The next 28 years went by so strangely. Living each day almost exactly the same without even knowing about it was no way to live. And apparently, the curse had a sense of humour too; no matter how many times Victor walked passed Granny's, he never once went inside. It was as if something was keeping him from going inside and meeting Ruby. That is until a certain Emma Swan came to town.

On the day that Emma decided to stay in Storybrooke and the clock finally moved, things started to change. And one of those things, was Victor sleeping through his alarm. He normally arrived to work just on time, but on this day, things were different. He woke up a whole hour late and rushed about so quickly that as he was practically running down the road, he didn't notice a woman in front of him and he ran straight into her, sending her to the ground.

He gasped at himself and held his hand out. "I am so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

The woman took his hand and he helped her up. She dusted herself off and lifted her head up. This woman, she seemed so familiar to him, as if she knew him.

"How about I make it up to you with a drink tonight at 7 at the dinner?" He said on impulse.

She looked at him for a moment and nodded. "Alright, you're on, if you tell me your name."

He smiled at her. "Victor."

She shook his hand. "I'm Mary Margaret."

Throughout his day at work, he thought little of his date with Mary Margaret. But he couldn't help feeling he knew her and yet he couldn't figure out how that was possible. He shook off that thought and went back to his patients.

After another long (and boring) day at the hospital, he went home and got ready for his date. He arrived at the diner and chose to wait outside for Mary Margaret to show up; she appeared not long after.

Them entering the diner caused the bell to ring above the door and Ruby looked to see who it was. She recognized Mary Margaret as a regular, but the man candy was new.

She wandered over to their table once they had sat down to take their drink order. Victor looked at her and felt a spark. This girl, he knew her. But that was ridiculous, he had never been into the diner before. Ruby was staring at him intently too, both ignoring the presence of Mary Margaret. She ruined the moment by coughing loudly.

"I'll have a gin and tonic please Ruby."

She nodded in response, not once taking her eyes off Victor.

"I'll have the same." He eventually said.

He could tell now that this date with Mary Margaret was going to be a disaster now that he had seen Ruby. It wasn't that Mary Margaret wasn't attractive or anything, but this girl, this Ruby, she seemed so familiar to him.

As predicted, the date went terrible. The whole time, Victor didn't at all listen to a word Mary Margaret was saying, keeping his eyes on Ruby. And when Ruby bent down to clean a table, he could've just taken her right there. Mary Margaret noticed that time and caught his attention. He looked apologetic, but he couldn't help it. This Ruby, he knew that he knew her, but he didn't know where from. Maybe she had been to the hospital? He knew that's not where he knew her, but he couldn't think of any other explanation.

Eventually, he and Mary Margaret did have to leave the diner. Victor and Ruby nodded at each other as Mary Margaret rolled her eyes. Victor apologised to Mary Margaret when they left. She looked him up and down.

"If you didn't want to come on a date, you didn't have to ask." She sounded annoyed and he couldn't blame her.

"It's not that, it's just Ruby..." He trailed off.

Mary Margaret remembered John Doe from the hospital and couldn't help but know what he was feeling. She smiled at him. "Okay, well maybe I'll see you around."

They walked in their separate directions and Victor knew he would be thinking of Ruby all night.

Despite the terrible date, Victor did feel bad for treating Mary Margaret badly, so he sent her some flowers. He bumped into her a few days later at the Rabbit Hole and they had a drink together. Though this time it wasn't a date and the both of them had a much better time together. So good of a time that Victor ended up taking her to his flat. And although both of them were indeed pleasured, unknown to either of them, they both called out the names of their loves instead.