Love Triangle

An Unpleasant Surprise

I've finally finished Chapter 4! Yay! 😄😎 I'm sorry that this one isn't as long as the others and it's probably not as interesting either but I'm hoping that you still like it! 😊💖 I promise the next Chapter will be longer! 🤗😉

-Amy xox-

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Period 5 finally came to an end and it was time to go home. Hundreds of footsteps synchronised into what sounded like a stampede, making their way out of classrooms and out of the college doors. For some people it felt like minutes, but for the majority it felt like hours. At this point the campus went from almost empty to pretty packed in a matter of seconds. Over half of the students had dorms but let's face it, who wants to spend the rest of the day indoors when it can be spent, hanging out with friends in the sun?

Regina made her way to a bus stop to get a bus home. As there was a bus pulling up, a car pulled up behind and the driver beeped the horn at her. The loud and unexpected sound of the horn grabbed Regina's attention as she looked over in the direction of where the car was parked. A bright smile emerged onto her face when she saw that the driver was Henry. She walked over to the car and got in the passenger side.

"Hi pumpkin, how was your day?" Henry asked sweetly to his daughter as she closed the car door and went to put her seat belt on. Regina stopped putting her seat belt on halfway through in reaction to her father's words; well when I say words, there was only one word that actually bothered her. Regina raised her eyebrow at him. "Daddy? What did we talk about this morning?" Henry's eyes closed in self-stupidity when he realised what Regina was talking about. "Right, the whole no nickname thing, got it." He reminisced. A half smile momentarily grew on Regina's face as she put on her seat belt and Henry began to drive home. She knew that her father didn't mean any harm in calling her such ridiculous names as she knew he did it because she was his little princess and deep down they both knew that she always would be.

"I can't believe you already forgot about what we talked about this morning." Regina teased. "Oh come on, Regina I'm an old man, my memory isn't as good as what it used to be." Henry said trying to defend his corner. "That's no excuse." Regina continued to tease looking straight ahead, shaking her head mockingly. "What, how is it not an excuse?" Henry said, acting defensive. "Because it's not." Regina said, still teasing. "But it is." Henry said continuing to build his "defense". "So you're telling me that as you get older you begin to randomly forget things?" Regina said in disbelief. "Are you implying that I'm lying, Miss Mills?" Henry joked. Regina turned to face him. "Yes." She smirked. Henry took one hand off the wheel and slapped it on his chest as if he was clutching at his heart, pretending that Regina had hurt his feelings. It wasn't long before they both burst out laughing.

As the laughter died down, Regina just happened to look out of the window. She saw a small group of guys picking on someone and emptying their backpack and started beating them up until they were on the ground. Luckily someone went over and managed to break it up. Regina hated bullies. She could never understand why someone else would want to put so much effort into making somebody else persistently miserable. It always made her feel upset and really annoyed whenever she witnessed bullying.

Regina was so focused on watching what was happening as the car began to move again she was oblivious to everything else around her. "Regina." She turned away from the window to find her dad talking to her. "Are you okay?" He asked. "Yeah I'm fine." She assured him. Henry looked at his daughter in almost disbelief. "Are you sure? You've gone quiet all of a sudden. You didn't even answer me when I asked you a question." He said growing slightly concerned. Regina looked down at her hands and started fidgeting with them. "Did something happen at college today?" Henry asked. "No. Honestly I'm fine." Regina tried to reassure him. "Okay." Henry said, even though he still wasn't completely sold but he chose to believe his daughter was telling the truth. "So what was the question?" Regina asked. Henry parked the car up onto their driveway and before he had a chance to answer Regina, the front door flew open. Regina was stunned and most certainly shocked at who was stood at the front door. She wasn't too pleased by the sight of them either as she turned to Henry and glared at him. "What is she doing here?" Regina scowled. Henry stuttered slightly. "I'm sorry you found out like this, I was trying to tell you earlier." He stated. "And what did you think was going to happen? Did you think it makes it all automatically okay that she's here?" Regina snapped. "I'm sorry Regina, she just showed up and she's refusing to leave until she speaks to you." Henry tried to explain. "So call the cops." Regina said sharply. Henry was shocked by how spiteful and vindictive Regina was being; he understood that she wasn't happy and that "she" didn't really deserve Regina's respect and hospitality, but he thought that she was a little too harsh. "Regina, that's a little... bold isn't it?" Henry said, trying to sound as diplomatic as possible. "So?" Regina said carelessly. She got out of the car and slammed the door shut.

