Warning: Reference to smut

Disclaimer: Don't own Once Upon a Time


She's very… clingy. She drapes herself over your shoulders, hanging off of you like her coat hangs off of her. She rests her chin on your shoulder, her lips next to your ear.

She purrs everything, from sweet nothings to contented sighs. 'Darling' falls from her lips in a soft burr that sends shivers down your spine. You pretend that it doesn't make you jealous when you hear her use that word on others – on everyone – but then she says it to you, and she peels her gloves off while she does it, and you forget that she ever uses that word on anyone other than you.

She's scared. Not necessarily of you, but of what you represent: a happy ending. She paces, she tears at her hair, she bites at her lip, and she claims that it's too early; she can't be happy – not really, not yet – not until they find the Author.

That's what you have your first fight about.

She says that what you have is fragile, that it can be taken away – and she should know, since she's trying to take away the happy endings of everyone in town.

You say that she's creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that the only thing threatening your happy ending is her constant refusal to accept that villains can – sometimes – win.

You storm out, and head for the docks, because the air is clearer out there and it helps you think. You take the time to calm down, to breathe, to sit in silence and solitude. After a while, a Dalmatian trots up to your bench, carrying a rolled-up piece of paper in its mouth. You take it and unroll it, and written upon it is a two-word apology that makes your mouth twitch in a way you can't stop.

You go back, like a part of you always knew you would, and you tell her that you are fine, and she smiles – not the smile she gives everyone else, but the smile that speaks of redemption and heroism and happy endings.

Then she's calling you 'Darling' and she's peeling off her gloves, and the clarity in the world disappears.

Then you're lying face-to-face, hand in hand, and you know, now, that you love Cruella – and you're pretty sure she loves you too.