Regina glanced over her shoulder looking at him from across the ballroom, he was stood by the drinks table watching over the punch as some of the other students ladled it into their red cups. She caught his eye and he cast her a wink that had her knees almost weak, she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she turned back to her friends, a fresh blush rising upon her cheeks.

She'd been waiting for this day for months, waiting for the day she would finally be free from school and be able to have what and whoever she wanted. She knew exactly what that was, she felt as though she had waited a lifetime for this day to come, but it had been something they'd agreed upon, something they felt necessary.

"Are you looking forward to college?" Mrs Nolan came over to their group and Regina smiled politely at the older teacher.

"Can't wait," she grinned, "to be honest I'll be glad for a change of scenery."

"Are you moving out then Regina?"

"That's the plan," she nodded.

"I don't want David to go, but I suppose every child has to leave their mother at some point don't they," she chuckled with a shake of her head looking a little sad for a moment. David was in her year group and dating her younger step-sister Mary, they'd been together for a while and she knew that Mary Margaret had been distraught when she found out that David would be moving away to go to college, she'd been more upset about that than the idea of her own sister leaving. "So are you moving into Halls?"

"I think I'll be moving in with my older sister, she has an apartment near the University I want to attend," Regina informed her, she couldn't wait to live with Zelena, although they had been somewhat estranged when they were younger they had become a hell of a lot closer lately when Zelena had said enough was enough to her mother's controlling hand and moved out, she was lucky enough to have her father helping her with the cost of an apartment.

"Well how lovely dear," she woman squeezed her arm friendly before moving over to talk to another gathering of students.

"Why do you look so nervous?" Kathryn asked as she turned to Regina, shoving a cup of punch into her hand.

"I'm not," she lied with a shake of her head, smoothing down the white fabric of her dress which was skin tight at the top, clinging to her every curve before billowing out into a floaty skirt from her waist where a small band of diamante encrusted around her. The dress had long sleeves that were created from lace and gripped to her arms in a similar way to the bodice. Her dark hair cascaded down her back in loose curls with little white flowers pinned into the back of it.

"Hmm, someone is lying. What is it?"

"It's nothing, trust me, I'm fine, I just can't believe we are over and done with school and this is the senior prom, everything went so quickly," everything apart from the last six months, they had been the longest of her life, she thought they would never be over, it had been torture.

Her blonde friend smiled as she found a seat and brought her to sit beside her at a table, "we have the whole summer to enjoy just doing nothing and lounging around at the beach."

"Yeah, I have a feeling this is going to be the best summer yet," she nodded in agreement, but for totally different reasons.

"I think you might be right. So, are you finally going to get a boyfriend because your really need to lose your v card before college orientation, I mean you should have seen some of the parties my brother went to when he went to Uni, they were crazy!"

Regina rose her eyebrows and rolled her eyes, "Kat, you know me by now."

"Yes I know, you're boring and don't like to have any fun."

"I'm sensible and would rather stay at home reading a book than going out and getting drunk," she countered, earning a snigger from her friend who nudged her playfully, "it is illegal to drink Kat, you do remember that right?"

"Come on Gina, everyone drinks."

"Not me."

"That's because you, my bestie, are a goody two shoes, but don't change because I like you the way you are, you just make me look bad that's all."

"You don't need me to make you look bad, you are quite capable of doing that all on your own" Regina smirked, her friend was rather out there and Regina had to say she found it rather amusing. She took a sip of her punch and wrinkled her nose, she thought fruit punch was supposed to taste nice, but that was extremely bitter and strong, "I don't know what they put in this but its pretty gross."

"I know, that's why I added alcohol to your cup," her friend grinned smugly as she leant back against her chair.

"You brought alcohol to school? Kat are you out of your mind, that is crazy! We could get into so much trouble."

"Oh chill out little miss overreact, I didn't bring in the alcohol, don't worry, that was Kilian and he just let me have some."

"You spiked me!" she accused, "Kathryn Midas you spiked me!"

