Three weeks had gone by since Emma Swan's ridiculously weird and clichéd encounter with that mysterious stranger in the rain. That mysterious, tall, dark stranger. That oddly chivalrous stranger with the melodious voice, the distinct accent and eyes of the blue of the fucking forget-me-not.

She didn't even know why, but for the last three weeks, she'd been to that damn deli almost every day, at various times of the day, always half-expecting, half-hoping she'd accidentally run into him again. I will find you. Nothing but big, pathetic, empty words, of course. What a stupid idiot... and she'd been foolish enough to actually believe there was more to that. Her mood had gradually deteriorated the more days had gone by. Delusional. That one time she had foolishly – and absolutely uncharacteristically – allowed herself to believe in something, of course she'd been proven wrong. She rolled her eyes at herself.

Today she wasn't in the mood for grocery shopping; her fridge was ridiculously stuffed anyway with tons of food she didn't even need. So, she visited her friend Ruby who worked as a waitress in a coffee shop across the street from said deli, hoping it would lift her mood; a chat with the sassy brunette usually did. But today, unfortunately, her pretty friend didn't even have much time for her. After placing a cup of cappuccino in front of her, Ruby started to pack a transport box with styrofoam cups and cake.

"What, are you leaving?" Emma asked grumpily.

"Special delivery," Ruby replied with a shrug.

"Great," Emma growled. "Nobody sticks around nowadays."

The waitress snorted a laugh. "Seriously, what's up with you, Ems?"

"Nothing's up with me." Emma stared into her cappuccino and stirred it vigorously.

Ruby raised her eyebrows. "Come on," she scolded. "You seem a little off lately, and today you're extra prickly. It's about a guy, right?"

Emma's eyes shot up. "What? No." She slammed down her teaspoon and downed half of her beverage in one gulp. "I don't give two figs about men. I don't need any of that bullshit in my life."

"Emma!" Ruby clapped her hands in delight. "It is about a guy!"

"Shut up, Ruby," Emma snapped. "They're all idiots anyway."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on." She shook her head and closed the transport box. "There are still good men out there. Romantic types."

"Romantic types?" Emma snorted in disdain. "Yeah, right. I have yet to meet one." She finished her coffee and put the mug on the counter with a clattering sound. She didn't intend to stay if her friend was leaving.

"Well, if I didn't have this urgent delivery to make, I could show you one," Ruby replied and loaded herself with the transport box. The two women headed for the exit together, and Emma held the door open for her friend.

"What do you mean?" she asked with a frown while they stepped outside.

Ruby lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, although nobody could hear them; she'd always had a thing for being dramatic. "There's this guy..." she paused for effect, and Emma rolled her eyes. "He's been coming to the coffee shop every day for three weeks now, looking for his crush."

Emma raised a skeptical eyebrow. "How would you know?" They walked slowly, side by side, in the opposite direction from where Emma's apartment was; but she didn't feel like going home yet and decided to let her friend distract her a little more.

Ruby shrugged."He comes here every day at the same time and sits always at the same table for two hours," she told her. "Doesn't talk to anyone, doesn't read a book or play with his cell phone, just drinks his coffee and stares out of the window."

Emma nudged the brunette playfully. "He's probably there because of you."

Ruby shook her head fiercely. "Oh no, he's not. Believe me, I checked that," she added dryly. "I wish he was, because he's one smoking hot piece of ass. He's either waiting for or observing someone else."

Emma wrinkled her nose. "That's creepy!"

Ruby huffed at her friend's lack of romance. "No, it's not! I think it's totally..." Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks in mid-sentence and blurted out: "Well, fuck me sideways!"

"Ruby, what the hell?!" Emma had almost bumped into her.

"Over there!" Ruby hissed and motioned her head across the street. "That's him!"

