The Sheriff and The Shapeshifter
Chapter 4: Gossip.
The next morning Emma woke up at the sound of banging in the kitchen. She groaned from feeling exhausted, and her feet hurt so much after wearing those ridiculous heels. The sound of the brunette calling out caused the blonde to swear out loud and throw back her covers,
"God dammit, Ruby!" Emma got up and stumbled around her room whilst she pulled on a tank top and her tightest pair of skinny jeans. "What is so urgent you have to drag me out of bed for at-" she glanced at the clock on the wall in the hallway as she made her way into the kitchen area "-ten thirty?!"
Ruby placed a bearclaw on a plate and handed her friend a cup of coffee from Granny's along with one of her best excited smiles,
"I let you sleep in for as long as I could stand it, Em. What happened last night? You didn't get back until late. What was she like? What did you talk about? Are you going on another date?"
Emma took a long swig of coffee. She did not give a hell that the liquid burnt her mouth on the way down her throat. She really was not awake enough to have this conversation, but she had learnt by now that the easiest and quickest way to shut Ruby up was to give her what she wants,
"I went to the restaurant, and I've got to be honest with you, I nearly never made it in the front door." Emma rolled her eyes at Ruby's comical wide eyed look. "But, I did. It took a while for me to settle my nerves, and when I walked in I was almost having an anxiety attack. It was just...not my style, at all."
"What are you on about, Em? It was a restaurant. You go into them all the time!"
Emma sighed, exasperated, and threw her hands in the air. "But I don't go into the fucking Oceanaire every day of my life, do I?!" Ruby gave her a pointed look before continuing, "Anyway, I went in, and when I scanned the dining area I couldn't see anyone matching her description. A waiter lead me over to her, and she had picked a table in a private area. No one else in the entire place could see us."
Ruby started screaming at a pitch that made the blonde's ear drums almost shatter. She threw a bit of doughnut at her,
"She wanted to keep you all to herself, obviously!" Ruby continued to squeal and jump around the kitchen, not really caring about the people who lived on the floor below,
"Rubes, cut it out! I have neighbours, y'know, and if you want to hear more, then shut the fuck up with the squealing, too." The brunette promptly stopped both actions and sat opposite her friend at the table, literally perching on the edge of her seat. "So, when I got to Maleficent the first thing that I noticed were those eyes of hers. I mean, damn! They pulled me in and I was almost drowning in blue, but when she smiled at me? God, Rubes."
"Oh my God, Emma! Have you fallen for her already?! This is amazing!"
Emma quickly shut that thought down, even though she had quite possibly fallen for her just from the first glance,
"No, shut up and listen. Maleficent greeted me by asking if I was Miss- but I stopped her and told her to call me Emma. You know how much I hate it when people call me Miss Swan, right? So, I sat down and we talked and she told me to call her Mal..."
The blonde was cut off by loud squealing once again as Ruby could not keep a lid on her excitement at how the very first interaction between her two friends had played out. The brunette snatched hold of Emma's hand and squeezed it,
"Emma, hold the fuck up! Maleficent doesn't let just anyone call her Mal! She must really like you! She only lets people she knows are going to stick around in her life to call her that!"
The sheriff's complexion reddened and then paled slightly at the mixed emotions that statement had thrown up for her. She did really enjoy spending time with Maleficent, but for the older blonde to assume that she was going to stick around? She was overwhelmed with that piece of information.
"Cool it down, Ruby. I've only been on one date with her, and even though I had a really nice time and..." Emma stopped in her tracks, earning one of Ruby's pointed looks to continue, "I felt like we'd known each other for years. It felt so natural talking to her. She rambled on at first, which really made me feel at ease, because you know how much I ramble when I'm nervous..."
"EMMA! Maleficent doesn't get nervous or ramble! This is completely new information to me and I've known her for a good few years. My, she really must have liked you!"
The blonde narrowed her eyes towards her brunette friend as she sat back in her chair and took another swig of the rapidly cooling liquid,
"You seem surprised, that she might actually have liked me?"
