Hello all!
Okay, hopefully I'll have better luck with my formatting this week. Hopefully. If you see problems with the formatting, please don't point it out for now. Not being rude, promise, just asking that you don't. If there's problems, I've most likely seen them but haven't had the chance to fix yet :) thank you anyway for being very constructive on my stories.
Some had a few questions and I'll go ahead and answer now:
Robin will not be having his POV shown. This is simply based off of Regina's POV :)
Robin knew of Regina because of the class directory given to him by the school. Miss Mills, Literature 2, this classroom.
And yes, the comments I was speaking of were in the PM's
Again, I apologize about last chapter. The whole format thing was a pain in the you-know-what. I'm so frustrated that this new computer doesn't have Microsoft Word, and I'm having to use LibreOffice.
Stick with me, guys, I'm trying. Haha.
Enjoy!
G.
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...
Sunday morning; Regina has some R&R time all to herself. Henry is gone for the whole day, playing with his friend from school named Paige. She was glad to see him making friends, as he didn't very often.
She gets up out of bed at a little before ten for the second time this morning. The first was to get coffee and the Sunday paper, and now it's to get some brunch. She strolls to the kitchen and takes off a banana that's perfectly yellow – just the way she likes them. On her way into the living room with it, she picks up the piece of paper that she must have dropped earlier this morning. She plops down on the couch and takes a bite of her banana, reading what the paper has to say:
"Student from an Atlanta High School gets shot and killed."
This made her worry, this is where she teaches. She reads down further and gasps, not liking what she's reading:
"Timothy Mendell, son of Greg and Tamara Mendell, was shot and killed Friday night after a mix-up at a dance club. Police say Mendell was not allowed to enter the club, due to him being under age. The club reported that they nicely told him to leave, or they would have to force him to. Mendell did not leave, rather he pulled out a gun. Security caught him before Mendell could shoot anyone, but was this rightful of the security guard?"
The article went on to say that Timothy was only a minor, and was also intoxicated that night. Regina just scoffs, though her heart is heavy because he was in her class. How could such a young life be ruined by alcoholism? Her thoughts are loudly interrupted by her house phone ringing.
She gets up quickly and rushes to the phone that is currently charging, picking it up and answering, "Hello?" before putting her banana down on the counter top.
"Miss Mills, it is with sadness that I call. A member of your class has passed away, and the whole school is not meeting tomorrow. Please do what you can to let your classes know that there will be no class tomorrow, due to the sudden death of Timothy Mendell." A woman's voice says, though Regina knows it well. The secretary, Ms. Blanchard.
"Thank you, Ms. Blanchard. I just read it in the newspaper, my condolences to Tamara and Greg." She replies.
Though Tamara is the principle of the school, Regina wouldn't say she got along with her too well. Regina's worked there longer than Tamara has, and Tamara insists on not raising her pay. Matter of fact, Regina has worked there almost the longest. No one else will stay because of her, and a lot of it is because the students don't mind.
Regina always had a special touch, though, with her kids. No, it's not that she liked everyone and everyone liked her, but she could at least make them do their work and they'd usually get good grades because of it.
The conversation goes on, and Ms. Blanchard hangs up. Regina, then, goes to her directory and makes sure each of the parents are called. She has to leave messages for some of them, but she decides that it's Sunday morning, some may be in church or something.
After all of her work is done, she goes back to the couch and takes out her book, TFIOS.
"My voice was smaller than I wanted it to be. 'Thanks for not trying to see me when I looked like hell.'
'To be fair, you still look pretty bad.'
I laughed, 'I missed you, too. I just don't want you to see...all this. I just want, like...it doesn't matter. You don't always get what you want.'
'Is that so?' He asked. 'I'd always thought the world was a wish-granting factory.'"
Oh, if only it was that way. She thinks of what all she would wish for: first, she would wish for Henry to have a happy and healthy life. It was cheesy but true. She would wish him whatever he would want – in retrospect, of course. And then for herself, she would wish for a new car instead of the ten-year-old Ford Explorer she's had since it was new. It's been a good car for her and Henry, but it's starting to get sort of old. Needs new things quite often, and Regina doesn't have the money to afford those. And then she would wish herself money, happiness, and maybe a husband.
Oh, a husband. Oh, oh, oh. She had always imagined Daniel would be her husband at this age. At twenty-eight years old, they'd have know each other for twenty years, now, if he was still alive. She misses him dearly each day, but she always knew she had to move on for the sake of Henry.
She then thinks of what Henry might wish for in his ten-year-old mind. The very first thing she thinks of (that he's already told her he wants) is a sibling. She remembers the conversation she had with him about four months ago, innocent and sweet in his curiosity.
"But mom, Paige has a little sister!"
"Henry, honey, it isn't that easy." She replied, wishing he'd just stop asking why.
She smiles at the sweet little memory, then continues with her book until the phone rang. Again.
