Better When I'm Dancing

Week 7--POP! (Part 1)

"Did you ever meet Milah?" Emma asked, looking awed now.

"A few times," Regina admitted before biting her lip. It was time to make a confession. "I kinda stretch the truth when I say Daniel was my first partner. He really wasn't. Gold recruited me to be his student so I could be partners with his and Milah's son Neal. Only Neal really didn't want to follow in dear old dad's shoes and there was a lot of fighting between the three of them. In the end, Milah took Neal and let him stop dancing. That's when Gold went out and found Daniel. But I always felt like he saw Daniel as a placeholder until Neal came back to dance again."

Emma shook her head. "All these years and I never knew that."

"Well, you said so yourself--talking about Gold made me upset," Regina replied, shrugging. "So, I guess Gold had Gaston canned because he blamed him for Belle losing to Killian and Milah?"

"What? Oh, yes," Robin said, shaking his head as he got back to the topic at hand.

Regina nodded before pointing at the redhead standing with August. "And who is that?"

"Zelena West," the two blonds groaned. Emma continued: "She was some anchor on one of those celebrity gossip shows and was the show's cohost for a few seasons. Tended to flirt and somehow made everything about her. No one liked her."

"Did Gold replace her with Belle?" Regina asked, narrowing her eyes as puzzle pieces started to fall into place.

Robin nodded. "The producers decided to get rid of her anyway since the audience was pretty vocal about disliking her. From what Ruby told her grandmother, Gold strongly suggested Belle and they went for it."

"Was that before or after they were dating?" Regina asked, still finding it odd to consider her old coach in any romantic situation.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "They kept it under wraps for the most part."

Emma nodded. "We only really got confirmation once they broke up after Belle's first season cohosting the show."

"Probably got a good look at Gold's real nature and left him," Robin said with some disdain. "He couldn't hide that forever."

"That's true." Regina closed her eyes, digesting everything she had learned. Gold had had a short-lived romance that he had probably ruined himself. And now he was trying to keep everyone on the show from having what he couldn't.

It was just like him.

"Do you think bringing up Belle will make things worse, though?" Emma asked Robin, rubbing her forehead.

He sighed, shrugging before turning to Regina. "What do you think?"

"It might," she replied. "It might not. I'm not sure how much power he really has at that show. We're probably just going to have to see."

"Unfortunately," Robin said, standing. He leaned against her chair. "I should probably get going. We don't want to raise any suspicions by showing up together, right?"

She nodded. "Besides, I still have to get ready. I'll see you at the studio."

"Can't wait." He closed the gap between them, pressing a quick goodbye kiss to her lips. After saying goodbye to Emma, he left them alone.

Emma whirled on Regina, eyes wide. "When did you two start kissing?"

"Oh." Regina felt her cheeks start to burn and she fidgeted a bit. "A couple days ago."