The first time he fell in love he was four, and his parent's bed was growing cold, the fire dying in the hearth, and he thought he saw a movement outside the window, something bigger than him and very dark, probably with the intention of devouring him whole.
He had whimpered and then he had cried out, digging himself deeper into the thin sheets.
"Hey, Bae!" His father had seemed to come out of nowhere, with a worried smile and creased forehead. "Bae, Bae, Bae, what's the matter?"
He didn't have to say anything before he was whisked into his father's arms, head on collarbone as Rumpelstiltskin climbed in beside his son. Rough fingers on his forehead, soothing against his cheek, Baelfire knew he loved his father more than any other human being.
The second time he fell in love was several hours later, when his mother returned from who-knew-where and had warm breakfast waiting at the table. He had climbed over his sleeping father to rush into his mother's arms; she embraced him tightly and smelled like beer and the sea. She sat beside him as he ate, one hand constantly brushing his hair from his eyes.
The third time he fell in love he was nearly sixteen, starving in an enormous house with bread hastily shoved in his pockets. The girl had long blonde curls and an honest face. When she smiled she glowed. He couldn't know then what he would suffer for her, but as the Shadow dragged him away, he thought back on that first time their eyes had met, and it did not surprise him that he ended up sacrificing himself for her smile.
He could not bring himself to love for many years.
He could not know his age when he fell in love for the final time, with the girl in her ponytail and thick glasses. It was sometime in the middle of their lovemaking that he realized he hadn't felt like this in a long, long time. He ran his hands over her skin with a different intensity, a different sense of purpose, than he had with so many other women throughout his life. Her body was different; her soul was different. She smiled and he forgot that he had given up on his heart. She smiled and he felt hope again.