troubled teachers

Chapter 15

A/N: party time again. This chapter is much shorter than the past few but I promise there's a reason!

"See this is why you don't have neighbours!" Emma shouted over the music booming through the house.

Regina laughed as she poured herself another glass of wine. She had to admit, the beat throbbing through the air did make her feel more alive. She had loved going to gigs with Daniel when she was younger but since she had been with Robin, her musical exposure had been reduced to classical and operatic pieces. Not that she disliked them, but the pounding bass reverberating through her body was a refreshing new sound for her. Emma's iPod, of course, was providing the night's soundtrack. Perhaps it was a blessing in terms of parties that her cottage was located along a country lane, several hundred metres from the nearest neighbour.

She had been somewhat reluctant to move away from the city at first but since Storybrooke Secondary School was located near the edge of Plymouth, it still only took her fifteen minutes to drive to and from work. Her local village shop sold milk, bread and a few other basic necessities and she hadn't found herself missing city conveniences at all. Plus the fresher air, the quieter surroundings, and the relaxed lifestyle was exactly what she had needed to get through the past month. That and Emma, of course.

With her wine glass replenished and Emma by her side, Regina stopped reminiscing about her recent move and turned back to her guests. The living room was packed, with most of the staff at the school having coming to celebrate her new home. Well, it also was one week before Christmas and she had decided to theme her party to fit in with the festive season. Somehow, Emma had talked her into making it a fancy dress night too. Which was the only reason she was currently wearing a Santa hat. Unsurprisingly, Emma had gone all out and was dressed as an elf, complete with red cheeks, fake ears, and curly toed shoes which meant she had already fallen over three times.

"Come on, my little helper," Regina chuckled as Emma reached for her umpteenth beer. "Let's go and mingle."

And they did, fairly successfully, all night. Granted, they subconsciously gravitated back to each other every half an hour or so to check in but Regina still managed to speak to every one of her guests and Emma used various friends as a buffer against Sebastian Jefferson's constant advances. Ruby, dressed as a somehow sexy reindeer, was thoroughly unhelpful however as Elsa had at last come to an event without her sappy younger sister and the two of them spent most of the evening entangled in an armchair, antlers discarded alongside Elsa's Snow Queen crown. Rose was equally useless as she and Killian both wanted Emma and Sebastian to get together so they could double date. Emma just scowled at the two of them when they had brought it up again, and asked them why they were dressed as Tinkerbell and Captain Hook, neither of which were remotely Christmassy.

Instead, Emma chatted with Belle, Mr Gold's wife whom she rarely saw outside the school library, Aurora Morris who had studied geography alongside her beloved French at university, and the Nolans. The Nolans were her least preferred decoy because ever since Mary Margaret's pregnancy had been announced, the woman seemed incapable of talking about anything but babies. And her husband was never that interesting to begin with.

No, Regina was certainly Emma's favourite way of avoiding the man's flirting and it was to her she headed when Sebastian made his final move of the night, approaching the inebriated blonde some time after one o'clock in the morning with a sprig of mistletoe dangling from his fingertips.

"Come on Emma, what do you say?" the equally drunk man slurred, holding the berried twig above his head as he stumbled towards her.