Chapter 4

Regina's. Heart. Completely. Stopped. What? Did Robin really just ask her that? Seriously? Or was this just a prank? What was he doing? Didn't he say he was asking Marian to the dance? Didn't he say he wanted to be friends, and only friends? Regina couldn't be any more happier or confused.

But when Regina looked at Robin, he looked genuine. His eyes were telling the truth, his smile was radiant, and it looked like he actually wanted to go to the dance with her. Regina smiled. Was her dream really coming true?

"Really?" Regina thought the smile on her face would never go away. Robin had just asked her to the dance. Asked her on a date. After everything they've been through, this was finally happening.

"Yeah. Whatever it takes to put that smile on your face." Regina seriously thought her heart was about to explode. This was amazing! She thought after last night though, she had really given up all hope that Robin would ask her to the dance, but now that is happened, it was better than she could ever imagine.

"You really want to go to the dance with me?" Regina was still smiling. This was the best day of her life! She couldn't keep her excitement in. She was going to jump up and down any minute now.

"Unless you don't want-" Robin was getting nervous, wondering why she wasn't answering, but if Regina's squeal was any indication, she was head over heels happy.

"Yes!" Regina exclaimed, giving him a big hug. Robin and Regina were all smiles the rest of the morning, playing board games, watching a movie, but then Robin had to go. After saying goodbye, promising to talk later, Regina ran around the whole house looking for her phone.

"Hello?" Emma's voice came through on the other end. Regina couldn't hold it in any longer and she burst. She was talking a mile a minute into the phone, almost screaming.

"He asked me Emma! We're going to the dance! We need to go shopping for dresses! Oh my god Emma, my wish came true! He asked me to the dance! We're going together! He actually asked me! Just wait until-" Regina's rambling was stopped when Emma started talking.

"Regina, slow down. Breath, just take a deep breath and-"

"Robin asked me to the dance!" Regina squealed and Emma gasped. What? Didn't Robin just say sat the diner that he only saw Regina as his sister? The the heck?

"Wait, what?!"

"Yeah! He came here in the morning and bought me lunch. Then he just asked me! Isn't this the best?!" Regina jumped up and down while both ladies smiled. Emma couldn't believe it!

"Oh my god! I'm so happy for you Regina! This is amazing!" Regina laughed happily, too much excitement over taking her body.

"I know! I never thought he would actually do it! I mean, this is just unbelievable! It's actually happening!" Regina knew she probably sounded so stupid, it was just a boy that asked her to the dance, but it wasn't. Because Robin asked her. Her best friend, her crush, and maybe if things go well, her soon-to-be boyfriend. And it was her first dance. She was going to her very first dance with her best friend. Nothing could ever beat that!

"I can't wait to see you guys together! You guys are gonna look so cute at the dance!" Emma and Regina continued to talk for another hour before hanging up. Little did she know, Robin was spilling everything to his friend too….

Robin, Killian, and David were at the docks, just meeting up to hang out. They did this every once in awhile, talking without the girls being there. Killian and David had no idea what Robin was hiding, and he wondered why he texted them telling them to meet him here.

"What was so urgent that you couldn't tell us through the phone, Mate?" Killian asked as he and David walked up to Robin. Robin was leaning against the railing, watching the water glide gracefully.

"You wouldn't even believe me if I told you guys. I just wanted to see your faces…" Robin smirked and Killian rolled his eyes. David laughed. If Robin thought that this was going to be priceless, it probably was.

"Well, what is it?" David asked. Robin smiled and faced his two friends. Robin took a deep breath and waited in silence for a dramatic feeling before actually telling them what his big news was.

"I asked Regina to the dance," Robin smiled as David and Killian's mouths fell to the floor. Killian was staring at him like he was crazy, and David looked like he should have known it.

"What?!" Killian exclaimed.

"I asked Regina to the dance," Robin repeated, laughing at their faces, "and I was right. Your faces were unforgettable," Robin chuckled, but David and Killian didn't find it funny. What was going on?

"What did Regina say?" David asked. He knew what the answer was before Robin even told him. Of course Regina would say yes. She's loved him for a while now, that much was clear to anyone with eyes.

"She said yes,"

"But what about Marian?!" Killian was more than shocked. Just a few nights ago, Robin told both of them his big plan on how he was going to ask Marian to the dance with balloons and flowers and everything. What happened for him to change his mind?

"I can always ask Marian out after the dance," Robin shrugged. David and Killian exchanged the same looks, deeply confused. What was going on?

"Wait, if you are still interested in Marian, why ask Regina to the dance?" Killian asked. Robin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He didn't ask Regina to the dance because he liked her, they were just going as friends. To cheer her up. To make her smile.

"Regina and I are only going as friends. I just asked her to cheer her up from last night," Robin explained. David glared at Robin. Did Regina know that? Because apparently he was the only one oblivious that she cared about him more than friendship.

"Does Regina know that?" David asked cautiously. What game was Robin playing at?

"What do you mean?" Robin asked. David rolled his eyes. WHy was Robin so dumb sometimes?

"Dude, she probably thinks it's a date!" Killian exclaimed before David could. Robin's eyes went wide. Really? A date? With Regina? His best friend? No way. Regina couldn't possibly think that. She knew that they are just friends.

"Regina? No way. She knows we're just friends," But, did she? She her eyes did light up and she hugged the living daylights out of him. Could Regina actually have more feelings for him than she was telling him?

"How did she react Robin? Did she jump up and down? Did she smile, hug you, shriek, anything like that?" Robin's sigh answered that for all three of them.

"Oh my god. Regina thinks it's a date!" Robin just realized it. Crap! No! This was going against their promise! Why? Why did feelings always have to get in the way of something great?

