Heeeeyyyy! Long time no see! Let's finish this story, shall we?! ;)

David woke up slowly, taking his time as he welcomed Regina's scent in his breaths. He was warm and comfy and so completely relaxed as the night before trickled in to his mind. She had been bothered and distraught, her mind lost in her traumatizing past, lost in Leopold. When she had returned home and found him waiting on her front steps she had pleaded him to be good to her and he did not hesitate to do as she wished.

He had steered her in to her white home while she ever so gently and tenderly clung to him, not willing to take him but also unwilling to put any space between them. She had had tears rolling down her cheeks and her hands had been so wary and hesitant and when he got her inside and closed the door behind them, he had kissed her.

Softly, slowly, taking care as he pulled her in to him and urged her closer, urged her to take him. But as her fingers started pulling at his shirt, her hands began to shake more, her gestures far sharper than she intended and her control not where it should be. He was hesitant to push it any further but she kept going. She was distracted and overwhelmed, her mind lost to him and to her and when they got to her room and fallen on her bed, the very moment he was on top of her, she lost it.

Her body was tense and her voice protested in the most unsettling and panicked sob. It was quiet and shaky but it was sharp and abrupt and immediately sent his blood cold as he all but leapt off of her to give her space. He didn't go far, knew he shouldn't go far, but his arms were braced straight, his hands in the bed on either side of her shoulders, and one knee on the edge of the bed.

She simply started shaking her head as her tears came faster and broke his heart deeper, her shaky whispers apologizing to him over and over again. He denied them, assuring her she was safe and she was okay, that he wasn't going to hurt her, wasn't going to push her, that it was too much. That she was allowed to say no. But she seemed to hate herself for protesting such a thing and started the curl in on herself. Lifting her knees up as she rolled on to her side and tried to compose herself only to fail and cry more.

So he cooed her name at her, pressed a kiss to her shoulder, apologized for letting it go too far, for putting so much weight on her when the king was undoubtedly filling her mind, and then crawled in to the bed alongside her. He pulled her in to his chest and spent the rest of the evening holding her as his fingers slowly combed her hair and his lips left soft kisses atop her head.

It took until the evening sun had faded and left her bedroom painted with bright oranges and pinks from the setting sun, but she did eventually settle and still against him. Her cries had fallen silent, her body had stopped shaking, and her mind had finally quieted. They had laid in silence like that, her enveloped in his arms and their legs entwined, neither one of them moving except for his fingers in her hair, until Regina had wriggled herself closer and tilted her head up so she could nestle her nose in to the base of his throat and hug her arms around his middle.

And then she fell asleep without a word and he followed suit not long after.

But then as he rubbed his face in to his pillow, he realized that even though he smelled his queen everywhere, she was no longer in his arms. And as he slid his arm forward, she was not beside him either. So he slowly blinked open his eyes and was disappointed to find her spot empty of her.

He sighed at the matter as his thumb rubbed the sheets and he gave his mind time to fully wake up and face the day and find his queen. But it didn't take long for him to suddenly feel as though he was being watched. So with a curious frown, he began to look around the room past the bed and when he looked to the foot of the bed, he found Regina.

She sat at the foot of the bed in the corner furthest from him, her mouth and chin on her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs. Dark eyes stared at him and he watched her right back in silence. Her presence eased his disappointment and he relaxed back in to the bed with a gentle smile and a slow exhale.

She didn't return the expression though. She sat there staring at him as though her life depended on it and he didn't disrupt her thoughts with his voice. Simply laid still and watched her too as his mind drew itself further and further out of its sleepy fog. He felt his heart ache and sink when he saw the tears start to well up in her dark eyes. Quickly she turned her head down and to the side to avoid his eyes and that only saddened him further.

Carefully and silently he sat up and maneuvered himself so he sat right in front of her but he didn't touch her. He didn't want to overwhelm her or spook her.

"I don't know what to do," she breathed quietly as she looked in to those bright blue eyes and hugged her legs tighter to her chest while a tear rolled down her cheek.

He frowned and nodded, slowly reaching forward so his fingertips could gently curl around her calf, "me neither," he told her softly as he watched his thumb move over the side of her leg. Then he looked her in the eye once more and shook his head, "I don't want to figure it out alone though."

It had her shaking her head too in reply for she didn't wish to figure it out alone either. And as he drew himself closer, she fell in love with him a little more. For that moment and for how he dealt with her the night before. Then his arms were wrapped around her calfs and his chin rested on her knees while she found herself sitting between his legs still hugging her own legs to her chest.

