This was meant to be a short little ficlet, but no, my muse decided to make an appearance. I apologize for any errors, this was written at about one in the morning and I don't have a beta. But anyway, the song that is playing/this fic is about is Laura by Bat For Lashes which you should all check out because it' S. But anyway, I hope that you all enjoy the story! If it goes well, then I may pick it up as a multi-chapter fic! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

They were at the annual Storybrooke Charity Ball, held within the Town Hall. It was a night to get dressed up like you would for a wedding, get incredibly drunk and give away money to a good cause. It was something that Regina had started when she had first come to power as mayor, always using the money to fund in the next year whatever branch was low on money. Although, she did tend to neglect a certain fourth grade class. But things were very much different, this year, with the curse being broken and everyone remembering who they once were. Tension ran high between many members of society nowadays – especially between everyone and her. But it was slowly faltering as Regina showed more and more of her willingness to be better, and to help where she was needed. And yet, despite all of that, she had still ended up sitting alone in at a corner table with a glass of wine in her hand. Not that she had minded much at this present time, seeing as it had been only a few days since her Daniel had been ripped away from her in the stables again. She had locked herself away in her house for days after her therapy session with Archie, half destroying all of her possessions as she grieved her loss. She wouldn't have even come to this stupid ball if Charming hadn't of stopped by the day before.

"Come on, Regina, open up," David called from the front of the house for the millionth time, letting out a long sigh when once again, he didn't get an answer. No one had heard from Regina in days, not even Archie, and David couldn't stand idly by, no matter how much he had wanted to. She was still the Evil Queen to most, but after seeing her in the stables that day, and after he had interrogated Archie about what had happened to Regina…he couldn't quite bring himself to see her that way, anymore. Not after the stables, and not after witnessing first-hand how hard she was trying to be better for Henry. He couldn't sit idly by, now. Not if she could have started to revert, or if she had hurt herself.

Finally, David found the spare key hidden carefully under a rock in her garden and he walked up to the front door, unlocking it and stepping inside with a gasp. There were shards of broken objects everywhere, a half-mangled mirror hanging over a small key table. Broken vases, broken glasses, broken plates…all to match the broken woman he found sitting on the floor in her kitchen, her hands bloody, obviously cut from the wreckage. "Regina?" David said tentatively, trying not to startle her, but she jumped anyway, too deep in thought to have noticed his presence.

"Charming, is there something you need?" She muttered, hastily wiping her eyes and pushing herself to her feet, but he had already noticed the tears on her cheeks. As he further examined her, his heart sunk. Her face looked hallow, as if she had not eaten in days, but her eyes…they looked empty, the fire that he had seen there numerous times before had been extinguished. That man in the stables must have meant much more to her than he had previously thought. David knew he was her fiancée, but he couldn't quite picture her truly loving someone like that.

"I came to make sure you were alright…Henry was worried about you." He wouldn't admit that he had been slightly worried too, even to himself. He watched as she raised her head slightly and a hopeful look settled in her eyes, and a hint of a smile twitched her lips. He couldn't possibly understand how much it meant to her to know that her son actually did care about her, even if it were to the smallest extent and if he was lying, then the gesture was appreciated. "I'm fine, you can tell him that." She gave a small smile and leant back to the counter, her hands gripping it before she immediately moved away from it with a small hiss, noticing the cuts all over her hands for the first time.

"Here, let me help you with that…" David immediately stepped forward towards the former mayor, motioning to take her hands but she dropped them to the side. "I don't need your pity." She muttered, composing herself as she lied so naturally. Some of the cuts were deeper than she had expected, and she knew that Charming, being Charming, had already taken time to examine that for himself. He simply gave her an unimpressed look and stood his ground. "I promised Henry that if you weren't okay, I'd take care of it and you know how much he hates it when people break their promises to him." David folded his hands across his chest, his eyes pleading, yet firm. Regina flinched slightly at the reminder and her lips parted as she looked up at him under still wet eyelashes.

"Let me help you," he said, softer now s his eyes bored into hers and an unfamiliar feeling of safety washed through Regina as she surrendered. "The first aid kit is in the cupboard above the sink" She murmured in acceptance as she dropped into a chair at the kitchen table as she watched David collect the kit before kneeling before her. She rested her arms on her knees, leaving her hands exposed to him as he began carefully pulling out bandages before he set to work on her.

