I just realised that I haven't updated on here in forever whoops, I probably update this fic and most of my others more regularly on AO3 - Prodigal Son by loisselina - I hope yall are doing well, I just booked my second covid vaccine and am getting a kitten in a few days so I'm doing pretty god. Love to yall especially if you've stuck with this story :)

David was hungry, he was surprised at how quickly he had gotten used to being able to eat at regular intervals, more than just a handful of fries from plates left by other people at fast food joints he and his brother, James, had hung around at, mostly because the hotels they stayed in were sometimes a little too sketchy.

Now he was hungry for another reason, and he blamed it all on his father, "Robin, how much longer 'til it gets here?"

Robin chuckled at his oldest son's whining, though he doubted that the fifteen year old knew that he was whining as though he was Margot's age, but he didn't turn around to look at David sat at the counter "Why? Are you starving?"

"Basically skin and bones, seriously, even salad is starting to look good."

Another whine but this time Robin couldn't help but laugh, he turned around, having triple checked that he had grabbed the right meds and amounts; he handed them over to his son along with a glass of orange juice. "You know," he watched David slowly take the tablets one by one, "eating salad wouldn't kill you."

"We don't know that... Robin?" this time he dragged his name out even longer, with more of a whine, which he was intentionally using this time.

Robin rolled his eyes and fished his cell out of his pocket, he pressed the screen a few times before holding it out, "forty minutes, it's Sunday, they have a lot of orders on Sundays, if you need a snack you can have one, there's fruit, there's salad,-"

David swallowed the last of his tablets with a large gulp of juice, and shot his best hurt look, "I'll wait for the pizza."

Robin shook his head fondly, they had told David about their traditional Sunday family nights, which they hadn't had time or headspace to do since David had arrived, he had been counting down for the takeout pizza ever since, he had been trying to encourage Robin to order it from three that afternoon, hours before their dinner time… he'd be lying if he claimed it wasn't kind of adorable to see David so excited about something… even if that something was pizza.

Robin leant on the island so that he was eye to eye with David, sat on a stool on the other side, Robin leant on his forearms, a line between his eyebrows formed as he chewed on his lip.

David stilled, he could see thoughts forming in Robin's head, none of them he said out loud, David couldn't see it but concern was forming on his own face, "What'd I do?"
He tried to scan his mind, yesterday was Saturday, he and henry had spent most of the day playing The Avengers game on the playstation, and letting Margot read to him, he'd watched Roland doing keepy-ups with the soccer ball until Regina had told the younger boy to take it outside; that was the only reason he could think of that he'd be in trouble for, maybe he should have discouraged Roland himself-.

"-Nothing, nothing Sunshine, I just… The other night, after Regina and I had our date you mentioned Ruth's 'dates'."

Oh. Oh. David thought, his cheeks and the tops of his ears , damn his sleepy mind for talking about that, and for calling them dates, he obviously knew now that's not what they were, but that's what he had been told for so long.

"You know that's not what it was like for me and Gina, right? We weren't… you looking after your sister, it wasn't like when James had to babysit you, it's not," Robin wasn't sure what he was trying to say, but it had been weighing on his mind the past day, he needed to make sure that David didn't think that they were like that in their family.

"I know, I know," David said quickly, if only to shut him up, it was bad enough teachers and strangers or his brother talking about this… but Robin, no, it was gross… he was struck again with the realisation that he was acknowledging their shared DNA.
"I didn't, look I was half asleep, I didn't mean; I know you're not like her, I promise, I know that yours was an actual date not like what she did," he made sure to keep eye contact with Robin until he saw the relief fill his father's blue eyes, "Now please can we not talk about this? The whole 'talk' thing. Please Robin? I'm already having enough therapy; I don't want to be going for life." This time his whine and begging was playful and when he made his father laugh David's chest swelled with pride for some reason beyond his understanding.

Robin held up his hands in a kind of surrender, he turned to put the medicine back into its cupboard, then turned back around, he was kind of touched to see David still sat there, even if part of him knew that David, like himself, was avoiding going back to the den and the rest of their family, who had been playing monopoly, apparently David took after Robin in his incapacity in the skill of playing monopoly/ managing to stay interested in it for long enough not to deliberately sabotage himself and lose.

