Why the hell did I let Kathryn talk me into this, Regina thinks as she sits at the fancy Italian restaurant nervously twiddling her thumbs. She can't even remember the last time she has been on a date, so she has been fretting about this blind date since she woke up this morning. Kathryn had happily offered to babysit Henry, but that didn't stop his persistent questioning of where his mother was going tonight. Regina absolutely hates lying to her little prince, but she doesn't want to get his hopes up in case this date goes awfully which Regina is absolutely positive that this date will end up being a disaster. She merely told her son that she was meeting a friend and that was enough of an explanation for him. She smiles fondly to herself thinking about how it was only been six years since she adopted Henry. It was the best decision she has ever made and she wishes that he would stop growing up so fast.

Regina has never been a person who opens up to people and that is the number one reason she didn't want to go on this date. The things that have happened in her past have made her build so many walls around herself and those usually only come down when she is around Henry. It is so difficult for her to trust anyone. She grimaces when she starts thinking about the past and quickly pushes those thoughts away not wanting to think about them while waiting for her date to arrive.

Before she left the house she must have checked her reflection in the mirror about a thousand times. Her mother's words pierced through her, "you will never be good enough," and that was enough to bring tears to Regina's eyes. She feels stupid and oddly insecure about agreeing to go on this date.

Regina chose to wear a tight fitting red dress that hugged every curve and fell just above her knees. She paired it with a pair of her black pumps. She painted her lips a deep shade of red, but kept her makeup fairly simple. Her hair was slightly curled and fell just below her shoulders. Kathryn's jaw nearly touched the floor when she had seen Regina and said in these exact words, "you look smoking hot," and that caused Regina to burst out in a fit of laughter.

Regina looked at the time on her cell phone for the fifth time. It was nearly twenty minutes past the time that she and Robin was supposed to meet. She scowls at the thought that this date is already going bad and he isn't even here yet. Regina starts chewing nervously on her thumbnail hoping that she didn't get stood up. A few minutes pass and she begins to scroll through her phone in an attempt to look preoccupied, therefore she doesn't notice the man that is headed to her table. His thick English accent sounds, "are you Regina Mills?"

She jumps, startled by the man that is talking to her. Regina looks up from her phone and her jaw nearly drops. Robin is beyond hot. Kathryn had told her that he was handsome, but not this handsome. His hair is neatly combed back and his beard is cleanly shaven. He is wearing a dark grey suit that nearly makes Regina's knees weak. Robin's eyes are this beautiful bright blue that she feels like she could get lost in. She notices that she has been staring too long when he clears his throat. She looks back up at him and he has a cheeky smirk on his lips. Regina flushes with embarrassment and slightly shakes her head while she smiles, "yes, and you must be Robin Locksley. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Milady." Regina feels a smile creep onto her face once more. There is something about Robin that makes her feel a strange sense of security. She shakes the feeling off, knowing that she is being silly. she has only said a few words to him.

.::.

Robin was very nervous about this date to say the least and to make matters worse he is twenty minutes late. He hasn't been on a date since his son was born. His best friend Killian talked him into this date and if Robin is being completely honest with himself, he is a little afraid of the woman that he has set him up with, because Killian has dated some very questionable women. A little part of him thinks that this date is going to go horribly, but he remains optimistic.

The restaurant was stunning to say the least. There were flickering candles under the dim lights, soft music playing quietly, the smell of pasta and a lovely scent that he cannot place. Even if this date does go badly, at least the place is nice. He asked for his table and began to walk towards it. All of Robin's doubts about this date went out the window when he saw the breathtaking woman sitting down at the table looking about as nervous as he feels. He automatically feels like shit for making her wait twenty minutes for him. He takes a deep breath, trying to collect his nerves and he makes his way over to this stunning woman, Regina. He asks if she is Regina and it appears to him that he has startled her. She flushed a deep shade of red and Robin had to refrain a chuckle. She looks quite adorable when she's flustered, Robin thinks to himself. As soon as she smiled Robin found himself addicted to her smile and he suddenly wanted to make her smile all of the time. Robin loves the way his name seems to effortlessly roll off of her tongue. Once he made her smile again, he knew that he was completely lost in Regina Mills. He has never felt this connected to someone in just a matter of seconds.

Robin sits down as Regina begins to speak. "You're late. That hasn't made a very good first impression Robin Locksley," Regina quips.

He looks down at his hands and lets out an embarrassed chuckle. "I'm really sorry for making you wait so long. My son wasn't very happy that I was leaving him for the night. He threw a giant tantrum insisting that if I didn't stay he was no longer going to talk to me. It took me a while to get him settled."

