Chapter 3
Today was not a good day. This day was bordering on tragic, in fact, according to Regina. First and foremost, Regina was very depressed to be experiencing what would have been she and Daniel's five year anniversary. The memory of she and Daniel's painfully awkward but slightly adorable middle school selves making their crushes on one another 'official' on the playground of Storybrook Middle School five years ago seemed to be on loop in Regina's mind. That memory was wonderful, of course. What was not so wonderful were the memories of their last six months together that always followed. The fighting about drugs and distance, catching Daniel in bed with Rose, and the fact that Daniel had now disappeared from Storybrook and from her life. In addition to experiencing rather emotionally traumatic memories of Daniel all day, Cora naturally had chosen today to subject Regina to a rampage of chores and unrealistic demands. Like right now, for instance, forcing Regina to handle the family grocery shopping at seven o'clock on a school night. Perhaps this would have been less horrendous if Cora had permitted Regina to take the car to the store, but alas, apparently 'she could use the exercise'. Indeed, this was not a good day.
Regina was absentmindedly pushing her cart around the store, retrieving the items on Cora's irritatingly extensive grocery list. Fortunately, her task was coming to a close as she was en route to the last item on the list: eggs. Regina selected a carton from the dairy shelf, before giving it a routine inspection for cracks.
However, just as Regina had deemed the carton worthy of purchase and was about to put it into her basket, she was suddenly completely barreled into by a young boy, who was running wildly throughout the store. This unexpected, forceful contact caused her to drop the eggs.
"ROLAND!" Regina suddenly heard a mortified and frustrated sounding voice call out desperately. A very, very familiar voice… Regina quickly looked up, and couldn't be horribly surprised to see a very frazzled looking Robin Locksley jogging down the aisle towards her.
It had been a week since Robin had become her lab partner, and subsequently, the newest member of her friend group. Despite having resolved early on to do everything in her power to keep him and his arrogant, flirtatious, charming, annoyingly attractive self at arm's length, fate seemed hellbent on making this impossible. The inherent difficulty of their chemistry class forced them to interact for extended periods of time during the class and sometimes even outside of it to collaborate on homework. Furthermore, Robin Locksley had somehow managed to completely win the hearts of every single one of her friends over the course of a single week. If a stranger were observing her friend group with no prior knowledge of their connections, Robin wouldn't stand out as new in the slightest. He had somehow completely assimilated himself into potentially the most close-knit and fulfilled friend group to ever exist. Of course he had, how typical of Robin Locksley. It seemed that everywhere Regina looked, there he was, charming his way into her life. She had essentially just given up on trying to avoid him, as it had proven an impossible task.
"I am so sorry, he's so hyper tonight, I don't know what's gotten into him- Regina!" Robin hastily began explaining as he approached, before he clearly realized who he was speaking to. Regina was currently on the ground retrieving the fallen carton, examining it to see if any of the eggs had been broken. She stood as Robin came rushing up. But Robin was not the object of Regina's attention as she switched her gaze to the young boy he was now standing next to.
Henry… was Regina's initial thought. This was a natural reaction for her, to assume that any young, enthusiastic, brunette boy was Henry. No, not Henry, Regina reminded herself forcefully. Roland. It had to be Roland. Robin's little brother, whom Robin so frequently talked about and so clearly adored. The one he'd stolen the stuffed monkey from the convenient store for (Regina was reasonably convinced there had to be more to that story, but hadn't found the proper time to ask about it). Regina could certainly understand Robin's adoration, Roland was absolutely adorable. With his unkempt, dark curls, bright, wide brown eyes, youthful, chubby cheeks, and an irresistibly goofy grin, how could someone not adore him? Regina's heart burned painfully, as memories of Henry flew through her mind… Today was not a good day.