She adored him. He made her heart feel good, he made her feel warm inside, and he made her feel calm despite everything going on between them and around them. She quite simply adored him and was having the most difficult time trusting that everything she had been wishing since he had fallen in to that dreamshade coma was right there in front of her waiting to be taken. Nothing in her life had ever been given so freely.

But despite that, she let go of her legs and let her fingers trace the features on his face. Softly and lovingly, trying to convince herself that it was all real and all there.

"I love you," he told her softly and for a moment she didn't speak. She didn't react, didn't so much as look at him. Her eyes merely following her thumb tracing the curve of his cheekbone. But then her brow furrowed and she breathed softly.

"I know."

...

"And that's when you saw me?" David questioned as he unfolded his arms and waited for her answer. Her dark eyes were soft and quiet which was a pleasant alternative to their regular harsh and daring appearance. He found himself lost in them as she spoke.

"You were on the side of the road. So cold you felt like ice," She explained as her head moved in shakes and nods. "The doctor said if I had found you ten minutes later it would've been too late," she finished gently and his eyes dropped to the floor between them. "It's amazing isn't it? If I hadn't have forgotten my phone, I wouldn't have been on the road at that time," she added and tried to remind herself what she was supposed to be doing tonight and that that something was not develop a soft spot for the shepherd king.

David kept his eyes down for a moment longer as he nodded, "it's almost..." The very moment he looked up in to her eyes and was lost in them once again, "almost like the universe wanted you to find me."

It felt natural. It didn't feel forced or out of place like she thought it might. It felt like the right response and that is what made her pause for a moment before following through. He was kind and sincere and here she was lying straight to his face like she always had. Until she carefully stepped up to him. That was not a lie. Yes, it had been the plan all along, but now it wasn't a lie. It confused her.

He hesitated. So she paused. Her gentle hand resting its fingertips on his abdomen and her eyes focused on his lips as hers hovered over them. He hesitated but he didn't do anything more than that. So after giving him a chance to reject her, she softly pressed her lips to his, catching his bottom lip between hers.

His mouth was warm and soft and made her stomach flutter despite her efforts to feel nothing. It was just a single kiss that lingered there for a moment before she pulled back just far enough to hover once again. Her desire to tear him apart and show him the night of his life was slowly beginning to fade. She hated that it did...but it was. Suddenly she didn't want to push him, she didn't want to trick him in to this. She wanted him to want her and she cursed that foolish need that always came back to hurt her. However, tonight...it seemed she had played her cards right.

Slowly and tentatively his hand had lifted to carefully brush her hair back and tuck it behind her ear. Then his nose bumped gently against her cheek and as his fingers curled around the nape of her neck, his mouth caught hers in a kiss. This had not been what she had wanted. This was not what she was comfortable with. She didn't appreciate these tender kisses but as much as she tried to ignite the rougher and more playful passion inside her, her heart and mouth wouldn't allow for it and neither would David.

This was not solely because he was a kind hearted man. She could feel the restraint in his kiss and in his touch. Like he wanted to push harder but he made himself stop and give her what she needed. But she didn't want to admit that this is what she needed, that this was what she had craved for so many years. A loving hand, a gentle his, a caring heart. He had looked too deep in to her reaction to Henry 'missing' dinner. Or perhaps he had only scratched the surface.

Now she was conflicted. Her mind was busy and he noticed. So he stopped and she immediately missed him and hated that she did. Her eyes stayed closed and her head bowed ever so slightly as she rolled her lips in to her mouth. This was panning out to be an absolute disaster. She only opened her eyes when his thumb moved along her cheekbone and she wished she hadn't done so the moment she looked in to those kind blue eyes. If only he remembered what she had done to him. He wouldn't dare look at her like that if he knew who she was. It made her desire to cry even stronger than before.

"What is on your mind?" He asked quietly and softly as he stroked his thumb over her cheek again and her suddenly flighty eyes glanced at it as though it was going to bite her. When she looked back up at him he frowned gently and she gave a stressed laugh with her sharp exhale and remained completely tense against him.

"This just...isn't what I was expecting," she replied quietly and swallowed when his thumb moved again.

"You kissed me first," he teased and she did breathe out a small laugh and dipped her eyes down but it did nothing to ease the tension in her body.

"That was impulse," she excused and then his thumb moved over her bottom lip and she made herself look him in the eye.

