A Thief and a Queen

Happy Ending

OQ 9 - this is why I don't

Regina burst out of Granny's diner, fighting back tears. She should've known. Villains never get happy endings. Everyone had warned her about that—including Maleficent when she had stolen the Dark Curse from the only person she had been able to call a friend in the Enchanted Forest.

She and Robin had been tempting fate. They had been too happy. She had been too hopeful. Regina stared down the sidewalk she had walked only minutes earlier, Roland's tiny hand clutched in hers. For a brief moment, she imagined she could be a family with Robin, his son and Henry.

She had been a fool.

 "Regina? Regina, wait!" Emma's voice called after her.

Regina stopped, but didn't look back. "Go back inside, Ms. Swan. I have nothing to say to you."

"Come on, Regina. Let's just have it out. Do whatever you want to me. I can take it."

She turned to find Emma standing behind her, arms opened wide. It would be easy to incinerate her, making Regina's life so much easier. But she had told Zelena she was a hero and she was going to stay one...for Henry's sake.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she said. "You don't have to worry about me holding a grudge for thirty years and doing something drastic. I just...can't see you right now, you understand?"

Emma nodded. "Of course. I'd probably feel the same way if..."

 "Don't." Regina held up a gloved hand. "Don't pretend you understand what I'm going through. Please."

The so-called Savior looked lost, unable to fix someone's problems. Instead, she watched Regina with a puppy dog expression as she asked, "Is there anything I can do now? Besides staying out of your way?"

"Can you take Henry tonight? I don't want him to see me like this."

Emma sighed. "Okay. But he's going to want to see you first thing in the morning."

"Do you think you can hold him off until the afternoon?" Given how she planned to spend the night, she was going to need the time to chase away her hangover and make it look like she hadn't been crying for several hours.

She straightened her coat. "Good night, Ms. Swan. I'll see you and Henry tomorrow."

*****

Her house was quiet. Too quiet. It left her alone with her thoughts, which was always dangerous. So she pulled out the bottle of whiskey she had bought to share with Robin and began drinking straight from it. There was no one there to see her unladylike behavior.

She had downed half the whiskey when knocking came to her door. Regina lay on her couch in the dark, wondering who it could be. Emma had promised to stay away and keep Henry with her. Mary Margaret had a new baby to care for and there was no way David was going to leave his wife and child to check on a brokenhearted queen. Hook didn't give a damn and Gold was on his honeymoon. Whoever was on the other side of the door could just go away.

The knocking died down and Regina closed her eyes. She took another pull of whiskey when the bottle was pulled from her mouth. Her eyes snapped open in annoyance, a withering comment on the tip of her tongue for the fool who had disturbed her.

Everything died away when she made out Robin's form in the darkness. He looked down at her with sadness, guilt and what appeared to be a touch of anger. "So does this magical brew now offer companionship?"

"Go back to your wife." She tried to grab the bottle from him but he held it out of her grasp.

Robin placed the bottle across the room before sitting down next to her. "We need to talk."