Standard Disclaimer: The characters ain't mine, I'm just borrowing their strings for a while, so don't sue me please! Please point out any errors in grammar or spelling privately and I will correct them.
Chapter 20 – Seal It With a Kiss
Unfortunately for Ruby, it was another day and a half before she got to go home, as both Victor and Regina had insisted upon her remaining under further observation for a minimum of 48 hours. Ruby had not been happy.
She hated hospitals, first of all. The pungent aromas and heartwrenching sounds that were unique to such a place did not sit well with her enhanced senses. The sickening antiseptic smells of soaps and bleaches and drugs lurked around around every corner, turning her stomach with every whiff. Low-pitched moans seemed to linger in every nook and cranny, emanating from from far off hallways where some poor soul was writhing in anguish through a constant, pervasive pain. Each sniffle of sorrow she heard was someone, she knew, who had just forever lost an irreplaceable part of themselves; the screams of grief and shouts of ER doctors and nurses fighting to save a life were inescapable. Death and pain were everywhere, no matter where she found herself in the large complex. Being in a hospital for Ruby was a traumatic experience, and as she was already processing her own, she lacked the capacity to deal the ambient noises and odors lamentably typical of human suffering.
Mostly, though, Ruby just hated being confined for so long, especially in an uncomfortable bed in a 183 square foot room. The very idea of being cooped up for 48 hours in a such a confined space was maddening, and that part of her that belonging to the wolf had almost immediately begun to rail against her freedom being taken away.
That being put under observation was for her own good did not matter to the wild animal that lived inside her. It objected to the restrictions placed on her despite all reason, creating an untenable situation not conducive to the triumph of rational thinking. It was the same part of her which the curse set loose to run amok, and which had compelled her to indulge every imaginable vice as she at last embraced the hedonist within that her mother had attempted to unleash. From promiscuous sex in back alleys and back seats and seedy bedrooms (often unprotected to her great shame); to copious amounts of illicit drugs, marathon sessions of imbibing knock-you-on-your-ass-strong alcohol; to pushing her beloved Camaro to dangerous, adrenaline inducing speeds down the curvy back roads of town; and to climbing as near she could to the top of the highest trees in the forest simply to howl at the moon until her voice was spent: Ruby did it all during those decades and in such abundance that it was a wonder she did not catch an STD or overdose or get herself killed due to her recklessness.
As it might be imagined, with that kind of wildness living inside her, her convalescence strained her self-control and patience, translating into her being a fidgety mess most of the time. Her misery was only compounded by what had just happened to her. As she laid in bed staring at the TV and watching reruns of Fringe (Regina had gone home to rest, shower, and spend some time with Henry, leaving Ruby alone for the first time), she had been distracted by a feeling as if her wrists were still clamped in those cursed manacles. She tried to play it off, to ignore it as best she could, but she found herself almost constantly rubbing at the area of flesh that had once been nearly destroyed but was now perfectly whole.
Exacerbating the situation even further was her food situation. The atrocious portions and bland taste of hospital food left much to be desired. Ruby liked to eat. Hell, she loved to eat. Her appetite, Regina had once commented, was more akin to a lion than a wolf, to which Ruby could not object. There were fully grown men the size of small barns that she could absolutely put to shame in terms of stomach capacity.
Once after spending the entire 3 days of Wolfs Time in the forest, she nearly ate Regina out of house and home during the subsequent week, and the sheer enormity of food she consumed worried her enough to approach Victor about it. After some tests to calculate her metabolic rate, he determined that her approximate daily caloric burn was 2062 during normal days (400 more calories than an average adult male) and ramped up to 3732 during Wolfs Time (2.5 times that of an average adult female). He speculated that the more active she was during Wolfs Time, the more her body would have to make up for the deficit afterward, explaining her occasional and prodigious binges.
She did not imagine that healing required as much energy as running, but she still felt underfed far too much of the time. And though it wasn't the fault of the hospital kitchen staff for not taking werewolf appetites into account when designing their menu, her gnawing hunger had her living precariously on the edge of meanness.
About twelve hours after regaining consciousness, she had been starving, her stomach grumbling almost painfully, and with the next appointed meal 2 hours away (and likely to be about as tasty as cardboard), her patience finally ran out. She decided to take matters into her own hands.
While Regina was out of the room making of a few business related phone calls, Ruby managed to sneak out undetected. Internally sniggering at the pathetic state of hospital security, she made her way down the hall to the vending machines where, with cash she'd surreptitiously pilfered from Regina's wallet, she purchased two pathetically sized bags of Doritos, two sandwiches – one ham and one turkey – and a Snickers bar.
As she made her way back to the room, she had greedily munched on her prizes, finding that the risk she had entailed was well worth the immense pleasure derived from the very unhealthy snacks. Once she arrived back at her room feeling satisfied with herself on multiple levels, she had slipped back in only only to be confronted by the stern and unyielding glares of an angry Madam Mayor and a professionally displeased Dr. Frankenstein.
Ruby had physically wilted under their intense disappointment. All of her earlier bravado fled as she made the short trek back to her bed, which had felt more like mile long journey on a road paved with shame. After slinking back into bed, she turned puppy dog eyes onto Regina, who at first was resolute in her indignation.