"I haven't been able to do much right since I've woken up from that coma. I know that I am supposed to be married but I feel like that is wrong. Then there is whatever Mary Margaret is to me and that confuses me to no end. But then there is you. Everything is clear when it comes to you. It is like I can think again. You are my friend, Regina. I know it is new and I realize it is rather tentative on your end but you are a friend to me. And if there is one thing I know I can do right it is that I can show a beautiful woman that she is worth something when everyone else has tossed her aside and cast hatred upon her. Even her son who should love her no matter what," he told her softly and she quickly wiped away a tear.

"I am not using you," he assured softly, "it appears to me that too many people have done such a thing in the past. So I am inviting you to use me," he nodded and she could no longer look him in the eye and looked everywhere else as she tried to force her tears back in, "use me as a surrogate for who you have lost," he hit a sore spot he didn't really know was there. It was a shot in the dark and her face twisted in to a pain he didn't know she held. She tried and failed to hide it from him by looking up at the ceiling and taking a deep breath as his fingers slid softly down her neck, "no judgements held," he whispered and softly pressed a kiss to her chin which had her sucking in another shaky breath.

"You wouldn't be saying any of this if you knew who I was," she promised as she tipped her head forward again so she could look him in the eye and his face stayed close enough for her to want to run away.

"Who you are? Or who you were?" He countered softly and her jaw clenched with stress and unease.

"I haven't changed."

"People change every day. They grow and they learn. I know for a fact that you are not the same person you were ten years ago before you adopted that boy," he spoke softly as his thumb moved along her jaw. She didn't say anything else in return so he leaned in closer and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and let it linger there before his voice danced over her lips, "if you wish for me to leave, I will go. If you wish for me to stay, I will stay."

...

Her voice rang through her room as her back arched off her bed and his hot breath blew down her neck. He didn't stop and she loved that he didn't. He just kept going and going and going as her muscles convulsed with her climax. Over and over and over again, jolting more and more pleasure deep inside her as she cried out his name through a hoarse throat and dug her nails in to the back of his neck.

His pace was steady and slower than what she would usually demand but he was hitting all the right places so she couldn't complain. He was heavy and his firm hands moved slowly up her ribs and down her thigh as his hard thrusts kept her from breathing. When her head pushed back in to her bed his mouth latched on to her throat in slow wet kisses that made her want to cry more than they should have.

She knew better, she knew this was only going to hurt in the long run but it felt too good to stop. It had been too long since someone had cared and even longer since she had felt cared for. It was her weakness.

She was out of breath and his quieter moans and groans echoing in her ears had shivers coursing through her skin. She was a mess of arousal and various emotions as his heavy hands explored her body with an attention to detail she had never felt. Her head was spinning and her vision was spotty as he stilled inside her and let her recover but his hands and mouth never stopped moving.

She whimpered and she panted as she squirmed beneath him, torn between wanting more and getting away. And then she was being lifted and she hooked her legs around his hips as his hands kept her up by her waist. His hard cock was pressed between them and it did nothing to cool the warmth boiling low in her belly. Nor did his lips hovering just over hers. She was dizzy and they breathed one another's short and heavy breaths as her arms slowly wound around his neck and her forehead tipped to rest against his.

When she kissed him it was slow and it was deep. She opened her mouth to him and she did the same for her despite the fact they already couldn't breathe. When a hand left her waist to tangle in her hair at the back of her head, she let out a long and low moan that had him furrowing his brow and tightening his grip. Then he moved forward on his knees until her back was against the wall and her headboard.

He pinned her there and when he felt she wouldn't slip down he slid both hands up her sides and over her arms, convincing her to let go of his neck as he stretched her arms above her head and intertwined their fingers. Never once breaking their kiss. Not until he dropped his mouth the the side of her neck and slowly dragged his hands down her arms, over her sides, and to her hips. Her hands fell gently to the nape of his neck and she held her breath as she watched him slide back inside her. Like everything with him, it was slow and allowed her to feel everything and when he filled her completely she let out a sharp little sigh that was strangled with arousal and her panting breaths returned.

She had forgotten sex could be so intense and intimate. She buried her face in to his neck as her legs wound tighter around his hips and her fingers raked through his short hair just so she could immerse herself in him as he started thrusting again. Sliding in and out of her with hisses and whispered comments on her beauty or how she felt around him while she moaned and whimpered and tried to breathe. His god damn hands were everywhere. She loved his hands.

This was the best mistake she had ever and would ever make. She breathed curses against his ear as she lifted her head and pressed it alongside his and he placed kisses on her shoulder in reply. He felt so good.

"I am going to come," he breathed in to her hair and her sharp breaths carried delightful little whines that made it harder for him to focus.

