Months went by without any sign of Marian. Robin and Regina had been able to relax a little, though she was back to being extremely busy once again. Christmas had been and gone, with both her family and Robin's celebrating at the mansion. She and Robin had taken a couple of weeks off to have an extended break at Christmas, which was wonderful. It was especially nice when Robin surprised her with a trip to somewhere warmer for a week, knowing exactly how much she disliked the cold.
That was six months ago, and they had quickly fallen into their own roles; the dynamic in their relationship worked well. Instead of travelling back to the suburbs each night, they decided that during the week they would live in Robin's apartment. It was easier and much less tiring. Regina wondered why she hadn't invested in a city apartment of her own sooner. Lenny came with them, obviously. Regina had a section in her office filled with a cat climbing frame, he could often be found lounging in the hammock whilst she worked.
Summer was always a better season for her, but no less busy; the magazine kept her occupied. She had cut a few of her hours and given several people promotions. Unlike before, she didn't want to spend all of her time in the office; she wanted to be around Robin, she could afford to let others take some of her workload every now and then.
On that particular day, she only had a couple of meetings. It was a Friday, which meant they would be heading back to the mansion for the weekend. They had planned a night out on Saturday with both her friends and Robin's. They had chosen to go to a bar nearer to the house instead of venturing into the city. Although they had been together almost nine months, she still hadn't met all of Robin's friends, so she was a little nervous. She just hoped they liked her. She was glad that a few of her own friends would be joining them.
She leant back in her desk chair, swivelling to look at her cat, who, as usual, was sleeping on the cat hammock, a soft smile playing on her lips. Life was good, very good.
"That's our segment for the July issue submitted."
Regina swivelled to see Mal coming in through the door. The woman dropped down in the seat opposite her with a grin written on her face. Regina rose an eyebrow at the woman before reaching for the cup of coffee that sat on her desk. "You seem rather chipper today, it isn't like you," the brunette hummed, savouring the taste of her favourite coffee blend as it filled her mouth.
"Well, I happen to have plans at the weekend that I am more than looking forward to."
"Yes, I'm glad you agreed to come along. I myself was feeling a little nervous in truth."
"Regina Mills, nervous? My, my, this is something new. What could you possibly have to be nervous about?"
"I haven't met many of Robin's friends yet, and tomorrow night they will all be there."
"And?"
"I'm not the most social of people, as you know."
The blonde grinned and shook her head, "maybe not, but I am sure you can manage a couple of drinks. Anyway, you'll have Cruella, Tink and myself there as a backup. I may have also invited someone myself."
"What?" Regina asked, a small smile emerging on her face as she looked at her friend. She hadn't mentioned anything about seeing someone. Mal didn't do relationships. She dated casually, but nothing more than that; she didn't do serious or long term. That simply wasn't her style. "Who did you invite?"
"Just someone."
"When did you meet someone?"
"A couple of months ago."
"And you're only just telling me now."
"It wasn't a big deal. Until it was. I'm not making a big issue of it. I just want you to be able to meet her."
"Well, I can't wait to meet her," Regina smiled, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear and standing from the desk. She moved over to her coffee machine to make one for her friend, "pastry?"
"I see you're not pretending you don't eat those anymore," Mal chuckled.
Regina rolled her eyes as she picked out one of her favourite danishes and handing a coffee to Mal before sitting back down again. She eyed her friend for a minute before taking a bite of the pastry.
"I see that now you have a boyfriend, you've decided to let yourself go a little?" the blonde asked, a somewhat evil smirk playing on her face.
"I wouldn't call it letting myself go," she shook her head, wiping off some of the custard that coated her lips away with her fingers. "I'm just not as strict with myself about it," she shrugged. The truth was she was craving sugar at the minute, she was pretty sure that it was because her time of the month was approaching, and it always made her hungry for dessert.
"Yes, well, I don't think I have ever seen you so relaxed."
"I have the perfect boyfriend, an amazing job, and his psycho ex-girlfriend hasn't been heard from in six months, so I think it's safe to say that I'm definitely relaxed." Her stomach grumbled, and she took another bite from the danish.
