10 years before...
Regina always loved the nights in Storybrooke. During the day she would dream about running off to some big city, a place where the people were different and the streets were livelier where she could just be herself but at night she couldn't imagine anywhere better to be than right where she was.
Laying down in the back of Robin's pick up at the edge of the lake, hearing the sound of the crickets blend into the music from the radio and cuddling next to him for warmth. He was always so much warmer than her.
She intertwined her fingers with his and sighed as she looked up at the moon, suddenly wistful. "I can't believe we only have three weeks before graduation."
Robin's chest swelled beneath her cheek as he sucked in a deep breath. "I know. Only few more weeks left and we'll be out of here."
"Off to start our lives in Cambridge," she mumbled.
Without even looking up she knew he was grinning. "You can say Harvard Regina. It's not a jinx."
"You don't know that," she laughed, shaking her head. A soft, excited hiss escaped her. "I still can't believe I got in."
"Of course, you got in," he said. "They would've been crazy not to take you."
It had been three days since she'd gotten her acceptance letter. Seeing that big envelope with the Harvard crest it felt like her heart was gonna explode. She'd worked her whole life for this, busted her ass so she could have a chance to escape this town. Knowing that she'd actually succeeded… well, she couldn't imagine a better feeling.
"You sure you still want to lug me along with you?" he joked.
Gently slapping his chest, she chuckled. "You say that like you didn't get into UMass."
He snickered running his hand along her spine. "I think we both know that was only possible because of you."
She shrugged her shoulders humbly but they both knew it was true. Ever since they were kids he'd always had her to push him, dragging him to study halls with her, encouraging him to do better even when he didn't think he could. He doubts he would've graduated high school without her, let alone gone to college. But here they are, on the edge of change feeling like they had the whole world at their fingertips. Maybe they did.
He taps her shoulder, suddenly curious. "Hey, did you get your class ring yet?"
Annoyed, she rolls her eyes. "Nope and I never will now."
"What?" He sits up, his face twisting to show his skepticism. "Why not? What happened?"
Regina scoffed, shaking her head. "My mother never ordered it. She said it was a waste of money and I'd probably end up losing it."
Robin grits his teeth, silently cursing Cora Mills to hell. He'd never liked Regina's mother but hardly anyone in town did. She was always belittling her, or saying something condescending. When Regina had told her parents that she wanted to go to Harvard, Cora had been the first to say that it was damn near impossible. He couldn't imagine that she felt good about being proven wrong.
Sighing he reached for his own hand. "Well that just won't do."
A grin appeared on Regina's face when she saw him twisting off the class he'd only gotten the day before. "What are you doing, Robin?"
"Giving you a class ring," he said, matter of factly. Taking her hand in his he slipped it onto her finger with ease. "There you go. Storybrooke High Class of '08."
Regina smiled, softly laughing as she looked down at the gaudy golden ring he just placed on her finger, it's manufactured ruby glistening in the moonlight.
"What about you?" she asked. "Don't you want a class ring?"
"You're valedictorian, you deserve one more than me," he said shrugging his shoulders. "Besides this is just a loan anyway."
She raised her eyebrows at him. "A loan?"
"Yes," he hummed. "It's only until your father can order you your own or…"
He trailed off, leaving her in suspense.
"Or?" she softly asked.
He looked her at her, sincerity sparkling in his blue eyes. "Or until I can replace it with something better."
Deep inside, Regina felt her heart flutter. Gently, she reached out to rest her hand against his cheek, a breathless smile on her face. "I love you, Robin."
"I love you Regina."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Making her way through the bar Regina's heart pounded in her chest. She sucked in a deep breath through her nose, hoping it would help steady her hands as she carried a tray of drinks back to where her friends waited.
She still couldn't believe that she saw him.
She knew that she would. She'd planned on it, in fact, but she still couldn't believe she'd seen him. That she'd stood across from him like that and just talked.
Robin Locksely.
The stupid fucking love of her stupid fucking life. She couldn't believe that she'd just seen him. She couldn't believe that he'd just stood there and talked to her like it was nothing, like it was easy.
