Chapter Text
This story is inspired by a manip by amazing @angry_fish.
A masquerade ball.
The perfect chance for anonymity; just what Regina needs to have some distraction without anyone noticing she is even there. Nobody to criticize her for engaging in a social event after her recent breakup. A chance to talk to people that won’t remind her of her ex-husband (well, her husband, technically) and their failure.
At first, she disregarded the idea, but Emma had insisted day after day that this was exactly what she needed, and after some time thinking about it and about the ins and outs of her attendance, she decided Emma was right. What could she lose? She has already lost all that mattered to her.
She is going through a breakup with her husband and the father of her son. It’s been three months since he moved away, they barely speak on the phone, just some texts to arrange the logistics, and they see each other when he comes to pick the boy up to spend some time with him. He doesn’t take Henry for the weekend; he is still a baby, and her husband hasn’t even insisted on it. Henry just turned one, and he needs his routine and his mom every night.
She doesn’t understand yet, how she ended up in this situation. She loves her husband. She still does, even after the tough months that came before their breakup.
It began some months ago with a stupid argument that they thought would pass. Next, it was a bigger one, where each of them hurt the other one deeply, but still, neither of them apologized or tried to talk about it, again, hiding the dirt under the rug. It began happening more often than not, and at some point, it seemed that fights, disagreement and painful words were the only way they related to each other.
So, after some months living in a battlefield, they decided to end things, or, at least, try to spend some time on their own thinking the time apart would help them to collect themselves and retake their marriage, but it hasn’t worked out that way.
He doesn’t want anything with her, at least it seems so. He doesn’t make a move, and each time she has tried to find an opportunity to talk he shuts her down. When he talks to her, it’s only about their son. She feels like she doesn’t exist, and that the only role she can have in his eyes is the one of Henry’s mother. Not his wife; not the woman he loved.
So, why not attend this ball?
Emma has two invitations for the Blanchard Foundation Annual Masquerade Ball, and instead of taking Graham or Neal, she has convinced Regina to go with her and be part of a larger group. Emma has arranged a nice table for eight people, all Emma’s friends, and that’s a good thing for Regina since none of them will remind her of her husband and their breakup. She’ll dress nicely, wear a mask, a sexy one, and nobody would ever know she was there if she doesn’t want them to.
Regina has been doubtful because attending a ball without a dance partner was somehow absurd, but Emma convinced her. She told her there were many people attending on their own or in larger groups, and not with a partner. She even said it was damn time to begin going out on her own and just accept that she no longer had a husband.
And, that is what convinces Regina. She knows she needs to acknowledge her new reality, accept it and learn to live with it, and this might be the first step. During the last months, she has been waiting for her husband to come back, to make a move, and while waiting she lost track of herself, and it surprises her to be excited about getting ready for a night out. It had been a long time since the last time she wore a fancy evening dress, high heels and for the first time in months, she wants to take some time for herself to apply some makeup, do her hair. She wants to feel sexy and beautiful, and she is happy to feel this way.
Emma jokes and tells Regina that maybe she’ll get lucky and find someone there for a quick fuck with her mask on. Nobody would know; nobody would judge her. Maybe that’s what she needs.
Regina just laughs and rolls her eyes at Emma’s comments. If she didn’t know her the way she does, she would be mortified. And she has to admit that Emma makes her laugh even in the complicated moments she’s going through.
So, the masquerade ball on Saturday night it is!
Emma’s table at the ball is the most amusing of all.
The eight people that share the table are Emma’s friends, and Regina hadn’t known any of them until she arrived. But these people have done their best to make Regina feel welcome and comfortable.
Ruby Lucas and her stories about every affair she’s had are hilarious; Kathryn Nolan just got out of a toxic relationship and laughs at herself remembering all the signs that shouted her relationship was leading nowhere, and that now she clearly sees, but back then she missed; Jeff Hatter, a recent widower with a little girl, and an example of a man trying to look after himself to be sure he can look after his daughter; Leroy Grump a man that drinks too much, but even in his drunk state makes all of them laugh at his failed attempts to be a killjoy and keep complaining every chance he gets; August Booth, a handsome man unable to find success in his hobby as an author, and that has to work in a job that gives him zero satisfaction; Mulan Chang a nice and independent woman that takes no shit and makes them laugh each time she tells them how she manages to keep away people that behave off limits.
They all have a good time. Regina thinks she really likes these people and that it was a good idea to have finally been able to beat herself, gather her courage, leave her insecurities aside, and just enjoy the night.
The music is nice, and the orchestra plays a varied repertoire that gives Regina the chance to dance with some of Emma’s friends. And actually who wouldn’t want to dance with the most exquisite woman of the night?
And, in fact, Regina shines in a sexy and glamorous strapless gray night dress that shows the perfection that is her body. Her hair nicely arranged in a bun leaves the elegance of her neck at plain sight. The mask she wears, silver-plated, covers her face and only shows her big eyes and provocative lips painted in a soft tone, which gives her a touch of mystery and seduction at the same time.