Mal hummed to herself and turned towards the door, "I'll see you tomorrow night."
"Yes, see you then," Regina watched as her friend left the office, making off with the mug of coffee she had given her. She knew that the mug would be returned to her at some point, Mal would probably have one of her interns bring it back for her.
It was nearly the end of the day, and she couldn't wait to get home; it was a massive contrast to how she had been a year ago. Before meeting Robin, she had been a workaholic, but she had mellowed somewhat. Now instead of being the last one in the building on a night, she left when everyone else did, of course making sure that her magazine was still up to the same standard. When you had someone to go home to, it made the want to stay in the office dwindle significantly.
Later that night, Regina was in her ensuite bathroom doing her nightly facial routine. The door was open, and Robin was already in bed, waiting for her to join him. She was dressed in her navy silk negligee, watching him in the mirror. She couldn't stop herself from smiling; she was just in a good mood for some reason. "You seem happy tonight," Robin grinned, looking back at her.
"Are you suggesting I'm normally unhappy?" she smirked, rubbing her moisturiser into her skin before reaching for the little pot of eye cream.
"No, you just seem even happier than normal, that's all," he shrugged, grabbing his glasses from the bedside table and opening his book.
"Well, I have a lot to be happy about." Regina tucked a dark curl behind her ear as she continued to watch her boyfriend. Love bloomed within her chest, just the same way it always did when she looked at him. He never failed to make her feel that way, and she would be forever grateful for his presence in her life.
"Are you staring at me?" Robin chuckled, not looking up from his book, not that he was interested in it. He was more caught up with his gorgeous girlfriend. Robin could tell that Regina was most likely watching him from the bathroom. He'd caught her enough times to know.
"No."
"I know you are."
"Someone's very sure of themselves," she sniggered. "I'm not even facing you."
"You don't need to be facing me," he smirked, putting his book down, not having read one word and looking at her himself. She quickly diverted her gaze but knew that she had already been caught. "Aww, I think it's cute."
"I wouldn't have thought that you'd be calling me cute again. Haven't you forgotten the last time you did that?"
"Oh, I remember alright."
She chanced a glance up at him, seeing that he was moving from the bed. He had already done all of his nightly ablutions, so she had no idea what he might be doing. Regina turned to look at him properly, watching as he made his way towards her dressed only in a pair of lounge pants, his chest bare. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing."
"Hmm," she rose an eyebrow. He stopped in the doorway to the bathroom and just leant against it, admiring her. She grinned at him as she picked up her toothbrush and began to brush her teeth, not taking her eyes off his form. They watched one another for a time, with no words spoken between them for the entire time she was brushing her teeth. As soon as she turned her back on him to spit the mouthful of toothpaste into the sink he pounced, wrapping his arms around her waist and hauling her into the air, causing her to squeal in delight. "Robin! I knew you were planning something."
"Ah well, I might have told a slight porky."
She could feel him smiling against her skin before he dropped her down on the bed with a bounce. "Come here you," she chuckled, reaching out for him and pulling him closer. He nuzzled into her neck gently, his weight partially resting on top of her. She closed her eyes and hummed, her fingers running tenderly through his hair as his lips pressed to her neck. "You smell so good," Regina moaned, feeling one of his hands pressing against her waist.
"Hmm, so do you," Robin pulled back and flopped against his pillow, his fingers still stroking over her skin gently. "So tired tonight," he murmured, "so many meetings."
"Aw, you poor baby."
"Shut up," he grinned, shuffling closer to her, pulling her against him.
"We're they alright?"
"They were meetings, you know what they're like."
"I do."
"How was your day?"
"Nothing to write home about," she smiled, playing with his hair. "Although Mal told me that she would be bringing someone tomorrow night."
"She is?"
"Hmm. Her girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?"
"Yes. I didn't even know she was seeing anyone. Things with Mal are normally casual, but she says that she really likes this woman," Regina shrugged. She was still really happy for her friend after she had told her the news earlier that day. If she felt anything close to how Regina felt when she was with Robin, then she must be really happy. "I'm excited about tomorrow. Have you been in touch with your friends?"
