It was Wednesday.
Emma sighed, rolled over and checked the clock. 9:20.
Today, she wouldn't even try to talk to her parents; she'd just go straight to Regina. Maybe she'd work this out, and things could go back to normal.
"Well, until the curse breaks, you can do whatever you please, with no consequences whatsoever."
Rolling onto her back, Emma studied the ceiling and replayed her conversation with Hook. She could do whatever she wanted. No consequences. She could have a real, actual day off from drama (at least, if she avoided Neal). She tried to remember the last time she'd taken a vacation. Even before she'd come to Storybrooke, she'd worked all the time, even on her birthday.
She remembered telling Mary Margaret that her price for being the savior was never getting a day off. And it was true.
Unless she just took one for herself.
It's not like anyone would ever know.
Emma smiled.
She skipped work again, wandering aimlessly around town. She had a near miss with the Emperor/flasher guy but ducked into the quiet library before she'd have to arrest him (or get another look at his junk). The building was unlocked but empty; Belle, naturally, wasn't up to working the day after she'd lost her love.
Emma couldn't remember the last time she'd had time to just sit down and read a book.
She wandered the shelves, reading the titles on the spines and the occasional book jacket, before she ran into a rack of worn-looking paperbacks, mostly romances. With a grin, she grabbed one with a dark, handsome and dangerous-looking pirate on the cover. It looked like it would be nice and smutty and easy on the brain. She found a comfy spot to sit and started to read.
She was more than halfway through the book —which was very entertaining and totally did not give her any R-rated thoughts about any pirates she might know — when it was time to pick up Henry for lunch. She mentally bookmarked the novel and promised herself she'd come back and read the rest when she'd broken the curse.
It was a relief to have lunch with Henry; even though he didn't realize she'd stood him up the day before, she still remembered — and felt bad about it.
"How's Regina?" she asked, popping a french fry in her mouth.
"She's real tired," Henry said. "And her magic's not working."
Emma frowned. She tried to remember if he'd told her that before.
"Her magic's not working?"
"She says it's because Pan's curse took so much out of her and she'll be better soon, but I'm worried."
"It'll be okay," she said slowly. "Regina knows what she's talking about."
"I know, that's what she says, too."
"Is Tinker Bell still with her?"
"Yeah, I guess she and my mom are good friends," Henry grinned. "Sometimes living here is so cool!"
Emma laughed at his enthusiasm. "Do you think fairies like soup? I thought we could send some of Granny's famous chicken noodle soup home with you for Regina. Might make her feel better."
"That's a great idea!"
Emma nodded at his plate. "Finish your burger, and I'll go ask Ruby for a to-go order."
She walked up to the counter and dropped onto the seat next to Hook. He had, as usual, been watching her every time he thought she wasn't looking. She waved at Ruby and turned her attention to the pirate.
"You could have just come over to sit with us," she said, grinning and bumping her shoulder gently against his. "You're going to get a crick in your neck with all the twisting around to stare at me."
"Swan, you're here?" he said, faking surprise (very badly). "I had no idea."
She chuckled. "Yeah, OK."
Before he could reply, Ruby made it over to her. "What's up, Emma?"
Emma gave her the order for Regina's soup and glanced at Hook. "Plus, another beer for Captain Tightpants here. I think he needs it."
Ruby snorted and took her money. "It'll be ready when Henry is."
"Thanks, Ruby."
Hook caught her arm before she could turn away, his eyes scanning her quickly before locking on to hers.
"What?"
"Swan, you're …"
"I'm?"
"I don't know." He let go and licked his lips. "Something's different about you."
"Well, let me know if you figure it out," she said, smirking, before returning to Henry.
She saw Henry safely home, then decided to go back to the diner. She'd seen Neal heading into his father's shop with Belle, so she figured she was safe from any matrimonial ambushes for the time being.
She really wanted a hot chocolate, and the fact that she knew Hook would still be there had no bearing on the decision whatsoever.
She thought, with a laugh, that she was certainly giving her own lie detector a workout today.
Granny's was more-or-less empty by this time, and Hook didn't even pretend he wasn't staring at her. There was a slight frown on his face, and he looked at her like she was a puzzle he was trying to solve. Ruby brought her hot chocolate and just stood there, studying her, before dropping into the seat across from her.
"What's with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Shouldn't you be at work … or something?"
Emma shrugged. "I'm taking a Me Day."
Ruby grinned. "Oh, I like the sound of that. Want some company? We could eat a lot of junk food and watch chick flicks all day."
"I highly doubt that your definition of chick flick matches mine." At Ruby's confused look, she smirked. "OK, what's your favorite?"
The waitress thought about it for a moment. "There are so many cute ones, but I vote for 'Sweet Home Alabama.'"
Emma nodded. "Hard to go wrong with Reese Witherspoon. Now, my favorite chick flick is '300.'"
"Wait, what? Isn't that the movie with all the fighting and spraying blood and stuff? How is that a chick flick?"
