Please enjoy. This should be three chapters long. Reviews are lovely and help me write.
It was Christmastime, three days away, to be precise. Regina couldn't bear it, her first Christmas without Henry, without their traditions. Even when he'd had that year when he wasn't happy with her, they'd still done Christmas and baked cookies together and decorated the tree together. Now though, now she was stuck in the Enchanted Forest with people who only cared about her on the surface, only pretended to want her around so they could have her magical help in dangerous situations.
Once they'd had their counsel, Regina left the room and headed for the courtyard of the castle. It was cold and snow was falling all around her, but she didn't care, hardly noticed. Her black jacket was heavy around her, her long hair down in heavy waves that spread over her shoulders as the thick strands collected the snow that was falling. Hearing the crunching of feet over snow, she turned to see who was approaching her.
"David," she said in a cordial tone. "I was thinking. I'd prefer to be alone to do so."
He nodded softly, but moved forward anyway, sitting on the bench beside her, facing the opposite direction. "I'm sure you would prefer to be alone. Unfortunately for you, I've been enlisted to make sure you're all right," David replied, causing Regina to snort. "Are you? All right, I mean?"
Rolling her eyes, she sighed. "I'm as all right as I can be. This is… this time here has been hard enough without Henry, I don't know how I'm supposed to cope at Christmas without thinking about all of the traditions I shared with him and know that he'll be sharing those with Emma this year."
David nodded again; surprised she was even willing to share that much with him. "I know it's hard. I missed all of Emma's life, and now I've lost her again, I know how you're feeling. I wish things could be different."
"Is that why you're here?" Regina snapped. "To tell me it's my own fault? What, that it's karma playing out? I took your child away from you, so now it's only fair I lose mine?"
"Not at all," he answered, his voice as calm as it had been before she'd snapped at him. "I was merely saying that I understand how you're feeling and I'm here if you want to keep talking about it. Or if you want to just sit and not talk about it."
Chocolate eyes searched his face for a lie, and a single tear rolled over her cold cheek. Regina pursed her lips and nodded slowly, letting him know she understood that he was sincere, but she made no other move to speak. Instead, they both sat in silence for several long moments.
Regina cleared her throat after a while. Moving to stand, she looked down to him where he was still sitting on the bench and offered him a tight and uncomfortable smile. "Thank you, David. I do feel somewhat better."
Smiling his wide and charming grin, David lifted one hand to grab hers, his bare skin warmer to touch than her own, as he'd been outside a shorter amount of time. Giving her fingers a squeeze, he answered, "Anytime."
And as Regina walked away, she squashed down the small flutter in her stomach that came from the slight affection he'd given her. There was nothing to it, it was friendly and meant to comfort, no matter how wide he smiled, or how attractive he was, or how lonely she was, it meant nothing, nor would it ever.
The next morning Regina made her way down to the courtyard again. David stopped her as she was leaving the castle, asking if she wanted company. Despite her desire to say no, she nodded slowly and waited as he turned himself around, fixing his fur over his shoulders.
"What has Prince Charming out on his own before breakfast time?" Regina asked smartly.
"Just checking on a fellow royal, making certain she doesn't cause any trouble."
"Me? What trouble could I possibly cause?" she teased, raising an eyebrow.
Chuckling, David shook his head and answered, "I'm certain you could come up with something. I don't know, you could plague us all with magical snowballs or some sort of abominable snowman."
His words elicited a low rumble of laughter from her throat, which in turn made David laugh with her. He'd forgotten how it sounded to hear her laughter without malice fueling it, though he'd only ever heard it a couple of times, and they were before the curse broke.
"That juvenile, you think? Let's test it out," she teased, raising a hand. Regina curled her fingers into her hand and with the action; several snowballs were hitting David all over the side of his body.
"Hey!" he shouted, trying to protect himself from the flying snow. "That's not fair! I came to comfort you, not be attacked!" Bending low to the ground, David gathered a handful of snow and began packing it together into a tight ball. Once he was satisfied with his work, he raised his hand threateningly.
"You wouldn't dare."
"But I would," he answered, chucking the cold ball at Regina and hitting her square on the shoulder she'd just turned toward him. She gasped, turning her face toward him.
"You are going to regret that."
"Maybe so, but I'll know I'm the winner anyway, since I didn't use magic." Regina shook her head and bent her knees, lowering herself enough to gather snow in her hands. Making a tight snowball, she stood back up, toying with it in her hand. David laughed a deep and hearty laugh, one full of mischief. "You don't have it in you. And even if you did, I'll bet your aim is awful without magic."
Regina simply tilted her head and gave him a smirk. She then reared her arm back and slung it forward, throwing the snowball at him and hitting him square in the chest. Shaking his head, David ran toward her, making her run away from him, though the ground was slippery and his boots were much more accommodating to the weather than hers and it wasn't long before he was catching her around her waist. His arms encircled her, pulling her back against his chest and she stilled suddenly in realization. Regina found herself noticing the warmth of his body pressed to her back, the crisp and clean scent of his skin as his face pressed against her cheek, and she definitely noticed (though she would deny it to herself later) the feel of his strong arms around her body, the grip he had on her sides… she noticed how good it felt to be held, even if holding wasn't his intention.
