Here is another update!

Oh and for who thought it was Marian watching them, guess again! It is someone we've seen on the show though. Just not in the story quite yet.

Enjoy the chapter!


"Mom, I'm home!" Robin yelled as he walked through the front door.

"I'm in the kitchen!" she yelled back.

Robin groaned. His mother had gone through certain phases over the years. Some of them weren't bad, like baking or sewing; others were damn near terrifying, like her current phase. His mother is currently experimenting with exotic foods. Some of the meals his mom made were okay, but the more exotic she got, the worse it tasted. Like the good son he was, he tried to be supportive but his mother saw right through him most of the time.

"Do I want to know what you're making this time, mom?" he asked with caution present in his tone.

His mother looked up from what was apparently a rolled up piece of dough. "I'll have you know that I have decided to stop experimenting. I'm going back to baking." Pointing her sticky finger at her son she continued. "Don't you dare say 'Thank goodness'."

Smiling, he put his arms around his mother. "I was going to say 'thank you'. Now I have more time to improve my cooking skills. And before you say anything else, I'm fine."

Caroline turned to face her son. "I just worry about you sometimes."

"My depression isn't back if that's what you're implying, mom. I was just nervous about the first day of school and couldn't sleep because of it. It was the prospect of seeing Marian again that brought it on." Robin explained.

Studying her son's face, she exclaimed. "Either you're never seeing that girl again or you found someone else that you've set your eyes on."

Robin turned beet red. "Mom…"

His mother never failed to embarrass him even if it was with good intentions. His friends always say that they hate it when their mothers pry into their lives. Robin finds it endearing and sweet. His mom has never pressed when he didn't want to talk, and for that, he's grateful. It didn't stop him from producing a reaction out of him.

"What, I can't be happy that my son is finally getting over Marian? What's the girl's name?"

With raised eyebrows he looked at his mom. "I know you never liked Marian, mom."

"You're right, I never did. She never fully appreciated you. So, you met someone?"

With a smile, Robin replied. "I did meet someone who's new to town though. Her name's Regina."

Caroline gasped. "Regina, huh? Is she as pretty as her name?"

Robin's face turned red again. "Mom…"

"I'm going to take that as a yes." She patted Robin on the back. "Oh, Johnny's getting antsy in the backyard. Be a dear and take him for a walk."

While his mom when back to baking, he went out the back door to greet his golden retriever puppy. Johnny came from the dog that Robin went to when he was diagnosed with depression. It seemed that puppy therapy works wonders. After a while of going there, he asked the manager if he could work there. The manager didn't see a problem with it, so he allowed it. When he goes to work, all of the animals help him ignore his problems temporarily. He feels peace and tranquility when he goes to work, like nothing and no one else matters.

"Hey, buddy," Robin exclaimed as the puppy comes into view, panting and wagging his tail. He clipped the leash to his collar and said, "Let's go for a walk."

Both man and dog went around the side of the house and through the side gate. Robin was a person who was a creature of habit. He walked Johnny the same route every other day. Despite it benefiting his dog with exercise, he enjoys the time to think. He normally thinks about the usual things like school and dealing with Marian's behavior, but this time he spent his time thinking about another brunette. She was interesting and mysterious and he found himself being drawn to that waiting to see more of her qualities. He found himself equally surprised and impressed at how she correctly analyzed him that morning. Anyone he's met has said that he was rarely an open book. It seemed easy to Regina to see right through him. Almost as easy as being able to read her; her eyes gave away everything. Even the pained look she briefly showed when he mentioned someone not appreciating her.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice someone calling his name. "Robin!"

He turned around and immediately groaned. "Marian."

"We never talked," she said, referring to when they got interrupted during gym class.

Before he responded, he looked down at Johnny walking around and sniffing the grass, totally oblivious to the current conversation. Lucky bastard he thought. "That's because I don't have anything to say to you. I'm not gonna change my mind about the breakup. If that's why you're here, then I'm going to take Johnny home."

As Robin turned to walk away, Marian stepped in his path again. "That's not why I wanted to talk to you during gym class. I wanted to talk about the new girl."

Crossing his arms so as not to outwardly show his anger, he replied. "Regina? Why in the bloody hell would you want to talk about her?"

"I talked to Regina in the locker room today," she said cautiously. Robin opened his mouth to speak, most likely to yell at her again, but she stopped him. "Before you say anything, I just told her not to hurt you. She assured me that she wouldn't and went to the back of the locker room to change."

Robin's expression turned from anger to confusion. "Why should that concern me?"

"Well, I was going to apologize for being a little threatening when I asked her not to hurt you. When I followed her I saw that she was leaning against the wall trying to calm heavy breathing. It sounded like a panic attack."

Robin was more confused than ever. Knowing Marian, she would tell him some lie about how Regina's some serial killer and to stay away from her. He didn't expect her to tell the truth, or her version of it anyway. Robin said as much out loud.

