Author's Notes:
Special Thanks to my illustrator and contributing author ale_nena who has added great ideas and made this fic better in so many ways!
Setting: Misthaven non-magical modern AU. The society and political system will be based on a combination of modern countries, with a probable bias toward the American system as I am an American. However, all characters are fictional and resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidence.
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BAM, BAM, BAM!
She jolted awake at the noise, her heart racing as she struggled to orient herself in the darkness.
"Regina! Dammit, are you in there?!" Lily yelled through the door.
Glancing around she realized she was in the guest room at Lily's apartment, and, feeling Robin sitting up beside her, she remembered why.
"Ah, yes," she called out.
Lily groaned audibly, "Gods! You know I said you could use my apartment, not cover for you when your parents call asking where the fuck you are because you're about to miss your own birthday party!"
Robin was already out of bed looking around for his phone, and, pulling the sheet around herself, Regina scrambled over to where she'd set down her purse to do the same.
It showed several missed calls and over 10 text messages. Worse the time was 6:30. Her breath caught in her throat, and she heard Robin swear behind her. They'd slept way longer than either of them intended.
"Cora called me at the foundation 20 minutes ago demanding to know the last time I'd seen you...that's after your dad stopped by on his way out and was very confused about the fact that you weren't in the office!" Lily called.
Regina squeezed her eyes shut at the news. Light filled the room suddenly as Robin flipped on the overhead.
Blinking against it, she noted that he'd already gotten his pants and undershirt back on. Shaking herself back into action she grabbed his dress-shirt from where she'd tossed it earlier and wrapped herself up in it.
"Yeah, um...I'll be out in a minute!" she yelled to Lily as she did up the buttons. Turning to Robin she whispered, "Is the car downstairs?"
"Yes."
"Could you please bring my dress up?"
"Okay," he nodded, putting his shoes on. As he did so Regina began pulling the sheets off the bed and tossed them into a corner, telling herself that Lily would probably have her housekeeper take care of them anyway. Searching around the floor frantically, she found her panties quickly put them back on, feeling slightly less exposed now that she was at least minimally covered.
After digging the car keys out of his jacket pocket, Robin opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Lily, who apparently hadn't seen any need to move away from the door, blinked in surprise at the sight of him. He nodded briefly to her as he slid past and out the front door.
She stared after him for a second before turning to the guest room. Inside, Regina had gathered up the rest of her clothes from the floor, as well as the plate from earlier.
Holding her clothes under one arm, she walked past Lily to set the plate in the kitchen sink.
"Well...aren't you a lying little slut?" Lily commented.
She sighed heavily, "Lily, not now, please!"
The other woman laughed, "Hey, I'm just a little surprised. I didn't realize you were that good an actress! Really, I should have guessed when he didn't come back looking for you!"
Regina ignored the comment, and instead asked, "Was Mother really upset?"
"Well she didn't sound happy," Lily answered.
She deflated, "Ugh...okay, I can still make it on time! How's my hair look?"
"Um..." Lily hesitated, staring at her head, "...well, it kind of hides that hickey on your neck, so you've got that going for you..."
"Oh Gods!" Regina yelled in horror, her hand flying to behind her ear. She swore to herself for not even thinking about how much Robin had been kissing there earlier. It was difficult because it felt so good when he did that, but it was so dangerous.
"Okay, okay! Calm down!" Lily said, pulling her toward her bedroom, "It's not really that bad. You've got concealer, right? And I have a flat iron you can use. Don't freak out!"
She allowed the other woman to lead her through her bedroom to the master bath. She dropped her clothes, shoes, and purse onto the sink as Lily dug out her flat iron and plugged it in.
With a sigh, Regina glanced in the mirror. She looked...frazzled and a little bit too bright eyed, but not altogether disastrous. Opening her handbag she dug out her hair brush and makeup bag, and set to trying to make herself look presentable again. Her hair had started to curl quite a bit, so she probably wasn't going to be able to completely iron out the waves in so little time. Luckily, however, the bite mark Lily had referred to earlier wasn't as bad as she'd feared.
She was just finishing blending concealer over it when Lily reappeared in the bathroom doorway and asked, "So what do you think Cora will think of this outfit?"
The dark haired woman was wearing stiletto boots and black leather pants.
Regina shook her head, "I think having you around is always convenient to deflect criticism."
Lily laughed, moving over to the other side of the sink to begin turning her subtle makeup into full on smokey eyes.
"Regina?" Robin's voice echoed faintly through the apartment.
