A/N: Sorry for the delay, guys. The past few weeks have been extremely busy. I went to my first OUAT con and met the cast and so many other people. It was the best weekend I've had in a very long time. The cast is just so incredibly sweet!

Now I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter. I can already promise you the chapter after this one will have a scene written by the wonderful FraiseDandelion! We swapped stories for a moment and it was just so much fun!

I'm curious to see what you guys think and every review is very much appreciated. You can also tell me on twitter or tumblr via glindaloveshoes. Thanks to the wonderful waterbaby134 for betaing. Enjoy!

Trigger Warning: Abuse


(12)

The next day was met with a certain laziness of the candidates, paired with light nuances of a hangover from those who enjoyed the rest of the lasagna with the few cheap bottles of wine they had found in a kitchen cabinet. The realization that the wine was cheap set in the next morning, when Robin and Killian weren't the only ones groaning at the bright light which fell through their room. August, as well as David, seemed to have stayed in bed long past breakfast time. It was the camera team that woke them up, the camera man everyone called Happy not bothering to rip away the curtains and open up the French door, saying their room smelled worse than an Irish pub after a funeral. Thanks to Killian's very creative cussing, they probably wouldn't be able to put any of the footage into the show.

They got out of bed, groaning and scratching, wondering who the hell picked up the wine last night. Arthur, it must have been Arthur. Robin rubbed his face with his hands, the pinching headache pounding in his head.

"They could've given us rum or whiskey or beer for Christ's sake, but no, they settled on cheap wine and champagne. Honestly, after this is over, I won't touch a drop of that swill for the next ten years," Killian complained. There was a moan from David, whether in agreement or pain, no one could really say.

"At least you have the day to get over it," David complained, pulling his night shirt over his head. "I have a date with Regina tonight and I'm not sure she'll like me turning up all hung over and reeking of wine."

"No, she doesn't like that at all," Robin mumbled into his hands, his face drawn into a grimace. He vaguely remembered that time she came to his apartment in the morning, finding himself and Will out cold on the living-room floor after a night of Looping Louie. It had been embarrassing, uncomfortable and had ended with a very, very mean Regina who'd kept yelling while loudly cleaning up the mess. Yeah, she wasn't a fan of people getting drunk without her. However, if she was part of the group… Robin smirked, pinching his eyes closed in order to make his headache go away. It didn't help though, but that was probably why he missed the knowing glance David sent over, right before August jumped down to the ground with a soft thud.

"Someone seems confident for tonight. Don't wanna reek of alcohol, eh? You think she's gonna kiss you tonight?"

Even though it seemed as if his headache had just increased, Robin's head shot up, curiously awaiting David's answer. The man in question simply shrugged it off, clearly not willing to talk about whatever intentions he had with Regina tonight. "She won't do anything she doesn't want - and up until now she's made pretty clear what, or rather whom, she wants." His eyes flickered over to Robin, who had the decency to look away and pretend he didn't know what the man was talking about.

"So what do you think you're gonna do tonight?" August wondered.

"No idea. But I hope it doesn't have to do with lasagna, because as much as I love it, I can't see that stuff anymore," he laughed, before he slipped into a pair of jeans and made his way to the bathroom.

"Lucky bastard," Robin heard Killian mumble, receiving a confirming grunt from everyone. David was a lucky bastard indeed, but for some reason he couldn't shake off the thought that the man knew more than he would admit to. Perhaps he should talk to David once he got the chance, dip his toe into the water to find out exactly how much he knew or suspected. The others seemed content with the role they played, but Robin knew Regina and he would have to try harder to keep up their game if they didn't want to get caught. He desperately hoped he would get a chance to talk to Regina soon. Sighing, Robin rubbed his eyes one last time in a vain attempt to get rid of his headache. It didn't help, so a painkiller instead of breakfast would be it.

