Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time does not belong to me! All characters and references to the show belong to ABC and Channel 5
You've had Snowing, you've seen Rumbelle, you've watched Stable Queen, and now on request I'm bringing another 'ship into the Schools Out! Mix.
Please welcome...RubyxPeter!
Once Upon a Time: School's Out! Chapter 10
"Peter! Stop it!" Ruby squealed, giggling helplessly.
They were sitting at a table away from the window in the Stable Eating Deli, it was a chilly Saturday afternoon, and Ruby was fighting to free herself as Peter began tickling her. She could almost feel his playful grin as his hands moved to her waist and made her squeals reach a new pitch.
"Say it" he said, unrelenting.
"No!" Ruby gasped, and his hands dug in a little harder, making Ruby giggle so hard she was silent.
"S-stop! People are staring!" she giggled again the same time Peter did, appearing completely oblivious to the Deli full of diners watching them as his hands rose to her neck.
"Say it, and I'll stop!" he told her as she tried-in vain-to control another explosion of laughter once again.
"O.k! O.k!" she cried "I'll say it! I'll say it!"
Grinning widely, Peter Lupus removed his hands from Ruby's neck. He waited.
Still gasping, Ruby turned her slitted eyes to him, unable to remove her own smile as she leaned against the back of her chair.
His eyes sparkling with his imminent victory, Peter continued to wait.
"But I'll sound like I'm in sixth grade!" Ruby complained, and he started to reach over again. Ruby squealed.
"No! O.k, I'll say it!" she cried, and he stared at her patiently as she fell silent.
Teasingly, Ruby let him wait a few moments more, and then finally gave in to his request.
"Alright...You're my boyfriend!" she surrendered, giggling again as he triumphantly laughed and punched the air.
"Yes! I knew it!" he crowed before gently touching Ruby's chin and using it to bring her face to his so he could kiss her. Ruby sighed a little, loving the tingly sensation she felt when Peters soft lips pressed on hers, the small rush of heat when she felt his hand on her leg...
When they broke apart, Ruby looked at him questioningly.
"I'm confused" she said to him "Didn't me accepting to go to the dance with you count as me admitting that you were my boyfriend?"
For a moment, Peter looked faintly surprised. Then, mischievously, he grinned again.
"Yeah..." he said, moving the hand that had been on her leg to her red sweater-clad arm "But...I just wanted to hear you say it"
Ruby rolled her eyes, and leaned in for another kiss.
The door to the Deli burst open, and Ruby looked up to see Snow White running across the Deli floor to the bathroom.
"Wasn't that Snow White?" Peter asked, and Ruby nodded, a sad look on her face as she started after her friend.
She thought back to a few days ago, when she had confronted Snow White about what was going on with her. Snow White hadn't told her anything but, unable to miss the obvious signs, Ruby was pretty sure she already knew.
"Hey, I'm gonna go see if she's O.k" she told Peter, who nodded in understanding.
Ruby got up, and walked after Snow White.
OUAT
SLAM!
James jumped when Thomas' locker door slammed next to him, he turned with a confused-and kind of annoyed-look to his friend.
"Thomas, what the-"
"What's up with you, Jay?" Thomas cut across him, his eyes skewering James.
"What?" James shut his own locker door and went to leave the boys locker room-which was almost deserted except for them-but Thomas held out an arm to stop him.
"Practice just now" Thomas said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "I don't think I've ever seen you that off your game! What's going on, James?"
James didn't say anything, and tried once again to leave. But Thomas pushed him back into the locker room. James glared at him, anger rising.
"Look, it's nothing to do with you, Thomas! I was...distracted!"
"By what?!" Thomas demanded "Come on, James I'm your best friend! Just tell me what's going on"
"Nothing!" James snapped.
"Then why were you distracted?" Thomas unrelentingly persisted "Come on, man, if it's effecting your game I know it's bad!"
James just shook his head at him.
"You don't know anything" he said coldly, and once again he tried to move past Thomas, and once again he was stopped by his arm.
James nearly punched him in anger.
"For Gods sake, Thomas let me past!" he shouted.
"Is it Snow White?" Thomas suddenly asked, and James' words froze in his throat. He stopped trying to push past and walked back into the locker room, nodding.
From behind him, James heard his friend say:
"O.k...is something wrong with her? Is she still sick?"
James let out a hard exhale, wishing Thomas had just left him alone. He had enough to deal with.
Anyway, he'd sworn not to tell anyone about Snow White's pregnancy until they were both ready.
