Hey my friends!

So here is the final chapter of this third OQ week ! I am so happy to be that late, but life is crazy as you know, I am sure. :) Anyway, I wanted to thank you for sticking with me all along, I hope you liked it because I had so much fun writing it and I hope to see you all very soon for a new OQ week and even after that ;)

Thank you for your undying support, it means the world to me.

LOVE YOU ALL. 3

July 26 - Late Night Confessions; heart-to-heart conversations due boldness/drunkness.

I have loved you for so long. [AU]

Robin was at the tavern, drinking.

He had never been one to get drunk.

Of course he liked to go to the tavern with his merry men when he got time, or when one of their missions went particularly well.

It is also the place where he met Regina.

Robin smiled then winced and drank all of his beer, asking for another.

Regina Mills.

She had appeared one night, a year ago in this very tavern. She had just sat beside him and asked for a beer and he remembered his heart stopped when his eyes laid on her. She had been the most beautiful woman he had ever seen ( and he had seen his fair share of them) , her eyes were dark brown and she was wearing a white gown.

He could never forget that night.

He had offered to pay her drink and she had raised an eyebrow and asked him if he thought she was that desperate. Robin had laughed then, and he knew instantly that he couldn't let her go. That he wouldn't let her go.

They had talked all night long, the company of his men long forgotten and when the time to part ways had come, he had asked her where she lived. When she told him she was kind of homeless at the moment, Robin had thought that his heart would burst in his chest.

He boldly asked her to come with him at the camp.

She said yes.

And that was the beginning of it all.

Little by little,after Robin told him who he really was ( not that he wasn't afraid she might leave, but he wanted no secrets between them) Regina became a part of the merry men, she was skilled ( more so than even his best men) , loyal and brave.

Then one day, she had told him the truth about herself. Told him all about her mother, about Daniel, Leopold and her being the missing Queen. She had been so open on that night, so vulnerable. This was a side of her he had never gotten to see before, a side of her he was sure she never shown. But she had trusted him enough to do so.

And despite his best efforts,

Robin had fallen for her.

He always kept his feelings for himself though, because he couldn't quite read hers. He knew she was feeling something for him, she had too if the way he was the only one she smiled at was of any indication. But Robin couldn't tell if it was love, or utter respect so he kept quiet.

But he did take every opportunity he had to spend time with her, to speak to her, or even to get under her skin. And sometimes, he thought he could see in her eyes the same thing she must see in his.

But then the regal mask was back on, and he was once again left to wonder how deep her feelings ran ( hoping she was as deep in this as he was).

And then one day, when he came home hurt from one of their missions, he clearly saw the panicked look on her eyes when she saw him covered in blood and looking exhausted. She had run to him, screaming his name and he had collapsed on the floor. When he woke up a few hours later, she was there asleep by his sides. Robin smiled tenderly and pushed back a strand of hair tenderly, stroking her skin in the mean time. Her eyes fluttered open and she let out a gasp of relief when she saw him awake before hugging him tight against her, asking him again and again to never do that again and Robin nodded and brought her closer, too happy to oblige.

That day, he had believed that his feelings were mutual and that perhaps, she loved him as much as he was in love with her ( and he would have done anything for her. That was how deep he was in already). So he had planned to tell her how he felt once he would be up and well again.

But by then, Robin's world had been turned upside down.

Because he noticed that he wasn't the only one she smiled at anymore; she smiled at Will Scarlett too. He noticed that he wasn't the only one she looked at anymore; there was Will. She didn't spend so much time with him but there was Will. She didn't laugh or annoy him; but with Will.

Will Scarlett.

One of his most trusted friend.

He had not seen that coming.

Regina seemed to spend a lot of time with the young man, they took long walks in the forest; they were glued to each other's sides; they always smiled or joked together...

And then realisation had hit Robin like an arrow in the chest : he was losing her.

He tried to fight back for her, tried to spend more time with her; tried to be the one to make her laugh; tried by all means to get her back. He even picked her flowers, and she had given him this smile he was crazy about before kissing his cheek gently and walking happily the other way, to Will.

Robin couldn't remember a time when he had been so miserable. Now, he had to watch them everyday. Watch the woman he loved so desperately while she fall in love with someone else.

It was torture.

Plain and simple.

But it wasn't even the worst part of it.

Because this morning, he had gotten up early ( he was an early riser, sincer things fell apart in his life ) and he had been prepared to go take a walk in the woods when he had seen movements on the other corner of the camp. Worried, he had walked towards the noise and then, his heart head broken for good.

