Once on Instagram II

Destination XV

Author's Note: SPOILERS FOR 5x21 'Last Rites' WILL FOLLOW

An alternate title for this chapter was "If You're Emotionally Stable Now, You Won't Be Soon II," but I'm sure none of you are emotionally stable right now, so...

And I'm not telling you what this destination is until the end of the chapter because spoilers ;)

Now I'm off to cry some more...

Regina skipped going to Granny's and took Roland straight home after the funeral. The merry men insisted he stay with Regina, since she was the closest thing he had to a parent. Regina opened the door to her house, Roland's small hand wrapped inside of hers. She silently helped Roland take off his coat and shoes before taking her own off. She pulled the gloves off of her hands slowly and looked down at her left ring finger. There was the engagement ring, right where it had been before the episode.

"Gina?" Roland asked quietly, "What happened to Papa?"

Regina shook her head, trying to force back her tears. "I can't... Roland..." She stopped trying to talk and picked the little boy up. "Let's go get your pajamas on, okay?"

Roland nodded, not wanting to make Regina cry more. Regina carried him upstairs and rummaged through the drawers, trying to find something clean for him to wear to bed. Finally, she found a clean pair of pajamas and handed them to Roland. "I'm gonna....I'm gonna go change too, okay?"

"Okay."

Regina walked over to her bedroom, barely having time to slam the door shut before the sobs escaped. Instead of wiping her tears away, Regina simply took her hat off and tossed it across the room. The sheets on her bed were wrinkled on both sides, and Robin's t-shirt he had worn the previous night was laying on his pillow. Regina slowly stood up and walked over to the shirt. She picked it up and pressed the fabric to her nose, inhaling what was left of the scent of her thief.

~

When Regina returned to Roland's bedroom, she was wearing Robin's shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Roland was under the covers, but still very much awake. Regina sat on the edge of his bed and brushed the hair out of his eyes.

"Gina?" Roland placed his hand on top of Regina's, "Where'd you get the ring?"

Regina gave Roland a sad smile. "Your papa gave it to me."

"Why?"

"To...to show how much he loves me."

"What happened to him?"

Regina sighed. "He...he's gone. He...he sacrificed himself for me and your sister, and now...now he's gone."

"Like my mommy?"

If Roland had stabbed Regina in the chest with a dull knife, it would have hurt less than his three-word question. "Y-Yes."

"But I still have you...right, 'Gina?"

Regina nodded, and she couldn't stop the tears that fell from her eyes. "Yes, you will always have me," she promised. "Now get some sleep, my little night." Regina placed a kiss to Roland's forehead before standing up.

"Wait," Roland called after her before she could leave. "Can you stay with me?"

Regina nodded. "I'll stay with you." She walked back over to his bed and laid down next to him. The bed was a bit small, but she had spent countless nights curled up with Henry during thunderstorms or after a nightmare, so the tight squeeze didn't really bother her.