Regina and Emma made it back to Emma's dorm. Regina was sitting on Emma's bed watching Emma pace back and forth, trying to wrap her head around what she saw and heard.
"What if I didn't hear him right?" Emma asked. Regina knew she wasn't looking for an answer, but she responded anyway.
"Emma, you and I heard the same exact thing. Both of us didn't make this up in our heads." Regina replied.
"Well, maybe he will stop." Emma said, causing Regina to straighten up in surprise. Before she could get a word in Emma continued. "What if he is using the money to pay for college, or maybe this whole thing, isn't as bad as we are making it out to be."
Regina could see a hint of hope, settling in Emma's eyes. Regina knew this look all too well. She had that look when she was with Graham. "Emma…" Regina started.
"I'm serious, Regina, what if, when he graduates he will stop selling? What if all of this was just to get himself through school?" Emma began to ramble.
"Emma, if that would be the case then why is he smoking it? If he is selling to get himself through college, which don't get me started on how wrong that is, then why does he smoke it? You saw it with your own eyes that he was smoking." Regina said, lifting herself off of Emma's bed and making her way over to Emma, placing her hands on her shoulders to get her to pay attention.
"Regina, maybe this isn't as bad as we think. Maybe we are overreacting. We don't even know his side of the story." Emma said, trying her hardest to believe her own words.
"Why are you defending him? He is lying to you!" Regina practically yelled, shaking Emma's shoulders slightly.
"I trust him." Emma simply stated.
Letting go of Emma's shoulders, Regina lets out a small sigh before reaching for her phone. "Fine, you trust him, that's all that matters right?" Regina asked, a slight sarcasm in her voice, while dialing a number on her phone.
"Yes, it is. Who are you calling?" Emma asked, slightly annoyed.
"August." Regina answered placing her phone next to her ear. Emma's face suddenly fell. Emma reached for Regina's phone, but Regina was faster.
"No, wait! Please! Don't tell him. I don't need another lecture right now!" Emma struggles, trying to grab the phone from Regina. Her heart beat faster as she heard it ringing.
"Hello?" August said.
"Emma, let go...EMMA!" Was all August could hear Regina say, when he heard a loud thud. Suddenly he heard some rustling and a breathless Emma on the other end.
"August?"
"Emma? What is going on? Are you guys okay?" August asked, about ready to make his way over to one of their dorms.
"Yes, we are fine. Sorry to scare you. I was going to call you but then Regina was trying to beat me to it. We wanted to know if you wanted to go get coffee tomorrow" Emma rushed out, cringing at her stupid question.
August was a bit dumbfounded. "Coffee... Emma we get coffee practically every day, we have never asked. Why are you asking now?"
"I was thinking we could try the new coffee shop the next town over. They are a bit more pricey, but we can always try something new, right?" Emma said, hoping he would take the bait.
"Oh…well I guess it's okay. Let me get a hold of Ruby and see if she can make it." August said, still unsure if that was the real reason for all of this commotion.
"Okay, bye!" Emma hung up the phone, without waiting for a response. When she looked up she was met with a glaring Regina. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her lips were puckered ever so slightly, but the scariest part were her eyes. Emma felt like they were piercing right through her, Emma could only look down at the floor, feeling slightly defeated.
"What the hell!" Regina sternly said through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry Regina. I know you hate it when people take your phone, but I don't want to deal with another lecture right now. I want to figure this out on my own. You are all going to want to take the side that makes the most sense to you, without knowing the whole story. Please let me try to talk with Neal first. We don't know why he is doing this. There very much could be a logical explanation for it."
"Emma…" Regina started, in a much softer tone. "The reason we lecture you, is that we want the best for you. You had that whole intervention with me, when I was practically stalking Graham after our break up. This is what we do. We help each other."
Smiling slightly, Emma finally looked up. "You did get a little crazy."
Laughing a little, Regina released her arms, and let them hand by her side, walking towards Emma. "We just don't want the same thing to happen to you." She said, pulling Emma into a hug.
After a moment, they pulled apart. "Please let me tell them." Emma simply said. Regina shook her head yes.
A moment later, both of their phones vibrated, letting them know someone had messaged the group.
Ruby: Hey guys! August told me about the new coffee place tomorrow. Is there any chance we can do that another day? We can go to our normal coffee place tomorrow, but I don't have time to leave town.
Emma: No problem! Just a fun idea I had. Maybe next week?
With that, Emma locked her phone and tossed it on her bed, before doing the same with herself.
"Well I see that you have plans for the night, I will leave you to it." Regina said, chuckling slightly.
"Wait!" Emma said, sitting up in bed once Regina reached the door. "Could…could you stay with me tonight. It's late and I really don't want to be alone." Emma said shyly.
Silently answering her, Regina reached down and took her shoes off, before climbing into bed with Emma.
The next morning, Emma awoke to see that Regina had already left. Chuckling slightly, Emma remembered how much of an Early riser Regina was.
Getting out of bed Emma checked the time and realized she had an hour before she would meet with everyone at the coffee shop.
Almost an hour later, Emma found herself walking into the coffee shop with August and Ruby, sitting in their normal seats, waiting. "Hey guys!" Emma said, getting their attention.
"Good Morning, my sweet beautiful Emma!" Though August said this to her, every morning, it never failed to make her smile.
"Regina here yet?" Emma asked.
"No, we haven't seen her." Ruby answered.
"Huh...that's weird. Maybe her morning run ran later than what she expected." Emma thought out loud, before turning towards the counter to buy her coffee.
After a couple of minutes Emma returned with a coffee in hand, and sat down in her usual spot. Once the conversation started between the three of them, they started to hear the coffee shop door slam open, only to be greeted by a tousled looking Regina. Her hair was a giant mess, there was a slight rip in her shirt, all of her makeup was smeared and there were small spots on her arms that were turning into bruises.
"OH MY GOD, REGINA!" August shouted, quickly standing up to help her to her seat, only to have the other two follow him. "What the hell happened?"
After the three of them helped Regina to her seat, she took a deep breath and looked at them. "I'm fine, really. Just a bit shaken." Regina confessed.
"Can you tell us what happened?" Emma pressed.
Regina took another deep breath, about to explain what happened, when the Café shop door opened again, and a deep voice erupted from behind them. "Emma…"
Emma looked up to find Neal standing in the doorway looking just as bad as Regina. "Neal? Oh my god!" Emma stood up. Looking at both Regina and Neal.
"Go tend to him Emma. I have these two." Regina stated, barely able to hold eye contact with Emma.
"Regina, please tell us what happened." August said again, as Emma went to tend to Neal's wounds.
"I got mugged on the street. I was on my way here to meet up with you guys when this guy came out of nowhere and grabbed my money and was throwing me up against the wall." Regina choked out.
"We should call the police." Ruby chimed in.
"No, I didn't get a good look at his face, and I was right by the Chinese restaurant, the one where they just took down the camera's. They must be waiting for people to walk that way, before they attack." Regina said, trying to shift to a comfortable position, before flinching in pain.
"Let me get you some ice." August offered, before standing up and heading for the counter.
"Ruby, could you hand me my purse. I have some Meds in there." Regina stated.
Ruby grabbed her purse that was near where August was standing before, and opened it up, only to see Regina's wallet, that still had money inside it. Looking over at Emma and Neal, then back at Regina, Ruby suddenly became suspicious.
Handing Regina the meds, Ruby kneeled down next to Regina, with her wallet in her hands. Regina's eyes suddenly grew large.
"Want to tell me what really happened?"