A/N: Hello, and welcome to my first ever attempt at writing smut. I welcome constructive criticism as I'm trying to get better at it. And I figure I will eventually stop blushing while writing if I do it often enough.

WARNING: There will be scenes of an explicit nature in this story so if that's not your cup of tea, turn back now.

"Friend In Need"

For Susie Q,,

who is always a friend indeed

Ruby Lucas stood indecisively outside his office, a brown paper bag holding blueberry muffins, his favorite, in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. They weren't really bribes. They were presents for a friend she hoped would listen. He always listened. He was the one person in town she thought might be able to help her. The situation was getting out of hand and however she had tried to deny it or ignore it, she simply couldn't any longer. She was out of options and the one road left was utter humiliation. Because the truth of the matter, the sad, ridiculous yoke of a problem hanging over her was that she was in heat.

A few days ago she had woken up feel decisively antsy and stressed. During the day it had worsened, she'd felt empty and irritated, snapping at everyone. Then during the evening, as the moon rose the pounding blood, the surging need had begun to swirl through her. At first she hadn't been able to name it, the strange helplessness, the beating pulses in places a pulse had no business being and a hollow longing for…pressure was the best she could term it. Then she'd realized she recognized the feeling, and she would have earlier if it hadn't been so intensified. She was turned on. To her eternal embarrassment it didn't subside. After a night of tossing and turning it had if anything gotten worse. Dealing with the problem on her own seemed to have little effect and as the days passed she was getting desperate.

What on earth was she supposed to do? Ruby Lucas could have easily latched on to some good-for-nothing hot guy and kept him in bed for a day or two, but Red didn't have the same option. Her standards were higher; she wouldn't just pick anyone off the street. Which in her current situation started to seem like a pity.

This was why she was indecisively standing outside her friend Archie Hopper's – or Jiminy Cricket's – office, desperately clutching a bag of muffins.

She couldn't even talk to her best friend about it. Snow was back at home, along with Emma, not her fault but Ruby desperately needed someone to talk to. Her grandmother, who had been a wolf herself was probably the best option but Ruby just couldn't bring herself to raise this particular topic with Mrs. Lucas. For the millionth time she wished she had had more time with her mother. Instead she had ended up seeking the advice, not of a person, but of objectivity. She'd gone to the library and found a book.

What she had found had not improved her mood. If her system worked as a wolf female's she had four to seven days of suffering ahead of her, with both a leading up to and cooling down period before and after, and this happened once a year, in the winter. Not mating seemed to lead to excessive aggressiveness and strange behavior. Ruby laid her head on the table, on the verge of either hysterical laughter or demented sobbing when the librarian appeared. Belle was dressed neatly as usual with mile high-heeled shoes clashing with the rest of her demure appearance.

"Ruby, is something wrong?"

"Er, no. Not at all. Just reading some. I was just about to go, so I should-" Ruby got up and immediately regretted it as she could no longer cover the title of the page she had been reading. "Mating Habits in the Wolf Female" stood out starkly and with a thud she slammed the book shut, feeling her cheeks grow as red as her famous cloak.

"Ruby, if something's wrong I hope you consider me a good enough friend to tell me?" Her voice was just so gentle and her eyes so damn understanding. She could see why Rumplestiltskin had fallen for her. She seemed able to forgive anything. Why she had fallen for him was an entirely different matter, a true mystery. At her wits end Ruby had ended up telling the other woman about her problem. Belle hadn't laughed or gotten uncomfortable, she had simply focused on finding a solution.

"So there's no one you're in love with?" Ruby thought of Peter. He had been her first love but lately she had begun to doubt he had been her True Love. When she saw how Snow looked at James or Belle at Rumpelstiltskin she knew her feelings for Peter and his for her had fallen short. It had been a sweet, tender teenage romance but he had not been the love of her life. In a way she would always love him in the way of a teenage girl would, all-consuming but superficial.

"No. As Ruby I wouldn't care but now that I have my old self back I just can't let sex be that meaningless again." It was amazing how comfortable she felt sharing with this woman even though they had only been friends for a little while.

"You might have to settle for second best still. I don't mean just anybody, but don't you have a friend you can trust? Someone you respect, trust, find attractive and who's single?" Ruby laughed,

"If I knew someone like that I'd already be all over him!"

"So you have no guy friends to turn to?" Ruby considered. She only counted one man among her real friends. The man who always listened to her, who never stared down her blouse and who was genuinely interested in what she had to say for more than the chance to get into her pants.

