Saturday: "A Bit of Trouble"

185: Robin and Regina are neighbors who can't stand each other

199: Henry and Roland have a fight

She's never liked her neighbor, that smug Robin Locksley. And he's never liked her - which suits Regina Mills just fine.

God, he infuriates her. He always has the biggest and brightest, most garish Christmas decorations lighting up half the neighborhood alone with his house. He always has friends coming over for get togethers - Fourth of July (Why does he even have a party for that? He's British!), Labor Day... any holiday they have off of work, really. They grill out in his backyard, swim in his pool, and make all kinds of noise. It's annoying.

Her house, as large as it is, is always empty. It's just her and her son, Henry. Her parents come over on Sundays for a nice, quiet family lunch. But that's it. No parties, no friends. It's peaceful… lonely… but she enjoys her life.

She does well to avoid Robin Locksley most of the time, but today was not one of those days. She'd gotten a call from Henry's school saying he'd been in a fight.

"A what?" she'd yelled into the phone, promising the principal she was on her way over.

When she arrives, however, Robin is sitting in the lobby as well. He's in charcoal slacks and a blue button up, and fuck, why does he have to be so handsome? It'd be much easier to hate him if he wasn't so good looking all the time. But every time he opens his big mouth, she's reminded that looks aren't everything.

"What are you doing here?" she asks with a curl to her lip.

Robin sighs, rolling his eyes as he explains that his son was in a fight and they needed him to come right away.

Odd, she thinks. Surely Henry didn't fight his son. What would the chances be?

They're both called back to the principal's office at the same time, and Robin eyes her up and down disdainfully, mumbling he should've known it'd be her son to pick a fight with his.

"Who says Henry started the fight? Your son clearly sees the wild behavior you display so often, what with all your parties and ludacris music blaring in the backyard. He probably picked on my poor son."

"Roland wouldn't do that," he declares protectively. She looks over at him, noticing for the first time just how blue his eyes are. She's never really taken the time to look at him closely, but she'll give him credit, he is handsome, and seems like a protective father. Even though his son obviously started the fight.

They settle into the chairs across from Principal Nolan's desk, and he looks at them thoughtfully. Henry and Roland are sitting on a couch just to their left, and Mr. Nolan asks the boys if one of them would like to explain what happened.

She sees both of their heads sink lower toward their chests in shame, and she calls Henry's name. "What happened?"

Her son stands, making his way over to her. He stands beside Regina's chair, looking over her shoulder at their next door neighbor. "Roland kept looking at my paper during the math test, and - "

"Nuh-uh!" Roland shouts in interruption, standing up from the couch and walking over to Robin indignantly. "I was not looking at his paper, Papa. I'm good at Math, why would I need to cheat?!"

"Because I'm smarter than you!" Henry shouts, and Regina tilts her head, taking Henry's arm and tugging gently to get his attention.

She reprimands him, telling him, We don't accuse people of things we don't have proof of.

Henry has the sense to look ashamed, but still continues with his story. Roland goes to interrupt again, but Robin shushes him, saying that he needs to let Henry get his side of the story out first and then he can tell his side.

Regina rolls her eyes over at Robin, then turns back to her son. Henry tells the room how they were taking a math test, and, "Mrs. Nolan moved our seats around for the test. She didn't want us next to our regular neighbors incase people were used to looking at their friends' papers."

He looks over to Roland, giving him a mean look, cutting his eyes over at him. Regina is surprised; her son never acts like this with anyone.

"So I was taking my test, and the next thing I know, Roland is leaned back, looking at my paper!"

"No, I wasn't!" Roland scoffs, standing up from where he's settled into Robin's lap.

Robin pulls him back down, shushing him. Regina takes Henry's hand, patting it gently, and pulling him into her lap as well before turning to face Robin and Roland.

"Roland," she says, giving him a warm smile. "Why don't you tell us what happened?"

Robin gives her a thankful look, and she finds herself smiling at him for some reason.

Roland takes in a deep breath, recounting the same information Henry had given about their teacher moving seats around before the test. "We were on problem number six. It was just adding two numbers - you know I know how to do that, Papa!" he exclaims, looking as upset as a seven year old can for being accused of something he swears he didn't do. "I leaned back to stretch - I was tired!" he declares as if he's on trial, and Regina can't help but to hold back her chuckle at how innocent he looks with his curly brown hair flopping against his forehead as he looks between all the adults in the room.

"I was just leaning back and yawning, and then Henry started tattling on me."

He goes on saying how Henry stood up, yelling that it wasn't fair that he had to sit next to Roland. He didn't like him and now he's cheating off of his test. Roland admits that he stood up too, defending himself and claiming he wasn't cheating.

"Then what happened, Henry?" Principal Nolan asks. Regina looks down at Henry who looks embarrassed, and it starts to click in her mind. Her son did start the fight.

