There was something thrilling about going to a bar on a Friday night, all alone and with a new identity. To be part of a flurry of strangers searching for enjoyment, release, a good time that would allow to free the stress of the day. Not easy, it wasn't easy for Regina to simply forget everything happening in her life but for a few hours she was free to not be Regina, to enjoy the freedom, Reina, provided her. Because really, the queen complex her mother had forced down her throat was impossibe to get rid off.

Regina found this particular place a few weeks ago when she was bored out of her mind and a prisoner of her apartment. Tormented by the sense of loss and a darkness that was slowly eating her away. Those four walls were closing in oon her, making the apartment (because she couldn't call it home, not anymore) seem smaller.

Enough was enough.

She dressed in the nicest dress she own. A red, skin tight thing that gave the illusion that she wasn't able to breathe in it. Impecable make up and hair, put on some of black pumps to complement her legs and then she was off in search of some entertaiment to ease her mind.

The brunette drove through the heart of New York, eyes glancing over bars and people. Some too young, others too wild for her liking. They all seemed like people, places that wouldn't be mentally stimulating. In the end she opted to go to a place called 'The poison apple', curious name too. As a child, apples were her favorite. She still remember the honeycrisp three in their garden, the branches so tall that it seemed to be holding up the sky, and the adorning red fruits that gleam in the sunlight like rubies. Regina love to nap under the cool shade it provided, how her days seemed to pass by quickly as she played there with her sister Zelena, with zero care in the wolrd. Those were the days, she missed those days in which her sister and her actually got along, when Henry sat there with her to tell her stories that the little girl she used to be dreamed about. Now that tree doesn't exist, just like her friendship with Zelena and her father's soul. That's why 'poison apple' seemed like a fitting place to enter. After all, Regina herself was poison, thorns and darkness, a broken darkness that the world itself mocked.

Weeks had passed by since she first entered the bar for the first time, weeks in which little had happened. Which is why she decided that tonight would be the last time. That she will return to the prison of her apartment with zero reprieved to breath. It was fun (not really) while it lasted.

Mills sat at the bar area,swirling the stem of her appletine between delicate digits, eyes intently watching the liquid dance around the glass. Regina waited for somthing, some unknown thing but the seconds ticked by and she was already making her mind to leave. With a sigh, Regina reached for her purse, ready to take the money out to pay when from the corner of her eye she saw someone stand beside her. She continued on her task, but the stranger spoke and the accent, deep and rich like the earth of a forest made her stop. Regina eyed the man briefly and found him smirking at her. Mills perfectly manicured brow rose and his smirk only broaden. "Can I help you with something?" Her voice carried her usual sultriness, rich like his own accent. The man sat on the empty stool, his striking blue eyes on her, unrelenting.

They were breathtaking.

"I sure hope so." He replied nonchalantly, turning to the barkeep, "Whiskey, and…" He looked at her almost empty glass, deducing what she was drinking. After a second or two he looked at the man on the other side of the bar, "...an appletini for the lady." The barkeep nodded and got to serving the drinks.

Her eyes never left him in the entire exchange, her brow still up, mouth in a thin line. "I can pay for my own drink…"

"I'm sure you can." He replied without missing a beat.

Drinks were placed in front of them, but Regina did not reach for it, not just yet.

Noticing that, the man placed his glass back down, a questioning gaze sent his way. "Everything alright?" And Regina couldn't rolling her eyes.

"Again, can I help you with somethinng?" The words were low, head slightly tilted as her tongue clicked.

His lips went 'oh' as he rose the glass to his lips, taking a fairly greedy sip. He seemed to debate what to say, the brunette could see it in the way his shoulders rolled before settling on squaring them. The action slightly reminded her of someone long gone.

Focus, Regina.

She reached for her almost empty glass, drank the contents and pushed it back for the bartender to take. After a while of silence between them, silence drown in the sound of low music and people murmmurring all around them, the man gave her a smile that made her heart beat strangely. "I'm new in town."

Regina sucked on her teeth before speaking once more. "And I have to do with that because?"

"I'm trying to make friends, and you looked like someone lonely in need of one as well."

Really she didn't mean to snort out a laugh but it came out before she could stop it and might as well own it. "What makes you think I'm lonely?" Even if it was true, the fact that he was bold enough to actually voice that made her cringe and awe all at the same time. People tend to say she is a little intimidating, but he doesn't seem to he intimidated by her at all. It was refreshing but she won't just admit that to him, especially when she knows that the moment she walks out the bar doors, she won't see him again and it was better that way.

