Two weeks had gone by and Robin and Regina had seen very little of one another, they had both been incredibly busy with work, but just because they hadn't seen each other, didn't mean that they weren't constantly thinking about one another. They had shared a couple of texts back and forth; Regina had built her walls back up following their movie date, she hadn't purposefully done it, it had just sort of happened that way. At that precise moment, she was sat in her office, staring at her computer screen, with her glasses resting on the end of her nose. She had the sort of look on her face that to those who knew her, meant that she wasn't to be disturbed, under any circumstance.

She brought her thumb to her mouth as she subconsciously bit her perfectly manicured red nail, it was a nervous habit that she had and her mother had told her a multitude of times that she really need to stop it. With that in mind, she dropped her hand and decided she was going to tap her nails on the glass surface of her desk.

Tink came to the door and looked at Regina, she rolled her eyes before pushing it open, "what's got you in such a mood?"

Regina looked up and scowled at her friend, "why does something have to put me in this mood?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot, you're a sufferer of the resting bitch face." Tink chuckled, placing a coffee down on her desk.

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes, many people told her that she had that, and she was slightly put off by it, did she really look miserable all the time? She tried, well at least she didn't mean to look so grumpy, it was just the way her face was, there was nothing she could do about it, she could hardly mentally tell herself to smile all the time could she?

"I'm messing, god Gina chill would you."

"Sorry," she sighed, moving her glasses off her face and placing them down on the desk.

"What is it? Come on, you can tell me, I'm your bestie aren't I?"

"Yes, Katrina, you are," she chuckled.

"You're stressing, why?"

"Masquerade ball."

"Why? You throw it every year, why are you worrying?" Tink furrowed her eyebrows.

Regina sighed, she wasn't worrying about the ball itself, that was going to be fine, amazing actually, it was her favourite social occasion of the year, being able to dress up in fancy dresses, with masks and everything, it was magical; this year she was worrying about inviting a certain someone, she really wanted him to come with her, he was invited anyway due to his connection with the company, but she really wanted him to come with her. The thing was, she didn't know if she had blown it, she had been so busy lately that she was worried that she might have come off slightly hostile in her texts to him. What if he'd gone off her, didn't like her anymore; not to mention the fact that everyone had a plus one, what if he brought someone, what if he brought a woman?

"Oh I get it; you want to invite lover boy to come with you to the ball."

"He's already invited Tink and he isn't my lover boy, we haven't even kissed."

"Oh you are shocking at this girl."

"I know," she shook her head and buried it in her hands, "I don't know how to do any of this."

"Why, you never gone out and got what you wanted before?"

"Not when what I wanted was a guy no." She sighed, she had never been that sort of person, she had wanted to be, wanted to be the sort that could just go up to a guy and tell him that he was hers, but she wasn't, she wasn't that forward and didn't know if she could be.

"Okay, so why don't you just send him a text, 'Dear Robin, I would like to snog the pants off you and would love it if you could hitch your ass to mine for the masquerade ball, hell, I might even let you take a peek under my mask, because god knows I want to see under yours. Love Regina.'"

"Wow, Tink, that is a new low," Regina shook her head at her friend, "even for you that is really something."

"I like to impress," she chuckled, moving over to Regina's window and looking out.

Regina sighed, Tink was right, not that she would go about it in that way whatsoever, but she really needed to stop hiding and ask him, but if he wanted her shouldn't he be the one doing the asking? Oh god it was too much to deal with. "Okay, so for reals now, what do I write in this text?." She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and took her iPhone from the top draw. She'd never had to do it before, ask a guy out, mind you she still hadn't given him the other date she had agreed to, one thing she knew was that she couldn't be worse at asking someone out than he was, he was diabolical, and cute and dreamy and he was just perfect. The ways his eyes had looked at her expectantly and he had caressed her cheek and, oh Regina think, you have a task to do for fuck sake, she needed to pull herself together.

"Something tells me you don't have to send him a text." Tink chuckled.

"What? Why?" Regina's eyes went wide as she turned to look at her friend who was simply grinning, like a Cheshire cat, out of the window. "Tink!"

"He's there, getting out of his Limo."

"What!" She stood up and hurried over to Tink, looking out of the window and seeing Robin talk to his driver briefly before he turned and walked towards her building. She so wasn't ready for this, she wasn't mentally prepared, what did she look like? Did she look okay? Was she a mess? "No, stop him, tell him I'm ill, make something up, please. I'm on a conference call, I'm talking to my mother, anything!" She hurried into the bathroom and Tink shook her head.

