Thank you very much to every single one of you for reading and reviewing! Your words mean the world to me! I'm very interested in writing this verse (for some unknown reason it means very much to me) so if you have any prompts, please, send them in!
I really hope you will like this!
Prompt: Would love to see one where Robin comes to her house for practicing & helps her through an anxiety attack, something that plagues her all too often. He understands. They get closer :)
Sightless and Soundless (3)
Robin isn't sure whether he did the right choice when he agreed to come here. To be honest, it was a rather rushed decision; he didn't even have enough time to think – overthink – pros and cons before he agreed.
However, now, when he's standing outside Regina's apartment, there's no turning back.
Exhaling shakily for the umpteenth time, he curses under his breath, his hand only tightening around the box of chocolate he's been holding (he decided it was better to bring chocolate instead of flowers, after all, it was not a date). He feels anxious and unsure and damn it, it is not common for Robin Locksley.
It feels like the first rehearsal in his life.
But it is just Regina, he reminds himself. She saw him more vulnerable than his wife had seen him during 7 years of their marriage. He has nothing to be worried about, except the fact that he made a complete fool of himself that night when he broke down and now she probably feels pity for him.
Robin shakes his head to himself – he cannot think like that. Regina Mills is a wonderful musician, she has a soul of an artist and she must understand his struggle. He needs to get himself together and just knock on the damned door.
Taking one last deep breath, Robin does just that.
As soon as his hand falls to his side, he shifts nervously from one leg to the other, waiting for Regina to open the door. He tries to breathe steadily, keeps telling himself that the meeting is harmless, it is just practice and Regina wants to help him sincerely, she doesn't want to make fun of him for being a loser who cannot catch up with a simple rhythm.
After a few moments, Robin frowns and knocks again, wondering what's taking her so long.
He stands there, cruel thoughts torturing him. He isn't usually so self –conscious and anxious but something about Regina makes him feel like a teenager having his first crush. It must be the fact that she's the first person he met and communicated after losing his hearing.
Robin's brow furrows in confusion as he knocks one more time, harder this time. Of course, she could've changed her mind but she would've told him that. Right?
His heart starts beating faster and faster as horrific visions surrounds him. She's blind, and she may be capable of living on her own but something could have happened to her. Pushed by that thought, Robin takes a sharp breath in and turns down the knob.
Surprisingly, the door is unlocked so he pushes it open and steps into the apartment, taking a quick look around, desperately searching for Regina.
Her apartment is rather small, he notices, and dark, there's no light turned on. He struggles a bit till he turns the lights on and gives himself a tour, his heart trying to jump out of his chest.
The living room is half empty, only a couch with her cello put beside it and a coffee table are there. It is to make her life easier, Robin thinks as he steps even further into her home.
And then he sees her.
Regina is on the floor with her back pressed against the couch, her knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped tightly around it as she rocks herself back and forth, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her face is twisted in a heartbreaking grimace and Robin is not sure if she's hurt.
"Regina? Are you hurt?" Robin asks but she doesn't turn around to face him, she doesn't even flinch at his voice. It seems as though she didn't even hear him.
Confused and shocked Robin walks up to her. There's a broken photo frame laying on the floor beside Regina, a photo of her and a man who looks about her age (her husband, he supposes), both holding hands, the man holding a boy not older than five in his other arm, smiling from ear to ear.
Robin sighs in relief. At least she's not hurt physically.
"Regina," Robin calls out as he sinks to the floor beside her. He stretches his hand out to touch her but then hesitates and doesn't. For a moment, Robin just watches her, watches as her whole body shakes from the sobs, as tears fall down to the soft carpet. His own heart is breaking into pieces with every fallen tear, as his own eyes fill.
Robin doesn't know if she likes to be comforted or touched, but he cannot watch her suffering like this.
Here goes nothing.
Taking a deep breath, he moves even closer to her and wraps his arms around her, holding her tightly. For a brief moment he holds his breath, afraid of her reaction. Surprisingly, she doesn't even fight. She just falls into his embrace and lets Robin hold her.
He doesn't let go of her until the shaking stops, until her labored breathing becomes calmer, one that doesn't shake her whole body with every breath she takes. He holds her until his t-shirt is drenched in tears. And then he holds her a little bit longer.
Only when he feels her jaw moving against his chest and realizes that she's speaking Robin dares to pull away.
