A/N: The last one was short, so here's another quick update! Enjoy!

Chapter 7.

Emma's brain switched on suddenly and her mind flooded. What was she doing? She thought and she pulled away from Belle, and climbed off the bed, not looking at the hurt expression on her friends face.

"We can't do this," Emma whispered, backing herself against the wall as Belle followed her, placing a hand on her cheek.

"Why not?" Belle whispered back, caressing her cheek lightly.

"We're best friends, Belle," Emma breathed, "We've been best friends forever."

"I love you," Belle almost had to choke the words out.

Emma sighed, knocking the back of her head on the wall behind her, "Belle," she almost begged, "What about Ruby?"

Belle looked guilty for a moment and spoke quietly, "Ruby's great, Em, but she's not…," she hesitated, "She's not you."

Emma bit her tongue, hard, until she felt the blood in her mouth; this was so messed up, she thought.

"I can't, Belle," she put up her hands, removing Belle's hand from her face, "I can't," she repeated firmly.

Belle's eyes were wide and watery and she replaced her hand on Emma's neck instead, "But Em, I could take care of you," she whispered, a note of desperation in her voice, "'You know I could."

Emma could feel her heart breaking, "I know you could, Belle," her voice broke as she admitted it, "But you do already."

Belle stared at her best friend for moments on end, "Do you have feelings for me, Emma?" she asked, almost monotonously, still running her fingers over Emma's neck and jaw.

The blonde wanted nothing more than out of this situation right now; it was too hard, it hurt her, it was hurting Belle, she was hurting Belle, and the whole time her body was on fire and her lips tingled and her mind thought of Ruby. This was so wrong on so many levels.

"Yes," Emma finally answered through clenched teeth, "But I can't," she pushed Belle away and attempted again, to get some space from her friend.

"Why?" Belle questioned, "Because you don't think you deserve me? That's what you used to say," Belle shook her head, "It's not true, Em – "

"It's not just that," Emma found her mouth saying before she continued chewing the inside of her cheek, looking hopelessly at her friend.

Belle frowned, "Then why?" she pushed, "Don't you think…if you're going to reject me again, you can at least tell me why," she said softly.

Emma could see the guilt flash through her friends eyes, but also the curiosity, no, it was more than that, the need to know.

"Because I like someone else, okay?" Emma admitted, throwing her hands up in frustration, "Belle, please – "

"Who?" Belle asked lowly.

Emma shook her head, "Belle – "

"Regina?" Belle asked, "Come on, she's like thirty? She's too old for you. It's never going to happen."

Emma wanted to hit her, she really wanted this to be over, "I know that," she snapped, "But I really like her, okay? I can't help it, I've tried, but I – "

"It's not like you're in love with her," Belle said, almost mockingly.

Emma lowered her eyes, "I don't know," she shrugged, "Maybe I am. I don't know what I am. I just know the one constant in my life has been my best friend," her eyes were like saucers, "Please, don't change that."

Belle looked at her friend, blinking slowly and taking a deep breath, shaking her head.

"I'm going to go," Belle's words were barely audible as she made her way back to the window, opening it, glancing at her friend one last time before she climbed out.

Emma could feel herself shaking; what the hell had just happened? She sat on her bed and grinded her teeth, trying not to pull out her hair as she gripped it tightly. She rubbed her chest, trying to remind herself to breathe. She wiped at her eyes angrily as she stood up and paced her room. This was too much, she thought, she couldn't lose her best friend.

Just like that, her thoughts were spiralling so fast she felt physically dizzy, slumping against the wall, eyes open but not really seeing anything.

It was more than ten minutes later, she forced herself upright and dragged her feet as she walked to her door, feeling almost zombie-like as she trudged to Regina's door, knocking on it lightly.

Regina stirred in her sleep, wondering what had woken her, until a more persistent knocking sounded through the door. She crawled out of bed and opened the door, to a puffy, red-eyed Emma who was clutching her own chest and sniffling.

"Emma," she breathed, "Honey, what's wrong?"

Emma couldn't even look at the brunette as more tears welled in her eyes. It took her a moment but she forced her hands out in front of her, face still lowered. Regina frowned until she saw that four fingers were up on one hand and five on the other. The symbol. It clicked.

Regina pulled the younger woman into her arms, "Shh, honey it's okay. Not tonight, darling, I won't let you."

Emma sobbed into the older woman's chest, "Sorry," she choked out.

"No, honey, I'm glad you came to me, don't you ever be sorry for that," Regina insisted as she ran her fingers through the teenagers hair and then rubbing her back, "It's okay, is there something I can do to make you feel better?"

Emma burrowed her head deeper into the teacher's chest, "I just…I just don't want to lose her," she sniffed.

Regina was confused, "Who, Emma?"

"Belle," Emma cried, "She's my best friend and I love her to pieces and I'm not completely uninterested her in romantically but she's in love with me and I told her…"

Regina tried to keep up, "Okay, okay. Did she say something to you, dear?"

Emma nodded as she pulled herself from Regina's embrace, "She was here, she snuck out, which she never ever does and she climbed through my window and she…she kissed me," the teenager stopped, swallowing hard.

Regina's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "She kissed you?" she repeated, then berating herself for sounding so shocked.

"Yeah," Emma said quietly, "She kissed me and I kissed her back and we…." She stopped.

Regina took a deep breath, not sure if she should push the teenager further on such a subject, even though, the curiosity was burning in her, "Oh. I mean, did you… Well, I mean you don't have to say…" she sighed, berating herself for her awkwardness.

"Oh," Emma said quickly, blushing, "No, I mean we didn't…have sex or anything," she bit her lip, "But I mean, we kissed and we were, you know…horizontal," she coughed, "But I mean, fully clothed… and then I pulled away and told her we couldn't," she finally managed to stutter out.

"I see," Regina commented calmly, "And she didn't take it well."

Emma shook her head, "She said she could take care of me," she closed her eyes, "And I know she could, I mean she does already, she's the only one whose always been there for me."

Regina frowned, "Emma, I'm sorry to ask so bluntly, but I'm confused. You like her, right? You kissed her, you said you're somewhat interested in her… Is this a self-esteem thing, honey?"

Emma groaned, putting her head in her hands, "No, I do like her. But I really just want her to be my best friend, I think sometimes…we were always the loners at school, we didn't hang out with anyone else and she was always taking care of me through all my…shit," she paused before continuing, "I think maybe, we get a little dependent on each other sometimes."

The older woman nodded, "That makes sense… Sometimes, dear, when we only share ourselves with one person, it can become toxic… but what about her and Ruby? Are they…"

Emma closed her eyes, "They're still together," she replied quietly, "Ugh, it's so complicated."

"Relationships are, sweetheart, whether they're friendships or more than that," Regina said gently, "Perhaps, in the light of day you and Belle can speak again. I know she loves you, Emma, she wants you in her life, whether you want to be with her or not."

Emma was wide eyed again, "I really hope so, I don't know what I'd without her," she muttered, "Anyway, she got into Columbia, so either way," she shrugged.

Regina nodded slowly, "Columbia," she repeated, "That's a big move… Is that what prompted her to…tell you – "

"Yeah," Emma cleared her throat, "I mean, we were always meant to go together, but my study went to shit and she kept excelling…"

Regina looked at the teenager with sympathetic eyes, "Honey, whatever happens, we will get through it, okay?" she took the blonde's hands, squeezing them.

Emma licked her lips nervously, "There was another reason… I had to reject Belle."

Regina frowned, "What's that dear?"

Emma pulled her lip into her mouth and bit it hard, before looking at her hands, still covered by her teachers, "Well…" she cleared her throat, swallowing hard, "You."