He notices that Regina's mood lightens at the mention of his son. "You have a son? What's his name? How old is he? I went through a similar phase with my son. He would never let me go anywhere without him. I would always get dirty looks anytime I left without taking him with me, which was often because of my job."

"His name is Roland and he is two. Who is your son? I'm glad it's not just my clinginess that has made him this way, or maybe it is. Are you clingy with your son? Roland goes through with his silent treatments. Every day after work he doesn't talk to me for about an hour," Robin chuckles. Maybe this blind date wasn't going to go as badly as he thought.

"He is Henry and he is six. I am extremely clingy with him. I don't think Henry would ever be able to go through with being silent with me. He is so talkative. Sometimes I feel like he doesn't breathe in between his sentences," Regina smiles fondly.

A few moments passed in an uncomfortable silence after talking about their sons. Robin wasn't sure what else to talk about and Regina didn't know what to say either. It has been so long since either of them have been on a date. They both stared at each other, trying to figure out what to say. Robin cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed about what he was about to ask. "So, what is your favorite color."

Regina let out a loud laugh that was music to Robin's ears. "What?" she asked through her chuckles.

Robin grinned, "Do you have anything better? We have to start somewhere. So, spill it."

Regina chuckled once again as she replies, "I guess you're right. It's black or red, depends on my mood."

Robin nods, "mines green."

"That is honestly the ugliest color you could pick."

"I don't believe so. Have you seen the color brown?"

"Fair point," Regina giggles.

Robin hesitates as he asks his next question not wanting to overstep. "If you don't want to answer this I completely understand, what happened between you and Henrys dad?"

Regina's face remains neutral, "nothing happened. I didn't have Henry with anyone. He is adopted. How about you?"

Robin nods appreciatively, "I find that amazing. You seem like a great person Regina." Robin takes a deep breath before answering her question. "Roland's mum passed away shortly after he was born. The doctors said that she had lost a lot of blood during his birth. She also almost lost Roland. It is a miracle that he survived."

Regina instinctively reached over and grabbed Robin's hand and soothingly rubbed the pad of her thumb on top of his hand. "I am so sorry."

He gives her a watery smile, "Thank you. This is the first date that I have been on since her passing and if I'm being completely honest, I am really glad that it is with you."

Regina blushes at his compliment, "I convinced myself that this date was going to be a disaster, but it turned out to be the exact opposite so far. I'm really glad that Kathryn talked me into this. This is quite embarrassing to admit, but I haven't been on a date since I was twenty-two."

"My friend Killian also talked me into this and I am also quite glad that he did. I cannot believe that no one has asked you on a date since you were twenty-two. They must be out of their mind," Robin replies sincerely.

"It's not that I haven't been asked out on dates I just always decline them. I am going to tell you something that I haven't told many people, but I'm not going to go into much detail about it. It is really hard for me to open up and trust people. I have had a rough past and I have always felt like I would be a burden to anyone who dated me. That is the main reason I was so hesitant to agree to go on a date with you," Regina says hesitantly.

Robin gives her a supportive smile, "I completely understand where you are coming from. Regina you never have to worry about being a burden to anyone. If they truly care about you, then your past shouldn't matter to them. You're past doesn't have to define you."

"Thank you Robin. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"I might have a little idea," he quips.

They ask each other random, odd questions for a few minutes. Robin learns that Regina is American but of Latina descent. She is also a lawyer, which doesn't surprise him one bit. Regina is very straightforward and has an amazing personality. He also learns that people call her the Evil Queen which makes him explode with laughter. "You an evil queen? I can't see it."

She raises a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him and says in a deep voice, "that is only because you have yet to get on my bad side." Robin has to hold his sides from laughing so hard that time.

They continue talking for a while longer, until a waitress came up to their table to take their order. Regina's eyes nearly pop out of her head when she sees what the waitress is wearing. The waitress, Ruby, is wearing the shortest skirt that Regina has ever seen and to top that off she is in a tight crop top. Regina glanced over at Robin and his eyes met hers. He was holding in his laughter at Regina's reaction. Regina looked at her menu and quickly chose the seafood pasta medley with water as a beverage. Robin chose to have the Chicken Milano with fettuccine and a water also. Ruby's eyes raked across Robin's figure and Regina scowled and cleared her throat. Ruby didn't seemed fazed and just smirked at Regina before she walked away.

"Who would dress that way to work? Did you see the way she was looking at you? She looked like she wanted to jump your bones right in front of me," Regina said with disdain.

Robin chuckled, "she just wants extra tips, which is something we are most definitely not giving her."

Regina let out a sound of relief, thankful that Robin isn't the type of guy that will fall for things like that. About twenty minutes later their food arrives. Regina looks down at the wonderful smelling food, wanting to devour it all in one bite. She takes a bite and a loud moan falls from her lips, "this is so good." Robin thought he couldn't become any more attracted to her and then that damn moan tumbled from her lips and he was a goner.

