A Locksley December.
Day 3 - AU!OQ.
So everyone. Thanks for following this series, after this one i still have one more one-shot to publish (which i will do tomorrow) and this week-end, i will come to you with a complete new fanfiction which was supposed to be day 5. Day 6 will also be incorporated in this fanfiction which you will discover on saturday. If you want a clue about it, find me on twitter holylocksleys or on tumblr at henstridgeslocksleys!
Prompt : Divorced Parents AU. Regina and Robin divorced because they let work get in the way of their relationship, they try to co-parent Roland together and also Henry even though he is not Robin's biological son, Robin is his father. The children insist on having them both for christmas, what they don't know is that their parents have been having a friends with benefits kind of relationships and playing house was all they needed to realise how stupid they have been.
.::.
"Roland, stop running and get dressed!" Snapped Regina.
Sighing she closed the zipper of her dress, it wasn't really her intention to snap at her son but she's been preoccupied since she knew they were going to spend christmas together, that he would be there. He being her ex-husband Robin who she was still completely in love with but had to divorce, for the safety of her own heart and his.
Robin and Regina met about five years ago, at first, it felt like they would never get along. Due to both of their pasts, they were two damaged people, both thinking they were beyond repair so they both guarded their hearts. They ended up working at the same company, two lawyers eternal enemies in the public eyes and their own, until what they now could identified as sexual tension cracked and they caved.
During her whole childhood, Regina's mother the famous Cora Mills, tried to teach her how love is weakness and how she shouldn't let herself feel anything for anyone, she kept telling her that if she wanted to be successful she couldn't let herself be distracted. Not by what she felt like childish feelings, she kept saying, she worked too hard to bring this family where they were and expected her daughter to continue the legacy. Yes, Mills Associates was one of the most successful company in the country and obviously the brunette always understood what was at stake. Her mother proved it to her. Many times. One of these times being the day she had her fiancé killed. Obviously Regina couldn't prove that her mother had anything to do with it, to the eyes of anyone else it was a tragic but simple car accident but she knew better. When a few years later she met Robin, the brunette tried her hardest to resist, to keep her heart guarded and to not let herself fall in love again but with only a smile and his blue eyes he had her. She could always blame it on the dimples, but truth was, he was a good man, with a good heart and from the moment they got together she felt like they were always meant to be. He was probably the best thing to ever happen to her, aside of their children.
As for Robin, he felt grateful and humble to have lived such an easy life but truth was it had never been easy. When he was born, his parent's marriage was already about to explode, his life might have delayed the divorce but it came eventually, that's when everything went downhill. Heartbroken by the lost of her person, Robin's mother began to throw herself into work, neglecting him so much that at the age of 10 he was practically able to live by himself. His father got married again, and again, and again. Three times in total. But it made him happy, Robin used to say, so who was he to judge? Well he was the person who got close to every woman his father dated because of the lack of affection from his own mother and was left almost alone and heartbroken each time divorce paper were signed.
When about nine months ago now Regina received her promotion at work, they both thought it would only be more happiness added to their life together, little did they know it would cause their destruction.
Because of the amount of work she had, Regina was coming back home less and less often, didn't have time to call or skype for long, kept cancelling dates and before they could even realise it, they lost track of who they were and the unique bond between them. After six months of agony, Regina decided to come back home to try and fix her relationship with her husband. She felt guilty, knowing that all the time she had she gave it to their sons and not to him. Robin and the brunette gave themselves a month. A month to fix their relationship and try to figure out what was left to save.
The only problem was : they were angry. As she felt like she was not being trusted, he felt like he was being neglected and given both of their past, both of them got hurt. Badly. During their month, they kept fighting until one night, it went too far and words went further than minds and hearts meant. That night ended up with Regina asking for a divorce and Robin agreeing without even blinking.
Both of them ended up crying themselves to sleep, scared to have lost the best thing that ever happened to them besides Henry and Roland.
Robin got to his friend's place, both of them knowing that they couldn't live under the same roof anymore and Regina kept the apartment for the children. They didn't talk, except for short text messages for anything one of them needed to know about the children. But they don't need to talk to have, do they?
It all started a month ago, being particularly pained by the situation, Henry, Regina's adoptive son got into a fight at school. Nothing major, really but what surprised her is that it wasn't his kind of behavior at all. On the contrary. After they talked things through, the brunette thought that it could be positive to have a chat with Robin about Henry's feeling on the situation, which was a conversation you can't really well have on the phone. She gave him the address of a bar down the street, knowing that having him back into their apartment would hurt her too much and would distract her from the original conversation. When they met that day, they didn't realised how much they had missed each other. In one afternoon they went from talking about Henry to post-orgasm bliss on the bed of Robin's friend's apartment.
They both tried to pretend it would be a one-time thing. They did. But they failed. It was just a week later that it happened again, again and again. Since that afternoon, it never really stopped though both Robin and Regina knew how unhealthy it was.
Now here they were.
Christmas.
They thought about celebrating it together but both decided against it, not wanting to confuse the children. They were having a divorce, they couldn't continue this relationship if it meant fighting each time they weren't having sex. But that was until Roland begged them with his irresistible puppy eyes to have a dinner on christmas eve, to remember what they used to be he said.
