It's a love-hate relationship, rising early. Sometimes he'd do anything to sleep, at least, another hour (especially when he'd only gone to bed three hours before hand) but other times, he lives for those early moments. Moments where he's got hours to just lie there, listen to the world wake up all around him and he can feel like he's the only one fully awake.

This is one of those moments.

She shifts beside him, murmuring some incoherent words as she rolls to face him, still asleep, a few strands of hair getting wrapped around her neck in the movement. The struggles of long hair, he muses to himself as his hand comes up to drag the hair away, lest she wake up almost strangled.

It's rare he gets to enjoy moments like this. Rare he gets to watch her sleep, see a much more relaxed Regina, lost within whatever dream she's having. It's nice. Nice not glancing over to her and seeing her so tense, wrapped up in worries and thoughts. Not that he's seen her like that in the past week, she'd looked carefree, happy. Maybe this trip away is what she needed.

When Killian had told him to grab his dad's old camper van, that they were doing their own tour around the country, he'd been unsure. It was originally just going to be the two of them; An English and an Irish, seeing what this new country had to offer them. Yet Robin had thought and thought about it, thinking if he could really spend however many months it would last away from Regina, if she could spend that time only communicating through phone calls, texts, and the annoying thing called time zones (they'd done it before, that time Cora had dragged her to Paris for the month and that alone had been difficult) He'd spoken about it to her, told her of Killian's plan and her only reply was a neutral Whatever makes you happy. That's when it had clicked then; What would make him happy is if she came along with him.

He'd pushed the idea towards Killian the next day. Said that if he was thinking of bringing Regina, Killian should think of bringing Emma and well, that had happened. Robin had asked Regina if she wanted to come.

She'd been a bit apprehensive before, unsure what she'd tell her mother (they both knew she couldn't turn around and say Mind if I go to every state with my boyfriend, his friend, and his friend's girlfriend? that would've been an instant no.) They'd came up with something eventually, a school trip, Regina had told Cora, and that had been enough thankfully.

Now Robin was happy he'd suggested it. Happy that, for a week now, he'd been able to fall asleep and wake up beside her.

Regina shifts again, stirring. She's waking now. Robin may not always have the chance to be there when she wakes up but those times he is, a memorised every part of her waking; the way she shifts move, trying to be comfortable, the way her brow furrows as she fights to stay asleep, how she'll tuck the cover up around her. Robin never thought he'd be fascinated in the way someone woke up.

Robin sits up then, leaning against his elbow as Regina blinks a few times, eyes searching around the white ceiling of the van before coming to land on him.

The smile she gives him is soft and sleepy, but boy does it mean everything to him.

"Hi." she says, stretching and yawning.

"Hi." His finger wraps around a lock of curling hair.

Her eyes are closed as she asks, "What time is it?"

Robin sighs, letting go of her hair for a second to lean over and check his phone. She groans as he answers Half six and buries her head into the pillows earning a slight chuckle from Robin.

"You can go back to sleep if you want."

Regina hums, eyes still closed as she asks, "Are Emma and Killian awake?"

Robin snorts. "Of course not. They're day doesn't start until noon."

"So we won't be interrupted?"

Robin frowns. "What are you thinking?"

Regina doesn't say anything. Just opens her eyes and smiles coyly at him for a second before throwing a leg over his waist and moving to sit on his lap. Oh, he knows what she's thinking now, he moves to lie properly, pushing himself up against the backrest.

"We've got six hours of no interruptions." Robin tells her, hand rubbing against her thighs.

"Good." she says, brushing a hand through his hair and leaning down to kiss him.

He hums his agreement into the kiss, hands moving from her thighs to her waist as she adjusts herself, their lips never parting.

They stay that way for some time, Robin completely grateful for their very early rising, as she rubs herself against him, her muffled moans the best sound in the world.

He breaks the kiss however, moving his hands from her waist and down her arms, lacing their fingers together.

Regina stops moving, cocks her head to one side with a gentle What? Robin stares up into her eyes, shaking his head.

"I love you."

He bites his lip hoping the mark hasn't been overstepped. They've never said it out loud before and it has him worrying for a second. Yet, she frees one hand from his grip, places it against the side of his face and smiles lightly, eyes mirroring what he's just said. The worry leaves him as she leans back down to kiss him again and she doesn't need to say it back, the kiss says it all.

She begins moving against him again and Robin kicks the sheet away and Regina moans on a particular rub. Using the opportunity, Robin sneaks his tongue inside, something Regina doesn't complain at.

He untangled their fingers and places his hand back onto her thigh before slowly dragging it up to her centre.

She breaks the kiss this time. Eyes still tightly shut as her bottom lip worms its way under her teeth. His finger traces downwards as Regina's breath deepens before slipping inside and curving. She jumps up, releasing her lip as a moan escapes her and Robin laughs lightly, a smile breaking out as he watches her, his own need growing and-

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"You two aren't shagging, are you?"

The sound of Killian's voice, and Emma's laughing, has them jumping apart. Robin wonders if they'd fell into some kind of time trace, where more time has passed as he thought. Yet as he looks at his phone (which reads 6:56) he finds it's only been twenty-five minutes and that Killian and Emma are actually awake earlier than he and Regina intended...for some reason.

