AN: Part Three to Finders Keepers Series. This takes place a bit after The Whore In The Red Dress and you don't technically have to read that one to read this but I do make a lot of references to it so I be more beneficial to know what the hell I mean. Along with the TWITRD references, I also make a lot of references to something that happened in the past which will be the next thing I write about however, it won't be the fourth installment, it'll be more like an attachment. Anyway, I hope you like this :)
She was a fool. An idiot. A child.
She thought her naïve days were over. Thought she knew enough by now to know not to fall in love with those you pay you to enjoy something.
She'd promised Mal. Promised herself.
And yet here she is, repeating the same situation she was in four years ago.
She was such an idiot!
Regina spent all night awake, unable to sleep. Thinking. Forgotten promises of I'll come back for you, and We'll run away together, leave everything behind and never look back plagued her mind through the night.
When she'd finally fallen asleep in the early hours of the morning, it hadn't been peaceful.
Those dreams that haunted her four years ago were back. A naïve boy walking away from her bed, promising her he'd be back the next day only to leave her with an unkept promise, a baby growing inside her, and stuck in a very dangerous situation.
She remembers crying to Mal that night- the woman who took her under her wing when Leopold through her into his nest of prey, the the predators that accompanied it two years earlier- cried her broken heart out, absolutely terrified for that little creature inside her.
That's when Mal made her promise not to fall in love with anyone she pleasures again, and that sixteen year old nodded, promising Mal and promising herself lest she feel how did again.
And Regina had been able to keep that promise for four years. Had no emotional attachment to any of the men, lords, peasants that found their way into her bed, they just tossed her the coins and went on their merry little way again.
All except Robin. Cute, adorable, sweet, fumbling, awkward little Robin who only wanted to sit in the corner and play his guitar but instead wormed his way into her heart.
The bastard.
And yet, despite it all, she loved him. Realised it went Leo had dragged her home from Robin's castle and Mal washed her face and told her it was all going to be okay. Much like she did to the naïve sixteen year old.
And just like that girl, Regina is now suffering with the consequences of her stupidity.
Robin is married. To Zelena.
Regina had gotten her fair share of "Zelena tales". Robin had used her to vent his frustrations. Telling her of how the spoilt brat can't talk about anything but herself.
They had a feast recently, she remembers him telling her, and Zelena had shouted her distaste to the entire hall because her plate had arrived with beef on it, and apparently, the intrepid girl had "bad reactions" to it and naturally gone crying to Mama.
So yes, Regina didn't think Robin had been any more thrilled about their upcoming wedding.
But the bells had still tolled, alerting the city subjects (those peasants not attending) that families Locksley and Mills had been united.
Meanwhile, Regina had spent that time being flattened by a drunk.
She tried to keep the tears in until the stranger left, and she had only just managed it.
That's why she was here, stumbling over uneven grass, a cold sea breeze blowing around her, making goosebumps appear on her arms and chest and everywhere else that happened to be exposed because of this damn dress. She was here to tell him that it was over, he had duties now, they shouldn't run around like little children anymore. Or at least that's what she kept telling herself on the way here.
It doesn't take long for Regina to spot him, sitting there on the grass with his legs crossed, arms resting against them, and staring out towards the sea.
He looks older, she notices, like his marriage is taking it's toll on his age. There's a brief moment where Regina wonders what'll happen to him once this has ended, when he's only got Zelena, and no escape with Regina, what will he do then?
She pushes that aside, however. She has to do this. It's only going to end with one of them getting hurt. Her.
He doesn't move, or make any sign when she approaches her so she coughs slightly, breathing out a soft, "Hello, Robin."
The sound of her voice has him turning around. He looks up at, surprised to find her standing there.
"I didn't think you'd show up."
He's pushing himself up as she shrugs. "Well, I managed to make out most of the important words on the note. Pieced the rest of it together."
There's a stronger breeze that blows as the waves splash together in the background. Regina shivers, brings her arms up to hug herself, wishing she was wearing something that was a little bit warmer.
The action instantly has Robin's hand on her arms, rubbing up and down, trying to warm them up. A sorry expression on his face that they had to meet up here.
