Ruby looked from the table she had been serving to see the redhead from the night before wandered into the diner.

Belle had spent the night at the inn after the brunette convinced Granny to allow her to stay for free until she could get hold of her family back in California to help her sort out the issue of her lost belongings and identity card; a lie Ruby concocted that even Granny knew was a lie but it was really late and the young woman seemed nice and polite. She didn’t mind letting her stay just this once.

They smiled at each other across the room. The waitress walked over to Belle.

“Good morning, sleepy head!” Ruby teased. The diner had already started serving lunch an hour ago.

“Thank you for letting me sleep here. I can’t remember the last time I had a good night’s rest.”

Belle had spent months in Rumplestiltskin’s castle back in the Enchanted Forest. The cot she slept on was very uncomfortable and filled with straws. When Regina kept her locked up in the queen’s tower, all she had were a slightly more comfortable cot. The hospital bed at the psychiatric ward was not too bad but screams from the other patients kept her up a lot. Gold’s house had a very comfortable bed but Belle had stayed up all night for the past few nights worrying about what Rumplestiltskin was up to.

The Granny’s Inn was a pleasant change. It was cosy and homey. It reminded the redhead of her mother’s summer cottage in the country side back in the Enchanted Forest. Her newfound freedom was refreshing. The only way the day could have been perfect was if she had a book to read.

“Have a seat. I’ll be right with you.”

Ruby disappeared into the kitchen continuing her waitressing duties. Belle chose an empty booth to sit in and picked up the menu. She found a lot of the food were new to her.

She flipped the pages a few times before finally deciding on a hamburger sandwich with a side of fries, whatever that was. The lanky brunette came back to take her order.

“Any drinks for you?”

Belle stared at the menu again, puzzled as to what a soda even was. The waitress noticed that the redhead was starting to panic. She gently touched the bewildered customer’s shoulder and smiled sweetly at her as she decided to help her out.

“How about a homemade iced lemon tea? It’s very refreshing and we make them fresh.” Ruby suggested.

“Okay.” Belle did not know why but she seem to trust her new friend.

“I’ll be right back with your order.” The brunette winked as she collected the menu from the redhead and sauntered back to the kitchen, swaying her hips that were covered in a tight miniskirt.

                                                           *****

Emma and Regina received news of Henry’s critical condition. Even though the mayor had already explained the curse to her, Emma still felt the need to be with Henry. Regina offered to drive her back to the hospital since her car was parked in the hospital parking garage.

“Aren’t you gonna come up and see Henry?” the sheriff asked, leaning in the passenger side window.

“I’ve been through this before. I can’t see him in that condition again… you go ahead. I’ll meet you later at the diner.” Regina watched the blonde disappear into the entrance of the hospital and drove off.

She decided to go home and have a shower before going to the diner to meet the sheriff to discuss their next course of action.

The brunette had not had a chance to just sit and enjoy a proper meal. She barely ate much the past few days. Opting to have a couple of sandwiches and lots of coffee. She was running low on energy and the exhaustion and hunger had finally caught on to her.

Regina stripped out of her three-piece suit and placed them neatly on a hanger to be sent to the dry cleaners even though she would be wearing the same suit within the next 12 hours. Some semblance of normalcy was needed. She proceeded into her en-suite bathroom. The brunette looked into her mirror. Her eyes had developed dark rings around them and her face looked sunken. She had neglected to take care of herself trying to beat the curse.

The mayor turned on the tap at the sink and washed the makeup off her face. She welcomed the contact of water to her skin. After rinsing her face, she gripped the edges of her sink, finally feeling the toll of her long hours of neglecting sleep and food. Her body ached, her neck felt stiff. She rubbed her shoulder to ease the pain. She needed to end the curse before it destroyed her.

Shedding the rest of her clothing, she dropped them onto the floor of the bathroom, too tired to bother about cleanliness anymore. She wished she could just soak in the bathtub and relax but she had to meet the blonde in an hour.

She entered her shower and turned the water on, letting the warm water flow down her pale skin. Regina closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy the shower a little bit more before soaping her body and washing her hair with shampoo.

The mayor rinsed off the suds from her body and turned off the shower. She stepped out of her shower, water dripping on the tiles of her bathroom. The brunette grabbed her towel from a towel rack nearby and proceeded to dry her wet body. She glanced at the full length standing mirror at the corner of her bathroom noticing visible weight loss. She needed to take great care of herself, falling sick will delay ending the curse.

She wrapped the towel around her body and walked out of the bathroom. She picked out a t-shirt, a vest and a pair of jeans from the closet. There was no need to be formally dressed for what she needed to do.

                                                               *****

“You look like you’ve never had a hamburger before.” Ruby said as she slid in the seat opposite Belle in the booth.

The redhead almost spat out her food. She wiped the sauces that stained the corners of her lips with her fingers.

“This is delicious!” Belle exclaimed.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” The brunette smiled to herself.

Ruby had definitely taken an interest in the mysterious woman before her who showed up in the middle of town with nowhere to go and no belongings with her. She felt like a part of her could relate to the redhead even though she had lived with her grandmother her whole entire life. The waitress felt like she could connect with Belle somehow.

“Do you have any plans for today?” the bubbly waitress inquired.

“Not really…” The two women were engrossed in their conversation that they did not notice a figure approaching the table.

A hand swung into Belle’s iced lemon tea, causing her dress to be covered in icy beverage. She yelped as the liquid began soaking through the fabric of her clothing.

She looked up to see an apologetic blonde who had accidentally knocked over the drink, frantically trying to dry the redhead with paper napkins she took from an empty table nearby.

“I’m really, really sorry!” said the blonde.

“It’s okay, Emma.” Ruby got up from her seat and helped Belle get out of the booth. She handed the drenched woman a rag from her apron.

“Belle, you can go dry off in the bathroom at the back. I’ll get you something to change into.” The redhead hurried off to the bathroom.

Emma stood by sheepishly, letting the two woman handle the situation. Once Belle had gone to the bathroom, the waitress turned to the sheriff.

“Are you okay?”

“Yep.” Came the reply from Emma as she turned around and walked out the door.

Ruby was stunned at the change of demeanour. It was as if the blonde had intentionally done it on purpose.