Regina sat there in silence for a moment, trying to think of what to say. "Well, they did take all of my money."
"Really? They didn't take, what looks like well over a hundred dollars in your wallet? Regina just tell me what really happened." Ruby insisted.
Looking up Regina could see August returning with a bag of ice in his hand. "Fine, but this is for your ears only. Meet me in my dorm later tonight after dinner." Regina rushed out, receiving a nod from Ruby, who quickly placed the money back in Regina's purse.
"Here you go. How are you feeling?" August asked, handing Regina the bag of ice he had gotten from the workers.
"I am okay, just a little sore and shaken." Regina said, taking the ice from him, keeping it in her hands.
"Are you sure you don't remember what they looked like?" August pressed.
Regina gave an irritated sigh. "No, I told you that before!" Regina yelled. " I went walking over here to meet up with you guys and I got body slammed into the back of the Chinese restaurant. It was just one man, he was taller than me and ...and…" Regina trailed off, her eyes moving from side to side like she was looking for something.
"It's okay, you don't need to finish." August said, placing his hand on Regina's knee, causing her to flinch a little. Removing his hand, he looked up at her in confusion. "Are you okay?"
Nodding Regina took a deep breath in. "I have a bruise forming on my knee. I must have hit it against the wall or something." Regina said.
"Regina, this guy could have killed you, you have a bruised knee, your shirt is ripped, you have bruised all over, and I think you may have fractured a rib. I strongly recommend that we go to the police station to at least make a record of this." August said sternly.
Regina took a breath, trying not to breathe too deeply. "Let me think about it, I just need to process everything first. Everything happened so fast that I just needed a moment to myself. I hope you guys understand." Regina said, looking at both August and Ruby, who made their way back to their seats, but leaning forward, neither one of them wanting to be too far from her.
"Neal, please wait!" They heard Emma say as Neal was leaving the Coffee shop.
Turning around to face Emma, Neal places his hands on her shoulders. "Can we talk about this at dinner tonight, I just don't feel right talking about this right now?"
Emma was about to speak up in protest when August interrupted her. "Hate to intrude on this, but we were all going to go out to dinner tonight and the more people around Regina, the better I would feel. Please come with us."
Neal looked over at Regina, who attempted to straighten up, and looked back at him sternly. "Sure, we can all talk about what happened." Neal stated, before leaving, causing Regina to shiver with anxiety.
Regina stayed in the coffee shop for most of the day, with her friends coming and going. Emma stopped by a few times between classes, handing her a new outfit to wear, and handing her some assignments that she had missed. She knew she didn't want to chance running into anyone she didn't want to, and if she made it back to her dorm, she would never want to come out. Having found the comfortable position in the chair, Regina didn't dare move unless she had to.
Around 5 O'clock that evening, it was just Regina and August sitting in the coffee shop, having Regina drink her 5th cup of Hot Apple Cider. "I think we should start heading toward the Diner and meet up with the others." August suggested, standing up from his chair, reaching his arms out to help Regina up, which she accepted gladly.
Once sitting down for dinner, Regina let out a sigh of relief when Neal hadn't shown up yet. Only for her relief to be squished, when he showed up just as their drinks were arriving.
Once everyone was settled, August couldn't hold back anymore. "Regina, can you tell me again what you remember?"
"August…" Regina started, in an irritated yet defeated tone.
"Regina, I know you don't want to go to the police, but can you please tell me everything that happened, in as much detail that you can, it might make you feel better mentally, you have been on edge all day."
"Okay, okay." Regina sighed. "After I went for my morning run, I had changed and was making my way down to you guys, when I felt someone suddenly pull at my arm and my shirt, pulling me behind the Chinese restaurant. He had slammed me against the wall, and while I was catching my breath from having the wind taken out of me, he was taking things out of my purse." Regina stated, saying the story she had said over and over in her head throughout the day.
"What did he look like?" August asked.
"I didn't see his face. He had on a black mask." Regina recited.
"Why didn't you fight back?" Emma asked this time, choking back tears.
"I tried. He was a lot stronger than I am. By the time he took my money out and had it in the bag, I finally was able to catch my breath. I lunged at the bag, so I could get my money back, and whatever else he took, but he was faster. We fought for a moment…" Regina stopped. She didn't know where to go from here.
"How did you get away?" August asked.
"It was me." Neal spoke up.
"What?" Emma asked, looking at him, confusion written all over her face. "What do you mean it was you?"
"I heard some voices over by the restaurant and I went to check it out when I saw Regina and the mugger. He had Regina in a stronghold, so I tore him off of her, and fought him for a minute. I got banged up a bit too, but not as bad as Regina. I scared the guy off, but he got away with her stuff." Neal said, locking eyes with Regina the entire time.
"If you guys left the spot together, how did you guys enter the coffee shop a minute apart?" Ruby asked.
"I didn't want to be marked a hero. Had Regina go in first, and I waited." Neal said in a slow, almost monotone voice.
