I looooved writing this chapter! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do :) please let me know what you think!

Regina pulled herself up out of the well with a huff, her hands gripping the cool worn stone as she straightened her elbows and hooked her leg over the edge so she could balance herself and push herself out. Sitting on the edge of the well with both her legs hanging over the edge she pushed herself off and stumbled to catch her footing and was soon followed by David in a similar fashion.

She steadied him with her hands lightly on his sides when he jumped down and without a word spoken between them they both looked down in to the well. When nothing but dark emptiness reached their eyes they both smiled and started laughing quietly in relief and excitement. They had made it and Cora had not followed.

Regina rubbed her face with her hands, allowing her fingers to remain in her hair and gently tug at the dark strands as she left her eyes closed and softly laughed off the adrenaline. Her laughter grew louder and was joined with a startled and playful shriek when David's hands gripped her waist and he picked her up and spun them both around. She hugged him around his neck and shoulder as she laughed in to his neck and let him spin them without protest.

When he stopped spinning but kept her off the ground she lifted her head from his neck with a wide smile and kissed him as they both laughed. He kissed her back without hesitation and slowly let her slip so she stood back on the ground only to place his hands on either side of her face with his fingers curling around to the back of her neck, tangled in soft dark hair.

They broke their kiss with a laugh and they remained close so he could pull her in for a quick kiss before he whispered through his smile against her own, "we did it."

Regina laughed and melted against him, "we did."

"What the hell!?"

Both of their smiles faltered incredibly at the addition of a third voice and they both turned their heads to find Snow standing in front of Rumplestiltskin with her mouth open with a loss of words and her head tilted in a question. Rumplestiltskin stood with his hands rested on his cane and his feet roughly a shoulder's width apart and his expression revealed very little aside from intrigue and confusion.

It was Regina who stepped back from him and he let his arms fall to his side as they both tried to find their voice. He didn't know what to say though. Not a clue as to how to word it in the least painful way. So he put it aside for a little while and instead ran to her and wrapped his arms securely around her and laughed in relief in to her neck. He hadn't seen her in much too long and he had missed her.

He held her tight and close and when she silently agreed to put his and Regina's kiss on hold for the time being and hugged him back he laughed a little more and squeezed her tighter. "I've missed you," he whispered against the side of her head and she buried her face deeper in to his chest.

"I missed you too," she nodded and felt her tears start to burn in her eyes with the relief and joy at his return. "We looked everywhere for a way to get you back," she laughed quietly and pulled away enough to look him in he eye as her tears broke free and slowly rolled down her cheeks, "we tried the hat, we tried fairy dust, we exhausted Rumplestiltskin's library," she shook her head with a laugh and more tears fell as he laughed quietly as well, "how did you get back?"

"Regina," he laughed and glanced over to her as she walked past him and Snow toward Rumple before he looked back at Snow, "she used the enchanted tree we sent Emma through."

"But it had used-"

"Lake Nostos returned the magic to it," he laughed out quietly and moved his eyes over her joyous expression, memorizing it because he knew she wasn't going to see it for awhile. "We had a whole shit ton of complications and delays and I am so happy to be back," he laughed and pulled her in to a tight hug again, closing his eyes as he pushed his face in to her hair.

Snow hugged him back tight and when she opened her eyes she happened to catch Regina's gaze while she talked with Rumple. The eye contact lasted a second before she moved her dark eyes back to Rumple but they were filled with heartache and a brutal acceptance, "David," she whispered as she kept her eyes on Regina, "why were you kissing her?"

"Very clever method of transport, dearie," he congratulated quietly as she stopped in front of him, "I must say I do not believe I would have come up with it myself. But how did you manage to end up within the borders of Storybrooke?"

She simply dropped the compass from her hand a short ways, dangling it from roughly four inches of its chain as she watched Rumple recognize it and then recall where it was located before he looked up at her once again.

"You climbed a beanstalk?"

"I had to get the idiot home safe somehow," she reasoned and tossed the compass up a little and caught it in her hand again, "we would have been home much sooner if it weren't for the fact that Cora was after some reconciliation."