"Henry?" she asks in disbelief, stroking his hair out of his face.

Tears well up in her little boy's eyes as he says he hit Roland in the arm, "But then he hit me back!"

Regina and Robin glance at one another before looking back to their children, both scolding their sons for using physical violence to try and solve a problem.

The principal speaks up then, claiming, "My wife stepped in before it could go any further, of course, but this is the first time either boy has been involved in something like this." Both she and Robin nod and Mr. Nolan explains, "We figured it was best to have both of you come in and discuss it before writing the boys up."

"Are they going to be written up?" Regina inquires with concern. This is a private school, and there is a no violence policy. If Henry is written up, it could go on his record and follow him until he graduates. He could be expelled, he could…

"No, ma'am," the principal assures. "Mrs. Nolan figured talking with you and Mr. Locksley might be good enough of a punishment for the boys."

Regina sighs, nodding in agreement. "Yes, thank you."

They speak with Mr. Nolan for a few more minutes, discussing possible meetings with the school counselor for the boys, and Regina and Robin both agree that it could help.

As they exit the school, Robin and Roland going one way, while she and Henry walk to her car in the opposite direction, she can't help but glare at her neighbor one more time.

Once home, she fixes Henry dinner, talking to him all throughout about how violence is not the answer. "You should never put your hands on someone else, Henry," she scolds as she picks up his dinner plate.

Walking over to the sink, she hears him agree with a sad, Yes, ma'am.

"Why did you hit him anyway? You could have just told the teacher."

Henry huffs, coming to stand beside her in the kitchen. Henry tells her how he doesn't like Roland, how he's so annoying in class, always blurting out instead of raising his hand, and talking too loudly during group times. "I hate Roland."

"Henry," she reprimands in disbelief. "Don't say that. That's not nice."

"Well you hate Roland's dad," he states it so matter-of-factly that it almost knocks Regina off her feet. Has she done this? Is this all her fault? She never thought she bad mouthed Robin that much in front of her son that it would rub off and turn into this. Sure, she's made comments here or there about the constant flow of friends visiting or the music, but she always tries to keep her disdain for the neighbors to herself.

Regina sighs, wrapping her arms around Henry's little shoulders and leading him upstairs to get ready for bed. "I don't hate Robin," she explains. "He's just… different… from me."

Henry changes into his pajamas and climbs in bed, asking question after question, wondering if being different is a bad thing. His question puts her in her place, and she is filled with guilt. "No, sweetheart," she says solemnly. "You're right. Being different from someone isn't a bad thing."

She apologizes, telling him, "I'm sorry I set a bad example for you. You should treat everyone fairly, no matter how different they are from you, okay?"

Henry nods in agreement, yawning and saying he'll apologize to Roland on Monday. She smiles gently, lovingly looking down at her son as he drifts off to sleep. She leans in, placing a kiss to his cheek and pulling the covers over his chest. As he finally falls asleep, Regina sits there, watching him and thinking over her actions the last few months.

Robin annoys her, of course. But why? Because he has friends? She sighs when she realizes that she might actually be jealous of him and how fun his life seems. They have a pool in their backyard as well, but no one ever comes over to swim. She and Henry just paddle around in it during the summer. Henry has struggled to make friends since starting school last year, and she now wonders if that's her doing. Her mother never allowed her to associate with others at school, isolating her from people Regina could have been friends with. She always vowed she'd be different when she was able to leave home, and she was, for a time. She'd made friends in college, met Neal, gotten married and had Henry. Once Neal left, though, she knows she clammed up, curling back inside herself where things were safe. You couldn't get hurt if you never let anyone in.

Henry said he'd apologize on Monday, and isn't that such a typical seven year old for you? They hold no grudges. She wouldn't be surprised if he and Roland are best friends by the end of next week. God, she envies that. Wishes apologizing could be just as simple as an adult.

Making her way from his bedroom, she decides to be the bigger person. Robin Locksley will surely never apologize for how awfully they've treated each other (she's still bitter about him reporting her to the neighborhood council for leaving a Christmas wreath up a week after the date to take down decorations had passed). There'd also been the time that he insinuated she had no friends. She was complaining to him about all the noise his band of merry men had created the day before at one of their get togethers, and he told her she wouldn't be so bitter about it If she had any friends to invite over. That one had stung, but she pushes it from her mind as she makes her way out of her front door.

She will go next door and apologize even if it kills her.

{**************************}

Guilt had consumed him earlier, realizing he'd set a terrible example for his son. This feud with Regina Mills has gone on far too long.

Sure, he knows it all started when she rejected him. He'd tried to ask her out his first week in the neighborhood, and she had coldly shot him down, saying she didn't have time for things like that, and ever since then, she's been a pain in his ass.

