Flaws and All

I'm baaaack! With another Evil Charming/Charming Queen fic! I hope you guys enjoy this! It is much longer than my other two drabbles and I'll admit that I am quite proud of it. As for it being good, you are all the judges, so please do let me know. I apologize in advanced if they seem slightly out of character.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything is owned by ABC and Disney. Dude, even the prompt isn't mine! Again!

Prompt 3: "Say, I don't mind you under my skin. I'll let the bad parts in, the bad parts in."

Regina laughed at David's previous comment and nodded. She had her head pressed against his shoulder while her back rested up against his chest as she sat on the couch between his legs. His arms were comfortably around her waist while his cheek was pressed against her hair comfortably. Honestly, it was a definite Kodak moment, not that it was going to stay like that for much longer.

Henry was off with Emma for the night; as a result, David and Regina had decided on a date night. So, after David had cooked Regina delicious dinner and they had loaded the dishwasher, the two went into the living room for some cuddling and TV time. There really wasn't anything good on, so the couple of nine-months, settled on a Lifetime move. Though it was needless to say that Lifetime movies weren't half bad, they had recently gotten into the habit of pointing out all the clichés in movies they saw; especially romantic ones.

David laughed, bringing his hand up from her lower stomach where it'd been resting up to his forehead in a face-palm, "Biggest cliché of all!"

Regina laughed as well in agreement, nodding, "Agreed, it really is." She brought her hand over to the one he had taken away from her body and settled it back to where he previously had it and then wrapped her hands both around his, resting on her stomach.

"I mean, it's like, I can't…" He sputtered slightly and sighed.

"Words, David," Regina teased him, turning her head to look up at him, a wide grin on her face and in her eyes.

David chuckled and looked down at her, really looking at her, their eyes looking, and the world around them just stood still. For those moments, everything around them faded and all that existed was him and her and their silent conversation. They were both just so lost in each other that nothing else in the world mattered but the two of them. He leaned down, his breath ghosting against her lips and she anticipated his kiss, as she did whenever his lips neared hers. His arms around her tightened just enough to make her feel closer to him and loved.

Regina couldn't take his mute tease anymore and leaned up, closing the few centimeters between them and the moment just exploded when their lips touched; each and every time, this happened, no matter how many times before they had kissed. He untangled his hands from hers and brought them up to her face and she turned slightly so that it would be easier for them to kiss.

His lips were soft and they tenderly covered hers. She opened her mouth a bit to grant him access and the kiss deepened. They pulled apart when oxygen became far too scarce for them to continue to ignore their need. Regina smiled against David's lips as she tried to catch her breath. David hummed lowly during his attempt to do the same, chuckling faintly along with her. He pressed his forehead against hers and turned her around slightly. "We should get married…" He whispered lowly.

Regina's eyes went wide and she pulled away quickly as if he were on fire, "Want some dessert?" She asked and quickly got up from him and the couch and walked into the kitchen as quickly as possible without it looking like she was running away.

David paused and blinked to himself before getting up, "Oh-kay…" He muttered and walked into the kitchen as well.

Thousands upon millions thoughts ran through Regina's mind when she heard those words leave his rosy lips. Marry him,… Marry him! She couldn't marry him! She wasn't wife material, hell! She wasn't even sure she was proper girlfriend material at times, given all she had done in the past and besides, she didn't de-

"Regina? What was that?" David's confused voice broke through her mental rant as she got pie and ice cream out of the oven and fridge respectively.

"Do you want apple pie or vanilla ice cream or both? You can do both, I know I definitely am. I could get you some more wine too," she avoided the subject completely.

"Regina? You don't want to get married…?" His broken tone struck something in her and she swallowed, thanking goodness that her back was to him so he couldn't see the apprehensiveness she was sure was apparent on her face.

"David, it's not that. Can we just drop the subject, darling?" She said sweetly as she finally turned after putting some pie and ice cream on a plate for him.

David pushed it aside, "No, Regina, I'm not dropping this subject! This is far too important and you avoid it every time I bring it up! We've been together nine months and things are going great! What's wrong with me wanting to make you my wife! Or is our relationship just not that important enough to you?" He accused, letting his temper get the best of him.

She swallowed hard, something gripping her chest tightly. The usually strong woman could barely find her voice, "Dav-David it's not-"

"Let me guess, it's not like that? Then what is it? Why do you run away every time without fail, Regina? What aren't you telling me? Are you cheating on me?"

Regina looked at him with wide eyes, looking genuinely shocked at that allegation. "Wh-what?" She tried to compose herself before correctly answering to that, but Regina was just as short-tempered, especially when being falsely indicted of something, "Of course not, David! You know I love you and you know how much you mean to me!"

"If I mean that much to you, Regina, why won't you at least, discuss with me the topic of marriage! Give me one good reason why we couldn't get married or even discuss it?" He huffed, still completely missing the fact that he needed to get his anger in check or things would just spiral even more out of control.

"Because I'M NOT PERFECT, DAVID! I'm not!" She suddenly blurted out without even noticing it. She paused for a moment when she did, taking deep breaths to try and calm down.

David's face fell completely and his blue eyes stared back at her bewildered, "What?"

The raven-haired woman swallowed and looked up toward him, but completely avoided his piercing gaze, "I'm not her, David… I am not… Mary Margaret, I'm not Kathryn. I'm as far from perfection as it gets and I…" She cleared her throat, "I don't deserve you." She whispered and leaned against the counter, putting her elbows down and resting her head in her hands.

"'Gina, babe-" he reached out to touch her, but she pulled away and shook her head, standing on the other side of the counter.

