A/N: So I was tempted to make this a chapter about Emma, but then I figured I'd get killed. So it's Outlaw Queen, and all I can say is, be careful what you wish for.
Roland had had a nightmare, about hippos of all things. Robin was really going to have to figure out a way to combat this fear. Maybe a trip to the zoo? Or would that just make it worse? It was times like this that he really missed Marion.
And of course, thoughts like that made him feel guilty. He should miss his wife all the time, not just when being a single parent was difficult. And he sure as hell shouldn't be thinking about the teenager in the kitchen right at that moment.
He managed to settle Roland down with a bedtime story, a couple of extra stuffed animals on the bed, and a night light left on, and then he headed back out to Regina, wondering if he had time for a cold shower beforehand.
Regina was in the kitchen, her shirt spread out on the bench, as she poured salt all over the red wine stain. She felt all kinds of nervous, jittery and excited but not wanting to get her hopes up.
Maybe if she'd been paying more attention, or feeling calmer, she would have put a shirt on, but she really liked this top, and didn't know how to explain about the wine all over it, so her first focus had been the stain.
Robin walked back quietly, telling himself that he was keeping his footsteps light so as not to wake up Roland, but he paused by the door and watched Regina, a smile on his face even as he groaned quietly at the sight of her standing there in her jeans and that slip of lace that seemed to enhance her breasts and make her even more tempting.
He stood there for a moment, telling himself that he wasn't really spying, when he noticed the bruise on her neck. She turned her head slightly and he noticed the other one as well.
"What the hell are they?" He strode into the room, straight over to her. Regina looked up, a confused smile on her face.
"I'm sorry, I'm using up all your salt."
Robin frowned, and then glanced down at her top.
"Oh, fine. Whatever." Then he looked into her eyes. "Regina, what are those marks on your neck?"
Regina was confused for a moment, and then she realised and her face paled. She pressed her fingers to the hickeys and turned away.
"Ohmigod!" Her shirt had been chosen to cover up the marks that Viktor had left, but of course her underwear didn't do that. Robin's hand was just over her shoulder, and he wasn't sure if he should touch her or not.
"Regina, has somebody hurt you?"
Regina gave a bitter laugh.
"Yes," She admitted, and stepped away from Robin. "But not the way you think." She leaned back against the counter and folded her arms across her chest. "They're hickeys Robin, I got them last night."
Robin felt the bile rise in his stomach. He blinked slowly at her, and gulped.
"Hi.. hickeys? You mean… Ohhh."
Regina cringed.
"Yeah, oh." She sighed heavily. "Look, I'm going to put another top on, I'll be back in a minute." Then she tried to leave the room.
Robin stuck his arm out to stop her.
"Regina, wait." He wrapped his arm around her lightly. "Talk to me. What's going on?"
Regina stood still, trying not to mould into Robin's arm. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words. And then, to both their amazement, she burst into tears, throwing herself against Robin's chest and clinging to him.
"It's all a fucking mess!" She mumbled against his shirt. "Everything is so fucking messed up!"
Robin took a moment to react, telling himself that he really shouldn't be touching her. But she was crying and what kind of a bastard would he be if he didn't comfort her? So he wrapped his arms around her and started to rub her back.
"There there," he mentally groaned again, what sort of a pathetic comment was that? "I'm sure it's not that bad." Christ! That was even worse! "Do you want to talk about it?"
Regina lifted her head and Robin really had to force himself to not kiss her. Her lips were just there and she looked so helpless and hopeless and shit! This was a disaster.
"I made a massive mistake last night." Regina finally managed to murmur, her eyes on Robin's lips.
"What happened?"
Regina chewed her lip for a moment as she considered her response, and Robin really forced himself to not snatch her lip between his own.
"Ok, so it's kind of a long story."
Robin gave a gentle smile.
"No place I'd rather be than listening to you." he replied honestly, and Regina gave him a shy smile.
"When I was 14 I was dating this guy called Daniel."
Robin nodded, to encourage her to keep speaking. He had no idea where this was going, but he was willing to stand there, holding her, for as long as she needed. Regina seemed to appreciate it, and she smiled again, before resting her head against his chest. She needed to not look at him when she spoke, or she'd never get the words out.