Regina just smiles, welcomes the slight warmth his hands make on her skin as he asks, "Is it getting any better?"
She gives him a look, unsure of what he's preferring to.
"Your reading."
Regina thinks for a moment. It was a little, Robin had done a much better job than Leopold had at teaching her how to read. "Yeah. The words still move and jump around but...some are easy to make out."
She remembered she'd laughed the first time Robin offered to help her read, after she had to reluctantly admit that she couldn't after he'd insisted on sending her letters. That's when he agreed to help her.
And Robin wasn't the first to try to teach her. Leopold had tutors come into the castle to teach her the basic stuff, but the basic stuff wasn't as basic was they made out; Regina struggled to make out any of any of the words they'd shown to her. In the end, they left and Leopold (and herself) gave up trying.
She thought that's what Robin would do. Give up. Realise how difficult it was for her, and stop teaching her. But he hadn't, he kept going until she knew it, not once getting frustrated with her unlike the rest.
"Good." he says, smiling.
His hands leave her arm, lacing their fingers together as he says, "You're probably wondering what you're doing here. There's something I want to show you."
He goes to walk away, hand still tangled with hers and Regina knows that this is the only time she'll get to tell him why she's actually here.
"Robin." her voice has him stopping as he looks at her questioningly.
Regina looks down to their entwined hands, and untangles them. It's easier when they aren't touching.
"There's a reason I'm here, and it's not because of your note."
There's a slight pause, Robin just staring at her, wondering what other reason there could be and Regina realises she could just write off what she's just said, follow Robin to this place. Or she can say the right thing, and it would be safer.
"Go on." Robin prompts.
It passes through her mind. Words of, it doesn't matter, actually. What is it you want to show me? Are on the tip of her tongue. But she can't say that. That's the easy way. So she pushes those words aside, and does what she knows is the right thing.
"We...This can't happen anymore." she says and her hands lace together, begin to pick at the skin as she waits for his reaction.
Robin frowns. "Why not?"
"You're married." she says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, which it is.
"Does that really matter?" he asks.
He reaches for her and despite the urge to accept his touch, she pulls away, brings her hand closer to her body as his own falls down to his side, defeated.
"Yes, Robin, it matters." she tells him, wills herself to believe the words, too. "You might not like her, but she deserves better than this. Go to her."
There's a moment when he just looks at her, those blue eyes staring into her brown ones, looking to see if there's any sign that protests against what she's telling him and that weak, easy side of her hopes that there is.
"I get what you're saying, Regina. I really do," he says after a while as his hands reach out for her again and this time, she doesn't pull away. This time, she lets him bring her into him, turning her around as his chin rests on her shoulder, arms wrapping around her waist and she stares out into the sea.
"Let me have one last day with you and I promise, if this is what you want, I'll go back to Zelena."
If this is what you want. It isn't what she wants, not at all. But those memories come back to her. I'll come back for you, Gina. Just say here. Words that sound so similar to Robin's words. I can take you from this place. Words whispered in smoky perfumed rooms. Words that sound full of life and promise, but deep down, are just empty and worthless.
If this is what you want. More words to haunt her.
"Yes." she whispers. She's already established that she's a fool.
"Thank you." he murmurs back.
A flame ignites within her as she feels his lips kiss her shoulder, leaving the spot and trailing kisses downwards.
There's a brief thought that enters Regina's mind that someone could spot them, but she can't bring herself to think any more on the matter, just enjoys the feel of his lips ghosting her skin.
One more day. One more day she can enjoy this for. But then this stops, they go back to their own lives, ignore very impulse they'll have to see each other and just get on with their lives as best they can and, well, since she's already decided she's a fool, she's going to make this day (and night, no doubt) as enjoy as she can, starting with a little bit of fun.
Her eyes fully focus on the sea in front of them, as idea forming in Regina's head. She can't swim but she can splash, and that's enough.
She smiles, entertaining the idea a bit more, and places her hands on Robin's unwraps them from her body.
She has time to hear Robin's puzzled what but doesn't have time to answer before she's running down hill into the direction of the water.
