The Other Swan Sister: The Sequel

Chapter 23

You wake to a shooting pain in your neck and wince as you attempt to lift your head.
"Oh, she's awake." You hear a sweet voice call out.
You don't recognise the sound at first and so you lose all recognition of your environment.
"Hm?" You murmur through your haze.
"I thought you'd never wake up after last night."
You look through your haze to see dark hair.
It must be Regina.
The hair is short.
"What?" The woman sits next to you and you recognise the perfume to be your mother's. "Mom?"
"Oh, you must have had more to drink than I thought." Mary-Margaret chuckles.
"I didn't drink anything." Your confusion only continues to grow.
"Tell that to your liver." She hands you a glass of water. "And Ruby. Who had to help me carry you home, last night."
"I was with Regina last night." You're still not quite awake.
"Who's Regina?"
Your stomach drops.
"Where am I?" You suddenly feel a ringing in your ears.
"In your apartment, with me, your roommate, Mary-Margaret." You now look at the woman and notice her features. She's your mother. But she looks different. Almost as if you've tried to recreate a copy of her.
"You're my roommate?" You ask.
"Well, I'd like to think that we're friends too..." she mutters. "Did you hit your head last night? I tried to keep an eye on you."
"No." You immediately rebuttal. "I just had a really weird dream." You lie.
You want to burst into tears right now.
After everything, you're cursed once again.
But this time you remember. Everything.
Is Regina even here?
"What's the name of the town we live in?"
"You're scaring me now, Ivy." MM touches a hand to your forehead to check your temperature.
"I'm fine." You jerk your head away.
"We live in Hyperion Heights. You know this." She looks at you with a frown.
"Have we ever been to a place called Storybrooke?"
"Storybrooke?" She bursts out laughing. "Like a story book?"
"Yeah." You attempt to chuckle too.
"No." She chuckles as she gets up, looking back at you one more time. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." You shake your head. "Just a crazy dream."
"Okay." She smiles as she begins making coffee. "I'm sorry you had to sleep on the sofa, I couldn't manage getting you into bed." She chuckles again.
"It's fine." You murmur, still not knowing what's going on. "What's the time?"
"It's 4pm."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Ruby wanted to go out for drinks again tonight but I don't think you'll be up for that."
"I feel fine." You respond.
"You didn't even know where you were two minutes ago."
"I just woke up. I feel fine. I want to go out."
"Graham will be happy to hear that."
"Graham?" You frown.
"Don't tell me you don't know who he is, too?" She turns to you with a pointed look.
"No, I know who Graham is."
"Good. Well go get ready cause we're going out in a couple hours and you've gotta eat first."
The phrase 'ok mom' floats through your mind and immediately pangs you in the heart.
You have to stay focused and find Regina.
She's got to be here somewhere.
And you pray to the gods that she's somehow awake, too.

"Wow, look at you!" Ruby and MM cheer as you walk into the living room.
"I didn't know you were here." You mention to Ruby.
"Mary-Margaret told me you were super freaked out when you woke up." The brunette blurts.
MM shoots her a look, as if she wasn't supposed to say anything.
"Yeah. I had a weird dream." You sit at the table, sipping your glass of wine that was left out for you. "But I'm fine now."
"Good. Because we're going out for round 2!" Ruby cheers obnoxiously.
"I'm not drinking a lot tonight." MM chips in.
"You never do!" Ruby groans. "And we can't leave it to Ivy tonight because she did her part with drinking, last night."
You feign a laugh.
"Where are we going?"
"Mr Rabbit's was kinda shitty last night so we're trying Roni's." Ruby divulges.
"Roni's?" You mull over.
"Graham says it's great on a Saturday. We've been a couple times but you were always busy." MM chips in.
"Oh. Okay." Your sole purpose of the night is to figure out where the hell you are and what the hell is going on.

