The Night I Woke Up Beside You

[SEASON 1] Chapter 2: Where It All Began... Again

"What? Wait, why? We are not going to break up, Regina."

Charles's immediate reaction was to disagree, with his brows drawing together as he looked at her with an appalled face, throwing her illogical request right out of the window. That was too much of a stretch now. Break up? How in the hell had she come to that kind of decision so fast? None of what she had been saying since the second she had jumped out of his bed, startling him awake, made any real sense. 

Charles stood with a dumbfounded expression still trying to understand what was happening, looking like he had been blindsided. And as he stared at her in confusion and anxiety, he noticed that she had conveniently wrapped herself with the sheets from his bed to hide her state of underdressing or lack thereof while he just stood there, barely naked with only his tight black boxers on. Lucky for him, he was decent enough to still wear it during and after they had s*x.

But that was not the issue here, clearly. The main conflict between them now was: why did she want to break up? 

Charles pondered over the things that they had done the whole damn day. If he had been so watchful enough, would he have known that she was feeling this way now? Yet, they just had sex... So why was she suddenly acting unreasonably repulsive?  They had a really good night and she even kissed him before she had closed her eyes a while ago. So why? 

He was totally confused. But Regina no longer cared about him as she went on and picked up her clothes and hastily put her undergarments back while he just froze there, still pondering. 

That's right, just keep thinking and let me go, Regina thought to herself at that same moment as she moved in a rush, quickly slipping into her discarded dress that she had worn that night and had been thrown aside on the floor by the foot of the bed before they got under the sheets and did it a while ago. A completely normal thing, she continued to mock herself. She can't really tell how dumb she had been to even think that her virginity was a good enough reward for him on winning a big game.

Well, because in the first place, you were so madly and blindly in love with him, that's why.

Ha, not now. She was no longer feeling stupid anymore,  she argued to herself. And as she struggled to wear her dress again with a slight caution to the wrinkled seams, Charles, on the other hand, started to move and finally tried his best to stop her. He wanted to fix this one small problem, of course, she can't leave him like this and just demand finality as if it was unavoidable. This was just a small problem... Or was this really just that small?

He suddenly stepped forward and reached out to touch her, but she saw his hand coming and she quickly took action against it.

"Don't touch me!" Regina immediately exclaimed, fuming as she violently slapped his wrist away. She moved further back, putting more distance between them, and she looked as if his mere touch had disgusted her. Her revolting expression quickly made Charles frustrated as he took a long deep breath and exhaled shakily while pacing back and forth in the room.

"Are you serious?" he angrily asked, evidently dissatisfied and displeased, then he stopped on his tracks for a moment and went, "You're just gonna leave me here without even explaining why?" He scowled, showing a grim expression. It was reasonable that he would ask of this, for she really gave no valid excuse for her odd decision. Yet her complete lack of response ultimately irked him in the wrong way that he almost wanted to shout. He wanted to wrap his head around it but he still could not get it at all. Why? Why did she want to break up? What did he ever do wrong?

She turned her back and rudely avoided him as she focused more on fixing her dress, smoothing down the fabric of the skirt with her hands while Charles just helplessly watched her with a glower when she ignored him. She felt extremely uncomfortable, even worse now since it had gone quiet in the room apart from the rhythmic bass faintly pounding the walls of the place. She could not wait to get out in an instant that she did not even bother to check herself on the mirror first before going straight towards the door to leave.

"Wait!"

Charles desperately reached out again, and his hand shot up successfully, pulling her back before she could even avoid it. He gave her one of his best looks. The kind that she knew she had been a sucker for when she first met him. His ocean blue eyes sunk deep into her brown ones as he tried his best to make her stay by using his own charm. It would have worked better if she was still sixteen. But Regina had already been at twenty-six, matured, and completely used to everything he could have done to make her less angry and now, this entire moment just made her feel more annoyed. And despite his best efforts, she just glared back at him.

It was by then that Charles felt extremely helpless. She was not buying it. And it felt she's slipping further away from him that it had him panicking inside. And when he tried to rack up his brain to think what he did wrong, the only thing he could come up with was it.

