Hey! It's Luna! I hope you enjoy the chapter! Robin and Regina are getting closer folks!

Regina picked up her things and placed them gently back in her bag watching as Robin pretty much flung his own books into his backpack, she rolled her eyes, he has the cheek to call himself an English student when he treats such precious objects without a care. She zipped her bag and grabbed her coat pulling it on over her arms and fastening it up before moving towards the door.

"Hey!" Robin called after her, jogging to catch up with her, dammit she had really tried to out run him, to get out of the building before he insisted they walk back together, she knew that he was going to do exactly that. "Let me walk you home Buttercup," he smirked, beginning to walk in step with her as they closed the door behind them and headed outside.

Regina shuddered at the cold air surrounding her and she pulled her coat on tighter, "I don't need a bodyguard or a guide dog thank you very much," she scoffed, turning the corner as she began the ten-minute walk back to her flat, ten minutes which would be a hell of a lot more annoying with him accompanying her.

"Did you really mean what you said in class earlier?" he asked.

"Which part?" she questioned, not meaning to rise to the bate but not being able to help it, she knew that she should just ignore him and concentrate on walking back, but she couldn't help it when it came to him, he pushed her buttons, knew exactly how to annoy her and challenge her.

"That you think I'm a male version of Juliet," he rolled his eyes, he knew she was just being childish, but that was Regina all over, she couldn't just act like a normal human being, she was antisocial, he was determined to change that, he was going to annoy her until she had to tolerate him. He most certainly wasn't going to allow her to walk home alone in the dark.

"Hmm, yes actually, but do you know who you're more like?" She smirked glancing at him as they walked past the Sainsbury's where her stupid nickname had been concocted. "Ned Flanders the annoying neighbour who is always around."

"Seriously?" he laughed, "does that make you Homer Simpson?"

"I hardly think so, but I am going home to sit in my underwear and eat doughnuts whilst watching TV, so maybe," Regina couldn't stop the small grin that formed on her face, he thought she was joking but that was probably going to be the reality of the situation. She had some ring doughnuts and her Orange Is The New Black box set still needed to be caught up on before she could watch the new season of American Horror Story, something which she was slightly reluctant to watch by herself. Back home she had watched it with Tink and it had scared the shit out of her, but she loved it and she was going to watch it anyway, even if she was in her flat all alone with no one to hear her scream.

"As totally amazing and socially awkward as that sounds, Will and I are having a party tonight…"

"Oh great, more sound pollution," she tutted, pressing the button on the crossing and waiting for the man to turn green.

"It's just a few friends and I was wondering if you might want to come?" he asked, he was being polite, but he did want her to come, he wanted to see her let her hair down again, maybe not to the extent she had the last time, but nonetheless he wanted her to have a good time.

"We have class tomorrow," she murmured, "and what makes you think I would bail on Vauseman for you?"

"I have no idea what any of that meant," Robin chuckled, "Clauseman? Is that some kind of new cartoon character? I know you're into them, since you seem to be a Simpsons nerd."

"It's Vauseman and I don't watch cartoons, anymore," she scoffed, "and I seem to remember seeing some sort of cartoon poster in your bedroom."

"Don't think so."

"Yes, it was," she nodded, grinning at him.

"Let's just agree to disagree shall we, what's Vauseman?"

"Piper Chapman and Alex Vause, Orange is the New Black, you wouldn't know that because you're too busy watching your cartoons ," she laughed to herself.

"I actually don't watch cartoons, I don't know why you assume I do."

"You definitely had some sort of poster in your bedroom," Regina shook her head, she might have been drunk and hungover but she had seen it hanging on the wall in his room, "if it wasn't cartoons what was it?"

"Wait, you mean Indiana Jones?"

"Indiana Jones," she giggled, not being able to stop it, she actually did like the films but it was still funny.

"Hey, Indiana Jones is a great film series," he protested, still grinning at her, she was so cute when she laughed like that, but he had a feeling she wouldn't be the least bit happy if he told her that, something told him that cute wasn't what she was trying to be. She really was though, she was adorable, the way her little nose scrunched up had his knees weak and her smile was like the sun itself, god he had it bad didn't he.

"Hmm," she chuckled, "please tell me you have the action figures, that would actually be amazing."

"I do actually, but they're at home, I'm a big boy now, don't need toys at University."

"Aww well I'm glad you realised that you had to grow up a little," Regina sniggered, she wasn't going to tell him about the teddy she had brought to Uni with her, the one that slept with her in her bed. Ellie her little grey elephant who was going slightly bald on one side, her mother had said it was because she never used to put her down and as a child she would hug her and chew on her, which was a little bit gross, but she had been in the wash since then and was still fluffy in most places.