"Look, I'm not going to tell you that she's some deranged serial killer, Robin. I'm telling you that I think she's damaged…and to be cautious around her. I wasn't paying much concern for her heavy breathing. She has scars all over her back, Robin. A lot of them were the red and jagged ones. I also noticed that she was shaking with rage from our conversation. I will bet everything in my savings account for college that she has anger management issues. I'm not going to be the selfish bitch of an ex-girlfriend and make you stay away from her, but I am telling you to be careful around her. I don't like how I'm getting bad feelings every time I'm around her. I really hope you take what I had to say to heart. Goodbye, Robin."

And with that, Marian walked off without another word or a glance back, leaving Robin to ponder if what she said had been complete bullshit or if some part of what she said had held some truth.

What Robin had never liked was people blindly throwing judgement towards someone based on gossip which was just plain bullying. No matter how mean Marian could get, she always had some kind of reason besides 'they dress funny' or 'they never talk; must be a mute' for hating someone. Deciding to walk home and think of a plan on the way, he got Johnny's attention by tugging gently on his leash so they could go back. Once he got home and put his dog on his leash outside, he thought up something solid that he could do. His plan wasn't to completely ignore the information that was given, but to come out and tell Regina about it and see what she says. He hasn't known her for very long, but he can somehow tell that Regina's not going to hurt him.


When mother and son first moved to town, they were lucky to find an apartment without using their compulsion powers. Luckily it wasn't very far from the high school; it was only about five minutes away by car. Looking around on the way back to the apartment, Regina noticed that a lot of things were different than when she last lived here. In all honesty, she wasn't surprised. It's been almost two hundred and fifty years. What would be surprising is if things hadn't changed at all. The only thing that didn't really change is the street names and the forest nearby.

"There's a carnival going on tonight, if you want to go," Regina said to Henry.

With a confused look on his face he said, "Carnival? Why would we go to one of those? I thought we were trying to be as invisible as possible."

"I figured it would be nice to see how much this town has changed."

Turning in the passenger seat, Henry assessed his mother. She seemed to be getting happier as the day has been going on. He was confused considering she hated the idea of coming back to the town that literally gave her hell. He practically had to drag her here kicking and screaming. His mother had mentioned her parents a few times over the past couple hundred years, but from the little she said, he was kinda glad that his grandparents died before he met them. If they were alive, he knew he wouldn't be able to control his rage around them. He normally wasn't a violent person, but he wouldn't care if it meant getting rid of the two people that his mother hated the most.

"Don't," his mother suddenly said, snapping Henry from his thoughts.

Looking in her eyes briefly, he asked, "Don't what?"

"I know that look. I don't want you thinking about your grandparents like that. You're a good person, Henry."

"I know," he sighed. "It doesn't stop me from wanting to hurt them for what they did to us, mainly what they did to you."

"It was almost two hundred and forty years ago, Henry. That problem is long behind us," Regina said.

Regina hated it when her son thought like that. It's dangerous for a good person to think those things and also for a vampire to do that. Since Henry was both, she didn't want to risk him turning into her. He's had enough pain and heartbreak to last quite a few lifetimes; so has she. The only difference is that she didn't know what was happening to her. The man that turned her just gave her his blood and left without bothering to tell Regina what she would become. She was lucky that she managed to hold it together so she could raise her son. After everything her parents took from her, she wasn't going to let raising Henry be the last thing.

During that brief silence, Regina finished the rest of the way home.

Regina had to wait a few hours until she could pick up Robin, so she decided to do some errands to stay busy. She didn't have any homework, so she put her bag in her room. Underneath her bed she grabbed a decent sized cooler. She was going to have to stock up on blood bags since the supply they had to tide them over was almost gone. She didn't like stealing the very thing that could save someone's life, but she knew it was better than feeding off humans. Blood from the source is addicting and she hadn't done it since before blood bags were invented. She wasn't going to be doing that anytime soon, considering she didn't want to be lost to the darkness, so stealing it is.

Once she was safely in and out of the hospital, Regina's next task was unpacking all of the boxes. Despite needing to move anyway in the next ten years so as not to arise suspicion, she knew it wouldn't feel like a home with all these boxes. Henry was even worse than she is. He unpacked all of his things the night before.

She briefly wondered was Robin was like. Damn it she thought. Apparently she couldn't go a few hours without thinking about him. I got it bad she groaned inwardly. Looking at the clock, she realized it was time to pick Robin up. She said goodbye to Henry and walked out the door.

It didn't take her very long to find his house. Pulling up against the curb, she noticed it was a normal two-story house with a yard and a fence with a sign that said 'WARNING: BEWARE OF DOG'. She walked up to the front door and hesitantly knocked. A few seconds later a middle-aged woman with dirty blonde hair answered the door.

"Hi," Regina said, awkwardly. "Is Robin here?"

The woman, presumably Robin's mother, instantly smiled. "You must be Regina?"

At Regina's nod, the woman opened the door all the way. "Robin? Regina's here!"

"Coming!" he yelled from somewhere in the house. A few seconds later he rounded the corner and came to the doorway. "You're early."

"I hadn't realized."

"Well, my mother and I were about to have some tea before I left. You should have some," Robin said and stepped aside, presumably to let her inside.

