Emma slammed the car door hard enough to make Neal exclaim, "Emma!" and worriedly check for scratches. She ignored him, pounding up the diner's steps furiously. Through the window, she could see Hook leaning against the counter, grinning at—she pressed her face against the frame, trying to see, but it was too narrow.

"Emma…" Neal said, having caught up to her. "You can't just—"

"Actually, I can," she said, and yanked the door open. Her stomach twisted, seeing Ruby and Hook turn around, startled. Ruby, huh? she thought sourly. I should have known. Forcing a smile on her face, Emma walked over.

"Hey," she said casually, pulling out the stool next to Hook's with her foot.

"Uh…hey," he said uncertainly.

"Neal told me you went to lunch, so I thought I'd join you." She looked over at Ruby disinterestedly. "I'll take my usual."

"Okay." Ruby smiled nervously. "I'll just…go…tell Tony."

"Mmm," Emma smiled back frostily. "Tell Tony I said 'hi'."

The smile gradually slid off her face as Ruby walked into the kitchen, yelling something (presumably at Tony). Emma turned to Hook, raising her eyebrows coolly. He tried a nervous smile.

"I-I was going to bring you back something."

"How sweet."

"Orange bread…I, uh, I know how fond you are of it."

"Mmm….I do love 'orange bread'." Emma smiled dangerously, picking up his left arm and studying the hook. "You know what I don't love?" she said, testing the sharp point with her finger. "I don't love people who keep secrets from me." She squinted at Ruby's head visible through the kitchen window, lifting the hook so it looked as though the tip was piercing it.

"I didn't think you'd mind," Hook said, tugging his arm back with a frown.

Emma scoffed. "I don't."

Hook raised an eyebrow. "I see…" And then he grinned at her, infuriatingly smug. "You're jealous."

"No, I'm not jealous," she snapped, which made it sound like she was jealous. But she wasn't lying: it was something different than jealousy. Emma knew jealous: she'd been jealous when she'd caught Graham sneaking out of Regina's window. She'd been jealous when Tamara rolled into town, hanging off of Neal's arm. She'd even been jealous when she caught a glimpse of Milah's name tattooed on Hook's arm. This thing with Ruby… it wasn't jealousy, at least not completely. There was something else there, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

It was the same feeling she'd had back when she was in the foster system, trying to hold onto the few possessions she scavenged without some other kid stealing it. MINE. No matter what it was, however silly or childish the object in question seemed, she knew she didn't want anyone else to have it. There was a stuffed bear that she'd had since she was five: it was ugly. It was probably the ugliest little bear she'd ever laid eyes on: the nose was missing, half the stuffing was hanging out, and its fur was made of this horrible orange fuzz that made her gag. But it was hers. Even at thirteen, when little Susanna from her group home had tried to sneak it under her shirt, Emma had caught her and given her a right hook that sent poor Susanna's eyes spinning.

"You know what your problem is, Emma?" Hook said, pulling her out of her buried childhood memories. "You only want what you can't have."

"What?" Emma looked at him, scoffing. "That's ridiculous."

"No, it's not," Hook insisted. "Neal, back me up on this."

"No," Neal said firmly from the corner table. "There's no way I'm getting involved in all of—"he waved his hand at them—"that."

"I'm going to use you as an example, anyway," Hook shrugged.

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Meh…." Hook screwed up his face indecisively, pretending to think it over. "I'm still going to use you as an example."

"That's the stupidest thing I've heard in my life," Emma snorted, folding her arms. "I have Neal. Why would you—?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Neal said, standing up. He frowned at Emma, holding up a hand. "You have me?" he repeated incredulously.

Emma stared back, nonplussed. "Yeah."

"You have me."

"Yeah, why is that—? I don't understand why you're getting upset."

"Ooh." Hook sucked in a breath, shaking his head. "Bad move, Emma, very bad move."

Emma raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"You don't have me!" Neal scoffed. "I'm not a little Chihuahua you can carry around in your purse. I'm a human being. I'm an actual person, wi-wi-with thoughts and feelings and dignity!"

She blinked at him. "Yeah, so…?"

Neal stared at her, openmouthed. "You are unbelievable," he said finally, putting his hands down and slinging his coat over his shoulders. "Unbelievable."

"Wait, where are you going?" she spluttered, twisting in her seat.

"Somewhere else," he said, stalking past her.

"Somewhere else? Could you be more VAGUE?" she called after him angrily. As the door slammed behind him, she whipped around and punched Hook hard in the shoulder.

"Christ!" he swore angrily, gripping his arm. "Why the—-why?"

"Why did you have to bring it up?" she said furiously. "Why did you have to bring anything up? Now he's all upset—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Hook interrupted loudly. "Are you saying this is my fault?"