"Of course, has to happen at some point right," he grinned, "so this party, can I coax you into gracing us with your royal presence?"

"I thought I had already told you no, do you not listen to anything I say?"

"Actually, you didn't technically say no, your answer was very cryptic," Robin chuckled as he pushed open the door to their apartment building and held it for her as she went in before him. "So what's it going to be buttercup?"

"Let me think for just a sec… urm, nope."

"Sure?" he cocked his head as he pressed the button to their floor in the lift.

"Oh I am pretty certain," Regina rolled her eyes, watching as the floor numbers went up until they reached theirs and the doors opened. She practically fell out of them wanting to just get in her apartment and hide away like a hermit crab, she had pizza from freshers still in her fridge, she knew had her mother been there she would have had a fit and made her throw it out, but it was perfectly good pizza and she could warm it up.

"Well fine then, but feel free to come around later if you change your mind."

"I won't," she shook her head, rummaging around in her bag for her keys and unlocking her door, she was about to just leave it like that, but she thought it might seem a little rude to do so, she glanced at him and offered a small smile, "thanks for the invite though."

"You're welcome."

Regina was going to kill him. She'd contemplated the many ways she could do it, a small party he'd said, a couple of friends he'd said! What a load of old shit, it had been none stop racket all bloody night in that corridor and she was seriously at the very edge of her patience scale. One of the ways she had thought of doing away with him, would be to smash the sound system and beat him with it, or she could probably just go around there and tell them to shut up, that would be less violent and wouldn't end up with her arrested for murdering his ass.

She'd had to turn off her program because she couldn't even hear it properly, nor enjoy it, so she decided to take a bubble bath in order for her to relax a little, but the music turned out to be even louder in there because it bounced off the tiles and vibrated around the room, ricocheting from wall to wall.

Now she was sat on her bed with her hair wrapped in a towel and her short elephant pyjamas on, just trying to read her book, it was rather ridiculous that she could still hear their music over her own headphone which she had tried to use to block out the sound, clearly to no avail as the loud bass was still thundering through the apartment complex. At one point she actually thought that the photos were going to fall off the walls they were vibrating so much.

She marked the page she was at in her book before placing it down and straightening her reading glasses, she moved her headphones so they were around her neck instead of on her head and slipped out of bed. She grabbed her robe, throwing it on but not trying it as she flounced out of her bedroom, her fluffy slippers were firmly on her feet whilst she propped her door open and stormed over to Robin's.

Despacito was flooding the halls, this must be achieving some record for the most times to play a song within a certain time period because it was driving her completely insane. "Robin!" she yelled, banging on the door and waiting for him to open, that was if he could hear anything over the deafening music, "Robin Locksley you open this door right now!"

The door opened, but it wasn't Robin who opened it, instead it was a tall blonde in a tight dress, "aww! I didn't know it was fancy dress!"

Regina furrowed her eyebrows, "what?"

"I don't know what you're supposed to be but it's a cute look," she nodded, sloshing her drink in Regina's direction, "kinda old Taylor Swift meets, Lucy from 64 Zoo Lane."

"I have no idea who that is," she scoffed, spotting Robin dancing with someone across the room, "excuse me," she shook her head as she hurried over to him, "Locksley!"

"Buttercup! I thought you said you weren't coming!" he grinned as he saw Regina, he'd honestly thought she was going to keep herself held up alone in her apartment all night, but apparently he had underestimated her.

"Do I look like I am here to party?"

Or not, now she said it he took into account what she was wearing, they were the most adorable pyjamas he had ever seen and on her they were just insanely cute. The shorts were pale blue with little elephants and the top was white with a big elephant in the middle, but because of the style, he could see the tanned skin of her stomach just above the shorts and it was already driving him insane. "Maybe for a slumber party," Robin chuckled, "loving the pyjamas by the way."

She consciously pulled the top further down and secured her robe tighter around her, "I didn't come here for the party, I came to ask you if you would please turn the music down, I can't hear myself think," she was having to yell over it.

"Yeah sure, sorry," he cringed, he hadn't been the one to turn it up this loud, that had been Will, but he still understood that it was probably annoying for her to have the volume so loud. He moved over to the sound system and turned it down, earning more than a few unhappy moans, especially from those who had been on the makeshift dance floor.

"Get over it, maybe now you'll be able to have a conversation and actually hear one another," Regina scoffed.

"Kill joy!" someone shouted at her.

"Shut up!" Robin rolled his eyes before turning to her and scratching the back of his head, "can I see you back to your apartment?"