"How are you feeling David?"

David raised a brow, he had gotten weirdly used to Robin calling him 'Sunshine', David seemed to be largely saved for when he had something on his mind, he was concerned, the conversation was serious, or David was in trouble. "I'm fine."

"I'm seriously going to ban that word from this house," Robin shot his son a smile, "I know I'm bugging you, but I'm just… I just want you to feel okay, better."

David gave a gentle sigh but he could tell that Robin was trying, "I know… Doc said it'll take a few weeks for the tablets to kick in… Hey, Robin?"

"Yeah sunshine?"

"You guys do these like 'family'," he said in air quotes, "day things every Sunday?"

"Yup, me and Gina used to spend our Sundays like this, the whole playing board games, movies, pizza, the whole shebang, when we adopted Henry we changed them to games which would interest a three year old, the tradition continues to today."

"Cool."

"Why'd you ask?"

"No reason," David said quickly, before giving a somewhat sheepish smile and shrugging, trying to downplay his true feelings already, "I just like it, it's fun, y'know, I never really got to do this sorta thing, I like it."

Robin's smile turned surprised, even Henry was getting to be an age where hanging out with his parents and family was downright embarrassing, by all accounts David should be firmer into that phase, but he hadn't had this before, he could understand why David could see how special this time truly was; as it always had been to Regina and Robin, "Yeah," Robin's voice was as soft as his smile had turned.

Regina walked into the kitchen and immediately ruffled David's hair, before filling a glass with water from the dispenser on the fridge, she walked over to Robin's side and pressed a kiss to her husband's cheek, "Is your father annoying you, sweetie?"

"Always," David's voice was dry but a cheeky smile was on his face, the smile grew when Robin and Regina smiled back at him.

"You know I was voted the best professor at the school, right? I am not annoying."

"Voted by…?" David teased.

"People who choose to study law… believe me, they shouldn't be allowed to vote on that." Regina answered, making David laugh and Robin playfully roll his eyes. "Is the food nearly ready?"

"It's gonna take like three hours."

"It's about forty minutes, tops," Robin ignored his son's whine of an answer, "Spiderman over there is just being dramatic,"

"I'm starving."

"The salad offer is still on the table."

David didn't dignify Robin's response with an answer, he did, however, give him a small glare, before turning his attention on Regina, "Who won the monopoly game?"

"Roland."

Robin squinted suspiciously, "How'd he manage to do that?"

"I'm pretty sure he managed to steal from the bank."

David let out a snort of laughter, maybe he'd try that next time, especially as both Robin and Regina seemed to be rather proud at their son finding a way to not just cheat, but also not get caught, he was pretty sure they would react similarly if not the same to him doing so. "Did he pick a movie?" David asked, trying to file away the details of this day, even if he hated that he was doing it, he just liked the day and didn't want to mess it up.

"He did, take a guess which movie."

David smiled, "Into the Spiderverse?"

"Correct," Regina smiled, she could see the fondness in David's face for his younger brother, for all of his siblings, and they adored him back, sometimes she even had to strongly encourage them to let Robin and David have some time together. "The kids have gone to change into their pyjamas, you can stay in your sweats if you like, we'll start the movie when everybody's ready."

David looked down at himself, he was in a pair of sweatpants, and a sweatshirt, his usual outfit if they were staying at home… When had he started thinking about this as his home? He shook himself mentally, "Imma go get changed, Go will probably complain if I don't," not exactly a lie, but Margot wouldn't complain that much. He pushed himself to his feet, giving his father and step mother a smile, he began to limp out of the wall pausing when he was in the doorway, "If the pizza gets here early-."

"We'll shout you," Robin assured him, still smiling fondly at him, even if every atom in his body was wanting to rush forward and to help his son, to not have to simply watch him limping his way across the room, even if he had taken pain killers minutes before.

"He's okay," Regina reassured her husband once they could hear David going up the stairs, Roland shouting to his oldest brother that he had won, even if both Regina and Robin knew that Regina had been watching the kid just as close as Robin had.

"He's stubborn."

"I wonder where he gets that from…" She teased.

