Chapter 4

"And you, Regina, tell me about your week?" Cora said to Regina, her voice calm and collected as always. The Mills women were currently engaged in their traditional, Thursday night dinner. Regina honestly viewed this time as more of a chance for Cora to interrogate she and Zelena about their personal lives, rather than a bonding, family dinner. Zelena, however, seemed to enjoy being interrogated and often took up a majority of the conversation providing a play-by-play report of the mundane events of her week. Regina had just finished listening to an enthralling tale of how Haden Underson had vaguely alluded to the fact that he might ask Zelena to the homecoming dance that was about three weeks away. It was very important that Zelena should mention this, of course, because it gave Cora a perfect segue into passive aggressively pointing out that Regina was yet to be asked.

"What would you like to know?" Regina responded politely, flashing a respectful smile in her mother's direction. Cora was seated at the head of the very oversized dining table, with Regina on her left and Zelena on her right.

"Well, actually, I would be very interested in hearing about the… disappointing score you received on your first AP US history test," Cora remarked sourly, thoughtfully taking a sip from her glass of red wine. A sharp pang of irritation shot through Regina's body, as she recalled the 'very disappointing' score of 92% she had received on her AP US history test. Regina uncomfortably rearranged some of the remaining brussels sprouts on her plate with her fork.

"Clearly, I didn't study hard enough, I'll make sure to correct that before the next exam," Regina replied, bearing such a painfully fake smile that she thought her face might crack. This was Regina's go to response anytime that Cora was disappointed with a grade she received. Besides, her score was actually a result of the fact that she just hadn't felt much like studying that night and decided to wing it on the test. She thought it had gone pretty well, to be perfectly honest.

"See that you do. And, tell me, how are you liking your chemistry class? Mr. Archibald mentioned in passing to me that you were performing quite well," Cora commented, doing very little to mask the surprise in her voice that Regina could possibly be doing well at something.

As hard as Regina had tried to resist it, chemistry honestly had become one of her favorite class periods. It turned out that she and Robin made quite the team in deciphering and completing the assigned labs, and were significantly outperforming the other students in the class. Let the record show, however, that Regina's liking of chemistry class had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she had also come to greatly relish Robin Locksley's company. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she might secretly look forward to their very evenly matched banters, or the fact that she was intrigued by the way he lacked any sort of fear of her sarcasm and biting wit, or the fact that she may or may not enjoy… appreciating his appearance.

"I'm enjoying it very much, thank you for asking," Regina answered Cora's question sweetly. Cora nodded, seemingly pleased by this response.

"Mr. Archibald also says that you and Robin Locksley have stricken quite the lab partnership," Cora commented pointedly, giving Regina a very deliberate glance. Regina, who had just taken a sip of her water, sputtered and spit it back into her cup. Cora arched an eyebrow in disgust and Zelena snickered. Regina could only imagine her mother's obvious disapproval had to do with Robin's status as an alleged thief.

"Oh, well yes-"

"And I've also noticed that he's been spending a considerable amount of time with Mr. Jones, Mr. Gold and Mr. Nolan," Cora continued, very clearly expressing her distaste. Wasn't this the truth. If there was any doubt about Robin's acceptance into Regina's friend group before, there certainly wasn't now. He was officially the newly appointed, seventh member of their group. And Regina would be lying if she said that she didn't consider him a friend at this point as well, as much as she had initially tried not to.

"Yes, he's very-"

"I trust that you know better than to become involved with a delinquent," Cora completely steamrolled over Regina. Naturally, this comment earned a very noticeable and very rude chuckle from Zelena's side of the table. How typical. Furthermore, Cora's brusque comments and unfounded judgement towards Robin made Regina far angrier than they should have. It wasn't as though Cora insulting one of Regina's friends was a new experience. Cora viciously disapproved of both Emma and Killian. Emma for her spunk and lack of conformity, and the fact that she didn't come from a traditional home. Emma had been adopted by her aunt, Ingrid, when she was an infant, and had lived happily with her ever since. Killian, similarly, for his rambunctious behavior and for the fact that he was raised by his older brother, Liam, when his father walked out on them when Killian was in elementary school. The only reason Cora approved of Gold was because his family had money, and it would just be very difficult in general for someone to not approve of Mary Margaret or David

"He's really very nice, mother," Regina got out through gritted teeth, forcing a polite smile. Cora arched an eyebrow in contention.

