Title: Love's a Witch
Summary: It's Valentine's Day in Storybrooke and a former sea witch has her sights set on reclaiming her former love. Unfortunately her spell instead effects, and reunites, another pair of the town's residents.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: 1x12
Pairings/Characters: Vanessa/Gaston, Ruby/Gold, Granny, Emma, Regina, Mary Margaret, David, Belle, Ashley/Sean, mentions others
Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time is not owned by me, but by ABC. I'm simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.
A/N: I started writing this before 1x12 aired so while it holds minor spoilers for that, it would now clearly be AU.


Chapter 2 - Girls Will Be Girls:

When morning came, Emma and Ruby still felt as bored and irritated as they did the night before. Mr. Gold expected there to be a few customers coming to his shop for last minute rare gifts, likely those who had forgotten to get anything else until then, but otherwise he wanted to put the day from his mind as much as most of the others did. Regina found herself helping Kathryn plan a Valentine's surprise for David, and she was quite happy with it. Meanwhile Mary Margaret chose to focus on her students' school projects; even if there was a bouquet of flowers on her desk from the man who she knew wouldn't be her true in her former husband's favorite colors from the past, Vanessa got her coffee from her kitchen and took a seat in one of the chairs on her deck. It was another cold morning, but that was why she hadn't forgotten her black coat over her red sweater and black slacks. At least her feet seemed happy in their brown boots. She wasn't sure how long she would let herself wait for, but so far there seemed to be no sign of anyone on the beach. No joggers, no one walking their dogs, no one at all for as far as her blue eyes could see.

Still, she knew she would continue to refuse to head into town for as long as she could. Not because she was afraid of missing the man who may never appear, but because she knew she couldn't yet take seeing if Gold's assumption had been right. The last thing she needed to see at that moment were either groups of already happy couples or her spell instead having worked to bring others' loves back together while she was still without her own. She decided she needed Gold's "I told you so" even less.

If he had known that, Gold might have been a little disappointed as he had those words all ready to go for her should she appear back in his shop today. But instead he had other things to focus on. Like inventory and hoping Regina wouldn't come by to remind him that like most of Storybrooke he too was alone on this ridiculous holiday. And that perhaps he could be fortunate enough for this day to pass without being faced with the woman he would wish most to properly spend it with, as he knew that would continue to only be a dream.

"Comin' through!" Ruby called, hoping not to crash into one of the other waitresses again as she brought yet another breakfast order to a couple. For some the day had only just begun but she already wanted it to be over. Earlier she had hoped to get the day off, but the diner clearly needed her and she needed the money. But Ruby still would rather have been out at the bar with her friends like they had just planned, and she wanted to find some guy to waste the night with.

But more than anything at the moment Ruby just wanted to forget about Valentine's Day altogether. In her experience very little good had ever come from it and she was sure this year would be no different. So of course the next best thing would be a Girls Night Out with her friends, cocktails, shots and finally a good-looking guy who wouldn't mind taking her back to his place.

"Didn't expect to see you two here today," Ruby stated when she realized who her customers at the front booth were, momentarily distracted from her previous thoughts.

"You know how we love to show up when no one else is here," the dark-haired young woman grinned.

"Especially on days where everyone would think we're a couple," the large man across from her added.

Ruby shook her head, trying not to laugh at their shared sarcasm. "Your usual then?"

"Yeah," Rose nodded with a smile.

"Not for me," Gavin followed. "I'll just have some water and one egg plate. Maybe with some toast, no butter."

"Are you sick?" Ruby asked him, knowing that could be the only reason Gavin wouldn't order his usual, which she had often dubbed The Heart Attack Special. But then it was clear Gavin hadn't gotten to be almost the size of a body builder by eating sprouts.

"Maybe," he told her, still unsure himself.

"Alright, I'll be back in a few. Feel better, Gavin," she told them, relieved at least to have one set of customers who were just friends and weren't talking about their romantic plans for the evening.

Gavin liked Rose, sure, as most everyone did. But romantically he had always felt his heart was somewhere else, somewhere he guessed he had never seen. It just happened to work out that Rose felt the same, Gavin certainly not being her type when it came to men. All of that was exactly why a friendly breakfast, where they almost always had breakfast, had been their plan for the day. Just because it was Valentine's Day didn't mean they didn't still have to eat.

"Are you sick?" Rose repeated, realizing now he did look a little pale and that his dark hair was in a slightly messier ponytail than he often had it in.

"I don't know," he told her with a sigh.

"What's wrong then? Do you want me to take you see Dr. Whale when we get done here?"

Gavin shook his head. "Something happened last night. There was a wind storm and I guess it woke me up. But when it did, my chest hurt and for a while I couldn't even catch my breath. I know it wasn't a heart attack but I keep thinking maybe it was a panic attack. I just can't figure out why."

"Did you have another one of those falling nightmares?" She knew he still sometimes had them, usually one recurring nightmare in particular of falling from a high building he often described as a castle, but he didn't usually have such a bad reaction to it anymore. For a while now it had seemed to be more of an irritation to him than something he actually feared.

