Big shout outs to Shay and Brooke for helping me so much….every. single. time. I changed something in this chapter lol
Thanks for all the favorites and follows after the last update! Please remember to leave a review and let me know what y'all think! :)
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Chapter Six
Regina has never been so thankful for Daniel's punctuality in her life. At quarter till five, Daniel is standing in her entryway, waiting on Henry to grab his jacket from his bedroom.
Regina is busying herself by wiping down the already clean countertops, trying, but desperately failing, to keep herself occupied until Henry leaves. Once Daniel whisks their son away for dinner, Regina can get herself ready for dinner with Robin.
Alone. No kids. A date.
Regina hasn't had a date in almost a decade. Sure, she'd been on one date with a guy, Graham, the second time she and Daniel had been broken up. It was a pleasant date, good drinks, and even more enjoyable sex, but ultimately led to Regina feeling guilty because she thought she still had feelings for Daniel. In the end, she blamed the large consumption of alcohol during the date as to why she even thought it was a good idea to sleep with a man she barely knew.
Other than Graham, Daniel is the only man Regina has ever gone on a date with (or been with in any way). So, to say she is nervous is an understatement.
She's barely spoken two words to Daniel since she opened the door and briskly walked back into the kitchen to continue cleaning. Daniel must have known she was pissed because he stayed silent in the entryway, quietly clearing his throat and stuffing his hands awkwardly into his pockets while waiting on Henry to come out from his room. Good. He should feel uncomfortable after being such an asshole earlier.
"Bye, Mom!" Henry yells from the doorway, pulling Regina from her thoughts.
Walking toward Henry and Daniel, she says, "Bye, sweetheart."
She places a kiss to Henry's forehead and straightens his lightweight jacket on his shoulders.
"Be good for your father and don't eat too much. I don't want you coming home with a stomach ache," she tells him, glancing up toward Daniel on that last part, giving him a knowing look. Daniel sometimes feels guilty about not being around Henry all the time, so he likes to spoil his son from time to time. Last time they had a quick dinner together, it resulted in Henry eating far too much sugar and throwing up all over his sheets that night.
"I won't," Henry smiles sheepishly, "love you."
"I love you, too," she smiles softly down at her baby boy. Placing her hands on his shoulders and giving him a kiss to his cheek, she says, "I'll see you at nine."
Once Henry and Daniel are out of the door, Regina rushes to her room to try and get ready. Robin will be here in thirty minutes, so she doesn't have much time.
A quick shower to rinse off the sweat from the park, some perfume and a few layers of makeup later, Regina finds herself standing in her closet deciding what to wear. She knows they agreed to not go anywhere ultra-fancy since it was such a last minute decision, but this is her first date with Robin, and she wants to look nice.
She's pulling on a simple black dress that hugs every inch of her body, falls just below her knees and has quarter length sleeves, when her doorbell rings. The dress is nice, a little dressy, but not something she wouldn't wear to work if need be. Luckily when the bell rings she is all ready, except her shoes.
Straightening the thin black belt attached to the dress, she goes to open her front door.
"Hi," she smiles, her eyes traveling down his body, giving him a quick glance over. She's pleased to see that he's chosen to dress up a little, too. Robin is in dark charcoal slacks with a black belt and an olive green button up shirt tucked in. His hair is still slightly damp from, she assumes, the shower he had taken, and she can't help but imagine him in his shower, her fingers running through that wet hair of his.
"Hi," Robin breathes out, his eyes raking down her body, making Regina feel extremely exposed, but very, very sexy.
Subtly biting her bottom lip, she tells him, "Come on in. I'm just about ready. I just need to grab my shoes."
After grabbing her black heels, they make their way down to Robin's SUV. On the way down to the parking spot, Robin reaches over and grabs Regina's hand, interlocking their fingers like it's the most natural thing in the world. The action feels so natural to her and sends a thrill through her body.
{*********************************}
Once inside the car, they begin chatting about their day and how much fun the boys had at the park.
