Intrigued

Chapter 4

Emma looked at Regina. The girl was taping the last of her book and she was being so kind, but she couldn't tell her story. She physically didn't manage to get the words past her lips.

"Regina, I.. I've been through a lot of shit and my first time wasn't the worst, by far, but I don't really enjoy thinking or talking about it."

Regina looked concerned and cleared her throat. "Were you.., uh.. pressured into doing so?" She could tell Regina was assuming the worst of the worst, so she quickly shook her head.

"Oh, no, definitely not," Emma said and offered her a reassuring smile. "He and I both wanted it, but it was not worth it. I haven't slept with anyone since and this was like two years ago."

"You were fifteen?" Regina asked and Emma nodded. "Pretty young," Regina remarked. Emma figured Regina had first had sex with her ex-girlfriend, which meant she wouldn't have been very much older.

She'd thought she was ready and she afterwards turned out not to be, but that didn't have anything to do with her age. She wanted to respond, but the door to her room opened and David appeared.

"You two coming?"

Emma eyed Regina, who'd plastered a smile on her lips. "Sorry, we're.. in the middle of a conversation, but we'll join later," the brunette said and Emma grinded her teeth, knowing she was forced to come along now.

"It's just the crap that came afterwards," Emma said, once David had left the room. She knew Regina would interrogate her further and she was wondering how much she'd be able to share, to tell.

"Like what?" Regina asked, gently. "If.. you want to tell me, of course. You don't have to say anything you don't want."

Emma swallowed. She couldn't do it. She still couldn't get anything that'd happened to her in the past few years past her lips. It was just stuck inside of her, burned in her mind with no way out.

"I do want to tell you, Regina," she said, "but I can't. It's not that I don't trust you, I'm really starting to, maybe it's in my file, you could ask Mary Margaret if you can read that, but I can't say it." She was quiet for a moment. "I'm not sure this is in my file, though."

Regina smiled weakly and touched her knee with her fingertips. "I totally get that," she said. "And I don't want to read your file. I want to get your story from you, not from some social worker."

Emma's face softened and she dropped her gaze. She looked at the fingertips brushing against her knee and swallowed. "Thank you. You're really kind."

"You too," Regina said and she looked at the book in her hands before she handed it to Emma. "Here's your book back. People might find it weird you're reading a fully taped book, but just tell them it's your diary and they won't ask any questions."

"Thanks," Emma said with a soft chuckle. "Really. Thank you for not judging me."

"Of course. Who am I to judge? You've been through a fucking mess of a system and yet you're still here. I'm not going to judge you for that, I'm admiring that. I'm admiring you," Regina replied and smiled when she saw Emma's cheeks heat up.

"You know, you can borrow the book once I'm finished with it," she said as she flipped through it. "It's not educational, but it is highly pleasurable." She winked and this time, it was Regina turning bright red.

"It's doesn't seem straight, though. From your story, I took it you've slept with a boy," Regina said.

"A person can be into both men and women, can't they?" Emma said with curled up lips. Regina nodded immediately, seeming somewhat embarrassed having put a label on Emma that invalidated a side of her. "You can't be surprised I'm into women after seeing this book."