"Mate, is that so bad? I think you guys would make a great couple," Killian said with all seriousness, but Robin scoffed. Hima and Regina? A great couple? What planet was everyone living on? First, his parents, his friends, and now Regina?

"Me and Regina would not make a great couple! We are just friends! How many times do I have to tell you that? The only reason I asked her to the dance is so she would stop feeling sad! Not because I have feelings for her! I never did and never will have any feelings for Regina!" Killian and David couldn't believe it. Robin just had perfect timing.

"Uh, Robin?" Killian pointed behind him. Robin turned around and saw the one person he wished not to see there.

Regina was crying, standing a few feet away from him. She looked like a deer in headlights. Tear streaks stained her face and her makeup was smudged. She looked like she just came out of the saddest movie on Earth. Robin immediately wished he could take back everything he said, because now Regina looked even worse than last night. No more smiles, no more light, no more Regina. She was just sadness now.

"Regina," Robin tried, but Regina wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and turned away, running away from him. Running away from everything. She should have known Robin didn't feel that way about her. Like he said, he never has and never will.

Regina wished she could go back in time. Go back to when she was bouncing with joy, when everything in her world was right…

…..

"What are you looking at?" Regina asked Robin.

Both their families had taken a two week vacation to the beach, and now Regina and Robin were walking along the boardwalk, hand in hand. Robin had been looking at Regina. She looked absolutely. She wore a light blue sand dress with a pair of flip flops. Her hair was parted and it stayed in place by a pair of sunglasses Robin had just bought her.

"You," Robin smiled when he saw Regina blush. The truth was, he liked Regina. A lot. More than friends should. Secretly, he was going to ask her to their 8th grade dance in a few months, he just needed to get the courage.

"Why?" Regina asked. Robin laughed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. How could she not see it? It was staring her right in the eyes every single moment of every single day.

"Because you're beautiful," Regina looked down as her blush grew. Robin smiled. Maybe this was a good sign. Maybe this meant she liked him more than friends too.

"Robin, come on," Regina shrugged it off. She took it as a lie. Truth was, she didn't have much confidence in herself. She knew that there would always be someone prettier and smarter than her, so what's the use?

"You don't see it?" Robin asked, and he stopped them in their tracks. Now, they were just standing in the middle of the boardwalk, people walking around them while the place was ablaze with noise and smells of shore food.

"What's there to see?" Robin frowned. How was it that someone as beautiful and special as Regina doubted herself like that? Robin stared into Regina's chocolate brown eyes and found something unusual. Uncertainty.

"Everything," Robin exclaimed. Reina sighed and smiled. She could always count of her best friend to find something in her. But she just didn't see it. Was was so important about her that made her stick out from everyone else?

"You know, sometimes I just don't get you," Regina smiled and Robin chuckled.

"Well, you are beautiful Regina. Never forget that."

"I can't with you telling me every single day," Both kids laughed and continued walking, still hand in hand. Robin and Regina passed a food stand and decided to grab some snacks before heading back to their beach home.

Regina went to the restroom while Robin ordered. Robin sat down at an empty picnic table and listened to the lovely sounds of his surroundings, until he heard something out of the blue.

"You idiot! I can't even trust you anymore, let alone talk to you!" A random lady, older, maybe in her fifties, screamed at her husband from the other table. It was only loud enough for Robin to hear, and he couldn't help but listen.

"You are so stubborn! What is wrong with you?" The man, supposedly her husband, announced. Robin wondered what this couple was fighting over.

"What is wrong with me?! You just expect too much out of me," The woman walked away, clearly agitated. The man turned to look at Robin, knowing he had heard the whole thing.

"You have a lady, lad?" The man asked. Robin shook his head. Well, not yet, anyways.

"Good. Don't ever get one. You might think you are in love, but the next thing you know all you do is fight with the other. Tell me boy, do you want to fight forever?" Robin shook his head. Of course not. Never. Especially if he was going to be with Regina one day.

"We started out great. Best friends, loved each other our whole lives, and look at us now! Fighting at every moment we can, and only to hurt each other. Do you really want to risk your future like that, boy?" Robin had to stop. Best friends? Loved each other their whole lives? Who was this guy, a stalker?

"Trust me kid, it isn't worth it. All of the pain we both feel? It doesn't matter anymore. You fall out of love just as quickly as you fall in. You want to know something? Here's some wise advice. It is not a lack of love, but the lack of friendship that makes couples unhappy….. I saw you with that young lady before. Don't fall for it. Friendship is the only thing you can value in this world, and if you lose that, you might as well lose your soul…." The old man walked away, leaving Robin to think.

What did those words even mean? He was only fourteen, not old enough to fully understand such deep material. But what he did know what that he never wanted to lose Regina. He never wanted to fight with her, give her pain, cause them both pain, and he certainly didn't want to lose their friendship. Friendship was the only thing he had with her right now.

So, that day, Robin decided that his feelings for Regina were just temporary. He would move on, find a new girl to crush on, ask her out, hopefully make a future. One with Regina still in it. And the only way possible for that to happen was if Robin and Regina were never in a relationship, if he never spoke his true feelings for Regina. They wouldn't be at risk of falling out of love, or anything. They would just be Robin and Regina. Friends. She would never know that he loves her to the moon back. To Robin, Regina is his whole world…..

Hi guys! Thank you sooo much for reading this story! I have so many new ideas that I can't wait to explore! Thank you to everyone who commented and reviewed! You honestly have no idea how much that means to me! Please continue to leave comments and review (only if you want to)... Thank you to everyone who followed/favorited any of my stories or me! You guys are the reason I keep writing!

I know a lot of you were looking forward to a dance between Robin and Regina, but who's to say it will never happen? Trust me, Outlaw Queen is endgame :)