well SHIT! I came on here to post chapter 34 only to realize I hadn't posted this chapter 33! Idiot! Lol! So here you go! My mistake. Seeing as how the next chapter is already finished I don't imagine it will take long for me to post it too lol! And the chapter after that...just trying to figure out if I can pull it off hahahahaha! So happy reading and I am so sorry, I could have sworn I had posted this chapter. Please leave a review! Enjoy!

"You're staring at me again," Regina smirked and the blonde cleared her throat and looked down at her hands in her lap.

"Sorry."

"It makes no difference to me," she shrugged and went back to looking at the items decorating the mayor's home, "but if you are going to stare you either do it with confidence and commit to it or do a better job at being subtle about it. Whichever you feel more comfortable with."

Emma breathed a short and uneasy laugh and looked back up at the queen who had paused at a vase of sticks, "it's just strange. I've only ever known Regina as the uptight and proper sort. The anal perfectionist and master bitch who wears classic cut dresses and tailored suits," she shook her head and the queen chuckled in amusement and began walking slowly around the room. "It's just weird seeing her in something so different. I mean, damn. This is going to take a whole lot of time," Emma shook her head and looked the woman over again. Sharp and loose and dangerously easy going.

Both of their attentions were pulled to the foyer when several sets of footsteps were heard after the opening of the front door. There were quiet murmuring voices but none were the mayor's. Her mouth was pressed shut and she looked like she was ready to explode in an over emotional fit and Emma's observation was proved correct when she lashed out at the husband of the queen when he offered her a gentle comment of concern as she passed him. That David was given an apology for her by the other David as he passed and was followed by a clearly unhappy and tense Snow White. Really this was getting confusing and ridiculous in Emma's opinion. While the Regina's were easily distinguishable whether together of apart, Emma could only identify either David by their fashion choice. Unless they were looking at Regina. Either Regina. Then she could tell which was which.

"You should talk to her," David encouraged as he gently pulled his queen in to him with a smile, lazily encircling his arms around her hips as she hummed and hung her arms around his shoulders.

"She doesn't want to hear anything from me regarding that topic," she breathed with a smile that grew when his did.

"Then do what you do best, my queen, and stir mischief," he teased and she chuckled low in her throat and through her teeth as she leaned in to him with her head tilted back to look at him, "change her focus."

"Alright fine," she agreed and he smiled as he dropped his head and kissed her. Just a simple kiss. One that she wasn't quite satisfied with so she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth with a low and playful laugh as she quirked her head and stepped just a little further in to him and waited.

David simply chuckled and lifted a hand to hold the side of her face, his thumb moving along her chin before he bumped his nose against hers and proceeded to give her another kiss. A little longer and a little slower and when he earned a quiet satisfied hum he pulled away and found her grinning up at him, "go on," he chuckled as he pushed her and she turned on her heels and sauntered off.

Emma's eyes flicked up from her hands when the woman finished with David and she watched as the queen was met at the bottom of the stairs by Henry as he came down and the pair of them were instantly plotting. They were thick as thieves those two. "So...you and Regina...that's like...yeah..." She sighed and rubbed her hands over her face.

...

David stood in the corner against the countertops with his arms folded over his chest and watched as his wife and prospective lover glared at one another. "Now what are we fighting over?" He asked tiredly and slumped further in to his corner.

"I have reached my capacity of intolerable people in my home. I will gauge her eyes out with a sugar spoon if she doesn't start looking at me with more respect," Regina snapped and Snow's jaw crossed as she shifted her weight to the other foot with a furious breath, "she has three seconds. One-"

"Alright, that's enough," David interrupted as he walked over to them and put his hands up.

"Is this a sugar spoon?" The queen questioned as she held up a decorative spoon on its end between her finger and thumb. The mayor's dark eyes simply snapped to her but didn't change while David jumped just a little at her sudden appearance but Snow; the queen couldn't help the grin that spread over her mouth. She had appeared right next to Snow, their sides touching as she bent over the island with the silver spoon clear in the woman's vision and in response Snow had leapt to the side with a gasp and a whispered curse under her breath. "She would bleed less if we heated it up first," the queen looked at the spoon thoughtfully.

"Probably," Regina stated plainly and the queen gave a very pleased grin in response.

"Knock it off, you two. Nobody's gauging any eyes out," David scolded and his Regina paid no mind to him while the queen gave a little pout and slumped her posture but her eyes were wildly playful.

"You're no fun," she pouted but smirked at the same time and then tapped Snow's shoulder with the spoon causing the tense girl to flinch. She truly did love plucking strings in tense atmospheres. "What did you do to her in the Enchanted Forest?" She looked to the mayor and mocked a secret conversation, acting as if Snow wasn't even there as she smiled at the stoic faced mayor, "my Snow can be a little jumpy but, my god, this one looks at me like I'm going to decide to cleanse the earth with fire at any second. I mean, clearly you haven't slept with him," she pointed to David with a loll of her wrist so the spoon pointed to him but her eyes never left the mayor's and the woman's jaw clenched and she grew all the more uncomfortable, "so I am curious to know how far things escalated between the pair of you after the sleeping curse," she smirked and the mayor crossed her jaw and looked down at the cutting board in front of her so she could straighten it.

