Run Down

Date Night

"I'm sorry," Regina blurted out before she could stop herself, "for whatever I said, I'm sorry." She looked down at the steaming mug in her hands and dragged her thumb along the rim and down the handle.

"Regina," Robin reached across to grasp her hand in his and she looked up, "you've nothing to apologise for. Having fun isn't a crime last time I checked." He said with a smirk and Regina relaxed, breath whooshing out of her in a relieved exhale.

"I don't even remember what I said." She admitted, dropping her head onto her palm and resting her elbow on the table as she chuckled. Robin joined in before lifting his mug to his lips and taking a long pull on the hot liquid.

"Roland--"

"He's with Will." And it was there again, that soft smile he always wore when his son was the topic of conversation. Regina circled her fingers over the back of Robin's hand, an almost absent minded gesture, and her gaze was focussed on him, his smile, the way his dimples winked and those blue eyes that seemed to go on forever. "So how was your night?" He asked, grinning over the top of his mug and Regina huffed out a laugh, fingers pressing to her temple absently as she recalled the strands of memory that were slowly piecing themselves together in her mind.

She could go into detail, could divulge her evening to the best of her ability with the groggy memories she has of it but instead she shook her head, told him, "nothing special," with a smile on her face. A drunken night isn't important, in a couple of weeks she'll have forgotten about it. Right now she was just happy to be sat with Robin, and there's a thousand things she'd rather talk about than a night half forgotten.

---

They'd decided to meet again two days later, a Friday night, to get something to eat and Robin had already planned to kiss her good and proper at the end of the evening when he'd walked her to her door. He'd dressed up - because he knew Regina would be as immaculately dressed as always - put on his navy slacks instead of his usual jeans, and a powder blue shirt he left the top couple of buttons open on. He wanted to impress Regina, he always did, she was intelligent and funny and beautiful and Robin was still in awe each time he saw her.

As he made his was to her house, he stopped by a flower shop and picked up a single white gerbera. The daisy-like flower rested gently between his fingers when he walked the path to her front door and pressed the bell. He heard it ring out from behind the wood, followed by footsteps that were unmistakably Regina's making their way forwards. The door swung open and she stood there, clad in a red dress which hugged her curves, the swooping neckline revealing an expanse of skin across her collarbone.

"You look stunning," he said, eyes finally traveling back to her face and meeting her gaze as he smiled, giddy at the sight of her, before handing over the flower. Their fingers bumped as the stem exchanged grips and it was a small thing, a slight touch, they'd been much more intimate than this but for some reason the gesture sent warmth spiralling out from her stomach. "Red is your colour, Regina."

The smirk toying on his lips was infectious and she couldn't help but return it, her lips quirking upwards. She brought the flower to her nose to conceal the grin plastered over her cheeks but the small petals did little to cover it which elicited a chuckle from Robin; he stepped towards her and tangled his fingers into the dark tresses at the nape of her neck, tilting her chin up and pulling her lips to his, their mouths meeting in a single kiss, a mere caress of lips that brushed rather than bruised. "I'll have to wear it more often." She mused, separating their kiss but dropping her forehead to his. He hummed his approval before running his hand down from her neck, over her collar bone and down her arm, linking their fingers when his hand reached the end of its journey.