And Then There Was You

X. Hold On

[Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from ABC's hit show, ONCE UPON A TIME.]

"Class dismissed," Regina says with the utmost poise, addressing her class.

Students gathering their belongings, speaking with their classmates and or leaving the room, now overpower the silence that dominated the room before. The three friends, Belle, Emma and Ruby are at their usual spot, high up in the back of the room as to have a clear view of the whole class. They did not join their classmates in their orchestrated march out the room, but rather chose a less exciting pace, except for Ruby who is first to make her way down the steps. She pauses at the bottom steps and turn to look back at her two friends who were both still halfway down, taking their sweet time.

"Girls, I gotta go. My professor next class is kind of a douchebag," she says to her friends without waiting for a response and rushes out the door.

"Oh-kay," Emma says, perplexed. "I thought she thinks her professor is interesting? Well that's what she said last week."

Belle chuckles as she pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Oh, you know Ruby. One minute she thinks you're amazing and if you do something that she disapproves of, she'll think you're the worst person in the world."

"Oh," Emma says, rolling her eyes. "Right... How could I forget?"

Belle giggles at her friend's sarcasm. "So, you're free this period," as she predicts, searching her friend's face for approval. "Right?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"My professor is not discussing today so I'm pretty much free this period too. Wanna get something to eat?"

"Sure," Emma replies with excitement. Her eyes sparkle whenever food is mentioned.

As the two friends reach the door, a husky, but sultry voice so familiar to Emma calls out from behind them. "Miss Swan, may I please have a word with you?"

The two friends stop at the door and both turn their attention towards the voice. Emma's heart skips a beat. "Yes, professor."

Belle grabs the door handle and pulls it open. "I guess we'll take a rain check." She gives Emma a wink and a sly smile while making her way out the door.

What is that about, Bells? Emma ponders, but brushes the thought aside. She makes her way up the podium to meet with the distinct voice that had beckoned her. Professor Regina Mills is sitting poised at her desk, looking over a stack of papers, not even bothering to notice that Emma is already standing across from her. Emma takes another look at the room before making her presence known. "Yes, Regina?" she confidently says.

"Professor is fine," Regina replies with a sternness in her tone, fixated in the work in front of her.

There is a short silence. Professor? Wait, what's going on? Emma's heartbeat is beating double time now, her confidence diminishing. "Y-yes, professor?"

Regina pauses from her writing to look up at the blonde who is now producing a single bead of sweat on the side of her brow. She stares at the bead intently, as if trying to control when it will slide down the side of Emma's face. The silence is deafening. Although, the second hand on the clock behind and above Regina seems to be louder than usual. By now the single bead of sweat rolls down as gravity pulls it under Emma's chin.

"That's the thing, Miss Swan," Regina begins to say, her voice stern and unchanged. "What happened last weekend... should never have happened."

There it is. The dreaded excuse one might say when they had made a mistake. To Emma, hearing this feels like a bad breakup where the ending does not resolve anything nor conjure a friendship. "Whatever do you mean?" Emma asks with feigning ignorance as she tries to remain in composure. "The wine tasting event was wonderful."

The brunette closes her eyes and lets out a short sigh. "Thank you, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about-" Regina opens her eyes and looks upon Emma's face, noticing small pools starting to well in her eyes. She inhales short and silently, exhaling equally. "-What happened after."

The blonde takes a gulp but could not force it down. Instead she lets out a small gasp. "I-I, understand," she finally says. Emma's breathing labors and her heart did not help at all. It was beating in triple time. Who knew, that would even be possible. She lowers her head, trying to hide her emotions. "I... I'm sorry if I was out of line."

Regina slightly shakes her head. "It wasn't your fault," Regina says as she looks away. "It was mine." She lets out another sigh, bites her lower lip and return to look up at Emma who had her hands in fists at her sides, looking down on the floor. Regina gathers herself up to walk over to where the blonde is standing stiffly, almost mannequin like. She slowly takes Emma's fists into her hands and eases the tension. Emma's fists unravel with Regina's comforting touch, wishing it would never end. "I'm so sorry... Emma," the way Regina says her first name is perfect... "But we can't let this go further. I hope you understand." As she takes Emma's hands, holding them both out in front of her, a single tear falls on top of Regina's hand.

There is a long pause. Silence fills the room with a brooding atmosphere. Emma could hear deafening ringing in her ears. She was lost in thought. Had been for some time now. Although, she knew that the two women were not even an item, there is still a sense that somehow they connected on the same level. It seems as if a part of her had been ripped out of her soul, dissipating into nothingness. Even though whatever they had together was not official, Emma felt the pang of pain. A silent despair looms over the two women who used to be so happy a half a day ago are now, both feeling a sense of darkness. Emma is once again feeling lost. Regina on the other hand- uncertainty had taken control.

"I'm sorry, Professor," Emma starts, breaking the awkward silence. Her voice regains its confidence. "I don't know what's come over me." She removes her hands from Regina's grip. "I promise, it won't happen again." In an attempt to hide her bloodshot eyes, Emma keeps her head down as she excuses herself and quickly makes her way out of the room, without looking back.

I have to get out of here. I can't believe this happened... again. Emma's mind circles with many thoughts and her head is starting to hurt. Great. Another migraine. How can I be so stupid? She's a professor... plus she has a kid! She probably has a husband too... With this new idea, Emma's face grew pale. When she was with Regina, she did not even think twice to ask her if she was married or not. This piece of information now made her all the more upset, wishing she could disappear into oblivion. FUCK! If that's true, then it makes sense as to why Regina acted that way... Regina... (Sighs) her name is so perfect... She's so perfect...

Emma makes her way out the front door as quickly as she could. As she exits the building, a gust of cold wind blew on her face, reeling her hair back in its direction. She hugs herself, not just to keep warm, but also to comfort her in a way that Regina used to touch her and give her comfort. To her dismay, it was not the same. She wishes badly for Regina to touch her again. Emma's eyes are now blurring from the full wells in her eyes. In a failed attempt to disregard the recent events by brushing aside the thoughts of Regina, Emma darts across the field of grass and almost crushes a bed full of flowers. She hurries to the west side of the campus and into the library. She kept her head down the whole time, trying to conceal the feeling of dread from the sudden heartbreak she had just gone through a few minutes ago. Even though cold wind blew on her face a moment before she entered the library, her face still feels hot from the earlier incident. She quickly and quietly made her way up to the second floor and into the back area, hoping that no one is there doing anything unholy or in the least, hoping that no one is there at all. To her relief, the back section is free. She found a corner and sits down onto the carpeted floor. She put her knees up to her chest, places her head down in between them, fencing it tightly within her arms and sobs.

"Emma?"

-FIN-

Finally, a dramatic turn! HAHA... thanks for reading! ^_^