Gosh, this was her Sunday morning! Why couldn't people just leave her alone?! She thought before she answers, "Hello?" with a little bite in her tone, showing she was clearly wishing people would just shut up.
"Regina?" Robin's voice answers, "Hi...Hello. I'm glad I got through to you."
"Robin?"
"Yes, I suppose I should've let you know that..." He replies awkwardly. She realizes his tone of voice isn't normal, a little nervous and strained. "I was hoping that the directory they gave me wasn't wrong, and that this really was your number. And it is."
"Yes, it is." She replies, the bite in her tone slowly leaving as she tries to calm down.
"Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for coming to watch the practice yesterday. I didn't really get a chance before you left."
Regina sits back into the cushions and curls her legs up under her, leaning on the arm, "Oh, I had to get Henry to his friend's house. He spent the night there last night and he was begging me to go before you had finished. Sorry about that."
"It's quite alright, I was just hoping to ask you yesterday what I'll be asking now: Would you like to go have lunch with me today?" He asks, making Regina smile and bite her lip to keep from smiling even larger. "I...thought my boy was coming over for the day but fate just isn't in my favor with him lately. Our plans were to go to McDonalds, but I'm sure we can find somewhere else much better to go?"
She situates herself on the couch, trying to will herself not to stand up and rush to her bedroom to start getting ready. "Sure, I have no plans today until it's time to pick Henry up at seven. Say, Steak n' Shake?" She asks, already straightening her legs to stand up and still trying to keep calm.
"Sounds great, meet me there at noon?"
She nods, though he can't see her, and tells him she'll be there. As soon as she hangs up the phone, her feet hit the ground running and she goes to her room, scurries through her closet, and picks out an outfit. Jean shorts and a black, fitted t-shirt. No...no, no, no. Too young looking. She takes it all off and heads back to her closet in bra and panties, throwing her other clothes on her bed. She then gets out a maxi skirt and a tank top and tries that on in the mirror. She's so overly pleased with this one that she cracks a big smile. She lifts her arms and realizes a harsh fact: she should've shaved. But she has no time to, now, after all it's already 10:30 and she still needs to do her hair and makeup. She realizes another harsh fact: she needs to stop acting like a giddy schoolgirl.
By 11:00, she's dressed in a whole different outfit – skinny jeans and a loose fitting, deep red blouse – and is sitting on the couch checking her phone. She scrolls down her Facebook probably six times, then decides she should get her shoes on at 11:30, leaving about fifteen minutes early to get to Olive Garden.
When she gets there, she looks around for Robin's car. She spots him at 11:51, pulling up in a sporty car that Regina didn't know of. She wasn't much knowledge when it came to types of cars, but she knew this one was definitely a nicer one. She gets out with her purse in hand, just like she did Sunday. She brushes her clean, lint-free jeans off and looks up to see him standing there on the sidewalk. He smiles before saying, "Good morning, m'lady. I'm so glad you could join me." with a hand extended for her to step up onto the concrete with him.
She takes it and nods as thank you before replying, "I'm glad you called." as she looks at his attire. She smiles inwardly at herself, realizing he's a little more dressed up than she originally expected. Maybe she should've kept the maxi skirt, just changed the shirt. Too late now, she thinks. "If I would've known you would be so dressed up I would've been too. What's the occasion?" She asks as he holds the door for her, walking inside.
"Well, my mother always told me to dress my best on my birthday. So I did, I hope you don't mind?"
I most definitely do not. "Not at all," She chuckles lightly, "I didn't know it was your birthday, though. Happy birthday." She commends with a warm smile before telling the hostess two and walking with her to be seated.
They sit down and he takes a deep breath, shrugging before answering her earlier, unasked question of why he didn't mention it. "I know I didn't tell you, but I just...I was a little upset today. Like I said, my boy was supposed to spend the day with me and it was obviously a downer to find out he wasn't. But now I have you, so it's all okay again." He declares with a happy smile, making Regina blush and raise her menu to hide it.
"I'm sorry to hear about your son, it must be hard being away from him." She reflects, acting like she's reading the menu even though she knew what she was getting. Five-cheese ziti, as usual.
He shrugs again, not saying anything as he picks his menu up. There's a short moment of comfortable silence between them as he looks over the menu. He lays it down on the table and closes it, fixing his button on his baby blue, button-down shirt. "Do you know what you're having?" He asks, still messing with the button.
She lays the menu down as well, closing it and clasping her hands underneath the table. "Five-cheese ziti; it's what I always get when I get the rare chance to come here."
He nods, "Ah, you don't come here often?"
"No, Henry isn't a cheap date." She teases, picking her toes up off the ground as she watches him fumble with that little white button, then realizing that his hands are shaking.
It pops off and lands in Regina's empty wine glass that the restaurant leaves on the table. They both laugh but his face is pretty red with embarrassment, "Well then..."
