Alrighty guys! Next update won't be up as quick as these last couple but I'll do my best to get it done :) happy reading! Please leave an update because you're awesome like that ;)

Snow was feeling better. She was starting to settle down just a bit after the sight of Regina practically tearing David's head off in the station. That wasn't to say she wasn't still worried that he would stray, because she was still worried. But for now she let herself relax and tried to take his words more seriously and stop worrying about what was going to happen and enjoy what was happening right then and there in the present. He was right. No one was trying to tear them apart, no one was threatening the lives of those around them, there was no impending doom, everything was fine.

Why shouldn't she enjoy it?

David had been home the last two nights and had even opted for their bed over the couch. So that was better. Right? He also seemed to be a little happier. He still avoided her touch though as best as he could. But she took it slowly and tried not to let it get to her. She didn't know if this was some midlife crisis of some sort or if it had something to do with her or something to do with Regina but...it seemed to be getting better. And she was doing her best to make it easy for him to stay.

What had her worried though was Emma. She was quiet and distant and whenever Snow tried to talk to her, Emma would get agitated and snap at her or simply walk away with some mediocre excuse. It made her wonder what she and David had talked about that night at the pier. Or were they ever even at the pier? Was Emma covering for David and Regina?

Stop it. Getting her thoughts under control was practically impossible. She'd have one thought and suddenly she had spun an entire story about the worst possible scenario. She was starting to see how that was setting people off around her.

"Morning," she chirped with a gentler smile as David walked in to the kitchen. They hadn't had sex in weeks. Hadn't even gotten close since that night they fought so adamantly over Regina and Emma left to go find a dog. Trying to get a kiss from him was next to impossible as well. He never offered or moved to kiss her anymore and she had to move at just the right moment to steal one from him and when she did it was short and hardly worth it.

"Morning," David smiled and then dipped his head in greeting to Emma who offered him a weak smile in return. She was trying and it killed him that he couldn't make this easier for her, "cupcakes?"

"Yeah," she shrugged with her smile still intact at his more cheerful tone, "it is the-" she paused to swat away his reaching hand and then laughed a little, "the birthday of one of the class pets which means all the students get a cupcake and the hamster gets a little vegetable birthday cake."

"...You do realize how ridiculous that sounds, right?" Emma inquired with a raise of her brow and David breathed a laugh while Snow paused to think it over.

"Well a lot of things sound ridiculous when you say them out loud," she defended and Emma nodded with another raise of her brow as she went back to her bowl of cereal and dunking it under the milk with her spoon.

"I'm sure they'll love it," David laughed a little and then stepped behind Snow with a hand on her shoulder, "and the last time I checked there are not thirty six children in a class, so," he rocked his head and then kissed the side of Snow's as he quickly snatched a cupcake from her other side and then quickly left.

"Hey!" Snow yelped with a laugh but he had already skipped out of smacking distance so she tossed a towel at him and he cringed and laughed but carried on his way with a quick goodbye and disappeared through the front door. Things seemed to be getting better. But with one look at Emma, things suddenly looked to be a lot worse. "Emma? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just...not hungry."

"Emma-"

"I'll be fine, mom."

...

He was sitting in the couch in her office when he heard her walk in. He didn't know where she had gone off to but he had no issue with waiting for her to come back. It was dead silent in her office and for awhile he wondered how she could handle it for hours on end but he also quickly realized how much he loved it right then at that particular moment in time. The clicking of her stilettos was a welcome break of the silence though.

He smiled at her with a lazy study of her perfect figure as she walked over to him and stopped right in front of him. His hands hooked around the backs of her knees as she climbed on to the couch so she straddled his lap and once she settled with his face in her hands, his slowly started to move up over the white fabric of her trousers. She let out a long sigh and slowly let herself lean in closer and tilt his head back just so. Her lips were the colour of expensive red wine and he was almost expecting them to taste as such. But she tasted like coffee this afternoon.

Her shirt was jet black with buttons that looked to be a polished oyster shell but that wasn't important. What was important was that the matte fabric proved once again to be a thin silk when his wandering hands reached her waist and back. It was smooth and soft and allowed him to feel her. To feel every subtle dip and rise of her muscles as she moved and breathed. He loved it. He loved her.