"He had an older brother, and before Daniel and I got together I kind of had a crush on him. But then I started dating Daniel and that was pretty intense, and yeah." She blushed, and tightened her grip. This really was comfortable, being in Robin's arms. "Anyway, one night Daniel and I were on a date at the movies and his brother was meant to come and pick us up, drive us home and so on. But he had been at a party and was drinking. Not too much, just enough that his reactions were slowed." She looked up as she felt Robin stiffen. He had a feeling he knew where this was going. After all, there were no Daniels in Regina's grade, and there was only the one high school in town. "He took too long to go through a green light and a truck driver ran the red, crashed into us, and Daniel was killed."
"Oh Regina," Robin felt his heart break, and he held her even tighter. He kissed the top of her head, rubbing her back. That was horrible. "You poor thing, I'm so sorry. Were you hurt?"
Regina felt the tears falling again, and she looked up at him, a watery smile on her lips.
"I broke my leg and fractured a couple of ribs. His brother got a broken arm. Daniel got the brunt of the damage. Was killed instantly."
Robin was running his hands over Regina's bare back, wishing there was a way he could make all her pain go away. Regina snuggled into his chest, feeling so warm. Then she took a breath and went on with the story.
"I hadn't seen the brother for a long time, he went away to uni and stuff. But recently he came back to town and it's been pretty horrible. We've been fighting and stuff." It would be so much easier if she could tell Robin who it was, but she didn't want to. She felt it would just make her feel even dirtier. "It's been impacting on my life, and he told me that we needed to talk about it. He invited me to dinner last night, and I realised that I needed to clear the air with him, because otherwise things will just get worse."
"That's a brave thing you did, and very mature." Robin smiled encouragingly. Regina gave a bitter snort.
"Yeah, well, not so sure about that. We had dinner, and we were talking, and it was going ok, and then he admitted that he'd always fancied me." She cringed at that, because how could she continue the rest of the story?
"He has good taste," Robin murmured, and then his eyes flew open wide. Regina glanced up at him, but he didn't say anything. Instead he just pressed her head back to his chest so he didn't have to look at her. Regina gave a small smile and resumed her story.
"I ended up admitting that I'd had a bit of a crush on him as well, before Daniel, and somehow we ended up kissing and… yeah."
"Regina, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." There was a part of Robin that really didn't even want to hear it all, but if she needed to talk he'd listen.
"We had sex." Regina blurted out. "And he gave me the hickeys."
"Did he force you?" Robin was insistent, leaning back so he could make her look at him.
"What? Oh no," Regina snorted. "More like I forced him, to be honest. But then he told me he had been in love with me all that time, and he still was, and he wanted to wait for me and ugh!"
"In love with you?" Robin really wished his voice didn't sound so traumatised. Regina gulped and nodded. "And what about you? Do you have feelings for him?"
Regina shook her head, her eyes wide and locked on Robin's.
"No," she admitted. "I don't."
"So why did you sleep with him?" Robin was almost afraid to ask. Regina sighed.
"Because I'm an idiot and he was there and I felt guilty because he liked me and he was jealous of Daniel, and did I mention I'm an idiot?"
Robin rubbed her back again.
"Regina, you are NOT an idiot!" he insisted. "And you should never feel obligated to have sex with somebody. That's just not on! You should feel comfortable with saying no, and being listened to. OK? You deserve somebody that respects you, and doesn't guilt you into a lay!"
Regina stared at Robin, and if she hadn't already been in love with him she would have fallen harder for him. She had a wondrous smile on her face and Robin felt a little embarrassed at how impassioned he had sounded.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "I just… I don't like men who take advantage of women."
"Why do you think he took advantage of me?" Regina was surprised.
"Because you were hurt by him and he manipulated you into feeling like you owed him sex. That's not alright Regina."
Regina couldn't speak. She was stunned. So instead she decided to act without thinking, after all when did thinking really do her any good? So she reached up and pressed her lips to Robin's, holding him tight as she kissed him.
