Alright so as of right now, this is the final chapter. But depending on how the writing of the epilogue goes, that could change. So we'll see! I'm sure you won't complain too much if I add another chapter ;) anywho, happy reading! Please leave a review! Oh and the song is "Bad to the Bone" if you don't know it. Just for shits and giggles ;)
With Henry sleeping over at Hansel's, it left the king and queen to their own devices in the big white home. It was something the mayor had grown to trust would be fine in their weeks visiting this town and her trust would not be broken tonight either. At least they hoped it wouldn't.
His wife's cooking was an absolute delight and while it was nowhere near the mayor's standard, it was by far his favourite meal. They had started the evening off civilly. But then the two and a half bottles of wine kicked in and David had found a bag of marshmallows. He couldn't seem to remember when he had taken her pants off but he was sure as hell grateful for it as she danced on the island counter in her burgundy tshirt and black panties singing in to a recently cleaned spatula. He was grinning the whole time and laughing above the blaring guitar coming from the speakers in the mayor's kitchen.
"On the day I was born, nurses all gathered 'round," she growled in time with the singer's voice and her husband let out a loud guffaw of hysterical laughter that prevented him from shoving another marshmallow in to his mouth. "And they gazed in wide wonder, at the joy they had found," she grinned and then slowly lowered herself down, "the head nurse spoke up, said 'leave this one alone'. She could tell right away," she grinned with a quirk of her eyebrow as her fingers helped balance her weight on the counter and David laughed so hard there was barely any sound leaving his mouth, "that I was bad to the bone. Bad to the bone," she grinned and laughed a little as she continued to sing with the man singing through the mayor's speakers.
"B-B-B-B-Bad," she grinned against her spatula and slowly started to stand once again, her free hand sliding up over the side of her knee and across her bare thigh, "b-b-b-b-bad," she sang with him as her hand pulled down on the hem of her tshirt between her legs and David's amusement was tainted with a growing lust as he laughed and leaned back to watch, "b-b-b-b-bad," she smirked with an open mouth and then tossed her long hair rom her eyes with a flick of her head, "bad to the bone."
"How do you know all of these words?!' The king shouted over the blasting music with a loud laugh as he watched her spin a quick full circle on her toes and stopped with her bare feet a shoulder width apart. Then she started slowly sauntering toward him with a sway in her lovely hips and he was simply done for.
"I broke a thousand hearts, before I met you," she sang and her king couldn't stop grinning or laughing as she beckoned him closer. "I'll break a thousand more, baby, before I am through," she assured with the singer as David laughed endlessly and stepped up to her after putting his bag of marshmallows on the counter by the sink. "I wanna be yours pretty baby," she sang with a mischievous grin as she lowered herself down to her knees to slide her finger down his tie laying on the centre of his chest.
"Yours and yours alone," she growled as she twirled her hand to wrap his tie around her fingers and take a firm grip, "I'm here to tell ya, honey," she grinned as she stared at his mouth and tugged the tie so that she could feel his low laughter blow across her lips. And then she quirked her head with an even wider grin, "that I'm bad to the bone," she sang and then hissed through her teeth and pulled harder on his tie when his hands hooked around the backs of her knees and slowly moved up her bare thighs. It had her dropping her little show for him as the chorus played through the kitchen. And then his mouth found hers in a searing kiss and she dropped her spatula to the counter beside her so she could take a handful of his hair and moan as the guitar blared around them.
...
They had been walking for hours. The stunning sunset had long since given way to the jet black of the night and the moon and stars were the only things that lit their path. It was cooler now with the disappearance of the sun but she was perfectly content with her body pressed up against his side and his arm wrapped snugly around her. They had been talking about anything and everything that came to mind and when they weren't talking they were laughing.
It was nice. It was easy. And when silence did fall between them it was soothing and warm and made her heart flutter because she could focus on how he made her feel. But they were not silent now. No they were laughing and talking and telling stories as they walked along the docks in the marina, his shoes treading lightly on the worn wood and her bare feet silent as her black heels hung off two of his fingers next to her waist. Being the charming prince that he was, he had taken them from her at the smallest sign of her discomfort and hadn't let her get a word in edgewise. He had been right though. It was much nicer to walk on her flat feet and save herself the aches that would only intensify tomorrow.
