Once upon a time, Regina and Daniel didn't have any past connected with Enchanted Forest. Enchanted Forest didn't even exist. Daniel and Regina lived in New York and one day they met. This meeting changed their life definitely.
Thanks to my lovely beta Karolina (toospoky on tumblr), who changed some part of this story. Anyway, everybody makes mistakes, so if you found any mistake, just tell me!
And I would like to read your opinions about this story, so reviews are welcome!
Disclaimer: I don't own nothing!

He was sitting at the bar for a long time. The whiskey his friend David had given him ten minutes ago, never tasted so bad. He had a horrible week. His boss Ashley had been like a pain in the neck – his work as a marketing communications assistant was so stressful, but suddenly Ashley had given an overture of depletion the expenses connected with a big commercial, so Daniel had to work like a robot, in order for his boss to be pleased. It was Friday, the first day of autumn, so the bar near his work's edifice was almost crowded. He saw his fellow workers from 34th floor and some well-known faces from others. He looked at his friend, who stood up the opposite of him. David was purging a small glass, when he decided to start a conversation.

"This week sucks." he told him and took a sip of whiskey.

"Mine too, Daniel, you are not alone." David put down the glass and glanced at his friend. Unfortunately, he saw a fatigue on his face. He knew, that if it was connected with her work, Ashley didn't have any limitations. She was that kind of boss - when somebody was late because of some meaningless thing, she could even fire them. David knew her very well – as with Daniel, she liked visiting this place, and when she was drunk, her tongue was longer than usual.

"I'm sure that Ashley is just thinking about how to kick my sorry ass." He glared angrily at the right corner in the club, where his fellow workers were laughing hard. "And I'm sure that one of those idiots won't be employed tomorrow."

"Ashley likes you." David smiled at him with a sympathy. "Too much." Daniel sighed heavily and took another sip. "Anyway, you are drunk."

"I'm not!" he said too loud and people near him peeped at him curiously. "I'm not." He looked at his friend and lowered his voice. "But I should go home. Lily might be worried or something."

"Sure." But Daniel didn't got up. He sat there and started thinking about his hard past. About his wife, who had left him two years ago, because she had been bored of responsibilities and duties, she had been simply bored with their relationship. The divorce had taken place as quick as possible, and after that he had heard, that now she was living in Mexico with some rich guy and twice a year they went to Europe. She hadn't wanted a husband and now she was in a beautiful relationship. This whole situation seemed too realistic to be true for him. One day he had lost everything… no, he was wrong. He had Lily. She was everything for him. She made him smile every day, she made him want to live, for her. For her big, bright, green eyes, beautiful smile, long, dark hair and crazy temper. He didn't know that he hadn't loved his wife at all until the divorce. He was grateful to her for Lily though. He remembered only one sentence from the divorce: "The daughter is yours, Mr. Anderson." and these words brought him the most beautiful and precious angel in whole wide world. Now he couldn't imagine his life without her. And he was sure, that he would never leave her alone, like her mother did. Anyway, Lily didn't even remember the name or even face of her mother. She was only two years old, when his wife had decided to leave them. And now she was four, eleven months and twenty days – she liked counting the days until her birthday, so he had plans about that.

"Yesterday you said something about a local, where I can organize Lily's birthday."

"Oh yeah." David seemed to be glad for Daniel's back from his own mind. He took a small piece of paper, where he wrote nine numbers and gave it to him. "Here you go. You should talk to Mike Brown, he's an owner, and…" he took another piece of paper and wrote something. "And here you have an address." Daniel smiled and put papers in placket.

"Thanks. I really appreciate that."

"But I would like to have an invitation! I have a special gift for Lily." Daniel seemed to be curious with his friend's words.

"Fine, but please, don't bribe my daughter, you have your own family!" David laughed hard, because he knew exactly what Daniel was thinking about - his relationship with Mary Margaret. First of all, he had been the best man at their wedding. It had been a hard part of Daniel's life, he was still recovering after the divorce. But he hadn't lost his head at all and he kept a cool head through the ceremonial, so the young couple could start their life without any doubts. Daniel really liked spending time with them. Mary Margaret Nolan was a complete contrast of her husband. David liked parties a lot actually – that's why he was working in the pub and preferred playing video games from watching TV, so he and Daniel every Saturday had a 'gaming' afternoon, no matter where - the most important thing was "what game is next?". Mary Margaret was a teacher – that's why she liked peace and calmness with an accomplished book or a remote control, she was addicted to music and she loved her students. She and David were so different, but together really stood out in the throngs of sweet, considerate and cheerful couple. Daniel had a feeling, that their relationship didn't crush him, only buoyed him up.

"Don't worry, Mary Margaret will try so that Lily will be delighted with the uniqueness of this gift." David winked at him, and Daniel just rolled his eyes.