Xxxxx

She woke with a throbbing headache on the left side of her head. Damn Tink and the bottle of cheap wine she snuck from the set last night. She should have stopped after two glasses, but Tink had urged her on, had made her talk about things she didn't like to talk about in the first place. But her friend knew her too well, knew how easily alcohol loosened her tongue and how willingly she talked about anything she didn't ordinarily want to talk about. Sighing, Regina pressed her head into the pillow, inhaling the sweet flowery scent of the sheet softener. Everything smelled flowery right now... More than usual. Slowly, she popped first one, then the second eye open, the light which flooded the room through the half let down jealousies blinding her a bit. It was only when she grabbed her glasses from the nightstand that her hand touched something soft but very cold. A shriek escaped her throat, her hand accidentally dropping the glasses onto the floor next to her bed. Damn it, lucky for her the bedroom was carpeted. Broken glasses were the last thing she needed right now.

Clumsily, her hands fished the glasses up from the floor, bumping against her slippers and a pillow she must have kicked out of the bed while asleep, until she finally got a hold on the black frames. Her vision wasn't bad without them, with a -2.25 diopter on both eyes, but she liked her glasses and contacts, liked how clear everything was with them. So when she finally put them on and her gaze immediately wandered over to her nightstand, she felt a mixture of confusion and surprise washing over her when she saw the perfect yellow rose resting on the book she usually read when she wasn't too tired in the evenings.

"What the..." she whispered, her hand reaching out to touch the perfect yellow petals, which made her room smell so intensively like flowers. Regina's first thought went immediately to Robin, back to their first meeting here and how he'd given her the yellow rose as a greeting. Was it his? But if so, then how did it get here? Did Tink...? No. Nevertheless, she appreciated the gesture. In order to keep the calming smell in her mind for a bit longer, Regina reached out to hold the rose close to her face. A small hiss of pain escaped her when two of her fingers accidentally closed around a thorn. Who'd give her a rose with thorns anyway, she wondered, scowling, after she drew back her fingers, surprised to see a small drop of blood forming at the puncture. It didn't really hurt much, but it stung.

The moment she got up and was about to head toward the luxurious ensuite bathroom for a much needed shower, her phone rang with Henry's favorite bit of the Iron Man soundtrack. Excitement bubbled up in her at the thought of her little boy, at the same time accompanied with guilt at herself for not having called last night. She would have been a mess, would have told her son things she didn't want him to know - not yet anyway. So she was kind of glad that Tink had taken her phone away from her after the second glass of wine. Tink. Hopefully the blonde had an even worse headache.

"Hi, Sweetie," Regina answered after she picked up the phone, flinching at how dark and cranky her voice sounded. Right now she wasn't really able to opt for the title of Mother of the Year.

"Mom," Henry answered excitedly, her heart swelling every time she could see him happy. "Mom, guess what happened!"

A chuckle escaped her throat while her free hand was rubbing her stiff neck. "Mary Margaret finally managed a decent casserole?"

"Ugh no, mom! Better!"

Her eyes quickly wandered over to the alarm on her nightstand. To her horror she figured it was past ten already, so it must be around 1 pm in New York now. Henry was at school, probably having his lunch break right now. Something must have happened at school, otherwise he wouldn't have called.

"You aced your Maths test?" The silence on the other end was proof enough he didn't, but right now she didn't care. Her baby was excited about something and she needed to know what it was. "You know how bad I am at guessing, Henry. How about you just tell me?"

"Mr. Heller asked me to help him write this year's school play! Can you believe it?"

Yes, yes of course she could believe it! She remembered checking his creative writing works for Mr. Heller often enough over the past year, how proud she'd been when at the parent-teacher-day Henry's teacher had sung his praises about her son, something every mother loved to hear.

"Henry this is amazing! I'm so incredibly proud of you, honey."

"Thanks, mom! He told me I could assist him and read what he wrote and maybe he would even let me write one scene myself. And I can assist him with directing and everything. This is so awesome."

His excitement made her all giddy. How she would love to wrap him in one of her special mama-bear hugs now instead of congratulating him via the telephone. "I'm really, really happy for you, sweetie. I'm sorry I didn't call yesterday. I was out late and by the time I got home you would have been asleep anyway."

