I don't own Teen Wolf or Once Upon A Time

This was all his fault. He had scared her away. He had been too forward and she felt the only way to get away from him was to actually leave. He was worried about her now. She had been working at the diner to make enough money so that she could get home. She couldn't possibly have made enough, so where was she now? Was she safe?

His mind switched to a different scenario. What if she had left because of the alphas? Did she know them? Was she part of their pack? Was she the pack she had been running from?

Then, his thoughts changed again. What if she had only come here to get information on him? She had just come, got what she needed from observing him, and left to tell the others in her pack.

All these thoughts were racing through his mind, but there was only one realization that really mattered; Ruby was gone. It didn't matter how or why, she was gone. Maybe it was for the best. He couldn't afford any distractions right now and she was a big one. Hopefully he could just forget about her and go back to the way things were, but somehow he didn't think it would be that easy.

Ruby woke up that morning to the sun shining on her face, lying in her own bed. She felt refreshed and practically giddy at this new start. She stretched her arms out and opened her mouth wide to release a yawn. When she got out of bed she padded her way over to the bathroom to take a shower. As the hot water ran down her body she thought about the past couple days. Her decision would seem rash to some people, but for her sake it needed to be done.

When she was out of the shower she walked to her things that she still hadn't unpacked to find her uniform. She was never a great packer so everything had been thrown together in her bag. She was ruffling through her things when she found it. The bright red short shorts, her white blouse with the puffy sleeves and lastly, the white apron. She rushed back into the bathroom to get ready. She was already running late, which she really shouldn't have allowed in her current situation. Once she was out the door she was walking as fast as possible. She waved and said hello to familiar faces as they passed by.

She made it to the diner only a couple minutes late which wasn't too bad, she hoped she didn't get into too much trouble. As people started filing in she saw the usual suspects take their seats at the bar.

She had just about served everyone in her section when out of the corner of her eye she saw someone take a seat at the far end of the bar. As she made her way down there she got distracted by a button that had come undone on her blouse. When did that happen? That really wasn't very professional. She hoped no one had noticed. That guy, Carl, had seemed extra smiley when she served him. Oh well, he better give a good tip after getting that show.

She fixed her shirt, fished the notebook out of her apron, and without looking up she asked the customer "What can I get you today?"

"Ruby?"

She knew who that voice belonged to. Her head shot up instantly and her eyes met his.

"Derek, long time no see. Is there anything I can get you?" She tried to keep her voice from wavering. She wanted to look strong in front of him. Not ashamed and embarrassed for the way she practically threw herself at him the other night. She didn't remember much from that night, but she did remember mauling him with her lips, but if her memory served her right, she also remembered him kissing her back. She wasn't completely at fault then, right?

He had this weird expression on his face. Almost like he was relieved to see her, which didn't make any sense because she hadn't seen him in days and she's pretty sure that he wanted it that way.

"I went to your house last night and the old lady said you weren't there, that you had left. I thought you had completely left town, but you're still here. Where did you go?" The words were spilling out of his mouth so fast she almost didn't catch all of it. He sounded all panicky, like he was worried about her. Wait, was he worried about her?

"I decided to get my own place. I found a nice apartment a couple blocks from here, just another thing to check off my list for this adventure." She told him.

His expression changed from confused to calm. A smile even formed on his face and he let out a relieving sigh.

"Good for you." He said with a smile.

She couldn't help the smile that formed on her face or the blush that crept onto her cheeks.

"Wait. Were you worried about me or something?" She asked coyly. She couldn't help but ask. She had to know.

He rubbed his neck and licked his lips nervously.

Ah ha! She knew it! He had been worried about her. But why should she care? After all, this guy had allowed her to get completely dunk, kissed her, and then hadn't spoken to her for days. She wasn't thinking about that though. All she could think about was that he really cared. She realized she was fiddling with her apron in anticipation and she instantly stopped. She placed both hands on her hips and stood up straight. She had to seem confident not anxious.

"Well, you said that you were working to get enough money to make your way back home and with you not being her that long I only assumed you hadn't made that much. I just didn't know if you had a place to go or not, that's all."

He sounded so concerned. Her heart swelled with happiness. He hadn't outright told her that he had been worried, but she would take it.

"Thank you for your concern. I just felt like I needed a place of my own. I couldn't really be myself living with someone else, especially someone like Vivian. Let's just say we don't share the same morals." She said with a wink.

