Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time. If I did half these pairings would already be canon and then some.
A/N: So I got into a fight with my very own Red today and while the fight only lasted about 30 minutes, I was still really sat that we were fighting. So to make it up to her, I asked for a paring and a prompt from her and wrote this little one-shot.
Mistletoe
Ruby stared at the little green plant hanging from the doorway to the diner and sighed. Granny had always been a sucker for the traditions of Christmas and never failed to get a kick of pulling one over her costumes. Couples left and right were falling left and right to Granny's amusement; Gold stared down everyone in the diner after Belle had pulled away giddy from a kiss and dragged him to the empty booth that Ruby had mentally marked as theirs. Emma smacked August in the back of the head after he kept trying for a longer kiss than the chaste brush of lips Emma had given him with Henry stuck out his tongue in childish disgust. Emma had to cough violently in order to separate Snow and Charming, who looked a little bit ashamed at embarrassing his daughter in public yet again. Ruby's personal favorite was Marco's surprised face, lacked jaw, wide eyes, after Granny had run up to him, planted one on directly on the lips, and backing away muttering how everyone deserves one kiss under the mistletoe as August keeled over, laughing so hard he had to lean on Archie in order to avoid falling on the ground.
As amusing as the mistletoe endeavors were to watch, Ruby couldn't help feeling down at the thought of being the one person in town without someone to kiss under the mistletoe, or to kiss at all. While the curse was in effect, Ruby knew she kissed a lot of frogs in an attempt to find her prince and she always kept feeling empty inside. Once the memories came flooding back, images of Peter came back and Ruby felt lost even more, sometimes wishing for the ignorance of not knowing that she was the reason her love was gone. Sighing again as her head filled up once again with these thoughts, Ruby mindlessly wiped the counter of the dinner.
Belle stood in front of Ruby for a few minutes waving her hand in Ruby's face. Laughing, Belle ripped the cloth from underneath Ruby's hand, shocking Ruby to attention as her hand slipped across the counter and was left hanging over the edge as Ruby ended up with her arm sprawled over the silver, glittery top. Belle giggled as Ruby glared at her, eyes narrowing as she stood up and adjusted her apron. Ruby and Belle had gotten back to their old friendship after Ruby apologized for locking Belle up in the library. After a long conversation, Belle had forgiven Ruby and the two of them often discussed their problems with each other and Snow.
"What's with the sighing, Red? I have been standing here for two minutes, attempting to get your attention because Gold and I need some more ketchup," Belle said as she motioned to her booth, where Gold sat, pounding on the ketchup bottle in an attempt to squeeze out any ketchup onto his burger. "You haven't noticed a thing; you've just been standing there, wiping the same spot. If you went on any longer, either the cloth or the counter would have had a hole in it." Belle raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side as she looked at Ruby.
"Nothing really," Ruby muttered as the bell ringed, drawing Ruby's eyes towards the couple entering the diner, and Ashley came in with Sean. Granny coughed and Sean looked up. Spotting the mistletoe, Sean's lips lifted at the ends. Grabbing Ashley by the waist, he pulled her to him and kissed her softly on the lips. Ruby rolled her eyes, meeting Belle's gaze. "It's just…. I watch people come in and go out with their loves, every day, all day. Usually, it doesn't get to me but with Christmas coming and Granny's pension for mistletoe, everybody has been more affectionate than usual. It just reminds me that I don't have someone…" Ruby trailed off as she lowered her head.
"I'm sorry," Belle muttered as she reached across the counter taking Ruby's hand. Giving her hand a squeeze, Belle smiled. "Well, it's the holidays and there are a lot of people in this town looking for someone… Maybe you should ask someone out? Take a chance on someone unexpected?"
"I mean I could do that… But who would you suggest? This town isn't exactly filled to the brim with willing, single men since the curse broke and everyone's finding their loves or the truth about me. I mean look at the most vocal of all the men of this town is Whale," Ruby groaned, laying her head in her hands, elbows resting on the counter.
"Well, I can't help you with that," Belle smiled softly at her friend. Glancing over at Gold, Belle shook her head. "I don't know who anybody is so I can't tell you who to avoid or who to chase. I better get going before he throws that ketchup bottle at someone's head in frustration… again." Ruby handed Belle a new red bottle of ketchup and Belle smiled one last smile at her friend before walking back and sliding into the booth across from Gold. Handing him the ketchup, Belle laughed and took a sip of her iced tea as he smiled at her and squeeze ketchup onto his hamburger.
Ruby shook her head as she stood up straight, watching as Belle tell Gold about her day at library, reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas to the kids. Maybe I should try to find someone, Ruby thought as she walked out from behind the counter to where Snow and Charming were having lunch. But who is there? Not Whale… He already has worked his way through the fairies or at least tried to. Hmm…
"Hey Ruby!" Snow exclaimed as Ruby slide next to her in the booth. Only receiving a brief grunt in greeting, Snow's smile feel and she placed her arm around her best friend. Ruby folded her arms on the table and planted her face in her arms. Charming nodded to Snow as he slide out of the booth and walked over to the counter to talk to Leroy about some business, leaving Snow and Ruby alone to talk. Rubbing Ruby's back, Snow forced Ruby to look at her. "What is the matter?"