Robin knew it was partially from him, but David wasn't only his, and Mallory had always been headstrong, David had been hit double. "Funny," he glared with a smile on his lips, he dipped his head and drew his wife into a kiss.

When the pair eventually pulled out of their kiss Regina still had a teasing smile on her face, "So, did you almost give him the talk again?"

Robin screwed up his face as he cringed, "How did you know?"

Regina let out a burst of laughter, "I didn't, but I could guess. I think he's really starting to settle in here, y'know."

Robin smiled, "I thought the same thing, I don't want to jinx it, but he really is." He shifted a little, "he said he thinks these family days we do are cool."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you think he'll teach Henry to think so again? Maybe he can teach him that we're cool again while he's at it."

"Babe, I don't know how to tell you this… David doesn't think you're cool either." She began to laugh but she was swooped into another kiss as Robin tickled her sides in retribution.

David had decided that his favourite room in his new home was the den, it was cozier than the rest of the house, most of the room was taken up with a big deep couch which was officially the most comfortable thing David had ever sat on, across from it was a big entertainment centre, with various gaming systems and a huge television, there were other things in the room too, toys and a little table too small for both him and Henry; what he liked most were times like this; the times where he'd be playing video games with his brothers, or Margot had made him watch cartoons with her, most of all he liked this: sat on the couch, Margot was squeezed so close to him that she was practically sat on his lap, and on his other side was his father, Robin's arm draped across the back of the couch behind his head: All of this together made this room the best room in the house, in David's opinion.

On the coffee table were the almost empty boxes of pizza and all of the sides: the chicken wings, the garlic bread, the mozzarella sticks were completely gone, there were also plastic cups all full to various levels with sodas, it had been as good as he was hoping, the whole day had, so out of anything he had ever experienced, in short it was perfect.

He had a fleeting thought of his brother, he was relieved it was just a though not another hallucination, not that he had experienced any since the day in the supply closet; he knew that James would have claimed that the entire day was lame, that he hated it, but David knew his brother, or cousin he corrected in his mind, James would have loved this normal family day.

"Can we watch another one?" Roland was begging while grinning ear to ear, Henry joined him looking hopeful at their parents, as did Margot who looked like she wasn't far away from falling asleep, before David knew it his face had turned similar to the faces being pulled by his siblings, as he looked at Robin and Regina.

Robin shared a look with his wife, both of them smiling, already knowing that despite having already watched two movies their children would plead for a third, and it wasn't like it was a school night,and the two of them were having just as much fun as their children. Mmmmm

"Okay," Robin told them slowly as though there had been anything for himself and Regina to even think about, "but me and mum are choosing: and it's gonna be Space Jam."

All of the kids looked confused, both Regina and Robin looked betrayed, or like they had failed as parents, which is how they felt.

"With the looney tunes? And Michael Jordan?" Regina asked them frantically.

"Like the sneakers?"

David couldn't help but laugh at the faces both Regina and Robin were pulling, a second later all six of them were laughing without being able to explain exactly why.

"I'm cool with watching that," David announced, feeling in fact a little better that the others also didn't know it, he had only heard of most of the movies they watched, this put them on more even footing, "Imma go pee first though." He gently nudged his sister so that he could get to his feet, swaying a little before righting his own balance.

Robin yawned and stretched himself out like a cat before getting to his own feet, "'kay, I'll take the boxes to the kitchen," he announced collecting the empty boxes, "Oi, Sunshine," he called to his oldest who had now limped to the door out of the room, "kitchen after, you need your night meds," he heard a 'kay' response through a yawn and continued to sort the boxes, laughing as Roland took another piece of by now half cold pizza, knowing what his own mother would have had to say about a healthy appetite.

After washing his hands David filled his cupped hands with cool water under the tap before splashing it onto his face; once, twice, three times, finally clearing out any sleep from his eyes, he was intent on staying awake for as long as possible, even if he would be taking his medicine soon and would no doubt be passed out on the couch in the den beside his family within an hour, but he just wanted to be awake for as long as possible, he didn't want this day to be over, even if he knew it was futile trying to put it off.