"You're the one who took the drink from me and decided to drink it without asking what it was."

"That was because I simply assumed you were being nice and bringing me some punch not putting alcohol in it."

"Well I'm sorry, I wanted to go over to the punch bowl because have you see who is standing there?"

Was he still there? She hadn't noticed, she been trying to avoid looking over there too often, despite how much she had just wanted to simply stare at him. God she wanted so much more than that and hopefully later that would be exactly what she was getting. "I hadn't seen no."

"Are you joking? You're telling me that you hadn't seen him after having ogled him for the entire time he has been here."

"I haven't ogled him, he is just very nice to look at, I mean anyone with those eyes, dimple and stubble, not to mention the voice shouldn't be allowed in this school," she scoffed, "it's distracting."

"I knew you'd had the biggest crush on him since he started here," the blonde laughed, her eyes widening a little as she stared at her, "what if he likes you back?"

"He doesn't, why would he?" he did and she knew he did, in fact he'd told her many times how much he loved her and she had responded in kind with the same passion. They were like two halves of the same person, but no one could know that, no one else could find out. That wasn't an option, not yet.

"I dunno, you're hot Regina and maybe he has a thing for brunettes, you never know."

Regina rolled her eyes and turned to look back at the punch table, catching him looking at her once again, he really should stop that, in fact she probably should warn him before he got caught by anyone else.

"I think he's looking at you Regina, look at that, god, he's so into you."

"Shut up Kathryn, you don't know what you're talking about," she huffed, standing from her chair and taking the cup of punch that Kathryn had given her with her before heading over to the stand. She placed the cup down on the table and found a new one, "you've been staring," she teased, flashing a seductive smile his way.

"Can't help it, you look too beautiful and I can't seem to tear my eyes from you."

"You should really try before someone catches you," her eyes flashed to his, concern embedded within them, they had come too far to be caught now.

"Regina…"

"Robin, just a couple more hours, that's it, that's all, we've waited long enough haven't we, so we can wait that much longer," she wanted to touch him, to be able to enjoy prom with him.

He smiled and shook his head, "yes, we can. Punch?"

"Yes please," she nodded, watching as he poured some into her cup for her, looking into the one she already had.

"What was wrong with that one?"

"Taste it and find out," she quipped, watching as he picked up the red cup and brought it to his lips before taking a sip and raising his eyebrows.

"Wow, that's strong," he chuckled, putting it back down again, "who gave you that?"

"Ah I can't tell you, plus you are supposed to be watching over the punch, I think you may have been slightly distracted from your job," she pointed out, "I really hope this prom is over soon."

"Don't wish away your final prom, enjoy it."

She sighed before nodding at him, he was right, she should enjoy it, but she couldn't help but think about what might be coming later. With that she turned and headed back to Kathryn who was sat now talking to Emma and Ruby, she budged them up as she took her seat on the bench, "you're back."

"I went to get a drink that wasn't spiked," she rolled her eyes.

"Where did you put the alcohol one?"

"I left it over there."

"Geez Mills, I could have had that," Ruby complained, "Killian said that he didn't have much left."

"He doesn't," Emma shook her head as she wrapped an arm around Ruby, resting her chin on her shoulder, "I tried to get some from him earlier and he was really tight with it."

"I hope you were going to share that with me," Ruby scoffed.

"Of course," the blonde kissed her playfully, "why wouldn't I have shared it with you?"

Regina looked at the cloth that was laid over the table and picked at the little pieces of confetti that had been scattered on top of it. She was working up the courage to ask the girls for a favour, she just didn't know if she felt brave enough yet, clearing her throat they all turned to look at her and she glanced at them.

"Okay, what is going on with you?" Kathryn asked as the other two girls looked at her in interest.

"I need you to cover for me tonight," she admitted, might as well get over with, "please, it's important."

Kathryn furrowed her eyebrows, "tonight? I thought you were coming to mine for the after party."

