A/N: I've returned, well, hopefully for a while before writer's block kicks in again and I end up losing my muse.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Once Upon a Time or any of the characters in it. However, I do own this story, Juliette and any other character unknown to the Once fandom, and my mistakes.
Previously
By the time the elevator arrived and dinged — which didn't take more than two minutes tops — Regina somehow managed to fall asleep while standing upright. If he wasn't so wasted himself, he would've laughed and definitely snapped a picture, just to annoy her a little more. But he scooped her up bridal style and carried her out.
Boy, did he struggle though. Now she wasn't heavy, not at all but he wasn't sober either, it was a miracle that he managed to carry himself up, let alone carry another person. He fell, a couple of times and she stirred, groaned and elbowed his face out of annoyance and God, it was too tempting to drop her down onto the floor but he was a gentleman, his mother taught him better than to do that.
He did, however, toss her onto the bed which caused her to bounce right off of it. He shouldn't have, but he couldn't stifle the laugh that erupted out of him at her yelp, "Sorry."
He wasn't though, not even the slightest. She had it coming for elbowing his face and almost breaking his nose.
Chapter Five
Regina stirred from her sleep with a grunt. Her head was throbbing, and her whole body ached, she felt as though she'd been hit by a truck, or something equally as large. She couldn't move a muscle without feeling like death itself. It was awful, it also reminded her why she rarely ever drinks, especially this heavily. She wasn't used to this, it's always been a glass or two of wine every now and then after a long, tiring day at work, but never shots, and God knows what else they had last night. She was convinced, it wasn't something for her. Never again, she promised herself, she will never drink again, ever.
She groaned, lifting a sore arm up and rubbing a hand over her face, careful not to inflect any more pain to herself, and that's when she realized something. She was nude. Well, not completely, but save for the oversized shirt she wore — which she assumed was Robin's — she was naked.
Regina gulped, chestnut brown eyes growing wide. She couldn't have slept with him, she loathed the man, and even so, she wasn't the type of a woman that would go around, fooling with strange men, even if technically Robin wasn't exactly a stranger.
Regardless, she felt angry, betrayed. He'd taken advantage of her drunken haze to have his way with her; that bastard. Pushing aside her pain, she rolled out of bed with a wince, tugging the shirt down to cover herself up and hold on to whatever left of her self-respect and dignity. Regina bent down, gathering her clothes that were discarded all over the place. Last night's outfit on one side, stockings and bra in another, and…fuck. She flinched, using the tips of her fingers to remove her panties off his boxers, lips pursed in annoyance. Out of all the places in his room, they just had to land there. Were they that impatient? Nevermind, she wasn't sure she wanted to know, let alone, remember last night, any detail of it.
"You're awake." Robin stated, fully dressed as he stood by the doorway, a tray loaded with food in his hands.
Oh, so now he's being a gentleman?
"You," Regina hissed, shaking her fist in his direction, "you, son of a bitch. How could you?" She accused.
"H…how could I what?" He stuttered.
She scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe I actually thought you were different, that you were a gentleman, but you're just like the rest of the men, getting me drunk to have sex with me. You're…you're…" She snarled, unable to find a word to describe how much he disgusted her.
"Wh…what?" Robin blinked at her allegations.
"You took advantage of me!" She affirmed, gesturing over at him.
"Okay, first of all, you need to calm down, Regina, and put your panties away." He sighed, watching her eyes bulge again and her face flush as she rushed to hide her hand behind her back. If the situation was different, he would've laughed. "I didn't take advantage of you, I didn't even touch you last night!"
"Liar." She spat.
"I am not a liar," he argued through gritted teeth, "you couldn't even stand up on your own, and I wasn't sober enough to drive. My place was closer than yours, so I walked us back here, threw you over the bed and left you to sleep." He explained, defensively.
"You threw me?" She gaped.
Of all the things he said, that's what she emphasized on. Women. Robin rolled his eyes, setting the tray down to the side. "You know what, a simple 'thank you' would've sufficed."
"Thank you over what? Getting me drunk? Stripping me out of my clothes? Ogling me like a piece of meat and the having sex with me?" Regina barked.
"For the last time, Regina, I did not have sex with you!" He groaned out of frustration.
"Then how come I woke up wearing nothing but this?" She questioned, pointing over at the shirt she wore.