"I didn't think Roland would ever let me live down losing that swing race," he chuckles, grazing his thumb along her knuckles of the hand that rest on his middle console.
Letting out a content sigh, she hums and says, "I have a feeling you may have let Henry win, though."
Smiling sheepishly, he says a quick guilty, raising her hand to place a peck to the back of it before letting is down gently. Regina takes the moment to check that her phone is on vibrate. She says she doesn't want any distractions tonight but needs her phone on in case something were to happen with Henry.
After a few moments, Regina grabs Robin's free hand and says, "I'm glad we're doing this. I've heard a lot of good things about this restaurant."
Grinning, Robin replies, "I'm glad, too, darling. And yes, I've heard nothing but wonderful things. But," He strokes her hand once more, "I don't think I've mentioned how bloody breathtaking you are in that dress tonight, have I?"
"No," she giggles, pulling her hair to one side to give him a tantalizing view of her neck, "I don't suppose you have."
"Well," Robin glances her way and pulls her hand to his lips, brushing a soft kiss to her knuckles again, "you do look absolutely stunning. You always do, but that dress is… wow."
They both chuckle. "Thank you," Regina says, pushing a piece of hair behind her right ear.
They arrive at Monterrey, the local, somewhat upscale, Mexican restaurant that everyone has been raving about and are seated right away. Luckily, Robin had been using his brain earlier, amidst his rush to calm himself and get ready for the date, and called to make a reservation.
Dinner is going well; conversation flows easily, which he's not surprised about. Talking with Regina is always easy and natural. They have so much in common and are always discovering new things about each other.
After talking about their best friends, and Robin once again insisting they should set Emma and Neal up, he steers the conversation. They've been asking each other questions ranging from silly to slightly more serious, trying to get to know one another better.
"So," he states, taking a sip of his margarita (on the rocks, no salt), "Have you done a lot of traveling in your life?"
Sighing, she admits that she hasn't traveled as much as she once thought she would. "I always dreamt of spending a summer in Paris, but I never took the chance while in college." She tells him how once she graduated school, she got pregnant and was starting her design internship.
"They never had an internship abroad?"
Swallowing her sip of strawberry margarita, she says, "They did… but it's hard to do that with a baby and a boyfriend here at home."
He asks her if she's ever thought of going to Paris now that Henry is older, and she admits that she was looking at flight prices a few months ago. "But then life got busy, projects picked up," she shrugs her shoulder, scrunches her nose up in that adorable way she does, and finishes, "and I just kind of put it on the back burner for now."
He ahhs and tells her he completely understands. "I went to Italy and Spain when I was younger with my family. It was easier to travel around Europe while living in London, but I've always wanted to go to Australia."
After laughing over Regina's reaction of but have you seen how big their spiders are over there!?, they discuss the types of things they would do in each country. It doesn't go unnoticed by Robin that they seem to be making the imaginary plans as if they'd be going together, and he can't help the grin that plants itself on his face.
"We could take cooking classes in Paris," he says, chuckling, "which I probably need a bit more than you."
Giggling, she nods her head in his direction across the table while lifting her eyebrows, saying, "True," but then goes on to say, "After that, we could head to Australia and take surfing lessons. Do you know how to surf?" He tells her he doesn't know how, but he's always wanted to learn.
"This sounds like a nice vacation. Where are the boys during all of this?" He laughs, taking a bite of his steak quesadilla.
"Well," she snorts, swallowing her bite of chicken enchilada, "They could come with us, I suppose. Henry's always wanted to learn how to surf. What about Roland?"
"Ah, well," he washes down his bite of food with his glass of water he'd gotten so he didn't just have alcohol in his system, "Roland is a bit scared of the ocean even since he saw Jaws."
Eyes widening, she asks, "Why on Earth did you show him that movie?"
He chuckles and rubs his neck sheepishly, explaining that the lad had walked into the living room one night while Robin was doing some work on his laptop. He tells her he was sitting there, movie playing in the background and wasn't even really paying attention to it. "I was distracted with comforting Ro, he said he'd heard a loud, scary noise outside, and well," he takes a deep breath, "I was a right git and forgot to turn the telly off. He sat there cuddled into my side while I finished sending an email, eyes glued to the shark on the screen, until I remembered what was on and quickly switched it over to Netflix."
Laughing, she says, "Poor guy," but goes on to try and make Robin feel better by telling him it happens to the best of parents. She tells him that's almost exactly the same reason Henry wouldn't go into the toy store when he was younger. "He ended up seeing a bit of Jurassic Park and was terrified of the dinosaur display at the store for months."
He asks her about any books she's read lately. She admits her reading selection has been narrowed down to Harry Potter and the Sisters Grimm books as of late with Henry, but she tries to do some reading of her own before bed the nights Henry decides to read independently. Lately she's been making her way through the Outlander novels ever since Mary Margaret recommended them to her. They're taking longer than she first expected to get through. She enjoys, however, being able to curl up under her blankets and get lost in a love story deeply rooted in love and devotion. It's something she's longed for for years, ever since Henry was a pre-schooler and she saw the old man next door helping his wife into the car, the couple sharing an adorable laugh over something the woman had said. She realized in that moment what she'd known deep down for a while back then - she longed for someone to blissfully grow old with. But she and Daniel didn't have what these other couples had. She's not even sure what it was, all she knew was that it was missing. Pulling herself from her thoughts, she hears Robin agree that finding time to read books more suitable for adults is difficult, saying his book shelf has been overrun by Dr. Seuss, Biscuit the dog, and Junie B. Jones as of late.
They both share a laugh over that as Regina looks impressed, saying, "Wow, he can read Junie B. on his own already?"
"Mostly, yeah," Robin proudly smiles, taking a sip of margarita and nodding, "I still have to read some of her books to him, or at least help him with her bigger, made up words, but he loves her."
Smiling, she tells him how Henry always loved Junie B. Jones and even got the entire collection for his seventh birthday from her mother. "I'll have to let Roland borrow them sometime."
"Oh," he chuckles, "he would have a fit! Thank you."
She chuckles, saying you're welcome and assuring him it's no problem. Henry has moved on from Junie B. to the retold fairy tales for a while, so she's sure he won't mind letting the younger boy borrow them. While talking, Regina manages to reach over and take his hand in hers, gently stroking the back of his knuckles as their conversation continues to flow easily.
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Once the dinner is paid for by Robin (he insisted, it's a first date, milady. It's only proper.), the two of them sit there a while longer while she sips the last remnants of her margarita, and he finishes the last of the chips and queso. They're discussing their college years and how their campuses were so different from each other's when Robin's phone rings.
"It's Tink," he says, his brow furrowing, clicking the talk button, "Tink?"
Regina watches as Robin's eyes close and he sighs out a deep breath. That's never a good sign.
"Alright," he nods, running a hand along his stubble, "I'll be right there."
Ending his call, Robin's eyes turn towards Regina, looking guilty.
Sighing, he explains, "Roland seems to be running a high fever and is throwing up in the bathroom. I hate to do this, but…"
Regina cuts him off, grabbing his hand that's resting on the table, "Robin, it's ok." She smiles sympathetically. "Your child is sick. There's nothing more important than our children. Let's go." Regina stands, grabbing her purse from the back of her chair and turning to face Robin.
He lays his hands on her shoulders and gives them a little squeeze, "I'll drop you off at home and then head over there. We can continue…"
Regina cuts him off again, rolling her eyes with a smirk on her face, "Don't be silly. Your son needs you, don't waste time taking me home. I'll just go with you and take a cab home later."
After arguing the point for a few moments, Regina eventually wins.
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When they get to Robin's, Tink is immediately at the door, apologizing to them both.
"Don't be sorry, Tink," Robin says, taking a whimpering, sweating Roland from her arms, "I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for calling." He and Tink are on an honor system at this point in their friendship, and she knows he'll pay her for watching Roland tomorrow; he has more important things to take care of right now. He makes his way to the kitchen to wet a small hand towel and places it on Roland's forehead.