It would have been easy to call upon a more suitable pair of shoes and send the heels back to her closet. But she found she rather enjoying his chivalry and willingness to make her the most comfortable that she could be and take such pride in doing it. It was how she found herself looking at him now after their laughter had floated in to the night. Looking at him with utter adoration and fondness that she was certain would make her roll her eyes at herself if she had a mirror nearby. But she couldn't help herself.
Slowly she stopped walking and started backing up and he watched her curiously, following her when she gently caught his hand in hers and pulled him with her. She stopped when her back hit the thick wooden post behind her and the lamp hung above their heads on top of the tall post. She was smiling and David was no better as she pulled him until his body was pressed right against hers and their faces were mere inches apart as the soothing sound of the waves hitting the dock's beams beneath them reached their ears.
They stayed close like that, neither of them uttering a word as a conversation sparked between them. A different kind of conversation that required no voice. One that was all body language and subtle expression changes. Compliments of beauty and strength and love were passed and it was only when she had taken her stilettos from his fingers and slipped them on to her feet did he kiss her.
It was a wonderful kiss.
It was strong and steady while his hands settled low on her hips and hers held his head in place. He was so sure and confident and slowly it was spilling in to her own heart. She could feel it warm her inside. Like the first swallow of hot chocolate on a cold day and you can feel the liquid travel all the way down your throat and in to your stomach. That it what it felt like. Only it wasn't just the first swallow. It just kept coming, hotter and hotter until her insides were vibrating and her breaths were shaky.
David always knew when he had touched a sore and neglected spot in her heart. Whenever he did she would lose bits and pieces of her refined control and he always kept note of them so he could revisit them and make certain they were never left to die again. She had let him find a big one tonight. She was kissing him now as though she had been wandering through the desert for years and he was the water she had found on her last breaths. The kiss that he had once held control over had been surrendered to her desperate need so she could take what she needed from him and he didn't so much as hesitate. His hands stayed on her hips as he pressed her a little firmer against the post at her back but that was the only movement he could offer as he revelled in the new depth he had achieved in this darling woman.
He didn't care that he couldn't breathe, he didn't mind that her fingers pulled at his hair, or that they sometimes dug too hard in to his skin. He loved her and she needed him and he wanted to give himself to her. So he kissed her back and let her ravage his mouth for what she was seeking. Then she stopped. Panting against his mouth and he against hers, she stopped for she had found it in herself. And she didn't seem to know or have the courage to do with it what needed to be done. So she stopped and he waited ever so patiently for his lover to decide.
Hook had been on his way back to his ship when he found the queen being kissed under the lamplight on the dock. And by Snow's husband no less. He knew there was another Regina visiting this town. Another queen. But this woman, this feisty queen would always be his queen despite everyone around him now calling her their mayor. He had only ever known her as his queen and that was how it would remain.
He had seen her in many a light, in many a mood, but he had never seen her as she was now. Not once. It made him stop dead in his tracks as she kissed the apparently unfaithful sheriff prince. The man was enthralled with her and it caught Hook by surprise as he let Regina do as she pleased. It wasn't the kiss that made him stop. The kiss had only made his eyebrows lift. What made him stop was the potent love on David's face and sewn in his every movement paired with the struggling love of the beautiful and battered queen.
He had never seen Regina in that space before. Had never once seen her try to love. He had seen her with Henry, of course. But the love of a mother and the love of a woman in its most raw and carnal form were two entirely different things and when she broke her kiss with David, Hook found his breath to be stolen with the expression on her face. It was one he wished to have on his own face one day. An expression that told a tale of utter disbelief and terror because a second chance stood before her. Another chance to be happy for the rest of her days should she accept the very real risk of potentially losing it.
Hook studied her. Enthralled and suddenly emotionally invested in what she would decide. He watched every muscle in her body and in her face, reading every twitch and every shake of breath that he could see in the light offered by the lamp above their heads. David stayed close. Equally invested and enthralled but not nearly as panicked as Hook found himself. It seemed that dealing with the queen's emotional instability had offered the sheriff a new sense of patience and determination. Something Hook did not have when it came to such a delicate thing as a happy ending.
So he watched his favoured co-villain carefully and truly wished and hoped she would be brave enough to take the happiness offered to her. At the very inklings of her cowering away, Hook found himself stepping in. Just to give her more time to think. He didn't know why he did it but he did. It seemed he just couldn't let her turn the chance down. If there was no chance for her to live happily with another then what hope was there for him?