"Was it..." he suddenly said in a shy voice, contemplating if he should say it out loud as he leaned a little closer to her, afraid that she would bolt any second, "Was it because of the s*x?"

Oh god, this was so extremely embarrassing now. Regina barely gasped, looking stunned and slack-jawed. Did he really have to say that? 

She felt the heavy shame eating her whole in an instant. She really can't do this anymore. This was going too far from just awkward. And why? Why did she have to go back to this time when the deed was already done? If she had even known that she was going to travel back into time, she would have chosen the day before she even got close to him. If that had been possible, it would have been so much better if she had never made any connection with him at all. 

"I can't do this."

All done and much crampier than she had ever been tonight, Regina aggressively pulled her arm back and sped out of the place as fast as she could, not bothering to even care nor answer the incessant calls and shouts of Charles when she had opened the door and shut it closed behind her, blocking his noises in a snap. The sounds of his pleas got instantly swallowed by the overwhelming party music blasting in the hallways filling the entire house.

Scanning the place with her eyes, she quickly recognized a few young faces that she knew from school and who had been friends with Charles during high school. They were the guys he played with and guys he had been hanging out with since middle school. A small group of them were huddled at the end of the long hall, just near the staircase leading down to the living room of Charles' huge house with red Solo cups in their hands. It was nostalgic and she was quickly brought back to the memory of the 2010s with the skinny jeans, wedge sneakers, and mainstream EDMs. She was still gawking at them for quite a while as she stood right against the bedroom door, gripping the door handle behind her, still not moving away. 

The unbothered guys continued to talk to each other, oblivious of her presence at the time. But it all quickly changed when Charles suddenly yelled her name so loudly inside his bedroom.

"Regina!"

This time, her name was heard so clearly and it was at the same moment when the song that had been playing in the background switched to another, prompting a short pause, and the entire group of boys from the distance had immediately stopped talking, turning their heads to her direction upon hearing Charles' voice. Regina's immediate reflex was to duck her head down and cover her face with her hair as she quickly started walking and skittered her way past them in the hallway, trying her best to escape without being stopped. She heard some murmuring and laughing but she profusely ignored it all as she ran her way down the stairs towards the crowded living room. However, there were even more people down there, and Regina panicked. 

She did not really think too much of how to leave the place without being recognized by anyone. She knew that once she hears her name gets called out, she will certainly be interrogated by lots of people she barely knew at school since this was also the night that had marked the start of her and Charles's relationship when he had announced it out loud during a short speech he gave after winning the game a while ago (which now had seemed so stupid)--if Regina was recounting her memory right. 

What an utter load of crap, Regina winced after realizing the entire thing. High school for her can never be different anymore. She really tried her best not to look up for fear that someone would suddenly stop and talk to her. But surprising as it seemed, she actually managed to reach the opened front door of the house without anyone calling her name.

She immediately rushed down the porch outside the house and got as far as the front yard over the grassy ground but just as she was about to get past the front driveway and onto the sidewalks, a huge arm suddenly grabbed her on the side, pulling her by force and she gasped in surprise and panic. Regina found herself flung against a wall of flesh and she instantly got a hint of beer and sweat filling her senses.  

"Where are you going, mademoiselle?"

It was Eric, one of Charles's closest pal and also a part of the football team. His arm felt like a band of steel around her waist and Regina stumbled on her feet as she fell on the side of his body. She was too surprised to react accordingly and to find a way to escape his hold. Apart from that, he looked quite drunk too and his eyes were glassy as he unsteadily smiled down at her. Regina was just about to push him away when she found herself being picked up by both of his strong arms and he suddenly carried her against his side while heading to the front door of the house.

No way.

"Let me go!" Regina complained, not wanting to return obviously, but Eric just let out a snort and laughed. Her useless attempts to get rid of him failed to budge the big guy as she helplessly looked around for some help. Yet none of the onlookers who just watched them from a distance, with not much of an interest, seemed to even bother helping her as they just let them be, probably thinking that it was just a harmless scene. But seriously... why was nobody trying to read the mood? She was clearly not liking this!