Regina slips her heels off and meets them in the kitchen where she finds Robin gently rocking Roland in his arms and whispering into his ear that he's going to be okay. Her heart melts a little bit at the sight.
Walking over to the pair, she gently rubs Roland's back, drawing his attention away from his father.
"Gina?" the boy asks in a sleepy, yet miserably sick voice.
She smiles softly, sympathetic to his sickness, "Yeah, baby." She pushes his sweat drenched curls away from his forehead, "I'm here."
"Hold me?" The boy asks, reaching out for Regina.
Regina glances up at Robin, making sure he's okay with it. Over the past several weeks, Regina has grown close to Roland but would never want to step on another parent's toes when it came to comforting their sick child.
Robin doesn't seem to mind and passes Roland off to her. He motions with his head for her to follow him into Roland's bedroom.
Robin pulls back the covers as Regina slips Roland onto his forest animal sheets and sits down next to him, the boy instantly curling up into her lap, whimpering.
Regina begins rubbing his back, asking him what hurts.
"My head and my throat."
Robin stands, saying, "I think I've got some medicine in the cabinet. Let me go check." He exits the room in search of the children's medicine he claims he knows he stashed away the last time Roland was sick like this.
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When Robin enters Roland's bedroom again, his breath is knocked out of his lungs.
He can't help but stare at the two of them. Regina is sitting on Roland's bed, rubbing his back and softly humming a lullaby to him as she stares down at his almost sleeping form. His long lashes flutter softly against his skin with each passing stroke of her hand, a giant yawn escaping from his pouted lips. He's obviously trying to keep himself awake, rubbing pitifully at one of his eyes like he always does when he wants to stay awake with Robin and finish a bedtime story. As Roland snuggles his head further into Regina's embrace, Robin muses that his son has never had the comforting touch of a mother, and he figures his son likes having Regina around to soothe him.
Clearing his throat softly, Robin walks further into the room, catching Regina's warm brown eyes.
"I found this," he says in a low voice, holding up the bottle he stashed away a few months ago, "it seemed to do the trick last time."
Robin sits down on the other side of Roland and fills the child's syringe with the medicine.
"Here, my boy," Robin says, gently rubbing Roland's back, turning his son to face him so he can take the remedy. Luckily, Roland has always been an easy medicine taker. He quite enjoys the taste actually, so getting him to take the dosage has never been a problem.
Once Roland swallows his cherry flavored medicine down, he turns back to face Regina, laying his head back into her lap and sighing miserably.
Robin watches as Regina smiles fondly down at his son and continues to smooth his hair over to one side of his forehead, while Robin rubs his legs. Within no time, Roland is fast asleep in Regina's lap.
He can't help but fall even harder for this woman. This woman who gave up a nice evening of adult conversation to sit in his son's bedroom and sing to him, getting him to fall asleep. She's beautiful like this. She's a natural at being a mother, something Robin admires. He can't help looking at her, then down to her hand that is now gently tracing the lines of Roland's face in a calm, steady pattern.
Regina whispers to Robin that she'll sit a few more moments to make sure he's in a deep enough sleep. Robin nods and makes his way into the living room, forcing him to look up from her hands and back into her beautiful, warm eyes.
After a few moments, Regina exits the bedroom, gently closing the door and walking out into the living room.
Robin stands from the couch, smiling toward Regina.
Taking both her hands in his, he points out, "it's almost nine," grimacing a little bit as he nods his head toward the clock on the kitchen microwave. He tells her he ordered a Lyft ride for her while she was in Roland's room that just text him to say they'd arrived.
Regina's eyes slightly widen as she looks at the time. "Oh," she says, bringing their hands up to interlock their fingers before lowering them back down in between them, "I better be going, then."
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They walk to the front door, where Regina puts on her heels. When she looks up, her breath catches. They're standing much closer to each other than she had anticipated, and she can't help but glance down at his lips.
