The List

Chapter 1

"Emma does, though. I bet when Regina Mills is in town, she'd be all over her. Sorry to disappoint you, Killian," Ruby said, not-so-cleverly.

"Well, technically, I can't get mad about that. Just like she can't get mad when I sleep with my celebrities," Killian said. I nodded in agreement and I could tell from everyone else's faces they thought this entire list was ridiculous. But alas, Killian and I had agreed upon it. My list only contained one person, but Killian had wanted to write the entirety of Hollywood on his. "But I'm sorry, honey. I don't think you'll ever even lay eyes upon Regina Mills in real life."

~~~~~

Killian basically lived at my place. Sometimes he went home, but his apartment was small and smelled weird, so after three times of sleeping over, I refused to ever return. He didn't mind. He preferred my place as well.

We had a relationship for about a year and a half and I loved him a lot. Everything was easy and nice with Killian. I'd known him for much longer, but up until two years ago, I'd never seen him as more than a friend.

I kissed him gently and nestled against him on the couch. I'd just returned from work, I'd just started as a chef in Granny's. On the way home the lousy weather had drenched me, but now I was freshly showered, dry and in my pajamas cuddling with my boyfriend.

He was going through his phone while taking a sip of his rum every now and then. He only drank rum on Fridays, to celebrate the start of the weekend. Often we hang out at Granny's on Friday nights, but since the weather was horrible, I'd wanted to go home. I inhaled deeply, taking in his scent of aftershave and rum and smiled. I enjoyed the way he smelled.

"How did the job interview go today?" I asked, timidly. Killian wasn't nearly as ambitious as I was and I was totally okay with that, but he felt as if everything I said regarding his career was meant as an insult. It wasn't.

"Didn't get it," he responded and kept his eyes locked on his phone.

I looked at him and wanted to say something else, but I knew I shouldn't. I swallowed my words and heard someone knock rapidly on the door.

Reluctantly, I got up and when I opened the door, I found Ruby laughing in the doorway. "Guess who's shooting her next movie in Storybrooke?!" She was speaking loudly, but I enjoyed her enthusiasm.

"Who?" I opened the door further and let her inside. Ruby had never been a big fan of Killian. I didn't know why, but even when Killian and I had been nothing more than friends, she'd never truly approved of him. She never showed it to him, though, she was good at faking things.

"Regina Mills!" Ruby said excitedly. "It says it right here in this article. To shoot Fairy Tales, they needed a magical place in the middle of nowhere. So, they found Storybrooke. They're going to shoot a movie here, how cool is that?!"

I felt my excitement grow. This sounded incredibly cool. "And it seems you weren't so insane putting her on your freebie list!"

"My what?"

"You know, that list you talked about. With celebrities you're allowed to sleep with, without Killian getting mad at you."

I frowned for a moment, until I remembered what she was talking about. We'd discussed this in Granny's months ago, I'd honestly totally forgotten it, but by the looks on Killian's face he hadn't.

"There's no way you're going to try with her," he said and finally looked up from his phone. "I won't allow it."

I cocked my head. Of course I hadn't even the slightest intention of going to embarrass myself in America's most famous actress, but I didn't like the way his jealousy was showing.

"It's the deal," I said. "I would've allowed you to sleep with Kathryn Nolan if you'd ever meet her. You came up with it, not me."

Kathryn Nolan was Killian's celebrity crush and I could see his cheeks heat up at just the mention of her name. He blushed like that when hearing my name too, but now that it was because of another woman I didn't like it nearly as much.

Killian huffed and shrugged. "Alright. A deal's a deal. She's way out of your league anyway," he said and I squinted my eyes as he looked back at his screen. He was right, I would never even get the chance to speak to Regina Mills, but I'd have liked for him to think a little higher of me than he showed.

"They start shooting next month. The article said they want to film it in the fall, so October was the optimal choice." I was getting incredibly excited. Regina Mills was to set foot in Storybrooke, it seemed surreal. I wasn't even sure whether to believe Ruby, but I knew she'd never joke about things like this and the article had seemed legit. "God, Emma, we're going to try our best to meet her, right?"

"Ruby, it's Regina Mills. The Regina Mills. Famous actress and model, feminist and queer activist. Of course we're going to try our best and meet her," I said and rolled my eyes. Perhaps it was odd that two people in their twenties were this obsessed over a celebrity, but Regina Mills had earned a spot in my heart when I was young and she'd never left it.

"They say never meet your heroes," Killian said with raised eyebrows and eyed Ruby sceptically. I shot him a glare, silently asking him to stop talking.

"They also say shut up, Killian," Ruby fired back with an eye roll. I smiled at Ruby, who sometimes let her real feelings slip out. "Whole different topic, Granny loved your sweet potato broccoli vegetable thingie thing," she suddenly said.

It took me a moment to switch from subjects, but once I realized what Ruby was talking about I beamed. "Really?" I asked. I worked every day quite a few hours, but as I loved creating my own meals, Granny had given me the key to her diner. This way, I could stay as long as I wanted to and use the day's scraps and leftovers to invent new recipes.

Twice before, Granny had put a recipe of mine on the menu and it was highly appreciated in Storybrooke. Maybe this meal would be the third. I'd used an odd combination of grilled vegetables and created my own dip which had tasted pretty great in my opinion. Now that Granny had liked it, too, I was getting even more excited than I already was.

"Yes, when I left, she said she was checking all the ingredients to see if there was anything she wanted to add or change, but she was very enthusiastic. She wants to put this on the menu, I think," Ruby said and smiled brightly at me. She was always just as happy as I was when Granny liked on of my meals.

Ruby worked as a waitress at Granny's Diner and she also did quite a bit of administration. Granny was her actual grandmother, but everyone called her Granny. She was supposed to take over one day, but for now she felt her current responsibilities were enough.

"I think we should celebrate with cocktails," Ruby said and I nodded agreeing. It'd been a while since we'd last gone out clubbing, but suddenly I realized how much I'd missed it. Cocktails meant clubbing and clubbing meant getting wasted, I knew Ruby long enough to understand her language.

"That sounds great. Killian, what do you think?" I asked.

He looked up from his phone and frowned. "I was actually looking forward to a calm evening on the couch, just the two of us," he said and he had a small pout on his lips he knew I couldn't resist.

I looked apologetically at Ruby, who nodded curtly. "I understand," she said softly. "Another time, then? What about next week?"

"Yes, that sounds great. Thanks for informing me on everything, Ruby. You've made my day a whole lot better in many, many ways. I still can't believe Regina Mills is coming to town."

"And when she does, she'll meet us and she'll love us," Ruby said and boy, did I hope I'd be so lucky.