Chapter 6

"Neal! Neal!" Emma shouted distressed. Neal came running out of the bedroom to see her looking quite nervous.

"Em, what's wrong?" he questioned on the verge of sounding distressed himself.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose it," she said her voice breaking.

Neal tilted his head to the side. "You didn't mean to lose what?"

She held up her hand. "I lost it. I was handling a case and I put my ring somewhere and now I can't find it. I didn't want it to get scratched up. I haven't had it for a week."

She watched as Neal's face paled and she wanted to smirk and laugh. Then slap him in the face. Neal's eyes were going back and forth as if she grew a head. He brought her over to couch and sat next to her. "Neal, I'm sorry."

He bit his lip. "It's not your fault," he said trying to keep his voice even. "Maybe you left it in the car. I'll go look." He didn't give Emma a chance to argue whatever point she was going to make. He grabbed the keys from her and rushed to the vehicle.

Emma quickly pulled out her phone and called Regina.

"Emma," Regina greeted. "Is it working?"

"It is. He's freaking out. Trust me I wanted to laugh in his face and then hit him. How are things going on your end?"

"I'll let you know later," she said as she was putting her key in the front door. She hung up. She walked in and yelled for Robin. She heard him shuffling his feet upstairs. She put on her best scowl and began to pace.

Robin came downstairs perplexed and worried when he saw Regina pacing and muttering to herself. "Regina," he called out.

She stopped and slowly smirked before resuming her former facial expression. "I can't do this anymore. I've waited long enough. I thought I could handle this. Seeing Emma and Neal just put things in perspective."

"Regina, what are you going on about?"

"Two years and we're not married. I thought you would have proposed by now but I was wrong. I am not going to wait for something that's not going to happen," she continued crossing her arms over her chest.

Robin narrowed his eyes. "You came to this conclusion when?"

"The night Henry called. I admit that I was jealous of them. I thought I could celebrate their stupid engagement and push down my feelings but that's not the case. Like I said I'm not waiting any longer. I can't be with someone who refuses to make our relationship official."

"Regina…I-

She shook her head cutting him off. "I don't want to hear your excuses." She brushed past him and marched up the stairs.

He heard the bedroom slam and the lock click. He started to call her name but knew she wouldn't come out. She was going to make him suffer with the silent treatment.

Robin felt another headache coming on. None of this was going to right and he still had to get the ring back from Neal. He could throttle Neal for his blunder.

He searched his pockets for his cell before remembering it was upstairs. He went to bedroom and knocked on the door. "Regina, I need to come in." A minute went by before he heard the door unlock. He went in to see her on the bed with a book.

She looked out of her peripheral vision to see Robin grabbing his cell figuring he was going to call his partner in crime. She pretended not to notice Robin coming toward her. He removed the book and grabbed her hand.

"I am committed to us," he said. She removed her hand and grabbed the book ignoring him. He let out a frustrated sigh and walked out the bedroom.

When Regina felt it was safe, she quietly cracked the door opened. Robin was on his way out the door. Regina chuckled to herself.

"Mom," a voice interrupted.

"Henry," she said.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. "I heard you yelling. Roland came into my room."

Her eyes softened a bit. "No Henry. Nothing is wrong."

He arched an eyebrow not quite believing her but didn't push it. "Okay," he said. "I'll tell Roland that everything is okay."

Meanwhile, Neal was letting out a string of curses. How in the world could Emma lose the ring? He should have never agreed to hide the ring in the first place. This was going to be the last time he would be the best man for anything.

His phone rang and it was Robin. He stared at the name debating whether to answer it. "Hello," he answered.

"Do you have it?" Robin asked. "I'm on my way over to your place to pick it up."

"Robin-

"If this is about to be an apology, save it," he interjected. "Just have my ring when I get there."

Robin arrived five minutes later. "Where is it?"

"Hello to you too," Neal said only to receive another glare from Robin.

"Where is it? There is still time for me to salvage this. The ring Neal," Robin stated.

He sighed. "Emma lost it while working a case. I've been trying to see if she dropped it in the car."

"What?" he said in a voice that signaled he didn't want to be played with.

"Emma lost the ring," he reiterated. Robin clenched a fist. "Look, you can beat the crap out of me later. I am trying to correct my mistake."

"Ok," Robin said after a few moments of silence. "Where did Emma go?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'll go ask her." He went back upstairs.

Emma quickly ran back to the couch after seeing Neal leave Robin by the car. She waited for Neal to bust the door open.

"Emma, where did you go when you got the call? I'm going to look for the ring there."

"Um, on the other side of town. The address was 98 Copper Street. I'll go with you. It's my fault this happened," Emma offered.

"No," he practically shouted.

"But Neal-

"No," he said softly yet firm. "Just don't anything." He walked back out.

He saw Robin leaning against the car with his arms folded. "Come on."

Emma went back to the window and saw them leave. She was about to pull out her phone again when she heard Regina from behind.

"It is working better than expected. They're running around like chickens," Regina said amused.

Emma turned around. "I do feel sort of bad for Neal. And I'm sure Robin is pissed."

"Well, he's more worried about me right now. I basically told him I couldn't be with someone who isn't committed to making us official. I ran up the stairs before he could really argue. He's going to do everything he can to prove me wrong," Regina explained.

Emma shook her head. "How long do we keep this up?"

"Not too long. Let's play it by ear," Regina answered.

Robin and Neal looked everywhere for that ring. "It's not here," Neal said.

"I am forming the same conclusion," Robin said. "This is insane."

"You know how about buying another ring," Neal suggested.

Robin snapped his head up. "I didn't want another ring. I wanted the one your supposed fiancé lost," he shot back.

"What else do you want me to do?" Neal asked.

"Tell Emma the truth," Robin said. "I already have Regina upset at me. She thinks I'm this lazy boyfriend because I haven't proposed. So thanks for that."

"Wait, Regina got jealous," Neal said smirking a bit.

"Yeah," Robin answered. "Now I'm paying the price."

"So what are you going to do about tonight?"

"Convince Regina to come with me anyway," Robin said.