.::.

This date was going way better than Regina had ever imagined it going. Robin is one of the greatest guys she has ever had the pleasure of meeting. He is witty, intelligent, and extremely hot. She learned that she has quite a lot in common with him. Robin is a writer for musicians. He claims that he can sing very well, but writing is his passion. He even went as far to joke about writing a song for her one day, which made Regina's stomach flutter.

After their food arrived, they didn't talk much. They were both too busy devouring their amazing food. Regina chuckled when a little sauce got stuck in Robins stubble. She instinctively moved forward and wiped it off with the pad of her thumb causing Robins breath to slightly hitch. And then she did something Robin did not expect, she licked it right off of her thumb and insisted that it was so good and so he offered her a little bit of it and lifted his fork up to her mouth. She greedily ate the fettuccine and moaned in appreciation. "Everything here is so delicious." Robin merely nodded in response. Regina senses that something may be wrong, "I'm sorry. Did I overstep? I truly didn't mean to."

Robin quickly shook his head, "no you didn't overstep. I just noticed that I didn't even tell you how lovely you look tonight."

Regina gives him a toothy grin, "you clean up pretty well also."

Regina realizes how close their faces are. She can feel his breath hot on her cheek. She slowly looked down to his very inviting lips and subconsciously licked her lips before looking back up at his eyes. She felt herself once more getting lost in his beautiful eyes. She thought about leaning in to capture his lips with hers, but before she gets the chance to, Ruby comes over to the table and clears her throat. Regina jumps back and glares at Ruby. Ruby shrugs, "do you guys want anything for dessert?"

Robin and Regina look at each other in a silent agreement. Regina states, "no thank you. We are both rather full. Can we get the bill, please?" Ruby nods her head and walks away to get their bill.

Regina blushes a deep shade of red thinking about what she was just getting ready to do. Ruby returns with the bill and Robin snatches it before Regina even gets the chance to grab it. "You truly want to see the Evil Queen come out don't you?"

Robin guffaws, "possibly or maybe I'm just being a gentleman."

Regina retorts, "sure, I know you just want to see me evil. Does evilness turn you on Robin?" Regina freezes as the words come out of her mouth, regretting them instantly.

Robin chortles and winks playfully, "possibly."

Regina lets out a relieved sigh and playfully smacks his arm. "I knew it."

Robin pays the bill and leads Regina outside of the restaurant. "Did you drive here," he questions.

"No, I took a cab."

"Well, now there is no reason for you to take one back. Can I drive you home?"

"Are you sure it's okay? I don't want to put you through any trouble."

"It my pleasure, Milady."

Regina smiles brightly and climbs into the passenger seat. It's a short drive from the restaurant to her house, but she is going to savor every last moment of this date. "Do you mind if I choose the music," she questions.

"Not at all. Choose whatever you want."

Regina scrolls through a few stations before landing on one of her favorite songs, Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran. "I love this song," Robin exclaims.

"Me too," Regina replies as she turns it up higher and begins to sing along with it.

Give a little time to me or burn this out, We'll play hide and seek to turn this around. All I want is the taste that your lips allow. My, my, my, my, oh give me love.

Robin smiles fondly at her and beings singing along with her. Before they know it, they are screaming the lyrics at the top of their lungs, happy and carefree. Regina isn't the type of person to let her guard down, but for some odd reason she feels like she can do that around Robin. She looks over at him singing and smiles widely. His smile is quite contagious. The song ends and they both make eye contact and burst out laughing. This was definitely not how either of them imagined their night going and both are very grateful it turned out this way.

They arrived at her house and Regina found herself not wanting to leave him. "I had a great time tonight," she whispers.

"So did I. I would very much like to do this again sometime. Can I have your number?"

They quickly exchange numbers and they both sit in the car in silence, not wanting this night to end. "I'm so glad Kathryn talked me into this. And I'm so glad Killian talked you into this."

Robin chuckles, "me too."

"Well, I guess I should probably go now. I will see you later Robin." Regina goes to open the car door, but before she can Robin grabs her arm and places a hand on her cheek. He goes in to kiss her on the lips, but before he does, he thinks about it and plants a kiss on her cheek. Regina cheeks feel incredibly soft under her lips.

"See you around."

Regina blushes and steps out of the car. She places a hand on her still burning cheek and grins. She cannot wait until she sees Robin again.

Note: I got this idea from my best friend who just recently went on a blind date. This was intentionally going to be a one-shot, but half way through I changed my mind. Thank you for giving this a read. Please feel free to let me know what you think. I hope that you enjoy this chapter!