I know this story is taking a very long time. I so apologise. Between work and life and study and new puppies, I don't get a lot of time to write. Hope you enjoy this short instalment.

The room was small, cramped and a bit stuffy. The fluorescent lights hurt her eyes as they flickered; one second too bright and the next, too dim. The room was filled with a range of different people mulling about and a circle of folding chairs in the centre. She'd already caught the wandering eye of a possible fan watching her as she crossed the room; making a bee-line to the man holding the clipboard. She made a point to focus on him, if only to ignore the stares of those that knew who she was and those that were trying so hard to place her.

Semi-famous in LA was as famous as she wanted to be, in that room.

"You're new to us," The soft english accent caught her by surprise and the gentle blue eyes that found her in the light of a bright moment, were so like the man she was trying to avoid that a cold shiver ran over her skin.

What was it with her and men from the British Isles?

"Apparently so." She groused, looking everywhere but at his face. That didn't mean she hadn't noticed him. The thick wisp of golden brown hair, the strong, angled jaw or the way lean muscles moved beneath his white, button-down shirt that was rolled at the sleeves and covered with a brown, button-down vest; she caught sight of a tattoo on the inside of his wrist; a golden lion, dancing with every movement of his hand.

"Welcome," He held his hand out and she smiled, forcibly.

"Regina." She clarified.

"Ah, you're Regina, welcome" He added as she reluctantly shook his hand, panicking on the inside that her hands were as sweaty as she thought they were. "I'm Robin," He smiled, and she felt her insides shudder. "Call me Rob."

"Hello."

He leaned in, conspiratorially whispering in her ear. "Don't worry, no one knows you're here."

Regina blinked and Rob decided to clarify. "I spoke with David, and he said you're a bit famous around these parts? Is that true?"

"Surprisingly so, on occasion."

"I've heard of the Royals, so don't be too surprised." He smirked and Regina attempted and failed to hide her blush. "But they've promised to keep your participation in the group, confidential."

"Isn't it supposed to be anonymous anyway?" She scrunched her nose in confusion and he smirked.

"There's many different kinds of anonymity." He patted her arm gently. "And yours will be particularly invisible."

"Thanks." She furrowed her brow. "But you said they, you're not leading the group?" Rob pulled a gold coin from his pocket and flipped it in the air with a grin.

"Just another successful case, four years sober." He raised his chin with pride. "I'm just taking roll." He waved the clipboard in front of her face with a grin.

"Right." She nodded slowly. "So if this isn't your group, why did you speak to David?"

He grinned broadly. "I'm your sponsor."

For a moment, she thought she was having a heart attack. If her palms hadn't been sweaty before, they were now and she desperately wanted to reach for a bottle. She glanced around the room. There was a small table covered in a cheap plastic tablecloth that held plates of biscuits and cakes and on the end there were tall, steel coffee and tea decanters.

"Would you like one?"

The voice startled her and Regina looked up at him again.

"A cup of tea." He clarified and she had to hold in a chuckle at the absurdity of the moment. Her brain was overloading with stereotypes and it was making her head ache.

"No, thank you."

"You prefer coffee." He nodded and Regina smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I prefer whiskey," She adopted an innocent tone, even as she relayed what was really going through her head; because she'd gladly sacrifice Mary-Margaret for three fingers of whiskey in that moment. "Isn't that why we're here?"

"Touché," He smirked as he stepped away from her, heading toward the stack of paper cups at the end of the table.

She was starting to wish she'd downed the last of the whiskey in her apartment before David had whisked her away to this creepy community hall basement. It was the least conspicuous, he'd said. 'No one is going to expect you to be there.' was his argument and she was glad for this effort, but questioning the choice.

As she caught Rob's eye from the other side of the room - he raised his paper cup to her with a wink - she was trying to work out which was worse. Public embarrassment at being burned in the local paper - 'Local Rock Queen attends Downtown Rehab' or possibly tripping over her own sanity with the blue-eyed Englishman that was looking at her out of the corner of his eye every few minutes.

She swallowed, her throat as dry as a desert; she wanted to run.

"Regina, would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself?" The leader of the group, a portly psychologist with thick-rimmed glasses named Paul, directed all attention to Regina. For the most part she'd been sitting in silence, slouched in her chair with her feet crossed out in front of her; legs extended and arms crossed as she chewed on her thumbnail.

She looked up suddenly, blinking rapidly before she swallowed and removed her thumb from her mouth with a scowl.

