Once Neal got used to the idea of the challenge, he was constantly coming up with ideas for things he could try. Emma thought it was hysterical, and Regina actually welcomed the distraction, especially when the alternative was a double science lesson with Whale. She had missed lessons, and tried to find other things to do, but she wasn't able to get out of it this time.

When the lesson ended and Whale told her to stay back, Regina almost ignored him. But he was still her teacher and she couldn't escape. Not when Mr Gold walked past, heard Whale tell her to stick around, and ordered Neal and Emma to leave the room so the teacher could speak to the student. Regina wanted to kill the principal, but she did as she was told. One simple threat to tell her mother and she found herself facing the Science teacher.

"Regina, we need to work through this."

Regina didn't want to be there. She didn't want to look at Viktor, and she didn't want to talk about how much her heart still hurt.

"We don't have to work through anything." She couldn't look at him. "You need to find a job somewhere else, and then everything will be fabulous."

Whale had to really try hard to suppress his sigh.

"That's not going to happen Regina. And if you're going to keep skipping classes and not paying attention then you're going to fail the unit. Do you really want that on your final school certificate?"

Now Regina DID look at him, glaring at him.

"So what? You're threatening me now?"

"Fuck Regina, NO!" Whale had been standing up but he slumped down into his chair. He raked his fingers through his hair, and tried to gather his thoughts. Then he looked at the young woman. "I am so sorry. I really am. I know that this is hard for you. I mean, for crying out loud, I killed somebody! But like I said, and I'm sorry if it sounds cruel, but you lost your high school sweetheart. You can find another one. I'm sure you've had other boyfriends, you'll find somebody else, you'll fall in love, and you will get on with your life. But I will never have another brother, and my parents will never be able to look at me without knowing that I killed their son. So I'm sorry you're in pain but for fuck's sake you need to grow up and move on with your life."

Regina kept trying to get a word in edgeways but couldn't, and then he told her to get over it and her blood boiled. She slapped him, hard.

"You bastard! You were meant to be taking care of him, and you were too busy getting pissed with your friends." She was shrieking at him now, and he just stood there and took it.

"Trust me Regina, there is nothing you can say that I haven't said to myself, and no name you can call me that will be worse that what I've heard, or called myself. But here's the thing Regina. Life sucks. You're a golden child, but sometimes shit happens, and you have to fucking well move past it or you may as well curl up your toes and die. You want to do that? Are you ready to give up on life?"

He was looming over her now, having risen to his feet. Regina looked up at him and her eyes were full of tears.

"I hate you for what you did."

"I know," His voice was gentler now. "But I hate me even more."

Regina just stared at him for a bit and then she slumped against his desk.

"You know what's really bad?" She finally said, her voice low. He moved to sit beside her, not too close.

"What?"

She chewed her lip and then she looked up at him.

"Until I saw you, I think I'd actually forgotten about him." Her voice was barely a whisper. He blinked at her and then gave her a sad smile. Slipping his arm around her shoulder, he squeezed her close.

"Oh Regina," He kissed the top of her head. "I know just how you feel."

"You're probably the only one that does." She admitted, and then looked up at him. Their faces were close, and she caught her breath. Then she wrapped her arms tight around him, and buried her face against his chest, crying harder than she had in years.

Viktor wrapped his arms around her, kissed her on the top of her head again, and just held her for a while, letting her cry.

When she was finally able to raise her head, her makeup had run and her eyes were red.

"I still hate you." She sniffed, and gave him a small smile.

"I know." He smiled sadly. "But like I said. I hate me more." Then he rubbed her tears with his thumb and just gazed at her. "Have dinner with me on Friday night?"

Regina pulled back and stared at him in shock.

"Huh?"

He frowned.

"I mean, as friends. I'm not asking you on a date or anything. I just… I don't know. I want to get to know you again Regina. Maybe we can talk about Daniel."

She grimaced.

"Or maybe we can talk about anything but Daniel." She suggested instead. He nodded slowly.

"Maybe."

She smiled and then she stood up, letting him go.

"Friday might be good."

His grin was a shock after the cold way he usually looked.

"Thank you."

She picked up her books.

"No worries." She stepped towards the door. "And… you know, I'm sorry about you losing your brother." She couldn't face him as she said that. So she didn't see the surprised smile on his face.

"I'm sorry you lost your boyfriend." He replied, and then she glanced back at him and nodded. She paused a moment, and then headed out of the room.

As soon as Emma saw her she steered her towards the bathrooms and helped her fix her makeup, for once knowing not to say a word