Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Regina, come here. Say goodbye to your mother. I will be leaving soon." Cora called out for her daughter.

The brunette ran down the long hallway, her long fluffy dress bunched up in her hands.

She had been waiting for this day for months.

Today was the day her mother Lady Cora left the kingdom to deal with other royals for some unknown business for a whole year. Regina was overjoyed at the news. She didn't know what her mother would be doing and she didn't really care. She just wanted to have some alone time which her mother wasn't monitoring her every move. She didn't know what her mother was planning will affect her whole life.

Regina stopped running and paused to catch her breath. She woke up late to see her mother off because she couldn't sleep last night. She was too happy that sleep wouldn't come. Poor Tink got hit on the face from waking her up.

Regina looked up at her mother's disappointed look.

"Regina, a lady should never run." her mother sighed, frustrated that her daughter just couldn't follow her rules.

The girl nodded silently.

"Remember the rules, Regina?"

"Yes, mother. I am not allowed to leave the house. I should not do any unladylike behaviors. And no drinking."

"Good girl, now give your mother a goodbye kiss."

She leaned in to give her a peck on her cheek. Her mother got in the carriage, poking her head out to say goodbye to her only child.

"Goodbye, mother."

"Goodbye, Regina."

Seeing her mother got in the carriage helped Regina truly realized she would not be able to see her mother for a whole year. She hadn't been away from her mother for more than a week since the day she had born. She just wanted be free from her mother's strict supervision, not getting away from her mother completely. Tears gathered in her eyes, blurring her vision as she ran to the door of the carriage.

"I will be good, I promise." Regina sobbed, holding her mother's hand.

"Don't cry, silly. I will send you letter, my love." Patting her daughter on the head before ordering for the carriage to take off.

"Love you, mother." Regina waved her goodbye with tears in her eyes, standing there alone with her maid.

[x]

Regina had kept her promise and stayed at the house for three whole days, no funny business. Then she done all the forbidden unladylike things in the next three days, like riding, running and climbing trees. This morning, Regina finally got the letter from her mother, telling her they were safe and the usual thing.

"Don't do this, Regina. Don't do that, Regina. A lady should never be doing this." Regina mimicked her mother's voice, earning giggles from her maid, Tink.

After reading the letter, they had been laying in her bedchamber for the whole morning, doing nothing.

They sighed and rolled to their left on her big bed.

"Tink, it is so boring to stay in the house."

"I know, Gina."

They sighed again and rolled to their right on her big bed.

After another moment of silence, Regina sat up and suggested, raising one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows.

"Or we could sneak out."

"No, Lady Cora gave out the strict order that you could not leave the house until her return." Tink answered worriedly, terrified of the consequence if Cora found out.

"If you don't tell her, she would not know." Regina reassured her as if she could hear her thought.

"Also, all her informers had left with her this time." Regina added. "We are safe." Regina nodding her head, hoping to make it more convincing.

"I will be getting the blame for it if she found out." Tink muttered, still afraid of the consequence but the resistance has lessened.

"I would take all the blame. Let's go." Regina said with twinkling eyes and a mischievous smile.

[x]

It was summer and it was a hot summer, so they would like to spend time near the cool river that they had recently discovered. They were cooling off in the river with their clothes on right now. That was because they were playing by the river that morning and had gotten each other's dresses soaking in the process. Luckily, Tink had some blankets in her belongings.

"I heard that down the hills, a high ranked college had opened several months ago." Tink said, swimming closer to Regina.

"Finally, a proper college decided to join our territory." Regina said proudly.

"I have always wanted to go to college. Why girls can't get education like boys do?" she added as she sat on the big rock, enjoying the sudden breezes.

"Really?" Tink asked, not believing Regina would really want to study.

"So I could learn and make my mother proud. Marriage is not the only way to success." Regina stated like it was the obvious.

"Then why don't you just pay attention at your lessons?"

"Because those tutors are unknowledgeable, I have nothing to learn from them. Also, learning in a group can benefit me as I will be exposed to diverse viewpoints from people with varied backgrounds."

"Yes, learning is good. But you can't attend the college."

"Only if you were a boy." Tink added, huffing out a frustrated breath as she saw Regina getting angry.

"I-" Regina was speechless and defended at the situation. "Tink, I want some time alone."

Regina jumped in the water and swam down the river, wanting to get away from the feeling of helpless and constrained. Hoping swimming could help her forgetting all of this at the moment.

She loved her mother. She was the only family Regina had after her father had died many years ago. The heritage her father left them allowed them to maintain their affluent lifestyle. She could even gain a fortune once she got married.

But her mother thought that was not enough. She wanted Regina to marry to the royal, she wanted Regina to be Queen. That was what irritated her the most. She didn't want her marriage to be arranged. She didn't want her life to be controlled.

Too tired to continue, Regina rested on the side of the river. Lying there and catching her breath, she noticed she had swum past their explored area. The surrounding was unfamiliar. She stood up and looked around the area.

A breeze stirred the trees, making her shiver in her wet clothes. Her wet white dress had become transparent.

She turned around as she heard the sound of a bush moving.

Was there someone hiding behind the bush?

When her gaze landed on the bush behind her, she saw a young man about her age, around seventeen to eighteen tripped out of it.

His emerald green eyes looking straight at her chocolate brown one. Warmth spread throughout the brunette's body and her heart beat sped up. Her eyes bored into his for a long moment as though they were the only two in the world. Then she noticed the beautiful man had lowered his line of sight, then up to her face brushing.

When she saw him looking anywhere but her, she looked down herself and noticed the see-through effect of her wet clothes.

"You sick pervert." she yelled at the man. Simultaneously, Regina grabbed the ten something stones that were laying on the ground nearby, throwing at him frantically.

"How dare you spying on me!"

"Hey! Stop! I haven't been spying on you. I was here washing clothes." his voice was not loud enough for Regina to hear as she was in her attack mode.

He tried to protect himself from the flying stones desperately with his arms and hands as the shield. But that was to no use. He would guess the girl had been practicing how to throw stones at him. Despite the stones were not particularly big, it still hurt so much as they hit all the right places. He was not prepared for the sudden attack and that one particular throw hurt him the most. He dropped to his knees, crying out in pain, holding his crotch. Then the second one went straight to his forehead. He was defended and let his head fell back and hit the ground.

At the same time, she went out of stones. Regina turned around and jumped back to the water, like the little mermaid.

The adrenaline helped Regina swim back to Tink. Successfully protected herself from the man, she opened her mind to an absurd thought.

"I can just dress like a boy to attend college. No one will know."

"That's crazy."

"Not if we keep staying in the house."

[x]

"I have paid for my own room." Regina argued in a low voice.

"No one gets his own room here. Moreover, we are too crowd here this year." The lazy faculty ignored Regina's protests.

"Who do you think you are? Your own room?" He poked her shoulder blade and his eye narrowed.

Regina covered her chest with her hands, being forced to step backwards into the room.

"Just stay out of trouble." The man slammed the door in her face.

Regina was angry, stomping her feet on the floor like a child. Confused at first, she looks around the room and found that there was only one bed in the room and it was OCCUPIED.

"What the hell?" Regina had had enough, she said to herself before storming over to the man sleeping soundly on the bed.

"That is my bed!" She yelled, attacking the sleeping man with one of the pillows.

"What? There is no name on the bed." The man mumbled and stood up from the beds, rubbing his eyes half naked. His beautiful blonde hair, messy from sleeping.

She blushed and turned away, rarely saw a half-naked man before.

When she glanced up and saw his face, her mood had changed dramatically.

"On my god. It's you, pervert." She said as she recognized the man, throwing all the pillows at him simultaneously.

"What? No! Not again." Out of instinct, the blonde covered his head with both arms to shield it.

When both pillows were thrown, the young man looked at Regina confused.

"Wait, how do you know I have been called pervert?"

"You looked like one." She said, almost forgot to lower her voice.

"Wait, you looked like that beautiful but crazy girl."

The boy furrowed his brow and narrowed his eye at the girl and the girl did the same. Regina noticed several bruises covered a good portion of his head and arms.

"Are you-" Still narrowing his eyes, the blonde walked closer to Regina to examine her. His eyes slowly started to study her features. Regina had cross-dressed and changed her hairstyle to look like a boy. Underneath the uniform, she had a garment clung tightly to her body to hide her breast. But if you looked closely, you could still see the breast slightly emerging from the chest area. "Her brother?"

"Yes. We are twins." Regina answered, relieved that the dumb man didn't know that the one standing right in front of him and that girl were one in the same.

"I knew it." The blonde grinned while sitting on the bed, feeling rather proud of himself.

"Stay out of my bed!"

"What makes you think it is yours and not mine?"

"There is only one bed, so this is mine, you can sleep on the floor."

"No, no, no, I have earned my stay here, I will sleep on the bed."

"But there is only one bed." Regina said in a small voice, feeling helpless.

"The bed is big enough to sleep two people."

"No, we cannot sleep together."

"Why? It will just for one night. I think they will probably get us another one tomorrow."

"Because..."

"Because what? Now you act like her too. You two are so weird."

"It's not like I will take advantage of you in your sleep. I am not a pervert." He said, holding his hands up as surrender.

"Just sleep, okay? I need to get up early tomorrow, good night." Seeing no sign from the other, the blonde asked softly and laid down on left side of the big bed.

Regina just stood there for a long moment and he sat up reluctantly.

"What do you want?" He was tired and irritated and he just wanted to sleep.

"I..."

"I will not touch you, okay?" Shaking his head and sighed heavily, he added as an idea hit him. "Let me grab something."

