Meet the plastics (Regina x fem reader)

22 - The essay

The sweet scent of Regina's perfume envelopes me as I step into her apartment. Regina had given me another one of her essays to mark several days ago, and this morning, asked if I could come over to go through it with her. It's a Saturday, the outside air crisp with the lingerings of mid winter, though the sun is bright through the clouds. My cheeks burn slightly as the cold meets the warm, Regina stepping back to let me in through the door.

"Good morning," I say politely, offering her a small smile as I adjust the bag on my back.

"Hi," she says back, smile meeting her eyes. I shrug my coat off and hang it over my arm, waiting to be led over to the table.

Settling down, I pull out the folder I had stored Regina's essay in, along with a sheet of notes and a pen, mostly for my own nervous fidgeting than to actually write anything down. Regina takes a seat next to me, and when I notice two glasses of water already splayed out on coasters, my heart flutters slightly. I slide the essay gently over to her, the notes following shortly after.

The sheet of notes is much shorter than the previous times, meaning she's definitely taken what I've suggested on board. Although, this particular essay struck a different chord. I'm not entirely sure why she asked me to look through it for her first, as the corrections I found were very minimal; minor at that. She could've easily gotten a decent grade without my help.

I wait several seconds to see if she's going to start reading over the notes as she seems to be blankly staring at them, eyes glazed over.

"Did you want me to go through them?" I ask quietly, Regina immediately snapping out of her daze and glancing up at me with a smile.

"Could you read the notes to me first? I take in information better when you're talking to me."

I blush slightly at the small smirk that grazes her lips, fingers pushing the sheet over to me so that it presses against my fingertips before I pick it up, hand trembling slightly. As I start to read, my breathing heavy and my mind distracted, Regina stares at me intently, head rested in the palm of her hand. I quickly remove my eyes from her alluring face, and being reading again.

It's a complete mess. The way I trip and stumble over basic words I had put into simple bullet points. I come to the end of a sentence, looking up briefly to catch my breath, and accidentally lock eyes with Regina again. "Keep going," she murmurs against her knuckle pressed against the side of her mouth.

I continue as she says, eventually reaching the end of the notes and moving on to her essay.

Several lines in I realise she's not paying attention. Firstly, her eyes aren't on the page, where my finger is running across each correction. I feel them burning into the side of my face. I ask her a question, a few moments later, to which she responds, "hm?"

"Regina," I huff, my patience teetering on thin ice. I've never let my guard down around her to the extent of showing my annoyance, but she's clearly not listening to me. "What is the point of inviting me round if you aren't going to listen to my feedb-" Then her lips are on mine. A brief brushing, skimming my mouth with her own. Her hand cups my cheek within the millisecond our lips are touching.

"I- um," I stutter out after pulling away for air, shock overwhelming me. My mind takes a long time to process what had just happened, a deep blush coating my cheeks. Regina's blue eyes fill with worry, flicking between my eyes as she searches them for a sign of discomfort.

"Shit, was that okay?" Regina suddenly says, the smile that had poked at my mouth quivering into a straight line as I realise the look of panic on her face. "That I did that?" She clarifies, a hand coming up to cover her mouth, the sleeves of her hoodie covering half of her hand.