"I know I was but I can't, I have somewhere else I need to be. If my mother get's in contact with you I need you to tell her that I'm staying at yours tonight, please," she whispered, trying not to meet her friend's eyes, she knew that she was about to get bombarded with a hell of a lot of questions, questions that she couldn't answer.

"What the hell? Where do you need to be? Come on, tell us, we're your friends," Emma argued.

"I'm staying over at someone's house, but mother can't know, she'd kill me if she found out" she couldn't tell them more than that.

"Are you staying at a guy's house?!" Kat's eyes widened as she stared at her friend, Regina felt her cheeks heating up under the scrutiny and Kathryn gasped loudly, "oh my god! Regina you are!"

"Shut up! Keep your voice down, I don't want anyone to know."

"Who the hell are you staying with? Have you been having a secret relationship that none of us know about?" Ruby pestered.

"No," at her friends looks she realised that they weren't buying that argument and they knew from all the girl talk they had together that Regina was someone who needed commitment before she would sleep with anyone which was why she never had. There was no point lying to them, they would just continue to pester her, but that didn't mean she was going to tell them who with, she couldn't. "Okay, yes, I have."

"And you've kept this from me?" Kathryn asked in shock, "I can't believe you've been in a relationship and you didn't tell me."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't we don't want anyone to know about it."

"Who is he?"

"You don't know him," she lied.

"How long have you been seeing him?"

Regina cringed and looked to the table cloth, playing with the end of it as she shrugged and whispered her answer, "six months."

"Six months?! What the actual fuck Regina!"

She frowned and shrugged her shoulders, "I needed to make sure it was what I thought it was and it is," she smiled, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

"You're in love with him? Oh my god."

Regina laughed and shook her head at the shocked look on the faces of her friends, all three of them looked rather stunned, "I love him yes."

"I just can't believe this," Kathryn grinned, "who'd have thought that Regina goody two shoes would be asking me to cover for her whilst she goes over to her secret boyfriends to do god knows what. Have you already been with him?"

"Not in that way, no," she sighed, knowing that they would work out what that meant.

"Oh I see," Kathryn smirked, "so, you're going to do it tonight?"

"That's the plan," she whispered, "we wanted to wait until school was over."

"Why didn't you bring him to prom? Like as your date?"

"I would have, but…" what could she really use as an excuse? There wasn't really a valid one, because he was stood right over there, probably looking their way as she spoke. "Prom isn't really his scene," she lied.

"Oh god he isn't a nerd, is he?" the other brunette groaned.

"What would be wrong with that?" she glared at Ruby.

"Nothing," Kathryn shook her head, "they're probably better in bed anyway," she smirked nudging Regina, "what does he look like then?"

"Urm, he has blue eyes and stubble," she shrugged, not knowing what to say other than that without giving it away, even though that was a big enough clue as it was.

"Oh my god please tell me it isn't Killian!"

"Ewww no," she cringed, "I already told you, you don't know him."

"Come on then spill, how did you meet?"

Saturday 2nd December 2017

Regina looked around Target making sure that there wasn't anyone around, there was something she needed but it was at the very back of the shelf and she knew that she had no chance of reaching it without standing on something. Cautiously she moved to take the little stool that had the words STAFF USE ONLY printed onto it, before carrying it to where she needed it. She placed it on the ground and looked around again before holding onto the shelf and stepping onto it. It most certainly wasn't the sturdiest thing she had ever stood on.

Taking a deep breath, she leant further in, her arm reaching up to the object she needed, she was still too short and decided to go up on her tiptoes to reach the item, her finger tips brushing across the packaging. She groaned and tried to move even closer, her hand finally enclosed around the packet, but before she could pull it out she heard someone yelling and felt the stool begin to slip, her eyes widened as it moved out from underneath her, causing her to fall backwards, pulling many items from the shelf with her.

Regina waited to come into contact with the cold marble floor but it never happened as she fell on top of someone causing them let out a grunt as they hit the floor instead. She opened her eyes and saw the guy who was laid underneath her, "oh my goodness, I'm so sorry are you okay?" she asked, her hand coming to his chest without thinking.