"We gotta find my man Charles before anyone snatches his queen like this," Eric smugly remarked with a huge grin on his face. And obviously, neither he nor anybody around them had any idea of what really happened between Regina and Charles minutes ago. Regina was now feeling antsy as Eric neared the front porch of the house and she started hitting him on the arm that had been placed around her waist and struggled to break free from him.

"Let. Me. Go," she huffed each word out in frustration, groaning as she failed to dislodge the tight hold on her. Finding no other choice, she resorted to pinching him on the elbow so hard and when it still did nothing to him, she went on to bite him on the arm instead. This time, Eric loudly yelped in pain and he reflexively pushed her away. His force had been too abrupt that the motion had sent her flying off and falling flatly down on the ground over the bushy yard.

"What the hell!?" he shouted angrily, glaring down at her after he shot a look on the part where she had just bitten him. He quickly noticed the deep bite mark resurfacing and got even more infuriated. He furiously let out an expletive, his voice exploding so suddenly and his cursing had immediately put a halt to all the chattering noises surrounding them. Regina froze in shock and terror, still sitting on her butt in the yard, staring up at Eric with a nervous face. He looked completely aggravated, his nostrils flaring, jaw hardened, and his eyes glowering back at her. He looked like he was about to confront her so she tried to stand up to calm him down.

"I-I'm sorry, Eric," she quickly apologized and she raised her palms up to him as a form of surrender, "I just d-didn't like the way you--"

"Sorry? You f*****g sorry you just bit me?! Well, tell that to your guy," Eric shot back, a bit driven by his mild intoxication as he started to move towards her.

"Eric."

A voice suddenly popped in. Eric stopped. And both he and Regina turned to look in the direction of the sound. It was Ryan Townsend.

"What's going on?" he said this in a lazy voice, sounding so casual. And he walked towards them in a black muscle tee-shirt, denim jeans, and unruly black hair. Eric slowly loosened up a bit. Regina blinked slowly at the sight of this dark guy.

Ryan Townsend. 

How can she not know him? He had been so famous in high school even when he was not that particularly good in anything aside from being a bad boy. He was the extreme opposite of Charles. If Charles was a prince charming, this one was a dark knight. And now that Regina caught sight of his face once again, it had her instantly recalling how he actually ended up in her reality, ten years from now. He... Where would she even start with him? 

She was never really that particularly close to him, even though he had been very familiar and very attached to Charles during and even after their high school years. Yet seeing him in the flesh once again this time, she could not help but feel a little sentimental. Something pinched her heart. He's fine. He's okay. Although, of course, he would definitely be okay and fine right now, since this was supposed to be the past and she just traveled back in time. They were all still young, for Pete's sake. The future was still too far ahead from here.

"Something wrong here?" She heard Ryan asked Eric, but he obviously knew what was really happening. He darted his eyes warily from Regina and to Eric. As he neared them, Regina had to crane her neck backward just so she could look at his face. She never really realized how tall he actually was. Easy on the eyes, dangerous with that smirk-able mouth of his, charming even when he does not try to and irresistibly attractive with those deep drowning dark eyes,  he was totally a dark tempting guy, darker than Regina had remembered him, and it had her swooning inside.

No, stop it, she quickly shook the thoughts off of her head and scolded herself in her mind. Regina had to get a grip. What was she doing ogling him like this? 

She straightened her back and looked away. But her eyes immediately found their way back to Eric again from the opposite direction who was still scowling at her. 

"Charles' girl just bit me," Eric dryly replied, his eyes not even blinking while he turned his angry stare on her. What a wuss. He was lucky she just bit him. He was manhandling her, of course, she ought to do something to protect herself. She felt in danger for a second there. But then again, maybe she did a bit too much, she saw a glimpse of the bite mark... and she flinched.

