Chapter Text
18. June 2012
There it was. The effect of the alcohol was finally noticeable and made the nagging questions of the reporters a little bit more bearable. Sadly just a tiny bit.
Regina held up her hand in the direction of the bartender and pointed down at her drink. A cosmopolitan. She had no idea what was even in there, but it tasted fucking amazing. And it made her drunk fairly quickly.
Immediately the bartender turned around and started to work. Regina faced the reporters again. They hadn’t stopped asking questions. She just tried to ignore them. Initially she just wanted to have a quick drink. Especially alone. She had been on a plane for too many hours to count, flying home from a tennis tournament. One she won, once more, of course. Which made this drinking alone thing a lot better, because it could count as a celebration. But as most of the times she was somewhere, all of those reporters turned up, far too soon. They thought because she was alone, it was okay to throw question after question at her. But she wouldn’t let them win. She wouldn’t give up. She was way too stubborn to just run away. Or maybe she was still too sober. At least she was drunk enough to be neutral about all those stupid questions. Most of them she didn’t really hear. The different voices were just washing over her.
After what felt like a way too long time, the bartender put down a new glass in front of her.
“Strong?” she whispered.
“Very, miss.” He answered, in the same tone.
She nodded approvingly, without looking at the man a second time and finished it in one sip. After licking her lips, she looked up, raising an eyebrow and without doubting her once, the bartender turned around again.
She could hear some muffled talk about the tournament she had just won and a few people who wanted to know if it was okay to drink so much as a professional athlete.
She didn’t pay attention. But then there was one, particularly nasty asshole, who asked: “Are you still single after your previous partner dumped you in public?”
Regina’s head snapped in the direction of the group and a few members gasped dramatically. Sadly, what that dumbass said was almost correct.
Four months ago her former boyfriend, who was a model (she would never do that again, he loved himself more than her, what a waste), humiliated her drunk in a bar. Ironic isn’t it? He told them that she was a bad person, mean and arrogant, and that he hadn’t broken up with her yet, but would do so very soon.
“Technically he didn’t dump me. I left him after he started telling lies about me.” It wasn’t worth mentioning that he tried to crawl back to her four or five times. Maybe he would’ve tried it even more, but she had made it very clear that she wouldn’t give him a second chance. That whole display had been pitiful and embarrassing.
“Is there someone new already?” The asshole didn’t even pay attention to what she said and immediately went to the main question he wanted an answer to.
“Yes.” She stated, without doubting what she said once. In fact, she only noticed the terrible mistake she made, when suddenly all of the eyes around her became bigger.
“Who is it?”
“Do we know them?”
“Can you tell us more?”
“How long have you been together?”
All of those questions blended into each other and Regina wanted to slam her head on the table. Instead she looked at the empty glass in front of her and found a new, full one next to it. Lucky me. She thought and downed the drink in one, like the one before. And the one before. And maybe the one before? She wasn’t very sure about it anymore.
While placing the glass on the table again, she thought about what she would do now. Suddenly she felt drunk enough to flee. But… If she did, that would only evoke doubt about her words. She would lose control. So instead, she stayed where she was. Keeping up her head high, even though she wanted to hide. From everyone. And everything. Except the drinks. She would take those with her.
More and more heads turned in her direction as the word spread.
Maybe running away wasn’t a bad idea after all. Cautious she let her eyes wander in the direction of the door.
And here’s the moment her luck vanished (at least that’s what she would think for months to come) and something happened, which should change the entire rest of her life. And while it happened she had no idea that it would. She had no idea what inevitable consequences the incident which was about to happen would have.
The door opened just in the second she looked at it. A single person stepped into the bar, closing the door carefully again, before he raised his head.
Regina’s eyes widened as she realized who just appeared. She took in the messy brown hair, which hung in his face, the half closed eyes she knew were dark brown, even if she couldn’t see it right now, the black band shirt and the blue jeans. Everything about him.
Shit. No way. Fuck. Regina thought. She had been lucky enough to avoid him since leaving high school, which was almost a miracle, taking their very similar fame range in account. And maybe she avoided certain events purposefully, if there was a small chance of meeting him.
For a few seconds she was shocked about how identical he looked in person and in her memories. Which shouldn’t surprise her at all, because as good as he was avoidable in person, as unavoidable was his public presence. Pictures of him, videos, interviews, not to mention his music. So technically she had known about his unchanged appearance, but seeing him now, here, real, was a whole other level. How could someone look the same for seven years?
Right as she wanted to turn her head away from him again, he returned her gaze.
It seemed like Rodrick was a way better actor than Regina. Instead of widening his eyes, he merely raised his eyebrows at her.
Even though she was so determined to ignore him, she couldn’t stop staring. And it seemed like he had the same problem. Instead of making a step forward, he froze in front of the door, as if someone had glued his feet to the ground.