There was his Regina, leaving Will's tent.

Robin couldn't move.

He was paralyzed.

It was over.

Will had won the battle for her heart.

He had lost.

Robin clenched his fists by his sides and tried to pull back the tears he knew were about to fall. A man shouldn't cry and he knew that. But what about a man who just lost the love of his life to one of his best friends?

Now he would have to watch them everyday of his lonely and miserable life. He would have to watch them being happy, getting married, having children...

Robin was about to throw up.

He felt dizzy and his heart was making him suffer in an awful way.

So he did the only thing he could think of and he headed to the tavern, ready to get drunk.

And here was he, now.

Alone.

Regina entered the tavern and looked around her, frantically.

And then a breath of relief escaped her when she saw the one person she had been dying to see all day.

Robin.

She smiled a little when she looked around her, this was the place where they had met one year ago. She had come for a beer and he had offerent to pay for hers. With his vibrant blue eyes and dazzling dimple smile, Regina had been under his spell right away. He had offered her to stay with him, and she had agreed.

Best decision of her all life.

She had become a part of the merry men and had soon fallen desperately for the charismatic; fair; kind and handsome leader.

She shook her head and walked toward him before sat by his side,

"A beer, please." she smirked his way but her smile disapeared when she saw the state he was in. His blue eyes were red, his hair tousled and his usual smirk hid into a frown. "Robin?" she asked but he refused to look at her. "Robin," she asked, concern feeling her voice. "Are you alright?"

He scoffed in answer and then, finally look up.

"Why are you here?" he asked, accent thicker suddenly and that only made him hotter in Regina's eyes, but the sadness on his features was puzzling her.

"Why?" she asked and then put her hand on his. "I was looking for you."

Robin looked at her hand and closed his eyes tight, then she heard him take a deep breath and when he opened the eyes, blue eyes locked onto brown.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked and his voice broke. "Why are you torturing me?"

"Why am I..." she trailed off, now truly worried. "I don't understand."

Robin sighed and receded his hand from hers ( and the rejection hurt a bit more than she thought it would) before ending his beer. And by the look of things, she could see it wasn't his first one.

"I get that you chose him." he breathed sadly while looking at his glass and her eyes widened. "I get that I am not your choice. Please, you don't have to come and make things harder." then, hesitantly he looked up again. "It is already hard enough." he said.

Regina didn't understand a thing of what was going on.

Who was him that she was supposed to have chosen? That was such a stupid thought, the only one who could claim her heart was completely drunk in front of her right now.

"Robin..." she said and their eyes met once again. "I don't understand."

He looked slightly angry now, or at least annoyed as he got up and wavered a little. Right away, she was up and ready to help him.

"I'm fine." he cut her and she froze in front of the coldness in his voice. "I don't need your help." Then he tried to walk towards the exit, but she didn't leave his side.

The walk to the camp was a tense one, with Robin almost falling a few times but everytime she tried to help him, he pushed her away and while Regina didn't understand his behaviour, it didn't hurt any less. They were in front of his tent now when he turned toward her,

"You can leave me, now."

"You're drunk." she only said and he scoffed.

"Well, whose fault is that?"

Regina felt her eyes fill with tears then.

"Robin," her voice broke and she saw his eyes widened, concern filling it. "I don't know what I did to deserve to be treated this way, but please tell me."

Suddenly, his proud shoulders fell.

"You chose him." he breathed and there he was again, with this him. "Why couldn't you choose me, Regina?" he asked and her eyes widened.

"But-"

"I love you." he whispered and her heart stopped. Robin chuckled sadly and brown eyes were locked onto blue. "I love you." he said again and she gasped this time. "I don't know if telling you sooner would have changed a thing, but I feel like you deserved to know."

And then he came into his tent,

And Regina was left outside, distraught.

The next morning, Robin was sat in front of the fire nursing his broken heart ( and his hangover) when suddenly, someone cleared her throat. He looked up and found Regina looking at him; her eyes were red, her hair messy and she looked like she had gotten as much sleep as he actually had.

"I need to talk to you."

"Regina-"

"Now."

He sighed and looked down.

"Maybe I don't want to."

Regina huffed in annoyance and his eyes rose to her in surprise.

"Fine." she breathed, "I'll tell you here, then. I don't care."

