He'd always find someone else to help with the hugging and helpful words. If foster siblings were crying, he'd feel useless unless he was actually fixing their problems, which normally involved dealing with bullies or crappy foster parents.

"Thank you," she says and while it's genuine, it's still clipped and Emmett knows the conversation is over. He turns back in his seat and there's silence for a moment before he drives off.

"You said you'd see Belle and that lot tomorrow. Are you joining us for lunch, then?" he asks as they pull up outside 108 Mifflin Street. Since he's not very good with the feelings side, maybe he can offer her a distraction.

"Yes, I-" she cuts herself off. "Daniel?" she asks in barely there whisper.

"What-"

She's out of the car before he can finish his question, her bag left behind on her seat to help her move faster. "Daniel!" she calls a smile spreading across her face. A blond man, maybe a year or two older than them, turns from where he's leaning against the jeep parked in front of them.

"Regina!" the blond exclaims and runs towards Regina. He wraps his arms around her, almost lifting her off the ground.

A boyfriend, Emmett thinks to himself with a humourless chuckle. "Great."

AN: Sorry that took so long.