Fortunately for Ruby, Regina eventually chose to cut her some slack since she also harbored a healthy aversion to being caged. Her sympathy for what Ruby was going through, she explained, made her willing to be lenient so long as Ruby did not repeat the foolish action. It was too good a deal to pass up, if only to not have Regina look at her that way again for a very long time.
But while Ruby was very grateful for the reprieve from judgment, as the 48 hour window of observation passed by like a slug on hot concrete, she became increasingly unsettled and agitated. At times, she felt almost manic in her desire to bolt from the bed and escape from the building just to run the streets until her feet bled. Matters were not made any easier, either, by the steady stream of visitors and well-wishers dropping by at all hours of the day. It was nice to know people cared, but after the fiftieth person had filtered through the room, she was on the verge of snapping.
"Why can't they just leave me alone for one damn hour?!" she'd complained, her affable smile slipping the second Archie exited the room. Looking very much like a grumpy child, Ruby huffed.
Regina had merely tutted. "Suck it up, buttercup," she then said, a rather annoying smirk spreading over her lips. "If I endured it without resorting to violence, so can you."
Even though Ruby got what Regina was saying, she still spent the next hour seething with aggravation. Thankfully the visitations petered out after the first day, but the boredom and oppressive restrictions did not. By the time her release was scheduled to come through late in the evening the next day, she was pacing back and forth in her room as if she were indeed a caged animal.
At least in terms of her physical health, she felt almost normal again. Almost all of her wounds had been mended by a combination of Regina's magic and her own accelerated regeneration, so there was little physical reason to keep her hospitalized any longer. In fact, much to Ruby's relief, Victor had already been in an hour beforehand for one final checkup. After commenting on her marked improvement, he declared her ready to be cut loose.
Now, it was just a waiting game and it was one that Ruby was getting very tired of playing. To hell with the paperwork, she just wanted to go home.
"I wish you would stop pacing, dear. You're going to wear a hole in the floor," Regina commented in barely veiled annoyance from the corner of the room. Sitting primly in one of the uncomfortable chairs provided by the hospital, she recrossed her legs, raising a sable brow as she did so. She had been lounging there for the better part of an hour as she read the morning paper while they waited for Ruby's release to roll around at noon.
Ruby could not find it in herself to be affronted by her girlfriend's complaint. Regina had been extraordinarily patient with her the past several hours as her confinement had at last started to suffocate her. But Ruby was restless and wound up and chomping at the bit, so her sardonic answer reflected that.
"There's concrete under this linoleum," she retorted, still anxiously pacing. "It can take it."
In an example of her aforementioned patience, Regina merely chuckled and then stood up from the chair. Crossing over to Ruby, she gathered the pacing woman into her arms. At first, Ruby resisted, but as she always did, she soon lost all resolve and flowed into her beloved's embrace.
"Come now, it won't be much longer," Regina cooed while she rubbed slow and soothing circular patterns on Ruby's back. "We'll be home before you know it."
Ruby rested her head on Regina's shoulder with a sigh and they began to sway in unison to the naturally comforting rhythm their bodies provided. "Is Henry going to be there?"
Ruby heard a noise of confirmation. "He's been at the house since early this morning helping David clean up the mess from the foyer. He called an hour ago to say they were finished, so everything at home is ready and waiting for you."
"Mmmm, home," Ruby mumbled into Regina's shoulder like some kind of primitive cave woman. Regina's warmth and comfort often had the effect of reducing her to monosyllabic words in her thoughts, such as on this occasion: leave-now, want-home, see-hug-squeeze-punk, 'Gina-food-yum!, hot-bath-yay!, silk-sheets, and finally bed-'Gina soft-skin-warm-body-good-sleep. The final thought elicited an especially contented sigh.
"Indeed," Regina chuckled again, obviously amused by Ruby's rather inelegant response.
But then a stray thought from somewhere out of left field randomly popped into her mind, breaking the bubble of their nice moment. Stepping back out Regina's embrace, Ruby regarded her questioningly.
"Say, I never got to ask, but how exactly were you able to find me?"
For a second, Regina look startled by the non sequitur, but she quickly recovered. Looking down and away, she swallowed heavily and then wet her lips. The reaction made Ruby very curious, seeing as she knew that particular response very well. It was one that Regina only ever had when she was ashamed by something she had said or done.
For a second, Regina made no reply and Ruby thought she might have to prompt an explanation, but as she opened her mouth to do so, she was preempted by Regina.
"When I'd falsely believed you to be having an affair, I may have given in to a moment of temporary insanity and installed a tracker app on your phone," she finally admitted, having the grace wear a look of chagrin.
"Regina!" Ruby exclaimed, wide eyed as though shocked but secretly amused and not at all surprised.
Considering what the once devious Queen was capable of, the action – invasive as it was of Ruby's privacy – was rather tame. Regina could have easily used her mirror magic to spy in even more detail, and in a way Ruby almost wish she had done so. Had Regina utilized that particular talent, her fears would have ultimately been assuaged since she would have seen for herself that nothing of that sort was going on between Ruby and Emma.
But as it so happened, Regina had opted to employ a high tech means of subterfuge, which Ruby had to admit was an unexpected choice. Perhaps, Ruby mused, all of her harping on adapting to the 21st century was finally breaking through. If so, she was very proud of her somewhat technophobic girlfriend who still insisted that microwaves were crutches for people too lazy or incompetent to cook, smart phones were little more than electronic pacifiers, and that her dated but classic Mercedes was better than anything currently produced.
