Two chapters in one night. I'm on a roll. As always, the reviews are appreciated!
Chapter 28
Emma left the bedroom first, she gave up on the lotion and used magic for clothing. She needed to get her things from the loft, but she really just needed to leave the room before Regina put on her second silk stocking. The first one had been enough to give Emma a mild heart attack and judging by the dark chuckle she heard as she left, Regina knew exactly what she was doing.
She was going to wake Henry but found a note on his door that said:
Moms, I am heading out because I am hungry and you guys are still asleep. I will be going to Granny's and you can txt me when you wake up.
P.S. Lorelei is not involved at this time, so don't worry.
Emma rolled her eyes before heading to the kitchen. She left the note on the door, Regina would just ask to read it anyway. She started a pot of coffee and found a couple aspirin for Regina to take. Toast was sounding really good so she started searching for bread.
"Emma, Henry left this morning before we woke up!" Regina had come barreling into the kitchen waving the note at her.
Emma nodded and gave up on bread. She instead poured two cups of coffee and sat them down on the counter in front of the stools. She then took the note from Regina's startled hands and forced her to sit on a stool. "Regina, for like, one hour I just want nice, calm and quiet, okay?" Regina stared at her like a lunatic. "Please, you know as soon as we walk out the front door, we will have to face the world and it's going to suck."
"Emma, our son ran off, again. Your mother got Belle pregnant. Lorelei is running around town, probably causing more pregnancies, and STD's. We cannot just sit here and sip coffee!" She tried to stand but Emma pushed her back down on the stool.
"One hour. Please Gina. One hour, staring at the most beautiful woman the realms have to offer. One hour of sipping coffee and talking about… I don't know… blue birds or some shit."
Regina laughed but relaxed a little, pulling her cup of coffee closer, "one hour Emma. Do not call me Gina ever again. If the town burns down in that hour, it's your fault. And if you want to talk about blue birds, call your ridiculous mother. She has a thing with the birds. Did you know, when she was little…" Emma sat on her own stool and listened to stories of when her mother was a little girl. Of course, it was Regina's point of view so Snow came out looking like a demented child who was possessed by St. Francis of Assisi, but it was still nice. For one hour, they just sat and sipped coffee.
…..
Lorelei woke with a start; she had been having a nightmare. No surprise, it involved Hades and a cliff. It always did. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she often had nightmares about how her life ended. They weren't always the same, but the main theme was still there. She had loved him with all her heart and soul and he had sentenced her to death.
Shaking herself slightly, she carefully removed herself from the still softly sleeping Ruby. She headed to the bathroom and stared in the mirror for a few minutes, steadying herself from the nightmare. She reminded herself, just like she always had after this nightmare, that is what comes from loving someone too much. Pain, death, and betrayal. As she reminded herself of this, she couldn't help but glance out at the sleeping woman. She loved her. She didn't want to, but she did. She would never admit it out loud, but she did. For the millionth time since it had connected, she attempted to touch (and break) the true love thread shooting out of her heart. She gave up, sighing, because she could never touch these threads. In so many thousands of years, she couldn't touch the damn things and that means she couldn't break them either.
She quietly crept back into the main room, slowly gathering clothing to wear. She got all the way to pulling a shirt over her head before she heard a voice from the bed, "were you planning on telling me you were leaving?"
Grimacing she turned to look at her, "I was not. I was going to let you sleep."
Ruby sat up, from the way she looked, she had been awake at least as long as the siren. "Lorelei, I'm trying to be, like, patient, I guess. But seriously, this should be common sense shit. You need to say something before you leave. Like, if you really don't want to tell me where you're going, fine. Whatever. But you could at least say bye, or see you later, or peace out bitches, something!"
Lorelei buttoned her pants, listening with a slight frown. She walked over and sat down beside Red who was leaning on the head board, still very much naked. "I don't really understand why… but if you want me to let you know when I am leaving, I think I can manage that much." She took a few moments to study the woman's bare body then.
Smiling at her, Ruby told her, "you know, if wherever you're headed isn't terribly important…"
Lorelei met her eyes as she let the sentence trail off, licking her lips before being able to speak. "I actually don't remember exactly where I was going sooo…"
Ruby grinned wolfishly and pulled her in by her shirt, kissing her aggressively. "Then you should stay."