His breath caught as he stared at the blonde woman sitting at the bar. Her bright eyes were widened and her long, open hair looked as if she had brushed with her hand through it multiple times already. Just for a few seconds his eyes wandered further down, normally he would be too far away to even see that detail, but there was something glimmering around her neck and he instantly knew that it was the R-necklace he had never seen her without.
Slowly all of the reporters and the rest of the guests in the bar looked from Regina to the person who just came in. Noticing their mutual staring.
As the crowd realized that one of the highest ranking tennis players of the world and the drummer of the most popular rock band stared at each other, an uncanny synchronized murmur echoed through the room.
A plan, a maybe cruel and most definitely stupid plan, formed in Regina’s mind and before acting on it, she took one last sip of the new drink the bartender had placed in front of her, as she had been distracted.
While she got up, she heard one of the reporters ask: “Is it him?”
Without answering or even glancing at anyone else besides Rodrick, she walked towards him. Her movements seeming much more confident than she felt. He didn’t seem to notice anyone else either. He didn’t pay attention to anyone besides the blonde woman who stepped in his direction now. His eyes were glued to her, as his feet seemed to be to the ground.
While she moved, with her back to all those annoying bastards, she mouthed: “Play along.”
Immediately there was something which could be read as irritation in his face, but he concealed it surprisingly quickly after he saw how serious she was.
As she stood in front of him, taking in every detail, which she already knew, she whispered, so quiet that she was sure only he would hear her:
“Do me a favor and kiss me, loser.”
For a few seconds he could feel how his heart stumbled. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the name or because of the realization what she asked of him, but he ignored it either way. Instead Rodrick reacted way quicker than she had expected, surprisingly gentle while being completely sure about what he was doing, he laid one of his hands on her chin and tilted it up. As a way too known, a painfully familiar tingling shot through her, she reached up and laid her arms around his neck, to distract herself from the feeling his touch caused.
No second later he kissed her like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like it had been his idea. Like he never did something else. Like there weren’t about seven years between this kiss and their last one.
The longer the moment lasted, the stronger a feeling of… Familiarity grew. Regina cursed it, Regina cursed the fact that she felt like she was getting shocked constantly and that she recognized the movements of his lips under hers. Which was horrible and just the worst thing possible. She had thought she had locked those memories away careful enough. Seemed like she hadn’t now. Fuck.
In an attempt of concealing her thoughts from herself, she pulled him closer while listening to the murmur of the people around them growing louder and louder with every second.
Suddenly she got torn out of the sounds by a touch on her waist. Rodrick laid his hand on her waist and pulled her closer, like she had done only a few heartbeats before.
For a second there was something warm rushing through her which turned into rage in a matter of seconds. Burning rage. Flaming fury. Oh, how much she hated him. Instead of moving or pushing him away, she bit his lip. Hard.
But he didn’t let go of her, instead she could feel his grin on her lips. Asshole. This, this grin, only supported the feeling of closeness they once shared. Years ago. She reminded herself… It was years ago. She had kissed countless other men since him.
But no one… No. She definitely wouldn’t think that.
To stop herself from thinking this and from feeling anything else, she made a step back. Away from him. Finally. While looking up at Rodrick she saw an unbearable smirk on his lips. The unbearable smirk.
She glared at him angrily, before she turned to the people around them and put on her sweetest face.
Immediately all of the reporters moved closer to them. Rodrick didn’t think about it twice and put an arm around her. Regina had to suppress the urge of rolling her eyes. It was like a reflex while being around him.
Great. What had she gotten herself into? But on the other hand… She probably didn’t want to know.
“He’s your boyfriend?” She still held her sweet smile bravely.
Rodrick bent down to her ear and whispered: “Am I?”
She turned to him, still beaming, but the furious fire had found it’s way in her eyes now too.
“Obviously, or do you think I would kiss any guy who came along like that?” She said, loud enough for everyone to hear, while turning back to the nosy men and women.
“How long have you been together?”
Without thinking about it, Regina answered: “Two months now.”
She tried her hardest to conceal any reaction as Rodrick’s hand wandered down to her hip. She couldn’t as he pulled her closer to him. But when she looked at him he already grinned at her. Almost unnoticeable she shook her head, gritting her teeth.
But that douchebag just bent down again and whispered: “You told me to play along. If you want me to act like your boyfriend, I will.”
She hissed like a snake as she answered, in the same low voice: “Yeah, but I was thinking about a theater and you start a whole fucking movie here.”
Without waiting for any reaction, neither verbal nor nonverbal, Regina turned around again and exactly as she did, one of the anonymous people in front of her called: “You two are absolutely sweet!” Rodrick pulled her closer. Again.
“Oh, we know that.” Regina answered, smiling sweetly while thinking: Oh fuck you, asshole.
