Forever & Always

Chapter 1

Regina set the last dish on the table. She removed her apron and washed her hands. She glanced in the circular mirror making sure she looked good for her dinner date. She reapplied her favorite red lipstick and went over to the dining room table where the food was all set. She lit two tall candles and poured two glasses of wine. She sat down and waited for Emma to arrive home. They both had agreed they needed to have a nice dinner so they could spend some one on one time with each other. Work had been taking up all their time, they would both get home tired and head straight to bed. Regina made sure to cancel all of her meetings for the day and Emma promised to only work until five. She had called Regina an hour ago saying she was taking a domestic call that should only take 20 minutes since it was a call they usually got from those residents. Emma always wanted to join the force due to her past struggles. She wanted to be able to help people and for her to become a cop was the perfect way to do it. Regina smiled as she thought back to the first time they ever met.

8 years ago...

Regina had poured herself a glass of wine as she glanced around at the party. NYU parties were definitely over the top. The frat house was having a black and wite party so they attempted to be a bit elegant. They served wine and appetizers but of course that only lasted about an hour before someone came in with a keg. The party at Kappa Kappa Gamma went back to it's usual shenanigans and Regina was not enjoying it at all. She headed out front to the porch where thankfully no one was and sat on the swinging bench. She pulled her skirt down and continued to drink her wine. As she was enjoying the peace of being alone for the moment she heard the front door creak open and saw a beautiful blonde step out onto the porch. Regina couldn't help but stare, she was gorgeous and sexy all at once. Her hair was up in a ponytail with a braid on the side. She was wearing a black pants suit, white buttoned up shirt, and skinny black tie. The blonde glanced over at her and smile wide and from that moment Regina was hooked and always will be.

"Hey. Escaping Kappa's party?"

Regina nodded as she set her glass down, "Yes, sometimes you want to go to a party to talk and dance. Not to see who can fit the most marshmallows in their mouth."

"Oh Ricky won that. Pretty impressive actually. It takes a lot of skill and intelligence to do that."

Regina raised a brow and gave an expression that read 'you have go to be kidding me.' The blonde laughed and extended her hand to Regina.

"I'm Emma Swan."

Regina smiled only thinking that she wanted to hear that laugh once more. She took Emma's hand and shook it gently.

"Regina. Regina Mills."

"Mind if I sit with you?"

Regina shook her head and scooted over a bit, "By all means, have a seat."

Emma sat beisde her and got to finally look at the brunette's features up close. She was flawless.. From the piercing eyes, to her short raven black hair, to the scar on her lip that made Emma just want to kiss her. She could sense maturity from the women next to her and it interested her even more. Emma was usually closed off but for some reason she wanted Regina to get to know her and she wanted to know Regina. She never believed in love at first sight but damn was Regina a sight she wouldn't mind looking at all the time.

"So do you go to school here?"

Regina nodded, "Yes. It's my last year actually. I graduate finally in one week. You?"

Emma shook her head, "No, I go to Rutgers University. My best friend August convinced me to come here tonight. I'm glad I listened to him though."

Regina blushed a bit as Emma smiled at her, "Your friend sounds very wise."

Emma chuckled lightly, "Yeah he is, but don't ever let him know I said that."

"Your secret is safe with me."

Emma nodded, "So what's your major?"

"Law." Regina knew she wanted to be a lawyer from a young age, mostly because her mother wouldn't let her be anything else so she forced herself to love it.

"Oh really? That's awesome. I'm also doing law just not lawyer stuff. I'm actually joining the police academy next year."

"A cop? Wow, what made you want to join the force?"

Emma shrugged, "That's a story for another time."

"Very well."

A comfortable silence filled the air between the two before Emma took a breath and faced the brunette.

"Would you mind if there was another time?"

Regina looked at her, "Excuse me? What do you mean?"

"Well you are graduating and stuff so it's not like I can try to come back to a Kappa party and hope to see you. And I still need to tell you why I want to join the force so technically there has to be another time right?"

Regina smirked, "So you want to see me again?"

Emma nodded, she knew she just needed to go for it and that's exactly what she was going to do.

"Yeah, I want to see you again. Of course if you want to as well."

"Are you asking me on a date?" Regina couldn't help but love how nervous the blonde was appearing. She purposely leaned forward as she asked the question and lowered her voice. Regina's voice reminded Emma of when a mermaid would sing trying to get the pirates into the sea, she quickly moved her gaze from Regina's lips to her eyes.

She cleared her throat, "Yeah. Yes I am. Regina Mills, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

Regina smiled wide showing off her perfect white teeth and nodded, "Yes. I'd love to." Emma responded by a cheesy grin and an 'awesome.' The two spent the rest of the night talking about everything and nothing. After a few hours, Emma walked Regina to her dorm room. They exhanged phone numbers and wished each other a goodnight. As the door closed Regina collapsed on her bed with a large smiled , "That party wasn't bad after all."

End of Flashback

Regina giggled to herself at the memory, she was always so happy she decided to let her sit next to her that night. She forever changed her life and she was always grateful. It was now 6:30 and still no word or sign of Emma. Regina sighed as she tried again to call Emma and got her voicemail. She stood up and glanced out the window staring at the empty driveway.

"Where is she..?"

Another fifteen minutes past when the house phone rings. Regina rushes to it and picks it up not even looking at the caller ID.

"Emma Swan, you better have a good reason as to why you are not home!"

"Regina.." The voice was low and sounded so broken. More importantly, it wasn't Emma.

"August? August, why are you calling? Are you and Emma still working? She was supposed to be home over an hour ago. Where is she?"

"Something's happened." Regina's heart stopped and sunk to her stomach. Her knees felt weak and couldn't hold her up suddenly. She sat down on a chair as she tried not to think the worse.

"I-what..What happened?" Put her on the phone August. I want to talk to her."

"Regina..you need to get to the hospital."

"No, what you need to do is put Emma on the damn phone!" Regina didn't even realized she was yelling

"Regina. You need to get down here okay."

Regina hung up the phone and let it fall to the ground. She always feared she'd get a call saying Emma was hurt or worse due to her job on the force. She always wanted to be a hero and Regina was always scared that would get her hurt. Regina didn't know how to process anything, she felt like a robot as she got up grabbed her purse and car keys. She exit her house locking the door and got into her Mercedes. She took a deep breath as she pulled out of the driveway and headed to the hospital.

"She's okay..she's going to be okay..."