Two days. Not too shabby ;) lol! Enjoy the update! Please leave a review :) and again there are only a couple chapters left in the story!
It had taken her the rest of the day and evening to calm down after her morning's fight. But eventually she felt stable enough to perhaps be in David's company without screaming at him for telling Snow. So now she found herself stepping inside Granny's inn and the old woman herself was standing at the front behind her large service desk. But before her words could even leave her open mouth, Regina was cut off with the answer to her question. The question that hadn't even been voiced yet.
"He's in one twenty one," Granny told the woman plainly with a glance over her glasses to inspect her. Regina merely blinked at her and closed her mouth as she glanced to the stairs and then back at her before she looked back at the stairs and began walking up them. As if she didn't know about the affair. The mayor and sheriff had reeked of one another for weeks and it had only intensified this past week or so. Her nose may be old and not as sharp as it used to be but it was hard to miss the smell of David on Regina's skin and Regina's on David's.
With a slight frown of confusion, Regina walked up the stairs and down the hall until she stopped in front of the door numbered one hundred and twenty one. Gently she knocked on the door and at the sound of David's voice welcoming her in, she turned the handle and stepped inside.
"Regina," David stated in surprise as he sat up a little taller on his bed and paused the TV, "I wasn't expecting you here. Ever," he chuckled a little as she walked up to the edge of the bed, "I imagined it to be too public a place for you to join my company in the evening. People may talk," he teased and she smiled a little as she carefully lowered herself to sit down on the edge of the bed, "especially in that little dress," he smirked as he looked her up and down and she laughed just a little.
"Well Granny is the only one downstairs this evening and I have gotten the impression that she already knows about us," she inquired with a raise of one eyebrow and David nodded.
"Yeah I got that impression too when I checked in. I'm pretty sure she's known for awhile actually."
"Hmm," Regina hummed simply and the pair of them fell in to silence.
"You going to tell me what the text was about this morning?" He nodded at her and she took a deep breath, "I mean 'I don't want to see or hear you today lest you have a death wish' isn't exactly what a guy wants to hear in the morning," he smiled a little but there was a slight frown in his brow as she fidgeted. And then she stood up abruptly with a stressed exhale and combed her fingers through her hair as her heels tapped against the old wood floor of the room.
"I feel like I'm suffocating," she breathed out as she tried to calm her anger and frustration. David didn't say a word. He simply let their conversation pause and pushed himself off the bed so he could walk to the dresser and pull out a clean white tshirt. He offered it to her with lines of worry and concern creasing his face while she stared at the shirt. Regina gingerly took it from him and slowly brought it to her nose and took a deep breath. But then she took a careful step closer to him and he waited patiently, "that one smells better," she stated softly with a glance to his chest before looking him in the eye and he smiled a little and pulled his shirt over his head.
As he did, her eyes took the time to appreciate the expanse of chiselled muscles covering his entire torso and both arms. She would be lying if she said the sight didn't lift her mood a little. When he offered her his worn shirt, she offered him the clean one and the exchange was made. She hugged the partially balled shirt to herself and closed her eyes as she nuzzled her nose in and took a deep breath as he put on the clean shirt. Instead of clean cotton, his scent filled her nose and with the emotional state she was in, the smell nearly brought her to tears.
David noticed the stressed crease of her brow as her nose and mouth stayed pressed against his shirt. It had him frowning deeper as he stepped closer to her so he could gently wrap her head and shoulders in his arms and pull her in to his chest. She did so without a word and he held her there with his nose nuzzled in her hair. He held her there as she hugged his crumpled shirt until her breathing steadied. He waited until she relaxed once again and he waited until she uncurled her neck and nuzzled her forehead against his neck and shoulder.
Then he pressed a kiss to the side of her head and unwound his arms from around her head and shoulders so he could carefully unzip the back of her dress. She stayed close and while it made him happy it also made him all the more concerned. She was seeking support and that was something she didn't do on a regular basis. Or at all for that matter. He took his shirt from her temporarily, draping it over his arm as she pulled hers from her sleeves and stepped out of her heels and rolled her hips to rid herself of the tight black dress.
He took it from her and laid it over the trunk at the foot of his bed and when he looked back at her she had unclasped her bra and was tossing it on the trunk with her dress. Before surrendering his shirt back to her, he proceeded to let his eyes wander shamelessly over her flawless figure. Completely bare except for the scant black panties. Strong and smooth and feminine. It had him smirking and when he looked her back in the eye she rolled hers with the very smallest of smirks. Only then did he maneuver his worn shirt so he could pull the white cotton over her head.
"I am not a child," she scolded mildly as she put her own arms through the sleeves of his shirt and was instantly surrounded in the comfort of his scent.
