For Day 1 of Happy Endings Week - Bandit OQ Day
She's long since gotten used to the bouncy swish of his cloak as he runs alongside her, transforming her fear of being caught into a reassurance that she's safe, because as long as they're together, no enemy can ever catch them.
Tonight's been a close one, though, the Sheriff of Nottingham has started predicting their targets (a consequence of there being so few of them in this tiny village), and showing up almost on time to interrupt their heists and arrest them for their crimes.
Almost.
They've narrowly escaped the arrows flying from the other end of the bridge, a few stray ones following them into the woods, but they're far away now, the commotion replaced by the dull crunch of wet leaves underfoot, the fresh smell of forest taking on an earthy quality as the rain soaks the soil below them, getting heavier and heavier until Regina feels the water seep in through her jacket, the fur on her collar as matted and drenched as her braid.
Robin's cloak looks heavy now, and the storm that's starting to break slows them down in the middle of the woods, visibility becoming a luxury they don't seem to deserve at the moment.
"Here," comes Robin's voice from beside her, and she doesn't have the time to react before his hand is grasping hers and pulling her along, until the canopy of trees is replaced by rock and cavernous walls rise on either side of her. And now that they're not running for their lives, Regina becomes hyper aware of the darkness, shivers as the rain pounds the ground just outside.
"Are you alright?" Robin rasps behind her, his breathing shallow and quick from their exertion.
"Yeah," Regina nods, gasping, too. "You?"
"Fine," he tells her, still catching his breath as her hands land on her thighs and she bends over slightly, breathing in the cold air and letting her taxed lungs settle.
As the adrenaline wears off, she starts to feel chilly. She's right by the entrance to the cave, and so the spray of the rain splashes her a little, still, a few stray droplets falling into the puddle at her feet. Right, time to warm up, then.
She takes one last, deep breath, moves further into the cave, and then gets to work.
He hears her moving about, hears the shuffling of twigs and leaves that have remained dry inside this cave, and one of his hands touches the rough wall for support, the other removing the satchel thrown over his shoulder.
When it hits the floor, the clink of jewels and precious metals echoes in the concave rock, loud and cheery despite the rain doing its best to drown all other sounds, and Robin smiles. They've made it.
There's a light, suddenly. A tiny bead of warm glow that spreads and grows, and he turns to find Regina starting a fire in the innermost corner of the cave, her hands rubbing together before she exposes them to the inviting warmth of the flames, and she looks... well, adorable. There's a slight shiver to her, her body still shaking away the cold from outside, and she's staring intently at the fire, stoking it with a branch and concentrating very hard on not letting it die.
She always does that, always focuses so very hard on building and maintaining a fire, a side effect from years of knowing the cold, he imagines (and he doesn't want to think of her like that, freezing in the woods or in the streets as a child, struggling and depending on the kindness of strangers to survive the winter, it hurts his heart too much). But it's one of his favorite moments of every heist they do, and the main reason why he always lets her build the fire. He loves watching her, loves that far-off look in her eyes and the lazy smile that appears when he sits beside her and cradles her cheek.
He does just that now, rubbing his thumb along the soft skin and then tracing the contours of her lips, falling head over heels for her all over again as the fire brings out that sparkle in her eyes.
"Good work today," he tells her, the three words they've unspokenly agreed to say instead of I love you for the past few weeks. Because it's too soon for I love yous, too risky.
He does love her, though. Madly so. And he'd be willing to wager their entire loot from tonight that she loves him back, even if she claims it's too early to be declaring such things.
"And you," she replies, smiling so beautifully he can't help but kiss her, the warm softness of her lips chasing away the chill brought on by the rain.
It's a slow kiss, almost chaste in its nature. He's not looking to do more than that tonight, he just wants to feel her, hold her close and delight in the suppleness of her, the smell of rain in her hair and the light of the fire in her eyes. Her arm wraps around him, her tongue licking tentatively at his, and he loves that, loves that after months of this, she's still a little shy, it makes him feel like he's kissing her for the first time all over again, and Robin cannot believe he's lucky enough to hold the heart of such a breathtaking, incredible woman.
So he decides to say it. Too early be damned.
"I love you, Regina," he murmurs when they part, and to his surprise, she doesn't flinch, doesn't startle, simply looks at him as the flicker of the flames dances across her face, a small smile forming.
"I love you, too," she tells him, shocking him to the core.
"I thought you said it was too soon for such things," he teases.
"It is," Regina insists, her expression soft and somewhat hesitant as her hand touches his cheek, then moves a lock of hair away from his face. "But I feel it. You know I do. I like being your partner... in every way... I like our life together. And I... I want a future with you."
The confession has him grinning like a fool, and he leans in for another kiss, fingers of one hand threading into her hair.
"Regina, you are my future," he tells her when they part, the words softly whispered in the scant space between them, igniting that joy he so loves seeing in her.
There are tears in her eyes, and then she's the one leaning in, kissing the breath right out of him, and Robin's heart swells with happiness, thankful for the promise of a lifetime of adventure at her side.