He lay there wide awake in bed. Ruby was in his arms softly snoring. He smiled to himself and absentmindedly stroked her hair.
They had only been officially dating for a couple of months, but Ruby had wanted him to stay with her; she said it made her feel safe. Victor chuckled quietly to himself; if it came down to it, she could beat off anyone in this town. Not that she would and heck, if making her feel safe meant spending every night with her, he'd happily oblige.
Since staying with Ruby, the nightmares had stopped, but still he stayed awake. Instead of worrying about his family, he worried about Ruby. He still felt like he wasn't good enough for her. The town had gotten used to them being together by now (though it had taken them long enough). And yet, all he could think about was how he had treated her during their cursed state. He was ashamed of how he had just seen her as something to look at. Yes, she's beautiful, but he now knew that there was so much more to her. She had more in common with him than he had thought; both monsters but not meaning to be. And let's not get into the tragic family past.. She had saved his life and he never thought that she would be a part of his, but it was the best thing to happen to him.
Eventually, Victor was too exhausted to think any more. He sighed to himself, put his arm around Ruby and drifted off to sleep.
Despite the fact that he had gone to sleep a long time after she did, it was Ruby who woke up to the smell of cooking. She stretched out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. Victor heard her come in and smiled to himself.
"I'm making you pancakes."
"You know you could have just got them for free at Granny's." She teased him.
He chuckled. "Ah, but where's the fun in that?!" She hugged him from behind, kissed his cheek and sat down at the table waiting for him to finish cooking.
He flipped the last pancake and set the plate of them in the middle of the table. Having breakfast together wasn't unusual for them, but they did normally get it at Granny's. Because of this, Ruby was suspicious.
"Why the big breakfast, Victor?" She asked him.
He sighed and saw the look of panic in her eyes. "Don't leave me." She whispered. He got up and gave her a hug. "I never could." She sighed in relief. "Then what's wrong?"
"I keep thinking about the past." He started.
"Oh Victor.." She said sadly.
"I mean our past, Ruby." She looked confused. "When we were cursed. I keep thinking about how I treated you. I was so awful to you then, I shouldn't deserve you now." Snow and Charming had basically said the same thing when they had announced that they were dating. The two of them were so protective over Ruby, that it had taken them the longest to accept them. They had gotten used to him now, but he couldn't help thinking they were right. She looked up at him.
"Victor, we were cursed." She stated gently.
"I know, but I still can't stop thinking that I'm not good enough for you."
She got up and sat on his lap and looked him right in the eye as she spoke. "Victor, I know the way you behaved wasn't great, but I wasn't very good to you either. We both made mistakes when the curse was in place, but that shouldn't matter any more." She stroked his hair and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Victor, you make me so happy and that is more important than anything."
He smiled at her and knew that she was right. Yes, he'd been a jerk to her, but he hadn't meant to. Now he was with her and it felt more right than anything he'd ever done. "Thank you, Ruby and you know how much you mean to me." They smiled at each other and she leaned down to kiss him. He felt much better after getting his apology off his chest. This was his new chance and he was going to spend every moment that he could of it making Ruby happy.