you guys have no idea how sorry I am for being this late with the update. school is finally over and I just have to translate the next chapters so I'll definitely post the next one sooner. also, as always, sorry for all the mistakes, english it's not my first language!

I absolutely can't wait for you to read this one so... enjoy!

She had watched him go, perfectly dressed in suit and tie, as if he was going to his own marriage. He was going to meet another woman, a woman who wasn't Regina. He had smiled at her, asked if she needed something or if she preferred for him to stay. It was one of their Friday nights, after all… but she had said no, that everything was fine and she hoped he had fun. She had smiled, a little mischievously, so that he could understand once more that she meant every word, that she truly wished him all the best in the world, and if that meant spending the night with his new… flame, it was fine with her.

But it was not. She knew that it was not.

He had closed the door behind him and then, only then, she allowed that fake smile to drop from her lips, substituting it with her hands on her face, to cover her eyes, her mouth. Every muscle in her body was trembling, her chocolate brown pools were in flames and her head was throbbing. She didn't understand why, why she had been such a fool, an idiot, for allowing herself to believe just for a moment that he was hers.

You let him go. She forced her mind to remember the vow she had made to herself: You have to let him go, live his life. He deserves the best and it's not you.

She had cried; at first it all started with a couple of tears, then she exploded in a thousand sighs. She throw herself on the couch, exhausted, opened up two beers and made some popcorns. It was supposed to be their night. One of their nights. She put on Dirty Dancing on dvd and spent their very special Friday night alone, like a common Friday night. She started to cry during the very last scene of the movie, and she couldn't tell if that was for the characters or because of her stupid, pathetic situation. She cracked another beer but she didn't finish it: she needed something stronger.

Robin had a minibar for wines and other liquors, so she took a bottle of whiskey and added some ice to her glass. She threw back one, two, three, four drinks, until all she could do was laugh at herself, at her life, at her feelings.

She fell asleep on the couch, carefree. She couldn't hear Robin coming back; it was almost 2 AM and he was still dressed as if he had gone out not even a minute before. He had a bit of lipstick on his cheek and a not so different face from Regina's. He was drunk. Very drunk.

He saw her asleep on the couch and smiled; his beautiful little angel. She was sleeping peacefully but her face was covered with makeup. Probably she had been crying. He slowly reached for her and caressed one of her cheeks; he was tempted to wake her up, ask her what was wrong, why the hell she'd been crying herself to sleep. But he was… God, he was too drunk. He couldn't even process a coherent thought with her by his side. He kissed her temple, took a blanked and wrapped it around her, sweetly, smiling at the marvel in front of his eyes.

"God, I love you so much, Regina Mills." he knew it was the alcohol talking, but that didn't make his words less true. He smiled one last time, then he went to sleep.

And finally, the voices in his head stopped talking.

They both woke up late, but it didn't matter. It was Saturday, they didn't work.

Regina was the one to wake up first and, for the first couple of minutes, she did nothing but moan and complain about the terrible, horrible headache she had. She ran to her toilet, fixed her hair and took an aspirin. Her face —good God, she was tired of looking at her face signed by the tears— was still covered with makeup and she prayed whoever was up there that Robin hadn't seen it. If he had come back. Not that it mattered anyway.

A chill of pure, sadistic curiosity ran through her back and for a moment she cursed herself for that: she shouldn't have cared, for Christ's sake!

She washed her face and considered the idea of taking a shower but… the shower was in his bathroom. To reach it, she should have had to walk into his room and finally find out the truth. If he had slept with Daniels or come back… what if he came back after making love to her? Dammit, Mills, get a grip.

She shook her head, cursing everything and everyone; then she took off her dirty clothes from the night before and her underwear. She looked at herself, naked, in the mirror. She had nothing wrong, she was a beautiful woman and she could find someone else to start over… if it wasn't for her damn heart that beated for Robin and Robin only. Robin, that only saw her as a friend.

