Chapter one/
To say that Storybrooke had fewer than one hundred residents, Monday mornings were chaotic. Everyone was heading to work and even the bronze leaves journeyed
through the deep ravines of the cracked pavement. For Regina, autumn was the worst time of the year. Each crunch under her expensive heel reminded her of the sounds of slaughter she induced everyday as the evil queen. As the animals cowered away for hibernation, she felt lonely and isolated. Also, days crept quickly into night, a reminder of how easily she could slip back into darkness.

At the opposite end of town, Robin Locksley adored autumn. The tunnel of trees which lead him to work moulted, forming a crisp blanket for him to walk on. The emerald foliage faded into caramel and bonfire toffee, reminding him of partially forgotten memories. While the crisp, wintery air hugged him tight. Despite the lack of animals, he never felt lonely in autumn.

As the clock chimed declaring the arrival of midday, heels belonging to a certain mayor clicked in unison. The weather matched her icy demeanour as she paced down the road, carrying brown bags overflowing with her usual shopping. When Regina reached her immaculate Mercedes, she lost her refined manner as she struggled to open her boot. After the troublesome task of loading her boot with the shopping, Regina suffered further inconveniences. Her car had broken. Exasperated, Regina turned and strutted to the car bonnet where she lifted it open and peered inside. After a few moments of exploring into the mechanics of her car, she rose and in the process, hit her head on the bonnet.

In the doorway of Storybrooke Library, Robin stood and watched her. She was flawless, that was inevitable, but the way that she crinkled up her nose and lightly rubbed her head showed him the cute side of Regina Mills. As quickly as he fell into them, he snapped out of his thoughts as he felt emptiness in his hand. Roland. His 5 year old son had left his side and was running towards the mayor.

"I like your car; it's like one of mine!" Roland voiced with innocence pouring out of every syllable.

"But I bet yours doesn't break down when you have a tub of ice-cream in the back," Regina replied crouching to his level. Well, she attempted to crouch as her tight, cerulean dress was fairly restricting. As if on instinct, Roland opened his mouth before Robin interrupted.

"I believe that you've already had enough ice cream to feed all of the Merry Men for a week!" Robin chuckled as he crept behind his young son and when he looked up, his eyes were met with another pair. In that moment, Robin understood why admiring from afar had its problems. Regina's eyes were like the slightly singed pages from a book. They were damaged, through no fault of their own, yet they still managed to hold stories that could intrigue you for centuries. The flicks of gold that weaved through had a life of their own as they danced in the sunlight and the harmonious browns spiralled into the pupil.

"I'm sorry," Regina started breaking the silence, "for tempting your gorgeous son with ice-cream."

"Well I don't think that the ice-cream is the only thing tempting me"

"Really? It's Rocky Road," Regina replied, her mouth betraying her.

"Well, in that case…" Robin paused as Regina's eyes taunted him further, "I'd say that I should probably have a quick glance at your car." With that Robin turned and faced the car and with a few clicks, he deduced that the battery was dead.

"Is it fixed?" Regina questioned as Robin once again turned to face her and fell into her eyes.

"I'm afraid not Milady, but I can drive you and your shopping home."

⋘ ⋙

When Regina returned home from her almost disastrous afternoon, she put her shopping away before perching on her velvet couch to analyse the day's events. Robin was undeniably attractive but she had a curse to maintain and a son to care for. Although, Robin did have a son and thankfully not the former. She shook her head to erase the thoughts that pestered her mind but unusually they didn't disappear and she could only remember that happening once before. Daniel. Now that he'd weaved his way into her thoughts, Regina knew that they'd be no way to remove him. Well, while sober anyway.

After two relatively large glasses of red wine, Regina knew that it would be best to turn in for the night. She'd managed to erase the memory of Daniel and Robin but she didn't know how long it would last. Henry was at Ms Swan's apartment until tomorrow morning so Regina wobbled past his room without checking on him. She eventually reached her room and as she pushed the door open, the fresh aroma of apples hit her. She struggled out of her dress as she slowly unzipped it and let it fall from her shoulders and she began to pull her short hair up into an even smaller ponytail. With her arms falling once again she collapsed onto the bed with only one name on her mind.

Robin was exhausted after spending the majority of the evening playing twister with Roland. But despite the extra years of experience, Roland had managed to beat his dad, almost 4 times over. Robin knew by the fourth game that his pride was going to be damaged and quickly scurried him off to bed. That left Robin a few hours before he was ready to retire and he found himself lost for what to do. For one reason or another, his rugged hands reached for the phone book where he scanned his cyanic eyes over the page labelled with a 'M'. Before long, almost like an X on a pirate map, Robin had found his treasure in the form of a number belonging to a certain Mayor. He knew, without even checking his watch, that it would be far too late to ring her now so instead he keyed in the number and clicked save.