Chapter Text
Her phone rings. "Hey Regina." She answers smiling.
"Hey Em. Wanna hang out today?" Regina says sounding like her normal happy self.
"Yeah sure. Any ideas where?"
"How about Granny's?"
"Sounds good I'll meet you there." I say hanging up.
I walk out the door wallet and phone in hand. I walk out of the apartment and down the street to Granny's. It has been about a week since I have been able to talk to Regina since I had to watch my little brother. School doesn't start back up for a while and that means seeing Regina has been hard since her dad doesn't let her leave the house much. I approach the diner with a smile on my face ready to see the girl I have really liked for what feels like forever.
"Hey." She says standing from our usual table near the front window and giving me a hug.
"Hey." I say sitting the seat opposite where she was.
We order our food and Ruby, the normal waitress, brings us our food.
"I'll pay." Regina says smiling.
"Thanks." I say blushing knowing if I argue I will lose anyway.
"How has summer been so far? Have you gotten to do anything?" I ask smile on my face.
Her normal snark and finesse just weren't there. My smile fades as I realize that something is wrong. "Gina, what's wrong?"
Tears start to form in her eyes and all her composure fades as the tears begin to fall. "I-I like girls." She cries softly.
I reach my hand across the table and grab one of hers. "Wanna know something? So do I." I say with a reassuring squeeze of her hand.
"But that's not it. I like someone Emma." She says looking at me with red irritated eyes.
"Why is that a bad thing Regina?"
"Because I like you." She pulls her hand away and covers her face, continuing to sob.
"I like you too." I say pulling her hands away from her face.
"You do?" She says suddenly and surprised.
"I have since middle school. I was always afraid to say anything because I was afraid you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore." I say.
"I was afraid too."
"Looks like we would have been running in circles for a while." I say laughing.
She laughs along and then she suddenly stops like she ran into a brick wall.
"Gina?"
"There is something else too. My dad kicked me out." She says flatly looking away.
"Why would he do that?" I say. "You two have always been close."
"Well I decided to tell him that I like girls and he told me if I was gonna be an abomination I was to get out of his house forever." She says.
"What an ass. I'll give him a piece of my mind." I say
"Emma wait." She grabs my arm and pulls me back. She pulls back a piece of hair and shows me a big bruise that still had little blood stains around it. "I don't want him to hurt you."
"He won't have a chance, I'll kill him first." I stand up again and she jumps onto my back.
"No Emma." She says with a bit of a laugh as the patrons of the diner look at us like were lunatics.
I walk out the door with her still on my back but I make sure she is in a position where she won't fall. "So tell me" I start "When did he kick you out?"
"About a week ago. I have been sleeping on the benches in the forest."
"Why didn't you call me? My mother would have let you live with us." I say frustrated
"I didn't want to intrude." She says
I put her down. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asks looking into her eyes.
"Yes. Please don't do anything stupid."
I hug her. "As long as you are okay, I'll be okay." I smile.
She hugs back tight. I look down at her and move in for a kiss. When our lips meet I swear its like fireworks. We don't break the kiss for a while.
When we end the kiss I say "I'm glad you're with me and safe now."
"Me too" She says smiling up at me and giving me another hug.
"We should head back to my house now. I'll let my mom know what happened." I say.
She grabs my hand as we start heading for the apartment. "So does this mean we are together?" She asks.
I laugh. "Do you want it too? I'm game if you are."
"We will be the couple everyone envies. The it couple, like Ellen and Portia." She laughs
So maybe we can be more than best friends forever.