She picks it up out of her glass and hands it back to him, "I can fix that if you'd like me to. I'm not all that great at sewing but I'm pretty handy when it comes to fixing buttons. Henry gets a little rough with the clothes that start to get too small sometimes..." She admits..
He hands it back, "Then I suppose you should keep it, that way my clumsy self doesn't lose it." He says with a little smirk. "Speaking of clumsy...I do hope you didn't see my little..." His voice trails off as he tilts his head, trying to make Regina feel guilty, is what she guessed.
"I did." She picks up, realizing he's implying the little fall yesterday, "You have quite the footwork, there, Mr. Locksley." She teases, tilting her head forward and narrowing her eyes playfully.
He sighs and leans against the table, defending himself and saying that his shoelace was untied. Regina doesn't believe this, though, and he admits that it may have been tied, but he was almost positive that it was coming undone before the tire line was over, and he needed to fix it right away. The waitress comes to the table and they order their food; Regina getting the ziti and Robin getting the fettuccine alfredo with chicken.
"That's my second favorite dish, the alfredo." Regina says as she hands the waitress the menus.
"Really? It's what I get every time I come here, I've never tried anything else."
Regina knows, then, that their mutual love for Italian food could make this a great, wonderful conversation. And it was, it ended up being a conversation that lasted up until their dishes came out – hot and steamy. They immediately dig in and exchange on how good their food is.
"Would you like to try mine?" Regina inquires, scooting her half-empty plate towards him and suggesting he take a bite. "It's delicious."
He smiles and answers, "Why, thank you." while sticking his fork in and grabbing a cheese and sauce covered noodle, bringing it to his mouth and eating it. "That's very delicious. I may have to eat that the next time that I come here." He says, trying not to talk with his mouth full, but it was just too good.
She chuckles and watches as he struggles, "I know, see why I always get this?" She asks and takes another bite.
Their food conversation went on for a few more minutes, then Regina brought up the subject of Timothy. "He was in my class...he who was actually a she last year." She explains awkwardly, pushing her plate away from her and ready to ask for a box. She couldn't finish it all, it was too much.
He raises and brow and asks, "The principle's son?" while pushing away his empty plate, wiping his face with his napkin. She nods in reply. "I thought something was sketchy with him. He tried out for the team but didn't make it. His run wasn't good at all."
"That's because he was a she and had always been a horrible runner."
He sits back in the booth and lays his napkin in his lap. "Wow...wonder what made her change? Had to be something tragic, right?"
She shrugs, "Greg and Tamara were no help, I'm sure. They were not very stable themselves, Greg more than Tamara." She answers, sipping at her lemonade.
He looks down at her drink and chuckles, curiosity getting the better of him, "Is that all you ever drink? Lemonade?"
She looks down as well and raises a brow at the sudden change of subject, "Yes, pretty much. Water sometimes." She answers, a little thrown by the odd question.
"Do you ever drink? You know, drink?" He asks.
"You would love to know, wouldn't you?"
"I'll take that as a yes." He states sarcastically, crossing his arms over one another, "I could take you out for a drink some time, though you'd have to tell me where. My places I've been have consisted of family-friendly restaurants and play-parks for Roland." He answers, leaning against the table with a smug little grin.
She leans back, and keeps one hand on her drink, playing with her straw and staring at it. Her lips were a little to the side, pressed together as she tried to keep a smile from appearing. "If I didn't know better, it sounds like you want me drunk, Mr. Locksley?"
"Please, just Robin." He corrects playfully, mimicking what she said about her name the other day, "And no, I just thought it might be nice to see Atlanta's night life that doesn't involve tokens and games..."
She sighs and looks up, still messing with the black straw. She replies, "We can have drinks, but not on a school night. I am strictly Henry's on nights and my students need my full attention in the mornings, and I wouldn't be able to do that very well if I still had a headache from the night before." making her rules clear.
"Then it's set. Next Saturday night at...?"
"The Rabbit Hole. It's down the street from the school."
He nods, "I'll pick you up?"
"Is this a date, Robin?" She finally asks, leaning forward again and furrowing one brow as she gives him a soft glare.
He brushes his tongue lightly, making Regina think it had to almost tickle. "I suppose it is, isn't it?"
Her heart leaps with excitement, and she so badly wants to squeal. She hadn't had a real date in ten years since Daniel died. Sure, she had those one night things with Graham...but this was so different. Instead of squealing, she swallows, nods, and plays it cool, "Pick me up at eight, Henry will be in bed by then and Emma will be off work. She's the babysitter."
He smiles a little, those dimples showing through his stubble. "And what about tomorrow? Both of us have a day off, I suppose. Are you doing anything interesting?"
She hadn't really thought much about it, due to it happening so soon before Robin called. Henry would still be in school, and she would have the house to herself again. "I...hadn't really thought about it very much..." She replies, her voice much smaller than it was a few sentences ago.