"fuck it all." she said, out loud. She started walking around the house, naked, but she didn't care: she was alone, she knew that he wasn't there, she could feel it. She started singing, carefree, she didn't care about anything anymore. She had decided that she would have gone her own way, found her happiness and someone she liked —who, most importantly, liked her back.

She took a towel from the drawer and started laughing, without an apparent reason.

"yeah, fuck Locksley. Fuck him!" she ran around to collect her products for the shower, then her underwear and, when she finally had everything she needed, she walked into his room, shouting one of her favorites songs by U2.

"you say you want diamonds on a ring of gold, you say you want your story to remain un—" the words died in her throat as she got surprised by a pair of ocean blue, still sleepy eyes, running straight across her body. His jaw dropped open, while Regina, with her cheeks burning red, tried to cover her body with the towel as best as she could.

"Robin! What the hell are you doing here? I-I thought— oh my God, I… I have to go." she slammed the door behind her after walking clumsily against the wall, trying not to reveal anything else. As she disappeared behind the door, Robin allowed himself to paint the biggest and cheekiest of grins on his lips. Christ. Christ, Christ, Christ. He had just seen her naked. Like, completely naked. Okay, maybe for just a couple of seconds, while he was still trying to decide which part of her body he was going to devour first with his eyes. Maybe he had started with her breasts, or maybe with those legs that tormented him for all those months. My God, my. God.

He couldn't remember anything of when he had returned, he didn't remember the state in which he had found her, or of whispering a low I love you, before going to sleep. He just knew that his head was throbbing and now, because of her, even another part of his body.

Oh no, you are not thinking about— he lifted the blankets up and realized the effect she had had on him. Again. He slowly, nonchalantly slipped his hand in his boxers cause, shit, it hurt. The whole thing was killing him, slowly. He wrapped his hand around his cock and started moving it, up and down, up and down, imagining that woman in every way, in all the possible positions, on, under and in front of him. "God, Regina" he was struggling to keep his voice low cause— Christ! She was in the next room! If he closed his eyes he could perfectly picture her mouth, her beautiful mouth wrapped around—

"God!" he screamed (luckily for him, she had already opened the water and she couldn't hear him), coming on his grey t-shirt. Fucking hell.

He came, just by thinking about her, about his best friend, about the woman he had sworn to protect and to leave alone, free of living her life away from him… Shit.

He took off his shirt and threw it in among the clothes to wash. What the hell did he do? You're a man, Locksley. Your feelings have nothing to do with it, trust me. It's just… simple, physical attraction towards a woman's body. You haven't fucked a woman in more than a year, God, it's normal!

He took a deep breath and tried to convince himself that that was the truth. Just that.

"Robin" he heard her calling as she walked out of the bathroom. That towel, perfectly wrapped around her body, highlighted every curve of hers, every curve that he wanted to touch, kiss, love. Get a fucking grip.
"Robin, I'm so sorry, I just—" the redness on her cheeks was still burning and he couldn't help but smile:
"it's okay, Mills, I've seen a naked woman before, you know? And, unfortunately, I didn't see much."

She laughed nervously and hit his shoulder, lovingly. "I'm so sorry, really, I didn't know you were back, so I was just…" she bit her lip "gosh, this is so embarrassing!" she covered her face with her hands and, for a moment, her wet hair fell forward to cover her forehead. Robin wrapped his arms around her in a shy hug: "you were singing and dancing naked? Well, yes, I admit it's embarrassing." they laughed together. Nothing has changed, Locksley, nothing. "you're beautiful and you don't have to be ashamed of me. We are friends, we live together, it happens." Yeah, friends.

He cradled her in his arms for a bit, then she pulled away to look into his eyes:
"I thought you stayed with Irene for the night." again, that light red tone coloring her cheeks.

