Hey guys! Thank you all for the support you've given me whilst writing this! I have adored hearing what you think and it always gives me sooo much motivation! Hope you enjoy the newest chapter and are ready for potential angst coming our way.
The rest of the weekend flew by, there had been no more kissing, and touching had been at a minimum. Regina had gone back to her own bed, leaving Robin alone in the spare room. She'd wanted to sleep in there with him but thought it best not to push the boundaries, she still wasn't clear as to what they were to each other, so for proprieties sake she had kept to her own room.
On Monday morning, Regina woke to the feeling of fingers running through her hair, she smiled and nuzzled into her pillow, "hello," she hummed turning over expecting to see Robin but instead seeing her mother, "mom your home," she grinned widely.
"Yes, I am," Cora nodded, smiling down at her daughter, "did you have a good weekend?" she asked, slipping into bed with her daughter and turning to face her. She was in a pair of long silk pyjamas and Regina guessed that she must have been planning on catching a few hours sleep after her mega early flight back home. "I hope you didn't miss me too much."
"I did miss you," she pouted, stretching out a little as she stifled a yawn.
"I thought you'd have been having too much fun to miss me Regina," her mother laughed, "I take it Robin is in the guest bedroom."
"Yes, as I told you he would be," Regina scoffed, rolling her eyes at her mother and how inappropriate she could be sometimes. It was as though she saw herself as one of Regina's friends instead of her mother and thought it was okay to just talk with her about boys and sex and things a girl just really didn't really want to talk to her mother about.
"You did tell me that, but I thought you were just saying it so I wouldn't know."
"I told you before, Robin and I are just friends, that's all."
"So, nothing happened this weekend then?" the older woman pushed, trying to get her daughter to open up, "nothing at all that you might want to tell me about?"
"I went to a shitty party at Kathryn's and that is about all that happened this weekend. For the rest of it, it was just Robin and I studying and watching box sets," she shrugged, failing to mention that whole Marian pool situation and the fact that there may have been a tiny bit of kissing between her and Robin at the very start of the weekend. She was rather disappointed that they hadn't shared another kiss, but maybe it was just because Robin wasn't all that into her. Either that or she was a rubbish kisser and he was too afraid to tell her.
"Why was Kathryn's party shitty?" Cora asked, reaching to push a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"It just was, I didn't really want to go, but the girls wanted me there, so I guess I just felt somewhat obligated to go."
"Okay. Did you have a good time the rest of the weekend though?"
"Yes, I was nice to just spend some time with Robin," she smiled, trying not to blush at her words. The weekend had been nice and she had enjoyed the chance for her and Robin to just hang out without anyone around.
"That's good. I take it you haven't seen any more of Jake whilst I've been gone."
"No, luckily not."
"Good, I think I will have to go around there later and have words with him."
"Mom, it's okay now, I don't think he'll try anything like that again."
"Regina…"
Before her mother could finish what she was going to say, there was a knock on the door and they heard Robin's voice calling her name. Regina sat up and fixed her hair before looking in the little mirror on her bedside table, she brought the covers to cover her lower body as she leant back against the head board. "Come in Robin."
With that he pushed her door open and came inside, stopping still when he noticed her mother. His eyes widened and Regina tried not to laugh at the alarmed expression on his face. However, her attention was quickly averted from his face as her eyes fell to his sculpted chest and her mouth went dry.
Robin stared at Regina and then her mom before glancing down at his bare chest and swallowing heavily, he had grown so comfortable just hanging around with Regina that weekend he hadn't really worried about anything like that. It hadn't even occurred to him that he'd not had his shirt on when he went over to her room. "I urm… I just, I was just checking you were awake and you are so… I'm gonna go get ready for school."
Robin left the room, closing the door behind him, as soon as he was gone Regina looked at her mother and they both burst out laughing. "I think I may have just shocked the life out of that poor boy."
"I do too," Regina giggled as she moved out of bed and to her closet, she needed to start getting ready for the day, she hadn't realised how late it had got. She picked out a burgundy jumper and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans before moving over to her underwear drawer.