"I don't know, I swear I didn't strip you out of your clothes. I wanted to, only because your outfit seemed uncomfortable, but didn't, I left the shirt here and…and that's all I remember." He admitted, and then added, folding his arms over his chest, eyebrows furrowed slightly. "And even if we did have sex, we were both drunk, it could've been you suggesting that, doesn't have to be me just because I'm a man and you were in my bed." He reasoned, raising a brow.
"I…I wouldn't do that," Regina claimed, her voice softening, because he had a point, they were both wasted. "I would never sleep with you."
"And why not?" He asked, walking over to her, not stopping until he was inches away. "If I vaguely recall, you were all over me last night, I had to force you down and away from me."
"You're lying, I…I would never do such thing." She murmured, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment. Could he be right? Could she have been all over him as he claimed? It didn't sound like her, but again, she consumed a hefty amount of alcohol the night before, anything is possible while being that sozzled.
"Oh, but you were." He insisted, carrying on with his deception, it'd be a lie to claim he wasn't enjoying her reaction to this, it was quite amusing. "You see, I was just as drunk as you are, but I do remember a few bits here and there, and I do remember you trying to make out with me, infact, you tried that a few times. The bar, while we were walking here — not that you did much walking, I had to carry you halfway, you kept on swaying in the direction of the road, any passing car could've hit you, and the elevator too, and then again inside." He listed, counting on his fingers. It was all fun until her face twisted, brown eyes brimming with tears. She had such a loud mouth for someone so sensitive, goodness. "Regina…"
"No," she interrupted, "you said enough. Just…get out."
It was awful, and he felt guilty, but he couldn't suppress his laugh, "You're in my place."
Regina closed her eyes for a moment, collected herself before marching past him. She was flustered, cheeks growing redder by the second, he called out on her but she ignored him, walking out of the apartment and slamming the door shut behind her. Now would've been a perfect time for the earth to split and swallow her, but alas, she wasn't that lucky. Regina sniffled, repeatedly pushing the button for the elevator, and while impatiently waiting for it to arrive, she managed to slip on her panties and then gave her surroundings a quick look before discarding his shirt and slipping on her dress again.
"Regina, wait!" Robin pleaded, sprinting down the corridor to reach her, but she disappeared inside the elevator and the doors closed before he had the chance to stop her. He groaned, stomping his foot before huffing. His goal was to impress her, but instead, everything went downhill.
She slept in, she never sleeps in, rarely ever does, but she did, and she was late to work. Yes, she owned the place, yes, she was her own boss, but that wasn't an excuse. She was Regina Mills, she doesn't make excuses, unless it involved romantic dates, which reminded her to work harder next time so it wouldn't end the way it did with Robin. The mere thought made her grimace.
No time to stop by her place, Regina went to work with the dress she wore the night before, smeared makeup on her face and a pounding headache. Luckily, her staff strayed out of her way, knowing well she wouldn't be in mood for their usual banters, but as the day went by, she was told off multiple times, asked to go home and rest, and after resisting for a good hour, she gave in. She needed some caffeine in her system and food in her stomach, or some sleep, she desperately needed some sleep.
"Well, well, look who finally decided to show up." Malinda announced.
"Not a good time, Mal, not a good time." Regina murmured, closing the door behind her. It was bad enough having to make the dreadful walk of shame back home, being teased about it only made things worse.
"Details," Malinda demanded, grinning from ear to ear, "I wanna know everything."
"Where were you?" A small voice chimed in, Regina turned around to find her daughter in her pajamas, a serious expression over her face and arms crossed in front of her. "I told Robin to bring you home before midnight, not midnight the next day." Regina laughed, as did Malinda, while Juliette didn't find this funny, not one bit. "I'm being serious— wait, you two didn't have sex, did you?" She gasped, nose scrunched up in disgust.
"Juliette!" Regina exclaimed, smacking her friend who bursted out in laughter.
"So you did!"
"Whether I did or not, that's none of your concern, young lady."
"Ew," Juliette whispered, narrowing her eyes in her mother's direction, "I think I'm gonna be sick." She murmured, walking into the kitchen and sitting up on a stool, stealing a piece of cookie from the batch her mom baked the other day.