Robin looked particularly handsome tonight as well, Regina was unable to resist noticing. He was wearing his usual dark jeans and grey vans, which tonight he had paired with a sky blue button down and a dark grey leather jacket. Of course he would look this attractive, when Regina was looking… probably less than her best. She didn't have on a stitch of makeup (which Cora had thoroughly roasted her for, naturally), and her long hair was tied up into a loose ponytail. She was dressed in old black leggings ('are you sure those look alright on your legs, dear?') and a plain white sweater, her beat up white converse tied loosely onto her feet. She had certainly looked better. Today was not a good day.
"Hi, Robin. And you must be Roland," Regina said softly, smiling warmly at him. Roland, who had previously been looking very afraid of being reprimanded for his behavior, beamed at her. That goofy, childish smile, so similar to Henry's, almost knocked the wind out of Regina.
"Yes, this is Roland, who is now apologizing, for being so hyper and running into Ms. Regina," Robin replied pointedly, kneeling down next to Roland. Roland's ashamed stare was fixed firmly on the ground, as he avoided Robin's eyes. Robin quickly glanced up at Regina and shot her a quick grin and a wink. Did he absolutely have to so perfectly handle Roland, really, did he have to?
Regina also decided to kneel down in front of Roland.
"I'm sorry for running into you, Ms. Gina," Roland offered quietly, staring earnestly into Regina's eyes. Regina's heart died a little bit at the way he mispronounced her name. He was so adorable, so sweet, so… Henry. No, not Henry, not Henry…
"That's alright, Roland. No harm done," Regina responded, smiling kindly and rumpling Roland's thick mop of curls quickly as she stood again. Roland giggled shyly, and turned to whisper something into Robin's ear. Robin listened intently before letting out a hearty laugh. He stared up at Regina, grinning, as Roland continued whispering.
"Yes, she is. Very, very pretty," Robin said softly, half smiling up at Regina. Regina felt herself flush crimson at this comment, much to her mortification. She absolutely refused to be affected by anything Robin Locksley, or his adorable little brother, had to say about her physical appearance.
"You're very sweet, Roland, thank you. You're pretty handsome yourself," she replied lightly, returning his wide, toothy smile. Roland again whispered something in Robin's ear, and Robin again chuckled.
"Roland would like to know if it would be alright if he gave you a hug, to make up for his hooliganism," Robin explained to Regina, completely bemused. Roland had his hands behind his back, rocking back and forth on the balls of his tiny feet, the most adorable shy smile on his face. Regina was unable to resist laughing, her heart completely flattered.
"I think that would be fine," Regina responded gently, kneeling down again so that Roland could eagerly wrap his arms around her neck. The sound of his delighted laughter was almost enough to completely improve Regina's horrible day.
"Alright, Roland, why don't you go find Daddy, yeah?" Robin suggested gently, as Regina pulled out of Roland's embrace. Roland nodded eagerly, before sprinting off down the aisle again to go and locate his father. Robin shook his head with exhausted amusement, and Regina laughed again.
"I can certainly understand why you talk about him so much. He's precious," Regina said, smiling. Robin seemed surprised by her comment. This made sense, as this quite possibly was the nicest and least sarcastic Regina had ever acted towards him.
"Honestly, he feels more like a son than a brother to me sometimes. He's my whole world," Robin admitted, smiling fondly. Regina absolutely hated herself for how charmed by this she was.
"Well, you don't rob a convenient store of its stuffed animals for just anybody," Regina couldn't resist snarking, raising an eyebrow. Robin laughed loudly at that.
"I was wondering how long this facade of gentleness and kindness would last. You certainly charmed the pants off of Roland though, he's completely taken with you," Robin responded, chuckling. Regina couldn't deny that this thoroughly flattered her.
"I'm a charming girl, Robin, if you haven't noticed," Regina said sarcastically, smiling with false innocence.
"Charming, indeed."
"Well, I should probably be going, actually, I have a long walk ahead of me," Regina remarked, sighing, gesturing to her tragically full cart of groceries. She honestly wasn't quite sure how Cora expected her to singlehandedly transport all of the items home in one trip. Cora had honestly probably assumed/hoped that Regina would have to take multiple trips, most likely hoping to passive aggressively force Regina to work out. Cora never had enough to say about Regina's figure and the 'work that it could use'.