"It's okay. Mary Margaret and I went for pizza at Tony's."

"Oh did you now?" Regina grimaced at the thought of all the fast food Henry must have had up until now because of her absence.

"What will you be doing today?" Henry asked, aware of his slip and in need to keep the conversation flowing since he'd grown to love Mary Margaret's and his pizza Wednesdays.

"I have to do some interviews and get ready for this afternoon where I'll have a lasagna date with a really nice guy named David."

Her son hummed in agreement but, just as with Graham, took the liberty to tackle her with a whole bunch of questions she should ask him, like "What is his favorite movie?", "Is he team Iron Man or team Captain America?", "Does he like comics?", etc.

Instead of promising him to ask all these questions, she promised him she would make sure to kick him out if David dared to prefer team Captain America over Iron Man. There was no way she would tell David about Henry, not tonight, not when she'd already slipped with Robin yesterday. It wasn't fair toward the men to keep her son a secret, but when she'd taken this offer, she'd made sure to keep Henry out of everything and decide herself when it was the right time to introduce him to the men.

"Mom, you're gonna be there for the play, right?" Henry's voice was hesitant, a bit insecure and Regina immediately felt a pang in her chest about the fact he even needed to ask this question. This was one of the moments she dearly regretted having to leave her son behind in New York with Mary Margaret. God, the girl was sixteen years older than Henry, she was practically still a child herself! No… no, Mary Margaret was a responsible young adult... who couldn't cook, who was bad at Math, whose head was somewhere in the clouds more often than not. But she'd proven to Regina over and over again that she could trust her, had helped her out of her hellhole of a marriage and was the reason she'd been able to keep Henry in the end. Even though she'd been the one to ruin her life in the first place, Regina had forgiven the girl for her past mistakes and owed Mary Margaret not only hers, but also her son's life.

"Of course I'll be there, Henry… I wouldn't miss it for the world. Mr. Heller is lucky to have such a devoted assistant as yourself."

On the other end of the line she heard Henry release a relieved breath. "Awesome, I'm really excited. Mom, I need to go, uh - Alice wants to help me with my Math homework."

"Does she now?" Regina smirked knowingly. Over the past few weeks this Alice had taken to helping Henry with his Math problems in and outside of class. Not that she minded, Alice was a sweet girl, living not far away from their home and especially now that she couldn't be there to help him, she was glad he'd found someone he could trust with his weakness. Henry had never been easy at making friends since he didn't trust easily after everything that happened with Leopold and the divorce, but somehow Alice had managed to make him trust her. She was happy he had a friend, one who seemed to like him for the sweet person he was. He deserved it, this and so much more.

"We are just friends, mom!" Henry emphasized, his voice picked with a bit of embarrassment. Oh, she could feel his cheeks redden through the phone.

"I know," Regina answered, adding a silent you would be way too young for anything else. "Tell Alice I said hi… And tell Mary Margaret to grab you a salad once in a while."

"I will, mom," Henry promised with that little high pitch at the end of his voice he always had when he was lying. It was one of the perks of being a mother… to always know when your child was telling the truth or lying, even via phone.

"I know you won't, so don't even pretend, young man. Take care. I love you."

"Love you, too! Bye." He hung up and Regina stared at her home screen for a few more moments, before she ditched the phone on the bed in order to take a shower. She'd taught Henry from an early age that lying was not something she tolerated, that he could always come to her with his problems and that she'd help him no matter what if he only spoke the truth. Henry knew Leopold wasn't his real father, knew the man had adopted him when he was born - she left out the bit where he made the adoption one of his terms in order for her to save him from a forced abortion. She would have done anything back then, would have promised Leopold and her mother anything just so she could keep him. Despite the hell she went through, she was glad she had.