Her eyes followed him, wondering what he was doing. He had grabbed a bowl and poured some water in it.

"This is a bowl of water." He held out the said bowl to Regina, letting her see the inside of it. "I now put it in the middle of the bed. Who spill the water out will get punched, fair enough, right?"

Regina gave this a thought. He seemed serious and he looked like he just wanted some sleep. Moreover, he didn't know Regina was a girl. She got on the bed and laid down on the right side. She was nervous, whole body tense, her heart pounding like crazy.

She had never shared a bed with anyone before, not to mention a man.

He saw the other person finally agreed to sleep, the blonde man laid down as well and soon he felt sleep take over him.

With her eyes closed, Regina felt the man had drifted off to sleep again. She opened her eyes and saw that he had kicked off the blanket, revealing his naked half.

His body was so fascinating. Her eyes roamed over the muscles on his chest, arms, and stomach. She was intrigued to those magnificent lines decorated his toned chest and stomach, outlining every single one of his muscles. Her line of sight traced the lines of his well-defined six packs up and down his stomach.

Regina didn't notice she had been hovering over the man until the man was stirring in his sleep. She quickly leaned back down on her side, almost spilling the water out of the bowl.

He must felt cold as he pulled back the blanket, and had turned to his side facing her in his sleep. She could smell his scent due to the proximity. It was intoxicating and she knew she would never forget even after a century.

Sleep was the furthest thing from Regina's mind at the moment. After several minutes of struggles, she turned to her side to face the man.

He sure was the most handsome man she had seen ever, even with the bruises. She knew that the second she saw him. The golden blonde hair that will shined under the light. Those now closed big emerald eyes with long eyelashes that had captivated her and made her heart beat faster right from the start. His nose was beautifully sculpted and his thin lips looked so soft that she wanted to kiss them. She wet her own lips and starred at his. She dragged the tip of her tongue along her lips, thinking of what it would be like to kiss the man.

She had urged to touch him. She had urged to kiss him. But she controlled herself. She could not complicate her situation at the college.

She rolled back to lay on her back. Closing her eyes, she hoped sleep will come soon. And it did, she fell into sleep after several minutes and she was sleeping soundly like the one on her side. It had been a long day after all.

Chapter Text

Some unusual sounds woke Regina from her peaceful sleep. All servants should know not to disturb her sleep. Who could it be? She still had her eyes closed because she didn't want to wake up yet. She groaned and pulled the sheet up to cover her head, blocking the too bright sunlight and the noises.

Rolling around in the bed some more, Regina sat up in a non-familiar bed. Panicked crept at the edge of her mind when she remembered where she was. Her heart was pounding as she turned to the bowl at her side.

"Thank god, nothing happened." The girl exhaled a breath of release, holding her hand to her chest over her racing heart after she saw the bowl of water was still sitting there untouched.

"Does this looks like nothing had happened to you?"

The brunette looked up to the sound. She saw him, the man she had shared her bed with last night, rushing to stand in front of her and pointing at his serious black eye. A new addition to his injuries.

"What happened?" The girl asked, wide chocolate brown starring at him, clearly terrified. She then crawled closer to him to have a closer look on his injury.

"You tell me. You did this." The boy accused, like it should be obvious.

"Me?" Regina asked in shock, index finger in her right hand pointing to herself.

She was kneeling right in front of him with no other person in the room but she still needed to make sure there was no misunderstanding. This news was quite hard for her to take because she believed she hadn't done anything this time.

"Yes. You." Emmett pointed the same finger in his hand to the same direction. The person in front of him had rendered speechless so he continued, "You looked like you are practicing for a fight in your sleep, punching and kicking."

Regina had never shared a bed with anyone before so she wouldn't know if she had moved in her sleep.

"Luckily we just need to share the bed for a night." The blonde pouted.

Regina couldn't help but laugh. The look on his face is quite funny. The tall strong man stood right in front of him with these bruises on his face, pouting like a child.

"What so funny?" Emmett asked his classmate before hitting said person on the butt.

Regina yelped out in surprise.

"You did not just hit me on the butt." She asked through gritted teeth. "You cannot touch me." She yelled at the man.

"What? We agreed we get punched only if we spill the water." He defeated himself, not knowing why his classmate were making such a big deal out of this.

"And you have punched me in the eyes." He continued with his finger pointing to the black eye to emphasize. "Twice."

"Why can't I now? That was just a little payback." His voice was getting smaller and smaller as he saw his roommate, teeth gritting and eyes flashing in anger.

Regina laid back down on her side of the bed with her back to him, giving him a time out.

Emmett saw his roommate didn't want to talk to him anymore, he went back to do what he had been doing before their conversation began. Once his preparation for the morning class was done, he was ready to leave.

"You know where the classroom is, right?"

"Yes, they showed me around yesterday." Regina answered without turning over.

"Great. See you later then." Emmett gave his roommate a smile before he could stop himself. He shrugged and went outside.

"Is it a bit early for class now? I thought the class wouldn't start for at least an hour." Regina said, stopping him. She had sat up on the bed and looked at the man's leaving form.

"Yes but I have stuffs to do. See you." This time, the blonde could finish his words with a smile that could be seen by the other.

After Emmett left the room, Regina buried her head in the pillow with a loud groan of frustration. She hadn't think it through before executing the plan. She didn't know what it means by going to college. She just wanted to learn to upgrade herself, a way she believed that could help her to escape her destiny.

Now, she hadn't even start learning anything and she had already got a problem here.

After she done preparing for the day and eaten a small breakfast, the girl found that it was still early for class. She decided that she would go meet Tink before the class started.

[x]

Regina didn't know why her feet brought her to the classroom instead, it would not hurt to have a look around before the class started. So, she walked inside to inspect the room. There was no one in sight since it was still early.

As she walked further inside the room, she finally spotted the person she knew she would find there.

The blonde was lying under a desk, tools in hands. Maybe he was fixing it, she didn't know.

"Hey!" Emmett greeted her with a bright smile. He got up from under the desk, patting his hands on his pants to wipe off the dust.

"Hey!" Regina greeted back awkwardly.

"What are you doing here? It was still early." He asked, his smile never left his face.

"It is my first day of school so I thought maybe I should look around."

"Cool."

"What are you doing here?" Regina asked.

"Just finished fixing that one." Emmett pointed to that desk, then turned his direction to his left. "Then, I will go sort those books on the shelf."

Regina followed him to the bookshelf and hopped on a nearby desk. She put her hands behind her and leaned back a little on the desk, swinging her legs back and forth.

"Why are you doing this? Are you on duty?"

"No." Emmett turned and answered her with a shake of his head.

"Are these your punishments?" Sarcastic remarks in her mouth, ready to be burst out.

Emmett chuckled on the question. "Funny but no."

"I either work here or pay school fee." He added.

"Then why don't you just pay school fee?"

"Maybe because I am poor?" Emmett answered with a smile before shaking his head. Didn't know why he was being asked the obvious.

Regina's mouth had opened but nothing came out. The rich girl didn't have this kind of problems so she didn't expect the answer.

They fell into comfortable silent as Regina watched him do his work. Her gaze would fix on his contracted arm muscles whenever the blonde lift those heavy books.

People started entering the room as the class was about to start. Emmett finished his work on time and settled in the last row. Regina followed suit, taking the empty seat on his right. She was nervous, so her tactic would be following the only one she knew there.

When everyone had settled in, the teacher greeted his students and introduced the new student to the class.

"Class. Please welcome our new student, Daniel."

Regina abruptly stood up after moments of silence to remember she was Daniel.

Everyone clapped their hands, including Emmett. He leaned over to whisper to the new student.

"You don't look like a Daniel to me."

Once Regina sat back down, she whispered back playfully "Then what do you think my real name is?"

"Regardless, just not Daniel."

There was that one split second that Regina thought he knew her name. But that was just silly. How would he know?

"What about your sister? What is her name?"

"Why would you want to know?"

The blonde blushed, lifting up his hand to rub at the back of his neck, feeling nervous all of a sudden. His nose scrunched up when he tried to answer. "Um, I- I am just curious!?" Hoping this answer was enough to get the name from Daniel.

"Regina." The "twin brother" told him.

"It is a beautiful name."

Emmett gave her a bright smile and Regina gave him a small one in return.

Regina glanced at him many times during the class but the blonde didn't know because his full attention was on his teacher.

[x]

When the class was over, the blonde told Regina that they should talk to the faculty to procure an additional bed for their room. They found the head of faculty in the administration office.

"Mr. Spencer, our room need another bed." Emmett asked a serious looking man.

"Your room?" the man looked at the blonde like he had three heads, wondering what he was talking about.

"Yes, the room I share with Daniel." Emmett answered, pointing to Regina.

"That's me, I am Daniel." Regina added awkwardly with an awkward smile.

"You have no room here, Emmett. You can barely cover your school fee by working here. Why do you think you have a room here?" the faculty told him.

"Leroy said that. He said I could share that room if I work harder, doing all the chores and admin works in the kitchen." Emmett retorted.

"You have been fooled, boy. He just wants someone to do his work for him."

"But he promised me."

"He is not representing me."

"But-"

"Just stay out of trouble, Emmett. You are lucky you got to study here." Mr. Spenser interrupted his further arguments and burst his bubble of hope to sleep in an actual bed

Emmett walked away dejected. Before Regina could go after him, Tink stopped her by pulling her to the canteen.

"Come, Regina. It's already lunch time. You should eat."

[x]

Although the food was not as good as her usual but the meal was still a good one, also a big one. Types of meats, vegetables and fruits. There was no way Regina could eat all of them. Sitting across from Tink, Regina could see everyone was eyeing them. They were a strange sight to them. A boy brought his handmaiden with him instead of his valet.