"Get a grip!" she grabbed her friend by the shoulders and shook her lightly, "you are a hot, sexy, single woman, now stop acting like a teenager who's too scared to ask her date to prom!"

"I'm not scared to ask my date to prom! It's not prom anyway, and if I want to ask him, I'll ask him!"

"Good."

"Good." She nodded, pulling back to the bathroom, "just not right now." She locked the door and looked in the mirror, oh no, she grabbed a cloth and began to wipe the mark she hadn't even noticed was staining the front of her top, why was she so bloody clumsy? Maybe she had a medical condition that she didn't know about, something that made her spill everything she touched. Today it seemed that she had jam on her blouse, although she hadn't been anywhere near jam, so it was near impossible. The rest of her looked okay and her shirt was red anyway, she quickly fastened a few buttons on her blazer to cover it.

"Get you butt out here!" Tink shouted, before she went quiet and Regina could hear voices, she moved towards the door and plastered her ear against it, listening.

"Is she here?"

"Who?"

"Regina," he chuckled. It was Robin, she knew it was, what was Tink going to say? Oh no, this was a bad plan, why had she decided to hide in the bathroom, because it was going to look like she was purposely hiding in the bathroom from him, which she was, but that wasn't the point was it?

"Oh, Regina," seriously what was Tink doing? She knew he was here to see her, who else would he be here to see?

"This is her office isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is, hmm, you want to see Regina?"

"Yes if it's not too much trouble." He laughed.

"Umm, urh…"

"Is she in today? The receptionist said she was."

"Urm, she', uh…"

Oh bloody hell, this wasn't going well, she was going to kill Tink for this; she knew what she was doing, she was forcing her to go out there and do it herself before she got any more embarrassing. She bit down on the inside of her cheek before biting the bullet. "I'm here," Regina pushed the door open and rolled her eyes at her friend, before looking across at Robin. "Hello, you want to speak to me?"

"Yeah," he nodded, casting her a warm smile, she reciprocated briefly, before turning to Tink and giving her a trying look.

"I'm just gonna go and, um, do that thing, that you wanted me to do."

"Yes, you go do that," she scoffed before moving to sit back behind her desk, gesturing to the chair that sat in front of it in case it was needed for consultations, well that was its proper use, Tink liked to call it her chair because she was the only one that ever really sat in it, mainly to catch up on gossip, or fill Regina in.

"Yes, I'll go do that now for you, forthwith," Tink just stood behind Robin floundering her arms, gesturing again about how hot he was.

"Tink just leave," Regina huffed.

"I'm going okay, jeez."

Regina cast her a look that warned her not to test her further and she scampered out of the door, closing it behind her. Then she looked through the glass and pretended that she was locked in a passionate embrace, wrapping her arms around herself. Regina had to dig her nails into her leg to stop herself from laughing, her timing wasn't great, she was trying to be serious, she had to tear her eyes away from the window and looked down at her desk, before back up to Robin. "So, you wanted to speak to me?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "how are you?"

"Fine, I'm fine." She assured, he looked fine, no, so much, much better than fine, in fact he looked amazing, his blue suit was perfectly coordinated with his eyes and his white shirt was crisp, with no jam stains to be seen. She looked down at herself and adjusted her jacket again consciously, why was she so messy?! She looked up at him and he was grinning at her, "how about you?"

"I'm good yeah, I feel like I haven't seen you in forever"

"It's been two weeks," she pointed out, trying to be casual. The thing was that she shared the same opinion as him, she had missed him as well, missed seeing his dimpled smile, staring into his blue pools and getting lost in them, she had just missed him.

"Hmm, I'm well aware of that." He grinned.

"Okay, so I'm guessing you didn't just come here to tell me how much you were missing me." She taunted, crossing her ankles and pointing her heels as she ran one leg over the other and cast him a small smile.

"No, I came about your masquerade ball."

"Hmm," she picked up her glasses and found herself placing the end of one of the temples in her mouth, then she realised she was doing it and quickly placed them back down, how awkward. So this right now might be the moment that she had been waiting for, maybe she wouldn't have to ask him, hopefully he'd beat her to it and ask her. "What about it?"

"I was just checking that I still had that plus one."

"Yes, of course," she nodded, "bringing anyone nice?" She asked looking straight at him.

"Oh, yes, well, I'm bringing someone very special to me."

"Oh, good," she was biting the inside of her cheek so hard she was nearly drawing blood. "I'm glad."

"How about you? Are you taking someone?"

