A/N: Loove Red Cricket soo much! I've just got so many feels that I can't contain... so I wrote them down for you! I want YOU to spread the love and write a Red Cricket FF if you ship them! Season Five is coming soon, let's hope that we're getting Red and Archie back! 3 First FF for this fandom, sooo excited! Anyways, Enjoy! Express those feels in a positive manner and Review! Please? : )
*JTLYN: Five Shot-arc that peaks 2x10 when Archie "dies" (Cora frames Regina and everyone thinks she killed him) Peak is Ch. 3, this takes place a day before Archie's "death". Fluff galore.
Feelings Sparked
Somewhere in the time after the curse ended, Ruby Lucas and Archie Hopper became best friends. It started with a volunteer assignment to help find lost people just after the curse broke. They were partnered up by one of the leaders and stuck in the position for nearly two weeks. It would have been Ruby and Granny if Granny didn't have the shop to run, so Archie was enlisted to substitute. His gentle attitude, great interpersonal skills, and quick wit would be useful for this position as it required a lot of interaction and a good memory. Ruby also had a great memory –waitressing for thirty years finally came in handy. So the pair based themselves just outside Granny's diner and attended to people all day.
After things died down, Archie became a regular at Granny's diner and Ruby began taking her lunch breaks with him. Then came the day that Archie found out that Ruby hadn't seen or read Harry Potter. He insisted that she come to his house that Friday to watch the movie series with him and every Friday for the next eight weeks they watched the movie series. Then Ruby introduced Twilight to him much to both their amusement and after that, every Friday they'd watch whatever movie they could get their hands on.
Things changed shortly after Henry started making Archie watch the Disney princess movies. To pinpoint the exact day that they bashfully became aware of how close they'd become, it was the Friday they watched Pinnochio. It was the fourth Disney movie Henry was making Archie watch.
"I have to admit, I'm super excited to see how they portray you," Ruby giggled from Archie's kitchen as she retrieved the popped popcorn from the microwave.
She heard his groan from the other room as he put in the DVD. "I'm not."
"Why?" Ruby asked, walking to the living room, bag of popcorn in hand. "Haven't you heard that Jiminy Cricket is, like, the ultimate good guy? His song is the Disney anthem." She twirled a strand of her hair and sighed, "I wish they made a movie about me."
"I don't want them to glorify my story," Archie said simply. "I wasn't a good man, I don't deserve to be portrayed as the image of good. That's Snow's thing, or Charming's."
Ruby rolled her eyes and plopped on Archie's small couch for two. "You don't give yourself enough credit. You're not the evil queen."
Archie backed away from the DVD player and the television that was now showing the iconic Disney logo and sat down next to Ruby, his arm naturally going around her in a habit that neither of them noticed anymore. "Brace yourself." He muttered, earning himself a handful of popcorn thrown by Ruby.
The movie started and the second there was a pause in the first scene, Ruby smirked, "So you're a motivational speaker."
"Well, they were close." Archie nodded.
"So you were supposed to be Pinnochio's August?" Ruby murmured.
"Huh?" Archie shot Ruby confused glance. She rolled her eyes at him and explained, "Gepetto sent Augustnnochio first to guide Emma."
"Well I hope I'm more successful."
At the end of the movie, Ruby glanced at Archie who appeared more bored than anything. Then she noticed that his fists were clenched, and sat up straight to face him.
"Archie, what's wrong?" Ruby asked.
"I'm not a good person." He managed to huff.
He was obviously trying to conceal his emotions and Ruby softly told him, "You know you shouldn't try and hide your emotions." Imitating his voice she added, "It's not healthy."
His brows furrowed together and he hissed, "Now I'm a hypocrite too."
Ruby frowned. "What's bothering you?"
"I didn't even become Marco's 'concience' out of the kindness and purity of my heart. I did it because I killed his parents when I was trying to kill my own." Archie blurted.
Ruby tried to control her face, but shock appeared clear as day. The second Archie noticed this, he jumped up and began pacing angrily. "I'm a murderer, not a conscience. I wish I could have been there to help guide Pinocchio but I wasn't. I wish I deserved to be … the 'Official Concience', but I don't. I'm a hypocrite. Only Marco knows what I did and he's been good enough to keep it from the world, but I don't deserve it. He should be the Official Conscience, he's the reason I'm the man that I am today and I'm eternally grateful for it."
Slowly, Ruby stood up and walked up to Archie and put her hands on his arms, rubbing them gently. "What happened?" She knew that he needed to get it out because that's what she needed to do to accept herself as who she was after she'd killed Peter.