But now...with the stress of telling his mom building, and the fear of Mr Blanchard's reaction piling on him, keeping it all in was becoming almost impossible to bear.
So when Thomas asked him if Snow White was still sick, he turned around to face him:
"No" James told him "Thomas, she's not sick. She pregnant!"
OUAT
"Snow White?"
Ruby called her friends name into the empty bathroom. From one of the cubicles she could hear the sound of someone softly panting in exhaustion.
"Snow, it's Ruby. I know you're in here" Ruby called again "I saw you come in"
Ruby then heard the sound of a toilet flushing, and moments later Snow White walked stumbled out of a cubicle, beads of sweat on her forehead.
Ruby crossed her arms over her chest, eying the shifty Snow White.
"Get sick again, Snow?" she asked a little sharply, Snow White nodded, brushing a lock of hair back behind her ear.
"Yeah I, uh, I was just coming in the Deli for something to eat when this...this bug thing hit me again so-"
"Snow, stop" Ruby held up a hand to cut off her mumbled excuses. Snow White shut-up almost immediately, staring at the floor.
Ruby crossed her arms again, and kept her eyes on the girl standing in front of her.
"Look Snow, I'm not stupid" she said, her tone becoming more gentle as she spoke "I think you and I both know that this...this is a lot more than some stomach bug"
Snow White's hands were balled into fists, her face was incredibly white and it looked like she was shaking. Her green eyes were shining.
"Ruby..." she tried, her voice shaking violently.
Ruby came forward, her arms uncrossed and eyes full of concern. Even as she came in front of her, Snow White didn't look up.
"Snow?" Ruby said softly, and Snow White sniffed.
"Are you pregnant?"
Snow White finally looked up at her, tears were welling up in her eyes and when she looked into Ruby's kind, caring face they finally started to fall, and she nodded.
"Yes" she whispered.
"Oh, Snow..." Ruby sighed, biting her lip. She knew it. "Does James know?"
Snow White nodded again "Yes, and he...he's sworn to help me with everything"
Ruby nodded in approval. Damn right.
"Good. So, how far along are you?"
"A little over five weeks"
"Right"
They fell silent then, awkwardness hovering in the air, then Snow White shakily breathed in.
"I'm so scared, Ruby!" she whispered, a fearful look on her face "I don't know what to do, I told James we have to tell our parents soon but my father's going to kill James when he finds out, and his moms gonna kill me and...and..."
Snow White could feel her voice starting to crack and stopped abruptly, prompting Ruby to step forward and wrap her arms around her.
"Snow" Ruby said, trying to keep her calm "It's going to be O.k, don't worry. You and James...you'll be fine, you've been through a lot worse than...this"
Snow White pulled away from her, and Ruby was happy to see that she was starting to look hopeful, if a little watery-eyed.
"You really think we'll be O.k?" she whispered.
No. Ruby thought What I really think is that your dad is gonna hunt James down with rusted chainsaw.
She decided not to say this to Snow White however, and instead nodded again.
"Yes. You and James are the strongest couple I've ever met. You'll get through this, Snow"
Snow White sniffed again, and started to smile.
"Thanks Rubes" she said, and hugged her. Clinging to her back.
"Hey" Ruby said, patting her back as they broke apart "You know what might take your mind off of all this?"
Snow White laughed, thinking that it would take a lot to take her mind off of this. But she decided to humored the girl.
"What Ruby?"
Ruby then grinned a grin that practically reached her ears "Dress shopping! Me, Ella and Belle are going into town after classes on Monday to get dresses for the dance! Do you wanna come?"
Again, Snow White laughed, shaking her head.
"Ruby, I don't-"
"Oh come on!" Ruby said, her expression softening "It can't hurt, can it?"
Snow White looked at her, a smile coming onto her face against her will. Her eyes closed and she exhaled in submission.
"O.k, I'll come!"
Ruby made a happy little noise that made Snow White rolled her eyes. Then her grin faded into a look of sudden seriousness:
"But you can't tell anyone that I'm pregnant!" Snow White blurted desperately "Please, Ruby! Don't tell Peter or Ella or anyone! I...I promised Charming we wouldn't say anything" she admitted guiltily.
Ruby shook her head vigorously, clearly agreeing with her.
"No, no of course not!" she said quickly "I swear, Snow. I won't tell a soul!"
OUAT
"She told me after the Ogre game" James told Thomas "She's almost six weeks"
There was a stunned silence in which Thomas stared, dumbstruck, at James, hardly able to believe it.
Snow White? Pregnant?
James was gonna be a...Dad?!
