Resting her palms on the counter, Regina sighs and lets her head fall down.
She has never thought that there were so many things in Roni's bar. When she agreed to sell the place, she thought the new owner wouldn't mind keeping the things but now the company insisted that she leaves the bar empty.
She could easily fix that with a minimal amount of magic but uniting the realms has taken all of her strength and magic (she can still feel the draining power in her veins). Henry had offered to help her but she didn't want to ruin his so earned moments with his family, so she dismissed his help, insisting that she could do it on her own.
Now she wishes there was someone to help her.
There are many cardboard boxes stacked on top of one another all around the bar and she hasn't even packed half of the things. She has no idea why her cursed-self kept so many useless things.
All of a sudden, Regina is snapped out of her thoughts when the bell above the front door rings and soon the steps follow. She groans – she's pretty sure she left the sign 'CLOSED' on the door.
"We're not working. Go away," she says annoyed, not even turning to look at the intruder.
She receives a chuckle in answer that makes her turn around in confusion.
Hook is standing there on the other side of the bar, grinning at her as he takes a look around. He then asks, "Why are you so grumpy, your Majesty?"
Regina rolls her eyes at him but then she cannot help herself but ask, "What are you doing here? I thought you would be spending every minute of your life with your daughter."
He nods his head, "That's what I wanted. But Alice decided to take a trip to Boston with Robin so I came to the station to take some of my things." He then asks curiously, "But what are you doing here?"
Regina cannot help but roll her eyes again.
"Isn't that obvious?"
He just smiles in response, but doesn't say anything. For a moment they stare at each other until Regina sighs and turns back to her task – the company is buying the bar tomorrow morning, she does not have time for small talks while there are still many things she needs to pack.
Regina doesn't even hear Hook moving until he's standing beside her with an empty box on his hook.
"I don't need your help, pirate," Regina says but there's no actual annoyance in her voice. She must admit that during the time they spent together, they grew closer, not even the curse was powerful enough to break that friendship because their cursed-selves managed to team up.
The silence that surrounds them is a comfortable one and for a while they both focus on their tasks. It doesn't take long until they put all of the glasses into the boxes and the cupboards are finally empty. Sighing in relief, Regina smiles at him.
Hook smiles back. All of a sudden the atmosphere between the two of them changes, becomes thicker, the space between them becomes smaller and before Regina can register what is happening, Hook presses his lips against hers.
She would lie if she said that the kiss was unpleasant. He was a good kisser, she had already had some practice with him, but it felt unfair to kiss him back because she was pretty sure she wasn't ready for whatever he had in mind.
"Hook," she whispers, pulling away and looking at him.
He takes a step back immediately and when his eyes open, he apologizes.
For a moment both of them stare at one another before he finally clears his throat and turns around to take the remaining bottles of whiskey from the bar. He puts it into another box while Regina continues to look at him.
She finally sighs and admits, "I know that you want something to happen between us." He stops his task and turns to look at her, interested by her words but not surprised. Inhaling, she adds, "But you must also know that my heart belongs to someone else."
He nods his head, "I know and I'm okay with that." His words surprise Regina but she doesn't say anything, lets him continue. "You've became my friend, Regina, and I would not want to lose that friendship. However, I think that there's something else between us and our love story would not be as epic as the one you already had but I think we could have a nice future while we're still stuck here."
She arches an eyebrow at him, "If everything you've just said is based on that night before the battle, then let me remind you that we were both stressed and it mostly happened because we needed to reduce the tension."
He shakes his head at her statement but then he takes a step closer to her and then another, and one more until he's able to take her hand in his, hold it loosely. "Don't you feel anything?" he asks then.
Regina swallows hard. As much as she hates to admit that, there's some pull that draws her towards him, that makes her think about him from time to time, but she doesn't think it's love, at least not now.
"I do feel something," she admits, "but it's complicated."
"I have a feeling that it's always complicated with you," he teases and she rolls her eyes but the corners of her lips lift up a bit. "It's up to you, Regina. If you ever want to try, just tell me."
He looks at her for a moment before releasing her hand and taking a step back. He turns around and takes the full box from the bar, carries it around the bar to put with other full boxes, takes a new one and walks to the other side of the bar to collect the things from the few tables.
Sighing Regina turns back to her own box and puts the last of the cup into it. A small smile spreads across her face as she carries it to the rest of full boxes, and as she watches Hook returning with another full box, she thinks that she'll give them a chance.
Just not today.