Looking down at the doorway, Regina cursed internally. Without a direct invitation straight from the human's mouth, vampires couldn't enter. A brief gesture, while an open invitation, didn't count. "I wouldn't want to impose," she finally said.

"Nonsense." Robin looked at her as if she were crazy. "My mother and I both want you here. Come in, please?"

Regina smiled. Since it was a direct invitation she could now enter.

Once she crossed the threshold, Robin asked teasingly, "You just have to be difficult, don't you?"

"Maybe," she said, teasing back, covering up the real reason why she couldn't come in.

They walked the rest of the way to the kitchen in silence.

Having tea with Robin's mother (whose name she found out was Caroline) wasn't bad at all. Sure she teased her son nonstop, but it was playful and not overbearing. After spending a few minutes with Mrs. Locksley she can already tell that she would've given anything to have her as a mother rather than Cora. Most of what they talked about was interests and hobbies. Caroline was understanding when she didn't really want to talk about her childhood or family.

When the time came his mother said her goodbyes to the two of them as they got in Regina's car. Robin's directions to the carnival led them to the clearing in front of the forest of trees. Getting out of the car, they purchased a handful of tickets and started to look around.

"So what do you wanna do first?" Robin asked, wagging his tickets in the air.

"Uh…" Regina looked down in embarrassment. "I've never really been to a carnival before. Or a state fair. Henry and I did go to an amusement park though."

Robin looked appalled. It would've been funny if not for his serious tone. "Well, milady I guess I'm gonna have to teach you what fun is."

Regina couldn't help but chuckle. "Seriously? And what's with the 'milady' if I may ask?"

"Yes, seriously. And the 'milady' is just a nickname I find fitting for you. Don't worry, I haven't called anyone else that. Only you will have the pleasure of my charms."

This time she burst out laughing. "Oh, wow! I meant what I said this morning, you are different."

"Thank you," he said smugly. He took her hand and continued. "First things first, we're going to be doing some carnival games. Come on."

He dragged her one of the booths. The first thing she noticed was several target boards on the back wall. She was about to ask him what the game was supposed to be when the person in charge of the booth brought out a bow and arrow and gave it to Robin.

"You do archery huh?" Regina asked, widely impressed.

"Oh yes," Robin replied as he took an arrow and placed it in the bow. "My father taught me when I was a young lad."

It was then that he looked at her with an expression that was slowly starting to look like anticipation. Like he was waiting for her to say something. After a few seconds of contemplating, she finally understood.

"Robin, if you think I'm gonna make a joke, I'm not."

And she wasn't. All her life she has always hated it when people judge and laugh at something someone does. It mostly happened when she was human and under her parents' roof. She was treated just as poorly as the African slaves that were brought in only because everyone in town knew her parents. Since her parents were powerful people, no one had commented on how she wasn't even supposed to be a slave. She wasn't enough of a minority to be one. When the government came around to do the annual census, Regina was always counted as a whole person instead of 3/5 of one. That was the one thing she always hated. So no, she wasn't going to make a joke.

His look changed to appreciation. "Thank you. Almost everyone has managed to squeeze at least one joke in. Even my friends but that was when we met. Now, they just pummel anyone who even dares to crack a joke at me."

"That's sweet." Regina smiled. "Now, let's this talent of yours."

He gave her a small smile and raised his bow. He took a few calming deep breaths and let the arrow loose. It ended up hitting the middle of the target. Regina found herself even more impressed when the next two arrows wound up scarily close to the first arrow.

"Speechless?" he asked once he gave the man back the bow.

"A little," she admitted. "I would've expected that skill to belong to someone older. I'm very impressed."

"Why thank you. Would you like to pick out a prize?" He gestured to the stuffed animals lining the side walls of the booth. Once she picked out a giant stuffed bear, they went on their way.

After a few minutes of silence between them, Robin broke it and said, "I have something I need to ask you."

Regina was a bit taken aback by his tone. It was seriousness with a hint of either nervousness or dread, she couldn't tell. She could tell that whatever it was, it was on the negative side of the scale if the dread she picked up in Robin's voice was anything to go by.

"Okay."

"Marian mentioned to me in passing that apparently, she believes you're not a nice person. And before you say anything, I didn't believe her." Robin said quickly. She nodded, urging him to continue. "She also mentioned a conversation you both had in the locker room where you threatened each other. She said that she went to follow you to apologize but she saw something interesting."

Son of a bitch! What if she saw?

"Interesting? Like what?" she asked, trying not to put fear in her voice.

"She said that there were scars on your body and that you were shaking with rage. She made it sound like you had anger management issues."

So she didn't see, thank god!

"I'm not gonna deny that, Robin. I do have anger issues, which I've had for a very long time. Since early childhood, actually. That topic is something I wish to never experience or talk about. Ever."

Robin nodded. "I understand. My father's a touchy subject for me, too. How about we make a list of the lines the other shouldn't cross? Unless my father and your childhood are the only two things?"

"Pretty much," Regina agreed.

"Well, then let's go play more carnival games, milady." Robin took her hand in his and started leading her towards his next favorite booth.