Yikes, I had no idea so many people were annoyed and frustrated with this so sorry you feel that way. Anyway, I'm apparently dragging this too long so I'll do my best to make things flow (probably not as fast as you like but don't worry, I promise just a few more chapters and I'll finish it up). Thanks for reading and enjoy, and if you don't enjoy then be brutal if you must, I can take it :)

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Regina had no idea that it could be so hard to love someone you would constantly see and talk to and keep quiet about it. Sure, she knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park, but still… she thought that it was going to be a hell of whole of a lot easier.

At least at first, in the week after she went to him to apologize, things had been somehow easy; but thinking about it rationally, she only saw it that way because one, she was just glad to have him back in her life and two, because even though they had settled their disagreements, things between them where still kind of awkward and they weren't exactly back in the best friend's zone again.

Sure, they talked over the phone in a few occasions and Robin took back the habit of texting her whenever he learnt or discovered something that he found interesting almost immediately, but even though, things were not exactly the way they used to be.

It was the following week when things started to change for her; after dropping Roland at school, Robin texted her that he was going to pass by to check on her and he did; the knock on her door came ten minutes after eight in the morning and they had the most awkward encounter at her door.

He said that he just came by to see how she was doing and that was it, he never made it pass the door and she never invited him in. More than awkward it was horrible and when he finally started to turn around to leave, she tried to put all feelings aside in hopes to get her friend back and told him that if he wanted, he could come back after his shift was over.

He took in the offer and sometime before evening, he came back to her with Roland.

What happened was nothing out of the ordinary, he brought some movies, she cooked them dinner and with Roland chatting nonstop, they spent the night trying to get back to what they had, which was a friendship and nothing more. They ate, they watched a grand total of two movies and when Roland dozed off, they talked about everything but what was going on between them.

Regina had tried to play it cool, but it was during that night that she realized that things were not going to be as easy as she first thought… to have him so near and yet so far away.

It was quite sad even for her and even if she tried not to, when he wasn't looking her eyes would find him to get lost in every detail of his movements, her hands were just itching to reach forward and touch him and she just couldn't stop wondering about him and Belle.

All that happened a week ago, and apparently, she still couldn't get over the fact that she felt more than just and amicable love for him and that night when he and Roland came by once again, she found herself stuck within the same circle.

She felt just like that damn Queen in the movie Roland couldn't stop watching, trying to conceal it and not feel it…

Shaking her head and rolling her eyes at the way her mind was drifting once again, Regina allowed the spoon she was using to eat some ice cream to fall inside the bowl.

Her feelings for Robin should be the last thing in her mind in that moment and what she should be thinking about was her baby and nothing more.

Sure, even though the baby wasn't due for another couple of months, thinking about what was to come made her nervous as she has never been in her life so that was the reason she didn't want to put much thought to it; but she also knew that things were going to turn out fine because very soon she was going to have her baby with her and that was all that she needed in life.

Who would have time to think about men when there was going to be a little one taking over her heart anyway? A little one that for all she knew, could be the spitting image of Robin.

Eyes the color of the ocean at sunset, dimples that would take anyone's breath away and that smile she was so drawn to…

Groaning at how her mind would always drift towards him, Regina lowered her head until her forehead was touching the granite of her counter and then she closed her eyes.

"Having a rough time."

Hearing the words and feeling his hand touching her shoulder, Regina's muscles tensed and for a second, her breathing halted.

It was stupid and she knew it, but it just that touching was something they just stopped doing as of late and chaste as it was, she couldn't help but feel all her senses in overdrive.

"No. I was just thinking about the baby and my due date. It's getting near and I was, you know, thinking and hoping in won't have to be a C-section." She lied easily, her face still lowered into the counter and her lips twitching in amazement at how quick she was able to come up with that.

"Oh okay." He said and after the words were said, he moved his hand away from her. "You know… with every passing day I always come to the conclusion that this is a strange realm indeed; one where babies are put into their mother's womb by a doctor and then taken out in a so called operating room."

"Medicine is quite an advance, you know."

"I know; I mean I've read about it all but it's just… bizarre."

Rolling her eyes with just imagining who let him read about it all, Regina tried to act composed. "So let me get it straight, you accept magic but no medicine?" As she asked that, she lifted her head to find that Robin was now sitting in the stool at her side while eating her ice cream. "That's interesting."

"And who says I accept magic?"

Humming, Regina's lips curved involuntarily. In her infatuation with him she has forgotten how easy they could spend hours talking about trivial things like that and she took the opportunity to recuperate that. "You have a magic bow and you don't accept magic?"

Arching an eyebrow, the father of her unborn child took a spoonful into his mouth and hummed. "Anyhow, I'm not saying that I don't accept magic or even medicine, just that I don't understand most of the appeal they have. But what can I say, I'm a simple man who thrives in the simplicity of things."

"And yet… you have a magic bow." Snorting and pursing her lips, Regina shook her head. She did it while meeting the sparkling blue of his ever-changing eyes briefly, but then she looked down to the ice cream bowl.

"What's with you and my bow, woman?" His voice, a raspy whisper made her look back at him. "Because trust me, I can aim and hit my target without it being magic."