When their lunches were about to finish, Regina saw Emmett arrived and grabbed his own lunch which was only spaghetti.

Emmett saw Regina and gave her an apologetic smile before saying his sorry.

"Sorry for last night, I didn't know. Sorry!"

Before the blonde walked away, Regina stopped him.

"Wait. I have too much meat here. Do you want some?"

"If you don't eat them, we better not let them go to waste." Emmett reasoned for himself before sitting down next to Regina.

Tink had been watching their exchange, she had lots of questions for Regina later.

Emmett ate his lunch like he was trying to shove the food down his throat. Regina was surprised he didn't choke. Before she could protest, he had already eaten her apple. He had clear up their plates in record time.

"Who are you?" Emmett finally noticed Tink.

"Tink is my maid." Regina told him.

"Why would you have a girl servant?" Then he pulled a disgusted face. "Is she your concubine?"

"No, of course not." Regina and Tink both answered.

Emmett exhaled in a sigh of relief. He turned to Regina to apologize again.

"I am really sorry about last night. The bed is yours and I forced you to share it with me. Will you forgive me?"

Tink had yanked Regina away from the canteen before they could talk more. But Regina managed to nod her forgiveness to the blonde and had received a warm smile in return.

"Where are we going, Tink?" Regina asked after stopping them while fixing her uniform.

Tink looked at her with wide eyes.

"Where are we going? I am taking you home."

"No. I won't leave. What's going on?"

"What's going on? You shared your bed with a man."

"Shhh. Keep it down, Tink. Follow me." Regina lead Tink to her room, not wanting anyone to overheard their conversation.

[x]

Inside the room, Regina tried to reason with Tink on why she needed to stay in the college.

"I told you this is a bad idea."

"No, I did learn something today. What I learned from my first lesson here was way more than those tutors had taught me all these years. We both know too well what they have been teaching me. For goodness sake, they just teach me how to be a better wife."

She firmly believed that knowledge can change people's life, that was what drove her to admit to the college at the first place.

"I have to study here." Regina had made up her mind and her decision was final.

"But staying here, you have to sleep with a man."

"Tink, don't say it like that. I just shared the bed with him, not slept with him. Moreover, it was just for one night. Emmett will not be sharing this room anymore."

She could see Tink released a relieved breath.

"Okay then. It's not like I can stop you anyways."

"That's why you are my favorite." Regina told Tink with a smile while hugging the girl. It had elicited a smile from Tink too.

"This room is not too bad, better than mine." Tink said after inspecting Regina's room. "The bed is almost as big as yours back home but not as soft."

Regina didn't care about the room and the bed as long as she got to stay here.

They talked a little bit more about their discoveries of the college before Tink left.

[x]

They didn't have class that afternoon so Regina wandered around the campus, trying to get familiar with the place.

Walking across the playground, she saw a small cabin in the distance. She asked a student nearby about the cabin and the boy told her that the cabin was used to store cleaning tools. When she was about to change her walking direction to leave the playground, she saw Emmett hastening across the green field to the cabin with a boom and a bucket in hands.

With curiosity, Regina got to the cabin to see the boy even though it was getting dark. Once Regina got to the front door of the cabin, she was faced with Emmett who was getting out of it.

"Hey." Emmett greeted her with a cheerful smile.

"Hey."

"What are you doing here? It is for storage only. Are you trying to get back to your room? It's getting late." Emmett asked with a tilt of his head.

"What are you doing here then?"

"I can't be your roommate anymore, so this cabin will be my room again." The boy gave her a closed mouth smile.

"Can I see?" Regina asked.

"Sure."

Emmett lead his former roommate inside the cabin. The cabin was small, around 10 feet long. It was completely made out of logs. One side of the cabin was filled with cleaning tools, like she was told. On the other side of the room, she found not a piece of furniture there, not even a bed. Regina furrowed her perfectly brows.

"Where is your bed?"

"This one is my bed. I made it with leaves and various grasses. On top of it, I put on some towels. It is nice." Emmett said, pointing to the towels on the ground. "Talking about my bed had made me want to sleep."

Emmett yawned and stretched his arm. His shirt had ridden up, revealing his toned abs.

Eyeing Emmett's makeshift bed, Regina was shocked. She knew that the blonde without the room, his sleeping condition would be bad, but not like this.

"I should probably get you back. It's getting dark outside." Emmett said, lighting the handheld lamp.

Regina didn't say anything, she just let him guide them back to her room. They walked in silence. Sometimes, Emmett would hold her in place when she tripped. That just drew out some smile exchange between them, not a word had slipped through their lips.

When they got to the room, Regina invited him in.

"Like you said, the bed is big enough for both of us. I can share it with you if you want." Regina suggested, shrugging her shoulders.

His eyes wide as he took the news. Emmett was touched by Regina's offer. He wrapped Regina in his arms tightly.

"You are the best. Thank you for the super awesome late birthday present." A frozen Regina heard he said to her. Did he say his birthday?

"You are now officially my best friend." Emmett said, holding her upper arms after releasing her from the embrace.

Her arms hurt as his holding was a little too strong, more like squeezing.

"But you had to promise me not to touch me in my sleep." Regina said while stroking her left arm to soothe the aching muscles.

"Sure. Whatever you want." Emmett accepted the rule before running to the bed.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Regina woke up alone in bed. It was quite early but Emmett had already left. The water was still in the bowl so nothing needed to be worried about. They had talked last night before sleep took over. Both lying in bed, staring up at the celling. Although it was just Emmett mostly do the talking while Regina laid besides him and listened to his nonsense babbling, the brunette listened intently to stories of him doing stupid things.

She laughed at his idiotic behaviors. Every time he turned to her to return her smile, her heart skipped a beat. She turned back to stare at the ceiling right away. She needed to calm down or sleep would never come to her. Soon, the talking died down as the man had fell asleep. She turned to her side, head resting on her folded hands, watching him sleep peacefully under the moon light. She loved watching his face, so relaxed while deep in sleep. Then she closed her own eyes, and the smile never left her face, listening to his light breathing until she succumbed to sleep as well.

Getting out of bed, she started her day like the day before. From the experience she had yesterday, she needed to be super early or super late at night if she wanted to use the bathroom alone. Of course she could use Tink's bathroom but it would be a bit far away.

"Shit." The milk got spilled on her shirt when her mind traveling through the memories of the past few days. She was having her breakfast in the room after her trip to the bathroom. She tried to clean it with the towel in hand but that didn't change the fact that she needed a new shirt. She didn't want to go back to the bathroom because it would be crowded now. Without better option, she took off her shirt in the room to change it.

Just her luck, someone opened the door when she was naked from the waist above. She swiftly grabbed the blanket from the bed and draped it over her shoulders to cover her body before Emmett could see anything.

"Why are you holding the blanket?" Emmett asked curiously while grabbing books from the shelf.

Seeing Regina had not moved from her spot, Emmett walked to her, putting down the books on the table on his way. Regina walked backwards until her back hit the wall. Her grip on the blanket got tighten. When he reached out his hand to her, she was about to kick him in the crotch to protect herself.

"Are you alright?" He extended his palm to check her forehead then her cheek. "No, not fever."

The warmth of his touch lingered on her face. Startled at his caring touches, she let her composure slipped and gasped. Regina cleared her throat as she tried to regain her compose.

"I am fine. I am just changing my clothes."

"Then why are you still holding the blanket? Hurry, the class is about to start." Emmett pulled the blanket from her and Regina tightened her hold, struggling to keep the blanket.

"I like to get change in private." She said anxiously.

She rose her left perfectly defined eyebrow at him when Emmett didn't release the blanket right away. Her head nodded to the door, signaling him to leave.

"Oh, okay."

That seemed strange but okay, maybe rich people did that. He didn't know what difference would it make if he changed his shirt in private since they were both men. But that was none of his business and he didn't really care. So after the blonde raised an eyebrow at her and shrugged it off with his shoulders, he released her blanket. He walked around the room to gather their books as he intended to do before he entered the room.

"I will see you in the classroom then." Emmett said and gave her a smile before walking outside, closing the door behind him.

Regina exhaled a breath of relief. Was it wrong to share the room with him? No, that was the right thing to do. But, she didn't know how to tell Tink about it.

[x]

Her brows fell into deep furrow as Regina tilted her head. She stared at the man, his mouth moving, hissing out words that she did not understand.

No, she knew the meaning of every words her teacher said but after combining it, it made no sense to her. She was lost. She didn't understand a single thing he was saying. She hadn't heard of anything about this subject before.

Emmett seemed to notice her trouble, he slid his notes to her.

"I can help you if you want." Looking at her, Emmett told her with a smile.

She read the notes and it was surprisingly good. It was well organized, neat and easy to read. She read pages of the notes and found that all the main points were captured. She was starting to understand a bit of the class by reading the notes from its very beginning.

The school bell rang for lunch and all the students hurried towards the doors. Emmett got up from his seat, stretching his arms.

"Finally." He muttered.

Regina had been reading the notes the entire class. His voice brought her back to the present. She looked up from the notes and turned right to Emmett.

"Lunch already?" Regina asked.

His smile was embarrassed as his stomach growled audibly right after her question.

"Yeah. I am hungry." Emmett answered, blushing while rubbing his stomach.

[x]

"Good afternoon, Miss Fisher." Emmett said cordially.

"Emmett, I told you to call me Sarah."

"Good afternoon, Sarah." He said with a bright smile.

"Good afternoon, Emmett." Sarah returned his smile.