"No, I don't think I am," she shook her head, maybe he wasn't going to invite her, he obviously had found someone else to take, had she missed her chance because she was too darn stupid to take the plunge? "is that it?"

"Hmm, well I wanted to know if I can call in my offer of a date?"

"Today?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at him. She really wanted to, but she looked a mess and she had a meeting at two forty-five.

"Yeah, why not?"

"I can't today." She sighed, his face immediately fell and she felt guilty, "I have a meeting this afternoon."

"Oh," he nodded, "so can I take you to dinner tonight? Maybe?"

Regina thought about it, she wasn't doing anything tonight, she didn't have any plans, unless curling up on the sofa with Lenny and eating a meal for one, whilst watching Dancing with the Stars counted as plans. She bit her bottom lip and nodded, "that would be nice."

"Yeah?" The excitement was back on his face and he looked adorable, she couldn't help but smile along with him.

"Yes, I will go for dinner with you." She chuckled.

"What time can I pick you up?"

"Hmm, say eight? My place?"

"I think I can do that," he grinned standing up, "I have to go, I was actually on my way to a meeting of my own, but was passing your building, so I couldn't resist."

Regina stood to see him out and walked around the front of her desk, he looked at her and chuckled, "what?" She asked, looking down and shaking her head, "oh no."

"I'll pick you up tonight clumsy." He laughed, leaning over and kissing her cheek.

"Looking forward to it," she smiled, walking him to the door when he was out of sight down the corridor she shut the door and literally growled, for fuck sake, she took off her jacket and began working on the buttons on her shirt; why had she stood up, why? She walked to the spare wardrobe where she might as well keep all her clothes with the amount she went through and took out a clean blouse, before retreating into the bathroom and changing it.

Just at that moment Tink walked in, "whoa you go girl, quickie in the bathroom."

"Yes Tink because normal people do that." She scoffed, finishing her buttons.

"Did you really?!"

"No! Of course not!" She glared at her, "it's called sarcasm, I think I'm a little more refined than having sex at work."

"Hmm, but you're not refined enough to not spill your breakfast down you."

"You could have told me, thanks a lot; he probably thinks I'm a total slob, again." She rolled her eyes. Then she remembered that she had a date and a smile came upon her face.

"What's got you grinning like a cat that's got the cream?"

"Nothing," she shrugged, still smiling as she rose her eyebrows at her friend.

"Did he ask you? Did you ask him? Are you going to the masquerade together?"

"No," she sighed, she had forgotten about that, he was taking someone very special, oh my god, what if she was the other woman? She couldn't be someone's other woman, that was horrible; no, she was being stupid, he had told her that he was single and in no way married. Why was her brain so proactive? "Seems that he's going with someone else."

"Oh," Tink screwed up her nose, "why?"

"I don't know," Regina snapped, "he said he was bringing someone special."

"Why were you smiling then?"

"I have a date tonight." She grinned.

"Yes! I knew it, I should be renamed the match maker."

"Why?" Regina shrugged, leaving the bathroom and grabbed her coffee, which was now cold, how convenient.

"I got you together."

"Um, no, you didn't, I don't know how in any way, shape or form you could take credit for Robin and I."

"Okay, so I wasn't the one who literally shoved you together, but, I planted the first seed."

"I'm intrigued now at how you are going to explain this one to me," she set off out of the door in search of coffee, with Tink hot on her heels, "I'm listening, do tell."

"Well, I was the one who told you that you needed a man, that you needed sex."

"Shushhh," Regina scolded, looking around cautiously as some of her employees looked up at them and she simply grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her along with her.

"What? You have the man, now all you need is the sex."

"That is not going to happen."

"Why not, three date rule."

"What's that?" Regina asked, her eyes going wide, was there something she didn't know about, some sort of dating secret that she hadn't been told? Technically she and Robin had three dates, there was the one in the lift, but she wasn't counting that as a date, the business lunch, the movie date and tonight's, that would be three, what did that mean exactly? She had a feeling that Tink was about to tell her.

"Sex on the third date."

"Um no," she shook her head, "it's not going to happen, I'm sorry, I can't just sleep with someone like that."

"Chill your beans, just give him a hand job."

Regina's mouth literally fell open, had she really been out of the dating circle that long? Is this what it had come to, or was it her friend trying to make her look like a complete idiot. "You must be joking, you're screwing with me aren't you? Well, it's not funny."

"Oh Regina, I really need to educate you."

"Are you telling me that you sleep with people after three dates?"

"I sleep with people after one…"

"Katrina!"

"Joke! It was a joke, god Gina, I don't really," she shook her head, before adding, "not often anyways."

