Chapter 3

Emma's POV

"She responded! Belle, wake up! She responded!"

It is nice in the morning and I know Belle is going to be very pissed. Very, very pissed. She is grumbling already, trying to ignore me. I throw my pillow across the room.

"Belle! I have to read this to you! C'mon, you can go back to sleep in a little bit!"

"I hate you, you love sick Swan."

"Ms. Swan. Thank you for the kind words; you know how to ask for help in the proper way (flattery will get you everything!). You're welcome to come in during my office hours on Wednesday, Thursdays, or Fridays this week if you are ready. I would be happy to look over anything you have to give me. Just let me know when you'll be coming so I can expect you. Thanks. Professor Mills." I tack on a delighted and high pitched squeal at the end. Belle sits up in bed.

"Shit, Emma. When are you going to do it?"

"Thursday. Thursday is a good day. Maybe I'll let her know today after class. It'll give me an excuse to talk to her."

"Good idea. Can I go back to sleep now?" I laugh.

"Yes, Belle. Thank you. Im sorry for waking you up."

"Shes basically in love with ya, Em. Good night," I giggle.

"Night belle."

I am practically sprinting to English, even though I know im 10 minutes early. I take my usual seat and Lacey shows up a few minutes after me. Professor Mills isn't here yet.

"Hey Emma. How are you doing? You look great," I beam.

"Thanks, Lacey!" I have donned my favorite red leather jacket and a pair of skin tight jeans. My ass looks fantastic. "Listen, I've got to stay behind and talk to professor Mills after class, but I'll meet you in the café, alright?"

"Sure," she winks at me, knowing my frustration at the overuse of the word in this room, "Everything good?"

"Everything is great. I just need to confirm something with her."

Just then the door swings open and she saunters in. a hush falls over the room, with the exception of Lacey and I. everyone is too intimidated to speak when she comes in, for what reason I am unsure. Am I swooning over her? Absolutely. But intimidated? Hell no. I think she's shorter than me. Her eyes meet mine briefly and I smile. She returns it slightly and then starts her usual task of setting up her laptop and turning on the projector. It's the same pattern every day and I am ridiculously smitten with it. I being taking my notebook out, humming an old tune as im getting set up for class.

"I love that song," a quiet mutter reaches my ears and I shoot my head up when I realize it was professor Mills. My eyes widen a little.

"Me too," I mutter back. Lacey kicks my foot causing me to look at her. She is staring at me wide eyed and then arches her eyebrow and pointedly glances at professor Mills. I nonchalantly shrug my shoulders, and turn my attention back to the font of the room where our lesson has just begun.

"Okay, class dismissed."

Everyone quickly rises from their seats and the class begins to empty out. I take my time, putting everything away one item at a time. Lacey nudges me, waving goodbye and telling me she'll meet me at the café. I nod and then turn my attention back to professor Mills. It suddenly and painfully dawns on me that we are alone in here, and unbidden, I imagine her pushing me onto a desk and kissing me heavily. I flush, taking a moment to collect myself before speaking.

"So," I clear my throat again, feeling as if my voice is stuck there. "Is Thursday good for you?"

"Sure, Ms. Swan, Thursday is fine. Anytime between 12 and 1."

"Great. Uh. Thanks," I collect my things and turn to walk out the door. In a moment of courage, I turn back to her.

"Professor Mills?"

"Yes?"

"Would you, maybe after our meeting, like to go to Starbucks and, you know, actually plan to sit together?" she looks completely dumbfounded and I find myself immediately regretting my decision to ask her out.

"Come to my office at 12:45," is that a no? Crestfallen, I nod. "After we're done, I'll pack up and we can go over."

"Really?!" she arches an eyebrow at me and I blush, "I'll see you Thursday then," I try to hide the beaming smile that's attempting to break out onto my face.

"Thursday," she nods her head, but I can't see her smile is brighter than the sun. I slink out the door and when it shuts behind me, I sink down against it for a moment and pop up, running down the stairs to meet Lacey for lunch.

When I arrive at the café, I'm surprised to find Lacey and Belle sitting together chatting quietly. My good mood immediately deflates when I see the look on their faces. Lacey look shocked and Belle is whispering to her urgently. I approach them slowly, slipping my wallet into my backpack.

"Hey guys, I'm surprised to see you both here. What's up?" Belle smiles a guilty smile and I raise an eyebrow at her.

"Emma, I'm so sorry. It just kinda slipped out. I figured she knew. You guys have class together 4 days a week!" I stare at her in horror.

"Belle!" I turn and look at Lacey. Suddenly, they both look at each other and burst out laughing. I stand in front of the table, staring at them.

"We're sorry, Em!" Lacey is wiping tears from her eyes as Belle continues to guffaw into her hands. "We just wanted to see your face! Oh god why didn't we tape that?! Take a seat baby. Tell us how it went."

"I am so royally ticked at you both right now. You especially," I look at Belle pointedly.

"Emma, I'm sorry. I saw Lacey and she told me you had stayed behind to talk to professor Mills and we had a hilarious chat about your monumental crush on her."

"Lacey, you knew?"

"Emma, darling, I saw you wipe drool from your moth when she bent over the other day to pick something up. Your eyes never leave her. Its hard to miss unless you are blind." I blush again.

"So? Tell us how it went!"