Emma frowned and followed her friend's indication cluelessly. What she saw caught her completely off guard. A man was crossing the street in a hazardous diagonal line and headed straight for the coffee shop they'd just left. He was clad in black jeans and a black leather jacket, his steps long and confident and with a certain hint of swagger that sent both a flash of anger and stupid excitement through her guts. She couldn't believe it, but there was no denying the obvious: it was the mysterious stranger. "What?!" she gasped.

"That's the guy I've been talking about!" Ruby confirmed, and Emma's jaw dropped.

"Well, fuck me sideways..." she murmured.

Ruby chuckled, thinking her friend's reaction was due to the attractiveness of the coffee shop regular. "That's not very likely, unless you're the mysterious woman he's been pining for," she replied dryly and sighed. "What a waste. Anyway, I gotta go, Ems. See you." She turned around and hastened her pace.

Emma waved absentmindedly, already having forgotten her friend. Instead, she watched the stranger – yes, it was really him! – enter the coffee shop, and from her "safe corner" she could indeed see him sit down at a table directly at the window, just like Ruby had said, fixing his observing gaze on the deli across the street. Her thoughts were racing, stumbling one across the other when she recalled what her friend had just told her. He'd been coming to the coffee shop every day at the same time for the last three weeks and observed the deli for two hours. Every day? And she'd gone to the deli every day, just not at the same time, which is why he hadn't seen her. Or had he seen her and just been too creepy or too much of a coward to approach her? But then she remembered the way he'd behaved during their walk in the rain, and he had seemed anything but afraid. Which meant that he probably really hadn't seen her during those last three weeks; that obviously they'd always missed each other, probably just by a hair's breadth.

But this would also mean that – if she entered the deli now and he saw her... would he go after her? Emma felt little beads of perspiration blossoming on her palms, and she quickly rubbed them dry on her jeans. There's only one way to find out.

She raised her chin. This is it – take it or leave it. She could turn the other way and just walk back home again. Or she could just... she chewed on her bottom lips, standing rooted to the spot, not knowing what to do.

Come on, this is crazy. You know like nothing about this man. On the other hand, she did know that he'd been looking for her every day since the day they'd met. Which makes him a creep. But then, a creep would have lurked around the house she lived in – which she'd been stupid enough to indicate. This could be the craziest thing you've ever done. This could end up in a total mess. Or it could be...

Before she even finished her thoughts, like by themselves, her feet were moving to cross the street, towards the deli... and now he had to have spotted her if he was still looking out of the window... and she knew he was. She could almost feel his eyes on her back. When she'd entered the deli, she leaned for a moment against the door and closed her eyes, letting out a nervous breath, asking herself what the actual fuck she was doing. The sound of her own heartbeat was deafening in her ears.

The owner greeted her, and she smiled absentmindedly and did another useless spree of grocery shopping, took her extra time and crammed her paper bags extra full... and the closer she got to finishing her shopping, the more nervous she got. When she couldn't draw out her stay any longer, she paid her bill and, after saying her goodbye, turned to the door to leave the deli, her heart beating inappropriately fast in her throat. Probably she was being ridiculous; probably Ruby had been bullshitting her anyway, and this was all just a big coincidence, and she was nothing but a stupid, delusional, sexually frustrated woman grasping straws. Well, and if he was unwilling to take the risk and approach her, he deserved not getting a chance with her. Asshole.

Emma sighed, shook her head at herself and pushed the door open to step outside. Her eyes being fixed on the pavement before her, the first thing she saw was – again – a pair of feet, crossed at the ankles this time; she swallowed and her traitorous heart skipped a beat when she scanned upwards and found long, slim legs in tight black jeans... and that damn black leather jacket again. He was nonchalantly leaning against a lamp post, his arms crossed, the same amused smile playing around his luscious mouth she'd seen so many times in her dreams. When her eyes reached his, he pushed himself away from the lamp post with a smooth move as if he'd been waiting for her.

His smile brightened, and he asked: "Need a hand, love?"

A/N:

this is completely the fault of lenfaz; a part 2 was never planned. I'm not even sure there will be a part 3...