Sorry it took me a little longer for this one, I had some "outside world" engagements that disrupt Fanfiction world. And just a quick heads-up, since season 5 is starting tomorrow, and I have a lot of YouTube subscribers expecting reaction videos, it may take me an extra day than usual for updates. But I promise, this fanfic is still going strong, it will absolutely NOT be abandoned.

Also, this chapter is VERY transition-y, but I was struggling to get from point A to point B (which I'm now working on) and this is what I came up with.

"You did what?"

"Oh, Victor, come on," Graham said, reaching for a can of cranberry sauce to toss in the cart. "It'll be fun."

"Fun?" Whale repeated incredulously. "Are you insane?"

Graham made an exasperated noise, and pushed the cart down the aisle. Whale was not to be deterred: he followed Graham, keeping up a steady stream of reasons why inviting people over for Thanksgiving was the most ridiculously awful idea anyone in the history of mankind ever had (other than casting Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern, seriously what were they thinking?!).

"Do you know how fucked up that family is? Did you meet Henry?"

"So, he's a little bitter," Graham shrugged, bending down to compare prices between two brands of bread crumbs. "He's a teenager. It happens."

"He's going to end up a fucking psychopath!" Whale practically sobbed. "His family is so dysfunctional, they make the Lannisters look fucking normal!"

"I don't know who that is," Graham said absently, frowning at a box of Panko.

"And you invited Hook and Neal to be in the same room as Ruby and Emma? Christ, Graham, even I know that's a bad idea! It's going to end in a fucking bloodbath!"

"Victor…." Graham sighed, standing back up, tossing the breadcrumbs into the cart. "Hook and Neal hate me, okay? I figured if I invited them, we could try to mend our differences."

"You invited them to watch their ex-girlfriends drool over you!" Whale exclaimed frustratedly. "You think that's going to mend differences? Are you fucking high?"

"Okay, you have to stop cursing so much," Graham said in a low voice, looking around furtively. "There are children here."

"And Regina's liable to set the place on fire, if she thinks someone looks at her funny! I mean, did you think this through at all?"

"Victor!" Graham threw a box of cornbread mix down angrily. "I've never spent Thanksgiving with other people! It would be nice to not be alone during the holidays for once!"

"It's great being alone on the holidays!" Whale insisted, following him to the turkeys. "You don't have to cook, you don't have to dress up—you just sit there in your pajamas with your LeanCuisine and watch as much Star Wars as you want! Doesn't that sound wonderful?"

Graham frowned. "That sounds pathetic," he said firmly. "We're not doing that."

"Graham, please…."

"Neal!" Regina gasped, staring at him with wide, horrified eyes. "Why in the name of God did you agree to this?"

"Aw, come on, 'Gina," Neal shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. "It won't be that bad."

"Don't call me 'Gina'!" she said fiercely, throwing down the dish towel. "I told you, I loathe nicknames."

She leaned back against the seat, folding her arms tightly as she glared at him. Neal looked back at her for a moment, silently pleading. Regina slit her eyes. Was he insane? She couldn't spend the day in the same house as Graham! They could barely stand to be in the same town as the other!

She hadn't given Neal the specifics of their…relationship (you simple didn't discuss things like that with…well, anyone, really, but especially not your brother), but she had made it more than clear that her new goal in life was to avoid Graham. Forever. And then Neal turns around and gets them invited to his house for Thanksgiving? Really, Neal? Really, Neal?

"I thought it was going to be me, you, and Henry," she said wearily. "Away from…the peasants."

Neal frowned, tilting his head. "Okay, so I can't tell if you're joking or not when you say 'peasants'.

"And now you want me to spend the day with Graham?" she wailed. "Why? Why would you do this to me?"

"Regina…" Neal exhaled in frustration, and started pacing around the counter. "Look, you're supposed to spend Thanksgiving with your family, okay? It's just what you do. David and Snow are going to be there. Emma's going to be there. Our dad is going to be there." He raised his eyebrows, shaking his head slightly. "That's where we should be."

Regina frowned. Neal wasn't sentimental. He didn't care about holiday traditions. And he wasn't even putting in that much effort to lie to her—she didn't know what that meant; it just kind of irritated her.

So, what did he want to go to Graham's for? He didn't even like Graham. What was he playing at?

She studied him critically, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes. Neal immediately put up his defense: a blank, but innocent stare, unblinking in the face of her challenge. Regina nearly smiled: he was good, yes… but she was better.

"Emma," she said, narrowing her eyes shrewdly. "This is because of Emma."

Neal didn't pretend to be caught off guard, or pull the I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about-routine. "Yeah, it's because of Emma," he shrugged.

Regina blinked. "Well, you didn't put up much of a fight."

"Yeah, I'm tired," he said, rubbing his eyes. "Hook was monologuing all day, talking about gauntlets and shit… I don't know," he said, seeing Regina open her mouth. "He was going all Count of Monte Cristo on me, I stopped listening."

"Was Hook the one who put this idea in your head?" Regina slit her eyes. "Please say yes, I think that would count as cause for 'justifiable murder'."

Neal pulled a stool out and sat down, leaning his elbows on the counter. "Look… Emma and me, I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's in her head right now, what she's doing, but…" He made a face, and looked up at her, a pleading look in his eyes. "Okay, can I just assume you know what I'm trying to say without me actually saying it?"