He dried his face off on the guest hand towel, as he patted it he took in his reflection in the mirror above the sink; he was still pale thanks to barely leaving the house, he was still too pale, his cheekbones were still sticking out a little too much, but there was a marked improvement from how he had looked when he lived with Ruth and James, his hair was short and any bruises or cuts still left from the crash or from before the crash had faded completely, leaving only a couple of tiny scars David was pretty sure only he could see, there were still bags under his eyes from the nightmares wish awoke him every night, but the purple of them wasn't so bad, he was pretty sure that it was because every time he awoke screaming Robin or Regina would be there, reassuring him that he was there, that he was home.

David looked better.

David looked alive.

He headed out of the bathroom, he remembered hearing kids at various schools complaining about helicopter parents, David knew without doubt that Robin was either already or well on his way to becoming one of those, he knew that Robin would probably knock on the door if

he was in the bathroom for much longer, he knew all the other kids had complained about their parents being like this, like Robin, but David had experienced the opposite, he found this reassuring compared to Ruth's hectic push and pull. That being said he would simply meet him in the kitchen as he had promised to, rather than making him come search and worry about him.

David had just left the bathroom when he heard the knock on the door, he froze.
In his head he could hear Ruth's voice in his head, forcing them to hide under the beds for hours on end at the sound of the knock on a door more than once, he had always assumed it was in fear of Robert finding them, a fear he had inherited too, but now he wondered if she had been more worried that it was social workers who had been called by whatever school they were at or by people in the town who had caught James and David dumpster diving, or if she had simply been unable to pay the motel bill and wanted the manager to believe they weren't there so they could make a quick getaway.

David waited a moment, waiting for Robin to emerge from the door across the hallway from him in the kitchen, or for Regina to emerge from down the little corridor which led to the 'formal dining room' and the den. But neither of them appeared to have heard the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

Still nobody appeared to answer the door, David appeared to be the only one to have heard it, he wondered why they weren't pressing the doorbell, David forced himself to take a step closer to the front door, he knew he was the closest, that it wasn't loud enough for either Robin or Regina or even Henry to hear, he was being stupid, he should just open it himself, it was probably nothing; and yet he had to force himself to take more steps, feeling for the first time (in an admittedly short amount of time) like an intruder in the home.

It wasn't like Robert would be standing on the other side of the door, he didn't know what he was scared of, he had nothing to be scared of, not here in Storybrooke, and not on a day like this. All he had to do was to open the door, tell the person they had the wrong home, then take his meds and watch Robin and Regina's old ass movie with them and his siblings.

Robin had gotten distracted in the small pantry which was a whole extra small room attached to the kitchen, he had been waiting for David to come into the kitchen and had gotten distracted by the in progress grocery list on the pinboard, and had gone into the pantry to add things they were missing, adding some unused cans to their monthly food donation box, also in progress.

He had lost track of time, in fact when he had finally realised how long he had been distracted for he expected to find David whining and complaining about having to hang around for so long, but he walked back into a kitchen which was as empty as he had left it. He shut his eyes, sucked in a breath slowly, then dropped his chin to his chest, letting out the breath as his head dropped. He tried to remember that David simply got distracted easily, that his not coming into the kitchen for his night time medication was probably more of an ADHD thing than a 'David trying to purposely avoid doing what he needs to and will pick a fight as soon as Robin forced him to take them' thing.

He waited another minute, perhaps he had just felt unwell, but if he had gone back to the den Regina would have shouted for him, probably for him to bring a thermometer and medicine or something… but still no David.

"Seriously kiddo?" Robin mumbled to a kid who couldn't hear him, before placing the orange capsule down onto the island beside the three others, hearing the slight tinkling of the tablets inside falling over each other as they fell.

He got to the kitchen door when he first heard the low hum of voices, one was David, he knew that immediately, but the other one wasn't someone in Robin's family, he knew all of their voices, their footsteps, their laughs, as well as he knew his own, this other voice was not Regina or the other kids.

Fire stirred inside of Robin's veins, he knew it was an overreaction, that he would feel silly later when he realised that he rushed to his son to save him from someone trying to sell them a ticket to heaven or something, but it was better than the alternative possibility: something incredibly wrong and Robin not being there to save his child.

