Written for the first day of OQ August Angst Fest. Prompts:
2. "Leave me alone"
7. "I never meant to hurt you."
15. "You knew, and you did it anyway,"
22. "I trusted you"
27. "I have every right to be angry"
29. "I didn't mean it like that, and you know it"
(...)
Prank War
Robin of Locksley is driving Regina out of her mind.
From the very first moment he laid his eyes on her she knew that he was up to no good. Her suspicions were confirmed a few days later, when she noticed his tattoo and realized the thief was the man with a lion tattoo, her soulmate.
That day Regina Mills promised herself she would keep her distance from this awfully handsome man.
However, Robin didn't let her.
He would walk up to her at the most inconvenient time and would tease and embarrass her in a court room and at every other opportunity he got. He liked to get on her nerves.
He liked to prank her even more. He would take her horse on a walk when she needed it, he would tell her that Snow and Charming are waiting her in a courtroom and she would come there and find it empty. He would discretely pour salt into her tea instead of sugar, or would pour too much sugar in it just to annoy her.
It was a very silly game that he was playing, a silly and annoying one that drove Regina out of her mind.
Today, she's lost her patience. When she comes into the kitchen in the morning and takes her cup of coffee that Granny had prepared for her, she spots Robin sitting in the corner of the kitchen, eating left-overs from yesterday's dinner. He isn't looking at her, but he's definitely smirking, and Regina glares at him before bringing the cup to her lips.
She doesn't expect anything to be wrong.
But it is, oh it is.
Her coffee is sour.
She can't help but let out a growl – that idiot should have known better than annoy her before her morning coffee.
Before she knows it a fireball is formed in her palm and the smirk on the thief's lips almost makes her throw it right into his face. However, just before she can do it an idea hit her.
She lets the cup drop from her hands, shatters of porcelain scattering across the floor as she bends over, her hand coming to rest on her lower belly, a quiet groan leaving her parted lips.
The smirk disappears from Robin's face almost immediately, his brow furrowing, and then moments later he's standing beside her, his arm resting on her shoulder, asking if she's alright.
Regina has to fight the urge to strangle him now that he's so close.
"I'm fine," Regina tells him, gritting her teeth to make her performance even more believable.
"You need to sit down," Robin says, wrapping his arm around Regina, supporting her, as he slowly walks her to the table while she continues to inhale deeply through her nose and exhale through her mouth as if trying to fight the sick feeling in her stomach.
Once she's sitting on the chair, Robin leaves her side and rushes to the bucket of cool water and returns with a full cup. Regina takes it from Robin with shaking hands and empties it in a few deep gulps.
"What's wrong?" Robin asks when Regina finally straightens in her seat, brushing a few strands of hair away from her forehead.
She glances to the door to make sure that they're really alone and tells him in a quiet voice, "You have to stop pranking me, thief." Robin's face breaks into a smile but it falls immediately when Regina adds, "I'm pregnant."
Robin's eyes widen in shock, his jaw dropping open. The hand that's been resting on her back falls away, and Regina has to fight the urge to smile.
"I can't get sick, you know. The last time you poured a bucket of cold water all over me, I got a fever." She reminds him, but Robin doesn't react to her words, he just continues to stare at her in shock. "I have a sad history with pregnancies and I wouldn't want to lose this one, too."
Regina looks away from him then, faking sadness – otherwise she would start laughing because his expression is comical.
"You're pregnant?" He asks, his voice full of disbelief.
"Yes, I'm two months along," she lies, and Robin's eyes widen even more (how is it even possible?).
That night, almost two months ago, was a huge mistake, but it was Henry's birthday and she was devastated. Robin found her wandering in the forest late that night, and there was no sass in his voice as he asked her if she was alright. She doesn't know what came over her then, perhaps she longed for love, acceptance or just wanted to forget her heartbreak for a moment, and she kissed him right on the lips.
Even though Robin was acting like a complete idiot, she knew that deep down he wasn't one, she knew that he was a good man, and that knowledge made her throw caution to the wind because she wrapped her arms around his neck in order to pull him closer and opened her mouth, deepening the kiss.
It didn't take long until she was being pushed against the tree, his hands squeezing her hips as she moaned into his mouth, forgetting the world around herself completely.
"But… you said you couldn't-" Robin stutters out, still staring at her with wide eyes.
Regina feels victorious – that's the reaction she's wanted to get.
She knew he would freak out. Her plan is to torture him for a few days, and then finally she'll tell him that he can calm down – the Evil Queen is not carrying his child, that it was all just a prank, and that he never ever try to make fun of her again.
"I shouldn't be pregnant," Regina nods her head, "But I am right now. With your child."
"Oh Gods," it's all he manages to say as he continues to stare at her face.
It seems like a few hours pass until finally his piercing gaze falls down away from her eyes to her flat stomach. He clearly wants to say something because he opens his mouth but then closes it, repeating the action a few times.
And then suddenly he's taking a step closer to her and wrapping his arms around her tightly. Regina lets out a surprised gasp when he lifts her from the ground and spins around, murmuring something into her hair. When he puts her down on the ground and pulls away a bit, his eyes are teary, a huge smile on his face.
This time it is Regina's eyes that widen in shock.
Is he actually… happy?
"A child?" he asks, his voice full of disbelief. A few tears roll down his cheek as he rests his palm on her belly and looks at her with a huge watery smile, "Regina, we are having a child," he tells her, before leaning over and kissing her on the lips.
Regina stands there still, not being able to return his kiss.
Who could be happy when the Evil Queen is expecting their baby? The child would probably be cursed, sick or dark and twisted and would end up killing people and ruining lives for its own pleasure, just like its mother.