"Oh yes, help yourself to a cookie, that'll make you feel better." Regina answered, sarcastically, rolling her eyes at her daughter.
Malinda cleared her throat. "Either way, I think he's smitten." She teased, receiving a confused expression from her friend. "He send those," she motioned her hand to the flower bouquet on the coffee table, "I told you, smitten."
"I told him to fuck off." Regina grumbled.
"Language." Juliette reminded with a mouthful.
"Sorry." Regina apologized, bending over to pick up the bouquet and the letter that came along with it, eyebrows creased a little. As curious as she was to read what was in it, she was far too furious to do so, instead, she chucked the letter and the flowers in the trash, dusted her hands after it, and then turned around, walking into her bedroom.
"I don't think the date went well." Juliette murmured, puckering her lips and shaking her head in disappointment.
"I don't think so either." Malinda agreed, stealing the half-eaten cookie from her goddaughter and taking a bite.
It was two hours past midnight when Regina decided to sneak out of her bedroom to retrieve both the bouquet and the letter. Being as quiet as she possibly could, she poured herself a cup of cold milk and carried the rest of the cookies with her to the living area, not that they were many left, her daughter scarfed down most of it, it was her favorite. Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies, best straight out of the oven, or heated, but she didn't bother warming them up, they were still good as they are.
She sat down on the couch, legs tucked underneath her, one hand held the milk while the other kept a hold of the letter as she read.
Dear Regina
It started with, but then it was crossed off, scribbled over, and started again.
I wanted to apologize for today, my witty remarks were uncalled for, so, I'm sorry for that. But I also wanted to assure you that nothing happened between us, I promise.
And then it went on, he began explaining from what he recalled have happened.
You passed out before changing out of that dress, it seemed uncomfortable and, although I did claim otherwise, I did change you out of it, but I averted my eyes and I've left both your bra and panties on, I haven't touched either, I give you my words, milady, so I'm not sure how you woke up without either.
But she was, she remembered briefly too, she took them off in the middle of the night. Sleeping with a bra on was never comfortable, although she wasn't sure why she'd taken off her underwear as well. It was unlike her. She remembered a bit more than that, she remembered him standing behind her, holding her hair to the side as she puked her guts out, she remembered sitting between his legs afterward, his hand rubbing her back as he whispered sweet, reassuring words to her.
I would never take advantage of you, Regina, or any other woman, in that matter, but I do hope you could forgive me and my awful sense of humor.
Sincerely, Robin.
"What are you doing?"
Regina gasped, quickly hiding away the letter, "Julie."
"What did you hide away from me, mom?" Juliette asked, attempting to raise one of her eyebrows.
"Nothing, I'm not hiding anything from you," Regina lied, "what are you doing awake at this time anyways?"
"I had to use the bathroom." Juliette explained, grabbing the cookie platter and setting it down on the coffee table. She slumped down beside her mother, wrapping her arms around her and nestling close. "I see you took out Robin's flowers out of the trash." Regina remained quiet, only rolling her eyes a little. "They're nice, he seems like a nice guy, why do you hate him?"
"I don't hate him." Regina argued.
"So does that mean you like him?"
Regina scoffed, "No, I don't."
"Sure you don't, mom." Juliette pursed her lips and patted her arm lovingly. "You keep trying to convince yourself that." She hummed, closing her eyes and cuddling closer. "You wouldn't have gotten up this late just to get his flowers if you didn't."
"Stop growing," Regina grumbled, ruffling her daughter's dark locks, and erupting a giggle out of her, "you're too mature for your own good, stop growing." She pleaded, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"I can try, but I can't promise you anything." Juliette beamed, bringing a wide grin to her mother's face. "But you can promise me something."
"What's that?" Regina whispered, running her fingers through her daughter's hair, then tucking a lock behind her ear, staring down at her as she stared up with big, bright eyes.
"Promise you'd give Robin a chance, he really does seem like a good guy."
Regina sighed, pressing her lips together, then nodding. She'd give him a chance, she owed it to him anyways, especially after the little outburst that happened earlier, the misunderstanding from both parties, mostly her.
"I promise."
A/N: If you enjoyed it, please don't forget to review and tell me what you think of it. For occasional sneak peeks and mostly me fangirling over OQ, Lana and Sean, feel free to follow me on Twitter (Nona_AM)