Wrapped under a fluffy and soft blanket, Emma sat curled up next to Regina on her couch. They were laughing together as they flipped through endless note cards.
It was just like any other moment. It wasn't special, it was just a normal Thursday night in mid- April. Regina insisted on helping Emma study for her history test that was the next day. They'd been flipping through a stack of cards for the better half of the hour when something clicked in Emma's mind.
Maybe it was the sparkle in Regina's eyes as she laughed when Emma spoke in goofy high pitched cartoon voices as she answered the questions.
Perhaps it wasn't even that.
Was it the feeling of home that caused it to click in Emma's mind as she sat on the familiar couch curled under a blanket that smelled like her girlfriend?
Whatever it was, It wasn't a grand gesture that made her realize it. No, it was sharing a whole hearted laugh with the other woman over child-like voices.
It was in that particular moment that Emma Swan realized she was falling in love with Regina Mills.
As realization washed over Emma's face, Regina caught sight of the sudden shift. It was as if the entire energy in the room shifted along with Emma's emotions.
"What? What's wrong?" The brunette was quick to fix anything to make sure her girlfriend was happy.
Emma's heart fluttered and she felt weightless. Her mind stopped for once. Sitting up and moving the comforting blanket off to the side, she shifted so that she was sitting on top of Regina's legs, straddling her.
"It's nothing, I'm... just really happy that you're helping me study." Emma said honestly with a slight pause. It was a white lie. She knew that, but more importantly, she hoped Regina didn't pick up on that.
Emma had more to say in that moment, but was it the right timing?
They'd spent the last month going on dates and meeting in the library together. They'd moved past the first date jitters and the second date expectations. On their third date, they'd bypassed sex and moved straight to cuddling on a couch while watching a movie marathon of cheesy horror flicks.
It was the first week of April when Regina gave Emma her very own key to the apartment, allowing her to freely come and go as she pleased. They easily slid into a routine that felt comfortable and perfect to Emma.
Which was why she couldn't ruin anything that she had. She knew it wouldn't be long before they could unfold different layers of their relationship.
"Regina…" She knew what she wanted to say. I love you.
"I'm so happy." She said instead.
She kissed her soft lips, allowing their tongues to dance the tango together, as they fused together.
Emma could not recall a time in her life where she was happier, and maybe that was because never before did she have Regina.
Regina was Emma's happiness. It was the same sentiment as the old home is where the heart is, saying.
"I'm glad you're happy, Emma." She said sweetly to the blonde as she held her gaze. "You mean everything to me." She said just louder than a whisper.
Emma stood and pulled Regina off the couch. "Time for dinner and you promised you'd teach me a few things. I want to be able to cook for you someday." Emma said as she pulled her girlfriend in for another kiss. "I have to be able to spoil you too." She smiled.
"I never break my promises." Regina said in a husky tone.
"Then promise me this, no matter what happens, you'll always be there for me." Emma said in a hopeful tone. As much as she was falling for the other woman, something told her it was all too good to be true. It felt magical, almost like a dream being with Regina. How could she have been so lucky to find such a wonderful person was beyond her.
But in the back of her mind, doubt lived. It was a constant that reminded her that she'd always been left.
"Of course, sweetheart." Regina said, her eyebrows were knitted together as she searched for why her girlfriend would ask such a request. "Why would anything happen?" Obvious concern in her voice, Regina was a little taken aback.
"You never know, what happens if I get into Harvard and move away? It won't be the same." Emma defended.
Regina nodded. There was that obvious impending possibility that she daily tried to forget. Looking off to the side, Regina tried to figure some solution in her mind. There wasn't one, not yet at least. There was no reason to even think about it now.
"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it, okay." She brushed a tendril of hair behind Emma's ear. "But regardless of what happens, I'll always be here for you." Regina said as she placed her hand over Emma's heart.
The warmth from Regina's hand felt electric against her skin, and more than that, she felt herself melt under the other woman's grasp. Trying to contain her feelings, Emma nodded, and walked with her girlfriend into the kitchen.