The strangers shifts in his chair, whether it was to be more comfortable or look at her, she doesn't know but his gaze is so strong, playfulness that has surrounded him a moment ago sucked into his lungs without even trying. There was a seriousness to him that she could relate to, something about him that was just right. She won't dwell on it, cannot dwell on it. "You spent the last half hour playing with that glass before you drank what was left and well you looked like you could use some company. Plus I watched you brushed some guys off and I like a challenge."

She was taken aback by that. Regina didn't noticed anyone intently looking at her, then again when her mind wonders off, she rarely noticed her surroundings. A bad habit that could cost her in the future if she didn't changed it. "Some might say that's creepy." Regina laughed.

"Maybe." He half agreed with a grin. "But you haven't brushed me off just yet so I think I got a good change of keeping you company for a little while."

He had a point there. She would have just ignored him, pretend he wasn't talking to him and wait out until he was gone. That's all she been doing for the past few weeks since she started going to the bar. No one struck her enough for Regina to actually care to talk. He had taken her by surprise, even now as his blue eyes shone in the dim light of the bar and his smile made her feel warm for some reason. "Point taken." She muttered, reaching for the drink he had ordered for her and took a sip. "But if you bored me to death I'm leaving, understood?"

The man smirked, nodding. "I wouldn't dreamed of it."

|XxX|

Regina learned three things that night.

One, his name was Leo.

Two, he came from London to expand his recycling business.

And three, she couldn't hold her liquor well as she thought.

The alcohol had Regina giggling, actually giggling about every little stupid thing Leo said. He wasn't fairing any better but from the both of them, he was more composed. "You are kidding right?" She said, her voice airy, void of the usual heaviness. It was nice to be free of the dark thoughts that usually loomed over her head. Sure, she had it all together, her life, her job but there were things missing, and in that moment with Leo every seemed to be in place.

"Not at all." His voice held a faux grave tone that had her faking a serious expression as he retold the story once more. "I swear, I was happily sitting on a lawn chair, drinking my beer in peace when the dog and the pig came out of nowhere and hit the back of the chair pushing me off it and falling into the mud. It was raining so much for a few weeks so when the sun finally came out I thought 'A little sun would be good' never in a million years I thought that would happen." He shook his head, laughing. Regina had a hand clamped over her mouth, her week attempt at not laughing.

She laughed.

"What about you?" He rose a brow and her fit of laugh ceased.

"I got not embarrassing stories to tell." Not true, she had some but they either involved her sister or father and she didn't want to put a damper on the mood because everytime she thinks about them the easiness seemed to die. And she is having fun, more fun than she ever had before but it was getting late and she needed to sleep this drunkness off if she wanted to arrived at work refreshed (somewhat) and ready to go through the last details of the party she is organizing for her sister wedding.

Shit, she ended up thinking about her in the end.

Regina sighed, getting up from the chair almost falling in the process. Leo jumped right in time to catch her, their faces dangerously close for comfort. He smiled, and Regina felt her heart knowing on her ribcage. How did she not noticed those dimples? Woah.

"You alright, Reina?" For a moment she gawked at him, her drunk state preventing her from pulling at the thread of her little lie, but after a while she shook her head, and grinned.

Yeah, she didn't give him her real name. It wasn't like they were going to see each other again anyway. "Yes, I am." She straightened, "I should get going." Fixing her dress, Regina then reached for her purse, stumbling a little.

"You shouldn't be driving like that." He said and honestly she knows. Regina had planned to ask the barkeep to call a cab but before she could voice out her plan, Leo's arm was around her shoulder and guiding her out.

"Where are we going?" She asked and Robin stopped. There was an internal struggle inside of him. His eyes became suddenly stormy, darker that they've been a few moments ago. Regina felt herself swallowing hard, air escaping her lungs in short puffs as she studied his face intently.

After a moment, resolve washed over his face. "Well, I can call you a cab…"

OH.

"Or, my apartment is a few buildings down."

OHHH.

Regina's mind blanketed for a moment. Common sense whispered in her head 'take option A' but her heart disguised as tiredness said option B. What was the worse it could happen? Well, he could be a serial killer and she his next victim. It would be a nice way to go, dramatic. But he didn't look like a killer to her. Maybe he was murdering her heart with every smile, every laugh, the timber of his voice and the way his whole body shaped in delight at something she said. She didn't mind dying that way.