"Don't worry about it," she breathed back and curled around him as the pressure coiled inside her. Her teeth clenched together as her brow knitted together with her ever constant moans and whimpers of encouragement. His even rhythm was growing unsteady and a little quick but she didn't mind. She loved that too. "Fuck," she whimpered against his neck and gave a small fry of pleasure against his shoulder as he started to slam in to her a little harder. Not too much to shatter the mood he had created but definitely enough to cause her body to jolt with every one.

His breaths grew heavier and more hoarse and his body twitched as he came inside her with a moan of her name. It was more than enough to send her over with a cry of pleasure. And like the previous ones, he didn't stop. He was a very generous lover she had found and as he caught both her wrists in his hand so he could stretch her arms above her head again, he made her feel the full force of his work. Her muscles demanded she curl in on him as she orgasmed but he didn't allow for it. He muffled her screams with a sloppy kiss as his body vibrated with the after effects of his climax.

It was beautiful and painful and she greedily took the affection and selfless pleasure he offered her. She could hate herself in the morning.

She was brought back from the memory of the first time she had him in her bed when something fell on to her arm. With a quick blink and lips still parted in despairing thought, she looked down to find a tear settled on her forearm. She didn't wipe it away, nor did she wipe it's track from her cheek. She simply stared at it for a moment before she focused her eyes on her fingertips tracing the paths of his ghosted touch over her upper arm.

Her brow furrowed as the memory grew more vivid and she stopped her fingertips and hugged herself tighter, more tears silently rolling down her tortured face as she curled around herself. What if he was telling the truth?

What if if wasn't a dream? What if he really had lived a full life with her in another world while he was in that coma? What if her magic had given him in sight in to what she wanted most? What if he did solely wish to simply make her happy? What if he did truly love her more than his words could express?

He had been so kind to her. He had been kind to her back then and he was kind to her now. She had sent him away that morning to give herself time and space before to try and make sense of everything before Henry returned and quickly found herself going back to the very beginning. The moment the pair of them felt more than they ever should have. And there were several moments to follow in their complicated and messy history that warmed her heart even more to him. But where she was once able to focus on the loathing she carried toward him, she was now left with nothing but stress and adoration and the wish to throw herself in to him without fear.

So she was left standing in her kitchen remembering the first time he had touched her body, the first time he had kissed her heart, the first time he had sung to her soul.

It was like he had known of every pain she held in her heart and of every scar she had hidden. It was like he had remembered her for who she was to him but had let the past be the past and had treated her the way she so desperately needed to be. But that would have been impossible for he had been cursed to forget her and everyone around him. But even still...

He had been so kind to her.

Even if he didn't remember the Evil Queen, he seemed to know that the stoney and threatening mayor was shattered on the inside and was so desperately starving for a gentle touch. She would say it was just because he was a nice man but that wasn't it. It felt like it had been so much more than that.

There had never been the burning passion, there was no fight for the reins, no frantic pulling of clothing or hair or bodies. It had been slow and intense and she had very quickly fallen to his mercy. Her motives to keep the curse intact and ruin David and Snow had suddenly turned in to him taking the time to make her feel something. To perhaps even mend her. And she hadn't stopped him.

His mouth breathed her life and his fingers burned her skin. His body warmed her heart and his heart gave her a rhythm to consume her thoughts.

It had been perfect. In every respect of the word; it had been perfect.

She wanted it again.

And she could have it again. He had been offering such perfection since the moment he awoke and he was but a phone call or magic poof away. She barely had to lift a finger and he would make love to her in every sense of the phrase.

But she couldn't trust him. How could she when at any moment he could come back to his senses and leave her worse off than ever before.

Henry walked in to the kitchen to find her standing there with silent tears and the expression and posture of complete misery. He had never really seen her in such a state. She was thinking hard on something, something that tortured her heart deep down. It was probably something to do with David. "Mom?" He called quietly but she didn't respond to her name. Didn't so much as blink. So he stepped a little closer with a frown as he examined the tear tracks glistening on her ordinarily dry face, "are you okay?"

She heard his tender and concerned voice but she didn't reply right away. She couldn't reply right away. Her head was full of David and the first night they had shared as well as all the other moments following she found herself in his care and it was killing her.

It took time for her to answer and when she did it was but a breathed whisper as more tears rolled down her cheeks, "no," she shook her head and then turned it to look Henry in the eye to see him frowning at her with slumped shoulders, "no, Henry, I'm not alright," she whispered on a strained breath and Henry frowned deeper. And then he stepped in to her and hugged her tight and she sucked in a shaky cry and curled around her absolutely precious little prince.