William wasn't sure how he was able to function the next day, but he somehow managed. He knew the alcohol wouldn't help him get over the loss of the day before. William realized now, in the late hours of the afternoon as he finally made his way into Granny's diner, that liquor only made this worse. Not only was he reeling from the loss of his patient, but the added headache and full body pain didn't help his predicament. Right now, all he wanted to do was curl into bed and go back to sleep - and forget that any of this had ever happened.

But William couldn't do any of that. He needed to get up, take a walk, and eat something that wasn't canned soup.

William sighed heavily as he forced himself into a booth. When a waitress had taken his order, he leaned his elbow on the table, resting his head on his hand. To avoid the light of the outside world, he closed his eyes and gently breathed.

Liquor definitely made things worse.

The past couple of days had taken a serious toll on him, and he was so grateful for this weekend just to recuperate and recharge. The drama with Mary Margaret and David had waged war with his heart, his patient's passing had attacked his mind, and this hangover was definitely trying to destroy his body. William wasn't sure how much more he could tolerate, and found his head spinning when he saw Regina slide into the booth across from him. If anyone was going to drive the final nail in his coffin, he didn't doubt it would be her.

"Good morning, Dr. Whale."

He wanted to rip her voice box out with the way she greeted him cheerily - though he knew she had a hidden agenda. "Madame Mayor."

She smiled. "You don't sound like you're doing well. Tired?"

"Hungover," he answered, exasperated. His voice came out in a whine as he asked, "Can you just please leave me alone?"

"I can't. I actually need to talk to you about something important."

"If this is about Mary Margaret, I don't really-"

"It isn't about Ms. Blanchard," Regina told him carefully. "And it isn't about Mr. Nolan, for that matter. You seemed to drive a thick wedge between them."

She obviously hadn't seen them only a few days ago. William didn't want to think about that encounter, or the fact that he forced himself to release David as a patient. William sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair absentmindedly. "What do you want to talk about, Madame Mayor?"

"I heard you walked Ruby home a a couple nights ago."

Her words stunned him as he shot her a hard glare. "So?"

"So, you are aware that Ruby is underage, correct?" She smiled when he only stared at her, confused, frustrated, and angry. "Oh, come on, Dr. Whale. You can't tell me you didn't consider it."

William shook his head, disgusted. "What are you getting at, Madame Mayor? You think I'm going to pursue her?"

"She's definitely easy to look at," Regina commented. "Whenever I come in here, most men drool over her."

"I'm not interested in her."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes," he growled back, his agitation growing. "I'm happy with Mary Margaret." A new thought hit him, and he asked, "So, let me get this straight. First you tell me I can't be with Mary Margaret, and then you tell me I can't be with Ruby. What? You control my life?"

"I'm not a woman you want to cross, Dr. Whale."

"Since when do you care about a waitress and her romantic life?"

"Since it came to my attention that she is underage," Regina snapped back. "And she's not someone I'd like to see corrupted by a man who is older than her and could very much take advantage of her. Statutory rape isn't something you want to be remembered for."

William's hangover suddenly didn't seem to matter as he leaned forward on his elbows and told her, "Nothing is happening between Ruby and I, Madame Mayor. I walked her home so she made it safely. That's it. If you want to have me arrested, good luck. Your little boyfriend might even think I was protecting the public." He smiled when she leaned back against the booth. "That's what I thought."

"Watch yourself, Dr. Whale," she told him suddenly, her voice low and threatening. "We wouldn't want something to happen to you because of your reckless behavior."

"I'm sorry?"

"I heard of your little scuffle with Mr. Nolan a few nights ago," she answered. "You're lucky he didn't press charges."

"He's lucky I didn't rip his arm off and beat him to death with it."

She smiled at the gleam in his eyes, one of anger and a desire to attack. "See, Dr. Whale? That's a very reckless statement. I'd expect a little more civility from you."

"You don't understand the situation," he snarled angrily. "Stay out of it."

"If something like that happens again, Dr. Whale, I will see to it personally that you are arrested. How would Mary Margaret feel having to bail you out of jail for beating up the man she loves?"

"Shut up."

"Oh, I'm sorry? Did something I say bother you?" Regina taunted when his face twisted in anger. "Was it the fact that David Nolan is the man she loves and not you?"

He slammed his fist on the table angrily, ignoring the pain and the startled looks of all the people around him. "Butt out, Madame Mayor, of a situation you don't even understand."

Regina smiled. "Are you sure you're all right, Dr. Whale? You don't sound well."

"I'm fine," he snarled angrily. "The only thing that's bothering me right now is you, Madame Mayor."