Regina closed her eyes and sighed, before coming to the cafeteria, "remind me why I am friends with you again."

"Because you love me and you can't live without me?"

"Hmm," Regina laughed as she ordered her coffee. She knew that Tink might be joking, but it was partially the truth, Tink did so much for her, she was her best friend and although at time she could be infuriating, life without her would be a hell of a lot duller.

"So this date then, where's he taking you?"

"I don't know."

"Well, what are you going to wear?"

"I don't know," she shrugged.

"I there anything you do know?"

"He's picking me up from my place at eight, that's all I know."

"Well, if you want my advice…"

"No thanks."

"It's helpful advice this time, I swear."

"Okay, shoot."

"Three words, little black dress."


Once she was home, she kicked off her heels, flinging her bag down on the console table in the hall. She flicked the switch, illuminating her house and hurried into the kitchen; she had precisely an hour and a half to get ready for tonight and she had so much to do. Opening the fridge, she grabbed a can of cat food and Lenny's bowl, "Lenny, I'm home." She called, beginning to spoon his food into his bowl.

Why was she so stressed? Regina and stress did not mix very well, at all, maybe it was nerves, she didn't know what it was. Tink had gotten her all flustered after telling her about the three-date rule, surely Robin wouldn't expect anything from her, they hadn't even kissed for Christ's sake, never mind thought about having sex with one another. Okay, so that might have been a slight lie, she had thought about sex with Robin, quite a few times, not even just thought about it though, she had actually had dreams about the two of them together, intense dreams of what Robin would do to her, how he would make her feel. She couldn't vouch for him though, she didn't know if he had been having similar dreams, he probably hadn't, or maybe he had, how would she know? It wasn't like she was brave enough to ask him, she was sure that it was something that Tink would do, should she be in a similar position, but no, Regina would not have the guts, unless she was drunk, which was not happening.

She was roused from her thoughts when she felt something soft rub against her leg, and heard the tell-tale purring of her cat. She bent down and fussed him, "hello baby, mommy has a date tonight, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you alone." She sighed, placing his bowl down on the floor. Was it weird that her cat was like a child to her? Probably, but she didn't care. She stood back up and grabbed a bottle of wine with a glass, before she moved past Lenny and hurried up the stairs, she needed a shower before she could even think about getting ready.

She turned on the water and stripped off her clothes, before slipping in, the hot water cascaded down her back and she tilted her head back allowing the water to sooth her. Slowly she traced her fingertips down her body, circling her hips as she shut her eyes, she was about to go lower when she opened them and realised that she didn't have time for that right now. She had found that she had pleasured herself a couple of times with thoughts of Robin, but now wasn't going to be one of them, not when she had to sit opposite him at a restaurant, she wouldn't be able to look at him without thinking about what she had done hours earlier. She took a shuddery breath and rubbed her legs together, now she was in the mood though and that was really annoying, maybe she could just quickly, no, she needed to stop it.

She reached out and grabbed her shampoo and rubbed it into her scalp, she only imagined Robin's hands tousling her hair and now she was really regretting the decision to have a shower, she was too sexually frustrated to do it, too turned on. She quickly washed her body, before rinsing her hair and stepping out; what was wrong with her? She needed to pull herself together and concentrate on getting ready, because now she only had one hour and that was nothing.

Regina glugged down some of her wine, before she hurried over to her walk-in wardrobe and rushed inside, she didn't know what she was going to wear, Tink had told her little black dress, so she was going to go with that, but she had many little black dresses and all of them were different in some way. She had a tight one that met her knee and was held up by spaghetti straps; she had one with a skirt that flared out and had long fitted sleeves, she had too many! Then she spotted the perfect one and a smile came onto her face, yes, that one would do. It was a tight black number which finished just below her knees and revealed her shoulders; it was secured by a thick band that went straight across the front, meaning that she wasn't showing any cleavage, however there was a split up the leg which ended at her upper thigh.

She took the dress from the rail and hurried back into her room, she still had to do her hair and makeup, she wanted to knock Robin's socks off, hopefully she would. She dried her hair in extra quick time before grabbing her curling iron and making sure that her hair was perfectly curled. She was running late and she knew it, her darn meeting earlier had run over, putting her whole day off course. It took her a good twenty minutes to curl her hair, and she quickly bunched it to one side before pinning it like that. Next came the makeup, she applied a light covering of foundation and contorted, before having a debate over the colour of lipstick, if she went for red did that scream sex? But if she went for nude, did that suggest something else? What was wrong with her? Okay, she was just going to go for it, she grabbed the red and quickly ran it over her lips before she could change her mind.