They sat in silence for what felt like hours, David carefully disinfecting every cut on her hands before bandaging them. He had then moved on to her forearms, cleaning them and tended to the deeper cuts there before finally moving onto her legs after Regina had assured him there was nothing on her torso. She sat engrossed by his movements, amazed by how much care he had handled her with, like she was fragile glass that could be broken with the slightest touch. She was sure that no one had touched her that way since Daniel. Her other was never gentle with her, and she never really got too many chances to hug her father, as her mother would always snap at him for "coddling" her. She had only ever spent one night with the king, and his hands had been too rough, too hungry to be gentle in the way that Daniel's had been. Regina's eyes followed his every movement and she couldn't help but what it would feel like if he were to-

"Are you coming to the ball tomorrow night" David asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. He didn't look up as he asked it, but simply continued his movements. Tomorrow night, what was tomorrow night…oh. Regina could have smacked her palm against her forehead for forgetting about it. The Charity Ball. She had been surprised when they had first announced that it was still going ahead as planned.

"I was no longer planning on it, no." The last thing that she wanted was for people to stare at her all evening, whispering behind her back and asking where she had disappeared to. David paused his movements, his hand still caressing her calf to raise his smouldering blue eyes to meet her own deep brown ones. "Henry was really hoping that he would get to see you there." He said, his lips molding into a sort of half smile. Regina's inner conflict melted away at his words. He actually wanted to see her, and because of that, nothing could keep Regina away.

"Then I guess I'll be there." David smiled widely at her words, and Regina found herself smiling back.

She had been so deep in thought that she had completely missed the fact that Henry had taken a seat next to her. They had hugged and spoken earlier in the night, but Henry had disappeared to talk with Granny and Red for a while after that and she had been left alone. She almost missed his newest question, too.

"How come you didn't change your name when you came here?"

Regina turned her body to face him and smiled down at her son, even in her confusion. "What do you mean, dear?" She tucked a stray bit of hair back as Henry merely shrugged before elaborating. "You know, when you brought everyone here from The Enchanted Forest, you gave them all a different name, like Ruby Lucas and Dr. Whale. How come you didn't give yourself a new name, too? Or was it not Regina back in that land?" Regina smiled proudly down at her son. It was not a surprising question coming from Henry, he had always been a very curious boy, even in as a child. She took a moment to mull her answer before deciding to simply to him the truth.

"No, it was Regina back in The Enchanted Forest, too. No one really had last names back there, which made things very confusing when you had two people of the same name within your village or Kingdom. You had to refer to them with their occupation in front of their name if you wanted to specify who you were talking about. But I actually did change it when I first came to this place. For the first couple of years I was actually Laura Mills, but I could never really get into it, and when people called it out, it took me a while to realize they were talking to me…and every new year, people's memories of the previous year would be wiped blank, and I used some of the magic I had brought with me to this land to change my name back to Regina." She concluded with a small smile at her son as he nodded in satisfaction at her answer, happy that she had actually told him the truth.

Neither of them had even noticed that David had been standing nearby , listening in on their every word as he poured himself another glass of champagne, a smile on his lips as he mulled the word over. Laura wasn't quite as fitting for her as Regina was, but it was definitely something that he could see her as a Laura.

Hours more passed and everyone was now enjoying themselves on the dance floor, everyone having found a dancing partner, Henry was playing with some of the other kids and hell, even Granny had found someone to dance with. Everyone had someone to enjoy their time with except for Regina. Unable to stare at everyone any longer, Regina rose from her seat and headed outside, certain that no one would have noticed her absence as she absent-mindedly made her way to the side of the building, examining the apples trees that grew them. She had planted them within her first few years as mayor. She had been unsure if they would grew considering the curses terms, but she had been pleasantly surprised when they did.

She swayed gently to the music that she could still hear clearly out in the yard, her floor length red dress flowing with every movement as she rested her hand against the bark of the tree, breathing in it's scent. If she closed her eyes, maybe she could pretend that she was in the woods, waiting for her Daniel to come and meet her.

"Care to dance, Laura?" A familiar voice said closer than she had anticipated, and she jumped slightly before turning around to find David, his hand extended and a knowing smile on his lips. She raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow at him. "It's not polite to eavesdrop, Charming, you should very well know that." She cocked her head the side and smirked at the Prince as he let out a chuckle, his hand still in place, waiting for hers. "Humour me." He murmured with a shrug and Regina let out a slow breath, eyeing his hand wearily. She would like to think that they had come to a sort of truce for Henry, perhaps even a mutual understanding, but she had been tricked by the Charmings many times before. But the look in his eyes was so honest, and before she realized what she was doing, she had carefully placed her hand in his as the music changed into a much slower song.