"For starters, all good cooks need music." Regina said as she walked over to a speaker system. She hit play and from the speakers played loud beats that echoed off the walls of Regina's open apartment.
Swaying her hips, she moved to the soft tones as if a spotlight zeroed in on her mouthing the words to The Hills, by The Weekend.
Who knew, Fancy Pants Regina Mills knew the words to The Hills.
"You have an interesting taste in music." Emma said as she watched her girlfriend dance around her kitchen.
"Excuse me, what did you think I listened to?"
"I don't know, you seem like a classical music type woman." She shrugged and Regina rolled her eyes.
"I'm twenty-three, not fifty." Regina made fun of the blonde.
"Well, you're just so fancy. I just didn't expect you to play that and dance like that." Emma motioned as she watched her girlfriend's hips move.
"Loosen up." Regina grabbed at Emma's arms trying to get her too stiff of a girlfriend to feel the music and to move with it. "Dance Emma." She said as she danced about the kitchen grabbing pans and cooking spices.
"What are you teaching me?" Emma asked as she attempted to move to the music.
Regina finally turned and considered her girlfriend who was dancing, but not with the music. She was stiff and awkward as she tried to keep up.
"Looks like for starters, I'll be showing you how to dance, not cook." She said as she moved behind Emma, rolling her hips to the music trying to move in unison.
Their bodies collided as they moved from side to side, together. Emma felt the music thrumming through her and it intensified the energy in the room, making her body feel electrified. She felt Regina's hands on her hips and just reacted.
She turned as the music took on a darker tone and just pushed Regina against her fridge. She instantly moved her lips below her ear and as she started kissing down the slender neck, she said in a tone that matched the music playing, "I can't wait to fuck you against this."
Her lips assaulted the other woman's collarbone, sucking and biting at the skin until it turned purple. The room grew hotter and the rest of the kitchen seemed to fade away, along with the music, becoming a vague, indiscernible background.
Gasping for air, Emma's body did the rest of the work as she rolled her hips against the other woman's.
Her hands slipped below Regina's top as they explored upward. Pulling at lace, Emma's hands slipped beneath, teasing the other woman.
"Emma." Regina moaned out.
That's all it took for Emma to realize how heated they got. The sexual tension between them was thickening as each day passed by.
"So that, uhm, that chicken… you were wanting to show me how to make." She said has her chest rapidly rose and fell from heavy breathing.
Freeing her hands from porcelain soft skin, Emma turned and walked over to the sink, splashed cold water on her face, and regarded her girlfriend who was just as sexually frustrated.
"Right." Regina said. She looked down at a now slightly open blouse. She made quick movements in buttoning it back up, trying to deny how much she wanted Emma right then, and there.
Scratching her head, she walked over to the counter where the food was pulled out.
"When cooking meat, make sure to constantly wash your hands." Regina said as she placed cutlets on a cutting board.
"These are also rather large. So we are going to cut them in half through the side." She said as she moved Emma in between her arms. She placed the knife in Emma's right hand and guided her movements cutting through the slippery surface.
"Next, a very simple recipe if it wasn't marinating overnight, is to use breadcrumbs." Regina pulled out some pre-seasoned breadcrumbs. "A very simple base, which sounds weird, is mayonaise."
Grabbing a squeeze bottle from inside her fridge, Regina placed it next to Emma. "Go ahead and squeeze two quarter sized amounts on each. Use a butter knife to spread it across the surface of each cutlet." Regina said as she moved around the kitchen preparing vegetables.
"Once you have that evenly spreaded out, shift with your hand, the crumbs across the surface of each. Then flip it over and do that same to the other side."
Emma followed Regina's instructions and she gently shifted the tiny flakes of seasoning over their soon to be dinner.
"The oven is pre-heated at 350 degrees. At this temperature, you can leave the chicken in the oven for thirty minutes." She said.
Emma placed the two cutlets on a pan and placed it in the oven. Turning to her girlfriend, she waited for more directions.
