Hello friends! So sorry it's been FOREVER! Also, I apologize for any typos or spacing issues errors are all my own it wasn't read by a beta. It's also been a really rough month for me so I apologize if this chapter isn't great I'm in a rough spot right now but I've been spending a lot of time in bed so I felt inspired to start writing again so please be kind and gentle and forgiving with this chapter! Also if y'all would like to chat with me about any of this or want mini updates on me or what I'm doing with my writing you can find my on tumblr my fandom blog is superwho-diaries100 and my regular one is mermaid-l0st now on to the newest chapter!

Chapter 9

When Emma woke she was by herself this time. She was upstairs in Rubys room. The sun had just started to come up. Emma went to sit up and groaned slightly at how sore her body was from everything that occurred over the last several hours. "You're up" came a voice from the other side of the room, causing Emma to jump. It was Ruby.

"H-how long have I been out for..?" Emma asked.

"A few hours, you passed out from being overwhelmed after..well..after learning everything and then I think your body was just so exhausted it just kept you down.."

Emma sat there in silence for a moment taking everything in. So it wasn't a dream. Her best friend is a werewolf and her teacher is a vampire those things exist. And she's smack dab in the middle of it. She must have zoned out because all of a sudden she heard Ruby calling her name.

"Hmm?"

"You doing okay?"

"It's just a lot to take in..Is Regina still here..?"
Ruby just laughed. "What?" Emma asked skeptically.

"It was all I could do to convince her to let me watch over you. The adults are downstairs discussing last night and whats going to need to happen next."

"What do you mean?"
Ruby sighed. "Well, I stayed down there with them for a bit last night and I learned quite a bit. Like, for instance, Neals father is an incredibly bad man known for hating and hunting both mine and Reginas kind..but my parents let me continue to be friends with him to try and not draw attention to us by forbidding me to be friends with him."

"Why did you guys stay here in this town with him here?"

"We were here first. This is our home. And so far he hasn't bothered us. Come on, Em, let's go downstairs." Ruby helped Emma up from the bed and they made their way downstairs.

"Are you sure it's going to be safe for her there?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, I already spoke with Katherine and she's working on warding spells to make the mansion safe. I think it's the best option. It's close to campus so she'll be able to keep going to school as usual and while she's at school I'll be there to keep an eye on her."

"Then I think it's settled."

"What's settled?" Ruby asked coming down the stairs into the kitchen with Emma trailing behind her.

"Regina and Emma are going to head back up to the school. It's the best option. The further Regina and Emma are from Gold, Neil and her father the better. Especially until we know more about what's going on. We're all going to go up later on in the month for your brothers ceremony so you'll see Emma again soon and in the meantime Regina is perfectly cap-"

"I'm going now."

"Ruby-"
"Mom, no, I'm going now. Emma needs me, please, let me go with them now. Toby is ready, mom. He doesn't need me." Sarah sighed and looked to Regina.

"It's fine with me if she comes back with us. Plus I'm sure Granny would be more than happy to see her." Sarah looked to Jacob. He shrugged.
"Sarah, she isn't a pup anymore." Sarah looked at Ruby sadly and stroked her hair sighing again.

"I know but she'll always be my little pup. Okay, Ruby, you're right. Emma needs you. You can go."

Ruby jumped into her mothers lap and kissed her cheek. "Thank you, mama! Come on, Em! I gotta go pack!" She grabbed Emma's hand and dragged her upstairs calling to Toby to have him meet her in her bedroom leaving the adults amongst themselves to talk again.

Sarah was the first to speak after the kids went upstairs. "I still don't understand where Emma fits into this whole plan."

"Me either but as soon as I get back home Kat and I will hit the books and start looking into things. But for now maybe see if David can keep an eye on things here for anything odd." Sarah nodded to Jacob who nodded back and walked out back to give David a call and update him.

"Regina, just please be careful. I hope I know what you're doing."

"Me too."

By time everyone was packed up and ready to hit the road it was around noon. Rubys mom tucked a basket of snacks and sandwiches in the back seat with Emma who had graciously offered to take the back seat as her legs were shorter than Rubys. Sarah hugged and kissed all three of them and told them multiple times to call them as soon as they made it back to Oregon to make sure they made it there safely. She closed the girls in the car and pulled Regina aside so the girls wouldn't hear her before she got into the drivers side.