"No. We… We had dinner. It was nice. She's amazing, interesting and beautiful, but I… I want to take my time." surprisingly, this time it was his turn to bit his lip nervously. It wasn't true and he knew it far too well. They could end up sleeping together and he knew that, both of them did, but everytime he tried to touch her, to kiss her… it just felt wrong. Something was holding him back and he knew far too well what it was, even though he tried to deny it with everything that he was.

So he had escorted her home and got drunk. Because his love for a beautiful angel was consuming his soul, it was keeping him from moving on.

Irene wasn't Regina. No matter how many times he went out with her, that wasn't going to change.

"looks like you're serious with her, Locksley."

"yeah." he looked down for a brief moment, but immediately found his smile again: "what about you? what did you do last night?"

Regina didn't reply and, just like him, bit her lip.

Two more weeks passed by and Robin had continued to go out with Daniels. Regina had, by then, accepted it and only asked him not to go out on Friday nights, to spend some time together. She just needed it, once a week, just for them. Every time he went out, she stayed up, waiting for him, holding her breath, wondering if another woman was touching the man she loved the way she wanted to. And every time she asked, he replied with a simple "nope", shook his head and smiled, putting a small, sweet kiss on her forehead, before going to sleep. And Regina could finally breathe again.

That Tuesday, though, something was different. Something was about to radically change their lives.

"see you later, Mills." he kissed her temple, as always, and she wished him good luck. Lately, he had spent more time with Daniels than he had with her, for an elegant dinner or a simple coffee, just like that afternoon. Regina tried to convince herself everyday that it was normal, that it was the best thing, for everyone. And, most of all, that she wasn't jealous.

She was fine. It was three in the afternoon and she had all the time in the world to dedicate to herself; she would have checked her guys' tests and waited for him to come back. But her quiet day got interrupted by a phone call: it was her realtor. The house she shared with Victor had finally been sold and at a higher price than she was expecting. A part of her, probably the biggest one, started jumping in joy, the other frowned: it was over. For good. And that included her cohabitation with Robin. They had agreed, since the very beginning: as soon as she would sold the house and bought another, she would leave. Forever.

"Thank you so much." she hung up the phone and sighed. It wasn't meant to be, now it was clear. Everything that happened with Robin, that wonderful friendship, their strange way of sharing each feeling… everything was over. Once and for all. Maybe they could still maintain their friendship, who knew…

She pulled out the suitcase from under the bed and put there the clothes she knew she would need for the next few days. She only let out a couple of shirts and some pants. And, of course, underwear.

She almost hoped that Robin spent the evening at Irene's, to not look into his eyes as she told him the news. But it didn't go as she planned: less than an hour later, Robin was already back and her suitcase was still on the bed, half empty. There wasn't time to hide it, she just had to tell him the truth.

"Mills, the council is in an hour." she heard him saying from the door "thank God Daniels reminded me. I'm the headmaster and I forgot, can you believe that?" Regina could hear his voice getting closer and closer, slowly accompanied by his steps.

"Regina?"

"hey" she greeted him with a smile as she came out of the bedroom and closed the door. Robin raised an eyebrow, perplexed, immediately getting the strange feeling that she was hiding something from him.

"is something wrong?"

Regina looked down: she didn't want and she couldn't lie to him. He didn't deserve that. Not to mention she didn't know how to: "Vivianne called me. She sold my house. This evening she'll give me the check and" she paused, taking a deep breath "tomorrow morning I'll go with her to visit some houses, she wants to make it quick. It's— It's over." she shrugged. Her eyes were shining as tiny tears had started to form in them, but she tried not to show it.

He stood silent for a moment, his mouth dry, full of words he didn't even know how to pronounce anymore:

"y-you don't have to leave, if you don't want to." he didn't know what he's saying. His head had started to spin like a carousel. He didn't understand anything, just that he was about to lose her.

He could no longer live without seeing her every morning, every time he opened his eyes. He could no longer smile without hearing her sing in the shower, or while preparing breakfast. He could no longer spend a Friday night on his couch, without her eating popcorns and watching horrible movies with him.
No more Regina Mills.

