Written for OQ Prompt Party 2019, day 1 (Monday). Prompt number 76. OQ falling asleep on the sofa together.

Rolling onto his side, Robin stretches his arm gingerly even in his sleepy state. The nights that he gets to spend with Regina beside him are very rare, but they are in another kingdom for a political visit, away from the staff and possibly suspecting eyes, just the two of them staying in a huge hotel suite reserved for the Queen.

Robin was supposed to sleep on the couch outside her bedroom, but after heated kisses and tangled limbs he's been more than pleased when Regina pulled the covers over their flushed bodies and warned him to not occupy her side of the bed before she drifted off to sleep, never pulling away from him completely.

She must have rolled away from him in her sleep, though, because Robin doesn't feel her warmth anymore, so he moves closer to where Regina should be until his hand lands on the empty, cold sheets instead of her lovely body.

He's awake immediately, sitting up before even fully opening his eyes. It's still dark in the room, the only source of light is the full moon in the black sky.

When he looks around the room, a familiar silhouette catches his eye.

Regina is standing in front of the huge window, her back turned towards him, her arms probably crossed over her chest as she stares out of the window to the empty streets of this wonderful city.

Robin's sigh of relief makes Regina turn around, her eyes shining even in the darkness of the room. When she realizes that Robin is not asleep anymore and in fact is making his way towards her, she quickly unfolds her arms and wipes at her cheeks.

"What are you doing up?" she asks quietly, her voice a bit hoarse.

"I wanted to ask you the same question," Robin says as he approaches her.

Now that he's close to her, he can see the faint tracks of tears over her gorgeous face, her eyes still full of unshed tears. Robin frowns a bit in confusion – she seemed just fine before they fell asleep, she's been happy and laughing, but then again, you never know what Regina is actually feeling, she's a master of hiding her emotions when she wants to; Robin learned it the hard way.

"I can't sleep."

After her short reply, she turns away from him back to the window. Robin moves a bit closer to her until he can wrap his arm around her. Surprisingly she doesn't push him away.

"What is it, Regina?" Robin asks when a tear rolls down her cheek.

Regina inhales deeply and swallows hard, then finally says, "Emma called today."

"Did something happen to Henry? Is he alright?"

"Yes, he's fine," Regina tells him, still refusing to look at him. "She called to tell me that there's going to be a play in his school tomorrow. They're playing one of Henry's works."

Robin's eyes widen in surprise – he knew that Henry was some sort of a playwright, but still, having your work become alive in front of your eyes at such young age is something extraordinary.

"That's wonderful, Regina. You should definitely go."

"Henry doesn't want to see me," she reminds him, finally turning in his arms until they are face to face. "I don't want to ruin something special for him."

"You couldn't ruin it for him," Robin assures her. Shaking her head Regina rolls her eyes at him, obviously not believing his words. "If you are so certain he wouldn't want you there, then don't approach him. But you still have to go. I know this is important for you."

"Of course it is important."

Her reply comes instantly, without hesitation. However, then her eyes turn uncertain and she bites her bottom lip while she searches for the right words. It pains Robin to see her like this: insecure and confused, hurt and anxious. She doesn't reserve to feel this way, not after everything that she's been through.

"I need to think it through," she finally settles on saying, exhaling.

Robin nods his head before leaning over to quickly kiss her lips, his hand running a soothing circle over her back.

"Let's go back to bed," Regina says when they part and before Robin has a chance to reply, she's already walking towards the bed, her shoulders still tensed.

Robin sighs, but follows her without saying a word.

(…)

Regina spends the whole play crying.

It's not that the story is sad, no. On the contrary, the main idea is hope, hope of a child who travels through realms after his mother is seduced by darkness. The ending has her crying the most, though, because the hero forgives his mother all the horrible things she's done while possessed by evil, and deep down Regina hopes that it's a sign that someday Henry will forgive her, too.

When the play is over, the audience is on their feet, applauding the actors and Henry. Her son is standing there, smiling proudly – she's never seen him this happy, his smile is so big, it makes her even more emotional and proud.

Wiping away her tears, Regina turns to Robin who's been sitting beside her quietly the whole play. She refuses to look him in the eyes. She's so embarrassed that she's been so weak in front of him so many times already. Nobody has seen her as vulnerable as he did, and she tries to hope that he's not a fraud, that he'll not use all of this against her one day.

"Let's go," she whispers and Robin nods his head, extending his hand for her.