"You're planning to walk home with all of those?" Robin asked skeptically, staring doubtfully at Regina's cart.
"Yes, my mother thought I could use the exercise," Regina quoted bitterly. Robin's eyebrows shot into the air.
"How thoughtful of her," he replied sarcastically. Regina was unable to fight the grin that his response brought her.
"Among other things."
"Regardless, I'm sorry to be the one to inform you that there is no possible way you're going to be able to carry all of those yourself in one trip," Robin said simply. Regina rolled her eyes.
"Yes, I'd come to that conclusion myself, thank you."
"Unless, of course, a noble thief, such as myself, should offer his assistance?" Robin suggested, smirking. He would do this. Of course he was offering to walk her home and help her out when his assistance was certainly not asked for. This was vintage Robin Locksley.
Just as Regina was about to cleanly shut his offer down, an older man, who could only be Robin's father based on the fact that he happened to be carrying Roland, approached the shelf Regina and Robin were conversing by. His resemblance to Robin was undeniable. He had the same clear, disgustingly warm and inviting blue eyes, the same sandy blonde hair (though his seemed to be deteriorating slightly), the same strong jawline, and the same tall stature.
"I should've known you would be flirting with girls rather than helping me with Roland," Robin's father began jokingly, grinning at his son. His english accent was slightly thicker than Robin's, Regina noticed. Robin rolled his eyes.
"Sorry, Dad. Um, Dad, this is Regina Mills," Robin responded to him, glancing between him and Regina. For some reason, Regina suddenly felt very, very nervous.
"Tuck Locksley. Lovely to meet you, Regina. I've heard a lot about you," Mr. Locksley said, extending his hand, and winking at Robin. Robin groaned, but Regina couldn't help noticing the slight blush that flooded his cheeks at that comment. She tried very hard not to think about what that blush could mean.
"Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that. It's a pleasure, Mr. Locksley," Regina responded easily, offering her most charming smile. She was attempting to capitalize on the chance to make Robin feel uncomfortable. He didn't deserve this, of course, but Regina wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to make Robin feel as anxious and nervous as he seemed to always make her feel.
"Well, I'm sorry to break up this adorable chance encounter, but, sadly, I require Robin's services to help me wrap up this little shopping trip," Mr. Locksley said, grinning at Robin. He was clearly just as charming and likable as his son… How annoying.
"Of course, I wouldn't want to keep him. It was nice to see you, Robin, and so nice to meet you, Mr. Locksley. And you too, Roland," Regina said, smiling warmly at Roland and affectionately rumpling his hair as she had earlier.
"Bye, Gina!" Roland called adorably, beaming widely and enthusiastically waving goodbye to her as she made her escape from the three very charming Locksley men. Roland's farewell gesture warmed her heart, there was no use denying. He reminded her so much of Henry… He was so sweet and bubbly, the resemblance was painful.
As Regina waited in the checkout line, she heaved a sigh of relief at getting away from Robin. She could not for the life of her work out what it was about him that caused her to feel so… nervous. Just the sight of him made her heart race, and, while sarcasm and quick wit typically came naturally to her, banter with Robin Locksley always required substantially more effort than with others, as her brain sometimes seemed to just stop working in his company. His infinite charm absolutely infuriated her, and his confidence and his complete lack of intimidation totally confounded her. Essentially, everything about him seemed to force her out of her comfort zone. And it was very aggravating.
With her groceries having been purchased and bagged, Regina paused at the door to devise a plan on getting all of her items back home.
"Robin, surely you weren't planning to let Regina carry all of those bags outside all by herself?" Regina suddenly heard Tuck Locksley remark from behind her. Much to her chagrin, Regina turned around to see all three of the Locksley's approaching yet again.