"In here!" she called to him, realizing that she was still wearing his shirt. She began undoing the buttons, forgetting for a moment that Lily was in the same room.
Noticing her hesitation, the other woman said sarcastically, "Yours won't be the first tits I've seen, you know."
Rolling her eyes, Regina took the shirt off just as Robin appeared in the doorway carrying the garment bag from Andalasia. He blinked slightly at the sight of her, but appeared more rattled by the fact that Lily was also topless, turning his head away when he caught sight of her, prompting a snort from the dark haired woman.
Regina ignored the tension though, taking the garment bag from him and pressing his shirt into his hands with a whispered "Thank you."
As he turned from the room, she caught sight of Lily staring at her in the mirror with raised eyebrows.
"Not now!" Regina repeated her words from earlier.
"I didn't say anything," Lily said innocently as she shrugged on sleeveless white satin top that did contrast very well with her leather pants. Her mother would still find the outfit distasteful, but Lily had never been one to care what people thought of her.
Shaking off those thoughts, she turned her attention to putting her bra and hose back on, along with the dress from Andalasia, then to ironing the majority of the frizz out of her hair and pulling it back into a low chignon. Finally, satisfied that she could show up in front of her parents, she unplugged Lily's flat iron, grabbed up the rest of her things and made her way out of the bathroom.
"I'll see you later!" she called to Lily, who was digging around for something in her closet.
"Okay!" the other woman yelled after her.
Arriving at the guest room, she was relieved to find that Robin was fully dressed again. She quickly slid her feet into her black heels, which luckily matched her dress.
With a nod, Robin ushered her out the front door and over to the elevator.
It felt like it took forever for the elevator to arrive, but it eventually did and within a few minutes they were back in the car heading toward the highway back toward the Mills estate.
After folding her skirt and blouse, putting them away in her briefcase, and taking a few moments to calm herself down, Regina pulled her phone out of her purse and, thinking it over, dialed her father.
He answered on the first ring, "Regina?"
"Daddy," she greeted, "Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I'm on my way home. I'll be there in about 15 minutes."
That was an optimistic assessment of how long it would take them to arrive, but she hoped it sounded convincing.
"Would you let Mother know?" she continued in a feigned breezy tone.
He was quiet for a moment before finally answering, "Yes, of course I will."
"Thank you. I'll see you both soon."
"Everything alright?" Robin asked as she hung up.
"I'm not sure," she answered honestly.
* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *
It took around 25 minutes for them to arrive back at the main house. Rather than stopping in the front drive, Robin pulled directly around to the back and into the garage.
The two got out of the car and went directly over to the elevator which would take them up to the first floor.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Regina's heart sank as she caught sight of both her parents standing in the foyer near the great room. She could hear the hum of voices and music coming from inside, indicating that most of the guests had already arrived.
Steeling herself, she walked ahead of him across the marble floor.
Cora stood silently, waiting for her to approach, "Regina."
"Good evening, Mother," she greeted, "Daddy."
Henry sighed, "Regina we've been calling you for hours-"
"Where have you been?" Cora asked directly.
"Can we please discuss this later-"
"Your father said you weren't in your office this afternoon," Cora cut her off, "And, Mr. Locksley, we haven't been able to get in touch with you either. You are supposed to remain in contact at all times!"
"Mother it's not-"
"Do you not understand that your job?" she demanded, ignoring Regina, "I gave you a chance, but I'm beginning to think that was a mistake!"
"Mother, stop it!" Regina interjected.
Cora turned to her, surprised at her forceful done, "This is a serious matter, Regina."
"We were worried about you," Henry jumped in, "You weren't answering your phone. We were concerned something had happened-"
"Yes, why was that?" Cora asked suspiciously, "What exactly went on this afternoon? Where were the two of you?"
"I was…" Regina hesitated.
Robin glanced at her out the corner of his eye as Cora fixed her daughter with a hard look. Deflating, Regina answered, "I was at a spa."
Henry blinked, clearly surprised at the answer, "What?"
Cora's reaction was as controlled as ever, "I beg your pardon?"
"I went to the spa," she repeated, meeting her mother's eyes.
"Without informing anyone?"
"Yes," Regina answered with a sigh, "I wanted some time to myself today, alright Mother? I understand this party is important, but...I just wanted a break before having to face all of those people."
"Those people are our friends," Cora responded.
Regina huffed out a laugh, "Right, sure, you're friends with everyone in that room?"
Cora paused before answering, "As much as I'm friends with anyone. Our guests are important people. People who respect our family and will lend their support in the future."