"I made a deal with Rumplestiltskin," Archie said, his voice shaky and quiet. "I should have known better, but I just wanted to be rid of my parents." His clear blue eyes were filled with regret as he stared down at her, "I was going to poison them, but they outsmarted me. They gave the bottle to Gepetto's parents. They were turned into wooden puppets…" his voice trailed of to hardly a whisper and he continued, "Blue turned me into a cricket to watch over Gepetto, to make it up to him, since I killed his parents."
Ruby's heart broke to know the guilt that Archie was carrying. No wonder he was such a quiet guy and always kept to himself. He was always working to repay his debt to Gepetto and when he didn't, he spent his time proving that he was a hero and not a villain as he portrayed himself.
"It's not fair for you to blame yourself like that," Ruby said. "It's not like you meant for it to happen, you weren't trying to kill them."
"But I was trying to get rid of my parents." Archie snapped.
A sad smile formed on Ruby's lips and her hand went up to stroke Archie's cheek. "I know how you feel. I killed Peter, remember?"
Archie's eyes softened and he leaned into her hand, letting her hold him and calm him down. But she wasn't calming him down much, in fact, she was beginning doing the exact opposite. As he stared into Ruby's brown eyes, Archie realized how beautiful she was and suddenly her hand felt electric against his cheek. His hands, slowly and trembling, found their way to her waist and were holding her close to him.
Ruby's sad smile began to falter as she got lost in his bespectacled eyes the color of the clearest day. Her heart suddenly began pounding and she prayed that he couldn't feel her hand trembling against his cheek. She found herself longing for Archie to hold her tighter and closer, so much that his loose grip on her waist began burning and her heart began aching with desire.
Before either of them knew it, their faces were inching closer to each other, their eyes fluttering shut and their hearts pounding in rapid unison.
God, is this really happening? Ruby thought, when their lips were inches apart. She wanted nothing more than to kiss away his anxiety.
Am I actually about to kiss Ruby Lucas? Archie thought, his eyes shut entirely and their faces centimeters apart.
Knock, Knock, Knock! The best friends jolted, and turned to the door. Archie stepped away from Ruby and marched to the door leaving her red-faced and standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room. Thankful that his back was to her now that he'd gone to open the door, Archie struggled to swallow his blush. He coughed loudly and opened the door to find none other than the evil queen herself. Ruby was still frozen, faced the wall and trying to comprehend what had happened. Rather, what hadn't happened.
"Regina!" Archie said in surprise, snapping Ruby out of her trance. She turned slowly to see Archie blocking her figure at the door.
"You weren't in your office and I wanted to speak to you as soon as possible," Regina said in her typical demanding voice.
"Ah, um, yes. I'm, uh, Ruuby?" Archie stammered over his shoulder.
Ruby swallowed her blush and struggled to walk to the door confidently though she was dreading standing next to Archie at the moment. The good doctor pushed up his glasses nervously and announced, "Ruby's here," as if she'd just arrived.
"I can see that," Regina said sarcastically. It didn't take her more than two seconds to realize that she'd just walked into something. A wicked grin spread across her face. "My, my. What did I just walk into?"
"Nothing!" the best friends cried at the same time, turning red. It didn't help that the short distance between them was tugging at both their hearts to get closer and closer…
"Mmmm. Sure I didn't." Regina said, scrunching her nose in a teasing manner. "Guess I'll stop by Granny's on my way back to the Mayor's office. I noticed that Grumpy was there on my way here and I'm sure he'd love to hear the gossip."
The queen turned and started gliding down the hall, when she suddenly swiveled and said, "Aren't you old enough to be her grandfather? You were an adult when Gepetto was a child if I remember correctly."
Both Ruby's and Archie's jaws dropped at this comment. Sure, Ruby knew that her best friend was well older than her, but it never really meant anything to her. It meant even less when they were about to kiss. Besides, when he was turned human again after living as a cricket for decades, he returned only slightly older than he was when he was turned into a bug. Archie, however, was mortified. He had entirely forgotten about their age difference and suddenly felt ashamed that he was about to kiss the young girl who was almost a century younger than him. Ruby glanced up at her best friend to see the shameful blush on his face, and grew angry.
"Wait." Ruby demanded in a tone that nearly matched Regina's in deadliness. "I was just leaving."
Regina turned, "Are you sure?" Regina asked in what sounded like a genuinely guilty voice. Both girls knew it wasn't.
"Yeah," Ruby shrugged, trying to act indifferent.
She turned to Archie who was still blushing, and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Don't forget what I said. You're amazing," Ruby whispered. She pulled away from their hug but her hands lingered on his arms. Their eyes met, and everything seemed normal for a moment. Then Regina coughed and sent Ruby on her "merry" way.