Aha! Doing better! lol! Hopefully I can get even a little quicker :p hope you enjoy the update! Please leave a review :) and Mich the junkie you are the shit! I fucking love you! I keep forgetting to call you out but I remembered and damn you make me laugh and I love it! Lol! You're awesome and that is all!

"I don't want you to tell her," she told him softly. No smile, no frown, just her dark eyes focused on his bright blue as they shared the same pillow and soaked in the early morning sun pouring in through the creamy curtains over her windows. His trailing fingers paused their slow movement over her arm and he looked a little harder at her before he countered.

"You said you didn't want an affair."

"I did say that. And I meant it."

"...But now you want this to be a secret?"

"Yes."

"Why? Regina, keeping this from everyone will only make it harder for everyone when they find out or we tell them."

"I know. I just don't...I don't want to have to deal with...people," she reasoned out and still tried to find the right words for what she wanted to say while his fingertips began slowly moving over her bare arm again. "I am comfortable with the way things are right now and I understand that if we tell everyone about this and we do manage to work through it, that it will be better in the long run...but I don't want to face that yet," she pleaded quietly with a small frown, "I am happy here with you in the quiet," she shrugged one shoulder up and gave a small smile, encouraged by the calmness in his eyes as he watched and listened.

"I spent a long time fighting you," she continued with her voice just above a whisper and he sunk his head further in to heir pillow, "and now I don't want you to go," she confessed softly as her vulnerability got the best of her and she dropped her eyes to the sheets and blankets between them. "Right now...I would rather have you in small doses in silence and peace than have you all the time in chaos...I also don't want you to ruin your life over a rash decision," she added quietly, a small insecurity. Alright a rather large insecurity, "I want to do this, I want to be with you, but I want it to stay. I don't want us to...fall apart."

"Regina, I am quite prepared to leave Snow for you," he told her softly but her eyes remained down and her mouth and voice remained small.

"What if I wasn't an option."

"I would be less inclined to leave," he admitted and she nodded and kept her eyes down, "but I would be no less miserable," he assured softly but she didn't look him in the eye until he reached forward and tipped her chin up and even then it was reluctant. The wariness in her expression broke his heart but she very much had a right to it.

"You would still be with Snow if it were not for me."

"That would be correct," he agreed softly and moved his thumb along her chin, "however I do not see it as you do," he whispered and trailed his fingers softly up her jaw and took great care in tucking her hair behind her ear and pushing it away from her face as he spoke, "you have shown me a different path. A new life, a better life. You are saving me from a marriage that was built upon 'the heat of the moment'. Snow and I were built upon running and fighting and capture and escape and I loved her. But we never had the time to be still. And as it turns out, we are not happy together unless we are on some valiant quest and I am very much exhausted of valiant quests. But you and I..." He shook his head with a smile and rested his hand on her neck so his thumb could rest upon and move along her cheek as those beautiful dark eyes watched him with pin point focus.

"You and I were built in the silence. We were built from our most vulnerable and raw grief and anger and we did so without anyone's outside influence. It was just you and me and a final push from a boy regardless of our bloodied past. I feel safe with you. I feel like I can come to you in any state of mind and you will take it in stride and you will not hold any judgement against me and I cannot tell you how much that means to me. We know how to be still. We know how to be quiet. We know how to be angry, we know how to be miserable, and we know how to be happy. Together. This is what I want. You are what I want. You beautiful, strong, angry, miserable woman who is remembering how to be happy and kind. You are what I want. So my darling Regina if you simply wish for time to appreciate the calm before the storm, I am quite willing to help you in whatever way I am able," he told her gently and she watched him for a moment longer before she moved forward and kissed him with her hands on his neck and cheek holding him steady.

He pulled her closer to him as she kissed him so her body was flush against his. Her skin was warm and soft against his. Her whole body was soft against his. His was sharp and hard and full of edges while hers was smooth and curvy and lithe and yet she fit against him perfectly. Perhaps it was her sharp tongue and attitude and his calmer and kinder one that filled everything in so nicely. The thought made him smile as he rolled her over on to her back and settled himself on top of her.

He shivered and pushed himself heavier on to her as her nails lightly scratched over his back and his sides. He deepened the kiss this time, delving in to the passion she so easily sparked in him. He didn't appreciate kissing until this woman. A kiss had simply been something you did with the person you loved but he never held it in the esteem he should have because a kiss was not just a kiss. With Regina it was a conversation, it was a game, it was a fight. It was a tale of passion, it was a kind word, it was anything you wished it to be and he had never quite known just how much a kiss could mean until he kissed this woman. He couldn't go back.

So he kissed her and he enjoyed every moment of it. Every movement of her full lips, every soft catch of her breath, every quiet hum of satisfaction, every gentle contact of her teeth, every touch of her tongue, every wander of her hands, every arch of her body. Everything. Because it wasn't just a kiss with her.

He pulled back softly but hovered over her as he nudged his nose against hers and tucked her hair behind her ear. She stole a quick kiss for herself and the gesture had him smiling as her lips lingered and he followed her back down until her head laid back on the pillow once again. It was just one kiss and he couldn't stop smiling when she gave him a soft and gentle laugh. It all felt so natural to him as though he had spent his entire life with her like this. He wished he had.

"I didn't concoct an alibi last night and Snow is already suspicious of the last night," he informed her softly and bumped the side of his nose against hers.

"She has been suspicious much longer, dear."

"Yes, well, now it's annoying and now we have something we want hidden," he reasoned and she hummed softly, "and if you want it to stay that way then we need to come up with a story. I can't put it on Emma again."

Regina pushed her head further in to the pillow with a furrow of her brow and he understood the movement and lifted his head a little so they could see one another in better focus, "Emma knows about us?"

"Yes. She figured it out as soon as I didn't come home and then lied to Snow. She's not taking it as well as she thought she would. I don't want to make her lie again."

"No," Regina whispered quickly with a frown and a shake of her head as her fingers ran along his chest and collarbone, "I will lie. I am asking plenty enough from you in simply lying to Snow. I want this hidden, I will make you an excuse."

...

The queen was walking down Main Street when she saw an impending disaster. It was a quiet morning and she was happy and all the townspeople she had come across had greeted her kindly with happy smiles and nods. It was a good morning and her husband had found himself distracted with the mayor and the lawnmower. He had been reminiscing of the times on the farm with his mother and how nice it was to work with his hands. And the queen laughed when the mayor put him to work. Honestly she was beginning to worry her husband was going to bring a flock of sheep in to the mayor's yard soon.

So the yard work would be good for him but she was having none of it. Which seemed to be for the best anyway as she saw Snow zeroing in on the oblivious sheriff who was supposed to be at the station but was instead heading toward Granny's. Slowly the queen changed his clothes. Just subtle changes with her magic so that when Snow got close enough she would see that his clothing was not of those that belonged to her estranged husband but to that more similar to the king. His navy blue shirt slowly became a deep purple of finer fabric, his dark jeans soaking in a more inky colour, his shoes and belt becoming a more quality leather in dark brown, and his hair a little better combed.

When the man noticed the change, his steps faltered and he looked at his arm with a frown at the rolled up sleeve that was now a deep purple rather than a navy blue but the queen got to him before Snow did. It didn't stop the woman from continuing on her path up behind him.

"Did you do this?" David questioned curiously when the queen stopped in front of him with a smile. She was very pretty today and it was not very often that he saw her without her husband. He wondered where he was. She was very simple today. Black leather pants, tall black heels, an assortment of bracelets on her wrist, small emerald earrings, and a dark raspberry coloured blouse with a collar but no sleeves past her shoulders and left mostly untucked from her waist. It should maybe be done up one button more but that seemed to be the case with any shirt she wore and it was her. Her makeup was soft but still sharp and precise and her long wavy hair was in a ponytail over her one shoulder with a couple of curls framing her beautiful face. Come to think of it, she was standing much closer to him than what was really necessary.

"I did."

"Why?"

"Do you trust me," she smiled as she leaned in a little closer to him and he smiled a little in curiosity.

"Yes of course I do," he laughed a little and furrowed his brow a little when she stepped closer so their bodies were touching as she slowly intertwined her fingers with his.

"Then I need you to relax and follow my lead, dear," she smiled with a little quirk of her head and David tilted his in confusion as he glanced at their intertwined fingers.

"What are you talking about?" He chuckled quietly and let her hold his hand. He was a little thrown though when she kissed him. It startled him but she was kind about it. She was coaxing and every movement was chaste and he did trust her. So he relaxed and followed her lead despite being entirely clueless as to what this was about. He kissed her back and she gave a quiet hum in approval as she stepped just a little more in to him so there was no room to spare and he kept their fingers entwined as he lifted his other hand to hold the side of her face.

It was strange. She was the same as his Regina but she was so different as well. She felt the same, she smelled the same, but she didn't make him feel the same. He didn't know what she was doing but he had to assume it was a cover for something. But he didn't know what she could have gotten herself in to to need to do this and he didn't recall doing anything he needed to be saved from. But he kissed her anyway because she asked him to trust her despite the bizarre gesture.

When she finished she did so with a contented hum and leaned in to him with a smile that had him smiling in return. Then the queen laughed a little and gave him a single quick kiss before she glanced over David's shoulder to find an unhappy Snow White looking back at her, "did you lose something?" The queen asked with a smile and a raise of an eyebrow as she kissed the front of David's shoulder.

"No."

David's heart skipped a beat in panic at the sound of his wife's voice. Then he immediately regretted not listening to his Regina's instruction to just go straight to the station and wait for her there. And then he was incredibly grateful for the queen's quick and generous thinking and made sure it wasn't for nothing and fell in to the persona of the king and tried not to look at Snow as though he knew her too well.

"Then why are you standing there?" She questioned with an unwelcoming smile as David turned around and drew her in to his side with a kiss to the side of her head. At least he was quick to play along and didn't stand there like a gaping fool.

"Have you seen David?"

"This one?" The queen questioned with a raise of her brow and lifted her hand to point her finger at his chest.

"No, the one you haven't had your mouth on," Snow bit out and instantly feared the retaliation for such a tone. But she only got a grin from the queen and a held back smirk from the man beside her. The man she had previously thought to be her David but was quickly convinced otherwise when he kissed the queen in broad daylight.

Regina laughed low in her throat in amusement and shook her head, "haven't seen him around," she replied easily. It wasn't a lie. She hadn't seen a David she hadn't kissed.

"Right. Well if you see him please tell him I'm looking for him."

"Of course," Regina smiled with a nod and Snow looked between them once more before she walked past them and continued on her unhappy way. Then she hummed and leaned in to David's side as she slipped an arm around his back and pushed her hand in his pocket and started walking and he followed with an arm around her waist.

"Thank you, Regina."

"You need to grow a pair of eyes on the back of your head or this affair is going to blow up in your face."

"Yes I see that."

"This relationship you have with your mayor is fragile, David. She is trying and she is putting a whole lot of faith and trust in you and I know you have no intention to ruin what you have finally accomplished but you really and truly need to become a better liar. For her sake. She will cover all the tracks she can but you need to be attentive to how many you leave behind for her to hide."

"Fair enough," he nodded and then hung his arm around her shoulders rather than her waist and she smiled, "any pointers?"

"Pretend everyone out here is trying to kill you at any moment," she smirked and he laughed.

"I'll give it a try."

...

Back in the clothes he was wearing that morning and the same ones he had been wearing the day before, David now sat at his desk in the station with a mountain of paperwork. It was the minor things that Emma hated and he took off her plate while she tended to a few other calls around Storybrooke. He owed her so much more but for now he would do paperwork.

"David. Where the hell have you been?!" Snow snapped as she rounded the corner in to the station.

"Snow, I-"

"Did you even come home last night?! Where were you?!"

"Snow-"

"David do you have that report ready for me?" Regina asked coolly but sharply as she walked in to the station with her phone in her hand. She was greeted with an incredulous look from Snow and a rather relieved one from David. One that he didn't let linger in case Snow were to look his way, "don't even start, Snow, I haven't the patience for more accusations of fucking your husband senseless. Now, David, do you have the report finished or don't you?!" She snapped and Snow recoiled in offence as she folded her arms over her chest.

"I do not," David answered reluctantly and Regina's jaw and posture grew all the more tense in her portrayal of barely contained rage. She was starting to make him wonder if she actually had come to him with a report needing to be finished and he really had forgotten. It took everything he had to keep his eyes from wandering over her figure. That dress was...he needed to focus.

She gave an irritated smile and a nod as she looked past him for a moment and then looked back at him, "alright, I don't know what personal issues you have going on at home that have you spending the entire night at this station to avoid your wife, nor do I care, but when I ask for something to get done I expect it to be done. This is a place of work. If you are in need of a bed to sleep in, go to Granny's," she snapped with her teeth bared and David sat in silence and mild shock while Snow avoided eye contact all together, "I expect that on my desk no later than noon," she finished shortly with a pointed look at David before she turned and left, smirking the very moment her back was turned to them.