"Good thing you're light," he chuckled, shaking his head as he looked up at her, "what were you doing?"

"Trying to reach something," Regina stated, moving to off of him to sit on the floor, glancing to the shelf she had practically dragged everything off of. She burrowed her head in her hands, "I knew I should have just asked someone."

"Probably," he grinned, standing from the floor and reaching out a hand to her, helping her up from the ground.

"Thanks," she smiled awkwardly, tucking her long hair behind her ear and straightening her sweatshirt over her tight jeans. Now she was stood she took her time to get a good look at him, he was handsome, well built with slight stubble grazing his face, his eyes were bright blue and his dark blonde hair that had been once styled had clearly been messed by the little tumble they had taken. He looked older than her, but it couldn't have been that much older, maybe a couple of years or so. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you? Hit your head or anything like that?"

"No," he answered and seemingly she hadn't been the only one checking out who she had fallen into, "Robin Locksley, at your service milady."

"Regina Mills," she nodded, "I think I better tidy all this."

"Let me help."

"You don't have to…"

"I want to," he shrugged, bending down and beginning to pick up the packets of candy and chocolate that were all over the floor. She joined him, collecting as many as she could and placing them back in their positions. "You must have really wanted that packet."

"Oh, yes well these are my favourite and it was the last one so I had to have it," she laughed.

"Plain chocolate M&M's are your favourite?"

"Yes," she nodded, "you got a problem with that?"

"No, none at all, I suppose they are better than the peanut ones."

"Of course, they are," she grinned, scooping up the last of the sweets and putting them where they belonged, "thanks again for helping me with that and for catching me."

"Excuse me mam, you're not allowed to use the stools," a shop assistant came up to them.

"Sorry," she shrugged.

"They can be dangerous if you haven't been trained on how to use them. You could have broken it."

"I think she learnt her lesson," Robin chuckled standing up to the guy, "I doubt she will be standing on one any time soon."

"Definitely not," she nodded in agreement, she would never be standing on one again, she could have knocked herself out had she properly fallen and not used Robin to break her fall. They watched as the man snatched up the stool and scurried away, leaving them stood there, Regina with a bag of M&M's in her hand. She turned to look at Robin, raising one eyebrow as they both burst into laughter at the situation, "okay then."

"Guy seems very protective over his stool."

"Yes, he does doesn't he," she giggled shaking her head, "I think he was more worried about me damaging that than damaging myself."

"Probably, maybe it's his pride and joy, the only reason he comes to work."

"Could be, he's probably in love with it," she smiled as she looked to Robin who was stood beside her, "I better be getting off, I was only picking up these."

"Ah, okay," he grabbed a bag of marshmallows from the shelf, "don't be standing on any more stools, I can't guarantee I'll be there to catch you when you fall."

"That's a shame, I rather enjoyed our tumble," she smirked before looking to the ground, "goodbye Robin." Regina began walking towards the check out with the bag of M&M's and nothing else.

"Regina wait," he headed after her, placing his hand gently on her arm, "do you want to go out for a drink some time?"

"Do you like coffee?" She asked, she wasn't old enough for alcohol but clearly, he must have been, drink meant alcohol in those terms, didn't it?

"Yeah."

"Then sure, I'd love to go for a drink with you," she chuckled.

"Good," he grinned, taking his phone from his pocket for them to exchange numbers, "I'll call you."

"Please do," she blushed, watching as he wandered back into the store, she had a date and she couldn't be more excited. She handed her pouch of chocolate to the woman on the till and paid for it, still smiling as she left the store. As she climbed into her car, her phone began ringing and she took it out of her pocket biting her bottom lip as she answered, "Regina Mills."

"Hey it's Robin, you know the guy you just fell on."

"I know who you are Robin," she laughed.

"What are you doing right now?" he asked.

"Right this moment I am sat in my car, why?"

"Well, I figured there was no time like the present to go get that drink. Unless you have somewhere to be with those M&M's of yours."

