Hello lovelies! Here is the next installment of No Strings. I had planned to update Two Heads before I posted this, but I shall be gone this whole weekend and away from computers, internet and wifi and this one was closer to being done, so I decided that I should at least give you something before I disappear! Do enjoy - I believe this is the first chapter of this fic that doesn't have blatant smut in it... just implied(;
Also, I'd like to make note to whomever my guest reviewer was on the last chapter (you know who you are). First off, thank you. Thank you for noticing that my last one shot was written differently. I made it a point to try out a new style of writing, in a different time period then I'm used to writing and also using dialogue that was not mine. It was a first attempt for me and therefore a little bit bumpy and unpolished. I appreciate the fact that you wrote your review in a kind manner, leaving your criticism as solid points, not just petty opinions. That means a lot. Most of the time reviews of FF and other online sites are only small phrases like "Good" and "Need more!" so it's refreshing to have someone take the time to write out there thoughts on the work you've done. Second, I have taken into account what you said, and I realize that I did not end up telling the reader what time period I was writing in nor did I explain immediately who was talking - thank you for pointing that out! I spent a good chunk of time talking with ID about it, discussing what you said, and I believe we have now come out better! Thank you for leaving your thoughts and having the guts to express them! I do hope to hear from you soon, and please, let me know who you are next time! It's always nice to have a friend!
x Ruffles
3
"Bacon?" I mumbled, unintelligibly.
My stomach was still turning but the nausea that went with it had dissipated a while back, leaving me just with the faint feeling of being sea sick. Slowly I adjusted the terry cloth robe that was around me, trying to get it to stop itching. It was one I had grabbed whilst in the bathroom. I realized only to late that I hadn't brought a proper change of clothing to this impromptu to sleep over and I was in no mood to be slipping on my skirt and heels right now. The robe itched again and I tugged at it once more.
"Ah, you're alive." Came the heavily accented voice, barging through my rocking sea of consciousness like a charter boat. "For a moment there I was worried that you might have fallen into the toilet and let it swallow you whole."
"Eloquent." I said.
The man smiled and I noticed that he had changed. No longer was he wearing the white wife beater tee shirt and sweats. Now he was dressed up, a crisp blue button down shirt tucked in to dark grey dress pants. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled and I noticed that he had a tattoo of a lion on his hind legs on his right arm, right at the inside of his wrist. His smile widened, one corner of his lips raising up a little bit higher then the other as he spotted me staring, giving him a sort of off-kilter and rugged, English professor kind of look.
I stepped further into the kitchen, swaying once when my feet hit the cold tiled floor.
"Why don't you sit down M'lady." Rugged man said, dropping the fork in his hands and moving a bit further away from the counter where he was standing, inching closer to me.
"I'm fine." I protested with a wave of my hand, but as fate would have it the small movement set off a domino effect and pretty soon I found myself swaying again, dangerously this time. Wait, did someone yell timber?
"Regina, sit down before you fall down."
My eyes snapped open. Again with the name.
It occurred to me at that moment that I still didn't know his. Well, I did. I knew his last name at least. It was Locksley. Henry's new, hot-shot English teacher. The man who had given my son an extremely bad grade on his summer homework a few days ago. The man who I had gone to a stupid parent-teacher conference for last night to talk to. The man who I ended up yelling at at said stupid parent-teacher conference and somehow walked out with. The man who I proceeded to get wasted in front off at Granny's bar. The man who had asked me a lot of personal questions and then offered to help me 'relieve my stress' when I had gotten just drunk enough so that I couldn't think properly. The man in which I had agreed to let help in 'relieving' said stress and whose name I had ended up yelling countless times last night as he did a fine ass job of 'relieving' me. The same man who was currently looking at me right now like he wouldn't mind 'relieving' me again.
Oh fuck, Robin!
My mouth dropped open, jaw almost hitting the counter as I sat down in the chair that he had just pulled out for me at the edge of the small table.
Flashes of ripping clothes, buttons popping, taut muscles and skin against sweat-slicked skin invaded my mind as I felt my brain beginning to spin again and my stomach did a somersault.
"Regina? Are you alright?"
Quickly I opened my eyes, however the sunlight flooded in making me groan and I lifted my hands up, pressing my palms hard into the aching sockets.
"What the hell did I do last night?" I mumbled to no one in particular.
He answered anyway.
