` we are both - -

It was not the first time the faux prince had been late. The Queen was anything but merciful when it came to her subjects. More often than not David had found himself on the receiving end of her daily wrath, despite their arranged marriage. He was, if anything, nothing more than a masquerade parading around in his twin brothers shoes; keeping up the appearances as it were.

Should the Kingdom learn of the true prince’s death, there was simply no telling what sort of chaos would ensue. James had been far more malevolent than Snow, David was convinced that his blood had run as black as a raven’s wings. Having ruled the Enchanted Forest with an iron fist, striking fear not only in the hearts of the people, but of the various royals and dignitaries, even their own guards flinched when he roamed the halls. 

It was what made it relatively exploitable for David to escape the suffocating atmosphere the castle exuded. As long as his shoulders were squared, his brow set and his footsteps loud and proud, the palace guard would avoid direct eye contact, choosing instead to quiver in their boots, releasing their breaths after he’d long since passed. Someday, David thought, he would apologize to those men. For the way he abused his brother’s memory, and for the facade he let on in effort to protect what was dear to him. It was such a way for the evil Queen’s loyalists. None of them quite tethered of their own accord, but through a nefarious means procured by Snow herself.

Expelling a deep, exasperated breath, he nearly winced as his current company huffed and urged him to sit still. Though rock he sat upon was digging uncomfortably into leather concealed skin, he had to admit, the look of intense concentration on her face as she dabbed at the cut on his chin made every second he spent in discomfort more than worth it. There was something about the purse of her lips and the shift of light in her eyes that urged him to reassure her unspoken concerns. 

     “It was just a rock, Ruby.” he began, lulling back as she pulled away. “I’d rather she take her anger out on me than the children in Potter’s village.” The explanation had done little to dissuade her vying emotions, he’d noticed. Quietly observing, his gaze drifted from her working jawline to the harsh swallow she took and the wringing of the cloth in her hands. He took mental note and care of the worry lines she donned, the harsh yet thin lines of muscle in her forearms, and the way her eyes seemed dimmer than they had previously been before. Each day spent in servitude to Snow was one day closer to the brink. They could run, he supposed. Utilize these rare moments of freedom that they would steal and just go - - somewhere, anywhere. As long as it were far, far from this God forsaken kingdom, David surmised their lives would improve.

Alas, it was not quite as simple as entertaining the thought. There was no harm in conjuring a fantasy, dreaming of the day when they would have their freedom, when their happiness would be a thing of focus and their hearts safe among their sleeves. But to act on these delusions would double the tragedy in their lives. David would have chosen death over marriage to Snow White. It wasn’t an option that was given to him, not when she had threatened the life of his mother. Assume his twin brother’s position as King and husband to the Queen or watch as everything he loved perished in a violent massacre. 

Both himself and Ruby shared that burden. He knew beyond a doubt that she never would have allowed herself to become a tool used for bloodshed if the Queen had not threatened her grandmother’s life. Cut from the same cloth as they were, David couldn’t seem to understand the one sided distress she displayed now. And when the words left her lips, her hazel eyes finally rising to meet his, he lost all ability to speak. She was worried about him? Never mind the things he had been subjected to for the last several months, what of the nights when he would lay awake and listen to her mournful howls of the lives Snow forced her to take? What of her? 

Feeling his blood beginning to boil beneath his skin, David scowled. He reached out to finger the magical collar around her neck, something that he had tried and tried in vain to break. “I’m not the one she exerts control over when the moon is full.” The anger he felt had always been there, this topic was especially sore for the two of them, who never failed to  empathize with the other. Worried about him? Unable to contain the sudden rush of adrenaline, he shot upward from the rock, shaking his head as he paced in a failing effort to calm his increased heart rate. 

     “We can’t live like this forever, Red. You can’t stay like that. I can no longer sit back and watch as she sends you out against your will.” Breathless, he worried his fingers through his short hair, pinching the bridge of his nose in effort to quell the oncoming tension gathering at the forefront of his head. How could she possibly fear for him when her sanity was at stake? The guilt hugged her eyes in the form of dark circles, and though it could not hinder her beauty, he wondered how much more her kind heart could take. Surely not much more of this torment. It was only a matter of time before the Queen found Regina, and then there would be nothing to distract her mind from these secret rendezvous. 

With Henry’s request at the forefront of his mind, David moved around the apartment loft swiftly; readying himself for the long, undoubtedly cold forest trek. Piling as many cloaks on top of blankets that he could carry and thermos which needed filling, he made sure to check twice over the space required for a sizable tree and after ensuring his gloves were indeed in his pockets, promptly filed out of the door.