"No, no, not surprised. Emma, Maleficent is one of the most eloquent people I know. She expresses herself extremely well and she never falters. The fact that she rambled when she met you? She does, she likes you, a lot."
Emma thought on what Ruby was saying. It was apparent that Maleficent was having a nice time with her during the meal, and not once did she ever get alarm bells going off from her internal lie detector. The blonde sighed and finished her bearclaw,
"She told me about working in the college you went to and how she left because she got into a dispute with Regina about tutoring some pupils after hours. She then went on to tell me about how Regina became Mayor, and that she now owns fashion chains."
Ruby nodded as she helped herself to a second doughnut from the selection box and fixed herself and Emma another mug of coffee,
"Yeah. Maleficent left Education just before I graduated and then she opened a store here in Storybrooke before deciding to expand to neighboring towns and cities. She takes fashion seriously, but don't let that put you off."
The blonde twisted her face into an uncertain expression. She herself did not care about how she looked or what she wore but if that kind of stuff was important to Maleficent, maybe she needed to invest in something new before their next date.
"Mal also asked me how I ended up in Storybrooke. I told her...well, everything. I told her all about Lilly and James. I told her how I just walked out of my apartment in Boston and just drove until I got lost and ended up here." Emma thought back to the conversation and she felt warm and fuzzy inside when she remembered the look of empathy and not pity on the older blonde's face when she spoke about her past. "She was so lovely about it all. She didn't pity me. She didn't judge me. She just listened."
"Well, it sure does sound like the date went well. So, what else?"
Emma thought back on the conversations she had with Mal and tried to pick out anything else she should report back to the brunette,
"We just talked about little things like, how good the food was..." a memory appeared into the blonde's mind making her gasp "OH! Before we ordered she could tell that I wasn't really comfortable with being in a fancy restaurant and she asked me if I would prefer us to go somewhere else. I thought that was very sweet and considerate of her."
Ruby literally could not find the words, which made Emma smirk in amusement. She continued on with the rest of the details from last night,
"Other than that, we left the restaurant together, and she got the cab to drop me off and walked me up to the door. She made me feel so safe but not overbearingly so. It all just felt really natural and normal. She gave me her business card and asked if I would like to go on another date with her."
The brunette began to chew her nails in anticipation. She had noticed the way that Emma's eyes shone and how she smiled when she recalled the details from the previous night. She felt so excited and happy that maybe this was the time that Emma Swan finally found happiness.
"What did you say? You said yes, right?!"
Emma rolled her eyes before nodding. She had no idea where she was going to choose to go for their next date, let alone what she was going to wear.
"Yeah. I told her that I'd give her a call at the end of the week with the plans. There's one final thing..."
"Oh for fuck's sake Emma! What?! Just tell me instead of getting me all worked up. It's killing me!"
Emma smirked but decided that her friend was right. She had to tell her what topped the evening off,
"Maleficent reached out and tucked my hair behind my ear and then she KISSED my cheek!"
The blonde recoiled within herself at the piercing sounds of her friend squealing and jumping around the entire kitchen once again. She shook her head and let Ruby have this one fit, after all, it was not exactly something that happened a lot.
A knock at the door signaled that it was time for Emma to go on her morning walk with none other than Killian Jones. When the blonde first met the wannabe pirate, she thought he was an arrogant, egotistical tosser that had nothing better to do than harass the women of the town. As time went on and the two became friends, she grew to understand that it was just the way he was and there was no changing him no matter how hard she tried.
The blonde tossed her empty carry out carton into the bin and said bye to Ruby before heading out. Killian seemed distracted and not as talkative and obnoxious, which raised suspicions to the sheriff.
"What's up with you today? You've got a face like a slapped ass." Emma curbed her tongue to stop herself from saying the rest of her sentence as she stopped and looked at her friend properly for the first time since setting out on their walk. "You can talk to me about anything. You know that, right?"
Killian scrunched up his nose. He did not like talking about how he was feeling, and the fact that the blonde had picked up that he was not his usual self made him angry for not having his walls up high enough,
"It's nothing, luv. I'm just tired, is all."