"No."

"A very effective part of this program is learning to open up about your issues."

"I drink too much, I snort coke when I'm out of Whiskey and I can't stand my ex-step-daughter." Regina shrugged. "All clear, next victim." She pointed to the jittering street junkie to her right - named Eddie - who'd been muttering about the return of Christ, under his breath, for the last half hour.

Rob, sitting on her left, let out a faint sigh and Regina's eyes shot to him, but he was already looking away. Something inside of her flinched; somehow, the sound of this man's disapproval made her skin itch and her insides churn. Awkwardly, she pulled herself back up to a sitting position.

She crossed one leg over the other and folded her arms over her chest again, this time refraining from chewing her thumb as she listened to Eddie's paranoid ramblings of the saviour's return with Rob's eyes burning into the side of her face.

"You know, the whole point of these meetings is to talk through your issues." Rob's voice caught Regina off-guard as she stood on the steps of the community hall, warmed by the glow of her cigarette and glad the farce of pretending she could actually struggle through AA, was over for the night.

Regina smirked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "That's not how I do things."

"You know," He stepped down a few steps, turning back around to look up at her with a concerned expression that made her bones feel like they'd dissolve into magma. "Maybe the whole problem is the way you've been doing things."

"Poetic." She groused.

"The truth," He smirked. "Your way isn't working, so try mine." Without another word or look, the chisel-jawed englishman turned and strode away. Regina watched him cross the car park, feeling that her heart had leapt up into her chest. It started beating frantically, a manifestation of her darkest demons, clawing their way to the surface.

She wanted to let them out, she wanted to share them and get them off her chest because a part of her knew that Rob was right. But somehow, she froze up. All sanity escaped her and she'd acted like a spoiled brat with the man who smelled like fresh pine and pancakes, sitting beside her with a reassuring smile.

She couldn't tell him; not when her heart skipped a beat when he looked at her.

"What are you doing here?" Killian's eyes bulged as Regina pressed her palms to his chest, shoving him backwards into his room.

"I slipped passed Granny, she doesn't know I'm here."

"I thought you weren't talking to me," Killian frowned, watching Regina's fingers as she deftly unbuttoned his shirt.

"So shut up and kiss me," She growled, scraping her nails down his chest.

"Bad night?" He questioned and Regina looked up at him with a scowl.

"Right," He nodded, reaching for her waist. "Shutting up and kissing." He obliged, not even flinching when she bit down hard on his lip, sure to leave a mark. Something was bothering her. She was breathless and her eyes were empty, almost frantic. Killian could feel the way she fumbled for his belt buckle whilst pushing him back towards the bed, that she was desperately fighting something.

Regina's inner demons; something he wasn't entirely sure he was qualified to fight. But as she looked up at him breathlessly, her lips swollen from the assault on his own and his cock half hard in her hand, he figured helping her forget her demons, instead of facing them head on, was something he could do.

It was still dark as Regina and Killian lay there, side by side, looking up at the ceiling. She could feel the sweat that glistened across her chest, touching her fingertips to her lips, she could still taste the blood she'd shed in his mouth. He didn't dare speak or even touch her, regardless of the intimate embrace they'd shared only moments ago. He could still feel his heart racing, even as the breeze from the window had started to cool his sweat-dampened skin.

"I was married to her father."

Killian turned his head to the side, his eyes resting on Regina's profile, framed by the blue glow of the moon. "Who's father?" He kept his voice low, barely above a whisper, lest he scare her into silence.

"Mary Margaret's."

"David's girlfriend," He nodded. "So the animosity between you two," He blinked. "it's the age gap or lack-there-of?"

"She refuses to see how much of a bastard her perfect father really is."

Killian studied her closely. She refused to turn to him or meet his eye, seemingly content in the darkness, to breathe out her demons and share them in the dark.

"I still have the scars and she never believed me."

"Why were you with him?" Killian reached up, resting his hand on the mattress near he ear, twirling a lock of her dark hair between his fingers.

"He spoiled me." She laughed bitterly. "I don't know, maybe with everything I'd been through I thought that's what love was meant to be."

Twisting her hands in the rough sheets, close to her chest, Regina's voice shook faintly in the darkness. "But I was just a plaything, just a toy to bring out on display when he had need of me." She breathed out.

"How did you get away?"

Her smile was sweet, glowing gently as the rapid rise and fall of her chest slowed. "David," She swallowed and Killian had found himself fixated on the way her expressions changed, so subtly. "He saved me. He always does."