"I asked her out!" I blurt out. They both stare at me.

"Like on a date?" they say together.

"I asked her to go to Starbucks with me after our meeting."

"I can't believe you had the balls to do that Emma! You've got a date with a smoking hot professor!" Lacey cheers.

"Yeah, shes pretty fucking hot."

Regina's POV

"What do you mean she asked you out?!"

"Would you keep it down!?"

Katherine and I took Henry to the park after dinner so he could play with his friends and we could catch up.

"I'm, sorry! I just can't believe she asked you out!"

"I can't believe I said yes. This is so inappropriate."

"Listen. For now, it's just coffee. You both know you want more, but for right now, just pretend it's a cup of coffee with me."

"Katherine-"

"Don't you dare try to bullshit me. You want her. You want her in you, on you, around you…"

I flush deeply, embarrassed because shes right. I've never wanted someone like this before.

"So," Katherine interrupts my thoughts, "What're you going to wear?"

Emma's POV

"BELLE! WHAT DO I WEAR?!"

It's Wednesday night and I've yet found an outfit to wear tomorrow.

"MY MEETING WITH HER IS IN THIRTEEN HOURS!"

Belle, instead of helping me, is taking snapchats of my anguish and sending them to Lacey, giggling like a school girl. There's a knock on the door and I turn, dressed only in my underwear in front of my closet, and check the peephole.

"Oh, thank god!"

It's Lacey, and she brought our new friend Ruby over, too.

"Whoa, Em! Ever heard of pants? Or, you know, just clothes in general?"

"Help me decide what to wear! This is a major crisis!" They're all rolling their eyes and laughing, but I guess one look at my unusually distressed face has them singing a different tune.

It's now almost one in the morning ad my outfit had been picked.

"What're you gonna do? Are you going to sleep with her?"

Lacey and I are sitting in my bed while Ruby and Belle share her bed, I think they have a crush on each other, but I don't want to ask Belle just yet, in case she takes it the wrong way.

"I=I don't know! I want to."

"You really think shes hot?" Lacey asks me.

"There's just something about her. I don't know what it is. And no. this isn't an abandoned parent's thing or a Neal broke my heart thing. Im attracted to her. Period," they all squeal in delight.

"Who would have thought Emma would be the first out of all of us to get laid," I turn deep, deep red.

"Guys, come on. It's not like that. It's not just getting laid."

"But we all know it's going to happen," Ruby counters.

"Okay," Lacey hops off my bed. "This girl needs her beauty rest. And god knows she needs a lot of it," I pretend to be offended, but it's hard to cover up the giggles. Ruby jumps off the bed too, followed by Belle and I see them out. I hug them both separately and then stand back as Belle does the same.

"You're going to look amazing, Emma," Ruby reassures me. "Seriously, she won't even know what hit her when you swagger into that room."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she drooled a little," I laugh at the thought, high on the feeling of being desired.

When they leave, Belle and I climb into bed, turning off all the lights as we go.

"Good night, Belle."

"Good night, Emma. Try to sleep okay? The sooner you sleep, the faster the day will come."

"Gee, thanks mom," we both snicker a little.

An hour and a half later, I'm still wide awake.

"Pssssst! Belle. Still awake?" she grumbles, and I can tell shes turning over in bed.

"You okay?"

"I can't sleep," I can practically hear her eyes roll.

"Go in my fridge and heat up some milk. My mom use to do that for me and it helps."

I hop out of bed and begin reheating the milk. Belle sits up when I turn the lamp on.

"Want to talk about it?" I shake my head.

"I just wanna sleep," I sit on the floor quietly sipping the warm milk.

"Don't stress, Em. Go in there and be yourself. You're gorgeous and you know she already knows you're intelligent. Your paper sounds great, she said yes to going out with you, what more could you need?"

"I just don't know if this is a good idea," I sound pathetic.

"Emma, come over here," Belle pats her bed and I clamber into it. Not usually one for physical affection, I welcome the warm embrace. She kisses the top of my head softly.

"I've known you a long time, Emma. I would be lying if I said I want nervous about her hurting you. But, that being said, I wouldn't encourage you if I didn't think it was a good idea. You light up when you talk about her, Emma," I nod my head, smiling a little bit. "Look, there you are. I haven't seen you like this since Neal. I know that hurts to say. I know you don't want to trust her. But shes different; shes an adult. Neal was just juvenile. I won't let her hurt you," her grip on me tightens and I snuggle deeper into her.

"I love you, Belle," shes the only person I've ever felt safe enough to say that to.

"I love you too, Emma Swan."

When I wake up the next morning, I hear my alarm going off and reach my arm out to turn it off, only to find it out of reach. I fell asleep in Belle's bed. Shes sound asleep, snoring lightly, and I watch her for a moment. Feeling a bit like a creeper, I slink out of bed and turn off my still blaring alarm. How that doesn't wake her up, I'll never know. I check my phone for any notifications and then I see the day. Thursday.

"IT'S THURSDAY!"

Belle bolts up right in bed at my scream, and I am immediately running for the shower, a trail of clothes being strewn behind me as I go.

"Emma Swan!" Belle calls after me. I pause at the bathroom door, turning to face her. "Relax. I'm proud of you, kid. Today is going to be amazing," we both share a smile and then she nods her head and I run into the bathroom, turning the shower on. Today is going to be amazing.