Warning: small passage involving non-con!
Though Robin had insisted that tonight wouldn't be a date, the quaint, expensive Italian restaurant lit by candlelight with a violinist playing in the corner suggested otherwise. Not to mention, he had very obviously put a lot of effort into his appearance, choosing a blue shirt which he'd remembered to have been one of her favourites. The gesture wasn't lost on her and the moment she'd seen it she'd began to feel uncomfortable. When they got inside and he asked for a table and then took her coat and held her chair out for her, acting the perfect gentleman, she bit her lip and reacted politely, but tried not to seem overly-pleased with his actions.
"How are you holding up?" She asked him after they'd taken seats and ordered their drinks, two glasses of red wine. She was sure the alcohol would be helpful.
Robin bit his lip and shook his head. "Its… It's difficult to explain…. But I feel almost relieved."
"Relieved?" Regina repeated, confusion marring her features. Of all things, that was an emotion she hadn't expected him to be feeling.
"I knew that something was different with Marian. Though, I'll never forgive myself for not working out what was wrong sooner, I did know that something was off. Even when I thought she'd come back, found her way back to me, it never truly felt like it. This whole time, she's been gone." He sighed heavily, frowned. "Now that it's official, I can finally let her go."
"I'm sorry." Regina said, her words sincere. She rested her hand on the top of his, comfortingly. "I know what it's like to lose someone you love."
"More than you should." Robin agreed. "Regina I am truly sorry for leaving you. I believed I was being honourable but the moment I set foot outside of Storybrooke… I knew it was the wrong decision. If Marian had been herself, she would have told me to be with you. In fact, that should have been my first clue that she wasn't who she claimed to be." He sighed. "It was idiocy to attempt to continue a marriage with somebody I could no longer love. Even Roland could tell it wasn't as it should have been, he would remind me daily to smile and as much as I tried, my smiles felt empty. I haven't truly smiled since I left you."
Regina took a moment to take a gulp of wine, avoiding his gaze. "I think I've moved on, Robin." She blurted out. She didn't wish to lead him on and she had no interest in picking up where they'd left off. The spark they used to share was gone, fizzled out into nothingness.
His face crumbled and he squeezed her hand in his. "Already?"
Regina gaped at him and drawled, "You're a fine one to talk. You gave me no time to prepare for you leaving. You went straight to her without a second thought. Yes, I know you did it because of your honour, your code, but that doesn't make it hurt any less that it was such an easy decision for you. I'm sick of being the second choice, Robin. I'm always a second choice."
Robin gritted his teeth. "I believe it is I who needs to do the forgiving here, not you."
"Excuse me?"
"You killed my wife, Regina. You murdered her and I still want to be with you anyway and you can't forgive me for being an honourable man? We're soul mates, surely you can forgive me that?"
Regina instantly felt the swell of anger within her. "That was who I was, not who I am." She spat the words out like poison. There was a time he had told her that, a time he'd comforted her when she doubted herself, reminded her that she could be good. To hear him point out the flaws that she was already torturing herself over felt unbearable, like salt in a wound.
"Maybe so, but your actions had consequences that still live on." Robin stated as though oblivious to the stabbing pain his words were invoking in her. "I stood by you, despite your past, and I'm offering you a second chance with me, despite the fact that you destroyed my first chance with Marian. Is that still not enough for you? What do I have to do to show you that I love you?"
Regina took a number of slow, deliberate breaths as her fist began to shake. If she had her magic, she would be worried for Robin's welfare about now. He was so blind to the wrongness of his words, speaking as though he were entitled to her, like she should be pleading for him to take her back and it made her want to send him crashing through the glass wall behind them.
Instead, she steadily got to her feet. "I'll see you back at the apartment." She said, turning to leave without another word.
Behind her, Robin swore and put a twenty on the table before following her out. "What's wrong with you?" He asked as they stepped outside.
She spun on him. "With me?" She snapped.
"Isn't this what you wanted? Didn't you say you missed me? We can get back to what we had, Regina. We can carry on."
"I don't think that's going to happen." She said simply as she stalked off again, walking quickly to try and evade him.
He jogged lightly beside her to keep up. "Is there someone else?"
Regina didn't answer.
"Who is it?" Robin raised his voice until he was almost yelling. "Have you been with someone else?"
"No, I haven't." Regina spat and then turned to face him, sneering. "But if I had, it would be none of your business."
"Then, I don't understand." Robin said. "Tell me what's wrong. There must be a reason."
"The reason is simple. I am no longer in love with you. I realised it soon after seeing you again."
"That's impossible…" Robin muttered. "We're soul mates."
"Despite what you may think, that doesn't bind me to you. It doesn't make me yours and it doesn't change the fact that I no longer have feelings for you."