"A scandal such as this should not be broadcast in such an open space," he announced his presence and both David and Regina were startled from their thoughts and looked his way, "even if it is the middle of the night," he smirked as he stepped up to them and stopped. They both stared at him, both equally unbothered by the fact he had seen them but both for entirely different reasons. Regina's were a tentative trust in courtesy that villain to villain, their secrets would not be shared unless given reason to. David simply looked as though he didn't care because he was tired of hiding and should Hook spread the news then so be it. At least he could kiss her without the aid of shadows.
Observation aside, Hook continued to swallow the panic churning his gut and cocked his head with a mischievous smirk, "the captain's chambers are empty, your majesty. Free from prying eyes, walls wrapped in silence via magic for such occasions. I was just leaving on business for the evening. If I have no hope of having you, love, at the very least give her the night," he smirked at the queen but her thoughts were still clinging to the man who held her close, "The Jolly Roger will never see a more beautiful woman," he shook his head and then gave small sigh as his eyes fell down her figure, his hope reinstated when David grew possessive of the dear queen named mayor.
"The offer stands until I return in the morning. I shan't be hard pressed to be convinced to offer it again in the future should you require her services," he winked with a smirk and Regina rolled her eyes, "goodnight, your majesty. David," he nodded in farewell and then turned on his heels and left the way he came. Now he just had to find somewhere to spend the night and hope that when he returned in the morning things would be as they should. With Regina letting David in.
"Goodnight pirate," Regina returned plainly and watched him leave as David seemed to press himself closer, making certain that there was no room for misinterpretation and that she was with him. The pair of them stood in silence well after Hook disappeared in to the night and in that silence, Regina couldn't help but wonder if Hook had done that on purpose and what his reasons were. She didn't know how long they stood there in silence. She was far too lost in her thoughts, she forgot who was even holding her. That was until he decided it was time they moved and he gently tried to lead her away. She didn't even lift her back from the post and instead crashed her lips to his in a kiss that caught him by surprise.
He paused for a moment when she pulled away and tried to understand what she was trying to do but he couldn't come up with anything at all except for her wish to take Hook up on his offer of the ship's quarters. An offer David wasn't exactly keen on, "Regina-"
"I want-..." She interrupted him on a sudden inhale but then her voice gave out and she was left staring at his kind mouth as she tried to get her mind and heart to work with one another rather than against one another.
"What do you want?" He breathed softly and rubbed his thumb along the curve of her hip.
"I want..." She started again softly and her eyes fell to his chest as her hands softly slid down his neck so her thumbs moved gently over his throat. His warm and steady breath was making her dizzy and clouding her mind. He wasn't even doing anything and she suspected that that was the point. He wasn't doing anything. He was strong and levelheaded and calm while she was the complete opposite. She strived to be like him and she was so enveloped in him now that his presence made it difficult to do anything but focus on what she wanted to do to him.
Saying it out loud was hard enough but it was on the very tip of her tongue as her eyes focused on his stubbled jaw she suddenly so desperately wanted to have him scratch against her neck, "I want to make love to you," she breathed out and instantaneously felt her chest seize up in panic. It was soothed just as quickly when David tipped his forehead against hers and slowly slid his hands up her body from her hips, over her sides to her ribs, up her arms, slowing further when he reached her neck, and then finally cradling her head in his hands as she let out a shivering breath. Then her eyes fluttered shut and his mouth found hers in a new kiss that had her eyes stinging with new tears.
...
"Where do you think they are?"
"I don't know," the king shrugged he started pulling the hem of her burgundy top up from her stomach as she stayed partially propped up with pillows and continued reading another one of the spell books the mayor had gifted her with.
"What do you think they're doing?"
"At this hour? Probably panting and swearing," he smirked and then pressed a kiss to his wife's skin just below her navel and above her black panties as she laughed low in her throat.
"And what are you doing?" She inquired with a smirk of her own as she tilted the book to the side so she could see him pushing her shirt up higher.
"Nothing to worry your pretty head over," he answered simply with a smile and pressed a second kiss just above her navel as the skin was presented to him, "mind your own business," he grinned against her and felt her muscles flex beneath his skimming lips with her laughter.