"...Cora?"

Her eyes found David and her heart ached in her chest as he clung to Snow. She swallowed the pain and as she was moving her eyes back to Rumple she caught Snow's for a moment, "yes," she looked to him and found his uneasiness in his clenching jaw, "as it turns out she is very much alive. And she is very determined to find me. Since we made it out so easily I am sure she will no doubt find a way at some point as well," she nodded once and then glanced sideways to look at Snow and David only to have her eyes back on Rumple, "now if you'll excuse me I would very much like a shower and a change of clothes," she nodded her goodbye and he nodded his dismissal before she enveloped herself in purple smoke.

At his reluctance to answer, Snow lifted her head from his chest and tried to look him in the eye but he kept his eyes down. "David," she tried again with a little more of a stern tone, "why were you kissing Regina?"

"Because," he started quietly and forced himself to look her in the eye, "I love her," he confessed softly and Snow squinted her eyes a little and opened her mouth as she shifted her weight in his hold.

"What?" She couldn't quite understand what he had said, she didn't want that answer so she didn't accept it and instead gave him a chance to change it.

David shook his head slowly and took a deep silent breath and swallowed the thickness in his throat, "I love her," he repeated and a quiet laugh vibrated in her throat as she gave a worried smile and leaned away from him just a little.

"What does that mean, David?" He gave her his answer with a slow blink and a slow shake of his head as he opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. She pushed herself from his arms and stepped away from him as the pain in her heart started to grow with the denial of his claim, "what happened over there? What-" she stopped and took a breath only to find it hard to do so, "what did you-David?!"

"I know that it doesn't make any sense-"

"You're damn right it doesn't make any sense, David! When you fell through with her I was afraid she was going to kill you or that you were going to kill her and get yourself stranded! The thought that you would betray me never even crossed my mind!"

"I didn't want to hurt you, Snow. I slipped and I fell and I just," he shook his head and looked up past her as his heart ached with conflict and the hope that he was making the right decision, "I don't want to get back up."

"No! No you will get back up, you will fix this, David! I love you! You are my husband!"

"I know that and I will always love you, don't you ever doubt that," he shook his head and looked her right in the eye and she looked back at him with confusion and anger, "but I can't love you like you deserve."

"But you can love her," she offered bitterly and nodded her head, "her. Regina. The woman you hated with every fibre in your god damn body?! The woman who tore us apart, who stole our lives, who took everything from us?! You can love her?! You are choosing her over me?!"

"Yes," he whispered softly with his head slightly bowed.

Snow scoffed out a hurt breath, entirely unable to accept his answer but when she opened her mouth to yell at him but she came up silent and tears pricked her eyes instead. "David," he voice was quiet and smooth with her hurt and anger as she closed her eyes and rolled her lips in to her mouth, cocking her head a fraction before she opened her eyes to look at him, "you are not-"

"Snow-"

"No, David!"

"I can't leave her!"

"She doesn't love you! She's playing you for a damn fool!"

"No, Snow, it isn't like that at all. I wish that that is all it was!"

"How do you know it's not?! Hmm?! How are you so sure?!"

"Because she pushed me away!" He yelled and Snow bit her tongue, "she didn't want any of this, she never wanted any of this! This is my fault! I am the one who pursued her. Regina did nothing wrong, she is the one who said no. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with me and when I broke her in to a friendship I couldn't stop myself and I pushed her for more."

"Why?! Why would you do that?!"

"Because I was curious to see what would happen!"

"So, naturally, you sleep with her!"

"No!"

"Then what, David!? What could have possibly caused you to stray so far?!"

"You know better than anyone who she really is!" He boomed furiously, using a loud voice he had not once used before and it caused Snow to flinch and a tear to fall from angry eyes. "I got one look in to her state of mind and I hated what I saw! It made me sick! She is broken and twisted, writhing in pain but she never lets it show. Never lets it show that every breath she takes eats her alive, that every word, every gesture, every look, every step is painful. It is painful for her to be alive and she had given up long ago on trying to find a way to fix it! That is not okay I don't care who you are! No one deserves to live like that!