She pulled away a final soft kiss that broke with a gentle sound but she only moved far enough away to just focus on him. "Hello," she smiled a little for a moment as she twirled her fingertips through his short hair on the back of his head.

"Hello," he whispered as he smiled at the sound of her low and gently rasped voice. He had never considered he would come to a point in his life where just the sound of her voice would make his day. "You look particularly exceptional today, my darling," he complimented softly and the corners of her beautiful eyes creased with her smile.

"Thank you," she whispered and leaned her head in to his touch when his fingers caressed her cheek and tucked her hair behind her ear and rubbed his thumb over the diamond in her earlobe. She loved these quiet moments with him. Almost more than the moments she found herself writhing and sweaty and crying out beneath him. Almost. But right now she just wanted to be still and quiet. So she kissed his mouth one more time and then kissed his neck before she sunk down and repositioned herself so she was laying on her back with her head in his lap and his fingers combing through her hair.

David hummed with a smile and a tilt of her head as she sighed softly and let her eyes fall closed and rested a hand on his arm. "Tired, babe?" He questioned kindly as he continued to run his fingers through her hair and she slipped her feet out of the shiny stilettos that matched the dark wine red of her lips.

"It's been a long morning,"

David hummed softly in sympathy and didn't stop his fingers in her hair for he knew she liked it, "have a nap."

"I am the mayor. I can't take a nap."

"I am the sheriff. I say you can have a nap without consequence during your lunch break," he smirked and she cracked a smile and a soft laugh, "I'll stay here until you wake," he promised and she remained still and silent for a moment before she rolled on to her side and pulled her knees up just a little as she took a deep breath and let it out against his stomach.

"Alright. I'll just stay here with you for a little while," she agreed but denied that she would fall asleep despite the fact she could feel it tugging her down. It was only encouraged when his fingers started moving through her hair once again. She loved it when he played with her hair.

"Of course," he smiled with his quiet voice. It was only a handful of minutes before her breathing changed and she fell victim to the sleep she had been fighting. It was peaceful and quiet and he wanted to be with no one else doing nothing else but what he was doing now.

...

"What's your mom gonna do?"

"I don't know," Henry grumbled as he shrugged his backpack further on to his shoulder, "probably freak out."

"Well...it could have been worse," Hansel offered as he opened the gate to the white home.

"How?"

"Well you could've been suspended or something. But the principal's too scared of your mom," he chuckled and Henry laughed and nodded.

"For good reason too! She'd burn the school down," Henry laughed and Hansel laughed a little more.

"Hey I would be alright with that!"

"Yeah only because you wouldn't have to deal with social studies," Henry laughed and Hansel defended.

"It's the worst class ever! It's so boring!" He groaned as he dropped his head back and they stepped up on to the porch and paused at the door, "thank you for what you did though. You really didn't have to."

"Of course I did. Three to one isn't even fair."

"It was still three to one with you. They just changed their target."

"Yeah, well, you didn't exactly have a fighting chance," Henry laughed lightly and Hansel pretended to be insulted, "I did," he finished as he opened the door and walked inside.

"You had more than a fighting chance! That was wicked!" He exclaimed as he followed Henry inside the house.

Henry was hoping that he wouldn't be faced with anyone when he walked inside. But no such luck. The queen came in the front door right after them. He and Hansel didn't even make it to the dining room. There was an instant frown on her face when she laid eyes on him and she paused before she slowly walked up to him, "hey."

"What happened to your face, dear?"

"Got in a fight at school," he admitted knowing quite well that there was no smooth talking out of it. Her response was to frown deeper and stop before him so she could inspect him with the gentlest of fingertips upon his face. "It's not that bad. Is it?"

"Well..."

"That's not a promising answer, mom," he chuckled lightly and she smiled a little before she gently jerked her head toward the kitchen and began steering him toward it, "mom's going to freak out, isn't she."

"Dear, your mother would shred the parchment that gave you a paper cut. 'Freak out' doesn't come anywhere near to how she will react," she smirked a little and then patted the countertop in a gesture for him to sit upon it and he did just that as his friend stood beside him, "or how I will react for that matter. Who did this to you."

