I Want You

"What?" He replied trying to buy himself some time.

"Don't," Miranda said beating him at his own game. "I saw it on Facebook."

"Are you at home?" He asked making a turn that would take him to her.

"Why?"

He took that as a 'yes'. "I'm on my way."

She made a noise that made his spine straighten. "Don't even bother."

"Miranda—" The call dropped before he could finish his statement. "Damn it!" He shouted. He was supposed to meet Regina in ten minutes, but Miranda was pissed at him. What the hell was he going to do? He called Knox. Paige answered the phone. "Hey, Paigey. Where's your husband?"

"He's in the shower." Ben tapped the wheel frantically, sighing. "What did Miranda say?"

Ticked off, he recalled his conversation with Miranda. "...told me not to bother coming over because she'd seen the post that Regina made and... shit, now she's hot."

Paige responded with a simple, "Hmm."

"And I don't know what to do." 

Taking a beat, she said: "This is what you do."

Ben listened carefully. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Trusting her, he made a second turn, heading to Red Lobster, he parked quickly and dashed inside, ordering food to-go before finding Regina. Seeing her sitting there alone made him feel really bad. Where he had moved on, she hadn't and, clearly, it was tough on her.

She looked up and smiled when she saw him. "Hi!"

"Hey," he said. Unsure of how they should greet each other, he hugged her awkwardly. She kissed his cheek, making his stomach turn. "So?"

Regina's smile didn't fade. "So, I asked you here—"

"You blackmailed me to get me here, Regina."

"Oh, don't be dramatic, babe, I didn't."

He shook his head. "Don't call me that."

"Fine. I told you to meet me here because I want to tell you that I'm still not over you, Ben." She reached across the table and touched his hand. It felt familiar and he cleared his throat, listening. "I made a big mistake and I want you back."

Ben waited a long time before he spoke, his mind on Miranda. Every moment spent here was time away from her and he didn't like it. But the pain in Regina's eyes plagued him. Had he done that? It would kill him if Miranda's eyes ever held that look because of him. "Regina, I... we're not engaged," he said pulling his hand away from hers. "We're not together. And we won't be together again." He watched her face change, the slight hope that she'd had disappeared. "I really need you to take that down because..." His voice faded.

"Oh, God."

"What?"

She stared at him from across the table. "You're with someone else, aren't you?" Regina got louder and people at the surrounding table looked over at them. "We were together for two years! We just broke up."

"It's been months." Ben looked at the woman who had been his entire world for two years. "I did want to marry you, but it wasn't right. And you saw that. You saw that we wouldn't have been right for each other, you know, five... ten years down the road."

Regina's eyes had tears in them. "But I still love you."

Looking at her face, he saw the woman he'd fallen in love with. Two years was a long time. But his heart was elsewhere. "Part of me will always love you, but I'm..."