A/N: Hellooooo everyone, who's still with this one. Next chapter. Thanks for your patience. All mistakes are mine. Enjoy! :)

Chapter 3

The weekend had been slow. Not in a bad way though. Emma had spent time with her family, still trying to forget about that embarrassing incident on Friday night at the dance school. The blonde still wasn't sure if she could go back. Well, of course she could...she just had to be more careful or find another hiding spot. A sigh escaped her lips as she sat on the couch next to Henry who was watching a movie. It was Sunday in the evening and therefore tomorrow would be Monday and the brunette's group would train again.

"Emma, honey, are you alright?" Mary Margaret asked while she chopped some vegetables in preparation for dinner. The girl had seemed to be deep in thought over the weekend and the pixie haired brunette was eager to find out what was bothering her daughter.

"What?" Emma asked, taken by surprise and her cheeks instantly blushing.

"You seemed to be deep in thought. Is everything okay?" The brunette asked and gave her daughter a caring smile.

"Yeah, I was just..." Emma stopped mid-sentence, considering to actually ask her mother about joining the dance class. In that moment the telephone began to ring and Mary Margaret reached for the device.

"It's you father! Sorry, Em, I'll be right back." And with that the pixie haired woman answered the phone. Emma slummed back into the cushions of the couch and fixed her gaze on the TV.

The call just took few minutes and Mary Margaret returned to the kitchen with sad look upon her face.

"What happened?" Emma immediately sat up straight and watched her mother with concerned eyes.

"The car broke down." An exhausted sigh escaped her lips before she continued.

"It won't be as easily fixed as the last time. If it's even possible it will cost a pretty penny. Just when I thought..." She stopped right there, not wanting her kids to know that money was a bit of an issue for a few weeks now.

"Well..." Mary Margaret smiled and tried to reassure herself.

"At least nobody got hurt, right?" Another sigh escaped her lips before she returned to preparing dinner. At that moment Emma decided that she wouldn't ask. Her parents had enough to deal with at the moment. That the car broke down was bad enough. David needed the vehicle for work as well as for dropping Mary Margaret and Henry off for school. Emma tended to take the trains to go everywhere she needed to be.

David returned after dinner, looking awfully tired. Henry was already in bed and Emma was in her room as well in the process of burning her candles, the door unintentionally left ajar. When she went to close it snippets of her parent's conversation reached her ears.

"How much will it be, David?"

"It depends...between 800 and 900 $." David sighed.

"Maybe we can talk to the landlord again. Convince him to rethink his decision concerning the raise of the rent." Mary Margaret reasoned and that was the moment when Emma silently closed the door.

Why hadn't they said anything?

Emma dropped onto her bed to lie on her back, facing the ceiling and watching the light dance. She didn't know how much time had passed before she finally fell asleep.

The next morning Emma sat quietly at the breakfast table, avoiding her mother's inquisitive gaze. After eating a toast and drinking a cup of coffee the blonde said goodbye to Henry and her parents and vanished into streets of New York to get to school.

Her classes rolled by and during her lunch break she sat not too far from Ruby and Belle, who were talking about a creep who was watching them during their dance classes. Emma hung her head in embarrassment fixed her eyes onto her food tray.

That day she didn't go to the dance studio. The same pertained for Tuesday and Wednesday. Instead of practicing the dance moves she remembered the blonde took time to actually read the books she had borrowed from the library. But her thoughts always drifted back to the brunette dancer. The way she moved, the way she taught her students and the way she danced all by herself when everyone would be long gone home.

It was Wednesday evening when the blonde stood by her window and looked out into the night. Her parents still hadn't lost a word about the money issue and it was starting to bother her. She wasn't a child anymore one needed to protect from the world.

On Thursday she went to school as usual. It was rather frosty and the sun hadn't risen yet. Walking trough the autumn leaves Emma felt sad and lost. And it was then, on her way to the subway, that she decided to go back. What did she have to lose?

Regina sat on the floor in the dance studio, stretching her legs and warming up. Soon the kids would arrive for their class before later the older ones had their turn. Soft music was playing in the background and the brunette's thoughts again drifted back to the terrified girl. The blonde hadn't come back. Regina couldn't even explain to herself why the image of the girl's face didn't leave her thoughts. There had been this look in her eyes...she couldn't remember their color. But it had been too dark anyway to actually recognize if they had been green or blue. She had looked so – she couldn't find the right words to describe the blonde's expression. Desperate? Longing? Sad? Maybe lost?

Regina was ripped from her thoughts when the first children stepped into the room and greeted her, before they went on to change into their dancing attire. Soon the class was complete and they started to warm up together as a group to prevent potential injuries. Then they immersed in their choreography and Regina corrected them here and there; walked through the room to watch them from different angles and ended up at the window front again. And it was then when her eyes caught bit of blonde hair peeking out from under a black woolen beanie. Her head whipped completely around and her hand rested against the window pane as she tried to make out the blondes face in the weak shimmer of light that came from the illuminated dance studio and a nearby street lamp. Their eyes locked and the girl stood as still as a salt statue, stopped in the middle of grabbing her bag. The blonde finally bit her lower lip, probably feeling more than uncomfortable for being caught watching again, but her gaze didn't waver. Finally Regina gave her a small smile before turning around again to focus on her students once more.

