A week had passed since Robin and Regina's fight. Regina felt deeply hurt by Robin's words. She tried to put him out of her mind but nothing was working.
Regina sat on her bed and pulled out her phone to start typing a text message to Robin.
We left on a really bad note. can we talk somewhere?
She hovered over the send button for a second, but with a little jolt of adrenaline she quickly pressed send and waited for what seemed like an excruciatingly long time for his reply.
When she heard her text tone she practically pounced on her phone. It wasn't Robin though. It was Graham.
Were you planning on cooking because I'm near Granny's.
It shouldn't have, but it irritated her that it wasn't Robin.
Pick up some Granny's.
Regina replied, keeping it short and sweet.
She put her phone down and tried to settle her nerves. Taking deep breaths and turning on the TV to try to occupy her mind on something else.
When she heard her text tone again she grabbed her phone thinking it was Graham again, but it was Robin this time.
Yeah, I'm really sorry about what I said. Where do you want to meet?
Can you meet me at the Rabbit Hole in...
She paused her typing to look at the clock on her dresser that read 6:33pm.
...an hour maybe?
She finished, waiting silently for his quick reply.
Yes, of course that's fine.
Regina put her phone down with a sigh as she raked her finger through her dark locks.
What was she doing? Why did she feel the need to even talk to Robin? Did she honestly think anything could be resolved with just a talk with him? She was slowly starting to regret her decision to plan out their little "meeting".
She heard the front door downstairs open and then close.
"Hey, I didn't know if you wanted chili or a chef salad so I just got both."
And then there was Graham. Ever since they had sex he'd show up at her office almost every morning, bringing her coffee or he would come in the afternoon and bring her lunch. Not that she's complaining because it's nice to have someone who takes care of her. But what was she doing with him? Did they really have a future or is he just a rebound catching feelings for her?
All these unanswered questions racked her brain as she headed downstairs.
Graham greeted her with a soft kiss to her lips.
"You look stressed babe," Graham said with a frown.
"I had a long day at work," she said leaning her head on his chest.
"And a lot on my mind." She added.
"You want to talk about it?" Graham asked while simultaneously pulling out the food from the bags.
"Not really," Regina replied sinking into a chair.
They ate in comfortable silence. She looked at her watch every now and then trying to plan how to escape Graham in the next 10 minutes.
"Are you late for something?"
"Huh?" Regina asked a bit startled.
"You keep staring at your watch every two minutes," he observed, scooping his last spoonful of chili.
"Umm actually... Mary Margaret wanted to meet me at the Rabbit Hole to just have a Girl's Night Out type of thing."
She lied. But she couldn't just say
I'm going to go meet up with my ex to talk and maybe drink a little.
"Oh that sounds really nice. Don't stay out too late," Graham joked.
Regina raised her brow and gave a polite giggle.
"I'll do whatever I want, thank you very much."
She looked at her watch again that read 7:15 pm.
"I better go get ready," she said shuffling up the stairs.
"Okay, well I should get going anyways. See you tomorrow?" Graham asked, getting up and throwing his leftovers away.
"Yeah sure." Regina said giving him a quick kiss and walking him to the door.
After Graham left she went into her closet to look for something to wear. She didn't want to look overdressed but yet not too casual.
She settled for a navy blue blouse and dark-wash jeans with black heels. She was out the door by 7:25pm.
She turned on the radio on her way there and a song she knew as Paper Hearts came on. It reminded her of her situation with Robin.
"Remember the way you made me feel
Such young love but
Something in me knew that it was real
Frozen in my head
Pictures I'm living through for now
Trying to remember all the good times"
She didn't notice the tears on her face until the song was over.
Pulling into the parking lot, she reapplied her mascara and lipstick. Taking one last look into her mirror she got out the car and went inside.
She saw him before he saw her. She took a deep breath and made her way toward him, not truly knowing what to expect.
She was very nervous, too nervous. She even felt butterflies in her stomach.
Don't be weird Regina, it's just Robin.
Robin, the love of your life. Because yes, even after he had chosen Marian over her he still was her soulmate, pixie dust doesn't lie. She still loved him, probably always will. So there was no reason to be nervous.
He was sitting by the bar, had already ordered something. He looked tense, she could tell by the way he was sitting, by his shoulders.
The last time she found him sitting like that was when Zelena had taken her heart and he was planning how to get it back. She told him to relax and offered to rub his shoulders. They ended up rubbing entirely different body parts.
She couldn't help but smile at the memory before shaking her head to push it away.
"Hi." She said, reaching for the chair next to him and sitting down.
"Hey." He replied, giving her a smile that didn't really reach his eyes.
"I think-" she started.
"Before you say anything I just want to apologize for everything I said. I was mad and hurt, but that's no reason to act like a complete asshole." He said.
"You were mad and hurt? I was hurt! You left me remember, not the other way around. And why were you mad?"
"Graham." He scoffed, raising his glass to the bartender so he could keep the scotch coming.
"Anything for the lady?" The bartender asked.
"Yes, a tequila please."
After her first shot she turned to Robin and asked: "You're jealous of Graham? Why?"
"Because he gets to have what I can't. He gets to have you." He turned to look her in the eyes, "and I want you."
"Robin, you can't say things like this." She said.
"Why not?"
"Because it hurts. Knowing you want me just as much as I want you hurts." She said staring at her empty glass.
"You replaced me." She added.
"I couldn't even if I tried. I miss you every second of every day Regina."
"I'm not what you need. You need Roland and his mother, your wife, Marian."
"But you are what I want." He quietly confessed.
"This was a mistake, I shouldn't have asked you to come." She said reaching for her purse and getting up.
"I don't know what I was thinking we could solve by talking. Goodbye Robin." She said, heading towards the door.
He couldn't let her leave. This is not how he wanted this evening to end, he couldn't go weeks without seeing her or talking to her again. He wanted to fix this, or at least try to. He had to do something. He had to go after her.
"Regina wait!" He yelled, reaching for his wallet to pay the bartender before heading out the door to follow her.