A/N: Hey guys. I'm sorry about the really weird formatting in that last chapter, and also, when I'm writing I always put like a line or a big space when there is a skip in time or a big pause between events, but for some reason it doesn't show up when I upload. So if it ever seems like the subject/time suddenly just changes without warning and you get confused, just assume they are in a new setting. Also, sorry for this short chapter, and for the fact that it's literally just my interpretation of the vault scene. There will be another update soon, but the next update would have been way too long with these two parts included, so here it is on its own!

Anyways, hope you enjoy, gimme some reviews. Thanks, love y'all!

Chapter 6

Well, this was probably the last setting Regina had envisioned herself waking up in this morning. She had not imagined that she would be waking up in the guest bedroom of Killian's house, wearing only Robin's black t-shirt from the night before and her underwear. She had not anticipated that she would have spent the night sleeping next to a wonderfully shirtless Robin Locksley, who had one of his frustratingly gorgeous arms wrapped around her, as she was happily curled up against his exposed chest. And she certainly had not expected that she would let herself give into how she felt about Robin at Killian's party.

Oh, God. She had given in. She had let it happen, she had shown him her hand, she'd let him know her secret. And now…. Now they were here. Now she was wrapped in his arms, breathing in his painfully entrancing scent, allowing herself to be even further tempted… Now she really didn't want to leave. She'd given in, and now she didn't know how to return to the blissful ignorance of what being with Robin might be like… What. Had. She. Done?

Regina felt a painfully strong internal battle raging within her. Part of her suddenly felt like she was being strangled to death with paralyzing fear and entrapment. Like all she wanted to do was disentangle herself from Robin's arms, sprint out of Killian's house, and never speak to Robin again. Like she wanted to just… spare herself. Spare herself from Robin and everything that he might entail. And the other part of her wanted to just nestle further into his chest and relax while she waited for him to wake up. To let herself revel in how flawlessly perfect the night had been… The way his lips had felt moving in perfect synchronization with hers, the way his hands had felt on her body, the way it made her heart race and her stomach flip, the way she'd wanted him… the way he hadn't even asked to do anything more than kiss her, and then (literally) sleep together. She couldn't have imagined it any better herself. Of course she couldn't. It was only natural at this point that being with Robin would be even better than Regina had imagined it would be. So very, very typical of Robin Locksley to surpass her (already very high, honestly) expectations.

Just as Regina was waging this rather intense mental battle, Robin stirred in his sleep a little. His arm underneath her twitched, and she briefly considered that his arm was probably dead asleep, as she was pretty sure she'd been laying on it all night. Regina, fearing that if she didn't make herself move now that she never would, forced herself to shift her weight over onto her side to face his sleeping body.

The relieving of the pressure on his arm seemed to rouse him. Robin's eyes reluctantly opened, and Regina fought the urge to laugh as she watched him adjust to the bright light flooding in from the window. Regina watched in amusement as Robin, having adjusted to the the brightness of the room, confusedly began taking in his surroundings, before realizing where he was. He seemed to encounter the same moment of initial shock that she had at where he'd found himself this morning, followed by a moment of intense uncertainty about what to do next.

"Look who's finally woken up," Regina said softly, so that she might break the tension between them. This comment was rather hypocritical, considering that Regina herself had woken up probably less than five minutes ago. Nevertheless, Robin grinned as he too shifted his body so that he was angled towards Regina. His close proximity was… even more exciting sober. Perfect.

"I apologize… But that was the best, um… sleep, I've had in a very long time," Robin responded with a knowing smirk. Regina was unable to stop the flattered and shy smile that spread across her face at his compliment. Knowing he had… enjoyed what had happened between them as much as she had made her much happier than it should have.

Because she knew it didn't matter, ultimately. No matter how… amazing, Robin might make her feel, and no matter how much she found that she wanted him, she just… couldn't let herself. She wasn't ready. When Daniel had left, Regina couldn't imagine herself loving anyone ever again, she couldn't imagine herself even considering loving anyone else ever again. Just a month ago, when school had started, Regina wasn't even sure if she would be able to handle being around her best friends. She hadn't even figured out how she was going to survive two more years of high school, in general. Daniel had destroyed Regina's heart so thoroughly, how could she possibly even consider handing it to someone else to destroy? She couldn't. Robin may be exactly what she wanted, but he just couldn't be what she needed. And Regina knew that she absolutely was not in a place in her life to be taking emotional gambles.