Emma grinned. "Seriously? Three-hundred half-naked men fighting to the death and getting all sweaty and dirty and bloody and —" She broke off with a kind of growl, louder than she intended. She could still feel Hook watching her, but she refused to look at him, burying her head in her arms on the table to hide her blush.
"Good lord, woman," Ruby said in a low voice. "I don't mean to pry, but how long has it been since you've gotten any?"
Emma groaned, then raised her head, flicking her glance to Hook, hoping he couldn't hear what they were saying. "I don't even remember."
"Oh. My. God."
"What?"
"You like him!"
"Ruby," she hissed.
Ruby's voice dropped even lower. "I asked about sex, and you looked right at him. I knew he had it bad for you, but it's totally mutual! You want to tap that pirate ass!"
Emma decided silence was her best course of action.
"I mean, I don't blame you. He's very hot, and that mouth …" Ruby stared into space for a moment before shaking it off. "Change of plan, then. Forget chick flicks; we are going out tonight!"
It was a bit awkward at first, since Ruby insisted on inviting Mary Margaret. But, as with everything now, the thought that nobody would even remember this tomorrow loosened Emma's restraint some.
And the tequila shots didn't hurt, either.
Even the tequila wasn't enough, however, to make her agree to join Ruby and Mary Margaret in dancing to crappy jukebox music in the middle of the Rabbit Hole.
Instead, she took a few turns at the pool tables, chatting with a tall, built guy named Russ that she would have climbed like a tree back in the day; today, for some reason, she wasn't the slightest bit tempted. But he wasn't bad at pool, and he was pretty funny (or maybe that was just the tequila), so she was enjoying herself.
After a while, she returned to where her mother and Ruby were sitting. It was kind of fun, really, listening to them talking about their adventures back in the Enchanted Forest. Emma knew some of them were in Henry's book, but there was a lot in there she'd never gotten around to reading.
They were doing another round of shots when Ruby grabbed her arm, almost spilling her drink.
"Ruby, what the hell?"
"He's here," Ruby hissed.
"Who's?" She scanned the room to see none other than Hook, making his way to the bar.
"Your pirate," Ruby said in a sing-song voice. "It must be fate."
"Her pirate?"
Emma snorted, ignoring Mary Margaret's question, then downed her tequila. "Yeah, fate, or Granny got sick of his drunk ass taking up space at the counter."
"Wait, is he?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Well, if he's not, he should be, he's been drinking all day."
"No," her mother shook her head. "I mean, what … is he … are you?"
"Yes," Ruby nodded. "They want each other bad. Oh, shit, I shouldn't say that in front of your mom, I guess."
Emma laughed. "No big deal. I'll just distract her from that thought by mentioning the fact that you and Whale are totally banging."
"What? We're so not!"
"You so are," Emma argued, pushing herself to her feet. "It's sooooo obvious. Come on, admit it."
Mary Margaret gasped. "You and Dr. Whale? I can't believe you didn't tell me!"
Emma laughed to herself as she headed for the bar. That conversation should keep those two busy for quite a while, she thought, sliding onto a stool next to Hook.
"Granny kick you out?"
"Wretched woman," he complained, not seeming surprised at all to see her. "I thought we had come to an accord, but she said I was scaring people away."
Emma chuckled, waving at the bartender to get his attention.
"I figured it out, you know," Hook said. "What's different."
"Do tell."
"You were smiling at me, flirting with me, Swan."
She ordered a beer, then turned to face him. "Took you long enough," she said. "Of course, to be fair, I'm a little rusty on the whole flirting thing."
"You could probably use a bit of practice," he agreed, sliding a little closer so one of his legs was between hers.
"Aye," she teased. "Maybe I should get lessons from a professional."
His eyes dropped to her lips as a finger curled around a lock of her hair. "Some intimate, one-on-one sessions, then?"
"Mmmm," she leaned a little closer and dropped one of her hands to a leather-clad thigh while the other toyed with his hook. "I'd put myself entirely in your hands, so to speak."
He flashed her a grin, which faded as he brushed his thumb along her cheek. "What exactly are we doing, Swan?"
"Well, you're the expert, but I believe it's called flirting."
"You know what I mean." He sighed. "I told Neal I would step back and allow him the chance to put his family back together."
"You —" She pulled back and folded her arms over her chest. "So I guess I have you to thank for the whole marriage proposal thing!"
"Marriage proposal?" Hook looked alarmed, and she thought it served him right.
"Yeah, you know, in Granny's when I …" She trailed off as she realized that wasn't today today; it was yesterday, so he wouldn't remember. The alcohol was messing with her ability to keep it all straight, not that it was easy to begin with.
"What was your answer?"
"What was … what the hell do you think was my answer? Do you think I said, sure Neal, I'll marry you. Just let me go and crawl all over Hook for a bit first?"
"Emma, I'm sorry —"
She took a gulp of beer and glared at him. "Let me tell you something, pirate —"
Midnight.
Rewind.