Sarah Fisher was the one and only female faculty in this college. She was the part time kitchen staff who adored Emmett. She liked his personality, nice, charming and hardworking. She also had a weakness for his heart-melting smile.

Emmett adored Miss Fisher, too. When she was on duty, Emmett would always get a big meal for lunch instead of the leftover.

Standing beside Emmett, Regina grimaces at the sight of the greasy food, watching in disgust as the beautiful woman in front of them filled up Emmett's plate with a large pile of unhealthy food. She could not believe anyone would like to eat that until she turned to look at the boy.

His eyes widened and sparkling with happiness, like a child about to get his sweets.

"You like eating that?" Regina asked him with a disgusted face. She didn't know how he can maintain his toned body eating all these fat, greasy foods.

"These are Emmett's favorite food." Sarah answered her with a chuckle. "Who are you? I haven't seen you before."

"He is Daniel. The new student and my best friend." Emmett answered proudly while receiving the plate from Sarah. "Thank you, Sarah." He said with a thankful smile. Emmett nodded his head to thank her again before leaving. She caught him smiling brightly at his lunch on his way out, satisfied at the meal.

Sarah gave Regina a look over.

"Look at you, you are too thin and short. You need to eat more."

"No. No. No. I am not eating that."

"I am not gonna give you those greasy foods. How about some vegetables and chicken meat?"

"Yes, thank you."

Grabbing her plate, she turned and saw Emmett had already sat down in one of the table, across from Tink. Bright smiles on their face as they talked enthusiastically. Watching them talking and smiling to each other, she had this strange feeling stirring in her chest. She walked to them and sat down besides Tink.

"Hello, Regina." Tink greeted, still smiling.

"'s brother, Daniel." Regina added. Tink looked down to her plate, avoiding her glare.

Regina looked at Emmett to see if he caught the slip. The answer was no. He was too busy preparing to devour his lunch, oblivious to the world surrounding him.

"Shall we?" Regina asked once she picked up the spoon.

Once again, he was shoving his lunch down his throat like he hadn't been eaten for days. He was starving. He was just waiting for everyone to be ready. He was like the most furious competitor in the race, already gotten the 'On your mark' signal. He had crouched down on the line with his bum in the air, waiting for the starter pistol fire.

"He's cute." Tink leaned close to her and whispered.

"He's not." Regina said, annoyed at her comment. She didn't know why, but Tink feeling the same as her about the blonde was bothering her.

"Don't act like you are not attracted to him."

"I am not."

Tink lifted her left unamused eyebrow at Regina.

"I mean, look at him." Regina tried to defend herself, hands stretching in front of her to present the man sitting across from them to support her counter argument.

"He's stuffing his face with his lunch like a chipmunk." Which Regina found it to be extremely cute.

"Sorry." The chipmunk apologized.

Since Regina was no longer whispering, he could hear what she said. He swallowed the food in his mouth, then wiped his mouth clean. He started eating like a gentleman instead of a chipmunk, slower and politer.

"He's totally your type." Tink said in her ear. They were back to the whispering.

"No." Regina insisted, still denying her attraction to the blonde.

"You always drawn to good looking blondes."

"I don't like blonde."

"Really? I am blonde and you like me."

Regina rolled her eyes at the unblushing statement.

"I am going to town tomorrow. Is there anything you want me to buy for you?" Emmett asked them, smiling contently from finishing the big meal. Today was a good day for him, not much work and a big lunch. Despite he had slowed down in the middle of it, he could still finish his meal in record time.

"Going to town?" Regina asked, interested from the information.

"Yeah, to buy some supplies for the college." Emmett then asked his classmate with hopeful eyes. "You want to come with me? It could be fun."

"If you insist." she said while shrugging, still acting like she wasn't interested in the blonde man in front of her friend.

"Yes." He replied, giving Regina a charming smile that made her heart flutter and saw butterflies.

Her reaction to the smile was not lost to Tink. She liked his smile, too. But she would not stare at him like Regina did.

"I know the best bakery in town. They sell the most delicious apple pie ever. You must try them." He told her excitedly.

"Sure." Regina answered with equal excitement because she was eager to have their little adventure.

"You want to come as well?" Emmett asked Tink with the same amount of eagerness.

"Nah." Tink rejected with a shake of head.

"Okay." Emmett shrugged.

"I don't want to be the third wheel here." Tink whispered in her ear again.

Regina not so accidentally step on Tink's foot elicited a scream from the injured girl.

"Are you okay?" he asked the girl in pain worriedly.

"Yes." She answered after receiving a scowl from her friend. "I just remembering something."

"What is it?"

"Regina loves apple pie."

"She does?" Emmett asked, happy that he had something in common with the brunette.

"Yes." She said while nodding.

"Daniel, we must buy her some then. I am sure she will love them because they taste really good. Like really good." Emmett told his best friend, closing his eyes at the end of the sentence and smiling as he was lingering at the memories of tasting the tasty dessert.

"Of course." Tink confirmed, then lowered her voice to mutter. "Regina will love whatever you give her."

Regina gave her a side eye as she said "Eat your lunch, Tink."

[x]

"So, I heard you said you just had your birthday last night." Regina asked.

"Yes, I am 18 now." Emmett said proudly.

After lunch, they decided to have a walk around the playground since the class would not start for another thirty minutes. Tink had used some lame excuses to leave them alone, said her lunch was too much for her and now she was too full to do anything for the next few hours.

"Enjoy your date with the chipmunk." Tink had told Regina before the maid ran from her friend's attack.

"My birthday is the day before yesterday. The day I met you and your sister."

"Oh. You've had quite a birthday." Quite a birthday she gave him. The bruises were still visible on his face and arms. She had been regretting that she had hit him that hard, leaving all these marks on his beautiful face.

"Meeting you two is the best birthday present I got this year." Emmett said sincerely.

"Even though we hit you."

"Yes."

"Because you don't have any presents this year."

"You got me." He laughed.

They sat down on a nearby bench, watching their classmates played catch. The young man in the middle was blindfolded, and had to catch the others. Before he could start, the blindfolded person was being spun around until he was disoriented.

A sudden breeze brew through the air. October weather was setting in, and at the open area like the playground, it could be quite cold. Regina shivered as she felt the cold breeze sweep over her. However, she didn't have her coat with her. She had rushed out of the room that morning so she wouldn't be late for class. She shivered again when she felt another cool breeze blow past them.

"Are you cold? You can have my coat." Emmett took off his coat right away and hand it over to her.

"Thanks."

She put on the coat which was a bit too big for her. She felt warm and comfortable wearing it.

"Having trouble at class this morning?"

She nodded sadly.

"I understand it could be hard for you to catch up as you just transferred here. It may take some time to settle in. But I believe you will overcome it eventually. Don't worry."

"Thank you."

"I can help you to catch up in classes." Emmett smiled at her.

"That would be great." Regina gave him a grateful smile.

After several moments of silence, Emmett turned his head to his left again to ask her.

"When is your birthday?"

"6th March."

Emmett nodded his head while he calculated.

"That would be around 4 mouths from today."

"Right." She answered absentminded.

Emmett looked at her, stared into her beautiful chocolate brown eyes, and she stared back at him, neither moving or making a sound. Regina felt like his green eyes can stare into her soul.

"How come you two have the same eyes?" He asked softly.

"We're twins, what do you expect?" She answered with a tight smile.

"You two have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen." Emmett breathed, getting lost in those eyes again.

Regina blushed at the words that were directed at her. Her heart was thumping like crazy, and she was getting all flustered. She stood up abruptly and started walking back to the classroom.

Her reaction snapped him out of the trance, he followed her silently, not understanding what just happened.

The grabbing hands were reaching for Regina when Emmett pulled her by the wrist and kept her behind him. The grabbing hands of the blindfolded person reached for Emmett instead. He felt Emmett's face and body, like he was trying to guess who he is.

"I am Emmett, Killian. Go catch someone else."

Killian yanked off the blindfold, looked at the man in front of him.

Was that a yearning look? How could he? No, why would he look at Emmett like that?

Regina felt like she should stop this- thing. Nothing had actually happened but she felt like she couldn't stand it anymore. It felt like ages to Regina even through the whole exchange just lasted for a few seconds only.

"Emmett, let's go. The class is about to start." Regina didn't know the time actually but she had to get her best friend away as soon as possible. She pulled on his arm, trying to get him to walk with her.

"Okay." Emmett answered, still oblivious to what just happened.

Chapter Text

"DANIEL!"

"Who's Daniel?" She murmured sleepily.

"Daniel, wake up!" Emmett shook her shoulders desperately, trying to bring her back from the dreamland.

"Daniel, wake up already. I need to sleep." She murmured, agreeing with him unwittingly.

Regina pushed Emmett away and turned to her side, curling up in a ball and pulling up the cover to block the shouting.

"What are you talking about?" He said, furrowing his brows. "Wake up! I don't want to walk."

Still receiving no signs of waking up from his sleepy friend, he had to try something else.

"Sorry, Daniel. I have to do this." Emmett told his roommate before pulling away the cover.

"Ugh!" Regina cried out when the young man grabbed her hand and dragged her out of bed.

"What the hell is going on?" The girl yelled at her friend while standing up and fixing her clothes.

"Hurry, we have to catch Sarah's carriage or we will need to walk on our own." The blonde explained urgently.

"To where?" Regina asked confused and annoyed, still not yet fully awake.

"The town. I told you yesterday, remember?"

"Right." She nodded, finally understand what all the fuss was about.

"Hurry up!"

"Okay." The lady muttered, going through her morning routine as fast as she could.

[x]

"Just one more minute." The beautiful blonde woman pleaded.

