It was a Saturday morning which meant no school, no tryouts and no cheerleaders. Emma decides she has had enough for her first week in her new school, so she makes a break for it. The sky was a bit gloomy, black clouds loomed overhead and the wind was quite strong. But not even the bad weather could keep the teen inside. Jogging was Emma's quiet time and she enjoyed it a lot. Sweeping her hair into a ponytail, she threw on a matching gray sweat pants and hoodie and a pair of running shoes. She brought her dog Ava to keep her company. Little did she realize, she'd already been running full force.
Regina was cleaning her room when she noticed someone in a gray hoodie jogging in the street. She had never seen the dog around the neighborhood and wondered who might be stupid enough to jog on a gloomy morning. She watched the stranger until she had disappeared at the end of the street.
When Emma arrived home, she checked on her phone. She have 5 messages registered and 3 missed calls. She opened the inbox to find 1 message from her mom and the rest were from Ruby.
Mom: Sweetheart, I went to the grocery with Neal. If you need anything, just text me okay? We'll be home soon.
Ruby: Em! S.O.S! Call me ASAP or better yet go to the diner!
Worriedly, Emma tried to call her friend but she was not answering. She threw on a new shirt and then made her way to the diner really quick.
"Good morning Miss Emma," Marian greeted. Emma offered a small smile in return. "Hey, where's Ruby?" Marian pointed out the booth on the far most end of the diner.
"What happened?!" Emma asked her friend who seemed to not be under any form of emergency. "Relax, Em." Ruby said casually, grinning widely at the panting blonde. Emma glared at her and yelled. "What the heck, Ruby!" Other diners instantly turned their heads in their direction.
"Sssssh. Calm your tits!" The brunette said, brushing the blonde off with a sweep of her hand. "My tits refuse to calm!" Emma shook her head in response as she sat down. "You know what? You're crazy! You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"But... did you die?" The brunette asked playfully, earning a scarier glare from the person across her. "Okay I'm sorry. I'm so bored and Belle just won't pick up her damn phone. "
"Bored?!" Emma yelled furiously again.
"Okay you're overreacting."
"God, you're one sick spoiled brat Ruby," Emma groaned.
"This is an emergency! I need company! Why can't you understand that?"
Crossing her arms, Emma pointed clearly, "That made no sense, therefore your argument is invalid. I refuse to continue this conversation."
Ruby sighed. "Okay fine. I'm sorry. How about I treat you a hot cocoa and anything you want? Sounds good, yes?" Rolling her eyes, Emma stood up and went to the counter. Ruby followed timidly behind. "Hmm..." Emma said, rubbing her chin. Finally, she decides. "I want that, that..." she said, pointing her fingers on the menu. "Oh, and that."
She ordered two stacks of pancakes, a plate of bacon and eggs and a slice of triple chocolate cake. "Are you freaking serious? That's a lot! You eat like a horse!"
"Well I haven't taken my breakfast because of you!"
"Fine."
An old woman with a scarf wrapped around her shoulders passed by. "Granny!" Ruby called out. The woman stopped and smiled at them.
"This is my friend, Emma Swan."
"Oh hello! I haven't seen you here before. Swan? I'm not sure I've heard that in this little town of ours. If you don't mind me asking, who are your parents?"
"Sheriff Nolan and Mary Margaret," Emma answered politely.
"The Charmings! Wait, are you-?" Granny asked but didn't push the words through. Emma only nodded. Granny smiled and tapped the blonde's back.
"Great to see you are finally together."
Ruby looked at her grandmother and her friend, clueless of what they're talking about.
Watching her friend eat, Ruby asked out of curiosity. "Em, is it okay if I ask you something really personal?"
"Sure," she answered calmly.
"Why do you have different last names?"
Emma almost choked. "Oh, that." Emma sighed and made a face. "It's okay! You don't have to answer. Just forget I asked."
Emma put down her fork and paused for a brief moment. "I know we rarely know each other but I have a good feeling towards you. I want you to know that I have very bad trust issues but..." she breathed in deeply. "I know I can trust you." Ruby smiled and nodded. "My parents..." Emma cleared her throat. "They gave me up for adoption. They said they wanted to give me my best chance."
The blonde shut her eyes close as those words left her lips. She felt a sharp tug in her chest. Emma had been in the foster system for as long as she could remember. She had been passed from family to family. Until she was adopted last year by a teacher in her previous school. Fate, as they call it; it turned out that her adoptive parents were her biological parents.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay Rubes." Emma said, giving her friend a lopsided smile. Ruby smiled back with sympathy.
Emma understood why they did that to her. It had already been a year since she reunited with her true family but she couldn't still get herself to open up to her parents. Emma loved them but there was something inside her that holds her back from letting people in.
"Yeah, that explains why I have Swan as my last name. My parents are still working on the surname issue though. And I find that really unnecessary. I mean, I'm their biological daughter, right?" Emma fake laughed and shook her head.
Curious that she was, Ruby wanted to ask more questions like when, where and how but decided it would be too much for her friend to answer. "That is crazy as shit."
"I know."
Breaking the awkward silence, Ruby spoke. "Well I'm happy they found you now. You should be happy you still have your parents." Emma creased her brows together but didn't voice out her question.
Ruby gulped before speaking. "I lost my parents when I was a kid. They were soldiers who died in the war... It just hurts to know that I will never see them again. I will never feel the warmth of their arms around me or see the smile on their faces. I can't have a complete family anymore." The brunette had tears rolling down her face and so did the blonde. "Granny is the only family I have left."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Emma mumbled. "But hey, I can be your family," she added making Ruby smile. Wiping off her tears, Ruby joked, "So what now? Should we go tell Oprah our life stories?" This made them laugh. "Can we please talk about something else?" Ruby asked. "Sure, what about... our next lesson in Chemistry?" Emma cheered happily, wiggling her eyebrows. Ruby's jaw dropped then rolled her eyes. "Emma Swan, can you not?"
