A/N: This one was inspired by the song "Almost Lover" by A Fine Frenzy. The story isn't going in the same storyline of the song, but it inspired me. The time of day is a little off from the show. A different story began to grow in my mind and this is the result. Hope you enjoy.

"Almost Lover"

Ruby felt so out of place on her morning jogs now. She passed by the old shipping yards by the docks, Miss Ginger's home at the far corner of town and finally the convent before she would turn around to head back to the bed and breakfast. It was the same route that she had always taken since her instinct to run kicked back in. The same scenery, the same people getting up and ready for the day. It was all the same as it has been since the curse broke.

The problem was… he wouldn't be there. She would usually see him on her way back on the docks with Pongo. He would wave to her as she passed by and ask her how she was. Sometimes she would slow down and walk with him and her favorite canine along the docks. They would talk about one another's day prior and catch up on anything that may be new since the last time they had the chance to talk.

This time, as she turned at the convent, her momentum stopped. She realized this would be the first time he wouldn't be there.

Her jogging pace slowed to a walk as her mind wandered. Images flashed through her mind- things from long ago and others from only last week. All the times when things made sense- when he was still alive. Ruby rubbed her hands together to keep circulation, but all she could think of what how he would hold her hand as they talked, as she told him her nightmares. His fingertips would play along the back on her hand as he reassured her. A soothing touch that was as natural as breathing for both of them- a touch that would never be felt again.

The warmed hands clenched and flexed in the Maine cold. A light wind rippled through the trees around her, but she refused to look at the tree line. That's where he was buried. Under the shade of the trees, his trusty umbrella against his headstone. With a shake of the head she cleared the picture from her mind. Then a song sprung from the trees.

A lovely cricket song.

Her eyes closed without bidding as the song reached her. She remembered back in the Enchanted Forest when she couldn't sleep because of her guilt. Human or wolf, his cricket lullabies were the only things that could get her to sleep without difficulty. They would talk most of the night as see would fall asleep as he sang to her. More than once she caught such sadness in his eyes as he sang. She asked him about it once, but he said that it was a trick of the light. She would call it the sweetest sadness she had even seen. Clever trick or not. The crickets stopped chirping as the town began to wake up. Ruby was thrown back into reality and it stung deeply.

She never wanted to see him unhappy and he told her that he never wanted more than her happiness. A single question prodded at her.

What would have happened if she had told him what he meant to her? Would they have stayed friends or maybe developed into something more? She couldn't help thinking that she had lost her chance. Archie, the great man that he was could have been the one. An almost lover, now a hopeless dream…

A deep breath later and she tried to kick herself into a jog again. She wanted to remember him, but she didn't want to think on the should haves… think of him.

"Should have known this would happen," she muttered out from under tears, "First Peter and now you… Archie."

With another cleansing breath, she paced a slow jog toward the shipping yard and then home.

Hook dropped Archie's face from his grip and let the poor man breath again. The pirate scoffed and walked out from the lower deck toward the top deck. If past beatings were any indication, Hook wouldn't be back for a while. It gave Archie some time to think and recover before he came back.

Archie popped his neck in his effort to look up. His breathing was labored, but shallow behind the old gag Hook had shoved in his mouth. He clenched his eyes shut against the pain caused to his ribs. Carefully, he leaned back and rested his head against the wood of the ship. It was there that memories played.

He remembered being in the middle of a crowd. He was in front of Regina's home, a lynching party all around him. The royals stopped it from happening, but in that crowd so full of hate and anger, he felt the pull of something beautiful. Someone beautiful. Ruby was right next to him and had unconsciously looped her arms through his. Reawakening memories of his time with her as a cricket filled in all the gaps. How he would lull her asleep and keep her safe from her nightmares and how she would talk and laugh with him through the nights. Her arm felt so right and he was thankful that he was now a man able to enjoy the comfortable weight of it on his.

Another flinch or pain shot from his side and another memory triggered. It was during the last Miner's Day celebration. He sat to the side to watch the festivities. People were dancing to the live music and walked from booth to booth in search of trinkets. He smiled at the people as they passed by him with a nod of their heads. Then there was sudden hand in his and he was pulled to the dance floor. He was face to face with the beautiful Ruby Lucas. He was flustered, of course, as he had harbored feelings for the young waitress.