"Well, I'll leave you to get dressed. Will you be needing a lift to school?"
"No thank you, I think we're going to walk this morning."
"I really like Robin, Regina," Cora stated, "I think he is exactly what you need in your life." Her mother cast her one last smile before leaving her alone in the room.
Regina bit down on her bottom lip, she couldn't help but agree with her mother, she felt something for Robin, something that was more than friendship and she wanted him to know that, she was determined to tell him before the end of the week. She would just have to face the consequences if he didn't feel the same way.
At lunch time Regina was sat with the girls in the school canteen, Robin said he had some studying to do and she'd decided that she wanted a little break but that she would meet up with him after school. She picked at her grapes as Kathryn drawled on about something that she didn't really have that much of an interest in.
"Regina!" a voice called from behind her as she felt someone hug her.
She turned her head and saw a curtain of blonde hair as the girl looked up at her with blue eyes and dimples that matched Robin's. "Hey Poppy," Regina laughed as she hugged her back.
"Do you think you could teach me some cheer moves today?"
"Today?"
"Yes."
"Urm, sure, I guess I could do that. I was supposed to be studying tonight with your brother, so maybe we'll leave it up to him and see if he lets me have the night off," Regina winked playfully. It might be nice to have some girl time with Poppy, she knew how much Robin loved his sister and it was vital that Poppy liked her. She'd also been promising to teach her some cheer moves for a while now and Regina hadn't had the time.
"Thanks Gina! I'm gonna go ask him now!" she squealed happily as she hurried off over to the opposite side of the canteen where her own friends were sitting.
Regina smiled as she picked up her sprite, it was only then that she noticed all of her friends staring at her, "what?"
"Nothing," Kathryn shook her head, replying in a way that told Regina that something was off.
"Come on Kat, what is it?"
"You're going to teach her cheer moves?"
"Yeah why?"
"You keep bailing on practice because you say you're too busy," Emma added, "but you've got enough time to teach a kid some cheer moves."
"Girls, come on, I've only missed practice a couple of times and I promised Poppy that I would show her some moves for when she joins the team," Regina quipped, shrugging her shoulders at her friends. She didn't know what they expected of her, it seemed like whatever she did wasn't ever good enough, they were always looking for something more from her. "Anyway, I came to your party this weekend because you forced me to."
"Oh, I didn't realise it was such a hardship for you to spend some time with your friends," Kathryn scoffed, rolling her eyes at her.
"Don't do that," Regina sighed, "don't make me feel guilty over this. Where even were you at that party Kat, because you didn't seem to be around, in fact, none of you were really around all night."
"How would you know that? You went home before the party even really got started."
Regina couldn't understand why they were ganging up on her all of a sudden, Kathryn didn't usually care about that kind of thing, she'd normally have just been all about having a good time and not caring about what anyone else was doing. It was so unfair for them to put this all on her, she'd made an effort and turned up and now they were making her feel bad for leaving a little earlier than everyone else did. "I'm sorry about that, but you can blame Marian, she'd the one who made me leave with the thigs that she said."
"That's it, blame someone else for what you did."
"Kathryn leave off now, that's enough," Tink warned, "Regina came to the party and she will be at practice this week won't you Gina?"
"Of course," she nodded, there was no way she could miss it now, she wouldn't give her friends more ammunition to have a go at her.
"I don't even get why you need a tutor anyway," Emma huffed, "you're smarter than all of us. Why do you even need Robin?"
"Because I suck at exams and I struggle with absorbing information. I've also had enough of this conversation, I shouldn't have to explain myself," Regina stated, standing from her chair and collecting her things. "I'll see you all later."
"Where are you going? Lunch isn't over yet," Kathryn moaned.
"I just need a little air," she excused. It wasn't a lie, she just needed to get out of there and collect herself before she said something she could potentially regret.