She always complains, whether it's to him or the neighborhood council, about his parties - not that he has wild, crazy parties like he did back in college. He's an adult now, with a child. His 'parties' are just get togethers with his buddies from college, along with their wives and children. The kids all play in the pool while he grills hamburgers and hotdogs for his friends. They sit around and drink beer while the kids run and play and have a good time. He'd tried inviting Regina once, but her nose had turned so far up in the air that he never tried again. Cold bitch.

But now it's gone too far. Roland, his sweet son, had resorted to hitting someone. Something he's never taught him to do. He knows now that he's set a bad example; Roland has overheard him one too many times bad-mouthing the neighbor to his best friend, John, apparently.

He'd just finished tucking Roland into bed when he decided to be the bigger person and apologize. When he opens his door, though, he spies Regina making her way over.

She is wrapped in a long cardigan, waring off the breeze of the night. Her hair is a little windblown, and he can't help but think how cute she looks. Damn it. It would be so much easier to hate her if she wasn't so gorgeous.

"Hey," he calls out when she gets closer. They're standing in between their driveways, on neutral territory it would seem.

"Hey," she says, shrugging her shoulders like she doesn't care. "What are you doing out here?"

He grins, his dimples popping on his cheeks. He sees her eyes go down to them, and huh, that's interesting. "I was actually coming to talk… to apologize. What are you doing out here?"

She huffs, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Actually…" she trails off, eyes sliding to the side as if saying the words physically pains her. "The same."

They stand there, gazes locked. He wonders for a second how long they could do this - they're both clearly just as stubborn as the other, and he doesn't know who will crack first.

"Yeah?" he says, smirking down at her.

Regina rolls her eyes, a habit she seems to have formed around him. "Don't be smug."

Robin holds his hands up in surrender, saying he's not smug. "It's just nice to not be fighting for once."

She bites down on the plump lip he's thought about more often than he'd like to admit, and then tells him that she realized tonight that she's been setting a horrible example for her son. "I don't want him to think it's okay to treat people like that."

Robin nods in agreement, saying he had the same realization. "Truce?" he asks, shrugging a shoulder up and sticking his hand out to shake on it.

Regina takes a moment, clearly thinking it over, a small grin twists on her lips and he can see how hard she fights to keep it at bay. "Truce." She reaches out, not quite connecting with his, so he takes a small step, accepting her hand and shaking it as if they've just completed a business deal.

They talk for a few minutes, eventually deciding to stop being so hard on each other. She won't complain about his get togethers, because, They're not actually that bad. Your friends never stay too late. And he vows to not pick on the little things, claiming, "Your wreath was actually quite cute with the snowman on it."

She huffs, saying she'd been working late that whole week and it just slipped her mind. He feels bad for it; he really hadn't cared about the wreath. In all honesty, he was jealous she got to keep hers up past the removal date. He loves Christmas, and if he could've left up his lights for an extra week, he would've been so happy. Robin apologizes, though, and explains why he did it. It's just one of the many things he's done to annoy her on purpose, but saying I'm sorry for that one thing is a nice place to start.

Once he explains himself, she smiles - an actual genuine one this time - and seems to relax. "Seems like we've just been misunderstanding each other."

He nods, saying that seems pretty obvious now.

"How about you and Roland come over for lunch tomorrow?" she questions, a little sheepish. "Maybe we can sit the boys down together and let them talk things out."

They agree on a time and say goodnight, Robin completely surprised, but pleased, at how pleasant that conversation had gone.

He walks inside, locking the door and turning out the lights. And as he climbs into bed, he can't help but fall asleep with thoughts of how nice Regina Mills might actually be floating in his head.

{***************************}

The next day, Regina greets Robin and Roland at the door. They're right on time, which she appreciates - not like they had far to go to get here, anyway.

She makes lunch, homemade pizza, which has all three boys drooling, and she has to admit that it went well. Robin is great with his son and seems to genuinely care about his well being. He's also being nice to her, which is strange, but a pleasant change. She finds herself relaxing more and more throughout lunch. By the time it's over, they've had the boys talk freely about what happened, and they both end up apologizing to one another.

Before long, the whole incident seems to be forgotten as Henry tells Roland he has video games in his room they can play.

"You have a TV in your room!?" Roland shouts animatedly as the boys run upstairs.

Regina chuckles under her breath, calling up to remind them not to play for too long. She's met with twin, Yes, ma'am's, before she makes her way back to the kitchen where she'd left Robin.

The sight before her makes her stop in her tracks. His back is facing her as he washes the pizza pan she'd cooked on earlier. She swallows watching the muscles in his back ripple at the action.

Pull yourself together, she scolds herself, licking her lips and pulling herself from her thoughts.

