Evil Charming Week - Day Six: Online Dating AU

Regina sighed as she scrolled through another page of candidates she'd been matched up to. This was stupid. But Emma and Mary Margaret had made her this stupid account and answered all the questions for her, setting up her profile with a picture they'd snapped on a rare late night out.

She didn't believe in online dating. Well, no, she didn't believe in dating at all anymore. Not after a failed marriage, three bad blind dates (one guy who thought the pirate's life would actually be a legitimate life choice, one newspaper writer who had done a background check on her before their date and seemingly decided they were destined for forever, and the last who was more obsessed with tea and his ascot than interested in conversation), and a relationship with a man who'd ended up going back to his ex-wife for the sake of their child. No. Regina was done with dating.

But maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe even if a date didn't work out, she could make a friend who wouldn't be obsessed with her dating life. She had Henry, and a thirteen-year-old boy took more time than she had, so dating wasn't really an option.

Just to humor them, Regina scrolled through yet another page. The last man on the list was what stopped her from closing the app. He was… wow. She had never once in her life found a blonde man attractive (women, sure, like that short affair with Mal back in college). But this man… Clicking to view his profile, she found that his name was David Nolan. Simple, traditional. Easy. A fair change from the strange names of the men she'd attempted to date since her marriage ended. His interests were things like reading and running. How plain. Predictable, really. Wouldn't anyone who wanted to date someone intelligent put reading as a hobby?

But then there were things like horses and family there, which had her chewing her lip in thought, surprised she was actually considering messaging someone on a stupid dating website. Before she could stop herself, she sent him a message. Just a short one, with a simple greeting.

She growled in frustration at herself as she closed the stupid app the next night. She had checked enough times to be embarrassed about, trying to see if that man, David, had messaged her back, and he hadn't. It was pathetic. He wasn't interested, and why would he be? Her friends made her sound like a boring drone in the profile they'd made her. Regina didn't care. She'd delete the app as soon as she woke up the next morning.

And that's exactly what she was going to do Monday morning when she found she had a notification for the app. Regina hesitantly opened it, finding a message from the blonde man whose picture she'd found herself so attracted to. She clicked on the message.

Hello, Regina. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, but I was with my niece this weekend and in an effort to show her how much fun life can be without technology, I neglected my phone for the time being. I'd love to have coffee with you sometime, if you're able. I work at an animal shelter, and then by appointments teaching kids how to ride horses, but my evenings and mornings are pretty flexible otherwise. What day or time would work best for you?

She knew she was done for then. Unless he was a secret serial killer or had some other hidden secret. A man who was good with children, good enough to teach them to ride horses and to spend a weekend with his niece, giving her his undivided attention, and seemingly liked animals, all rolled into a very attractive package… she was most definitely interested. And his grammar was excellent, but she could credit that to spell check. She'd have to see. Regardless, Regina found herself hitting reply and setting up a date for the following Monday.

The date didn't work out. Henry had to stay home from school sick, so she text messaged him as soon as she knew, so he wouldn't think she was standing him up. But he'd replied kindly, telling her he hoped her son felt better and to get in touch with him when she wanted to reschedule. The points were stacking in his favor. Someone who understood that her kid came first… that was hard to come across. And it had been the biggest issue with two of her three failed blind dates before, when they'd seemed so turned off by the fact that she wouldn't go home with them; she had a son to get to.

And she messaged him back, which ended up in an exchange of messages for hours, whenever she wasn't tending to Henry. And he never pushed her during the occasional lengthy time between his messages and her responses.

Then later that evening, she got an email from him. He started it with an apology for using it if she didn't want him to, but her last iMessage had showed up under her email instead of the contact he'd added, and he couldn't resist using it to write something longer. From there he asked her questions, more about her interests, her job, her life.

It was as close as they could get to the long hand written notes she'd loved so much from her days in school. Their exchange then turned to only emails, longer, more detailed, and full of curious inquiries. She was getting to know him, and she was really beginning to like him.

On Wednesday Regina finally set a new day and time for their date. They'd meet that Sunday morning for an early coffee. She was excited, and when the day came, she picked through her clothes, trying to decide what was appropriate for an early morning coffee date on a Sunday. Finally settling on a royal blue, sleeveless dress, Regina slid on a pair of black heels and checked that Henry was still sleeping. He was out like a light, and he knew she was going out, so he'd probably sleep in until she got home. That was fine with her.

Nerves made her stomach feel tight as she walked into the small cafe that was just barely across town for her. When she looked around, she found David sitting at a high chair with two cups in front of him. He stood, smiling brightly at her and holding up one paper cup.

"Regina?" he asked. There was a hint of a dialect she couldn't place, and Regina was surprised he hadn't mentioned living some other place. "I got it black with two sugars, like you said you like." She hummed as she took it, returning his smile. "But of course, if you were in the mood for something else, I can get you that, too."

"No, this is lovely. Thank you."

He stepped around to a chair, offering it to her and holding the back. He really was everything she was interested in dating. A gentleman, kind, caring about children… and damn was he handsome. She'd have to thank Emma and Mary Margaret for making her that stupid profile after all.