Title: I Like Not Knowing That I Know You.

Rating:M, for later chapters

Pairing: Right now Archie/August but might change

Summary: August is turned back to a man after the curse but has a lot of guilt issues to work out. Dr. Hopper/Jiminiy Cricket is supposed to be everyone's rock but who's supposed to be his rock? August and Dr. Hopper don't know who the other true selves are. It's probably better that way.

A/N: I haven't written in a long time and this is going to be my first attempt at slash and attempt at a prompt. This was inspired by the prompt on livejournal Once Upon a Time Anonymous Kink Meme. the prompt is :I am requesting Pinnocchio/Jiminy Cricket smut and I know how wrong it sounds but I DON'T CARE because they are both so gorgeous as a grown man/a human, respectively. The fun part? Because August only knew Archie as a cricket, he doesn't recognize him in Storybrooke and therefore neither of them have any idea what, exactly, they are doing.
Also, nervous first-time Archie because D'AWWW. That is where I get my squee.

I thought I was gonna do a pwp but as I began writing it became a bit more. I promise the sexy times will be coming!

Part 1

August awoke from his slumber with his muscles aching but he was grateful he had muscles. She did it. She broke the curse. No thanks to him, however. He thought he would be stuck i his wooden prison forever trapped with his thoughts of regret. His body was free but there was no magic spell that could free him of his guilt. He couldn't deny that even though she succeeded he was an utter failure. He left her when she most needed him and couldn't lead her to her destiny when everyone else, including himself, depended on it. Now that the curse was broken how could he admit to the people of Storybrook who he really was.

He thought of all the people who would look at him in shame and disappointment. He couldn't handle that. His father deceived Snow and the Prince so that he could be spared from the curse. The Blue Fairy even put her reputation on the line by being apart of the conspiracy. "Be Brave, Truthful and Unselfish," he remembered Blue saying to him the day he became a real boy. He also remembered Jiminy cautioning him on the temptations the new world would bring and he should be strong and fight it. Finally, his father told him, that he was to keep the princess safe.

They did all this to protect him and he couldn't fulfill even one promise to the people he most loved. As soon as it got hard he ran away leaving baby Emma with no one at her side. As he grew up he tried to push the memories of his old land and life behind. Sometimes when he thought about it he would try to make excuses for himself. That what was asked of him was too much for just a boy. Though he was no ordinary boy. He was a puppet who became a boy with magic and he didn't even have to do the hard part. That was left to Emma and she was only a baby and already being called the future Savior.

He made his mind up. He was going to leave Storybrook. It would be better to let Blue, his father and Jiminy to think he wound up dead instead of knowing the man he had become. He was meant to do great things. Instead he got into trouble, unable to set roots anywhere, drifting from town to town. He drank and even would do drugs to hide from his shame. When that didn't work he'd lose himself in a meaningless fuck. He only seemed good at breaking things. If it wasn't the promises to his family, it was the hearts of his lovers.

August had many lovers in his time of both sexes. Gepetto was a master craftsman and all his works had a touch of beauty and his boy was no different. Many would come to admire Gepetto's handiwork even though they probably thought August was just gifted with good genes. Gepetto probably wasn't thinking of Pinnochio's future sex life when he made him anatomically correct but just influenced by his culture's respect for a nice sized cock. Whatever the reason, It was to August's benefit.

August raised himself from the bed and stretched. He wasn't sure how long he had turned to wood but it felt like a few days. When he turned into wood he couldn't move, he really was an inanimate objects except he had his thoughts. Then he felt it. The curse being broken but that hadn't turned him back either. Then he saw the purple magic. He wasn't turned back immediately but he knew it was coming. It started with him being able to blink his eyes and then slowly wood turned into flesh. The greatest thing he ever felt in his life was the beating of his heart. He remembered when he felt his heart beat for the first time as a boy and the second time as a man was even sweeter. As a world weary man he could appreciate the gift he was given. If only he had known as a boy what he knew now.

Unfortunately the spell didn't involve time travel and August had to accept what he had done with his life. Also what he had to do for his family. He had to leave. If he stayed and people knew who he was, not only would the ones he loved look at him in shame but they would be disgraced as well. Blue, Jiminy and his father were three of the most trusted people in the realm. They always did what was right except that one time when they tried to save him and he couldn't even hold up his end of the bargain.

Emma could have had a mother by her side and felt loved. If August would have stayed with her maybe the people, and Emma, could learn to forgive him and his family for their deceit. Instead he decided to go have fun and be too busy having mind blowing sex in Phuket when it was time for the Savior to return and save her people.

At least he got to see his father and Blue, he wondered who Jiminy was in this town. Maybe he was just an ordinary cricket. He would have liked to have seen his old friend again. Maybe he would even apologize for tying him up in clocks as a boy. August had to stop himself for just one moment from thinking of all the regrets in his life. He was wasting time. All there was for him to do now is get on his motorcycle and get the hell out of Dodge.

Then he heard a knock at his door.