A/N: Hello again everyone! I'm back with something just a little different. Reading Between Their Lines is still ongoing, but when my muse came back after her vacation following The Hero's Way project, this is what she wanted me to work on.

A bit of background: this story has been in the works for a while. Mrs Lucky and I were watching Once one night when there was a particularly good scene showing Regina and Emma sparking off each other with some awesome back-and-forth. She saw how into it I was and started teasing me that all I wanted to see was them kissing. Being the good spouse that I am, I of course denied it, but she kept going, saying the only thing that would make it better for me was if Ruby was there too. Then she upped the ante by daring me to write the story between the three of them. So here we are.

Also, so many people expressed concern about her cancer diagnosis during The Hero's Way publication that it touched us both. I have awesome news on that front, if you're a returning reader. The magic medicine she's been on has kept shrinking the cancer, to the point where everything other than the primary tumor is gone and the primary has shrunk dramatically. She starts a new kind of radiation therapy next week that both the oncologist and radiologist think will get rid of the cancer for good. We're crossing our fingers, and hopefully when she has her follow-up scan in early January we get some amazing news to start off the new year. Thank you all for your prayers and well-wishes. They've meant the world.

As always laurathechef worked magic making this story legible. I claim no ownership of anything you might recognize.

Enjoy!

"I'm not in the mood for a hope speech, Emma," grunted Regina as the Savior slid onto a stool next to her. The events of the day, namely watching her boyfriend slip off with his resurrected wife – only in Storybrooke, she thought with a wry internal chuckle – had taken it out of her. All she wanted to do was wallow.

Emma responded with a tight smile, hoping she looked as encouraging as she wanted to. "You're mistaking me for my mother. Besides, you don't need a speech. You need a drinking buddy. Shots?"

Even with their success at dealing with Ingrid's plan to regain her lost sisters, things had been tense enough between herself and the mayor that more than a little of her was ready for Regina to throw her out of Granny's on her ass with either magic or pure physical strength. So when Regina turned and offered a 'Sure. Why not?' it came as a more than a little bit of a surprise, albeit a pleasant one.

"Two," she requested, gesturing with her fingers as she glanced over at Ruby behind the bar. The werewolf – who was the only person in Storybrooke who never seemed bothered by the chilly Maine air, at least from the short shorts she preferred to wear, not that Emma had ever noticed or stared at Ruby's legs or anything – slid their glasses across the bar with a wink and returned to her other customers.

"You know you did right thing today," she said, wrenching her attention from Ruby backside to her son's adoptive mother. Whenever Emma thought of everything that Regina had given Henry throughout his entire childhood, everything that no family had ever given her, she felt the weight of a debt she'd never be able to fully repay. Offering encouragement and support to Regina when she was down was the least that she could do.

"There it is. A hope speech. I thought we were drinking," Regina leaned back on her stool and regarded Emma, incredulous at the blonde's inability to stop herself from offering platitudes.

Even knowing how likely Regina was to accept – or reject, in this case – her words, Emma forged ahead, because friends supported their friends. At least that's what television shows always depicted friends doing. Having grown up bouncing from foster house to group home and back again before she could forge any kind of friendships of her own, it wasn't something she'd had direct experience with. After all the crap Regina had put up with over the last four years, trying to help cheer her up was the least she could do. "It's not a speech. It's a compliment."

"Well, I don't need your validation," the brunette retorted before slamming her shot, "I know I did the right thing. I know because I'm miserable... again." She gazed down, fingers folded around her glass, feeling the weight of loneliness bearing down on her.

Emma watched as Ruby slid two more shots over, obviously having used her wolf senses to hear why they were drinking and understanding that they would need more than just one round. "Thanks," she smiled at the slender brunette and studiously not watching her walk away as her brain idly wondered why the hell her eyes were so drawn to Ruby's legs. Sheer athleticism, she figured. Such a strong runner had legs of steel which should be admired. That was all.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, so is Gold," she tried, appreciating the distraction and knowing that any misery affecting the Dark One would warm Regina's heart almost as much as an unsolicited hug from Henry.

It had exactly the effect she'd hoped. "It does," Regina admitted with a small upturn of one corner of her lips before raising her glass for a toast.

Seizing her moment after the clink of glass impacting glass faded away, Emma turned to her drinking buddy with a teasing grin. "So, I'm curious. Who will you miss more: Robin or Roland?"

For the briefest moment, she thought she'd made a horrible mistake. Regina's shocked expression morphed into outrage faster than Emma would have admitted possible if she hadn't seen it. The mayor's mouth opened to shoot a withering retort, but she stopped herself. Closing her jaw, Regina thought for a second, then offered a reluctant grin. "Roland, of course. I've never met a sweeter boy, except for Henry," she said.

Ruby showed up with three shot glasses just as their laughter finished. "This round's on me, guys."

"Thanks, Rubes! What's the occasion?" Emma asked, taking her glass and clinking them with the two brunettes.

"Well, I know we've never exactly been best friends, Regina," Ruby answered Emma's question by speaking to the older woman, "but I know what it's like to lose someone you love, so I thought I'd just offer my support and concern."