"Regardless, I expect that you will maintain the proper… boundaries in your relationship," Cora said coolly, leaving precious little room for argument. Not that Regina would have argued. Sure, she knew that Robin certainly didn't deserve such criticism and harsh judgement, but she also considered that Robin Locksley did not and would never hold an important enough place in her life to even begin to try and correct Cora about his past. Cora's negative opinion about Robin shouldn't matter to Regina in the slightest.

"Of course, mother."

Regina managed to glide through the rest of the horrific Thursday night dinner with only minimal conflict (a slight incident where Zelena made a backhanded comment about Snow and David's romantic displays of affection, and Regina responded with a roast about Zelena having no one to engage in romance with, which earned her a stern scolding from Cora). She had now been enlisted to help clear and wash the dishes with Cora, while Zelena had been permitted to go upstairs and tend to her 'very heavy homework load'. It's not as though Regina was taking seven AP classes and had any homework herself. No, that would be far too reasonable.

"You didn't eat very much, dear," Cora commented to Regina abstractly, as Regina was scraping the remainder of the food on her plate into the trashcan. This was true, Regina hadn't been very hungry for dinner, as Cora now insisted upon eating all meals at or before six o'clock. Cora had recently read in a health study that eating before six improved metabolism and prevented weight gain. It also happened to be the time of the evening that nursing homes typically chose to feed their tenants, but whatever.

"Oh, I wasn't-"

"Just as well, probably. I've noticed that your jawline is looking a bit less pronounced lately. The high school has a fitness center, you know," Cora mentioned easily, as she casually began loading the dishwasher. Regina's body tensed. This was just cruel and unnecessary, but vintage Cora, nonetheless. Besides, Regina knew there had been absolutely no change in her weight since school had started… right? Regina despised Cora for making her so uncomfortable in her own skin. The last thing that Regina ever wanted to be was insecure, but she knew that Cora had made her to be so.

Regina didn't offer a response to that very passive aggressive comment, and helped Cora clean up the kitchen in silence. Just as she was finally making her escape out of the dining room and beginning the trek up the stairs to her room, her cellphone rang from her back pocket. Regina quickly darted into the nearest bathroom and shut the door, as to avoid being scolded for talking on the phone on a school night.

Regina glanced at the caller ID and was not entirely surprised to see that the caller was Robin. It had become somewhat commonplace to occasionally discuss chemistry homework with Robin on school nights. Of course, Regina hated these calls. Totally dreaded them, the absolute worst.

"Hello?"

"Regina, it's Robin," Robin Locksley's irritatingly warm, accented voice answered her greeting. Regina did notice, however, that he sounded slightly stressed out.

"Yes, I can see that. Do they not have caller ID in England?" Regina couldn't resist quipping in response. Robin chucked on the other end of the phone.

"I'm a bit of a barbarian to modern technology, forgive me. I'm actually calling… I'm calling to ask you for a bit of a… favor," Robin began hesitantly, clearly very nervous. Well, this was unorthodox. Robin had never asked Regina for anything before. Not to mention the fact that anxiety and nervousness seemed to be totally foreign emotions to Robin Locksley, for the most part. This was evidenced by the near constant smile on his face and the confident sass he always seemed to be giving Regina.

"And what would that be, thief?"

"Regina, I feel absolutely horrible about this, and I truly wouldn't ask you if I thought I had any other option, but-" Robin babbled nervously. Regina hated herself for how much his uneasiness made her smile, and the fact that she knew that no matter what he asked, she was probably going to do it.

"Robin, spit it out."

"It's Roland. I was wondering if there was any possible way that you could babysit him tonight," Robin finally said. Regina was glad he was asking this question over the phone, because there was no way she could have successfully hidden her shock at his request in person. Not that she wasn't flattered. Honestly, she doubted babysitting Roland was a very good idea for her mental sanity, due to his almost uncanny resemblance to Henry, but she couldn't deny that the idea was very inviting to her. Roland was absolutely adorable.

"You want me to babysit Roland?" Regina heard herself confirming unsurely. Robin sighed on the other end of the phone.

"I know that it's a school night, and I'm sure you're very busy, but my father has to work tonight, and Coach Scarlett called a mandatory football practice tonight to prepare for the game Friday, and Roland was so taken with you last week at the grocery store, I just… I couldn't think of anyone else to call," Robin explained, speaking quickly and very uncomfortably.

