The Night I Woke Up Beside You

[SEASON 1] Chapter 17: Let The Game Begin

"So are you coming to the game tonight?"

The preparation of the props is almost finished. The event was coming close. Ryan and Regina have been spending tolerable hours together since she has joined the club. Casual conversations have even become a neutral part of their routine every afternoon after classes. And every time Regina would enter that small room behind the stage to work for the drama club, Ryan would already be there starting on things like he used to. 

It became a pattern that it felt rather stranger to not see him there anymore. Somehow, in the midst of the task they were doing this time, Ryan felt the need to pick up a conversation and as he followed the printed pattern on the styrofoam wall he was painting on, he stole a glance in Daisy's direction. 

"I heard it was going to be a big deal one."

"Yeah. I promised I would go," Daisy took her time to reply back to Ryan's question as she distractingly squinted down on what she was doing and merely gave a simple peek in his direction with a thin smile. Bringing up the subject about the game immediately reminded her of Charles and thinking about Charles made her feel a little awkward inside. But she tried to act unbothered as she glued another cardboard cut-out on a panel in front of her.

"You going too? It's a big game, isn't it?"

The follow-up question came out before she could even stop herself and Regina cleared her throat as she waited for Ryan to answer. She did not really intend to return the query back to him but her mouth had run off with its own mind. This traitor. But it's not like she could ever get it back now so she dallied while fidgeting with the glue gun in her hands, anxious about what Ryan might say. 

Talking about Charles was something she had tried to avoid lately. Aside from working in silence, she and Ryan had managed to make it seemed like Charles has been nonexistent until now. Yet mentioning anything about the game gave a little bit of uneasy feeling for the two of them. Neither wanted to point it out, but the awkwardness was there. 

"Maybe," It took a long while before Ryan finally did say something and his voice stole Regina's attention immediately. Their eyes met as he went on with an easygoing smirk, "I'm not sure."

"Not your kind of thing?" Regina teased back. He was not the type to indulge in those kinds of games. Ryan has always been more into racing and afterparties. But Regina does remember Ryan trying to watch Charles' games before, more like how a supportive friend would. But she doubted the same thing now. After all, he and Charles still have that tension between them.

"Even if it's not my thing," Ryan suddenly refuted back, smiling with a glint in his eyes as he paused and stared at her for a moment, "If you want me to go with you, then maybe I want to go."

Regina held her breath for a second. She did not expect those words to come at her and Ryan laughed while watching her expression. Realizing that he was making fun of her, she scowled at him and puffed a breath out, tearing her gaze away from his direction. She did not bother to answer anymore because she was too frustrated and embarrassed to try. However, Regina could not really ignore that distinctive zap tingling the nerves down her spine as soon as Ryan had said those words to her with such intensity shown in his eyes. He was lethal and that was a bit unfair. He was doing that on purpose yet Regina could not even think of a good comeback to brush that off as she struggled to find her voice just so she could show that she was not affected.

But the truth is, she was actually affected. She did not want to admit but it was true. How in the hell can he do that? How dare he? She hated that it worked and it made her defenseless. She hated how she had let that happen.

Silence quickly followed them for a short moment. And just when Regina had thought there was nothing else to say, Ryan spoke again. But this time, his words came out much softer and almost incoherent that Regina had slightly jerked upon hearing him.

"I already know how the game ends," Ryan muttered with a smile not reaching his eyes, "He's going to win again."

And he was right. Ryan was no longer looking at her when he said that. He was staring blankly into space while Regina sheepishly glanced his way. And whether he had said that to ease the awkwardness or had accidentally voiced out his own thoughts without meaning to, Regina could never really guess. But at the very least, that was one she also never really doubted. Because Charles has always won in the end.

He is always the hero. And that was one thing they both knew will never really change.

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Daisy let out a sharp breath as soon as Regina got into the passenger seat of her car that had been waiting by the front driveway of Regina's house for a few minutes now. She sent a smile to her friend and stopped when she got a good look at Regina. Daisy let out a dry chuckle.

"What?" Regina just merely raised a brow. 

Regina ignored the way Daisy looked down on her after she immediately took note of the plain jacket and jeans that Regina was wearing. She chose it deliberately and Daisy just shook her head at it in disagreement. Regina looked like she was just going to the grocery store rather than a football game. And it seemed like she planned it to be that way. But that was not going to ruin the night. At least, Daisy did not let that spoil her mood because she was still hoping something better would come out of this later on.

"Whatever. The important thing now is you're going. He's going to see you," Daisy muttered softly with a sarcastic voice as she gripped the steering wheel and waited for Regina to fasten her seatbelt before stepping on the gas. Regina gave Daisy a sly smirk from her seat as she quickly read her friend's disappointment that was now clearly showing on her face.

"Even if he does see me, nothing will change, Daisy."

"You can never tell, Regina. Who knows?" Daisy rebutted, still trying to be optimistic and Regina shot her a look from her seat.

"I'm so done explaining everything to you. Believe what you say, but it's never going to happen," she told her friend with a defiant smirk.

"The night is young. Anything could still happen," Daisy countered, raising a brow at Regina while steering the car to pull out of the driveway. 

"You're so hopeless."

As they moved, Daisy briefly glanced at her friend again, squinting at the gray hoodie and laughed.

"I still can't believe you're wearing that to the game."

Regina looked down at her outfit, chuckling as she wistfully said, "I'm not wearing a dress in this cold evening."

"You could have at least made an effort," Daisy pointed out.

But that's the problem. Regina actually did not want to make any kind of effort. She wanted to keep a low profile as much as she could because the stares would totally make her uncomfortable. She was not going to show up in dress-to-kill attire only to attract more attention than needed. She had dealt enough of the troubling effect that her decision had brought her in the past few days to ever make anything worse than that now. The important thing is she was going to watch the game, as a mere friend. 

She was being the better person. But even when that sounds like a sound explanation, that did not seem reasonable enough for her to face the real issue that might arise once she sees Charles again.

There was no doubt, he would still want to talk with her. After all, she had promised him not long ago that they would discuss things in the future. Regina had initially planned to ditch the game but since Daisy was never going to stop insisting about it if she would not, Regina had forced herself to go. The truth is, she was still not quite sure how to present herself after breaking up with him. And somehow, having the courage to show up at the game felt like a challenge.

This might be a really long night... Nobody can ever figure.

******************************************************************************************to be continued