"Can't do, lady." The chauffeur shook his head, refused to wait for another minute. It was not because he was being rude or something like that. He would like to wait as well, but not today. "I have a tight schedule today. Sorry!"

They turned their heads when they both heard someone shouting, running towards them from the college.

"Miss Fisher!" Emmett shouted while running for his life. "Miss Fisher, wait!"

"He's here! He's here." Sarah told the man who was about to start the carriage excitingly.

Emmett hold on to the door frame panting. He finally got to the carriage by running with all his energy. It was totally worth it because now he didn't need to walk for three hours to get to town.

"Thank you. Thank you." He gulped in a breath before rushing on, thanking the two people there. They gave him a genuine smile, happy for him that he could catch the ride.

Emmett turned to check on his roommate a moment later and found the other person was getting close, so he got in first.

"Daniel is coming with me today." The blonde told them while sitting down across from Sarah, taking up the seat that was closer to the door.

When Regina got in the carriage, the chauffeur started the ride immediately to catch up on the lost time. She moved pass Emmett, trying to get to her seat next to the blonde.

Debris on the road caused the carriage to rock. Regina couldn't stand still in the transport and fell onto the blonde. She fell to sit on his laps side way, turning to him with wide eyes as their faces were only a few inches apart.

"Be careful or you will get hurt." Emmett leaned back a little to tell her with that small smile on his handsome face. He then picked her up to move the stiffed Regina to her seat. "You are so tiny. You should eat more."

"Even Miss-" He added after looking over the two people around him.

"Sarah." Sarah interrupted, correcting his form of address again.

"Right, Sarah. Even Sarah is taller than you."

Regina hadn't been listening since the fall. This was the closet their faces had gotten to each other and they almost kissed. If Regina had sat a little bit closer or her head turned a little bit wider, her precious first kiss, that her mother made sure she wouldn't hand it over so causally, would have given to the man by accident.

Her heart was beating fast, a little bit too fast, like a thousand times faster. Regina believed that she might die from this or at least pass out. The sudden close proximity made her flustered and turned her into a statue.

Had spending time with the brunette for the last few days, Emmett had gotten use to Regina ignoring him, so he could easily shrug it off when he received no response from the brunette.

But not Sarah, she could see through Regina's sudden mood change and the reason of it. Sarah and Emmett had changed the topic of conversation shortly after the silence brought by a disconnected Regina. The blonde had successfully and unintentionally brought some laughers to Sarah. The woman enjoyed talking to him and her focus was mainly on him until she noticed something, something Regina had forgotten to hide.

When they finally arrived town, Emmett thanked them once again before getting out of the carriage. Regina followed his lead and was about to alight. Sarah stopped her by the hand on her arm. When the girl turned to her, Sarah reached out to fix Regina's clothes.

"We don't want everyone to know your secret identity, do we?" Sarah said while adjusting her out of place clothes to hide her undergarments better.

"I..." Regina opened her mouth, trying to explain or cover up. But she stopped herself right away as the woman had clearly knew the truth.

"All good." The woman told the girl with a kind smile after she finished her task a moment later. "Don't worry, I wouldn't tell anyone."

"Thank you."

"You are welcome."

After returning the smile, Regina got out of the carriage swiftly before the blonde barged in and overhead anything. After both students waving off the woman, they started their little adventure in town.

It started by Emmett pulling the girl to the bakery for the best apple pie he had ever tasted.

[x]

As they walked through town to get to the bakery, Regina felt a small hand holding her index finger on the right hand. She stopped and looked down. She saw a little girl dozing off, her free small hand was holding a candy stick.

"Then turn right." Emmett said, walking a few steps in front of Regina. He turned around when he noticed his friend was not by his side. Then he saw the two-year-old.

"Mommy, I am tired. Carry me." the little brunette whined, rubbing her eye.

The candy had long forgotten and dropped to the floor near her little feet. The little girl held out her arms to Regina, requesting to get carry. She whined with eyes half closed, indeed too tired to walk.

Emmett picked the sleepy child up and cradled her against his chest. The cute little girl instantly wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulder, face buried in the crook of his neck. She found comfort in his warm and fell asleep right away.

"Come on, mommy. Let's find her other parents." He teased Regina with the baby koala in his arms.

"You are the one holding her." Regina pointed out.

"That's because I don't think mommy can carry her." Emmett said, grinning as he continued, "I am quite certain that a stronger breeze would have blown you away."

"Yeah, right." Regina rolled her eyes at him before saying, "Now hurry up, daddy. I thought we are supposed to bring her back to her parents."

They found the girl's parents at a diner. They had been looking for their daughter after she ran away in the market. They wanted to thank Emmett and Regina with a nice amount of reward money but Emmett rejected right away. The parents thanked them again before going home with their sleeping child.

[x]

"It is not that great." Regina commented quietly when Emmett stuck his face into the pie. They were sitting across each other at the table in the bakery, eating the apple pie that Emmett had strongly recommended. They had ordered two pieces of pie for each of them for breakfast when they finally got to the shop.

The girl who worked for the bakery came outside from the kitchen once she knew Emmett was there.

"Emmett!" She said excitedly, running to him.

"Elsa!" Emmett greeted back with his bright smile that Regina didn't want to share with anyone. The girl sat down beside him, too close together almost clinging. He subtly moved to add some space between them when Elsa kept invading his personal space. He gave up when he was sitting on the edge of the wooden bench. Elsa pulled out a handkerchief, wanting to clear up the jam from his face but the young man grabbed it right away from her hand and cleaned his face by himself with a tight smile, feeling a little bit embarrassed that he had to bother people to help him to clean his own face.

"Who are you?" The blonde girl asked when she saw the person sitting across from them was attacking the pie with her fork.

"Let me introduce." Emmett gestured to Regina, "This is Daniel, my classmate and roommate."

"Hi, Daniel." Elsa said enthusiastically.

"Hi." Regina said coldly.

Then, Emmett gestured to Elsa, "She is Elsa, my friend."

"I thought she's your girlfriend." Regina said bitterly while still stabbing the pie. The brunette believed that she could make better apple pie than this. Now she thought she might know the reason why Emmett loved it so much.

"No." Elsa said with a shy smile and pink tinge on her face.

"Daniel!"

"What?" Regina said annoyed, not liking the tone Emmett used.

"You are embarrassing the lady."

"If she truly is a lady, she wouldn't throw herself at you." Regina muttered bitterly under her breath which they couldn't hear.

"Sorry, Elsa." Emmett apologized for Daniel.

"It's okay."

"May I have one more for takeout?" Emmett asked, pointing to the half-eaten and half ruined pie in front of the brunette.

"Do you need to eat that much?" His best friend asked him. "That's too much sugar for a day."

"No, this one is for Regina. Tink said she would help me to deliver it to her."

"Right." Regina nodded her head even though she didn't want to eat the pie.

"Who's Regina?" Elsa asked.

"My sister." Daniel answered quietly after sighing. She didn't like lying but what choice did she have. The female student kept her eyes on the pie that she had resumed stabbing, not interested in talking to the other girl.

"Twin sister." Emmett added for Daniel.

"She must be very beautiful then, with a brother like you." Elsa said, surprised Regina. The brunette looked up from the pie, staring the girl with wide eyes. She opened and closed her mouth, trying to say something but nothing came out. She was so shocked that the nodding from the blonde had gone missing.

"Stop flirting with boys. There are customers waiting." Elsa's father scolded aloud from the shop, making her groan annoyingly.

"Hello, Emmett." The shop owner greeted him nonetheless.

"Good morning, Mr. Arendelle." The blonde said politely.

"I will give you the best one for your sister." Elsa told the twin brother, smiling brightly before following her father to walk back to the shop.

[x]

"Okay, let's start with the easy one."

Regina announced after taking a deep breath. "Sunflower seeds."

The brunette thought they were just buying simple stuffs in this little trip to town. The shopping list in her hand let her know how wrong she was.

"Okay, flower shop. This way." Emmett led them through the town.

When they got to the flower shop, there was a young beautiful brunette dressed in a simply yellow dress, arranging some red roses.

"Hello, Belle." Emmett greeted the girl with his usual bright smile.

The girl, Belle, turned around immediately, hands still holding a single red rose.

"Hello!" She said softly, cheeks tinged with a reddish shade.

"I would like to buy sunflower seeds, please."

"Okay." Belle replied fondly before putting the rose she was holding in his hands. She then got into the shop quickly, looking back lovingly at him before entered the shop.

"Wait! I said sunflower seeds, not a rose." Emmett said after observing her strange behavior, attempting to stop her from leaving but with no luck.

"I said sunflower seeds, right?" Emmett asked Daniel, needed to know if he really had said it.

"Really?!" Regina asked, annoyed by his not knowing.

"Really?" He repeated, not sure what her questions was.

Shortly after the girl entered the shop, the show owner, Belle's father, came outside. He looked around until his sight landed on Emmett and he said, "You."

His tone wasn't harsh but not too nice either. Was that an accusation? No, it was more like he was confirming something. It seemed that only the blonde didn't know what that something was.

"Me?"

The owner sighed. He knew his beloved girl had a crush on this young man. He also knew this young man was oblivious to what was going on around him. Emmett was known as a good person and with no doubt he would treat his daughter well if they got together. The shop owner knew that but he would be happier if his daughter would find someone richer. Anyhow, his daughter's happiness was more important so he wouldn't stop them but he wouldn't encourage it either.

"What do you want, Emmett?" He asked the blonde, changing the subject effectively. He wouldn't be the one to tell him.

[x]

Emmett held over the bag to her and she took it. The bag dropped to the ground.

"This is heavy." Regina didn't know it would be this heavy so she didn't prepare for this. Luckily, there were no fragile stuffs in the bag.

