Chasing Happiness

4- The Ball

The grand hallways are lit with candles, leading people towards the ballroom. There's a faint playing of piano music, drowned out by the quiet chatter of the ladies and gentlemen as they step along the marble flooring and emerge through the double door entrance. Snow and Charming had insisted on hosting a ball at the castle, wanting to somewhat welcome themselves back into the Enchanted Forest and inviting everyone and anyone that was wanting to come. Regina was not one of those people. She hated these sort of things, the snooty people, the over-the-top attire, and most of all the dancing. Snow had pushed and pushed for her to come, just for a little while, but Regina refused simply stating she did not feel comfortable coming. Snow understood, thinking it was something to do with her past, and chose to put the ball together herself.

It's nearly a week later that Robin gets the news, hearing from one of the dwarves of all people that Regina would not be attending. It's the night of the ball, and he's all dressed up in a suit; a dark blue jacket and dress pants with a white shirt underneath and black shoes that look like they've been freshly polished. His hair is parted and combed, gelled and spiked the way it usually is. He thought he had to dress to impress, but with this new information that Regina wasn't coming he suddenly didn't have a care in the world as to what anyone thought of him. He was only interested in her opinion of him now. Everyone saw him as a thief, a lowlife who sleeps outside on dirt, but this ball was a chance to show Regina just how different he really is. He can live up to her standards, he will live up to them.

"Regina?" He calls, knocking his knuckles against the door to her bedroom. A few seconds pass, before the door swings open. He looks her up and down, noticing she's a few inches shorter than usual, her feet are bare and her toe nails painted a bright shade of red, she's wearing only a black silk robe, tied around her in a knot at the front, and short enough, falling to just above her knee caps, revealing her toned legs to him. With a face free of makeup and her long and dark hair, wet and brushed back, he can't help but relish in the sight of her. She's absolutely stunning.

"Robin, you look... handsome." Handsome doesn't even begin to explain how great he looks. Not that he doesn't ever look good, he's a genuinely good looking man, but she's never really seen him in something so fancy. She must look like a mess right now, compared to him. She knew the ball must've been starting soon so he was probably just coming to check in before he went down to the ballroom, he seemed to want to do that a lot lately.

She opens the door a little wider, stepping to the side to let him in, and he mutters a 'thank you' as he passes by her. There's a brief moment of silence between them before she asks, "so why are you here?"

He shrugs trying to play it off cool, not wanting her to know he was extremely disappointed in the fact that she wasn't coming to the ball. "I heard her majesty wasn't making an appearance tonight and I thought maybe something was wrong." He explains, walking towards her in slow steps, his blue eyes locked on her brown ones. She ducks her head down, tucking a damp piece of hair behind her ear and looking back up at him while crossing her arms over her chest. "It's nothing too serious, I just don't enjoy these types of events." She tells him, truthfully.

"Oh." He nods, understandingly, "I guess I should've known."

She frowns at him immediately, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just.. I-" He didn't mean to offend her but by the way her tone of voice has turned rather sharp, he knows he has and he isn't sure what to say to fix it. "I just know you like to be closed off. I feel like you'd rather sit up here on your own than try and entertain a bunch of guests you could care less about."