Regina smiled as the waitress returned with his food and stood, gently evening out the creases in her blouse. "Well, thank you for the chat. Just, don't forget that I've got eyes and ears everywhere."

"How could I forget it when you won't leave me alone?"

She chuckled. "Don't forget what I said about the this little love triangle of yours. I can make all the drama go away."

"I don't need your help."

"Are you sure about that?"

William glared at her as he watched her leave, at the haughty tone in her voice. Smiling, he called, "Madame Mayor?"

Regina turned before leaving the diner. "Yes, Dr. Whale?"

"Ruby isn't underage," he told her with a smirk, knocking her down a notch. "She's nineteen. You best get your facts straight before you go threatening someone. It might get you in trouble."

"Can I ask you something, Dr. Whale?"

"You're going to anyway," William commented.

"Do you make Mary Margaret happy?"

Even though he wasn't one hundred percent sure about the answer, William answered with firm confidence, "Very much."

Regina didn't say anything, pursing her lips gently to show William that he had won this round, and left. That didn't change the fact that he wanted to strangle her. William knew the anger that raged through him was only getting stronger as time passed and more things were thrown at him. He couldn't take this much longer, and needed to vent his frustrations. He needed more than just a long walk to clear his head, because that clearly hadn't helped the situation.

He needed to know that Mary Margaret was his.

William found her a few minutes later on her way out of the school for the day, and surprised her by grabbing her and pulling her down the sidewalk. Despite her surprise, Mary Margaret didn't protest until they had reached his apartment. When he had opened the door quickly, moving them inside, she finally began to ask, "William, what's going on?"

Whatever response he would have given was gone the moment he pressed her against the closed door and crushed her mouth against his. Mary Margaret wasn't prepared for the powerful swiftness of his kiss, but wasn't displeased when she felt his hands roam over her body, sending shivers down her spine. The force of his kiss sent her head into a tailspin so strong and fast that if he wasn't holding onto her, she would have slid down the wall. When he finally pulled away, breathing hard, she inhaled sharply. "What was that?"

William had a sharp intake of breath before he kissed her again, more gentle than before but still with more passion than she'd experienced. When he finally pulled away again, he whispered, "I need you, Mary Margaret. I need you so much right now it hurts."

"Are you sure that isn't the hangover?" She chuckled when he growled in response, tucking his head so he could kiss her neck. Her hands buried in his hair the moment he pushed against her. A soft moan escaped her, and they both knew he had her. "William..."

Her soft plea stopped his actions and he pulled away from her. When their eyes met, she saw a fire in his eyes that made her skin tingle. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked hoarsely.

"This won't, um," she paused, her breath hitching when she felt him bunch her skirt around her waist until he made contact with her thigh, "this won't be making love, will it?"

"No," he whispered as he kissed her neck again. He met her eyes once more before he picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist. "No this won't. Are you all right with that?"

She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him fiercely. "I'm more than all right with that." She smiled when he carried her to the couch.

When the euphoria had passed to leave only a solid contentment, Mary Margaret sighed gently and leaned her head on his shoulder, her hand on his chest as they lay together on the couch. "Feeling any better?"

"A little."

"Well," she kissed his chest gently, "that's a good thing."

"Yeah..."

Mary Margaret tilted her head slightly so she could see his face. "William, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

She frowned when he let out a deep sigh, and positioned herself so she was looking at him. William refused to look at her for a few moments, staring at the ceiling. "You're a horrible liar."

He let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah, I s'pose so." William sighed heavily before admitting, "I'm losing control of...everything. I...Sometimes I sit here and wonder how crazy I'm getting because I feel like I'm losing it so, so fast."

Sighing gently, she asked, "Is it about what happened with your patient?"

"Yeah..."

There that was again. His words quickly gained her attention so strongly that she gave him a soft glare. Her eyes didn't let up even as he looked down at her and smiled. "What else is wrong?"

"Just...stuff."

"Stop it," she ordered with a shake of her head. "What is going on with you, William? And no 'Yeah...' with a deep sigh or 'stuff.' I want specifics."

"Or what?"

She thought for a moment. "I'll never have sex with you again." Mary Margaret scowled gently when he laughed at her. "I'm serious, William. Nothing more for you."

"You can't resist me," he challenged.

"You wanna bet?" She smiled when his proud smirk instantly vanished. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Now," she grabbed the hand that wasn't gently caressing her back, "will you please tell me what's wrong and forced this..."

William smiled as she tried to search for the right words that didn't sound too vulgar. He offered gently, "Need to unwind?"

"Yes," she answered with a soft nod, "we can call it that."