He quickened his steps as he took a left out of the kitchen into the hallway, past the staircase, he could see only David there at the half open front door, he was okay, he was safe, but Robin could see the way David was standing, careful to keep the weight off of his injured leg, pain clearly effecting him, but he was also tense, it wasn't someone David was comfortable with talking to him, but David didn't seem to be comfortable with anyone other than them. Robin still couldn't see the person, he placed his hand on the door and slowly pulled it open, but his eyes were completely on his son, scanning for any injuries on automatic.

"Hey Sunshine, who's at the door-?" Robin asked in the pointed way which told whoever it was that he was there and to stop talking to his kid, David met his eyes and Robin could see that his irises had taken on the blue of a sea in a turbulent storm, worry.

He turned his head to look out into the night.

"Hello son."

The protective fire which had been pulsing through Robin's veins had now frozen in fear.

The man was smirking at him, he was clearly fully aware of the effect that his arrival had on Robin, "Are you going to invite me inside?" He asked, not waiting for an invitation or response he stepped into the room, not also bothering to wait for David to move aside he just walked through him, forcing David to move quickly and fall back against the window next to the door.

David glared at the man who seemed to be drinking in Robin's reaction, his fear, really. Robin's father. The man did look like Robin, his hair was grey and he was older, slight wrinkles on his face which he had clearly had work done on, he looked a little like a ken doll, David thought. What was jarring, at least to David, was that it was summer, it was pretty warm outside despite the now late hour but the man was wearing a suit, David knew absolutely nothing about suits, or about shoes, or watches (which the man was wearing a prominent one in a 'look at me' gesture), but David knew that the one outfit the man was wearing was worth more money that David had even imagined when he used to think about winning the lottery.

David looked from the stranger to Robin, it was so clear that he was Robin's father; take away Robin's beard and age him about twenty years and the two could be brothers… but this man being Robin's father meant that he was… he was David's grandfather. No. No, David had enough family already, he didn't need or want anymore, not right now.

Robin finally moved to action: this man was inside his house, it wasn't the first time, but there had always been warning, and the last time he had been here was when Margot was a baby and Robin's mother was alive, he had only been invited because of his mother, in fact. He looked to David who was looking scared, he was trying to hide it, but he was leaning back against the wall and was making himself smaller, Robin realised that Francis Locksley had pushed past Robin's son, he had shouldered him. Robin was going to kill him.

Robin stepped ever so slightly in front of his kid, wanting him away from him, he wanted him back with Regina, where he was safe. "What the hell are you doing here, Francis?"

The man tutted in a way which showed how little he cared, he was slowly looking around the hallway, taking in the photographs, "I came to visit you, Robin, I heard tell that I have a new grandchild; I thought I told you to be more careful about," he cleared his throat distastefully, "'accidental' offspring."

"My son is not an 'accident offspring'" Robin spat, but his father gave him a look which told him he knew it was bullshit, he wasn't wrong, David wasn't a mistake, which is what Robin knew Francis meant, "and I don't remember sending you an announcement."

"It's lucky I still have friends in your little town then, isn't it," his smile was cold and didn't meet his eyes, even as he turned it on David, he held out his hand, commanding a handshake, "a pleasure, I'm sure. I'm your grandfather, Francis, though I doubt your father has told you much about me."

David swallowed but shook his hand, a shiver running down his spine at the cold look in his grey eyes, he was so used to Robin's English accent with the few american words or phrases mixed in, but this guys' accent was firmly in place, as though he practiced it daily, it was much more formal in tone than Robin's. David found himself fighting to "Er, hi, I'm, my name's David."

"I'm aware, how are you enjoying living here, I heard all about the misfortune of your aunt and cousin, it was a surprise to hear about your," he hesitated for a millisecond, the only sign of him being a human, "conception, Ms De Vane is an impressive lawyer, will you be living with her full time? I know that it is common for children to live with their mothers."

David took a shaky breath, his hand still being clasped in this man, his grandfather. He could feel his chest tightening, breathing taking longer than it should, or shorter, what was the difference, he could hear his own breaths coming out faster and faster but still no air was going in.

Suddenly there was a force against his hand, forcing Francis to drop his hand, it took him a moment to realise that the force had been Robin's body moving against the clasped hands, Robin turned to face him, completely blocking Francis, his face was serious, his hand went to David shoulder, squeezing it slightly, until David managed to take a calm breath.