"Reina?" He called out, his hand squeezing her shoulder softly. It brought back to reality, tiredness (heart) winning over the argument within herself. She can always sneak out before he even wakes and forever wonder what would have happened. Maybe a friendship with him was exactly what she needed or it might be a mistake. Regina doesn't want to find out but she wants to waste a few more hours with him.

"Do I have to walk much?" She asked and when Regina saw his broad smile she had to lock her knees but keep herself from buckling. Whether from drunkness or swoon, Regina didn't know.

"Not much, I promise." And Regina found herself believing him.

That was the beginning of her life spiraling out of control…

A few weeks later.

Her job as a party planner jad expanded in ways she didn't even dated to imagined it. New accounts were weekly brought in by wealthy people wanting to have an over the top and lavish gathering. Regina had started this a few years ago with nothing but a dream and a few dollars to her name. Her mother did not approved of her choices, to the point in which she practically treats her like some invisible person. But even though she doesn't put much attention to Regina's dealings, the media certainly does.

After all, she was the youngest daughter to Cora Mills, governer of New York.

Okay, so maybe she does. Her image was the most important aspect of her life and as long as Regina didn't do anything stupid (Cora's words) all would be alright but she pointedly told Regina to reconsider her little side project. But she never did, she never will.

As she went over the final details of the upcoming parties, the season of socialites was about to begin and this would be the first of many parties she'd be planning, a clear of throat made Regina look up. There, Mary Margaret stood with an expression that could only mean one thing. The brunette pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to prevent the more than likely headache that was would assault her.

Just great.

Regina sighed, but nodded already pushing away the many sketches and fabrics she had been going over. Zelena walked in just when Regina stood up. Her sister didn't like it when Regina was distracted checking other things, like their mother, the auburn woman liked to be the center of attention. Loved to rub salt on Regina's wound whenever she could. Marriage wasn't something Zelena ever considered, not like Regina once did with Daniel but that was a story for another time. The fact that Zelena would be the first of the two of them to tie herself to someone always was reason for the woman to rub it in. What's worse, she asked for Regina to organize it all just in spite. The only reason she had agreed was because their mother promised to not meddle in her business. So if she had to stand Zelena for a few months, then it will be worth it.

"Gina, good you are not busy." She could argue the contrary but she isn't in the mood of one of her sister's tantrums. Whomever decided to ask her hand in marriage must be an idiot.

Sitting back down, Regina reached for Zelena's wedding file but the ginger placed a hand over it. The brunette looked up with a raised brow, and her sister just gave her that sickly sweet smile that made her insides churn. "This is a quick visit don't worry…" OH that's new. Regina just shrugged, and stood up once more.

"Well, I hope is short enough, I don't want my breakfast to unsettle in my stomach." Zelena sneered at her, and it was Regina's turn to return that sickly smile. She waited for Zelena to retort back, keeping her wits at bay wasn't the ginger's strong suits but when she didn't say anything, Regina frowned.

Since when does her sister have any semblance of self control?

Something inside of her told Regina she will soon find out.

"You'll finally get to meet my future husband."

Aha, that explains it.

Regina cannot lie to herself, she had been curious to know who is crazy enough to hang themselves by marrying her sister. She had a few good qualities, smart, ambitious, driven. Not in vain she is one of the top attorneys in New York, and their mother's right hand but she had a lot of bad qualities to out weight the good ones. Which is a pity. She has memories of a good, honest, sweet and caring Zelena but that might as well be a dream she conjured up a long time ago. After Z's fifteen birthday everything changed and since then they've been in war. Some nights Regina missed that life that will never return, others she can't get away enough. Balancing the onslaught of negative emotions, emotions she hates, is a task in itself everytime Zelena comes around, but at the moment curiosity is a tad bit stronger. "So I'm finally going to meet the clinically insane person that decided to ask your hand in marriage…" The comment slided off her tongue like a skater on ice, leaving a trail behind. Zelena rolled her eyes, and Regina was waiting for her own venomous reply, but it never came.

Now that was a big surprised. Zelena withholding her tongue was rare.

"Robin…" Zelena called out and Regina crossed her arms, shoulders rolling. Can this moment be over already? After a few seconds of drowning silence, a voice came in response, a voice that sounded oddly familiar. The brunette dropped her arm to the side again, eyes on her desk. She must have imagined it. Hands kept busy reaching for the file she had previously closed, and began sorting through it when the voice came again, clearer this time. Out of instinct, Regina looked up, distant dark eyes settling on the figure crossing the doorway.

Shit.