And though Ruby would have been well within her rights to feel betrayed by what Regina had done, she just couldn't manage to do so, not when she was almost wholly to blame for the situation. She understood why Regina felt the way she did and did not fault her partner at all. Due to Ruby's Cool Hand Luke worthy failure to communicate, there were legitimate reasons for Regina to have suspected an affair.
If it were possible, Ruby would love to go back and change the way she handled the entire situation with her second job, but such pointless wishing was counterproductive and pointless. Time travel was impossible, and wallowing in guilt never got anything accomplished. So instead, she chose to accept a majority of the responsibility for the series of debacles over the past three months and in turn forgive Regina for hers.
Speaking in general, though, forgiving Regina came very easily to Ruby these days. She had lots of practice. Regina could be a hot-head and say and do things that were vindictive and hurtful, and when she was on a tear, no one was exempt from her wrath.
Many times over the years Ruby had triggered that legendary temper and bore the brunt of verbal tirades that probably would have scared any one else away. But Ruby had known from the very beginning of their relationship that Regina was not an easy woman to love, that she was flawed and made mistakes and could be mean as striped snake. That had never deterred Ruby. Not ever.
She loved the sweet woman who tenderly brushed her hair every night and braided it for work, who left her notes on the refrigerator in her elegant script reminding her not to forget the lunch that had been lovingly made just for her, and who called at odd hours of the day because 'I just needed to hear your voice'. But as much as Ruby loved that woman, she also loved the rest of Regina, including the spiteful, sarcastic, and caustic, empress who ruled her town and her home with an iron fist; and just the same, she adored the fiercely independent, mule-like woman who loathed feeling weak or needy and who rarely accepted charity; and Ruby also cherished the no-nonsense motivator who rode her ass about getting chores or repairs around the house done in an 'expeditious and competent manner' and who pushed her and challenged her to never settle for anything less than perfection. What others would call character defects in Regina, Ruby considered to be the spice of life that made every single day of her life interesting.
Character quirks aside, however, Ruby understood how difficult it was for Regina to trust others with her heart. That developed tendency to distrust was what made Regina so quick to believe people were turning on her when they weren't, were doubting her when they truly believed, or were questioning her redemption when they had always been on her side. It was all because of the woman Ruby incidentally considered to be one of the worst examples of motherhood in history.
Rather than preparing her daughter to be a Queen as she had claimed, all Cora really managed to do was teach Regina through an empty heart and a heavy hand that even the people who should love her the most were capable of hurting her. It took a long time for Regina to realize that wasn't the case in the wider world – that her mother was a gross anomaly rather than the norm.
Thankfully, Regina had made great progress in that regard over time. She was now less apt than she once was to be skeptical of people's motivations, and had grown more trusting and more readily approachable. Though she was still acerbic and standoffish at times, she was much less prone to malicious or vindictive outbursts, and whenever they happened, people had finally begun to learn that it was just Regina being Regina. And that was okay. Ruby made sure to tell her that it was okay because she had never wanted Regina to change who she was, never wanted her to be ashamed of who she was but to be more open to letting people into her heart and her life. And that, Regina had most certainly done.
So no, it was not difficult at all for Ruby to forgive Regina for the misstep. Rather, the hard part was forgiving herself.
Ruby did not like to think about the fact that her actions had so perplexed and pained Regina that they caused her to doubt Ruby's fidelity. Her inconsiderate behavior had threatened Regina's personal growth and had tarnished the trust she had earned with her emotionally skittish partner, and Ruby felt so horrible about it that she knew the guilt would linger on long after her recovery was accomplished. She was going to have to learn to live with what she put them through, and yet, she hoped that what she planned for later tonight would begin the process of mending the hurt feelings on both sides of their relationship equation.
"I'm so sorry, Ruby," Regina then apologized, heartfelt remorse plainly written in her eyes and with a measure of self-hatred in her tone that made Ruby wince internally. She loathed herself a little more in hearing it, knowing that she was responsible for putting it there. "I know that I betrayed you, but I couldn't help myself. The thought of you with someone else – with Emma – was eating me alive. I know that's no excuse for my lapse in trust, but I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
Ruby almost laughed at the absurdity of Regina's apology. Here she was, apologizing for installing a relatively harmless piece of tracking software on Ruby's phone and castigating herself for breaking Ruby's trust, when Ruby had done so much worse. Her actions back in the Enchanted Forest almost got Regina killed, and then her asinine reactions to that had almost ended in her own death. In the process, she had also endangered the lives of their unborn children. Regina was decidedly not the one who ought to be apologizing.
"Hey, it's alright," Ruby replied as she raised her hand to caress Regina's cheek, and then leaned in to give her needlessly repentant girlfriend a gentle, consoling kiss. "I understand why you did it, and there is absolutely no need for you to apologize. I made you feel that way, so I'm sorry." When Regina opened her mouth to protest, Ruby stopped her with another brief kiss. "But if it makes you feel better," she then offered, "I love you, so of course I forgive you. I don't want you to hold on to this guilt, okay? Let it go – for both of our sakes."
Regina nodded in at least partial acceptance. "Only if you promise to do the same."
