Set after 205. So long as you live in the past, you'll never find your future. GoldenQueen

Regina it felt as the lock gave way, leaning against the surface of her door and closing her eyes as she readied herself for what she knew was waiting on the inside. She could sense his magic that mirrored her own, she could smell his cologne in the air that threatened to send her nerves on edge. After the day she had been put through, the last thing she felt like doing was fighting tooth and nail to maintain her composure with her former mentor.

With a sigh, she pushed the door open and walked into the main landing, her eyes following her hands she set her keys in the small tray by the door as she closed it with her foot. "Can you sense when I'm not in the mood to talk with you or is it just an unconscious thing now after so many years of practice?"

"Snarky." He saunters out of what is her sitting room, his cane causing the tension in her temples to rise. Her tearful fits had done her no favors in that regard.

"What are you doing here, Gold?" Regardless of the facade she had tried to keep up, she could feel it slipping, cracks appearing where she wished they wouldn't as his eyes burned through her and caused something further to clench at her heart.

"That stable boy of yours.." He made a tsk tsk as he gripped the cane in his hand, adjusting his stance as he leaned onto it. "...always tends to pull that focus away from the grand picture."

"I am not in the mood for your games today." The growl that left her lips reverberated through the open space as she headed for the stairs. "You can see yourself to the door." It wasn't until she had made her way into her bedroom that she leaned against the wall and allowed it all to crumble down. Her shoulders dropped and her chest heaved as the tears came again, the face of Daniel fresh still after what had happened at the stables.

What a fitting end; she thought as the memory of her mother ripping out Daniel's heart years ago filled the surface of her mind, tugging at her heartstrings and pulled another bout of tears out of her eyes. She brought her hand to her mouth, biting down on the fist to try and keep her sobs from echoing out into the open space.

She can sense him before he enters the room, if his cane wasn't already giving away his presence. The expression on her features is hard to reign in, but she manages as he appears in the doorway, walking over to where she is leaning against the wall. Her gaze dares him to say something, to break her further because she believes she deserves it but instead his hand reaches to cup her face before he slams his mouth hard against her own, teeth and lips unrelenting as her own were quivering against his. When he pulls back, a fresh set of tears are staining her cheeks. "Why..are you here?" She hisses out, voice shaking before he steps closer, his expensive suit pressing against her blouse before his eyes narrow at her.

That is when she notices it, the flicker of something in his caramel hues that sends her body back to the days during their lessons. "Shut it out, Regina." His voice is stern, lips curling at the edges and she knows what he's talking about.

So long as you live in the past, you'll never find your future.

He had protected her from this pain, he had told her to move past Daniel and to forget about him and the heartache she had been put through.

When she reached out, her hands carded through his long locks and suddenly his stance changed, what was once high and tight shoulders were now relaxed and comfortable as he leaned forward to claim her mouth with his own in a kiss that felt desperate and tasted of salty tears that had collected on her lips.

Her breath hitches in her throat as a sob breaks through, her mouth trailing kisses to his shoulder as his mouth finds her neck, nipping and brushing his lips against her pulse point that is quicker than he remembers. "We've...this is..." She wants to admit to it being too soft, too slow for her liking but her body couldn't handle what her stronger self had craved. No, this broken shred of a young girl once in love needs something all together different and with the way he was currently wading in the treacherous waters of her broken heart — he knew that. Somehow; he always knew how to treat her; to mend or to break. Today, it was the former.

Tender fingers dance up her throat to her cheek, thumb swiping at the moisture against her skin and she leans into the touch, unable to hide the weakness she is feeling with how gentle he is being with her. "Please.." she whimpers and feels him nod, the admission that he won't change on her in the blink of an eye. The silent agreement that nothing of this moment will ever be uttered aloud.

"Breathe, Regina..." The hand on his cane, slips around her waist and they messily slip down onto the floor as he positions himself against the wall and pulls her onto his lap, her hands clinging to his suit and her face inches from his. Curious eyes take in her broken facade as she tries to tilt her face away from him, but he brings her back to his gaze with the tender brush of his fingertips against her chin. "...shut it out."

Nodding, she tries to put the partition down between her past and her present but it jams as the image of Daniel floats back to her mind. In that second, he reaches forward and pushes his hand into her chest, pain radiates through her frame as his fingers close around the beating organ — her hand closing around his arm as she gasps in an agonizing breath.

"Shut. It. Out." His voice is reminding her again, grasp closing tighter around her heart and suddenly the partition holds and she can halt her tears as he slowly eases his empty hand out of her body. "Good girl." A hand slides up to the back of her head as he pulls her closer to him, lips hovering. "Now remember who you are, Regina. Remember who you really are."

When her lip twitches at the edges and she gives him one of those glances, the ones they are familiar with between each other; that trademark smirk of his appears on his lips and he leans his head back against the wall. "There she is."

He'd done it again. He had helped her wage a war between the broken girl and the strong woman. Always her sense of reasoning, keeping her close to the fire with him — teetering on the cusp of the cold shadows and burning.