Summary: Continued from the last chapter. Regina and Robin talk about her situation and the future of their love lives.
The further they got away from Storybrooke the better Regina started to feel. As she watched the buildings in her hometown fly past the car window and fade into the distance it was like having a brick slowly lifted off her chest. Every breath she took was easier than the last.
Things were silent in the car as they drove. Ruby stared straight ahead at the road as she sat in the driver's seat, keeping the steering wheel steady. Belle sat next to her, twiddling her thumbs with an apprehensive look on her face. Regina could tell she was still uncertain about their plan to head back to New York. Her brother, on the other hand, couldn't be more relaxed. Still holding onto her hand, Robin leaned back in his seat, the edges of his lips turned up into a smile as he looked out the window. He couldn't be more pleased with himself. And Regina couldn't blame him. He'd gotten her out and she'd never be able to thank him enough.
Driving in this car with her friends, she'd found serenity. Or at least she did until her phone started to buzz.
Her eyes widened when she saw the caller id, a chill running through her blood. "Oh shit…" she muttered. Robin inquisitively sat forward in his seat at her curse. "It's my mother."
The phone buzzed in her hand once more and an image of her mother flashed through her mind. She had no doubt Cora was pacing the halls of her home, phone pressed to her ear and whispered curses slipping from lips at her daughter's disappearance from her impromptu engagement party.
Her heart started to pound in her chest. "She must've noticed that I left." Only took her thirty minutes. Her eyes flashed to Robin. "What am I supposed to say?"
He looked at her helplessly as the phone buzzed angrily against her palm. The thought of her mother's tirade sent a shudder down her spine. She'd be harsh and cruel and demanding. She didn't think she could handle it. Not yet.
"Give me the phone."
Ruby's firm voice cut through her panic. Reaching back from the driver's seat she held out her hand for Regina's phone, confidently glancing at her from her the rearview mirror. "I have an idea," she said.
Hesitantly, Regina passed it to her, not even having enough time to cry out in protest before Ruby tossed it through the window and out onto the street. Both she and Robin swiveled to look through the back window but they didn't even manage to see it fall into the road as they continued to speed off. When they looked back Belle was staring at her cousin, slack-jawed in shock. "Ruby!"
Not even turning to look at her Ruby shrugged her shoulders, nonchalantly. "She didn't want to talk to Cora, now she doesn't have to."
She should've been pissed. It was a $400 iPhone Ruby had just thrown into the road, top of the line and a gift from her father for making the dean's list for the fourth year in a row. That phone was the most luxurious item she owned...but all she could do was laugh.
Loudly, abruptly and without concern for all the looks she was getting from everyone else in the car. The absurdity of her reality hit her like a wall and all she could was laugh at the fact that she'd rather toss a $400 phone from a car window than talk to her own mother. It was… hilariously ridiculous.
Who knew what other ridiculous moments were waiting for her on this road trip?
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It was past midnight when they finally had to stop. The camaro was long past it's road trip stage of life and gas was running low. They'd pulled into a small gas station to give the engine a check and stretch their legs.
They must've made quite the picture. Four young adults dressed in their nicest clothes, hanging around a dusty, old two pump gas station in the middle of nowhere. It was like something out of a magazine spread.
Regina leaned against the side of the old Camaro, pulling her hair out of it's elaborate updo, debating whether to toss her pearl earrings as well. Looking down at her beaded cocktail dress, she wished she'd stopped to grab a spare outfit in her haste. No, there hadn't been time, she silently reminded herself. It was crazy to think that just four hours ago she'd had Leo's ring on her finger, chaining her to the ground. She wondered if he'd found it yet, where she'd left it sitting on the gazebo bench. Doubtful.
Briefly, she wondered how the party must've gone downhill at her disappearance. Her parents must be furious, at least her mother would be. They were probably still calling her abandoned cell phone trying to get a hold of her. Somehow she doubted her sister would care about her absence. She was probably counting through all the graduation gift she'd gotten instead. Regina had gotten her a small pendant with a stone in her favorite shade of green. She hoped Zelena would like it.
But those people were behind her at the moment. What about the one that lied ahead?
Regina bit her lip as thoughts of Daniel flowed into her head. Images of his black hair, dark blue eyes and easy smile flooded her mind. Only 18 years old when they'd first met she'd knew she'd never come across another person like him. From the very beginning he'd been so sure of himself, so sure of his desires. She hadn't been able to relate. Their first relationship was brief, barely five months, cut short by the distance of an opportunity he hadn't been able to pass up, but five months was all it took for him to claim a piece of her heart that she'd never give to anyone else. Something she only realized when she ran into him again nine months ago.
More than three years apart and the minute she saw him she knew… her heart was still his.
It wasn't as if she hadn't tried to deny it. Three years is a long time to hold a candle for someone, even if you don't know it's in your hand. Besides, she'd had other stuff to worry about, getting through the semester, succeeding at internship and trying to shake the affections of a man she knew she'd never truly love. It shouldn't have been so easy to fall for him again. But it hit her like lightning, striking her with every text and coffee date and "let's just hang out" that happened after he re-entered her life.
She did her best to ignore it...until he didn't allow her to.
She hadn't expected him to show up in Storybrooke. She hadn't expected him to beg to be with her, to propose. Not when they weren't together, not when she was with Leo and everything was so… not right.
She'd ran. It was all she could think to do and now… it might be the biggest regret of her entire life.
"You alright?"
Robin came to lean next to her against the car. Still his suit but he'd shed his jacket and loosened his tie, appearing much more casual than he had the party. He eyed her cautiously and she knew he was just waiting for her to freak out, she couldn't blame him after everything they'd just done.