"Sorry to disturb you," she retorted playfully and returned her eyes to the elvish spells as her shirt and his kisses continued higher. But neither went any higher than the bottom of her sternum and her breasts remained untouched as his kisses fell back down the expanse of her abdomen. Curious as to what he was doing, she tilted the book to the side once more so she could peek around it just as his kisses momentarily stopped. He laid beside her, mostly on his stomach, his legs tangled with hers, and one hand on her side while the fingertips on the other softly drew invisible lines over her stomach. Then he lowered his head so it rested on her ribs just below her left breast. When she realized what he was doing, the most adoring of hums left her closed lips as she smiled and combed her fingers through his hair.
"Do you ever think about how things used to be?" He asked as his fingers trailed over her skin and tried to imagine her belly when it grew huge with her pregnancy.
"All the time," she answered softly as her nails gently scraped over his scalp and he hummed, "do you?"
"Every time I look at you," he replied and let his eyes fall in to a slow blink as her fingers slowly swirled in his hair.
"And what do you think of?"
"How I nearly killed you," he answered as he flattened his whole hand over her stomach and pressed a kiss to her soft skin, "and how devastating it would be to never have gotten to love you," he added softly with another kiss to her stomach. One that lingered there before he took a deep breath of her and slipped an arm between her lower back and the bed so he could hold her. Then he let his eyes fall shut with the sudden pull of sleep and focused on the steady rise and fall of her breath.
Regina smiled softly as her fingers continued to work through his hair and over his scalp, "I love you, my king," she breathed out, her voice warm and velvety.
"I love you, my queen," he replied as his fingers wandered her stomach and his head fell heavier with the lull of her slowly combing fingers.
-The Next Morning-
She woke up feeling uneasy. Her body was comfortable and warm and surrounded by David and the various soft furs in the pirate's bed but her heart and mind had finally managed to agree on one thing. That she wasn't comfortable with how truly vulnerable she had let herself be last night. She had held nothing back, she had hid nothing, she had let herself feel everything, and she had let herself show David just what he meant to her.
Not once did he ever hesitate. Not once did he ever falter or recoil. He did not hurt her, he did not insult her, he was with her. He had had tears in his eyes almost as often as she did. And yet she couldn't seem to think or feel anything but the need to run. She tried to stay, she tried to relax, she tried to settle her mind but eventually she did slide out from David's arm and the heavy furs and quickly and silently dressed herself.
She only went above deck though. The fresh ocean air did wonders to her panicked heart and mind and she took a deep breath and slowly let it out before she sat herself on one of the stairs leading up to the wheel of the ship. Then she placed her heels next to her bare feet and put her face in her hands and tried to figure out what exactly she was feeling. When she heard the footsteps of another she assumed it to be David. But when they sat down beside her, the presence and smell were all wrong and when she pulled her hands from her face and looked beside her, she saw Hook.
With a quiet scoff and a roll of her eyes she looked away. But she couldn't quite bring herself to move away. So they sat in silence and listened to the faint groans of the ship's wood as the water gently rocked it back and forth.
After a long few minutes, Hook pulled out his flask and offered it to her without a word. She stared at it for a moment or two before she took it from him and took a healthy swig from it, her brow furrowing with the taste as it went down her throat. "Scare yourself there, love?" He started gently and she gave him a laugh in reply that was surely not meant to leave that beautiful mouth. Not one so shaky and vulnerable anyway. It had him frowning just a little and softening his walls for her so they could carry an honest conversation.
"That would be...exactly what I did, yes," she admitted after he said her answer aloud for her. The one she had been trying to formulate all morning. She hated that she was shaking right then. Even if he couldn't see it, she could feel her insides rattling around and her chest and throat tightening.
"Aye," he nodded and let her keep his flask between her hands because he knew how valuable it could be to be able to hold something to keep your hands from shaking when you were trying so hard to be strong for the world to see. Silence fell between them once more but it was only because he didn't quite know what to say and knew that she had very little desire to reveal just how unsteady her voice was.
"What is it like?" He asked softly and kept his eyes down.
"What is what like?" She breathed and then physically swallowed down the quiver in her voice.
"Being loved again after everything you've done," he elaborated gently and turned his head to look at her and found her looking right back at him, "what does it feel like?"
Her eyes darted back and forth between the pirate's in search of anything that was intended to mock her or hurt her. But she found nothing but genuine honesty and vulnerability and it had her pushing her jaw forward as tears pricked her eyes as she averted them to the flask in her hand. "It feels like you've forgotten how to breathe," she replied and he listened carefully because he knew the silence didn't mean she was finished her reply. Just simply that she was thinking more on it.