"Oh, it's really fine-"
"Actually, Regina informed me that she was planning on walking home with all of them," Robin said pointedly, raising an eyebrow challengingly at Regina. Damn him…
"I won't hear of it. I would offer to drive you, Regina, but it seems Roland here didn't receive his daily nap and is desperately in need of sleep, so I need to get him home. But I have to insist that Robin at least accompany you on your trek," Mr. Locksley said to Regina, smiling kindly at her. He probably thought he was easing her burden by sending Robin to help, but little did he know that he just increased Regina's stress tenfold…
"That really isn't-" Regina began, glancing over at Robin, who also suddenly, and probably for the first time, looked very anxious and uncomfortable himself.
"Robin, did I teach you no manners? Help the girl carry her bags," Mr. Locksley interjected again, glancing at Robin confusedly, seemingly curious as to why Robin remained so firmly rooted in his spot.
"Right. I'll see you at home then, Dad?" Robin said awkwardly, taking three of Regina's bags off of her hands.
"Correct. Have a good walk," Mr. Locksley said conclusively, and walking towards the parking lot with Roland and his own groceries.
Regina immediately turned to Robin.
"You really don't have to do this, I'm perfectly capable of walking home myself," Regina informed him. Robin rolled his eyes.
"Well, my ride just disappeared, so I see no good reason why I shouldn't accompany you now," he retorted, smirking. Clearly, all traces of his momentary awkwardness had dissipated.
Sadly, it only took Regina about thirty seconds of walking to realize that Robin's help was truly going to prove crucial, as she was already feeling the weight of the three bags she was carrying, and couldn't imagine trying to hold all six. However, the walk had been silent thus far, apart from the light, autumn breeze in the air and the quiet chirping of the crickets in the background.
"So… am I really expected to believe that you were expelled from your school in England for stealing a stuffed monkey from a convenient store?" Regina finally broke the silence. Although she was reasonably sure that this question would make Robin very irritated and uncomfortable, she couldn't deny that she truly was curious. As much as it pained her to admit it, in her week of knowing Robin, she couldn't help but notice that he really did appear to be a 'stand up guy'. At the very least, certainly not a thief. And despite his alleged party phase that he mentioned, she couldn't imagine he had done anything that truly warranted his being kicked out of his school in England. Damn it, why was she so curious about him?
Much to her surprise, however, Robin just wholeheartedly laughed in response to her question.
"Is that really what you've heard?" he asked, bemused, in between his chuckles. Regina scowled at him.
"Something like that."
"So, let me get this straight, this whole time that we've known each other, you thought that I was expelled from my school in England… for stealing a stuffed monkey from a convenient store? Does that even make sense?" Robin scoffed, still cracking himself up. Regina did not much enjoy being scoffed at.
"Not really, which is why I'm asking you about it now," Regina snapped, rolling her eyes. Robin's laughed a bit more, before allowing a silence to fall back over them. As they continued walking down the dimly lit street, Regina briefly glanced over at him to try and decipher the reason for his sudden silence. If she wasn't mistaken, Robin suddenly looked a bit melancholy.
"Contrary to the rumor you apparently heard, I was not kicked out of my school in England. I left," he finally said simply. Regina's mind immediately concocted about a thousand questions. She didn't initially intend to ask any of them, but her mouth clearly had other plans.
"Care to share?" she asked casually. Robin again was silent for a moment, before he abruptly stopped walking. Regina, confused, paused as well.
"Do you really want to hear about it?" he asked her, sighing. Regina didn't think she'd ever seen Robin look so serious.
"Only if you really want to tell me," she found herself responding gently, more compassionately than she'd expected from herself. It was suddenly very obvious that there was a less than… happy reason that Robin had wound up in Storybrook. And she really hated herself for how much she wanted to know what it was.
