A/N: So this is an idea that I came up with a while ago but I could only come up with the basics of what I wanted to happen.
My writing isn't that great so the lovely Lunaandtwilight07 helped to co-write this with me.
Go check out her other stories if you haven't already! They're awesome!
Anyways, hope you like it and please let us know what you think
It was the first day of term and Robin Locksley was on a come down from a summer full of, well full of relaxing in the sunshine, doing nothing, living a stress free life and most importantly, spending time with his son. But now school was starting up, he would have a horde full of new students, new names to learn, kids with new potential. He had the role of schooling them through it, moulding them into their best selves, offering them help when they needed it. He loved his job, but at times it could get rather stressful, especially when the kids were too cleaver for their own good, kids who would misbehave to gain attention.
Having the long holiday at the end of the school year gave him time to recuperate, but this year, he didn't feel ready to go back, not now; especially since he was staring at an entirely new school, which would mean he had to remember a hell of a lot, names of staff as well as students, his way around campus, timetables, everything, everything was new.
Today had not gone off to a good start, he had overslept, forgotten to reset his alarm after weeks of waking up when he pleased. Roland, his four-year-old son, had been ill over the weekend, so naturally he was exhausted, completely drained. To top it all off, he couldn't find his briefcase, what a great start this would be to the academic year.
Robin quickly checked the time, 'Crap!' he though. He was supposed to be there for 8am and he still had to drop Roland off at playgroup! Looks like he was going to have to skip breakfast, it wasn't the first time he had to, in fact it was a quite frequent occurrence.
He shouted up to Roland to tell him to put on his coat and shoes and he finally managed to locate his briefcase, which was hiding under a huge pile of Roland's comic books, how it got there, Robin would never know!
"I'm here Daddy" Roland said as he came bounding down the stairs.
Robin bent down to check that Roland had put his shoes on the correct feet, miraculously for once he had! He chuckled and ruffled his son's curly brown hair. "Come on then champ. Let's get you to playgroup before I miss my first class." Roland nodded and held his father's hand as he followed him outside. After he made sure that Roland was safely buckled into his car seat, they set off to playgroup.
Slowly he dragged himself through the main entrance, passing several teachers on his way, merely saying hi to a couple of them; but most seemed to just cast him strange glances, probably wondering who this stranger was in their school and why he was in such a hurry.
Finally, after having to ask for directions, he managed to locate the head teacher's office. He knocked at the door, then entered. "My apologies for being late Mr Gold, I had somewhat of a crisis this morning." If a crisis was defined as him sleeping in and losing his briefcase, he often had many crises.
Mr Gold sighed, looking up from his paperwork, casting him a look which was rather hard to read. "Well Mr Locksley, you're here now." Robin could tell, that the man wasn't one for pleasantries. "Please proceed to your first class." Gold mumbled waving him away as he went back to his paperwork.
"Yes, well, just one question if I may?" Robin tried.
"What is it?" He asked, a hint of frustration present in his voice.
"Where exactly is my classroom?"
"To the left and down the hall, room 13A."
"Thank you." Robin nodded and walked back out into the corridor. He sighed and shook his head, 'great job Locksley!' he thought 'what a wonderful first impression you must have given him!'
He was so busy scolding himself for his lateness that he wasn't looking where he was going; someone bumped directly into him and his briefcase went flying through the air, the impact causing the girl to fall backwards.
Reaching out he grabbed her before she could hit the ground "Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" he apologised letting go of her as he bent down to pick up the contents of his briefcase off the floor.
"That's quite alright" she replied bending down to help him "I'm sure I wasn't entirely focusing on where I was going." she looked up at him and smiled.
He looked back at her and froze with his mouth slightly ajar, she was the most stunning woman he'd ever seen; her eyes, her deep brown eyes were sparkling and her raven hair was flawlessly styled. The connection was instant, the minute his eyes locked onto hers, how could that be possible? How could he feel with such intensity towards someone he had literally bumped into. It was as if that bump jolted something, something inside him, deep down, a feeling that he had been missing.
After shovelling everything back into his case, he held out his hand and helped her to stand up. "I apologise again milady"
She gave a small smile as she accepted his hand. "As I said, it's fine." She smiled. "I really must be going."
As she turned to walk away Robin called out to her "Thanks for helping me with my bag."
She turned back and smirked at him. "Anytime." She quipped, before carrying on her way.