Regina remembered the conversation with her little four-year-old boy as if it was yesterday. How he must have escaped the dragon of a nanny Leopold had hired to keep son and mother apart for most of the day and slipped into his study, all curious and excited to explore a room which was usually forbidden to him. How he must have climbed up the chair and started to draw onto Leopold's papers with a red pencil… She remembered the screams she'd heard which made her blood freeze, made her drop everything just to run to the study where she found a furious Leopold with a crying Henry draped across his lap, his little bottom red from Leopold's hands.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she screamed, rushing over to her son, who couldn't stop screaming in pain. Quickly, she tried to pull him away from Leopold's grasp, but he pushed her away so she stumbled backward only to land on the carpet a few feet away. "Stop it! Stop it, let him go!"

"You don't get to tell me how to raise my child, Regina. He came into my study, which he knew was forbidden, he climbed onto my chair and worst of all, he smeared red ink all over my contracts!" With every accusation his hand hit Henry's bottom once again, dragging heartbreaking wails out of the little boy, which had tears pooling in Regina's eyes as well.

"Please, stop it, Leopold! He's sorry! He's learned his lesson, can't you see? Please let him go!" In a desperate attempt she crawled over to them, trying to catch Leopold's hand from striking out once again. Instead of Henry, this time it hit her cheek, leaving a burning pain behind.

Satisfaction spread over Leopold's face while he put Henry down onto the floor, who immediately crawled over to his mother, flinging himself into her arms. "Take care of the bastard and make sure he never steps a foot into my study ever again."

Regina got up, awkwardly holding Henry in her arms, whose trousers were still hanging on his knees, before she left the room without another glance or word at Leopold, eager to get her son and herself away from this man.

Once she arrived in her room, Henry's loud wails had subdued into small, sniffling hiccups, her shirt was wet with snot and tears, but she didn't care. Carefully, she settled them both down on her bed with a failed attempt to rearrange Henry's trousers. Seeing Leopold's hand prints on his little bottom made her so angry, so furious, made her cry.

"I'm so sorry, baby," she whispered into his hair, rubbing a thumb soothingly along his temple.

"D-d-d-d-ad-dy-y h-h-a-ates m-me-e," her little boy hiccupped. "I… I-I j-just w-w-anted t-o p-p-pla-ay."

"I know, baby, I know," she whispered, pressing him closer against her chest. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I let this happen to you. I'm sorry Henry. Can you forgive me?"

It was the first time Henry looked up from her chest, a bit surprised and confused to see tears streaming down his mother's cheeks. One of his little hands reached up to wipe them away, drawing a choked smile from Regina.

"Not Mommy's fault. D-daddy…"

Her hands reached up to cup Henry's face. Regina pressed a kiss to his forehead, rubbed her nose against his. "No, Henry. Henry, listen to me. This man… this man is not your daddy. He might be your father, but he is not your daddy. Daddies don't do what Leopold did to you. Daddy loves you as much as Mommy does. Do you understand this, baby?"

He nodded. "Daddy no beat Henry. But mommy, where is Daddy?"

The pang in her chest made even more tears dwell in her eyes. That was a good question. She didn't know where Robin was, whether he ever came looking for her, whether he even cared what happened to her… But she couldn't tell Henry that, couldn't tell her son, because he wouldn't understand. So she settled for the explanation which at the moment seemed easiest to her. "Your daddy can't be here right now, Henry. But he loves you more than anything." He would, if he knew you existed, she added silently. "So… do you think you can promise me something?"

Henry looked up, his eyes still puffy and red from crying, but definitely determined. "Yes, Mommy."

"Can you promise me to not tell Leopold that I said he is not your daddy, that he is your father? Remember the difference?"

"I do."

"So… how about you call him 'father' from now on and not daddy. It's going to be our little secret, okay?"

"Yes, Mommy," Henry agreed eagerly, snuggling against her chest and wrapping his little arms around her neck.

"And… can you promise me one more thing, Henry?"

"Hm?"

"Never ever go back into Leopold's study, okay?"

"I won't, Mommy. P'omise."

She pressed him close to her chest, inhaling his sweet scent while soothingly rubbing his back. Her cheek still stung from the hit she'd taken for her son, but looking down at her little boy she decided it was worth it. Every blow she could take for him was definitely worth it.