I wanted to take some of it away, I wanted to give her someone she could depend on, someone she could trust because she has no one! There is not a single person in any land that has helped Regina! We have all shut her out, we have all ignored the fact that there were reasons behind her anger, reasons for her absolute hatred of the world! She gave up on all of us and doomed us to live alone in this world because we gave up on her and she was left to live alone in the dark!

She is so far from perfect. So far. But she gave me one glance of who she is beneath that anger and that pain and I could not let it go. You know who she is, you know that she is not a monster. I wanted her to feel safe without the mask of the evil queen and I fell in love with the woman beneath in the process. What I hate the most about that is that I do not regret it," he shook his head and felt his chest tighten with sorrow at the rage burning in Snow's tear filled eyes, "I hate that I am hurting you. I wish it didn't have to hurt. I love you and I always will but it will never be the same."

"A month and a half," she hissed, her jaw locked with fury as she looked in to infuriatingly soft blue eyes, "you are choosing a month and a half with that woman over years with me. Years with me running away from that woman no less."

"I was wrong about her. In fact I believe she is better than all of us. She just isn't brave enough to show it."

"What about our love?" She asked lowly and raised her eyebrows in a question and slowly raised her voice in to a yell, "what about our love?! The love upon this curse's breaking point was built around?! The love that broke my sleeping curse?! The love that brought Emma in to this world?! The love that Regina wanted so desperately to destroy?! The love that transcended worlds?! What about our love?!"

David shook his head with the saddest of smiles and forced himself to hold her eye contact, "it's not the same," he whispered and furrowed his brow in a sorrow filled apology despite knowing there was no apology in the world that would make it okay.

Snow shook her head furiously as her tears rolled down her cheeks, "I cannot believe what you are doing!" She growled through her teeth, "I have been nothing but loyal and loving and you have the nerve to betray me in such an unbelievable way!"

"You did nothing wrong."

"Oh I know I did nothing wrong! This is all on you and her and I have never been more angry. You have so easily chosen her over me-"

"Easily?! You think that this decision was easy?! I have been torn apart by this choice for over a month now! This decision was the furthest thing from easy, Snow! I don't want to leave you, you are important to me, I love you, but my heart is in Regina's care and she doesn't even know that! She isn't here right now because she thinks I was going to choose you and she couldn't handle watching that. She couldn't stand helplessly on the sidelines while she lost her love to you again."

Snow shook her head in short slow movements and her jaw started to ache with the tension she left the muscles in as she stared at him with more anger than she had ever felt possible. "I can't look at you anymore," she spat in a livid whisper and dropped her eyes to his chest, "I am not throwing this away."

"Snow, there is no point. I am not changing my mind," he whispered softly with a frown and reached forward but she stepped back and spun around, storming off down the path. He watched her go until he could no longer see her and when she was out of sight he moved his gaze to Rumple who was watching her leave as well. When she was out of his sight as well, Rumple straightened his neck and looked him in the eye with an intrigued expression, "you're still here."

"Well I wasn't very well going to leave without hearing the end of that particular argument," he reasoned simply and shifted his weight, putting more of it on his cane, "you are quite defensive when it comes to your change in heart toward the queen."

"I've learned a lot. She deserves to be defended."

"Yes..." Rumple nodded once with a slow drawn out voice, no single meaning to his tone as he looked the prince up and down. "I imagine you would like a ride in to town," he changed the subject with his offer and David furrowed his brow in confusion.

"You are offering to give me a ride."

"Well would you prefer to walk?"

"No...no a ride would be very much appreciated," he nodded with his brow still furrowed and when Rumple started walking down the path, David followed. "Why?" He questioned when he fell in step beside Rumple.

"Why what?"

"Why are you not leaving me stranded here? You don't owe me any favours and you are not one to give anything without something in return."

