I own nothing originally from OUAT. I'm starting this AU with Frankenwolf because I miss them :) Feel free to let me know what you think!

Ruby was not bitter. There was nothing wrong with not meeting your soulmate by 27, nothing at all. It was just…irritating. Some of her friends had known for a decade at this point. Hell, Aurora and Phillip has known for two, even if they were still looking for a third. And because Ruby was not bitter, bitterness had nothing to do with the fact that she spent nearly every weekend in bars alone, not out with her adorably soulmated friends.

She would, however, allow that irritation may have contributed to her affection for a good cosmopolitan.

And it wasn't like Ruby hadn't tried. The words curling in their proper place around her right bicep read "I'd enjoy playing doctor a lot more if all my patients were as good looking as you," so go to the doctor she did. She visited for even a minor cold, hoping that maybe this one would be the one. She went with her friends when they wanted someone to tag along, and since they knew what her words were, she was usually invited. She took a route to work that passed by a hospital.

On her 24th birthday, Ruby stopped trying. Alice had just met her soulmate, Cyrus, at the doctor's office while Ruby had run to the bathroom, and it seemed like a sign. Instead, Ruby decided to have some fun. Who needed a soulmate when there were pretty boys at the Rabbit Hole like Peter and Billy and…It worked for a while, it really did. She had fun, and she learned some things she was sure her future soulmate would appreciate.

By 26, Ruby was tired. She had just inherited the diner from Granny and she loved her work, but it meant she had to tone down the going out, which ended up being fine. It was harder and harder going home with boys whom she knew weren't right, especially as the age gap grew wider. And besides, she now had people looking up to her, Ashley and Meg and Anna and how crazy was that? It felt good, it felt right, and who needed a soulmate when you were running a business and practically mentoring a few kids and...

Still. It was hard going to everyone else's weddings without a plus one.

She did find some time to go the Rabbit Hole though, having developed a friendship with one of the bartenders. Will Scarlet's words read "Something for the end of the world," and she was always happy to taste test.

"Try this love," he said one particular evening.

"I'm in the middle of my baby!" Ruby replied, lifting her martini glass.

"Fine. After that."

"Alright, but this better be good."

Ruby finished her drink, then took the one Will handed to her. Sipped.

"This is it Will. This is the one for the end of the world."

The drink was strong and dark in her mouth, smooth going down. A drink for the days when Mary Margaret was crooning about her new baby, or Emma was swooning over Killian. A drink for the end of the world. Ruby finished it quickly, then stood up.

"I'd better get going," she said. "Brunch plans tomorrow."

"Cheers," Will answered. "And thanks."

Ruby made it to the exit just fine, but stepping out the door she pitched forwards. Will's drink had been strong and she was in stilettos and she hit the pavement with a sickening crack.

Will was by her side in an instant, helping her up to sit on the smoking bench and yelling for someone to call an ambulance. It felt like a lifetime until she heard the sirens, her right knee screaming in pain. When the vehicle got to them, the medics lifted her into the ambulance, and she promised to call Will as the doors closed.

Ruby blacked out.

When she came to, she heard a male voice saying "It's a fractured kneecap and a sprained ankle, nothing too severe."

"Alright doctor," replied a woman, and then there were footsteps going farther away.

Ruby opened her eyes to see a handsome blonde man checking over his clipboard.

"I'd have fractured my kneecap sooner if I knew someone so good looking would be playing doctor." She mumbled absentmindedly.

He looked up.

"I'd enjoy playing doctor a lot more if all my patients were as good looking as you" he replied, a grin unfurling across his face.

Oh.

"Well doc, I'm Ruby. And it looks like you're going to be playing doctor a lot."

"Nice to meet you Ruby. I'm Victor."

("I used to wince every time I read my arm." He confessed to her later. "Sorry we had to meet like that"

"I'm not." She answered, after a moment of thought. "Kind of wish it had been sooner though."

"Me too. But I did need time to get through med school, it isn't like I had much choice."

"Well, you doomed me to vanity, so I guess we're even."

"I guess we are," he replied. And kissed her.)