Regina had long since given up on love, after Daniel died, she found her soul becoming darker and darker, twisting into something unrecognizable, something that scared her. Her anger and need for revenge had become stronger and stronger, growing like a weed, choking out any slivers of good that remained in her. She had become incapable of love, her heart was too consumed by the hatred that had destroyed every aspect of her formerly gentle, sweet, kind personality and turned her into the unlovable monster that she had become. Sometimes she mourned the loss of her innocence. She remembered how much easier life had been when she had loved the world and everybody in it, but then she remembered how much that love had hurt her and she was glad that she she had no chance of that happening ever again. She was a new woman now, she was strong, beautiful and powerful, and even though she still feel that crushing emptiness inside of her, the feeling was getting weaker and weaker every day, and soon she wouldn't feeling anything at all. She was almost done building her wall, and soon, it would keep no one would be able to penetrate it, and, hopefully, in addition to keeping people out, it would keep the loneliness out as well.

Rumpelstiltskin's poker face had helped him many times in the past. His lack of facial expressions made people nervous, it made them desperate and willing to give him anything if he would just fulfill one tiny, selfish desire. Rumpelstiltskin knew that just because his face never displayed emotion, he could trick people into thinking that he didn't have any. His face was like a mask. People would look at it, and they would see what he wanted them to see instead of actually seeing who he really was. He was a private person, so people knew very little about him and he wanted to keep it that way. He could keep everyone at arm's length, or preferably, far enough away that no one could touch him at all. He liked the distance, because it kept him safe, and if he couldn't ever be happy, he could at least keep himself safe. He laughed at the pathetic mortals who just lived in the pursuit of love and happiness, opening themselves up to pain and heartbreak, letting people see every inch of their naked soul, leaving no part of it just to themselves. He couldn't see why anyone would give another person that much power over them, give them all of that personal knowledge that could be used against them at any time. The only other person who seemed to know how to protect herself was the Queen. She seemed to have at least some amount of human intelligence, which made her the only adversary of his that he hadn't completely crushed. In fact, she had beaten him about as often as he had beaten her. She was the only person who was consistently in his life, in fact, it was almost like they were friends. He snickered at the idea of having friends. Then he sobered up, he knew that no one could love him-or even like him. Yes, Regina had proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. He felt a shocking wave of bitterness, why did he care whether he was lovable or not, he didn't need anyone. He was completely self-sufficient, and a constant enemy was the closest thing he needed to a friend.
Just then, there was a loud imposing knock at his door.
Speak of the devil and she shall appear. It was as if he summoned her. He opened the door to the Queen. She was dressed in some ridiculous, intricate dress that had probably cost more than the annual wages of the majority of her kingdom put together.
"No need to dress up for me dearie." Rumple smirked at her materialism and decadence.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, these are just my traveling clothes." For a second Rumplestiltskin thought she was serious until her lips quirked up in an involuntary smirk. Rumpelstiltskin was pleased. He had never known that his adversary had a sense of humor. Not a great one, but it was something.
"I need some Agraban snakes." She demanded in that entitled, conceited way that she had that would completely drive him crazy. "Deliver them to my father. I don't care what they cost, just name your price."
Rumplestiltskin thought about what he could ask for that would be the hardest for her to give up, in a few seconds he had come up with it. He would ask her to kiss him. He knew that the wounds of Daniel's death were still relatively fresh and that any type of intimacy would destroy her whether she knew it or not.
"A kiss." Rumpelstiltskin chortled in that uniquely disconcerting way. The Queen narrowed her eyes. "What game are you playing?"
"No game dearie. That's my price. Take it or leave it." He saw some emotion flash across the Queen's face before her mask settled back into place.
"If you're really that starved for human contact and affection, who am I to ruin your sad little fantasy." The Queen rolled her eyes then kissed him. He could feel her barely restrained passion and her own starvation for love in the kiss. He was glad to see that the kiss had had the desired effect on her when she held the kiss for just a little too long. However, he was surprised and disappointed to find out that the kiss was affecting him too. He was feeling something that he hadn't felt since Belle-happiness. He could feel the kiss becoming deeper and more passionate. He tried to pull away, but there was some force that was keeping him glued to Regina and her beautiful, wonderful, sensual, magic lips. When she finally pulled away, she was flustered. He tried to summon some feeling of triumph, but couldn't feel anything but disappointment that the kiss had ended. During those few amazing seconds, he had felt closer to her than he had felt to anyone else. Even now that they were separate, he could still feel that connection to her, that hole in her heart, the crushing loneliness that he himself felt every day. His heart was breaking again, he wanted to soothe her, ease her pain, tear down the wall that she had built around her heart to keep people from getting too close. He wanted to show her that she didn't always have to be strong, to hold her and get rid of her coldness and arrogance, the front that she would put up to hide the wonderful, amazing woman that was inside of her. He had never felt this way before. When he had been with Belle he had wanted to change for her, but with Regina he knew that he could be who he truly was because no matter how dark his thoughts were, hers were darker, no matter how poisoned he had become by evil, evil had consumed her more. The self-loathing that he had carried around ever since he had let Belle go had lifted because Regina was his darker side, his worse half, and he loved her for it. To hide his face and the emotions that he was sure were playing across it now that his poker face had forsaken him, he walked over to his shelf and grabbed the box with the snakes in it. "Enjoy, dearie." He practically whispered.
"You have a box of snakes just lying around?" Regina smirked but he could tell that she was still affected. Rumple gave her the box. "Don't give them to me, give them to my father." He'll be by to pick them up in two days." Regina rushed out Rumple's house, her self-possession having forsaken her. Rumpelstiltskin touched two of his fingers to his lips. He could still feel her kiss, as well as all of his carefully constructed walls crashing down and letting Regina in. She had gotten past all of his beautifully crafted defenses and it was all his fault. It had taken years to build up the walls around his heart. It had only taken seconds for them to all come crashing down.