"You loved me once." He whined. "You can love me again." With that, he took ahold of her arm, pulled her into the alley they'd been passing and spun her around.
She looked at him in shock but had no time to say anything before he leaned in and claimed her mouth with his own. His body ground into hers, trapping her between himself and the solid wall and panic immediately began to bubble in her stomach, her mind taking her back to a time when she was frequently taken against her will, trapped beneath an old and heavy King with sickening breath. She tried to tell him to get his hands off of her but the moment she opened her mouth, he took the opportunity to slip his tongue in. Without a second thought, she bit down hard and he gasped, pulling away and putting a hand to his mouth. She tasted blood.
"Don't ever lay your hands on me again." She seethed.
"Regina, I-"
"Don't!" She interrupted. Something in her eyes must have scared him because he immediately back down, raising his hands in surrender and didn't move to follow her again as she left him cowering there. She was shaking, her heart thumping heavily in her chest as she tried to walk normally until she rounded a corner and could no longer stand it. She broke into a run and, despite the heels she was wearing, continued the pace until she arrived back at the apartment, the whole time trying desperately to calm her mind. She took a few moments outside to slow her breathing before buzzing the call button, not wanting Emma to see her in such a state. It was hopeless though, the more she tried to stop the panic, the more it pushed back and when Emma opened the door to her, the blonde could see straight away that something was wrong.
"What did he do?" She asked, voice low.
"I don't want to talk about it." Regina said, walking straight past her into the bedroom.
Emma followed her. "Did he hurt you?"
After a brief moment of confusion, Regina realised Emma was looking at her lip and when she wiped her hand over the spot, it came away with blood. "No, this is Robin's." She said, dully.
"So, you bit him?" Emma asked, eyebrows raised.
Regina couldn't stop the chuckle, "No, Miss Swan. I did not just bite him. I'm not a two-year-old."
"Then how did his blood end up on your lip?"
"He kissed me."
"And you didn't approve."
"No, I didn't."
"I see." Emma sat down on the bed next to her. "So you did bite him?"
Regina rolled her eyes but didn't answer.
"t found a wifi box and laptop that Robin hadn't been using. Want to watch some Netflix?"
Regina smiled, pleased that Emma wasn't pushing her. She wasn't stupid, she knew Emma would press her later, or perhaps confront Robin after seeing the fright in her eyes when she'd returned early from their 'dinner date'. But for now, Emma understood that Regina didn't want to speak, and that was okay.
"Any preferences?" The blonde asked as she loaded the website.
"I don't have much experience in TV."
"I have a few suggestions, series or movie?"
"Series. I want something that can keep my entertained for the rest of our stay." Regina said. Something to keep me busy in this room while I avoid Robin like the plague, she thought.
"I have one in mind." Emma grinned.
Three episodes of Orange is the New Black later, and Regina was hooked. Not to mention a little hot and bothered. She'd never watched something with such intimate scenes before, she hadn't even known that shows like this existed.
"When you were in prison, were people really at each other all the time like this?" Regina asked when what must have been the tenth or so sex scene started.
"Well, this is a little exaggerated but there were some people like that I guess."
"And yourself?"
Emma choked. "Excuse me?"
"Did you engage in anything like… this, with other women?" Regina asked, seriously.
Emma laughed nervously, unsure what to say, "I can't believe you just asked me that."
Regina frowned. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"It's not the question that makes me uncomfortable."
"Then, why are you uncomfortable?"
"Because I feel like you're massively judging me right now."
"I certainly wouldn't judge you for that." Regina said.
Something about the look on the brunette's face prompted Emma's next question. "Have you ever…?"
"Once, a long time ago."
Emma's eyes widened with badly-hidden shock. "Seriously? Who?"
"Maleficent. Back when I was just beginning to learn magic, she taught me a lot."
"I bet she did." Emma smirked suggestively.
"Not like that." Regina said, her smile gave away an element of truth in Emma's statement, however.
"Wow, a dragon too. Impressive. How did a love affair end with you cursing her to live as a dragon for twenty eight years in isolation?" Emma asked.
"The Evil Queen had no room for love in her life, of any kind." Regina answered, solemnly. "Now, will you answer my question?"
"Not while I was in prison, but there was a girl I liked, when I was younger." Emma admitted. "She was one of the few people I ever really cared about. We were kind of together for a while, but she was a wild card, always getting into trouble. One day I'd had enough and just had to cut it off."
"What did she do?"
"Lots of things. I have to wonder if she ended up in prison, too." Emma mused, a sad smile on her face. "She ruined my chances with a family, a chance which turned out to be my last, and I just couldn't deal anymore. She was too destructive."
"What was her name?"
"Lily."