David smirked just a little when she left and Snow wasn't looking at him. Just a little. Not too much that he couldn't hide if Snow were to look his way. His eyes did shamelessly fall to Regina's ass as she left though. Perfectly framed by that bold blue dress. But his eyes were back at his desk when Snow turned to face him.

"You and Regina had a falling out?" She wasn't going to lie. Regina furious with David made her feel a lot better about the whole situation.

"Yeah she's been avoiding me the last few days...we'll be good by the end of today though," he shrugged and Snow nodded and picked at her fingers before asking.

"You were here all night?"

"Did you think I was at Regina's?" He prodded and she sighed through her nose and pulled a chair over to sit on the other side of his desk. He didn't want to lie to her. So the longer he could dodge her questions and answer with half truths, the better.

"You can't blame me for worrying, David. You've told me you have feelings for her and you neglected to tell me you were spending the night here of all places," she argued and he kept his eyes down, "why didn't you come home last night?" She pleaded softly but he still kept his eyes on his desk and shook his head.

"I just wanted to be alone for awhile. It's quiet and I can think."

"Think about what?"

"What does it matter, Snow," he sighed and looked up at her tiredly.

"It matters to me," she told him and he shook his head a little as his eyes stayed on hers, "I want to fix this, I want to fix us."

"Are we broken?"

"David, don't be like that," she breathed out on an exhausted breath and a long blink.

"Are we broken?"

"Something happened, David! Why won't you tell me what-"

"Snow, nothing has happened."

"David-"

"No. Snow, nothing has happened. Nothing. We aren't running from the Black Guard, we aren't making deals with Rumplestiltskin, we aren't fighting George, we aren't trying to kill Regina, we aren't outrunning a Dark Curse, we aren't running through the jungle with Peter Pan, nothing is happening. There are no distractions."

"So you are telling me that our whole marriage only worked because we were distracted?! Nice, David."

"No, Snow, that is not what I am saying," he defended tiredly, "I am saying it is a big part of it, but it is most certainly not all of it. I love you, Snow. But we have never just been still. I was a shepherd for my entire life up until I met you. It was calm and quiet and then yes the fighting and the running was great and I don't regret it but I am tired, Snow. All you've ever known is running and fighting and heroics. There is nothing to run from now, there is nothing to fight, there is no one that needs saving. We can finally settle down but you are still so caught up in losing everything that you haven't taken the time to appreciate what you have when you have it. That is how you lose someone," he nodded and then stood up and she stayed seated.

"David," she argued but he didn't say a word and proceeded to walk away, "David!" She called a little louder but he hardly acknowledged her.

"I need to get that report done for Regina."

...

It was precisely noon when David walked in to her office. Not a minute early, not a minute late. She couldn't help but smirk as she leaned back against the front of her desk and placed her hands upon its edge on either side of her hips, "were you standing outside my door waiting for the clock to strike noon?"

"Of course not. My timing is just that impeccable," he smirked and she lifted her chin in an amused nod. "Your report, madam mayor," he smirked further as he dropped the file on her desk before proceeding to step well in to her personal space so their bodies were barely touching. Almost close enough to satisfy her and just far enough away to drive her crazy as he placed his hands on her desk between hers and her hips.

"Thank you," she smiled with a quirk of her head and shamelessly let her eyes linger on his mouth before she flicked them up and focused on his bright blue eyes that were sparked with nothing but mischief. Mischief that pulled harder on her smirk until she was catching the very edge of her bottom lip between her teeth.

"You look absolutely stunning this afternoon," he complimented as his eyes fell to her chest. Her blue dress had a very different neckline than her usual choice. This was a little...less than conservative. The bright blue fabric hugged her in all the right places and the sleeves cut off in the middle of her forearm and a thin black belt around her narrow little waist but that was nothing new. It was the sweetheart neckline with a sharp and narrow slit that dipped a good three inches in to her perfect cleavage. Not too much and certainly not too little. Tasteful and yet still teasing. "Love the dress," he smirked a little and she hummed and pushed her chest out just a bit as she looked own at herself.

"Mmmm yes I thought you just might," she purred and then laughed a little when he grinned and took that last half a step in to her so his body was pressed to hers.