So, it was decided. Yes, Regina had a moment (a night) of weakness, and now she knew what it was like to be with him, and now it was even more difficult to keep him at arm's length. But as soon as she left this room, she knew that she was going to have to teach herself to do just that. What happened in this room last night, was going to stay in this room. It could never happen again, and she would never ever let it. But that was after she left this room, Regina rationed with herself. She could indulge herself, just a little bit, just one more time. It was only fair, she decided.

Regina forced herself to sit up in the bed, and Robin followed her lead. She ran her hand through her hair, still lightly smiling at his comment about 'sleep'. She briefly glanced down at herself, and realized again that she was still wearing his t-shirt, and he was still shirtless. A very problematic thing for Regina's newfound resolve to push him away. She forced herself to swing her legs over her side of the bed and stand up. Robin again followed her example, and stood from his side of the bed. Oh, dear lord, standing was a bad idea, his body… She literally wanted to look away, it was almost painful for her to see. Sadly, Robin was clearly inconsiderate of her struggle, because he simply crossed the room to where she was now standing.

"I assume you want your shirt back," Regina mused, letting herself stare into his eyes. Undeniably a mistake, but she was indulging herself one last time, Regina reminded herself. Robin half smiled at her comment.

"Sadly, yes. It looks much better on you though," he responded easily, giving her that far too perfect look of admiration that made Regina's heart stop beating. She couldn't help but grin, which seemed to make him happy.

"So… why don't you and I sneak out of this house, and let me take you to breakfast at Granny's?" Robin asked gently, smiling at her with his infectious warmth. Regina hated herself for how much she wanted to accept his offer… For how much she wanted nothing more than to stay with him, and be with him, and… No, no more.

"That sounds lovely, but we both know we can't do that," Regina answered him quietly, sighing and averting her eyes from his. Robin seemed to be expecting this response.

"You're probably right. I hear Granny is a bit of a gossip," he said back, his voice laced with playful sarcasm. Regina chuckled, and let an amused grin slide across her face, in spite of herself. This, in turn, made Robin return her expression.

"There it is," he began softly, lightly running one of his hands over her cheek and through her hair. Regina could've sworn this sent a literal shiver down her spine, as her heart rate nearly doubled. "There's that elusive, but satisfying smile I think about every time I close my eyes."

Regina felt an intense flush rise to her cheeks and she bit her lip bashfully, averting her gaze again. She loved the way he was speaking to her right now, she had never enjoyed a conversation as much as she was enjoying this one, and how she wanted to continue it… but she couldn't. She had to stop him.

"Robin…-"

"Regina, I know. I know that we didn't put anything into writing last night, please relax," Robin interrupted her, sighing, and letting his hand fall from her face. He seemed to be anticipating all of her reactions this morning. Of course he was.

And of course Regina knew it was important that he understand where she stood on their future, but she also couldn't stand the thought of him not at least knowing that she'd… enjoyed what had happened between them. She wanted him to know at least that much.

"Robin, it was…" she began, before realizing she couldn't even find the appropriate vocabulary to express just how… incredible it had been.

"I know," Robin murmured, taking a step closer to her. It was peculiar, even though Robin clearly seemed to understand that Regina was going to pull away and not allow a future, he continued to act as though he thought the opposite. Regina wondered if perhaps he was just indulging himself one last time as well. She couldn't deny that the thought flattered her.

"But I can't," she told him gently, slightly nervous for his response. Robin sighed again.

"I know."
"Because, I can't..- what do you mean you know?" Regina interrupted herself. She'd been preparing to explain to Robin that the situation was too complicated, and the fact that he apparently already agreed with her caught her off guard.

"Regina, I… I'm sorry that I took advantage of you last night, I absolutely shouldn't have done that," Robin answered her, staring into her eyes earnestly, like he truly meant what he'd said. This really made Regina do a double take. He could not possibly think that he took advantage of her, there was no way Regina could allow him to continue thinking that, it would just be wrong, right?