'I don't have good rhythm,' he admitted.

'I don't care if you have two left feet. You're dancing,' she had told him with a playful smirk. He only nodded and at the end of their dance, she thanked him with a kiss- a quick kiss to the lips. It would be something he would never forget. She told him that she wouldn't either; she never saw him blush so bright.

He laughed softly at the memory and it reminded him where he really was. He hoped that both Ruby and Red would forgive him should he not get out of the mess he was in. He always hated to see her cry- even worse if he was the cause of her tears.

"I'm sorry, Ruby," he whispered to himself through the gag. He knew if he ever left the ship and made it back to her, he would make up from lost time. He would love her the way she always deserved.

Footsteps were heard outside and he knew he wouldn't leave this place alive. In his mind, he said goodbye and so long to the luckless romance. He turned to the holding door, ready to face whatever may come. It must be less painful than what he heart was going through.

Ruby had made it through the rest of her jog without incident or interruption until she got to the shipping yard. The docks were empty, even more so than what they usually were. She stopped by one of the benches and remembered a time where they had both taken a rest on it to watch the waves. They had spent most of the day out on that bench talking about anything and everything.

She turned away as tears began to choke her. She couldn't even look out at the ocean without thinking about him. Knowing Regina was still out there, she was hesitant to even drive the town at night. All because of what she had done to him.

"You're gone and yet you haunt me," Ruby whispered and couldn't move herself from her spot near the bench. Her hands gripped the wood of the back rest so hard that the knuckles turned white, "… and I don't know if I want you to stop. I want you to come back."

'…come back.'

His eyes fluttered as he tried to wake up. He could see her in front of him. She was here. She was reaching out for him

"Red," he moaned out and could hear her low chuckle in response.

He tried to clear his eyes and slowly shook his head to do so, but as he did so, she disappeared. She faded into the shadows and lights of the holding cabin and he sighed sadly. He couldn't even wake up without her on his mind anymore. He just hoped that she was safe.

"I bet you are just fine," he said out loud and closed his eyes as a headache began again, "You are going to be fine."

Suddenly he heard a set of foot falls on a staircase not too far away. They were hesitant and cautious- nothing like those of the ship's captain. Archie's heart sped up in hope that it wasn't another hostage. The door he heard so often opened in the room above him and he took his chance.

"Hello?" he called out.

"Uh… he-hello?" an unsure voice asked.

He smiled in somewhat relief. It was someone else. Someone from town. He heard a few more hesitant footfalls toward him and he nearly jumped in his seat, "Down here!"

The cover slowly opened and there on the other side was-

"Belle!" he smiled wider, "Oh, thank God."

"A-archie…" she looked at him in both confusion and relief, "Yo-you're okay."

"Y-yes, I-I am," he said in similar confusion, "C-could you, uh…"

After Belle got him out from his prison, he ran tried to talk her into coming with him. She had something to do and somehow, he understood. He ran up the stairs and off of the ship to the docks. He let out a breath as he had winded himself. He was never so happy to see the docks before now. He ran his hand over the planks and then pushed himself up. It wouldn't do any good to stay on the dock when he didn't know when Hook would be back. He would have to warn and tell Gold just as Belle had asked.

Archie walked quickly along the docks and passed Gold on his way. The man was just as shocked to see him as Belle was, but listed to Archie as he told him where Belle was and she would need help. The Dark One nodded quickly and passed the man toward the invisible ship. Archie took a cleansing breath. He never liked the idea of violence, but he knew that with Gold going to sort Hook out, the pirate would not be up for any beatings for quite a while.

He remembered that he walked these same docks nearly every morning with Pongo. He smiled and knew that in the back of his mind he knew it was also where she would run. Another one of the many reasons he enjoyed his walk here. His pace slowed just for a few moments when he spotted a figure near one of his favorite benches. It didn't take him much longer until he instantly knew who it was.