"You m'lady? Not much."
My eyes shot open again, hands dropping down as I felt my jaw fell open.
"But that was kind of the whole point," the man continued cheekily, said smirk still on his annoyingly attractive face. "You were quite loud however."
"Oh my God."
"Yeah, he was there too."
My eyebrows shot up, quickly furrowing into confusion.
"Well considering how many times you yelled his name, for a second there I thought you had forgotten mine and thought you were getting fucked by the Almighty one."
If I had thought my mouth was drooping open before it was nothing compared to how far it was hanging now.
"Did you really just say that?"
The man before me nodded with a smirk. "Aye."
I could feel a pounding head ache coming on and I closed my eyes, pressing my palms once again into my sockets. This was madness. Not only had I gone home with my sons middle school English teacher - to his apartment I might add - and let him have his way with me, but apparently I had let my more than verbal side show, which was not something I did until about the 3rd or 4th time together. That's what I get for not having sex with another human being for over a year! Great.
"Hungry?" Robin said, turning back round and reclaiming the fork that he had dropped. "I thought it best to remove the food from the bed room considering that you appeared to be to busy emptying the entire contents of your stomach anyway and I didn't want to make you sicker, but now, if you're feeling up to it, I can always reheat breakfast."
"No, that's fine. I'm fine," I said, shaking my head to prove my point. "I just need to get home."
"Ah, well I believe you do live rather close." Robin replied.
"How do you know where I live?"
"I believe you told me somewhere around 3 am this morning." He stated, grabbing a mug, which I assumed was filled with coffee, off of the counter and making his way over to the table. Sitting down he took a sip before passing another identical steaming mug over to me. "Right in the midst of you screaming out my name."
"Oh my God, I did not!" I said.
I could feel my face lighting up in embarrassment, my mind quickly trying to process what that would have been like and just how drunk I would have had to have been in order for me to completely lose all sense of myself and start blurting out random facts about me mid-coitus.
Thrust... my name... thrust... my phone number... thrust... my home address... thrust... my social security!
Actually, now that I think about it, I can only remember flashes of the night before, but I don't think there was any thrusting involved... just a whole lot of tongue...
My eyes peeled open, hazy brown finding steel blue. Robin was staring at me, his eyes seriously analyzing my reaction from over the top of his mug. It was only for a moment however for a second later the lines around his eyes began to crinkle and he tilted his head back as he laughed into his cup.
"What?" I asked him. "What's so funny, why are you laughing?"
"You should've see your face!"
"My face?" I said, completely confused.
"Aye! You're eyes just got so big." Robin said, making a growing motion with his hands before bursting into another bought of deep, rumbling laughter.
"Wait, so I didn't tell you my home address mid climax?"
"No," he said, shaking his head as a few tears of laughter escaped from his eyes. "No, your license told me that."
"Oh okay my license, that makes sense. Wait. What?! My license?"
The man across the table however didn't seem to care enough to answer, he just continued to snicker away, occasionally taking a sip of his coffee before chuckling again.
"You looked at my license?" I asked again, my voice shooting up in concern.
"Oh aye," he said, sipping once again from his mug. "While you were in the loo, had to make sure I hadn't invited some crazy person into my home."
"The same crazy person who you went out with last night and agreed to take home and make love too."
"Not make love M'lady, have sex with." He said.
"Same thing?" I countered.
"No, not really. Sex is a physical act whereas love is all about emotion. It's sticky and tangly and comes with a whole mess of feelings and what not. Sex is all about mutual absolution. The freeing of ones pent up emotions. A way to unwind and relax. One person helping another to achieve a release."
"And what makes you want to help me?" I asked.
The blonde man shrugged, "Call me a gentlemen."
I scoffed.
Robin smirked again, taking another drink of his coffee. I took a moment to look around the kitchen, realizing that it wasn't much of a kitchen at all, but a human sized cupboard, big enough to fit a oven, a microwave, a small fridge, one table and two people, but not much else. There wasn't even room for a dishwasher, I noticed. My eyes continued to flit around the room until I spotted the clock on top of the microwave. 7:36 am.
Shit! I thought, I needed to get back.
Standing up quickly I swayed a bit. Placing my hand on the table I tried to regain some semblance of control but before I could take another step I heard the man across from me speaking.
"At least have something to eat before you leave."