"Hello Regina." The woman smiled. Regina scowled at her. "What do you want?" The young brunette hissed. "Now, is that any way to talk to your mother?" Regina rolled her eyes and glared at her. "Why are you here?" She snapped. "Well if you want me to answer any questions you can drop the attitude." Cora said sternly. Regina exhaled loudly and aggressively folded her arms. "That's better." Cora said smugly.

"I have been doing some research lately on your grades and punctuality at college." Cora said as they walked into the hallway of the house that led into an open plan of the kitchen and dining room. "Why do you care about my education all of a sudden? And what has this got to do with anything?" Regina said raising her eyebrow. At this point Cora had her back to Regina. "You want to know why I'm here don't you?" Cora reminded her. Regina sighed and looked to the side momentarily with her arms still folded. "That's what I thought." Cora said continuing to be smug. "I've seen that you've been doing good in all your classes... except for one. Biology." Regina shrugged her shoulders. "So?" She said. "So, I got you a personal tutor for extra lessons. They'll take place after college." Cora explained. "And why have you done that? What's the catch?" Regina asked. Cora pretended to act hurt but proceeded to let her arrogance seep through her body language. "Catch? Why should there be a catch?" She asked. Regina laughed mockingly at her mother's pathetic attempt to sound innocent. "Well I don't believe that you've done it out of the kindness of your heart." Regina said sarcastically. "What makes you think that I haven't?" Cora asked. Regina glared at her. "Because with you, you're never there for me to give me support unless there's something in it for you, so come on what is it?" Regina demanded.

Henry intervened to try and prevent a fued from arrupting. "Regina..." He began to speak. "What? It's true!" Regina cried. She sharply turned back to face Cora. "Well?" Regina pushed. "Why do you find it so hard to accept that I'm actually doing this because I love you and I care about your future, Regina?" Cora said, trying but failing to pull at Regina's heartstrings. "Yeah right, like I'm supposed to believe that. Anything you do isn't to help me, it's to help yourself." Regina stated as she felt her blood beginning to boil. "Since when has it ever been about me?" Cora questioned. Regina started to lose her patience with Cora and finally erupted. "It's always about you! It always has been and it probably always will be!" Regina's voice cracked as she made her best efforts to hold back her tears. For the first time, Cora didn't have an answer to throw back at Regina. Regina managed to get her emotions under control long enough to speak. "I think you should go now." The was a short term of tense silence before Cora started to make her way over to the front door. Before she got there, she passed Regina and stopped in her tracks. She turned to face her. "You know, I've had a lot of disappointment in my life but having you as a daughter is the biggest." Cora said in a quiet voice that was louder than a whisper. She then walked out the front door and closed it behind her.

Regina struggled to keep her emotions hidden as tears fell from her eyes and streamed down her face. She took a deep breath to calm herself down as her father came to her aid. Henry didn't say anything. Instead he just placed his hand on Regina's cheek and gazed at her with kind eyes as she buried her head into his shoulder. He then put his arms around her, embracing her into a hug as he placed one hand on her back and the one that was on her face, at the back of her head. Henry held his little girl as she cried, and his shirt absorbed the tears and mascara that ran from her eyes. The time they both endured the hug was silent. All you could hear was Regina's soft, muffled cries echoing throughout the kitchen. The only thing that was going through Regina's mind at that moment was her questioning why her mother was so cruel and what she wanted from her in order to be accepted.