Greeted intensely by frosted wind and boot high snow, he didn’t count the many times he nearly slid on the thick sheet of ice blanketing the ground beneath the cushion of ice cold snow. Despite the frigid wintry air, he made quick work of opening his driver’s side door, glad that he had thought ahead the night prior and applied a non-freezing substance to prevent the set back. Small, thoughtful measures seemed to become more apparent to him of late. As if he were subconsciously repenting for his past failures.

Not that he wished to dwell on the circumstances shadowing that particular memory.

Scraping the build up of ice from his windshield, allowing the truck time enough to warm up and defrost the rest, he gave a nod of approval to none other than himself and set out to pick up his partner in tree-picking. Thinking of the plans they had made seemed to disperse the melancholy the season had brought with its arrival, replacing the bitter dull line of his lips with a upward slant more akin to anticipation.

Still much too early for the diner to be open to the community, David teethed the thick gloves from his fingers, fishing through his coat pocket for the extra set of keys Granny had given him to the diner. He all but fell through the cool glass in effort to escape a particularly harsh breeze, hastily shutting the door and reaching up to silence the dinging bell. 

Letting out a breathy exhale, he rubbed his hands together to fight off the pending numbness he knew he would feel before the day were through, stomping the excess snow off of his boots on the welcome mat before proceeding to the kitchen. Producing the thermos from their place tucked under his arms, he pushed through the archway and much to his surprise, found that he was the first to arrive.

Tongue in cheek, he set the thermos on the counter and shook his head, pulling out his cell phone. While he knew her phone had died the night before (entirely his fault, really, he had been the first to call and the one to do most of the rambling), he found himself feeling a little bushy tailed. With a grin wide enough to be heard through the receiver, he whirled around and folded one arm under the other, waiting for her voicemail to give him the go.

     “What’s the story, morning glory? Rise and shine? Wakey wakey eggs and bakey?” he fired, accentuating each idiom as much as he could. “It’s... 5:54, I’m here and you’re not. Something is more than wrong with this picture, Rubes.” Although, considering the messy weather that morning, perhaps they should have rethought meeting at the diner. “Anyway. Be careful on your way over, though the more I think about it, maybe I should just pick you up instead.”

It was more an appealing a decision by the second, but there was no way for him to know if she had already left and the route she took wasn’t quite accessible enough for a truck to take. With this in mind, he pushed from the counter and began to rummage around to fill their thermos. “Well, give me a call back and let me know. Unless you’re already here, then... ignore me, and this message.” 

H O W 

the

f u c k

do you go from this:

--to nothing at all?

Ruby’s a plot device. No matter how it’s written in the show, that’s what she is. Her abilities are only useful when they can’t bull shit their way otherwise. When they run out of crappy options, they turn to Ruby and her curse. They can’t give her more ample reason. ‘Course she doesn’t get the spot light, right? She isn’t apart of the main Charming song, she’s not in with the new Frozen and Brave dance. But she’s got more fucking depth than half the character’s tossed all willy nilly into this show. 

Character and ship bias incoming.

Goes from being David’s best friend (and someone who has - for a SEEN fact known him longer AND better than Snow) to literally nothing but background decoration. She is completely ignored when Emma and Snow make their return in Season 2. The show has barely focused on her, and when they do use her, it’s to the benefit of others. David’s confidante, everyone’s bloodhound. She goes to a witch for help? Are you kidding me? Not only is she smarter than that, but she’s got a fucking nose that can sniff out a bad situation. 

It’s the great ones that get the shaft.

I’d rather she not be used at all if she isn’t going to get the credit she deserves. As a female character with more potential than most of the entire cast combined, this shit is insulting. To both the character and the actress. 

He isn’t sure he hears her correctly at first. Sitting behind his desk at the station, pen now loosely perched between his fingers and the report he’d been reviewing suddenly forgotten. He’s frozen stiff, mouth opening only for his words to fail him. Did she just say what he think she just said? She’s pregnant? It’s his? Well, he sure hopes it’s his. 

     “You’re pregnant?” brows furrowing together before shooting upwards, his mind is a hazy fog, attempting to process the news shes given him. Pregnant. With child. With his child. He was going to be a father!                 “You’re pregnant!” 

It hits him as if he were racing at the speed of light into a wall of steel. 

The smile is instantaneously wide, laughter filling the air around him, and he lunges upright to cross the few feet from his seat to the door. With a racing heart and an elation that brings tears to his eyes, he reaches out and embraces her fiercely, hands burrowing in her hair.

Parents. They were going to be parents. She was going to give him a baby. An entirely new life born of the love shared between them. He doesn’t know how it’s possible to feel as much joy and excitement as he feels, but it’s radiating off of him in waves; buzzing from every fiber of his being. Millions of thoughts circulate of future birthday’s and Christmases, of bonding and love of the likes he never thought he’d ever know. They were going to have a family, and the happiness it brings him is inexplicable. 

He knew the second he bolted from the diner that she would follow. Angry and sorely mistaken for the reason of his hesitance. Whirling around at her heated words, his sharp breaths failed to produce a response. 