"Yes, Mother," she answered, "I understand that, which is why I'll go in there and personally thank every one of them for coming to celebrate my birthday. However, I also wanted some time to myself, so decided to take it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you-"
"You didn't just do that. You violated all of our security precautions!"
"Locksley was with me the whole time!" she protested.
"He was?" Cora asked, both of their parents looking at him with raised eyebrows.
"Yes," Regina answered, "He waited in the common areas because I didn't think anyone was going to kidnap me from a sauna without windows! And, yes, I made him turn his cellphone off, along with mine, because I didn't want to be bothered!"
Her parents stared at her for a moment before Cora spoke, "Well this is unbelievable! What you did was very irresponsible! We are still receiving threats and just because you assume a situation is safe does not mean it is! How could be so stupid?"
"Alright," Henry sighed jumping in, "I think Regina understands she made a mistake. However, she's home now and there's no harm done. So I say we just all take a moment to compose ourselves. Remember, our guests are waiting for us."
Cora took a deep breath and answered, "You're quite right, Dear. Regina, since you've decided to grace us with your presence, I'd appreciate it if you'd go entertain the guests who are here to see you."
"Yes, Mother."
"Good," Cora drew herself up, "Mr. Locksley, Drake would like a conversation with you. I expect you to report to his office immediately."
"Yes, Ma'am," he nodded.
With that Cora spun on her heel, joining Henry and Regina as they made their way toward the grand room.
* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *
After being dismissed by Cora and Henry, Robin made his way down to the basement and took a deep breath as he walked to Drake's office.
The older man was there waiting for him, "Sit down, Locksley."
Robin did as instructed, taking a seat in front of his desk. Drake folded his hands on the desk, staring intently at him. Robin stared back, seeing the obvious attempt to make him uncomfortable.
Finally, he spoke first, "Is this a joke to you, Locksley?"
"No Sir, it's not a joke," he answered.
"Do you like this job?" he asked.
"Yes, of course I do-"
"Well I wouldn't get used to it if I were you!" Drake snapped, "You know you were only hired as a political stunt, right?"
"You made that clear to me my first day here," Robin answered, annoyance creeping into his voice.
"Yeah, well, you have Mrs. Mills and her ambition to thank for that," he said, "If it had been up to me, you never would have been!"
Robin knew a response from him wasn't expected.
"I know you, Locksley. I know what people like you are like."
"Yes Sir, I know," Robin couldn't hold his tongue any longer, "I screwed up…"
"Oh you're way more than a screw up!" the older man said, "You're a criminal who never did anything good in his life, and never will! Not only do you have no future, you taint everything you touch...anyone unfortunate enough to cross your path! Luckily, that probably won't be this family for much longer. After the election, you'll be back in that gutter you crawled out of!"
Robin clenched his fists, struggling not to say something he'd regret.
"For now, though, just get out of my sight!" Drake spat.
Standing, Robin made his way back to his room. Closing the door behind him, he attempted to get his breathing under control. His anger boiled over, prompting him to kick the chair at his desk.
* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *
After she finished blow drying her hair, Regina looked in the mirror with a sigh. The party had been boring as usual.
Once the guests finally left, she'd retreated to her room to get out of her dress and shower.
Flipping off the bathroom light, she crawled into bed. Maybe it was the several hours she'd slept that afternoon, or the stress of the party, but she felt too keyed up to sleep.
After thinking it over for a moment, she picked up her phone and sent a text to Robin.
"You up?"
She laughed to herself at the cliche phrasing.
"Yes, are you okay?"
"Yes," she answered, "Just wondered if you could sneak up?"
"Again...already?" he sent back a teasing text.
"Just get your ass up here, Locksley!" she answered, setting aside her phone.
She stretched her back, laying against the pillows until she heard a knock at her door. Tossing back the covers, she went to answer it.
Closing the door behind Robin, she leaned up to kiss him.
"Again, already?" she asked when they broke apart, "Don't sound too excited, now!"
Searching his face, she questioned, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," he assured her, "Oh, I promise you excitement isn't a problem. I've been hard ever since I got your text."
"Really?" she asked, pulling open the waistband of his sleep pants, "My, my I didn't know I was so talented."
He laughed, taking her hand to lead her to the bedroom.
The desperation of earlier that day was subdued for both of them. This time they leisurely undressed each other, made slow lazy love, and then settled underneath the covers, revealing in the feel of each other's skin.
