AN: I know these updates are getting pretty scarce, and I apologize for that. This is a short chapter, full of pain for no reason, but another update is on its way.

She stood in the shower for over thirty minutes, her hands leaning against the tile as hot water scorched down her skin. She felt it burning, but didn't pay any attention. Her mind was somewhere dark, a place of self-loathing that was all too familiar to her. She had known it her whole life, and it told her that she was sick and wrong, and she was turning Henry into someone just like her. The weight of the night settled heavy on her shoulders just like the water, until finally she forced them away to focus enough on getting out of the shower.

After Regina grabbed a robe and dried her hair the best she could, she took a deep breath and walked back into the bedroom. Henry was sitting on the edge of the bed only wearing boxers, looking scared and worried and it broke her heart and made her second guess herself, but she tried to strengthen her resolve as she looked at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

"We can't do this anymore Henry." Her tone was quiet but it sounded so loud, breaking the silence of this room.

"What?" He asked, surprised at her sudden decision.

"This isn't going to happen again, none of this is." Regina felt small under his gaze, she felt vulnerable, and she crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

"Why?"

"You already know why." Her voice grew a little colder at that, almost looking at him with a glare. "The reasons are obvious enough that I don't have to spell it out for you."

He shook his head in disbelief.

"But…but we just had sex—" His eyes glanced at the bed behind him, as if he thought maybe he imagined the last hour, maybe it didn't even happen. "I thought…I thought it was because you wanted more." His voice cracked, getting more and more upset.

"Henry…" She tried to using a soothing voice, taking a step towards him, and it caused him to stand up quickly from the bed.

"I thought you wanted this." The fast movement and sudden rise in the volume of his voice caused her to tense and become defensive, some anger resonating through her voice.

"I don't want to fuck my son." She snapped. "This wasn't in my parenting plan." They were both quiet after that, both of them regretting the quick and harsh words that came from her.

"Then why else would you do this?" He asked, full of pain. "Why else, if you don't want me?"

Regina tried to soothe him again at that, tried to reach out to him, but he took a step back before her hand could reach his arm.

"I do want you, that's not what I meant—"

"I didn't force you to be with me." Henry said it as if there was no other issue at hand, and it made tears sting her eyes.

"Don't you feel any kind of guilt about this?" She asked desperately, her arms moving around the space between them dramatically. "Don't you see how wrong this is?" Because it was, and he had always acted as if it was just the most natural thing in the world. It all came so easy for him, and she tried to force away the thought of what she did wrong—what part of raising him was lacking enough to make him want this so badly—to want her.

"It doesn't feel wrong." She didn't respond, because it felt wrong to her, so she only looked at him with something that resembled shock and fear. He shook his head for a moment, stumbling a bit over his words. "And yes, I did feel guilty about it, for years. I thought about that day when you kissed me in the park, and I knew that it wasn't right. But then I remembered…" His eyes turned piercing and taking a few confident steps towards her, keeping their eyes locked. "We broke the curse." A small smile settled on his face. "With true love's kiss."

Regina took a step back, fear taking more precedence on her features.

"No." She said, her voice hushed. "That wasn't the kind of true love that broke it."

His confidence, the shining love in his eyes faltered at that.

"You don't know that." Henry whispered, clearly hurt. Hurt and hurting, for years, and it was all Regina's fault. He was always so good, so pure, and she tainted it. She ruined it, just as she ruined everything. Tears shined bright in her eyes until they started to fall, causing her tone to crack.

"Baby…" He looked down at that. "I just want to go back." She said, crying and desperate, wanting things that could never be again, just as she always did. "I want to go back to being your mother again."

Henry looked back up quickly, with a glare.

"We can't just go back." He closed the space between them and placed gentle hands on her arms, trying to get her to meet his gaze, but she wouldn't allow it, not in the suddenly close space between them. "…I know you see me as more than just your son."

They were silent for a long time, her eyes still looking away, until she finally pulled out of his grasp and turned her back on him, fresh tears shining on her face.

Finally,

"Fine." The anger was back in his voice. The resentfulness that was always reserved just for her, and it broke her heart. "I love you, so…" With a heavy sigh, and a pain that covered his hard tone, he walked to the bedroom door and opened it. "Fine."