Tucking some hair behind her ear, she looks up into Robin's blue eyes.
"I had a really great time tonight," Robin says, smiling down at her. He's taller than her, and being able to look up into his eyes is a nice contrast to what she's had over the past decade. She likes it. It's nice.
"Me too," Regina replies, noticing that he's glancing down toward her lips as well.
Without warning, and even surprising herself, Regina wraps her arms around Robin's neck and tenderly presses her lips to his. Within seconds, Robin is kissing her back, hands finding purchase on her waist and deepening the kiss when she lets out a little mhmm from the back of her throat, giving him permission.
They stand there, making out like teenagers for a few moments, lips meeting over and over again, while their tongues seek entrance into each other's mouths, and hands roam over each other's backs, until the need to breathe breaks them apart.
Smiling sheepishly, Regina shrugs and says, "Tell Roland I hope he feels better. Sorry he kind of took me from you for a little bit," she states, her nose scrunching up.
"That's alright. I can't say I blame him." Robin grins, shrugging his shoulders ever so slightly, "I'd want you to hold me all night, too, if I were him," he replies cheekily.
They're pressed against one another, barely enough room between their chests for a hand, smiling like love sick fools and staring into each other's eyes. Shaking her head and smiling softly, Regina bites her bottom lip then leans in for one more lingering kiss. Then another, this one just a peck. And another. And another.
Pulling away and bumping her nose against his, she sighs, "Ok, I really need to go. Henry will be home soon."
"I know," he says, gently returning the bump to his nose with one of his own to hers before fully pulling away.
He opens the door for her, leaving his arm on the jam so she has to duck slightly to walk out.
"Goodnight," Regina says, slowly turning on her heels and biting her lip to try and squash the giddy grin on her face.
As she walks away, Regina can't help the little sway she puts in her hips, sauntering away and taunting him just enough to earn a small chuckle from his doorway.
"Bloody minx." She hears Robin mumble under his breath, causing her to giggle to herself all the way down the hallway.
It was a great first date.
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Regina walks into her apartment just minutes before Henry and Daniel arrive, a pleased smile still in place when she opens the door for them.
"Hey, Mom," Henry says, shrugging his jacket off and giving her a quick peck to the cheek. "Did you have fun with Robin?" Henry grins. She's starting to believe Henry is trying to play match maker the way he's always grinning at her when he talks about Robin or when he asks if Robin and Roland can come over. She knows he enjoys spending time with the younger Locksley, but there's just… something… about the way he looks at her when Robin is brought up that makes her giddily suspicious.
Glancing toward Daniel, then back to Henry, she smiles, "Yes, sweetheart. We had a good time. Roland got sick, though, so we had to go take care of him."
"Oh," Henry responds, his face falling a little bit, "Well, I hope he's ok."
Once Henry tells his father goodnight, he makes his way back to the bathroom to get ready for bed, leaving Regina and Daniel in the entryway.
"You had a date?" Daniel asks tentatively, his face falling a little bit. Even though Regina no longer has feelings for Daniel, seeing his deflated body language makes her feel guilty.
"Yes. With Robin."
"Oh." He says in a dejected tone, "Well, I hope you had fun, Doll. Goodnight." He keeps his reply short before leaning in to kiss her cheek. It didn't go unnoticed that he called her doll, the nickname he'd given her when they were first starting to date. It was at the end of their fourth date, when she and Daniel happily walked down the sidewalk, arms wrapped around each other, when they passed a toy store. There was a porcelain doll in the window with dark, raven hair and brown eyes. Daniel joked that the toy looked like her, and she agreed. Thus, the nickname came about and never left. It was sweet at the time, but only made her feel guilt-ridden in this moment.
Eyebrows furrowing slightly in compunction, she tells him, "Goodnight, Daniel."