"Robin, I-"

"It would only be for an hour and a half or so, and then I'd be home to relieve you. I know that it's a lot to ask, but I'm… I'm desperate, I have to be at practice in 30 minutes," Robin pleaded with her.

Regina knew this was a horrible idea. A truly horrendous one. She knew that spending time with Roland would do nothing good for her mental state about losing Henry. And getting to know Roland would almost be like getting to know Robin better, and that was just… out of the question. Not to mention, entering and experiencing Robin's home, the place where he… lived and existed, would take their friendship to a level she really did not think it ought to reach. They were school friends, and that was all she ever wanted them to be. Indeed, this was a terrible, terrible idea.

"So… will you do it?" Robin asked gently, after a long moment of perplexity. Very, very bad idea…

"I'll be there in 20 minutes."

Convincing Cora to let Regina borrow the car so that she could go 'study pre calculus with Mary Margaret' was no easy task. But after fervently promising that she would make an A on her Pre Cal exam, as well as do the dishes for the remainder of the week, Cora had reluctantly agreed.

Regina followed the directions that Robin had texted her to his house in silence. He didn't live far, maybe ten minutes away. Regina really didn't mind the drive. In fact, she'd always loved driving, but Cora absolutely refused to buy her a car, as 'where else did Regina have to go, besides school, and since Cora worked there, there was never a reason she might need a vehicle'. Naturally.

Robin's house was nice, Regina decided. A well maintained lawn, dark red brick, unassuming and relaxed exterior features. Not large, but certainly not small either. Modest. She parked her mother's Lexus SUV across the street. She stepped out of the car, and shut the door behind her, pulling her jacket tighter against her body at the cool evening air. Maine's September was already bringing colder weather. Regina was currently dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, a royal blue draping tank top, and her black, lighter leather jacket. Cora had been quick to comment, of course, that if Regina would just wear a nicer, perhaps heeled shoe, rather than her casual black slip ons, she might not look so 'short and stocky'. Regina would certainly be lost without Cora's motherly tidbits of fashion advice.

Bounding up the steps to Robin's porch, Regina calmly rang the doorbell, after taking a brief second to try and collect herself.

"GINA, Gina! Robin, Gina's here!" Regina suddenly heard a seemingly ecstatic Roland shouting from inside the house. Regina's heart melted, and all of her doubt about accepting this task dissipated. Perhaps it shouldn't have, but how could she not be excited about this?

A few seconds later, Robin opened the door for her. Why did he have to look so… just why? Robin was looking tragically athletic, dressed in black athletic shorts and a Storybrook High Football t-shirt in Storybook's trademark sky blue and white colors. He also had his hands full, with one arm full of a bag containing his football gear, and the other full of a beaming and very fidgety Roland.

"Hello, Regina," Robin said softly, smiling warmly at her. Regina's heart stirred inside of her. This was such a horrible, terrible, horrendous idea…

"Hi, Robin. And hello, Roland!" Regina said excitedly, grinning over at Roland. Roland squirmed out of Robin's arms and absolutely barreled into Regina, giving her an enormous hug. Regina was unable to resist allowing a joyful laugh to escape from her mouth as Roland eagerly threw his arms around her. What she had done to deserve all of this affection, she had no idea, but she really wasn't complaining. As Roland hugged her, Regina made very amused eye contact with Robin, who was gazing at the two of them intently, a very pleased half smile gracing his face.

"Why don't we bring this inside, yeah?" Robin said, chuckling, as Roland showed no signs of releasing Regina. Regina easily managed to unwind herself from Roland, while still taking his hand, and the three of them walked into the house.

It was very… homey. In the best way. Of course it was. Of course Regina would love Robin's house. Regina also noticed that it smelled very heavily of chocolate chip cookies.

"It smells like cookies," Regina couldn't resist pointing out. Robin grinned.

"Yes, well, Roland and I took to the oven today when I got home from school. That might explain some of this energy," Robin mused, smirking as he glanced over at Roland, who was now excitedly bouncing up and down on the couch. Regina chuckled.

"This was probably your plan all along. Saddle me with your kid brother on a school night, and dope him up on sugar," Regina said sarcastically, grinning at Robin. Even though it was clear she was joking, Robin sighed and shook his head.

"Really, Regina, I can't thank you enough for this, I can't believe I asked you to-"

"Robin, I was joking. I really don't mind," Regina interrupted, offering him a rare, kind smile.