Just as she picked up her eye shadow brush to finish off, she heard the doorbell go, oh god, he was early! Why was he early? She walked over to her window and opened it before dropping to hide below the window, she didn't want him to see her yet, "Robin let yourself in." She shouted.

"Regina?"

Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open, she hadn't been expecting to hear that voice, she shot up and looked out of the window, "mother!"

"Regina darling."

She laughed nervously, "hi, um… urh… what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see you, I thought that maybe you might want some company."

"I, um, yeah, sure come in." She closed the window, "fuck, fuck, fuck." She muttered to herself, why was her mother's timing so incredibly wrong? She looked in the mirror and took a deep breath, she just needed to stay calm, it was all going to be alright, it wasn't as though the guy she desperately wanted to be with was coming to pick her up in, oh five minutes! She let out a frustrated growl; she seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

She slipped her robe from her shoulders and pulled her dress on, zipping it up, before grabbing her robe once again and tying it around her, her mother would surely have a mini heart attack if she saw what she was wearing. She drank the rest of her second glass of wine, before she hurried downstairs and almost bumped straight into her, "mom, hi!" She grinned, hugging her.

"Regina, why is your door unlocked, it isn't safe to leave it unlocked." Cora gushed, shaking her head, "anyone could open that door and steal from you, or even worse hurt you."

"Mom, calm down, come and sit in the living room." She led her in and gestured to the couch, what was she supposed to do, she could hardly say, 'mother, would you mind leaving as I am about to go on a really hot date, with a guy I have been fantasising about for the past two weeks?' could she? So, she settled for, "would you like something to drink?"

Cora looked up at her daughter and narrowed her eyes, "are you going out?"

"Me? No," she shook her head. Why had she just said that? Yes, she was going out! Like at any moment, he would knock on the door to pick her up, she was so stupid, she could kick herself.

"Really? You look very dressed up to not be going anywhere."

Regina sighed, "I was going on a date, but it doesn't matter, I can cancel."

"A date? Oh, my goodness, have you finally found someone?"

"I think so," she nodded, smiling briefly before shrugging her shoulders, "but it's fine, I'll call him and tell him that…"

"No dear, I'll leave, I want grandchildren and the sooner you get married, the sooner I'll get them." She stood up, grabbing her purse.

"Mother! I have only known him for two weeks."

"Oh Regina, you never know, he could be your soulmate. Anyway, I'd just come to say that I can go to your masquerade party."

"Oh good."

"Maybe I can meet your man in the process."

"He's not my man mother, he's just…" Regina's eyes went wide as she noticed that the door was open and Robin was stood there, flowers in hand about to knock. "Robin!"

"Hey, it's eight."

"I, yes, I see that… I um…"

"Are you cancelling on me?" He asked solemnly.

She bit her bottom lip, what was she supposed to do, there was her mother, the woman who raised her and had come to see her, or there was this extremely hot sexy guy waiting to take her on a date. She had to decided, "I'm sorry…"

"No of course she isn't." Cora laughed, patting her daughter on the back.

Regina glared at her mother, what was she playing at? She let out a fake laugh before whispering to her mother, "what are you doing?"

"Just go with it," she whispered back, "hello, I'm Cora Mills, Regina's mother."

Regina saw the stunned look on Robin's face as he shuffled slightly, "hi, Robin Locksley." He shook her hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you Mrs Mills."

"Oh dear, call me mom."

Oh no, she did not just say that, how embarrassing was her mother? That actually resulted in a shocked laugh from Robin as Regina looked and him and rolled her eyes. Did she actually just tell Robin to call her mom? That was just plain weird, what was he going to think about that? "haha, very funny mother. She likes to make jokes," Regina stated as she shook her head, "forgive her, I don't think she's altogether there."

"Regina, that's no way to talk about your mother," Cora reprimanded.

"Robin, can you give us a second?"

"Sure," he nodded, the smile not dropping from his face.

Regina went outside with her mother and shut Robin inside, "mother! Oh, my god! If you have scared him off, I'll never forgive you!"

"Ooh so you do like him, good, because he likes you, a lot, I can tell." She grinned, opening her car door.

"You can?" Regina asked, biting her bottom lip.

"Definitely dear, seems you've done well with that one, he's good looking too." She chuckled, "anyway, I'll talk to you later and see you at the party."

"Yes, I'll see you then, bye mom."

"Good night sweetheart."