Ruby sat up and told Snow about her conversation with Belle. Snow nodded and listened as Ruby continued to rant about how the most available man in town was Whale. Frustrated, Ruby let her head slip onto Snow's shoulder as her ramblings came to a close. Shaking her head, Snow hugged Ruby as the bell rang, announcing the arrival of Storybrooke's favorite psychologist. Shaking the snowflakes out of his red curly hair, he smiled at Snow and waved in greeting. His smiled fell when he saw Ruby with her head on Snow's shoulder, eyes closed, and breathing heavily as she calmed down. Nodding his head, Archie started to move towards them, hoping he could help. Snow waved him off with a smile. Turning towards the bar, Archie glanced at the two women one more time before he sat down at a stool, placing his umbrella on the counter and turning to Charming and Leroy.
"Well Whale may be the most vocal about looking for …ummm… love," Snow squeezed out with a cough. "But he is by no means the most available man in town and I get the feeling he isn't the one who understands the loneliness you feel or who likes you the most." Snow smiled at Ruby as she twisted around her friend around so that her eyes landed on Archie as he laughed at a joke Charming made. Ruby watched as Archie turned around and smiled at her when his eyes meet hers before turning back to his conversation with Charming and Leroy. "Maybe you should take Belle's advice and take a chance on somebody you wouldn't expect. The perfect chance may just be right in front of you and you just never noticed before now… at least not in the romantic way… You were really distracted before…"
"Well… he is really cute… and he is one of the sweetest people…." Ruby muttered softly. Turning to Snow, Ruby's mouth turned up in a smile and she slide out of the booth. "Well, since you and Belle both think I should take a chance, I may as well do it now."
With one last nod to Snow, Ruby walked over to the counter. Walking behind the counter, Ruby stopped in front of Archie with a smile. Archie turned to Ruby with a smile.
"Hey Ruby. How are you doing? I hope everything's okay…" Archie uttered as he leaned over the menu that Charming has placed in front of him when he sat down.
"Yea, it's alright. Feeling a bit better after chatting with Belle and Snow about some stuff…" Ruby replied with a smile. "Is there anything I can get for you?"
"Just a cup of coffee to go," Archie said with a smile that grew once Ruby told him that she was feeling better. "I have to go; I told Henry I would help him build a snowman in the contest today. We are going to make a replica of August as a little boy as a surprise for his parents and Henry wanted me there to make sure looked like little Pinocchio."
"That's so nice!" Ruby laughed as she poured coffee into the to-go cup and handed it to Archie with a smile. As Archie reached into his light brown jacket pocket to get his wallet out, Ruby held up a hand and smiled. "It's on the house. Consider it a thank-you-for-asking-after-me early Christmas present."
"Thanks for the coffee," Archie exclaimed, smiling as he took the cup from Ruby's hand. He blushed a deep red as his fingers brushed against Ruby's as he grasped the coffee. "I will see you later! I may be back with Henry if he insists on hot coco with cinnamon again." Archie smiled again as Ruby laughed. Grabbing his umbrella with his other hand, Archie nodded and started to walk to the door.
Once he reached the door, Archie stopped, trying to figure out a way to open the door. Ruby noticed that green planet dangling over Archie's head. Everyone deserves a kiss under the mistletoe. Granny's words ran through her head as she watched Archie rearranging the items in his hand in order to find a way to open the door. Ruby smiled and nodded to Snow who was watching her with a smile as she walked around the counter. Catching Belle's eyes, Ruby winked at her as she turned the corner. Ruby walked over to Archie at the door and tapped on his shoulder. Spinning around to face her, Archie smiled and tilted his head, wondering what she wanted.
Ruby leaned forward, placing her hands on Archie's shoulders. Quickly, Ruby pecked Archie on the lips and smiled as he blinked when she pulled away. Pointing upwards, Ruby watched as Archie followed her finger to the mistletoe hanging above them.
"Everyone deserves a kiss under the mistletoe," Ruby explained with a giggle. Archie's smile widened and he laughed with along with Ruby. "Archie, would you be interested in getting coffee or dinner with me sometime?"
"Of course," Archie nodded roughly while Ruby smiled at him. "I would love that!"
Ruby smiled at Archie and leaned around him, clasping the door handle to open the door for him. With one last quick smile and a nod to Ruby, Archie walked out the door. Ruby closed the door behind him and walked back behind the counter. Maybe this mistletoe tradition won't be so bad to watch after all, Ruby mused as she smiled and noticed Snow and Belle, watching her with smiles on their faces. I will definitely have to not be the lonely one this Christmas. Thank you, mistletoe, thought Ruby as she stood behind the counter smiling once again.