The Morning After

                                    

                                          


                          
"So what they're telling me is all I'm good at is being Sheriff? I'm the god damned Savior, for fuck's sake!" Emma slammed her fist against the table, nearly knocking over Ruby's drink. "You'd think I'd be asked to sit on the Council at least. I am their daughter, right? Or is it because I wasn't raised a freakin' princess, so I'm not royal enough?" Emma grabbed her beer, then drank the entire contents in one swallow.
                          
Ruby watched her friend become angrier and drunker. She didn't know what she could say to make Emma feel better. She knew that the rules of Fairy Tale Land would be strange to someone who had not grown up in the Enchanted Forest. But she also understood that it was the only way to oversee that everyone lived with some semblance of order.
                          
Emma called over the waitress and ordered another round. She had decided, the moment she dropped Henry off with Regina, that tonight she would drink herself unconscious. It was the only way she saw to quiet the voice in her head telling her to pack her bags and run.
                          
"Listen, Em. I know you're having a hard time with this, but being Sheriff is a big responsibility. And, besides, I thought you said you didn't want to be a part of it, anyway?" Ruby swallowed her third shot and knew then she'd be working tomorrow with one serious hang over.
                          
"Yeah, I did. It's just... it would've been nice to have been asked. You know? I'm their only child. Well, until they have another, that is."
                          
"No matter what you think, Emma, your parents do love you. And even if they have another child, it won't change the way they feel about you." Ruby placed her hand on Emma's forearm and smiled.
                          
She had been told by Emma and Hook about what happened when they had each been forced to reveal their darkest secrets. The latter more concerned on how much of an idiot he must have appeared, while the former was trying too hard to pretend as if it were no big deal. Ruby had been so angry with Snow that she had refused to speak with her for over a week. If it had not been for Belle, acting as a mediator, she couldn't say how long her silence would have lasted. Although Ruby came to understand that Snow had not intentionally set out to hurt her daughter, she also knew the revelation had only served to fuel Emma's fragile insecurity about abandonment.
                          
"I know you're right, Rubes. I guess I'm just a little overwhelmed. After getting back, it's like everybody has got something new going on, except me. I'm back at my desk, shoveling bear claws and coffee while perfecting my dart skills. I'm just so..."
                          
"Bored?" Ruby interjected while trying to focus on which beer was hers.
                          
"Yessss." Emma dropped her head down onto the table.
                          
"Well, what about Neal? I thought you guys were trying to rekindle those old flames." Ruby signaled the waitress and ordered two more shots.
                          
"I don't know if I'd call it flames. Maybe something along the lines of candle light." Emma snorted while taking her shot and chasing it with her beer.
                          
"Huh, from the look on Neal's face lately I would have guessed it was something more." Ruby took her shot and winced as the liquid burned her throat.
                          
"Yeah, well. I've got no control over what Neal believes or doesn't. Don't get me wrong: he's a nice guy, even easy on the eyes, but we have too much history for me to just jump right back in. And there's Henry to think about. I am not gonna give my kid false hopes just to end up disappointing him again. He's been through too much lately." Emma pushed the hair back from her face, wishing once again she'd put it up in a ponytail.
                          
"Emma, Henry's smart and has proven he can take a lot more than what any of us believed he could. He was raised by the Evil Queen and he still came out of it pretty decent."