A/N: Title is the prompt. It was pretty straight forward.

"Orange Spray Paint"

There he stood at the precipice, still and thoughtful. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets as he tried to gather his own thoughts. He knew that others had come back to this spot, still walking the fine line between freedom and forgetting. A sad chuckle escaped his throat. It looked so simple: an orange line of spray paint on dark asphalt. A line never to be crossed unless you wanted to lose yourself. Who you really were.

"Archie?"

Archie Hopper turned around to see Ruby wrapped up in a dark red, short shawl to keep out the Maine cold from reaching her arms. She gripped at the small piece of clothing and pulled it tight against her back and shoulders. He turned from the line, now half way facing her.

"Ruby," he greeted quietly and gave her a small smile, trying to make it genuine.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked and stepped toward him.

"I will answer if you will," he offered and caught her eyes. Seeing her worry he sighed heavily, "I was just thinking."

"…of stepping over?" she supplied.

"No," he shook his head immediately and then looked back down the road on the other side, "There is no appeal there."

"But there was," she walked next to him to look over the unused road.

"David was right, I wouldn't be who I am without whom I was," he looked at Ruby, "Just like you."

"Then what are you thinking about out here that you can't at your office?"

"This little line…" he nodded to the bright line by their feet, "Nothing but bright orange spray paint. You would think that we could lose ourselves to something more than this. Especially after everything that we have fought through and overcome."

"It's often the small things that we have taken for granted that takes the most from us," she said a little distracted.

"Such as?" he asked.

She took a deep breath through her nose and let it out slowly, "Well, I know that a small vile of rain water took a good portion from you."

"Yes, I guess that would be an orange line of mine. It gave me some blessings as well, though. I can't deny that," he nodded slowly, "And what about you? What's your orange line?"

"Assumptions," she said in a whisper.

"How so?"

Ruby walked from the line and sat down on a long nearby rock, off to the side of the road. She cleared her throat and looked up at the sliver of the moon that decided to shine down, "Peter."

"What was that?"

"Before I knew what I was, I assumed that my boyfriend- my first love… Peter was the wolf," she explained and kept her eyes on the moon even as she felt Archie sit next to her. She held out her hand toward him and he grasped it knowing that is what she needed, "I tied him to a tree with thick chains and promised that I would stay with him when he changed. Instead, I changed and I ate him. I killed him. I killed a lot of people."

"I know all of this, Ruby," Archie whispered and saw her lone tear fall down her face.

"I know you do," she nodded and finally turned toward him, "But then here, I assumed that the wolf would take over. It did for a night, but didn't hurt anyone. I assumed that it would and my assumptions- along with those of a good portion of the town- killed Billy. He was used as a pawn and I fell for it."

"A lot of people did," he whispered and rubbed a thumb over her knuckles.

"You didn't," she reminded him and made his eyes pop up to hers.

"Because I know you," he smiled softly, "I'm just sorry I wasn't there."

"Wasn't your fault that Regina was eating up your time," Ruby shrugged and took a deep breath, "Something so little as an assumption… it has taken a lot from me. That's my orange line, I guess."

"Those orange lines… they can also be something that is keeping us from something," he offered and squeezed her hand before he took a cleansing breath, "And I don't know about you, but I am getting tired of things delineating what I should and shouldn't do."

"Just what line are you trying to cross now?" she smiled finally and was a little startled when he wiped the last tear off of her cheek.

"Ruby," he said clearly and knelt on one knee in front of her, his hand now cupping her face, and the other a constant reassurance over her hand, "I am tired of being the coward. Tired of looking down a road that I believe I can't take. Tired of standing there, when what I want seemed so forbidden."

"What are you trying to say?" she asked in a whisper of a question.

"I am in love with you," he said quickly. Her eyes flew open wide and he took quick, short rasps of air, trying so hard not to scare her off, "You are everything that I never thought I would have. A friend, a confidant, a caring person who would rather sacrifice herself than to hurt another… you are not just beautiful, you are everything."

Ruby felt her jaw flap slightly, feeling absolutely useless.

"That is why I was out here tonight. Thinking on orange lines and roads that were forbidden to travel," he waved a hand toward the line and then quickly came back to her, "I have looked back on so many days at the diner where I went to tell you how I felt, and then I lost my bravery with just one flash of your smile. That's what you do. Make me happy and afraid all in one movement. No one has ever done that."

Tiny gasps and sighs came from her mouth as she tried to digest all that he was saying. She closed her eyes as she tried to make sense of the white noise running through her mind. He started to feel that immense fear build in his chest and began to pull away until her cheek pressed into the palm that was still at her face. She wrapped her free hand over it and finally opened her eyes.

"I can't believe it," she smiled sadly at him.

"Believe what?" he asked, now at a loss of words himself.

"You're right, no more orange lines," she smiled wider and suddenly launched herself into his arms.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled against his lips as they connected on the way down to the ground. She kissed him eagerly and at first a little startled; Archie felt the fear melt away and his hands wrapped around her waist. She hummed against him as he began to kiss her back and giggled when she moved back to look down at him. She saw her famous red lipstick smudged over his mouth and wiped her fingers over his mouth to help remove some of it.

He caught her hand and kissed the back of it, "What couldn't you believe?"

"Well, silly enough," she smiled and giggled again as she ran her other hand through his hair, "I assumed that you would never love me back if I told you how I felt."

He looked at her in surprise this time and then laughed loudly, the sound rumbling through his chest and into hers. He shook his head and ran a hand through her hair, to keep it out of her face, "No more assumptions."

"No more orange lines," she said and tapped him on his nose before she bent forward and caught his lips with hers once again.

At their next break he sat up and looked up at her with furrowed brows, "Why did you come out here anyway?"

"I felt that this was the one night that I could possibly find it in myself to cross my own lines," she shrugged and placed her arms slowly over his shoulders, "Now, where were we?"

END