You huddle up into your coat as you spot a lit up sign across the street.
Roni's.
It looks colourful, at least.
The streets are pretty empty, much like Storybrooke, but you hear a bustle of people inside before you even reach the door.
The smell of alcohol and the warmth of the bar overcrowds your senses and you immediately feel overwhelmed.
You notice many familiar faces.
Levi and his friends in one corner.
Granny working the tables.
Killian sat alone with many empty glasses.
Two people approach you; August and Graham.
"I can't believe you made it out!" Graham grins as he engulfs you in a hug.
"Oh-" you begin. "What can I say? I'm not a quitter." You attempt a joke as Graham hugs the other two.
"I'm surprised you're left standing." August laughs as he also hugs you before greeting the other women.
"We've got a table right near the bar."
You then look around, noticing the homely feel of the place.
Kinda modern but it also has some personality.
It's nice, you conclude.
You're brought out of your thoughts by your coat being slipped off.
"Oh-" you jump slightly. "Thank you." You smile at Graham.
That's when your eyes move across to the bar and you notice her.
It's Regina.
But not at all.
A form of her, like a shadow of a person who's been customised by some player of the universe.
As if they're taunting you.
It's her face but nothing else.
Deep in your consciousness you begin to laugh, knowing that if Regina could see herself she'd be horrified with this version.
But you can't laugh. Not now.
It's too cruel to see any humour in this situation.
Before you know it a cold glass is being slid into your hand and you immediately recoil.
The shattering of the drink on the floor completely pulls you out of your trance.
Only a few people turn to look before getting back to their business but you notice a set of eyes in particular.
You look up through your lashes to see the stare of Regina on you. You look away as quickly as possible and internally scold yourself for such an embarrassment.
"Oh, Woah..." Graham observes the mess. "Are you sure you're okay?"
You look across the table to see MM looking twice as concerned as earlier and urge yourself to snap out of this suspicious behaviour.
"Yeah. I'm sorry." You shake your head, immediately kneeling down to pick up the glass.
A set of hands rush into your vision and begin gently moving the pieces of glass from around you and into a pot.
"Had one too many already?" A deeper voice husks near you.
You look up and immediately flush as you see Regina rushed over to help.
"Oh-" you fluster. "I'm so sorry. I can pick it up." You attempt to get her away as you think you might combust at any moment.
"Are you kidding? No, it's totally fine." She smiles gently at you.
This is not Regina.
"Ouch." You wince painfully as you notice blood being drawn from your knee.
"Are you alright?" She puts her hand on your leg, just above where it's bleeding and you intake sharply. "Does it hurt?"
"No." You flush once again.
"Come with me, let me fix you up."
You panic.
"It's fine, really." You shake your head. "I can just go to the bathroom."
"Ivy, you're literally bleeding." Ruby looks at you as if you're crazy.
"I don't bite, follow me." The older brunette doesn't even wait before she struts off, with you following behind her.
You hate to admit it but that's when you notice how tight her jeans are.
That's Regina's body, alright.
Only after shamelessly eyeing her up do you notice that you've been taken to the back of the bar, with only the sound of the bass left in earshot.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause any-"
"You apologise a lot, don't you?" The woman smirks at you as she gathers what looks like a first aid kit. You go to apologise again but stop yourself. She finally turns to you, something in her hand. "It's really okay. I was getting bored of pouring drinks anyways." She smirks once again, prompting you to laugh slightly. You wince as she pours on the antiseptic. "Sorry. Forgot to warn you it might hurt."
"Now who's the one apologising." You joke back.
You can tell she liked that.
"I haven't seen you in here before."
"You keep tabs on all your customers?" You're on a roll.
"You're sassy." She turns away to get something else, quickly coming back. "I like it."
This Regina is much more carefree than the one you know.
"This is my first time here." You answer her previous thought. "Although I don't suppose I'll be welcome back after the scene I just caused."
"Actually I was thinking the opposite." The brunette rebuttals. "You've been the most interesting part of my night so far." You try so hard not to blush, watching her closely. "What's your name?"
"Ivy." You smile. "What's yours?"
"Roni." She casually responds.
"Roni." You test it out on your tongue.
"Name sound familiar to you?" She jokes.
"This is your bar?"
"I sure hope so. My name's outside on the sign."
"Oh, you're sassier than me." You chuckle, relaxing with this woman you know so well, yet so little.
She chuckles as she places a band aid over your cut.
"There." She rests her hand on your leg, speeding up your bloodstream. "Now make sure you take care of yourself out there." She smiles.
"Thank you." You practically grin. "I'll try."
Walking back out to the bar, her voice catches your attention once again.
"What was the drink? I'll make you a new one."
"Oh, you really don't have to."
"What was the drink?" She raises an eyebrow, making sure you see she's adamant to making you a new one.
"A vodka soda." You roll your eyes with a smile.
This woman is killing you already.