Regina leaned against the cold wall of the shower, trying to calm down the memories which were washing over her like the water from the rainforest shower. After that day, Henry had never asked her again to tell him about his daddy, for which she was glad, but on the other hand, now she dreaded the conversation which would inevitably come rather sooner than later. It didn't help. She had to get ready.

The rest of her day was filled with the camera team who came over to interview her about yesterday's group date, then Ruby came along with a breathtaking collection of clothes from which she should pick her date outfit for tonight. Having her hair styled and makeup applied was Regina's new favorite way to relax. While Ruby kept on babbling, she could lean back in her chair and close her eyes, let her thoughts go their own ways. If there was one thing she wished she could take home from this show, it would be Ruby.

When she spoke her thoughts out loud, Ruby just chuckled, telling her that she could call any time in case she needed a make over, or face time her whenever she wasn't sure about an outfit choice.

"Your date tonight is going to be great. David seems like a cool guy. I'm sure it's going to be fun."

"We'll be having lasagna. Again. He's probably sick of it after yesterday, just like I am," Regina said half joking, half serious.

"If you don't want your date, I'll take him… and the lasagna." Ruby grinned, finishing off the last bit of blush with her brush, popping it back into her brush case and removing the cape she'd put over Regina's outfit in order to save it from the powder dust.

"Ha, you wish! Thanks for the outfit. It looks great."

"I just work with what I've been given. Can't wait to hear all about it tomorrow morning…" They hugged each other goodbye and while Ruby packed up her belongings, Regina made her way over to the kitchen where the pre-prepared lasagna was just waiting to be taken out of the oven. It bummed her a little bit that she hadn't been allowed to make it herself - she loved cooking, enjoyed it immensely - but there had been simply no time with everything she had to do.

Instead, she watched the camera team set up everything around the house, watched two people setting up the table in the living room with rented crystal glasses and silver cutlery. Flowers were brought in, the lightning was arranged… Regina felt like she was standing in the way more than anything else, since no one really paid her attention.

It was a relief when the set up was finally finished an hour later and she was told David would arrive any minute. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait for long, the bell rang, the camera team signaled her they would start filming now, to just ignore them and act natural. Regina took a deep breath, her eyes closing for a moment. Another date, another man, another evening she would spend wondering if she would enjoy all of this more if Robin hadn't shown up…

Xxxxx

David greeted her with a beautiful flower bouquet made of pink lilies and yellow gerberas with greens, a nervous smile on his face. Oh, good. At least he seemed to be as nervous as she was. She felt a bit taken aback when instead of the usual kiss-left-kiss-right greeting, he simply wrapped his arms around her to hug her close. He smelled nice, manly, but not too much. Still she couldn't stop thinking that there was something amiss and scolded herself for comparing him to Robin. That wasn't fair.

"Thanks so much for coming," Regina mumbled a tad breathlessly, taking the flowers he was holding out toward her.

"Thank you for inviting me."

"Well to be fair, you won the challenge, so I actually had no say in it," she answered without thinking, her cheeks immediately blushing crimson. Off to a great start, Regina. Wonderful.

"Oh, I could leave," David added with a raised eyebrow, making attempts to take the flowers back from her, his hand gesturing toward the door. Two seconds into the date and she'd already ruined it. Get a grip on yourself, Regina!

"God no, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't… I didn't… This is so embarrassing right now."

David laughed - actually laughed - shaking his head with a great grin on his face. "I know what you meant, Regina. I was just kidding"

"Man, I thought… You're such a troll, David," she accused him, lightly slapping his upper arm. His stunned expression made her stop in her movements. Did she really just beat him? Oh God. He had her there for a second. The banter served very well as the ice-breaker between them, for which Regina was immediately thankful. It felt nice to know she didn't have to pretend with David. He seemed honest and just as nervous as she was about this date.

"Uhm… sorry?" Regina asked carefully, her hand fidgeting with a button on her dark blue and white polka dotted blouse.

