A/N: Mistaken for a couple! No warnings for this one. Going to be very short.
"This is where you live?" Regina swiveled frantically, taking in the small room with painted cinderblock walls and a rickety bed. Emma should've warned the brunette that college was almost like an alternate universe, where one lived off the minimal and had to pay to do so.
"Mom, all the rooms look like this. And I haven't had a chance to spruce it up yet." Henry tried tidying up by collecting several scattered magazines. Emma swore she saw a Playboy in the bunch but she was not touching that subject with a ten-foot pole. When Henry informed his mothers that he wanted to attend Boston University, Regina had a break down, exclaiming that she wasn't ready to lose her little prince. It took a lot of convincing from Henry, Emma, Snow, and even Charming, who weirdly enough had become close friends with Regina, to get the brunette to accept the decision. She conceded that she wanted Henry to be well educated and if he were to follow his dream of becoming a writer, he'd need the experience that school could garner him.
"Gina, all colleges are like. He's not at the Ritz Carlton." Emma added with a smirk. While she found Regina's confusion about higher education amusing, she also knew that the subject was a sore one. The brunette felt lonely without Henry's presence at Mifflin during the weekend and the sadness of knowing that her son wouldn't trudge through the front door on Friday nights was truly taking a toll on the older woman. So Emma tiptoed around the issue, trying to show Henry that she was proud that he was becoming independent but also toning it down to spare herself an argument with her friend when they returned to the hotel.
"Well, yes, Emma, but they couldn't paint the walls a soothing shade of blue or yellow? I feel like I'm incarcerated!" Emma bit her lip to hold in a laugh, noticing that their son was doing the same.
"The administration isn't going to pay for paint." Regina stood from the desk chair she had been perched on.
"For the amount of tuition I am throwing into their pockets, you'd think they'd make these rooms a bit homier." Henry plopped onto the mattress before bending down to tie his sneakers.
"As fun as this is, Moms," He drawled sarcastically and Emma felt Regina's heated gaze on her, blaming her for his attitude, "I have class in half an hour so…"
He gestured toward the door and Regina huffed, "Fine but you're having dinner with Emma and I tomorrow."
"Okay, okay." He grumbled as he lifted his heavy backpack onto his shoulders. The two women took their cue, leaning in to kiss his cheek, earning them groans of disapproval, before exiting the room and making their way to Regina's Mercedes. Her bug had crapped out in Storybrooke the week before the visit and Tillman had to order new parts. Regina was overly smug about the whole thing but Emma had to admit that the brunette's car was high tech and sexy as hell.
It was September and the heat was lingering so Emma blasted the air conditioning the moment she sat down in the car, earning her a snicker from her friend, "Has there ever been a time where you found yourself feeling cold?"
Emma pretended to think, "Well there was that time I almost froze to death in Elsa's ice fortress."
Regina lowered the air a bit in an attempt at compromise and Emma just shrugged. The brunette clicked her seatbelt, "It's almost time for lunch. Are you hungry?"
"Yes!" Regina chuckled.
"Why did I even ask?" Emma smiled at her and it was like time froze. For a few seconds, neither moved, spoke, or even breathed. Regina finally cleared her throat and broke the spell, "You lived here. Any recommendations?"
"For what?"
"Food, Emma."
They ordered relatively fast and ate as they bickered playfully about Henry's dorm room and new attitude. They laughed softly, finding comfort in each other's presence. Emma noticed that the waitress kept looking over at them, smirking slightly, and the blonde bristled, believing that the tramp was trying to catch Regina's attention. As usual, Regina was completely blind to the staring, jus shoveling her chocolate cake into her mouth silently.
The brunette accidently smeared some icing on the corner of her lip and Emma immediately leaned over to wipe it off with her thumb. She sucked on her thumb and moaned at the sweet concoction. Regina blushed slightly.
"Thank you." The brunette was about to return to her dessert but they were both startled by a giggle. They peered at the red headed waitress, whose eyes darted between them.
"Got a problem?" Emma asked, her voice hard. The young woman jumped and shook her head, almost dropping her empty tray.
"No! It's just you guys are cute," Emma froze but the red head continued, "I wish I had someone to love me as much as you two love each other."
Emma heard Regina choke on her cake, sputtering desperately, but the blonde just stared back at the waitress with her mouth hanging open. She shook her head, "No… we… we're not together."
"Oh," The woman chuckled slightly, "Well, you should be."
Before either woman could stop her, the waitress sauntered away, leaving behind two bewildered friends. When Emma looked toward her companion, Regina was drinking from her glass hurriedly, her eyes a bit watery from her choking fit.
"Uh, so according to the workers, we're meant to be."
"Oh, shut up, Emma."
"What if I think she's right? What if I think we would be good together?" Regina searched the blonde's eyes for any sign of deceit but found sincere emerald.
"I'd say you weren't as aloof as I originally thought, dear." Emma beamed as Regina's cheek reddened. The brunette peered at the blonde from under her lashes as she chewed on another piece of cake.