Archie Hopper filled all the criteria Belle had listed but Ruby could only snort with laughter at the thought. There was no way Jiminy would want her. He was the only unattached guy she had never caught staring at her butt. She had known him forever, they had been good friends back when he was a cricket, and often she had wondered what he had looked like back when he was a man. But she couldn't imagine someone like him wanting to be with her. He was sweet and gentle and he probably preferred the kind of woman who was cultured and demure, taking things slowly and romantically. Like Belle. He was no option for a quick roll in the hay. And wasn't that what you wanted, a voice in her head asked, someone who'd treat you with respect and would still like you afterwards?

"Just one. He wouldn't want me."

"How do you know?"

"I'm just not his type." She opened the book again at a random page.

"If you say so, but I can't imagine a man who'd tell you no."

"I don't think he could ever see me that way." She fiddled with the corner of the page.

"Is he gay?"

"No…I don't know." Archie, gay? The thought seemed strange. But he had never once let his gaze linger anywhere but her face. Or maybe he just doesn't think of you that way. Jeez. "I'm…I'm just going to go. It's just seven days. I can manage. Thanks for listening Belle."

After that she'd spent her third night barely sleeping. She was so exhausted she felt cross-eyed and the need had sharpened to a knifepoint, cutting her insides in shuddering ribbons, raw and bordering on painful. So she had gathered whatever courage she had and knocked on his door, blueberry muffins in hand, eternal embarrassment in the other.

"Ruby, how nice to see you."

"Hi, Archie. I brought muffins." She put them down and sat on his couch, flinching as she felt the fabric of her underwear rub against her heated core. Gods, now she couldn't even sit like a normal person.

"What's wrong?"

"Why?" She narrowed her eyes. There was no way he could see it on her somehow?

"Your eyes. You look unhappy." Of course. That's where Jiminy would look.

"Well, I have a…problem." He just tilted his head slightly, waiting for her to continue. She tried to summon the intimacy they'd shared when he had been a cricket at the Charmings' castle, his voice in the dark as they'd talked about things she had never even brought up with Snow. Closing her eyes to try and recapture it she could almost hear the gentle flutter of his wings as he settled next to her on her pillow, his voice one of her favorite sounds in the world. "An embarrassing problem."

"Is it a health concern?" She still didn't open her eyes.

"Well, in a way. I…Here." Her courage failed her and she handed over the page from the book Belle had helped her photocopy. She heard him unfold it and wrung her hands worriedly. This was the end. He was going to ask her to go. He was going to think she was weird, or worse, gross.

"This is about wolves, Red." Seeking comfort from his use of her real name she braced herself.
"It's about…me. I'm…I am a wolf female."

"I really don't understand what you are tying to tell me here." Ruby's eyes flew open as her precarious control snapped.

"Do I have to spell it out to you? I'm in heat! There I said it. Are you happy? Feel like laughing? I know I do. Seven days of this hell I have to go through and I am at the end of my tether after three. I can't stand it any longer." Her cheeks flamed and she saw his fair skin had turned an almost sickly shade of pale.

"Ah…Er…Are you trying to say you need to…" His eyes couldn't meet hers and he kept them trained on the page on his lap. "…mate?" By now Ruby was so humiliated she couldn't help the tears that started running down her cheeks.

"I don't know. I need something and I can't…can't…I need help. I need a friend." Suddenly the sickly white shade of his face was replaced with an impressive shade of red that clashed terribly with his auburn hair.

"You mean you want…me to…"

"Ruby might be able to pick anyone but I can't…do that any longer. It has to be someone I can…trust and I…You're the only man who's unattached who I do trust and…God, I wish I didn't have to ask this of you but, Jiminy I'm going insane. Please, would you at least consider…" She just saw his flaming cheeks and he refused to look her in the eye and she knew she had made a mistake. "What the hell am I even doing? Forget I said anything. Please never speak of this again." She got up and left, all the while wishing an enormous hole would open and swallow her and her giant humiliation whole.

POV

Archie felt the heat in his cheeks slowly fade and no longer thought his head would explode if he moved. The first thing he did when he regained his motor functions was pouring a large whisky. After a big gulp he sat back down and tried to sort out the masses of thoughts running through his mind.

Red had come into his office and informed him with flaming cheeks that she was in heat. He swallowed heavily. And that she needed someone she trusted to "help her". His hands shook as his mind conjured up a picture what his "helping" could constitute of.