"Is it any of your business if we were?" Robin calls back and Regina glares at him.

"Fine," Killian says. "I'll leave you to it but hurry up about it, we need to go exploring."

"Exploring where?" Last time Robin checked they'd parked in the middle of nowhere.

He hears Emma say something but it's too low and muffled and by the sound of Killian's response, what she said doesn't sound too good.

"Uh, actually we need to drive to a gas station. Our van's low."

Regina scoffs beside him, murmurs something that sounds a lot like Typical and Robin's smiling as he asks, "How? We topped up yesterday."

"I don't know. I told you the van was old. Now come on. We wanna start moving soon."

Robin sighs and leans back on his hand, looking towards Regina. "Looks like it'll have to wait until later."

Regina shrugs, crawling back up the bed and kisses him one last time.

"Come on then," she says, moving to climb off their makeshift bed. "Best not keep the land pirate waiting."

Robin laughs at that, remembering Killian's drunken exclaim from last night, how he was now a "land pirate".

"I'm surprised you still remember that." Robin says, moving off the bed himself.

"Oh I remember everything he does," she answers, starting to get dressed. "So I can embarrass him later on." And Robin chuckles at the glint in her eyes.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

Regina sighs contentedly, leaning back on her hands. She's glad she came. There'd been the initial panic at what she'd say to her mother but Robin had sorted that out in a second and it had worked.

He loves her.

She'd known that already, known that for a long time, yet actually hearing him say the words out loud to her, it made it seem more real.

She's glad she came.

"What are you thinking about?"

She smiles in surprise as his arms wrap around her and he brings her into him. She places her own hands over his, looking down at them.

"This." is all she says before looking out towards to ocean, watching as Emma and Killian have some attempt at a water fight.

"You glad you came?" Robin asks, leaning his chin against her shoulder.

Regina nods, as if she wasn't just thinking that moments ago, and sighs again.

"They haven't been too bad. Acted like children but they've been okay."

"How have they acted like children?"

Regina rolls her eyes. Isn't it obvious? "Look at them now."

They both look towards Emma and Killian who've now forgone their water fight and are...kissing...in the sand.

"Want some?" Robin asks, shoving a bottle in front of her and Regina rolls her eyes, he should know this by now!

"I don't do rum."

"It isn't rum."

She looks at the bottle then and smiles. Cider. Apple cider.

"You know me so well." she says, grabbing the bottle and taking a swig.

"Well, wouldn't want you to end up like you did on Mary Margaret's birthday."

She elbows him in the ribs.

"You said you wouldn't mention that again!"

Robin laughs, rubbing his side. "Exactly. I said. I didn't promise."

She gives him one last glare before leaning back into his chest again.

"I don't want to go home." Regina almost whispers, the words getting lost in the breeze that blows past. She shivers curling herself more in Robin's arms.

"It's not over yet." he tells her, eyes staring at the water and the way the sunsets behind it. "We've still got one more state to go."

She hums, turning her head and presses a kiss against his lips. It was supposed to be a peck but as Regina pulls away, Robin follows her, latching back on and kissing her deeper.

"We're thinking of getting a motel for the night."

They break the kiss at the sound of Emma's voice and turn to see she and Killian standing a bit in front of them, hair wet and sand stuck in it, faces flushed from the wind (and perhaps something else)

Regina nods and jumps down from the rock she'd been sitting on, taking the bottle with her as Emma and Killian walk ahead.

Robin grabs Regina's hand, swinging his and her arm's back and forth which earns him a smile and a small laugh, one he returns before slowing the motion down.

"You know," Robin says as they walk along the beach. "We can move elsewhere one day, if you don't want to stay in Maine. Maybe even live here."

"You wouldn't want to go home?"

She's not sure of how much Robin considered England his home. He's lived here since he was fourteen, that's almost ten years of his life, yet some part of him must long for it, right?

He looks towards the ground as he answers, "I didn't think you'd want to travel that far."

She stops them then. "Robin," she says, bringing his attention back to her. "I've just spent three months travelling around my own country with you. All those hours in total are probably longer than the hours from here to England. I'm not travelling far."

"Would you really want to go there?"

Regina thinks for a second. She has thought about it. Mother's dragged her everywhere but there and she wonders if there was a reason for that. Wonders if there was a reason she'd been given a British boyfriend. She could laugh at herself now, the cider's clearly getting to her now. With that logic, is Emma destined for Ireland?

Even so, she nods slowly, finds what she would like to go there.

"More miles between me and my mother." she says casually.

Robin smiles, bringing her closer and worming a hand into her hair that she, thankfully, left down.

"I'll take you there one day." he whispers, his mouth millimetres from hers. "Soon."

Regina smiles gently, eyes moving to his lips before she stands on her tiptoes and pecks them before moving away and grabbing his hand again, pulling him up the path.

It's the happiest she's ever felt. The happiest she's ever been.

So yes, she is glad she decided to come along. And he is, too.