"I don't," she smiled to herself looking at the dash board of her car.

"So is that a yes?"

"Yes, I suppose it is."

After confessing to her friends probably way to much about Robin and some of the dates they had been on, they decided that it was time to dance and she reluctantly allowed herself to be dragged off onto the dance floor. Her eyes lingered on Robin who had now moved away from the punch bowl and was heading out onto the patio through the glass double doors, catching her eye before he went out.

She allowed herself three songs to dance to before excusing herself for some fresh air and slipping outside through the same doors, looking around to see if she could find him, "Robin?" she called quietly, noticing that no one else was out there, "Robin, where are you?"

Suddenly she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and pull her behind a bush, making sure they were out of sight from the patio doors. Robin grinned at her running his thumb across her cheek gently, "you left me waiting," he chuckled, sliding his hand down her curves and landing on her waist.

"I couldn't have just followed you, it would have been suspicious," she shrugged, wrapping her arms around him as she ran her lips over his jaw line, pressing little kisses as she went, his stubble tickling her tender flesh causing her to let out a breathy moan against him before pulling back to look in his eyes, seeing that they were darkened with lust and seemed to shimmer in the moon light.

He tucked some of her hair behind her ear and smiled at her, "you look like a goddess, you really are so stunning Gina."

"I need you so badly," she whispered against his mouth, their lips grazing ever so slightly.

"I know how you feel," he closed his eyes pressing his forehead against hers as he held her close, "are you nervous?"

"A little," she smiled, her fingers tracing his stubble, "but I know you'll look after me."

"Of course, I always will, I plan to make it perfect for you."

She hummed happily as her nose brushed against his, "I asked the girls if they would cover for me tonight, say I was sleeping at Kat's."

"That's good, where did you tell them you were staying?"

"I said I had a boyfriend at another school and was staying over at his," she admitted.

"Good idea," he smiled sadly and she knew why, she felt the same way and wished that things could have been easier than they were.

"When can we get out of here?" she asked her eyes staring into his, she was getting restless and she didn't know how much longer her nerves would wait, she just wanted them to be able to go, wanted them to make the most out of their night together, their first night together in that way.

"Soon," he breathed, moving in to press his lips to hers.

"Mr Locksley are you out here?"

Regina's eyes widened as she looked at him, clasping her hand over his mouth as she dropped down, pulling him with her, "what are you doing?" he whispered.

"You can't let her know you're out here, how are you going to explain hiding behind a bush?"

"I…"

"No Robin, stay there, I'll cover for you," she stood and moved into sight of the principle who seemed to be looking around as though he was going to pop out of mid-air, "Mother," she cleared her throat as the older brunette turned around and gave her daughter the once over.

"Regina what are you doing out here? And why were you behind a bush?"

"I just needed some air, it's quite stuffy inside," she shrugged.

"And the bush?"

Shit, why the hell would she have been behind a bush? "I dropped one of my hair pins and tried to look for it," she excused, finding the one that had fallen out earlier and was on her sleeve she held it up and put it back into her hair.

"I see," the principle narrowed her eyes as she looked at her, "I don't suppose you have seen Mr Locksley around have you?"

"Mr Locksley? Urm, no, I don't think so, last I remember he was standing by the punch bowl, maybe he went to the bathroom or something," she shrugged, hoping that her mother would buy that excuse.

"Maybe," the woman nodded, "will you be coming home with me tonight?"

"No, I'm sleeping over at Kat's," she smiled, "as long as that is okay."

"Yes, fine, well enjoy the rest of your night and I will pick you up at Kathryn's tomorrow at twelve for when your grandmother is coming to town."

"Sure, I'll see you then," Regina grinned rather falsely as her mother walked back inside and she closed her eyes, "did you hear that?"

"Twelve got it, I'll have to make you breakfast in bed and then drop you at Kathryn's for half eleven," he smirked popping up from behind the bush with a couple of leaves stuck in his hair.

She giggled and shook her head, making her way over to him and taking them out one by one, "that sounds like a plan, sir."