He told her that he wanted coffee, black, just like last time. She got it to him in record time. There's something else she needs to say to him before they can move on to anything else, well, if there is anything to move on to. She hoped there was.

"About the other night," She said nervously. She started fiddling with her apron again and tried to avert his gaze, but her eyes were pulled to his anyways. "I'm sorry for jumping you like that. That was so rude of me. I never act like that I swear. To make it up to you, the coffee is on me."

She waited for him to say something, but he was completely silent. She took that as her queue to leave, but when she started to walk away he grabbed her hand. She looked back at him and she didn't even know how to describe the look on his face. He looked so sad and sorry, but at the same time he also looked happy and a tad confused.

"No, it's my fault. I'm the one who should be sorry. I should have never let you drink that much and if it makes you feel any better, the whole jumping me thing was kind of sexy." He said with a smirk.

She tried not to look too excited by his last comment, but Derek calling her sexy made her feel like she had butterflies in her stomach. She was brought back to reality when he started speaking again.

"Forget the first impression and the second first impression. I'm not even going to try for a third. Let's just make a fresh start instead." He suggested.

"A fresh start huh? I like that idea." She agreed with a smile.

He held out his hand for her to shake and she took it.

"Hi, I'm Derek."

She giggled because this all seems so ridiculous and silly, but she went along with it anyways.

"Hi Derek, I'm Ruby."

Their fresh start goes swimmingly. Derek stayed in his spot at the bar the entire day, he even ended up walking home with her. They talked about all different kinds of things. Favorite books, favorite foods, favorite movies (she let the Ruby side of her tell him that one, the Red side of her has never experienced actually seeing one in a movie theater, though she would like to). Unlike last time, he didn't ask her about her personal life and in return she didn't ask him.

He shows up at the diner almost every day, whether it's at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, when she's working that is. If he wasn't at the diner he usually showed up at her apartment when she got home.

They see a lot of each other outside of her work and home as well. They go out for dinner when she's not working, nothing fancy, just casual places. They've gone out hiking a couple times so that Derek could show her how beautiful California was. She got a few bumps and bruises along the way, but it truly was a sight to be seen.

He took her bowling once. She really didn't understand how rolling a heavy ball towards 10 pins to knock them over was considered fun, but after a few tries, with the help of Derek of course, she actually enjoyed it. She lost, but Derek took them out for drinks to make it up to her. She only drank 2 cranberry martinis. That was her limit. No repeats of last time.

On the nights she was exhausted from work, they ordered take out and watched movies or T.V. at her apartment. At some point she realized that they were always at her place. He had never invited her over to his and that concerned her. She never brought it up because they didn't talk about personal things, but it bothered her none the less.

There were nights where they didn't see each other at all though; the nights around a full moon. There was never really a spoken agreement to this. She just didn't see him those nights, but she wasn't really complaining. She didn't want him to see her all bundled up in her red cloak like some freak. She just wondered what he was doing on those nights. Did he really believe in those legends about werewolves in this town? She never took him for a superstitious person, but people can surprise you sometimes.

On those nights, when she was curled up in her cloak, lying on the coach watching whatever was on T.V. that night, all alone, she felt guilty. Guilty for not telling him the truth, the truth about who she really is, where she's really from, and what she can turn into at will and around the full moon. There were so many times when they were just sitting next to one another, not speaking, the T.V. wasn't on, and she just felt the urge to tell him, but she was scared. Scared about the possibility of him running out on her, calling her a freak, thinking she was utterly insane. That's what stopped her dead in her tracks every single time. She couldn't lose Derek. He's the one person that she has here, the only person. She couldn't lose that.

When they reunited after those days surrounding the full moon she felt easier. She forgot about everything that she was hiding from him. She didn't feel guilty, she just felt happy that she was able to see him again. They were almost inseparable those first days back together, spending every minute together as if time was running out.

She was delighted when he brought up the idea of introducing her to his friends. She suggested that he invite them over to her place. She needed an excuse to host a party. She has always wanted to do that. They came around a few days later and she greeted them happily, a beaming smile on her face as she ushered them into her home. She remembered Stiles and Scott from the diner that first day she met Derek. She laughed at everything Stiles said and she noticed that Scott isn't the brightest crayon in the box. Isaac sat quietly, observing the interactions going on around him. She figured he was just shy and that he would come around at some point. Jackson was very charming, although, he seemed a little full of himself at times. Lastly there was Peter. Derek introduced him as his uncle. Ruby was ecstatic. She had finally met someone from Derek's family! She could see the family resemblance physically as well as in their behavior, though there was something slightly off about Peter that she couldn't put her finger on. Her party went off without a hitch and she was positive that she had gotten a few new friends out of it. She did notice the awkward stares from them at times though. It was almost like they knew who she really was, like they knew the secret she was hiding. She simply brushed off that thought. They were probably just judging her, seeing if she was good enough for Derek, which she felt she was.