"Ruby…" he breathed out and saw her back straighten. She always had good hearing. He smiled in relief that it was her and he wasn't seeing things again. With a few more steps he reached out toward her, though he was too far to touch her, "…Red."

Ruby turned slowly and his feet stopped moving. Her eyes were full of tears, tear tracks already marked down her face. Her bottom lip quivered and she blinked to see him clearly through her lashes. She let out a gasp and then a sob shook her body. She took a step toward him and looked him over from the bottom, up.

"A-Archie?" she whispered toward him. He didn't even get in a full nod before she sprinted toward him and wrapped him in a tight hug. Her arms wrapped tightly around his chest and waist and her face buried itself in his vest and tie. Her shoulders shook in relieved sobs and her hands clenched around the material of his vest.

His arms wrapped around her gently and smoothed over her back and then through her hair. He placed light kisses in the strands and closed his eyes as his own tears began to prickle behind his lids. He tried to say things to her, things that would calm her, but he couldn't get words out. All he wanted to do was be in her arms and her in his and let the rest of the world go.

"Shh, it's okay, Red. I'm okay," he finally said into her hair. His ribs were going to hurt like Hell later with how hard she was squeezing over some carefully placed kicks from a certain captain, but he felt it was worth it all.

"It's no-not okay," she said through tears and wiped at her eyes to clear them. She kept a tight grip around him with one hand, while the one that had wiped at her face reached up and cupped his cheek. Her thumb ran over his cheek and she smiled through what he knew now were happy tears, "Archie… Jiminy, you were dead."

"What?"

"We all thought that she killed you," Ruby fought another sob and shook her head. Her hand moved from his cheek to his hair, still in disarray, "I thought that I'd lost you."

His heart jumped at the confession and he looked down in her eyes, "Red, you'll never lose me. Ever… I promise."

Ruby smiled and took her other arm from around his waist and cupped both her hands over his cheeks. She then leaned up and kissed him. Her arms bent just enough to pull her up to him and her eyes closed.

Archie was more than surprised, but thought that he reacted pretty quickly as his arms tightened around her and he kissed her back. All the feelings he had been hiding, all the missed opportunities and thoughts of goodbyes were pushed into the kiss. One of his hands moved into her hair, to help her stay close to him, the other secured around her waist.

Neither let one another go for the longest time. Ruby eventually leaned back and their lips separated just slightly. She smiled with her eyes still closed and didn't open them until she felt his forehead lean against hers. Both eyes opened to look into the others. He leaned forward and began to kiss away the tears that still graced her cheeks; no longer afraid to show his affection for her.

He made it around the side of her face and whispered in her ear, "I love you."

Ruby chuckled low and nodded as she turned her face to look into his eyes again, "I love you, too."

They stood with one another, just basking in the glow of their reunion and confessions. Ruby leaned up and nuzzled her nose with his and then looked at him pointedly.

"I am putting my foot down on something," she said and pointed a finger in his face.

"Already making demands?" he chuckled happily and caught the hand pointed at him with one of his and kissed the finger she had pointed. Her face softened at the gesture. He nodded at her, "I will do anything you ask of me that is within my power."

"Don't you ever die on me again," she said in a whisper and furrowed her brows in worry, "Ever."

"I'm not immortal, Red," he smiled and hugged her close, "But I promise I will live as long as I can. If not for me or Marco, than I will do it for you. I'd do anything for you."

It was an echo from her past- something that she had told someone long ago. She knew he meant it and she melted back into his embrace.

"I was about to tell you goodbye," she said into his shirt and vest, "I thought that I was alone again."

"For a few moments, I thought so too," he said and kissed the top of her head, "But, thankfully, we were both wrong. I will promise you something, Ruby. No more heartbreak, no more saying goodbye. I am here, I am fine, and I will stay. For you."

Ruby smiled against him and everything else seemed to fade away. All that mattered was that he was alive, it wasn't a dream and he was hers.

"Come on," he whispered to her and pulled away just slightly, "I have a few people to tell I am alive since everyone seems to think otherwise."

"Okay, but I refuse to leave your side," she nodded and walked with him toward Main Street.

END