"Alright, fine. I'm sorry," Regina eventually give in, forcing an insincere apology out of her mouth just so she can finally leave this place and get this over with. She really had to go, "I didn't like how you caught me by surprise. I did it out of defense. So I'm sorry if I had bitten you because I panicked."

Eric scowled harder, looking quite even more displeased with her words while Ryan just raised a brow at her. She was about to say something else more but before she could even utter a single word, another voice interrupted the scene.

"REGINA!"

Charles was suddenly coming out of his house, stopping at the front porch after yelling that word out as he frantically looked around and quickly picked the sight of Regina out of the scene. He was still shirtless but he was now wearing a pair of shorts and he immediately rushed towards them, with a panic face.

Regina winced and quickly turned around in an attempt to flee, but Ryan was suddenly there blocking her way out, giving her the disadvantage to escape. And Charles got to her in an instant, before she could even dodge it and he reached for her arm again. This time, it hurt when he had suddenly grabbed her too tightly. Regina automatically winced in pain and because her face was facing Ryan at the time, Ryan saw it all and he instinctively grabbed Charles' wrist without much of a thought and voiced out his concern.

"You're hurting her, Summers. Take it easy," Ryan calmly said to Charles, staring at him straight in the eye like a friend who was just worried about the circumstances of his actions.

"Back off, Townsend," Charles gritted back, failing to understand the warning. He glared at Ryan and still kept his hold on Regina even when he kind of knew he was getting a bit too aggressive now. He was out of control and he was still confused as hell. She was not going anywhere tonight. That was what he kept thinking as he made sure she won't run away. Yet Regina whimpered audibly again when Charles gripped her harder and pulled her roughly towards his chest.

"Look," Ryan decided to step forward, putting a firm grip on Charles' shoulder when he saw Regina closed her eyes, still in pain, "I'm not getting in between the two of you. If you got something going on, you can fix that together. But not this way, man. She obviously doesn't like it. Let her go."

Slightly triggered by the way Ryan had said those last few words to him, Charles's face went red as he quickly shifted his anger towards him and finally freed Regina, just to violently push Ryan on the chest, so hard that the guy had to take a couple of steps back, startled by what he did.

"Mind your own business," Charles snarled, looking totally blinded by his own rage.

"I'm not fighting with you, man," Ryan backed off, slightly frowning, "I just want you to take it easy. She's a girl."

"I can do what I want," Charles spat angrily, his voice slightly raised as people around them started to gawk at their confrontation, "What the hell is it to you?!"

"Charles, stop," Regina finally took over and stepped right in front of Charles with a palm over his chest as she slowly pushed him back. "You don't have to fight with him."

This time, Charles' eyes went to her face as his brows drew together after hearing what she said. "Why are you defending him now?" he asked with an accusatory tone, sounding completely deranged. 

"I'm not defending him or anything," Regina explained, giving a firm sound to her words, "Just let it go. I'm going home."

"No, wait a minute," Charles' shot back, suddenly focusing on her again, "You're not going home yet. We need to talk."

He suddenly reached out for her but Regina had quickly evaded it by stepping further away from him. She stood her ground and warily watched him from a distance. Then she said, "It's not going to happen anymore, Charles. I told you already... We're over. It's all over between us."

Gasps echoed all around them. Eric stumbled on his feet with his mouth hanging open. Ryan looked like he did not really want to be there any longer. Everyone was suddenly murmuring on their own, taking out all of their phones as if this was some kind of a drama that the entire town should know in an instant. Regina had just dropped a huge bomb in front of almost all of the people she knew at school but she still looked too cold and uncaring to even be bothered anymore. However, Charles's face immediately had gone pale after she spoke. He looked completely defeated. His throat dried up and he had some trouble breathing in some air. Her words started to play over and over inside his head and it sounded like a chant that he could no longer turn off. This still felt like everything was just a nightmare. 

Yet why? Why was she saying this all of a sudden? What really happened? What caused it? Why was she suddenly breaking up with him without ever really telling him first the reason why?  This was all just too wrong... But she was already putting a lid over it. 

They were really breaking up.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter