So I've never written anything before. Ever. Please be kind. And I don't own anything regarding Once Upon a Time or its characters. But if action figures ever become available...
"Hey Em, you ok?" Ruby said as she put down her phone to go get Emma her surely needed cup of cocoa.
Emma shuffled to over to the counter and sat, still staring off into space. She really didn't know how to answer Ruby's question. She didn't know what she was feeling but ok didn't exactly describe it.
"Um yeah, I guess so. A thing just happened."
Ruby came back over, took her apron off and sat down. "Maybe this will help I added a little extra something for you."
"Cinnamon?"
"No not cinnamon, it's 5 o'clock somewhere right?" Ruby said as she watched the blonde take a sip, smile, and then slowly put lay her head on the counter.
"Emma, I'm going to need you to tell me what's up in the next 10 minutes because after that my shifts over and Granny will be taking my place. Do you want to tell Granny about your "thing" that just happened?" Ruby said as she used her best don't-worry-I-won't-eat-you smile to soften the blow.
"No I don't think I want to say it out loud to anyone because that will just make it real and then I will have to deal with it."
Emma took another swig of her hot chocolate, took a deep breathe and put her head back down. Ruby just waited for her to say something, Emma had clearly come in here needing to talk despite what she said.
"Ok, I can't look at your face when I say it out loud, but I have to tell someone I guess and I can't tell Mar- Sn- my mom. So here goes...Regina kissed me. Or maybe I kissed her. I don't know what happened exactly."
Ruby sat there, not really know how to proceed. To be honest she had seen this coming a mile away-the eye sex, the saving Regina in danger thing, and they shared a son. So really who would be surprised? Well, Snow maybe but Ruby would deal with that later. Not acting surprised wasn't going to help Emma so she put on her best "oh wow" look and just sort of awkwardly patted Emma on the back til she looked at her.
"Well that is definitely a "thing" Can you tell me about it?"
"That's it? That's all your going to say? Tell me about it?! Would you like a pad of paper so you can take notes Archie?!"
Emma's voice had gone increasingly shrill and squeaky and now other diners were starting to look their way. Granny had just come in to take over for the night so Ruby just grabbed Emma's hand and drug her to the back, took a set of keys and led them into one of the guest rooms no one ever used. She pushed Emma down on the edge of the bed and pulled a chair up close to her.
"Sit, breathe, and then tell me what happened. I am not going to freak out on you, I ate my own boyfriend, remember? So unless you are going to tell me that you ate Regina…wait did you eat Regina? Sorry never mind I was saying I am not going to freak out on you because you are doing a great job at that yourself."
Emma just sat there staring. She hadn't really heard what Ruby said past "Eat Regina" but she knew she needed to get the story out and get some clarity on the situation.
"No I did not eat Regina. Literally or figuratively. I went to her office today to do our weekly Mayor/Sheriff meeting and she was sitting on the couch when I got there. Not at her desk like usual. She acted like I was early and that she just wasn't quite ready, but I didn't buy it. I mean she's Regina, there's always a plan. I really didn't buy it when she just patted the spot beside her and told me to sit. Might as well be comfortable she said."
Ruby for her part was trying really hard not to completely lose it and start squealing with joy. This was like watching your favorite couple on tv finally hook up and she had a front seat for the whole show.
"So I sat down and I just started in on the run down for the week. You know-how many times I got Mrs. Franklin's cat out of the tree, how many calls we got from people who thought they saw you running around at night-those sort of things. Then she just interrupted me and asked if I wanted to come to dinner at her house tonight."
"What did you say? Did you say YES! Did you ask if you could bring anything? That's the polite thing to do…"
"Woah Ruby slow down-I actually sort of panicked and asked her if poison was on the menu…"
"Emma, no you didn't?"
"Ugh, I'm such an asshole-I did. And she sort of got that look she gets when she thinks Henry isn't looking and he just said something mean to her? You know which one?"
Ruby didn't actually know which one, but she wasn't the one that was apparently much more in tune with the Mayor's moods then they realized so she just nodded her head to get Emma to continue.