He makes his way out of the last row while Regina stays behind him with her head bowed down. People don't really recognize her in this town, but she can't risk it that someone catches her in a school. She doesn't want some stupid royalty journalists stalking Henry while he's still not sure whether or not he wants to do anything related to the crown (and Regina).

Regina keeps looking down until all of a sudden Robin stops. She almost bumps into him and surprised looks up only to realize that they are standing in front of the stage instead of an exit. Her surprise immediately turns into anxiety as she stares at Robin with wide eyes.

"Go, congratulate your son," Robin tells her quietly.

"What?" Regina gasps in disbelief. "Walk me out of her right now." She scolds her features into one of her annoyed looks, trying to look threatening.

But Robin isn't bothered by that. Of course, he isn't. She's shown him all of her weakness, he knows just how broken she is under that surface of a regal and strong leader.

Wonderful.

"Just go, Regina," Robin urges her. "It won't hurt to say how proud you are of him."

"Robin, I'm not kidding." She grits her teeth, feeling her pulse picking up. That's what she gets for opening up. People always use her emotions against and still she never learns. "Do I need to remind you I could have you fired right in this moment, Mr. Locksley?" She asks in a quiet but angry whisper, narrowing her eyes.

"You're his mother, Regina, and knowing you showed up here could really make Henry hate you a little bit less, don't you think?" he says, arching an eyebrow at her.

The audacity of his words has Regina taking a step back, her mouth opening and closing uselessly, no words coming out of it. How dare he say words like that to her?

Robin must realize that he's overstepped the line because he quickly adds, "You came here just for him. No conversations about your kingdom or becoming future kings, nothing; just a mother supporting her son. He'll appreciate it more than your wealth."

It takes all of Regina's self-control to stop herself from slapping him. For a few moments all she can do is stand there and breathe, her eyes burning with anger, her hands trembling at her sides. She stares Robin in the eye, her nostrils flaring with every breath she takes.

Fine.

She'll do it.

And then she'll fire Robin as soon as they're back in her kingdom.

She pushes past him and walks towards the stage. Her legs are shaking by the time she reaches Henry, and it has nothing to do with the anger still boiling in her veins. Henry notices her while hugging one of the actors who's probably his classmate and he pulls away from his friend immediately, his eyes wide with surprise as Regina approaches him.

"Hello, Henry," she says quietly, feeling like a fish out of the water. There's something about being around Henry that makes her behave like she's not herself. She's good at keeping herself under control, though, but the last few days have been exhausting that she finds it hard to pretend to be strong and regal.

"Your Majes-" He cuts himself off just before saying her tittle, quickly correcting himself, "Mrs. Blanchard! What are you doing here?"

"Emma told me about your play and I couldn't miss it," she tells him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Keep it together, Regina. "It was brilliant, Henry. I'm impressed by your talent!"

"Thank you," he says, and he's smiling at her, actually smiling at her, his smile wide, eyes shining, but not from tears.

Regina feels the urge to hug him, her fingers itching to touch him, but instead she smiles warmly in return, feeling her heart finally starting to slow down.

"Well, I'll be going now. I don't want to keep you from your friends," she says then, shifting awkwardly. "I hope you celebrate this day. It's a huge accomplishment for someone so young."

Henry nods his head, the smile never leaving his face. Regina knows she's not the reason behind his smile, in fact it has nothing to do with her at all, but at least she can pretend that he doesn't hate her that much anymore; it's still nice to know that her presence hasn't ruined the moment of pure joy for him.

"Goodbye, Henry."

When Regina is about to walk down the stairs of the stage, Henry stops her.

"Wait!"

Once she turns back around to him, he says sincerely, "Thank you for coming, Regina."

She just smiles at him, her heart fluttering with joy.

When she reaches Robin, he's smiling at her. He opens his mouth to say something, but she storms right past him and out of the auditorium.

She's never speaking with him again.

(…)

Regina hasn't said a single word since they left Henry's school. She spent the whole ride back ignoring him, staring at her phone, looking out of the window or simply keeping her eyes closed. He wasn't sure if she was asleep or if she was just ignoring him, but he decided to better keep his mouth shut.

When they've finally reached the house and he had opened the door of the car for her, she got out and walked straight home, not a word said, not a single question answered.

It's well past midnight, and Robin hasn't stopped thinking about Regina. He has thought over their conversation over and over again, and he still hasn't understood what was so wrong in his words. Besides, whatever he's said, nothing of it was meant to hurt her.