"Well, despite the sugar high, he's really a pretty easy kid. He has some math homework that he needs to get done, but he won't be too keen on that if you lead with it, so try and butter him up with a few rounds of Mario Kart first or something," Robin explained quietly so that Roland wouldn't hear, glancing between him and Regina.

"Math really isn't my strong suit, Robin," Regina joked. Robin raised one eyebrow, bemused.

"Somehow I trust that you can handle Roland's kindergarten arithmetic," Robin retorted playfully, lightly shoving Regina's shoulder. The contact made her heart skip a beat. She hated herself.

"I'll do my best. What time do you think you'll be home?" Regina asked.

"Absolutely no later than nine. Is that alright? I'm sure I can convince Coach to let me leave early if necessary-"

"Robin, it's two hours out of my life, it's fine," Regina stopped him easily, laughing at his very obvious discomfort with this.

"You're an absolute life saver. I really have to get going, but I promise, I will make this up to you," Robin said earnestly, smiling at her in a way that caused her heart to just completely stop beating, as she considered all the marvelous ways Robin could make this up to her. How had she let this happen…?

"Roland, I'm leaving. I'll be back in a couple of hours. Be so, so good for Regina, alright?" Robin said gently to Roland, who had wandered back over to stand next to Regina and Robin.

"I will, I will!" Roland solemnly swore. Robin grinned, and pressed a quick kiss to Roland's forehead, before disappearing out the door with one last breathless 'thank you' uttered to Regina.

They were not the same. Roland and Henry, apart from basic youthful behavior, their physical similarities, and a shared, irrational love of Regina, really could not have been more different. Where Henry, although undeniably very sweet, was stubborn beyond belief, Roland was wonderfully open to suggestion and virtually did everything Regina asked of him. Where Henry was more bookish and always interested in learning new things, Roland was far more interested in playing and laughing with Regina. While Henry often reminded Regina of a suspicious but still playful dalmatian or collie or some kind, Roland was more of a goofy, absolutely adorable, loyal golden retriever. But one thing the two certainly did have in common was that they both managed to effortlessly, completely capture Regina's heart.

Regina, after several very heated Mario Kart matches, had just convinced Roland to begin doing his math homework. It was actually a bit sad how evenly matched she and Roland had been in Mario Kart, seeing as Roland was six. Regardless, she was confident she would be able to teach him a thing or two about math, at least.

"So, if two plus two adds up to four… what would four plus two add to be?" Regina asked Roland. They were nestled together on the couch, Roland's math workbook between them. Roland didn't respond for a moment, and looked back at Regina looking a little stuck. It was literally painful how adorable he was.

"Show me your fingers," Regina reminded him gently, smiling. Roland's face lit up as he remembered the trick Regina had just taught him about counting on his fingers. Roland really had no trouble counting, he was really quite smart, but he sometimes got confused by the new vocabulary, such as add or subtract, that he was learning. Roland eagerly counted up six fingers on his hands.

"Six, six!" Roland exclaimed excitedly.

"That's right, you are so smart!" Regina encouraged him, returning his delighted grin. Roland eagerly scribbled down the number six next to the equation in his very neat and tidy little boy handwriting. Regina grinned at the fact that the six was backward, but was confident his teacher would get the idea.

Just as she and Roland were about to move onto the next and final problem of his assignment, Robin walked through the front door. Coach Scarlett clearly had worked the football team hard enough to make Robin feel the need to take a shower before returning home. He had changed from his earlier athletic shorts into some black sweat pants, and some black converse rather than his football cleats. Regina had never seen him look so… casual. She found that she liked it much more than she should.

"Robin!" Roland cried happily, disentangling himself from Regina and sprinting over the door to hug Robin. Robin grinned and easily scooped Roland up into his arms as he ran to him. Regina's heart practically swelled at the sight of it. Literally how had this happened, she had tried so hard not to let Robin anywhere near her heart, yet here he was, causing it to skip beats, swell, race, all sorts of things it shouldn't be doing… How very, very typical of Robin; it sometimes felt like he existed for the sole purpose of contradicting Regina's every move, thought, and desire.

"Hey there, little mate. How has your evening been?" Robin responded, glancing between Roland and Regina with his normal confident smile. Regina was unable to fight her grin, as she let Roland answer.

"Goooooddd. Gina let me play Mario Kart before my homework, I beat her three whole times!" Roland informed Robin proudly. Robin raised his eyebrows and he smirked at Regina.

"Is that so?"