"For squash and zucchini, you don't need a lot of seasoning. Just some salt, pepper, and, paprika for coloring is adequate." Regina said as she placed the three different seasonings in front of Emma.
Turning to the sink, Emma rinsed off her hands and dried them off.
Regina handed her a clean knife and told her to cut the round vegetables into thin circular slices.
Holding the squash still, Emma started chopping away. Feeling more comfortable with the motion, she moved quicker.
"Shit." She yelled as she caught the side of her index finger.
Not saying a word, Regina grabbed her hand and shoved it under cold water. She rinsed out Emma's cut gently.
"It's okay." Regina said to calm Emma down. "See it's not even bleeding anymore. You just nicked it." She brought her finger to her lips and kissed it. "You just moved too fast, that's all." She grabbed a bandage from a corner drawer.
Emma nodded, "You're good at this."
Regina smiled. She hated the idea of her girlfriend getting hurt. It was an automatic reaction to take care of her.
"Thanks for showing me how to make all of this." Emma gestured to the food she was eating. "You never know, maybe you'll come home to a homemade meal made by yours truly." The blonde winked at her date.
"I think that would be wonderful." The brunette blew at the chicken before eating it.
The two sat side by side, enjoying their meal. "Would you like some more wine?" Emma asked.
The brunette nodded in response as she watched her girlfriend push back her chair and retrieve the bottle of red wine from the kitchen.
Emma poured Regina a healthy glass before putting the bottle down on the table.
"Did you want some?" Regina asked. She knew that Emma drank, and quite honestly, she'd prefer it if Emma drank in her presence, rather than at a bar.
It could be said that Regina was still bothered by that night with how intoxicated Emma was. It made her nervous that something bad could have happened to her. She realized that Ruby was there and was the designated driver, but in a different set of circumstances, would things have been different? If so, would Emma be safe? These kinds of things ran through Regina's mind.
She was protective, that was for sure.
Emma nodded and poured some of the red liquid into her own glass. Emma motioned to her girlfriend with her glass to raise it. "I just wanted to thank you for being such a wonderful person in my life. Thanks to you, now I can cook something." Emma laughed. "So cheers to us and being together for a few months." They clinked their wine glasses together and sipped the sweet and flavorful liquid.
"I've got to review a few more things before I go to sleep." She kissed Regina goodnight. "I'll see you in the morning." She said before turning to walk into the guest room to study some more before heading to bed.
"Wait." Regina heard herself say. She wasn't ready to leave Emma for the evening.
Emma stopped, as did her heart as she waited for Regina to continue talking.
"You…you don't have to sleep in there if you don't want to. I…can help you review, if you want." Regina said somewhat hesitantly because of nerves.
Emma turned and looked into Regina's dark eyes. "Regina, you and I both know what will happen if I go into that room." Emma said honestly.
"Do you trust me?" Regina said in a firm tone.
"Of course, you know that I do." She said as if it was obvious.
"Then I promise I won't let anything happen, at least not tonight."
It wasn't that Emma didn't want to sleep in the same bed as Regina and nor was it that she didn't trust her. It was more that she really didn't trust herself.
Recently, it was becoming more and more difficult to ignore the fire that was slowly burning inside of her.
"I just need to text Ms. Tremaine real quick and then I'll be right there."
Emma already told Ms. Tremaine that she was staying the night with Ruby. She was nervous, however, and Ruby was her lifeline when it came to intimate things.
I'm seriously trying to not freak out right now. Regina asked me to sleep with her.
Emma's phone lit up within seconds.
At least one of us is getting laid tonight.
Emma winced. What was she talking about? Then it dawned on her the way that could have been read.
No, I mean like she wants me to share her bed. I'm nervous that things might escalate.
Emma felt awkward now. Ruby's named popped up and she swiped over it to read her text.
Oh well, no one is getting laid tonight then. Just act normal. She's being cute. I would have thought by now things would have already escalated to that point, but that's none of my business.
Her lips turned in upside down into a frown.