Shrugging and keeping her eyes on his, she smiled. "If you say so."

Pinching his upper lip with the edge of his teeth, Robin smiled back at her. "I'll show you one day and you'll see how I'm right. As I'm going to show you how some things are better enjoyed by simply letting them be."

Humming and nodding, Regina clenched her teeth. "Did Belle let you read about that too?" Ah, there… she just couldn't help it. She just hoped it didn't come out as spiteful as she felt it in her tongue.

"Belle?"

"Yes, Belle, cute little librarian you use as a 'nanny' at any given time."

Pressing a thumb to his lips, Robin narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. "Well Belle has taught me many a thing of this realm, but that one I learnt on my own. I can show you too if you want."

"No I pass." She said haughtily and with a roll of her eyes.

After that, neither of them said anything and Regina was starting to think that sooner rather than later, Robin was going to say that it was too late and that then he was going to leave with a sleeping Roland in his arms.

It was going to happen… she could feel it.

"So," Robin began, breaking the silence. "With you being such an advocate for both magic and medicine, would you rather have this C-section thing?"

Wrinkling her nose and unable not to noticed how he went back to the subject instead of announcing his departure, Regina moved her eyes back to his and smiled faintly.

"I don't think so. I mean I want to give birth naturally; you know, the usual, break my water while grocery shopping, make you come running from the opposite part of town, having awful contractions, going through fifteen hours of labor…being overcome with lots and lots of pain." Shrugging and completely aware that she was rambling, Regina breathed out, this time unable to tear her eyes from him.

Allowing a soft laugh to escape off his lips, Robin put the spoon down and tilted his head to the right. "You say it like that and now I wonder how is that better than a scheduled C-section?"

"I don't know," She answered while lowering her eyes once again. "But just the idea of going under the knife makes me anxious."

With that said, she took the spoon and started playing with the already melting ice-cream.

"Ah," Robin said amusedly and Regina had the impression that he moved a little closer. "So the mighty and feisty Queen does have a weak point, a scalpel."

Snorting, Regina looked up. "Don't be ridiculous. That's not my weak point."

No, as she was starting to find out, her weak point was him. It has been like that even before she realized she was in love with him and it was only now that she saw it.

Take that moment as an example, just having him sitting there and looking at her with such intensity was enough to make her feel her insides turn into goo so yeah… she could say that he was her weakness.

"No? Then what is your weakness?" He asked, the amusement in his voice turning into something else entirely different.

"Ha, as if I would ever tell you." She responded before her tongue began to push insistently against her upper teeth.

Snorting and leaning a bit closer, Robin rested his right elbow over the counter. "Come on, I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

With her lips curving into what appeared to be a smile, Regina shook her head. "No way."

"So are you going to make me find out on my own?" Robin asked, taking the spoon out of her hand and putting it over the counter. Once he did that, he made her stool turn to the side so that she would be facing him.

Furrowing her brows, the brown eyed beauty opened her mouth and then shut it back for a second. She didn't exactly know what was happening, but for some reason all her senses were on the edge. "Okay, what are we exactly talking about here?"

Instead of answering her question, what Robin did was close the short distance that separated them so he could press his lips to hers.

He did it softly, without pushing it and Regina just froze in the act.

Then, before she could register what was really happening clearly in her brain, Robin pulled slightly apart, just enough so that he could look into her eyes. He didn't say anything and neither did she, so after a few seconds that seemed to have dragged into eternity where they did nothing but stare into each other's eyes, he leaned into her once again and kissed her.

Closing her eyes as her hand automatically lifted to curl to the back of his neck, Regina added a bit more pressure into the kiss and taking it as his cue, his tongue ran softly against her lips.

It was something that they had done before, kiss, but that night Regina felt it like never before and wanting to feel more of it, she parted her lips for him.

As she silently requested it, Robin deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding in and touching hers while both his hands came to cradle her face.

That was when she remembered herself and pulling her face back as if his lips were burning her, she ran her fingers through her hair. "Robin, you know we shouldn't-"

"Yes I know. My apologies." He rasped out and if she saw it right, he rolled his eyes while saying so.

Now she didn't know why he did that, but she had the impression that he was mad. Not that he had a reason to; if someone should be mad there it was her.

But she wasn't, that kiss only made her feel a weird sense of sadness wash over her and all that she wanted to do in that moment was go to bed.

"You know what, I take that back; I'm not sorry that I kissed you." He took a moment to consider his words and then he shook his head. "No, if there's something I am really sorry about is that I let you drag me along in this 'let's play friends' thing when you know there's more to us than that."

Staring at him, Regina blinked a couple of times and remained mute. What was he saying…?

While she tried to process what he meant, Robin got to his feet and looked down on her. "I've been trying to give you enough time and space so you can figure out what you really want but you are either too stubborn that you rather choke with something rather than spitting it out or you plain and simple don't want what I want. I want everything, Regina, I want everything with you."

Listening to his words without blinking, Regina felt as if she was about to panic. Her lungs started to close in and her limbs all of a sudden felt too heavy for her to bear. Sure, for weeks now she has been mopping about unrequited love and now that he was there, possibly letting her know that he wanted the same thing that she wanted, her first instinct was to flee.

