Ruby paced the floor of her bedroom, half-dressed and completely freaking out.
She had thirty minutes before she was due to pick up the mayor. She glanced down at her watch. Make that twenty-eight minutes now, and she hadn't a clue what to wear. She also didn't have any ideas as to where this dinner was actually going to take place. She hadn't thought things through that far when she'd finally gathered up enough courage to ask Regina out.
Storybrooke was a small town. No, that was an understatement. It was a very small town, with exactly two eating establishments. The diner, the one that Ruby's granny had owned for most of her life, which brought up a lot of bad memories for Ruby whenever she so much as stepped into the place; and then there was the lobster shack, which was just not a place you take someone for a first date, especially not if that person is Regina Mills.
Ruby let out a sigh and collapsed back onto her bed. She scrubbed her hands over her face and groaned in frustration.
"What the hell are you going to do, idiot?" she asked herself, and for a moment, she was actually crazy enough to hope that someone or something would answer.
She desperately needed ideas. Something. Anything.
She briefly contemplated just calling and canceling, but then that would mean she was a coward. She'd never hear the end of that from Graham, and she'd run the risk of seriously letting Regina down. No. She couldn't have that.
Pushing herself up again, Ruby propped her elbows on her knees and lowered her head into her hands, closing her eyes and willing her thoughts to organize themselves.
Ten minutes later, she was reaching for her phone and tapping out a short, to-the-point message to send to Regina.
It read, simply, Slight change of plans. Would you mind just meeting me at my place for dinner?
She didn't expect to get a reply so soon, but her phone buzzed before she could even set it down. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Ruby pressed the 'view' button and brought up the returned message.
Of course. I'll be over in ten, was all it said, but it made Ruby's heartbeat quicken to about twice it's regular speed.
She jumped off her bed and ran for her closet, grabbing the first thing her hands connected with and pulling it off its hanger. Oh, plaid. Great choice. She slipped into the shirt and buttoned it up, and then hurried into the kitchen to whip something up, lest she risk screwing this up too.