"Yeah, they can't wait to meet you. They're going to love you as much as I do."
"I hope so."
After spending their Saturday lounging in the sitting room and snacking on popcorn, Regina had been so relaxed. She had been reluctant to get up and get ready to leave their warm bubble. Robin had to lift her from the sofa and carry her upstairs to make her get ready. She'd changed into a little black dress, done her makeup and curled her hair. The final touch to her outfit was a pair of sparkly earrings that Robin had bought her for Christmas.
"You look beautiful," Robin quipped, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. The smell of his aftershave made her hum as she leant back into his embrace. "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
"Come on then, you. I can't wait to show you off," he chuckled, pulling away and grabbing her hand.
"Like some prized cattle?" she questioned, offering him an eye roll. She knew what he meant, and she was just teasing, but part of her was worried about this get-together. He had reassured her over and over that they would like her, but her insecurities ran deep. She was a hard person to like, and an even harder person to love.
"No. Like the beautiful, strong woman you are."
Her shoulders dropped, and she pulled him closer by his arm, holding him to her as her eyes lifted to meet his. "I love you, you know," she breathed.
"I do know," Robin smirked.
"Hey!" she nudged him playfully as he grabbed her, pressing his lips to hers.
"I love you too. So much."
"Come on, we best be going. Your friends will be waiting for you to show me off."
The establishment they were going to wasn't the usual place she would go to. The pub was quintessentially British made to look like an old English pub. A small smile edged its way onto her lips as they entered. It was so Robin. This was the kind of place she could see him frequenting when he was back home in England. The walls were painted white with wooden beams running up them and across the ceiling; the furniture was all vintage but stylish at the same time, it had clearly been upcycled, and she loved it.
"Why haven't you brought me here before?" she asked, glancing up at her boyfriend, whose arm was wrapped around her, holding her to him.
"Probably because we tend to huddle at home and order takeout most of the time."
"True," Regina grinned, shaking her head at him. He had a point there. "So, are your friends here then?" she asked, scanning the bar to see if she could see anyone who looked as though they might be friends with him. There were many groups of men around. Some of them sat in booths, whilst other's perched on bar stools. She noticed that there weren't as many women as men; it was probably a 70-30 split.
"There," he pointed towards a group of about five men who were all sat in a booth. They were probably the loudest in the pub, all laughing as they talked animatedly. She felt intimidated as she tucked herself into Robin, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it tight. "Come on, you're gonna be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
The pair moved over to the bar first, ordering some drinks. There weren't any fancy cocktails on offer, so she ordered a glass of red wine whilst Robin opted for a pint of beer. Drinks in hand, the couple made their way towards the table Robin's friends were sat at. They were almost there when one of the men looked over and let out a boisterous cheer. "Robin! We were wondering when you were going to show up! You brought the missus with you."
Regina smiled shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear. She wasn't used to socialising with men in this way. Normally, she was the one in charge, they would listen to her, and she would dominate the situation. This wasn't going to work that way; these people were his friends. hey weren't businessmen. "Hi, guys. This is Regina. Regina, this is Will, Tuck, James, Fredrick, and you obviously know John."
"Hi, nice to meet you all," Regina quipped. They were all looking at her in interest, and she didn't quite know who to look at. Her eyes settled on John, who offered her a reassuring smile which made her feel a little more at ease with the situation. Robin hadn't told her that the man would be there, but she felt better seeing a familiar face. After her words, all of his friends broke out into greetings, shaking her hand and saying how wonderful it was to meet her.
They all shuffled around, making room for the couple to sit down around the table, Robin went in first, and she tucked herself against him. His arm was wrapped around the back of her shoulders, and they started engaging in a comfortable conversation. His friends were including her in their chats and making sure that she felt involved.
They were all so nice; both John and Will were British like Robin, and the rest of his friends were Americans. "So, I've been putting a good word in for you, Gina," John laughed as he took a swig of beer from his glass. "Robin has found a real keeper here."
"He certainly has."
Regina looked up and saw her friend stood there with a brunette on her arm. The blonde was smiling at her warmly. "Hi there," Regina beamed, looking from Mal to the woman she had brought with her. "I'm glad you could make it."
