A/N - I wrote the first drabble some 20 minutes before going to my friend's bachelorette party. I finished this one from a few scraps I had written down while still hungover from the yesterday's wedding. I'm not completely satisfied with either of them, they're rushed and underdeveloped, but I had to publish them if I want to finish this series before September the 30th. There are to be five drabbles in the series, the final three are already written and, in my opinion, much better than these first two. So, hopefully, you'll stick around to read them... :)

- "I think you were lonely. I mean, any man would be lonely." [1x12 Skin Deep]

Word count: 408

If you love something, let it go. If it comes back, it's yours. If it doesn't, it never was in the first place. It was an old, peculiar saying he had heard somewhere. Though whether it was in this life, a past one or the next, he couldn't quite tell. During more desperate hours, he often wondered if anyone ever came back the second time.

Not that he needed her. Not really. But she was right in one thing. He was lonely. Awfully, frighteningly lonely. And as if there were several stages of loneliness, he felt more alone now than before she came into his life. But he didn't want to go there. Whenever he thought about that, he would come dangerously close to comparing this feeling to that horrible period right after he had lost Bae and, to be completely honest, he was terrified of the conclusion such comparison might bring. Luckily, Rumplestiltskin was not an honest man and he knew just what lines in his mind he should never, ever cross in order to keep it that way. His love for his son was the only one he had professed openly and he fully intended for it to stay so. He was the reason he became the Dark One, and he shall be the only one to take those powers away from him, any way he chooses.

If he thought about her too much, he would just have another fit of anger because he still hadn't been able to stifle that part of himself that would have kissed her again, held her close and thanked the heavens for her. He knew how to recognize a desperate soul and he had sworn long ago he would never become one again. Still, he couldn't keep her out of his mind. He would have thought he'd hear something about her. Whether she came back to her father's kingdom. He expected he'd know by now. He usually knew everything, was always at least a few steps ahead of everything that was happening in the land, it was a part of his trade after all. It was just that her particular way was where he avoided looking.

After all, if any trouble should arise, she need only call. Not even call. Merely say his name. Whisper even. He would hear it. And he would come. She knows that. Just his name. All she needs to do is call.

She never does.

there must be a bitter breeze to make you sting so viciously

they say the greatest coward can hurt the most ferociously

I'll show you something good, oh I'll show you something good

if you open your heart you can make a new start when your crumbling world falls apart

Eurythmics – Miracle of Love