Run Down

A Night on the Sofa

Robin's tense phone call with Marian still whirred in his mind as he sat on the sofa with Regina tucked into his side watching TV. Roland had gone to bed, but neither of them had spoken about his conversation, which Robin was thankful for. His mind wasn't in the same place as his body while his hands stroked soothing lines up and down her leg.

Regina lifted her head, spoke quietly as she asked, "Who was on the phone?" Seeing his narrowed brow, she added, "I don't want to push you or anything," His eyes switched from the TV to her and then back to the TV.

"Roland's mother." He replied stiffly, "she wants to see him again." She gazed up at him again, wanting him to  look down at her, to say something more. "I've agreed to let her meet him tomorrow." Regina looked at him again but his steady gaze was fixed on the far wall.

"So soon?" She asked as a knee-jerk, biting her lip as she saw his shoulders tense beneath the thin fabric of his shirt. "It was only a few hours ago you were shouting," She tried to reason, gently putting her point across but slowly detaching herself from being so snug to his side. A tense moment passes between them, a beat, a single pause which pulsed with palpable energy.

"He is not your son, he is mine." Regina sat back from him, the measured calm almost worse than if he'd screamed it. "I do what I think is best for him, do you doubt that?" Immediately he winced slightly at his own words, he knew he'd been harsh, unnecessarily so.

She looked steadily at him, keeping the tears in her eyes - not wanting to let them fall but struggling to fight them. "Of course not," she managed to croak out, "I'm sorry. I overstepped."

Another weighted moment passed between them.

Regina uncurled her legs and stood from the sofa, grabbing the empty mugs from the table and heading for the kitchen without a word. As she left, her bottom lip began to quiver but she folded her lips into a firm line, defiant, she would not cry over this.

---

He felt awful. He'd acted like an idiot, a selfish fool who couldn't control his emotions. But he didn't follow her.

He decided to sleep downstairs, didn't want to wake Regina. Tomorrow was already playing on his mind, thoughts of how he would react to Marian after all this time plagued him as he pulled the blanket over himself from the back of the sofa.

This morning, he wouldn't have guessed the day would end like this. He wanted Regina to be enveloped in his arms, her head pillowed on his shoulder as their breaths mingled and his hand slipped into the dark tresses of her hair. But at least this way he couldn't say anything else to hurt her.

It was true, Roland was Robin's son, but to throw it in her face like that was a cheap shot, they both knew it. Robin took a deep breath and closed his eyes, begging for sleep to drag him under and let him forget everything for at least the night.

---

Robin woke with the inky sky outside still a deep indigo colour, the moon sluicing a strip of light through the blinds partially drawn across the window. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms before dragging his hands over his face, trying to run away the misty edges of sleep and remembering why he was on the sofa. Regina.

He pushed himself to his feet, running a hand through his hair. The house was silent as he made his way up the stairs, made his was to apologise.

As he reached the landing, he first made his way to Roland's room, poking his head round to door and standing a minute to watch his son, so small in the large double bed, his mop of curls splaying onto the pillows behind him. Robin closed his door to, leaving a small gap so the click of wood into the frame wouldn't wake him.

Regina's door was closed fully.

Robin took a sharp breath and stepped forwards, placing his hand on the brass doorknob and turning it slowly, wincing at the squeak. He slid into the room and there she was. Her face was hard to make out in the dim room, but she looked peaceful. Leaving his jeans in a heap at the side of the bed, he crawled in next to her and she stirred in her sleep, moving nearer to him.

He traced lines from her ear to jaw, soothing lines to rouse her slowly from slumber. As her eyes fluttered open, she yawned, and it made Robin smile, his heart doing a little somersault at her sleepy features.

"Hi," he whispered, and she scooted even further into his arms.

"Hi," she parroted, tangling her legs with his.

"I'm sorry, Regina. I shouldn't have projected my anger at Marian onto you." His fingers never stopped moving across her cheek, his other hand rubbing slowly up and down the warm skin of her arm.

"I'm sorry too," she said, eyes dropping from his affections. "I didn't mean to overstep, I know you do an amazing job raising your son."

"Can we draw a line under this?" He asked, and she nodded, her head falling into the crook of his neck.

Robin pressed a kiss to her brow, giving her shoulders a light squeeze before settling himself into the pillows.

They both slept peacefully for the rest of the night, leaving thoughts of the morning for breakfast.