He wanted to laugh, but instead shook his head. "It's just a lot of stuff piling on at once, is all. Nothing that you need to concern yourself with, Mary Margaret. It's just been a long couple of days."

"Ah."

William frowned slightly at the guilt he heard in her voice. He looked down at her, wondering if she'd ever look at him. "Now who's having something bother them?"

Mary Margaret smiled gently. "I'm just worried about you."

"Ah, well-"

"And I'm worried that part of your not being okay is because of what happened with David a couple nights ago," she rushed to fit in before he could say anything else. "Is...Is that the case?" When he didn't answer, she had her answer. "Oh, William..."

"I don't want to talk about."

His snappish tone told her it definitely had hurt him. Mary Margaret didn't want to cause him any more pain, and most certainly wanted to respect his wishes, but she couldn't help but feel it necessary to actually discuss what happened at her apartment. They hadn't talked about it since yesterday she'd spent the evening with him while he licked his professional wounds. There wasn't any time to even consider the scars David's intrusion had left on him. Now was a better time than any, she figured. "But-"

"I said I don't want to talk about it," he snapped suddenly. "Can we just not? Not right now?"

Mary Margaret nodded. "Yeah. Of-of course."

William only sighed heavily in response. "Thank you."

"Yeah." Moments passed before she asked, "Do you think you'll ever want to talk about?" When he sighed again, this time in agitation and not exhaustion, she knew she had made a mistake and shook her head. Immediately backtracking, she quickly told him, "You know what, just forget it. Forget I said anything. I-I'm sorry."

Minutes passed and Mary Margaret was sure he'd never talk to her again when suddenly he said, "Do you have any idea how that must have felt for me? To...To see the guy that you fell hard for come back and try to win you over?" He scoffed and shook his head. "For a few seconds there I thought you would have done it, too."

His words stunned her. "That's what you think?"

"What else was I supposed to think? I mean...He comes over and is pleading with you for a second chance and I come out and you're crying and...What else was I supposed to think?"

"You honestly think I'd put myself through that?"

"Mary Margaret," he told her with a deep exhale, "you did it once. You went into a situation knowing what was going to happen, and it happened, and you beat yourself up over it. You don't really have the best track record with matters of the heart - especially when it comes to him."

"William-"

"I mean, for a second I actually thought you were going to leave me in the dust for him - for a man who isn't going to give himself to you completely when he has his wife back home," William continued on. "And that hurt. And I was angry about everything and, you know what? I'm still pissed off. I'm furious that you let him put you in that position. You can't just let people push you around, Mary Margaret."

"He wasn't pushing me around, William," Mary Margaret insisted. "Really, I-"

"Come on, we both know-"

"Stop talking for a second," she firmly cut off as she moved so they were completely face-to-face. The depth of his blue eyes told her that what happened hurt him more than she'd originally thought. She insisted, "I was not letting him push me around, William. If you had come into the room a few seconds before, you would have seen that."

Mary Margaret knew that wasn't his greatest concern because his eyes didn't soften at her words. "You honestly think I'd leave you for him, William?"

"You want the truth?"

"I think I deserve that."

William answered honestly, "I think you never really got over him, Mary Margaret. I think he still has this hold on that is so strong that maybe, one day, you'd find it in your heart to forgive him for crushing you and head right back to him. And, yes, I think if he kept coming and pushed you hard enough, you could go back to him."

She wanted to slap him. Her voice cracked as she asked, "How could you ever think that?"

"You've never given me anything to prove otherwise!"

"What about a couple nights ago?" She scoffed. "I told you he didn't mean anything to me anymore, William. That wasn't enough for you?"

"We both know you didn't mean that," William responded quietly, as if the admission pained him. "So don't sit here and patronize me."

"I'm not sitting," Mary Margaret commented dryly. When he didn't smile back like he normally would, she knew he was completely serious and this meant more to him than a simple joke. "What can I do to prove to you that I'm in this and I'm here - really here?"

"I don't know. I just..." He sighed, exasperated. "I don't know." Silence settled over them again, and Mary Margaret hated the way he refused to look at her. His blue eyes were cold and tired - the weight of the days threatening to drown him.

She moved quickly as he shifted so he was sitting. Mary Margaret could only watch him as he stood and walked away from her, into his bedroom. Moments later she heard the shower run and found the knot in her stomach tightening. His faith in her was shaken, and Mary Margaret could only think of one thing to get him to really trust her. She needed to tell him the truth, the entire thing, as much as it pained her. It took her a few moments, and some deep breaths to gain her strength, before she shed the the blanket from her body and walked into the bathroom.