After closing and locking the door, Regina goes to check on Henry. He's already in bed, reading his newest copy of The Sisters Grimm. He's on the Tales From The Hood book already. They're another person's, more kid friendly, spin on the Grimm's Brother's fairy tales, and Henry has always loved every different version of fairy tales there are, so he's been hooked on this series ever since his teacher read one in class a few months ago. He's been reading the series a little bit each night for months on end, sometimes asking Regina to read to him, which warms her heart, reminding her of when he was much smaller and she would read him a story every night. She cautions him not stay up too late reading. Even though it's Saturday night, she knows how grumpy he can be if he doesn't get enough sleep.
A little while later, once she has brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas, which are just yoga pants and a tank top at this point, Regina checks her phone.
Had a lovely time tonight, darling. Would love to do it again.
Smiling at her phone screen, Regina types back, telling him she had a great time too and they would definitely do it again. Although she believes their lunch date with the boys tomorrow needs to be cancelled so Roland can rest, and Robin agrees with her. He tells her they'll find another day for the four of them to have lunch.
Setting her alarm and locking her phone, Regina tries to sleep. Daniel's face, however, keeps clouding her memory and haunting her dreams. She tosses and turns all night thinking about how rejected and sad he looked when he found out she had gone on a date. True, she no longer has romantic feelings for Daniel, but something about seeing the man you loved and were together with for twelve years look so dejected does something to a woman. The crestfallen look on his face almost makes her feel guilty for moving on.
She's nervous to entertain the thought of dating someone new. Sure, she had gone on a date with Graham, but Daniel was the only real relationship she's ever truly had. And she knows in his eyes, she hangs the moon. She can do no wrong where Daniel is concerned, so how does she even know that she'll make a good girlfriend to someone else? She only knows how to be a girlfriend to Daniel, how can she date someone completely new? Someone she'll have to let her walls down in front of, someone who wants to know all about her, every little thing that makes her, her? Thinking of having to open up to someone new, to give herself completely to another man, and let him into every aspect of her life, makes a bout of apprehension bubble up within her chest.
What she needs is space, she decides. Space from Robin. Space from everything. She needs to figure out how to be a good girlfriend to him because once they get serious, which she knows they will eventually, she doesn't want to make any mistakes. She's always strived for perfection in all things, something her mother has instilled in her during her thirty-two years of life, and she wants to be absolutely perfect for Robin. He deserves that.
Huffing and wiping the light sheen of sweat that her doubt and confusion has caused to form on her forehead, she flips over one more time, unable to find a cool spot on her sheets anymore. Eventually she falls into a fitful slumber, wondering how she's going to let Robin down… again.
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Monday morning rolls around and Robin can't get to work fast enough. He knows Regina is bringing by some wall décor for some of his adjoining offices and some light fixtures for his office, and he can't wait to see her. He hasn't spoken to her since that text Saturday night.
He had been busy on Sunday with a sick Roland, who, luckily, was feeling well enough today to stay with Tink. Robin hopes he'll be able to go to school tomorrow. So far it seems as if his son had only caught a twenty-four hour bug from somewhere. Luckily, it does not seem to be one of the nastier infections that travel around elementary schools at any point of the year like the flu. He doesn't like for Roland to miss school, so all things considered, Robin's glad he got sick on a weekend instead of a school night.
He barely had time to check his phone yesterday, let alone wonder why Regina hadn't tried to communicate in any way. He was distracted though, so he didn't think much about it. This morning, however, now that he was able to take a deep breath and reflect, he realizes she didn't try to contact him either.
Shooting her a quick text of Good morning, gorgeous. Hope you had a good day yesterday. Can't wait to see you later, he sets his phone down and pulls up the latest changes his team has made on the Sleep Tight account, as well as a new project that they'd just picked up – a new salsa that's hitting the shelves in a few months and had hired Robin's team to come up with a brilliant new design to capture buyer's attention.
At ten o'clock, Belle buzzes in to tell him that Regina Mills is here. A smile lighting up his face, Robin stands to greet her. He realizes then that she never responded to his text, either, but assumes she was busy with work and knew she'd see him at the office anyway.