Ruby. Seriously. I'm freakin out.
Emma paced back and forth in the guest room. Her phone went off and she read her friends message.
You've got this chica. Just go in there, do what you normally do. Spoon her, or whatever lesbians do and kiss her goodnight. Just be normal. I know that's hard for you, but I have faith that you'll figure it out and things will be fine.
Emma tossed her phone on the bed. She picked up her notes and notecards and walked into Regina's room.
The room was just as Emma remembered. Her perfectly sized queen bed was in the center overlooking two windows. It really was a beautiful room, that had gorgeous views of the town that allowed natural lighting in.
She placed her things on one side of the bed and regarded her girlfriend who was already dressed in her elegant silver slip.
"I can't believe you sleep in that thing. It's so...posh." Emma said as she brought her shirt over her head. She walked over to a chair and laid it across it. Unzipping her jeans she did a funny dance by getting the tight denim down her legs. Emma turned, standing in a tank top and bikini bottoms that had blue polka dots. It was probably the least sexy she could have been wearing. They were also, arguably, the most unflattering pair of underwear that she owned too. "I forgot to do laundry okay." She told her girlfriend, who laughed at the cotton bottoms.
"You can do your laundry here, if you need to." She said as she moved her glasses back up her nose. "So what are you needing to review more of?"
Emma picked up a few of her notes and read out, "So, I'm working on trying to recall the differences between all of the explorers. Columbus is easy, but I want to have clear bullet points on each of the others so I can write essays describing the differences between them. Right now, I'm trying to figure out those differences." Emma said to her girlfriend, who solely acted as such. Teacher Regina was left at school.
Regina reached her hand out for Emma's notes and she looked up at the blonde, "Okay well for starters..." Regina said and continued to talk about the difference between explores Magellan, Cortez, and Pizarro. Emma listened carefully as her girlfriend tried to help her remember each with some sort mnemonic device so she can associate things, easier.
"Pizarro was a Spanish explorer, who arrived in Peru and conquered the Incan Empire," Emma repeated from memory."Good." Regina said as she flipped to another card. "Emma, I really think you've got this." She said as she looked at the clock, it was Emma knew she did. It was more so that she was nervous about going to sleep and what Regina's expectations were, rather than being nervous over her test. "What time do we have to get up?""I have to be in my car, on the way, at six." She said as she yawned to herself. By default, Emma yawned, too."Let's go to sleep then." She said as she slipped her legs under Regina's soft covers. Trying to keep herself together, Emma turned away from the enticing brunette and faced the turned off the lamp next to the bed and turned over to the blonde, whose heart was beating so hard that she was sure it could be heard."Night." Regina said as she reached her arms around Emma, waiting for her to turn enough to kiss her quickly on her Regina to roll over then, Emma faced the wall once more and stayed frozen. That moment never came. Instead, Regina's arms stayed wrapped around her all through the night and into the early morning.
"I'll see you in class later. You'll do great on your test, don't stress out." Regina reassured her girlfriend.
"Have a good day, babe." Emma said as she jumped out of the Mercedes a few blocks away from the school.
At lunch, Emma sat with Graham, who'd seemed to be doing better since his parents' divorce shock.
"Are you going to prom?" Graham asked Emma.
"No, it's not my thing. I really don't get what the hype is all about. Besides, I went to prom before, it wasn't that exciting." Emma said as she played with the peas on her plastic cafeteria tray.
"I was thinking of asking, Tina Kane. You know, Tink." He said.
Emma sat back in her seat as she thought about them being together. She could see them as a couple. Tink was cute, a school cheerleader a grade below them. Though Emma's interactions were limited.
"I think that's a great idea. How are you going to ask her?" Emma asked.
"Well, I was thinking about just asking her, not much to it." He said in a tone that oozed of the word, duh.
"No you have to do something special." Emma told Graham. "She's a cute girl, and she deserves to be asked in a creative way. Think about it." Emma stood from her seat and dumped her food in the garbage can.
After school, Emma stayed late and watched as all of her classmates left excited for the weekend.
