Chapter 8.

"M-Me?" Regina stuttered, caught off guard, never expecting the teenager to be so open with her feelings towards her.

Emma nodded, "I like you," she said so quietly the older woman had to strain to hear.

Regina wasn't disrespectful enough to pretend not to know what the teenager meant but she was shocked; she tried to compose herself in order to deal with this situation as best she could.

Perhaps, she thought, she had underestimated the crush, or whatever, that she knew Emma had on her. Was it really so powerful that she would reject the love of her best friend, whom she clearly shared a strong connection with?

"Dear… you know I'm your teacher…" she shook her head, more annoyed at herself than anything else; she rarely spoke to Emma as a student and this was hardly the situation to start, "I just mean, you know I care about you very much… it's just that…" she sighed, this was pathetic, she couldn't even find her words, "I like you too," she heard herself say.

Emma's eyes widened; she had hoped a thousand times but never expected that the older woman actually returned those feelings. She'd innocently believed that it was a one-way thing, after all, teachers didn't fall for their teachers and Regina just wanted to help her, mentor her, keep her on track.

"Oh," Regina said in shock after realising her own words, "Emma, honey, okay. It's like this, if the situation were different perhaps… I would never, ever take advantage of a student – "

Emma's head was tilted, "But you always say I'm your friend, not your student."

Regina nodded, "That's true, dear. But legally…technically…" she didn't even know who she was trying to convince anymore as she looked at the blonde teenager in front of her; at this point she was squirming more than the young girl before her.

Emma frowned as the brunette trailed off helplessly. She didn't even know what had made her say it, other than that she hated to keep secrets from the older woman.

"I get it," the teenager spoke quietly, "I'm too young for you."

Regina licked her lips before she quickly took a step closer to the teenager and took her face in her hands, doing what she too had thought about a thousand times and pressed her lips to Emma's shocked mouth.

Emma's eyes went wide before she blinked quickly, closed her eyes and responded to the lips on her own as she began to move hers in sync, scared that at any moment the schoolteacher would realise the enormity of what she was doing and pull away. This fear, and of course, the strength of her own desires, had her mouth moving enthusiastically against Regina's. And boy, did she taste good, Emma thought, the perfect mix of bitter and sweet, she didn't think she could ever get enough.

It was only when Regina's hand snaked it's way onto the teenager's bare waist, having bunched up her t-shirt around her body, that Emma began to feel confident that the other woman wasn't just going to pull away and leave her hanging. Regina's lips broke contact with Emma's for the first time in minutes and traced down her jaw and on her neck, sometimes barely touching and other times latching on for dear life. The blondes hair tickled her face as she burrowed into her neck, and her light, cherry smell intoxicated Regina.

"Are you okay?" she murmured against Emma's skin.

Emma nodded weakly before finding her voice, "Yes," she whispered as Regina stopped kissing her neck and bought her face up to level to her own, "More than okay, I think," she breathed, blushing and grinning sheepishly.

Regina smiled, biting her lip, "Good," she whispered, somewhat breathlessly.

Belle knocked on her second window for that night until the curtains pulled back to reveal her shocked girlfriend, who quickly unlocked the window.

"Belle?" she said sleepily, "It's like 4am, what the hell?"

Belle clambered in through the window clumsily, refusing Ruby's hand, standing up straight before her as she got through.

"I'm sorry, Ruby," Belle said earnestly, before taking a deep breath, "We have to break up."

Ruby's eyes widened; well, that sure as hell had woken her up. She swept a hand through her long hair.

"What?" she simply said, shocked at her own loss of words.

"We have to – "

"I heard you, Belle, but what the fuck?" Ruby asked, "Where is this coming from? Everything's been fine, I thought we were getting alone great and – "

"We were, we are, you're great. I'm not, I'm not good enough – "

Ruby frowned deeply, "What? You are, you're amazing, what – " she stopped dead in her tracks, looking at the ashamed looking girl before her as something in her brain clicked, she bit her tongue a moment, calming herself down, "What did she do, Belle?" she asked, trying to rid emotion from her expression.

Belle shook her head, "Nothing, - "

"Bullshit, what the hell else would it be?" Ruby asked exasperated, "Did she make a move on you? Confess her love?"

"No," Belle claimed, a little louder than she meant to, "She wouldn't do that – "

"Well, then what – "

"I did," Belle was nearing hysteria now and took a shuddering breath, "I pulled the move. I told her I loved her and I wanted to be with her. Then I kissed her."

Ruby felt the tears well in her throat but swallowed them down and she ground her teeth, "Did she kiss back?' she asked quietly.

Belle took a moment to answer, "Yes."

"Did you fuck?" Ruby almost sneered as the other woman flinched at the crassness of the question.

"No," Belle exclaimed, "God, I wouldn't do that."

"Well, you wouldn't with me but I bet if she asked, you'd be naked in less than a second," Ruby shot back at her girlfriend.

Belle looked hurt, eyes milky, "I'm sorry, Ruby. I can't take it back, it's done – "

"How far did you go?" Ruby pushed.

Belle was getting annoyed but knew she had no right to be, "We didn't do anything, we kissed okay?"

"Standing up or lying down?" Ruby asked coldly, crossing her arms.