"Robin, you absolutely did not take advantage of me. Neither of us were in a state of mind to be making clear emotional decisions. And I didn't exactly say no," Regina argued, letting out a slight chuckle at the end as she painfully recalled just how much she didn't resist him…

An adorable half smile spread across Robin's lips. He took Regina by surprise again by easily placing his hands on the curves of her waist. Oh, no… His hands absolutely could not be there, there was no way she could resist…

"I don't think you said much of anything, actually," Robin breathed softly, his face suddenly troublingly close to Regina's. His hands were causing her stomach to do backflips, and her heart to take off at a sprint, and his remarkably clean smelling breath made her head a whir. She needed to come up with a response to his comment, she recognized.

"Yes, well, the unknown number of whiskey shots you and I decided to take didn't exactly do wonders for my vocabulary skills," Regina managed to answer sarcastically, earning a chuckle from Robin.

"Yes, mistakes were made. One of them certainly being that we managed to walk in on Gold and Belle doing… Whatever it is they were doing," Robin responded, raising his eyebrows and laughing again. Regina groaned miserably, sadly recalling the horror show that she and Robin had unsuspectingly encountered. She also considered how genuinely tragic it was that she would be unable to torment Gold with what she'd seen, as he had something equally as horrible to fire back at her.

"Oh, God, I was praying that was just a nightmare. That was truly traumatizing. I certainly picked the wrong room…"

"Yes, we made mistakes. But I think… we made up for them," Robin murmured, allowing one of his hands to softly run through Regina's hair again. Regina lost a significant amount of self control with that movement, and found herself almost involuntarily leaning into Robin's lips, her nose brushing against his. So close, so close… NO.

"Or digging ourselves in deeper. We can't," Regina finally stopped herself, forcing herself to take a step back. She also compelled herself to take Robin's hands off of her body and place them firmly by his sides. She really needed him to not be shirtless anymore.

Regina made her way into the bathroom, where she knew she'd taken off her clothes the night before, leaving Robin standing by the bed. She quickly changed back into her black leather skirt and red, blousing tank top from the night before. She also picked up her shoes and her leather jacket off of the ground and brought them back into the room.

She'd only been gone for a few seconds, but Robin had moved over to his side of the bed. Regina set her shoes and jacket onto the desk in the corner, not able to face the thought of putting her feet back into those heels. She tossed Robin the t-shirt he'd so graciously loaned her.

He wordlessly accepted it and pulled it over his head. Honestly, he looked so ridiculously good in it that it didn't much remedy the shirtless situation. Probably a step in the right direction though.

"Besides, Robin, even if there wasn't a Daniel, or a Marian, or a Snow, David, Killian, Emma, or Gold… I'm certain that this would end… badly," Regina felt the need to continue, at the very impassive expression on Robin's face. She figured that Robin might not be so mad at her if maybe she could explain to him what being with her would be like… If she could make him understand that she really wasn't something he should want for himself.

Robin looked at her incredulously, and crossed the room to where she was standing.

"Are you really that much of a pessimist?"

"You would be too, if you actually knew anything about me," Regina answered him softly, truly meaning what she said.

Regina wouldn't necessarily classify herself as someone desperately in need of validation, or as someone who looked like she suffered from crippling insecurity. She did, however, consider herself to be someone with… baggage. This wasn't exactly uncalled for, as the two most important people in her life, her father and her little brother, had died two years ago. And that her boyfriend of four years had been unable to emotionally support her in the aftermath, and instead allowed her to catch him having sex with someone else. And that she had a mother who enjoyed nothing more than pointing out and nagging her about every single flaw she had. So, Regina believed that she'd earned the right to carry some emotional baggage around with her. But she also believed that this extra cargo made her a very difficult person to be close to at all, let alone to love. And she felt that Robin should understand this before he started making promises about his feelings for her that he wouldn't want to keep.

"Regina… I'll accept any excuse you want to give me about how it's a complicated situation because of your past with Daniel, or maybe even mine with Marian, or about the fact that you and I not only share friends, but are friends ourselves. But don't even begin to tell me that I wouldn't want you," Robin said, much more seriously than she was accustomed to hearing from him. She hated him for the fact that, even though she knew he didn't know what he was saying, she almost believed him anyways.