He shook his head again. "Not this time. But right before I woke up, I could've sworn I heard a woman singing. And I smelled salt water."

"Weird. I didn't even know we'd had a wind storm last night." That time Rose was confused. How hadn't she heard it? And what could have Gavin, easily her otherwise bravest friend, so shaken up?

Helping as she could, Granny mostly watched as the customers continued to file in and out for the next two hours. She wasn't surprised by Ruby's mood seeming to turn more sour by the minute, but she wasn't amused by it either. In fact it was only helping to worsen her own mood. As much as she loved children, she decided it was bad enough that she would have to be baby-sitting for one of Ruby's younger friends tonight. At the moment the idea of the activities Ruby would prefer for her night to include only made her worry more that Ruby might be the one she would have to baby-sit for the following Valentine's Day.

Then she had a thought. There was a way, she hoped, that she could prevent that from happening. Yes, she had overheard that Ruby had planned to spend at least part of the night with her female friends, but what would there be to stop her from going home with a boy she met while they were out together? The answer was simple. She would have to give her a reason to come back to the diner afterwards.

"Ruby, I have something I need you to do for me," Granny told her at their first real break between customers before the lunch rush was supposed to hit.

"What's that?" she asked with a soft sigh, already realizing her break was likely about to be cut short.

"Mr. Gold will be coming by tonight after closing for the rent and I need you to see that he gets it."

"Wait. Tonight? You know I'm going out with Mary Margaret and Ashley tonight. You even agreed to sit for Sean and Ashley partly because of that. How can I stay late if I'm also supposed to be out with them?"

"I know the plans you made. But you shouldn't be out with them too late as it is. Which means when you finish with them, you should have plenty of time to come back here and meet Mr. Gold. He said he had some things he needed to take care of tonight himself, so he should be by around eleven or so."

"Eleven?" That was just under twelve hours from then. How was she supposed to enjoy her night if she had to be back at the diner before midnight? "Why can't you do it?" Ruby asked her.

"Because I asked you to, and as you said, I'll need to hurry over to Sean's home to sit for Alexandra so he can take Ashley on some sort of proper date. You can handle meeting Mr. Gold here and taking care of the rent tonight, can't you?"

"Yeah, yeah," she assured her. It wasn't like it would be the first time. Besides, she was at least able to be civil with Mr. Gold. That was more than Granny could say a lot of the time. Even if most of the things Granny clearly wanted to say to him remained in her head while he was around.

Ruby knew most of the town had their issues with him, but while she wasn't always thrilled with him either she didn't understand why Granny seemed to hate him so much. It wasn't like he was Regina, or even a friend of Regina's.

Finally she had managed to make it back to the inn and get changed before meeting Mary Margaret at the bar just before nine. Almost immediately through the door, she was surprised to see Archie Hopper and David Nolan together at a booth towards the back. She smiled to them even as she wondered when they had become bar buddies. Still, she continued over to the table Mary Margaret had gotten for them while she seemed to be ignoring both men.

"So, your boyfriend's over there and you're here. Something I should know about?" Ruby asked as she took the seat across from her, wondering if they might not need to find a new bar.

Mary Margaret sighed. "David isn't my boyfriend and him being here tonight is just making things way more complicated than they should be."

Ruby nodded. "Okay. Sounds like you clearly need a drink. I'll be back in a minute."

Heading off before Mary Margaret had even told her what she wanted, Ruby appreciated the appraising looks she was getting from the guys up at the bar; particularly as she was never one to turn down even wordless compliments. She smiled back to each of them, ready to accept any of their offers to pay even if that was as far as she would let them go. As much as she was hoping to not spend the night alone, it was still way too soon for her to think about choosing which one she would let take her home; even if she only had two hours before she was supposed to be back at the diner.

Granny would be so proud, she thought. Finally she had a reason to be irritated with Mr. Gold. What could he be possibly be doing tonight that would make him so late to pick up a payment but still not agree to just pick it up the next day? She knew it couldn't be a date, someone somewhere would have known about that and would have made sure the rest of the town had known it too. And she doubted it would really take him that long to do inventory since it wasn't like he'd had that many customers lately, not that she knew of anyway. What did that leave? Beating a payment out of someone? She just shook her head, deciding she might ask him about it when she met with him later.

When she finally got the bartender's attention, Ruby was relieved she didn't have to shout to be heard as she put in the order for their shots to be delivered to their table while they waited for Ashley. Then, with a martini for herself in one hand and appletini for Mary Margaret in the other, she made her way back to the table. She guessed Mary Margaret wasn't one for drinks that much stronger than that, at least not this early in the night. Then again with David there and her refusing to even look at him, it might have been anyone's guess.

"What exactly is the plan tonight?" Mary Margaret asked as Ruby took her seat again. She wasn't sure why, but she had begun to get a little nervous. Between David being there and memories of her awkward one night stand with Dr. Whale, she wasn't sure this had been such a good idea.

"The plan is to forget about anything that isn't making us happy and to have fun. Maybe even get laid if we can manage it. Even if some of us, somehow have a curfew despite being old enough to drink."