Regina rolled her eyes, standing up from the couch.

"To be fair, I am a queen and a bit more refined than to beat six year olds at Mario Kart," Regina snarked, grinning and winking at Roland. This comment earned a laugh from Robin, while most of the sarcasm went over Roland's head.

"I see. So, is Regina helping you with your math homework?" Robin asked Roland. Roland nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, we are almost done!" he told Robin, squirming as to be let down. Robin set him back on the ground and he dashed back over to Regina.

"One more left," Roland said, to both Regina and Robin, who had now joined them on the couch, on the other side of Roland.

"Give it your best go," Robin said to Roland, smiling warmly. Roland's eyes scanned the equation and Regina and Robin both watched, bemused, as he tried to make sense of subtracting three from seven.

"Gina taught me about fingers," Roland suddenly told Robin. Robin knit his eyebrows together confusedly, and glanced over at Regina, clearly looking for an explanation.

"Why don't you show Robin?" Regina said to Roland gently. Roland nodded excitedly, and counted out seven of his fingers.

"Good, and if you take away three of them?" Regina softly encouraged. Roland slowly curled down three of his fingers, and counted the remaining ones.

"Four, there are four!" Roland told Regina and Robin both, smiling at his accomplishment.

"Brilliant," Robin confirmed, smiling at Roland encouragingly, and then at Regina, bemused.

"Seems you might be living with a mathematician, Robin," Regina joked, grinning back. Roland laughed happily at this compliment.

"That may be so, but, unfortunately, even mathematicians have to sleep sometimes. It's past your bedtime, little mate," Robin told Roland, raising an eyebrow playfully. Roland was clearly disappointed by this news.

"But I want to stay with you and Gina," he replied sadly. Robin smiled at him.

"And we want you to stay with us too, but we also don't want you to be tired tomorrow during school," Robin said, teasingly poking Roland's side. Roland giggled, in spite of himself.

"Will I get to see Gina again soon?" Roland asked Robin, looking at him and then back over at Regina, who was unable to resist smiling widely. Robin glanced at Regina, as though waiting for confirmation on that last request.

"Yes you will, Roland," Regina answered him softly, smiling warmly. Regina really didn't know what it was about Henry, and now Roland, that brought out such a loving and compassionate side of her. Regina was pretty much known exclusively for being sarcastic, occasionally up tight, dry, and sassy. Soft and warm were not adjectives typically attributed to Regina's character, but something about little kids brought these qualities out in her…

"That's settled then, so off to bed we go," Robin said, scooping Roland off of the couch and onto his back in one swift motion. Regina rose from the couch as she watched Robin and Roland disappear up the stairs.

Regina wasn't really sure how she felt about standing, alone, in the middle of Robin Locksley's house. It felt less odd and wrong when she'd been with Roland, because she'd had a purpose for being there. But now her job was complete and she had no reason to linger. But… obviously, it would be rude to leave without saying goodbye to Robin. So alas, she lingered.

Fortunately, it didn't take Robin long to prepare and tuck Roland into bed, and returned in probably just under five minutes. Regina, who had returned to her seat on the couch while she waited, rose again at his return.

"Everything good?" she asked calmly, smiling. Robin nudged his head to the side towards the kitchen, and he began walking towards it. Regina followed him uncertainly.

"Quite. Roland is completely taken with you," Robin responded, smiling at her with that same look from earlier, the one that she couldn't imagine she could ever deserve. He opened the refrigerator and considered its contents, before electing to just take out a bottle of water.

"I really have no idea what I could have done to deserve all of his affection," Regina commented, bemused. Robin cocked his head to the side, and shook his head.

"Can I get you something?" he asked, referring to his bottle of water. Regina shook her head. "And, don't discredit yourself. Clearly you have the touch of a mother," Robin continued gently, crossing the room to where she was standing. His compliment meant much more to her than it probably should have.

"Well, I guess I had practice," Regina heard herself respond quietly, much more sentimentally than she wanted to. She was quite sure that she had reached her quota of emotional moments with Robin Locksley for the week.

Robin's eyes softened and he stared at her earnestly. He clearly understood that she was thinking of Henry.

"We all get a second chance, Regina. You just have to open your eyes and see it," Robin said softly, gazing at her intently. His response was rather cryptic, Regina decided, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"Speaking of which, Roland really will try and see you again, I hope that you're alright with that," Robin continued, chuckling, before Regina had to come up with a response to his first comment. This was probably a good thing, because she wasn't really sure what she would have said.