You have no business thinking of her that way, he told himself. Ruby Lucas, as she was now known, was almost two lifetimes younger than him and so beautiful he sometimes had to look away from her face to catch his breath. She had been his friend for a long time. He'd met her as Jiminy Cricket and a curious friendship had developed between them. Though she was gorgeous, intelligent and funny she seemed to have few friends and had welcomed his company, to his great surprise. The woman with the face of a goddess and the bug with a voice had found a surprising comfort in each other and – he gulped down some more whisky, grimacing as it burned its way down his throat – the bug had loved the woman.

His wish, to escape from humanity and lead his life repaying for old sins, had suddenly seemed more like a prison than the freedom it had previously entailed. His dream had become a curse. He had no claim to a woman like Red, not a chance in hell, as man or bug, but his little heart refused to listen to reason.

Then he had become a man, but forgotten Red. But as Archie Hopper he'd stood as small a chance with Ruby Lucas, town wild-child and petulant girl-woman. Then Ruby had started to come into her own. She'd found her worth and as if a veil had been lifted from Archie's eyes he had seen the woman she could be underneath. The brave, strong woman, who until then had been hidden under a heap of insecurities. Suddenly, going to the diner was for more than food. He knew some men had stopped going as the era of tiny shorts and midriff-baring shirts was over and a Ruby who did not welcome advances had taken her place. But to Archie she had suddenly gotten irresistible. He'd started eating at Granny's at least twice a day, fully well knowing he was behaving like a lovesick teenager and that he'd probably sprout horns before Ruby saw him as anything but a friend.

Yet, going to see her face that was no longer hidden under three layers of heavy make-up and see her hair curl in the way it grew naturally he wondered if anyone really had the right to be that beautiful. Luckily, his feelings had gone unnoticed and he promised himself to never voice them, knowing it would ruin the tentative friendship growing between them.

Then the curse had lifted and Archie and Jiminy had mixed in a confusing way and he could barely tell them apart. Because they were both him, just different versions. And both of them were in love with Red.

And now you have a chance to show her, his inner voice said. A chance you'll never get again. No! He couldn't be what she needed. He could never do light and casual. That's what she said too, didn't she, that she couldn't be her old self and just pick anybody…She needs somebody to…help her…and of all people she had come to him. He wasn't sure he could betray that trust. His heart recoiled at the thought. To share an intimate moment with Ruby, there would be no going back from that. He would be lost forever. And in a week when this…condition passed she'd be back to normal and wanting to be his friend.

But if you don't, the voice he imagined belonged to the little devil on his shoulder, someone else will. Maybe someone who deserves her even less will put his hands on her and she'll- Stop! A faceless man appeared in his mind, his hands on her body, his lips against hers. He couldn't take that either. With a heavy sigh he gulped down the last of the whisky and stood. He had a friend in need, his wishes had to take second place to that.

With a prayer for strength he knocked on the door of the now closed diner. In a moment Ruby's head popped up from behind the bar. Her hair was in some sort of messy bun on top of her head, her cheeks were flushed and she was wearing a stained apron – and still she looked like the most beautiful woman on earth to him. The flush on her cheeks deepened when she saw him but she put down what he thought looked like a scrub brush and came over, unlocking the door and letting him in.

"Archie." She greeted him neutrally, locking the door again before returning to her previous position. She was scrubbing the floor on her hands and knees he could see now. Like a woman possessed, she rubbed at a stubborn stain of the linoleum. The fumes rising from the bucket made his eyes water. It smelt like industrial cleaner, bleach and…vinegar.

"What is that?" Ruby barely glanced up.

"Special brew of detergent," she smiled evilly as she attacked the stain with renewed fervor. Tresses of her dark hair was falling from the bun and he longed to touch one, see if they were as soft as they looked. "Need to get these stains out. Why can't it ever stay clean? I clean and I clean but the day after it's as bad again." He recognized classic signs of transference. One side of her life wasn't going well so she magnified a small problem in some other area and focused on it.

"Listen, Ruby…about before…" She stopped for a moment and finally met his eyes. Then she attacked the damned stain again.

"I don't know what you're talking about. All I want to talk about is how I'm going to eviscerate this stain, then I have to take the curtains out of the wash, put them in the dryer, polish the bar with that new chrome polish, iron the curtains when they're out of the dryer and then-" He crouched down, interrupting her by grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to look him in the eye.

"I was going to say that if you still want me to…I'll…help." At first he thought she was going to keep pretending they had never had their previous conversation but then she dropped the brush.

"Thank god," she managed before she grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him close, crushing her lips hurriedly against his. It was nothing like the dreams he'd had of that moment, where Ruby had looked up at him, her eyes gentle and yearning as her lips softly, slowly yielded to his. There was nothing soft or yielding about this kiss.