Emma laughed. She knew Ruby hated talking about school stuff when they're outside the campus. Moments later, they forgot about these tragic incidents or whatsoever that comes in connection with their previous topic. Instead, their conversation shifted on how they would want to spend their next vacation.
The door chimed signaling a new set of customers would come in.
"Cut me some slack. It's Saturday and I get to see her?" Emma groaned as Kathryn entered the diner.
Noticing a bunch of teenagers took their spot, Kathryn made her way to the booth they claim as theirs and slammed her hands against the table. The teenagers flinch and quickly transferred to another booth, leaving a satisfied bully. Kathryn saw Ruby and Emma watching so she smirked at them.
The door chimed again. Emma gulped when she saw Regina walking through the entrance. She was dressed in a bright, neon pink skirt and a gray tank top. She was sure no one would be able to rock a neon colored outfit except Regina. Emma watched her as the brunette headed straight to where Kathryn was sitting.
Noticing that her friend was looking at something, Regina followed her gaze and saw Emma and Ruby looking back at them. Emma averted her eyes almost immediately but Ruby kept her glare. Being used to Ruby glaring, Regina glared back at her which started a death staring contest. Ruby was the first to back down with an eye roll.
Regina switched her gaze to the blonde and noticed the gray sweatpants and the running shoes the nerd is wearing and then realized it was Emma she saw jogging awhile ago.
Even though they sat at different tables, Regina and Emma kept exchanging glances and it happened for quite a while. The blonde just couldn't get her eyes off of the beautiful lady. She knew deep inside that she was more into girls but never would she have thought of having a little interest on the mean cheerleader. 'What? Of course not!' she debated in her head.
Emma continued talking or rather listening to her friend talk about guys or whatnot as she watched Regina walk to the toilet room in her peripheral view. Keen that she was, she noticed something when the brunette came back to their booth. "Emma, are you even listening?" Ruby asked, a bit irritated. "I'm so sorry, what was that again?" Emma asked. "Forget it." Ruby pulled her cellphone and began texting someone. Emma sighed, feeling embarrassed for her rudeness.
Emma tried to tell Regina what it was discreetly through sign language so as not to humiliate her but the brunette just couldn't take the hint.
Eventually, giving up all pretence of not caring about Regina humiliating herself in front of the diners, Emma strode nervously towards their booth. Kathryn was on her phone talking to someone which left the brunette to glare at her as she walked. 'Okay, this is rather uncomfortable.' With her heart beating fast, she decided she would just go to the toilet room as she felt the need to release some liquid because of the hot cocoa and three glasses of water she took earlier.
Regina snapped sharply when the blonde reached their table. "Can I help you with something?" Her voice quite irritated for the hand signals she couldn't understand awhile ago. Emma took a big gulp and slipped a little note on the table swiftly. When the blonde was gone, Regina unfolded the paper carefully.
'You might want to take a look on your shoe.'
Regina's eyes widened in horror and her face flushed bright red when she saw a tissue stuck in her heel. God. She quickly crumpled the paper and shove it in her pocket.
When Emma came out of the toilet room, Regina was already storming out of the diner with Kathryn in tow.
"What's up with them?" Ruby asked. Emma just shrugged. The brunette leaned in and looked straight into the blonde's green eyes, trying to study her thoughts. Emma quickly looked away. "You're lying!" Ruby shrieked. "Spill!"
Emma took a deep breath. "She..." she began couldn't get the words out of her mouth. Even though she hated Regina for being such a bitch to her, she didn't want to humiliate her, most especially not to her worst enemy. Ruby raised her eyebrow and waited for an answer. "There... uhm..." Emma tried again, her face starting to blush bright pink. "Come on, Em!" Her friend was starting to grow impatient. Emma squinted her eyes and blurted out all at once, "There's a tissue stuck on her shoe." She let out a long exhale. The blonde regretted it once Ruby started laughing hysterically and slapping her hands against the table. She mentally slapped herself for telling it. Ruby grinned mockingly as Regina and Kathryn glare at them before going inside the black mercedez. On the other hand, Emma kept her eyes away from the cheerleaders. She was sure Regina had already killed her in her head a thousand times over. God, she will never forgive me for this.
A few minutes later, Emma decided to head back home. Before leaving, she noticed a poster outside the diner.
"Hey Rubes..." Emma said. "Yeah?"
She fidgeted her fingers and looked at it. "I uhm, wanted to ask about the post outside the door. You're looking for a waitress?"
"Yeah, why? Do you know someone who might be interested?"
"Yeah... me?"
"Are you sure?" Ruby asked, and Emma nodded shyly. "Hmm... Could you please tell me why?"
"Well I want to save up to buy my parents a wedding gift. I need extra cash." Ruby gasped, couldn't believe how her friend can still manage to be sweet to her parents despite of everything that happened. The brunette hugged her friend tightly, the blonde squirmed. "That sounds wonderful!" Ruby pulled away smiling at her and said, "Okay. I'll tell Granny!"
Author's Note: Okay now we know Emma and Ruby's backgrounds. Yay!
By the way, Happy Holidays! Hope you're all enjoying your Christmas vacation. Thanks for waiting patiently for my next update! Any thoughts about this story so far? Don't forget to follow and leave a review! If you haven't yet, please do! Viva La Swan Queen!