She was hurting, he knew because he felt the same pain. 

And though the air was fresh and cold and like ice is his lungs, it did little to quell the fire her smile had ignited in his heart. Couldn’t she see that? The facade he fought to maintain, the overwhelming desire to forget the world and his responsibilities if it meant he could once again be with her.

Things had never been simple, but the Curse had given them each a new life to live. They had all been blank slates, unfamiliar with their pasts in the Enchanted Forest and all the hardships they’d faced together. Without strings to tie them to another, they had been free to reform their relationships. There were things that had changed completely, and then there were things that hadn’t changed at all. 

Things that the Curse hadn’t taken away, but instead had made possible. They were a prime example that despite the promises Regina made, the spell she’d cast had not ruined their lives. She’d unknowingly given them a new one, a fresh start and even now, he didn’t have any regrets.

It wasn’t until the Curse lifted that he felt his entire world quake and crumble beneath his feet.

Inhaling deeply, David shook his head vehemently, feeling a similar rage to her own beginning to stir in the pit of his stomach. “I’m not walking away!” they’d had confrontational arguments before, but nothing matched the finality of his harsh tone coated with every emotion known to man. 

Did she think this were any easier for him than it was for her? That she wasn’t on his mind day in and day out? Every memory he had of her was suffocating. 

Waking up in the mornings to the feel of her; the warmth she exuded when nestled against him. The bright eyes and brilliant smiles that made each and every single day worth getting out of bed for. She had always been his strength, and the Curse had shown the undeniable truth of her importance in his life. Whenever their Kingdom had been in peril and the War Council were called to address the stakes, it was her presence that boosted his courage.

The Prince could admit to falling victim to stupidity, but he was never blind. Not to the way her eyes followed him, to the tiny nods of reassurance she would give from across the oval table. She was every ounce his confidante and closest friend. And in battle, it was she who fought at his side, whose back had been pressed to his when the odds were in the opposite favor.

All of his insecurities vanished in the confidence she gave to him.

To think she would mistake his retreat as abandoning the life they had shared together, damn right it angered him.

He couldn’t tell her how strong the urge to cross the checkered floor had been. How for a second he had forgotten that things were different, far more complicated than he’d ever dreamed. How he had almost let the control slip and damned the rest of the people staring knowingly between them.

His people. Their people. The citizens of Storybrooke were friends and comrades who had lived through the same tenuous trials, and they each had a number of problems of their own. Issues that he were pelted with daily. For weeks now he had stood at the forefront and listened to their requests, to their fury and confusion, and the shared desperation to return home. It would have been selfish of him to prioritize himself. 

Of course it was unfair, but it was the price he paid for being a leader. And he had thought that she of all people would understand. Perhaps the passion that ran so thick between them was too much for her to postpone. He could relate to that weakness, absentmindedly registering the small, circular band tucked away in his pocket –and the one he’d worn on his finger. It wasn’t just the town he had to contend with, but the vows he had made so long ago and the child that came of it.

The stress of it all hammered in his heart, a war between his head and the organ which beat so strongly for the woman glaring at him now. His frustration with the world grew, he could feel the vein in his neck pulsing with adrenaline as he seethed profanities under his breath. It was exactly the position he’d avoided putting himself in before, despite how tempting it had been to give in to his hearts desires. 

If only he hadn’t married Snow. 

If only he hadn’t been so quick to decide she was who he was meant to be with. 

He’d never been so wrong about anything in his entire life.

     “I’m trying to make sense of it all, Ruby. The town; Regina; Snow; Emma; Henry. Us. I can’t handle everything at once.” shoulders sagging slightly, he could feel some of the ire ebbing, giving way to exhaustion. She was still the only person he would allow himself to show such weakness. Only she were privy to his frailty. “It has to be one step at a time. The decisions I make now will reflect the path we take tomorrow.”

His eyes were both pleading and resolute; nothing was going to change what had transpired between them. Nothing could possibly change the way he’d felt for so long. The Curse had been a ruse, but his love for her had been real. More real than anything he’d ever known. He would never allow that to fade. He wasn’t going to set it aside anymore. She had to know that he would not bury the feelings; the passion coursing between them.

Again, the weight of the ring nestled in his pocket seemed to brand the last two years spent with her into his skin where she was already permanently imprinted. David resisted the impulse to present it to her, to tell her of the plans he’d made during the Curse. Of the plans he intended to keep even now. Though they were considerably delayed, if there was one luxury he currently had, it was time. But he needed her to understand that, too.

    “Do you think so little of me that I would do that to you? That I would forget everything that’s happened between us? Or do you think so little of yourself and that because it’s complicated, you wouldn’t be worth the struggle?” was that it? Did she think she were so easily swept under the rug, that he would even want to? 