The clothing she had just put on was back on the floor in record time. And nearly two hours later, they were laying on their sides, facing each other and breathing heavily. Ruby was tracing runes on the sirens chest while Lorelei played with strands of the wild hair spread out on the pillows. She was beginning to think this was her favorite part about the woman, this hair. It was thick, but silky. So long and the perfect mix of dark reds and brown.
"Lorelei…" Ruby began but then bit her lower lip, frowning slightly.
Looking down at her, Lorelei answered, "whatever it is, and I know there is something bothering you, tell me." She stopped playing with the hair and lifted the womans chin so she could look at her eyes. She loved her eyes. Maybe that was her favorite part about her. But then she glanced at her lips, that was her favorite part, those incredibly soft lips.
Ruby stopped her tracing and moved so she was level with Lorelei's eyes. "What do you feel, exactly… I mean for me. Like, what is this?" She gestured to the two of them.
Lorelei frowned and pursed her lips, thinking before answering, "I thought we figured this out already. We are in a relationship, girlfriends."
Ruby chewed her lip nervously before saying the very last thing the siren wanted to hear, "Lorelei, I'm in love with you. And, I really need to know if there is some chance, maybe that you could feel the same…?"
Blank faced and slightly wide eyed she swallowed before answering, "well… I mean… we haven't really been together very long. And, I think we just barely decided we are even in a relationship. So, really, it's not even possible to be in love with me yet." She knew that sounded like shit, but she had been put on the spot here. Maybe her lips weren't her favorite part, her lips let words out, words that Lorelei didn't particularly want to think about.
Ruby sighed, obviously disappointed, "oh. Yeah, well maybe it is a bit too soon. But, I am in love with you. I thought you might… it's fine." She frowned, breaking eye contact and shaking her head a little.
Inside her chest, Lorelei felt her heart twist at watching Ruby hurt like this. It wasn't fair to her. She was perfect, and Lorelei was far from it. In fact, she thought to herself, I should never have let this woman anywhere near me. She began preparing lines to say to break this thing off and hopefully the sooner the better so Ruby could heal and get over it as quick as possible. She began planning where she could run off to that would give Ruby as much space as possible from her…
She was violently interrupted in her thoughts by a slap on her chest. "Hey! What the hell was that for?!"
Ruby was slightly red faced and more than slightly angry, "I know what you were thinking, and you are not going to do that to me."
Lorelei cocked a brow at this psycho as she rubbed her chest to soothe the slap mark. "And what the hell exactly do you think I was thinking? I'm fairly confident you are not psychic."
Ruby growled angrily as she got off the bed, muttering under her breath as she began dressing. Lorelei stared after her confused beyond all reason for a few moments before getting up and getting dressed herself. "Where are you going?"
Ruby laughed loudly, "oh my god you of all people did not just ask me that question."
Looking around wildly in more confusion, Lorelei struggled into her clothes quickly and got her boots on just as the door slammed behind Ruby storming out. She shouted angrily, "Bye, see you later bitches!" before tying up her laces and storming out also slamming the door.
….
Henry jumped as the diner door was thrown open, the bells nearly falling off, as Ruby stormed into the diner. She looked a mess, her hair was everywhere and her waitress outfit was wrinkled and kind of twisted looking. He watched, silently as she stormed behind the counter and started rolling silverware that must have wronged her in some way based on the violence she rolled them with.
Granny came out of the back in a huff, giving Henry his second cocoa. He had finished his pancakes a little while ago and as soon as the other waitress go there, she was leaving with him. "There you are, Ruby. I'm actually surprised, you're only two and a half hours late today."
Ruby didn't even stop or turn to face her when she said, "I'm here now so leave me alone okay."
Granny huffed at her before turning back to the kitchen angrily. Ruby threw down the silverware she was rolling and Henry heard her breathing jaggedly. She was crying. He jumped off his stool and ran around the counter, before she knew he was there, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.
She jumped in shock before giving in and hugging him back tightly for a few moments. When he pulled away, she wiped her tears on a napkin and smiled down at him, "thank you Henry, I actually really needed that one."