"Do I need to be concerned about that?" Killian smirked and Regina finally turned to look him in the eye.

"What do you mean?"

"For competition," He smirked and Regina's eyes opened wide, staring at him as though she'd only just realised where she was and that it was the last place on earth, she wanted to be.

"I have to go." She rolled out of bed, pulling her jeans on and throwing her shirt over her head.

"Regina,"

"No, this was a mistake."

She pulled her boots back on, shaking his arm away as he reached for her elbow. "Regina, please."

"No," She frowned. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come here."

She disappeared out the door without another word, slamming it behind her and leaving him alone in the dark to fall back against the pillows with a heavy sigh.

Killian ambled down the stairs, headed toward the kitchen to see if Granny had left any lasagne in the fridge when, through the open front door, he saw something he did not expect. With her back to him, curled in on herself, was Regina.

Detouring, he followed the hall out to the porch, cringing at the creaking sound the front screen door made. "Sorry," He winced as she looked up at him, standing between her and the door as it slowly creaked closed.

"I told you this was a mistake."

"But you're still here."

"I couldn't think of where else to go."

"You couldn't go home?"

"It's lonely there. And I haven't cleaned up." She didn't elaborate on exactly what she meant; that 'cleaned up' really meant that she hadn't yet had the time to pour all of her half-empty whiskey bottles down the drain before David showed up on her doorstep to do it for her. She tried to extinguish the thought, but all that replaced it was the broad, pristine grin of the sandy-haired Englishman who made her heart flutter when he spoke.

"And it's less lonely out here, on Granny's stoop?"

"Oddly enough," She smirked.

"Do you wanna talk?" Killian ventured, pulling his hip flask from his pocket and fiddling with the lid. He noticed Regina's eyes turn as he moved, fixing on his hands as he held the flask out before him, casually resting his arms on his knees as he sat down beside her.

"Not really," She cleared her throat before she swallowed and quickly turned her eyes back to the road. Killian furrowed his brow.

"Okay," He nodded, thinking. "Do you want me to talk then?"

"If you want."

He chuckled lightly. "Okay, well," He coughed into his hand to clear his throat. "Well I left Ireland for some fairly selfish reasons."

"Oh?" She wouldn't meet his eye, but he smirked.

"Yeah, I was engaged, almost married her too," He laughed, looking up at the stars. "I got all the way to the alter and she got halfway there too, before she turned tail and ran."

"I'm sorry," Regina's head turned and he could feel her eyes on his face as he looked down at his hands.

"It's alright," He nodded. "It was probably for the best." Twisting his arm around on his knee, he showed her the tattoo on his forearm - the brunette with piercing blue eyes and a cautious smile. "Milah," He spoke quietly. "Turns out she never really loved me as much as I loved her."

Regina flinched at his words, pulling her shoulders up higher as if to hide herself as he took a swig from his flask. Killian just smiled genuinely, kindly; holding the hip flask out to her with the cap in her direction. For a moment she hesitated, David's and Rob's faces flashing before her eyes. But then she looked up to see how Killian's blue eyes glistened and something inside of her cracked.

Tentatively, she took the flask from him, lifting it to her nose to breathe in the aroma. Rum; she should have known.

She took a long swig, feeling the burn down the back of her throat like a searing punishment for her weakness. She'd attended one meeting and she'd already fallen royally off the wagon.

"I can't replace her."

"Nor can I be him, love." Killian smirked, taking the flask and throwing his head back. Regina watched the lines of his throat as he swallowed, using the physicality of his presence to hide from David's disappointed expression and the overbearing reality of her new sponsor's words.

She'd shared truths with Killian and he'd shared truths with her; as she gestured for him to pass the flask back once again, she felt that perhaps if she shared some of the grazes of her past with him, she could avoid sharing the deepest scars and gashes with the strangers that claimed they could save her.

As she swallowed once again the world started to blur. David's disappointment ebbed away and she could barely remember the face of the man she'd met earlier in the evening.

Regina woke up with a throbbing headache, a uncomfortable strain in her neck and the imprint of a doily in her right cheek. The smell of eggs and the sound of crackling bacon reached her senses before she realised where she was and while she frowned against the sharp morning light, the sound of Granny's blissful humming calmed her nerves.

"Ah, you're awake, wonderful." Granny's far too chipper voice startled her as she came bustling into the room. "I'm so glad you're up, I'm making you breakfast."

