David collapsed down into the sand, relieved to find that it cushioned his fall, it was a relief after walking from the parking lot to what Robin had originally told him was the best part of the beach, though he had been trying to convince David that they could sit somewhere else when he had noticed him falling behind; that had only made David more determined.

He had to admit that Robin was right, this was the best part of the beach.

David had seen his fair share of beaches, probably more beaches than most teenagers in America, from the east to west coasts; but never Maine, Ruth had never taken then back to where all three of them were born, he had never seen the Storybrooke beach, only a ten minute drive from his new home. It was beautiful, especially in the June sun, it was pretty quiet, several families were dotted on beach towels and paddling in the sea, the golden sand had been warmed by the sun, it was warm against his skin as he dug his fingers into it only to feel the sand.

"David, can you come paddle with me and Rolo? Or is your leg too sore?"

David was drawn out of his head, he sent his only sister a sympathetic smile, "Sorry Go, my leg's pretty sore still, and I've gotta do loads of work or Rob- your dad's gonna tell me off," he pulled an overly dramatic pained face, receiving a playful roll of the yes and a ruffle of his hair from Robin, despite trying to duck away.

"We can build sandcastles later," Roland suggested with a barely contained eager look, without Henry there (the oldest of David's sibling's was sleeping over at a friends house) Roland was trying to be a little more mature than he would usually be, "if you can…?"

"That sounds good, maybe we can have a contest, you can judge," he looked to Robin, "right?"

"Sure, if you're all lucky I might even provide a prize," Robin grinned at how excited all three of the kids looked.

He wrangled Margot closer to him and covered her in sun-cream, watching to make sure Roland did the same and catching the parts of him which he missed. "Okay monsters, you can go paddle, maybe you can collect some seashells for your castles, stay where I can see you and don't go too close, got it?" He waited for nods from both Roland and Margot before passing over buckets and spades, watching them closely as they sped off towards the ocean.

David was pulling out his textbooks and notebooks from his backpack when a bottle of sunblock landed on his notebook, making both fall into the sand, David looked at it for a second, before turning his head to look at Robin, David raised one eyebrow, his father did the same. "Seriously? I don't need this, I'm not, like, paddling," he tossed it back and Robin caught it.

"You need it, kid," he tossed it back, David caught it and Robin sent him a smile, "even if you're not paddling you're out in the sun, you need to protect from the rays."
He realised, after a second, and taking in his son's rather clueless look, that Ruth probably hadn't had the money to spend on sunblock, or anything else, that both David and James probably hadn't been told that they needed it on all summer no matter what; David was frowning a little down at the bottle, reading the back of it, Robin felt a little bad, though the worry of UV rays was foremost in his mind.
"You need me to help you put it on?"

David shook his head, he opened the bottle, smelling the slight coconut scent of the sunblock, he remembered being very young, a neighbour or someone was around, making sure that David and James were both slathered in the stuff, saying that James had burnt, that he probably had the same type of skin, they must have been in Maine, that was the last time they'd had neighbours. The neighbour must have thought David would be like James, James who burnt the second he thought about the sun, David on the other hand had always tanned, Ruth had once told him he must have gotten that from his father, David had assumed at the time she meant Robert, but… eye carefully eyed his actual father, who had been watching him.

"Scars burn easily."

David narrowed his eyes then raised an eyebrow in amusement, glad to be out of his own head, and that Robin hadn't noticed that he wasn't simply avoiding slathering the cream into himself. "How'd you know that?"

"I actually listen to your doctor when he talks, and your physio…," Robin teased then rubbed his neck, "and I may have done a little googling." He watched patiently as his son looked amused.

A conversation about Robin being an overprotective parent, talked about yesterday in therapy, with Archie played in both of their heads, Robin had admitted to googling every single thing possible, but as David had (reluctantly) made it clear that he didn't actually mind the overprotectiveness.

"I'm putting it on, I'm putting it on," David mumbled.