“We should go now, shouldn’t we?” the idiot still gripping her hip asked. Regina nodded, and had to admit that this was the first actually useful thing coming from him today. Or in general. Probably in general.
“Of course.” she looked at him and tried to forget who she was looking at while smiling like she was so very in love. Which was… Less hard than she had expected. Fucking great, the alcohol worked.
One last time she turned around, searched for the bartender and trilled: “I’ll pay for everything next time.” The poor guy just nodded, but he was used to it by now, it wasn’t the first time she did this.
Rodrick already lead her out. His hand laying on her back.
As soon as they were out of the view of the bar windows, she took a step away from him.
“Don’t you want to keep up the act for a few minutes longer? Just in case someone is still watching.” She could hear how amused he was and she hated everything about it.
“I won’t.” she hissed, pissed at him, the whole situation and especially at herself. But she would never admit that. Obviously. So it was mostly the pissed at him part she was acting on.
She walked directly towards her car, but even though she had made it fairly clear she didn’t want to keep up the act now, he grabbed her wrist.
“No, Regina. You smell like alcohol. I’ll drive you home.”
While she pulled her hand out of his she looked over his shoulder. Trying to forget the shiver running down her spine as she heard how he said her name.
“Fuck no. You won’t. I’m not going to get into that thing.” She hissed.
“Well it’s either the van or I’ll walk you home, which will take a lot longer.” She was so close to hitting him, but then she thought about her reputation and decided to glare at him instead.
“How old is that thing now?”
“Old.” He shrugged his shoulders just to continue: “But that didn’t bother you back then either.”
“It did, asshole.”
“Oh, so you were just too kind to tell me?” he asked and the grin on his face made her nauseous.
“Fuck off.” She snapped and walked into the direction of the gross white van.
With a few quick steps, he had caught up to her and as he walked in front of her, he turned around, walking backwards to look at her. Regina rolled her eyes.
“You haven’t changed.” She snarled.
“Thank you for the compliment.” He answered and bowed.
“It wasn’t one. You’re still the same idiotic asshole.”
With one quick movement he laid a finger on his lips, only to turn around to hold the car door open for her.
“You’re playing your own game very poorly, you know that, right, girlfriend?” The amusement and that he didn’t take any of her insults serious was so clear it almost physically hurt her.
“No one sees us anyway.” She answered, while getting in very carefully and with a disgusted look on her face.
A few seconds later Rodrick let himself fall next to her in the driver’s seat.
“Address?” he asked and as Regina looked at him with narrowed eyes and slightly raised eyebrows, he pointed to the gps.
“Where should I bring you?”
“That’s just a trick to know where I live.”
“Well, then you should have thought about that before you chose me as your pretend-boyfriend.”
With a loud and especially dramatic sigh she told him and he instantly typed it in. For a few minutes it stayed silent, the motor was the only sound hearable.
“Now that we’re alone, what the hell was that?”
Well that had been the silence, Regina thought, annoyed.
“They pestered me with questions. The whole evening already. I broke up with my boyfriend-“
“Yeah, I saw all of that.” Rodrick interrupted her, with a quick flick of his hand.
“Where did you see that?” she wanted to know, honest confusion in her voice.
“It was all over the news, genius.”
The… probably fifth time this evening Regina shot an angry glare at him, before she continued: “Well, then you know that it was very humiliating. And right after I told them I had a boyfriend, you came in.”
While talking she looked in the night sky and asked in thoughts: Why him? Why exactly Rodrick Heffley? Anyone else? Anyone I don’t have this history with? Not someone who could ruin my reputation this easily? Not someone who could ruin my whole damn life this easily?
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Regina swung around to look at him, almost startled by his sudden question.
“No.” she admitted, burying her face in her hands. “I looked at you a little bit too long, so they immediately thought it was you. And…-”
“That’s why you decided to give them even more reason to think it?”
Her head snapped in his direction again and she practically screamed the next words: “Come on, I’m drunk!”
Rodrick just grinned while gazing at her for a few seconds. She hadn’t changed either. Every detail of her face was the exact same as he could remember.
“I’m fucking drunk regularly and I never do something so stupid.” Was his, surprisingly calm, answer.
“I don’t keep up with your scandals, but I could tell you at least five moments this year in which you did something so stupid.” She tried to defend herself. And especially proof that he was wrong.
“Yeah, but I never said I did those things drunk. I was completely sober while doing shit.” Even though he slowly raised his voice too, the remarkably annoying grin stayed on his face, like it was glued to his skin.
“Oh, because that’s so much better.” Regina hissed.
For a while it stayed silent. Regina already felt hope blooming that maybe this had been the end of their useless, unbearable and enraging conversation.
“What if I had a relationship?” Rodrick wanted to know, while drumming with his fingers against the steering wheel. Oh, so he hadn’t lost that habit, she thought.