"Regina! Robin said we could work on some cheer moves after school! It's gonna be so awesome!" Poppy shrieked excitedly as she waved at her. Regina chuckled and waved back before leaving the canteen and heading off down the corridor, she just needed some alone time to think and she knew exactly where to go.
When she reached the janitors closet, she pushed the door open and immediately moved to sit on the floor with her back against the wall. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to get her thoughts in order. The last thing she had been expecting was her friends jumping down her throat, she didn't see it coming in the slightest, but it had happened and it hurt her more than she would like to admit. She'd hoped her friends would be supportive, that they would be glad that she was not only improving her grades but had also found a boy she really liked, however, that just didn't seem to be the case.
The door opened and she was half expecting to see the caretaker, but when Robin stepped into the small space, she let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. "Hey, fancy seeing you here," he winked, lowering himself to the floor beside her and nudging her playfully.
"Hi Robin."
"Okay, somethings wrong. What is it?"
"Nothings wrong," she shook her head, "I just had a little bit of a disagreement with my friends that's all." Regina sighed as she played with her fingers in her lap, keeping her eyes trained downwards and not looking up at him.
"What about?" Robin asked, moving one of his hands to take one of hers. He was worried about her, she was clearly down in the dumps about what was going on and it was his duty as her friend to make her feel happy again. "Regina?"
"It doesn't matter," she shook her head.
"I think you're lying about that one," he quipped, wrapping his arm around her, "Regina, come on. It clearly matters to you otherwise you wouldn't be in here upset about it."
"I'm not upset Robin, just leave it!" she snapped, her voice sounding harsher than she had been meaning it to. Regina closed her eyes and shook her head, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I just don't really want to talk about it, its not really important anyway." With that she wound both of her arms around him, hugging him tightly, "I appreciate you being here for me though."
"You can tell me anything you know."
"I know," she whispered pulling back and looking up at him. Her eyes met his in the dim lights of the closet and she swallowed heavily at the feeling running through her. He had a way of making her stomach fill with butterflies just by looking at her. "Robin," Regina breathed, moving one of her hands to his cheek.
Robin's hand played with a strand of her hair as he shuffled closer so that their faces were mere millimetres apart. She knew he was going to kiss her, she could feel it and excitement surged through her veins at the prospect of having his lips against hers again. It may have only been a few days since it last happened, but she missed the feeling she felt when she kissed him.
He could feel her breath ghost over his lips, there was just something about her that was screaming out to him that she wanted him to kiss her just as much as he did. Robin was about to just throw away all his doubts and kiss her when a loud bell tolled, signalling that it was the end of lunch and classes were starting.
Regina could have almost screamed in frustration as Robin pulled away from her and grabbed his bag, "I guess we better get to class."
"Yes, I suppose we should," she sighed, watching him open the door and hold it for her. She picked up her things and went along with him, it was safe to say she was feeling extremely disappointed yet again by the fact their lips hadn't touched. She was determined that she would kiss him again soon, she didn't know how many more set backs she could take.
"Well done Poppy! You're doing amazing," Regina grinned as she clapped when her friend's sister finished the small routine they made up with little to no mistakes. "You're going to make a great cheerleader," she smiled as Poppy came to sit next to her in the bleachers.
"Thanks Regina," the girl grinned and she looked down at the ground.
"Is your mom coming to pick you up or..."
"I think Robin said he'd come get me so we could all walk home together, I still have ten minutes."
Regina looked at the small blonde and noticed how she was biting down on her bottom lip as though something were bothering her. She tilted her head and watched the younger girl, she obviously wanted to say something, but maybe she didn't know what the best way to go about it was. "Poppy, is there something you want to talk to me about?"
"Urm… yeah, I suppose," she nodded, her shoes moving the dirt on the ground as she looked down at the ground. "Are you and my brother boyfriend and girlfriend now?"
Regina chuckled to herself and shook her head, "truthfully Poppy, I don't know what we are."
"Have you had sex with him?"
Her eyes widened as she stared down at the blonde in shock, what sort of question was that? She had been thoroughly taken aback by it, "no, we haven't. Why would you even want to know that?"