Getting his arms covered was pretty easy, he was wearing a white t-shirt so his shoulders were covered from the sun, he covered his arms in the cream, then his legs his right first, then his left leg, the latter was part of the reason why he had been reluctant to wear the patterned shorts, the flesh was twisted, dented, torn then sewn back together, malformed, the brace was in Robin's rucksack of supplies, after David had insisted on going without.

"Sunshine?"

David's head snapped to look at Robin, it was only Robin's soft voice which made him realise he must have been staring at his leg. "I'm fine."

"The scars will fade soon, kid, I promise, just give it some time to heal."

David didn't know if he wanted the scars to heal, the only sign nowadays that he had ever been David Nolan, this would fade with the scars of his past, the ones with the bad and the good memories, until even David forgot about them. He simply nodded his head, and knowing that Robin was watching him he rubbed the cream into his legs, paying particular attention to his scars.

Thirty minutes later David was half covered in sand, his head was fuzzy, and he was beginning to understand why lizards stretched out under sunlamps; in front of him was a notebook covered in crossed out numbers, doodles, and correct answers with the working out either not there, or not how the example showed it should be.

Despite the school work, he was happy, happier and more relaxed than he had been in a while; there was the crashing of the sea, the sound of people having fun, around him was a wind-blocker, marking their little area, and all different beach towels, one for each of the four of them, but David had opted to lie on the warm sand.

Robin collapsed down onto the beach towel beside him, like David he was in shorts, though his were less patterned, simple khaki coloured ones with a light linen shirt, though now he was half covered in sand, David could feel him looking at David's work.

"This is stupid," David muttered throwing himself back so he was led down, his hair in the sand next to Robin's thigh, "I'm never gonna need this, it doesn't make sense. I'm shit at it."

Robin ran his hand through his son's hair, "No swearing, kid," he admonished gently, his eyes scanning David's work, "and you seem to be pretty good at this, it's just the working out you're doing a little differently."

"They won't let me do it differently." David crossed his arms and rested them over his eyes, blocking the sun, he was still and quiet for a minute, when something cold and damp pressed against his arm he let out a decidedly unmasculine yelp and scooted away, sitting up quickly to see Robin sitting beside him, a bottle of fruit punch Gatorade in his hand, so cold that condensation droplets were rolling down the sides of it, unsurprisingly Robin was laughing at him.

"You're mean," David pouted, "I'm calling CPS, Imma tell them how mean you are," he felt dread set into his bones as soon as he said those words, but that dread fades when Robin pulled him into a tight side hug, with a mocking 'Aww'. David rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smile.

"You need a drink, something to hydrate your brain," Robin told him, once he was done mocking his oldest child, "Here, drink this, I'm not letting you get heatstroke." He uncapped the drink and passed it, waiting for him to take a sip before he grabbed a spare pair of his olds shades from his rucksack (the one Regina deemed the Mary Poppins bag), he handed them over too, "I have a cap in the bag if you need it too, but here wear these I don't want you damaging your eyes, David."

"I'll take the shades," he agreed, knowing he didn't have much choice, he capped his drink and put them on, unsurprisingly they were nice ones, very nice ones, he wondered if Robin would let him keep them, he already had his own on after all. He received a smile from Robin, he looked down at his work, then back at Robin, "Okay they've not solved the math problems."

"Very funny smart arse, I'm going to help you."

"You are?"

"Yup, believe it or not, I was pretty good at math, well, once I had a tutor to help me for a while. Now don't worry too much about their example, just show what you can do, and you can do this, they can teach you it their way later, just show them what you can do."

Another thirty minutes later and David had finished all of his math work, and had done a decent amount of his Geography and English work, Robin had helped him a little but mostly it had been him, there was something nice about feeling like he'd done it all himself, and that there was someone to help and encourage when he needed it.

