Inevitable: Chapter 14

"What the hell!?" Regina exclaimed as she was promptly shoved to the side so that Snow could burst into her home. "Miss Blanchard just what do you think you are doing?"

"Regina," Snow began, trying to bite back the tears but failed and began sobbing uncontrollably. Regina could've laughed if she wasn't so confused.

"Snow, calm down," Regina said steadily, and awkwardly wrapped her arm around her stepdaughters shoulders. She led her to the couch where they both sat down.

"I'm sorry," Snow whimpered, wiping away tears and trying to compose herself. "I'm really sorry," she repeated.

"What's wrong?" Regina asked, and she couldn't tell if it was the shock of the situation that made her voice sound so sympathetic or if she actually cared.

"I just can't do it anymore, Regina," she said, her voice painfully hoarse.

"Can't do what?" Snow contemplated for a minute.

"Are you and David in a relationship?" Snow asked bluntly. Regina's face began to turn bright red but other than that, she remained as calm as she could.

"Why would you ask me this, Snow?"

"Are you?" There was a demand in her question this time. As if she had a right to know. Well, as far as Regina was concerned, she lost that right quite some time ago. Regina thought of telling her this, or she could just tell her yes and watch the girl crumble right before her eyes. That would be simple enough. It was what she deserved.

"No." She didn't know why but she couldn't bring herself to even hint at the possibility of a relationship between them right now. She would never kick a horse when he's down. And Snow was clearly down.

"Good," she wiped her eyes again and drew in a deep breath, gathering her courage. "Then I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"This baby," Snow looked down at her four-month-old baby bump. It was barely noticeable. "This baby…. it's not his."

"Not David's. Yes, I know that, dear," Regina felt her cheeks begin to burn again. It's not possible, she told herself. But what Snow said next confirmed her fears.

"No!" She exclaimed, and began to cry again. "It's not Whale's."

"You slept with someone else?" Regina asked, trying to rule out all other possibilities before jumping to any conclusions.

"No," she said quietly. "It's David's."

Regina's heart fell. She looked at this girl who sat beside her and all she could feel was the pain of being let down. But she didn't know why.

That was a lie. She knew exactly why it felt like her heart was being crushed over and over again.

She couldn't focus on those feelings though. No, all she could do was spit out one word.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Snow asked, noticing how her stepmothers face fell. How she looked like someone had just told her that her puppy had died. She looked miserable.

"Why did you lie?" The words came out slow and precise. If Regina said one thing wrong, that was it. Snow would know how she felt about him. And then it would all be over. It would all go down in flames. The less people who knew about the situation the Queen and the Prince had found themselves in the better.

"I was being…blackmailed," Snow said, seeming like she was trying to remember if she had said the right word.

"Who in the hell would blackmail the pretty princess?" Regina asked, sarcasm dripping through her voice.

"Gold."

"Gold blackmailed you?" Regina couldn't believe that. No, this had to be someone else's doing. "Why would he do that?"

"I don't know," Snow said back forcefully. "But he did."

"Okay, let's say I do believe you and Gold did indeed blackmail you into saying that this child is not your husbands. Why come to me?"

"Because you are the only person in this whole town who is strong enough to stand up to him. You can find out why and help me make him let me out of this. You can help me get my family back."

"And why would I help you do that?" Regina was slipping back into her old ways now. The Queen was taking over. She was hiding her heart behind walls and acting as though she wasn't in pain no matter how horribly she felt. No matter how much she wanted to hide under her covers and never come out, the Queen insisted on acting like everything was fine.

"Don't do it for me. Do it for David."

That's how she knew that she wasn't the same woman anymore. She would never have felt like she was being repeatedly punched in the stomach over some simple shepherd. The Queen would've been clever enough to think up the scheme of blackmailing the girl herself. The Queen's performance never would've wavered when Snow asked her to help put her family back together. The Queen would have brushed it off and not given it a second thought.

But Regina did.

"Fine. But only for David," she tried to act as though she didn't care.

But Regina cared.

•••

Regina was conflicted.

If she confronted Gold, she ruined any chance of a relationship with David ever. And she really wanted that. …Or did she?

On the other hand, if she didn't tell she would be hiding something from him. It wouldn't be fair to him. Or to her. She couldn't build a relationship on lies. Those never worked out.

She knew what she should do. She knew the right thing to do.

But what about what she wanted?

No one seemed to ever care about that. Except him. He always cared about her. Actually that wasn't all true. He didn't always care about her.

He cared for Snow first. And he probably won't ever stop caring for her. That's the kind of person he is.

