The Life We Left Behind

Meet me in the restroom... NOW!

"I'm telling you", Henry said to the others and took a sigh, "She was so... evil to him, pardon me for putting it like that, but... It was awful seeing them like this. It was vicious! Those two? They're done. Finito!"

He took a sip from his hot chocolate. His family sat around him at Granny's, his wife and daughter, Emma with Hope, Snow and her son Neal, as well as Zelena, Robin and Alice.

"Well", said Snow with her best attempt at a smile, "It was worth a shot! It was sweet of you to spend the night and take care of her though."

"Oh please", said Zelena, "I'll be colored purple if my dear sister was actually sick! She probably just wanted to hide from him."

"But why?", asked Ella, "Why go through all this trouble? I just don't get it."

The door flung open, in walked the woman of the hour, and everybody fell silent.

"Regina!", Emma tried to casually greet her, "How are you doing?"

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Are you feeling better?"

"Oh... oh, right", she nodded, by now extremely annoyed by her own lie, "Yes, much better, thank you. Thanks to our son's chicken soup."

She gently put a hand on his shoulder before joining them at their table. Briefly she noticed the cold and wary look she got from Alice, but she decided not to pay it any mind and instead engage in a conversation with her step daughter Snow about her day filling in for her at the mayor's office.

Once more, the chatter stopped when another familiar figure emerged, this time from the back of the diner where the rundown hallway was leading past the jukebox and the restrooms and up towards the guest rooms for rent, where Killian had spent the night.

He froze in his step when he saw Regina sitting amongst her family and friends, all of them turning their heads, not even putting in the least amount of effort trying to pretend they had NOT just been talking about him.

He saw the corners of her lips curl up ever so slightly and he had to fight the urge to run towards her, pull her into his arms and kiss her with everything he had.

He had been missing her terribly all night, the warmth of her body against his, the taste of her lips, the sound of her voice, her laughter, her breath, the smell and the softness of her skin underneath his fingertips, it had felt as if his heart had been ripped out, he had barely slept, instead he had been twisting and turning in his bed, trying his best not to punch the wall in his rage out of sheer agony.

Was he being overdramatic? Maybe. But now that he finally had her, now that they were finally together, he did not intend to spend a single more night without her in his arms ever again. And one day, he'd get back at his dear best buddy Henry for that little stunt he had pulled last night, spontaneously deciding to sleep over at his poor, sick mommy's.

Aside from that faint hint of a smile though, that certainly no one else but him could have noticed, her facial expression was clear: she still had absolutely no intention of speaking to him or engaging with him in whichever other way, and he was mentally bracing himself and arming his heart against the sass, cold and bitterness that would most certainly be coming his way any moment now.

Well then... if that's how she wanted to play, he'd make sure to give her a taste of her own medicine. After all, he knew damn well how to play the villain too. He had been killing, terrorizing and torturing people back when she had still been playing with dolls, and even long before that!

He stepped up to the counter, and before Regina could even open her mouth to spray her poison, he ordered his breakfast: "Can I get some eggs, bacon and hash browns to take up to my room, please?" He briefly looked at her over his shoulder, "I'll lose my appetite eating it out here."