This story will be a little weird at first but I promise you'll enjoy the end result! As you know, I own nothing here... Let's not forget that. Happy reading! -DR

Emma's boot heels clicked lightly on the tile floor as she rounded the corner leading into a hallway of doors. She was on autopilot, as she usually was when Dr. Mills requested her presence. She had spent hours upon hours in that tiny office space with her favorite professor, three years now they have been consistent in each other's lives as student and professor. As she passed the first four doors on the right side of the hallway, the blonde slowed her pace and took a deep breath before popping her head through the open door.

Her casual smile began to grow as she laid eyes on the brunette woman bent gracefully over a stack of papers. Emma couldn't help but watch on silently, as her professor ran a slender, tan finder down the page of ink scribbles. Shaking her head, Dr. Mills drew a small X through a sentence before throwing her pen on the table top. At that, Emma snapped out of her hypnosis.

"You rang, ma'am?" The blonde said nonchalantly while leaning her shoulder against the door frame.

Regina looked up with a bright smile and met Emma's green eyes. If she hadn't know any better, it would appear that with only her presence, Emma had wiped all of the professor's worries from the day away.

"Miss Swan, come on in. Have a seat." She gestured happily to the only other piece of furniture in the room; an old, red leather cushioned, wooden chair.

Emma nodded and threw her book-bag under the chair before slumping down in it. She ran her pale fingers through her blonde waves before once again meeting Regina's gaze. They were silent, staring at each other for what felt like an eternity to Emma. The brunette crossed her legs and laid her hands across her knee before looking away.

Awkwardly, Emma cleared her thought before jamming her elbow onto the wooden arm rest. Bringing a finger to rest on her temple, she spoke. "So… Am I in trouble or what?" Her tone was playful, sarcastic.

"Dear, you were born trouble." Regina replied in a tone to match the blonde's. When she turned back to see Emma arch a single brow, she smiled. "You aren't in trouble, you little shit." she laughed.

This was usual banter between the two. They had become fairly good friends outside of the class room, even in the class room; Emma couldn't help but pester the woman for no reason other than for the entertainment it brought. She was too used to their after class meetings, though. She was just so comfortable when she was talking to this woman and only she knew why.

"Alright then…" Emma started as she tapped her fingertip against her temple. "What can I do for you? I do have a class in twenty minutes…"

Regina narrowed her eyes before turning to the laptop that sat opposite the stack of papers. After a series of quick key-taps and a mouse click or two she turned back to Emma. "You have European History with Dr. Basil in a half hour… Why do you need the extra ten minutes? In a hurry to get away from me?"

"Absolutely not." She smiled. " Wait… Did you really just pull up my class schedule? Are you even allowed to do that?" Emma sat straight up and glared at the woman.

"Of course I'm allowed to do that I'm a professor, I have access to all of your information… It would appear that you also have that class with Mr. Booth and oh… Miss Lucas as well… Interesting, indeed."

"What? You got something against Ruby now?"

"No, no Miss Swan, of course not. I would never speak ill of your friend. I'm only trying to figure in the extra ten minutes you claim to need…" She paused dramatically, meeting the green eyes in front of her. "I feel like you are trying to get away from me."

Regina loved to get Emma going, it was a sort of game they played. There was no harm in their playful back and forth. The brunette cupped her own chin with her hand and stared into Emma's darkening green eyes. "Well?"

"Well what lady? I have to walk half way through campus to get a cigarette in before class. You know that."

"Oh so the ten minutes are solely to slowly drive another nail into your coffin then?"

"Yup." Emma smiled. "Did you email me for a meeting just to lecture me on my habits?"

"Well of course I did. You really must stop chewing your fingernails by the way, you're going to give yourself a fungus."

"A fungus?! Come on now, Mills, you can't honestly think you can get a mouth fungus from chewing your nails…"

"We are all entitled to own on thoughts and beliefs, Miss Swan."

"God, you are such a..." Emma laughed and shook her head before falling silent. The time was ticking away and they had yet to get to the point of this meeting.

Regina cleared her throat before turning back to the computer screen. "So, I am curious as to why you missed ten days of my class last semester."

Her words were so smooth that Emma had almost missed what she even said. She could feel the warmth growing across her face as soon as her brain registered what was happening. Shit shit shit. I can't tell her the truth. Leave it to this woman to fuck with me. AAAAHHHH! What do I say?! THINK DAMMIT! Emma stared at the woman's back while trying to come up with a lie off the top of her head.

When there was no answer, Regina turned to face the blonde. She had curiosity written all over her face, but when she laid eyes on Emma's quickly flushing skin, her features twisted into something more sinister. "Hello? Am I speaking English?"

Emma blinked a few times before looking down at her watch. "Look, that was months ago, everything is fine, I was just being lazy… I learned my lesson."

Regina grunted at the woman before rolling her eyes. "How long have you known me?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"A good one, how long have you known me?"