"Yeah because I'm going to tell the Evil Queen who gave me a black eye," he laughed and shook his head as she opened the freezer, "nice try."

"I don't need a name."

"No address either."

"I will find a way."

"It's handled, alright? I don't think any of them are going to try anything again."

"That's so true," Hansel put in with a quiet laugh.

"Them? There was more than one?" Regina snapped a little too harshly and Henry offered her a small smile that had her irritably working the tension from her jaw and handing him the bag of frozen peas.

"Thank you," he nodded and then put the whole bag against the side of his face and over his eye. It felt good. "Can you fix me before mom comes home?"

"No."

"Just a little bit? So it doesn't look so bad?" He pleaded and she shook her head. Stubborn.

"No."

"Please?" He whined a little but she remained silent and unmoving. So he sighed and then heard the front door open and the unmistakeable click of his mother's stilettos in the foyer. "You suck."

"She deserves to know, Henry," she told him softly and he sighed again and moved the bag to better cover what looked to be a bruised jaw.

Regina had walked in to the kitchen out of habit and was not expecting to find people in it and her expression portrayed such until it morphed in to concern and shock at the sight of the queen doctoring Henry. Her paused steps turned in to rushed ones as she quickly placed her phone on the counter and hurried to Henry, "what the hell happened?!"

The queen stepped aside for the mayor without a thought and replied for Henry as his mother slowly urged the frozen bag of vegetables away from his face, "a fight at school is all I've been able to gather from him."

"A fight?" She shook her head and furrowed her brow as Henry obeyed and carefully pulled away the bag to reveal a swollen and rather purple eye, a split bottom lip, and what looked to be the beginnings of bruises along his jaw, "Henry what happened? It's not like you to get in a fight like this," she insisted as she lifted his hand to put the peas back on his face only to see that his knuckles were raw and bloody as well, "Henry..."

"It wasn't my fault, mom, these guys are just jerks."

"Plural?! Henry-!"

"Mom, I'm fine," he insisted and she huffed, clearly not convinced and quite ready to go tear the boys and their parents apart for so much as laying a hand on him, "they are bullies. They're rude and they're mean and they pick on Hansel all the time-"

"That doesn't mean you get in to a fight with them Henry," she argued but she wasn't angry at him. She was a worried mother who was pained to see her child swollen and bloody and purple and she was pleading that he saw sense in what had happened.

"I tried telling the teachers like you've always told me to but they don't see it! And there was no one paying attention today either when they went after Hansel! So I told them to knock it off and they turned their focus on me. I was defending my friend and they called me names and pushed me around and then went after you and then pushed me around again. So I punched and they attacked and I defended myself until I didn't have to anymore."

Regina sighed with her frown and turned away just to dampen a clean cloth with soap and warm water before she came back and tended to his knuckles.

"You better not have come home without putting them in their place," the queen nodded at him and Henry smiled a little while the mayor shot her a harsh look that had her shrugging her shoulders up in response with a silent 'what?!'.

"Two of them are in the hospital and the other one ran off," he answered shortly and his mother's eyes were wider than he had ever seen them and her hands had frozen in mid dab of her cloth. The queen didn't look much better. Until she started laughing and that quickly switched the anger to full power in his mother.

"This isn't funny, Regina!" She hissed and the queen ignored her.

"What on earth did you do to them that sent them to the hospital?" She shook her head in confusion with a light laugh.

"We think he dislocated one guy's shoulder and the other one's nose wouldn't stop bleeding after Henry kicked it and he was starting to look kind of pale," Hansel answered and then continued, "all three of them were pretty bruised after Henry got his hands on a broom. They'll be limping for weeks," Hansel laughed a little and then quieted when all eyes were on him. The queen was torn between amusement and pride, the mayor was horrified and worried and proud and angry beyond all comprehension, and Henry just looked unimpressed.

"So not helpful, dude."

"What?" Hansel shrugged, "it is what happened."

"Henry...how?!" Regina pressed, entirely blindsided by this whole thing. This was quite literally the last thing she would ever expect to come home to.