No, it couldn't happen, it couldn't.

He knew that moment would come, sooner or later, he was expecting it. It was just— you're ridiculous, Locksley. Stop making yourself promises you know you won't keep. You said you would leave her alone, free.

"I have to, Robin. You have to live your life, take here the woman you're dating, prepare her one of your fantastic dinners and maybe even spend the night here, with her." between the sheets in which you imagined yourself naked, under his body, every single night "you have every right in the world to live a normal life and sharing a house with your best friend… well, it's not." the best friend that did nothing but picturing you in all the ways under, on top and inside of her, all the goddamn time. The voice inside of her head wouldn't stop screaming horrible, true things, as if that moment wasn't hard enough for her.

"please, stay a little more. Buying a new house isn't easy, I can help you choose it, I can—"

"Robin" she smiled "we won't lose our friendship." she grabbed the handle to open the door and it was there that he saw it: the suitcase on her bed, half-full. It was real. She was leaving.

"please, don't." he put his hand on hers, as if he wanted to stop her from entering that room.

She looked at him into the eyes and it was like staring into a mirror. No. Those are not tears, don't even think about it, Regina. But they were. His eyes were just as watery as hers and for a moment, just a brief moment, Regina let herself go:

"why?"

They both got a strange sense of deja-vu: they had already lived that moment and it led to the best thing that ever happened to them. But this time it couldn't be like that, this time it was over. For real.

"Because I don't want you to leave." and it was true.
"why?" she repeated. She just had to try one more time.

He didn't reply, just looked down. Regina shook her head: he wasn't going to admit it, ever. Not even to himself. If there was something to admit.

"I'll sleep in the guests room one more night, tomorrow before leaving I'll wash the sheets. Oh, by the way, I took a day off, if that's okay with you, it'll take a while, you know, I don't want to buy the first house I see, I want to be sure. I know I'll find the right one and you'll be the first person to visit it, I promise. I'll invite you for dinner and— I've always wanted to have a backyard, you know, a huge one." she tried to giggle "I'd want you to come with me but you're the headmaster, I understand, you have stuff to do. I guess tomorrow you'll have lunch with Daniels, so I don't want to be—" she was overtalking, but he could only catch a few words. Everything his brain could process was that she was about to leave him and he had to stop her. Somehow.

She tried to enter the room, but he stopped her again, this time by closing the door.

"don't go."

"why?" she asked again, this time almost irritated. What the hell was she expecting? That he was going to kneel in front of her and confess her his love? God, he couldn't really be that stupid…

"because it's not the same without you." his eyes buried deep in her chocolate ones.

Regina smiled, a bitter smile: "it's not enough."

Robin didn't understand anything anymore. A thousand voices were screaming in his head, each one said different things and the worst thing was that he couldn't understand a word. He wasn't even thinking straight anymore. He couldn't lose her. It was pure instinct, he was tired of always letting his head prevail on his heart, especially when it came to her. He couldn't lose her. She meant too much for him and he wanted her to know, especially now that she was explicitly asking him.

He couldn't lose her.

In a moment, his hand was behind her neck, in her hair, trying to bring her face closer to his. In less than an instant, his lips were finally on hers and Regina's back was pressed against the wall, hard. Finally, those lips that he had wanted so much were pressed on his and he couldn't get enough, her taste, her taste was never gonna be enough. Robin's tongue searched for hers as his hands caressed the skin of her back, her neck, her hair. Everything was so damn passionate and animalistic at the same time, nothing like they had imagined. She heard him suffocating a moan in her mouth and she wanted more, oh, so much more —God, she couldn't even believe this was happening. She felt him against her and smiled, she smiled because she was just as finally ready as he was, if not more, and it was a feeling she hadn't felt for a very, very long time.

"is this enough?" he panted, breaking the kiss to catch his breath.

