Cursed Hearts

Not So Little Prince

It was fairly quiet around the house until Roland came back. Caroline had the roadblock of figuring out her math homework, with the help of her father. Through the outside window, she could see that the sun was going down- her brother had been gone with his friends for over three hours. Granted, she knew they probably were taking August's beaten up Jeep, but still- her parents would be mad. It was a school night after all.

And they were. As soon as Roland came through the front door at nine in the evening, Robin and Regina were onto him instantly. Caroline decided to stay back and finish her homework- she had seen her brother get in trouble far too many times for it to be an unnatural thing.

"We told you to be back as soon as the movie was over," Regina said firmly, her hands placed on her hips and Robin's arm around her shoulders.

Roland gulped. "I know, but then Alex's mom invited us to stay over for dinner and I couldn't be rude-"

"You're forgetting that you're fifteen, and we need to know where you are."

Inside, he rolled his eyes. Storybrooke was a pathetically small town he had grown up in- nothing bad was going to happen. He knew everyone and everyone knew him.

Sometimes it was difficult to believe that he had once lived in the Enchanted Forest, being born to a mother that had remained a blank spot in the back of his mind.

"I was just having fun with my friends," he muttered, "I'm sorry."

It was clear that Robin was once again taking Regina's side, knowing to be careful when crossing her in heated situations like this.

"No, sorry isn't going to get you by again," she told him, knowing he still had homework he hadn't been able to finish, "you can't just go around and do whatever you want without us knowing- you're grounded for two weeks."

Roland's mouth opened in shock. "What? Mom, you never grounded Henry for being out late!"

It was Robin's turn to intervene. "Don't you dare brother into this. You need to learn that rules are rules-"

"Oh come on, you never punished him! He would be out for hours, and he would come home to dinner and a bunch of hugs!" Roland dropped his backpack to the floor, realizing he was getting out of hand. But he couldn't help it- the feelings inside had to break out at some point. His blood was surging, mind racing, heart racking against his chest as the words continued to spill out.

"You babied him, you treated him like a perfect human being because he's special. Well I know him a lot better than you guys do, and he's not as perfect as you think he is."

"How dare you bring your older brother into this! Roland, he's in college doing great things with his life, you'll get there someday too-"

Roland refused to listen to her any longer. Henry didn't only have one mother, he had two, the son of both the savior born of true love and the infamous queen who changed so heroically to a life of family and love. His father was Bealfire, son of the great Dark One himself. He was a part of them, intertwined into their happy little family tree. Who was he then? A dumb kid who didn't know who his real mother was.

"Stop it! Just stop it! Henry is a jerk, he's- he's a lair, he lies to you all the time."

Roland couldn't help it, he really couldn't; the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could catch himself. "He's had sex with Grace- in this house, in our room. Doesn't sound perfect to me."

Regina's eyes widened substantially, not sure if she had heard him right.

"What?"

There was no way he could take back what he had said, so Roland figured there was no sense in turning back. "Henry told me. He even kept his condoms underneath his bed."