"It just… everything just sort of fell apart last year, quite frankly. My mother passed away during my freshman year, and, obviously, that wasn't too easy on Roland, my father, and I…" Robin began, trailing off after a moment. Regina could've sworn her heart stopped beating for a second. And once it started again, all it could do was ache empathetically for Robin. And it ached for herself, as memories of the day she found out her father and Henry had been killed flew through her mind, and all the nights she'd spent crying her eyes out for them, and wondering what she could've done to deserve something so horrible. How alone she'd felt… How empty.
"I… Robin, I'm so sorry."
"Didn't it strike you as odd to see three eligible bachelors handling all the grocery shopping?" Robin quipped lightly, forcing a smile. She knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but she really did not want him to think that he was required to do so.
"I guess I didn't think anything of it. Does Roland… remember?" Regina asked hesitantly, praying that Robin didn't think she was being insensitive, or prying. He shrugged his shoulders and made a face indicating a torn response.
"Somewhat. More than I would like him to. He was only three when it happened, but for the first few months he asked for her all the time. And even now, he sometimes asks why he doesn't have a mother, when all of his friends do. It's not really an easy thing to explain, to be perfectly honest," Robin responded, sighing and shaking his head. Regina hated how obvious it was how much Robin cared for Roland. Why did he have to be so… Ugh.
"I can imagine," Regina said softly. Robin didn't offer a response, so she felt the need to continue. "So, what exactly made you decide to leave England? If you don't mind my asking?"
"Well, things sort of just went downhill after my mother passed… I didn't handle it well, to say the least. I started drinking too much and letting my grades fall, and I neglected my responsibilities. And my girlfriend at the time, Marian, she couldn't handle me anymore, and broke up with me," Robin answered her somberly. What. The. Hell. Regina had to resist allowing her jaw to fall open at Robin's story. How had he possibly gone through something so similar to what she had? Scratch that, Of course, he had. It was only fitting at this point for Robin to be potentially the only person who could truly understand Regina. Truly, truly understand her. Of course that person was Robin Locksley, of course it was.
"That wasn't really very easy either, and finally my father had just had enough, as he put it. Enough of all the sadness, and all the pain. He was offered a job here in Storybrook, and told me he was taking it. He said we just… needed a change," Robin continued, after a moment of silence. Regina nodded slowly.
"How did you feel about that? How do you feel about it now?" she heard herself ask. Good lord, she was so embarrassing, why was she prying into his emotions so much?
Nevertheless, Robin didn't really seem to mind her questions nearly as much as she minded them.
"At first I was reluctant, I'm sure you can imagine. It's kind of a big move," Robin responded, chuckling.
"Slightly far away, yes," Regina replied, half smiling.
"But no, I actually think this may be the best thing my father has ever done for us. It's been… amazing to be away from all of that history, to be perfectly honest," Robin answered her, smiling shortly.
"I can really relate to that," Regina muttered honestly, recalling all the million times in the past two years when all she'd wanted to do was run away and never look back.
Robin arched an eyebrow at her, seemingly picking up on the untold undertones to her comment.
"Well, seeing as I've just told you practically my whole life story, it seems only fair that you reveal a bit of yours as well," Robin said pointedly, smirking. He had a point with that, despite how much Regina did not relish the thought of being emotionally vulnerable with Robin Locksley.
"It's honestly going to sound like I'm copying you," Regina said reluctantly. Robin cocked his head to the side in confusion.
"In the summer between my freshman and sophomore years, my father and my little brother were both killed in a car accident," Regina explained finally, after a long moment of perplexity. The way Robin's eyebrows knit together in sheer sadness for her made Regina's heart ache even more. Being emotional with strangers certainly had never been Regina's area of expertise, but she couldn't deny that an aggravatingly large part of her really did desire to tell Robin about her past.
Robin, who was clearly very moved by this piece of information, set the three bags of groceries that he was carrying down on the sidewalk next to where they'd stopped walking. He then proceeded to sit down the curb, and gestured for Regina to join him. This really was not supposed to be how this grocery store trip ended up. In a therapy session with Robin Locksley.
