There was no right or wrong reaction to have for this kind of situation. Thoughts were swimming through his head even though he couldn't grasp at something to say to her. All he could do was stare into her sweet brown eyes that were darting around the room. She wasn't focused or paying attention to him, it looked as if she was in the room by herself. Her chest was rising slowly and she would occasionally let a tear slip past her eyes.
"Regina?"
The call of her name brought her back to reality and she moved from her spot on the chair in the room. While she was telling Robin the story of her and Graham, she found it hard to stay in one place so she often moved around. Robin watched her slowly walk up to him and wipe the tears from her eyes before wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a hug.
"Hold me, please," she said and in seconds his arms were around her waist and pulling her close into his chest.
For a few moments, they stayed there in each other's embrace. He was paying attention to the feel of her strong heartbeat against his chest and the smell of her vanilla shampoo. She was always soft and feminine whenever he held her, it was one of the things he loved about her.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked him softly as she pulled away from him just a bit.
"Hm, there's not just one thing that I'm thinking about. I'm currently thinking about my feelings about you and how strong you are," he said as he moved his hand to brush a tear from her cheek. "You're such a beautiful woman, heart and all."
A breathtaking smile spread across her lips and it brought a smile to Robin's mouth as well. "Thank you, truly. I'm just curious to find out what your thoughts are."
"Well," he said before taking a deep breath, "I don't think that my thoughts matter. Someone else's thoughts shouldn't affect how you feel about something that's happened to you. I don't know how to think. I'm just happy that you're here with me. You're all safe and sound in my arms."
Regina gave him a little smile before kissing his lips and moving to sit on his lap. With the change in positions, she ended up placing her head against his chest as his hands wrapped tighter around her waist.
"Am I? I don't think I'll ever feel safe. I know you'll try to ease my worries but he's at my job, Robin. That's the place where I work and I love my job and all the children there. Henry makes me smile every time he walks into my classroom. How can I feel safe knowing he can pop up at any time and ruin my happiness?"
"Your happiness has nothing to do with him. You may say that he's trying to ruin your happiness but he can't and I won't stand and watch him do that. We'll try and get him fired for sexual harassment. I don't even think Principal Gold would even allow someone like that to-"
"Graham is Gold's nephew. If anything was to ever happen, I would be the one fired. Don't you think that I've thought about reporting him?"
"They're related? The more information you end up telling me the more I get confused. I've never known they were related. They hardly act like they like each other," Robin said as he wiped his furrowed brow.
"Could we talk about something else?" She pleaded with him after grabbing his hand and linking their fingers together. "We could go exploring in the area or we could talk about us and what we want to do together."
"We can," he agreed. "I just think that this is the kind of topic we have to revisit. Like you said this bastard has access to you. I want you to be safe and to feel safe wherever you go."
"I feel safe with you. The fact that I feel safe with you was the reason I told you about Graham. I've never told anyone about us. Only Ruby and her grandmother know about it. I want the people I hold close to heart know about what happened. Now you're stuck with me, you can't ever leave me," she told him with a bop to his nose.
"I would never leave you, my lovely," he said before stealing a kiss from her.
He gripped her hips and moved so they were both on the bed, him hovering over her. He took the time to kiss every inch of her face which made her laugh. Their hands found each other's and they laid there kissing in peace before Regina pulled away and wrapped her legs around his hips. Robin raised an eyebrow while she bit her lip and gave him a menacing look.
"Is this a proposal of commitment? Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"
"Is that a yes?"
Regina softly pushed against his chest before flipping them over so she was straddling him. Her hands were fumbling to take off the shirt he was wearing and he helped her take it off. Her soft hands wandered over his chest before she landed on the skin just above his heart.
"Yes, I promise to be yours. A part of your heart forever."
"I don't think my heart would beat without you in my life. I'm so happy that I've met you and I mean that when I say it. I promise I will never hurt you," he said as he put his hands on top of hers. "I'm not going to abuse you. I'm not going to be like him."
"I know you're not," she said as tears started to well up in her eyes. "You're going to be with me for the long run and I don't deserve that."
"No one ever thinks they deserve their soulmate."
*****
The time had finally come where their weekend came to an end and Regina was dreading going back to work. Robin was focused on driving them back home so he wasn't focused on the fact that Regina was falling into the trap of overthinking. In her mind, the moment she stepped over the town border Graham Humbert was going to be on a mission to ruin her life and cause trouble for her relationship with Robin.