Emma raised her eyebrows as her internal lie detector started to bleep wildly. Killian should know better than to lie to her by now, and she sure as hell was not about to let this slide.
"You know you can't lie to me. Come on, we tell each other everything."
"No, we don't." Emma blinked as the dark haired man made eye contact with her for the first time since appearing outside her apartment. "You didn't tell me about your date with Maleficent."
The blonde was shocked with how angry he sounded over her date. She did not have to tell him anything she did not want to and the fact that he thought she did irritated her.
"How the hell do you know about that?"
"Everyone's talking about it. The town sheriff with the beautiful, elegant fashion businesswoman." Killian sneered. He really disliked Maleficent, and he disliked the thought of her and Emma together even more. "I'm surprised she didn't eat you at dinner. She's a dragon underneath all that expensive fabric."
Emma sighed and threw her hands up in frustration to silence the man. She could not handle Killian being a jackass today, especially after she woke up in a good mood following her night of fine dining and conversation.
"What the hell, Killian? Maleficent is a wonderful woman. She's intelligent, empathetic, caring, understanding and yes, she's beautiful," the blonde sighed and tried to get her anger at his outburst under wraps. "Yes, I went on a date with her last night, and I had a really good time."
He sighed and gave his friend an apologetic look. He was protective of Emma, and true, maybe even a little jealous of the fact that she had been on a date. He knew that the sheriff was attracted to women, but there was still a part of him that had hoped she would change her mind and agree to go on a date with him.
"Did you have fun? Did she look after you?"
Emma raised her brow. She did not really know what to think about Killian digging for details about her date,
"It was nice. We had a nice meal and she walked me to my door at the end of the night. Look, can we talk more later? I just have to go and get some food and coffee before I go to the station."
"Oh, sure. I'll talk to you later, luv."
Emma wrapped her arms awkwardly around the taller frame and gave him a light hug. She had half expected him to grope her ass whilst he was at it but the blonde was pleasantly surprised when he just let go of her and walked off down Main Street.
On entering Granny's diner the sheriff looked around and saw the usual diners. It was not until she looked at the bar when the blonde noticed none other than Regina Mills. The younger woman was confused. She had never seen the Mayor in the diner before. She walked on over and took the seat next to the brunette, not saying a word.
"Good Afternoon Sheriff. You should be in work, should you not?"
"Uhh, kinda. I'm just grabbing my lunch, if that's okay?"
Regina visibly smirked and took a sip of her latte. She loved how feisty the blonde was and how she just spoke her mind,
"Of course it is. I would not want the town's Sheriff to cost the taxpayer money for having to get a replacement in to cover your shifts if you collapse." Regina glanced out of the window before sighing and turned back to her, "So, you and Killian?"
The blonde took a large swig of her coffee and had to force herself to swallow the liquid. It burnt her throat and her eyes watered from almost choking.
"Me and Killian? What about us? Is it illegal for me to go for a walk with a friend now?"
The older brunette's lips turned up in a wicked smile. She enjoyed toying with the blonde and getting bitten by her words,
"You could do so much better than him. He only cares about himself."
Emma raised a brow as one million questions flew around her mind. She leaned on the counter and gazed into warm chocolate,
"Oh please do tell why you care so much about who I associate with in this town, Madame Mayor?"
Regina took a painfully slow sip of coffee as she thought about her answer. She loved winding the sheriff up, and she was resentful that she could not do it on a more regular basis. However, now was the time to bite the bullet and come out with the one thing that she had always wanted to say to the brassy blonde,
"Perhaps it is not the people that you associate with. Perhaps it is you that I care about."
Both women looked shocked at the confession that escaped perfectly painted lips. Emma stared for a moment trying to see whether her inner lie detector started bleeping wildly, but when it did not she blinked and hung her mouth open, obviously at a loss for words.
"I-" the blonde swallowed thickly and tried to speak again, "Why?" She kicked herself at losing all ability to form a coherent sentence, much to the mayor's amusement.