He leans against the table again and smiles, "I'm not pressuring you to do anything, am I, Regina?" He asks seriously, she could hear the genuine tone of voice.
She shakes her head and emits a soft chuckle, "Please...I was more than joyed to hear you on the phone this morning."
"Then how about we go to the park tomorrow? Just for a stroll, maybe feed some ducks and all that nonsense, then have a little picnic? I'll supply the food and drinks, and you just supply...you."
She smiles again before replying, "I'd like that." and biting her lip. "You sure know how to sweep a woman off her feet, don't you, Robin?" She asks, feeling like he's done this too many times.
He shrugs, "Only the beautiful ones."
…
…...
Sunday night, Regina and Henry are both curled up on the couch as she reads from the Kingdom Keepers to him. His little eyes follow along with each word, listening to the sound of his mother's sweet and soothing voice. She soon feels him become more and more relaxed, then realizes he's snoring. Oh, he's just like Daniel.
She picks him up and decides to carry him up the stairs tonight, seeing how peaceful he was and just out of it in general. He's getting so heavy, though, that it's harder for her to carry him nowadays. But step-by-step she finally gets to the loft, lays him on his bed, kisses his cool forehead, then covers him up and turns his lamp off. "Goodnight my little prince." She whispers before going downstairs.
She goes to the kitchen for a little after-dinner snack, some ice cream. She felt guilty eating it while Henry was asleep, him not knowing what was going on. But she wanted some and she wasn't going to wake him up so he could join her. She dipped herself some chocolate-chip cookie dough and drizzled some chocolate syrup over it, sitting on the couch and curling up with a blanket and her book. Hazel, Augustus, and Hazel's mom were all just boarding the plane to go to Amsterdam. It was starting to bore her a little.
She grabs the television remote and the news is the first channel on – local news, of course, talking about Timothy's death. She sighs, not irritably in the rude way, but irritably in the way that she's already tired of hearing about it. It was sad, definitely, but she just wished they wouldn't over-do everything about this.
She finishes her ice cream and goes to bed early, smiling when she thinks about her little date tomorrow at the park with Robin. It makes her stomach flip when she starts thinking about the courageous question she asked: Is this a date, Robin?. And his answer...his answer was so rewarding.
That night she has a dream of them. They're at the park, walking side-by-side and hand-in-hand. They walk back to his car – the sporty one – and they both get in. He kisses her lips deeply as soon as the two sit in their seats, then the dream changes. They're in his back seat suddenly – touching, feeling, kissing...and...oh the moaning. She puts a finger on his lips as he is about to kiss her again, shakes her head, and smiles deviously. He gets the hint, apparently, moving the obstructive clothing from her legs and slipping around on her sensitive area.
Then the alarm goes off for her to take Henry to school. She wasn't sure whether to be mad or to be thankful, almost wanting to see how that fling would end.
…
…...
The traffic is absolutely grueling today as Regina fumes in the driver's seat, waiting in the mess of downtown Atlanta to get Henry to school. He peeks around the seat at the clock on the dashboard, "Mom! I'm going to be-"
"If you say it one more time, Henry, no cartoons all week!" She snaps, rubbing her forehead as she shut her eyes, trying to calm her pounding headache. Another But mommmm emits from the backseat and she throws her hands up and shouts, "That's it, Henry! What would you like to do about this, hm? Walk there?" as she whips around to look in the back seat at him, wide and angry eyes. He gives her a sheepish look and shakes his head. "That's what I thought. We just have to be patient." She sighs as she hits her head against the window, realizing how late he really will be. They left the same time they always do, but the traffic was horrifying. There has to be an accident or something up ahead. Has to be.
Inch-by-inch the traffic was sluggishly moving and it ended up taking thirty extra minutes just to get him to school. Regina walked him in and personally apologized to his teacher, making Henry's face beat red with embarrassment, "Okay, Mom...you can go now." He mumbles irritably.
She looks back at him from the front of the class and realizes the fact that her little boy is getting embarrassed because of her. She smirks in her head and nods, apologizing to the teacher again before exiting the class room, then exiting the school.
She brushes her hands through her hair and tilts her head to the left, cracking her neck, then to the right, cracking it again. She's suddenly glad she had a relaxing day yesterday, because this one already started out just great and she still has to get home in the other side of the traffic. Just great.
…
…...
On her journey back to their home, she had to wait in traffic for another thirty extra minutes. Both ways were jammed.
After she finally reaches the apartment complex, she checks her watch to see it's almost 10:30. She heads up the stairs, in her apartment, and then straight to the bathroom to take a quick shower (taking note to shave, planning on wearing that cute tank top outfit like she had chosen yesterday). Afterward, she gets dressed and fixes herself up and just simply waits. She decides to leave early, making sure she got there at exactly noon. The park was only five minutes away by foot, and that's how she would go to avoid the possibility of traffic on the two minute drive there.