One day everything changed. She and Derek are in the woods watching the sunset. He was sitting there with his legs stretched out in front of him and his arms behind him, supporting his position. She was curled at his side with her head resting on his shoulders.

They did this a lot. It was one her favorite things to do with him. She tilted her head to look at him and she was surprised to see him looking right back at her. There was something in his eyes, something she had never seen before; a wanting. She wasn't not sure how it happened, but he kissed her. Or did she kiss him? Actually, it was as if they met in the middle. Their lips stayed pressed together for a couple seconds and then she felt him pull away.

"What was that for?" She asked shyly.

"I wanted a do over." He said with a smile.

They did that a lot now, kiss that is. Sometimes it was like the one in the woods during the sunset, short and sweet, but sometimes it was different, more intense. As soon as they started they couldn't stop. It was filled with so much passion. They always broke apart, breathing heavily, but then they just dove back in.

She wanted to feel guilty about kissing Derek for Peter's sake, but she didn't. She felt no remorse when she kissed Derek. Peter had been the only boy she had ever kissed, the only the boy she had ever loved. She had planned on running away with him. They would have been together and they would have probably started a family one day, but because of her that would never happen. She started to get those feelings again when she was with Derek. She couldn't help it. He just made her feel so special.

He called her one night and asked if she wanted to go to dinner with him. She quickly replied with a yes, practically screamed it, and he told her to dress in one of her nicer outfits. He picked her up in his Charger, wearing what looked like a very pricey suit. He took her some place different, not one of their usual restaurants. No, this one is much fancier. She had no idea what this meant, but everything just felt so serious. Half way through the dinner she couldn't take it anymore. She had to know what was really going on because it was just too different. She was about to say something when Derek grabbed a hold of her hand from across the table and held it gently in his.

"I know you must be wondering why we're at such a fancy place?" He said it like he had just read her mind.

She couldn't really speak so she just nodded her head.

"I can't hold back any longer Ruby. All my life I've shut people out. I haven't been close to someone in years, not the way that I'm close to you. You're so special to me Ruby and I want you to know that. I haven't done this in so long so I might be a little rusty, but, I wanted to know if you would be my girlfriend."

She was absolutely floored by his question. They sat in silence as he waited for her answer. She knew she had to answer soon, she couldn't let him squirm like that, it was too cruel, but the words just couldn't seem to come out of her mouth. She had to settle for nodding yes profusely, tears forming in her eyes. He pulled her to him and planted a gently yet forceful kiss onto her lips. They had smiles planted on their faces for the rest of the night.

He spent a lot more time at her place now and due to the fact the she had never seen his, it made her wonder if he really did have a place to stay. She was scared to ask him, but she knew she'd never get anywhere if she just ignored it. She asked him one day when she was curled into him on the couch watching T.V.

"You know Derek, you spend so much time her I wonder why you've never asked if you could just move in?"

His eyes grew wide and she feared that maybe she had said too much.

"Are you saying that you want me too?" She could hear the nervousness in his voice.

"I mean, sure, but only if you want to." She told him reassuringly.

"I'll get my stuff together and bring it tomorrow." He said with a smile. She could tell how excited he is. He looked like a child on Christmas with that smile on his face.

She helped him move in the next day. Her place seemed more complete now with all of his things. As she walked through the house checking to make sure everything was in its place she realized something. She couldn't hide anymore. When the time of the full moon comes around he was going to see her wrapped in her red cloak at night. She started to panic. Had she just made a huge mistake? Sure, he'd seen her in it before, but she had been walking outside at night, that's pretty much a normal place to see someone all bundled up even if they were in a cloak, but walking around the house and sleeping with it on, well that was completely different. There was no way out of this. She was going to have to tell him the truth. She was going to have to come clean. It was finally time to tell Derek about Red Riding Hood and the wolf.

Oh boy. Are you guys ready to see how Derek will react to Ruby's confession?