"I tried to make it seem like I was kidding but she wasn't having it. She said "Miss Swan a simple no would have sufficed. Please continue with your weekly review so that we can end this meeting. I have other things of importance I need to attend to."
"Ouch Emma, I can't believe you said that. I thought you two were trying to get along better? You know for Henry's sake?"
Emma had thought that too, in the beginning it had been for Henry. But the last few weeks something had started to shift and she couldn't put her finger on it. She had started looking forward to seeing Regina in the afternoon's when she would drop off Henry for some time with his other mom. She had even started looking forward to the weekly recap meetings so she could spend a little time with her without Henry as a buffer.
"Ugh, Rubes we have been. I think that's the problem. I panicked because I actually did want to go to dinner. That's wrong right? I shouldn't want to have dinner with the Evil Queen."
Ruby wasn't sure where the story was going but she hoped that Emma was getting the answers she needed by talking through it all. "Ok Emma so you hurt her feelings, she told you to hurry up so you could get out of her office, how do you get to kissing?"
"Well, I went through the last few calls and when I finished she just jumped up and so I jumped up too but I got in her way. I really didn't mean to block her I was just trying to get out quick. But well I did block her and she was just right there in my space. We locked eyes and I was pretty sure she was going to hit me so I shut my eyes and prepared for the blow..."
"She HIT you?! I can't believe her! Maybe she needs a visit from the Big Bad Wolf…"
"Um, she didn't hit me…Nothing happened so I opened my eyes and she was just staring at me. Then she called me a coward and shoved me back down on the couch"
"And then she kissed you? Wow that's kinda hot Em…"
"No she didn't kiss me I just fell over and then sort of tripped trying to catch myself and then missed the couch and hit my head on the coffee table."
"You're an idiot."
"I know…but then she must have felt bad because she crouched down to see if I was ok and well her face was right there. I had to kiss her right? I'm not a coward. Oh shit, I kissed her?! That can't be right I'm pretty sure she kissed me…"
"Breathe Emma, who ever started it doesn't matter. What matters is was it a good kiss?"
Emma thought back to the way the Mayor's lips had felt when they touched hers-soft and gentle, maybe a little hesitant even, not the way she would have guessed her to kiss. But nice and kind of perfect and kind of exactly the type of kiss she wanted again. And again.
"Yeah, it was ok."
"OK? An OK kiss doesn't make someone's eyes glaze over and stare into space for 5 minutes with a replay of it running through there head."
"Point taken. It was great. Earth shattering great. Jump to conclusions of Happy Endings great. Ok? I just…maybe didn't realize all that at the time…and I ran."
Ruby couldn't believe what she was hearing. It had been much easier to get Emma to realize her feelings then she thought it was going to be. Unfortunately when Regina had texted right before Emma walked in dazed and confused she had told the Mayor to give her 30 minutes and then to head over to the Inn. She still had 10 minutes to kill.
"So let's talk more about these Happy Ending feelings. I'm pretty sure that's what lesbians like to do right? Talk about feelings?"
Three loud knocks rang out in the room and Ruby let out a sigh of relief, thank God the Queen didn't like to be kept waiting. Ruby got up to answer it while Emma just sat there staring at her hands folded in her lap.
"Oh hi Madam Mayor, fancy seeing you here. What can I help you with?"
"I think you know why I'm here. I would like to speak with Emma please," Regina said with a smirk knowing Emma was listening. She didn't want to let on just yet that she had had to recruit the blonde's best friend's help in this little matter. Seduction was one thing, courting someone-well that was a different matter all together. And something she was sure having Ruby on her side was going to help with.
"Sure she's right in here. We were just talking about her day. You know regular best friend stuff…" Ruby looked around the empty room and immediately noticed that when the Saviour had decided to hide from Regina she turned the light on-in the closet. Ruby just pointed, rolled her eyes, and tiptoed out to let the lovebirds have their privacy. As she walked down the hall she heard the Mayor yelling, "Emma Swan you come out of that closet right now!"
Ruby almost skipped the rest of the way back to the diner. Storybrooke was about to become much more entertaining.