The men around them were starting to show interest in their conversation and Robin got up.

"Let's go somewhere more private."

"Ah, so now you want to move?"

"Regina, please."

"Stop it." she said and he actually froze. "I've been patient with you last night because you were totally drunk but I'm afraid I don't have the same amount right now." she took a deep breath and raised a finger toward him. "You can't do that to me, Robin. It's just not fair. You can't make me fall madly in love with you and then decide that you don't want me. You can't. You can't just tell me that you love me and then enter your tent like nothing big happened!" she was breathless and so was Robin. "Have you, if only a vague idea of what I was feeling last night?"

He couldn't answer.

All he could think about was You can't make me fall madly in love with you and then decide that you don't want me.

make me fall madly in love with you

"Regina..." he tried again and this time, brown eyes locked onto blue and he knew this would be one painful conversation.

One he didn't wish to share in front of his men.

"Can we take this to another place?" he asked and she shook her head.

"We're doing it here and now, Robin." she said and he froze. "I've got nothing to hide." she opened her arms and let it fall. "Have you?"

"I meant what I said yesterday." he said instead and saw her eyes becoming glassy suddenly.

"You do?" she breathed, and he nodded.

"Yes." he smiled but then, it turned into a frown. "But I know you don't love me back." Regina lost her smile, "I know who your heart chose."

"Him?" she asked and he nodded painfully before trying a smile.

"And it's fine, I guess. As long as you're happy. I can try to get used to it..."

He couldn't.

But he would try, for her.

"Tell me then, Robin. Who is this him that I supposedly have chosen?" he could see she was annoyed but for some reasons, he couldn't understand why.

"I saw how you got closer to Will." he finally admitted the truth and his heart broke in his chest, but he tried to stand tall. "I saw how you two were acting and I saw you get out of his tent yesterday morning."

Regina just looked at him with unreadable eyes.

"You saw me getting out of Will's tent yesterday morning?"

"Yes."

"And you just deduced I had spent the night there?"

He nodded once again, this was starting to be too painful.

"But you didn't think of asking me first?" she asked and he could hear the frustration in her voice, looked up and found her pale suddenly.

"I didn't need to."

"You didn't need to?" she chuckled darkly and then he saw a tear rolled down her cheek. "He didn't need to." she whispered to herself. Then she took a deep breath and blue eyes met brown. "You're such an idiot, Robin of Locklsey." she said and he froze once again. "Such a jealous, insecure idiot. Because if you had asked me, instead of making your own speculations; if you had asked me instead of jumping to conclusions; I would have told you the truth."

"And what is the truth?" he asked and she scoffed.

"I am not sure you deserve it."

Robin smiled sadly and took a step toward her before taking her hand, and he saw her freeze at first, but then she relaxed into his hold.

"I'm pretty sure I don't deserve it." he said and she chuckled slightly, looking so tired suddenly as she breathed

"I've never chosen Will over you, Robin. How could I?" another tear escaped her eyes. "How could I when my heart is so completely yours to claim?" his grip on her hand tighten and she smiled sadly again. "Yesterday, you saw me getting out of his tent because I am actually helping him woo a woman he saw in town. But that's all there is to it." she breathed and he felt his heart was about to burst. "I swear."

Robin wanted to talk but he couldn't.

He wanted to smile but he couldn't.

He wanted to laugh but he couldn't.

He wanted to find a way to make her understand how happy he was, but he couldn't.

So he did the only thing he could, right now and grabbed her waist before kissing her lips passionately. A small moan of surprise escaped Regina, but she was quick to answer to his kiss and soon, they were lost in their whole little world, men cheering around them. When they receded, Robin nuzzled her nose with his as she smiled.

"The next time you're sure of something, please ask me first." he chuckled and she leant closer to him. "Don't forget that I am the clever one, here." Robin laughed and she smiled proudly before he leant in and kissed her, turning the laugh into a moan.

"I love you." he breathed once they separated and she smiled, then.

"I love you, too."

Robin felt his heart was about to burst.

And he thought...

He thought about the fact that, a year ago they almost didn't came into that tavern because the Sheriff was after them.

He thought about the fact that if he hadn't, he wouldn't be holding the love of his life in his arms right now.

Robin hold Regina a bit more closer, until he could feel her heart beat against his own.

And only then did he allow himself to close his eyes and enjoy.

Enjoy his happiness

With her,

The woman he loved.

A/N : Thank you for everything, my friends. :) 3