She slipped some sandals on and walked out of the door with a plastic bag of stale bread in her hand for the ducks. She swings it by her thigh as she walks to the park, smirking a little as she remembers her minor wet dream from last night. She still couldn't believe herself for doing that. But clearly that's what her mind was on before she fell asleep, just...subconsciously. She didn't necessarily try to think of it, her mind was just wandering.
She got there at precisely 11:50 – according to her watch – and stood there waiting for him. He walks up with a little picnic basket in his left hand – actually a rather large basket, and a red and white plaid blanket strung over his right arm. He waves at her and smiles cheekily, then Regina starts walking toward him. "Hello, Regina. It's a beautiful day out, isn't it?" He greets, smiling still as they walk to the spot under the shade tree, right in front of the pond.
"It is, it's a tad bit warm but it'll do." She replies, holding the picnic basket for him while he spreads the blanket out on the ground. She lifts it up a few time like she was lifting weights, "What all did you bring? This thing feels like it has a ton of rocks."
He finishes spreading the blanket out across the grass, straightening it before motioning her to sit. He takes the basket, "I failed to ask what kind of deli meat you prefer, so I just bought about eight different kinds of meat." He replies with a little smirk, sitting down after she does.
She could feel herself blush, letting out a chuckle. He sure did like to go overboard sometimes, like now. Eight different meats just for her and him? This could be hilariously pathetic, or dashingly romantic that he cares enough to buy a variety. She wasn't sure yet, but she would find out sooner than later. "You did what?!." She asks, chuckling slightly and shaking her head, "I like all of them." She states, noticing that she burst his bubble a little – unintentionally.
She observed that he suddenly slouched a little, seeing the brow furrow down towards his eyes. "Oh." He simply answers, "Oh well, we have plenty now." trying to cheer up over the fact that he just bought fifty-dollars worth of meat.
"That just leaves more for another day of school lunch, right?" She answers, making a better effort at cheering him up. He nods and she smiles, "I think we could make that work, you bring lunch one week and I bring it the next?"
"That sounds quite delightful." He answers sarcastically, "Though mine will be no where near as delicious as yours, because yours is homemade goodies, mine is...leftover deli meat." and reaches for the loaf of bread. He undoes the twisty tie and hands the loaf to Regina, letting her get her pieces out first. She dodged the heel of the bread and went straight for the second piece.
"Sorry, I really don't like the heel."
"Me either," He says, shaking his head, "More for the ducks." Then grabs his pieces from the bag.
They make their sandwiches as they discuss their new school lunch plans, deciding that would work out well as long as Robin also brought dessert (since he was just bringing – quote – "leftover deli meat"). It was agreed on.
During the luncheon there was a nice breeze, warding off the heat that at first made her get a light layer of sweat coating her body. She couldn't help but drop her eyes down to his lips every once in a while, just wondering what they felt like on hers. She just couldn't get the thought out of her head about last night's dream, the way he kissed her and then she stopped him. Regina, stop she thinks. This is only the first date. "So...your son? Does he like coming to the park?"
He nods and swallows his bite. (She noticed he was getting better and more conscious of his manners, which made her smile to herself slightly). "Oh, more than anything. If it's a nice day like this, it's usually where we are when he's with me. But he takes to the playground more, feeding the ducks, and eating McDonalds to-go opposed to a picnic blanket and good company." He responds, taking another bite.
She blushed a little. Was she really that good of company? She sucked her lips in her mouth and set down the half of the sandwich next to the untouched half. "I'm glad that you feel I'm good company, the feeling is mutual."
He shoots one of those dashing smiles that makes his dimples very apparent and she couldn't help but feel her stomach flip. Damn, that handsome smile. It could make a woman go crazy.
After they had both finished, they were leaning back side-by-side with their arms placed behind them. They watched as the ducks invaded the pond, splashing around and being particularly playful. Robin pointed out that it looked like they were showing off, but Regina just stared at him in awe. How could one think a duck had a particular reason to be doing something, other than instinct? They didn't know to show-off...they're just ducks.
"You really don't think animals do things purposely sometimes?" He asks, taking a sip of his freshly-squeezed lemonade that he'd made.
She nods and counters, "They don't have that kind of thought process."
"I just think you don't imagine enough." He retorts sarcastically, but there was truth in his voice too, Regina could tell.
"Oh you don't? Well, how about that cloud up there." She answers, looking up and pointing to their right a little. "I say it looks exactly like a dog." then takes a swig of her lemonade.
He looks up at the cloud and spots the one she was pointing to, "Ah, indeed. And the one to the left of it looks like a queen's crown."