"I didn't want to know exactly, I guess I just had some other questions to ask you and didn't really know how to start," she stated, her blue eyes full of worry, similar to how Robin's sometimes were when he thought he'd done something wrong.
Regina cleared her throat and tried to prepare herself for what questions she might be thrown next, she didn't have any siblings of her own so she wasn't used to talking to people younger than her, especially when that kid viewed her as a role model like Poppy seemed to do. "Just ask what it is you want to ask."
"What's sex like?" she questioned shyly, her voice only just audible.
"Urm, aren't you a little young to be asking me about that?"
"Regina, please, I don't have anyone else to talk to about this kind of stuff. Sex is a restricted topic of conversation in our house, my mom acts as though it's the worst thing in the world."
"Okay, well, I guess sex is nice," she shrugged. She didn't have personal experience as to what sex was like, but from what her friends had told her, most of the time they enjoyed it. She felt kinda awkward having this conversation with Robin's little sister and was quite sure that should his mother find out about it, she would be in deep trouble.
"How do you know when you're ready to have sex?"
"Poppy…"
"Regina."
"I suppose when you know you just know, when it feels right, that's when you know your ready," she answered, hoping that was the right thing to say. She guessed it would work in a similar way to kissing, like with Robin she felt that it was right and she knew that she wanted to kiss him, she assumed that would be the same with sex.
"Did your first time hurt?"
"I don't know," Regina sighed, "when I've had it I'll let you know."
"Wait you've never done it?!" Poppy asked, her eyes widening as she stared at Regina in shock.
"Nope, never. I guess you could say I'm waiting for the right guy to come around and trust me you should too. I don't know why you wanted to know all this Poppy, but if there is someone, you should really make sure that person is the person you want to give your first time to, not just some random boy, or girl, who is going to use you for sex and then dump you. So, is there someone you like?"
A deep blush washed over the fifteen-year-old as she nodded briefly, "there's a boy in my history class, I think he's super cute."
Regina chuckled, "what's his name?"
"Tom."
"Well, maybe you should ask Tom out."
"I want to, but I'm too nervous to do it, could you maybe do it for me?"
"What?" Regina hadn't been expecting that, why did Poppy think that she would be any better at it than she was.
"Please Regina, you're the hottest girl in school, no boy is going to say no to you!"
"Poppy, I think maybe you should try and do it yourself. Do you have his number?"
"No."
"Then that's your first step, get his phone number. Once you have that you can message him."
"Okay, that sounds like a good plan," the blonde nodded, "thanks Regina. Now its my turn, do you like my brother?"
"Of course, I like your brother, he's my best friend."
"Yeah, but do you like him more than just friends?"
Regina took a deep breath, she contemplated lying to her, but that wouldn't be fair when she had told her all about her own crush. Not to mention the fact that she had come to terms with her feelings for Robin and was determined to let him know exactly how she felt. "You can't tell him that I told you this, but yes, I do like him more than friends. A lot more actually. I guess you could say I'm in the same position as you, I'm too chicken to tell him the truth. I will though, soon, I just need to find the right way to do it."
"Don't worry, I know my brother likes you too, in fact I think he loves you," the younger girl giggled as she nudged Regina, "I've never seen him like this before. He blushes any time anyone mentions your name, he always talks about you and when he's not with you he can be grumpy."
Regina smiled and shook her head, she hoped that Poppy was right, something deep down inside was telling her that she was. "Your brother should be here by now, I wonder what's keeping him."
"I dunno, maybe he just lost track of time," Poppy shrugged, "he tends to get distracted by stuff. I'll text him and see."
Just as Poppy was getting her phone out Regina spotted a car pulling into the car park and realised that it was it Poppy's mom, Regina nudged the other girl and gestured towards the car, "I think your lift is here."
"Whys she come to pick me up?" Poppy groaned, standing from her seat and grabbing her bag, "come on Gina, we'll give you a lift home." She took Regina's hand in hers and pulled her towards the car without even waiting for her reply. "Hey mom, are we alright giving Regina a lift home?"