He smiled sadly up at her and asked, "what did she do?"
Ruby frowned at him, but then remembered the tattoo he had and she moved him back around to sit at the counter, sitting next to him and leaning in close. "Henry, you know what she is feeling right now, please tell me?"
Henry grimaced, "she is like, super confusing. Sometimes, when she feels one or two things, I can pick it out and I know what it is. But usually, it's like trying to decide which speck of dirt is which in a tornado." He shrugged in apology. "A little while ago it was a sort of quiet contented feeling, before that it was all heat and ten thousand different things."
Ruby blushed, realizing the time frame he was talking about. "Yeah, uhm, after the quiet part. What came next?"
He thought about it before answering, "It's weird, because I thought, at first that after the quiet there was a really intense fear, but she isn't scared of anything so that couldn't have been right. And then it was anger, and maybe confusion. And then it all exploded and I had to kind of block it before I threw up because it gets over whelming."
Ruby had tears in her eyes again and he snatched a napkin off the counter and handed it to her. She smiled and laughed a little, confusing him. How could you cry, laugh and smile at the same time? Maybe Lorelei wasn't confusing, maybe all women were. "Thank you. I just, I don't know what she actually feels. Like, I think I do, but then she completely flips."
Henry nodded, "yeah, she does that. I don't think she is very good at letting her emotions out. When she was around Cora, she sort of let her in. I mean she would talk with her, and share secrets and stuff. She didn't seem to have a problem showing her how she felt." At the look of defeat on Ruby's face he quickly continued, "but, that was before she took on the power needed to defeat Hades. After that, she was a bit more, confusing and she destroyed Cora… When she looks at you I don't think she could do that to you. No matter what state her mind is in. Maybe she should see Archie."
Ruby laughed at him and gave him a quick hug, wiping the rest of the tears off. "Yeah maybe. I just wish I could have that tattoo of yours for like, ten minutes."
He held up his palm and looked at the mark there, "I think it's a limited edition, sorry. But, I do have a couple ideas that I am working on right now. If Granny asks you to watch the diner, please do. Oh, and don't run off."
She stood, nudging his shoulder, "well if someone didn't text me maybe I wouldn't run out mid shift." She winked and went back to rolling napkins, calmer this time. Granny came out from the back, rolling her shoulders and standing up straight.
"Ruby, I am leaving for a while. I need you to watch the diner and try not to run off." Granny seemed to steel herself for a fight.
Ruby shrugged and just said, "okay."
Granny blinked repeatedly before squinting at her suspiciously. "That's it? It's that simple?"
Ruby turned and smiled at her, "Yeah, go."
Granny nodded as if she had won a battle and waved at Henry to move. He jumped up and said bye to Ruby before he and Granny left the diner. "I don't know what that Lorelei has done to her. She has been an absolute roller coaster since she met her."
Henry shrugged, "they love each other, Ruby admitted it, Lorelei won't admit it."
Granny nodded, "well then, let's put your plan into action. The sooner we get them sorted out, the sooner things can settle down around here."
Henry nodded and they set off down the street, headed for the rabbit hole.
….
Regina wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes, she couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so hard for so long. She shook her head, smiling brightly at Emma. "I love you so much."
Emma wiped her own tears, still giggling. "I love you too." They had spent the past hour telling stories and laughing. But, it was time to face the world now. Emma, still smiling, took both cups to the sink and rinsed them out before stretching. "Okay, now we can face the outside world."
Regina sighed, also standing. "Yes, I suppose we can." She went to the closet by the door to grab their jackets. Emma reached past her and grabbed Regina's from her hand. She turned to face her, confused. Emma smiled and held it up for her to put it on. Regina smiled at her and once she had shrugged in to it she gave her an appreciative kiss. "Thank you, you're suddenly so sweet and…" She cut off before she had accidently said that word.
Emma grinned at her, "and what? I didn't catch that last part."
Regina scrunched her face and said, "charming."
Emma laughed, "that's right. And as a Charming, we need to mend some fences with the other Charmings."