Regina wouldn’t admit it, but she had known fairly certain that he had no public relationship. That was the kind of news she kept up with about him.
“Oh please. Which idiotic person would actually have a relationship with you?” Was the answer she gave him. The irony of what she said wasn’t lost on her, but well… It was still the truth. Her seventeen year old self had been the definition of idiotic.
“Ask me again tomorrow and I can show you at least twenty sources which will tell you, you are that idiotic person. Already forgot about it?” he had to bite the inside of his cheek, to stop himself from chuckling, after the last word had left his lips. He wasn’t surprised that she seemed to hate him. Not at all. And it didn’t bother him either. Annoying her had always been fun to him. And the fact that it was easier now then ever before wasn’t something he minded. He didn’t mind the fact that she made it very obvious that she couldn’t stand him, not one second.
“I’m really stupid. Why have I done that?” Regina let her head sink into her hands again.
“Well…” Rodrick started and she could hear the suppressed laugh in his voice, “The kiss didn’t feel that stupid.”
And while talking he looked over at her, an amused flicker in his dark eyes.
“I swear to god, if you don’t stop looking at me like that, I’m going to bite you.” He sighed softly, but much to her surprise did what was asked of him.
“As you may have noticed, I didn’t mind that at all.”
“You’re fucking gross!” she screamed, but it almost got drowned out by his laugh.
As he thought previously, annoying her… Easy and entertaining.
And as both sounds died down, the quietness returned. Only now Regina noticed that he hadn’t turned on any music. Which was weird, considering him being in a band himself and all. And… She thought, either his driving style had improved over the years or he was careful because… of her?
“So, what is your plan now?” Rodrick asked and looked at her through the rearview mirror, while driving towards her house.
“As much as I’d like to say something else… I fear that we have to keep this up for some time. I can’t be seen with someone, only to break up with them a few days after.”
Rodrick lifted his shoulders casually, while stating: “Well, that’s no problem for me.”
“I know, that’s exactly my problem, moron.” And while she said this, he stopped the van.
“Good night, idiot.” Regina hissed, opened the door and wanted to step out. But he held her back. Grabbing her wrist… Again. Asshole.
“Stop it!”
“You started it!” he answered without thinking about it for a second.
“Just let me go.” She growled and wiggled her hand out of his grip, but she didn’t continue to flee, instead she crossed the arms in front of her chest and stared at him. Waiting for him to open his damn mouth again. But as he did, she instantly wished he hadn’t.
“Shouldn’t you give me your number, if we’re together now, princess?” He hadn’t said that last word on purpose, it just happened, almost naturally. Which shocked him more than he would ever admit.
Regina felt how the blood in her veins froze. How her breath caught. Her heart stumbled. The whole world seemed to stop spinning for a few seconds. She couldn’t move. Trying to shake this unbearable feeling off, she growled: “Don’t fucking call me that.” Her voice lower and more dangerous than before.
But before he could do or say anything else, she already continued: “We are only pretending, moron.” She had to get that sentence, that name, out of her mind as soon as possible.
And he had to get the fact that he had said this, without thinking twice about it, out of his mind too.
“Still, if you want us to have some kind of plan, it would be better if we could talk-“
“You already know where I live!”
Rodrick tilted his head at her, before he answered, remarkably calm: “You chose me for this, now don’t blame me for anything that is happening.”
“I didn’t chose you for anything! You just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Without paying attention to one word of her, he held out his hand for her phone.
With the most dramatic sigh anyone could ever imagine, she pulled it out of the pocket of her thin jacket, unlocked it, typed something and finally handed it to him.
“Thank you.” He purred, took her phone and saved her number in his contacts.
As soon as she had her phone back, she got out of the van and not saying one thing, she wanted to close the door.
Without hesitating, Rodrick put his foot out to stop the door from closing.
“How long do you plan on keeping this act up?”
While turning around, Regina answered: “I give you two months. Then we will go back to strangers again.” She stepped away, trying to walk straight.
“Well, then I’ll surely see you at my concert next week, girlfriend.”
Right as she turned around again, lips opened to scream something at him, he already closed the door and drove away. She screamed at him anyway.
“I would rather die, asshole!”
The last thing she saw of him was his middle finger sticking out the window. He turned the corner way too sharp and way too fast and now she was sure… His driving style hadn’t improved at all. But she ignored every question which this discovery sparked.
Regina turned to the door of her house, searching for her keys.
Why the hell is this happening to me? Why him? Shit, why Rodrick?
But, as she thought while opening the door, stepping in and instantly locking it behind her again, she couldn’t pretend like this mistake, this stupid fucking mistake didn’t happen. She had to deal with it now. She had to deal with him now, which made everything so much worse.
For the rest of the night and while the rage was still burning in her, still boiling inside of her, the same sentence rotated in her mind…
I can’t believe I’m doing this.