When Regina walks in, he's mesmerized by her beauty once again and has to remind himself that he now, kind of, is allowed to admire her like this. They've been on a date, and are clearly attracted to one another, clearly headed in the direction of becoming something great together. She's wearing a dark red, form fitting dress with black panty hose and black heels. He's noticed that she's a fan of the tight fitting dresses, and he can't say he blames her. She has an amazing body and can pull off those dresses any day of the week. Though, to be fair, she could waltz in wearing a potato sack and he'd think she was the most stunning woman in the world.
She's carrying a lamp in one hand and has a large painting stuck under her other armpit. Robin rushes over to help her, taking the painting from her arm and giving her a small smile.
"Morning, love," he says, placing the artwork onto his conference table.
Sitting the lamp down next to the canvas, she greets him with a, "Good morning."
Robin leans in and places a kiss to her lips, but before it can linger for any amount of time, Regina pulls away, tucking her hair behind her ears and looking away.
"Robin, not here…" She tells him. He notices, though, that there seems to be an underlying message of not anywhere within her words.
"I'm sorry." His brow furrows, and he asks, "Are you alright?" when she takes a small step away from him.
"Yes, I just…" she sighs, looking up into his eyes, "I don't know, Robin."
She shakes her head, her eyes seemingly pleading him to understand her plight. Unsure of what the issue could be, since they've gotten along so well thus far, he says, "I thought we had a good time on Saturday. Was I mistaken?"
"We did, but..." She seems unable to finish a thought this morning.
He takes a small step back, not wanting to distance himself from her, but knowing she needs room to move around and talk, expressing herself fully. Their date had just been the metaphorical cherry on top of what has already been a great friendship. Thinking quickly over everything that's been said between them over these last few months, his mind rapidly comes to the only logical explanation of her sudden change of heart. Her ex.
"Daniel?" He tentatively asks, fairly certain he already knows the answer.
"No, well, yes, but no," she says, scrunching her face up in a confused manner, "I just haven't exactly had a ton of dating experience, and I don't know." Sighing and shaking her head slightly, she continues with a meager quake to her voice, "I'm just so confused right now. I think I just need a little breathing room to figure things out."
Stunned, Robin says lightly, "Alright," and steps away, walking toward his desk, giving her another small smile. He's trying not to show how disappointed he is. He can clearly see that she's struggling with this, can hear the quiver in her voice, and isn't sure how best to handle this situation. He knows that Daniel is the only serious relationship she's ever been in and assumes that comes with a lot more baggage than she's already shared.
Every relationship comes with and leaves you with some sort of baggage. Hell, he has his own baggage with a tag labeled Marian's death on it, along with other, much smaller pieces of emblematic luggage that have been left with him after his few other failed relationships over the years. He's never been with someone as long as Regina was with Daniel, though, so he has no clue what sort of affects their relationship left imprinted on her heart. He wants things to work with Regina, things just feel right when they're together, so he's willing to give her anything she wants. If she needs time to figure things out, then he'll give her time.
Motioning between the two of them, he tells her, "Well, I think this could be something really incredible." She walks over to join him near his desk as he finishes with, "So, I'm willing to wait as long as you need. When you're ready, just let me know."
He can see her let out a breath he deduces she has been holding. "Thank you, Robin," she says, giving him a sad smile. Her eyes look a little glossy, but he doesn't want to make her cry, so he doesn't ask.
They stand there for a few moments, staring, until she finally clears her throat and looks back at the conference table, declaring she needs to take the artwork to the other offices.
The rest of the afternoon is a pretty unsuccessful attempt on his part to not think about Regina Mills. After making some small changes to the Sleep Tight campaign, Robin heads home early to relieve Tink and spend the rest of the day focusing on his son and not on the chocolate brown eyes he longs to stare into or the plump lips he wants to kiss again. The heart he wishes to belong to, since she so quickly is already captivating his own.
Giving her space is going to be difficult, but she needs it. And he would do anything for Regina already. So, he'll wait. However long that may be.
{**************************************}
*insert nervous laughter* ...just trust me, guys...