Nothing but pure irritation filled his vision as he marched down the hall back into Roland's room. His day with his mother had started off so well, and now she was siding with Robin, who didn't want anything to do with him. He was right; the man wasn't being nice to just be nice, he just wanted his mom.
Henry ignored Roland's one sided conversation and practically fell face first onto the boy's bed, wanting nothing more than to scream into it. He did love his mother, but staying in the Enchanted Forest wasn't all what he had thought it would be.
"Henry, are you mad?" Roland asked quietly, standing up to nudge his shoulder.
"Henry?"
"Go away," Henry mumbled back to him.
"Do you want to help me sort my room?"
"No. Leave me alone."
He wanted to leave the small house and run, but there was nowhere to run to.
"What do you want me to do with this?" Roland held up Henry's only possession in the Enchanted Forest so far- his arrow he had gotten when he shot the apple.
He instantly flipped around and faced him, a hard scowl on his face as he grabbed the arrow him his tiny hands.
"Don't touch this! It's mine!" He shouted at him, causing a look of pure surprise to sweep over his face. Once the shock was over with, Roland scowled fight back at him.
"Regina said I could look at it!"
He leaned forward and grabbed for it back, which resulted in Henry giving him a hard shove to the ground.
Roland looked up the older boy; he couldn't help but have tears in his eyes.
"She's not your mom! She's mine!" He shouted, clenching his fists together tightly.
Just then, the door opened again. Robin and Regina both had startled looks on their faces as they exchanged glances between the two boys.
"What's going on here?" Regina demanded to Henry over the sound of Roland's crying.
"Just leave me alone!" Henry shouted back towards her. "I don't want to be here anymore! Roland isn't my brother, and you're not my dad! I have one back in Storybrooke!"
His words hung uneasily in the air as Henry pushed past them and soon left out the front door. The two of them stood in absolute silence for a second, not sure what to do or how to react. Robin then started after the boy, before Regina put a hand on his shoulder.
"Let him be for a bit," she said softly, "he didn't mean what he said..."
It was a feeble attempt to make him feel better, but even she didn't know if that were true or not. Then she turned to Roland, who was now sobbing on the floor of his messy room. Scooping him up in her arms, she sat down on his bed and rocked him slowly.
"It's okay," she soothed, "he's just mad. It happens sometimes."
The front of her dress was beginning to dampen with his tears. "He s-said you can't be my mommy!" Roland cried, tightening his hold on her.
Regina thought for a moment, debating on how to handle the issue. "Do you know what a mom does? A mom takes care of her kids. She also cooks, cleans, and makes everyone happy. Now, I do that, don't I?"
Roland glanced up at her and nodded slightly.
"See, I am your mom. It doesn't matter that I've known Henry longer, because I love you two both the same. That's what a family does- they love one another no matter what."
The boy listened to her words. He did want Henry to be his brother, even if he was mean to him.
"I guess I'll try talking to him," Regina told Robin, who quickly took her place in comforting Roland. He wasn't crying much anymore, which was good.
She swiftly made her way to the door where her son had stormed through about five minutes prior, forming her plan of action as she went. Henry wasn't the type of person that got mad at everything; he was always so sweet and quiet, storming out dramatically wasn't really his thing.
As she opened the door, she was relieved to see her son sitting alone on the side of the house. The light was just about gone from the sky, leaving a bleak grey area in the west where the sun had set. Taking a deep breath, she started off towards him.
Instead of badgering him with accusations and questions, Regina decided to take a more passive route -he was twelve now, surely he was old enough to start making his own choices.
She leaned up against the hard wood of the house, receiving a suspicious sideways glance from Henry. They both stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity before one of them spoke up.
"If you want me to apologize, I'm not going to." He said stoutly, folding his arms.
"I wasn't going to make you," Regina replied, "I was just surprised that you could get that angry so fast."
