A/N: This one was given to me by one of my friends and betas. "Say I love you when you're not listening."

"Listen"

"Red, you listen up now," Granny shook her finger in front of Red's face as she stood next to the door in preparation of wolf's time, "Tell that Peter boy to stay back. He shouldn't be out there trying to be a hunter with a wolf out and about."

"Peter is a man that can take care of himself," Red sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Peter is a boy who won't live to be a man if he keeps tempting his fate just to see you," Granny huffed and pushed her toward her room, "Now, get your hood on and get some sleep."

One month later Red met her best friend, Snow, and lost her first love, Peter. It was an unfair trade and she felt that empty hole his death left fill her heart. She was a wolf, a killer and a monster.

Snow was about to start on her travels again and Red would go along beside her. Granny was to meet with a few people that may be good to the cause of bringing down Regina while the two young women went ahead. Red sat in her room, alone and cut off from the few others she heard in the next room over talk about their next steps. Red tugged the red hood tighter around her shoulders and looked out her window to the waning moon, the cool breeze crawling into her room. Along with the breeze, she heard the sounds of the forest, the brushing of trees and of the wildlife that held no danger to her. Not anymore. Then she heard the song of a single cricket, close to her window.

"Such a beautiful song," she whispered to herself and then walked to the window where she pushed open the cover and looked down to see a cricket dressed in a tweed coat and an umbrella strapped to his back. She smiled sadly down at the cricket as he stopped his song and crossed her arms on the windowsill before him, "Hello, Jiminy. I didn't mean to stop your song."

"You could if you wanted to, I was playing it for you," he said with a small bow toward her, "When Granny asked Gepetto, Pinocchio and I to travel here for an emergency- I had thought the worst. I am glad to see that my fears were not true."

"Oh, but don't you see that it so much worse?" she asked and leaned her head on her folded arms to look at him eye to eye, "I… I… Jiminy, I killed Peter. I ate him… I'm a monster."

"You are not a monster, Red," Jiminy shook his head and laid a small, green hand on her arm.

"How can I not be?" she felt the tears pricking at her eyes, but didn't shy away from her life-long friend. She only pulled on the material of her hood; the only safeguard from the wolf, "I ate the man I loved. How can I be so sure that I won't do that to the rest of the people I love?"

"You know the wolf now," Jiminy explained and moved his hand from her arm to her cheek as he stepped closer to look into her green eyes, now speckled with gold- the wolf inside, "Now, it's the time to find the courage to let it find its humanity through you. You are a great and beautiful person, Red. Don't let a darker side of yourself overshadow that."

Red smiled sadly again at the cricket and sniffed back at sob, "You are the only one who makes sense sometimes, Jiminy. I am so glad that Granny met Gepetto when I was young and I got to meet you."

"Me too, Red," he nodded and backed away from her after a moment.

"C-can I ask you a favor?" Red asked hesitantly.

"Anything I can do, I will," Jiminy nodded enthusiastically to her, "For you, Red."

"Can you sing for me?" she asked with a worried furrow of her brows.

"Sure I can," he nodded and began to sing a cricket song, just for her.

As the song grew soft and smooth, Red closed her eyes and felt even the wolf inside of her begin to tame and calm. There was nothing else she found that could do that for her. Her mind began to drift off into a slumber and Jiminy smiled over her. He was her musician, friend and guardian for the night. With his song playing, he knew that no nightmares would reach her tonight. He would make sure of it, because that's what you did for the people that you loved.

Day after day, week after week, month after month and what felt year after year, Archie Hopper would sit at what he thought of as his booth, sip at his coffee and watch Ruby Lucas with rapt attention. She would glide from one side of the diner to the other with little effort. She would flirt with the men and gossip with the ladies as she checked on them and their orders. He wasn't left out from the flirtatious behavior and often felt his cheeks burn up with his blushing, which she enjoyed making if her giggles were any indication. He would watch her from his office too if she happened to be outside, busing the tables out there. She would sometimes catch him staring and would wave or if she was feeling saucy wink and blow him a kiss.