"I don't think I could eat anything." Regina groaned, rubbing her brow in discomfort as she sat up on the sofa.

"A little hair of the dog?" Killian's voice surprised her and she turned sharply, wincing at how the sudden movement turned her stomach before she saw him stretched out on a lounge-chair, dangling his hip flask out to offer.

Regina frowned, shaking her head as she stood. "I should go."

"Now Regina, dear, I don't think that's wise." Granny gripped her arms gently and Regina smiled down at her kindly.

"I appreciate it, Granny, but I'll be fine."

"Regina," Killian's voice was soft and gentle and she could hear the question in his tone. He wanted to talk, but that was the last thing Regina wanted to do. They'd been honest with each other the night before, perhaps too honest and Regina needed to pull herself back.

She was trying to be better. She was trying to save herself. But wallowing in self-pity and grappling for Killian's understanding was having the opposite effect.

"I should go," She responded, unable to meet his eyes. There was silence for a moment; Granny disappeared back into the kitchen and Regina was left facing the door with a dejected Killian sitting three feet behind her.

"What is this?" She could hear the disappointment in his voice.

"I don't know." She breathed before making her way out the door without another word.

They both knew what they were doing, but were too afraid to admit it.

"What are you doing here?" Regina smirked, seeing the broad-shouldered man leaning against the edge of the bar, his fingers wrapped around a club soda with an amused smile on his face.

"David invited me."

"Oh he did, did he?" She rolled her eyes, waving Emma down to send a drink her way before she remembered who she was talking to. The blonde didn't hesitate, pouring Regina two fingers of whiskey and sliding the glass down the bar. Rob caught it midway, eyeing Regina with a look she couldn't quite place before he let the glass go.

What surprised her was that he didn't call out for Emma to take it back, he didn't argue that she should pour it out or look at her with disappointment. He simply moved his hand away and turned his eyes down to study a chip in the wood of the bar.

"You're not going to say anything?" Regina could hear the shake in her own voice, fearing his opinion before he'd even voiced it.

"No."

"Why?"

"I'm not here to belittle you, Regina." He met her eyes. "I'm not here to tell you not to drink," He shrugged. "If you want to drink, you drink. If you believe it'll help." Tapping his nails on the bar, he smiled kindly. "My job is to show you that there's other choices you can make, if you want to. I'm here to share with you how being sober has helped me and hope that perhaps it'll help you too. And I'm here to talk, whenever you feel you're ready to open up."

Regina sat there staring at him for a moment, her dark brown eyes studying the blue of his for longer than was really necessary. She could feel her skin heating up; her cheeks flushed under her make-up and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. With anyone else she'd have likely downed the drink in one swallow, out of spite. Somehow Robin was different.

"I didn't think," She breathed, looking down at the glass cradled in her hand as she slowly pushed it across the bar and away from her, staring at it like a loss.

"That's okay."

Regina swallowed. "So, did he invite you for the warm up."

Rob cleared his throat. "Yeah, thought it might be good for me to see what kind of band you guys are." He smirked, meeting her eye. "I haven't heard any of your music, I hope you won't hold it against me."

"No," She found herself smiling, surprising herself with how genuine it was. "But if you like it, you should stay for the show."

"No, I can't, I have somewhere I need to be."

"Sure," Regina awkwardly moved away from the bar. "That's fine,"

"Regina!" He called out after her but she waved him off.

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

Killian watched Regina as they were warming up. Her eyes had barely left the man across the bar the entire time, unless her name was called or her voice was needed. He didn't know who the guy was, but he seemed to have her undivided attention. She watched as he spoke to Emma and Neal, even helped the slight, blonde barmaid lift a crate of bottles onto the bar, flexing the muscles beneath his button-down shirt.

He frowned at the back of her head, watching as she strode the length of the stage. The sound of her heels were muffled by the sound of David tuning his guitar but he could sense the pensive pattern that she made as she paced.

He was curious as to who the man was and why, every so often, he'd meet her gaze before his attention was diverted.

Killian sucked in his lip and looked away, unable to watch Regina's attention so desperately locked on someone else. He thought he'd had competition in David, but he could see now that he was direly mistaken. David simply wanted what was best for Regina, as a brother would. But this man, this man that was new and clean looking and entirely out of place in the dungeon of the Carlyle, had Regina's curiosity. He didn't want to admit that he'd noticed the flush in her cheeks when the man had smiled in their direction, or that the look on her face had made his heart ache as she'd turned her back, facing the rest of the band and himself, to smile coyly like a school girl with a crush.