"And is she gonna..." Thomas trailed off, and when James looked up at him he looked away awkwardly.
James sighed, nodding "Yeah, she's keeping it"
"Oh my God" Thomas gasped as James raised his palms to his forehead, his face pinched up with stress.
"So...what're you guys gonna do?" he asked.
"I don't know!" James shouted, removing his hands and throwing them out wildly, letting loose a stream of stress and fear that had been plaguing him for almost two weeks:
"I don't know what the hell we're gonna do! I mean...we're nineteen! We're nineteen and we're in College and...my mom is just gonna freak out when I tell her!" he let loose his breath in a hard exhale and put his hands over his face, still continuing to speak:
"She worked so hard to get me here and...now I've screwed it all up!"
He leaned against the lockers, his hands sliding down to reveal the now damp eyes in his agonised face.
Thomas came forward slowly, as though James might attack him if he came moved too fast, and lifted a hand to grip his shoulder.
"James" he said softly "Your mom will understand-"
"What if she doesn't?!" James snapped, shrugging of Thomas' hand and turning to face him "What if she never talks to me again because of this?!"
"That won't happen!" Thomas told him firmly, and James' eyes narrowed.
"How do you know that?" he asked scornfully,
Instead of snapping back at him, Thomas took on a look of sudden wisdom.
"Because she loves you"
At those words, James' scornful attitude disappeared, and he seemed to be momentarily speechless, Thomas took the opportunity to try and talk some sense into him:
"Look, you can't be concentrating on this right now, James. You need to be concentrating on Snow and the baby. She's probably just as scared as you are"
James nodded, looking faintly dazed as he spoke again:
"I know" he said, his voice nearly a whisper.
"I know"
OUAT
Snow White and Ruby walked out of the bathroom just in time to see a uniform-clad bus-boy sprinting out of the Deli. As he hurtled out of the building, Snow White caught a glimpse of his face.
"Isn't that the guy Regina Mills is seeing?" she asked Ruby, who nodded vaguely as they walked over to her and Peters table.
"Yeah. I heard they broke up though" she said as they sat down, still staring out of the door as she continued to talk to Snow White:
"Apparently he found out about what Regina did to Belle, and he walked out on her. Right after he asked her to the dance!"
"Oh my God!" Snow White gasped, and Ruby stared at her, frowning.
"You don't feel bad for her, do you?" she asked Snow White as though she was insane, and the black-haired girl shrugged helplessly.
"After what she did to Belle?!" it was Ruby's turn to gasp "Snow!"
"I..." Snow White tried, but she couldn't come up with a good reason why she felt bad for the girl who poisoned her.
"Come on, Snow!" Peter piped up incredulously from Ruby's side "You can't feel bad for her. The things that girl's done, she deserves all she gets!"
OUAT
"Regina!" Daniel called, frantically knocking on her dorm room door "Regina, please open the door! I need to talk to you! Regina!"
He had been out there for the past fifteen minuets, knocking and shouting and calling her phone, but she appeared to be ignoring him.
And he couldn't blame her.
I can't believe I did this Daniel cursed himself as he knocked I can't believe I didn't trust her, didn't listen to her. What if she never forgives me?
Increasing the strength of his blows, Daniel continued to shout at the door.
"Regina!"
"Daniel?"
At the sound of his name, he turned to his left and saw Regina herself stood next to him, carrying what looked like a new lap-top.
She had never been in her room in the first place. Daniel fought the urge to slap his own forehead.
Regina stared at him, stunned, her eyes roaming his across his face like she was trying to memorize it before he disappeared.
"What're you doing here?" she breathed, and Daniel cut right to the chase:
"Gene told me everything!" he said in a rush, and Regina continued to look confused.
"Gene Glass? What're you-"
"I know it wasn't you who sent those photo's to Belle French's dad!" he blurted out, and Regina's eyes widened.
"You-"
"I am so sorry, Regina!" he gushed "Please believe me! I am so, so sorry. I should've listened to you, I should've believed you, I..." he struggled, unable to find the right words that could express what a huge idiot he'd been.
As he spoke, Regina's face had started to harden. She hadn't said anything all this time, and just watched him with her huge brown eyes,
Daniel stared into those eyes, hoping to find the right words that could help him say the right thing.
"Regina, I was an idiot" her expression didn't change, and he started to feel more and more hopeless. But that didn't stop him.
"Can you...is there any way that you can forgive me?"
Regina didn't say anything, she just stared at him for a long time, and then moved past him to open her bedroom door and walk inside.