Regina watched her drive off and let out a loud sigh, her mother meant well, but she was so embarrassing it was untrue. She turned and looked at her house before taking off her robe and opening the door. "Sorry about that," she rolled her eyes, "I didn't know she was coming."

Robin laughed and stood from the couch, before coming over to her, "you look stunning."

"Thank you," she chuckled, "really though, pay no attention to my mother."

"I thought she was quite charming, however, maybe not so much as her daughter."

She felt a blush come to her cheeks as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and stared into his eyes, oh he was amazing, who was he to talk about her being charming when he was throwing lines like that at her? "well, I'm not exactly ready yet, can you give me five minutes?"

"Sure, take as long as you need."

She smiled at him before she hurried up stair and into her bedroom, closing the door behind her and leaning against it. Okay, everything was going to be fine, she just needed to keep calm, it was only a date for christ's sake, nothing was going to go wrong, everything was going to be fine. She quickly applied her eye makeup before nodding, she turned to make sure that the dress looked right in the back, which it did; she took another deep breath before grabbing her five inch black pumps and clutch and making her way back downstairs to him. She just had to play it cool, when she entered the sitting room, he was stood by her fireplace looking at the pictures that were displayed there. "Hey," she grinned, causing him to jump. "Looking at anything interesting?"

"No," he shook his head, "well yes, I was just admiring your photographs."

"Why thank you."

"Who's this?" he asked picking up a picture of a small boy with his arms wrapped around her.

"That, is my god son, Henry," she smiled. "I don't see him anymore."

"Oh, why not? If you don't mind me asking?"

"His mother and I, we had a fall out," she sighed, "anyway, never mind."

"Shame, seems as though you loved him."

"Still do," she nodded, "anyway, are you ready to go?" She asked, she didn't want to talk about Henry right now, or his mother, not after what had happened, after how she had betrayed her.

"Yep, come on then milady," he placed his hand on her lower back. "Let's go."


The drive to the restaurant was quiet, they sat in a comfortable silence as they listened to the music in the background; Regina found herself watching Robin as he drove, he was a careful driver and she liked that, she felt safe with him. She fiddled with the hem of her dress and shook her head, "Robin, about earlier."

"What about it?"

She wanted to ask him who his plus one was going to be for the masquerade ball, but chickened out at the last minute, "how long were you stood at my front door before I noticed?"

"Well, I heard your mother say something about grandchildren."

"Oh no, I'm sorry, my mother is inappropriate at times."

"Don't worry about it," he laughed, turning into a carpark and parking the car.

Regina looked out of the window and back to him, "well, I'm impressed."

"I'm glad, I set out to impress." He turned off the engine and hopped out of the car before walking around to her side.

He was taking her to one of the poshest restaurants on the outskirts of the big city and she couldn't stop the massive smile from showing on her face. He opened the door and she took his hand out of instinct, hopping out she moved close to him. "I am so hungry," she chuckled.

"Come on then you," he grinned squeezing her hand, not letting go as they walked into the place.

"Oh wow," she gasped looking around, everything was black and white, it looked so modern with glass bubble lights hanging from the ceiling.

Robin chuckled as they wandered to the seating desk. "good evening sir." The woman smiled, twirling her hair at him. Regina furrowed her eyebrows and held onto Robin tighter, moving closer to him; the woman was trying to flirt with him, that much was obvious. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Yeah, it's Locksley, Robin."

"Yeah, table for two?"

"Hmm," he nodded, turning to look at Regina and smiling at her.

The woman led them to their table and once they were sat down passed them their menus, "here's your menus, I'll be back later to take your order," she winked at Robin and had the audacity to narrow her eyes at Regina, before leaving.

"Whoa okay." Regina scoffed, shaking her head.

"What?" Robin asked, finding her hand across the table.

"Did you see that look she just gave me?" She laughed.

"She's just jealous that she doesn't look as hot as you."

"I hardly think that's the case, she quite pretty." Regina shrugged, looking back over to see the blonde woman staring directly at them. She was hit by memories of the past and shook her head.

"Hmm, she might be pretty, but she isn't as pretty as you and totally not my type." He chuckled, running his fingers across her skin.

She looked up into his deep blue eyes and a smile played on her lips, "thank you," he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "Robin?"

"Yes?"

"Nothing, just I'm glad you suggested this."

"Me too."

She simply grinned at him and shook her head as they began to play with their fingers, dancing them together, she let out a little giggle and he looked up at her.

"What?"

The truth was she didn't know why she was laughing, she didn't know whether it was excitement or nerves, maybe it was a mixture of both. She slipped her foot out of her shoe and found it running over his leg as she bit down on her bottom lip.

