"I heard you had breakfast with the Mayor" Graham said casually from his spot next to Ruby
"You heard correct"
"Why?"
"She asked me to and I never turn down free food. It was nice, Regina is a really nice person" Ruby said
"So she paid as well?" Graham asked
"That's what I just said, isn't it?"
"And she kissed you. Sounds an awful lot like a date to me"
"You're going to start this again? First, she kissed my cheek big whoop. Second, you need to start trusting me, we've been together for as long as I can remember and if I haven't cheated on you in the past I'm not going to do it now" Ruby sighed
"I don't want you speaking with her anymore" Graham said with authority in his tone
"I don't want you to flirt with that Emma girl in front of me whenever she comes into the diner, but what are we going to do?" Ruby shot back
"If you speak to her again I'll-"
"You'll what?" Ruby mocked before letting out a pain filled cry and held her hand to her cheek
"That's what. You will not speak to our darling mayor, you will not look at her. You'll act as though she doesn't exist if you know what's good for you" Graham sneered before aiming another punch at Ruby, "So you don't forget"
"What happened to you, girl?" Granny asked and hurried to her granddaughters side when she entered the diner
"Nothing, Granny, I just had a bit of an accident" Ruby tried to smile it off but it turned out more of grimace, "I'm fine"
"If you're sure" Granny spoke hesitantly, "Madam Mayor just got here, and you best hurry with her order it seems like she's in a bad mood today"
"Good morning, Madam Mayor" Ruby spoke politely as she placed the salad on the table
"Thank you Ru- What happened to you?" Regina asked as soon as she looked up
"Oh, I just had a little clumsy moment" Ruby brushed it off, "Is there anything else I can get you today?"
"No thank you, but would you like to join me?"
"I'm sorry Madam Mayor I can't today. Perhaps another day" Ruby said with a polite smile before walking back to the counter
"Miss. Lucas, Ruby wait" Regina called after her, "I was wondering if you wanted to see a film with me one night? The Cinemas are about to get new movies," Regina asked hopefully
"I… N… Okay, that would be perfect" Ruby tried to say no but the look in Regina's eyes made it impossible "How about this Friday and you can pick me up at seven?"
"Sounds perfect" Regina looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them before pressing her lips against Ruby's blushing cheek and lingered a second longer than normal before hurrying out the door
"The Mayor is an awfully nice girl" Granny commented absently, "You could do worse, or should I say you are doing worse."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Ruby asked
"Nothing, nothing at all"
Friday came quicker than Regina was suspecting and before she knew it she was standing in the middle of her bedroom surrounded by clothes that she hadn't deemed suitable to wear. She had been trying clothes on for the last hour trying to find the perfect outfit before she decided on a tight, knee length red dress with elbow length sleeves and a slim black belt around her waist and tall heels. She looked at the clock and let out a silent curse seeing that it was half past six and she hadn't even started on her make up or hair. Twenty minutes later seen Regina Mills, person of composure and control, hurrying out the house while rifling through her bag trying to find her keys before she smacked into a solid object that sent her crashing to the ground
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry" A familiar voice said, "I didn't see you and I wasn't paying attention, I'm so sorry"
"What are you doing here, Ruby?" Regina asked, trying to get up before stopping in her tracks when she seen the state Ruby was in
"I didn't know who else to go to. I'm sorry, I should have stayed home and cancelled you don't need to see me like this" Ruby said with a watery grin and turned away
"No, no, come back. Let's get you cleaned up and in… Cleaner clothes" Regina said, resting her hand on Ruby's lower back and guiding her inside
Regina sent Ruby off to have a shower while she had gathered her medicine kit and some comfortable clothes for Ruby to wear, which she left in the bathroom and waited patiently for the girl to come back out
"What happened to you? Don't say that you fell because I know you've been lying about that, there isn't anyone in this town more graceful than you" Regina said gently while rubbing the cut on Ruby's lip with a cleansing pad
"I can't tell you" Ruby whispered, "I'm sorry"
"Stop apologizing, none of this is your fault." Regina said before packing all of the medicine kit away, "Anyway, we can just watch a movie here. Are you hungry, I'd be more than happy to make you something to eat"
"I'm fine, thank-you"
"Alright. Which movie would you like to watch? I have quite a few" Regina spoke as she led Ruby to the lounge room
"You have Disney movies?" Ruby asked with a teasing tone
"I figured I'd have kids by now so I wanted to be prepared" Regina shrugged
"You want kids?"
"I want one son. Henry." Regina smiled, "Now pick out a movie"
"How about this one?" Ruby asked while putting the disk into the DVD player
"Beauty and the Beast?"
"You can be the beauty," Ruby said, leaning into Regina's side
"I've always seen myself more as the Evil Queen" Regina responded
"You could never be evil. You try to act scary around the town but deep down you're like a fluffy little bunny" Ruby said with a laugh
"I'll have you know that people start shaking in their boots when I glare at them" Regina sniffed
"You're a fluffy little bunny," Ruby said, smiling at Regina who smiled back
"What are you then?"