"In the Enchanted Forest. I learned how to use a sword and how to use a bow and Claude offered to teach me some basic combat on the side just for kicks. I mostly just used their energy against them. I only got hit a couple of times. It hurt but it would have been worse if I hadn't fought."

"I am going to kill them," she murmured under her breath as she began tending to his hand holding the peas.

"You don't kill kids, mom."

"There are exceptions to everything."

"I'm pretty sure being temporarily hospitalized by an eleven year old is punishment enough," Henry chuckled and his mother scowled at him for a moment before looking back at his hand.

"What on earth did they say to you that set you off, sweetheart," she breathed and he stayed quiet until she insisted upon and answer with a silent but firm look.

"I don't want to repeat it, mom. It was rude and mean and I'd rather forget it and you look really pretty and like you're having a good day and there's no point in telling you. It's done-"

"Henry you will tell me what these boys said to you," she insisted in her most superior motherly tone and Henry huffed with a frown.

"They said you adopted me for a pet. That I'm just like your dog or your servant because you are incapable of love and you don't have a heart. Which is also the reason that you are alone because you can't feel anything and only use people for their bodies and, mom, I really don't want to get in to-"

"No it's alright, sweetheart," she dismissed softly and he nodded and let his shoulder drop in relief but his frown only seemed to deepen, "I've got the idea."

"I broke his nose for you," he told her and she smiled a small lopsided smile and kissed his forehead.

"I love you, Henry."

"I know. I love you too," he smiled but leaned away and put a hand on her wrist when she tried to hug him and she paused with a confused frown, "no, I don't want you to get blood on your white pants or something," he laughed a little and she rolled her eyes and hugged him anyway. He hugged her back tighter than he'd be willing to admit, "I'm okay, mom."

"I'm going to make their lives miserable," she promised and he laughed against her neck, his face cold against her skin because of the ice.

"I know. Just don't go crazy, okay?"

"No promises."

"Mom," he laughed and she hugged him tight for a few seconds longer and then let go of him with another kiss on his cheek.

With one final look over her son she moved he attention to Hansel and stepped up to him with a concerned frown, "are you alright?"

"Yeah. They didn't exactly have a chance to hurt me," he answered with a small smile. It was weird to see her so close like this. He had sort of been keeping his distance from the woman during his time there in her house. Just out of habit. It was strange to have her suddenly worried for his wellbeing. And that is exactly what she was. Worried. Her kind dark eyes looked him straight in the eye and her mouth formed a worried frown as she bent down a little to see him better. It was a far cry from the woman in the forest sending them off to a child eating witch.

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm."

"Alright," she nodded and gave him one more look over from head to toe before she stood up straight and went back to Henry, "now let's get you fixed up."

"Can you leave my lip though? I don't want to go back to school looking like nothing happened."

Regina sighed and very reluctantly gave a short nod of her head. And then he smiled a little and removed the frozen peas from his face and her magic quickly healed his eye and the side of his face and made the split in his lip at least scab over before she carefully tended to his raw knuckles.

...

Her evening had not gone as pleasantly as her day. She probably should have listened to Henry when he told her those words should not be repeated. Between Rumple's reminder that love never worked out for her and the unfortunately effective words of middle school bullies that she was a cold mistress sucking the life and warmth out of her victims, she just couldn't find it in her to relax. Her mind was too busy.

The queen had noticed of course and had offered her empathetic smiles and glances and the king offered her kind words and touches while Henry kept her company between his attention being focused on his friend. Hansel had managed to convince his father to allow him to sleep over. Regina didn't know how but she didn't protest. She was thrilled that Henry finally had a friend and he seemed to be just as ecstatic. So a sleepover it was. Even though it was a school night.

To say Henry was handling it fine would be a lie. He was rattled and she had done everything in her power to make it easier for him but they would just have to see how school went tomorrow. Hopefully better than today.

But now she was alone in her room on her bed and while the soft laughter of the boys down the hall offered her a smile every now and then, it did not stop the nagging negativities in her mind. So with a long sigh she finally gave in to the dialled number on the screen of her phone and pushed 'call'. It rang in her ear and she frowned as she smoothed the wrinkles in her bed. It was rather late and she probably shouldn't be calling but she needed to hear his voice. She needed to make sure he knew that he was important to her.

