Day 7: Late Night Confessions. (with a little bit of Regal Believer)
It's Friday night, and Friday means that Henry's staying at Regina's place and they're having a movie or video games night together. And as usual, after a few movies or a few hours of games, they both are asleep on the couch in the living room, snuggled to each other, covered with their favourite blankets from old days.
And usually they sleep like that 'till the morning.
But tonight there's a loud knock on the door which makes Regina jump from her sleep. Henry hears it too and it doesn't take a moment until he's awake, sleep forgotten, staring at his mom with wild eyes as if asking for explanation of what's happening.
But how can she explain if she doesn't understand it herself?
"Mom?" Henry calls, his voice still a little bit sleepy.
She stays quiet for a moment, just thinking about what to do, but then she tells him, "You stay here, I'm going to see who's there." She then rubs her eyes and stands up, puts on the robe and turns to walk to open the door but Henry grabs her wrist.
"What, if there is someone dangerous?" He asks because it wouldn't be the first time. Many times evil has knocked on their door and caused them so much pain, it's no surprise he's worried.
"I have magic," She assures him with a small smile and tries to ease his fear but then there's another loud knock on the door, and Regina jumps a little because it was unexpected, but then with an audible inhale, she turns to Henry, nods her head and he lets go of her wrist, unwillingly but lets go.
She has the door unlocked in a moment and her fingers are shaking just a little bit because she's quite afraid herself because Henry may be right, there can be some evil or some maniac killer or something but she is – was – the Evil Queen, she shouldn't be afraid on anyone.
With that thought, she bends the door handle and opens it just a little bit to see who's there.
And she would have never thought that it is him. Robin Hood.
He's standing at her door with a half-empty bottle of wine in his hand. He's obviously drunk, Regina can tell it from the way he's standing – unstable, very unstable – and the way his eyes shine with something more than just enthusiasm.
Regina wants to close the door, she has no desire to talk with him, she made it clear to him that everything between them is over, that he has to go back to Marian, to fall in love with her again so he could break that damn Snow Queen's curse and everything would be okay again, but Robin rests a hand against the door and looks at her.
"Hi," He finally says as he pushes the door a little so he can see Regina better.
"Robin, what are you doing here?" She asks, her voice shaking just a little bit, she's surprised and angry and shocked at the same time. He's not supposed to be here drunk or here at all. He's just making everything harder for her, for them.
"I missed you,"
"Robin," It's a plea, and Regina Mills doesn't plead but this time she doesn't have another choice. She looks into his blue eyes and whispers, "Go home."
But he doesn't move even an inch. He's standing there and staring into her eyes as she thinks of all the possibilities of how she could make him leave because if he stays, it will hurt them both even more and it already hurts a lot.
"Can we talk?" Robin asks after a while of silence and Regina shakes her head 'no' immediately. They have nothing to talk about. But then he says her name quietly and pushes the door wider until he can step in. "Let me talk with you. It's all I ask," He's pleading her, drunk but sincere, and she stares at him for a good minute and finally gives in.
She sighs as he stumbles into her house – how much has he drunk, she wonders – and then she tells him to go to the kitchen while she goes to the living room where Henry's waiting anxiously.
"Mom?" Henry asks as soon as Regina enters the room and then his eyes widen when he hears steps and then a loud crashing sound (Robin obviously dropped something.)
"It's Robin, he wants to talk," She says and Henry blinks for a few times before he opens his mouth to oppose because he knows how much his mom has suffered because of this man, he was with her every sleepless night, every break down and he would give anything away just to avoid this mess but before he can say anything, another sharp sound echoes from the kitchen. "He's obviously very drunk, so please, go upstairs and rest while I talk with him for a while, okay?" She asks but Henry gives her an anxious look which makes her heart ache because her little prince knows too much, but she manages to smile a little before she tells him, "Henry, I've got this."
She gives him a hug then and pushes him a little and he gets the hint, so he grabs his blanket and walks out of the room, up the stairs to his room.
When Regina hears the door being closed, she sighs and goes to the kitchen.
And of course she finds Robin sitting at the table with a new bottle of wine – her wine – opened and he's drinking right from the bottle. The bottle he has brought is broken on the floor, the liquid spilled on the ground and Regina grits her teeth. He made such a mess.
She ignores him and takes a paper towel before she starts to wipe the liquid from the floor and collect the broken glass while Robin sits there and drinks her expensive wine.
Once finished, she gets up and finds Robin staring at her and she rolls her eyes before throws the paper towel into the bin. She washes her hands and then turns around just to find Robin still staring at her with wide drunk eyes.
"I'm sorry," Robin apologizes when Regina sits down at the table in front of him.
"Finish the wine and then go home, I'm tired," She says coldly and it pains her because she doesn't want to be cold, not with him, but if she does something else, it would definitely hurt her even more.
"Regina, I want to talk," Robin says as he pushes the bottle of wine closer to her but Regina refuses shaking her head.