"What, across the corridor? I think I'll be alright."

With the music somewhat quieter thanks to Robin, Regina snuck back to her apartment, she was absolutely mortified, why hadn't she thought about her clothes before she went around? Now he knew she wore pyjamas with elephants on, babyish pyjamas.

Why couldn't it have been a day where she was wearing something sexy, like a silk black negligee or at the very least some pyjamas without animated animals on them. Wait, sexy like a negligee? What was that about? She wasn't into Robin and she didn't care if he wasn't into her, he seemed as though he liked that tall leggy brunette whose skirt was entirely too short and her makeup was way over done. Oh great, now she was jealous, she really needed to distance herself from him, straight away.

Regina moved into her apartment and immediately heard moaning coming from the living room. She backed up a little and found the handle to the utility cupboard, opening it she routed around and found a broom. She grabbed the sweeping brush and headed back out into the living room with it, "hello?" There was no answer so she moved further inside, ready to hit whoever was trespassing in her house.

She carried on seeing something move on her couch, with her eyebrows furrowed she rounded it and spotted two people sat there, their lips locked as they indulged in a way too heavy make out session. "What the fuck?!" She yelled, hoping that it would work to deter them, but seemingly it didn't, in fact the guy was nudging the girl back and shoving his tongue even deeper down her throat however that was physically possible. "Hey! This isn't a whore house!"

Still nothing? Seriously how could people actually do that? She had a little strop on the spot before storming out of her apartment again and to Robin's, this time not even knocking as she just shoved the door open and charged up to him, "oi! Will you please get your sexually charged friends off my couch!"

"What?" Robin sniggered as he took a sip of his beer, looking at her with an amused expression. He had no clue what she was talking about but he was eager to find out. He thought she'd gone to bed, but clearly not.

"Do you think this is funny?!" She snapped, taking off her reading glasses so she could square up to him. She was quite a bit shorter though so it didn't have as much of an impact, looking around she spotted a step ladder by the wall that he had clearly been using to put something on the wall, "hold that thought."

He watched her with furrowed eyebrows as she pushed past some people and picked up the little set of steps and brought them back over, climbing up the first one so her eyes were in line with his, "you ready now?" He chuckled.

"Yes, this party of yours had gotten insanely out of hand! It's one in the morning and I have a couple practically having sex on my couch! All I wanted was for you to turn the music down..."

"Which I did."

"Yes you did but someone has clearly taken it on themselves to turn it the hell back up!"

"In my defence that was Will."

"Fine, but will you please just come and remove the people from my apartment? I want to go to bed, we have a class at nine and I'm tired," she felt like crying by this point, she just wanted to sleep, to be able to go in her apartment and lock the door behind her.

"Yeah, sure, I'm sorry Regina."

She nodded and got down off the ladders, moving them to the side, "please hurry, I really do not want them to get any further than they already have, it's a brand new couch."

Robin chuckled and headed to the door, holding it open for her as they made their way to her place. He walked in and bypassed the couple, heading straight to her kitchen. He actually couldn't believe people had been so disrespectful to just go into Regina's apartment and do what the fuck they pleased, it wasn't on.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Where do you keep your pans?"

"In the bottom left cupboard, why?"

He bent down and took one out before grabbing a wooden spoon and moving back into the living room and slamming the spoon against the metal, "okay that's enough break it up! I'm sure you both have your own places to defile, so move on." The couple sprung apart and he shook his head, "get out, you have technically broken in here."

"The door was open," the girl scoffed as she stood up and straightened her dress.

"Why don't you get out of my apartment before I call the cops," Regina stated as she held the door open for them.

"Cops?" the guy chuckled, "do you think you're American or something?" he slurred.

"Yes, actually, now get out!" The couple huffed a little more before moving out of the apartment, followed by Robin.

"I'm really sorry about all this."

"Whatever, I just want to go to sleep," she sighed. She wasn't in the mood for him right now, it was late and she just couldn't deal with it. She knew that technically it wasn't his fault, it was Will's party not his, but in this moment, he was there and she was blaming him for it because it was easier and it was his apartment too, he had some say over it.

"I'll see you in Lit tomorrow," Robin smiled.

"That's if you're not too hungover."

"I haven't had too much to drink so I very much doubt it. I really am sorry though…"

"Night Robin."

"Good night Buttercup."

Regina rolled her eyes and closed the door behind him, she locked it before waltzing back into her bedroom and dropping down on her bed, she pulled the covers up over her and snuggled into them. She hadn't realised how tired she really was until that moment and closed her eyes, she could still hear the music coming from Robin's apartment, but then suddenly it cut off altogether. Smiling to herself, she allowed sleep to claim her.