And she definitely didn't believe that he couldn't believe that he'd had the audacity to look that goddamn good.
He'd always been attractive, she knew that, but time had been unfairly good to him over the last decade. He'd filled out since the last time she saw him, his biceps looking stronger than she remembered. His chin had lost the tiny bit of baby fat that he had at graduation and replaced it with a healthy layer of scruff that she couldn't help but imagine running across her skin. The only thing that remained the same were his eyes.
Those deep blue eyes that she thought held her entire world when she was a girl.
Her knees had gone weak at the sight of them, at the sight of him behind that bar smiling at her, just like he used to. Reminding of her what it used to feel like back when she actually thought he loved her.
Finally reaching her friends she set the tray on the table before sinking into her her eyes on the glasses of bourbon in front of her she didn't even need to look up to feel the judgement coming at her from all sides.
Over the music, she heard someone clear their throat. Sucking in a deep breath, she looked up to find her friend, Mallory, with a glass of bourbon in her hand, looking at her with a tight, close-lipped smile on her face.
Regina sighed. "Yes, Mal?"
Mal took set her hands against table before speaking. "Well, the girls and I were watching your little encounter and we noticed something."
"What did you notice Mal?" said Regina, reaching for a glass of her own and offering up a wry smile.
"We noticed you weren't kicking his ass!" barked her friend Ursula. Sitting next to Regina, she shook her head before grabbing a bourbon. "I took time off work to see that throw down"
"You took time off work because you hate your job," deadpanned Carlotta, already sipping her drink.
"I can be here for two reasons," argued Ursula.
Regina smirked, listening to them banter. She knew they were disappointed but sitting at the table with them felt just like old times. Mal, Ursula and Carlotta were her oldest friends in the world. She'd met them in high school, they'd kept in touch all through college and by a stroke of luck they'd all ended up in Boston afterwards. These women were her lifeline.
They were also the first ones she called when Robin broke her heart.
"You didn't confront him?" asked Mal, leaning forward on the table. "After all this time? I thought that's what you wanted."
"Well I change my mind," said Regina, lifting her glass to down all the bourbon in one gulp.
Ursula pursed her lips, unconvinced. "You mean he flashed his baby blues and you went weak."
Carlotta hummed in agreement, raising her glass. "He smiled and you melted, didn't you?"
Regina glowered at them, pissed that they could read her so easily. "It's not like that," she lied. "I just… it's been ten years. And what he did was shitty but I am not gonna be the crazy one at this reunion who freaks out on a guy she hasn't spoken to in a decade. I'm better than that. Plus I'm over it. I'm over him."
Mal stared at her, the doubt evident in her blue eyes. "Really? You're over him?"
Setting her glass down harder than she intended, she stares defiantly into Mal's eyes. "Absolutely. One hundred percent."
Mal shakes her head with a smirk but remains silent.
Put off Regina sighs before adding, "I have more important things in my life than Robin, you know that."
It's enough to get Mal to soften her judgement, tilting her head she concedes, "Fine, but I still think he should burn in a ditch."
Regina chuckles. "Noted."
Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she pulls it out to see her father's ID.
"I gotta take this," she mumbles before slipping away from the table.
Raising the phone to her ear, she finds a quiet corner near the bathroom to answer her father's call.
"Hi daddy," she whispers, a smile creeping onto her face. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine," she hears him assure her. "I just wanted to check on you. How's the reunion going? Catching up with old friends?"
A small huff escapes her. "More like old ghosts," she mumbles. Changing the subject, she asks. "How's Henry doing?"
"He's good as always," says her father, and she can practically hear his smile through the phone. He was so pleased the day he realized he was getting a namesake.
"He's grown so much since I saw him last."
Regina chuckles softly. "Yeah, well he better be. He's practically eating me out of house and home."
"He's nine years old Regina. I wouldn't expect anything different," her father replies.
They chat for a minute more, her father double-checking Henry's bedtime before letting her go. Pulling the phone from her ear she peacefully sighs, reminded that despite how she once felt about him the man standing behind the bar tonight was not the love of her life.
That title went to her son.
Her beautiful, nine-year-old son.
Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review if you did!