Once Upon a Time I Just Want To Make Crazy Science With You

_God, she's gorgeous._

Emma Swan was going to kick herself. In the face. With the toe of said gorgeous girl's heavy combat boot. Maybe several times in a row.

It wasn't the first time she'd had that particular string of thoughts. Ever since Doctor Whale had moved their seats around and Emma ended up lab partners with The Pretty Girl From The Front Row, her attraction to the girl had amped up considerably. And the only progress she'd made in getting to know her was learning that her name was Regina, her mother was a successful businesswoman, and that it was not any of her business that she dressed like a goth (no, her mother didn't "allow" it, she was simply out of town too much to realize. After that she stopped talking.) After a couple awkward attempts at conversation Emma had simply resigned herself to admiring from afar. Regina was nice enough to her, but she could always tell when somebody just wasn't interested. She thought she wasn't interested, at least. Some of what Regina did could be interpreted as flirting, but then again, from what Emma had seen, Regina flirted with a lot of people. After that realization she made every effort to forget her stupid schoolgirl crush.

But, because Emma had absolutely no self control and was a gigantic idiot, all it took was a few brushes of their fingers to bring everything crashing down around her again.

"Regina, can you pass me the blue stuff?"

She raised an eyebrow, spinning the bottle so that the name of the chemical faced Emma before sliding it across the desk. "Here."

"Thanks," Emma mumbled. Somehow the condescending way Regina talked to her only ever served to make her more alluring instead of putting Emma off. She didn't know what it was about the brunette, but she made arrogance look good. And combat boots, and short plaid skirts, and slashed up tshirts, and lab goggles. Oh, and pink hair dye. And heavy eyeliner, and - fuck, what was she supposed to be doing with that blue shit again? Emma still hadn't picked it up and Regina was still staring at her expectantly, amusement shining in her eyes.

"Are you going to do something with it or do you just want me to finish the lab?" Regina smirked.

Emma felt her cheeks start to burn. "No, I...sorry." It wasn't the first time that Emma had screwed up and she'd had to save the day. It was cute - she dressed like a punk but Emma had her suspicions that Regina was actually just a huge nerd.

"...Are you going to, say, pick it up?" Regina's smirk broke into a grin, and she picked up the bottle herself.

"Uh…" _Idiot. Say something. Pick it up._ When Emma didn't reply Regina simply shook her head.

"It doesn't bite." Emma jumped when she felt the other girl's hand curl around the one that she had resting on the desk. Regina lifted it and placed the bottle inside, holding eye contact. "And neither do I, dear," She added before letting go and returning to her work.

Emma swallowed hard, hoping like hell that the heat in her cheeks wasn't as visible as it felt. She could have sworn that Regina's already husky voice had dropped even lower and well, damn. _You're pathetic, Emma Swan. And totally, completely gone. Nice going._

"I never said it did," She muttered under her breath, pouring out what she hoped was the correct amount of whatever the hell the blue stuff was and adding it to the beaker.

_Dear,_ she thought. _She just called me dear. What the hell does that mean?_

She continued with the lab work for several minutes without risking a glance at her partner. When she finally did she found Regina staring at her, the corners of her lips twitching up slightly. When their eyes met she raised her eyebrows and held her gaze, smile growing wider. After a minute she shook her head and turned back to her papers, tapping the end of her pen against her lower lip as she worked. _Wow, that was cute._

"What?" Emma asked, hoping she hadn't done yet another thing to embarrass herself.

"Nothing," Regina said, shrugging and keeping her eyes on the written section of the lab. The way she spoke was nonchalant, but the amused smile stayed firmly in place. "Nothing at all, Emma. Go back to whatever it was you were doing with that. The blue stuff," She elaborated, finally turning to catch Emma's eye again. "You're going to overdo it, you know." She gestured to the beaker. "Are you sure you don't want me to take over?"

"It's fine," Emma insisted. "Oh. Okay, maybe. Yeah. You should probably…" The contents of the beaker were frothing, dangerously close to spilling over the lip of the beaker. She could feel the blush growing in her cheeks again as Regina reached over to collect the supplies, pulling them over to her side of the desk.

"Here. You take this. Much less dangerous," She added with a wink, setting the lab packet in front of Emma.

"Yeah yeah," Emma muttered, unable to help the smile growing on her face. That was definitely the first wink she'd earned.

She spent the rest of class with her face buried in the papers, letting her hair create a curtain between them and hoping Regina couldn't see the red in her face or the involuntary smiles her lips kept cracking. It was only when the bell rang and she heard the clanking of bottles that she looked up to see Regina clearing the mess.

"Here, I'll do that," She said, taking the tools within her reach. Regina opened her mouth for what would no doubt be a protest, but Emma shook her head. "You did most of the work. It's only fair."

"Thank you." Regina set the beaker back on table and pulled off her plastic lab goggles before slinging her book bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Emma nodded, trying not to smile. "Yeah, tomorrow." _God damn it._

Regina hovered there for a moment, indecision crossing her features. In a second it was gone, replaced with the usual confident amusement. "Maybe before then," She said, sliding a small, folded slip of paper between them.

"What?"

Regina only smirked, shrugging and indicating the paper. She turned and walked out of the room, leaving Emma to stare after her.

She looked down at the scrap of paper. Emma was printed neatly across the front. She unfolded it with one hand, unable to help the fire in her cheeks when she read the writing.

_317-555-0181._

_Your blushing was adorable, dear._

_I'm free tonight._


End file.

Once Upon a Time, Romance