She's going to regret this. Later, when she's shivering, watching every part of her body turn blue, she's going to regret this. But right now, she can't bring herself to care, even as the cold water hits her skin, goosebumps making themselves more known, nerves freezing as the dress wraps around her legs, grows heavy, even then she still doesn't care, is sick of it. Sick of worrying about the future and just wants to focus on now, this last day with Robin.
She sees Robin standing near the edge of the water. Can't stop herself from shouting, "Are you just gonna stand there or are you going to join me?"
"You're mad." he shouts back, shaking his head.
And maybe she is, she thinks as she kicks the water. And perhaps he is, too when she looks back to find him making his way through the water and over to her. His cry of fucking hell, you could've told me it was this cold has her laughing despite everywhere beginning to numb.
"You wouldn't have come in then." she says, eyes glistening with laughter. Then her fingers grip her drenched skirt, pulling it up a bit to kick water his way and laughing as Robin's hands try to knock the water away. "There, that'll help you get used to it."
He gives her a look then, as a smirk appears and before she knows it, a giant wave is headed her way, drowning her in a lot more water than she had him. Her whole body freezing as the water drips off her.
The bastard.
She sends a wave of her own, as big as one as she can manage and that's when a splash fight between the two starts. Freezing water being thrown at each other, completely stupid if they want to last the night, but this is the most fun Regina's ever had, she realises, and it's probably the same for him, too. To indulge themselves in this silly peasant stuff, with no one around to tell them it's wrong, we're there statuses don't matter. Right now, they can just be Regina and Robin, forget about all responsibilities, all duties, and just have fun.
That is until Regina trips over her stupid skirt, and falling down into the water, bringing Robin with her.
It hurts, water colliding with bare skin, Robin's own weight falling on top of her, but she laughs despite it all, and so does he, until his hand pushes through her wet strands and their laughter dies down. His eyes move from her own eyes to her lips and he ducks down to kiss her, gently at first, before Regina opens her mouth, deepening the kiss.
Robin moves a little, sending water sloshing about and it's then that Regina feels now cold is she, feels how everywhere has numbed. She breaks the kiss, beginning to shiver as the wind nips at them.
"I'm freezing." she admits trying to curl into his body but it makes no difference, he's soaking wet, too.
"I have an idea." he says, pushing himself up and pulling her with him as they stand up. "And it's to do with why I brought you here. Come on."
…:...:...
A short walk, and a few minutes later and Robin's pushing open the door to a little cottage a bit away from the sea and it's wind.
It's a nice little place, nothing fancy about it and Regina wonders who it belongs to, and if they'll mind them using it.
"I'll bring some wood over," Robin tells her and Regina nods, still shivering where she stands. She should really get out of this dress.
"W- who lives here?" she asks, rubbing warmth back into her arms.
Carrying wood, Robin says, "It's mine. I bought it ages ago. Never found a reason to use it until now." he finishes with a smile, kneeling down beside the fireplace. "Sit down, if you like."
Regina looks to the chair, she thought about it when she came in but decided against it immediately. "I don't want to make anywhere wet."
Robin shrugs, looking at her. "Fair enough." he says. He let's his eyes linger on her for a few seconds and Regina feels herself warming despite being wet. She knows what he's looking at, after all. Her dress has stuck to her and the thing was already see-through to begin with, probably a lot more so now. It would surprise Regina if it looked nothing more than a thin, transparent sheet covering her. He looks away again, though, and Regina watches him light the fire. A few seconds past and a fire is roaring.
Regina stares, amazed.
"Who taught you that?"
Robin smiles, standing up. "I went camping a few years ago. Some friends taught me."
"You're father actually let you go?" There's no way that would have happened.
Robin shrugs, a lopsided grin appearing. "He doesn't know."
Regina laughs and shakes her head, standing closer to the fire, welcoming the warmth it brings.
Robin must have noticed for his grin is fading as he regards her for a moment. "We should probably change."
Yeah, about that…
"Into what, Robin?" Regina asks, shrugging slightly. "It's not like we have other clothes."
"Well…" Robin moves over to a cupboard then, opening it up and displaying, of course, a full rack of clothes. His clothes, mind.