They had finished shopping for the college. Emmett had been carrying all the bags and Regina wanted to help him. Emmett had dismissed her requests a few times but she insisted on helping. So, that was why she asked him to hand over that heavy bag. It didn't look that heavy when the man was carrying it.

"I already gave you the lightest one." Emmett said, taking back the bag from the ground near her and put it down to the ground near him, joining the other heavy bags there.

Regina groaned.

"How can you take all of them?"

"Because I have super powers." Emmett answered with that mischievous grin.

The girl rolled her eyes, trying to hide her smile.

They had been waiting at the side of the road for nearly half-hour. Emmett said that usually there would be a few passing by carriages. Most of them were nice and would let him ride along. The ride could significantly reduce the distance so he only had to walk for half an hour to get back to the campus.

"Can't you fly us back then? So, we don't have to wait here." Regina was getting impatient. Luckily, they were not waiting there in the summer time.

"I haven't learned how to fly." The blonde shrugged.

Then he saw it.

"Hey! Hey!" Emmett shouted as he ran towards the incoming carriage, waving his arms like a mad man.

The transport came to a halt near where Regina was standing. The man inside the carriage opened the door for there. Regina could quite see his face as the window was covered. She followed Emmett to get into the carriage as she heard the boy thanking him gratefully.

Once inside the carriage, the carriage owner ordered to start the ride. He seemed like a good person but Regina had a feeling that he was anything but. She felt like she had met him before but she just couldn't figure out when and where.

"Have we met each other before, dearie?" The man seemed to think the same as he asked.

"No." Regina shook her head, acting like what she answered. Whoever he was, it was not wise for her to reunion with him when she was Daniel.

After listened to her reply, the mystery man continued his reading as he picked up the book sitting beside him on the seat.

The carriage was silent.

She turned to her right and found that Emmett was dozing off, nodding like you just asked him if eating was his favorite thing. He caught himself nodding off a few times and he would sometimes look at her and give her a small smile. Regina guided his head to her shoulder to let Emmett sleep, slipping into a relieving and peaceful slumber. Emmett fell asleep quickly. The earlier than normal wakeup time, the heavy package and the walk, the trip had exhausted him thoroughly.

The man sitting across from them put down his book when he saw Emmett fell asleep and asked.

"Are you sure? You look awfully like the child of a dear friend of mine." He looked at Regina intently and asked her quietly.

"Yes."

"Of course. My dear friend Cora would be crazy if you are her daughter." The man said it like it was a joke when they both knew that was not. He was clearly provoking her to see her reaction to the mention of Cora.

"Um." Regina agreed and gave him a polite smile. Then she turned her head, pretending to look outside the window for the view. She needed to act calm even through her heart was pounding like crazy.

"Maybe I am mistaken then." The man said.

No more words were exchanged during the remaining of the ride.

Emmett waved the man off before walking back to the college with her, carrying those heavy bags. They joked and laughed about what they had encountered that day. Emmett stopped them both in the middle of the walk when he saw Regina started shivering from the cold evening. He sneaked his hand in a bag and produced a scarf from it.

"Here. I bought it for you." Emmett handed over the cloth, smiling.

"Thanks."

The scarf wrapped around her neck and shoulders not only brought warmth and comfort to Regina but caused butterflies fluttered wildly through her stomach.

Chapter Text

Comparing to her friends back home, she was a fast runner. But comparing to Emmett, she was rather slow.

"Come on, you can do it." Emmett encouraged her when he saw her stopped, leaning on the tree, panting. He had slowed down his pace to match hers, running slower besides her to not leave her behind. "We will win this and join the team together."

At the beginning of their P.E. class, their teacher, Mr. Frederick had told them that he would pick the first five students to arrive the finishing line to join his soccer team which was a great honor because of the team's national champion title. Emmett had told her that he was confident that he could make it to the team. Regina agreed and said she would make it too and they would join the team together.

"Okay, I am ready. Let's go." She said after regaining a bit energy.

Regina didn't want to slow him down, so she started running again. Unfortunately, she just started running for not more than a hundred meters, she had to stop again because of her twisted ankle.

"Ah!" She groaned painfully.

Emmett turned around quickly when he heard the scream. He rushed to his friend and crouched down to examine her injury.

"Are you okay?" Emmett said worriedly, looking straight into her eyes. Seeing the painful expression on her face, the blonde regretted what he had done.

"I am sorry. I shouldn't have forced you to run." He said and removed her shoe, then found that her left ankle had already started to swell.

"It is not your fault. It's just me being clumsy. Go, you can still win and join the team." Regina could see the worry and guilt in his eyes, so she assured him.

"But we agreed we will join the team together." The blonde reminded her.

"I don't really like soccer." She pushed him to go without her, through word and action.

Regina didn't know much about soccer. She wanted to join the soccer team just because of him. She didn't want to be the reason of him not being able to join the team. She had already been feeling guilty for slowing him down.

Emmett planted his right hand on the ground to prevent losing balance from the push on his chest.

"Daniel, I-" The blonde said.

"Just go." She stopped him.

He stood back up and pursed his lips for a moment before he turned around and ran.

Although the blonde was just following her order, she still felt a little bit disappointed that he had abandoned her. She tried to stand up, putting all the weight on her uninjured foot. But still, pain shoot up from her swollen ankle straight to her brain, made her unable to stand for more than a few moments and she fell.

As she was about to lose balance and fall to the ground, strong arms caught her. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist and her own arms were pressed against his chest. She looked up and saw Emmett smiling at her.

"He said the first five to arrive get to join the team, so I think maybe I can carry you with me." He told her after helping her up.

She couldn't really stand on her own so she was still learning on him while the blonde supported her to move to a nearby tree. He then quickly turned his back towards Regina and crouched down once she used the tree to support her standing.

"Hop on!" he said while looking at her over his shoulder.

"No."

"Why? Come on, you cannot walk on your own. This is the only way." He asked while standing back up, facing her.

"No."

That would be too intimate for him to carry Regina on his back, she thought.

"How about we walk, with you leaning on me then?" The blonde suggested.

He grabbed her left arm and wrapped it around his neck, letting her grab his shoulder for support. Seeing no signs of resistance, he sneaked his right hand to hold her right arm. With Emmett supporting her, they started moving forward again.

She opened her mouth, wanting to tell him to run without her again. She didn't want to be a burden to him or the obstacle to his success. But she closed her mouth before saying anything because in the bottom of her heart, she knew she didn't want the blonde to leave her.

I really shouldn't eat most of his meals, the blonde scolded himself in his head. He thought that his big appetite was doing damage to his friend's growth.

Clearly, Daniel was so thin because he hadn't eaten enough. Such a great friend you are, Emmett Swan.

They walked silently, both lost in their own thoughts. They didn't pay any attention to their surroundings, including some passing by classmates.

"Hey, what's going on?"

They turned to their left and saw Killian.

"Daniel broke his ankle." Emmett told him sadly.

"If you are helping him, you won't be able to win." Killian reminded Emmett right in front of Regina, like the person he was talking about was not right there besides them.

"It's not like I have much time for any extracurricular activity." Emmett said, trying to convince Killian and himself that he was fine with it. He wanted to help his friend and he wanted to join the team.

"But that was your favorite sport." Killian argued.

"It's fine." The blonde waved the argument away.

Regina saw his smile was pretty much forced. The blonde was trying to look as happy as he can when he is clearly disappointed.

"Let me carry him back. I am sure you can still make it if you started running now." Killian suggested.

Feeling the grip on his shoulder tightened, Emmett knew his best friend didn't like the suggestion so he rejected it politely.

After that, Killian hadn't continued his running and started walking with them and talking to Emmett instead.

"You always run so fast. I never thought I can catch up with you." He told the blonde while walking closer and closer to him.

"I guess practice makes perfect." The blonde said, smiling at Killian politely.

The brunet looked at Emmett fondly and returned his smile lovingly.

Regina watched their exchange for several minutes, feeling a jealous pang in her chest.

"I need you to carry me and run, Emmett." Regina pulled the man closer and whispered in his ear.

"Really?" Emmett turned to her and asked with a bright smile.

Regina nodded. She was sick of the yearning looks and doey eyes Killian been sending to the blonde.

"Hop on!" Emmett grinned, ready to carry her on his back and run.

Once he had her on his back, he turned his head to tell her, "Hold tight!" Before Regina registered what he just said, he had already started running, fast. Because of her light weight, carrying her didn't slow him down too much. Also, in order to make up for the lost time, he ran with all he can, hoping to take the last two spots to join the team.

The hands on his shoulders were now wrapping tightly around his neck. With her head pressed against his head, Regina was holding on him for dear life. She even started to feel a little bit dizzy when they reached the finishing line.

"Oh, you are carrying your classmate."

Before they opened the mouth to argue, Mr. Frederick shrugged. "Teamwork is appreciated. That means you are my number four and number five."

After putting her down gently, Emmett fell to lay on the ground, panting like a fish out of water gasping for breath. He pumped his fist in the air and shouted, "YES!", when he heard what his teacher said while Regina who was sitting next to him exhaled in a sigh of relief.

"You will have your first game next week. Prepare for it, students." The teacher told them before walking away.

"Did he say next week?" Regina asked then turning her attention back to the blonde.

Seemed the goldfish was too busy to do anything other than panting.

[x]

She hadn't told Tink about her and Emmett's sleeping arrangement. But Regina could only hide the truth from her maid until now, Tink's surprise visit to her room.

Rarely had a free time at lunch break, Emmett decided he would have a nap to regain some energy while Regina did her homework. The blonde curled up in the blanket and slept like a baby, distracting Regina from finishing her work.