When Robin got back to his apartment he was pissed off, annoyed that this party had gotten so out of hand that people were breaking into Regina's flat. He knew that if the music didn't stop someone would call the police and they would get into serious trouble, so it was time to call it a night. He waltzed over to the sound system and flicked a switch on the wall, shutting off the power, causing the music to come to an abrupt halt.

"Right, everyone out!" he shouted, seeing Will coming over to him.

"Mate, what the hell?"

"We are being too disruptive, keeping our neighbours awake with this music and it's not fair."

"Oh why, cos your wifey is missing out on a few hours of sleep? Suck it up mate and have a good time, you were doing until she came around."

"For one she isn't my wifey and two, I wasn't having a good time, I was moaning that it was too loud and all I wanted to do was go to bed," he snapped, "and you can bet that some idiot has found their way into my bedroom and…"

"God, loosen up old man."

"Will you just shut up," he groaned, he wasn't in the mood for Will being a dick, right now he just wanted his apartment back and to be able to fall into bed and go to sleep,much like Regina had wanted, "come on people, get out and take your drunk friends with you cos they can't stay here." He gestured to some guy who had albeit passed out on the couch. Someone was going to be having quite the hangover in the morning.

Two weeks later and little had been said about that night, but Regina was still hostile about it, she definitely did not appreciate having to wake up early the next morning, not when she had already been so tired. There had been small talk between them, but not really anything more than that, she had a feeling that Robin knew he had annoyed her and was trying to be on his best behaviour. So far it was working, the thing was though she was bored, she hated to admit it, but she missed his infuriating comments that made no sense and were only made to wind her up. She missed the banter that they had.

In that moment she was sat in the library after hours doing some extra research, but it was getting late and she knew that she should probably be heading back. Scooping up her books, she slipped them all into her bag one at a time, once they were all in though, she realised that one in particular was missing, her copy of Romeo and Juliet.

With a sigh she grabbed her bag and made her way out of the library, the lecture hall she had been in wasn't too far away from where she was, maybe if she went around it might still be open and she'd be able to pick up her book before she lost it and had to buy another.

She ascended the staircase and found the upper floor to be pretty much in darkness, she shuddered and flicked on the torch that was built into her phone, using it to light her way down the corridor towards the lecture theatre. What were the actual chances of the room being open?

She heard a squeaking noise and stopped in her tracks, was she even allowed in this part of the building at night? Then there was a bang and her eyes went wide as she picked up the pace, scanning the numbers on the doors as she went.

When she reached the right one she just shoved the door open without thinking. It was in that moment that she realised that maybe she should have knocked as there was a high-pitched squeal and she saw Mary Margaret reach out for something to cover herself, pulling away from none other than Professor Nolan, who also pulled up his trousers, turning his head to the door. Regina looked away awkwardly, she was officially scarred for life, seeing her teacher naked and fucking his student who was also naked, geez there was too much bare skin on show right now.

"Regina, we can explain," David reasoned, moving towards her.

She looked up and cringed, "just, please put a shirt on."

He nodded and grabbed his shirt, pulling it on as quick as he could, "we need to talk about this rationally."

"I just came for my book, so," she moved past him and walked up to where she had been sat during the lecture before bending down and finding that it had fallen off the table onto the floor.

"Regina, please you can't tell anyone!" Mary Margaret sobbed, moving over to her, at least now she had some clothes on, she'd never had the girl down as someone who would be naked and having sex in a semi-public place, she always thought she was way too conservative for anything like that.

"Mary," David sighed, following them and sitting on one of the desks, "this is my fault, not yours…"

"David this is both our faults."

Regina simply watched as the two went back and forth with who was to blame for the situation for about five minutes and realised how truly annoying they both were. "How about, you both shut up and we never speak of this again?" she suggested boredly, all she wanted was to get home, have something to eat and get into her pyjamas, she didn't have time for this shit and she certainly didn't want to relive the horror show she had just witnessed.

"Seriously, you aren't going to report us?" The other woman asked.

"As long as you don't have sex on campus again and risk any other poor student coming across you, I won't report you. Now, can I possibly get past you? I have a plate of mac and cheese waiting for me at home," she scoffed, slipping Romeo and Juliet into her bag and slipping past them.

"We won't, sorry Regina," Mary Margaret muttered.

"Oh, and you might both want to be less obvious with your relationship, half the university are already betting that the two of you are sleeping together, so be subtler, if you can. Also, please sanitise that desk now," she shuddered in disgust before leaving them stood in the lecture hall. She hurried back down the stairs and headed for the exit to the building, only to find that in the time she had been in the university it had started to pour it down with rain, the water was pounding the pavement, bouncing off the surface as it hit with great force, "seriously?" She huffed.