"No, that much is very clear, my darling," he retorted with a smirk and she rolled her eyes once more with an added purse of her lips, "doesn't mean I can't care for you though when you've had a bad day," he smiled as his hands curled around the back of her neck to flip out any of her dark hair from the white cotton. "Feeling better?"
"Yes," she smiled softly and tipped her head in to his hand when he tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Good," he smiled back and then caught those tempting red lips in a kiss. She sighed against his mouth, a soft exhale through her nose that released a little more of the lingering tension in her body. When he parted she tipped her forehead against the bridge of his nose and then stayed there with her hands on his chest. "What happened today?" He questioned softly and she took a deep breath and answered on her exhale.
"Snow was waiting for me at my office this morning. It wasn't exactly a pretty fight."
It was his turn to let out a long exhale. He did so with a small shake of his head as his thumb moved over the edge of her jaw, "I'm sorry," he frowned and she nodded once, her forehead still resting on the bridge of his nose, "do you want to talk about it?"
"Not particularly. I'd prefer to just let it be done."
"Alright," he agreed softly and then lifted his head to press a kiss to her forehead.
"Thank you."
...
She was nestled right in to his side. Her head was on his chest over his heart, one arm over his stomach and the other behind his back, one leg laying across his beneath the blankets, and his arm around the back of her neck and shoulders as they watched their second movie. It was nice to do nothing. To just lay there beside him and enjoy it. It was peaceful and warm and comforting in a way that she hadn't felt in a long time. There was nothing to worry about and that was something she couldn't quite seem to grasp.
Everything was calm and they didn't feel the overhanging fear of being caught together for anyone it would matter to already knew about them. Snow, Emma, Red, and Granny. They all knew and it wasn't as though anyone else would be knocking on the room's door. Regina was actually quite relieved Granny didn't seem too bothered by the fact she was with David. It gave her peace and hope that the rest of the town would be so accepting.
But still there was a piece of her she had yet to make him aware of. A piece that was hanging over her head and causing her distress now that her relationship with him was getting serious. It hadn't helped when the queen had revealed her pregnancy. After a few more minutes of watching the movie, she made herself do it. There wasn't going to be a better time to do it. They were alone and it was quiet and she needed to tell him. So she sat up and he watched her curiously before eventually sitting up as well and paused the movie.
"Regina? Are you alright?" He asked worriedly as he studied the side of her face and she kept her eyes down at her lap.
"I have something to tell you," she stated softly and rubbed the hem of her borrowed white shirt between her finger and thumb over her lap.
"Alright," he frowned with a furrow of his brow, not convinced that this was going to be a promising topic of conversation. She stayed silent for a seemingly long while before she spoke of what was on her mind. It was only when he placed a supportive and comforting hand on her knee that she seemed to cave and find her voice.
"David, I..." She shook her head and then cleared her throat to keep her voice from getting to tight and thick. She knew how much he wanted this and she was pulling the rug right out from beneath his feet. She hated it, "I can't have children," she confessed softly and his thumb moving back and forth over her knee suddenly stilled. It broke her heart and her brow creased even more because of it. "I did it to myself years ago to spite my mother after she...I just wanted to get rid of her. I was rash and foolish and I hate myself everyday because of it," she shook her head and then lifted her hands to run over her face and in to her hair as she looked at the ceiling with a shaky exhale to try and keep her tears from falling. He stayed silent. It was unnerving and when he pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder she couldn't stop the sudden broken sob that left her lips against her will.
"Did it hurt?" He asked gently and she nodded as her miserable gaze stayed focused on the ceiling while tears pooled in her dark eyes, "is it permanent?"
She nodded again, her movement tight and quick as she breathed a miserable, "yes."
His heart hurt for her and his frown fell deeper as he buried his face in to her neck and the back of her shoulder and his arms wound tightly around her middle. Her arms fell over his immediately and as her head tipped in to his, he spoke tenderly against her skin, "I do hope you realize my love for you is not stemmed from the idea of you bearing my children."
"It doesn't mean you're not disappointed," she breathed back and there was a pause before he spoke again.
"There are other ways to build a family, my love."
"That is not what I said," she argued softly and miserably and one of his hands turned so his fingers could intertwine with hers and he lifted his head so he could look her in the eye when she further turned her head. She hated seeing such sorrow and disappointment on his face.
"I am not disappointed in you, my darling Regina," he shook his head slowly with a slight furrow of his brow and squeezed her hand when her tears rolled down her cheeks. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that we cannot have a child the old fashion way. But as I just said, there is more than one way to build a family. So while this is unfortunate and has thrown a wrench in to my plans to get you knocked up as many times as possible, it by no means changes what I feel for you. Okay?"
Regina nodded with a tentative laugh at the humour he still managed to gift her with, "okay," she breathed and his gentle smile grew a little easier as he hugged her tighter in to his chest and left another kiss upon her shoulder.
"I love you, Regina. No matter what."