She nods and the little game goes back and forth for probably ten minutes before they pack up their lunch and blanket, sticking it all in the basket. Robin takes it to his car so that the birds wouldn't get to it, then comes back to Regina. She already has the half-loaf of stale bread open, crumbling it in her hand. She places some in his hand and they begin to feed every waddling, swimming, or playful duck that comes by. They laughed as one duck carried it away from another, then the mad duck came back after it. It was a little miniature fight that was completely harmless; Robin threw another piece of bread to the hungry one so there would be no more fighting. "Good little duckies." He coos, tossing another piece. Regina was watching him from the corner of her eye and smiled, biting her lip to keep from the corners of her lips pulling up even further. "Wonder why they like bread so much?" He asks, lazily tossing another piece out.
She shrugs, "I really don't know." and sighs. They had moved so far away from the cars, they were on the complete other side of the pond. It was surprisingly big for just being one of the man-made types. "I guess it's for the same reason they like to 'show-off'." She replies, making fun of him for his earlier statement, using air quotes on her last two words. He sneers playfully and throws a piece of bread at her, resulting in her shrieking. A shriek? Gosh, Regina, pull it together. She shouts back, "Excuse you!" and throws a piece of her own bread at him, gathering time for herself to pull it together.
He laughs and it suddenly snowballs into this bread-fight, surrounding them in ducks. They were too busy laughing to even notice the lightning distant in the sky, distant enough so that the thunder was barely audible unless they were quiet. But they most certainly weren't being quiet; the shrieks, yells, and laughs were proof of that.
Only moments later – not even moments, seconds later, large raindrops were plopping on their heads. "Oh my gosh!" She vociferates, closing her eyelids to shield her eyes from the sudden downpour.
He chuckles, "Oh, here...do you want to go to the car?" He yells though the loud patter of rain. She shakes her head and smirks deviously before throwing a piece of bread at him. He runs to her with a mission and throws her and her squealing-self over his muscular shoulder.
"Robin! Put me down this instant!" She yells, playfully slapping at his back. He shakes his head and gives her a simple no before running them to the pond. "Robin! We're going to fall in the pond!" She bellows, her voice sounding as if they were running off a cliff.
"I know, that's my intention." He explains as they suddenly emerge into the pond. Regina shrieks from the somewhat cool water hitting her everywhere. They were both uncontrollably laughing at themselves, her hair fell in front of her eyes and she was smiling through an open mouth. "You!" She growls.
Robin looks offended while asking, "Me?" in an innocent tone, bringing his hand up to his chest as though he was hurt by her words. She pushes him and he pulls her to her without a warning, bringing her head to his and pressing their lips together. He reaches up and pushes her hair backwards and out out of her eyes as they deepen the kiss with her hands cupping his cheeks. Her thoughts were buzzing left and right in her mind, trying to escape through her muffled lips as a squeal.
After a few moments, she's the first to pull away (pushing Robin away, really). Robin looks at her nervously and murmurs, I'm sorry, making Regina realize that he thought she didn't like it.
So she steps closer and wraps her arms around his waist under the water, "Don't be." She whispers before leaning again and pressing her lips to his again.
…
…...
They ran to his car in the rain, still soaking and dripping, themselves. He grabs a towel from the trunk and hands it to Regina.
"Is this the only one you have?" She asks, not wrapping it around her yet. He nods and shrugs, wiping the rain from his eyes. "Here..." She says, wrapping it around him as well. Their bodies were touching, his was warm and smelled so...so manly. She couldn't decide the word for it except for masculine. Forest, rain (of course), and like the smell of vanilla. Warm vanilla, a distant scent of a cologne that was once on his clothes before the rain and pond water washed it off.
"Thank you." He mutters, getting closer to her. They stayed like that as the rain only sprinkled on their heads now. "Did you..." He pauses and looks around the grass parking lot, "Did you walk here?"
She nods, "I only live right back there in those apartments." She states, pointing to the small and junky looking complex. She knows it isn't much, but she's always made it work for her and Henry. "It's not far at all."
"Well I can't have you walking home drenched like this, can I?" He asks, taking the corner of the long beach towel and drying her arm off with gentle sweeps.
Her eyes move down to where he was touching her arm, "I..." her voice trails off as he keeps moving up her arm, drying her whole upper arm.
"You what?"
She looks over her shoulder at him, he was slightly behind her with the front of his right hip pressing against the back of her left hip. Her lips were slightly parted as her dark brown eyes drifted to his lips again. She leans in, kissing him first this time. Shutting her eyes and turning her neck to reach him better, she takes her right arm and cups his cheek.
After a few moments, the rain had picked up again. They pulled away mutually, laughing a little and looking straight into each others eyes. "I think I should take you home." He whispers, looking softly in her eyes.
She nods and whispers back, "I think that would be best." before kissing him once more and then giddily running to the passenger side. She steals the towel from him and it makes him grunt playfully. She spreads it over the seat in an attempt to not get the leather too awfully wet.