He pulls one of his shirts off a hanger, holding it out to her. "It'll be a bit big, probably, but it's better than that wet thing."
Regina considers it for a moment. He's right, it's better than what she's already wearing, and it's dry...She reaches out and takes it, moving a hand to her front laces as he turns around to grab another shirt and some more items of clothing for himself. She pauses, fingers still hovering above the ties, unsure whether she should ask him. Bites her lip and wonders…
"Robin?"
He hums and Regina realises she's been looking away from him for when she moves her eyes he's standing there shirtless as he waits for her to say something. Her eyes graze his chest before landing on his face and finding him smiling at her.
"Um...I was- just wondering if you'd want to untie my laces?"
Hunger appears in his eyes as his gaze moves downwards.
"Front or back?" he asks
She let's out a breathy little, You pick and watches as he ponders the question.
"Turn around." he says, coming closer to her.
Regina spins, pushing her now damp hair over her shoulder as she feels his fingers ghost her back, tucking under the laces and pulling.
She's never let anyone do this, not even Robin in all the time she's known him. She likes to keep the undressing in her control, keep that little bit of power in the situation, never trusting anyone enough to let them take that control away from her.
That's a lie. You trusted that boy once.
But she pushes that thought aside. All that mattered was that she trusted Robin right now. Still, as the ties loosen and the front of her dress falls slightly, she resists the urge to hold it up, instead lets her arms fall to the side, try to relax as the bodice falls forward.
She remembers she's still holding Robin's shirt then, and as he gets near the end, she throws it over her head, pushing her arms through the sleeves as Robin pulls the rest of the dress down, letting it pool at the floor, and Regina kicks it aside.
She looks up in time to see Robin's eyes rake her body again, that familiar warmth- not made by the fire still burning- spreading everywhere.
"Maybe I should let you wear my clothes more often," he says, eyes leaving her body.
She smiles, then pads her way back over to the fire, setting herself down on the rug by it. He's done good with the place, she thinks looking around the room, it's good enough to live in.
A few moments later, Robin's back, tapping her on her shoulder and handing her the drink he made. She takes, welcoming the heat from it as he sits in one of the chairs and Regina brings her knees up, resting the drink against them and blowing on it to cool it down.
A silence passes between them, and it would be comfortable, if it weren't for the thoughts swimming around Regina's head.
It was easier before, on the hill, in the sea, then she could focus on the present, just have fun with Robin, but now...now she was stuck either thinking of the past, comparing it to her relationship with Robin, or stuck thinking of the future, where this won't be an option anymore.
"Has this ever happened before?"
Robin's voice pulls her out of her thoughts. She looks up to find him studying her. She lets out a hum, unsure of what he was asking her.
"I mean, have you ever had a relationship with someone?" he corrects, fingers drumming against the cup.
And Regina wonders if she should tell him. Only she, Mal, Leo and a man called Gold know what happened. Know of the child she gave birth to. Can she actually trust him with this? Of course she can, she realises.
She takes a sip of her drink, getting it calm her as her stomach twists and turns.
"Once." she admits and his eyebrows perk up, surprised. "A long time ago."
"What happened?"
Regina moves her gaze to the fire, watches the flames dance around. "It ended." she says, attention focused on the flames. "With a broken promise and a child on the way."
"You have a child?"
The surprise in his voice has her turning her attention back to him. "You've seen the scars, Robin."
"I know." he says, frowning. "I just always thought they were from something else." he doesn't miss a beat as he asks, "What happened to him? The child?"
"I had to give him away."
She still remembers that day, of signing her baby's life with her away, Mal's voice telling her that it's for the best. Her own asking if he'll be okay. If he'll be looked after. The reassuring He'll have the best care. From Gold. And finally, the kiss goodbye to her newborn baby, and Mama has to give you away now. Then she handed her baby over to Gold who left without another word.
She can still remember the feeling. The feeling of a part of her being ripped away, the cries by her child as it realised its mother wasn't there anymore. The closing doors, and the agonising sobs into Mal's dress as the woman stroked her hair, telling her that We've all been here.