And that's how Regina knew what she would have to do.

David was the best friend she had ever had and unlike her, he is generally a good person. She couldn't hold back something that might ruin his chances of ever being happy again. She just couldn't do that to him. And she quickly came to realize that it was because she loved him too much.

They had planned to meet back at Snow's apartment after Regina took a shower. She pulled into the parking lot and got out quickly, praying that no one would recognize her. Not too keen on the idea of people asking questions she couldn't answer, she walked quickly up to the door and knocked.

After a few moments, Snow opened it.

"Are you ready?" Regina asked, eager to get this whole ordeal over with. Maybe then her heart would stop hurting so much.

"Yeah, I just need to grab my purse," Snow said, opening the door wider as a signal for Regina to enter.

The first thing the brunette noticed was the pictures. All of the pictures of Snow and David, smiling and laughing, were still hung on the wall or placed in little standup picture frames. The thought that in a few moments anything that Regina and David had once built, their friendship and trust, it could very possibly all be gone. Pulled away from her and erased as though it had never existed.

And then he would forget about her. They always did. Henry sure did. He would forget about all the moments they shared and go back to his precious Snow. They would take more pictures and hang them on these very walls. And she would be pushed to the back of both of their minds. Ignored.

"Okay, I'm ready," Snow announced, walking to the door with her purse. "Are you coming, Regina?"

Regina's back was turned and she was grateful for that. That way Snow couldn't see the tear that fell from Regina's eyes. She squeezed them tightly and nodded her head, wiping under her eye.

"Yes, dear, I am."

•••

The bell sounded on the door as Regina and Snow walked into the shop. Belle rounded the corner quickly.

"Can I help you?" She asked in her heavily accented voice.

"Where's the imp?" Regina asked. She hoped this would make clear that she was in no mood for chatter.

"I've been expecting you, Your Majesty," Gold said, also coming into view and standing protectively next to Belle. Regina cringed.

"We need to talk," she snapped.

"I believe we do," he said. "Belle, why don't you go in the back, hm?"

"What?" Regina asked sarcastically. "Don't want your precious Belle to know what kind of beast you really are?"

"What is she talking about Rumple?" She asked, grabbing his arm firmly.

"I promise, I will explain everything later. But for now, I need you to do this for me," the imp said, a look of uneasiness displaying in Belle's eyes, but she hesitantly nodded before exiting into the back.

"Now, what is it I can do for you?" He asked, walking from behind his desk to stand directly in front of the two women. There was something in his eyes that rubbed Regina the wrong way. He was up to something.

"I think you know exactly what we came here for," Regina snarled, having no doubt in her mind that Rumple had indeed been expecting them to come. He had been waiting for Regina to come and ask him to let Snow out of their deal. Or more to say it was okay for her to come clean to her husband and the town. But how? How did he know specifically that Regina would come?

"You're right," he agreed with a smirk. "I do know. I just want to hear you say it."

And then it hit her and she understood exactly how he could have known she would come. He was playing her.

All of the anger that had been boiling up inside her seemed to grow, but she no longer felt the need to throw a fireball at something or burn down the entire town. No. Regina suddenly had an overwhelming urge to break down and cry.

But she couldn't. She couldn't let this sick, twisted, pathetic excuse of a man win. So digging her fingernails into the palms of her hands, she gritted her teeth and gathered up all her strength to say what needed to be said.

"Let Snow White come clean to her prince about the child." It took everything she had to say those words. She dropped her gaze to the floor, cursing herself for the way her eyes betrayed her and showed the pain she was feeling. But not before Rumple noticed.

He observed how what she had just said took a toll on her body. Her eyes darkened and became distant and sad. Her shoulders dropped down in almost a defeated way but her head remained high to maintain the illusion of power and sophistication. He watched the way her face, against her will, registered a pain that could only come from a heart that was slowly breaking into pieces. And he smiled.

"Okay," came his reply. Regina raised her eyes slowly and looked into his own devilishly proud ones. This had been exactly what he wanted.

"Okay?" Snow spoke up, not understanding why it was so easy to get him to agree to this.

"Okay," he repeated, returning his attention to Snow. "You are free to go on and live your perfect, happy life with your perfect little family. The threats I have made no longer stand." These words were spoken to hit Regina exactly where it hurt the most. Because now Regina could never live a perfect life like she had so stupidly allowed herself to hope for. Of course she couldn't. He made sure of that.

"But-"

"Just go, Snow," Regina spoke up, her voice thin and seemingly more broken. "You have what you came for."