Now he was watching Robin, Roland, and Margot playing in the waves, he couldn't help but smile watching Robin acting goofy, and seeing his younger siblings having fun and running around, splashing water at each other and at Robin. He had been invited to join them, in fact Roland and Margot had both begged, but he chose to stay on the sidelines.

After a while he reached into his own backpack, he had packed in two books, one of them was the one Mary had retrieved for him the other day, the other was the school Of mice and Men, but he wasn't in the mood for either. He had headphones and his cellphone, but he didn't feel like that either, so he brought out the thing he had been unsure about bringing; his sketchbook, he never used to sketch in public, even when they were driving to different towns David would only drive without James or Ruth watching.

Before he knew it his pencil was moving across the page, sketching quick strokes, in time with the sounds of the ocean.

Robin was getting way too old for running around with two kids who apparently have endless energy, he was panting as he slowly made his way back to David's side, he had kept looking over to check on him, and may have used him as an excuse to the younger kids for taking a break, though he had also seen David glancing at them nearly every time that he looked over.

When he got close to their area he saw David sat crossed legged, a pencil in hand, and a sketchbook like the ones he had seen his mother with often enough, a look of concentration on his face, his tongue sticking ever so slightly out of his mouth, it was adorable, Robin pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and managed to snap a picture before David looked up, Robin pretended to be checking his cell phone, really subtle like. He dropped onto a towel beside David, taking in how David was still choosing the sand over the towels, he made a mental note of it on his list of things he was learning about his son.

"You're sketching?"

"Yup."

"Can I see?" Robin was met with silence, "It's okay if you don't want to show me, it's fine kiddo, it's up to you."

"You can see," David told him eventually, after a few more lines being marked in his book, "I was just finishing it up."

"David, seriously , you don't have to show me, it's okay, you don't have to show me-"

"Robin, seriously ," David copied Robin's English accent as best as he could as he copied him, Robin's look was enough to make David burst out laughing so enthusiastically that he fell backwards so he was lying in the sand.

When he finally sat up Robin was grinning at him, he quickly pretended to glare, but the two were clearly smiling at each other.

"You're getting cheeky, Sunshine."

"I aced your accent, I'm so using it to get outta shi- stuff ," David told him with pride, he held his sketchbook out to his father, "You can look, seriously, I told you I'd draw somethin' so you won't but those paintings from when I was a kid up on the fridge."

Robin took the sketchbook, there were three pages of sketches, despite being in black and white David had managed to bring the scene at the beach to life. "Dave…" his voice full of awe, " Sunshine , this is, these are amazing… seriously, kid, you're amazingly talented, shit mate."

"I thought we weren't allowed to swear?"

" You aren't, I am," Robin joked, knocking shoulders with him gently, "but seriously, these are amazing," he stared down at the last one, it was centred on him, holding Margot into the air as he and Roland got splashed by the incoming wave, they were all clearly smiling despite being from a distance.

David ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck, his red cheeks had nothing to do with the sun or the heat, "Does this mean you promise not to put those old paintings on the fridge now?" David asked finally.

"Sure, kid… that doesn't mean they're not going to go up elsewhere in the house…. framed of course…."

David let out an exaggerated groan, dropping his head all the way back, "you're the worst," he told him, but in his head he wondered what it would be like to go have his drawings and photographs up around the house like his siblings did.

Hours later the four of them were in the car on the way home, all four of them were tired, and smelt like the sea and the sand, the latter of which Robin knew he'd be finding in his car for months to come, yet they were all smiling.

"Showers for all of you monkey's when we get home," Robin commanded as he turned the corner to drive down their road, sticking firmly to the speed limit.

"You need one too."

"Because the lead monkey strategized with the younger monkey's to push their dear old dad into the sea then again into the sand," his response was met with laughter which was still going on as they pulled into their driveway.

Robin was the first person to notice the man standing at their door, it took him a second to place him, as they climbed out of the car, be he remembered him as the social worker, Sam, the one who had brought David to him. Robin hesitated, watching David let the others out of the car and limp to his side, he hadn't seen him yet, Robin opened his mouth to try and tell David but he was confused himself.

