Hello! I thought of this story when I was watching a special on Nostradamus 2012, and I thought it'd be interesting if Ruby knew about what might happen on December 21, 2012. Enjoy!
It was a beautiful Friday night when Dr. Archie Hopper had been taking his nightly strolls through Storybrooke. As usual, he had his umbrella with him, to be prepared. One never knew if it would suddenly rain.
He had sighed deeply, wondering why it was so hard to talk to her. But then again, why would she want to talk to him? Why would she ever love him the way he loved her? He wasn't her type, by a long shot. There was no way.
He remembered hearing the loud music and talking from the bar just a couple feet away, and he had planned on walking past it quickly before a tipsy Ruby had stumbled out onto the sidewalk, almost crashing into him. He felt his eyes widen and his breath catch in his throat as he gasped. It was Ruby. And a very drunk Ruby at that.
"Ruby!" She tripped over her own foot and into his arms, and he had felt his cheeks burn. Thankfully, no one was around, and it was nighttime, so he picked her up gently and started walking back to Granny's Diner, her in his arms.
Now, on Saturday morning, he felt apprehensive about going to the diner, but he was too lazy to make himself breakfast. He opened the door and quickly looked around to see if Ruby wasn't there, and he made his way towards the back of the diner when David Nolan smiled and waved him over to his table.
"Hey, Archie," said David kindly. "How are you?"
"I'm well, thank you David," Archie responded, and he tried desperately to hold in his yawn, but he couldn't.
David chuckled. "Didn't get a good night's sleep, either?"
"No, I just didn't get enough last night," said Archie, smiling slightly, and he decided that it was okay to tell David why when the younger man got a curious look on his face. "Last night, I was taking a stroll through town when Ruby came out of the bar and tripped. I caught her and I brought her back to the diner, because it was only ten, and I knew that the diner would still be open."
"Oh," said David. "Was she drunk?"
"Ruby? Yes, she was." Archie looked down at the table. He wondered if she had gotten herself drunk because she was upset. Well, whoever upset her was in for a world of hurt. Archie shook his head. He hated when his thoughts got violent.
David noticed the troubled look on Archie's face, and was about to ask if he was all right when Ruby walked over to their table, a wolfish smile on her face.
"Hey David," Ruby said, winking at him. She turned to Archie a bit hesitantly, to his surprise, and then she grinned at him. "Hey Savior."
Archie blushed, while David raised his eyebrow.
"Good morning, Ruby," Archie said, trying to sound as normal as possible. Usually, whenever he talked to Ruby, his voice started getting higher, but he didn't want David to figure out that he had romantic feelings towards her.
Her grin started turning into a smirk as she sat on the table, her back to David, who was trying not to laugh as Archie's back stiffened, and he struggled to look her in the eyes. Her short skirt was riding up her leg, and he had to try to focus on anything but her legs.
No indecent thoughts, no indecent thoughts, Archie repeated in his head.
"Thank you for saving me last night," she said sweetly, starting to lean towards him. "That was very, very kind of you."
"Anyone would have done it for you," he said quickly, hoping that his heart wouldn't explode because of how fast it was beating. But then he blurted out what he had been wondering the whole time. "But why?"
"Why what, Archie?" she asked, and he was seriously considering seeing a psychiatrist, which was sad, because he was a psychiatrist himself, but was she batting her eyelashes at him? He wondered if he accidently inhaled something during his walk, but he didn't remember smelling anything weird that night.
"Why would you go get yourself drunk?" His voice came out a bit higher than he had thought possible. This was why he hated talking to Ruby. He always made a fool of himself. Finally, he managed to pull himself together. "I'm sorry, too personal a question. You don't have to answer." He gave her a sheepish smile.
"No, it's alright," she said, sitting up straight again, much to his relief, though her skirt was still dangerously short, and her exposed thigh was much to close to his hands, which were already white from having held them together so tightly. "If you really want to know, it was because of Nostradamus."
Archie stared at her, trying to hold in his laughter, but a few laughs escaped from him.
She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Okay, before you think that I need to see you for a mental health check, it was because Nostradamus predicted that terrible things were going to happen in 2012."
He nodded his head, smiling at her, impressed. "Michel de Nostredame. Smart man. And apparently you believe in his prophecy."
Ruby nodded, looking proud of herself. "I can see that you don't. You probably don't get why he has anything to do with me getting drunk."
He nodded again. "I'm afraid I don't."
"Well…" she began, starting to lean towards him again, and his breath caught in his throat, again. "I figured that if we're probably all going to die because of what his prophecy says will happen, I might as well live it up while I can. You know, enjoy before I die. And I intend to do just that." For a fleeting moment, he saw a spark of longing in her eyes, but it was gone a second later, and she stood up, not seeming bothered by the scandalous length of her skirt. "You want the usual, both of you?"
For the first time in minutes, Archie realized that David was still sitting across from him. They both nodded and Ruby winked at Archie before disappearing into the kitchen.
Archie hesitantly met David's eyes again, and to his surprise, David was grinning.
"So, you like her?" he asked, and Archie blushed furiously.
"No," he said, before he surrendered. "Okay, maybe a bit." David rolled his eyes. "Alright, I love her."
David's eyes widened, and a large grin appeared on his face before he smirked. "Well, you heard her, Arch. You better make the most out of this year before we all die, like Nostradamus said."
Archie shook his head, not bothering to correct David. A small smile crept its way onto his face, and then he laughed as he realized something. "I cannot believe I might get a chance with Ruby because of Nostradamus's prophecy."
David's smirk turned positively evil as he replied, "Well, maybe Nostradamus made a prophecy about you two."
"I believe in his 2012 prophecy more than that," said Archie, and when Ruby came out of the kitchen with his and David's food, he couldn't help but thank Nostradamus for that stupid prophecy of his, because it gave him the chance that he had been waiting for.
So, what'd you think? Obviously, unlike Archie, I totally believe in Nostradamus's prophecy, so cross your fingers. Well, kind of believe. I totally believe that his prophecy could be true, but I'm not sure if I believe that it is true. Whatever. Please review!