It was then that Snow noticed the way Regina seemed remarkably sadder. The way her eyes were welling up with tears.

But Snow White was no idiot. They were basically handing her a way out of this hellish mess on a silver platter and she'd be stupid if she said no. So, with one last look to her stepmother, she turned and left the shop.

"Why?" Regina asked once the woman had left the shop.

"I think you're smart enough to figure out why, dearie," he said wickedly, the smile never leaving his mouth.

"I know why. I know you wanted me to hurt. You wanted me to hope for something I would never be able to have so you could rip it away from me. You concocted this whole little scheme to hurt me. You could care less about Snow and Charming's baby. You used them to get to me. You wanted me defeated. And you got that. But what I don't understand is why," she said, a tear falling from her eyes. She quickly wiped it away. The last thing she wanted was to appear weak.

"Because you ripped my happy ending away from me too once! Or did you so soon forget? You locked the only person in all the realms that could see the good in me up in a tower and told me she was dead! And I wanted you to suffer," he said angrily.

"You sent a goddamned wraith after me! Wasn't that bad enough?"

"Somehow, you managed to escape that. But that's okay." His smile grew. "Because now, I have something better. It's good you're not dead. You need to be alive so you can feel the pain I felt. Now, thanks to Snow and her prince, you're broken."

He was right. She was so very broken.

"How very wrong you." She was fighting like hell not to appear broken. Fighting like hell not to let him win. The tears that once were falling were nowhere to be seen. Now she was angry. "Because despite what you had hoped, I could care less about any of them."

"I have known you long enough, dearie. I know that you loved him. And I also know that despite any feelings he may have accumulated over the past few months, he will never choose the Evil Queen over his precious wife. He will choose her without a second thought. That's just who he is."

"You're wrong," but he was so very right. About all of it. So before he could say anything else, with a wave of her hand, she was gone in a purple cloud.

•••

"Hello?" Regina answered her phone, her voice barely audible.

"Regina?" David asked, concern in his voice. "Are you okay?"

"Do you need something?" She chose to ignore his question. She didn't have it in her to lie.

"You didn't come to lunch and I was worried."

Oh crap, she thought. She had completely forgotten about lunch. She was supposed to have been at Granny's an hour ago.

"I'm sorry."

"We can reschedule," he said without a second thought.

"I don't think that will be necessary, David," she replied, a tear falling down her already tearstained face. She had been crying for hours now.

"Regina, we need to talk about this."

"I don't think we do anymore."

"I know you don't want to. But we need to if we're ever going to make this work. Whatever this is." Regina had to bring the phone away from her face so he couldn't hear the heartbreaking sob she let out. She clutched her stomach, taking a deep breath, and with a shaky hand, brought the phone back to her ear.

"Did Snow talk to you, David?"

"Yeah…" He said slowly. "She came by my place earlier and asked if we could talk. I was hesitant but she seemed really adamant about it so I told her we could meet up for dinner tonight. But I can cancel if you want to reschedule our lunch."

"No, there's no need for that. Go to dinner, David. I think you'll be interested to hear what she has to say."

"Do you know what it is?"

"I…um…I have to go," she replied quickly.

"Regina, wait! Can I come over? We don't have to talk about last night but you don't seem okay. Just let me..."

"No, David. I need to be alone," and with that, she hung up the phone and placed it next to her on the bed. She wiped a few fallen tears from her wet cheeks.

She sat there, wondering how she had gotten herself into this. She asked herself how the hell she was going to make it out of this in one piece. She didn't have an answer to that one.

She asked herself how she could possibly have fallen for him. But that only led to more crying because it made her remember all of the good things David had brought into her dark life. He made her happy. And now that he was gone, she was hurting.

And suddenly, a wave of clarity washed over her and everything made perfect sense. How could she not have realized this before? With a trembling hand, she pressed her palm up to her chest where her heart was. She felt its steady beat and cringed. It seemed to be mocking her. It reminded her of just how much she had lost. Her heart was only adding to her constantly growing pain.

She couldn't understand how she had been living with it for so long. And she certainly couldn't bear to live with it for one more moment. All of the pain she had felt throughout those years was unnecessary. She didn't have to feel anything anymore.

So with her tired soul weighing her down, she ripped it out.

Please don't stalk me and kill me for this. I have had it in my mind for a while. And I promise that I didn't steal the idea from the show because from the very beginning, this was a major plot twist that I was planning on writing.

And I can't thank you guys enough for the reviews and for keeping up with this. I love you all 3