"Tell me that's your foot."

"It's my foot." She laughed, oh god, how was she so giddy? Oh, oh dear, pre-drinks, why had she drunk before she came out. She dropped her foot and slipped it back in her shoe, "sorry."

"Don't be."

The waitress came back over and leant on the table, literally throwing her breasts in Robin's face. Regina was starting to get a little pissed at this woman now, couldn't she tell that she and Robin were on a date? Regina pouted slightly as she ran her fingertips over the empty wine glass on the table and cocked her head at Robin, before pulling a face at the waitress behind her back. "Excuse me? Hello." Regina rolled her eyes, "there are two people at this table."

"Jealous girlfriend?"

"No, I just like to be recognised as a person." She cast her a sickly-sweet smile and Robin laughed at her.

"So you're not his girlfriend?"

Robin and Regina both answered together, with Regina saying no and Robin saying yes. She looked up at him and tilted her head, they both tried again.

"I mean yes."

"No."

"Okay, so orders?"

"I'll have a red wine please." Regina stated.

"Same here, I haven't looked at the menu yet."

"Me neither." She laughed, "can we get back to you?"

"Sure," the woman scoffed, before leaving.

"Geez."

"Shitty service." Robin huffed.

"You can say that again."

The woman came back with their drinks and it all happened so quickly, she placed the wine down on the table, Regina reached out to pick it up and knocked it, spilling it all over the waitress and her white shirt. Regina's mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide. She grabbed her napkin and went to help her, "oh my god! I am so sorry, I am…"

"You bitch."

"Excuse me?" Regina was completely taken aback by that, she hadn't meant to, it was just her, she was clumsy, it wasn't her fault and since when was the waitress supposed to respond like that? She was pretty sure that wasn't what she was supposed to act like, in fact she was just completely unprofessional.

"You did that on purpose, you jealous whore."

"Wow, okay." That was just plain uncalled for.

"Don't talk to her like that." Robin frowned, she could tell that she wasn't the only one who was annoyed.

"I can't help that she's some sort of psycho bitch." The waitress scoffed.

"It was an accident, but now I am kinda wishing it wasn't." Regina was more than annoyed, how dare this woman call her those things, she didn't know her, she didn't know anything about her.

Robin shook his head, "wanna get out of here?"

"Yes please."

Robin grabbed his wallet and chucked some money down for the drinks, "keep the change, you might need it for dry cleaning." He rolled his eyes, taking Regina's hand as they walked out.

Just as they were at the door Regina turned around, "fyi, I am totally his girlfriend." They rushed out laughing and she shook her head, "oh god, that was so bad, so bad."

"As far as dates go, it wasn't good." He agreed.

"And I'm still hungry, I haven't eaten since breakfast." She hadn't had time to eat, her day had been so busy, she had several meetings that all ran over and in the midst of it all she had forgotten the need for lunch, she had just gotten by on coffee.

"Well then we can't have that can we." He shook his head, "what do you want to eat?"

"Anything you can find," she chuckled.

"That gives me leeway," he smirked.

"Are you going to cook for me?" She asked, pulling her lip between her teeth.

"You want to come back to my place?"

She thought about it, they probably shouldn't, but she really wanted to and no, it wasn't for sex, she wasn't ready for that, not yet. She looked at him, "I have a better idea."

"Well then, let's go."


Half an hour later Robin and Regina were sat on a hill overlooking the bright lights of the city, eating McDonalds. So yeah, the classy element to the date had gone, but whenever she tried to do classy she just messed it up anyway and she loved the fact that he had tried. Regina leant against him as she ate her fries and let out a little laugh.

"What?" He asked, turning to look at her.

"Nothing," she rolled her eye before carrying on, "trust me to spill something on someone."

Robin chuckled and shook his head, "that waitress looked ready to pounce at you."

"More like ready to pounce on you," Regina stated, "I think she wanted to rid you of a few layers, including me."

"Good luck to her with that one, because I wouldn't be giving up on you so easily."

She smiled at him and felt his hand move behind her, allowing her to lean further into him; this was amazing, so much better than sitting in a stuffy restaurant with stuck up waitresses who flirted with your date right in front of you. She placed her empty fry carton down and moved slightly, sitting up so that she was kneeling. Her high heels had been discarded on the walk up the grass covered hill, so she was bare foot; luckily Robin had a blanket in his car and they were now sat upon it.