Regina's eyes widen for a flicker of a second in recogition. This was not happening. "Regina meet my fiance, Robin Locksley." There was a hint of pride in Zelena's voice. Regina went mute, not believing what she was seeing. The same man she met weeks ago the man that she had…

Snap out of it.

Maybe he has a twin brother?

Yes, most likely.

Or so she hopes.

Robin extended his hand, her own reaching to him as well. As they shook, dark eyes locked with his brilliant blue ones and saw the shadow of recognition in them. "Have we met before?" She asked, masking the mortification settling in her. Please let him have a twin brother. "I swear I've seen you before, do you have a twin brother or answer for himself.

"Nonsense. He's an only child. You probably seen him or heard of him thanks to his father. He's the prime minster of England's son."

Regina's face blanched and her chest felt way too small for her heart.

But of course it made so much more sense now. This marriage had her mother's seal of approval for a reason. Zelena's goal in life was to please her mother and this particular action had gave her mother a powerful allience.

"An ambitious marriage." And if bitterness coated her words, if only a little, she didn't notice. Zelena was all gleam and happiness and Robin seemed to have a cloud hanging over his head. The brunette rose her hand, fingers pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. And when her sister locked her arm with him, Regina felt bile rise in her throat. All she wanted was for them to leave now.

"Our families seem to think so…" Robin finally spoke. His words sounded almost apologetic and all Regina wanted was to push him from the balcony. Even if this was a two story building the fall will hurt, hopefully as much as her heart was hurting.

Zelena kissed his cheek, and then looked at Regina with that obnoxious smile. "Can you give Robin a quick summary of how things are going? I'm going to call mother now." She did not wait a second more before stepping out of the office leaving Robin and Regina alone.

For a while no one spoke, silence heavy like stones and air taut with unsaid words. She knew, she just knew that he was thinking about that night all those weeks ago. The memory burned her skin and her mind.

A few weeks ago.

Her eyes took in her surroundings in the dim light, the cool air rushing over her skin. She was tired and the alcohol had her mind feeling quite lightheaded but she couldn't go to sleep just yet even when Leo had offered her his bed and he would take the couch. He had a particular taste. Everything was made of dark wood and if you closed your eyes, and breathed in you could smell the scent of forest. It was a smell that she had forgotten. It reminded her of afternoons spent under her honeyscrip tree, sleeping peacefully. Times in which her worries it was dressing her dolls or if Zelena wanted to play with her. Regina doesn't think about those moments to often, and when she does, her lips curled into the most bittersweet of smiles.

"What are you thinking about?" Leo asked. He must have noticed the smile. The man transfered a glass of water to her hands. Regina dipped her head in thanks, and sipped a little from the glass.

"Memories I haven't thought about in a while'" Even thought they hurt, they were there, they made her who she is today. "And i'll probably won't think about in a while." There were questions in his eyes, words dancing on the tip of his tongue. But he did not voice them, and for that she was grateful.

Robin sat on the couch and she followed suit. Her feet were killing her and all she wanted to do was take those heels off, feel her skin breathe, so she did. Regina tried to, gracefully, take them off and ended up falling to the side, water falling all over her dress.

"Shit." She cursed out loud and Robin laughed. "Not funny." She shot a glare at him and it only made him laugh more.

"My apologies." He supplied with a grin before standing up and walking towards the bedroom. For a moment she utterly confused as to what exactly he was going to do but when he returned with a towel and what looked like one of his shirts she understood.

"That's not neccesary, Leo." For some reason, whenever she said that name it didn't fit and sometimes he looked off kilter whenever she said it. Maybe her drunk mind is seeing things.

"You'll catch your death if you go to sleep in that wet dress…" He trailed off, his eyes roaming her body, her cheeks, neck and face flushed. Regina shook her head, finallly shedding those heels before standing up and taking the fabrics. Without them, she looked so tiny compared to him.

"Thanks." She began dabbing the towel over her dress before, and without a single shred of embarassment, Regina took off her dress leaving her in her black lace undergarments. The brunette chance a peak to Leo's face. His throat bobbed, his eyes swirled with lust and her mind riled. She shouldn't be this turned on by his gaze alone but she was and her body was quickly reacting. "You alright?" She asked,voice low and sultry as she dabbed the towel over her shoulder, pushing her hair to the opposite side. Regina kept track of his eyes, how they followed every motioned of her hands. The brunette smirked a little, moving the fabric down the valley of her breast.

He swallowed and Regina bite her lip.

"That depends…" His gaze locked with hers, the ribbon of moonlight filtering between them. "Before now I didn't think I was missing something till well…" He looked up and down her body and she dropped the towel so he could get a better glimpse.