A moment later he was letting her go, standing straighter and shifting awkwardly at the moment between them. David chuckled nervously, as though trying to make the moment pass faster between them, and Regina pinned him with her best put on glare. Still he grinned and shrugged, ignoring her look and clasping his hands together in front of his waist.
"Looks like we have to call it even," he challenged.
Regina crossed the two small steps of space between them with a devious smirk and said, "I think not." With those words, she brought her hand up, and David noticed it was filled with snow, and smashed the cold substance against the bare skin of his neck, rubbing it in, then pressing her cold palm against his face. Regina pushed gently against his forehead with her fingertips, then laughed as he took a step back with the force.
"Cheater."
"I believe what you mean to say is, 'Regina, you've won, and I shall bow down to the queen.'"
Raising his eyebrows in amusement, he gave her a doubtful look and soon they were both laughing at their own antics. When they sobered, Regina looked away for a long moment, then looked back at him through a watery smile. David's brow furrowed in concern and his arms raised, hands cupping her elbows.
"Are you all right, Regina?"
"I'm… no, I'm not all right. But I do thank you. This is the longest I've gone without sadness in the two months since we've been back. I appreciate you for that, David." Wide, sad, chocolate eyes found his light blue and noticed they were filled with concern. "You need not worry about me, Charming, I will survive; I always do."
"I'm not concerned about you surviving, I know that's one of your strengths. What I'm worried for is your sanity and emotional well-being."
"What, are you afraid if you don't check up on me, I will snap and go on another killing spree?" Regina snapped, jerking out of the hold she hadn't realized he still had.
"Not at all. I don't worry about you being a danger, or using magic. You should know better by now that I do care for you. Ever since… ever since what happened in the stables, in Storybrooke, with Daniel… I worry about you. No one should have to experience the things you've been through and not have anyone."
Sighing, Regina nodded and looked away from him. "Thank you," she whispered. "I should go now."
"Okay. But I'll be by to check on you tomorrow. And the next day. And on Christmas," David promised.
"Why?" She still didn't believe anyone could care about her, not without it being rooted in need for her abilities.
"Just because," he answered, gripping her bicep and stepping close to her. David pressed a kiss to her cheek, tender and affectionate, causing Regina to gasp. "Just because."
Regina turned around, walking away and heading straight for her bedchambers. When she arrived, she sat on an oversized chair in front of her vanity and whispered to herself, What just happened?
Regina woke late the next day, finding that she'd missed the group breakfast that was held each morning in the large dining hall. Her stomach was in need of food though, so she found herself walking the large halls toward the kitchen to make herself something to eat. As she walked through the dining room, she heard loud conversation coming from the back corner and turned to see what the meaning of it was. When she did, she was greeted with the sight of many merry men standing around a huge pine tree, which was standing in the once bare corner.
"What the hell is that?" she asked no one in particular, waving one hand to point at the monstrosity. It surprised her when she heard David answered.
"It's a Christmas tree," he said, his voice cheerful and self assured.
"And just what do you intend on decorating it with?"
"I'm sure someone will think of something. What about you? Do you have any ideas?"
"No. I don't decorate," she snapped, rolling her eyes and beginning to walk away. David followed her, and when she noticed he was beside her, she sighed heavily. "What, David? Have I earned a pet?"
Offering her an unamused lift of his eyebrows, he continued following her despite her biting words. "I thought I might accompany you for a late meal. I missed mine as well, searching for the tree."
"Who am I to tell you that you can't eat?" Regina answered, never taking her eyes off the door she was heading toward. When they arrived in the kitchen, she set about finding something to eat. David followed her lead, taking a different side of the kitchen. There were several loaves of bread, and he broke off two decent sized pieces, piling them onto one plate. He turned to see how Regina was faring. Better than he, it seemed, since she had found a simmering pot of stew, probably for that day's lunch, and was filling two bowls. Setting down the plate of bread, David went back to the dishes and found two chalices. He carried them to the basin where they kept fresh water and filled each of them.
They both returned to the prep table, David setting down their chalices and pulling out Regina's chair. She placed one bowl in front of the seat he was offering, and slid the other to the seat on the other edge, only a corner away. Taking the offered chair, Regina nodded her thanks, then pulled on water toward her. Upon seeing that it was water, she frowned and waved her hand over it, watching as it turned deep red. Wine, David figured.
"You might want to wait until after you've eaten something before you start consuming alcohol," David teased, his eyes on her.
"It's a good thing I don't take advice from shepherds."
"Then there's no use in drinking alone," he answered, nodding to his own cup. Chuckling, Regina waved her hand over his, changing it to the same wine that filled her own.
"Very well."
They sat and had (what Regina would tell herself was reluctant) conversation. She had forgotten how nice it was to speak to someone as an equal, instead of being talked down to, or spoken to with kid gloves, as though she would explode on a dime. She had proven many times over that she wouldn't.