To disappear in a purple haze never to come back.

Maybe she would have done it if it wasn't because every fiber of her being was paralyzed. It was all so unexpected.

"So there, now you know where I really stand so what follows will be up to you. If you don't feel the same way and would rather remain friends, I'll take that, but I just needed to let you know that at this point, being just friends is not what I want."

"I…" Shaking her head as if in denial, she closed her eyes. "I don't understand."

"Then I shall simplify it. I love you, I've always have and not in the way you imagine." Blinking a few times and then shrugging, he went on. "And I'm sorry if this bothers you but I can't keep it down any longer, I thought… when you asked me to do this with you, I thought I could handle it but apparently I can't; I'm only human Regina and you can't expect me to turn a blind eye to what I feel after I got to have you… so why don't you think about what you feel and when you are ready we'll talk it out."

With that said, he turned around and walked to her living room. Once there, he sat in her sofa, turned on the TV and crossed his arms to his chest as if he didn't just drop such a bomb.

Regina watched him through eyes big as plates as her heart beat ridiculously fast against her chest. Was this it? Was everything she ever wanted in that man sitting there, waiting for her to make the decision?

It just… she didn't know what to think or what to do! That he would feel even half the way she felt for him was something she had wished more than anything and now that the possibility was there, she was lost.

The decision was hers and she didn't know what to do. What if she ruined it all? What if at the end of it all he realized that she wasn't good enough for him and what if she couldn't love him the way he deserved? What if it was safest to remain friends?

Taking in a deep breath and trying to calm down, Regina swallowed on dry and tried to organize her mind. As terrifying as it all seemed, there was only way to find out about all those questions and it wasn't running away or evading the subject; no, to find out she would have to face her fears and jump into it without looking back because wasn't it that what it was all about?

Blowing a shaky breath out of her mouth, she got to her feet and took one step and then two steps towards him. Then she kept walking as if she was in a trance and it wasn't until she was in front of him that she stopped. Once he saw her there, he got to his feet as well and stared at her expectantly.

Looking into his eyes, she parted her lips to speak, but the thing was that somehow, the words got stuck in her throat and she couldn't say them.

Robin wasn't helping either, he was just standing there, his eyes delving into her terrified ones as he waited.

Sucking in a breath and still not finding how to let the words out, she did the only thing that got into her mind, which was grabbing the edges of his jacket and pull him against her so that her mouth could meet with his.

Now, with her pregnant belly she couldn't bring him as close as she would have wanted and her emotions where so raw that she just managed to plant an open mouthed kiss that he probably felt as sloppy and hurried; but trying to fix it, she made the kiss go deeper, seeking his tongue with hers and in a matter of nothing coaxing him into kissing her back.

With an iron clasp grip on his jacket, she felt his fingers bury in her hair and she tilted her head to the side, her head spinning with the intensity of her feelings.

For a while their lips remained glued, their kiss needy and deep and talking the things she didn't dare say. At last, when she broke apart, Robin just smiled cheekily. "Can I have the translation of that into words?"

"What about Belle?"

Frowning, he blinked. "What about her?"

"Aren't you two…?"

It apparently took him a minute to realize what she was asking and snorting in amusement, he pecked her lips. "Are you jealous of Belle?"

Guffawing, Regina shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous, I just thought that-" Closing her eyes and resting her head to his chest, she groaned. "I don't do jealous but let's face it, Belle is not as damaged as I am and Robin, you don't deserve damaged."

Grabbing her head and making her look at him, Robin smiled. "Don't be silly, to start things, you are not damaged, and second, Belle is just… well, she's just Belle. She's a dear friend and nothing more and that night you found her home, she was just taking care of Roland while I finished my shift."

"I was just your dear friend too."

"You were always more than that. Now can I please have my answer?"

Unable to help it, Regina kissed him softly, but when she was about to say it, she felt a cramp on her stomach that made her groan and double over.

"Oh my God," She breathed out as her hand came to settle on her stomach. It was hard as stones and blinking rapidly as she felt it around, she tried to remember what the doctor told her, that having contractions didn't necessarily mean that she was going into labor…

It could be nothing, it was probably was nothing so she tried to straighten up. But before she could do it, Robin had one of his hands pressing against her back while the other one covered her own hand, the one she had on her stomach. "What is it?"

"Nothing it was just…" She started to say when a new cramp made her cut her sentence short. This one lasted longer than the previous one and Regina was sure that she felt as if her entire midsection was about to rip apart; the sensation was too painful and it left her breathless.

Now through it all, Robin held her steady while asking her if she was alright, but as the pain started to subside, she felt something soaking her underwear and running down her leg.

"No, no, no, no." She chanted in dismay because it was too soon. She was still seven months along so it was just too soon.

The baby wasn't ready… she wasn't ready… and, and…

"Regina, hey… look at me."

Looking up and having a passing thought about her baby having the worse timing ever, she closed her eyes and through clenched teeth, she felt another contraction. "I think I want to go to the hospital now."