"I don't know like…"

"Three years, Miss Swan. You have taken a class with me every semester for three years. Do you know what that means?"

"I need to branch out?" Emma asked flatly, raising a brow.

"It means I know your bullshit when I hear it. I can read you like a book, dear, and you are trying too hard."

Emma's face burned bright pink with embarrassment, yet again. "Whatever you say."

"You go to your history class, Miss Swan. You don't want to be late… But know this, tomorrow… After class, you are mine. We are going to talk about this."

"Dr. Mills, really there is nothing to talk about." Emma stood up and grabbed her bag.

"I'm sure we can find something, dear. I'll see you in the morning, now leave." Regina waved her hand to the door and shooed the blonde away.

Emma left without a word. Regina leaned back in her chair and listened to the woman's boots click down the hall and fade away before letting out a long sigh. She ran her fingers through her short, dark hair before bringing a hand rest on her chest. A broad smile crept across her face as she looked back down at her paperwork.

#

Emma shook her head all the way to her usual smoking spot on the hill behind the honors house. She smashed her headphones into her ears before lighting a cigarette. Slumping down on a cold cement bench, she let her music vibrate her brain. Closing her eyes, she took a long drag and held it. The lyrics of her favorite song were pounding in her ears. As she let the smoke escape her lips, she felt her stomach flip.

Have you no idea that you're in deep? I've dreamt about you nearly every night this week, how many secrets can you keep? Cause there's this tune I found that makes me think of you somehow and I play it on repeat until I fall asleep.

Emma's eyes snapped open and she jerked her ear-buds out. "Oh hell no." She whispered to herself.

"Whats up?" A voice called as a giant bag came crashing down next to her on the bench.

Emma just about fell backward off her seat. She spun around to see Ruby looking down at her with concern all over her face.

"What the hell Ruby?! You know you can't just sneak up on me like that!" She panted while gripping at her chest.

"Like I knew I was sneaking up on you… As far as I knew, I was sitting down." Ruby sat down and looked her friend in the face. "Em, you look like you have seen a ghost, whats wrong?"

Emma looked down at her mp3 player in her lap and rumpled with it for a moment before turning the device off. Her face was still red from her encounter with Dr. Mills and she was in no mood to talk. I have to tell someone and Ruby is my best friend… I can tell her anything. But she is such a big mouth, she will tell everyone. Ugh, what do I do?

At the blonde's silence, Ruby took her friend's pale hand into her own. "You can talk to me, you know that… what is going on?"

Slowly, Emma met her friend's gaze. She pulled her hand away and frowned. "So, there is this person that I am absolutely fascinated with…" She started.

"Uh-oh lady probs." She crossed her arms. " Who is it?"

"I can't tell you that, you know better."

"And by know better you mean, I know them…"

"Rubes!"

"Fine, what about them?"

"I may have seen a bit more of them than they know and now I have to tell them and I can't do it and…"

"Emma…" Ruby gripped her hand again, "Slow down, you aren't making any sense… Are you a peeping tom?"

"What?! No!" gasped the blonde. She looked away shaking her head.

"Just tell me. I wont tell a soul, I swear... on our friendship."

"Dude, this could ruin way more than our friendship… Someone's job could be at stake."

"Someone's job?" The red-tipped brunette fell silent in thought for a moment before it hit her. "Holy shit." She whispered.

Emma groaned. "What?" Instinctively, she rolled her eyes. Ruby was a very dramatic person and Emma had a feeling that the girl would pretend to know who it was, just so Emma would spill the beans.

"You're fucking Mills, aren't you?"

The blonde's mouth fell open and her face grew even redder. uh... good one, Swan. When she didn't answer instantly, Ruby flipped. "Holy shit, Emma! That is so awesome!"

"Ruby, I am not having sex with Regina… I have just seen her… well… kind of naked."

"Now, how does that work, exactly? I mean if you aren't fucking her… You are a peeping tom!" She gaped, half laughing.

"No, but it is a long story."

"I have time, I'm skipping Basil's and so are you."

"Damn it, we can't skip again... We have already missed three days." The blonde whined.

"He doesn't check attendance, promise."

Emma rolled her eyes and huffed a "whatever" under her breath. There was no use arguing with this girl, she would win anyway.

"Exactly, now…" Ruby clapped her hands. "Story time, ready go."

"Why do I let you talk me into this shit?" Emma asked, shaking her head.

"Who else are you going to talk to about it, I mean honestly… you have like no friends."

"Thank you for that bit of information, Ruby, I had no idea."

"Oh shut up and just fuckin tell me would you?"

"Fine." She sighed heavily before relighting her dead cigarette. A stream of smoke poured from her nostrils as she turned to sit cross-legged, facing the brunette. "So, you know last semester when I had photography with Blanchard?"

"Duh."