"So am I. This is Ruby, Ruby, this is my friend, Regina."
"Nice to meet you," the woman grinned. She was clearly very confident in herself. Regina noticed the stripe of deep crimson running through her hair. She was gorgeous and so definitely the blonde's type. The way Mal was looking at her told Regina that she was besotted with the younger woman.
"You too."
"So, these are Robin's friends. How do you all put up with this asshole?" Mal winked at Regina's boyfriend playfully as she nudged Regina to make her give them more room. The table was becoming rather cramped, and Tink and Cruella had still to make an appearance. The blonde always liked to wind Robin up, they had banter, and Regina was glad that her friend and boyfriend got along so well.
Regina rolled her eyes, but Robin's friends all burst out laughing, coming up with their own comebacks. Tink and Cruella showed up not long after, and they all engaged in conversation.
After an hour or so, Regina excused herself from the table. Squishing past her friends, she made her way towards the bar to order a fresh round of drinks. It had been a good night so far, and she had got along so well with everyone, but she wasn't feeling quite herself. She was a bit off colour, and she didn't know what it was. She'd changed her wine order to water, not wanting to feel even worse by drinking too much alcohol.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" A voice whispered in her ear, and her boyfriend boxed her in against the bar, his lips pressing against her neck.
"Your friends are lovely," she smiled, turning her head to look at him, he'd been grinning at her until she turned around, and his expression faltered.
"What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"Somethings going on with you," he quipped, rubbing his hands over her arms.
"How can you possibly know that?" she asked, turning in his arms to properly look at him, her back resting against the bar top.
"Because I know you."
Regina didn't really know what to say to that. How was she supposed to explain to him how she was feeling without him worrying about her? She wasn't particularly worried herself. It was probably just a bug, or maybe something she had eaten. She would be fine, but she definitely wasn't going to be drinking any more alcohol. "I'm just not feeling myself, that's all."
"How so?"
"I'm not 100%, but I'll be fine."
"You feel sick?" he asked, raising his hand and gently pressing the back of it against her forehead, clearly checking for a temperature.
"Not exactly. I just feel funny, that's all."
He furrowed his eyebrows at her, and she could tell that he was worried about her. His hand had moved from her forehead to her cheek, allowing his fingers to brush gently over her skin. "Do you want to go home? If you're not right then…"
"I'm fine, I'm going to have some water," she shrugged, leaning in to gently press her lips against his, her fingers creeping up to hold onto his neck. "I like your friends."
"I'm glad you do," he quipped, a small smile returning to his face, though she could sense that he was still uneasy about how she was. "Are you sure you're okay to stay?"
"Yes," she nodded. The smell of food met her nostril, and she groaned. She shouldn't be hungry, they'd eaten before they went out, but her stomach was telling her otherwise. "God, I could eat some fries right now."
"Ah, not fries in here. Chips."
"Well, I could eat some chips then," she chuckled, biting her bottom lip, "or nachos."
"I best get you some food then, hadn't I."
"I wouldn't say no."
When the food they ordered arrived, Regina tucked in, moaning at the taste of the chips as she dunked them in a large amount of ketchup. The blonde woman sat beside her narrowed her eyes, before giving her a nudge. "What's going on with you?"
"Nothing," Regina shrugged, covering her mouth as she spoke, not wanting to be rude by talking with a mouthful of food.
"Hmm, whatever you say."
Regina sighed to herself, leaning back against the booth as she wiped her mouth. She knew that Mal didn't eat carbs, so she probably disapproved of her eating fries. Right now, though, Regina couldn't care less. She was going to eat her potato made snack, and she wasn't going to feel guilty about it.
Once they were back home later that night, Regina was laid with her head resting against her boyfriend's chest. She hummed as she cuddled close to him; his arms were wrapped tightly around her as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "My friends love you, you know."
"Do you think?" she asked, resting her chin against him to look up at his face.
"Yes! Definitely."
"That's good. I'm happy that they like me. My friends love you too."
