As unexpected as it was, they had fallen into a routine. He would show up on her doorstep with wine and a bag of crisps or skittles that Regina would crinkle her nose at on first sight, but later would steal a few when David wasn't looking. She cooked something different every night for them, and she didn't cook for two because that would mean she was expecting him. No, she merely cooked too much for one. Like she didn't know that he would turn up around half past six with some excuse to see her and she would let him in, pour them both a glass of wine and tell him that she had made too much yet again. And neither of them acknowledged the fact that this had become normal for them.
Snow and Emma had been gone for little over two months now, down through Jefferson's hat and into The Enchanted Forest. Two months that Henry had been staying with David and Regina had woken up to an empty house and an ache in her heart. She had raged. Broke every mirror in her mansion, shattered glasses against the wall and had cried and cried until all she could do was sit and stare with little purpose. That's how David had found her just a couple of weeks after taking Henry. Broken and bleeding and humiliated, but David had not left her. He cleaned her up and made her smile and soon enough, he was there every weekend, then the occasional weekday, before it was every night and she could count on him to arrive right on time.
Regina smiled more and David noticed. He knew he'd helped that. Knew she was still surprised when he lifted their plates from the table and did her dishes. Knew she loved that he knew exactly when she wanted a top up of her glass without having to say anything. Knew that he could eat a whole packet of crisps by himself, but he refrained because he knew she liked to nibble when she thought he was paying more attention to the DVD he had selected than he had been to her. At first he'd stayed for Henry, because he was worried about his mother and after finding her bleeding, he had understood why. David had come for Henry, but now he stayed for Regina and he didn't know when he had gone from hating her to caring about her well being, but he couldn't stand the thought of not seeing her every night.
It was edging on 9PM and usually he was gone by now. Their movie was done, the kitchen was clean, but they were nowhere near done with drinking. Henry was sleeping over at Hansel's for the night and Regina had insisted that he stayed for one more drink, which had turned into a second, and then a fifth and now they were both carefree and loose and drunk. God, they were both so drunk and Regina was giggling as David guffawed at the animated version of Captain Hook.
"At least they got his ridiculous hair right." It was the only comment Regina could produce at this rate that didn't sound completely ludicrous. With one glance at David, she was grinning and then giggling, wine glass held loosely in one hand as the other propped her head up while her elbow dug into the edge of the couch. She leaned forward as she laughed and her shoulder was against his, his body turned towards her from where they were both comfortably situated on her living room floor and Regina felt weighed down by absolutely nothing.
She wasn't quite sure who initiated it, but barely an hour later her back was pressed against the wall and his lips were on her neck and she hadn't felt wanted like this since, well, she couldn't name a time while his lips were dropping lower by the second and his hands were unzipping her dress. She'd already pushed his jacket off, had somehow managed to undo all his buttons and pushed his shirt off in her drunken haze, hands now trailing down his chest and she was so, so wet and she could feel him hard against her hip.
Neither of them had expected this. Not even when David had woken up a week ago, hard from the vivid image of Regina naked and moaning on top of him in his dream. Not even when David had spilled lasagne down the front of his flannel last month and Regina's gaze had lingered a little too long as he'd peeled it from his torso. Neither of them had seen it coming, could even picture them now both naked against the wall, moaning and fucking and reeking of expensive wine. Regina's lips were locked with his and they both fought for dominance and she loved it. Loved his rough hands digging into her thighs, the way she fit oh so snugly around him while her throat vibrated as she moaned and gasped. Soon she's quivering in his arms and he comes first, but she's not far behind.
They're both sweaty and giddy as they kiss and laugh and soon they're stumbling up the stairs to fall asleep in her bed.
When David wakes the next morning, it takes him a moment to push past the raging headache and realise he is on Regina's couch. His hand smacked against his forehead and he groaned as he remembered dinner and wine and nothing else. His boxers are already on, but it takes him a while to find his jeans and shirt and he thinks he must have stripped them off before he fell asleep on her couch to get more comfortable, because that was the only situation that made sense to a now sober David.
He finds her in the kitchen when he's dressed and has made sure he wasn't going to be sick on her carpet. She's so incredibly still that it scares him and her knuckles are white with how tightly she was gripping her mug of coffee. "Are you as hungover as I am, or was I the only one that drank a little too much last night?" David rubbed his eyes as he leaned against the table and she didn't move, didn't give any inclination that she'd heard him except to pull her lower lip between her teeth and bite down gently. "We both know that we drank more than a little." Her reply came calmly and she still couldn't look at him because didn't know what she would feel when she did. She was conflicted beyond belief. Guilty, and ashamed and disgusted with herself for wanting to repeat last night over and over. But that was not something she could have, not when he was married and God damn it, why did he look so casual when she could barely separate one feeling from another?
"That's for sure. I haven't blacked out like that since I was a teenager. I can barely remember the end of the movie." And he had no idea the way his words affected her. Regina's spine stiffened and her eyes widened and she panicked because he didn't remember. They had slept together and he had no memory of it even happening. She had to stifle her gasp and drop her chin as her eyes fell shut. Of course it would be just her luck to be left alone in a sticky situation again and she had no idea what to do. Whether to tell him and have the guilt of their act weigh him down like it did her, because she knew him and this would tear him apart. She knew he was lonely, but he loved his wife. His true love that he would always find and she internally scoffed because this was so fucking typical. "You should go pick up Henry. You're going to be late." Her voice was quiet but firm as she made her decision and David only nodded, gathered his things and gave her his kindest smile as he made his way out the door.
David didn't remember, but she did. She remembered every one of his touches, the way his lips felt against hers and the way she moaned. Regina remembered it all and she hated how strong her feelings had grown for him in such a short time. She wouldn't tell him what had truly happened and leave him with a weight on his shoulders. She would keep her secret close to her chest and nothing would have to change.