Ruby smiled and leaned in close yet again. "For you, I will do anything," and then she sealed their lips together for another kiss, this one lingering and probing. When Regina tilted her head and whimpered into the kiss, Ruby wound her hands around the small of Regina's back and tugged her partner flush against her body. As always, they fit perfectly together.
If Ruby lived to be a hundred years so, she didn't think it would ever get old having Regina's perfectly feminine curves pressed up against her. And since enjoying that privilege would only get increasingly difficult over the next few months, Ruby was determined to get in as much touchy feely time as she could. Once they both started properly showing, it was going to be hard to get in any meaningful hugs, so Regina would just have to indulge her for the time being.
After parting from the dreamy kiss a minute later, Ruby rested her forehead against Regina's and gave a long, starry-eyed sigh. "God, I love your kisses. I swear, nobody else does it for me like you do."
Regina's eyes narrowed at Ruby in mock accusation. "Implying there have been many others. Just how many pairs of lips have you been kissing of late besides mine, Miss Lucas?"
Scoffing, Ruby rolled her eyes and then reached down to pinch Regina's rear, which produced a startled jump and an uncharacteristically high-pitched yelp. Coming from the always proudly composed woman made it doubly amusing.
Ruby grinned in delight. "Serves you right," she teased. "You should know by now that your lips are the only ones I want to be kissing for the rest of my life."
Regina purred and then batted her eyes coquettishly. "That was a very good answer."
Ruby had to bite her lip against the rising desire she felt. The hospital was not an appropriate place for what she wanted to do to Regina right then, and she didn't think Victor would appreciate them making a mess of the nearby counter-top, so she took a step back.
Clearing her throat, Ruby gestured toward the phone in Regina's left hand. "Seriously though, I'm cool with it...the tracker app. I mean, that you used it to find me, not that I want it left on my phone, 'cause I would really rather it be taken off. But the point is..." she took a deep drag of air, "I don't really care what you had to do, I'm just glad you came for me."
As the words left her mouth, Ruby remembered that she had left their home in her wolf form and laughed aloud at the subsequent thought. Her sudden shift in demeanor caused Regina to peer at her curiously.
"Sorry, it's just that when I left the house, I was on four legs instead of two," Ruby explained, a wide grin on her face, "and as you know, wolves don't have pockets. So I wasn't exactly carrying my phone with me. I guess it's a good thing that everything on my person gets magically stored while I'm shifted, otherwise locating me via my phone wouldn't have worked. Score one for the old werewolf genes!"
At that, Regina chuckled also, sharing Ruby's mirth in her characteristically deep and throaty tone. That sound was one that always stirred up Ruby's insides. In fact, it never ceased to amaze Ruby how every little thing Regina did was sexy.
Over the years, Ruby had been privy to many forms of said sexiness, and to be fair, she appreciated them all because she couldn't honestly think of very much Regina did that she didn't find addictive and intoxicating. Laughing Regina, as she was now, was sexy; crying Regina was sexy; sleepy Regina was sexy; angry Regina was sexy; and tired Regina was sexy, too; so was hateful Regina and silly Regina and happy Regina and even melancholy Regina. And then there was professional businesswoman Regina, who made being sexy all classy and elegant and effortless with her power suits and high heels and those tight-ass skirts that made Ruby want to bend her over the nearest flat object so she could ravish the woman senseless, propriety be damned.
But the most sexy Regina of all was amorous Regina, who simply redefined the term and had the singular ability to ruin Ruby's panties with one heated gaze from infinite chocolate eyes. The woman was simply sex on legs. Ruby had never possessed enough strength to deny Regina was she was feeling frisky, not that she had ever wanted to. On the contrary, Regina being in the mood usually was enough to put Ruby in the mood, even when she was physically or mentally spent. In full on sex kitten mode, the woman was a force of nature capable of conquering the most indomitable of objectives. Ruby hadn't stood a chance.
Just to please Regina, Ruby had done things and said things and tried things during sex that she would never have been caught dead attempting otherwise. Regina was a worldly woman with experience beyond against-the-wall quickies and brief, violent romps that could wake the dead; thus she took every opportunity to instruct Ruby on the art of love making, showing Ruby how best to please her as well as how best to please herself.
In the process of expanding Ruby's horizons, Regina introduced Ruby to experiences that made her shudder with anticipation just to think about, and had it not been Regina doing the teaching, Ruby would have never learned to embrace the abilities and needs of her own body. She would never have learned to let go with her lover in order to experience the bliss of complete surrender, would have have discovered that she could reach completion over and over and over again before succumbing to exhaustion, and would never have come to understand that carefully controlled pain could make pleasure so exquisite that her brain literally stopped working for short bursts of time.
Regina, all things considered, was simply incredible. And aroused as she was becoming by her thoughts and Regina's mere presence, Ruby was having an extraordinarily hard time controlling her overly active libido.
Wanting very much to pounce on Regina right then and there, she was tragically interrupted by a knock on the door. It opened to reveal Emma, who then stepped into the doorway waving Ruby's release papers with a wide grin on her face.
"I've come to spring you," she said, and if she had witnessed the electrically charged atmosphere of the room, she made no mention of it. Emma was an observant woman, so she probably did and was just being respectful. Ruby decided she owed her friend a Carrot Cake, one of her baking specialties.
"Thank God," Regina sighed.
"Ass," Ruby playfully replied along with a light tap to Regina's shoulder from the back of her hand.