"Hello, Regi-" Tink greeted when she entered the room uninvited.

Regina quickly covered Tink's mouth to stop her from saying anything else. She didn't want her friend to wake the blonde up with her enthusiastic and loud greeting.

"What?" The girl muttered against the hand on her mouth, her face scrunches up in confusion.

The student pushed her out of the door.

"Emmett is sleeping. I don't want you to wake him up."

"Why is he sleeping in your room?"

"He..."

"I remembered you told me that it was just for one night."

"That was before I know where he has to stay if I don't share it with him."

"Regina." Tink sighed. "That's not your problem. You can't help everyone."

There was no way Regina would kick him out because the blonde was not just a nobody to her. He was someone she had rapidly falling in love with. She had to tell her friend this. She had to tell her everything. She led them to Tink's room so they could talk it through.

"Remember the day when I decided I should dress like a boy to attend college?"

"Yes. You were upset and you requested some alone time. Then, when you came back, you told me this crazy idea."

"That day was the first time I met him."

"You did all this because of him?!"

"Of course not. I didn't even know he studies here back then."

Regina smiled when memory of their meeting by the river flooded her mind.

"You notice the wounds on his face and arms? I did that to him."

"Why?"

"I thought he was taking advantage of me."

"What did he do?"

"That day, I decided to take a quick swim to clear her mind and have swum to an unfamiliar place. I was too tired to continue so I just laid on the ground to rest and I heard someone in the bush. It was him.

As soon as I saw him, I could feel a tug to him, there's something about him that was pulling me close and drawing me in. I remembered his big emerald eyes staring into mine, as if he was searching for my soul.

You know I never did believe in love at first sight but if this was the magic feeling people talked about, I sure did believe in it now. It feels like our souls recognize each other and finally become complete."

"We stared at each other for a pretty long time until he lowered his eyes." Regina chuckled at the memory.

"That was when I found out my clothes were becoming see through. I am a girl who can protect myself so I hit him with some small rocks I found nearby before he could do anything. Of course he had no intention to hurt me but I didn't know it back then. I also didn't know I would meet him again in the college and because of some misunderstanding he was there sleeping in my room."

"Tink, I am in love with him." Regina confessed after a moment of silent.

"Does he know?"

“He doesn't even know I am a girl.”

“What should I do?” Regina added after she saw Tink furrowed her brows.

"Just tell him."

"What if he rejects me because I lie to him? Then I will lose him and I won't be able to stay in this college anymore."

"How about giving him hints to see how he feels?"

"I doubt he would pick up the signals."

"Just give it a try and we will see what we can do."

"Okay."

"I am happy for you, Regina, for finding your soulmate." She gave her friend an affectionate pat on the back before walking out.

"Oh, one more thing, I have been wanting to tell you this but I forgot. When Emmett and I travel back to college we met this weird man." Regina stopped her.

"How weird?" Tink asked and Regina told her about what had happened at the ride back to college.

"That sounds like Rumpelstiltskin. I don't like him even though he is Lady Cora's friend. I heard that he is cruel, manipulative and treacherous and he chooses power over everything. Luckily, he doesn't know who you are right now. If he ever finds out you are indeed Regina and tells Lady Cora about it, we will be dead."

Tink held Regina's hands and pleaded. "Regina, promise me. I know you love Emmett but you can't tell him who you are. We can't risk that Emmett may accidentally tell anyone about the truth."

[x]

"I don't understand this one." He said, leaning a bit closer to Emmett.

"This one is easy. Let me find that page for you." Emmett said joyfully. He grabbed the book, turning the pages.

Regina walked in the classroom to find that her seat next to Emmett was taken.

They didn't notice her until she stood right in front of Emmett.

"Hey!" That bright smile again.

Regina returned him with a small smile.

Emmett then turn to the young man beside him and said, "Daniel is here, we can continue this later."

"What did he want?" Regina asked after the disappointed man left.

"He just asked me questions about yesterday's class." Regina nodded absentmindedly.

It didn't look that simple. Regina had caught on the way he looked at Emmett and the way he leaned on him. She also remembered very clearly about the look he gave Emmett before, at the playground and in the P.E. class.

"I think he likes you." She couldn't stop herself to say.

His wide inquisitive eyes looked at Regina for a moment before saying.

"So the rumors are true."

"What rumors?"

"That he likes boys."

Emmett then turned to look at Killian who was sitting quite far from them. He had his brows frowned as he seemed to be deep in thought. He looked like he was going through memories to see what was so oblivious that made Regina think that.

"Do you?" Regina asked him after moments of silence.

"No. I like girls." He turned his attention back to the one sitting next to him.

"You have a girlfriend?"

"No."

The shade of red painted the blonde's face made Regina want to tease him further. That was just an excuse for others. The fact was she really wanted to know. She was asking for herself.

"Any secret crush then?" She asked.

"Yes." Emmett answered sweetly, blush still not leaving his red face. Regina would found it completely adorable if she was not busy feeling a sharp jolt of jealousy course through her. "And you know her."

They didn't notice when their teacher, Mr. Herman had entered the classroom, so they were startled when the teacher scolded them.

"Stop talking, you two."

"Sorry." Emmett apologized, looking a little ashamed of himself.

I know her? Elsa? Belle? Or maybe Tink?

Even she had her head turned to the front, Regina's eyes never left Emmett.

"Who is it?" Regina whispered once the teacher was out of ear shot. She was trying to keep her jealousy in check but she couldn't quite direct her attention anywhere other than on their unfinished conversation. She had to know. It was killing her.

The blonde looked at her then turned his head back to the front, checking if his teacher was looking at their direction. After he ensured that it was safe for them to talk again, he replied.

"It's Regina." Emmett told her, looking directly into her eyes.

"I know it's impossible for her to like me but-" Emmett added after a moment of silence but stopped himself in the middle of it to restructure his sentence. He looked down at his book but his mind was not on that book. He was reliving the memory of their first and only encounter.

"She is the most beautiful girl I have ever known, and I know there is something more. We met at the side of the river. She stole my heart the very first moment I laid eyes on her. I looked into her eyes and I already knew she is the one for me. It is like a fairy tale. Love at first sight."

A small, sad smile formed on his lips before he turned to look back at her. He continued with a bigger smile, attempting to show that he had gotten past this but Regina didn't miss the way his smile never reached his eyes.

"But clearly I was wrong. I am no prince and I can barely manage to stay in this college." He shrugged.

"To make it better, she thinks I am a pervert." He gave her a tight smile before turning back to look forward.

She knew he was not listening to the class from his tightened jaw and the moisture gathered at the corner of his eye.

"No." Regina said quietly and rather instinctively. The statement was more to herself than to Emmett as to confirm that she didn't hate him. Quite the contrary, actually. It hurt her to see him like this. She didn't care if he was a prince or not. She felt the same way as him at that magical first eye contact. Whatever happened next was just her defense system kicked in and she did what she did to protect herself from any possible threats.

"No?" He turned back at her, hand wiped away the escaped tear.

"No. That's not true. She doesn't think you are a pervert. At least not anymore."

That was Regina telling him what she really felt. She wanted to tell him she felt the same way but she couldn't.

Instead, the smart girl said, "She likes the apple pie you sent her. She wants to thank you by inviting you to see a play."

"Is it true?" Emmett asked, almost too loud to alert the teacher.

The bright smile returning to his face was the best thing that had happened to Regina that day.

"Of course." She told him fondly, then added when she remembered that she was Regina and she was also Daniel. "I won't be there though. I need to go back home for a short visit."

The disappointment on his face was nearly enough to make her telling him they were the same person.

"So you two can have some time alone. I know you would love that." The brunette tried to cheer him up by teasing him.

"I don't know what are you talking about." He muttered and turned away with a cute pink blush painting his face.

She loved to see him blush.

"When is it?"

"After the game."

Chapter Text

This crazy busy week was overwhelming for Regina but that was just the beginning of a normal college life. She was busy with school works and the intense practices after class. Thanks to Emmett's personal training, she now got a heck of what soccer really was.

Time flew by quickly as her hard work on practicing was about to pay off, she would do what Emmett taught her in this match. It was their first soccer match so they would just be the backup for the team unless there were sick members couldn't play. Coincidentally, it happened today.

Emmett was happy that he could play the game instead of being the audience. He was full of energy, running after the ball most of the time enjoying himself.

As for the brunette, she was more an observer than a player. There were three main reasons why she couldn't play well in this game. First, she couldn't get close to the ball even when she tried chasing after it like Emmett did. When she was close, the ball would have already been kicked to the other part of the field. Second, Regina was afraid of the other players and were dodging the incoming players all the time. If her mother knew she was playing soccer with boys, she would have a heart attack. The last one would be the distraction the handsome blonde caused, with the charming smile he sent her whenever their eyes met and the sight of sweat dripping down his built body had ignited a flash of heat jolts through her body.

The lucky thing was the team didn't need her to win the game, Emmett was enough. With the blonde's help by assisting, blocking advance and scoring goal, the team was able to push for an equalizer against their opponent with the new results 2-2.

Emmett ran to Regina when he scored a goal. The man held out his right hand for a high five excitingly so Regina gave him one but she instantly regretting it. Maybe because he was too excited, before her own right hand could touch his, the hand slapped hers, hard. It hurt so much that made her cry out in pain.

"Sorry." Emmett said, biting his lower lip as he looks at Regina apologetically. Grabbing her small hand in both his hands, the blonde ran his thumbs over her reddish skin soothingly.

"I am fine." Regina assured and retreated her hand after she saw people were watching them.