Before she closed it, she looked back at Daniel, her face a little softer than it had been a moment ago:
"We'll see"
The door closed, leaving Daniel more furious with himself than he had ever been in his life.
OUAT
"You don't have a tux?!"
From inside the library, Rumplestiltskin watched Belle look up from the book she was reading, looking horrified.
Moments ago, Belle had asked him what kind of tuxedo he would be wearing to the dance, and without thinking he had told her that he hadn't gotten one yet.
And now she was looking at him with the same expression Maleficent had worn when he'd told her that she was over $1000 in debt to him.
"Rumple! The dance is on Friday!" Belle almost wailed, and Rumplestiltskin shrugged.
"So?"
"It's Monday!"
"Belle, I'll get a tuxedo" he said calmly, turning back to his own book "Theres no need to rush"
Oh my God, I'm in love with an idiot.
Instead of answering him in a way that would probably get her kicked out of the library, Belle made a show of looking at her watch and put her book in her bag.
"I've got to go" she told Rumplestiltskin tartly "I'm going dress shopping with Ruby and Ella, and I don't want to be late"
"Alright" Rumplestiltskin said, and she sharply walked out of the building.
As he watched her leave, Rumplestiltskin sighed.
Why do I get the feeling that I'm going to regret this?
OUAT
"What do you think of this one?"
"I don't know, I don't like the whole halter-neck thing"
"Does this shade of blue look good on me?"
"Red? Really Ruby?"
"It's my favorite colour, Snow!"
Ruby, Snow White, Belle and Ella were in the changing rooms of the clothes shop in town. They had been trying on dresses for over an hour, and so far Snow White was in a sickly yellow, halter neck, floor length gown, Ruby was in a simple, knee length and strappy red dress, and Ella was in a beautiful light blue gown with a full skirt.
Belle, having already decided what she was going to wear-her gold floor length strapless like she'd promised-was passing her verdict.
"Snow" Belle said to Snow White delicately, staring at the hideous yellow dress in horror.
"No offence, but I think you can do better than...that"
"Isn't that what people say about your taste in men?" Ruby quipped as Snow White looked down at the yellow monstrosity.
"Oh, very funny" Belle sarcastically laughed at Ruby, who was grinning.
"Come on, Ruby" Ella chided her, fluffing out her skirts "Leave her alone"
Ruby rolled her eyes "It was a joke, Ella!" she then glanced at Snow White, and gasped. Ella and Belle turned to the clothes rail where Snow White was stood, and they too gasped when they saw the dress she was holding.
Like Ella's, it was floor-length and had a full skirt, it had short sleeves and was a beautiful baby pink.
"Oh my God, Snow White that dress is beautiful!" Ruby gasped.
"You have to try it on!" Ella added, hands over her heart at the dresses beauty.
"It'll look amazing on you, Snow!" Belle told her. Snow White smiled at them, and then walked into her changing room cubicle with the garment.
Ella and Ruby preened in front of the wall-length mirror, adjusting their dresses in certain area's until they felt right.
"So you're really not going to try anything on, Belle?" Ruby asked her, and when Belle shook her head, Ruby turned to her with her hands on her hips.
"Come on, Belle. You're lucky to even be going to this thing, and your not even going to get a new dress?"
Belle sighed and Ella stared at Ruby.
"Ruby!"
"I can't, Ruby" Belle said for the millionth time "I promised Rumplestiltskin I'd wear the gold dress"
Ruby just shrugged "So? You barely got out of being pulled out of College, you're entitled to check out what you can't have!"
Belle smiled at her "No, Ruby"
Ruby made an experted sound "Oh well, there's always shoes"
Belle laughed lightly, leaning against the mirror that Ruby and Ella were standing in front of to admire their dresses.
"So..." Ella said to Belle, sounding a little awkward "Have you...uh...seen R-Rumplestiltskin's tux yet?"
Belle sighed again, suppressed annoyance at Rumplestiltskin rising in her.
It wasn't the fact that he hadn't got one yet-she could handle that, he would get one eventually-it was the fact that he clearly didn't care about getting one on time, and it would be so easy for him to forget about something so mundane...
"No" she said "I haven't. He hasn't boughtone yet"
Ruby, Ella, and Snow White (from inside her changing cubicle) gasped in shocked horror.
"Oh dear God!" Ruby cried "Is he insane?!"
"He knows the dance is on Friday, right?!" Snow White called as she walked out from behind the curtain.
"That's what I sai-" Belle started, but her words caught in her throat as Snow White walked out in the beautiful pink dress.
