OQ 9 - this is why I don't

Happy Ending

Regina burst out of Granny's diner, fighting back tears. She should've known. Villains never get happy endings. Everyone had warned her about that—including Maleficent when she had stolen the Dark Curse from the only person she had been able to call a friend in the Enchanted Forest.

She and Robin had been tempting fate. They had been too happy. She had been too hopeful. Regina stared down the sidewalk she had walked only minutes earlier, Roland's tiny hand clutched in hers. For a brief moment, she imagined she could be a family with Robin, his son and Henry.

She had been a fool.

"Regina? Regina, wait!" Emma's voice called after her.

Regina stopped, but didn't look back. "Go back inside, Ms. Swan. I have nothing to say to you."

"Come on, Regina. Let's just have it out. Do whatever you want to me. I can take it."

She turned to find Emma standing behind her, arms opened wide. It would be easy to incinerate her, making Regina's life so much easier. But she had told Zelena she was a hero and she was going to stay one…for Henry's sake.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she said. "You don't have to worry about me holding a grudge for thirty years and doing something drastic. I just…can't see you right now, you understand?"

Emma nodded. "Of course. I'd probably feel the same way if…"

"Don't." Regina held up a gloved hand. "Don't pretend you understand what I'm going through. Please."

The so-called Savior looked lost, unable to fix someone's problems. Instead, she watched Regina with a puppy dog expression as she asked, "Is there anything I can do now? Besides staying out of your way?"

"Can you take Henry tonight? I don't want him to see me like this."

Emma sighed. "Okay. But he's going to want to see you first thing in the morning."

"Do you think you can hold him off until the afternoon?" Given how she planned to spend the night, she was going to need the time to chase away her hangover and make it look like she hadn't been crying for several hours.

She straightened her coat. "Good night, Ms. Swan. I'll see you and Henry tomorrow."

Her house was quiet. Too quiet. It left her alone with her thoughts, which was always dangerous. So she pulled out the bottle of whiskey she had bought to share with Robin and began drinking straight from it. There was no one there to see her unladylike behavior.

She had downed half the whiskey when knocking came to her door. Regina lay on her couch in the dark, wondering who it could be. Emma had promised to stay away and keep Henry with her. Mary Margaret had a new baby to care for and there was no way David was going to leave his wife and child to check on a brokenhearted queen. Hook didn't give a damn and Gold was on his honeymoon. Whoever was on the other side of the door could just go away.

The knocking died down and Regina closed her eyes. She took another pull of whiskey when the bottle was pulled from her mouth. Her eyes snapped open in annoyance, a withering comment on the tip of her tongue for the fool who had disturbed her.

Everything died away when she made out Robin's form in the darkness. He looked down at her with sadness, guilt and what appeared to be a touch of anger. "So does this magical brew now offer companionship?"

"Go back to your wife." She tried to grab the bottle from him but he held it out of her grasp.

Robin placed the bottle across the room before sitting down next to her. "We need to talk."

"Do we?" She sighed, her anger dissipating back into sadness. "Marian is alive, Robin. Your greatest wish. So go home and be with her. Forget me."

"Regina…"

"No, there is nothing to discuss. We had something good and I tempted fate with it. Fate's dealt me a harsh reminder. This is why I don't…I don't get happiness, get love."

Robin grabbed her, gently but firmly. "Regina, listen to me. You deserve happiness and love and everything else."

"Just not with you."

He closed his eyes, sighing. "Regina…"

"Please, Robin. Just go home."

Robin stayed put, crossing his arms. "If you want me to leave, you're going to have to remove me yourself."

"Why did I have to pick a man as stubborn as me?" Regina threw up her hands, storming past him.

He grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Because we go well together, Regina."

"Do we?"

"Yes. Pixie dust doesn't lie."

"Its timing sucks." Regina pulled away. She crossed her arms, using them as a shield. "You said earlier it was about timing. Maybe we missed ours. Maybe I blew it completely when I slammed the door and ran from the tavern."

Robin shook his head. "I refuse to believe that."

"Well now's clearly not our time either." Regina let out a humorless laugh.

"Who says it isn't?"

She was certain he had lost his mind and let her disbelief show on her face. "Are you mad? Marian, your wife, is back. How can it be our time?"

"Yes, Marian is back and that complicates things. There are many issues we need to work out, but I can't go back to her. It wouldn't be fair to her when I love another."

It took a few moments for his statement to sink in and when it did, Regina didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She stared at him before choking out: "You do?"

He nodded, starting to walk toward her. She remained still, holding her breath as her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest. Was this really happening?

Robin's fingers grazed her hips. "I love you, Regina. I have since I rescued you from that flying monkey."

"Back in the Enchanted Forest? When I was sniping at you?"

He nodded. "Common sense told me to just stay away from you, to not subject myself to everything you hurled at me. Yet I couldn't. And I felt the same pull when I met you by the Witch's farm house."

"I felt it too," Regina whispered. She then sighed. "And about how I treated you in the Enchanted Forest, I'm sorry. It wasn't my best but I was scared."

"I know."

Her eyes widened. "You do?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "I've known since the Enchanted Forest. I was just waiting for you to come around and take a chance."

Regina felt tears come to her eyes. "You were very patient."

"You have been worth the wait."

"But what about Marian?"

He sighed, blue eyes turning sad. "It's complicated, I admit. She and I have a lot to work out."

"Does she know that? Does she know about us?"

"Yes, she does. I told her after you left the diner." Robin led her over to the couch. Even once they were sitting, he never let go of her hand. "She wasn't happy. In fact, she asked if I was under a spell."

Regina made a little motion with her head, understanding where Marian was coming from. "What happened next?"

"I told her I wasn't. That I had moved on and fallen in love with you. She then threw me out of camp."

"She threw you out of your own camp?" Regina raised an eyebrow. "And the Merry Men just let her?"

He shrugged. "I was fine with it. She needs her space and time to process everything. And I wanted to talk to you. I didn't want too much time to pass before assuring you that I still want you."

Her defenses were finally broken and Regina leaned into him. Robin wrapped his arms around her and held her close. There was still a lot for them to work out, between themselves and between Robin and Marian. But that was for later. Now she just relished being in his embrace.

They eventually fell asleep on the couch, wrapped in each other's arms. In the morning, Regina made breakfast while Robin grabbed a quick shower. As they ate at the table together, both snuck looks at each other and smiled whenever their eyes met.

Robin offered to leave before Emma dropped Henry off but she insisted that she didn't want him to go. Emma didn't press for more information when she found Robin sitting on Regina's couch though Henry did, acting cool toward the man he had once admired. Robin asked her to leave them alone so he could have a man-to-man talk with Henry and, though hesitant, Regina obliged.

When she returned, she found Henry teaching Robin how to play one of his video games. The two laughed and teased each other. She leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms. "Can I get you two anything?"

"No, thank you," Robin said. He glanced at her long enough to flash her a reassuring smile.

Henry, though, looked up with pleading eyes. "Chips and a soda, please?"

"You can have a soda. But maybe some popcorn instead?" Regina suggested. Henry sighed but agreed.

She returned with a bowl of popcorn and Henry's soda, placing them on the table in front of them. Taking a seat by them, Regina pulled out some paperwork to do while the two played their video games. She kept sneaking glances at them and as Robin beat Henry, causing the boy to declare he had clearly cheated, she realized this was her new normal. Robin, Henry and, once custody was worked out with Marian, Roland filling her days with laughter, arguments and happiness.

Villains didn't get happy endings. But maybe—maybe—she wasn't a villain anymore.