"Oh this has nothing to do with you, dearie," he shook his head with a quiet laugh lacing his words before his voice went serious, "I made a deal with Regina long ago and I believe it is time I hold up my end."

"...what deal?"

"Not of your concern."

...

Regina walked down the stairs freshly cleaned. The water from her shower hotter than necessary just so she could feel the sensation once again, her hair done with a blow drier and a roll brush rather than the sun and a soft breeze, her make up done softer than it had been in the past because she rather liked the appearance of her face without make up at all so she used her brushes and pencils to merely exaggerate the softer look. Her nails were clean and newly manicured, her body clothed in a long sleeved buttoned silk shirt that was a bold shade of dark purple and tucked in to a sharp black pencil skirt, her slim waist further accentuated with a black belt and silver buckle and her feet adorned with a pair of tall black stilettos.

It felt good to be clean again and she had no desire to attempt to clean up her home after her leave just yet. She imagined the fridge would be a disaster. Not to mention the bowls of fruit on the counter left to their own devices for over a month. To avoid it all she simply ignored her stomach's wishes to be filled and she moved to the living room and pulled out a black leather bound book and sat on the couch, one slim leg crossed over the other as she opened the pages.

A soft smile was brought to her mouth as she cocked her head and looked at the pictures of Henry when she first received him. He was so small. And she was so happy. She was smiling in every photograph and smiling even wider when Henry smiled in return. She had looked through this book many times and when she reached the page that was the end of his joyous small self she paused.

Her fingers tapped quietly over the corner of the page for a long while before she began to lift it to be turned. But she closed the book instead. It sat in her lap for a little while longer before she placed it on the coffee table with one corner of her mouth dropped in a regretful frown. She wanted to see him again but she didn't know how he would respond to her presence. She was worried he would reject her once more. Show his excitement at her return and then slowly forget about her and return to spending his time with Emma. At the sound of a knock on the door she furrowed her brow and slowly turned her head toward the noise. There should be no one at her door.

Taking her time despite the second knock, Regina rose to her feet and put the book away before making her way to the door with her stilettos echoing through her empty home. She opened the door cautiously without looking through the peephole and when her eyes found the prince and she opened the door all the way she frowned and dropped her weight hopelessly to one foot, "what are you doing here?" She spoke slowly and quietly with a shake of her head. She was supposed to be alone once they got back to Storybrooke. He was supposed to go back to Snow. Not to her.

David smiled a small smile in an attempt to lighten the heavy atmosphere but her mournful eyes allowed for no such thing. He hoped to change that, "Regina," he whispered, his voice portrayed in such a way that had her head shaking slowly and her eyes becoming ridden with fear and unshed tears because it could only be heard in a way meaning that he had come back for her. Her fingers clenched around the door, her fingertips turning white to match the wood but he kept his smile in place, "I am here for you."

No. It was impossible. No. She continued to shake her head as her heart throbbed in her chest, "no, David."

"Yes, Regina," he confirmed quietly and she shook her head faster and her tears threatened to fall.

"No!" Her thick voice was nearly a yell and when he opened his mouth again to speak she slammed the door shut and backed away from it with a hand over her mouth. He does not pick her, he picks Snow White, he picks his wife he does not pick her.

"Regina."

"No!" She shook her head at the muffled voice on the other side of the closed door, "go away!"

David shook his head and smiled a sad smile to himself at the spooked woman on the other side of the door shielding herself from the mere possibility of more pain. Pain that he was not going to cause her, "Regina open the door. I'm not going anywhere," he knew she would have assumed he would go back to Snow and he knew that she would push him away as she was doing now but what he also knew was that if he let her get away he would regret it for the rest of his life.

"No. I am not playing this game David."

"It's not a game Regina," he assured gently and stepped closer to the door, "open the door," when he received no answer he placed his hand on the door knob and twisted it. He opened it to find her slowly backing away from him up the stairs with tears in her eyes but none down her cheeks. "Regina over the past month and a half I have been at your side and I have seen and learned so much from you and about you. I fell in love with you and oddly enough," he laughed quietly and shrugged a little, "I don't regret it. And I certainly do not want to let it go."