"I hope they won't air this, because I'm not sure if this kind of brutality is allowed on reality TV… I could sue you. We'd see each other in front of Judge Judy."

"The media would love this. I can already see the head lines: Bachelorette in need of severe anger management course!" Her voice was dripping with amusement and sarcasm.

"Well, are you?" David asked cheekily.

"What?"

"In need of anger management?"

"Ha ha, David, very funny." Just out of spite she playfully slapped his upper arm one more time. "All good things come in threes, so be prepared for the rest of the evening."

"You're not kidding," David chuckled. "Was this a threat?"

"It's not a threat, it's a promise, Darling." Oh god, she just sounded like her friend Ella.

"I'll be prepared. Scout's promise." He held up his right hand, the three middle fingers stretched up, while his thumb held down his pinky.

"Why do I get the feeling you never were a boy scout in the first place?" Regina wondered with a roll of her eyes, before she turned around to head for the kitchen.

Luckily someone had positioned a crystal vase filled with water on the counter in which she could put the bouquet, right next to a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Uh, would you like some wine?" she wondered, not very fond of the drink herself after last night, but well, it was the obvious thing to do, was it? David's gaze wandered from her to the bottle of wine, deciding how to answer.

"You want to get me drunk?"

"Believe me, if I wanted to get you drunk, we wouldn't be having wine right now. So.."

"I'm… well, if you would like some wine, why not?" Ah, so he was leaving the choice to her. How… gentlemanly.

Regina took a deep breath, wondering what to answer. "I don't really need wine right now to be honest… but if you…"

"Thank god, neither do I. Not after last night," he admitted, is nose scrunching.

"Last night? I take it you and the guys had a party without me? Should I be offended?"

"Oh believe me, it was a complete mess. I'm not sure after last night any one of us would have gotten another rose."

"That bad, huh?" her amused raised eyebrow made David chuckle.

"The guys got so wasted with the cheap wine - I tried to hold back a bit because I didn't want to be completely hung-over today, but some of them, let me tell you… their morning wasn't funny at all. I'm just glad I don't have to clean up the bathroom."

"Ugh. Too much information, David."

"You asked."

"Not for all the details! I feel them, though. I might not look like it, but I do. But they all survived?" Regina asked, wondering how Robin had handled the night. He could bear his fair share of whiskey and rum, but the moment it came to wine - especially cheap wine - all good things came to an end with him.

"Barely, but they did. Robin and Killian hit it pretty hard because of Arthur and Graham. Boy, they can drink, let me tell you."

"Are they okay?"

"The only thing they had for breakfast and lunch were painkillers. Honestly, after yesterday I have to step back from lasagna and wine for a while. The combo makes me sick."

Regina laughed, her hand waving over to the oven which held their dinner. What a coincidence they were having just that today. "I'm sorry to disappoint, but lasagna is exactly what you're going to get tonight…"

David grimaced at her, a small wince leaving his lips. "You seem serious about this…"

"Sorry, I didn't plan the date and I didn't make the lasagna, so I won't be offended if you don't want to try it. I'm afraid except for a bit of fruit and toast I don't have much in my fridge right now."

"Why do I suddenly feel like I ruined our date?" he wondered, his hands shoved in his pockets and an apologetic smile on his face.

"You didn't ruin anything. Not in case you have plans to make up for it." She was all game now and the way David grinned at her mischievously made her heart beat faster.

"I think I've got a plan. Care to join me on a quest for the King or the Golden M?"

"Oh David, we can do so much better than Burger King or McDonald's," Regina challenged, already heading for the hallway where she picked up her leather jacket from the wardrobe. God, she loved this, loved the sudden spontaneity, the prickling in her fingertips. This was exciting! So much better than the scheduled dates by the production.

"Well then by all means, lead the way," David answered, determined.

"Hey, you can't just leave, we set everything up here," Leroy yelled, his camera still running on his shoulder while he followed them outside the mansion. But Regina and David didn't seem to care at all.