Regina peered back in faux innocence. "What? You were about to give me gray hairs with all of your fretting and pacing. I'm not ready for that phase of my life just yet."
"Don't worry, sweetness," Ruby drawled. "You'll totally rock the silver if and when it ever appears."
Regina huffed, rolling her eyes even though she was obviously touched. "An appreciated complement it may be, but don't ever call me sweetness again."
Ruby pouted. "But you let me call you 'babe' and 'hon' and 'sugar' all the time."
"Well," Regina huffed, "I allow that only because I love you and I happen to think you are too adorable to resist. However, my tolerance has its limits."
Ruby preened for a moment at being called adorable, but a feeling of dangerous mischievousness had her smirking. "But what's so bad about sweetness? You don't seem to mind it whenever I refer to you as mi sabroso trozo de tarta de manzana caliente."
"Ruby Lucas! That was completely inappropriate!" Regina growled in protest, and Ruby laughed at the way her face turned beet red. She loved to tease Regina in Spanish, often to laments from her sophisticated girlfriend that she regretted ever teaching Ruby the language.
With so few people in Storybrooke capable of understanding it (only a handful of individuals from Xavier's kingdom came over in the Curse and they all were provided with knowledge of the relatively equivalent language), Ruby could get away with making lewd references like that in public. It was a good thing, though, that Emma was one of said residents, because otherwise Regina probably would have roasted her alive over a spit.
Holding her hands up, Ruby apologized hoping to avoid incineration, though her eyes were twinkling in merriment. "I just had to. It was too good an opportunity to pass up."
"Yes, well...next time perhaps consider that the people listening in on the conversation, such Emma here, might be learning Spanish."
Ruby's jaw dropped. Why had she not heard of this? "Are you serious."
Regina crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "I have been personally tutoring her here and there over the past six months, so yes, I'm serious."
Looking over at Emma, absolutely mortified, Ruby found her friend trying to restrain a howling bout of laughter. Bursting at the seams almost, Emma leaned against the doorway, looking like the cat that ate the canary. "I'll never look at a turnover the same way again."
"Oh, God," Ruby groaned, dreading the indefinite ribbing she would take over this. She flushed with color so intensely that she wouldn't have been surprised had her hair turned redder Zelena's.
"Yes, dear," Regina then added, her offended visage somewhat more relaxed. "Pray to God in thanks that I'm in a permissive mood."
The ostensible forgiveness had Ruby sighing with relief. "Thank you. Had I known Emma could understand what I was saying..."
"Behaving in a civilized and tactful manner does not require awareness, Ruby," Regina interrupted, stern in admonishment.
"You're right. I'm sorry." Ruby bit her lip in remorse and turned large eyes at Regina, who scoffed. Still, she lost what was remaining of her stiff posture.
"So," Emma then drawled from the doorway, hiding a smile behind Ruby's release papers, "now that that's settled: you ready to blow this joint?"
The welcome change in subject was only eclipsed by Ruby's joy at finally being free of her sanitized prison. "Hell, yeah!" she exclaimed, and wasted no time in crossing over to the door where she enthusiastically hugged her friend and co-worker.
Like the stealthy old pro she was, Emma utilized the embrace to pass Ruby the item she had been sent to collect earlier.
When Emma had visited before heading in to the Station, Ruby had used the opportunity to give Emma a very specific set of instructions. After retrieving her credit card from her wallet in the cabinet opposite the bed where the rest of her things were stored, she passed it to Emma.
"Go to Midas' Touch," she carefully instructed. "Since her father got sick, Kathryn has been picking up slack in the store during her off hours. Tell her to charge the item I picked out to my card and then bring it to me. Okay?"
Knowing what was afoot, Emma crushed Ruby in a tight hug. "I knew it!" she exclaimed, and Ruby couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's exuberance. But then she suddenly pulled back, her hands still attached to Ruby's shoulders. "You're finally gonna go for it, aren't you?"
Ruby bit her lip and nodded, and it was all she could do not to tear up at the radiant grin Emma gave her, one that was nearly matched by the one Storybrooke's greatest hero and Ruby's dearest friend was currently wearing.
In response to feel of the velvet box in her hand, Ruby pulled away much in the same way Emma had to look into the Savior's sea green eyes. "Any problems?" she asked, keeping her voice modulated so as to shield Regina from the object of their discussion.
From behind her shoulder, Ruby could feel her girlfriend's laser-like glare boring into the back of her head back. If only she knew, she thought. Regina hated secrets and this was the mother of them all.
"Nope," Emma answered at an equally low volume, her lips popping on the 'p'. "You're all good." Emma then nudged Ruby by the elbow. "Hey, you did good by the way. She'll love it!"
Ruby ducked her head as she flushed with relief. She had picked out what she believed to be the perfect thing for Regina, but uncertainty had plagued her right up until that moment. Emma's approval meant more than she realized.
Raising her head, Ruby looked at Emma through her lashes. "You think?"
Emma's fervent nod, which caused her ponytail to bob with the motion of her head, was accented by a proud smile which put her envious cheekbones on display. "I think it's perfect."
Blushing slightly, Ruby took a moment to study her friend. Emma's smile really was lovely, especially when it was so genuine and heartfelt and unfettered by the burdens of responsibility or jaded memories of her childhood. To Ruby, Emma was unique and irreplaceable. She was gorgeous, loyal, compassionate, tenacious, and strong, and Ruby was so very proud to call her a friend.
