Hi, WillowNox here. So I basically became obsessed with Once Upon A Time because Netflix doesn't want me to have a life. Anyways so I absolutely adore Swan Queen and decided to try my hand at writing for this fandom. This story is very obviously AU and you see precisely why in the up coming chapters, besides the obvious reason you get with this chapter.

This idea is an experiment I'm trying out to see how audiences react to my little twist, and I haven't come across any other stories yet with this particular change, so feed back would be very much appreciated.

Enough of my rambling, on with the show.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

1-15-15: This the new and improved chapter. Edited by the lovely Writer's Dilemma. They have so graciously offered to help edit older chapters and help improve them, so for those of you who reread and something looks a little different the second time around that is why. As of today only this chapter is done. I will post an update in the author's note when the chapter is edited.

Chapter 1

"Can you believe we're half way through college?"

Emma huffed as she continued to push the heavy cart containing her and Mary Margaret's stuff across the sidewalk outside of their dorm building. It wouldn't be so bad if crap would stop falling off every three steps.

"Not at the moment."

"Oh, Emma let me help you."

The pixie haired brunette hurried over to her best friend and pulled up a small cardboard box that was teetering precariously on the edge of the cart.

"Thank you," the blonde sighed and steered the cart up the short ramp and into the building as Mary Margaret held the door open for her friend.

The pair moved to the elevator and rode the lift up to the fifth floor. The building was co-ed with the five floors alternating genders. Emma was glad to be a junior, if only for the fact that the dorms were an upgrade from the tiny lower classmen dorms she and Mary Margaret could barely turn around in without bumping into each other. Nope, this year they would be living large with their own bathroom, high single beds, instead of bunk beds (oh how she loathed the bottom bunk), and a kitchenette, on the top floor of the junior-senior building.

The metal doors of the lift slid open with a loud ding and Emma followed Mary Margaret down the wide hallway and past other residents in varying stages of moving in.

"Here we are, 507. Home sweet home." Mary Margaret enthused as she unlocked the door while Emma parked the cart just outside the door.

Both women were impressed with the new room and took a moment to take in all the space they'd been robbed of for two years.

"Pick your bed." The tall blonde grunted as she grabbed both sets of bedding from the cart and brought them inside the room.

"That one."

Emma wasn't surprised at all that her best friend, who she considered her sister after five years of friendship, picked the bed closest to the large, glass window. The beds created an L shape alongtwo walls, with the foot of one bed connecting with the head of the other in a corner. The bed Mary Margaret chose was spread under the window, and Emma knew her friend was going to love the view of the beautiful campus of Storybrooke University.

The blonde tossed the clear bag containing her friend's pink, flowery bedding onto the claimed mattress and tossed her own clear bag, revealing bright Marvel Avengers bedding, to the leftover bed. Then, she set about helping Mary Margaret unload the rest of their belongings from the useless cart outside.

"Are you excited to be back?" Mary Margaret asked once she and Emma had everything moved into the room. They were working on putting away their belongings to the low hum of Emma's iPod through her dock speakers.

"I guess," Emma shrugged as she moved her unfolded clothes from her suitcase to her dresser drawers without a second glance. She only took time to hang up her impressive collection of brightly colored leather jackets and a few pairs of skinny jeans.

The petite brunette cringed at her friends carelessness when it came to her belongings, as she neatly folded and hung up all of her garments with care.

"Not excited to see Lacy?" Mary Margaret prodded, hoping her friend would open up to her about her love life, or lack there of.

Emma halted in her movements, superhero sheets springing back to the foot of her bed, and fixed her roommate with an incredulous glare.

"There was never anything but sex between me and Lacy, you know that," the blonde said in a tone of finality that dared the other woman to continue this conversation, before turning back to making her bed.

The brunette visibly recoiled at her friend's bluntness, but she had meant to help Emma, not make her react that way. She had been best friends, and quite literally sisters, with the blonde for so long, and she just wanted her to be happy. She had thought Emma was happy with the foreign brunette, having been with her for a few months. After a string of coming home to a tie on the doorknob and being sexiled to Ruby's room for the night, returning the next morning to find a different girl on the walk of shame each time, it was refreshing to see Lacy around for awhile. Apparently the blonde had moved on and was back to looking for the right girl. She hoped Emma found her soon, because she would hate to see her friend go back to sleeping her way through the university's female population.