Regina groaned loudly and leaned heavily against the door frame, "Emma, I cannot speak to those people ever again. I cannot do it. It will kill me, is that what you want? Do you want me to die?"
Emma just smiled and pulled her into a tight embrace, "I do not want you to die. I proved that when I gave you half my heart remember? I do however want us to be one big happy family."
Regina bit her ear lobe playfully before telling her, "if it does kill me I will haunt you and your entire family."
Emma laughed and kissed her before saying, "at least you'll be with us then, even if it is in ghost form."
They headed out the door, Emma smiling and Regina groaning and complaining. First stop was Granny's to find Henry. When they walked in there were only a few people and a new waitress waiting on everyone. They stopped her and Emma asked, "have you seen Henry?"
The woman frowned and answered, "no, he hasn't been here. Well, not since I have been, maybe ask Ruby?"
Regina swore under her breath. If Ruby was here and Henry was not, that likely meant he was with the siren and they were playing with matches somewhere because no one was supervising. They waited while the waitress went to the back and Ruby came out, smiling at them. "Hey guys, what's up?"
Regina answered, "we're looking for Henry."
"Oh, he was here, he left with Granny. But I'm not sure where they went." Ruby replied, looking slightly confused by what she just said.
Emma frowned looking at Regina, "what the hell could Henry be doing with Granny?"
Regina sighed, motioning for the door, "I don't know Emma, he's your son today." Emma laughed and tried to text him again, but he still hadn't responded from earlier.
"Well, maybe we should find the siren, he seems to gravitate to her." Emma said as they walked out of the diner. Regina nodded and they glanced at each other and said in unison, "rabbit hole". Regina couldn't imagine Granny going to the dingy bar, but if they were trying to find the siren, that was the best bet.
If they had taken the time to look around however, they might have seen a woman, covered in silver runes, staring at the diner from beside the building across the street.
Lorelei had thought to run off and get drunk before noon, but when she saw Belle heading into the diner, just after Henry left with Granny, she had decided to hang around for a while.
Belle had taken a seat by the window and Ruby had sat with her for a while after getting her a cup of coffee. She was incredibly distraught by the events at the loft. She couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that her husband had taken their unborn, barely created child to the underworld to prevent it from growing. The fact that Snow had essentially re-impregnated her with said child was another matter entirely. She could only focus on one at a time.
Ruby smiled at her and held her hand from across the table, "I know you have always looked for the good in him, so this time you might want to think about how he didn't want his child growing up without him…" She was trying, but Rumple was a horrible creature and there really was no excuse for him and the things he's done.
Belle shook her head, "no, even I can't find a silver lining in this one." She shook her head sadly before asking Ruby, "speaking of a silver lining, how are things going for you two?"
Ruby snorted and stood up to sit down beside Belle instead. "Well, let me start at the beginning…" She started her story, occasionally Belle would hug her, or Ruby would hug Belle as they comforted each other.
Of course, Lorelei heard none of the words. She could only watch as Ruby held her hand, and watch as Ruby switched seats to sit next to her. And when she watched them start hugging each other, she had decided she was going to stand here all day if she had to. If it took all day, she was going to remind herself why loving someone could only end in hurt and betrayal. She deserved this torture of watching Ruby with Belle for getting herself tangled up in the woman to begin with. How had she managed to forget what the nightmares reminded her every time she slept? How, after so many thousands of years practicing not getting too attached, how did she let this happen? Cora had been the closest thing she had let herself have to actual love. That had been easy enough to maintain, Cora was independent and she didn't give a shit when Lorelei disappeared. And more importantly, the siren hadn't cared if Cora disappeared for large spans of time.
So then, why had she let herself grow so attached to Ruby? She could feel the pain in her chest every time she saw the two women embrace or laugh together. Well, this would teach her the lesson she should have learned a very long time ago. True love is a tool used to cause pain and loss. Maybe if she let Ruby see what she saw… No, even if she could do that without her magic, Ruby already said she loved her and yet here she was carrying on with someone else. At some point, Belle stood to leave as Ruby returned to working. Lorelei watched Belle walking away from the diner, as she walked away, Regina and Emma walked in. The siren watched as they left, and she watched Ruby moving around the diner, oblivious to the pain she had caused.