"If I lost Roland… I don't think I would ever be able to get out of bed again," Robin said, his answer surprising her. She honestly somewhat appreciated that he didn't offer a sickly sweet condolence, or something of that nature.
"Henry was… my Roland. He was my favorite person in the whole world," she said quietly, as overwhelmingly painful memories of Henry swarmed her mind. Of his shaggy brown hair constantly falling into his innocent and loving brown eyes. Of the way he'd followed Regina everywhere, never wanting to let go of her hand. Of him begging her to read him another story before she tucked him in for bed. Of her literally turning down her friends' invitations to hang out so that she could spend time with Henry, and the fact that her friends were all so used to this happening. Of she and Daniel taking Henry out for ice cream, or to the park… Of the way that Henry had never failed to bring her joy, even in her darkest moments. Not to mention her father. All the times she'd sat in his study and spilled the contents of her heart to him. All the times he'd defended her from Cora. All the things he'd worked so hard to give to her, all the time he'd made to spend with her. The fact that he'd brought Henry into her life…
She didn't really cry about the death of her father and Henry anymore. Which might be odd, considering how much pain losing them had caused her. It was almost like the loss was… too great for tears, like crying about it didn't properly embody how it felt. Losing them didn't just make her sad. It had made her empty, lonely, meaningless… And to be honest, she still hadn't gotten it all back, she was still regaining some of that meaning she'd lost. Regina had long since come to terms with the fact that she may never get all of it back. But having her friends certainly gave her hope. And Daniel…
"I can't even fathom…" Robin trailed off in response, jolting Regina back into reality. If someone had told her that she would spend her Wednesday evening having an emotional heart to heart with Robin Locksley, Regina would have laughed them out of the room. Yet, here she was, having an emotional heart to heart with Robin Locksley on a Wednesday evening. And a very… meaningful heart to heart, at that.
"As you mentioned, naturally, that's not really an easy thing to handle and I also didn't respond well. I didn't really go your direction with the partying, but I just… I isolated myself, much more than I should have, when what I really needed was my friends. I shut everyone out. Especially Daniel," Regina elaborated, sighing again. She didn't typically like to admit any fault in what had ended her relationship with Daniel, but in this very honest moment that she was having with Robin, she didn't feel the need to deny the fact that she really had shut Daniel out of her life. And that maybe he'd really had a reason for abandoning her. She didn't believe it was a justified reason, but a reason, nonetheless.
"And I assume Daniel was your…-"
"Significant other, yes."
"But not anymore, I take it?"
"Let's just say he didn't respond kindly to being shut out. I guess in an effort to get my attention, he fell in with the wrong crowd, let his grades tank, lost his place on the football team, the whole nine yards. And at the end of last year I caught him in bed with someone else at a party," Regina explained in a forced monotone, doing what she could not to betray the sheer emotional torment these memories brought her.
Robin's warm blue eyes suddenly darkened, and he gaped at Regina, like what she'd said was the worst thing he'd ever heard in his whole life.
"Point him to me at school tomorrow. I'd be happy to have more than a conversation," he said darkly, truly taking Regina by surprise. She'd perhaps anticipated a comment about Daniel being a 'greasy bastard' (Killian), or a 'moronic son of a bitch' (Gold), but she hadn't expected Robin to be… defensive of her. And why, why, was it so endearing to her?
Regina rose from her seat on the curb at that, and Robin followed.
"Perhaps I would, except, he doesn't go to our school anymore," Regina responded, as she bent down to retrieve her three bags of groceries. Robin again followed her lead. They began walking again, neither addressing the end of their little sidewalk break.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Killian, Gold and David scared him enough to leave school," Robin responded, laughing. Regina couldn't help but join him in laughter, because she knew so well that if she'd let them, her guy friends would have absolutely destroyed Daniel for what he did to her.
"My mother, actually. She didn't know anything about what happened, but what she did know was that Daniel was using drugs on school campus. So she expelled him," Regina said matter of factly. Robin's eyebrows shot up almost halfway up his forehead.