"I had grown so used to being drowned by everyone around me. I was weighted down by everyone who had ever played a part in my life and soon enough I was too heavy to even dream of getting back to the surface. It was hell down there. I hated it, I was suffocating, drowning, crushed, and disorientated by the storm and the waves that called me deeper. Eventually I learned to breathe down there. I learned to find the harmony in that swirling chaos and then I soon became it. I made my peace with the ocean I was drowned in and I forgot that there once was a time the chains binding me to the rocks were not jewelry to me. I forgot that there once was a time that I lived in the light and breathed weightless air in to my lungs rather than heavy water.
And then suddenly I was torn from the life I had created for myself. Some may call it rescue. In some aspects I would agree. But when you have spent decades adapting to breathe where those have drowned you just to spite them, it isn't easy to feel light again. Once more you feel like you're drowning but there is no water to be seen. All of the weight and water suddenly leaves your body at once and you are left coughing up what is left in your lungs. You feel like you are going to float away, you feel like you are going to lose yourself if you let go of the monster you have become. You suddenly need to learn all over again how to live as you once had. Light and free.
Everyone around you makes it look so easy but you know it is not. It is terrifying in its most simple definition. You feel helpless and raw and vulnerable because you know that this person could hurt you with a mere word. They could tear you apart with one look. They could utterly ruin you with no effort and yet you don't want to leave. You don't want to live without them. You can't live without them. Despite what you have lived through, despite what you know, you cannot live without them and you strive to make yourself worthy of them. And you struggle to see what it was that they saw in you that was strong enough to have them drag you from your storm of a life in the first place," she finished quietly with a shake of her head and tears in her eyes as she stared down at the pirate's flask between her hands.
Hook stayed quiet as he chewed over what she had said. He asked her because he wanted to know. He genuinely wanted to know what it felt like. It made him feel warm inside. Hope. And a desire to feel such a thing. He was brought back from his thoughts by a question and a tear rolling down his queen's cheek as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "Is it worth it?" He asked softly and the first true smile started pulling at her lips as she nodded and sniffed softly.
"Every miserable and terrifying second," she replied and then brought the flask back to her lips to take another swallow. She could see him smiling out of the corner of her eye but she couldn't bring herself to look at him in the eye while she was in such a state. "Why did you offer us your ship?"
"Because you needed time to be brave last night, your majesty. And if there is no hope of a happy ending for you then there only is hope remaining for some of the less colourful villains. However, if you are able to achieve a happy ending, well," he breathed a small laugh and shrugged a shoulder as he gently took his flask back knowing she no longer needed to hold on to something when she looked him in the eye, "then there is hope for all of us, your majesty," he smiled and dipped his head a little as he motioned his flask to her as if it were a toast and then took a drink.
She watched him thoughtfully and glanced at his throat when it bobbed with his swallow. When he offered it to her again she gave a single shake of her head and he twisted it shut so he could slide it back in his jacket next to his heart. A conversation like this was not one she had ever expected to have to with him. It was incredibly encouraging to hear the thoughts from someone who played on the same team she once had. "Thank you," she said quietly and he nodded once in acceptance, seeming to know already that her thanks was rarely given and never to be taken as nothing or shaken off as no big deal. Her words meant something and he understood that.
"I never would have pegged you as the one to break out of this hell first, love. But you are doing a mighty fine job," he complimented with an amount of admiration he would ordinarily despise himself for using. "Don't listen to what they say. They don't know what you are putting yourself through in doing this. They don't know how hard it is. Ignore them. Hold your head high and keep loving that Charming fellow. They'll get over it and eventually they will see they were wrong," he told her kindly. No smile. Just plain and kind honesty and she responded with a softness he didn't know she held. Her eyes were gentle and glossed with tears of gratitude, her mouth and jaw were soft with silent thanks, and her exhaustion was shown in her relaxed posture. "I have my money riding on you, love. Don't let me down. One day I may need your help in wooing a lass of my own," he smiled then and it was only because she broke in to teary laughter and shook her head.
"That'll be the day," she laughed and sniffed softly while he laughed quietly beside her. And then he stood up on the deck of the ship and gently placed a finger under her chin and tilted it up for her as he smiled kindly.