She was on the verge of dozing off in his arms, when she felt him move to check the clock on her nightstand.
"You know it's 12:15. Your birthday is over, Your Majesty," Robin said.
She smirked, "So why don't you get up and leave?"
"Hmm," he thought it over, "Well there's no one else in this wing of the house. Anything could happen."
She raised her eyebrows.
"As part of the security team, it'd be irresponsible of me to leave you here all alone."
"Oh, so you're protecting me?"
He tightened his grip around her and answered, "Yeah, anyone who wants to get to you will have to go through me."
She tried not to let her smile falter as she swallowed hard. Reaching up, she stroked her thumb over his cheek.
"What?" he asked, seeing the serious look in her eyes.
"Nothing, just..." Regina said, staring deeply into his eyes. After waiting for a moment she continued, "I love you, Robin."
His lips dropped open, "I..."
"It's okay," she shook her head, "You don't have to say it back. I don't expect anything from you. I just got tired of not saying it."
With that she leaned over and kissed his lips before laying back onto her pillow.
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Regina woke the next morning with her face in the sheets. Shifting to work out the kink in her lower back, she slowly rolled over onto her side and blinked at the light filtering through the curtains. She was alone. Robin was gone, but she still smiled as the events of the previous night drifted back to her.
Moving over, she buried her nose in the other pillow, getting a dose of the smell that usually clung to his skin. After drinking it in for a moment she pushed herself up out of bed and made her way to the shower.
Standing under the spray she let the water bring her fully awake. It felt good having a mostly enjoyable birthday for the first time in...she wasn't sure how long, probably not since she and Daniel were in college.
Daniel.
Regina frowned, but was pleased to note that thinking of him didn't hurt as much as it usually did.
Shutting off the shower head, she wrapped a towel around herself and mused on the fact that she'd told Robin she loved him the night before.
She told another man she loved him and that didn't hurt either. It felt right.
Looking into the mirror as she stepped out of the shower, she laughed to herself, flipped on the exhaust fan to de-fog it, and started up her hair dryer.
* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *
After getting dressed, she went downstairs to the dining room.
"Good morning, Sweetheart," Henry smiled as she entered the room.
"Morning, Daddy, Mother," she nodded as she served herself some eggs and coffee.
Taking a last sip of his coffee, Henry checked his watch, "Sorry to run, but I have a phone call with a potential donor that I have to take in my office."
"Do you need my help?" Regina asked.
"No, no," he waved her off, "This is just a preliminary conversation. No commitments, yet."
"Okay," she nodded.
Cora watched her husband leave, before setting down her coffee cup, "Regina there's something I wanted to talk to you about."
"What?" she asked.
The older woman picked up a magazine and slid it across the table to Regina.
"What's this?" she asked.
"The newest issue of Unity Magazine."
"Yes, I see that."
"You see page 28?"
With a sigh, Regina flipped through to an article on the Spencer family...mainly about James Spencer.
"I also have on good authority that he's going to be named one of Misthaven's Most Eligible Bachelors" Cora told her.
Rolling her eyes, Regina said, "Mother, why don't you stop beating around the bush?"
Cora frowned, but answered, "Alright, I think you should give James Spencer a call."
"Mother…"
"I think the two of you would hit it off!" Cora insisted.
"I'm not interested in James Spencer," Regina told her.
"And how do you know that? You've never met the man!" her mother argued.
Setting down her up, Regina said, "I have to get ready for work."
"You can run away all you want, Regina," Cora said, seeing right through her deflection, "But we will discuss this again!"
* 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 * 0 *
She stormed from the room, anger coursing through her. She headed toward the elevator, but stopped with her hand hovering over the button.
Thinking better of it, though, she got out her phone and typed a text to Robin.
"Are you busy?"
"I'm on camera duty today," he answered.
"Can you sneak away for a moment?"
"Maybe...why?"
"Meet me in the garden?" she asked, "I'll explain then."
"Okay, see you soon," he answered.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she turned through the outer kitchen and through the doors to the garden.
She paced around for a while, waiting for Robin to show up. After what felt like forever, she saw him walking up the path from the other side of the house.
A smile creeping across her face, she stepped over to meet him, "Hey."
He quirked a smile as well and asked, "Is everything alright?"
"Yes," she sighed, "I just needed a break."
"Anything in particular bothering you?"
She groaned, "James Spencer."
He looked at her questioningly.
"He's the son of Albert Spencer."
"Ah," Robin nodded understandingly, "The billionaire?"
"And a major political donor," Regina nodded, "And, as such, Mother is dying for me to meet his son!"
