Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

It was a stupid pact, marrying one another if they were both single by forty. Really, it was one of the most foolish things one could ever consider. But they had one too many shots that night and, for whatever reason, it sounded like an award-winning idea.

It wasn't that she didn't like Robin. She did, very much so, and that was the problem.

She'd been crushing on him ever since they first met as teenagers, during the welcome party her mother insisted on throwing when his family moved into the neighborhood. She wore her first two-piece swimsuit to impress him, and he barely acknowledged her, too busy with his nose in a book—what sane person would decide to read a book during a pool party?

There were many more cringe-worthy attempts that followed and fell flat, ones where she ditched her sneakers for high heels to catch his attention and ended up landing right on her butt in front of him and their friends, and ones where she tried to be seductive and flirted without realizing she had lipstick on her front teeth. She never heard the end of that story, it seemed to be his favorite out of all the embarrassing things she'd done.

But that was it. All they had was a close friendship, because he never caught on to her hints, and she was too stubborn and too proud to flat out tell him how she felt. He never seemed interested in her the way she was in him.

And that was why the deal made no sense. But they were wasted, couldn't even stand without swaying and laughed at every little thing, it could've been nothing more than a joke, and she'd taken it seriously. He might've not even remembered the incident the next morning, while she spent everyday for the past ten years thinking and stressing over it.

Then the phone call came.

It was twelve o'clock on the dot when her iPhone began vibrating in the front pocket of her tight jeans, an incoming call from a number she didn't recognize. Regina usually ignored these, only after having two shots of tequila and sipping on her first Appletini in the span of almost fifty minutes on her own, she assumed it was her friend, Mal, calling from a stranger's phone to let her know that she was finally arriving, with some lousy excuse as to why she was so late up her sleeve. It wasn't something the blonde hasn't done before.

But the voice that answered her irritated hello didn't belong to Mal. It wasn't feminine and sultry. It was rich and deep, and…accented.

"Happy birthday, Regina."

"Robin?"

He chuckled on the other end, the same warm laugh she was so familiar with.

It's been almost a decade since he moved to another state, since she last saw him in person. He made so many promises during their last get together, vowing over wine that things won't change between them even if he would be miles away—only everything did.

They spoke everyday for the first year; she updated him on how things were back home and he told her all about New York. Then his calls became less frequent and his texts would take a day or two, and eventually his calls stopped and his texts came on special occasions. It's been three years since she heard his voice, and not only through the videos he shared on social media. They were her only updates for years, it was how she saw him leave behind his immature habits and become a responsible adult, change his ridiculous hairstyle and grow out his beard. He looked nice with a stubble. A little too nice.

"I missed you," she whispered, unsure if he even heard her amongst the loud music blasting in the background. If she didn't have alcohol coursing through her system, she would've hung up on him, she'd be angry because he broke every promise he made all these years ago.

"I missed you, too, lovely. And it's awfully loud there. Out celebrating your birthday?"

She could picture the smile that laced his tone, putting one on her face as well. "Well, I'm supposed to be, but my friend still hasn't showed up."

Regina weaved her way through the crowd, grimacing at the stench of alcohol and sweat combined every time something pushed against her and tried sweet-talking her away for a quick dance, slurring a series of terrible pick-up lines. Going clubbing most definitely wasn't as enjoyable as it was on her twenty-first birthday.

"That's a shame." Then there was a brief pause as she stopped right outside of the club, followed by, "But you really didn't think your fortieth birthday won't be special, did you?"

Her brows creased in slight confusion. "What do you mean?"

A tap on her shoulder caught her off guard, making her jump with a gasp and quickly turn around, bulging, brown eyes locking with a pair of crinkling, blue ones.

"Hi."

There he was, in the flesh. Her childhood friend—her best friend, towering over her with a dimpled grin and arms wide open. She didn't waste another second, jumping right in and hugging him tightly, a muffled sob against his neck. His hand soothed over her back and his lips pressed a delicate kiss to the side of her head, making her tighten her grip around him.

"I missed you," Robin repeated, loud enough just for the two of them to hear. He pecked the side of her head again and buried his nose in her hair. "I'm sorry I was away for too long." He moved back, one hand cupping her chin while the other raced to catch the tears from the corner of her eyes, index brushing to wipe them away. "And please don't be mad at Mal for not showing up, I told her not to. It was all just a part of the plan." He grinned sheepishly, and she couldn't help it, chuckling with an eye roll and landing a heavy fist to his shoulder.

"I missed you, too, a lot."

"I'm sorry I broke my promises."

"So you should be," she muttered, glaring from beneath her thick lashes. "Three years without a phone call, Robin? Three years."

"We'll have the rest of our lives to make up for the lost," he reassured, adding, "Mrs. Locksley" His cheeky grin widened over his face and he wiggled his brows when her eyes grew dramatically. "You really think I forgot about the pact we made?"

"H—honestly? Yeah," she admitted, exhaling a breathy laugh. "With all the drinks we had back then, I didn't think you were even serious about it."

"Liquid courage," he explained, "it was my dumb way of telling you that I love you."

She should've been happy at his confession, that's what she wanted. His love. Instead, she sank her teeth into her lip and punched his shoulder again. "You're fucking stupid."

"What was that for!" he cried out, rubbing the spot she hit with a wince.

"For wasting ten years over being an idiot." She stopped, pointing a finger at him with a scowl. "Come to think of it, you wasted even longer because I've been trying to show you that I'm interested in you since we were fifteen!"

"What?"

"The welcome party?" At his silence, she continued with a huff, "I wore a bikini and purposely walked in front of you over and over again. You didn't even glance at me once."

"I…thought you were trying to get Killian's attention," he murmured.

"You really do have a pea-sized brain." She scoffed, shaking her head. "And then I tried flirting with you, told you how much I liked your eyes and how blue they were and—"

"You had lipstick on your teeth and I kept teasing you by calling you a vampire," he wheezed, but at her straight face, he stopped, muttering a quick apology under his breath.

"And then there was this time where—"

He silenced her by placing his finger on her lips. "I'm certain you have a very long list of all the time that I wasn't smart enough to notice, but I miss you and I promised you to make up for all the lost time, but if you keep going on about it, we won't be moving from here. At all." Without giving her a chance to speak, he swooped her off her feet in one, quick motion and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring her surprised squeak and protests.

"What are you doing!"

"Taking you home," he easily replied, and she didn't need to see him to know that he was grinning proudly. She kicked in an attempt to be let down, her face flushed out of embarrassment—which only worsened when he smacked her butt. "Stop squirming or I'll drop you."

"Don't you dare!"

"Then stop moving so much."

"Fine," she grumbled, rubbing her hands over her face. And then he smacked her again. "Robin!"

The bastard only laughed.

He was lucky she was in love with him.