"I am," Regina confirmed, smiling at Robin. She leaned back against one of the cupboards on the wall. Robin suddenly smirked. Regina cocked her head to the side confusedly, awaiting an explanation for this uncalled for expression.

"You know… I've heard several stories about the 'fearsome' Evil Queen of Storybrook High School… But from this angle, the evil moniker seems like a bit of an overstatement," Robin began, grinning, as he crossed the kitchen to where Regina was leaning back against the cupboard. Robin really seemed to enjoy this Evil Queen joke. To be fair, Regina certainly enjoyed referring to Robin as a thief. Clearly, the ridiculousness of both titles was fodder for good banter.

"Bold and audacious, perhaps… But not evil," Robin continued ironically, raising his eyebrows, that same confident smirk resting on his annoyingly handsome features. Regina was unable to fight the half smile that tugged at her mouth.

"Well, what can I say, the name served me well in elementary school. I found fear to be quite an effective method in ruling the social scene," Regina replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Robin continued to smile smugly, and Regina returned his expression. However, hers disappeared as she noticed the fact that Robin's proximity to her was increasing at a rate much quicker than she should have been permitting.

He took a few more pointed steps towards her, never breaking their eye contact, and paused briefly in front of her so that there was no more than two inches of space between their bodies. She would've sworn that she could almost feel the warmth radiating from his body. And for a very brief second, Regina truly believed that Robin was going to kiss her. And for an even briefer one, she really did not mind the idea.

But instead (to her relief, of course), Robin just casually reached around her to slightly pull open the cabinet and retrieve a tupperware full of cookies from the cupboard Regina was now basically pressed against. As he very slowly pulled back around to stand in front of her again, Regina exhaled the very deep breath she had apparently been holding in. He was still so close, much too close…

"Cookie?" Robin asked innocently, arching an eyebrow. Regina raised hers in response and rolled her eyes.

"You want to eat a cookie, right now?" she asked, as though the idea were ridiculous. To her it was, because he went to all that trouble to retrieve the tupperware when she so obviously could have just handed it to him. Robin grinned as he finally took steps back from Regina and opened the container, placing it on the counter behind him.

"Well, in the last few days, collectively, we've undergone three very trying chemistry labs, endured a brutal AP US history test, attended the football practice from hell, and successfully taught a very hyper six year old arithmetic. I'd say we've earned it," Robin said, his voice laced with dramatic irony and playfulness. Regina couldn't help but chuckle.

"I see, so you use sugar as an escape from your problems?"

"Always. In fact, I would even venture to say that sugar might be magical."

"I would have to disagree. Sugar is not magical, especially for my waistline," Regina retorted, grinning. Robin rolled his eyes.

"I think your waistline can handle it," he replied, glancing over Regina's body and then back into her eyes. Regina wouldn't be surprised if the look he was giving her caused her to be admitted to Storybrook's residential hospital for cardiac arrest. God, she was pathetic, how could this have happened? Why did this look of his, somewhere between a playful smirk and a look of pure… admiration, perhaps, have such a tremendous effect on her? Why did it make her heart run a marathon, and butterflies have a rave in her stomach? And why did he have to be the one making her feel this way? He had caught the eye of probably every other female in school, and why should Regina even entertain the notion that she held any real interest to him? He probably acted this way with everyone. He could have his pick, and there was no reason he would pick her. And there were even less reasons that she should want him to. Robin Locksley was quite possibly the last thing that Regina needed in her life right now.

"I really should go," Regina murmured. Robin sighed, but responded with his usual calm smile.

"You're right, I've kept you here much longer than I should have. I'll walk you out," he responded, making a movement to walk out of the kitchen and across the living room. Regina followed him, but her mind was reeling at what had just happened in there. She had allowed Robin Locksley to shamelessly flirt with her… and she hadn't exactly been unresponsive. She knew better, she knew this was not something she should allow herself to even consider. And she wanted to make sure that Robin knew it.

"Goodnight, Regina," Robin said softly, pulling open the door for her. He was giving her that look again, the look…

"You know, I could have just handed them to you," Regina said matter of factly. Robin knit his eyebrows together in bewilderment.

"Handed them to me…?"

"The cookies. Goodnight, Robin."

But all Regina could think about on the way home and for the rest of the night was the way that it felt to have her body so achingly close to Robin Locksley's.