She knows she is drawing the attention of more than one that night, and she is enjoying it ...maybe too much. So, after dancing with those at her table, she decides to mingle with other people and heads to the opposite side of the ballroom. She goes to the bar and is waiting for another glass of champagne, checking out her surroundings and smiling at some men that glance at her.
And as she looks at one side, and then at the other, drinking delicately from her glass, she sees a man approaching her. He’s from an average size and has a muscular complexion. He wears a dark tuxedo and has a black mask over his face which leaves exposed his stubble. She can’t even see his eyes clearly. He doesn’t say a word and only extends his hand in a way that shows his intentions to invite her to dance.
She takes his hand without hesitation, and as soon as they arrive at the dance floor she feels how he places one hand on her tiny waist, and with the other one grabs her hand.
They begin dancing to the slow rhythm of the music. Regina closes her eyes from time to time to feel the music and the warmth of this stranger. It’s so easy to pretend she is in the arms of the man she just lost.
She feels how he brings her closer, presses her tightly to his body and she doesn’t complain, she doesn’t mind at all, she even enjoys the closeness. She gets carried away, places her head on his shoulder and surrounds his neck with her hands. It feels so good just to imagine for some minutes that she’s with him again.
And what harm does pretending she is dancing with her husband do? She knows that when the song ends the spell will be broken, and that’s the reason why she continues dancing with him through the second song.
They don’t say a word. It seems that for him this is also something special because he continues holding her tightly. At some point, they gaze at each other’s eyes and it’s the first time she realizes his eyes are a deep blue, and she becomes aware, as well, that this is the first time he actually takes a look at her eyes.
They keep dancing; now it’s the third song they dance without saying a word, and by this time they are so close that she can feel his breath on her ear. She closes her eyes to continue imagining she is with him, with her husband, and it’s incredible how her mind begins tricking her because she can almost smell him. She can sense the scent of the man she lost, and she doesn’t dare to open her eyes because she knows that as soon as reality hits her, this dream will be over and she will just be dancing with a stranger in a masquerade ball.
She has the need to change her head to his other side, and when she does so, he catches his gaze again. But this time, she finds that he is staring at her with attention and even closing his eyes a little in an unmistakable expression of remembrance.
The music continues, he’s holding her tightly, his hand caresses her back, and their bodies are pressed together. Their faces are so close that their noses are almost touching, and she can swear that for a fraction of a second she catches him staring at her lips.
This has felt so good, so good that she might have given this man a wrong impression of what she wants. And, honestly, what does she even want? She needs to continue in his arms, believing for some more minutes that she is with someone else. She desires to continue feeling this man’s touch, because as unbelievable as it may sound she finds his touch familiar. Maybe it’s because they’ve been holding each other for four songs, at least something in between 20 and 25 minutes.
But in the middle of the fourth song, something changes. He takes one of her hands to spin her, he catches her off guard but she responds and as she spins, she giggles, letting escape that particular giggle, a giggle that can give her away among hundreds of people.
When she returns to his arms, she finds he is looking at her differently, as if he knew her. She feels he is holding her tightly and bringing her closer to him, their faces inches apart, and she doesn’t know how but the next thing she feels are his lips on hers.
This move surprises her, and she doesn’t answer the kiss. Suddenly, she begins feeling something so familiar. She wonders if it is her imagination because the kiss feels so natural; she can even anticipate what he’ll do next.
The way this stranger kisses her is so warm, so tender, and with so much emotion, that it reminds her of her husband, of how he kissed her, how his tongue felt against hers, how his hands touched her neck and his thumbs, her cheek …this is so familiar that she needs to do something. She refuses to let her mind trick her like this.
She takes slowly her hands to the back of his head and unties the little bow that keeps his mask on. When the mask falls from his face and she looks for the first time at this stranger, she almost faints.
“Robin?” she asks blushing. She feels embarrassed because she just let him know how she got carried away, as she danced with a complete stranger.
She can’t look at him in the eyes. She doesn’t want to face him, so she just turns around to walk away, but before she steps forward, he grabs her wrist.
“Come here, Regina. Dance with me. Don’t walk away from me again,” he says.
And as they continue dancing, this time without their masks on she asks him, “How did you know it was me? Because when we kissed me you already knew, didn’t you?”
“Your giggle. I would recognize it anywhere. And what gave me away?”
He asks her, gazing at her as both move slowly, holding each other. “Your scent and …” answers Regina, but she pauses before adding “... hmm ...the way you kissed me.”
“So, you didn’t know it was me when we kissed.”
“Robin ....” and she won’t answer that question, so she just kisses him again.
And as they continue dancing, alternating kisses, I’m sorries, I love yous and I’ve missed yous she thinks she’ll need to thank Emma later.
THE END