"You have no idea what you'd be getting yourself into, trust me," Regina murmured, finding her resolve compromised as Robin steadily moved closer to her again. He shook his head, and his hands gently moved back onto Regina's waist. This, again, sent shivers of desire and pleasure down her spine. And, again, she almost just gave in.

"Don't. Regina, just let me…" Robin breathed, pressing his forehead against hers. Regina needed to get his hands off of her, quickly…

"You can't. We can't," Regina somehow got herself to respond, "And this… cannot happen a second time. You understand?" she finished, as she forced herself to take his hands off of her body again. She didn't, however, seem to possess enough self control to make herself take a step back. Robin sighed.

"I know. And I agree," he replied softly, nodding curtly. He stared into her eyes strongly, with a look that told Regina he really wouldn't pursue her anymore if it wasn't what she wished. This was what she needed, of course, but she found that it also really wasn't what she wanted…

Clearly the glance she returned to him portrayed her underlying disappointment, and Robin perceived it. He suddenly smirked, and placed his hands back onto her waist.

"But… If we don't leave this room…" Robin trailed off seductively, causing a tragic spike in Regina's heart rate. He slowly started walking towards her, forcing her to take a step back. "Then… I think, that this still just counts as the first time, don't you?"

Regina was unable to resist the amused and flirtatious grin that suddenly took over her face as she allowed Robin to gently trap her against one of the walls of the bedroom. Robin pressed his lips against hers and all of Regina's protests and arguments for how bad of an idea this was dissipated in her mind as she was lost in the heaven that was kissing Robin Locksley. One of Robin's hands tangled into Regina's hair, and she wrapped her arms around his torso, holding him to her. And then, slightly to Regina's annoyance, but mostly to her rather intense pleasure, Robin's strong arms suddenly wrapped around under Regina's ass and lifted her up into his arms. Regina felt herself grin into his kiss, as he carried her across the room and back over to the bed. She felt herself falling backwards onto it, and decided to really indulge herself for a minute or two.

_It was more than a minute or two. It was two hours. And had Cora not left Regina a scaldingly angry voicemail about her whereabouts, it could've been two days.

Regina, having fully clothed herself again, sprinted down the stairs of Killian's house, and attempted to maneuver herself out the door without encountering anyone else. It was something of a tradition for Regina and her friends to spend the night at the Jones' house after a party to have breakfast and help Killian clean up in the morning. So she knew there was a very disturbing chance that her entire friend group could be sitting in the living room waiting for her and Robin to make the walk of shame down the stairs. And she was not in the mood for the humiliation of an intervention at the moment.

"Leaving without saying goodbye?" Mary Margaret suddenly called out from the living room, much to Regina's horror. She sighed, knowing she'd been caught, and moped into the living room. She tried to mentally prepare herself for becoming the punchline of about a million jokes from Killian, Gold and David, and to be completely emotionally interrogated by Snow and Emma.

However, she was pleased to see that the only person in the room was Snow. She was seated on the couch casually, sipping leisurely from a cup of coffee, and dressed in David's button down shirt from the night before and some athletic shorts. Mary Margaret was probably smart enough to bring a change of clothes with her… Regina hated herself for not possessing this foresight. If she had, she wouldn't have needed to borrow Robin's shirt, and him being shirtless could've been avoided entirely, and maybe then she would've had some self control this morning. She knew that this was very unlikely, but it made her feel better to pretend.

"Yes, that was the goal," Regina snarked, rolling her eyes. Mary Margaret grinned.

"No need. Everyone else is still asleep. Well, except Robin, I would assume," she replied, smirking knowingly. Regina felt the unpleasant heat of humiliation flood her cheeks.

"I wouldn't have any idea what Robin is doing right now."

"Alright, we'll go with that. So, how was your evening?" Mary Margaret asked calmly, clearly not believing a word of what Regina had said.

"Spectacular. I don't think my morning will be, though. Cora just left me a very passive aggressive voicemail suggesting that I return home 'at my earliest convenience'," Regina answered, dreading the hell Cora was sure to give her when she got home.

"How'd she find out you were here?"

"Actually, she just thinks I'm at your house at the moment," Regina responded, smiling ironically. Mary Margaret laughed.

"What's she so mad about, then?"