He climbs in the car and the air was blasting, no music was playing. She looks around a little and observes her surroundings, seeing how clean this car was kept. She didn't imagine him to be clean, but she supposed when it came to men and cars, they're clean.
When they arrived at her apartment only two minutes later, Regina notices the time on the clock in the dash – 5:00. She wouldn't have to leave to get Henry for at least another hour and a half. She looks down as he stops the car next to her SUV, "Do you want to come in? I'll give you a dry towel."
He looks at her, seeming a little surprised that she would ask him this. But he nods and replies, "Thank you." before turning the car off, getting out and running over to sweep Regina off of her feet and into his arms. He smirks, "Can't let a pretty lady walk in the rain. But carrying is acceptable."
Her heart warmed in the summer heat, the warm rain was dripping down his face and off his hair. She bit her lip, "So do you do this for all of the pretty ladies?"
He chuckles and stops once they get under the roof, "Only the really beautiful ones, who kiss me in the pond and whose name happens to be Regina."
"Ah, well I guess it's a good thing that Regina is an uncommon name." She teases. She looks up the stairs, "Up there, 318 B." She points out, noticing he was waiting for her directions.
She rides in his arms all the way up the stairs, surprised that he didn't make her walk. Not that she was complaining, though. "You're as light as a feather, Regina." Robin states as he sets her down in front of her apartment. She takes the key from her purse and opens the door.
She walks in first, "Here's the beautiful home..." She announces playfully, setting her things down. "I'll go get you a towel." then walks to the bathroom. She looks in the mirror and chuckles at herself, the way her makeup was running down her face. Oh, she looked like a clown. She only imagined that this is what Robin saw when they had their first kiss.
She comes back out with the towel and throws it at him, and he laughs, "Thank you."
"You're a good catcher. At least you have better skills in that field than in your footwork..." She teases, wrapping a towel around her and putting her hair up in a short, short ponytail. He rolls his eyes and attempts at defending himself again with the lame shoelace excuse. She just murmurs Mhmm and sits down on the couch. It was leather and wouldn't hurt it if it got wet. She looks around at her lack of seating, other than the chair that Emma had broken the other night. "You can come sit, I don't bite too hard."
"Ha-ha." He replies, drying his hair. He jumps when the sudden clap of thunder shakes the whole apartment, vases and picture frames vibrating on the walls. "Whoa..."
"Yeah...that doesn't sound good. You really shouldn't be out in that traffic when it's this bad of weather, it's not good at all."
"Thank you, mother dearest, but I can't impose in your home."
"Oh please do." She says with a warm smile. "Really, Robin, I don't want you hurt. We just had our first kiss." She teases.
He rolls his eyes and takes up her offer, sitting on the couch. She was on the left cushion, he was on the right. The whole middle cushion was between them, they both had towels wrapped around their bodies. "I had a really great day, Regina." He announces after a few moments of comfortable silence.
She nods, biting her lip. She mutters out "I-", and before she had the chance to finish, the lights flashed off. The air. Everything. "I guess something hit the box..." She says, getting up and finding the lighter in the dark. She goes around and lights each candle she had by memory, illuminating the living room with low, flickering light. "At least we can see now."
He looks over at her, and she notices the heavy stare. It wasn't as though she had something in her teeth, but as he was watching the flicker of reflection from the candles in her eyes. "Yeah...we can."
She bites her lip, seeing the way his blue eyes flickered. She smiles down in her lap and fiddles with her fingers before scooting a little closer to him, but not crossing the cushion line.
He scoots closer, but moves a lot more than she did. He's practically on top of her, which startles her a little but in a good and daring way. "Do you want to kiss me as much as I'd like to kiss you? Again?"
She looks up at him and nods, replying, "Yes." and they both, simultaneously leaned into each others cool lips.
Their hands slowly moved to each other, wandering a little bit more than they had in the pond two hours ago. Wandering, searching, discovering...getting warmth from each other and pressing closer. Robin was the first to move even closer, sitting sideways and Regina followed suit. Her right knee was bent under her, between them, and his left knee was under hers. He cupped her cheek as his other hand roamed around her back. Finally, he left her lips and started peppering kisses down her neck. "Wait." Regina hisses nervously, afraid she gave a wrong signal. "I...I'm not ready to have sex with a man I just met a week ago."
"My intentions are to only kiss you...is that okay?" He replies softly, seeing the fear in her eyes. She nods and he continues with his work, kissing down her neck and shoulder. Her hands roamed on his strong, perfectly sculpted arms as her head fell back, feeling a lustrous feeling building up in her that she hadn't felt in a while. She stops him again with her hand on his chest, that feeling becoming unbearable.
This time, she looks down at his shirt. "Do we only have to kiss?" She whispers, looking down and brushing her tongue over her lips.
He shakes his head and slides his hand from her back to her shoulder, her shoulder to her collarbone, and finally her collarbone to her breasts. She nods approvingly and he kisses her again.