The mayor did not back down. She still held herself tall but she denied her answers and that was fine. She was curious but she wasn't demanding. So with a hum the queen turned her head to look at Snow and the woman scowled back at her but the nervous tension never left her body. And then Emma curiously made her way in to the kitchen, bright eyes flicking between the other two in her company. "Oh and by the way," the queen started and turned her attention back to Regina who looked back up at her with guarded eyes. Guarded eyes that snapped wide open with a gasp as she lurched backward with a caught arrow in her hand next to her head.

"What the fff-?!" Emma yelped as her hands flung up to stand on either side of her head and then huffed a breath as she jumped back from the mayor Regina who had caught the arrow that came out of nowhere. Snow and David's reactions were no different than hers and Regina stared at the arrow in her hand in absolute shock. Then all of their attentions were directed to the sound of quiet laughter. From the queen and Henry.

Regina didn't quite know what to say and she scoffed another breath as she looked between her son and the queen, the both of them laughing as Henry held a bow. "Henry!?" She scolded in shock, her voice reaching a higher pitch in her confusion.

"I gave your son a bow," the queen finished and the mayor dropped the catching hand from beside her head, "I am pleased to see that while you may not be able to shoot an arrow, you can still catch one."

"It's just a game, mom," Henry chuckled and his mother tried her best to relax and get rid of the sudden rush of adrenaline in her system, "we played it all the time in the Enchanted Forest! You just can't let the arrow get past your head," he told her with a laugh and she took a deep breath and carefully moved her thumb over the metal arrowhead, "do you want to play too?"

She did not miss the subtle hope in his voice and took another slow breath before answering gently, careful not to turn down his hope, "can we perhaps try again when tensions are not so high?"

Henry laughed and nodded and she smiled in return. It was still a stressed smile but she was trying to find her footing, "absolutely!"

"Glad to hear it," she smiled and then tossed him the arrow and he caught it with ease. When her eyes caught the queen's the woman was looking at her in approval and satisfaction and that was an odd thing to see from herself. It was like looking in a mirror. But she had never seen that reflection before. With a gentle clear of her throat she looked away and forced a smile at Snow, "so you have sorted out Grumpy?"

...

David paced the living room silently. The other David, the queen's David, sat on the couch just as silently and watched him pace. Emma had taken Snow back home for the queen was clearly having too much fun pushing her buttons. Said queen was now outside with Henry practicing archery. And probably plotting something. Or perhaps he was wrong and the mischief makers were doing something completely harmless. He doubted it though.

Regina, his Regina, had left the house. He had tried to get her to stay but he didn't blame her for needing space. A breath of fresh air. He knew he needed one as well but as he slowly paced the room he couldn't bring himself to leave. He had so many questions but he couldn't find the words.

"I'm not so great with words either. Especially when compared to Regina's vocabulary," David told the sheriff kindly, extending the man a branch. Clearly he had something on his mind. And that something was probably Regina.

"How did you do it?" He asked suddenly and quietly and then held his breath. He knew he wanted to be with Regina but he had never said it aloud. It had only ever been in his head. He wasn't quite certain he was ready to talk about it.

"Well it certainly wasn't easy," he answered and the other man breathed a short chuckle and nodded his head, "we nearly killed one another on multiple occasions. She's drawn my blood more than once. She is...temperamental to say the least. However our situations are different for in my case Regina hid her love for me for months before I was even aware that I loved her and then even still a month or so after I realized what I felt. She was afraid. From what I can tell it seems you and your Regina were hit with your growing affection for one another at about the same time. Now your little mayor is also afraid. But what stands in your way more than her fear of letting you in that close, is her respect for you."

David shook his head and furrowed his brow in confusion as he took a seat in the chair across from the man, "what do you mean?"

"Something that I learned about Regina that surprised me early on was that she is a very loyal, honourable, and selfless woman when it comes to those she cares about. She would easily live in misery if it meant those she cared about were happy. You are married to Snow. You made your vows, you have a daughter, you are a family. Regina would not dare throw herself in the middle of that because she knows it will cause you distress and heartache. It is something she has lived in her entire life and she wishes it upon no one. And when it comes to you, she would sooner die than break your heart."

"But what does it matter if we could be happy together?"

"To her that is a big 'if'," the shepherd noted gently and David huffed tiredly and rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair, "she's gotten so used to being betrayed and regretted and left alone that it is hard for her to understand that you won't do the same as everyone else. For all she knows she could be your biggest mistake and she doesn't want to risk that. To her your friendship is more than enough to curb the ache in her heart. It was difficult to change the mind of my queen and get her to understand that my heart beats solely for her. I can only imagine how difficult it is going to be for you with the same woman but thirty years lonelier."