There was a time, though, in which Ruby had hoped her friend would wind up being much more than that. During the curse, Emma had been the only person other than Granny who showed a genuine interest in her for more than just her physical attributes. When Emma first arrived, Ruby had felt an instant connection with the striking newcomer, and the more she got to know the person behind the pretty smile and blonde curls who had seemed to turn all of Storybrooke upside down by her mere presence, the more she found herself succumbing to feelings she hadn't experienced in a very long time.
Those nascent affections had only been exacerbated by the all-too brief stint working for Emma when Kathryn went missing. Working in such proximity to the woman she was had been crushing on enlightened her to the reality that the attraction was developing into something deeper. Ruby had realized with no small amount of trepidation that she was starting to fall in love with Emma, and even though Emma was a very difficult person to read, Ruby had thought she was getting some signals that indicated Emma reciprocated her feelings.
But then Emma got caught up in the drama with Henry and Regina, and with Mary Margaret who was constantly getting herself into trouble. With so much on the new Sheriff's plate, Ruby hadn't been able to figure out where or how she could fit into the picture. As such, she had respectfully chosen to establish some distance in the hopes that once things settled down, there might be a chance to pursue whatever she had felt building between them. That chance never came.
It was the curse breaking that finally put an end to Ruby's hopes for a romance with Emma. Finding out that the person you were falling in love with just so happens to be the daughter of your best friend, and by consequence your goddaughter, has the tendency to put a damper on any such feelings. That new relation to Emma had drawn a line that Ruby was unwilling to cross, no matter how much she had wanted to.
For a while after that, she had satisfied her lingering attraction by imaging what would have happened if Emma had just been some stranger passing through. In those fanciful scenarios, Ruby would have eventually worked up to the boldness to plant a kiss on Emma, and after recovering from the shock, Emma of course would have reciprocated. It wouldn't have taken them long, in Ruby's estimation, to fall into bed, to get all tangled up in each others lives until there was no separating them. The conclusion she came to was that in another time and another life, she and Emma would have wound up together, on some level, she believed Emma felt the same.
It took quite some time for Ruby to move on from those feelings, but eventually she did, much in part to her increasing isolation from the Charming clan. But she had determined to never relinquish her platonic affections for the kind and generous woman who had broken her out of the shell of the curse, and in time, came to be a foundational element in her life.
In many ways, Emma was her best friend now. Back in the Enchanted Forest, Snow had assumed that role for Red, but they were not in the Enchanted Forest anymore and she was no longer Red. And while it was certainly true that she still identified with the person that she used to be, Storybrooke had changed her in ways she hadn't thought possible. By and large she was Ruby now, not Red, and although nothing could ever sever the deep emotional bond Red shared with Snow, Emma was Ruby's best friend. Thankfully, Snow seemed to understand that and had accepted her new place in Ruby's life.
"What's perfect?" Regina asked curiously from closer behind Ruby's shoulder than she had been. Her voice interrupted Ruby's sidetracked thoughts.
When Ruby shifted her stance to better see Regina, who was eyeing the two women suspiciously, she angled her body to hide the box she was holding in her left hand, and passed it back to Emma. "You'll see soon enough," she then answered mysteriously with a tilt of her head and a waggling of her eyebrows.
Regina scoffed in plain annoyance. "I hate surprises, and you know that."
"I do, but you don't hate all my surprises," Ruby countered.
"Oh?" A sable eyebrow rose in disagreement. Ruby gulped. Regina was suddenly combative, and that did not bode well. "To which surprise are you referring? Perhaps that ridiculously skimpy Victoria's Secret negligee you bought for me to wear – all for your own benefit I might add? If you'll remember, I hardly enjoyed that highly uncomfortable selection."
"Okay..." Emma drawled in response, taken aback by both the visual images Regina's words provoked and the woman's unusual bluntness concerning such delicate matters. "I did not need to know that."
Ruby sighed in exasperation, completely ignoring Emma as she glared at Regina with her hands on her hips. "Seriously? You're going to drop that so casually after calling me out for being inappropriate? Hello pot, meet kettle!"
"Point taken," Regina conceded, though in a confrontational tone that contradicted her sincerity. She still looked extremely irritated, Ruby noted. "But that doesn't invalidate the sentiment."
"Please." Ruby then scoffed. "I don't even wanna to hear it. You sure didn't seem to mind my reaction to that 'uncomfortable selection'. In fact, I don't seem to remember much complaining at all from you in the hours that followed. Moaning, sure. Some screaming, too, but no complaining."
"You did not just say that out loud," Regina gritted out hotly, her face inflaming as her posture stiffened. "My God, Ruby. Have you no tact at all?"
It was clear to Ruby that Regina's lashing out was partly due to secrets being kept from her, but it was also partly from having spent nearly two days and nights in the hospital with Ruby, fretting over her health and trying to come to terms with everything that had happened. It was little wonder that it took Regina so long to finally erupt.
But even though Ruby was aware of what was driving Regina's behavior, she was equally as frayed. Unfortunately, both their short fuses chose the same time to short.