They rarely talked outside of the diner before Emma came to town. Now that she had been elected sheriff, he couldn't seem to think about anything other than the young woman from across the street. He watched as she grew up in an extraordinary amount of time and had more intelligent conversations with him, even sitting down with him to ask for advice. She became a woman that he grew to respect even more than the one he had known before.

One afternoon as she talked with him over his coffee and her water about her perfect version of utopia, he discovered out of nowhere that he was in love with her. As she talked about free homes set up for not only people, but canines, his heart jumped at her smile and his breath shortened as their eyes met. As she looked down at her napkin to play at the corners a gentle whisper slipped out from his lips unknowingly.

"I love you…"

"What?" she popped her head up and blinked at him with an innocent smile, really unsure of what he had said.

"Oh…uh," Archie shook his head and kicked himself in his mind to let something like that slip, "Just… where are all these dogs coming from in your utopia?"

"Here and there," she shrugged and sipped at her water before continuing, "Everyone should have a dog."

"I agree," he nodded and let out a breath of relief at the narrow miss.

Ruby looked back at the counter where Granny was tapping at her watch, "Ruby! Leave poor Doctor Hopper alone and get this out to table five."

Ruby chuckled with a shake of her head and stood up from the table, "I'm not bothering him. Am I, Archie?"

He felt his cheeks flame up again, but he shook his head with a chuckle, "Not in the slightest."

"See?" Ruby turned sharply toward her grandmother.

Granny only rolled her eyes, "Never been good at listening, have you, Ruby?"

"Okay, okay, I know table five," she nodded and Granny seemed happy with her answer as she went back to her business back in the kitchen. Ruby turned back to Archie, "Thanks for listening to me."

"Any time, Ruby," he said sincerely and left her a few dollars to cover his coffee and a tip for her as always before he stepped out of the diner.

Archie sat back in his office, his window open and his desk stacked with the last of his patient's files from over the past week. Between recovering from Hook and Cora's little kidnapping and starting to talk with Mary Margaret about her guilt over the Cora's death he had a full plate. He hadn't even scheduled a time to get himself over to Granny's for his regular cup of coffee, even though it was just across the street. He stood from his chair and crossed his arms over his chest as he looked across the street toward the small diner, hoping to catch sight of the one person he had been dying to see, but still avoided.

Everyone knew that he was alive thanks to the Charmings. He was happy for the fact, if nothing else to clear Regina's name, but he was hesitant on venturing out back to his regular life. He groaned and shook his head.

"No, it's because you are a coward and won't say what you should," he said to himself and sat back down at his desk, in hope to distract himself once more, "What you promised yourself you would."

Ever since he came back home and began to heal from the beatings so graciously given by Hook, he had gone over what he had held on to in the depths of the ship's hold. Being in that situation, he was sure he wasn't going to leave alive, he began to think back on all that he had done and regret all that he hadn't. One in particular he kept coming back to. He never told Ruby how he really felt. How he had loved her… even when she thought herself a monster back in the enchanted forest and he was still lowly cricket. While deep in the hold of the ship, he had promised himself that if he ever got out by some miracle that he would tell her how he felt, even if it meant painful rejection. He always kept his promises. He knew this and that's why he avoided her. He wasn't ready to tell her- he couldn't.

A knock patted on his office door and he got up to answer it.

He opened the door with an apology ready, "I'm sorry, I am not open right now. I can make an appoit…ment…"

"Not here for a shrink, Arch," Ruby smiled up at him and held up two cups of coffee for him to see, "You haven't been getting your coffee. I thought that it was about time that someone should bring it to you."

"Ruby…" he breathed out and blinked at her and the two cups as he heart raced and shot up to his throat, "I- I wasn't expecting you."

"I can see that," she giggled and raised the cups again, "Can I come in? I mean, I brought you coffee after all."

"Oh, yes, where are my manners?" he shook his head and stepped aside to let her in. He grabbed one of the offered cups from her as she passed, "Sorry."