Wow, she was gorgeous! He knew he was going to find it even more difficult to concentrate now, he wouldn't be able to get her out of his head, she was embedded there, on his mind, unforgettable. He'd never felt this before, never felt such a strong imitate connection with another person; not even his Marian, the mother off his child who had passed away three years previously.
He didn't understand, it had been three years, three years since he had felt anything towards any woman. There had been countless blind dates, all went horribly; well not all, but most. This feeling, this intense emotion, this was something he hadn't had in a very, very long time.
Robin finally managed to pull himself together and headed towards his classroom. He sighed as he pushed open the door and was greeted by a tall red headed woman with blue eyes. She was stood in front of a class full of students, maker in hand, writing on the board; dressed from head to toe in black, a skirt suit, with black tights and heels.
"Oh."
"Can I help you?" she asked, turning towards the door, upon catching sight of Robin she cast him a flirtatious smile.
"I do apologise," Robin answered sheepishly. "I must have got the wrong classroom."
"Not to worry," she said, placing the marker down as she walked closer and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm Miss West, but you can call me Zelena." she told him, raising her eyebrows slightly.
Robin let out an awkward cough. "Erm, I'm Mr Locksley, sorry, no Robin. Robin Locksley, I'm the new English teacher." He was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable with the way she was acting towards him and was hyperaware of her hand on his shoulder.
"Hmmm, I thought you must be new. I would have definitely noticed you before now if you weren't" she bit her bottom lip, looking him up and down, as if she wanted to devour him. "If you want a tour of the place, or just need anything in general, all you have to do is ask," she said, with a wink, moving her hand down to his bicep and giving it a slight squeeze.
If Robin didn't feel awkward before, he certainly did now! "Um, thanks for the offer, but I think I'll be fine." He smiled awkwardly, disengaging her hand from his arm. "Good day." He uttered before turning and leaving Zelena's classroom as fast as his legs would carry him. God, he hoped the rest of the teaching staff weren't like that! Since when was it common practice to practically touch up a co-worker? The look in her eyes made him uncomfortable, that defiantly wasn't a normal way to greet someone, not where he came from.
When he finally managed to locate his room, he was five minutes late for his class. He pushed the door open and was met by a horde of students, staring at the door, chatter dying down as they recognised that the teacher had just walked in. Consciously he wandered over to his desk and placed his briefcase, which was now broken, on top of it.
"I must apologise for my lateness everybody. My name is Mr Locksley and I will be your English teacher from now on." He addressed his class as he wrote his name on the board behind him. He needed to pull himself together if he was going to get through this day, placing a full stop after his name he turned around.
Moving back to his desk, he removed the text book from the tatters that was his briefcase and flipped through it, trying to remember what section they would be reading from. Great, this was just great. He went to retrieve the piece of paper he had written the page numbers on, only to find that it wasn't in his bag. It must have fallen out and gotten lost when he bumped into her, the beautiful girl with the mesmerising eyes. Flicking through the text book once again, he knew he probably looked like an idiot who didn't know what he was doing, he did know, but just not at that moment, at that moment he was too distracted, distracted by memories of her. Finally finding the correct page, he spoke up "Now, if you would all like to take out your text books and turn to page..." as soon as he started, he was suddenly interrupted by someone entering his classroom.
"Sorry I'm late," said the person who had just walked in.
Robin heard the voice first and then turned to stare at her in shock. It was the her! The girl he had bumped into on his way out of Mr Gold's office and had been on his mind ever since! Why was she here? What had she even just said? Sorry I'm late? Wait a minute did that mean… surely not, she couldn't be, could she? He coughed as he addressed her, "not to worry, Miss?"
"Mills," she answered. "Regina Mills."
He could see it in her eyes also, shock, she seemed to be just as shocked as he was. Robin nodded as she took her seat at the front of the class. Then it hit him like a rock oh my God, she was a student! Not just any student, but his student! She'd seemed so much more mature; he could've sworn she was a member of staff. The confidence she carried herself with screamed that she was a teacher herself, at the very least a teaching assistant.
He couldn't believe this, this wasn't happening, the first time he felt anything for anyone and she was a student! She was off limits, completely unattainable. He would just have to find a way to erase her from his mind, erase the feelings he had already harboured following their first meeting.
He picked up his text book "Turn to page twenty-three please." He looked out into the sea of pupils and only one pair of eyes caught his attention, hers. This was going to be ever harder than he though, how was he supposed to forget about her when she was there to remind him of her presence, right there on the front row.
Then he realised it, he was falling for one of his students. Shit.