Regina lie awake in bed, her stomach all in knots and her head packed full of confused thoughts. She tossed and turned, ended up flat on her back staring up at the ceiling, the sheets tangled around her legs. She closed her eyes and tried to will herself to sleep, but every time her eyes slid shut, she saw her. Ruby. Leaning forward, pressing her lips to Regina's, kissing her softly. That's when her eyes flew open again, but it was so real that Regina swore she could feel her lips tingling when Dream Ruby pulled away.
It was ridiculous, she knew. So utterly ridiculous and infuriating that it made her want to punch something. It also made her want to scream. Made her want to march herself right over to Ruby's apartment in the middle of the night and slap her or kiss her or something.
Regina shook herself, annoyed that she'd let this situation get to her.
To be fair, it wasn't entirely Ruby's fault. Regina had been the one who asked the deputy to escort her to that gala, when she could have just as easily asked Graham. It was customary, after all, to have someone from the Sheriff's Office on her arm at this sort of function. She'd been the one who had made sure to tell the deputy to get all dressed up. And she'd been the one whose jaw nearly came unhinged when Ruby stepped into the City Hall ballroom wearing that ridiculous excuse for a dress that showed off her legs (they went on for miles, Regina was convinced), and her cleavage, and her perfectly toned arms that were strong and warm when they'd wrapped around Regina and pulled her in for a dance. Regina had felt the first twinges of something akin to lust flare to life when Ruby held her close, and then that had quickly developed into some sort of insane little crush that Regina neither needed in her life nor wanted to admit to having.
That had been a month ago though, and Regina had been on the verge of getting over it. At least, she thought was, and then Ruby had to be the one to rush into that burning building and save her. Ruby had to be the one who risked her own life for Regina and ended up in the hospital for it. That had sparked something inside Regina that she was completely unfamiliar with. Brought about a bevy of foreign feelings. Concern. Worry. Sadness. The strange need to seek Ruby out and offer to comfort her in any way possible.
Regina had resisted. Instead, she made a fool out of herself and skulked around the Sheriff's Station like a lovesick child, gathering little bits of information here and there as best she could without seeming too obvious. That hadn't worked at all. Someone had caught on to her (Graham, no doubt) and had told Ruby of her visits, and Ruby had been the one to seek her out then.
So, Regina concluded, perhaps it was more Ruby's fault than it was her own. She also knew that, no matter whose fault it was, no matter who set the current events into motion, it was starting to get to her. And, she guessed, it had started to effect Ruby as well. Probably not in the best of ways, given that Regina had gone into bitch mode the past two times Ruby had tried to extend a gesture of kindness to her.
And that's when it hit her. Hard. Like a ton of bricks or a speeding freight train. Ruby wasn't just being kind to Regina. She wasn't trying to make up for anything she'd done wrong. She was trying to win Regina over. The flowers, the candy, the note card. Essentially, the deputy had been trying to woo her.
Regina let out a groan and buried her face into her pillow, wishing that the fire had never happened in the first place. Maybe then her life wouldn't have gotten so much more complicated.