Her head is bowed when he enters, eyes on the hands in her lap - the engagement ring glittering beautifully on her finger specifically - and so she doesn't see the the look of absolute awe that crosses over his face, that stills him completely in the doorway until he speaks.

"You're…" her head snaps up, eyes going wide in her reflection as she spots him in the mirror, "fuck…"

She rises quickly from the chair, dashing from her dressing table to hide behind the open closet door with just her head visible. "What are you doing in here!?" There's no anger in her tone, just surprise and, he thinks, a hint of worry because she's nothing if not superstitious.

"I know I'm not supposed to see you till you walk down the aisle," he begins, stepping further into the room, adoration growing with the way she pulls the door against her a little tighter, "but baby…" his eyes are shining with it as he lets loose a breath of wondrous laughter, "I just needed to tell you I love you."

She blinks, a shadow of a frown creasing her forehead because she knows he loves her. Of course she does.

"And I know you already know that," he continues without moving any further towards her because they'll have their whole lives to hold one another but they'll never get this moment again. This excitement before they take the ultimate leap and he wants to savour it, wants her to remember it fondly. "But what I also know is that you will never understand nor will you ever fully believe how lucky I consider myself to hold your heart and have you hold mine in return. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, Regina. Despite what you may think, despite the time we spent apart, I regret absolutely none of it because it only made us stronger."

"You are my heart, my world and my soul mate and I cannot wait to stand proudly at that altar with you by my side. We don't need marriage to justify what we are to one another and I know the very thought of it once terrified you having been through what you have but still here you stand," he chuckles wetly, "looking as devastatingly beautiful as you do, ready to marry me. I can't thank you enough for coming to find me in the forest that night and for doing what I was too afraid to do. You are the bravest person I know and I just needed you to know that."

A single tear runs down from her eye over her cheek as she begins to slowly straighten up before she emerges from behind the closet door and crosses the distance between them to take his face between her palms, pulling his mouth to her own in a sweet and lingering kiss. Her forehead is heavy against his own, breath hot as it washes over his lips in a quiet laugh as she asks, "Aren't you supposed to save your vows for the ceremony?"

He laughs with her, can't help it as his hands lift to rest upon the small of her back as he tilts his chin up to press a kiss to her forehead and replies, "Don't you worry about my vows, I have them covered."

She grins with eyes still closed as she loops her arms around his neck and basks in his closeness for a few moments more before she whispers, "I'd get out of here before Snow returns, if I were you."

"She doesn't scare me," he teases but begins to step back from her all the same with a deep dimpled grin as he asks, "meet you downstairs?"

"I'll be the one in the dress," she replies amusedly, watching as he backs out of the room with butterflies taking flight in her stomach. The truth is, she'd been nervous about today having not seen her thief since the previous afternoon - Snow's orders - but still, somehow, he'd known just what she'd needed. And now, well, now she can't wait to feel the cold metal of their rings pressed together as they stand before friends and family alike, proud to be joined to one another forever.