"Well, I talked to Regina about it and found that she had a passion for photography… We talked for a while about it but we were interrupted by fucking Robin," She rolled her eyes. "So I never got to ask what kind of shit she took pictures of. I ended up googling her and found the site she has her pictures on."

Ruby opened her mouth but before she could speak, Emma's hand was over her lips. "No, I talk, you listen. I have to get it all out before I deem you untrustworthy."

The brunette nodded in response before digging out her own pack of cigarettes. She quickly lit one and settled in to listen to the rest of the story.

"I mean, the pictures are from years ago, like before her kid was born and he is like five or something now."

"Wait… Mill's has a kid?"

"Yea, her and Robin have two. Roland is Robin's from his first marriage and they have Oliver together."

"How do you know this shit?" Ruby laughed.

"She… tells me things." She sighed. Her green eyes focused on the grass in front of her. "Can I finish?"

"Go on, princess."

Emma turned to glare at her friend before giving her a quick shove on her way to her feet. She paced in front of the girl for a moment. Running her fingers through her hair she began again, still gripping her own hair.

"Alright so, being me, I had to go through all one million pictures on her page, right? And there were so many of her like, half naked. Not like tit and vag naked but like her abs and some leg shots…. So many leg and ass shots. God." She sighed. "And after I saw that site and those pictures… I couldn't face her, I felt so guilty. I mean I'm an artist for fuck sake, I know art but damn, I was so turned on by the whole thing that seeing her after that made me feel so awkward…" her voice trailed off.

"So you stopped going to class." Ruby finished.

"So I stopped going. And I'll be damned if that bitch didn't hunt me down and tell me that I needed to get my shit together and get to class."

"Oh my god, I remember that. She was like inches from your face in front of all those people. I thought you were going to puke."

"Yea. So now, she wants to know why I missed all those days."

"But that was forever ago!" Ruby threw her hands in the air. "Why should it matter now?"

"She said she can read me like a book… I think she knows."

"She's Regina fucking Mills, Emma… of course she knows. Just tell her… She probably gets off on that shit."

Emma wailed in frustration and clutched her face in her palms. "What if she kicks me out of her class, Ruby? I'm such an idiot."

"Oh stop. She loves you, she won't kick you out of her class. Everyone can see that she cares about you." Ruby said softly, trying to comfort her friend.

"I think that may be the real issue here…" Emma shook her head. She flopped all her weight back onto the bench with a sigh. "She wants an answer tomorrow after class."

"Just tell her Emma, you are both adults… The worst that will happen is that she will think you're a creep… which is true… It's not like you're in love with her…"

Emma was dead silent. She continued to sit with her face against her palms.

"Oh no." the brunette gasped. "Emma, no."

"Shut up Ruby." She cried.

"How'd you let this happen?" She whispered shaking her head. "She is a professor… and she is married. I mean… She is fucking married, with kids."

"I know but they have an open marriage…" She started.

Ruby's screeching voice cut her off. "What, did she tell you that too? What the fuck are you two doing?"

"No, she didn't tell me that. I know the guy that babysits her kids. They are really close and apparently her an Robin are swingers or something…"

"Ya know what… that shit is fucked up. For real. You are about to get into some weird business Emma… are you ready for all that?"

"No…" She sighed. "But what choice do I have? I want her so bad Rubes… I can't even explain it."

"Eww. She isn't even that attractive."

"It isn't about that. I mean, it was… she is beautiful… but she is so passionate about everything she does and her energy is amazing… I feel like… I get a high when I'm with her."

"Duuuuude, you're in deep."

Emma slammed her face back into her hands. "I know. I just don't know what to do… I mean, what would you do in my situation?"

"I could never be in your situation, Em…"

"Oh bullshit, say this was you and Blanchard… what would you do?"

"Personally, I would take her in the darkroom in the photography lab and have my way with her…" Ruby said, matter-of-factly.

"See, but she is married…"

"David is a fuck head. He has no brain, seriously. He has a degree in what?" She paused, thinking. "Yea, no, I don't even know what his degree was in, probably being dumb. He had a degree in being a clueless idiot, Emma."

"Then what is stopping you?" Emma looked up to meet Ruby's eyes.

"August is stopping me."

"Of course he is. See, I have no one stopping me, you know how I am…"

"Oh yes I do, and people seem to think that I'm the whore… little do they know that little artsy-fartsy Emma Swan is the one who insists on hittin and quittin every pretty face comin and goin."

"Oh piss, Ruby. You act like you didn't enjoy it."

"Hey, I never said that… We all know that you're the best at what you do… I'm just saying that you are the fucking whore here."

"I'm well aware." The corner of Emma's lips began to curl into a faint smile.

"Look, just go talk to her, tell her the truth. You are good at this shit… It's like the thing you do best."

"Yea I guess you're right." She sighed. Well, tomorrow should be an adventure.

From here, the good stuff will pick up pretty fast. This whole story will be maybe 10 chapters, if that. Thanks for reading!