"As I just said: hypocrite much?" she spat back, despite her internal warning that she was going to go too far. "To answer your question, though: I guess not. I think you already knew that. Don't you remember what you called me that one time?" Ruby looked up to the ceiling as she tapped her chin in an exaggerated manner, feigning wracking her brain for the phrase. She snapped her fingers when she 'pretended' to remember it and then focused hardened eyes back on Regina. "Oh, yeah! I think it was 'an uncouth heathen'. Well, I sure am, ain't I? As a matter of fact, I'm surprised that I have any teeth left and am not currently dressed in overalls and straw-freakin'-hat. Hell, I bet somewhere down the line I'm related to myself, too!
"And by the way, yes, I so did say that," she forged ahead in a sing-song manner, now running on a full head of steam. "Oh! And let's not forget about that hot little red piece you got for me a couple months ago. I seem to recall you were pretty insistent I wear it for you and you know what? I took it like a champ even though it barely had enough fabric to cover a kneecap!"
"Yeah, didn't need to know that either," Emma sighed from behind Ruby's shoulder. She pinched the bridge of her nose in dramatic exasperation when she noticed the vein in Regina's forehead prominently emerge along with an increasing redness to her face. When she opened her mouth to retort, Emma cut in, clearing having heard quite enough. "Alright, ladies, alright! That's enough. Cool it!"
At Emma's outburst, both women returned to awareness of where they were and of the fact that were not alone in the room. Emma almost laughed aloud at their subsequent mortification.
"Geez, I swear you guys are worse than an old married couple sometimes."
"That's because we essentially are one, Miss Swan," Regina stated in annoyance. "We only lack the paperwork and the rings. Now, if you'll please excuse me, I need some air." Without another glance at Ruby, she then hastily nudged her way through the door and disappeared down the hallway.
Both Emma and Ruby looked at each other with equal amounts of shock at Regina's choice of words.
When Emma absently handed Ruby the box once again, Ruby looked at her friend, half-terrified. She took the box with a shaky hand. "Do you think she knows?" Suddenly sobered from the emotional high of arguing with her obstinate girlfriend, which tended to get her blood pumping, she began to dread the rapidly approaching confrontation that would ensue had Regina indeed figured things out.
"No way," Emma replied, shaking her head. "If she suspected something, we'd know 'cause she'd let us know she knows...if that makes sense."
"Yeah, it totally does," Ruby sighed. "I'm sorry you had to hear all that, Em."
Chuckling, Emma shook her head in amusement. "It's cool, Rubes. Nothing I haven't heard before with you two. You argue like cats and dogs, no pun intended, but it's just 'cause you love each other. In a way it's kinda sweet."
"It kinda is, isn't it?" Ruby agreed, chuckling herself. Her relationship with Regina was special. It had its moments where she wanted to tear her hair out by the roots, but mostly she lived for the arguments just as much as she did for the tender exchanges. Touching Emma's elbow, Ruby gave her friend a grateful smile. "By the way, thanks for everything, especially for the advance on my paycheck for this week. I mean it, you're a lifesaver. I owe you big time."
"You're welcome," Emma replied warmly, "and you don't owe me anything. I was glad to help. Besides, it's the least I could do with what you just went through."
Pausing, Emma regarded Ruby as if she were hesitant to admit what she was about to. "I have to say, though, I'm really gonna miss you at the Station, 'cause I really enjoyed having you as my partner these past few months. And you're good at it, you know? You have impeccable instincts...better than anyone I've ever worked with before. Plus it was nice having someone to talk to down there who isn't a family member or a criminal."
As she smiled in response, Ruby tilted her head to give Emma a secretive look. "Yeah, about that: I'd really like to stay on. Despite how hard it is sometimes, I love it the job, and you're right, I'm good at it. It's like I was born to do it. So, give me a call in about a week...you know, to give me some time to butter Regina up to the idea. I don't want her to have a conniption. I mean, that is if you'll have me?"
Emma's green eyes brightened greatly and she nodded. "Yeah, of course! I can do that. I'd love to make your position permanent and I know Dad would too. That way he can have some more time off with Mom and Neal. We had kinda already agreed about extending you the offer anyway."
"Then its settled, so long as Regina's okay with it," Ruby said with a grin. "But listen, I really need to catch up with her and soothe her ruffled feathers. I don't wanna leave her out there brooding for too long, especially since it was my fault."
"Probably a good idea," Emma chuckled as she passed Ruby's release papers to her. "Listen, I have to pick up Henry tonight and I know you guys won't be up for company, so I won't stick around. But I'll call you first thing tomorrow – you know, to see how things went."
"Yeah, sure. That sounds good," Ruby replied, a hint of nervousness in her voice.
Reaching out, Emma rubbed Ruby's arm reassuringly. "Hey, it's gonna be fine, you'll see. There is absolutely no way she says no."
Ruby worried her bottom lip at Emma's insightfulness. "I hope so. It's just...I know how she feels...felt about it, but for some reason I really need to do this. I dunno, I can't really explain why I need this so much. I guess I just want her to have something tangible that shows her I'm in this 100% - for forever."
Grasping Ruby's shoulder, Emma looked at her with a sombre though encouraging expression. "She already knows that, Ruby," she said. "You just heard her. She already considers herself as yours and you as hers. She doesn't need a ring for you to prove it and I know you don't either.
"Just the same, I think she wants this just as much as you do, so ask her. She'll say yes because she loves you and she wants to be your 'lawfully wedded wife', just like you want to be hers."