One peaceful afternoon with this man doesn't change everything.

Clearing her throat, she walks further into the room. He looks over at her, grinning. "I hope it's alright that I started cleaning this," he says, motioning his head toward the pan.

She smiles gratefully, telling him it's fine. "I appreciate it."

"It's the least I could do after you cooked such an amazing meal," he claims sincerely, popping his hip out to bounce against hers.

She realizes then just how closely they are standing, and she takes a small step back. Robin has always been like that, always so much more comfortable around her than she is around him. He's the type of person that just assumes everyone is their friend.

Regina has never experienced that - growing up with a mother who always forced her to debutante shindigs and nights at the country club - she never had the chance to rub elbows with people and get to know them. Everyone in her life has always been just a little… fake. Pretentious.

After he turns the water off and dries his hands, they make their way into the living room. He looks around at the pictures on her mantle, commenting on how cute Henry was as a baby.

She thanks him, saying she's positive Roland was just as cute. "He's beyond adorable now, so I can only imagine what he must've been like as a baby."

Robin smiles proudly, pulling out a picture from his wallet. It's a photograph of a beautiful brunette woman holding a tiny, chubby baby that is obviously Roland. "I was right," she giggles, "even cuter then!"

She takes a moment to look at the picture, leaning in closer to see the details before asking, "Is that Roland's mother?"

A sad look crosses his features, and she immediately regrets asking. She apologizes, saying he doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want to.

He waves her off, walking toward the couch when she gestures to it and telling her about his Marian and how much she loved Roland. "This is actually the last picture taken of the two of them," he says somberly, but with a small smile on his face. They settle onto the sofa, Regina bringing her legs up under her as her arm lays across the back of the cushions. Her mind quickly imagines what it would be like to run her fingers across his shoulder, but she pushes those thoughts away for now.

Robin briefly recounts the accident that took her life when Roland was eight months old, and she gives him her sympathies, saying she knows how hard it is to lose someone you love. She lost her father when she was pregnant with Henry and didn't think she'd ever recover.

He reaches over, taking her hand in his for a short second, asking, "What about Henry's father?"

She twists her lips, trying not to speak so ill of Henry's dad, but when you bail out two years after your kid is born, it's hard not to. So Regina sighs, waving her hand in the air. "Henry's father isn't around. He couldn't handle the pressure of being a father… or being with me, I'm not really sure anymore… so he left when Henry was two."

Robin shakes his head, apologizing. "Some men are shit."

She laughs at that unexpected reply but agrees. Regina smiles over at him and well, since he's already touched her, she supposes they're at that level, so her arm settles back against the back of the couch, her finger tips scratching at his shoulder playfully. He smiles over at her, those dimples of his making her knees weak, and she asks if he'd like to watch some television while the boys play upstairs.

"Sounds good," he says, giving her a wink before stretching his feet out in front of him and crossing one ankle over the other. His head leans back against the cushions, right where her fingers are, and she grins, teasingly sliding them out slowly so they graze through the hair at the back of his neck.

Regina catches his eye as she leans toward the table to grab the remote, and she has to bite back the girly grin blossoming on her face.

As they watch some mindless show about people who won the lottery and want bigger houses, they talk and get to know one another.

She realizes Robin Locksley isn't so bad afterall, and she tells him that in a moment of honesty.

He laughs, patting her on the knee and agreeing, saying, "I've been pleasantly surprised today as well."

They stare at one another longer than they should, but his blue eyes are mesmerizing. It's like she's in a daze and can't pull herself out. He's been subtly flirting with her all afternoon, and she knows she's been giving it right back.

Their banter is easy, and the conversation is great. They even make plans for the boys to hang out again.

"Maybe you and Henry can come over and swim next weeked," Robin suggests, turning to look into her brown eyes.

"That sounds lovely," she decides, giving him a nod. "For the boys."

Smiling, Robin nods, breathing out a satisfied, Of course.

A little while later, the boys come bounding down the stairs and Regina slides a touch further away from him on the sofa, realizing just how closely they'd drawn together since they sat down. Henry and Roland chatter on about how they each won a round of the game, and after talking with their sons for a little while, the adults decide it's time for them to part ways. The kids moan and complain, which makes Regina laugh. Clearly one afternoon together has been enough for their fight to be forgotten.

Robin tells them of their pool plans next weekend, and the boys cheer, hugging each other as Roland and Robin make their way back home.

Before they go, Robin leans in, pressing a friendly kiss to Regina's cheek, making her face flush. She smiles softly as he speaks lowly, adding, "Bring your bathing suit, too," with a flirtatious wink.

She grins, rolling her eyes much more playfully at him than she's done in the past. This… whatever it is… between them now can only mean trouble. But Regina's always secretly liked a little bit of trouble.

{*************************}

Thoughts? :)