She put her hood up and held her bag tighter before counting in her head and flinging the door open, running through the street, hoping to dodge the rain but not having much luck as the wind wrapped around her and the water made her clothes stick to her skin. Great, just bloody perfect, what even was the point in trying to run? She was already drenched, soaked to the bone, her hair was flat and stuck to her face so she could barely see, she was just so completely and utterly done.

Deciding that she might as well walk the rest of the way, she stopped running and plodded towards her accommodation, this day had been totally shit and she couldn't wait to get back, go to sleep and pretend it never happened. It was days like these when she missed her friends and family back home, she even missed her mother and that was saying something. Regina trudged into her apartment building, earning a sympathetic smile from the security guy.

She tutted and carried on going, stepping in the lift and pressing the button to her floor, the first thing she was going to do was stick the mac and cheese in the oven then have a nice warm shower and get into her comfy clothes. Falling into her flat she dropped her stuff by the door and turned on the oven, realising that it would have to heat up before she could put anything in there, she began to remove her soaked clothes, peeling off the layers until she was left only in her underwear.

Regina padded into the bathroom and flicked on the shower before dropping her clothes in the laundry basket and removing her bra and panties. Once she was in the shower the warm water flowed over her freezing skin, providing her with a lovely heat that made her feel immediately better, it seemed to soothe her, making the day she had endured seem less awful. She moaned in pleasure and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to detangle it somewhat.

After her shower she felt a lot better and put the mac and cheese in the oven before heading to her room and throwing on her pyjamas. These were longer than the ones she had been wearing before, the bottoms red tartan check, whilst the shirt was white with two crowns strategically placed on her boobs.

Regina was just getting into her fluffy dressing gown when she spotted it. A massive spider crawling across the floor towards her, she let out a squeal and dove towards the bed, scrambling on top of it and standing up, watching as the spider came closer and closer. If there was one thing she hated, it was spiders, they were just disgusting and terrifying, with their long legs and speedy running skills. This one was particularly frightening, it wasn't one of the ones with a small body and thin spindly legs, oh no, this was the biggest spider she had ever seen, it was fat and chunky, it was just ginormous, probably the size of her palm.

She whimpered and was just about to grab her phone when the room was plunged into darkness, she screamed again and shook her head, this was not happening. The wind was howling outside, something was tapping on her window, she was completely in the dark and there was a bloody spider which could be climbing onto her bed at any moment. "No, this is insane," she breathed, trying to control the fear that was flooding through her, "it's only a spider, it can't hurt you," she repeated, over and over, but it wasn't doing all that much to reassure her.

She felt something tickle her and freaked out, she grabbed her Ellie and scrambled off the bed, running for the door to the bedroom and escaping into the sitting room, slamming it behind her. However, she found that it was also dark in there, which meant that there had been a blackout. Just. Her. Luck.

"Light, light, light," she panicked looking around trying to see something in her apartment. It wasn't a well-known fact, she liked to keep it to herself but she was quite afraid of the dark.

Kathryn had come around and stolen all her candles because she said she needed them for a romantic date night she was having, as for her torch that was on her phone and her phone was in the room with the spider. "Shit!" She muttered, "shit," she flopped down on her couch and pulled her legs up under her as she buried her head in her hands.

"You're okay," she whispered, "nothing can hurt you, you're okay." Nope, no, not working. She was definitely panicking, she held onto Ellie and inhaled the scent, the plush still smelt somewhat like home, she could still smell the lingering scent of the washing powder they had back in America.

She was scared and hungry but she couldn't even see anything to eat. There was another howl of wind and that was it, she couldn't do it anymore, she couldn't just sit there anymore. She scampered from the sofa her elephant secured under her arm as she grabbed the keys to her apartment and went out into the corridor before heading towards the one person she knew in this place. Robin.

She reluctantly knocked on his door, "Robin?" She whispered, just hoping that he would answer.

The door opened and her eye met his in the darkness, "Buttercup?"

"Hi," she muttered, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously, "can I come in?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah," he nodded, "course you can," he opened the door further and she saw the candles scattered around.

"You have light," she breathed in relief, "is Will here?"

"No, he's out tonight, don't worry, he probably won't come home."

"Sorry I just... it was really dark and I..."

"It's okay," he smiled, "do you want a drink or something?"

"Yes please," she whispered, hiding the stuffed toy behind her back, feeling quite the fool for having brought it with her, she should have left it back in her apartment, but she wasn't really thinking all that rationally, all she had known was that she needed to get out and that was what she had done.