David hesitated a moment before his arm rested around her waist as she moved closer to him, her own arm moving around him to allow her hand to rest her hand on her shoulder, and her chin was only centimetres from resting on his shoulder as they began to sway to the slow tempo of the song, one that she did not recognize but found herself enjoying.

you say that they've all left you behind

your heart broke when the party died

"Thank you…for yesterday, and for convincing me. I'm glad that I came, tonight." And despite the fact that she spent most of the night alone, she truly meant it. She had gotten to spend some time with Henry, enjoy some free alcohol…and get to dance with a man that she now shone a new light on. "It's no problem, really. I know that Henry really wanted to see you and make sure that you were okay. He does love you. He's just not entirely sure how to go about it." Regina was glad that he couldn't say her face at this current moment, because that would create another moment where David had seen her with tears in her eyes. The only difference would be that this time, they were tears of pure happiness. "I think I can relate to that. " She murmured quietly into his shoulder. She wasn't sure how she should act around her son now that the curse was broken and everything was different. She wasn't the only mother in her son's life anymore, and she was not the one that Henry looked at as his 'true' mother. But it meant more to her than anything that he was trying to figure it all out.

drape your arms around me and softly say

can we dance upon the table again?

"I must admit…Henry isn't the only one that wanted you hear." David held his breath as the words left his lips and she could feel her tense within his arms as his words registered. She pulled back slightly so that she could look at him, her beautiful features confused and a hint of fear in his eyes. "I thought that the only reason you had been with me before the curse was to hurt Mary Margaret, to get tear us apart, I didn't think you were capable of caring for someone, let alone loving them. But after seeing you trying so hard to be better, and after the other day with Daniel…" Her face grew sad at the mention of her fiancée, but her features were still stunned from his admission. "…I can see you changing every day, I can see you acting more like you did before…when you were with me." He finished slowly, his eyes searching hers for her reaction.

when your smile is so wide and your heels are so high
you can't cry

Regina vigorously shook her head, denying unable to process what he was saying. "So, what are you saying? You want to use me until your Dearest wife returns and you don't have to get your kicks somewhere?" She spat at him as her defence mechanism kicked in and a harsh glare glazed over her eyes. David shook his head, letting out a long sigh. He had expected this to be difficult, expected her to slap him and call this a trick, and she would have every right to. The mere thought of them being together while he was aware of who he was was absolutely insane, but he couldn't care less. "I haven't been able to get you out of my head, Regina and quite, frankly, I don't want to. I've had these feelings for you since before the curse was broken, and no matter how hard I try, I can't get rid of them, and don't you dare tell me that you don't feel the same." He concluded, almost angrily as his eyes begged her to believe him.

put your glad rags on, and we'll sing along

to this lonely song

Regina's breath had grown heavy and slightly faster, her heartbeat had increased in rate and every part of her felt like it was on fire. Their face had become closer together without their knowledge and her lips were on an inch from her own. She gulped tearing her eyes away from his lips until they were lost in his ocean blue ones. It had started out as revenge when they had first started their little affair, but he had kept coming back for more, continued to pursue her. He had told her his deepest secrets, had taken her on the sweetest dates…she couldn't help the feelings she had developed for him. She had been so angry with herself, at first. She wasn't supposed to fall for him, she was supposed to be completely in love with Daniel, no matter what. He was supposed to be the only one in her heart.

you're the train that crashed my heart

you're the glitter in the dark

She gulped loudly, letting out a slow breath. "I can't be her, I can't be perfect, and I certainly can't be good, Charming. No matter how hard I try, I will always be the Evil Queen to everyone here, and they could rank you down there with me if they found out." They were scared, so scared of what could happen. Letting someone in was almost impossible for Regina, and playing with fire wasn't Charming's strong suit, nor had it ever been. He trailed his hands up her arms, caressing her olive skin. "I don't care about that…" He pleaded as his hands came up to finally rest on her cheeks, forcing her to look at him. "All I care about is you."

ooh, laura

you're more than a superstar

Regina tilted her head to the side for a moment, letting out a noise that was almost like a whimper before she closed the distance between them and passionately pressed her lips against his, her arms wrapping around his neck, fingers tangling in his hair. They kissed with such passion and intensity that one might think they were the reincarnation of Romeo and Juliet – lost lovers who had a second chance to be happy again, and in a way, it was almost true.

you're more than a superstar

If he broke her heart now, it would be worse and if she reverted back to her old ways, the whole thing could fall apart once more. They were giving each other the power to destroy the other completely in that single moment, and they both radiated with fear if you could look passed all the passion.

But in some small way, it only gave her hope that maybe she no longer had to be alone.