"Regina, why didn't you say anything about Neal helping you?" Emma asked.
Regina looked down as Emma spoke, unable to look her in the eye. "I... I…um…" Regina stumbled.
"I told her not to." Neal interrupted.
"Okay, but can we just…" Emma started.
"Can we talk about something else?! I am not comfortable with this conversation anymore and I want to get my mind off of what happened!" Regina snapped, causing everyone to jump slightly.
August reached across the table and took Regina's hand, holding it softly, noting the scabs forming on her knuckles. "Of course we can, but you can't hold this in."
After dinner, everyone was making it back to their dorms, when Ruby announced she was going to walk Regina to her dorm. Once inside, Regina let out a long sigh and carefully climbed into bed.
"Don't get too comfortable, I want to hear the real story." Ruby said, grabbing Regina's comfy chair and making herself at home.
"And you shall receive it, but would you mind if I showered. I feel gross." Regina said, not waiting for Ruby to respond while she made her way to the bathroom.
10 minutes later, Regain emerged from the bathroom in her comfy pajamas, feeling slightly better, making her way over to her bed and sitting down.
"Okay, no spill!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Okay, but this comes with a bit of background information. Emma found out that Neal was not only selling, but he was doing drugs as well." Regina breathed out.
"Wait, I thought she put a pin in that. I thought she confronted him, and he texted an old client claiming he was out of the game?" Ruby asked.
"Yes, she did do that, but she felt unsure. She asked for my help on what to do, so ended up having a bit of a stake out. She wanted to get to the bottom of this and so did I. We ended up following him to Graham's house." Regina stated, taking in a breath.
"Oh no…" Ruby breathed.
"I figured since we were parked out front, we would watch for a while. Emma had other plans, and got out of that car. I followed her and we saw and heard it ourselves. Neal is actively doing and selling drugs." Regina said sadly.
"When did you guys find this out?" Ruby asked.
"Last night…" Regina confessed.
"Oh jeez…"
"Emma didn't want to be alone last night, and she began theorizing innocent reasons as to why he would be doing this, so I ended up staying the night. I woke up early and decided to get to the bottom of this, because it hurts to see Emma in all this pain." Regain said, tears filling up in her eyes.
"It's hurting all of us." Ruby agreed.
"So I made my way downtown and asked around, I wanted to find Neal. I found him. I confronted him. He was standing outside a brick building smoking a cigarette. As soon as he saw me, he knew what I was doing there. He put his cigarette quickly and put his hands up, telling me to calm down before I even reached him. I had backed him into a wall and started yelling at him. I was so angry that he was hurting Emma, how none of this was fair to her. He soon grew irritated, like he had heard this all before, and told me that I needed to mind my own business, that this was between him and Emma. He…" Regina took a shaking breath in, feeling her heart pounding hard in her chest, she was sure, Ruby could hear it.
"Regina," Ruby started, reaching forward and placing her hand on top of Regina's. "You don't have to finish if you don't want to."
"No, I have to." Regina sniffed. "August is right, I can't keep this inside."
"Okay." Ruby said softly.
"He soon freaked out at me, and grabbed me by my arms and slammed me against the wall." Regina stated, running her hands along her arms, where the bruises had formed. "He started yelling at me, things I couldn't quite understand. I felt him loosen his grip and not wanting it to escalate any more I went to leave, but he caught me by the shirt…" Regina took another sharp breath in.
"That's why there was that rip in your shirt." Ruby concluded.
Shaking her head, Regina continued. "Once he got a hold of my shirt, he slammed me up against the opposite wall, I hit my knee as he did so."
Ruby remembered earlier in the day when August placed his hand on Regina's knee, claiming she must have bruised it.
" I knew I had to defend myself, so I turned around to face him and I began to charge at him. I began punching him, causing his black eye and bloody lip. He got a few good punches in as well. He soon pushed me away, and I was back against a wall. I went to get ready for round 2 when he threw something at me. He threw it hard and it hit my rib cage. I don't think he meant to hit me, I think he meant to scare me, because as soon as it made contact with me, he ran to me and began telling me how sorry he was." Tears were streaming down Regina's face, as she placed her hand lightly on her rib cage.
"Oh Regina! I am so sorry. How… How did the fight stop?" Ruby asked, getting up from her seat to sit next to Regina.
"The fight was pretty much over once he hit my ribs. He started telling me he didn't mean to, that he only meant to scare me, and begging that I didn't tell Emma. I was never going to tell her I went to see him in the first place. It would betray her trust. We soon heard people coming, and I was able to walk, so I grabbed my bag that I had dropped on the ground during the fight and quickly left that area, and that's when you guys saw me." Regina finished.
"Did you guys agree on the mugging story?" Ruby asked.
"No… He heard it for the first time at dinner." Regina confessed.
"Then why did he cover for you? He could have thrown you right under the bus." Ruby exclaimed.
"I don't know, I really don't."