"You're certainly not a stranger to drama, are you?"
"It gets better. Guess who told her Daniel was doing drugs at school?" Regina questioned darkly, half smiling.
"Oh no…"
"Mary Margaret."
"Why on Earth would she do that? She would have been the last person I'd have guessed would betray you like that…" Robin asked, seemingly bewildered. Regina shook her head at that.
"I wouldn't call it a betrayal so much as… Overstepping a boundary. She didn't do it for herself, she did it for me. I wasn't handling the situation with him well, and she could see what I clearly couldn't. That he was not someone I should have in my life anymore, but that I wasn't strong enough to stay away from him. So she made the decision for me, and told my mother about the drugs," Regina explained, surprising even herself at how much she'd clearly forgiven Mary Margaret over the course of the week.
"I can understand that. Still, I can't imagine that was easy for you," Robin responded, shaking his head. Regina laughed ironically at that understatement.
"Believe me, it wasn't. I was a social recluse this entire summer," Regina said, half smiling. Robin chuckled at that.
Conveniently, Regina and Robin had just reached Regina's house. Regina glanced at the oversized, spacious white house, sprawling across the lawn. Unlike in many other places, being the principle of the only high school in town was fairly lucrative, and Cora certainly had an appreciation for the finer things in life. Not to mention, Regina's father's living as an accountant had certainly been decent as well, and contributed to the purchasing of their home. Of course, Regina was grateful to live in such a nice house, but part of her had always felt like it was… too much. Too big, too pretentious. It often didn't feel so much like home to her, as it did like a prison. A prison where Cora was the very difficult warden, and Zelena was the very unpleasant bunkmate.
"This is me," Regina said to Robin, gesturing to her house. She was immediately grateful that Robin didn't comment on its size or appearance. Such comments made her very uncomfortable.
"Well, who would've thought something as innocent as walking a girl and her groceries home would turn into… well, this?" Robin mused, smirking. Regina couldn't help but chuckle at that, as she had entertained the same thought several times already.
"Slow down there, thief. I wouldn't want you thinking you and I are friends or something now," Regina replied, shooting him a sarcastic half smile and a wink.
"I don't know about friends, but I'd say that deep down you actually wanted to talk about this," Robin responded, half playing along with her sarcasm and half not. Regina raised an eyebrow.
"What makes you think you know me so well?"
"Well, for one thing, I'd probably be charred to a crisp right now if you didn't," Robin replied matter of factly, also raising an eyebrow. Regina couldn't help but smirk at that. At least he had some appreciation for her… Evil Queen status.
"True," she admitted, allowing a small laugh to escape. Robin laughed quietly with her, but she couldn't help but notice the way he was suddenly looking at her. The way his deep blue eyes were so… fixated on her. Like he was trying to read more from her, like he wanted more than what she'd divulged. This look frightened her. But it also… excited her. Made her heart race, and a shiver run down her back. Made her desperately hope he would like what he read. It made her feel alive. NO, no, no…
"Well, I'll let you get home, then," Robin said gently, slightly decreasing the intensity of his stare. Regina nodded slowly.
"Thank you, for your help. Who would have thought a thief had such honor?" Regina couldn't resist joking as they reached Regina's front porch. Robin handed her the three bags of groceries he'd been carrying. He chuckled.
"And who would've thought an evil queen had such a compassionate side?" he challenged, smirking. Regina grinned, and looked away, biting her lip a little bit. Her heart was racing, much to her absolute disgust.
"Goodnight, Robin," Regina said, as she motioned to open her front door. Robin stared at her for a long moment, perhaps longer than necessary.
"Goodnight, Regina," he said softly, before he turned away and disappeared down the dim streets.
And as much as she wished that it wasn't, and as hard as she tried to fight it… that lingering stare Robin had given her before he'd walked away was the last thing Regina thought of before she fell asleep that night.