The wear on Regina's emotions had finally taken too much of her self-control. From watching Robin walk away from her to saving his wife, to accepting sympathy from the fucking Savior of all people, hearing the pity in Ruby's voice was too much. She bristled, defenses slamming up. "I don't know what you think was going on here, Miss Lucas, but I can assure you that our situations are in no way similar. My True Love walked away from me on his own free will; I didn't have him for supper one evening."

Ruby's mouth dropped open as anguish and shame filled her eyes. Her jaw worked up and down as her brain tried to find something to say, but she settled on shaking her head. "I – I'm sorry, Regina. I shouldn't have intruded. I'll just – I think I need to go take some inventory."

As the distraught Ruby fled the counter area to the back, Emma turned to Regina and slapped her across the shoulder. "Regina! What the hell was that?" she hissed, no small feat in a sentence almost entirely devoid of sibilances.

The woman in question found herself as impressed with Emma's verbal dexterity as she was guilty at how seriously she'd apparently wounded Ruby. "I don't know! I just…I'm not used to all these emotions or even having friends! It felt like she was pitying me and I hate being pitied, so I just lashed out."

"Damn right you lashed out! You couldn't have destroyed her any more with one of your fucking fireballs!" Emma ran her hands through her hair, trying to figure out a way to fix the situation.

Guilt bearing her shoulders down, Regina rose to her feet. "I wasn't trying to hurt her; this day just left me too raw. Wait here. I'll go speak to her and apologize."

Emma stared at her, trying to process the sudden change. "Who are you and what have you done with Regina?"

"Do shut up, Miss Swan. I'm capable of admitting when I've made a mistake, especially when it's wounded someone who has done nothing to deserve it," she replied, haughty and proud as she tried to recover her dignity.

Without another word, she turned on her heel as steadily as she could after three shots and made her way behind the counter. Regina pushed open the door to the kitchen and searched for anything that looked like a pantry or closet. Never having been in this part of Granny's diner before, it took a few moments of searching but she eventually located the door. Stilling her steps, she detected the sound of muffled crying coming from the room. The sound hurt her heart, causing a swell of shame to flood through her. Knowing that she hurt the waitress as seriously as it looked like she had made her feel two inches tall. Ruby hadn't deserved that attack. She was a genuinely decent person who had worked hard to put the monster in her away, witnessed by her control over the wolf when she changed.

She took a breath and pushed the door open. Ruby startled, jumping to her feet and wiping her eyes. "Regina? What are you doing back here? I'm…I'm sorry if I left you without another round of shots. I just needed a minute to…do the inventory…" she finished weakly, hating how pathetic she sounded.

Surprising them both, Regina reached out and put a comforting hand on the younger woman's arm. "No, dear. That's not why I came back here to interrupt your…counting," she explained with a wan smile, "I came to apologize. What I said was extremely cruel and out of line, and I hurt you. I'm sorry for that. You didn't deserve those words at all."

Ruby blinked wide eyes. "You don't have to do that, Regina. We've never been friends, going back to when your knights hunted Snow and me around the Enchanted Forest. I don't know what I was doing butting in a few minutes ago."

"You were being a kind, generous, wonderful person," Regina replied, squeezing Ruby's forearm, "something I have sorely lacked in my life. Before Emma broke the curse, the closest person I had to an actual friend was Maleficent, and we were at each other's throats more than anything else."

She paused to take a breath. "Regina, really, you don't owe…" Ruby interjected.

Regina shook her head, cutting off the interruption, "Yes, I do owe you an apology and explanation. I'm not used to friendship or genuine concern. When you offered your sympathy, my mind told me it was pity, and I lashed out. I detest being made to feel less than absolutely in control, but this day has done just that and you recognized it. You were acting out of the kindness of your heart, so I do owe you my apology. The truth is that I would like it if we became friends."

Wary surprise gave way to relieved acceptance. Ruby nodded, still sniffling a little. "Thank you, Regina. That means a lot to me. I'd like it if we were friends, too."

Before Regina knew what was going on, the werewolf had enveloped her in a firm embrace. It had been so long since she'd been hugged by anyone other than Robin and Henry that she could feel the warmth spread throughout her body. Ruby's perfume, which she once thought was overpowering, was delicate, wafting to her nostrils through the red-streaked hair. So infrequently were her hugs with other women that the sensation of someone else's breasts pressing into her own was entirely foreign, not that she minded the sensation. Something about their height difference meant they fit together perfectly in an embrace, but she chose to attribute the growing fluttering in her stomach – and lower, her treacherous mind pointed out – to the experience of making a new friend rather than examine any of these new feelings in depth. The day had left her too emotionally raw and exposed as it was. Introspection would have to wait.

The hug seemed to go on longer than she would have expected, but as inexperienced as she was at the art of hugging, she decided to let Ruby take control.

When the younger woman released and stood back to look at her, Regina was struck again by the intensity of her personality. It would be a mistake to attribute the spark in her eyes to the magic of her alter ego. Ruby Lucas was far more than the attractive package that met the eye.

"Well, now that we're friends, how would you like to join Emma and me tomorrow? She's got some activity for us to bond and blow off some steam, but she won't tell me exactly what it is," Regina offered, feeling the desire to spend more time in the company of her newest friend.

"I'd love to!" Ruby accepted with a wide smile.

A/N: And there's the first chapter! As always, constructive criticism and reviews are always welcome. Thanks for taking a look!