"Okay," Emma broke the awkward silence that had settled in the small space. "I'm gonna go check out the activities fair, see if there's any thing good this year."

"I'll come with you." Mary Margaret folded the last of her pajamas and hopped down from her bed. She waited at the door for the blonde to exchange her pair of tiny workout shorts for an equally tiny pair of jean shorts to go with her white tank top. The brunette rolled her eyes and led the way out of the room.

Out on the quad, there were booths lining both sides of the sidewalks and scattered across the expanse of green, all boasting the qualities of their respective clubs. Emma and Mary Margaret had made their way around the sidewalk and were now weaving their way around the green, browsing the stands as they went, snagging free candies offered by the different groups.

"See anything good?" Emma asked as they passed a booth for a hide and seek club, but nobody was manning the table. Instead, there was a sign proclaiming if anyone could find the members of this club they would be worthy to join the elite band of hide and seekers. Emma rolled her eyes and kept walking beside her fair skinned friend.

Mary Margaret was about to respond, but she was interrupted by a loud squeal and a blurr of brunette and red hair, as both women were enveloped in a bone-crushing hug.

"I've been looking all over for you guys," the tall, red-streaked woman gushed as she released her two friends.

"Hey, Ruby," Emma chuckled as she was finally able to breathe again. She looked to her other best friend, but she found that the leggy brunette in skin tight leggings and equally skin tight red tank top had eyes only for her roommate. A blush was rushing wildly up fair cheeks under Ruby's appraising look.

"Hi, Em." Ruby didn't even spare her blonde friend a glance before she slid her arm around Mary Margaret's petite frame. "Hey, baby," she whispered to the shorter woman. Mary Margaret grinned up at her girlfriend of the last four months as she was swept into a breath-stealing kiss.

Emma shuffled from foot to foot, looking anywhere but at her friends' very public display of affection. She was happy that the two had stopped tiptoeing around each other and finally admitted to their mutual attraction (or Ruby kissed Mary Margaret in the middle of an argument over something or other, and it turned into a heated make out session that Emma had accidentally walked in on...semantics), but she felt like she was intruding on their not-so-private moment.

The blonde backpedalled away from the lip locked couple, hoping she would be able to find Ashley. "I'm just gonna...go. See ya."

Her farewell fell on deaf ears as Emma turned and hightailed it away from the pair, but she didn't get very far when she collided someone and found herself flat on her back in the grass. The blonde groaned as she sat up, and saw another person on the ground a few feet in front of her.

Emma scrambled to her feet, moving over to help the woman who was gathering up what looked like art supplies and stuffing them into a tan messenger bag.

"I am so sorry," the blonde apologized hastily as she stood a few feet away from the woman. She wore a sundress, and long, thick, tawny tresses hid her face from view as she continued picking up her paint brushes and colored pencils.

There was no response.

"Do you need any help?" The blonde watched cautiously as tanned hands moved to grab a sketchbook that was flung open.

Still no response.

"Okay…I'm really sorry. Bye," Emma told the stranger, and darted off to find Ashley once more. That was weird, she thought to herself. That girl, whoever she was, must have been thoroughly pissed. She hadn't even looked at Emma when she'd apologized.

Regina packed the last of her scattered belongings back into her messenger bag and stood up. She flattened out her dress, straightening her jean jacket, and spun on her sandaled heel, intent on giving whoever had just made a fool of her the death glare of their life. But when she fixed her brown eyes on the spot she'd glimpsed the other person fall, she found the surrounding green empty.

The nerve, she thought as she looked around for the flash of blonde hair that had crossed her vision. What kind of person crashes into you and them runs off without so much as an apology? Not the kind of person Regina Mills wanted to associate with, that's for sure.

With that thought in mind, she hefted her bag further on her shoulder and continued on the path she'd been on before she was so rudely bombarded by the blonde whirlwind.

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