"Gina, please be careful. If you guys stop anywhere please let me know where you've stopped and when you're back on the road. We'll be up at the end of the month and we'll let you know if David finds anything out. We'll see you soon." She nodded and with that Regina got in the car and set off to head back up to Oregon with the girls.

Ruby and Emma spent the first bit of the ride chatting and talking about Emma's first couple weeks at college but shortly after a silence fell. Emma was the first to break it. "Hey, Rubes? Do you change on the full moon? I just I don't understand how you've been able to keep this from me all this time.."

Ruby shared a glance with Regina who just nodded at her.

"Well, typically wolves do change once a month on the full moon.." Ruby began slowly.

"However, Aunt Gina's friend Kat made my family rings that keeps us from turning on the moon to help us blend in in the town. Kind of like the ring that helps Regina walk in day light. It's one thing for the wolves in the pack the live in the woods but the ones who live in towns like us it's too hard so luckily aunt Gina was able to get us a few rings so we're able to live off the radar."

Emma just nodded slowly while they sat in more silence. Regina nor Ruby wanted to speak assuming Emma had more questions. Sure enough it was Emma that broke the silence again but this time her question directed at Regina.

"Regina, do you...do you kill people..? I mean you drink blood, don't you?" Regina nearly choked. She new that question would come up eventually but she didn't expect Emma to lead off with 'Do you kill people'

"Uh, yes, I do drink blood but I don't kill people. I drink it from blood bags that I get from hospitals.."

"Oh, okay.."

Another few minutes of silence passed before Regina spoke again. "Do you have anymore questions?" Emma shook her head.

"Not at the moment...I think I'm still trying to process everything." Regina just nodded and they fell into a comfortable silence.

Three hours had passed since they had gotten on the road. Ruby kept flipping through radio stations and briefly making small talk between Emma and Regina but after a while Emma stopped responding. After about 20 minutes of Emma not responding she turned around and noticed she was out. "Finally" Ruby said.

"Finally what?" Asked Regina.

"I've been waiting for Emma to fall asleep so you and I could talk."

"...about what?" Regina asked skeptically.

"About what the hell is going on here. How did this happen? How did you end up here with Emma? Why did you drive her down here? And why wouldn't you leave her side!?"

Regina sighed. She really wasn't sure how to answer any of what Ruby just asked her. She knew she should probably just tell the clever girl the truth but she wasn't entirely sure of what the truth was. There was something different about Emma Swan that drew her to the girl. She was attracted to her, yes but she didn't want to just sleep with her. She wanted to protect her and get to know her and be around her.

"Well, Emma explained her situation to me and said she was scared and she said she was planning on making the trip alone and I didn't want her to have to do that all by herself. It's a long drive to have to make alone especially when you're scared." It wasn't entirely a lie.

"I guess that makes sense but that doesn't explain why you wouldn't leave her side.."

Regina took a deep breath trying to figure out how to get out of that one.

"I felt like what happened to her was my fault. I felt like I pushed her to come clean to her father and so I felt like it was my fault that everything went as badly as it did."

Ruby silently nodded not entirely buying the story her aunt just gave her. Regina could tell Ruby didn't fully believe her but she was thankful she didn't push it.

The remainder of the car ride had been fairly quiet with Emma still sleeping and Ruby playing on her phone. It was around 7 when they finally pulled up to Grannys diner. Ruby reached back and smacked Emmas leg to wake up Emma and they all walked into the diner. It was fairly empty which they were all grateful for. Ruby was bouncing up and down with excitement she hadn't seen her grandmother in a while. Granny heard the doorbell ring and came out front to greet the new guests and stopped dead in her tracks to see the sight before her. "Ruby Lucas!? What!? How!?" "Granny!" Ruby ran at her grandmother and gave her a huge hug. "I think Sarah forgot to make a phone call." Regina whispered to Emma as she ushered her over to the counter to sit down at the bar. "Gina, pleasure as always." Granny said as she kissed Reginas cheek and began to mix her a drink. "What's going on? What are you all doing here?" For what felt like the millionth time this weekend Regina let out a huge sigh and told Granny to take a seat before she began to tell her about the weekends events and what was to come.