Belle threw up her hands, "God, Ruby, what does that matter?"

"It matters," Ruby replied, sharply.

"Fine," Belle snapped, "We were standing up, I kissed her, she kissed back, I pulled her over to the bed and lay down and pulled her on top of me. I put my hands on her waist, under her shirt and she did the same. We kissed a while. Is that enough fucking detail for you?" she was crying now.

Ruby looked away, breaking eye contact, "I was always just second best, wasn't I?"

"No, Ruby, you weren't," Belle's eyes were pleading for the other girl to believe her, "I thought my feelings for her were gone. I swear, I would never have been with you if I didn't think I was over her. I really thought…"

Ruby scoffed, "Belle, as long as she's in your life, you'll never be over her. You're right, we have to break up. Can you go now? You can use the front door," she stepped aside, arms still crossed.

Belle stood for a few moments before nodding, pausing briefly at the bedroom door, "I really am sorry, Ruby," she said quietly, before making her way to the front door.

Emma was burrowed into the older woman's chest, eyes closed contentedly as she felt a hand move through her hair.

"I like the way you do that," she whispered, biting her lip.

Regina smiled, "Your hair is so soft," she murmured, adjusting her head on the pillow and pulling Emma closer. She didn't care about all those now seemingly petty worries she had earlier, this felt right.

Emma squirmed as her phone buzzed in her pocket, turning on her side to pull it out and see Belle's number flashing on the screen.

"It's Belle," she propped herself up on an elbow, looking to Regina for advice.

Regina studied the blonde's face, etched with worry and fear, "She's still your friend, dear… Would she call you if it wasn't important, after the night you've just had?"

Emma nodded slowly as a text flashed up on her screen from Belle; I broke up with Ruby. Emma frowned and jumped off the bed in record speed, "You're right. I have to go see her."

"Now?" Regina asked, "It's barely 6, honey, do you want me to drive you?"

Emma shook her head, "No, no, that's fine. I'm sorry to leave so quickly…" she looked back at the brunette in her pyjama's in bed and felt a pang of guilt.

Regina sat up on her knee's and pulled the teenager close to her once again, "Don't apologise for being a good friend," she reached up, touching Emma on the cheek with her hand before she followed with her lips, "Take as long as you need, we can talk when you get back."

Emma nodded, squeezing Regina's hand before she left, she should change her jeans, having slept in them, but it wasn't something that was on her mind as she tapped out a quick message to Belle and headed out the front door.

The blonde teenager made quick work of the ladder, the way she always had, and found herself in the girl's old tree house, looking at her friend curled up in a corner, distraught.

"Belle," she said quietly.

Belle looked up at her friend, wiping tears from her face, "You came."

Emma crawled over to her friend, "Of course I came, Belle. I'll always come," she pulled her friend into her arms.

"I thought you might hate me," Belle whispered.

Emma squeezed tighter, "Never. I could never hate you, Belle."

"Friendship first?" Belle asked tentatively.

"Always," Emma replied reassuringly, "God, Belle, I'm sorry if I've hurt you, you know I never, ever want to hurt you – "

"I know, Em," Belle pulled back and looked at her friend, "It's okay. I mean, it will be, we will be."

Emma nodded, "What happened…with Ruby?"

Belle put her head in her hands for a moment before she leant back against the wall beside her friend, "I told her what happened."

Emma nodded, "I figured… Did you tell her everything?"

Belle raised her eyebrows, "You mean, that we kissed? Yeah. I mean, as soon as I told her that she got so…mean, and it's not like I can be mad at her for that, I cheated on her – "

"What do you mean she got mean?" Emma asked, her defences sparking up inside.

Belle shrugged, "She asked if we…had sex, but you know in Ruby language, and said…" she shook her head, "I said I wouldn't do that and she said that if you asked I would be naked in less than a second," the brunette blushed, "And she just kept pushing and asking how far it went."

Emma blinked, feeling her fists clench; she could imagine Ruby being a crass bitch and that kind of thing had always made Belle uncomfortable, "She shouldn't have…I mean, she was just upset, Belle."

"She had every right to," Belle shrugged again, "I guess it's just us again, huh?"

Emma smiled, "Yeah," she nodded, "I mean, fuck," she swore, "Belle, after you left, I kinda… well, I told Regina I like her. And we kind of…kissed," she felt like she was tearing her own heart out, saying this, "I don't know if I should have waited to tell you but I don't want to lie to you, and you're my best friend and no girl, or woman, or any amount of space will ever get between us."

Belle's eyes widened, "Did she kiss you back?"

Emma nodded weakly, "Yeah, she says she likes me too… And, I don't know, we made out for a while…"

"I interrupted?" Belle asked, hanging her head, "Jeez, Em, you were hooking up with the Spanish teacher and you left – "

Emma laughed quickly, "It doesn't matter," she bumped into her friend, "You're my best friend, Belle. And Regina will be there when I get back, she said we'd…talk."

"You should go back to her," Belle encouraged, "I'm okay, besides I need to get home before my parents notice I'm gone."

Emma was sceptical, "I'll walk you home," she offered and Belle rolled her eyes, "How about I come over for lunch, I'll pick us something up and we can have a movie marathon."

Belle smiled at her friend, "Thanks, Em. You really are the best."