"No. You wanted my reasons, and now you're going to get them." She replied firmly.

Silently, David nodded, realizing the mistake he had made in allowing his anger get the better of him and how he had just hurt her. He had wanted reasons, yes, but not like this… Definitely not by hurting the woman he loved more than life itself in the process. He watched her as began to pace on the other side of the island, ringing her hands slightly.

Regina couldn't believe how out of control all of this had just spiraled; to the point where she just admitted out loud to him her biggest insecurity. She had promised herself when this all started that this wouldn't come out into the light. The whole time they'd been together she was able to abate the topic, what had gone wrong today? Oh right, that's what… He decided to catch her off guard with it. Damn him.

She took a deep breath and opened her mouth. She dreaded the following conversation that would come out of this part. Actually, if she had a remote to fast-forward on this, she would. What she feared most of all was how this night would end. Already, Regina figured that he could just turn around and walk out that door and never look back at her. She wasn't what he needed, she wasn't perfect, she couldn't be perfect. She didn't deserve him at all.

She was the most screwed up human being and she honestly wondered how he could love her at all. Sometimes she couldn't even bear to look herself in the mirror. Regina wondered why he loved her… She wondered if she had been able to really give him anything during this relationship. It wasn't that she hadn't tried, because she most definitely had, she just wondered if her efforts were in vain or not. Well, he did stick around for nine months, so maybe her efforts weren't complete vanity.

Why would he stick around for that long? After all this time… After Daniel's death and all… She had become so dark; she thought she would never love again, so she took about to ruining other people's happiness. And then in waltzes David Nolan. He completely changed her, changed who she was and what she had become. He allowed her to look in the mirror again and not loathe the image that appeared on the other side.

He taught her how to love again and he taught her how to smile and laugh again. He taught her how to care and he taught her so many other things and she just wished she could just… Do something like that for him! He was so amazing and – He deserved someone just as perfect as he was, not someone who was broken.

Shakily, Regina brought her hand up to her cheeks. They were wet. Why were they wet? They weren't supposed to be wet. Then she felt them. The familiar, strong arms, she had learned to call home, encased her. A sound left her lips and slowly, Regina became aware of what was going on. David was hugging her close and now her head was buried in his chest as she sobbed in front of him. She had never cried in front of him… She never cried in front of anyone! What was going on here?

But at that moment, she didn't seem to care about how this was completely against everything she'd ever learned. Her arms wrapped around his waist tightly and she clung to him for dear life as the sobs shook her body. David rubbed her back over and over again, kissing her hair repeatedly whilst whispering in hushed tones, "Shh, it's okay baby, it's okay. Everything's going to be fine."

He was trying his best to reassure her and calm her down. Listening to Regina cry this way was tearing him apart inside. He honestly had no idea. He really never noticed all of this and he felt extremely guilty for not paying more attention sooner. How did he just completely miss that?

"Baby, you're not broken," David said gently, pulling away from her to take her face into his large, warm face. His thumbs grazed over her cheeks to wipe away her tears. Seeing the look of confusion upon her face, he realized she hadn't noticed what she had just done. "You said all of that out loud," he chuckled a bit to lighten the mood.

She returned the chuckle weakly and bitterly, "You must think I'm a complete idiot…" She sniffed and wiped her face again.

"I don't. But I do want you to understand something, Regina…" He began and took her hand. David pulled her over to the couch in the living room and sat her down and he sat down beside her, taking her hands in his. Using two fingers, he guided her eyes toward his and blue met chocolate brown and he smiled to himself, "There are those beautiful eyes I love so much."

Regina tried to bow her head in a bit of embarrassment and shyness, but he wouldn't let her. "Hey, look at me, okay? I want to tell you something."

She cleared her throat and looked up at him. She would ignore the nagging feeling of wanting to run and hide after all of this.

"Regina, I really want you to understand something. I love you. I love you for who you are, not for whom or what you aren't. I really don't care if you're not perfect, because I'm not looking for perfection. What I'm looking for is sitting right here in front of me. And if you're broken then, that's okay too. I'm sure I can find some sort of glue that will help put you back together again." That earned him a small chuckle.

"I'm a mess, David. I didn't tell you this before because I don't trust others easily and I didn-"

"Shh. You're my mess and that's all I care about. Screw what anyone else says or what you might think about yourself. You're mine and I love you flaws and all." He said lowly.

Regina dared herself to look up into his ocean of eyes and while she had expected to find webs of lies or empty words, she couldn't be any more wrong. His eyes shone with so much love and sincerity that she felt tears welling up in her eyes again because she finally had someone who loved her back just as much as Daniel had once loved her.

"I- Love you too, David." She found herself whispering, a few tears falling.

He smiled and nodded, "I know, or else you wouldn't be so afraid to marry me if the day ever came. I get it now, Regina and know there's nothing you can possibly do, or be that would let me down. And I promise that I will try my best to never let you down either."

She nodded and found herself embraced in his arms again and she hugged him as tightly as she could and he just held her for a very long time. They didn't care, they just reveled in the fact that they could hold each other and that the night didn't end as badly as it could've.

After a bit, David pulled away and planted a tender kiss on her nose, "C'mon, ice cream's probably melted," he chuckled and stood up, taking her hand.

Regina laughed, "Well, I'm sure it could wait one more moment while you give me a proper kiss, David."

"Mm, I guess it won't have much of a choice," he pulled her up and wrapped a hand against the back of her neck and he pulled her forward into him, planting a warm kiss on her lips in a soft, sweet motion.

"I love you," they both whispered to each other at the same time when they pulled away. Regina and David smiled at each other when they noticed what they'd done.