Regina bowed her head as she shook it, unable to trust his words or his actions. So in an attempt to keep herself from further heartbreak, she lied, "I don't want you here."

"I am quite certain that that is not true," he argued softly and she lifted her head only enough to look him in the eye as her tears threatened to fall and her fingers began to fidget.

She began shaking her head again, the longer she searched his eyes for any lie the more panicked she became, "no. I don't want you here."

"Regina-"

"I said no!" She bellowed with a mere whisper of a snarl, her arms at her sides and her hands balled in to tight fists where she stood at the top of her entryway stairs. Realizing his words had failed him he began to walk toward her and her posture changed so that it was almost aggressive but most certainly defensive, "get away from me," she growled, her teeth bared as she looked him up and down through tear filled eyes.

David simply shook his head and climbed the first stair, "no."

She panicked further as he climbed the second stair and her heart ached in her chest. She couldn't fight him, she didn't want to fight him. So she fled.

She slipped past him down the stairs, ripping her arm away when he reached for it to try and stop her. As she ran out of the open door she snatched her keys with David hot on her heels down her front path. "Go back to Snow, David!" She called with a shaky voice as she walked with large and hurried strides, throwing the odd few steps of jogging in between.

David shook his head and followed her frantic strides with some difficulty, "I can't do that Regina. I chose you!"

She stopped in her tracks and spun on her heels barely giving him enough time to stop without crashing in to her as she yelled and her first tears fell, "no one chooses me! No one wants me!"

"I do!" He yelled back and she shrunk down just a little and he quieted his voice so it was almost a whisper, "I want you Regina. I want to be with you, I want to stay at your side, I want to fall asleep next to you, I want to wake up next to you, I want to make you breakfast, I want to fuck you until you're screaming, I want to kiss you until you can't see straight, I want to laugh with you, I want you to come to me when you're having a bad day, I want to hold you, I want to talk with you, I want to tell you things I've told no one, I want to be there for you when no one else will, I want to see you grow and succeed and heal, I want you," he finished and her tears fell silently as she quivered before him.

He ignored her hands she placed on his chest in a weak attempt to push him away and continued forward as he lifted his hands to hold her face, his fingers burying in to soft dark hair, "for all of those things and more," he spoke softly and she closed her eyes and bowed her head to keep herself from crying any more, "I chose you."

She leaned her head ever so gently in to his right hand as she tried to pull herself together enough to speak without crying, "I cannot play this game of tug-of-war, David," she whispered and felt a tear roll down her cheek as she unwillingly rejected him.

"The game is over, Regina," he whispered and felt her jaw clench and unclench with fear and uneasiness under his palms.

"The game is never over," she whispered miserably and shook her head gently in his hands, "I can't do this again, David. I can't put my heart through this again."

"I am not going to hurt you," he whispered and moved a thumb over her cheek. When she opened her mouth to argue once more he interrupted her, "do you love me?"

"David I-"

"Regina," he whispered and lowered his head to maybe catch her eye, "do you love me?"

Her hands pushed harder on his chest but he did not move and she didn't let herself move back either as she pressed her eyes shut and stomped her foot a little. With her jaw clenched to keep herself from crying she rested her forehead against his and with a small shaky reluctant voice she answered, "yes."

David smiled softly and his heart burst with warmth in his chest and she trembled, "then we will be alright," her fingers clenched around his shirt over his chest, her keys jingling quietly with the movement while they remained looped on a slender finger. She opened her mouth one last time with what was likely another argument but he didn't let her voice it. Instead he moved his head and caught her mouth in a kiss.

It was soft and gentle but far from unsure. It had her knees going weak and consequently had her falling in to him and kissing him back. No she had not believed that she would ever kiss him again, at least not in the way she wanted to. Needless to say she was having a hard time trusting he was there to stay no strings attached. But she kissed him back hard and slow all the same, savouring any kiss she would receive because she didn't know how many she would have before he came to his senses and left her.