"Ruby, wait, we shouldn't…We can't…Not here…Not now."

"Here. Now. I need you." Hearing her spell it out pushed him past any second thoughts he might have had about the suitability of the floor behind the bar of the diner. After all, it was clean, it was here and it was now.

Her tongue met his insistently and her hands wound in his hair, pulling slightly and he groaned. The sensation was mind-blowing. Scrambling to get closer she all but climbed his lap and his hands found her trim waist, pulling her against him tightly. How could he have thought he could live happily without this? Ruby's tongue danced with his, mimicking what was to come as it plundered his mouth and he happily returned the favor, feeling satisfaction flood him as she moaned. Shifting slightly, so he could stretch his legs out and lean his back against the cupboards behind the bar holding extra glassware he accidentally bumped his hip against her core and a gasp escaped her. Had he really felt…? It seemed to push her into overdrive as her hips helplessly jerked against his in rapid little circles. Feeling her press against his erection through his trousers almost brought him over the edge and she mewled in need.

Archie thought he might have died and gone to heaven. Her small hands, usually gentle, were hurriedly fluttering over him, up and down his chest, around his neck, twining in his hair. Then they found his shirt buttons and with a…growl, she ripped the buttons open, immediately latching her lips to the side of his neck as her busy hands travelled downwards, gripping his belt, starting to work on the buckle. Archie tried to focus, working himself out of his stunned position of holding her as she basically ravished him but all coherent thought seemed to have left his head. All he could focus on was Ruby's almost painful nipping at his neck and her soft hands that kept brushing over his cock as she struggled with his belt. And most of all, his attention was focused on her center that he could feel grinding against his.

Realizing from the look on Ruby's face that her climax was imminent from just rubbing herself on his tweed-clad erection he voiced something close to a growl himself. Copying her movement from before he tugged at her white shirt and heard the buttons cheerily ping against the floor as he bared a lacy white camisole and flawless alabaster skin. Pushing it off her he was glad he was still wearing his glasses as her perfect breasts swung gently with her repeated undulations. If she hadn't been in such a hurry he could have spent a week worshipping them. As it was he could only lavish them in attention. Bending slightly he caught one of the dusky rose nipples in his mouth, sucking gently, glad to hear Ruby's breathing grow even shallower. Knowing she couldn't be far from finishing work on his belt he let his hands travel down from her waist, down her endless legs, grabbing her skirt at the hem and pushing it up to encounter sheer red lace panties. They could be the sexiest thing he had ever seen. Until he met Ruby's eyes. They were dark and wide with…wonder, arousal and expectation. And as he slid his fingers under the waistband she breathed,

"Rip them." What little control he had maintained to that point snapped and with a sharp tug the sheer fabric gave. He tossed them aside and her eyes deepened another shade. Capturing her lips again in a frenzied hurry he could feel their teeth clicking together but didn't care. All he could think about was being joined with Red, filling her, taking her. His trousers got even more restrictive and he moved his hands to join Ruby's on his belt. As he pulled on it she grabbed his free hand and with a forcefulness he didn't know she possessed she pressed it to her sex. He found her so hot, so wet already, that he knew neither of them could wait much longer. As gently as he could with desire roaring his head he slipped a finger inside her heat. Ruby moaned and thrust herself down on it.

"More," she breathed and he pushed another digit past the tight muscles, groaning as his brain transferred each clench of her inner walls from his fingers to how she would feel around his aching member. As his thumb found her sensitive bundle of nerves, rubbing rather clumsy circles over it Ruby threw her head back in a silent scream and increased her efforts, riding his hand in sharp thrusts. Again he was reminded of an ancient goddess. A beautiful, free and incredibly sexy goddess. His mouth found its way back to her nipple and he worried it between his teeth, hearing how her breathing got shallower, feeling all her muscles tightening as she sped up even more. He could see it clearly when the release washed over her, feel the spasms around his fingers and hear it best of all as Ruby let out a cry. He'd thought she'd just collapse from the strength of it but her thrusts just got erratic, then her eyes flew open and she gave him an almost feral grin.

Then their joint effort finally paid off as his belt, buttons and zipper had all been surpassed. Gently Ruby pushed his boxers down and he gasped in relief as he sprung free. Taking him in her hand, stroking him he almost came undone, her soft hands applying just the right amount of pressure. Then he thought he saw her lick her lips at the sight of it and any insecurities he'd had about Ruby's comparative experience to his flew out the window. He pulled her in for another kiss as he lifted her by the waist. Eagerly she complied and he felt her small hand guide him right before he shifted his grip, putting his hands on her hips and pushing her down.