Robin didn't react at first, but only for that first second. Then he was returning the kiss, his tongue brushing against Regina's lips and gently pushing into her mouth when she opened up for him. His hand slid down her back, pressing her closer to him as she clung to his shoulders, her arms wrapped tightly around him.
This kiss was, without a doubt, the greatest kiss Regina had ever had. The feel of Robin's lips against hers felt arousing and comforting all at once. His body was strong and soft, and she felt so safe and secure. She had never known a feeling like it, and she wished with all her might that the kiss would never end, because she knew that when it did things would be different and she was terrified that they wouldn't be good different.
Robin was getting lost in the kiss, his eyes closed as he held Regina tightly. He had dreamed of this, and the reality was even better. He felt like he had come home, and the taste of her was heavenly.
But there was a voice in his head, screaming at him that this was wrong. She was a teenager, and had just been through an ordeal, he didn't need to add to her dramas. Plus he had a duty of care to her, he was her teacher and he was abusing his position over her.
But God it felt so good to be kissing her, to be holding her in his arms. He could almost believe that they were in love, it just felt so right.
Christ this was fucked up!
He finally managed to pull away from her, and almost couldn't look her in the eyes. He owed her that though, he owed her the respect of actually facing her.
"I'm so sorry Regina, I shouldn't have done that."
Regina had a hazy smile on her face as she gazed up at him, her eyes full of love. Then she heard what he said and frowned.
"What? What do you mean?" She chuckled softly. "Robin, I kissed you, it's ok." She moved closer to kiss him again, but he turned his face away and she scowled. "What is it? Is it because of last night? I told you that was a mistake."
"Regina, this is a mistake." Robin realised he still had his arms around her waist and he had to let her go, even though she didn't want to release him. Finally she had to drop her arms and she crossed them over her chest. Robin felt his heart break for the girl, and for himself, but he had to do this. "I'm so sorry Regina. You are a beautiful young woman and any man would be lucky to have you in his arms." She cut him off.
"I don't want anybody else in my arms, I just want to be in your arms!"
"You say that now Regina, but you're in a bad place and…"
"So what? You're saying I'm just kissing you because you're here?"
"Well you slept with your boyfriend's brother because he was there last night, so what am I supposed to think?"
As soon as he spoke Robin hadn't meant to sound so harsh. Regina stared at him, and had to clench her fist to stop herself from slapping him.
"Well it's nice to know what you really think of me." She muttered, and turned around to grab her shirt. She couldn't wear it, but she had a jacket she could pull on, she'd have to settle for that. "I'll get out of your hair."
"Regina wait," Robin tried to stop her as she stalked from the room, but this time she shook his grip off.
"No Robin, you've made it clear what you think of me, so I'll leave. I'd hate to make you feel obligated!" Her voice was so bitter as she threw his words back at him and Robin wanted to howl.
"Regina that wasn't what I meant."
"Oh I think it's perfectly clear what you meant." Regina grabbed her bag and slipped her jacket on, doing up the zip as far as it would go. "I suppose I should be happy you stopped before I forced you to fuck me, because God forbid that happened!" her voice was so bitter and she couldn't look him in the eyes, or the tears that were welling up would fall, and she refused to cry in front of him again.
"Regina that is NOT what I meant!" Robin repeated, but Regina just shook her head.
"Yeah well, whatever the fuck you meant, I don't want to hear it. I'm sorry for wasting your time Robin. I'll let myself out. Don't bother paying me for this job, I'd hate to feel even more like a whore!" Then she strode over to the door and pulled it open. She paused for a moment, and Robin wondered if maybe she was going to come back, but then she shook her head and went outside, slamming the door behind her. Robin cringed as the wall shook from the impact and then he slumped down on a chair.
What the hell had he just done?
A/N: Please don't kill me! I didn't really want things to turn out like this, but I just couldn't write Robin as being ok with the kiss. Well, he's ok with the kiss, but he feels guilty about it. Don't worry though, it isn't the end for Outlaw Queen. The only relationship I'm sure will be end game is this one. That's not to say there won't be others, but I'm certain about this one. Oh, and I'm thinking that this story is maybe about half way through? Thanks for reading and reviewing.