"Go! They need you to kickoff." Regina gestured to those people with her head while trying to shake lose the pain that pulsated like its own heartbeat from her throbbing hand.

"Okay." Emmett nodded and ran away.

Tink had walked to the nearest spot from outside the field, inside Regina's ear shot.

"Holding hands already?" Tink said with a teasing smile.

Regina looked at the other direction to check if anyone heard what Tink just said and saw the blonde gave her a smile.

"Shut up!" Regina scolded quietly while trying to hide her smile.

Regina had told her friend about the meeting after Tink's questioning. The way that they would glance at each other and share that same secret smile was not lost to Tink. The female student did intent to tell Tink but she was afraid Tink might not approve of her decision.

As supportive as always, the maid said she would help them as long as Regina didn't reveal her identity. Tink also said she would give the man some tips on courting Regina which had received an eye roll from the brunette in return.

The second half of the game had maintained its state for a good portion of time until one of their team member, Robin who was too eager to win, earned them a penalty kick.

"What's going on?" Regina asked when the players were gathering around the gate. She had forgotten about the rules of the kick.

"They get to kick the ball from within the penalty area, so we will need to set a wall to block them. Remember to cover your body because it hurts more than usual considering how close we stand in front of the kicker." Emmett explained.

They lined up before the goalkeeper, covering the part of their body they considered as the most important. Everyone was covering their crotch while Regina covered her breasts with crossed arms.

"What are you doing?" The young man, August, beside her asked.

"Yay, Daniel. You should cover yourself." Emmett agreed with the man, standing on the other side of Regina.

"I think the heart is more important." Regina told them, trying to explain she had different choice than the others.

"Whatever." August said while Emmett shrugged.

The penalty-taker, instead of shooting for goal, tapped the ball slightly forward and his teammate ran on to it and shoot.

This strategy caught them by surprise. Emmett was not fast enough to dodge the fast approaching ball and got hit on the forehead, knocking him down.

"Emmett!" Regina crouched down to check on the unconscious blonde.

"Looks like the head is the most important." August concluded, nodding as he had learned a new lesson today.

The coach didn't want to make the decision to replace Emmett with other back up player because the blonde had helped a lot in this match but he had no choice.

Regina wanted to quit the match as well because she was worried about her injured best friend but she couldn't. Although the brunette was playing the game in the field, her mind was outside the field with Tink nursing him.

Emmett woke up shortly after the game resumed putting Regina's worry to rest. She regained interest to play the game when the blonde started cheering for her. She tried her best to chase the ball.

The other team despised her because of her relatively small figure. They didn't assign anyone to mark her. So, when the ball was accidentally kicked to her direction, they gave her a chance to score.

"Power shot, Daniel." Emmett shouted to Regina when the opportunity to win was presented to her.

Regina did what she had learned, striking the ball with the top of the foot.

"Goal!" The referee announced.

The striker that just scored a goal ran past all the players to hug her friends, celebrating with them.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Tink chuckled.

"You are awesome. You know?" Emmett said with a big smile and gave her a bear hug, proud of being her friend.

"I know!" The girl answered, smiling brightly as well.

Regina scored this goal had helped the team to a 3-2 victory over their opponent to advance to the next round of the tournament.

[x]

In order to have a free day to meet his dreamboat, Emmett had been working his nonstop these few days.

Although Emmett was tired as hell, his bright smile never left his face. Every time the blonde thought of the beautiful brunette, he would accelerate his cleaning or tidying or running with that goofy smile on his face and a soft, warm smile would creep across said brunette's lips after seeing his smile.

"What are you thinking?" Regina asked him lovingly when she saw that goofy smile appeared on his face again.

The brunette had stayed by his side while he worked most of the time. The girl would help out occasionally or she would just sit nearby, talking to him or doing her homework in a comfortable silence. She just liked to be close to him. They spent so much time together that she didn't know what to do if the blonde was not around.

"Of course he is thinking about Regina." The smart ass Tink answered with a smirk, giving Regina a smug side eyes.

After spending a week exploring the campus and nearby areas, the maid was bored as hell to spend any more time alone. Some students in the college would like to spend time with her but they were all rejected by Tink because of their lack of respect to women and the different acceptance on the intimate level.

Then, the wonder of Emmett Swan intrigued her. He was completely blind to Regina's longing looks. Watching the lovebirds interact and teasing them had become the best part of her day.

The ladies didn't need any verbal confirmation to know Tink's guessing was right as they saw the blonde turned around quickly and blushed slightly at being caught.

"Look, he's blushing!" said the blonde girl, elbowing her brunette friend sitting next to her in the arm playfully. "He's so cute when he is blushing and all. Am I right?"

He blushed even harder.

It was so funny that this tall man would blush so easily. It would be funnier if she could get both of them blushing. The maid decided to step up her game on the whole teasing thing, so she asked the adorable man.

"Emmett, remember my tips?"

"Yes. I won't let your effort go to waste." Emmett told her firmly. He really had no idea what to prepare for the date so he was grateful that the girl helped him.

"Don't worry too much. It'll be alright." Tink stated with a downward wave of her hand, as if to brush away his worries. Then she pretended to leave and muttered not so quietly with a voice small but loud enough for them to hear. "It doesn't really matter. I am sure Regina will still marry you even though you forgot any of my tips."

"What?!" Both students shouted in shock. They looked at Tink, eyes bugging and a blush slowly staining their cheeks red.

"Did I say something wrong?" Tink asked them innocently after turning back to face them but Regina had a pretty good idea what she was doing.

"You said me mar-marrying Regina." Emmett stuttered, his face a bright tomato red.

"I didn't know you are planning to propose to Regina when you meet her tomorrow." Tink teased when the blonde fell for her trick. "Don't you think it's a bit early considering it is just your first date?"

"Tink!" Regina scolded.

The door of classroom burst open and several students walked in. Emmett quickened his cleaning while Tink tried to shift away. Before she exited the classroom, she left one final message to Emmett.

"Find me if you need help for the proposal." The blonde girl yelled to the blonde man while running out of the room, successfully dodged a flying book.

When the book hit her teacher instead, Regina immediately sat on her seat to pretend she was not the one to blame.

"Shit!" Regina muttered when the teacher glared dagger at Emmett who just happened to turn around facing his teacher after finishing his job.

"Write 'I will not be disrespectful to the teacher' one hundred times and give it to me by today." Mr. Jefferson punished the blonde without giving him any chance to speak.

"But I-" Emmett turned to look at Regina and saw the brunette looking guilty.

Regina was about to jump up to confess her crime after seeing his innocent face but Emmett beat her to it.

"I am sorry, Mr. Jefferson." Emmett said after turning back to their teacher.

"Of course you are. Now go sit down. We have to start the class." Mr. Jefferson said without looking at the blonde, walking to his desk and put down his books.

Emmett obeyed and walked to Regina with their books, looking helpless.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to let you take the blame for me." Regina pleaded for his forgiveness because everything was happening so fast and she had missed the chance to confess it eventually caused the blonde to be her scapegoat. "I should just confess right now."

"No!" Emmett grabbed her arm to stop her. "He will punish us both if you tell him now."

He leaned in closer to whisper to Regina, "I don't mean to be disrespectful but he is mad. He likes to punish students when he's in the mood. Don't test him."

"I am really sorry, Emmett." Regina said, looking straight into his eyes to show him her sincerity.

"It's fine, don't worry." Emmett reassured with a genuine smile.

"I will do the copying for you. I am really sorry." Regina wanted to do something for him because that was her crime not him.

"No need. It's not that hard to copy a hundred times when you know the trick." He said with a shrug that let her know it was not that big of a deal, which was able to assuage her guilt. "Like writing with three pens."

"Okay, students." The teacher asked when the class had finally settled down. "You know what are you going to do today?"

The class was silent because no one had any ideas what their teacher was suggesting.

"Students, we are going to have a pop test today. Exciting, right?" The teacher said with a sinister smile. "For those who fail this test, I have a surprise for you."

Nobody asked what that surprise was because they already knew it was something bad.

"Just my luck!" The girl said in a frustrated tone. The boy next to her furrowed his brows in response because he was afraid, too.

Turned out he didn't have to worry as much because he knew the answer to every one of the questions. But that was not the same case for the lady next to him, she was struggling to pass the test with many invisible answers.

She dropped her head to the desk because leaving blanks in the paper was a sure way to fail the test.

Why can't these questions have multiple choices to choose from?

Emmett could see her frustration from the corner of his eyes and he was desperate to help. He slid the paper to his right and grabbed Regina's paper when the teacher wasn't looking.

Since the classroom was completely silent, Regina couldn't talk to him so she asked him what was he doing with only her facial expression.

The blonde gestured to the paper in her hand with his head.

She looked down and saw all the answers she so desperately needed. After reading this paper, she was sure that was more than enough for her to pass the sudden test.

He knew it was wrong to cheat at the test but he couldn't just sit there and not helped his best friend. That was why he switched the papers so abruptly without thinking how he was gonna switch them back. The reality was a bitch and played out exactly like that which was they didn't get a chance to switch back the papers. There was nothing they could do and they could only watch the time quickly slipping away.

Then the blonde was suddenly coughing furiously that had the teacher coming their way to check on him.

"Are you okay?" The teacher asked and eyed him suspiciously with a frown on his face.

"I-" clear his throat "I am fine." He patted his chest to ease the coughing and nodding to signal he was okay now.

After a short moment of silent from the blonde, the teacher left them and walked back to the front of the classroom. Emmett told this opportunity to switch back their papers. He winked at her with a mischievous smile, feeling very proud of his move. She couldn't help but smile at his behavior lovingly.