In one smooth thrust he was buried to the hilt and she grunted at the sudden intrusion. Letting her take a moment to accommodate him his forehead came to rest on her bare shoulder. God, she felt incredible. He had some vague memories about his previous experiences, back when he was still Jiminy the thief, but they were nothing compared to how Ruby felt wrapped around him. It was just so right to be inside her, to feel her more intimately than anyone else. Then she started to move, gently at first but rapidly building up to a punishing pace. Keeping his hands on her hips for support he felt her leg muscles tremble but she seemed intent on keeping the rhythm. Her eyes were closed and her mouth formed a small "o" as she rode him, her inner walls clamping him tight enough to be almost painful. He wouldn't last long like this, but feeling her tightening he didn't think she would either. Quickly he found her clit with one hand, managing slightly more graceful ministrations as she started to pant, from arousal or exertion he wasn't sure, but probably both.

"Yes, don't stop! Just…like...that-" she ground out the words as she rode him, almost brutally. He wasn't planning on stopping anything. In fact he could probably keep doing this until the day he died. He felt his climax build, the telltale tingling in his abdomen increasing. In a flash of inspiration he pinched the sensitive bundle of nerves and bucking violently she came, her walls clamping down on him like a vice as he joined her, falling over the edge. He thought he heard someone howl, but he wasn't sure if it was him or her.

"Holy mother of fairies and her million baby dwarves." He thought he would regain his sight eventually. If not - it was no great price for what he'd just experienced. Then he realized the only problem was that his eyelids were too heavy. Maybe he'd regain enough strength soon to open them.

"Hmm," he managed, and was quite proud of it too.

"That was…incredible." He cracked open an eye to see Ruby sitting, leaning against the back of the bar. The space was small and their legs were tangled. Her hair was till partly in a messy bun but she was only wearing her skirt and her shoes. He was still wearing everything except for his shirt hanging open from loss of buttons. Chuckling weakly he shifted slightly.

"So, no complaints?" She must've heard the undertone in his joking voice, the uncertainty still rather blatant, jesting tone aside.

"Complaints? Jiminy, I just had two incredible orgasms in the space of five minutes, that's hardly reason for complaint." Shocked he glanced up at the clock. He'd only lasted five minutes? Granted, it had been almost a century since he'd last had sex but still…She must've seen that look too as she added, "I don't think it could have been any better than it was. I needed fast and you gave it to me. I was going insane. It's the weirdest thing…Will you promise me something, Archie?"

"What?"

"Promise me things won't be weird now?" He saw the worry in her beautiful eyes and thought he might have promised to forever hop on one leg at that moment if she'd only asked.

"I promise." His heart was bleeding, slowly emptying as he realized that for her this quick tryst behind the counter of the diner had been nothing more than the scratching of an itch. You knew that before you came over, the angel voice, which he coincidentally liked a lot less than the devil one, told him reasonably.

"You really are a great friend, Jiminy." And that's all you'll ever be…

POV

"Mind your step!" Granny snapped as Ruby almost swung her loaded tray in her grandmother's face.

"Oh, sorry, Gran. My mind was somewhere else." Somewhere else being how great sex with Archie Hopper had been. Every time she walked past the counter she kept thinking of the previous evening. It wasn't helping at all to keep remembering her own voice pant for release as she rode Archie in the very spot her Gran was now standing, hands on her hips, eyeing Ruby suspiciously.

"What is wrong with you today? Head in the clouds, bringing the wrong orders, losing things. Is something the matter?"

"No, Gran. I'm just tired. I haven't slept well." Which was true of this week but not last night, when she'd slept like a baby.

"Well, you're no use here. Why don't you go home and rest?" Her eyes softened a little. "You've been working too hard. I saw you'd washed the curtains and polished the counter last night. I don't know where you find the energy after being on your feet for an eight hour shift." Ruby almost blushed. The truth was that after they'd finished she'd felt energized, happy and easy. The work had been done in under an hour before she'd gone home to sleep like the dead.

"Thanks, Gran." Jasmine was working today anyhow and she had worked late last night, even if she hadn't spent the whole time working, per se.

A/N: Please tell me what you thought to help me get better at this smut business. Also, if there is something in particular you'd like to see, let me know. The only plan so far is to write the rest of the week - what happens during it you can be part in deciding…S.D.