Emma's heart felt like it would jump out of her chest any second. But she still stood rooted to the spot and tried to even out her breathing. The brunette had seen her and...had smiled. She hadn't seemed angry as Emma had anticipated. Not at all. With a relieved smile the blonde dropped down, next to her bag. She wouldn't run this time. She would stay just a little bit longer.

When Regina finally had said her goodbyes to Ruby, Belle and the rest of her girls she carefully walked back to the window front to see if the blonde was still out there. But the girl was gone and nothing greeted her but the cold night and the New York traffic. She rested her forehead against the glass and let out a small laugh. What had she expected?

Shaking her head she pushed herself away from the window front and started the music again. As the first notes reached her ears the brunette closed her eyes and slowly began to move. Small movements, nothing big and fancy. The piano keys flowed like water through the air and she followed them, feeling the music washing over her like a light summer rain.

Emma had left as soon as Ruby, Belle and the rest of them had done their last step of the choreography. Running through the streets to the next subway station she felt free. It was silly, really. But she couldn't help it. Each time she closed her eyes she would see the brunette smile at her. The cold night air hit her straight in the face as she rounded a corner and the blonde stopped to just breath in. Lifting her face towards the sky she closed her eyes and smiled, for a single moment forgetting about the city noises, the people passing by and all her troubles.

When she finally arrived at home Emma silently opened the door only to be greeted with a worried looking Mary Margaret.

"Where have you been?" The petite brunette asked and hurried towards her daughter.

"I uhm..." She hadn't even brought new books from the library. Emma stole a glance towards the clock and realized how late it actually had gotten.

"I tried to call you a dozen times!" Mary Margaret argued and placed both her palms on each side of Emma's face.

"Uhm..."

"You know, we don't have a problem with you staying out late. You're old enough, sweetheart. Just call, alright? We've been worried sick! Besides...your brother is not feeling well..." A worried look crossed the brunette's face.

"What's wrong?" Emma immediately straightened her back and gave her mother a concerned look.

"He's got a fever. He's been throwing up the whole afternoon. Your father had to pick him up from school earlier and since then he's lying in bed." A sigh escaped Mary Margaret's lips, before she ruffled her hair and forced a smile onto her lips.

Henry finally fell asleep at 3 am. They had almost called an ambulance but then the fever finally had subsided. It's been a hell of a night for Emma's parents and the blonde herself hadn't gotten much sleep.

The next day Emma dragged herself out of bed, completely overtired. She went through her morning routine like a robot, still feeling half asleep. It was still dark outside, a fact that made waking up not exactly a lot easier. Mary Margaret set a cup of coffee in front of her contrary to her usual cup of hot cocoa, which the blonde accepted with utter gratitude. The pixie haired woman filled her daughter in on Henry's state and that David would stay at home with the sick boy for the day.

On her way to school Emma almost fell asleep standing. It took two more cups of coffee to finally set her in a state of being responsive. She even debated with herself if she should skip "dance spying" for today. But then the brunette's smile came back to her mind and Emma found herself grinning into her cup of coffee. No, she wouldn't skip. It was her everyday highlight, something she looked forward to every single day.

So that night she found herself in her usual hiding spot on top of the roof of the small building next to the dance studio. It was a bit later than the day before and the kids group was almost done. Shivering, the blonde let out a shaky puff of air and rubbed her palms against each other. It was Friday night and the streets were as busy as every night. Cars honking, people yelling and laughing, noise everywhere. Well, she lived in New York, the city that never sleeps. So nothing new here.

And then there was the faint soft music that reached her ears through the window front and Emma hid in the shadows to peek inside. The kids were just saying their goodbyes, some of them hugging their dance instructor, while others just gave a wave or a handshake. The brunette just released a small light brown haired girl from her arms when her dark eyes scanned the window front and finally connected with Emma's own green orbs. The blonde's heart skipped a beat and her breath got caught in her throat when she saw that smile again. That smile that hadn't left her thoughts since she first saw it directed towards her the day before. The blonde shyly smiled back combined with a tiny wave before her nervousness got the best of her and she stepped away from the window to release the breath she's been holding in. A smile formed on her lips again and she closed her her eyes for moment. Her heart was racing when she stepped to the glass front to peek inside again, but the brunette was nowhere to be seen. There were just Ruby and Belle and the rest of their group, already doing their warm up and stretching exercises. Emma's furrowed in confusion when she scanned the room for the beautiful dancer but didn't see her anywhere.

"Hey! Hey you!"

At first Emma didn't notice the words were directed at her, so she paid them no mind.

"Hey! Shy girl on top of the roof! I'm talking to you! Are you still there?" It was then that Emma registered the smooth, deep and raspy voice and her eyes widened in shock. What was she supposed to do? Hide and pretend she wasn't there anymore?

"Look, I feel like an idiot talking to myself. Show yourself or I'm going back inside. It's freezing out here!"

With tentative steps the blonde approached the edge of the roof dared to glance downwards.

"Hello..." The brunette had her hands buried deep inside of the pockets of her black coat. Her had was tilted back and she squinted against the light of the street lamp to make out the blonde's face.

"H-Hi..." Emma hesitantly answered and hugged herself against the cold.

"What's your name?" The dark haired dancer asked and her head whipped around as a taxi honked combined with its driver throwing some explicit curse words out of the window because another car blocked his way, before her gaze again focused on the blonde girl on the roof.

"Swan. Emma Swan."

"Well then, Swan-Emma-Swan, why don't you come down from there and follow me inside? Guess it's a bit warmer...and the view might be a bit better in fact."