"Your way with words really does astound me, Miss Swan-"
"It's Emma." The sheriff winced at how she sounded. She did not want to come across as rude. "My name is Emma. If you really insist on the title business then I guess you can address me as Sheriff Swan."
Regina grinned. She admired the boldness of the blonde's tone and attitude, but she knew there have been times in the past when she wanted to do nothing more than to turn the sheriff into stone and display her on her front lawn, and she knew that there would be times that urge would come back.
"Very well, Sheriff. For all it is worth, I know that you are only friends with Killian."
"What does that mean...?" Emma braced herself for the next series of statements and questions to come charging in her direction. Storybrooke is a small town, after all, and gossip soon got around.
"You are dating Maleficent, are you not?" The brunette knew that she sounded sour, but to think of the one person she had had her eye on ever since she arrived in her town being with someone like Maleficent rotted her core.
"I've been on one date with her. Why?"
"Are you planning on seeing her again?"
The sheriff shifted her weight uncomfortably. She did not like disclosing details about her personal life to anyone, and maybe it was because Regina had opened up that it making the blonde feel obliged to answer her questions, or maybe it was something entirely different. Whatever it was, she wanted to punch its lights in.
"We've arranged to meet again at the end of the week. I don't see why that's any of your business, though."
Before Regina could answer, Granny started to usher people out of the diner. The sound of people leaving and Granny giving her apologies and explanation of having to do some maintenance work filled the otherwise silent air around the two women. Once the diner was cleared, Regina inhaled slowly,
"I am only asking purely because I would quite like to make dinner for you. How does Saturday night sound?"
A small cough that did not belong to Emma grabbed Regina's attention. She turned and saw Granny standing behind them, looking unsure at how to interrupt the couple.
"I'm sorry to intrude, but I need you folk out of here. I have maintenance work starting any minute now. Health and Safety and all."
Emma noticed a tension rising between Regina and the elderly woman. She grabbed her coffee and pastry bag and lightly touched the brunette's arm, flashing Granny a soft smile,
"It's no problem. We'll continue this outside."
The blonde had absolutely no idea what to do or say to Regina's proposal. When she arrived in Storybrooke over a year ago, she was immediately attracted to the mayor, and she longed for this moment to happen. It sure was typical timing, right after she had been on a date with somebody else.
The older woman tugged her jacket closer around her body to fight off the slight chill in the sea air. She really hated being so close to the coast at times like these. A slightly uncomfortable silence carried on between the two women as Emma tried to battle with her subconscious.
"As I was saying before we got interrupted, I make the best Thai shrimp curry in town." Regina hated how vulnerable and open she let herself be around the blonde. She had never asked anyone over to dinner in such a public and outright way for years, and when Emma still had not replied she feared the worst,
"I-" Emma saw how difficult it was for the older woman to ask her for dinner, and she knew that the offer was genuine. She could not help but to feel overwhelmed at the offer, one that she had waited for for a long time. "That sounds great. What time should I be there?"
The mayor flashed a mega watt smile towards the sheriff. She really was not expecting the blonde to agree, especially since she learned about the upcoming date with Maleficent. The evil side of her cheered at how she would soon be winning the heart of Emma Swan and pulling her away to leave Maleficent all on her own. Regina knew that she would get her revenge on her former friend for what she did to her all of those years ago.
"How does 8pm sound? You know my address, I assume?"
Emma made a mental note and nodded to herself. She could still have her date with Maleficent. All they had agreed on so far was for it to be at the end of the week, so that left Friday night and Sunday.
"8pm Saturday at the big white house. Yep, I've got it." The blonde smiled as the older woman rolled her eyes and started to walk off down the road,
"Oh and Sheriff?" Emma turned back around to face Regina. "Do try and not be late."
The younger woman crossed her heart, earning another eye roll off of the mayor before she continued walking in the direction of Mifflin Street. Emma exhaled slowly, still unable to believe what had just happened. All she knew was that she needed to talk to Ruby, pronto.