David shook his head miserably as his thoughts ran through his head and he processed the man's words. Stubborn woman. Understandably stubborn and broken woman. "Have any tips?" He joked tiredly and the shepherd king breathed a single laugh and shook his head.

"Be kind to her. Be gentle and patient when she's angry. Hold her whenever she allows you to. Make her laugh. And just...be there. Be there when she's happy, when she's sad, when she's angry at the world. Don't push. Just be there."

David nodded but didn't say a word in reply. He sat there in silence with his eyes on his hands hanging limply between his knees as he stayed leaning forward with his weight braced on his thighs. The other man didn't say anything more either and David appreciated the time to work through what he had told him. Slowly she was creeping up on him. With the stealth of a black panther in the night she was curling herself around his heart and purring, moving him and warming him. He wondered if she even knew what she was doing to him.

"What is she like?" He asked quietly, almost a whisper as he kept his eyes down.

"In what respect?"

"Just...when she loves. What is she like?"

"She is happy," he started and while the sheriff didn't move, David knew the man was listening, "she is tentative at first but she quickly learns that she is safe and after that there isn't a thing she will hide from you. She is open, she is tender, she is raw, she is bold. She breathes to make you happy. She enjoys a quiet evening reading a book while nestled in to your side just as much as she enjoys a sleepless heated night in the bedroom. It is the little things that make her the happiest. She appreciates the grand gestures as well but a single wildflower plucked from the earth will get you further than any bouquet of fine roses."

"And you said you weren't good with words," David commented lightly and quietly with a heavy and achy heart and a small smile as the other man breathed a light chuckle.

"I suppose she must be rubbing off on me," he smiled and the sheriff nodded.

...

Tinkerbell frowned at the knock on her door. It was a gentle and hesitant knock and she really didn't know who would be at her door. She hadn't exactly made many friends in this town. When she opened it she was surprised to find Regina. She looked overwhelmed to say the least. "Regina," she greeted in surprise and then commented, "you look like hell."

Regina gave a single tired laugh out her nose and nodded. And then shook her head, "I'm sorry I shrunk you and trapped you under a glass."

Tinkerbell smiled just a little and shrugged one shoulder, "water under the bridge really. I know what I'm getting in to with you. Short tempered maniac," she smirked a little and Regina crossed her jaw in an indefinite expression, "I sort of had it coming anyway. I pushed too hard and I am sorry. I just really want to help you find your happiness."

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because I have faith in you and you deserve to finally be happy after being alone for so long. And I really and truly want to just stick it to Blue," she enunciated slowly with an undying passion and a creased brow that had Regina laughing just a little, "just knock the shady bitch off her damn pedestal and rub it in her face when we prove to her that you are worth something."

Regina laughed a little more but her eyes fell to the ground. She really did enjoy Tinkerbell's company. When the pesky fairy wasn't pushing her in directions she didn't want to go anyway. But even still it was hard to open up to her and speak aloud what was bothering her the most. With a small jerk of her head, Tinkerbell stepped aside and silently invited her in and after a moment's pause, Regina carefully stepped in to the home she had acquired for the fairy upon her arrival in Storybrooke.

"Now what's got you all stressed out? I've only been away from you for a couple days so you either really miss me, which is not all that likely," she smiled a little to herself as she closed the front door and turned to catch up to Regina and lead her to the living room, "or something is going on with David," she nodded her head to the side and took a seat in her favourite chair and tucked her legs up beside her while Regina cautiously took a seat across from her on the couch, "so which is it?"

"Henry is back."

"What! When?! How?!"

"Yesterday evening with a magic bean."

"That is great news, Regina!" She grinned and the woman smiled back but that was not what she had come here for, "did something happen to him?"

"No, no Henry is safe and home and I am so relieved and happy that he has come back. I can finally sleep through the night."

"Then what is bothering you?"

"He brought company with him and I am letting them stay at the house with us because of what they have done for Henry and myself in bringing him back to me but...um..." She shook her head and silently scolded herself for the tightness in her throat and the tears pricking her eyes before she took a deep breath and swallowed back her bubbling emotions, "Tinkerbell I'm in over my head and I just need a friend. I just need...support and I need you to not push this issue with David right now, I just need you to be neutral and safe because I feel like I am drowning and I have no one else I can turn to that isn't drowning with me."

Tinkerbell frowned in sympathy and concern as the woman who showed very little was suddenly falling apart in front of her and pleading for help. But her curiosity was most certainly peaked, "absolutely. Anything you need," she assured quietly with a nod and watched as a great deal of tension left the woman's body along with a stressed breath and a quiet 'thank you'. After a moment or two, Tinkerbell's curiosity got the better of her and she leaned forward a little with a cock of her head, "may I ask who these guests are?" She was answered with a stressed and teary laugh as Regina tried to calm herself back down and sniffed quietly.

"A happily married David Noland and Regina Mills," she nodded and wrung her hands together while Tinkerbell looked at her completely lost, "it would seem the Evil Queen got her happy ending before it was too late."