"How do you think you did?" Regina asked.
"I think that I will impress my teacher once she grades it." Emma smirked. "But I would like to ask my girlfriend if she want's to make plans this weekend?"
"I think if I were you girlfriend, I'd say of course, but then again, I'm Ms. Mills." Regina said.
"Well Ms. Mills, thanks for talking with me, but maybe I should be heading out."
Once Emma was outside of the classroom, Regina's phone buzzed.
Let's do something tomorrow, and overnight. I loved being able to stay over and share your bed. I don't think i've slept as good in such a long time.
Regina smiled at the confession.
Get your chores done as soon as you can and then come over to my place.
A text was in her inbox before she knew it.
You don't have to tell me twice.
Regina laughed. Her girlfriend was something else.
Putting her brass colored key into the lock on Regina's door. Turning it to the right, she heard the gears shift, unlocking it. Pushing the door open, she yelled out, "Babe?"
The house was quiet as she dropped her things at the door.
Walking around the entryway, she dropped her keys in her spot on the kitchen counter.
"I'm back here." She heard a familiar voice.
Emma walked through the halls of what felt like home and into the master bedroom.
Opening the cracked door, she watched as her girlfriend was moving about.
"Are you still getting dressed?" Emma asked a tad confused since it was mid-afternoon.
"No, I was packing an overnight bag."
Emma deflated as she realized that maybe the plans had changed.
"Where are you going?
Regina looked up and saw the disappointed look. "We are going.." She started as she tried to zip an overpacked bag, "to Boston, well Cambridge, to be exact."
Emma perked right up, "What?" She was confused. She didn't realize that the were going away for the weekend.
"Surprise!" Regina said. "I thought I could give you a tour of Harvard."
Emma was supposed to hear if she was accepted in a few weeks. So having an official tour was an awesome idea. Even more exciting than if she had to go on one of those boring tours led by student workers.
"We're going on a trip together?" Emma said as she walked over to where Regina was standing and wrapped her arms around her waist.
"Yes. Are you excited?"
"Are you kidding? This is great!" Emma said as she lifted Regina and spun her around in the air, tossing her on to the bed.
Lying on top of her girlfriend, the air thickened as if all of the oxygen was sucked out of the room and vacuumed sealed.
Emma looked down into questioning eyes, before they landed on pink lips and she met them with a kiss.
It was moments like this that Emma Swan knew that she was definitely in love with Regina Mills.
Leaning in closer, Emma's lips found Regina's, again. It was sensual, intimate, and even a little soft as Regina pulled Emma closer to her. Their tongues moved together kissing the way the French do, with nothing short of passion…and love.
Everything else faded out as their lips continued to move in a familiar rhythm.
"Emma, I love you."
I love you. She heard the other woman confess. I love you. Were the words that started it all. Three. Simple. Words.
Her body weakened as she was lost in the moment that meant everything to Emma, the one who was never loved and always left. She finally found someone who loved her.
Looking down into beautiful, promising, eyes, Emma said, "I love you, too."
Regina slipped Emma's moth eaten flannel over her head. Looking down at her body, she finally saw parts of Emma she'd never seen before.
Of course, they had sex before, but that was dark, rough, and quick. This was different. This wasn't a quick fuck, or one-night stand. This wasn't at all that.
Running her hands down Emma's long arms, Regina saw small imperfections. Her heart ached knowing the things her love had experienced. So many scars that littered her pale skin, it was heartbreaking.
Kissing down her girlfriend's neck, she emphasized, in a whisper,"You're beautiful to me."
Emma's heart tumbled to the bottom of her stomach at those words. She never wanted anything more in life, than this moment with Regina.
"You keep telling me that I'm beautiful, but it's you, Regina, who's beautiful. My breath catches every time we kiss." Emma said as her hands slid under Regina's top. "No one has ever loved me like you do, and for that, you are the most beautiful."
Moving slowly, Emma pulled the silky top over her head. Her eyes not once leaving Regina's.
No more waiting.