"I'm okay," she mumbled, still looking toward the station market where Ruby and Belle shopped for snacks. "I'm just… thinking."
"About what?" he asked curiously.
"About what the hell I'm doing," she whispered, shaking her head at him. "Robin… I just blew up my entire life."
"I know, I was there," he replied, offering her a small smile.
She ignored him and barreled on. "And now I'm on this road trip, rushing to see this man I rejected after doing the exact same thing to a man I didn't even like and…" She bowed her head, running her fingers through her hair. "What the hell am I doing Robin?"
Robin stared at her sympathetically before shrugging his shoulders. "You're trying to be happy," he softly answered. "Look, I've known you your whole life and I knew that you were miserable. Now you're trying not to be, so… to hell with consequences."
Swallowing a lump in her throat, she took a shaky breath. "What if I get there and he doesn't want to see me? What if he doesn't want to be with me anymore?"
"Does it matter?" he replied. Turning to her, he leaned his side against the car door, a serious look in his eye. "If you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Daniel would turn you away… would you have wanted to marry Leo?"
"No." Her answer is firm and instant, even as it falls from her lips covered in exhaustion. She would've never been happy with Leo, she knows that.
"Then it doesn't matter what Daniel's answer to you is," Robin pointed out. "You blew up your life for you, not for him."
Regina sighed, realizing that her best friend was right. No matter what happened next with Daniel she was right to leave Leo behind the way she did. There were sure to be consequences and she would face them but she'd never regret her decision. Not for a single moment.
Blowing out a sharp breath, she shook her head. "God, I need something else to obsess over," she mumbled, looking over in his direction. "What's screwed up in your life?"
He chuckled at her abrupt change in direction, shrugging his shoulders. "Nothing more than usual," he said, looking down toward the ground. He paused before continuing. "But this... little road trip of ours has made me think about some stuff."
She turned her body toward him, intrigued. "Oh yeah, like what?"
"Just about… love," he mumbled, looking away from her, embarrassed.
She raised her eyebrows, surprised. "Love, really?"
"Yeah," he drawled, throwing his head back. "I mean I just… my dad was my age when he first met my mom, they were barely two years older than me when they got married. Sometimes when I stop to think about it, it just feels like…"
"Like what?"
He turned to her, his eyebrows knitted together apprehensively. "Do you think it's weird that I've never been in love?"
A surprised laugh came from her lips at his question. "Well… what do you even mean by that?"
He rolled his eyes. "I saw Shawna last week…"
"Oh god," groaned Regina, thinking of Robin's annoying ex-girlfriend. "Please tell me you're not back with her."
"No," scoffed Robin. "Quite the opposite in fact. She flashed a bright, shiny engagement ring in my face."
"Ooooh," drawled Regina, sarcastically. "How nice for her."
Knowing Shawna, she probably wore her engagement ring like a badge of honor, shoving into the face of every friend, relative and stranger that dared to walk in her path.
Robin shrugged, shaking his head. "I don't know I just saw her, engaged, and I realized… that I felt nothing about it. No reaction whatsoever. And that feels weird because I was with her for years!"
"On and off," Regina quickly reminded him.
"I know but then I got to thinking about it and I realized that I've never felt… more for a person."
Regina raised her eyebrows, confused. "More?"
"Yes, more," Robin said, a little frantically. "I mean, I've dated girls and I've liked them but… I've never missed any of them when they were gone. I never felt connected to anyone like you were to Daniel, or to Elsa. I don't think I've ever been in love before."
"You haven't," Regina replied. When he shot her an annoyed look, her eyes turned sympathetic. "Daddy always said that if you have to think about whether you're in love with someone, then you aren't. If you were you'd know it."
A disappointed huff fell from his lips. "Good to know," he mumbled. "I don't know. I mean, like I said, you've been in love with Daniel and with Elsa. Ruby had her thing with Peter and Belle…"
"Belle falls in love like people fall down slides," she quipped, a smile appearing on her face. "I get it. You're worried it might not happen."
Robin shrugged. "A little bit."
Regina hissed, crossing her arms. "Okay… do you want me to be honest or comforting?"
Scoffing, Robin rolled his eyes. "Be honest."
Straightening her back, Regina nodded. "Okay...honestly, Robin... you don't date with a purpose."
He screwed his face up, confused. "What the hell does that mean?"
"It means that… when you're with these girls that you date and bring home, do you honestly think about your future with them?" She asks without judgement, just honest curiosity. "When you're with them do you ever think about whether you want to wake up next to them for the rest of your life?"
Crossing his arms defensively, Robin shook his head. "It's honestly never gotten that far for me."
"Maybe you should let it," she suggests. "Start looking for someone you want to see for the rest of your life, instead of the rest of the night."
He hummed, a smirk tugging on his lips. "I knew I should've gone with comforting."
"I've never done comforting well and you know that," she laughed. "But don't worry. There's someone out there for you. Bet she's incredible too."
Robin chuckled. "You think so?"
"I do," she confidently replied. "I just hope you're ready when you meet her. That you don't get stuck with bullshit things like timing and distance standing in your way."
Timing and distance had ended her and Daniel before they even really got started. She could only hope that he was was willing to take another chance on her.
"He still loves you, you know." Though they were mumbled beneath his breath, she heard Robin's words through the still of the night. Looking up at him with uncertainty in her own eyes, she saw nothing but conviction in his. "He'd be a fool to stop."
She smiled at him. "Thanks."
She could only pray that he was right. She knew that she'd made the right decision leaving Leo, even with the consequences that were sure to follow. With or without Daniel in her future, she knew that was true.
But was it so bad that she prayed it was with him in her future?
Hope you enjoyed this flashback! I may or may not continue it but please leave me a review to tell me what you think! Thanks!