"Regina?"

"Hi..."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing...nothing I just, uh...I just wanted to know if it was morally wrong to create a scavenger hunt that led three boys in to the library basement to a waiting Maleficent," she inquired and he laughed which had her smiling and easing away some of the tension in her chest.

"I'm gonna have to say yes to that one, babe."

"Hmm. What if I hire a-"

"I am just going to assume you are going to say 'a hitman' and go right ahead and say no to that one too."

"You're no fun," she sighed but smiled when he laughed, "where are you?"

"I just left the station and am standing beside the truck. That fight with Henry still bothering you?"

"I take it Emma told you."

"Yes and she was grateful for the call from you. She would have hated to hear that down the grapevine."

"Yes, well, she would have heard sooner had she not been dodging my calls. I do not have the number to the station, I had to look it up. I prefer to call my sheriffs directly," she grumbled and he chuckled softly.

"I am sure she will answer your calls much quicker now that you've chewed her head off over her 'foolish beliefs that you would call her to gab about the affair you are having with her father'. I know that would certainly straighten me out."

Regina rolled her eyes as he continued to laugh at her direct quote, "it was a ridiculous notion. Why would she think I would call her over such a thing."

"I think she's just trying to distance herself. She'll be alright. She's been doing a lot better lately considering what is going on. However that is not why you called me. What is on your mind?"

"...I am not using you, David. You do know that. Right?"

"Yes of course I do, Regina. Where is this coming from?"

"Nowhere. It's just that...it has come to my attention that I don't always come off as particularly capable of using my heart."

"This is just coming to your attention now?"

"Shut up," she breathed softly with a light laugh at his teasing tone, "you know what I mean."

"Yes I do. Regina, you have never come off as a particularly loveable person but that doesn't mean you are incapable of feeling. You feel more than anyone I have ever known."

"Was there ever a time when you believed I didn't have a heart? That the men I shared my bed with were there to simply there for me to suck the warmth from them..."

"I would even go as far as to say you sucked the warmth from there bodies to ward off the chill your cold heart gave your skin so no one would ever know how truly cruel you were."

"...Did you really think that?" She frowned and furrowed her brow in distress.

"In my most bizarre inner monologues, yes."

"If you are trying to make me feel better you are most certainly doing a horrible job," she told him with a frown and certainly no attempt at laughter. But he hummed softly and tenderly and she waited to hear what he had to say as she aimlessly scratched at her duvet.

"My darling Regina, if I thought that any of that was true now I wouldn't be fighting so hard to be with you. You are precious to me and I know that what you feel for me spans further than simply soaking in the warmth my body lends you while you're with me."

Regina nodded despite knowing he couldn't see her. She remained quiet though as she mulled his words over. His points were valid. He really was trying his very hardest to throw his entire marriage away for her and she was the only thing stopping him. And it was out of her own fear that he would regret it and go back to Snow.

"You still there, darling?"

"Mhm."

"I'm going to come over."

"No, David, we agreed you'd stay home tonight too," she argued but he didn't accept that answer.

"You are having a bad night. I'm going to come over and sleep beside you and you, my darling, do not have a say in the matter. Besides, you know I'd rather spend my nights with you than Snow."

Regina smiled at that. Her heart burst with a little bloom of happiness and pride that he still preferred herself over Snow. It made her feel better, "okay."

"Okay. I will see you soon."

"You are important to me, David. Incredibly so," she insisted softly as she scratched softly at her duvet once again.

"And I do not take that lightly."

That made her smile even more and the desire to cry hit her in the chest and she gave a quiet clear of her throat and hated that even that sounded like she was about to cry. But he didn't say a word about it, "lock the front door when you come in?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

"I'll see you soon."

Regina nodded but didn't say anything. She hung up without another word and took a deep breath as she pushed her hands through her hair and closed her eyes. Then with a soft sniff she shook her head clear and put her phone on the bedside table and slid down in her bed to wait for him to wrap his arms around her.