"No, I—" Emma covered her face exasperatedly. "That's not what I meant," she said in a muffled voice.

"Well, then what did you mean?" he demanded.

"It's just—UGH!" She put her head down on the counter, clenching her fists. "You people are driving me CRAZY!"

There was silence. Then, sounding like he was trying to contain the rage and the incredulity in his voice—

"We're driving you crazy?"

Emma nodded, her head still buried in her arms. Hook took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

"Okay," he said with a forced calm. "I need to go somewhere that's not here."

Emma lifted her head. "Wait, you're leaving, too?" she said, disappointed. "Why?"

"Because, Emma. Because I love you very dearly. And because if I stay here another ten seconds, I'm afraid I might kill you. And that would hurt me." Hook got up to leave.

"But…" Emma looked up at him mournfully. "But I'm upset."

"I know," he sighed, squeezing her shoulder with a little too much force to be comforting. "I know."

Emma watched him walk out of the diner. For a minute, she simply sat there, thinking.

"Well, shit," she muttered. It wasn't that this was the first time she'd had an argument with Hook or Neal. They'd fought over plenty of things. How many times had she scolded Neal for leaving the coffee pot plugged in all day? How many times had she yelled at Hook for letting Henry run around with his sword?

But it was the first time she'd had an argument with both of them at the same time. Normally, when she was fighting with one, the other would comfort her. Neal would take her out for a cup of coffee, maybe walk with her up and down Main Street while they talked about what an asshole Hook was being. Hook would sneak liquor into the station and let her smash all the bottles while she vented about Neal. But no one would be taking her for coffee or letting her smash bottles now.

Emma sat up. Oh, God. Was she going to have to apologize this time?

No way, she thought, trying to reassure herself. They'd never make me apologize. They're hopelessly in love with me.

But that didn't stop Hook from drooling over Ruby, a nasty little voice said. Maybe they can manage without you. Maybe they'll move on.

As if hearing her thoughts, Ruby appeared, carrying her grilled cheese.

"Here," she said setting it down. "I, uh… I didn't want to interrupt earlier, so I waited until Hook left. "

Emma slowly raised her eyes, glaring at her. Ruby involuntarily took a step back, looking petrified.

"What's going on with you two?" Emma asked darkly. Ruby shook her head.

"I-i-it's nothing, Emma. Less than nothing, really. Just a few harmless texts." Ruby smiled despite herself. "He's actually getting pretty good at it."

Emma smiled mockingly. "I'm guessing you didn't mind teaching him."

Ruby paled. "It was fine," she said, trying to sound light-hearted.

Emma nodded slowly, tearing the crust of her sandwich. "So what do you two talk about?"

"Just…stuff." She looked around the diner, as if looking for an escape.

"What kind of stuff?" She began ripping the rest of the sandwich to shreds.

"Oh, you know…bitchy customers. Annoying things Granny says." Ruby stared at the mutilated sandwich, hopefully wondering if that was going to be her. Emma smirked at the thought, then pushed the plate away

"Ruby, can we talk somewhere in private?"

Ruby blinked a few times. "Sure," she squeaked.

Emma followed her to the pantry. Ruby kicked a few boxes out of the way to make more room. She gave Emma a weak smile.

"What's up?"

"Listen, Ruby," Emma said, clapping her hands together. "I'm going to be straight with you. I'm not so sure how I feel about this whole, eh….Hook situation."

"Hey, I get it," Ruby said, putting a hand to her heart. "I mean, every time I see Jason hanging around with that—"

"Okay. For the last time: I am not jealous," Emma said exasperatedly. "I just don't want to see you two together, okay? It angers me. It makes me physically ill. I actually feel nauseous just thinking about it."

Ruby frowned, folding her arms. "Wait…are you two together or not?"

"Are we…? Please," Emma scoffed, tossing her head. "Don't be ridiculous."

"So, then, why do you care?"

Because MINE. "Because," Emma said, clenching her teeth. "Because I do. And because I'm the sheriff, and so how are your parking ticket coming along, Ruby?"

Ruby raised her eyebrows challengingly. "Are you trying to intimidate me?"

"No. I am succeeding in intimidating you." Emma flashed her a sarcastic smile.

Ruby smiled back wryly. "Fine. I'll pay the parking tickets." She moved past Emma to hold the door open. "You can get out of my pantry now."

Emma narrowed her eyes. "I'll leave when I'm good and ready."

Ruby fixed a bored expression on her face, leaning against the door with folded arms. Emma held her gaze for a moment, then slowly walked the length of the tiny pantry. She breathed in deeply, looking at the boxes stacked high on the shelves, then pretended to inspect the lower ones, nudging them with her boot. She turned back around, meeting Ruby's eyes.

"Okay," she shrugged. "I'm good and ready."