Robin pulls away from her a bit before letting out a laugh full of happiness and then he wraps his arms around her again, pulling her into a tight hug and whispering that she's just made him the happiest man in all realms.
Regina swallows hard.
What has she done?
(…)
Robin was ecstatic about the baby who didn't exist.
Regina had to work really hard to convince him not to tell anyone, not even his closest friend, about the pregnancy. He only agreed when she told him a made-up story about how she lost all of King's children before they were even born (she hopes that he'll never ever tell about this to Snow White, otherwise, the younger woman could have told Robin that Regina has never been pregnant before).
With each passing day, Robin's excitement only grew while Regina felt like suffocating. When she made this rushed plan to prank Robin, she thought he would freak out, ask her to get rid of the baby or something like that, she was expecting anything but happiness.
And he was beyond happy.
Robin brought her breakfast every morning, waking her up with a sweet kiss on the lips. She tried to convince him that this child is not making them a couple, they would not even be together after it's born, but Robin didn't listen to anything. It seemed he was enchanted by the idea of having a baby.
He spent hours walking along with her in the gardens and Regina wanted to tell him that there was no baby, that it was all a prank but every time she would open her mouth, nothing came out. She would stare at him wordlessly, cursing herself for being so stupid.
From the very beginning Regina knew that even though Robin tried to pretend to be careless, deep down he felt that attraction between them. Regina knew that there were feelings hidden under all of these pranks. How she could be so stupid and decide that lying about a child was a good payback is beyond her.
Regina was afraid to think just how hurt Robin will be because of this stupid prank, but she had to end it as soon as possible (she should have told him it was a lie the moment she saw how happy he was about the baby).
So when Robin walks into her chambers this morning, Regina is already sitting at the edge of her bed, her fingers moving relentlessly against her skirts, giving away that she's anxious.
Robin smiles at her sweetly and puts a trait of food on the nightstand. He turns to look at her with a cup of tea in his hands, but Regina shakes her head.
Swallowing hard, she tells him, "We need to talk."
Robin furrows his brow in confusion, but he puts the cup down and looks back at her. He smiles at her then, encouraging her to start.
Regina shifts uneasily in her place, feeling sick, and finally says, "I'm not pregnant."
The way Robin's face falls makes Regina swallow hard. It seems that Robin's stopped breathing as he continues to look at her, not even blinking his eyes.
How could she ever think that it was funny?
She's sick, the true Evil Queen.
Still staring at her Robin manages to ask, "What?"
Collecting all of her courage, Regina forces herself to look straight into his eyes as she finally tells him the truth.
"I have never been pregnant," she admits, "You were driving me mad with your stupid pranks and I… wanted it to stop, so I made up the pregnancy story. I thought you would freak out!"
"Are you kidding me?"
"No," she shakes her head, ashamed. "Believe me, I'm so sorry. I've never wanted to hurt you. You kept pulling pranks on me and I was so fed up, I thought I would do something in return."
"And you decided that laying to me about our non-existent child would be a good way to get your revenge on me."
"No! I didn't mean to hurt you!" she tells him sincerely. "I thought that you would freak out! I thought that you wouldn't want that child, that you hated me and that… you would be so relieved that I'm not actually pregnant that you would stop your stupid pranks."
Robin opens his mouth to say something, but instead shakes his head and just stares at her. His jaw is tensed, his deep blue eyes are piercing right through her dark soul, and Regina cannot help it but look away.
She wants to disappear. She really does. And she could do it easily with one simple wave of her hand.
However, Robin is the only person who hasn't been afraid of her since the moment she stepped into her castle. He's a good man and father, and he didn't deserve to be hurt like that.
She has to pay for what she's done so she continues to sit beside him.
Shifting uncomfortably, she tells him, "I never meant to hurt you. All I wanted to do was prank you."
Robin lets out a shuddering breath and then gets up from the bed, starts pacing back and forth, his hands fisted in his head. Regina swallows hard as she watches him, and for the umpteenth time that day she asks herself what the hell she was thinking when she decided to hurt him like that.
"I think you did want to hurt me," Robin finally says, turning to look at her.
"Robin, please," Regina stands up as well and takes a step closer to him. "I didn't mean it like that, and you know it!"
"Oh, no?" he lets out a humorless laugh. "So why didn't you tell me right then that it was a prank? You saw how excited I was about this baby, you knew this prank was cruel, and you did it anyway," his voice trails off after that, and Regina has to look down ashamed. She should have told him weeks ago that it was all just a prank, he is right. "I have every right to be angry, your Majesty." He then states in an angry tone.
"Robin-" she trails off trying to touch his hand but he flinches away from her.
"I trusted you!" he shouts, taking a step closer to her, his anger radiating off of him in waves. "I stayed in your bloody castle to protect your ass, all I wanted to do was see you smile, and in return you're doing this to me!" As he takes another step closer, Regina cannot help herself and take one back. She doesn't think he'll hurt her, but she wouldn't want to risk and find out.
Regina's heart stops beating as he stares straight into her eyes and she can see the hatred in his. She doesn't look down, no matter how much she wants to. She wants him to let all of his anger out on her and then forgive it all.
Instead of saying another word, Robin turns away from her, shaking his head, and makes his way towards the door.
Regina has promised herself to never run after a man, but Robin is worth it and she finds herself turning around and trying to reach for his hand.
Just before her fingers can wrap around his wrist, he turns around and growls out, "Leave me alone."
"I never meant to hurt you, Robin. I'm so sorry," she says but he has already walked out of her chambers, slamming the door shut behind himself.
As Regina falls down to the floor with tears in her eyes, she's reminded once again that she was born to ruin people's lives and she'll never be able to change, no matter how hard she tries.