"Oh, you see, obviously, with my six AP classes, I've been 'disappointingly lazy' lately, and she is 'displeased with my high amount of social outings' in recent weeks," Regina explained, rolling her eyes irritably at just how infuriating her mother was. Mary Margaret also rolled her eyes.

"Your mother really makes it hard to like her, I have to say," she replied, shaking her head.

"Yes, well, I should be getting back to her," Regina said sarcastically, making her way back towards the front door before Mary Margaret could try and talk about Robin again.

"Nope, nope, nope. We are not done here, young lady" Mary Margaret called out after Regina condescendingly. Regina groaned miserably and turned back around.

"I really think we are. What is it that you so desperately want to talk about?"

"I want to talk about the fact that you clearly return Robin's feelings for you," Snow exclaimed excitedly. Regina ignored the way her stomach flipped over when Snow mentioned Robin's 'feelings for her'. This was ridiculous, of course. He did not have feelings for her, and she certainly did not return the feelings he obviously did not have.

"Robin does not have feelings for me. And I do not have feelings for him. It's really very simple," Regina snapped. Snow rolled her eyes, and shook her head.

"You might want to finish buttoning your shirt before you go off about your complete lack of feelings for Robin," Snow retorted, smirking. Mortified, Regina briefly glanced down at herself and realized that her bra was indeed slightly showing. Perfect. She hastily moved to adjust her shirt so that none of her undergarments were visible. Though it didn't do much to help her argument against Snow in the moment, it was certainly a good thing Snow had mentioned this, as Cora would have gone ballistic if she'd seen it.

"Right, well-"

"Right, well, you just spent the night with Robin, and if I didn't know better, I'd say that you look smitten," Snow interrupted, arching an eyebrow challengingly. Regina's already present flush deepened. She absolutely did not look smitten. She had no feelings whatsoever about Robin or about the night they had just shared. Nothing. Not a single emotion.

"And if I didn't know better, I'd say that you just want me to like Robin so that you don't have to feel so awful about what happened with Daniel," Regina snapped back in response. She regretted it instantly, it was vicious and uncalled for, even for her.

Fortunately, her remark didn't seem to hurt Snow's feelings as much as she'd worried it might. Snow just sighed, and rose from the couch.

"Or maybe I just want you to be happy. Daniel wasn't going to make you happy. But Robin… Robin will."

"And how can you possibly know that? We've known him all of a month."

"Yes, and I'm sure you've noticed that we're all rather taken with him," Snow responded pointedly, arching an eyebrow. Well, wasn't that the fucking truth… If only her friends hadn't been so taken with him. If they hadn't all fallen so helplessly prey to Robin's ridiculous amount of charm and just overall amazing personality, Regina wouldn't have found herself in the predicament she was in. She would have been able to avoid him, like she'd known she should, and she wouldn't be here, having just spent the night with him and completely falling for- NO. Regina cut off her own train of thought, she absolutely was not falling for Robin Locksley. He was nothing to her, it was just a drunken mistake, a meaningless hook up. She was certain that if she told herself that enough times, she might eventually start to believe it.

"Yes, I've noticed."

"Regina, you don't have to be ashamed," Snow said gently, as though she was reading Regina's mind like a book. Snow had always had a very irritating penchant for reading Regina's thoughts and facial expressions, and somehow always knowing exactly what she was thinking. Regina seldom admitted it, because Snow really did drive her absolutely insane at times, but she might very well be the only person in Regina's life who truly seemed to understand her.

"I know I don't have to be. But… I am," Regina whispered in response, letting her guard down for a moment. Snow sighed, and gave Regina her classic empathetic and loving glance in response.

"Be as stubborn as you'd like, but when you're ready to admit the fact that you're falling for him, I'll be right here waiting to talk about it with you," Snow said, clearly amused by Regina's stubborn attitude. Regina temporarily loved and hated her for being such a good friend.

"Don't hold your breath for that. You know what, actually, go ahead," Regina snarked, putting her guard right back up. Snow grinned and rolled her eyes. Regina turned to make her escape out the door for the third time.

"I'd tame that sass of yours, missy, or Cora will have you for breakfast," Snow called out to her, as Regina finally made her way out the door. This was the one true thing Snow had said all morning.

"Love you!" Snow shouted just as Regina slammed the door. Regina couldn't help but smile at that anyways.