David asked her, teasingly of course, if she had any ideas for decorating the Christmas tree. Regina had laughed and the pair cleared away their dishes. Finding that she wasn't bored of his company yet (quite the opposite, in fact), Regina sat back down at the table and waved her hand, making cranberries and popcorn appear, string and needles, and glass snowflakes. He'd raised his eyebrows then, asking what they were supposed to do with the popcorn and cranberries.
"You're supposed to string them," Regina answered, entirely unamused. When his face still showed no recognition of it, she rolled her eyes and reached for a needle, slipping the string through the eye of it and picked up a cranberry. Stabbing through the item, Regina strung it, tying the far end of the string before pushing it all the way to the knot. She continued, stringing several more before David picked up the other needle and began with the popcorn.
"This is a neat idea."
"Well, I didn't invent it, just taught it to Henry and it became a tradition of ours."
"What other Christmas traditions did you have?" he asked gently, as though not to push.
It took a moment for her to respond, but she did. Regina spoke of the baking, the long hours in the kitchen on the weekend before Christmas, during which she and Henry would bake countless types of cookies. Rather, she would bake them while he waited for the shaped sugar cookies to cool so he could decorate them with the frosting and sprinkles and candy pieces that she would carefully lay out for him. She spoke then of their Christmas Eve reading of The Night Before Christmas, and the one present she would allow him to open before he went to bed. How they would leave out three cookies, of Henry's choosing, for Santa, and a small glass of milk with carrots and celery for the reindeer. Chuckling, Regina told David how Santa would only ever eat one cookie, taking a bite out of each of the others, and small nibble marks would always be left on the vegetables.
David grinned about the cookies, An attractive Santa, he'd said, making Regina blush at the compliment. She fell into ease with the conversation, losing herself in the stories and telling David about the five a.m. wake ups from her son and the present unwrapping, the late morning breakfasts, made up of eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, hash browns and toast, even though he could only ever shovel down one of each, at most, even by time he was ten.
"They sound like beautiful Christmases."
"Indeed." Regina looked over at how much they had each accomplished during the conversation. Amazed to see that it had been quite a bit, she nudged her chin in the direction of David's string. "You're doing well, but not keeping up with me."
"You're experienced, I'm not."
"We still talking about stringing berries and popcorn, Charming?" she teased, biting her cheek quickly after in realization of what she'd just said.
"I have plenty experience in things not pertaining to Christmas decorations," David answered easily, his tone matching the slightly flirtatious one she'd offered. Regina looked down at her hands, then to keep herself busy, pulled the needle from the string and tied the end. She bit her cheek to prevent herself from saying anything back, but was startled when he tossed a piece of popcorn at her, the fluffed item barely missing her nose.
"What the hell was that for?" Regina scowled, turning her eyes toward him. He didn't answer, though. No, instead he just tossed another piece at her, hitting her in the face and watching as it fell into her lap. "You're a child."
"What? You're not going to throw any back?"
"No, because I'm an adult. Act your age, David," she scolded him. Grinning, he grabbed a handful and tossed it all at her in one soft throw. Regina looked at him with a half-amused smirk and rolled her eyes. "I refuse to give in to your childish behavior."
He begged off with a, Fine, fine, through his laughter. Stringing a couple more handfuls of popcorn onto his string, David smirked as he watched her set herself up with another strand. After several moments passed, he picked up another popped kernel and tossed it at her, hitting the tip of her nose, though she was looking down in concentration at her work.
Regina slammed the needle and string onto the table and stood. "Fine, you child," she hissed, barely managing to keep her smirk from her face. Then she stood and picked up the bowl of popcorn she'd put there by magic and, gripping it with two hands, flipped it over his head so his clothing was littered with bits of popcorn. Regina stared at him in amusement, unable to keep herself from smiling anymore, so when David picked the bowl off his head and stood, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her close to him, grinning at her, she wasn't as surprised as she ought to have been.
He'd intended to transfer some of the popcorn to her red velvet dress, but once his arms encircled her waist he found himself transfixed by the smile on her mouth, the amusement in her eyes. David's laughter slowed, as did hers, settling into soft sighs and, as she let him hold her, light whimpers sounded. Staring in wonder at when the last time had been that someone had kissed those full, red lips with honest interest, David leaned down and did just that, pressing his lips fully to hers. He licked the seam of her lips, requesting entrance that she, surprisingly, gave him.
It didn't take long before her arms were wrapping around his neck, his own arms tightening even more, pulling her flush to him as their kiss deepened. It was a heavy mixture of lips and teeth and tongues, exploring and tasting and sliding. David groaned into her mouth, her scent and taste filling him with a desire he didn't truly know he'd had, not until that moment.
It was over too quick. Regina was pulling away and looking up into his eyes. Clearing her throat, she backed out of his arms, gathering the finished string of cranberries. "I… this isn't what you want, David," she said gently, turning away from him. "I should go put this on the tree, see how much more we need." He nodded in agreement, waiting until she was out of the kitchen to touch his fingers to his bottom lip and smile.