Robin's fingers traced her back gently, running over the fabric straps of her nightwear before trailing up to her neck again. He was quiet, and it wasn't like him. When he got like this, it made her worry. She didn't like it one bit. He was usually so talkative and outgoing. She'd also noticed that after she confessed to not feeling too great, he seemed to have contributed less to the conversations. It was almost as though he were zoning out and thinking about other things. "What wrong?" she whispered, her eyes finding his and searching for any indication as to what was going on.
"You worried me tonight."
"Why?"
"I can't really explain it. You didn't seem like yourself at times. I guess you've been like that the past few days."
Regina furrowed her eyebrows at him before wriggling out of his arms and sitting up in bed. She glared at him as she shook her head, "I told you I wasn't quite right, but it's nothing major. I'm sure I'll be fine…"
"You've been doing things that you don't usually do."
"What are you talking about?" she huffed. She had no idea what he was referring to. As far as she was aware, she hadn't been acting any differently to how she usually would. "And if you've noticed that, then why didn't you tell me sooner."
"I don't know, I didn't think it was anything, but now you're saying somethings up, and I'm worried."
"What have I been doing then?"
"It doesn't matter. It's probably nothing."
"Robin," she placed her hands on her hips. Now she really wanted to know what he was talking about. It was true that she'd been feeling strange for a little while, but she couldn't imagine it was anything serious.
"You've been tidying constantly for one."
"Tidying? You're complaining because I'm tidying?"
"I'm not complaining." Robin shook his head as he pulled her back to him, making her relax against him. She didn't know why she was feeling angry at him; it wasn't as though he was being mean, he was just putting his point across, but for some reason, she didn't want to hear it.
"So, tidying, that's it?"
"No."
"What else then?"
"Regina."
"Robin."
"I'm not going to say."
Regina took a deep breath, trying to ground herself. Why was he being difficult? "Why can't you just be straight with me? What is it?"
"Okay, now don't take this the wrong way…"
She knew she wasn't going to like where this was going, whenever anyone started a sentence like that, it meant trouble. She had a feeling this would be the start of one of their first arguments. "Just say what you have to say."
"Food."
"What?"
"You've been eating more than normal. Stuff that you don't normally eat."
She gritted her teeth as she pulled away from his hold and this time got out of the bed completely. "You cannot be serious."
"Regina…"
"Are you actually… you know what. We're not having this conversation right now." She snatched her pillow off the bed and stormed towards the door. Whatever he had been implying with his words, she didn't want to hear it. It was ridiculous and unfair; she was a grown woman and could eat whatever the hell she wanted.
"What are you doing? Regina, come on, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it in a bad way, I…"
"I'm sleeping in the guest room tonight," she huffed, grabbing her comforter for good measure and hurrying out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She was being unreasonable and had acted rashly, but she couldn't control the emotions that were rising within her. She climbed up onto the bed in the spare bedroom, burying herself under the covers as if to hideaway. Something certainly wasn't right. She just didn't know what it was.
She seethed for a moment, cursing Robin in her mind. Quite quickly, however, she managed to calm herself down. The anger dissipated and was replaced by confusion, then sadness. Tears began to stream down her cheeks, and she didn't know what the hell was going on with her. She was all over the place, a complete mess. After taking a moment to regroup herself, she stood from the bed and shuffled her way back to her bedroom.
The comforter was wrapped around her, and her pillow was clutched in her hands. When she entered the room, Robin was still sat up in bed, looking completely confused as to what had just happened. Regina moved over to the bed and dropped her pillow back down before climbing in beside her boyfriend and moving over to wrap her arms around him. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Me too," he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I really don't care what you eat. I was just saying that it might have been different to normal."
She nodded against him; he had a point there. "Can we just go to sleep now and pretend that never happened? I don't want to ruin the great night we had."
"Neither do I."
Robin laid down on the bed, pulling her to him so that she was comfortably tucked against his side. "I love you Gina, and I just want to make sure that you're okay."
"I know. I love you too," she whispered, closing her eyes as she basked in his body heat. Something might not be quite right with her, but she wasn't going to let it affect them. She loved him too much to let that happen. Everything would be fine. She hoped.
