A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for sticking with me! So this is mostly a build up for the next chapter and as you can probably guess the angst is coming! Then the chapter after should hopefully be amusing depending on my writing skills, I'm still eyeing up the chapter fretting over the dialogue right now with half of chapter 6 written! I don't know how long this will go on for, it depends on when you guys get bored probably! Anyways, enjoy!

Regina looked at the ground, then stared back at Hook who was currently removing his shoes. "But there's a perfectly good bench just over there, and you want me to sit on the ground?" she seethed, wrinkling her nose in disdain. Honestly, she didn't actually have an issue with it, she just liked arguing with Hook and she needed to argue to remind herself and him that they. Where. Not. Friends. A fact he was well aware of. Kind of like he was aware of the fact that she'd agreed to go with him far too easily, and that most of her snark at this stage was more reflex than actually having thought or power behind it. He knew what Regina wouldn't admit. That deep down, she wanted someone to talk to, he could see it in her eyes, the words and thoughts itching to be confided, someone to be there for her. Deep down, she wanted a friend, all Hook had to do was keep pestering her, being there for her, until she gave in and decided to talk, and you know….admit that he was her friend. If you asked him, he'd been a good mate so far, with everything at the Diner.

Regina didn't know it, but she was his friend. Even if he wasn't hers yet. Hook actually didn't have any friends. He had Emma….and Emma's parents, but he didn't have any real friends. He may be fairly new to this realm but even he knew it was weird to be friends with your girlfriends father. He and Regina had some interesting conversations before Neverland, before the whole Greg and Tamara thing happened, and that's when he'd started to think she would be a good friend for him, that they understood each other, but at the time he'd been so bent on revenge he'd led her straight in to Greg and Tamara's trap.

He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he'd actually felt guilty about that almost immediately after he'd walked away. The revenge just….overrode it. Then in Neverland their conversation on the ship had reaffirmed their compatibility, but they'd been too fixed on trying to find Henry for him to focus on making friends. He could have tried to forge a friendship in the missing year, but he'd just wanted to be alone. Get back to his ship and bury his emotions under his old self. Something he was sure Regina could relate to. Then Zelena happened. All of them had been too busy to focus on anything other than the current problem at hand so he'd never gotten a chance to try and make a new friend properly.

But Regina was one of the group, one of the family and at some point he'd started to mentally classify her as his friend, despite the snark and scathing comments. He knew Regina would help him if ever he needed it, when Zelena cursed him he should have gone to her for help but he'd been too embarrassed. Isn't that what friends are? People who help you when you need it most? Although, he had to admit, being "too busy" wasn't the entire reason he hadn't made a move before, it had a lot to do with the fact that he'd helped Greg torture her and he was ashamed. The repercussions of he and Emma's trip had finally given him the shove he needed to embark on this new friendship he so dearly wanted. And Regina needed a friend now more than ever. But before he could do anything about it, there was something he had to do first and it was going to be difficult.

"If you sit on a bench then you can't do this" he said rolling his eyes, as he sat down, kicking his legs off the side of the dock and dangling his feet in the water. Regina weighed her options, argue with him a bit more, they had been arguing for over 10 minutes, at what point was it excessive, she wondered. Or, she could sit down and eat her food. And drink her wine. The rumbling of her stomach decided her. Pulling off her boots, she huffed as she plopped down next to him and splashed her feet in to the water.

Hook handed her the paper bag with her sandwich and fries in, and she once again removed the bottle of wine from her bag, placing it between them. She was momentarily saddened when she saw how near to empty it was, but then she remembered that Hook's bloodstream was 75% rum, and it needed to be regularly topped up to keep him going, and therefore he had a flask somewhere on his person at all times. A flask he didn't mind sharing with Emma. Well, if he was so determined to be friends, a real show of friendship would be handing it over when the wine ran out, and she'd tell him so.

They both ripped open their bags of food, and then proceeded to eat in companionable silence. Although Regina would refuse to admit that to anyone.

The sun shone down on them, and a lazy sea breeze occasionally washed over them. Regina watched the light play over the water as she ate. Her thoughts swirling through the events of the last day or so, wondering if anything she and Robin had, had been real if he could just….go. Leave her that quickly. But then he was the kind of man who would honour any vow he made so she shouldn't really be surprised. Henry had no problem leaving her as soon as Emma arrived, he's still always leaving her, always choosing Emma. Was she that unloveable? She supposed that's why she found it so hard to believe the pirate wanted to be her friend, why she was making this so hard for him.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Hook clearing his throat. Seriously? Was she not allowed to think anymore? It was like he could sense when she was trying to have a thought and immediately decided to barge in on it. Stupid pirate. Further clearing of the throat, yet again, snapped Regina from her thoughts. Oh for the love of god. "What?! Do you have something stuck in your throat? Or are you not so subtly trying to get my attention?!" she snapped.

Hook flushed. "Uh….apologies, the latter your majesty. I was…um…I need to…..oh damn." He stuttered rather uncharacteristically.

Regina internally cackled. Whatever he was so worried about saying, she was not going to make it easy. That's how their friendship worked. Friendship?! Acquaintance. She meant acquaintance. The wine must be kicking in.