He didn't know what they had, he couldn't name it. But Regina had been with him the night before, she'd sat with him and she'd shared secrets with him. So he'd wait in hope that whoever this man was, he wasn't a threat.

"Who was he?" Killian's voice caught Regina off-guard as she made her way down the dimly-lit back corridor, towards the bathrooms.

"Who?" She threw over her shoulder.

"That guy that's hanging around?" He gently grabbed her arm, stopping her and turning her to face him. "The guy with the muscles and the expensive shirt and the cheesy smile."

"No one," She wavered, her tone shaky.

"Don't give me that, Regina. Do you think I'm stupid?"

"I think you're jealous."

"So?"

"So, you have no right to be, Killian."

"Who is he, Regina?"

"No one that concerns you."

"Of course it concerns me, we're..."

"No," She cut him off. "Killian, we're not." She reached up to grip his arm, squeezing gently. "We've been together a few times and when we are, it's fun and it's sexy and," She sucked in her bottom lip, biting down as she felt his arm flex beneath her fingers. "Sometimes I find it hard to walk away from you, but we're not good for each other, Killian."

"How can you say that?"

"Because I need to think about what I'm doing for a change."

"That sounds like David talking." He scowled and Regina's eyes softened.

"Maybe it is," She smirked. "But perhaps that's because he's right."

"I care about you."

Regina reached up, touching Killian's face with the palm of her hand, gently, running her thumb over his cheek.

"I know."

"Please, don't..." Killian grabbed her waist, pulling her towards him. Regina pressed her palms to his chest, attempting to push him back but his hold was firm and insistent but still gentle. "I can be what you want." He pressed his lips to hers hungrily, pulling her closer and dragging his nails up her back. Regina's spine arched at the touch, unable to control how her chest tightened and her heart-rate increased.

"Please, Killian, don't."

Her voice pleaded but her body refused to ignore him. Her nails found their way to his hair and before she knew it, she was growling in the back of her throat as he lifted her off the ground and pressed her back against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist and an arm around his shoulders to support her weight as he dipped his hand into her jeans.

Regina gasped, biting down hard on his lip as her whole body shook. "Killian we can't."

"I won't give up on you."

He buried his face in her neck as he pulled the zipper on his jeans and her's, rocking her against the wall and feeling his whole body stiffen as she gasped his name.

David snatched the bottle of whiskey out of Regina's hand as he made his way into her dressing room. The crowd in the club was dying out and through the faint crack in the heavy velvet curtain, she could see that the sun was just coming up. They'd played a full set to a packed out club. Regina had stumbled out onto the stage, readjusting her clothes and feeling her cheeks burn. When she'd noticed that Rob was no longer in the crowd, Regina had found it difficult to meet Killian's eye. For not the first time, her weakness when it came to Killian had made her feel like she'd lost a battle and she was back at the beginning again.

"No," He spoke firmly and Regina scowled, shuffling further down in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest like a petulant child.

"You're no fun."

"You've been in AA for three weeks." He argued back and her frown deepened; even though she'd wanted to drink, hiding from Killian in her dressing room and hoping he wouldn't come find her. She didn't know if she could face herself in the mirror, if she'd failed twice once again, for the second night in a row.

"I didn't drink it. I just wanted to hold it."

David smirked. "No." He patted her leg fondly, knocking her feet off the coffee table before reaching out for her hands. "Come on," He pulled her to her feet, despite her protests. "I'll drive you home."

"I don't wanna go." She pouted and David's mirth shone in his eyes.

"You need your rest, you've got a meeting tonight and I promised Rob you wouldn't be late to this one."

"Where did you pluck him from, anyway?" She questioned, awkwardly pulling her arms into her jacket sleeves.

"Friend of an old friend." He smirked and Regina scowled. "Come on, we've got the label scout tomorrow as well, remember."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me, if Gold put half as much effort into promoting us as he did trying to get rid of us, that wouldn't be necessary."

David shrugged, pushing the curtain aside and guiding her out into the silent club. "He believes this approach to be one in the same."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, if he can get us signed to a label and recording, then he can claim exclusive rights to our live gigs, and for loyalties sake, we'd play here, then he's raking it in."

"That conniving little imp." Regina growled and David chuckled.

"It has a sense of poetry to it, like everything he does."

"True."

TO BE CONTINUED.