Jaw working, he didn’t care that they were standing in the middle of the street in the dead of night, the diner shedding light on their entire dispute. His feet carried him on impulse, standing toe to toe with her, blood boiling and eyes refusing to look anywhere but straight into her own. 

     “Damnit, Ruby. The Curse had nothing to do with the way I felt then, and it sure as hell doesn’t have anything to do with the way I still feel now.” he wanted to touch her, she was so close that if he bent just a little he could drown himself in her. But he refused to relent until she knew exactly where he stood. “I’m not walking away. I made a vow that I intend to honor and revoke the right way. And I can’t do that if all I want to do when I look at you is forget everything else.” 

Every move he made tore further the already large laceration beneath his rib cage. He could feel the fire of the wound burning him from the inside out. It was a pain that brought sweat to his brow and his breaths became labored with each staggering step. Stupid. Foolhardy. Not even an amateur would have made such a grave error, and on a battlefield no less. 

Focusing instead on remaining conscious, one arm tucked over the wound in an effort to cease at least some of the bleeding, he tried in vain not to lean too much of his weight onto Ruby, who had been acting as is crutch for the last mile and a half. Try as he might, he just couldn’t handle the jostle and sway of a horse, and remaining upright had proved impossible.

Another step and his knees buckled, forcing him to react to the sudden violent agonizing tremor that seemed to pulse from nerve to nerve. David wasn’t sure when they’d stopped walking, or how he was now leaning on a large oak instead of Ruby, but her words brought him from the fog of pain beginning to cloud his mind. 

He drew a quick breath at her concern, dry laughter spilling from pale lips as he fixed her with a stare that was both halfhearted and in weakened humor. 

It is a rare occurrence to find a moments reprieve. Time an essence crucial to the crown, David’s is often spent in service to the King. A King who withheld him unfavorably. It was no easy task conforming to the responsibilities left behind by the late prince James’. Such shoes were impossible to fill in the eyes of his royal highness, especially as a child the man had not raised. Even among the staff, David had yet to reverse the dastardly reputation his twin brother had worked so hard to obtain. 

However these troubles and more were left behind on days such as this. When his duties were fulfilled and his hands free of whatever nefarious intentions George had; David slipped through the questionable cracks in the guard’s formations and disappeared beyond the boarders trapping him in. Through the winding trails of the forest and into the kingdom beyond, that was where he found her. The childhood friend he’d been forced to leave behind in an effort to protect.

It was another daunting endeavor, already treading on thin ice as it were. Prior to his brothers untimely death, the man had issued a hunt; the search and capture of the big, bad wolf. On the night of the fullest moon, the King would dispatch him and the finest team of huntsman’ in the known realms. So far, he had been able to deter them, leading them further and further away from the safe haven of the enchanted forest.

He would never allow harm to come to her, not even come his dying breath. He would not allow what happened to his mother to in turn happen to her. Although an unspoken vow, the tremor of its ferocity and vehemence could be felt in the cold steel of his sword.

Dismissing the dreadful thoughts, David inhaled deeply the fresh, autumn air; noting how the trees had not changed, despite their fallen leaves. Each year, it was a natural, predestined cycle. The trees did not truly change the way humans did. The way they most certainly have. Closing his eyes, he recalled the night Ruby told him about her curse. With fear filled eyes ready to spill over, she’d practically screamed her frustrations at him. 

Why wouldn’t he just leave? Why didn’t he blame her for what happened to Peter, to countless other missing townsfolk? Why, why –why? To him, it was simple. He couldn’t. The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind, not even when the words had left her lips. The truth was, of course, that he did not blame her, not for all the guilt she felt. Her innocence was unmistakable to him. She was not the rumors, nor the hate. She was not the monster she believed herself to be.

In reaction to his powerful thoughts, the hand on the hilt of his sword tightened; fingers hot against the metal. Proof to justify it all was in the picture of girlish pride she put on display now. Walking beside him, voice as light as air, shining as bright as midday light. 

She was teasing him, he knew. Plucking a peculiar and colorful five leaf stem. “He loves me,” she sung, plucking, “He loves me not,” another rustle and hazel glance sent his way. 

For all those heightened senses she possessed, how could she be so unaware of his restraint? Maybe she knew very well. Maybe she were baiting him.

He released a hearty sigh, pausing their trek. It was clearly working. 

Known for his quick reflexes, he was not one to be predicted. Swiftly, and before even she could register his movements, he reached for her. Twirling her mid step and crushing her smaller frame to his own, and his mouth on hers to steal the breath it took to question him. 

Indeed, it’s rare for him to sneak out of the castle, and soon he hopes to have her join him within, but for now, with her warmth in his arms and love in his heart, this is enough. Hands grounding her hips, his lungs lament and he relents; easing back to grin at the small, breathless ‘oh’ he’s sure she doesn’t even realize she’s let out.