"Regina?" she hears Robin's worried voice in the background. "Are you okay?"
She looks up, realises there's tears falling down and she angrily wipes them away.
"I'm fine." she says, a little too aggressively and Robin backs off. Takes his hand away from her arm and moves back a little. It's then when Regina notices he's on the floor with her.
I'll be back.
She tries shutting her eyes against the tears that form, tries to keep them locked inside. But it fails. They fall anyway. And Robin notices. She feels herself being drawn closer to him, until her face lands softly against his shoulder, his hand rubbing up and down her back and she cries, fully, for the first time in all four years.
"He promised he'd be back." she says between sobs. "For me. Or us."
Robin whispers I knows into her ears, gently tells her to shh, to let it all out, that he's a tosser.
That has her laughing a little, bringing her face away from his shoulder. She can imagine how to looks, tear stained and red faced, puffy eyes...Robin just smiles at her, though, pushes the stray strands of her out of her face.
"This is why you want us to end, isn't it?" he says, voice sincere. He understands now. He knows. "You're worried I'll do the same thing. Promise you the world then leave you with a child and never come back."
Regina nods at that. Most of it's true, except for the child part, she made sure of that would never happen.
He pulls her in closer. "I can tell you now, Regina, that I'm not gonna let that happen. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but I'll find a way for us both to leave. I-"
Without thinking, he places a finger on his lips, stopping him from saying anything more. A rushed, Don't say you'll promise, escaping.
He pulls her hand away, lacing their fingers together and squeezing. And Regina wait, waits to see what he say's in replace to I promise.
"I swear."
He kisses her then, almost sealing the promise. And it is a promise, Regina thinks. He didn't say the exact words, but it's still the same thing.
But she ignores technicalities of words, reciprocates the kiss, deepening it as heat pools in her stomach.
While this might not be the last time forever, it could be their last time for now, so she grabs his shirt, pulling him down with her onto the rug, until she's lying against it, and him against her.
Robin's lips leave hers, begin to trail kisses down her throat. Regina tips her head back, allowing him more access, fingers clenching and wrapping around the fur of the rug as she lets out a moan when he sucks on a particularly sensitive spot.
He moves further down her body, stopping at her stomach and pulling up his shirt, kissing each faded red mark before continuing on his path once more, anticipation beginning to bloom in Regina.
…:...:...
I will find a way for both of us to leave.
He's said those words to her. Promised those words to her, even though she told him not to.
He's an idiot.
Maybe. Possibly.
Well, he's an idiot if this all blows up in their faces. Which it probably will do.
Robin sighs. Unlike Regina, he hadn't been able to fall asleep, his mind had been too occupied to shut off. So instead he just sat there, only getting up once to re-stoke the fire and watch Regina curl up on the fur. Then he'd moved next to her and played with her hair while she slept on.
I will find a way for both of us to leave.
He wonders if she believed it. She hadn't actually said anything, just told him not to promise, but did she believe the words? Did she actually think he was going to find a way for them to leave.
He didn't.
He hoped she didn't believe. They're lives are already complicated as it is.
But then, this would be their last night together. Tomorrow, they'd go back to their own lives. Him back to Zelena and nobility and she back to…
I will find a way for both of us to leave.
Maybe he could. Maybe...maybe they could just stay here for a while. Nobody knows where they are. It would keep them safe, long enough to figure out what to do next. It could actually work.
Beside him, Regina moves slightly, trying to sink into the rug and it's probably not the most comfortable thing in the world, perhaps he should move her upstairs?
Yet moving her upstairs meant moving her away from the fire.
No, they could stay there a little longer, he'd move them both later.
For now, Robin thought more on his idea. Still playing with that lock of hair, watching Regina's now-dried hair curl around his finger.
He'll tell her when she wakes up, he thinks. Tell her that they should stay here for a bit, until they have something planned out.
Where could they go? Oversea, perhaps? It'll be harder for people to find them there. Maybe he could make a drop off at the castle, see how what he could find there and sell it then he could find a job…
Robin's mind starts rolling at all the possibilities. Why he ever thought this plan wouldn't work is beyond him. If everything went their way it could work.
If everything went their way.