"Chin up, love," he told her and she smiled a little more before he stepped away to reveal her charming sheriff making his way up from the belly of the ship.
Regina watched him walk away until David was no more than a few strides away from her and her gentle and pondering smile morphed in to one that held more affection and love. His expression was curious and it made her smile just a little more because while there was a question as to what she and Hook had been doing, there wasn't so much as an inkling of an accusation or worry that she had so much as a thought of straying. She was his and he knew that. His possessiveness never came around when he was alone with her. It only came around when another man's eyes were on her and he wanted them to go away. But never did he aim such behaviour directly at her.
"Just villain talk over rum," she answered the silent question and he smiled a little with a nod as she carefully stood up on her feet.
"So early in the morning?" He teased the rum as he stopped in front of her and she laughed softly with a small shrug. He left space between them. Not too much but perhaps a foot or so for he noticed her growing unease the closer he got. He knew why it was there and he wasn't about to so much as think of pushing her. Not when she had given him so much already, "you alright?"
Regina nodded first and made herself smile as she sucked in a deep breath through her nose. But then her nods turned to shakes as she let her breath out her nose. And then she was shrugging her shoulders as David gave an understanding and incredibly kind smile as he tilted his head, "I don't really know. I sort of scared the hell out of myself," she admitted quietly as her dark eyes snapped back and forth between his.
"It scared the hell out of me too," he admitted with a light laugh lacing his words and her mind seemed to travel to a different topic while his stayed focused, "I just hope that you don't regret it. I want you to know that I know how hard that was for you and that I do not take it for granted. I know what you gave me and when I woke up this morning without you I-"
"I love you," she blurted out and subtly swivelled her head in recovery from the wave of panic that nearly knocked her over. His pause was hardly a split second before he finished his sentence with a quiet laugh of adoration and release of stress. "I love you," she repeated and found it to come easier and the joy and love in his expression brought tears to her eyes as she shook her head.
"I know you do," he breathed softly and she gave a sudden choked laugh as her tears sprung free and her fingertips found her lips while her other arm wrapped around her middle, "I love you so much."
"I just," she shook her head and huffed out a long and shaky breath with a small and uneasy laugh, "I really really love you and that scares the hell out of me. I am trying so hard to be worthy of you and I know that you will say that I don't need to work so hard and that you love me regardless but I don't feel that way. I don't feel worthy of you and I want to. I want to be comfortable in my own skin when I am with you, I want to be the best version of myself for you, and I want people to look at us and say 'yes! They are made for each other!' I don't want to be in their company wondering what the hell it is you see in me. I want to be able to look in the mirror and see for myself why you love me and right now I just don't. I know you love me, I see it when you look at me and I can feel it when you touch me but I cannot fathom as to why because I don't even love myself as much as you love me," she cried and before he could get a word in edgewise, her thick and shaky voice continued.
"Last night terrified me and I just needed space to think but the only thing that seems to help is just telling you that I love you. Because I do, I have loved you for so long and I've always been too scared to tell you because then it would be real and then you could really hurt me. I am still scared! But all I can do about it is tell you that I love you. I love you, David, with all of my black and beaten heart. I love you more than words can say and I am panicking right now because I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't want to let you go, I don't want you to live in that inn, I want you to live with me, I want to fall asleep in your arms and wake in them every morning! I want to make you breakfast and lunch and dinner, I want to play board games with you and watch Disney movies until three in the morning! I want to figure out how to build a family with you, I want you to leave Snow and marry me, I want to make you happy," she choked on a sob that came out of nowhere and when her hands flew up to cover her mouth, his arms were quickly holding her in a tight hug and she flung her arms around his neck.
She was shaking in his arms and her tears wet his neck as she buried her face in deeper but he only held her tighter. It was just so much and he couldn't stop the tears from dampening her dark silky hair. He always knew she loved him. Always. But hearing her voice weave those words in to velvet was enough to knock the air out of his lungs. And then the overwhelming declaration of the extent of her feelings added to it put him in just as an over emotional state as she. All he could do was laugh through his thick and tight throat and hold her tight as her hands took fists of his hair and his shirt's collar, "I love you Regina."
"I love you more," she promised against his neck. It was only then in that moment that she truly believed that everything was going to be okay. So she squeezed him tighter and breathed her promise against his neck once more, "I love you more."