"Well I had a damn good reason for it; your stupid boyfriend has been pretending to like me this whole time. Nothing can get in the way of his merry men stuff. And besides, he likes Roland and him only. The kid is so annoying anyways."
Regina had to hold back her look of surprise; she had never heard him swear before. There was so much hostility and hurt in his voice, it made her remember how conversations with her father went. She immediately knew that she had do something fast to clear his anger- it wouldn't get him anywhere, something she knew all to well about.
"Have I ever told you the story on how I adopted you?"
Henry was taken aback by her question, but he shook his head no.
Regina continued. "I had to drive seven long hours to get to the adoption center. When I got there, I had to fill out all this ridiculous paperwork I didn't want to do. I was impatient and horribly nervous, but all that went away when I saw you. You were the cutest little thing; as soon as I held you for the first time, I knew I loved you." As much as he tried to avoid her eyes, he caught sight of her glowing smile as she talked about him.
"Even though I didn't have you myself, you're still and will always be my son. Now think about Roland- he's never had a mother, that isn't exactly fair, now is it?"
Only silence was her reply.
"I can be a mother to him, and I can be one to you- and love you both the same. And now about Robin..." She paused for a moment, hoping she was affecting him at least a little bit. "He's trying. Give him a break, this is all new for him."
"But he never wants to do anything with me anymore." Henry finally spoke up.
"I think you just need to give him more of a chance," Regina told him, "like I said, he's trying. All this Merry Men stuff is really stressing him out right now. Even I don't know why."
It was dark, but Regina swore she saw his hardened face ease up a bit.
"You're gonna make me apologize, aren't you." Henry said bluntly.
"I'm not going to make you do it, but it'll be awkward if you don't." She replied, "you're old enough to make your own choices. But Roland could really use a brother, Henry, he looks up to you. And I know how long you've been begging me for a little brother."
Henry hadn't recalled those days until right then. "I... Guess so... He's just so annoying! He always wants to do stuff with me," he muttered, causing his mother to laugh.
"Told you he looks up to you." She smiled back at him.
"Okay. Fine, you got me. I'll go talk to Robin." Henry couldn't take the pressure anymore. He didn't like being mad.
Regina sighed in relief as she watched her son walk back towards the house, grateful he had made the right choice- she was a tad skeptical, they were all in uncharted territory. She knew she shouldn't listen in on their conversation, so she turned her attention to Roland when she walked back into the house.
Henry made his way back towards Roland's room where he presumed Robin was, trying to come up with a reasonable apology for him. He stood in the doorway for a second, suddenly wary as to how angry he was, if he were angry at all. But to his relief he saw the man give him a slight smile, letting Henry know he actually wanted to talk to him. The boy walked over to sit next to him on the bed, avoiding all the clutter that scattered the floor.
"Look Robin, I'm really sorry for the way I blew up like that. I didn't mean it to sound as bad as it did," he said hesitantly, deciding to get it over with as fast as possible.
"It's just, my family is kind of crazy. I never thought I would ever have a dad, and then Neal showed up. It's still kind of weird to call him dad, I don't know if I can have another one right now."
Robin sighed. "I'm the one that should be apologizing. I don't want you to think of me as the guy who's just dating your mom. I really do want to get to know you, it's just hard because I've been so busy lately."
"Then why can't I come with you?" Henry asked, sadness evident in his voice.
"You don't understand," Robin said slowly, "there are things happening right now that even I can't control."
Henry was surprised to hear this. He was about to ask what he meant by that, but he soon realized it for himself. "It's because of Mom, isn't it." He soon began to feel nervous inside; whatever was happening, it wasn't good.
"Yeah," Robin confirmed, "but I don't want you to worry. Whatever happens, I won't let anyone hurt you- or Roland, or your mother. Just... Keep it down for a little bit, we have enough to worry about right now."
Nodding slowly, Henry wrapped his arms around Robin's torso. "I'm glad we can be friends at least," he told him, "and I trust you. I- I just want us to be a family, a happy family like the ones in my storybook."