"Yes, yes, assume away," she said hastily, not wanting to get into the details of Neal's emotions. "Bu the doesn't change the fact that—"

"Regina, please," Neal closed his eyes, grimacing as he heard the desperation in his own voice. "I don't ask you for much, can't you just do this one thing for me?"

Regina looked at him helplessly. "Neal…"

"Please?"

She looked him for a long time, a worried frown on her face. She really didn't want to. She really, really didn't want to. But…

"Fine," she sighed. "But you have to tell Henry."

"You're not seriously going tomorrow?"

Hook turned around in his seat, raising his eyebrows. Ruby stood behind him, glowering. It was a bit strange to see her in standing in the diner without holding a tray or wearing her infamous uniform.

"I most certainly am," he replied after a minute. "Graham invited me, didn't he?"

Ruby slid into the seat across from him, looking at him with such venom and loathing, he instinctively flinched.

"I know why you're doing this," she said icily. "Don't think I don't know what this is."

"And what is that?" Hook smiled wryly, waving his fork around. "I'm sure you've found some way to make this about you."

"Oh, shut up," Ruby said witheringly. "And if you think that you're going to come over and sabotage my relationship with Graham—"

Hook choked, coughing violently enough to need a sip of water. "Your relationship?"

"That's right."

"So… that embarrassing display in the station earlier, that was your relationship?" he said dubiously.

Ruby narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. "Not all relationships are as stupidly shallow as ours was. Graham and I were friends for years before either of us ever made a move. Years."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I didn't realize I was intruding," Hook said, tossing his fork down with a clatter. "He didn't seem very interested in you."

Ruby's gaze flickered. "Is that so?"

"Actually, it's funny," he said, frowning up at the ceiling. "Because from what Neal told me, I assumed it was Emma Graham was interested in, not you." He looked at Ruby in mock dawning comprehension, and snapped his fingers. "Oh… Maybe that's why he barely glanced at when you were flipping your hair and batting your eyes." He smirked. "Rest assured, darling, I still appreciated your efforts."

"Well, that means a lot. You know, coming from the guy who kind of became an expert on that after spending two years doing the exact same thing around Emma." Ruby smiled viciously. "Oh. How interesting."

Hook picked up his fork, suddenly finding renewed interest in his fish. He took a few bites, carefully avoiding her gaze.

"This is terrible," he remarked after a time.

"You always get the fish," she said exasperatedly. "I told you to stop getting the fish, Tony doesn't know how to cook fish properly."

"Can Tony do anything?" Hook threw the fork down again. "My God, I could do better than this."

Ruby snorted. "No, you couldn't."

"No, I couldn't," he agreed, shrugging. He chanced a glance up at Ruby, whose face had settled into more of a "mildly irritated" than "fury of a thousand vengeful gods" expression. "So…are we back together again?"

She stared at him. "Where do you get 'back together again' from a conversation about fish?"

He shrugged again.

Ruby was silent for a moment, tapping her fingers on the table. "Hook," she said, her voice careful and tense. "I'm not getting back together with you, okay? For the last time, I am not getting back together with you."

"But why?" he pressed, cringing internally at how whiny his voice sounded.

"Because!" she said desperately, throwing her hands up. "This isn't good, what we have! It's not what a relationship is supposed to be! We fight all the time, we can't stand each other! Why would you want that back?"

Hook carefully started mutilating his fish with his fork, not looking at Ruby. "Just…'cause."

"Oh, well, that's very romantic."

He frowned up at her. "I didn't know you were looking for romantic. You didn't give me instructions this time."

She slit her eyes at him, leaning back and folding her arms. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he said acidly. "It's not supposed to mean you're demanding or controlling or naggy, or imply that every time something doesn't go your way, you lose your shit. It's not supposed to mean that every time you broke up with me, it was over something completely stupid that you overreacted about—"

"Not every time!" Ruby hissed. "I broke up with you at the party for a perfectly good reason, so stop moping around like a tragic little hero!"

"I didn't do anything!" Hook flared, not caring as several people turned around in surprise.

"Yes, you did! You acted like a jealous asshole, it was humiliating!" Ruby pushed herself up, shoving the table away from her. "You're the reason why Graham is acting so weird around me, you're ruining everything!"

"Maybe he's just not interested!" Hook said fiercely, glaring back. "Is it possible, Ruby? Is there even the slightest chance that Graham doesn't care for you that way!" He stood up, matching her furious gaze. "Take it from me, love, you'll want to wake up from that dream sooner rather than later. Don't waste two years of your life on it."

Ruby blinked a few times, taken aback. Hook glared back, then lowered his eyes down to the plate of half-smushed fish.

"And for God's sake, fire Tony already. He's rubbish."

Review, my lovelies? I know it wasn't the most eventful chapter, but it makes it so much easier to write, and write FAST when my lovely reviewers do what they do best and review! It doesn't even have to review this chapter, it could be just in general, or what you want to see upcoming, just feed me some ideas or thoughts or comments or ships, WHATEVER.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, I MIGHT EVEN BE ABLE TO UPDATE AT MY NORMAL SPEED IF YOU REVIEW, IT'S GREAT MOTIVATION AND ALSO GREAT GUILT BECAUSE THAT WAY I FEEL GUILTY THAT MY READERS DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO READ AFTER THEY WERE SO NICE TO ME! SO PLEASE REVIEW!

sorry, I'm desperate for attention.