She leaned back on the arm of the couch, the leather squeaking beneath her from her being drenched. She wraps her arms around his neck, letting him lie on top of her body easily. Their lips met yet again as his hands gracefully roamed on her breasts, feeling through the two layers of thin material for more. More sensation, more flesh, more everything.
"Mmph..." She groans in a muffled way, feeling him start to massage instead of just rub. His strong fingers kneaded into her, relaxing her body more and more with each stroke around her sensitive area. She pushed him away again, letting their lips unlock with a pop. She pulls the bottom of her shirt up and over her head with no shame in her eyes, only a look of innocence. She nods, giving him the okay to move along.
He nods in reply, giving little, slow movements as he's impressed with her. She seemed so...good to him. Nothing like he expected. He gently takes the black material away from her breast, exposing her dark pink nipple. He looks down as if he were stunned, pausing a moment and making Regina a little nervous. She was just about to ask what was wrong until he leaned down and wrapped his lips gently around her. She shut her eyes tightly and swallowed hard, her throat dry and her breaths uneven.
She has to bite her lip to keep from moaning already. She hadn't had this kind of pleasure in years, not since Graham's tragic death. Even then, it wasn't with someone she actually had a bit of feeling for. It was just to get them through the nights. She squirms a little under his weight as he wisps his tongue over her erect and hardened bud. "Like that..." She murmurs unintentionally.
He takes his mouth away for a moment, then leans back down to finish his job. His other hand, by this point, was already groping at her other breast, caressing it and giving it the same clothed attention as he did this one. He finally takes the bra away and start gently rubbing her nipple between his fingers.
The pleasure inside of her was insane. She hadn't ever felt like this just from a man touching her, rubbing her and doing these wicked things. But it was undeniable and unpreventable that she was going to come just from this. Her legs started rubbing together against his, her hips coming up and grinding against his hard erection. She wished so badly that she could just bring herself to forget her morals, to just let him show her how he could really love her. How he could take her like a man. But she couldn't do it, she couldn't put that on herself just yet.
He felt her squirm more and more underneath him, then slips his lips from around her, "Are you coming, Regina?" He asks huskily, looking at where her eyes would be if her eyelids weren't covering them currently. She sucks both lips in and nods in an embarrassed manner. She was embarrassed. She didn't feel like it was quite acceptable to be coming at just these simple things like this, but she was. He smirks a little, though Regina couldn't see it.
He returns to her nipple, switching and moaning a little as he took the other one into his mouth. It was warm and hardened from him rubbing it while giving more attention to the other side. She accidentally let a moan slip out as he wisped his tongue over this one, now. "Oh..." She groans, squirming again before her stomach tightened up. She gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes, holding his arms tightly as she climaxed.
She bit her bottom lip after about ten seconds, feeling her cheeks redden from more embarrassment. She didn't open her eyes, she was too nervous she'd see his staring back at her as if he were wondering what the hell is wrong with her. Instead, she felt his thumb brush along her cheek, "You're beautiful, stunning in every way." He whispers before kissing her forehead.
The forehead kiss: It meant more than the making out ever did. It made her stomach warm up and she opened her eyes, replying, "Thank you." in a small voice, smaller than she truly wanted it to be.
…
…...
The week went by surprisingly fast. They would continue to sit down and have leftover deli meat sandwiches, complete with Oreo cheesecake Tuesday, Chips Ahoy! chocolate chip cookies Wednesday and Thursday, and a slice of regular vanilla cake with chocolate icing on Friday.
Each day that went by, Regina couldn't help but remember Monday evening; the way he made her feel, the way he touched her and held her...all of it. She only wondered if he cared as much about that as she did, but she was just too afraid to ask him.
"Are you coming to football practice tonight? I was hoping that afterward we could grab a bite to eat maybe? Possibly Olive Garden?" He asks, cleaning up their lunch mess and throwing it in the garbage.
She wrinkles her nose, "Olive Garden has always been this special...treat. If I go regularly now, I'll end up spoiled. So no...I was thinking somewhere simple. Like Sonic."
"Sonic?" He asks, seeming confused as to what that was.
"Oh my- Robin! You've never had Sonic?"
"No..." He replies guiltily, not seeing the big deal.
She shakes her head, "We're going to Sonic then. I'll ask Emma to stay a little longer at the apartment so we can go."
"Sounds good." He says, kissing her gently on the lips. She smirks a little and brushes her tongue over her lips, tasting where his lips had just been. "I'll see you at practice then." He says with a little smile, pushing the door open for her.
She turns to him as she walks out, "I suppose you will." She says as she re-positions her reading glasses on the top of her head. She forgot to leave them at her desk today, she was too focused on getting to Robin.
He emits a short chuckle and kisses her cheek this time, turning one way as she turned another.
They both walked away with a happy feeling in their stomachs, a bubbly one. One full of hope.