I turned, eyeing the incredulous man who was currently still sitting at the other end of the table, however where there had been a smirk before on his lips sat a frown. His eye brows were crinkled and his face contorted into a look that almost could be confused with concern.
There was something about his eyes, the way in which their deep grayish blue seemed to glow as they looked at me, no doubt analyzing my current state of undress and unruly bed head with an air of pity. But there was also something underneath that. Something that ran deeper than just being chivalrous - not that this man was the epitome of chivalry, reheating breakfast and making lewd jokes and such - but it was a start. When he didn't look away from me however I sighed.
"Fine," I replied with a huff, reluctantly sitting back down, reclaiming my pushed out seat. "What have you got?" I asked.
My head spun slightly but I forced myself to look up again. When I did however I felt a cold shiver run down my spine as my eyes caught those of the man across from me. There was no look of concern on his face now. Where there had been a frown a moment ago, there was a sly smile, dark intentions written clearly on wry lips.
I felt my heart jump into my chest as Robin turned, tilting his chair backwards slightly, reaching for something on the counter behind him. When he grabbed whatever it was he turned back, sly smile still on his face.
He reached his had out.
"Apple?" he said.
My heart stopped.
xxx
Before
"So what's the skinny on this new English teacher of yours?" I asked my son as he plodded his way down the stairs, sounding like a heard of angry elephants. Apparently I had been hanging around Emma to much as her immature verbiage seemed to be rubbing off on me.
"Mr. Locksley?" He asked.
"Mmhmm."
"He's cool," Henry replied. I felt my brows furrow.
"Cool?" I said, turning back round to the oven where I had my skillet, and was currently cooking pancakes on. "What do you mean?" I asked as I slid my spatula underneath, flipping one perfectly goldeny-brown side up.
"I dunno," Henry mumbled unintelligibly.
I turned my head just slightly over my shoulder catching my son sneakily trying to remove the cellophane wrapping and take a bite of one of the muffins on the table top.
"Henry Daniel Mills!" I stated.
That did it.
Quickly the muffin fell from his hands, little crumbs and poppy seeds falling and scattering in it's wake.
"Those aren't for you," I said, pointing at the plate of baked goods on the counter. "They're for your English teacher."
"Mr. Locksely?" he questioned, as if we hadn't just established that that was his name moments ago.
"Yes," I said, taking the spatula and sliding it quickly under the perfectly cooked and airy pancake, before placing it on a plate and handing it to my son. "I want you to take them with you to school today and give them to him in class."
"Aren't apples what you're supposed to give school teachers?" He asked, taking said pancake and dousing it with powdered sugar before reaching for the syrup.
"Well I would," I said, scraping up my pancake from the skillet, "But apples just feel so impersonal. I'd rather bake something."
"You could bake an apple pie?" He offered mid bite.
"I don't think so." I said, squinting.
It was a long standing knowledge that I was no fan of apples, especially not apple pie. It had happened many Thanksgivings ago when Mary Maragret and David had hosted dinner at their house and had invited me over. She had given me a slice of her world famous apple pie to try and I nearly ended up in the hospital after my throat closed up upon taking the first bite.
Since then I had avoided apples like the plague.
"How bout this, bring these muffin's to your teacher, and you can add in a note that says 'my mom would have given you a bowl of apples, but she decided against it since she's deathly allergic to the things.' Hmm? Sound good." I said.
"Good," Henry responded through a mouthful of syrupy pancake before adding, "Is this a bribe?"
"What!?" I asked, taken aback, "No! What makes you say that?"
I may have answered a little too quickly and he gave me a look that reminded a little bit too much of my mother when she would scold me as a child for lying to her and I gulped slightly, watching as his small eyebrow even raised up just like Cora's used to.
"You don't like to bake mom." He said with an air of smug satisfaction.
"What are you talking about? I love to bake."
"Yeah, but not for others."
Dammit, I cursed under my breath, instantly regretting signing Henry up for preschool at such a young age. He had developed such an uncanny ability to read and analyze other people, however I assumed that that last part was just him. He really was a special boy. A special boy with a gift for seeing through people and their white lies. Damn him.
"Well," I said, looking down and brushing off a speck of invisible dirt from my apron. "It may be a gift for a certian teacher of yours, but that doesn't make it a bribe."
"Mom, give it up." He said and I snapped my head up so fast, I was afraid I might snap it in half due to the force.