Ella and Ruby turned to look at her, and they too were rendered speechless by Snow White's appearance.
"Oh Snow..." Ella whispered.
Snow White had never looked so beautiful. The dress gracefully hugged her bodice to the waist, accenting her curves classily, the skirt falling beautifully to the floor so that it his her feet. As she stepped out of the cubicle, her friends stared at her as though hypnotised.
"Oh my..." Belle whispered.
"Snow..." Ruby gasped.
"You look just like a princess" Ella said softly, looking like she was going to cry.
Snow White blushed, self consciously fondling the dresses skirt.
"So you think it looks good?" she asked nervously.
"Yes!" Ella, Belle and Ruby said together.
Half an hour later, the dresses were paid for and they began to look at shoes. While Snow White tried to talk Ella out of a pair of Glass Slippers she'd found-"Remember what happened last time?!"-Ruby took Belle to one side.
"So, when do you think Rumplestiltskin's going to get his tux?"
Belle shrugged "Whenever he feels like it, I suppose" she sighed, checking out a pair of white high heels.
"I just hope he remembers in time for the dance!"
Ruby made a show of casually looking at a pair of red flats, turning them over in her hands as she lightly reassured Belle.
"Oh, don't worry Belle, I'm sure he won't forget"
OUAT
It was 8:30 pm when Rumplestiltskin heard a knock on his bedroom door, he got up to answer it and saw none other than Ruby Lucas-clothed in her usual vibrant red-standing in the doorway.
"Miss Lucas" Rumplestiltskin said with a tone of surprise "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Can I come in?" Ruby asked, her voice shaking a little. Rumplestiltskin stepped aside.
"Of course" he said, and she walked into the dark room, an intense feeling of unease settling on her as every trinket Rumplestiltskin had ever collected drew her gaze, from the strange little puppets he kept on the wall to the chipped cup on his bedside table.
"What can I do for you, Ruby?" Rumplestiltskin asked, pulling her attention away from the collection of objects as he moved in front of her.
"Do you wish to make a purchase?" he asked, his eyes drilling into hers.
Ruby refused to flinch away "No" she responded "I'm here to talk to you about the dance"
Rumplestiltskin raised an eyebrow, and his lip twitched. Before he could come out with some sarcastic comment, Ruby told him why she had come.
"Belle told me that, you haven't got a tux yet" she said, and Rumplestiltskin blinked.
"Did you come down here just to tell me that?" he asked disbelievingly, and Ruby shook her head.
"No" she told him, and then jumped right into the deep end "I want to offer my help"
"Help?" he was starting to look suspicious "What kind of help, Miss Lucas?"
Ruby took a deep breath, and forced herself to look at Rumplestiltskin dead in the eyes. She let the breath loose, and spoke.
"The kind where you and I go into town, and I help you pick out a tuxedo for the dance"
Rumplestiltskin stared at her, and then started to laugh.
Although Ruby had been expecting this reaction she was surprised to hear him do something as human as laugh. It was kind of unsettling.
"Ruby, I can assure you that I am perfectly capable of picking out my own attire for the event" Rumplestiltskin said once the laughter subsided.
"I know" Ruby answered, more than a little shaken by the outburst "But...surely it wouldn't hurt for you to have an outsiders input"
"From you?" he started to smirk, and Ruby's confidence suddenly kicked up a notch.
"Yes. Me" she said "Because unless you want Belle to freak out completely, you need to get your hands on a good tux before Friday, and I'm the only one who can help you with that"
Rumplestiltskin stared at this girl, wondering what it would take to get her to leave.
As he looked into her eyes, he saw only one option.
He sighed, unable to believe he was doing this
"When?" he said wearily.
Ruby clapped her hands, grinning in delight.
"Tomorrow. Six o'clock. I'll meet you in town"
"Fine" was Rumplestiltskin's dry answer as he moved towards the bedroom door and opened it.
As she moved out of the room, she looked at him with a look of actual excitement.
"Trust me, Rumplestiltskin Gold, when I'm done with you you'll be begging me to be your personal shopping buddy!" and with that she scampered out of the room.
Rumplestiltskin shut the door, vowing that the next time there was a dance, he was just going to get the stupid tuxedo.
I'm sorry people but I couldn't resist! Rumplestiltskin is going on a shopping spree with Little Red Riding Hood! And you can read all about it when I upload the next chapter.
Sorry for the lack of Stable Queen in this, but I promise there will be some development in their situation in the next chapter.
Please read and review this chap, it was extraordinarily hard to write so I'm sorry if it's crap.