She's not in the mood for drinking or talking. She's tired and wants to go to sleep, to forget that Robin was here, so she says quietly, "There's nothing to talk about."
"Don't lie to yourself," He takes another gulp of the wine and then continues, "I know this situation is such a mess but please talk to me. Tell me what you're feeling, what you're thinking. Don't shut me out because it's not fair for either of us."
"You need to go home, please,"
"Regina-"
"Don't 'Regina' me," She hisses and closes her eyes inhaling. She needs to stay calm. Deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale…
"I love you,"
Her eyes open widely as her breathing stops completely. He didn't just say that, did he? She probably heard wrong but she stares at him in disbelief, then blinks for a few times trying to think of what to do, how to make him leave but the Robin speaks again.
"I love you, Regina Mills," He repeats, "And I don't care that my wife is here, I don't care about my honour. I want to be with you, I want to spend my entire life with you and Henry. Roland misses you and I, and …" He stops because his voice starts to shake but then he takes a deep breath in, finds her eyes and continues, "I don't want to be without you. You're my everything, my happiness."
She's speechless for a second and that one second she forgets about his wife and this mess but then her dark thoughts reminds her in the most painful ways, breaking her heart into million pieces that he's not with her, voices in her head shouts that he's lying again, that he will leave her like everyone else.
"Robin, please," She manages to say, blinking away the tears which managed to collect in her eyes.
He's drunk, he won't remember it in the morning, he can even regret it in the morning and she doesn't want that, so she stands up and takes a bottle away from his hands – he tries to grab it first but his drunk movements are slow enough so he fails - and pours wine into the sink while Robin gasps behind her. Ignoring his reaction, she puts the empty bottle on the cupboard and walks to him, takes his arm.
"You need to leave, Henry's upstairs, we don't need to make a scene in front of my son," She says quietly but Robin shakes his head at her because he doesn't want to leave. He wants to talk first and then stay with her in silence, and then talk again and then-
"Don't make this even harder."
She pulls him by an arm again and this time he stands up, reels and almost collapses but Regina manages to catch him and it takes all her strength to keep him on his feet. But they stumble and suddenly her back hits the wall and Robin presses her to the wall unwillingly but at least he's still standing.
Robin's face is too close to hers, their lips just inches away, their noses almost touching. She manages to move her gaze away from his lips and looks into his eyes but then suddenly he's leaning over until their lips touch in a kiss.
His lips are rough against her soft ones, and the kiss tastes like wine and vodka and whiskey but she doesn't mind it a bit because it's been too long since they were that close but she can't give in so she finds her inner strength and pushes him away before it got even worse.
Thankfully he pulls away but he's still close, staring right into her dark tired eyes, their noses still touching.
"You have to go home," She whispers and then rests her small palms against his chest and gives him a push making him take a step back.
"I don't want to," He murmurs and then he's close again. He kisses her again and this time she raises her hand in the air to slap him but he grabs her wrist gently and holds it while he tastes her sweet lips, the ones he missed so much.
He pulls away then and presses his forehead against hers, breathing heavily.
"I love you, Regina," He whispers again but she doesn't believe him this time because he's drunk, he doesn't understand what he's talking so she pushes him again, grabs him by an arm just like before and starts to drag him out of her house.
But he's stumbling even more now, he barely stands on his feet and Regina can't let him walk home like this. Of course, she can use magic and move him to his campsite but she doesn't want Roland to see him like this, this drunk, broken and hopeless.
So she decides to let him stay.
"Come here," She says and pushes him to the living room.
Once they're in the room near the couch, where just half an hour ago she was sleeping with her son, he collapses there making Regina smile a little. Even drunk he manages to be funny.
She picks her blanket from the ground and puts it over him, and he settles there, so she turns around to leave the room – she doesn't have what to do there anymore. But he grabs her hand on holds it tightly (not enough to hurt but enough to stop her).
"Stay with me," He asks when she turns around to face him but she shakes her head quickly and tries to escape his grip but it's useless. "Please," He asks again making her roll her eyes but then she gives in because her heart wants to be with him and even one moment would be enough, and it already hurts enough, one time wouldn't make it much worse.
"Move," She says then and he immediately releases her hand, moves, clumsy but moves anyway and when there's enough space for her, she lies down beside him. It doesn't even take a moment until he's spooning her from behind, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.
It doesn't take a minute until Robin falls asleep, she hears him snoring quietly behind her but sleep doesn't come to her. She lies there for hours thinking of how her life could've been if Marian wouldn't be back.
But it doesn't matter because she's here, frozen but here and in the morning Robin will leave Regina again, and all she will have left will be her broken heart but it doesn't matter because she still has a few hours in his loving arms and for now, it's enough.
Feedback is always appreciated!
And to answer vigiita's question: I haven't thought about continuation it but if you have any ideas, prompts, you can send them to me (as review or private message) and perhaps I will continue it. :)
And also, I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who read and favorited and followed and reviewed! Thank you so so much, it means a lot to me! :)