Touched, Ruby nodded silently as an errant tear leaked down her face. She had really needed the confirmation from someone else outside the exclusive bubble of herself and Henry, who had been enthusiastically supportive of her decision since she first posed the idea to him almost 3 months ago. Hearing Emma basically validate her read on the situation gave Ruby the extra boost of confidence she needed to move forward.
"Thank you, Emma," Ruby whispered, gathering her friend into another tight hug. "Thank you for being such an amazing friend." Stepping away, Ruby clutched Emma's hand, giving it a squeeze.
"Thank you, Ruby, that means a lot – more than you know," Emma replied around a sniffle and with a watery smile. "Now, go get your Queen before she comes back and lays down the law on your uppity ass."
Ruby laughed and then shook her head. Sometimes Emma's way of phrasing things killed her. When she settled a moment later, she stepped up into the doorway. "I'll talk to you in the morning then?"
"That's the plan," Emma confirmed. "And Ruby...good luck."
Before leaving, Ruby smiled at Emma affectionately, eternally grateful for the kind and understanding woman that had come into her life like a whirlwind those many years ago. She counted herself as remarkably fortunate to have someone as amazing as Emma Swan in her life.
"Thanks, Em! Catch ya later!"
With a wave – which Emma returned – Ruby departed the room and jogged down the hallway to the hospital entrance. To hide the ring, she stuffed it inside the jacket slung over her arm. She didn't want to risk Regina finding out if she hadn't made the deduction on her own.
After arriving in the lobby, she looked around, but was unable to spot Regina. However, upon peering at the glass lining the front of the building, she noticed her girlfriend standing just outside the doors in the cold. From where she was standing, Ruby could see the tight expression on her face and that her arms were crossed tightly over her chest.
Ruby exited the hospital and cautiously approached her annoyed girlfriend. Shivering due to the cold, she wished she had thought to tell Emma to deliver the ring to the house. Her jacket would have come in very handy to ward off the chilly New England weather.
"Hey," she gingerly greeted, her breath visible in puffs of white mist.
Regina turned to meet her eyes, still seething at the hurtful exchange back in the hospital room. Suitably shamed, Ruby ducked her head.
"I'm sorry I went off the handle in there, I didn't mean it," she said, making sure to sound as remorseful as she felt. She winced at the lance of hurt that passed through Regina's eyes. "My nerves are raw and I got aggravated, but I shouldn't have said those things, especially in front of Emma. I'm really, really sorry." To complete the apologetic picture and figuring it was appropriate considering the way she felt, Ruby gave Regina her most pitifully exaggerated puppy dog expression.
With a heaving sigh, Regina initially regarded Ruby with a tense look, but it slowly melted into affection. After a few seconds of silence, she extended her arm out to run a gloved finger down Ruby's cheek.
"I forgive you, of course," she replied. "I love you too much not to. But I should apologize as well. I shouldn't have provoked you. I knew you were on knife's edge, yet I did so anyway. Will you forgive me?"
"Mmmhmm," Ruby hummed with a lazy smile, nodding dramatically as she worked her way into her girlfriend's arms. "Seal it with a kiss?"
Smiling lovingly in return, Regina closed the distance between them.
"We have an accord," she whispered against Ruby's lips and then sealed them with her own.
After a few moments of enjoying the taste of one another, they parted, foreheads resting together as their eyes locked in a silent conversation in which only their hearts were speaking. It was weird, Ruby thought, that it felt like her heart was literally being pulled toward Regina's so that they could join together into one organ. She had never felt that way before, but it was nice, comforting even, to know her heart wanted to become part of Regina. It made Ruby feel closer to her than ever before.
For a least a minute, they contented themselves to stand in the embrace, brown eyes on green, both filled with adoration and devotion borne of enduring unimaginable horrors and coming out the other side unified in ways they couldn't even define. Their love had been tested by a force greater than human conception – a force that shaped the lives of mortals and immortals, of deities and demons alike, and which formed worlds and galaxies, molding them into their shapes and setting their orbits – and they had passed.
"So," Regina then spoke, breaking the magical moment as she stepped out of Ruby's embrace to offer her arm. "Are you ready to go home?"
Ruby looped her own arm with Regina's and then grinned. "I am beyond ready. Let's go!"
And home they went. After all, as Zelena's least favorite movie of all time so appropriately declared, there was no place like it.
Notes: Not much to say about this one, really, except I didn't want to give a false depiction of a relationship between two headstrong alpha females. In my opinion, Ruby and Regina are going to have fights, and they will get dirty at times. It's how they handle them that matters, that defines the health of their relationship. I hope that came across.
Also, I wanted to ask, did anyone figure out beforehand what Ruby was doing by taking her second job? If you did, let me know! Also, I want to inquire as to whether my end notes are a little too descriptive. I wouldn't mind prompting a bit more discussion, so if I'm answering all of your burning questions in my notes, I'll be sure to be less revealing.
Next one should be up at the normal time; that is, Tuesday around 7 est-ish. It will be from Regina's PoV, as will be the following chapter. In those, the Mills family has a sweet reunion, and then Regina helps Ruby through a tough night. The week after that will see the last full chapter and the epilogue being published. It's almost over folks! I'm kinda sad.
Anyway, see y'all then. Enjoy!