"So, I have some fizzy drinks, orange juice, cordial, milk…"

"Water is fine, thank you," Regina looked around before sitting down on the couch, "I got soaked earlier coming back from Uni," she stated, feeling the need to make some sort of small talk.

"You were out in that?" he asked, his eyes going wide as he turned to look at her in shock, it was only then that he noticed her wet hair and the poor attempt to hide a stuffed toy behind her back. Was she afraid of the dark? That was what he was guessing, she had seemed more than flustered when she had arrived at his door and it was unlike her to just come around like that, there must have been something that pushed her to do it and he highly doubted it was because she wanted to see him.

"Yes, I was in the library late and then when I came out the weather had turned and I got caught in the rain," she nodded, taking the glass he was offering her, "my mac and cheese was still in the oven when the power went out. I couldn't stay in there because I saw this huge spider and then it was dark and I didn't know where the hell it had gone and I just panicked, sorry."

"Don't worry about it, I think I would probably have panicked too if there were a giant spider in my room."

"Are you scared of them?"

"Not really, as long as I can see them, if I can't see them and I know they're there, well, that's another story isn't it," he was trying to make her feel better, people were afraid of spiders, he knew that was a well-known fact, he could take the piss out of her for it but he highly doubted that it was the right time to do something like that, she was clearly shaken up and needed his support, not his mockery.

She nodded, feeling stupid yet again, why did she possibly think it would be a good idea to come around here and pester him, she should have just stayed in her apartment and sat it out. "I should go, I'm sorry for…"

"No, you don't have to go, in fact I would like it if you stayed, do you want something to eat? I could make you a sandwich or something."

"I don't want to put you out."

"You're not, what's a bit of bread and cheese or whatever you want," he grinned, moving back into the kitchen and watching her as she eyed him curiously.

"How do I know you won't try and poison me?" she smirked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Guess you'll just have to trust that I like you enough to keep you around," he chuckled finding the bread and the cheese from the fridge, it was the only sandwich filler he had in there, so he hoped she liked cheese.

She stood from her seat and moved over to him leaning against the breakfast bar as she watched him prepare her a sandwich, "you're going to grate it right?"

"Of course, who has cut cheese in a cheese sandwich?"

"Not me," she shook her head, seeing him begin to grate the cheese, before placing it on the bread, cutting the sandwich in half and passing it to her.

"Your masterpiece of a dinner is served milady."

"Oh wow, I cannot believe your culinary wizardry," she giggled, "I still don't know if it's poisoned or not."

"Ah, well let me prove that it isn't," he smirked, stealing one half and taking a bite out of it, "seems perfectly fine to…" he pretended to choke, dropping the sandwich back down onto the plate as he staggered about the kitchen.

"Robin," she laughed, "stop it," she watched as he still continued to choke and her expression changed when he fell to the ground, still coughing and choking, "shit, Robin!" she dropped down beside him, her hands going to his chest, but suddenly he stopped and grabbed her, causing her to squeal. "Hey!"

"Aww you thought I was dying."

"Such a jerk," she scoffed, shaking her head, "I can't believe you just did that," she rested her forehead against his chest, "you just nearly gave me a heart attack."

"What? You thought it was actually poisoned?"

"No, I thought it had gone down the wrong hole or something," she groaned, realising how close they were to one another, she was practically laying on top of him and his arms were wrapped around her. Clearing her throat she pushed at him playfully and he let go of her, allowing her to get up, "I actually cannot believe that you took a bite out of my sandwich," she huffed picking up the plate.

"A chef has to sample the food he makes before he can serve it to his customers," he chuckled, standing also and moving towards the couch, flopping down on it and spotting a little grey elephant tucked between the cushions, "aww cute." He picked it up, it did look a little worse for wear in certain areas.

Regina's eyes widened and she hurried over to him, snatching Ellie from his hands, "I've had her my whole life," she whispered, "I just kinda grabbed her when I came over here," she shrugged, sitting down beside Robin and placing the stuffed toy next to her, "don't laugh at me."

"I'm not," he shook his head, he wasn't, not that he was going to tell her about the brown bear that he kept underneath his pillow, he hadn't been bringing him but when he opened his case he was there on top of it, clearly his mother had snuck him in there without him knowing. "I'm not laughing at you, I think it's sweet."

"Sure you do," she sighed, taking another bite out of her sandwich as she glanced at the candles that were laid out on the little coffee table, "so, what were you doing in the dark before I arrived?"

"Nothing really, just lighting candles and preparing to finish the end of the book I'm reading."