My son sat there at the counter, a cocky look plastered all over his too young face. Apparently over the years I must have become soft for I never would have been able to get away with saying that in my childhood home. My mother never would have stood for me speaking back to her, even if I had caught her at the scene of a crime with the murder weapon in her hand.
"I can tell when you're lying," Henry continued, distracting me from my thoughts. "I've been shadowing Emma at the police station for the last week and she taught me the top ways to tell when someone's lying and you just showed 4 out of the 5 signs."
I eyed him, not sure if I should be more impressed or horrified that my son had now become a human lie detector amongst other things.
"So, this is a bribe," he stated factually, before adding, "for what?"
Henry was smiling, his sopping pancakes now pushed to the side, completely forgotten and I exhaled louder through my nose, crossing my arms and rolling my eyes in defeat as I answered him.
"For that dumb English teacher of yours and that even dumber grade he gave you."
Henry rolled his eyes. "Seriously mom?"
"Yes seriously, and don't you roll your eye's at me! I've had enough sass out of you for one day thank you very much."
Okay so maybe trying to bribe my son's English teacher with food wasn't the best idea. I was just going to have to think of something better to do, I thought to myself, or maybe I could actually go and talk with the man? I shook my head, shuddering at the thought. No, no there had to be some other way. There was a buzz and I glanced down, spotting my phone which had lit up on the counter, signalling a new message from T. Bell. Tink! I thought to myself, Perfect! She'd know what to do!
A smile was forming on my face as I picked up the phone to text her back but the sound of Henry's voice cut me off.
"I was just going to say that 'dumber' isn't a word." Henry muttered quietly under his breath but I heard him well enough.
"What was that?" I asked watching in amusement as my sons eye's popped open comically like one of his favorite cartoon's. He instantly ducked his head down as a blush spread over his plump cheeks.
"Nothing!"
"Good," I smirked, glad to see that I could still shock him with my ability to hear him. One day he would realize that his whispers weren't as silent as he thought, but until that day I would let him believe that super hearing was one of the many superpowers a woman received when becoming a mom. Shrugging off my apron I put on my jacket and continued. "Now finish you pancakes. The bus will be here in three minutes and you're not going to be late again and miss it and end up skipping the whole day of school this time." I said.
"That was only once!" Henry wailed.
"One time to many." I responded before grabbing my favorite red lipstick from my purse, swiping it across my lips and putting it back in the bag.
Henry took another large bite, finishing up his pancakes in one swallow before turning back to me, "Why am I taking the bus?"
"Because I've got meetings early this morning, and therefore can't take you in today."
Henry rolled his eyes, letting out another pitiful whine, "Ughh, do I have too?"
"Yes you have to." I said, turning to him, "Now hurry up, and go get your back pack." I pushed him down from his seat, directing him towards the hallway closet where his school supplies sat. "Don't forget your scarf!"
"Got it mom." Henry responded, reaching the closet and wrapping the grey and red stripped scarf around his neck twice, just like he did each and every morning.
Grabbing the large Spiderman backpack he swung it over his shoulder, making his way towards the door.
"Have a good day!" I yelled, watching as the front door was flung open and the view of the frost covered streets became visible.
"I love you!" I yelled again, watching as my son made his way outside, the door shutting behind him.
Sighing, I turned, grabbing my laptop from the counter but the sound of the front door creaking open again made me look back.
There at the front door was Henry, his little head poking in through the crack.
"Love you too mom!"
xxx
Back In Robin's Apartment
My mouth was open, jaw dropped. I probably looked like I was trying to catch flies in between my teeth.
"Or you know you can always have a muffin." Robin said, turning once again and grabbing one from the familiar plate on the counter. How had I not noticed that before? The same devilish smirk was still plastered on his face as he let out a little chuckle, eyeing the treat before offering it to me, "I do believe these are poppy seed."
"That wasn't supposed to get to you," I whispered, my mouth dry, voice cracking.
I had to gulp down hard to get rid of the dryness that was threatening to take over my throat, however it did nothing for the nerves that were now flowing through me as I eyed the small pastry item in front of me.
"No?" Robin said, the concerned look once again marring his attractive visage. His brows furrowed as he spoke, "So you didn't mean for these baked goods to be delivered to me by your son yesterday in class?"