"Go to your room, David."

"Wha-?," David frowned shrugging Robin's hand off of his shoulder, he didn't get why he was being sent to his room, sure he had no strong urge to stay here, not with Francis, but he also didn't particularly want to leave Robin alone with him, a strange protective feeling stirring in him, mixed with an even stranger anxiety about leaving Robin. He didn't want to go, especially with Robin seeming so… off… mad, really.

"Your room. Go. Now."

David still didn't move, he opened his mouth to speak again but Robin beat him to it, his voice barely restraining anger as he said,

"David."

David wasn't sure he could actually move, even if he wanted to, he was stuck in place, he could feel Francis' eyes on him even through Robin's body, he didn't want to stay here, his skin crawling, but he couldn't leave, he couldn't leave Robin. Even if Robin was mad and barely restraining himself from shouting at David, he could take whatever was going to happen next, he had gotten similar from Ruth's anger, it was a small price to pay to make sure that Francis didn't do anything to Robin.

"Hey what's taking you two so-" Regina's voice filled the foyer, light and joking, but falling to a stop when she saw the scene in front of her, there was a slight pause, "Francis, what are you doing here?"

David moved two steps to his right so he could see Regina, he didn't like not being able to see her, when he could he felt like he could breathe a little easier, she was also frowning at the older man, though she seemed to at least be trying to appear civil, unlike Robin, who had also turned to see Regina, though he was still stood like a shield in front of David.

Francis was the only one smiling, though it didn't touch his cold eyes, "I'm here to meet my grandson, I heard about his arrival, not through my son, of course, but that's not unexpected. I'm of an age now that it's time for me to begin fostering a relationship with my grandchildren."

"Over my dead body." Robin growled.

Francis gave him a smile which must have meant to be kind, but really just said 'that can be arranged', "There's no need to be quite so inhospitable, Robin, surely it is David's choice, you would deprive him of yet more family?"

David's breathing stopped, he squeezed his eyes shut, he was in the back of the car again, James and Ruth arguing about something, James wanting to stay in someplace or something, David had learnt to tune it out, a horn, the car swerving, a massive force, a scream, two screams, several screams, David was flying.

Two hands appeared back on David's shoulders, grounding him, they were real, so very real, he was safe, the soft voice said, and he believed it, he opened his eyes and Regina was stood in front of him, a look of concern on her face, even as she tried to give him a smile.

"It's okay, honey, you're here, you're home."

David gave a jerky nod of his head and swallowed. He tried to look brave but he could tell by Regina's face that he was failing.

"Okay?" Regina's hands moved to David's face, cupping his cheeks and giving him an encouraging smile, "Why don't you go and join your brothers and sister in the den, you guys can start playing the movie, me and your dad will join you in a minute."

"Robin said to go to my room," David's voice was low and cautious, not wanting to disobey either of them, not at this exact moment anyway.

Regina smiled at him before looking at Robin, who was stood sideways so he could see both the two of them and Francis clearly, "David can go to the den, can't he, we all need to finish movie night."

Robin nodded his head, "Do what Regina says, David."

His tone was firm, not quite cold but certainly not warm, he said it as though David was in trouble, or was trying to disobey, not the exact opposite, either way David forced himself to move, one step in front of the other, though with his limp it was slower than he wanted, he could feel everyone's eyes on him as he moved, he hated it. He was just about pass Francis completely when the stiff English accent caused him to stop.

"David," Francis smiled as his grandson came to a stop, "it was a pleasure to meet you, I hope we'll see each other again soon." he held out an envelope with David's name on the front in neat cursive, "You look so much like your father, though I'm sure that you're much better behaved than he was at your age."

David didn't know what to say, so he took the envelope, "Th-thank you?"

"David go."

Robin's voice was louder and fiercer this time, clearly angry at David, so David gulped and limped faster out of the foyer taking a left and heading into the den, tucking the envelope into his pocket as he did so.

All of his siblings stared at him, Roland asked what was going on, but David took a seat in the far corner of the room, pulling his knees up to his chest, "They said to start the movie without them," he mumbled to them, glad that none of them tried to leave the room, though they were all looking at them weirdly. Henry, luckily, took charge, getting his younger siblings to sit down and starting the movie, David was relieved, it wasn't like he could have taken charge.