"I don't think so Poppy, we have somewhere to go."
"But mom…"
"I said no, now get in the car."
"It's alright, I'll just call my mom," Regina stated awkwardly. Part of her was happy that she wouldn't have to get in the car with Robin's mother and the other part was angry at the woman for not even considering her. There would have been no question had it been Robin picking Poppy up that he would have made sure that she got home safe, she wondered what happened that he couldn't.
Poppy glared at her mother before turning around and hugging Regina, "I'm sorry Gina, text me when you get home. Thanks again for helping me with cheerleading."
"You're welcome. Tell your brother that I'll call him later."
"Will do." She smiled before climbing into the car and sulking with her mother, "where's Robin anyway?" Regina heard as the women set off without even a second glance at her.
Regina looked to the ground and sighed before setting off walking, she would call her mom and get her to meet her, but she'd rather not wait alone on the training ground. She pulled her iPhone out of her pocked and dialled her mom's number. Se had a bitter taste in her mouth from what had just happened, she knew Robin's mother didn't care for her, but her complete disregard for her hurt more than she had been expecting it to. "Hi mom."
"Regina, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, would you be able to come pick me up please?"
"Of course, darling, I'm just finishing up at work so I'll come get you on the way home. Are you still at school?"
"No, I started walking," she sighed.
"Wasn't Robin supposed to be walking you home?"
"Yeah, but his mom came for Poppy instead."
"She didn't offer you a ride?"
Regina heard the annoyance in her mother's, she could tell that she wasn't at all happy with the situation. "She said that they had somewhere to go."
"Are you serious?" Cora seethed, "I've never even met the woman, but that is out of order, so she just left you there? When it was getting dark outside, she left you alone?"
"Yeah," she whispered.
"Does Robin know about this?"
"No, he wasn't there," Regina sighed. She could hear her mother packing away her things, she was clearly getting ready to come get her right away.
"I'm not happy about this at all Regina, she should not have just left you alone. Darling, start walking towards my work okay, I'm leaving the office right away and we'll grab some take out on the way home."
"Okay, bye mom."
"Bye sweetheart."
Once Regina had hung up, she turned around and began walking in the opposite direction, it was certainly dark now and she was getting increasingly nervous. After a couple of minutes, she decided to ring Robin and see what was going on that he couldn't meet her and Poppy at school. His phone rang and rang, but she was only met with his voicemail, something that worried her immensely. Why wasn't he picking up? She tried once more, but was just met with the same outcome, this time she decided to leave a message.
"Hey Robin, it's Regina. I was just wondering where you'd disappeared to. Your mom didn't give me a lift home, so I'm walking alone and just wanted to talk, but anyway, I suppose I'll see you tomorrow, or whatever. Would you please ring me tonight, after you get this message, or just whenever you have the time? I'd really like to speak to you. Bye Robin."
She ended the message and groaned in frustration at how stupid she must have sounded, she probably sounded so desperate for his attention. Right now though she felt lonely, she wished that she'd made the decision to drive to school that morning, then at least she would have been safe in her car and probably already home.
A sudden chill crept up her sine as her breath shallowed, she had an odd feeling as though someone was watching her. Picking up the pace she hurried down the side walk, not being able to shake the thought that she was being followed. She was too scared to look behind her because if there actually was someone there she didn't know what the hell she would do.
Before she could think any more about it she spotted her mother's car coming down the street towards her before pulling up beside her. She quickly got in and caught her breath as she leant back against the seat. "hi mom."
"Were you just running?"
"Hmm, I think it was just my imagination getting the better of me. Let's go get some dinner, I'm starving."
"Okay, are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she whispered, staring out the window and noticing a shadowed figure on the other side of the rode. She shook her head and turned to look at her mother, it was her mind playing tricks on her, that's all it was, she was scared and imaging thigs, the shadowed figured was just a form created by her fear. It wasn't real.
Or so she thought…