Better When I'm Dancing

After the Show (Part One)

Ignoring it for now, she waved at her family as the shuttle pulled away from the studio. Emma, Henry, Roland and Claire waved back--though Regina wondered if her friend was also waving to Killian as well.

Once they pulled out of the lot, she settled back into her seat next to Robin. He took her hand, raising it to his lips to press a kiss to her knuckles. "We did it," he said.

Killian groaned from his seat. "Are you two going to be all lovey-dovey all the way to New York?"

"Why? Is it annoying you?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. "Because if it is, then the answer is definitely yes."

Ariel gave Killian playful swat. "Leave them alone. They deserve this."

"And they should probably enjoy this privacy before we get to the airport and definitely before New York," Merida said. "You know everyone is going to be talking about that kiss."

It finally hit Regina at that moment. She and Robin had kissed on live TV. Live TV that was broadcasted coast to coast. Millions of people witnessed it, not to speak of the masses who were probably sharing it on social media now. It certainly was going to be the top story, even bigger than their win or Gold's interruption.

"Well, if it doesn't give Gold any more airtime, I'll be happy," Robin said bitterly. "I'd rather our joy be played over and over than the terror Gold inflicted."

Killian nodded, looking impressed. "Here, here. I hope that old codger gets some help or just crawls somewhere to be irrelevant far away from us."

"It is a sad way to end a career," Ariel said, shaking her head. "I hope someone helps him."

Regina agreed with her but she knew one very important thing--her association with Gold was over. Someone else could worry about him and her life would move on without him. He had no control over her anymore.

"Anyway," Jacob said, breaking through the somber mood in the shuttle. He turned to Robin and Regina. "Have you two checked your social media accounts? See what the fans are saying?"

Shaking his head, Robin pulled out his phone with a sigh. "Might as well get it over with before we deal with the public at the airport."

Regina followed his lead, finally glancing at her cell phone. She saw some texts from Graham and Marco as well as from some former competitors, all congratulating her on her win. She quickly typed up responses to them before opening her Twitter feed, noticing the explosion of notifications waiting for her. "Holy shit..."

"Yeah," Robin said, sounding a bit shell-shocked as well as he scrolled through his own feed. "At least they all seem to be positive."

She opened her notifications, seeing that he was right. Most were from fans either congratulating them for their win or freaking out over their kiss. Regina saw gif after gif of it, all with little tombstones as her followers wrote "RIP Me..."

"I think we killed most of our fanbase with that kiss," she said, scrolling and scrolling through identical posts.

"I have to agree," he replied as he continued to scroll through his. "At least that kiss has been preserved for posterity."

She nodded, leaning against his shoulder. "Yeah. And as you said, I'd rather this go viral than that moment with Gold."

He rested his cheek against her hair. "We should probably figure out what we want to tell Glinda tomorrow on Good Morning America. You know she's going to ask us."