He had fucked up again, he was the reason Francis had turned up, he was the reason why Robin was now mad, at Francis, and at him.

David must had zoned out for a while, maybe he had even fallen asleep for a little while, but the next thing he heard was the slamming of the front door, he looked around the room, Roland and Margot were both fast asleep, curled together, Henry was fast asleep while texting or playing a game on his cellphone, apparently he hadn't heard the slamming of the door. David hesitated, he should go and look, see what happened, see if Francis was gone, what had happened, if everyone was okay, if Robina and Regina were okay.

Regina walked into the den, gently smiling at her sleeping and half sleeping children, before turning her gaze on David she gave him a half smile before turning to Henry. "Baby go to bed, please, it's late, I'll come and say goodnight to you in a minute."

Henry didn't protest, he stood up, let his mother press a kiss to his forehead, he smiled and said goodnight to David before leaving, still on his cellphone.

Regina then moved to Margot and Roland, saying the same thing to them, once she had woken the pair up, neither were awake enough to protest, both of them hugged David goodnight, Margot pressing a kiss to his cheek before leaving.

Regina took a seat beside him, her hand running through David's hair, with an endearing smile.

"Where's Robin?" David asked, already guessing the answer, not there, he didn't want to see David.

"He went out for a jog, he wanted to burn some energy off."

David felt whatever was left of his hope disappearing, "Oh."

"He'll be home later, honey, he just needed some air, and some time to calm down," her voice was calm but there was a sadness in her eyes, whether for David or for Robin the boy did not know.

"I'm sorry, I should have… I shouldn't have…" David didn't know, the only actual thing he could have done would have been not joining their family, and despite everything David couldn't bring himself to say it, he couldn't wish to not be part of their family anymore.

"You didn't do anything baby, not a thing, Francis is… he always has his own agenda, there's a reason why he's not in our lives," she stroked his hair, "you didn't do anything wrong, not a thing, Robin knows that too."

David doubted that, he really doubted it, but he nodded halfheartedly, "Okay."

Regina let out a tiny sigh, she knew her husband's face well enough to understand the look on his son's face, and that he wouldn't be wanting to talk more about this, his mind was already made up, "How're you feeling? You had a little bit of a," she paused searching her head for a term which he'd be okay with.

"Freak out?" his tone was dry as he raised an eyebrow.

Regina gave him a look which was ever so slightly admonishing, "Anxiety attack. Do you need to take one of the tablets doctor Hopper prescribed you?" her question was met with a shrug. "Honey?"

David shrugged again before sighing ever so slightly, "The doc said they'll probably knock me out."

"And you don't want to be?"

David shrugged again, before his eyes drifted towards the door, "When's Robin gonna be back?"

Ah, Regina thought to herself, "I'm sure he'll be back soon, I know if he were here he'd want you to take the medication, if you feel you need it. You could take it and go up to bed, I'll get your dad to come and see you as soon as he's home, okay?" She could see how on edge David looked; his fingers dancing on his pyjama-ed leg, the way he was clearly forcing himself to breathe slowly, the way Robin always encouraged him to do. "He won't be long David, honey."

David swallowed, "'Kay, yeah, I'll take the pill."

"Okay, c'mon let's go get you sorted." She stood up and held out a hand to David to help him up, he accepted it and the two went off.

David could feel sleep trying to overtake him as soon as he led down in his bed, even as he tried to fight it, the effect of the anti-anxiety pill was undeniable, as was the fact that it would have him asleep within an hour.

He grabbed his phone off of his bedside table, where he had also placed the unopened envelope from Francis, he opened the chat app; Robin had been online not long ago.

David debated sending a text, asking him if he was on his way home, but it was too clingy, he wasn't a little kid, hell he had only known Robin for a couple of weeks, it wasn't like they were… he didn't even know anymore. He just… he wanted to apologise, for bringing Francis back into Robin's life, he wanted Robin to accept his apology… and to hug him, he didn't know why he wanted that, he shouldn't need that, he didn't know anymore. He was too tired, much too tired.

He could have sworn that he heard the door opening downstairs as he drifted off to sleep.