"I'm a wolf"
"A wolf? Where'd you get that from?" Regina asked
"Not sure, I'm just a wolf" Ruby responded
"You're not a wolf just yet, you're a pup"
"Regina, you awake?" Ruby mumbled, her face pressed against Regina's chest
"Mm" Regina hummed, tightening her arms around Ruby
"We fell asleep"
"We did"
"It's morning"
"It is"
"Last night was really fun"
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Regina yawned, "Can we sleep more though? I'm still tired"
"Sounds good" Ruby mumbled, pressing her face against Regina's neck and smiled when she heard soft snoring
An hour later Regina managed to crack her eyes open and smiled at the weight pressing against her
"Wake up, pup" Regina whispered, gently pushing Ruby
"Mm, what?" Ruby grumbled
"Let me up and I'll make breakfast for us both"
"Okay" Regina had never seen anyone move as fast as Ruby had jumping off of her
"Bit hungry are you, pup?" Regina laughed, "What do you want?"
"Bacon, eggs and sausages?" Ruby asked excitedly
"Okay" Regina set about gathering all of the ingredients while Ruby sat at the bar and watched her
"Who taught you to cook so well?" Ruby asked once she had swallowed her last mouthful
"My… Father, I think" Regina said with a frown, "It seems so long ago I can hardly remember"
"He must have been an amazing cook, that was delicious" Ruby complemented
"Thank you" Regina smiled, "Can you tell me what happened to you now? I mean not right at this second because I want to change all gauzes first and put some cream on the bruises, but after that"
"I… I guess" Ruby said, "Promise not to get angry?"
"Promise" Regina said, holding her hand out for Ruby to take and led her to the bathroom
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Ruby questioned while Regina checked her over
"Truthfully? I've always liked beautiful things and you're perhaps the most beautiful girl I've ever known and that's all it was at first. But, then I got to know you a little bit and I found that you made me feel things that I didn't know were possible" Regina admitted, dabbing Ruby's lip and mouth sorry when she seen Ruby's wince
"What feelings?" Ruby asked
"Happiness" Regina said looking into Ruby's eyes, "I've shared, it's your turn now"
"You know I have a relationship with Graham?" Ruby started and stopped at Regina's surprised look
"I hadn't actually, one would never tell he had a relationship by the amount of girls he brags about taking home" Regina said without thinking, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't think"
"No it's alright, I didn't know about that" Ruby said, looking at the ground, "Anyway, I've been with him for as long as I can remember and for that long he's always been very jealous. I thought it was sweet at first and for a long time nothing came from it but then we started talking and he got even more jealous and I guess he's an angry person when he's jealous"
"Wait… He did this to you?" Regina gasped and pulled the girl in for a hug when she nodded, "I'll make him regret the day he even thought about hurting you"
"No, he mustn't know I told you" Ruby said with panic in her voice, "He mustn't know we still speak"
"Ruby…" Regina started
"No, please Regina. I really like you and I don't want him to try and hurt you too"
"He wouldn't be able to even if he tried" Regina objected
"Please"
"I-Okay" Regina conceded when she looked into Ruby's eyes, "You like me?"
"Well… Yeah, I mean look at you. You're perfect" Ruby blushed, "I've always had a bit of a crush on you, if I'm honest"
"Yeah?"
"You like me too" Ruby defended herself, "Don't think I haven't noticed you leering at my backside whenever I serve you"
"Not denying it," Regina said with a grin, "Not that we can do anything about it"
"Not yet. I don't want to be with Graham anymore, as soon as I figure out a safe way to leave him you'll be the first to know" Ruby promised
"Can I have a kiss to last me until then?" Regina asked shyly and blushed when she felt full, soft lips press against hers before gasping
"Come with me" Regina heard Ruby's voice say and felt herself following the oddly dressed brunette through a massive castle with twisting turns and sharp corners
"Where are we going, Red?" She heard herself asked, wondering why she had called Ruby Red
"You'll see, my queen" Red said with a large smile, "Just be a bit more patient"
"Here we are" Ruby said, gesturing to a beautiful garden, "I had the mages conjure this place for us, only you, Henry and I can get in here."
"It's beautiful" Regina whispered, looking around the garden "Why did you do this?"
"Because I wanted our first time to be perfect" Red replied, turning to face Regina
"Our first time doing what?" Regina asked
"This" Ruby replied before gathering Regina in strong arms and gently pressing their lips together in a small kiss that made the night burst alive with colours
"I've wanted to do that for a long while" Red murmured, pressing their foreheads together
"That was weird" Ruby and Regina said at the same time before looking at each other
"What was?" They asked at the same time
"I had a weird… Day dream, I suppose," Regina answered, "What would you like to do for the remainder of the day?"
"Want to go for a hike? I know this beautiful place about 10 miles east of the town through the forest that I think you would enjoy"
AN: I'm going to have small portions of their life in FTL featured every time they get emotionally closer with one another so you guys can see what happened before the curse was cast, just to clear up: About six months had passed before the done the do and the curse had been cast so that would leave six months of memories and Henry at about eight or nine months old