"I do," he nodded and his eyes lifted to those bold red lips and smiling white teeth. "I am going to kiss you now," he grinned and she grinned wider as his hands moved to her hips.

"Please," she grinned and then his mouth was on hers and she was putty in his hands. Firm and slow and, god, she lost all cognitive thought and reason when he kissed her like that. She was hopeless. She pressed herself right up against him, shrugging her shoulders up as she held his face between her hands and opened her mouth to him. His face was just a little rough beneath her hands, his body was warm and strong and safe, his scent surrounded her. He knew exactly what he wanted and he was taking it and it made her heart forget how to beat.

She didn't realize how much she had been deprived of and how much she wanted this feeling until she had it. Until she had someone who wanted her. And wanted her for more than just the night. When they stopped kissing, she stayed close and he rested his forehead upon hers as she smiled and flicked her eyes to look at him despite the fact he was blurry.

"I kissed the queen this morning," he confessed and felt her brow furrow against his before she lifted her head and looked at him in confusion but left her hands holding his face while he pulled her hips closer to him.

"Whatever for?"

"She was saving my ass from a blow up between Snow and me in the middle of Main Street," he elaborated and she listened attentively, the lines in her brow and around her mouth softened away, "she convinced Snow I was the other David and managed to do so without telling a single lie," he laughed softly and Regina smiled in amusement, "I will never understand how you women manage to do that."

"It is a natural talent that occurs in most of us," she teased and he laughed softly.

"It would seem that way. So...no grudges held? It was very PG I promise," he nodded and her smile cracked to show some of her teeth as she shook her head.

"No grudges held, dear."

"Good."

"I would be quite the hypocrite if I did. Especially since you've said yours was so...PG," she shook her head a little and dropped her eyes with a soft clearing of her throat.

His interest peaked, David's eyebrows lifted in surprise as he inquired, "who?"

"...She sent David after me the night before Henry locked you and me in that room. He cornered me in the kitchen and...I thought he was you," she shrugged a little with a false smile and held David's eye as he watched her with a frown. He didn't say a word and it put her on edge as she leaned away from him and let her hands fall from his face and snapped bitterly, "I didn't realize there was a double standard here."

"No, Regina," he caught her quickly and gently and kept her from slipping out from between himself and the desk, "that is not at all what I was thinking," he defended kindly and she stopped to listen but there was still a distrusting frown on her beautiful mouth. So he took a breath and slowly tucked her hair behind her ear, "there is certainly no double standard. It is quite alright. I am just a little...bothered by the fact you kissed him before you kissed me."

"Well it seems I had to kiss the wrong man before I realized how much I wanted the right one," said quietly and slowly the biggest and most ridiculous looking grin pulled at his mouth. She couldn't help herself. She smiled with him.

"And I am the right one?" He grinned and she pursed her lips to rein in her smile as his arms wound around her waist and her hands stilled upon his chest.

"I never said that," she argued and he grinned even wider. And then she caved, "but it certainly feels right," she admitted softly and his wide grin softened in to adoration as he tilted his head and held her close.

"It does feel right," he nodded and big brown eyes looked up at him paired with a timid smile. He let out a long and contented sigh through his nose as his eyes wandered and she stayed put at relaxed. Then he shook his head with a small frown, "I don't want to hide, Regina."

"I know," she acknowledged softly with a sympathetic smile, "we will tell them. Just not yet."

"I don't want to be stuck in a limbo of possible dates either," he argued softly with a gentle raise of his brow and she nodded and moved her thumb over his heart.

"After Henry's birthday. Not right after but...after..." She told him and he listened, "that day should be about him. Not the rest of us fighting."

"Alright," David nodded and she looked up at him, "I can manage that."

"And when we do tell them you are not just going to blindside me with some bold kiss in front of everyone or I will make you wish you hadn't," she warned him with a sharp edge and he laughed softly and nodded.

"Noted. Anything else?"

"I will let you know if I think of anything," she finished shortly and he hummed and smiled at her before he lifted a hand to fix the strands of her hair he felt needed fixing. It was soothing and helped her relax and soon enough she was letting out a long breath and sinking in to him, nuzzling her face in to the side of his neck as she hugged him close and he held her right back with a hand in her hair and an arm around her middle. "I really want this to work," she confessed softly and he smiled for just a moment against her head before he kissed her hair and held her tighter.

"I do too."