The implication of what she meant by 'meet' was crystal clear.
Robin swallowed hard before asking, "Are you going to?"
She laughed, "Not as long as I can help it!"
"Don't fancy him?"
Regina turned to look at him for a second before chuckling, and stepping toward him in measured strides.
"Why?" she purred, "Are you jealous?"
"No," he answered, ignoring the part of his mind that called him a liar for it, and explained, "You shouldn't worry about me anyway."
"What?" she asked, furrowing her brow, "What are you saying?"
"Just that you should do what you want is all."
"I don't understand," Regina said stepping back from him, "Is some sort of passive-aggressive way of finding out if I'm interested in James Spencer? Because I just said-"
"No," Robin cut her off, "I mean exactly what I said. If you want to meet him you should."
"So...you're encouraging me to go out with another man?"
"If you want," he shrugged helplessly.
"What?!" she asked incredulously, "I don't...I thought...where is this coming from?"
"No where," he sighed.
"Clearly it came from somewhere!" she argued, "Is this about last night? What I said?"
He didn't answer.
"Robin," she stepped toward him, "I told you I don't expect anything from you."
Looking away, he glanced at the ground.
"Okay," she responded, "If it was too fast, I'm sorry-"
He couldn't stand to let her finish the sentence, "No, don't!"
Closing her mouth, she looked at him questioningly.
"I don't want you to apologize for saying how you felt it's just..."
"Just what?"
Running one hand through his hair, he turned to look her in the eye, "Regina, I don't think you realize how hard this is."
"How hard what is?" she asked apprehensively.
"I'm an ex-con," he stated.
"Yes, I'm aware."
"But do you know what that really means?" he asked, "Before I got this job, I could barely get anyone to hire me to clean floors! You...you're from one of the most powerful families in Misthaven, you have every opportunity in the world, you're smart, you're beautiful. You could have any man you want."
Regina crossed her arms over her chest, "You're kind of contradicting yourself here. First you told me I should see someone else 'if I want', but now you're giving me compliments? If I'm so great, why are you pulling away?"
He sighed, "I'm just saying you have options."
"Options?" she repeated.
"Yes."
"You'd better explain," she said, "Because you've really lost me now!"
"Regina...six months ago you told your ex-boyfriend you loved him."
Her breath caught her throat. She'd suspected at the time that he'd overheard it, and hearing him confirm it now wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world if not for the implication of what he was saying.
"You're saying you don't believe me?" she guessed.
"No," he argued, "It's not that I think you didn't mean it-"
"Then what?" she demanded. He hesitated for a moment, and her eyes widened at the realization, "You pity me."
"Pity?" he asked, "No, I just-"
She shook her head, "I don't believe this. After all this time you still think me as some poor little rich girl who...what? Is so pathetic she thinks it's true love the moment anyone pays attention to her?"
"That is not what I said!"
"Isn't it?" she challenged with a scoff, "Dear Gods, I can only imagine what you thought yesterday of me not even wanting to go to my own birthday party!
Shaking her head, she groaned in disgust, "Oh, is that why you suggested we sneak away? Because you felt sorry for me?"
"No," he started, but she interrupted him as she continued to rant.
"...you figured you'd do me a favor with a little sympathy cunnilingus?"
"Oh for Gods' sake, Regina, you don't have to make it sound so sordid!" he shot back.
"Then what? I suppose I should be grateful?!"
"I did not say that!"
"No," she scoffed, grumbling sarcastically, "You're just a good enough person that you don't even ask for thanks!"
Groaning in frustration, he swiped one hand over his face, "Yes, alright, I wanted to make you feel good on your birthday. Forgive me. What an arsehole I am!"
"From where I'm standing it's starting to seem like it!" she yelled, "Why don't you just tell me what this is really about?"
Robin sighed, "You're right. What it's about is...I don't have much I can offer you."
"Uh huh," she nodded skeptically.
"You don't believe me now?" he asked.
Swallowing angrily, she looked at him "I'd rather you just admit it if this is because you're freaked out that I told you I loved you."
Robin parted his lips.
"Is that what's going on?" she asked, "You don't feel the same way and you don't think you ever will so you're doing this whole 'I have nothing to offer you', 'you could be with anyone you want' bullshit as an excuse to break up?"
"Regina," he started, "It's not that I don't-"
"You know what? Forget it!" she cut him off, "I'll save you the trouble."
With that, she turned, ducking her head as she made her way back to the terrace and through the doors.