"Well…..spit it out, I don't have all day." She smirked.

Gathering his thoughts, Hook straightened up, turned to face her properly and spoke. "Your majesty, there's, uh, something I've been meaning to say to you for quite some time, and um, with everything going on, there's never really been a chance for me to say it, never a dull moment and all that." He paused.

What the F?!, Regina thought, out loud she decided to fluster him a little bit more. It really was so amusing watching him squirm. "Is this the part where you declare your undying love for me? Because I've gotta say you-"

"NO, God no" he blurted. Regina raised an eyebrow at him, fixing him with Her Look. "I mean, not that you're not…you know, it's just, even though Emma and I aren't on the best of terms right now, but I still..uh, oh probably shouldn't have mentioned her either….oh bollocks this is going all wrong". Regina raised her eyebrow even higher. After a few moments of watching his pathetic squirming and mumbling she decided to let him off the hook. Hah. Hook. She never failed to amuse herself.

"I'm messing with you, Hook. If you want us to be friends so badly, we should ascertain a certain level of rapport, don't you think? Friends have rapport, and jokes and other….friend stuff, after all" She watched him perk up at the use of the word "friend" and cursed herself for letting her mouth run away with her. Definitely the wine kicking in.

Hook smirked, oh she definitely wanted a friend.

"Right, well, yes. But first…..I'm sorry." He blurted. Damn, that's really not how he wanted that to come out, ignoring her raised eyebrow, he was beginning to think it was permanently in that position, he persevered.

"If we're to be friends, I cannot allow that to happen without apologising for my past behaviour. At the time all I cared about was my vengeance, and that is certainly no excuse, there is no excuse for what I did. Leading you to a trap, allowing Greg to torture you. It was reprehensible of me, and I can never apologise enough, I know. But here and now I apologise from the bottom of my heart. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me, and I know you won't admit it, but you want a friend, someone to talk to, and I find myself also in need of a mate. We're a lot alike you and I, and I would very much like for us to be friends, your majesty" he finished, he hadn't quite planned on saying the end bit, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. He braced himself for a verbal tongue lashing from the Queen for presuming to know what she wanted. And bringing up the Greg incident.

While Hook had been talking, Regina had just sat there stunned. She had never expected to get an apology. She didn't think she'd ever received such an honest, heartfelt and sincere apology in her life. There where other people that had a lot more to apologise to her for and had never bothered to even seem to mean it. Dammit. He was right as well, she did want a friend. She was tired of being alone. Damn him. Over the course of their acquaintance he'd grown on her, like mould of course, but still, he'd grown on her. Then today, he'd given her a taste of true friendship, and his mould like growing had obviously spread to her brain. She wasn't drunk enough for this. Dammit. God help her, but it would appear Captain Hook was her…..friend. She couldn't deny it any longer, especially if he was going to look at her with those pathetic puppy eyes, honestly it was painful.

"Regina" she said quietly.

"Beg pardon" he said, confused.

"A….friend," she stumbled over the word, "would call me Regina"

Hook's face lit up with a huge smile. "I knew you'd come around…Regina. I'm irresistible." he smirked.

Regina rolled her eyes, fighting a smile. "I suppose I should start calling you by your actual name. Killian."

Hook's smirk grew larger. "My thanks. It must be said Regina, I'm rather excited to embark upon this friendship, I'm sure we'll have an adventure or two" he said.

"Mhmm, you had to make it weird. Now shut up and finish your food" she grumbled, faux irritably, as if Killian couldn't see right through it.

Smirking to himself he turned back to his food.

Finishing her meal, Regina watched the sunlight play on the water, the light refracting in to dazzling shards. She couldn't believe this was happening, God help her but Captain Hook….Killian, was her friend. If you'd told her a week ago that she'd not only have a friend, but that said friend would be the Saviours boyfriend, shed' have laughed right in the face of whoever spouted such nonsense. But now…she had a friend. It was strange saying those words. She'd never really had friends. Her friendship with Maleficent hadn't exactly been…..normal, or healthy. Let's be honest. She loathed to admit it, but she'd wanted a friend so badly, and right when she'd needed one, a willing candidate had appeared, and as hard as she'd tried to fight it, she couldn't anymore. Maybe this hero business was working.

Regina had her very own friend, one who could probably understand a whole lot better than anyone, possibly even Robin. Finally, she had someone to talk to, someone she was about to put a lot of trust in, but then as he kept harping on, pirates where an honourable bunch in their own way, and they did keep their word. He had said he wouldn't breathe a word of anything she told him, and as much as she'd been acting like her usual self, her emotions where roiling. Thoughts and feelings had been building up since last night, seeing Robin had made things worse. She felt like screaming, and there where words fighting to get out, to be confided.

You could say that shit was about to get real. Regina couldn't keep everything bottled inside anymore, the three quarters of a bottle of wine she'd consumed so far wasn't doing much for her control either. She just….needed to talk things out, give voice to her thoughts.

It would appear it's time to take her new friend for a test drive, she thought. She grimaced slightly. This was not going to be pretty. Although, if he even thought about mocking her, or laughing, or whatever. Well. She'd shove that hook so far up his ass…

The thought perked her right up.