Her actions took him by surprise, but Mary Margaret didn't stop moving. She knew if she even faltered once, this would all be over, and the strength she had managed to muster would disappear. She slid the shower door shut, which forced him to turn around, and quickly moved to kiss him. When she pulled away, Mary Margaret smiled to see that the ice in his eyes was starting to thaw. William still refused to look at her completely, however; his eyes travelled down her body before he turned around to face falling water.

"William," she pleaded finally with firm resolve despite the tightness of fear in her stomach, "please look at me."

William turned around slowly. "We don't have to talk about it, really. I've just had a bad couple of days and everything is just sorta... amplified. We can drop it, really."

"I am not going anywhere," she told him truthfully, gently reaching out to cup his stubbly cheeks. He turned into her touch, closing his eyes as if her tender embrace helped soothe some of his fears. "What you and I have, whatever this is, it means something to me, William. I'm not going to give it up easily."

"And if he keeps coming back?"

"Then I'll keep turning him away," Mary Margaret answered with a gentle smile, "because I love you, William." She chuckled at the surprise in his eyes. That felt amazing to say. For the first time she wasn't afraid he'd turn her away. She had walked to the cliff, jumped over, and made it safely to ground. Mary Margaret finally laughed. "Wow. So that's how it feels to say that?"

"Feels good?"

"Yeah," she answered, her voice a whisper. "It feels amazing."

William nodded slowly, leaning down to kiss her gently. "You love me?"

"I do," she answered, her smile bright. "I really do. So, there you go. That's why I could never go back to him if he came back to me. And that's why I turned him away a few nights ago. I...I love you." She laughed. "I really do."

Her fear of his rejection was gone the instant she met his gaze. For the first time, Mary Margaret didn't see lust in his eyes but something so tender that it brought tears to her eyes. Mary Margaret melted into him the moment he kissed her softly. She smiled when he pulled away finally, resting his forehead against hers. The tenderness in his eyes was stronger than she'd ever seen it, and she fought the urge to cry when he told her with a smile, "I love you, too, Mary Margaret."

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "I guess we're just a couple of fools in love, huh?"

"I guess so." She laughed softly. Nothing felt better than opening her heart and finding warm hands to receive it. "Hey, I have an idea."

"Besides sex in the shower?"

"Well," she wrapped her arms around him and smiled when water came down on both of them, "you aren't working this weekend, and neither am I, so..."

"I don't know where you're going with this, but I like the sound of it so far."

Mary Margaret smiled. "So..." she continued despite the growing grin on his face, "I was thinking...Well, I know this place that we could...if you wanted-"

"I told you I loved you, Mary Margaret," he cut off, "whatever it is you can just say it. I couldn't turn you away. And that's not because you're propositioning me in my shower."

"So if I told you I wanted a pony, you'd buy me one?"

"Do you want a pony?" He questioned, smiling when she shook her head. "I'll buy you a whole damn zoo if it gets you to say what you're trying to say. I could use a penguin, ya know."

"Focus here, William," she ordered gently, like she was corralling a student. "I was just thinking that maybe we could take the weekend and just relax."

"Here?"

"No. I heard of this quiet little bed and breakfast in Vermont that we could go to," she propositioned, "and it's really small and quiet and we could just relax and recharge, you know? A new change of scenery might do you some good, and I wouldn't mind it. It's this little cottage that's really cute."

"In Vermont?"

"It's not far, really! Just a couple of hours and we'd be there in no time, I swear. I'd...I'd drive even if you wanted to start relaxing before we left." When he didn't say anything, she felt her heart fill with fear and she tried to backpedal as she said quickly, "Or, you know, if that's too fast we don't have to go anywhere. I was just thinking it might be a nice way for you to relax after the past couple of days and...You know, it's okay-"

William silenced her by kissing her. "Vermont sounds wonderful, Mary Margaret. When can we leave?"

"We could leave tonight if you wanted. I'm not working tomorrow or Sunday, and if you're not-"

"We'll leave tonight," he resolved with a nod, followed by a laugh. "We're going to Vermont. How did you hear about this place anyway?"

"Nowhere." Mary Margaret wouldn't tell him that Regina had dropped the hint off in passing, because she knew how much he detested her at times. It was just better to keep that piece of information to herself - because then she knew he wouldn't want to go. William needed to get away, just take a step back and breathe, and there was no better place to do that than a new one. They'd have a weekend of no intrusions, no work, no David, and no worries, and she couldn't wait. The light that was back in his eyes made it all worth it.

Mary Margaret knew a weekend alone in Vermont was exactly what they needed, and she couldn't wait to hit the road.