"Ooh, what are you reading?" she asked, tucking her feet underneath her on the sofa as she finished off the first half of the sandwich and went onto the next one.

"Stephen King, It, I wanted to read it before I go see the movie."

"Oh, my goodness, you're going to go see that?!" she questioned, her eyes widening, she was scared of clowns, sure she had read the book, but she was still scared of clowns and the trailer for that particular movie looked scary, she'd had to hide behind a cushion just to watch that never mind the whole film. Seemingly she was scared of most things.

"Yeah, I figured I'd go see it next week, wanna come with?"

She rose a single eyebrow, what was that? There was something in his tone of voice that made her question his motives for such a invitation, "are you asking me on a date?"

"A date?" he chuckled, smiling at the look on her face, initially it hadn't been him asking her on a date but if that was what she wanted he would totally take her on a date, he didn't think she was down for that though, she seemed rather against the whole dating scene, or maybe she was just against him in general.

She scoffed rolling her eyes, "good, because there would be no chance of me going on a date with you, especially to see that creepy movie."

"First, I'm offended that you wouldn't go on a date with me, I make a mean, non-poisoned, cheese sandwich, and second I think you are scared of going to see that movie, I think I have found another thing to add to the list of things Regina Mills is scared of."

"I'm not scared, it just looks weird and…"

"You're scared."

She narrowed her eyes at him, she didn't like what he was saying, it was annoying and as much as she didn't want to see the film she wanted to prove him wrong more, "fine, I will go to the cinema with you to see the stupid movie, as a friend."

"Oh, you don't have to come if you're scared."

"I'm not scared!" she swatted his arm as she finished the last of her sandwich and placed the plate down on the table, "now what do we do?"

"Stuff our faces with ice cream before it melts, I have two tubs of Ben and Jerry's in the freezer."

"Now you are talking, what flavour?"

"Cookie dough and brownie," he smirked at her as he watched her eyes light up in delight.

"Why are you still sat here then and not handing me the ice cream?" she quipped laying down on his sofa and curling up as she rested her head on the arm and looked at him as he walked back to the kitchen.

"Make yourself at home why don't you."

"I already have."

A couple of hours later they had pretty much demolished about a tub and a half of ice cream and Regina had to admit she was feeling somewhat sick, she found herself leant against Robin as they read a book together, using what was left of the candle light. He was reading out loud and she had to admit that it seemed completely domestic, she would be lying if she said she didn't like it just a little bit.

"The candles are going to die out," he muttered, rousing her from her daze, she had been so caught up in listening to him read to her that she had been surprised by his sudden statement. He was right though, there was very little left for the candle to use and the power still hadn't come back on.

"Have you got any more?" she whispered, feeling panic rise within her again at the prospect of being in the dark with not an ounce of light. His phone battery had died and she hadn't dared go back to her apartment to get her phone so they would be in complete darkness.

"No," he shook his head, he could sense that she was growing anxious, the fear she had first felt when he found her at his door was bubbling up again. He'd had to stop reading because he could barely see the words on the page, the thing was though the light was only going to get lower and lower, unfortunately there wasn't anything he could do about it except from try and make her feel more comfortable, "it's okay though," he stated, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her closer, "I'm right here, nothing is going to hurt you. Okay?"

Somehow it sounded more reassuring coming from him than it did when she had been trying to reassure herself earlier that night, "yes," she breathed, watching as the first candle sizzled out, letting off a string of smoke that was just visible in the darkness, "I can't stay here all night," she murmured.

"You can stay as long as you need to, stay till the power comes back on."

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden to you."

"You aren't," he smiled, tucking her hair gently behind her ear before running his fingers through her locks which had turned into long untamed ringlets, "why don't you ever have your hair like this?"

"What?" she whispered, turning to look at him, meeting his eyes. No one had ever liked her natural hair, her mother had always told her it looked messy and rather like an overflowing birds nest, Regina had grown to see it that way also, even though she had once been so fond of it, seemingly Robin liked it though, in fact she could dare to say that he was rather mesmerised by it.

"It's a mess," she shrugged.

"It's beautiful," he argued causing her to blush and she was happy for the lack of light because she would be totally embarrassed if he were to see her like that, blushing like an idiot just because he told her that he liked her hair.

"Thanks, but I still know it's a mess," she chuckled. God that felt good, his hands in her hair, fingers stroking through the strands and coming up to massage her head every now and then, she was almost letting out a moan but managed to keep it at bay. This seemed way too much for it to just be a friendly encounter, or maybe she was over thinking it.