"Regina," he whispers when she lifts her head up. A single tear runs down her cheek and Robin cannot help it but wipe it away with his thumb, letting a tear of his own fall down.
He's so relieved that he found the courage to come here today. Gods knows how long she would have cried if he hadn't found her.
Regina says something again but Robin cannot understand her for her lips are shaking too much, so he quickly pulls the phone out from the pocket of his pants and puts it into Regina's hand. She stops for a moment, her head turned to the side as she touches the device and then her mouth opens as she shakes her head to herself.
She ducks her head down as if she's ashamed, and Robin smiles a bit, thinking that she's cute. Still smiling, Robin's fingers run across her cheeks and he cups her cheek, lifts her face a bit until she's almost looking at him.
There are tracks of tears on her cheeks, her eyes red and puffy and Robin sucks in a sharp breath, taken aback by her beauty. Guilt fills his heart immediately then, how dare he think about her appearance when she's having a break down.
Shaking his head Robin lets his hand travel down from her face to her shoulder and her arm, and he doesn't know if he imagined it, or her body actually tensed for a moment. However, he doesn't let himself focus on that, instead he squeezes her hand in encouragement.
"I was trying to clean off the dust and broke the frame," Regina finally says, handing Robin the phone. A few tears roll down her cheeks again but this time she quickly wipes it away, presses her lips together in a thin line.
Robin has to swallow hard over the lump in his throat.
"Regina, we will buy you a new frame. I will go to the store instantly, if you want me to, and buy you an identical frame."
"It's not just the frame that caused all of this," she admits, motioning to herself, and turns away from Robin, wraps her arms around her knees and rocks herself back and forth again in order to calm down. "I just miss them, you know."
Robin shifts on the floor until he's comfortable, takes that time to just breathe. Of course he knows how much it hurts when you miss someone so dear, he spent months crying over Marian and she wasn't even dead.
"Can you see him?" He asks, not knowing what else to say. "Your son, I mean."
Regina nods her head, takes a breath before she says, "His mother lets me see him a few times per month. But I can't always come to our meetings. My only friend is very busy these months and she's the one who takes me to see Henry and to my appointments to the doctors and well, does everything for me."
Robin hums in acknowledgement.
"It's been five months since I saw Henry for the last time. It is almost Christmas and I haven't seen my baby for so long. It's pure torture," she whispers, her hand falling over her mouth as she squeezes her eyes shut in a cry.
He quickly wraps his arm around her shoulder and squeezes, closing his own eyes.
For a moment they just sit there, Regina trying to put her emotions under control, Robin trying to think of a way to help her. He wants to help her. He needs to help her. She's a wonderful woman with a very good heart and he'd be an asshole to let her suffer.
"I will help you to see your son," Robin states as an idea hits him. He sits a little bit straighter, a smile spreading across his face when Regina turns her face towards him, confused. "I have friends who will take you to see your son."
"Ro-"
"I want to help you," Robin cuts her off feeling a rush of emotions. "You agreed to help a deaf man practice to play a cello, you supported me like no one else in this world, you made my life so much better. I want to do the same. I want to help you to feel at least a little bit of happiness, if you'd let me."
"Robin, I don't know what to say," she shakes her head, her hand fumbling between them until she finds his hand and squeezes it, a few tears running down her cheeks.
"I will not take no as an answer." Robin says simply, squeezing her hand in return. "You will tell me when you feel ready to see your son and then we'll arrange everything." He adds, watching as the corners of Regina's lips lift up in a small, unsure smile.
A smile spreads across Robin's face as he stands up from the floor and helps her to get up and sit down on the couch. He quickly walks to the kitchen and pours a glass of water, then brings it to already calmer Regina. She thanks him, and Robin just smiles, tells her to sit down for a bit while he collects the glass.
When the broken pieces are thrown into the bin and Robin comes back into the living room, he finds Regina sitting on the couch right where he left her, smiling a bit as she turns an empty glass in her hands. He sits down beside her and as soon as she feels that, Regina hugs him, her head rested on his shoulder.
"Thank you."
Robin doesn't need his phone to understand that. He can feel it in the way her arms tighten around him, he can feel it in the way her breathing calms down as she relaxes into his embrace.
Robin only smiles in return.
Perhaps their first practice didn't go as planned but something has definitely changed between them. They weren't just disabled musicians anymore. Now they were broken souls who have found each other and created an unbreakable bond which was meant to ease their pain and change their lives forever.