Her thoughts ended up pausing at that sentence. She was now in a relationship with Robin and was able to finally say that she had a boyfriend and that she was happy with him. This was all something new that she wasn't sure how to approach. Her last boyfriend, Graham, was an absolutely horrible person and wouldn't allow her to be herself and what if Robin ended up being like that. No, he would never and she knew that deep down in her mind. The only thing Robin was adamant about was making sure that she was happy and making her feel pleasure. (Which he did many times that weekend.) So, what was making her mind go down the rabbit hole about something that would never happen?
"You're doing it again," she heard Robin say after a few minutes of her intense thinking.
"Doing what?"
"You're overthinking about something. I notice every time you do it because you get this look in your eyes and then you start dazing off and you haven't even responded to the last three minutes of me talking."
"You were talking to me? I feel so bad I completely ignored you. What were you even talking about?"
"Oh no, you don't. Don't go trying to change the topic of the conversation now. What were you thinking about?" He asked her as he turned onto the small road that led into Storybrooke.
"I kept thinking about going back to work, seeing Graham, having a boyfriend, being hurt again, realizing you would never hurt me and then remembering how you good you made me feel this weekend. Could we just move away and pretend all of our woes don't exist?" She asked as she looked out the window and frowned as she saw him approaching the main square of the town.
"Moving out of Storybrooke would mean that you would run away from your problems instead of addressing them. Even if you move your problems are going to follow you. So, we're going to deal with them together and move on with our lives. We're going to focus on us and the things that make us happy. We have work tomorrow which means that you're going to see Henry. Think about what you guys are going to talk about. Maybe even think about a Christmas gift you want to give him."
Regina reached over and grabbed his hand that was resting on the console and gave it a squeeze. "You always know what to say to me. You give the best kind of advice."
"Us Brits are pretty damn good about giving advice if I must say so myself," he said as he turned on the street she lived on which made her wince. "What's wrong? Was I being too cocky?"
"If I have to be honest, I'm not ready to go home just yet. I really didn't want this weekend to end. I love spending time with you. Waking up and falling asleep with you right next to me is something I've grown used to."
"So," he started as he parked in front of her apartment building," Does this mean you want to have a sleepover? Want to grab clothes and stay with me for a bit? You could stay with me and we'll get to be lovebirds who get to do whatever we want," he said with a suggestive smile.
"Are you suggesting we stay in your house and do nothing besides have sex when we're not at work?" She asked as she crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look.
"Well, when you say it like that...yes. That's exactly what I'm suggesting we do for as long as you would want to stay over. Just don't do that woman thing," he said which made Regina raise her eyebrows.
"What woman thing are you talking about?"
"That thing where you come into my manly bachelor pad and spray perfume all over the place and put throw pillows here and cute little paintings there," he said which made Regina laugh.
"That's called decorating and you have no say in the matter. If we ever plan on living together you should already know that I love to decorate, especially for Christmas. It's the most wonderful time of the year and all of the Christmas romance movies are just so touching and-"
"Alright Ms.Christmas get out the car and get some stuff for the week," he said as he put the car into park.
"You know that doesn't sound like a bad name for me at all. I love the holiday with every fiber in being," she said as she took off her seatbelt and started to take out her keys from her purse.
"I personally think that Mrs.Locksley has a better ring to it," he said which made her heart stop.
She knew it wasn't a proposal or anything since the other day they've just started officially dating. The idea of getting married to him made her feel warm inside and she felt excited about what her future with him had in store for her. She leaned over and kissed him before opening the car door.
"It's Mrs.Mills-Locksley to you thief," she said before getting out the door and going into her apartment building.
She had the biggest grin on her face as she walked up to her apartment door. Robin made her feel like she's never felt before and she wasn't sure how or what he did to achieve that feeling inside of her. She was just lucky to have met this man and she's not going to take the gift for granted. She loves him and one of these days she's going to tell him.
Author's Note: Hello my lovelies! I first want to apologize and mention that I wasn't planning to have my hiatus be so long. I've been busy with college and was actually wrapped up in a toxic friendship which made me stray away from the things I love. Don't worry I'm out of it and am doing the things that make me happy a.k.a writing for all of you guys. I love this story and I love OutlawQueen with every part of me. I'm excited to get back into writing for you guys! Since the semester is almost over and I have a super long break expect an update sooner than later. I love you all and I hope you have a good day/night.