"Don't be," she shook her head and turned to him as he shut the door behind her. She heard a small whimper and turned to see Pongo trotting up to meet her, "Hey there, good boy!"

Archie watched as Pongo licked at her face and she laughed. She gasped, which brought the dog's attention away from her face for a moment. She then pulled out a vanilla wafer and fed it to Pongo who scarfed it down and began to lick at her hands for the left-overs.

Archie was always happy with the way that she treated Pongo and found that same pesky whisper slip out, "…I love you."

Ruby laughed and pushed back Pongo as she saw Archie had said something to her, "What was that, Archie?"

"Nothing," he closed his eyes against the lie and walked back toward his desk.

She noticed his fib, as she usually did since he was horrible at them. She patted Pongo one more time and then followed Archie to his desk. He sat behind it and sipped at the still warm beverage while the files before him blurred into nonsense. Ruby sat on top of his desk, sure to sit on a clean corner so she wouldn't bother his work. She flicked at the top of the cover's lid to her coffee, not even bothering to drink it.

"I missed you, you know," she said in the semi-awkward silence. She flicked her eyes up to his as she felt them now on her, "We all thought that you were gone, Archie. I thought…"

"But I'm not, I'm here," he said gently and held out a hand toward her across the desk.

She smiled and took hold of his hand. She looked down at it and saw the still healing bruises and redness around his wrists. The wounds were painfully obvious since he had rolled up his sleeves to his elbows. She set down her cup and ran her other hand very carefully over the bruises.

"I will bite his head off for what he has done to you," Ruby growled out as she ran her fingertips over his wrist.

"Don't stoop to his level," Archie shook his head and put his coffee to the side as well, "It isn't worth it. You're better than that."

"The wolf isn't," her eyes shining dangerously from green to gold for a split second.

"Every part of you is, including the wolf," he said in a strong voice and gained her full attention, the gold backing away and hiding itself again. He sighed and let go of her hand to round the desk and sit next to her. He held both of her hands this time and squeezed them for courage, "I missed you too. More than I probably should have."

"In situations like those, we always miss our friends," she shrugged and bent her head to try and catch his eyes which were trained on their hands.

"Ruby…" he stared and then sighed sadly when nothing came out. He groaned in frustration and let go of her hands to cross his arms over his chest and then paced in front of her.

"What's wrong? Why haven't you come to see me?" Ruby asked as she knew that he had seen all his patients and went out of his way to see Henry. She felt like she was left out of the opportunity of a reunion.

"I'm a coward, that's what's wrong," he said in a low voice and then walked to his large window to see if he could hear any of the crickets from the wood's edge, not too far from his office.

Ruby's eyebrows furrowed and she scooted off the desk and walked over to him. She put a hand over his arm and looked up at his face, which looked away from her and up at the half moon through the Maine clouds.

"You are one of the bravest people I have ever met," she whispered to him and he chuckled sadly at her. She frowned and tugged at his arm even though he still wouldn't look at her, "No, I'm serious. Archie, when I first found out about the wolf as Red, I locked myself in my room. You were the only one brave enough to come to me. You sang to me, just like the ones outside of this window. Sometimes, even as Ruby, I would keep my window open and listen to the crickets. It soothed me more than anything else ever could."

Archie's arms flexed and then relaxed under her touch and she felt him responding to her words.

"You were the only man that had ever sat to know Ruby, not just get into her pants," she said with a shake of her head in regret, "You were brave enough to ask the questions that no one knew the answers to. You got to know the Ruby that no one knew."

Archie shut his eyes and tilted his head down as his large hand covered hers over his arm. He took a deep breath in and let out, "I find that I say something only if you aren't listening. I am so scared to tell you, but I promised myself that I would."

"I have told you the most horrible secrets that I have held," she reminded him and with effort turned him toward her, "Please, tell me. I will listen, I promise."

Archie opened his eyes and looked into hers. He wetted his lips and then held both of her upper arms in his hands. A moment or two passed where he had hoped that she could just read it through his eyes, but she couldn't. He opened his mouth and found he couldn't say the words, no matter how much he wanted to, "Stop listening."