"I-I—" they both were breathless, they both felt like living the most beautiful dream they've ever dreamed. He kissed her again, this time chastely, sweetly.

"I love you, Regina Mills. I've loved you since the first moment I saw you. Is this enough? Because, if it's not—" this time it was her turn to cut him off with a kiss, swallowing the beautiful smile he had just given her.

"God, did I have to leave this house to make you say it?" she giggled and then it was all about kisses. Many, sweet kisses. And smiles, wonderful smiles. He took her in his arms and she immediately wrapped her legs around his waist —she had waited too long not to do it.
Regina tried to open the door to her bedroom but he shook his head:
"no no" another kiss "I want you in my bed." he made her smile while he ran his hands down her back. She was so perfect, he had wanted to touch her for definitely too long. He put her down on the bed, as if she was the most delicate creature in the world —cause, to him, she was.
"I love you." he whispered again, before sinking his lips in her neck. Regina moaned, arching her back, sticking his fingers in his blond hair. He kissed his way down to her breasts —which he had already freed from the blouse, unbuttoning it completely. Only a black bra separated his lips from her perfectly smooth skin.

He stopped to look at her for a moment and all that Regina could feel was his hot breath on her skin. God, she already missed his lips so much, it was crazy; it was like tasting heaven and being forced to leave it a second after.

"Robin?"

"I'm sorry, it's just— You're beautiful, Regina Mills." he looked at her straight into the eyes and her heart lost a beat. Her eyes were sparkling as never before, it actually gave him goosebumps. There was something totally different in him, something she had never seen before, in any man. She couldn't tell if it was desire, or love, or maybe both. Or perhaps he was simply crazy for that woman, head over heels in love with her and had wanted that moment for so long that it didn't even seem real.

She smiled and blushed, but it was different from the other times she blushed for him and he noticed it. Slowly, he freed her from the unbuttoned blouse and, with tiny, tender kisses, arrived to the zip of her blue pants.

"are you sure you want this, Regina?" he whispered against her skin as Regina bit her lip so hard that she could taste the metallic taste of blood on the tip of her tongue.

"please… yes, please." she panted.

He smiled again and, right when he was about to unzip her pants, he heard something vibrating in one of the pockets. Shit. She pulled it out quickly, just to see who it was.

"work."

"don't answer." he moaned as he traced sweet kisses around her navel. Regina giggled:
"I have to, or my boss will get so angry." she sat up, trying to calm her breath. Then, on the fifth ring, she answered: "Mills."

Robin couldn't believe it: she was there, half naked in front of him. The woman he had wanted with every inch of his being for months was right there for him, they were finally together and there was still… another obstacle between them. He saw her smiling at him and recognized that spark, that desire she had to play:

"the council, of course I remember. Only an idiot would forget about it." she looked straight into the eyes. Oh, she so wanted to play. He buried his lips in her neck, kissing, sucking every inch, up to her ear, slowly licking her skin.
"Christ!" she moaned, throwing her head back "I mean— of course, I'll be there in ten." he sucked there, behind her lobe, hard. "Oh my— sure I'll tell Rob—mh, Mr Locksley. Ok, bye." she threw the phone somewhere and glared at him. If looks could kill, he would've been dead on that bed, right then.

"how old are you?"

"enough to do this." he wanted to mark her on her neck again but she stopped him just in time, laughing. "God, I want you, Regina Mills. I want you too much, I'm going mad." he caressed her arm, while his eyes devoured her breasts one more time.

"I want you too, Robin, but apparently we'll have to wait a bit more." she placed a tender kiss on his lips.

"tonight. I want you all night, Regina, until dawn, till we pass out. I want to make you come again, and again, until you'll fall asleep in my arms, finally mine." she closed her eyes, feeling every word like a whisper, straight against her lips. She had to bit her lip to stop herself from moaning again and he noticed it, smiling.
They finally had each other, the rest just didn't matter.

thoughts?
:)