She couldn't get what Tink had told her earlier out of her head, she kinda wanted to know where he stood on it, because she knew for sure that as much as she might be falling for him, she didn't want to rush things between them, she wanted them to wait, she didn't know if she could do it with someone she didn't love, she wasn't saying that she didn't love Robin, no on the contrary, the foundations for that had already been laid, but she wanted more than just sex, lust alone wasn't enough, she wanted to be making love and if that made her uptight and frigid, then so be it, she just hoped that Robin understood and that he would be okay with that. "Okay, so I wanted to ask you something."

"Go on," Robin grinned, sipping some of his shake.

"When, do you believe that it's okay for two people to you know, have sex?"

He almost choked on his drink and his eyes went wide, "whoa, Regina."

"What? I was talking to Tink earlier and she said it was the third date and I…"

"I don't expect anything." He shook his head, placing his drink down and running his hands over her arms, "I don't expect anything from you, don't ever feel like that, only you know when you're ready, no one else can determine that."

Perfect answer, she thought, taking a deep breath she shuffled closer to him, tracing his cheek with her hand. They were here, on a hill, surrounded by bright lights shining through the darkness, eating junk food and she couldn't be happier. Robin shuffled so that he too was resting on his knees, his hands were at her waist and they looked into one another's eyes; she decided to bite the bullet and closed the distance between them, attaching her lips to his, her eyes flickered shut as she surrendered to him, allowing her body to press into his as he hugged her to him. She traced his lips with her tongue and he responded in the same way, opening his mouth further ensuring her tongue brushed over his. She had the urge to giggle at the lightheaded feeling the kiss was giving her, but she didn't she just carried on kissing him.

When they broke apart it took her a while to open her eyes, but when she did she saw him simply watching her; she smiled at him, "what?"

"You are so beautiful," he bit his bottom lip and ran his fingers through her hair.

"That was…"

"Amazing?"

"Yes," she nodded. She had never experienced a kiss like that, even when she thought she'd been in love in the past, the feelings she had experienced whilst kissing them has been nothing compared to what she felt kissing Robin.

"Regina, about earlier."

"Which part of earlier?" She laughed, "the part where I spilt my wine over the waitress, or the part where she called me a jealous whore? Or maybe, it was the part where my mother told me to go and make her some grandchildren, after which she told you to call her mom?"

He chuckled, "neither, the part when you told the waitress you were my girlfriend."

Her eyes went wide, she forgot she'd done that, it was mere impulse, she had just felt the need to say it in the moment. "Oh, well, I was just trying to make her…"

"Be my girlfriend."

"What?" she asked, rather taken aback by his sudden burst.

"I want you to be my girlfriend, if you want to be."

She thought about it, she did want to be, she really did, but it had been so long since she had been anyone's girlfriend and apparently, she had been a shitty one when she had been. "I'm not very good at that."

"What do you mean?"

"The whole girlfriend thing, according to my ex I was the worst girlfriend ever."

"I don't know who your ex was, but he was a fool." Robin scoffed, leaning in and resting his forehead against hers. "He clearly didn't see what he had right in front of him."

"Maybe he didn't, but I work, none stop."

"So do I," he chuckled, "match made in heaven?" She let out a little giggle as he rubbed his nose against hers, "that was the most adorable noise I have ever heard."

"Shut up," she laughed, pushing him gently. She had never once in her life been called adorable, but then again, she couldn't remember the last time she had made that noise in front of anyone but her cat and Tink. She didn't think she'd ever been able to let herself go enough to giggle like that in front of a guy, she wasn't a giggler, she was a chuckler, it suited her better, but apparently, Robin liked it.

"What do you say then, would you do me the honour of becoming my girlfriend?"

"You are so cheesy," she shook her head, "but, I would love to." This was a new step for her, a massive step, but she wanted it, she wanted to try for this with him, she wanted Robin.

"Really?"

"Yes," she smiled, "I can't promise you I'll be any good at it."

"I'm sure you'll be perfect," he grinned, closing the space between them as he kissed her again. Reality sunk in, she was his girlfriend now, he was her boyfriend, that was crazy, but so exciting at the same time. She was finally opening her heart to the prospect of having someone in her life again, of course she was worrying about getting hurt like she had been before, but unless she took that leap, she would never know what was in store and she wanted more than anything to know what they could have together. She wasn't getting any younger and maybe she was too old to play games, she needed to just enjoy her life and that's exactly what she was planning on doing.


Hi guys, I feel like it's been forever since I updated, but it takes me forever to ensure that the chapters are exactly how I want them for this story. Please let me know what you thought of the chapter, your opinions mean the world to me. :)