"You spoil my baby and I don't like it at all!" they burst out laughing, when Daniel caught a glimpse of a woman who entered the pub. With a delicate gait as if she could eulogize over floor, she went to the panel and opened a small purse, from where she took a black phone. She started typing in, without knowledge that the unknown man, few chairs away from her, gazed at her with glistening eyes and thinly open mouth. When he came back to his friend, he recognized, that he was not only on the opposite of him, but near the unknown, gorgeous woman. David poured her a glass of red wine and when he told her something, he giggled as if an angel controlled her voice. Daniel stared at them with a confused gaze, when David came back.

"Who is she?" Daniel asked without second thought.

"She?" David pointed at the woman with a glass of red wine in left hand and a phone in the other. "She's Regina."

"And where did you met?"

"Why do you ask such awkward question? She works in your building, on the 28th floor I think, sorry, I don't remember. She loves red wine, she's really overworked person, but she loves spending her time here."

"Why haven't I met her before here? I'm here almost every Friday, and…"

"Wait. Do you mean it like, you like her, you know, really like her?" David glanced at him with a stupid smile, so Daniel looked closely at the woman. She had short-length, almost black hair, her body was dressed in a red dress with shoulders cut off and the length was up to half of thighs, so its unveiled her not so long, but skinny legs with a black, almost ten centimeters heels. Daniel didn't see her eyes, they were hid by hair, but he imagined a big, maybe green or brown eyes with a perfect makeup. He was mesmerized. He hadn't seen a similar beauty like her. Even his ex-wife wasn't even close to look like that woman. Regina. Such a unusual, but beautiful name. He wanted to come to know everything about her. Right now, since she was so close.

"I don't know… maybe… she's quite…" Daniel started to stammer and David ended up with a childish smile.

"No way, my best friend has fallen in love!"

"Oh shut up." He glared at him with a mysterious expression. "I don't even know her. She seems so… distant. Just look at her. She's like a red rose – she shows her all beauty. And I'm like… Jesus, like a dry cactus, if not worse." David couldn't help himself, so he just burst out laughing on whole pub. It seemed, like nobody cared about his misbehavior, but when Daniel looked at Regina, she was watching them with a tender, almost hidden smile. He was right – she had big, brown eyes, that glistened in the light. She smiled at them with dimpled forehead, as if she was curious to know about what's going on, but she would only smile puzzled. She returned to her phone then and the screen lit in her hand.

"Daniel, listen." David started when he finally understood that his friend could look at that woman all day. "She's really great, I swear. But I heard she's got some problems. She's terribly uptight, and I noticed she doesn't like talking about herself. So be careful. I can introduce you two, but…"

"No, don't worry. I don't have a dog's chance for her attention anyway."

On Monday, after work, Daniel decided to make an appointment with an owner of mentioned local, the one where Lily could have her birthday party. She dreamed about an immense party, where she could play with her friends all day and, who cares about time, all night. She didn't known about his plans, so whenever he was arranging everything, she had been at Mary Margaret and David's house. Daniel wanted to totally surprise her by this event. She looked happy without mummy by her side, but he was sure, that lost was caused her a great pain. He knew that she would like to wear some mummy's clothes, heels and do a little makeup. She would like to have her hair made, wear dress and so on. Daniel tried his best, so that she could have everything she wanted. His boss paid him well, so he came up with an idea of a birthday party.

About 6 pm he went to a local named "Brooklyn Style" on 62th street. That place was all in white and pale yellow colors with modern, wooden furniture. He saw three rooms: one - with only about twenty tables and folded chairs near a south wall. Second with half-closed door and he was sure he heard quiet voices inside. Third room was just a big, empty, black and white space, where the floor was covered by a blue sheet. Daniel wasn't sure of what to do next - he didn't see anyone, so he decided to walk into the second room. He opened the door and stopped stock-still. He saw a dark room with only few lighten lamps. In the middle of said room sat maybe fifteen people in a perfect circle. It wasn't even surprising that in the one of wooden chairs he found no one else but her. Regina. He could recognize her everywhere. He was wondering if that dark space affected on her so much or was she just joyless, because she was sitting there without any emotions. When he started to observe her with interest, she started to talk.

"Well… how am I? All the same – I'm powerless. He will never change and I'm afraid that one day I won't be sitting here with you guys… But, umm… I can't leave him now. This is too dangerous for other people. Now when I'm sure, that he can hurt only me, and…" she dimpled her forehead and closed eyes as if holding back tears. Someone got up from their chair and hugged her tightly. Long time passed when she felt someone's glare on her and peeped at Daniel. He was devastated. He didn't know her history at all, but that part made him sure she had plenty of problems on her own and now, after the speech, in her mind, she screamed for help. He stormed out of that room and sighed heavily. He didn't know what to do at all. Sure, he wanted to help her with all his heart. He wanted to hug her like that man in the circle. He wanted to assure her, that from now on she's safe and no one's gonna hurt her ever again. Unfortunately, he didn't know her at all. They were complete strangers. And it made him terribly sad.

