Teaching Love

Chapter Six

"Hello, beautiful," a deep voice said and her heart stopped. Maybe it wouldn't be a good year after all.

Her heart had stopped beating, the world stopped spinning, and Regina couldn't breathe. She was acting as if this day would never happen and she would never meet him again. For hell's sake, they worked together and she couldn't flat out ignore him. Well, she could but she would have to find a new place to work and she wouldn't have the chance to see Henry.

"Mr.Humbert," she said slowly as she averted her eyes from him. She was starting to get shaky and her brain was too busy short-circuiting to help her lungs inhale and exhale.

"You must be Mr.Locksley, my replacement," Graham said as he stared daggers over at the fellow teacher.

Robin was confused, to say the least. He was concerned because Regina's behavior wasn't as it was a few seconds ago. She was light and cheerful and now she was tense and rigid. It was almost as if she was a deer caught in the headlights, surprised to see the blinding lights of Graham's mischievous smile.

"Um, you could call me Robin if you like," the man said as he straightened up his stance, almost as if getting ready to jump up and defend Regina.

"Okay, Robbie boy. Do you mind leaving the room for a bit? Reggie and I need to catch up for a little bit. The school year has been flying by and she hasn't stopped by to see me yet."

"I've been busy," she interjected before looking over at Robin. I've been busy falling for my coworker.

Graham smirked as he put his hands in his pants pockets and started to saunter over to where the two teachers were sitting. Both of them began to tense up as he approached and Robin was starting to get worried. He's never seen Regina look more terrified since they met. She looked scared and weak and Regina Mills was anything but.

"It's actually very nice of you to stop by Graham but Regina and I are actually busy. The children are coming in soon and we still haven't figured out what we're going to start the day with," Robin chimed in when he noticed how deathly quiet the place was getting.

There was a moment where blue eyes met brown in a staring match. Robin quirked his eyebrow before Graham decided to let it go. The classroom was still quiet as the intimidating man glanced over at Regina. He stared at her for a brief second before giving the two teachers a smirk.

"I'll be back later," he said before he walked away, pulling the door closed behind him.

"What was all of that about? Are you okay Regina? Who was that guy?" Robin asked as he jumped up from his seat and walked over to Regina.

The woman was staring off into space and the words he said were drowning in her mind. There was a slight humming in her ears as she let herself slip into the darkness of her mind. She wasn't supposed to see him so soon and she tried to be careful about that. There was always something in her way stopping her happiness. Seeing him was making all of the memories pop into her head. The struggle, the screaming, the blood, the pain, and the crying was just coming back to her.

"Sweetheart, you're crying," a voice said as a hand wiped away her tears.

"Don't touch me," she said sternly as she slapped the hand away from her.  She looked up to see Robin and let out a soft sigh. "I'm sorry. I just-"

Her words died off before she could finish her sentence. She wasn't even sure what she was going to say next. Taking a tissue from the box on her desk, she dabbed away at some of the tears on her face. He was watching her as she did this, waiting for her to finish her words. Waiting for an explanation was the only thing that Robin could do at the moment.