Did friends lay on the couch with one another and play with each other's hair? She thought not, and before this night they hadn't even been friends, in fact they had been sworn enemies intent on bettering one another, now she was practically curled up in his arms and not wanting to move from his comforting embrace, even though she knew she probably should.

"It's getting late," he pointed out, his breath shallow as he watched her, wondering what she was thinking about so intently. He was rather shocked that she had allowed herself to relax so much, it was nice to see her so calm.

"Yeah, I should head home now."

"You don't have to," he shook his head, feeling her tense up in his arms, "you can do whatever you want," he smiled, curling one of her ringlets around his finger, allowing it to bounce before he played with another.

She didn't want to leave, she didn't want to go back to her apartment whilst there was no power, she would just rather stay here with him, but that posed another problem, where the hell was she going to sleep? "Where will we sleep?" she whispered shyly, watching as yet another candle fizzled out, leaving the room in even more darkness with only two candles now dim.

"You can take my bed and I'll sleep in Will's."

"I couldn't do that," she shook her head, "that isn't fair on you."

"Well," he took a deep breath, knowing that it was risky to suggest this, but he had a feeling she was thinking it but didn't want to say, he knew that she didn't want to be alone in the dark and it was getting increasingly colder as the night went on. They'd had to get the quilt from his bed to cover them it was so chilly in his sitting room, so he daren't think how cold it might be in her flat where no one had been all night. "We could both stay in my bed, no funny business I promise," he held his hands up as though he were at her mercy, which to be honest he was.

She shouldn't, she really shouldn't, but she wanted to, she wanted him next to her during the night, to keep her company, that and she was terrified that the spider had already taken up residence in her bed and was probably asleep on her pillow in that very moment. "Okay," she whispered, "do you have a toothbrush I could borrow?"

"Yeah I have a new one in the cupboard, come on let's go see if we can feel around for it," he scooped up the duvet, shivering as the cold air wrapped around them, he felt her shudder beside him and wrapped the quilt around her, cocooning her in it.

"Thanks," she laughed.

"Right you know where the bathroom is, I'll wait outside whilst you do what you need to do."

"Alright."

Regina was laid in his bed waiting for him to come in from the bathroom, it was a strange experience, but she had to admit he had one comfy bed, she was snuggled into the pillow with the blanket pulled all the way up under her chin, Ellie was tucked securely under her arm, trapped between her chest and knees as she tucked herself up into a fetal position, her eyes trained on the door.

She was extremely conflicted about the situation, part of her was saying that it was a good thing that they were getting on, but the other part of her was still wary about this. If her mother knew she was sharing a bed with a boy she would probably be dragging her home to California as soon as she possibly could. She technically had already shared a bed with him once, not that she could remember all that much about it, all she could recall was waking up the morning after and feeling warm, feeling safe.

There was a bang and her eyes widened as she sat up, "Robin?"

"Ouch," the door opened and she could just about make out his silhouette as he came into the room.

"What did you do?" she asked, trying not to laugh at him as he slid into bed beside her, his hand rubbing over his nose.

"Walked into the bloody door."

"Oh no," she giggled, her hand coming to cover her mouth in attempt to stop any more laughter that was threatening to bubble to the surface.

"Oi, do you think this is funny?" he asked, reaching for her and ticking her.

"No!" she chuckled as he carried on moving his fingers lightly across her waist tickling her relentlessly as she thrashed below him, "Robin stop!" she squealed as she carried on letting out little giggles and reached out to grab him, her hands taking hold of his wrists as he stopped, hovering over her as their breathing tried to slow and they stared at each other. She cleared her throat and broke their eye contact, looking down, "I think we should be getting some sleep," she stated, a clear husk to her voice that hadn't been there beforehand.

"Yeah, I think you're right," he nodded in agreement, it was probably a good job that she had stopped him before he did something stupid anyway. He had been so tempted to close the gap between them, but he knew that without a shadow of a doubt that wouldn't have gone well with Regina, she would have just pushed him away again and he didn't want to risk that happening, not when he had made so much leeway.

He lay beside her and turned to face her, his fingers tracing across her arm gently before he pulled away completely and opted to just look at her. "Do you know how distracting that is?" she rolled her eyes at him in the dark.

"What?"

"How am I supposed to sleep with you watching me?"

"Sorry," he laughed, "do you want me to turn around?"

"No, it's okay, I will," she turned so that her back was towards him and closed her eyes, "goodnight Robin."

"Night Regina," he whispered, staring at her hair and finding a small strand that had strayed onto his pillow, he carefully picked it up and placed it with the rest of her curls before closing his eyes and willing himself to go to sleep. Unknowingly reaching out for her and pulling her into his arms once he had.