"Hey Robin can we-... what's he doing here?"

"I don't know kid, it's probably routine, he wants to make sure you're okay, c'mon let's head in, kids, go upstairs and shower, okay, me and David need to talk to this man, we'll join you in the den after you're all done, got it?" They must have heard the seriousness in his tone because as soon as they made it to the door, Robin greeted the social worker while David was silent, and Robin unlocked it, they ran inside.

Robin, David, and Sam settled in the living room before David said anything, he was sat close to Robin's side, and he had caught the sun that day, his skin several shades darker, but mostly he was just glaring, clearly trying to hide his fear.

"Why're you here? Are you gonna take me away? Cause-"

"-He's not, Sunshine."

"-Of course I'm not. I was in the area; I thought I'd check in on you, see how you're settling in here, how you're doing. You're looking-"

"That's bullshit."

" David ."

"It is! He was 'in the area', like fu-"

" David Robin Locksley-Mills. Stop. Now. "

David's mouth fell closed at Robin's firm tone, and his warning look despite David's clear look of betrayal, David let out a huff of air, trying to blow out his anger and worry as he slumped down in his place on the couch he clenched his teeth trying to force tears not to well up in his eyes. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest, his fingernails cutting crests into both palms.

" Sunshine ?" Robin waited for David to look up, "You're not going to be taken away, okay ? You're staying here, staying home, with all of us, he's not taking you," his head snapped to the social worker, "are you?"

The social worker hesitated for a mere moment, "No. Your therapist told me that he had made sure to get your concept before talking to me?," David nodded, "He's not given me any reasons to be concerned with you living here, or with your wellbeing, I would like to talk to you still, but I don't believe I'll be moving you, unless you're not safe here."

"I am." David told him, his heart was beating in his chest so hard that David was sure the men heard it, but he kept his chin defiantly in the air, "I'm safe here, and I'm not moving." He didn't realise that his eyes had drifted from Sam to Robin until Robin's hand went to the back of his neck, scratching circles onto his skin, it was surprisingly comforting.

"You're not moving out," Robin told him just as firmly as David had said it, "even when you go to college you're living here, even when you're forty and have a family of your own you're living here, you don't have a choice, seriously," he teased only slightly joking until David relaxed a little and gave him a half smile. Robin gave him a smile back but left his hand scratching David's neck.

He turned back to Sam. "I'm sure you'll be wanting to talk to both of us together and just David, I get it, do you mind if we do the joint one first though?" It wasn't a choice, or a question, it was more than a suggestion, it was happening, he didn't care, he didn't want his kid to have a panic attack because David would have to speak alone, terrified of being taken away.

"Of course, it's mostly just hearing how you're both doing, I know you're starting summer school soon, David, how are you feeling about that?"

David pulled a face, he didn't want to have to talk about this, or to him at all, but he knew he had t

After they talked Sam talked to him alone, making sure David really was alright, David wouldn't admit it out loud but his mother's warning that social workers would take them away from her played in his mind and scared him to the bone. He had tried to play it cool but Robin must have seen what lay beneath the surface because once the social worker had left and David had spent a little too long under the cold spray in the shower Robin ushered all three kids into the den with him to chill and watch movies, he didn't even try to force David to pick a movie, which was both a first and a relief.

David had fallen asleep at one point, but even when he woke and Regina was home the family stayed in the den watching movies, Robin scratching those circles into the back of David's neck. Neither Robin nor Regina made him talk about the visit, Robin didn't mention how David had been scolded with his full name for the first time ever, but Robin had announced that at least one of David's sketches was going on the fridge 'finally', and Regina had mentioned sending some photos to get printed, ones Robin had apparently sent her from that day, including from their sandcastle building competition. David knew they weren't saying it, but they were making sure he felt at home, he didn't know how he could even begin to thank them for that…. For any of it, really.