Grunting in frustration, Robin gets out of the bed and quickly gets dressed. Then he sneaks out of his room and makes his way upstairs towards Regina's room.

He's surprised when Regina opens the door. However, as soon as she sees it's him, she quickly moves to close it, but Robin manages to stop it with his foot.

"Get out of here, Locksley," she spats at him, her brow furrowed in anger, "before I actually fire you."

"Regina, please, let's talk," Robin pleads.

She stares at him, gritting her teeth until she finally releases the door and lets him walk inside. Robin quickly closes it behind him, locks it to make sure that they're not interrupted by anyone. When he turns to Regina, she's sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, a half full bottle of wine on the coffee table. Beside it is a full glass and papers, his walking-papers, Robin realizes as he walks closer.

"Re-"

"If you ever do something like that again, I'll fire you immediately," she cuts him off, her voice full of anger. "You are no one, do you hear me? You can't tell me what to do. You don't control me. Nobody does. I hold the power, not the other way around."

Robin nods his head immediately.

"What you said to me was out of line. Our arrangement gives you no rights to talk to me like that," she continues. "If you think that you can use my vulnerability against me, you're wrong. I'm not the woman I was when we met, and if you thought that you're going to seduce me and then use me to get some power then you are sorely mistaken. I'm no one's pawn, not anymore."

Robin looks at her stunned.

The thought about controlling her has never crossed his mind. All he wanted was for her to let Henry know she was there for him, that she actually cared about her son and not only about his position in her kingdom. He thought it might be good, and from what he's seen, Henry was smiling the whole time which must be a good thing, right?

All of a sudden, she reminds him of the woman she was when they've met. She's been hurt and chained to her husband; she was controlled and had no free willpower. He's seen her fight for her freedom, and she's earned it in the end. Robin has never dreamt of taking it away from her.

"I hate you."

Her words snap him back to reality. He blinks his eyes before he walks closer to her.

"Regina, please, look at me," he asks, but instead of turning to him, she takes a glass of wine from the coffee table and brings it to her lips. Robin sighs, but tells her anyway, "I'm so sorry for what I did. It was out of line, I understand, but I had your best interest at heart. You made it all the way to see the play; it didn't hurt to see Henry, too."

"Everybody has my best interest at heart," she rolls her eyes, still staring at the fireplace.

"You really don't know me at all." It's neither the time nor the place to make it about him, but at least it has Regina turning to him. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't mean to control you. You're the Queen and I'm just your bodyguard, I have no power over you."

She gives him a disbelieving look. "You've seen me crying day after day, you know things about me that would have me thrown from the throne in a blink of an eye. You do have power over me, but it doesn't mean I won't fight back. I'm not the person I used to be."

"I know, Regina, I know," Robin assures her. "I would never try to hurt you, I care about you. And I don't want power. I never wanted it, if that's what you're afraid about."

She purses her lips and stares at him. Moments of complete silence stretch between them, but the tension is slowly leaving her body. Her shoulders relax a bit and she's not gripping the glass so tightly anymore. She blinks her eyes and all of a sudden she looks so tired.

"Don't you ever dare to do something like that again," she finally says, but it doesn't sound like a threat anymore, just a simple warning.

"I promise," he swears earnestly.

Letting out a sigh, Regina turns back to the fireplace and finishes her drink. After the empty glass is put on the coffee table, Robin finally sits down on the couch.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly before leaning over to kiss her. He's surprised when she meets him halfway, their kiss a tender press of her salty (possibly from all the crying she's most definitely done because of whatever demons are torturing her) lips to his.

Robin pulls the blanket over them when Regina curls into his side, his arms finding their way around her waist as she rests her head on his chest, her eyes staying focused on the fire in front of them.

"Henry smiled at me today." She whispers tearfully after a while of silence, and Robin just hums in response and holds her tighter, his lips pressing against her head.

The warmth of Regina, the sight of the fireplace, the feeling of receiving forgiveness wash over Robin in full force, and suddenly he's exhausted. He shouldn't fall asleep here, so he leans to tell Regina that he's going to go, but then he notices that she's already asleep, her body tangled with his, her ear pressed over his finally freely beating heart.

Getting off the couch would mean waking Regina and it's the last thing he wants after the day she's had. He smiles sadly at her and pulls the blanket tighter over their bodies, shifting a bit until he's more comfortable on the couch and then lets the sleep take him away.