"No," I said, before rephrasing, "Well, yes I did actually. But I didn't... I mean." I huffed. Apparently this was going to be one of those annoying days where my tongue decided to become dyslexic and I couldn't speak straight. "Yes those were meant for you," I said finally, gesturing towards the offending item with my hands, "But they were never meant to get to you."
The blonde man crinkled his eyebrows, but the look of his face morphed from one of confusion to one of intrigue. "Oh?" He said after a moment, shifting in his seat, "So you ended up changing your mind about bribing me with edible arrangements amongst other things, did you?"
I nodded. "But apparently that plan failed," I mumbled, turning my head as quickly as possible to the side in order to hide the lovely shade of tomato red that I had turned in the last couple of minutes.
"Oh I wouldn't say it failed," Robin countered.
I looked up, my brown eyes finding his blue ones which were currently sparkling as he removed the wrapping paper around the muffin and bit down, small crumbs falling all over the place.
"It didn't?" I asked optimistically, feeling a blossom of hope blooming in my chest. Maybe, just maybe, there was a glimmer of hope in here for Henry and his GPA!
"I'm not changing your sons grade," Robin said almost immediately, more crumbs falling down and strangely enough I had to remind myself not to reach forward in an attempt to brush them off of his chin.
I sighed, rolling my eyes until they circled so far backwards that I grew concerned about them ever being able to find there way forwards again.
"Then what do you mean I didn't fail," I sighed exasperatedly.
"Well you made it here. You got your point across that you're a very concerned mother. And now," he said, with a smirk as his eyes met mine, "I'm eating your muffin... no pun intended."
The redness of my face undoubtedly darkened at the very much implied euphemism, however I had more important things on my mind then discussing just how many times he did end up eating my muffin last night... I shook my head once, speaking, "If you give Henry a hard time because of this-"
"I would never M'lady. You forget about my code. I don't work that way," he said, the smirk on his face gone, replaced by a serious expression.
For once I was actually sort of happy about said code, though I may have thought it to be completely moronic last night, right now, it seemed to be doing me some good.
"Good," I said, grabbing the half eaten muffin from his hands, taking a healthy bite. Delicious. "Now, I need to get home."
Robin nodded.
"Aye, I would take you but I'm afraid all I have is my motorcycle."
"No, no," I said, shaking my head, "If my calculations are correct then I live only a block from here and I'd rather not be seen leaving with you so... wait what? Your motorcycle?"
Robin nodded again, eyeing me curiously this time, a hint of amusement tucked away in the corner of his smile. "Yes, my motorcycle. Harley fan are we?"
"No, I mean, yes. It's just," I paused. Damn my brain for it's inability to think straight through this hangover. "I just didn't connect that it was yours," I said finally, raising my hands up to my temples, trying to alleviate some pain.
Robin turned, his eyes searching for something. Once found, he turned back, staring at me.
"Feel free to stay here as long as you'd like Regina. Help yourself to anything. Sadly, I need to leave, but you are more than welcome to stay here, take a shower and get some more rest of you need."
I heard the sound of a small object being placed on the table as he spoke and and I cracked an eye open to see that it was Ibuprofen.
Grabbing the bottle and the glass of water that he was holding out for me I responded, "No, I have to get back. I have to take my son to school."
"Ah," came the voice of the man in front of me, "Well then, you'd better leave now."
thank you for reading! do leave a comment, they fuel me like no other! and if you have any prompts or ideas or things you'd like to see in upcoming chapters please leave them in the comments!
p.s. Lucy, my love, you are honestly the best! Thank you for always leaving such hilarious, witty and touching reviews!
Also, RoseRed, yes dear! Go watch it! However I can only recommend the first half of the movie as I didn't finish it all(;
d'evilregal - so sorry for ending my chapters on you with cliffhangers(; they don't call me the queen of suspense for nothing(; and the movie was called 'In Secret'
Listhefan - you are such a doll. WH is on it's way, this next chapter (the one i'm currently writing) is the one that I've had in my mind since the beginning of this story! I believe it's going to be pretty long, loads of feels and possible s'mores! eep!
hevelinchris - there is no better review to receive as an writer then yours! we are very much the same, everything I read I live as well. if it's an adventure I feel like i've gone on it, if it's a romance then it's another lover that i've kissed. to hear that someone feels the same way about something i've written is music to my ears. thank you so much for your kind words! mwah!