"Oh, Mr. Anderson, here you are! I was looking for you everywhere!" he heard the local's owner voice and he conjured up a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little bit late, ain't I?" he lied and the owner started to talk. He showed the third room, which was the new, quickly redecorated place, perfect for children and teenagers because of a fairly big scene near the east wall, where someone could organize a concert or something else of that kind. The owner quickly talked the price and time limit and started to brag about his life. It was Daniel who stopped this nonsense. He was that kind of person, who always helped people and who liked listening about people's life, but his head was full of that brunette. He paid a fee for the local and said his goodbyes to the owner. He was close to the main door, when he suddenly bumped into someone. That person seemed to be as distracted as he was.

"I'm sorry, I'm a terrible blunderer, I was so lost in thought and…" he didn't looked up until the person started to talk.

"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine, I was…" He glanced with an open mouth, because he could recognize this voice everywhere. It was her, again. Regina. He couldn't believe it. First he sees her at the bar, then he listens about her life and now that accident. He thought he was an incredibly lucky person. He smiled nicely at her, and she looked like she was thinking about something. "Hey, I remember you!" she looked like she was amused by that situation. In contrast, Daniel felt like falling in love with her. It was so stupid, he didn't ever know her, but she was there, with that beautiful smile and he thought about her speech and… "I remember you from the bar on St. Maria Street! You and David are some kind of friends?"

"Yeah, kind of." He smiled at her and she smiled back. Daniel really wanted to stay calm and not show his feelings, so his words were dry and had no sense at all. Then she reminded herself about something and clearly grew sad.

"And, um… You were there, when I was talking about my, well, problems so… Are you a new member of our club? Because if you're not, this whole situation is just one big misunderstanding."

"I'm sorry, I'm not." He was sure, that he clearly saw pain and sadness in her eyes, because again she didn't have anyone who could help. But her face was different - her forehead dimpled as if she was disgusted by this situation and she cleared her throat. The funniest thing was that he had known her only four days, and he had met her only twice, but he perfectly knew, that this part with forehead and throat was written in her behavior. She had these outright reactions on some occurrences in her life.

"Oh. So what were you doing there?"

"Well, I'm looking for a place for my daughter's birthday party and I was searching for owner of this place and…"

"Your wife must be grateful for having such helpful husband as you." She smiled genuinely and suddenly started looking for her phone as her ringtone sounded.

"Not exactly, you see…" She finally found her phone and picked up the call.

"I'm sorry, I should go." She whispered in his direction and smiled once again as she disappeared behind a door. Daniel stood there with confused expression. All he wanted was her and he couldn't stop thinking about that genuine smile, beautiful eyes and fetching, low voice. He just needed more time to come to know her pretty well.

Regina went to her house about 10 pm. After the meeting, which was at 4 pm, she got a call from her work, that her appointment with the city's government had been cancelled and after that her inferiors didn't know what to do. They had got everything that was needed for this meeting, they had worked two weeks without stopping, so that this one meeting could be ideal and now they didn't have nothing. So Regina had to go, meet her subordinates and calm them down, because nothing was cancelled and she looked forward for the meeting to go perfectly as planned. Finally, she entered the house completely exhausted and without any emotions. She just wanted to take a hot bath, eat something, because she hadn't eaten almost all day, and go to bed. Unfortunately, she had to remember about someone, who was probably in the kitchen with a bottle of some alcohol. She sighed heavily knowing exactly what will happen when she enters the room. She took off her black heels and she went quietly to the kitchen. She saw a man lying on a small table with his eyes closed. He was snoring with an open mouth. Near his left hand, which he used as a pillow, stood a half empty bottle of vodka. All space around him was dark and the kitchen reeked of alcohol.

"Killian, please wake up." She whispered and started moving him. He mumbled something unintelligible and snored once. "Honey, I'm begging you , go with me to bed. It's soft and warmth, why are you sleeping here?" Killian finally opened his eyes and glared at Regina. She knew exactly what would come next. He blinked twice and started getting up from the wooden chair. She smiled at him nicely and gave him her hand, but he suddenly raised his hand and with a clenched fist he knocked her in the face. She quickly moved away from him and put a hand on her left cheek.

"Where were you! I was waiting for you the whole day! You are a whore, am I right!?" There was certainty in his voice and he went to the bedroom stumbling from time to time.

"I'm not." She whispered, when a tear rolled down her cheek.