"Let me guess. Home by midnight or else?" they heard a familiar voice ask.

Looking up to see it was Ashley, Ruby told her, "Don't tell me my granny gave you a curfew too." She really wouldn't have been surprised.

"Not exactly. But it's not like I can stay out all night anyway. Still, in the meantime, I've got at least a year to make up for, so here I am."

From across the bar, attempting to drown her sorrows in her own drinks, Vanessa looked on at the small group of women barely younger than the age she appeared to be; her eyes mostly focusing on the one in the red dress. For the first time all day she almost felt better as she watched Ruby sip her martini and talk with her friends. Vanessa knew that if Ruby was there then she clearly wasn't the only one on her own for the night. Maybe her spell hadn't worked for herself, but maybe her spell hadn't worked for anyone else like she had originally feared either.

"I really can't believe all three of us are alone tonight," Ashley stated after her second shot.

"That makes two of us," Ruby stated. Turning to Mary Margaret, she added, "David is sitting right over there and you're not even looking at him no matter how many times he looks over here at you. Clearly you're the one of us who doesn't have to be alone tonight."

"Yes, I do. He's married. It's hard enough being around him even when it's not Valentine's Day," she told her.

"It's not like he acts like he's in love with his wife. Pretty sure no one can accuse you of breaking up a happy home in this case," Ruby pointed out.

"Someone already has," she muttered.

"Regina doesn't count," Ruby replied, knowing only Regina could have been the one to say something like that.

"She's right though, too many people would be hurt. And it doesn't matter if David's happy or not in his marriage, it doesn't change that he's still married."

Ruby shrugged. She couldn't say she hadn't tried. "And you, you know, you could work on making Sean jealous tonight," she added as she looked back to Ashley.

"Oh, honey, no, I just got him back. I really don't want to push it. Especially not when he's actually working and not just claiming to," she told her.

Again Ruby shrugged. She was just trying to help her friends the best way she knew how. Which, okay, may have explained why she was single herself tonight. But that was mostly by choice; or had been for the majority of the recent past anyway.

Finally Ruby decided to salvage what she could of her night and wished her friends happy moping, deciding to go back to talking to those nice boys she had met up at the bar. Maybe even stop by Archie and David's table for a minute to see what their plans for the night were.

Given how lonely she felt without having seen much of Sean lately, and with Mary Margaret still clearly depressed over the way things had been turning out with David, Ashley finally realized for herself that this Girls Night Out plan of Ruby's may not have been the best idea. But soon the women's attention, including Vanessa's, was captured by Sean walking into the bar and up to Ashley. He had a bouquet of red roses in his hands, and something else in his left. What happened next, Vanessa decided, was inevitable.

As Sean moved to one knee she wondered if her spell was to blame for this. Her bitterness and her ego said yes, but as it was Valentine's Day she really couldn't be sure one way or the other. Clearly it was a popular day to get engaged or married on, but few couples seemed to do either in Storybrooke. All she knew once Ashley had accepted the proposal and the ring was that she needed to get as far from the bar as she possibly could.

It seemed she wasn't alone either as she watched Mary Margaret grab her coat and make a beeline for the door herself. When she didn't see Ruby she guessed the girl had headed off somewhere else, maybe to the table the guys she had met up at the bar had gotten. Vanessa decided then that maybe it was finally time to face her oldest and, sad as it may be, only real friend. She was pretty sure the drinks she'd had would buffer his lecture to her about the spell she had attempted the night before. She was through caring. She hadn't gotten what she had wanted and she doubted there was anything Gold could say or do that would make it any more painfully clear than what she had just witnessed.

True she had come to the bar mostly to torture herself even further, but this had exceeded even a few of her worst expectations. Once again Cinderella had her Prince Charming. Meanwhile she was the former sea witch still waiting for the return of her hunter. Briefly she was thankful she had walked, and could presumably walk to Gold's shop. In theory she wouldn't get arrested so long as she could stay on the sidewalk, especially if the sheriff had her hands full with any other calls. Besides, it wasn't as though she was half as drunk as she had hoped to have been by that time.

Ruby sighed when she looked back to the table and saw her friends had left. Even David had slipped out when she hadn't been looking. Had he left with Mary Margaret? She doubted it, but she guessed she would hear about it the next day one way or the other.

It wasn't even 10:30 yet but Ruby figured she may as well head back to the diner anyway. None of the guys there had really interested her for more than a matter of minutes and the Girls Night Out clearly hadn't gone to plan so she couldn't think of a reason to stay. Plus she knew she would never hear the end of it if she gave Gold a reason to add even one day's interest to the rent Granny owed him.

Without incident, Vanessa managed to make it to Gold's shop just in time to realize she was too late. He had clearly already closed up for the night and she could see him heading down the street and towards Granny's Diner. So much for her original thought of finally getting that conversation out of the way. She knew there could only be one person he would be meeting inside of that diner and she decided she only had herself to blame. It had been her impatience and her desperation that she knew would have him just minutes from getting his pet back.