Obviously they couldn't refuse him.
Which is why Regina was a mess. Her ex-husband was supposed to be there any minute now and the the kids kept playing together instead of getting ready, the food was cooking but it might take longer than what she expected and her dress didn't suit her the way she hoped it did. She didn't know why she was so stressed out, they had been married for years, she knew what to expect, yet she didn't? Each time they saw each other there was no words exchanged except what was absolutely necessary and before they started this weird relationship, last words they said was the evening they broke up.
.::.
She was tired.
It had been a pretty long day in the office and all she wanted now was to go back home and sleep like the dead, when was the last time she had a proper night? She couldn't even remember. When entered her apartment, she was greeted with the sight of her husband asleep on the couch. How was he doing lately? Since she got her promotion she felt like they barely saw each other and when they did she was so tired she couldn't even find the strength to listen to him.
Woke up by the sound of the door, Robin grumbled a week 'hi'; she quickly answered and went to their room to get ready for the night. She was only half surprised when she heard the door opening and when he asked her what time it was. Half past eleven she said, feeling the guilt feeling her heart once again. She had work, it was important and she knew that he would understand but she missed him.
"Can we talk?" he then said, sounding more awake than he had since she got here. She didn't answer, just nodded as she was taking off her make up.
.::.
This is how one of the worst night of her life started, they did talk for a while but it didn't last. Weeks and weeks of emotions and feelings were released and words went further than thoughts, ending up in divorce treats. At first, neither of them thought they were serious, but they were convinced the other didn't love them anymore so they decided to go through with this first. But they were both wrong.
Not even a month after they got separated, Regina realised that she still had feelings for her husband. At first, she thought it was just residual feelings from their time together, but it lasted, she eventually had to admit that she was still very much in love with him. If only she wasn't that proud, maybe she could be strong enough to fight for him? Even if he didn't love her anymore, he still wanted her so maybe he could love her again?
But she was too proud, sadly.
Or so she thought.
When Robin arrived an hour later, she had a good feeling from the moment she saw him. He looked good, he was in a good and frankly so was she. The moment he saw her, his jaw dropped and he almost let out a gasp, when he found his voice again, he complimented her and her outfit.
Everything went by amazingly, they communicated, laughed and even flirted.
Until the children went to bed.
They both wished them a good night and kissed them on their forehead, Robin then followed Regina to the living room. Their living room, he couldn't help but think.
"Do you want a last glass of wine?" She asked, because if she was honest with herself she wasn't really ready for their evening to end.
He wasn't either, but he knew that he had a couple of drinks that evening already so adding alcohol to his system would probably not be a good idea if he had to drive home. "I had a couple of glasses already so better not, but i wouldn't mind some water? If it's… okay with you i don't want to-"
"It's fine," she interrupted him, "i don't really want tonight to be over yet." She admitted, because if she couldn't be honest with the man she had been married to for years and the man that was probably going to end up inside her before the night ended (she had every intention to try and resist but she also knew that she was fooling herself if she was counting on succeeding) then who could she be honest with?
"Me neither," he answered in a sigh. "We should… probably talk." He said, a serious look on his face, oh, she didn't like that.
"Last time you said that it ended with divorce papers," She said, getting defensive, "are you sure it's a good idea?" She joined him on the couch, they sat next to each other, so close that if they moved for even just an inch they would touch, both of them wanting desperately to reach out but knowing they had to talk. This little "friends with benefits" thing they were doing was fun but it couldn't last forever.
"Last time, i thought i didn't love you anymore."
The air left her lungs, her jaw dropped, her heart started beating faster, did she hear him right? Did he mean?-
"I'm sorry, i shouldn't just drop it on you like this, not during christmas, i didn't intend to i just couldn't hold it-" He continued, but she wasn't listening anymore. He loved her. She heard him right, he still had feelings for her. All these months, longing and being sad, she didn't even realise that maybe the feelings she still had for him were not one-sided.
So she did the only thing she could think of, she kissed him.
When the kiss broke, she looked at him and smiled, "Robin…" She started, "I… I never stopped loving you."
He smiled at her in return. They kissed again. And again. Until they remembered that they needed air to breathe.
"I'm so sorry for everything i said that night," Said Robin, the first one to break the silence, "I was hurt, and angry, part of me might still be but…" He took a deep breath, to gather courage probably, "being with you, Henry and Roland tonight made me realise that whatever happened, it's not worth losing all of this. Losing us. Losing you."
"Oh i was a bitch too," she chuckled, because it was true, out of all the things that were said that night, she was probably the one who said the most hurtful things. "I'm so sorry, i shouldn't have said all those things i thought i could move on and forget you but then i saw you and things happened and-"
"Very nice things," he interrupted her, chuckling. "If i could say so myself."
"Yes," She smiled, understanding without a doubt what he was referring to. "That was when i realised… i couldn't let you go. I was too proud to fight for you, thinking you didn't love me anymore just broke my heart, i wasn't strong enough to do anything about it, this is why i kept coming to you."
They both sighed, Regina tucking herself in her husband's arms. Everything wasn't solved, they were probably going to have a lot to work on, but they owed it to themselves to try because they were one soul and no one can't separate two half of one soul. Not even death.