Regina waited for him to finish his sentence but he never did. Something was grasping at him, guilt? Regret? The brunette couldn't quite decipher it. She felt exposed, raw and mortification kept growing inside her like waves. This was a mistake. As the thought slammed at the front part of her brain, Regina make a move to crouch to grab her dress and run but Leo's hand grasped at her wrist gently. The touch might as well be scorching hot, simmering her skin and traveling through her body like molten lava. "Don't…" He whispered. The word a caress, a feather like touch to her ear drums. Regina gave up on the task, her eyes locked with his again. They held that swirling darkness of unadulterated passion, mixed with the desire of just skipping all the protocol of the seduction game. Something beneath her skin thrummed, whether from his touch or her ache, Regina couldn't discerned. But her body willed itself to flush tight against his hard body, her mouth crashing with his without missing a beat. Arms winded around his shoulders, his own around her waist and afterwards their lips battled on. Every head movement provoked tongues to explored while a hand dared to dipped lower where it reached the swell of her arse. The brunette pushed him until the back of his knee met the back of the couch and with one more push he was forced to sit and watch how Regina discarded her lacey bra.

The hunger in his eyes made her breath hitched but she pressed on.

With one knee on both sides, Regina lowered herself down, the feeling of the length of him poking at her enough to make her groan slightly. "That was fast." She muttered, letting the upper part of her undergarment fall on the floor. His hands were upon her waist, fingers over her creamy skin, learning curves and paths they will never travel again. Her own hands undoing the buttons one by one until they were but a memory. Hands pushed the fabric of his shoulders, digits testing each and every one of his abs.

He was tone and handsome and when did he start massaging her breast? Shit. She moaned.

"Not the only one…" He replied back, leaning forward to get rid of the shirt before his warm mouth bite where her neck and shoulders met. A hiss left her lips, but lighting ran through her veins. The lingering hesitation had vanished opening a path to everything else that was about to happen.

And boy a lot of this happened.

Regina's eyes went to the door that Zelena had walked out, as if willing her to return, so she won't have to deal with this, with him. But she didn't come back no matter how much she willed it in her mind.

"You gave me a fake name?" He spoke and her head couldn't have whirled around faster.

Did he really asked that first?

"You slept with your future sister-in-law but your first thought is about me using a fake name?" Dumbfounded, that is how she felt. "You did the very exact thing, L-e-o."

He cringed at that and good, serves him right.

"You seduced me." He crossed his arms.

Regina released a mirthless laugh. "Oh please, you weren't men enough to keep it in your pants…" Even if you were quite the exceptional lover. But she will not admit that to him.

"Your moaning suggested otherwise."

Prick, bastard.

Regina rolled her eyes, exasperated about this conversation. Can Zelena arrive any sooner?

"You and I shall never speak of this again. As far as everyone is concerned we just met." Now more than ever mortification ran liquid in her veins, in her head. Her sister fiance, she slept with a man crazy enough to marry her sister. That spark she felt when she first met Leo- Robin, was still there, running over her like a second skin, making her heart beat a little faster. Feelings that she should not be feeling.

"You can't possibly pretend that night didn't mean anything…" He took a step forward, and the another until he was closer to her, if it were not for the desk between them… She will not think about it.

Regina mustered a mask of indifference, "It meant nothing…" but that wasn't true and they both knew it.

"Rei- Regina." He began but she shook her head.

"No." She will also ignore the way her name from his lips made her feel. "You are threading a dangerous territory, Robin. The moment my sister sniff this out… well she is like a bloodhound with a bone…" There was a cruelty to the ginger, a cruelty that had been one of the main reasons Regina had deemed it worthy to put some distance between her and the entire Mills family. "For your safety let's pretend." Words have lost their edge, leaving behind a streak of fear in there wake.

Resignation colored his features, but he nodded. A sigh of relief left her mouth as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"It did mean something to me, that night." Regina rolled her shoulders, not wanting to know more about the way he feels, it wasn't fair. At the end of the day, he was marrying her sister.

"Please, don't…" She took a step back, taking a deep breath, words on the tip of her tongue desperately wanting to come out only to be blocked by her sister's voice.

"Gina!" She exclaimed with a faux happiness that made her cringe.

Nothing good will happen.

"Dinner tonight with mother, and no there's no way of you getting out of it. You are invited as well, dear." She locked arms with Robin, smiling a bit more genuinely at him. Regina had the slight feeling that Robin didn't have a choice either.

Awkward family dinner, splendid.