"What?" she asked with a confused tilt of her head.

"Just… stop listening," he shrugged lamely, "I know it doesn't make sense, but like I said, I can only say it when you aren't listening."

"That's a bit counterproductive to your goal," she said with an amused smile.

"That seems to be my problem, yes," he nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

"Then…" Ruby sighed heavily and bit her bottom lip in her worrying motion, "How about this? I tell you something that I've said, but you've never heard."

Archie chuckled, happy that she was taking this in stride, "Okay."

"Remember that first night that you came to me and sung me that cricket song?" she asked and he nodded.

Of course he remembered. He was sure that was the night that he had started to fall for her.

"In my mind, I was so distraught over Peter, that I didn't notice the warm feeling that had started in my heart. Where Peter had left it blank, something else began to grow," she said with a smile and put a hand over her chest as she looked up at him, "I didn't know what it was then. I was too young and too hurt to think it over. All I knew was that it was genuine and it came from your actions."

"I am glad that I was able to be there for you-" he started until she put her finger to his lips.

"Not done," she said with one of her Ruby smiles, "I remember before the curse broke when I started to become more of myself- more Red- you and I would talk like we used to back in the Enchanted Forest. One day, I was talking about some kind of human and canine utopia and Granny had me wait another table. You left and walked out the door of the diner… and I just stood there by our table. Because know it or not, that was what I knew as our table. It suddenly crashed on me- or Ruby… that you have always listened. Even when I didn't."

"I always will," he said against her finger still against his lips.

She smirked against his stolen words against her finger and shook her head, "I stood there and looked out the diner door and whispered something that I had never said under the curse as Ruby. I said that I loved you."

At this Archie's eyes widened and his heart jumped straight to his throat yet again. She took her finger from his lips and looked up at him with wide and what he felt were fearful eyes. Her hands fell to her sides and her fingers flexed and bent unsure of what to do next. Archie felt his head reeling at the information and suddenly his hand reached up and cupped her cheek. His fingertips brushed over her hair and she closed her eyes to nuzzle against the palm of his hand. Both of her hands covered his, and kept it in place over her cheek.

"When we found you dead, I felt so numb. So stupid…" she hissed out in anger at herself, "I felt everything crumble around me. Jiminy was gone… Archie was gone… you- you were gone. I never told you how I felt and I didn't want that to happen again. So I put as much courage as I could muster together and I marched over here-"

"I love you," Archie suddenly said and her eyes flew open to stare up at his. He smiled with a chuckle, "Sorry to interrupt, but that's when it happens."

Ruby's mouth split into a grin and she jumped at him, pushing them both back and bumping them into the long couch for his patients. She fell on top of him and immediately pushed her lips onto his own. Her mouth worked hungry against his as her hands framed his face. His arms wrapped around her small frame and pushed back against her lips with his own. She broke the kiss and leaned over him, a large smile on her face as she looked down into his eyes.

"How many times have you said it?" she asked, her body pressed over his.

"I said it every time I sung to you," he started and pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear, "Every time that you and I talked together and you thought you heard me say something and I would shake it off or explain it away. Every time I couldn't stop myself from trying to say what I thought you wouldn't want to hear. I would say it every time I didn't think you were listening… because I am a coward."

She furrowed her brows as her thumbs ran over his cheeks, "Then that makes two of us."

"How's that?" he asked.

"I said it every time I came to sit with you with a new cup of coffee," she started and rubbed her nose with his, "Every time I asked if you wanted to go run with me when you were a cricket and I was a wolf. Every time I would slow down from my morning run to walk with you and Pongo. Every time that I would wave to you through that window… I said it. Sometimes I knew it, and other times I didn't. Regardless, I always did, but apparently only when you weren't listening."

He was the one who smiled then and cupped the back of her head to bring her down to his lips again to give her a soft and romantic kiss. As they broke apart, both had permanent smiles on their faces.

Archie leaned his forehead up to hers, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Ruby whispered and giggled, "Thanks for listening this time."

"Always," he whispered back.

END