*~*~*Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez and GuardianAngelHaruki*~*~*

Belle had finished making breakfast, and as she cooked she kept an eye on what was happening through the window, even though she couldn't hear what they were saying through the glass. When she had finished and heard the front door open and close, she went over to Rumpelstiltskin and she asked in concern "Rumpel...what happened?"

Mr. Gold just gave Belle a genuine smile, crossing the remaining distance to Belle with the aid of his cane and stopped to let his free hand run through her brown curls before letting his hand hold the back of her head rather delicately.

"I can't leave you alone for two minutes without you finding yourself in some sort of trouble, can I?" He teased, dodging her question all together.

Belle smiled at his tease, and she lightly jabbed back "Well, somebody had to answer the door, and I'm not a doormat," She then asked seriously and in concern, "Is everything alright Rumpel? Why was she here?"

Leaning to the left a bit, Mr. Gold let his cane rest up against the wall so he wouldn't have to remove his hand from the back of her head. With his now free hand, he waved it across where the double doors were and slowly, the twin doors and their stained glass windows vanished, leaving nothing more than a solid wall as if it were built that way.

"There, now you don't have to worry about any more pesky solicitors." He said turning his attention back to her, letting his thumb run down her cheek in a loving caress. "Now you'll just have me to be annoyed with, in the confines of this house... forever."

Belle commented with a chuckle "Just like back in The Enchanted Forest,"

He nodded with a light laugh, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

"You didn't seem to mind it so much back at The Dark Castle. I could make it genuine and build you a dungeon to sleep in..."

"No, thank you. I can live without the dungeon," Belle responded, considering that she had been in a dungeon for five years in a row, without being able to leave. She then said "Well, breakfast is ready," She hoped that maybe he would tell her what had happened outside over breakfast.

"You say that as if sharing the bed of a beast is the better solution." He remarked quickly before letting his hands down from the curls of his hair before he lost his control entirely with her. He leaned back over to grab his cane, grateful for the extra support for his bad leg once more and walked with Belle to the kitchen.

"And you say that as if sharing a bed with you is a fate worse then death," She retorted back, while giving him a look that clearly said that she didn't think of him as a beast. She then handed him a plate of pancakes that she had successfully made after trying them at Granny's yesterday, and looking up the cookbook that was in Gold's house. All in all, appearance wise, it would be hard for Gold to tell that this was her first attempt at making pancakes. 

"It is." Mr. Gold replied immediately, looking somewhat shocked that she hadn't been able to come to that conclusion on her own. "You've only had the two nights in my bed, you have yet to find out what the beast is [i]truly[/i] capable of." And with that he picked up the fork and dug into the pancakes, stuffing a rather large amount into his mouth to keep from having to say anything she might reply with.

She gave him the stubborn look again when he made his immediate reply, before she stated "I hope you like them. I thought I'd try making pancakes after trying them at Granny's," She took a bite of her own, and found that with the butter and syrup...the pancakes seemed too sweet. Belle mentally noted that she had used too much sugar. She had a disappointed look on her face when she tried her pancakes.

With a mouth too full with breakfast, all Mr. Gold could do was nod his approval to the meal. Truly he never had a bad word to say when it came to Belle's cooking, despite how obnoxiously picky he had been in The Dark Castle, but that had all been out of spite, [i]trying[/i] to irk her. Seeing the disappointement on her face though, he quickly forced himself to swallow what he had left before bending over and brushing her hair out of her face, giving her a kiss on her forehead and leaving a somewhat sticky mess from the syrup left on his lips.

"Sweetheart, they are perfect." He tried to console her, realizing the slight mistake he had made in kissing her forehead and snorted down a light laugh.

Belle couldn't help but smile at his kiss, and his compliment. She couldn't help but chuckle at the small, but adorable, mistake he made. She replied "Thank you, Rumpel. I'm glad you liked them,"

After the both of them finished their breakfast, and Belle had washed the dishes, she headed towards the wall, and she commented, teasing Rumpel again, "It would be nice to have a front door again..."

"What?" Mr. Gold said feigning shock as he followed her back into the entry hall. "And here I thought you enjoyed isolation..." He shook his head and sighed, milking the moment in his false disappointment for everything it was worth. "Well, I suppose I'm going to have to put them back if you're going to show up to work on time..." He let the sentence hang in the air, pretending that Belle wouldn't be the slightest bit confused at his remark, as if she already knew what he was talking about.

Belle blinked at his comment, and she asked tilting her head to the side slightly, her confusion clear as day, "Work?" She didn't remember getting a job...

He bobbed his head up and down, arching an eyebrow, pretending to be confused with her confusion before offering a hand to her.

"Come, I'll drive you." He offered waving his hand to restore the doors back to what they had once been.

Belle, who was still confused, accepted his hand and she walked with him out of the house. He led her down the steps and to his car, opening up her door for her and closing it once she was inside before going to the drivers side and got in himself.

The drive to the clock tower was a quick one, but that didn't keep Mr. Gold from playing up the surprise as much as he could.

"Mayor Mills, as you know, popped by this morning. As she's still Mayor, it is well within her authority to demand a steady workflow of her town. I did what I could, but the woman wouldn't budge, and insisted you get a job to help pull your weight around here. I'd rather not get into the finer details of what was said, but you can imagine it wasn't pleasant. But until I can figure something out for us that doesn't involve you getting sent back to that wretched hospital again, you're stuck with this job." 

He parked the car and got out, quickly going to Belle's side to open the door for her before she had a chance and helped her out.

"It's not even a very good job either. I couldn't think of anything more dull. I tried to reason with Regina about letting you help me out in the Pawnshop, but that woman is hellbent on making me miserable by extention making you miserable..." He said leading Belle to the front door. He stopped and pulled out the key box from his breast pocket, pulling out the key making sure the palm of his hand covered up the library tag on it and unlocked the door.

"I really am sorry..." He said at last, giving her a sincere, apologetic look before opening up the door for her to walk through first.

Belle listened to him explain the situation to her and about how she had to have a job, and she ended up getting something miserable. She raised an eyebrow and when he finished, she said optimistically, as he opened the doors, "Well I'm sure I can handle whatever she throws...at...me..." 

As she spoke she stepped inside and her demeanor had changed. She was in a library! Her face expression turned from a look expecting a difficult job, to that of a child receiving the best gift she could ever receive on Christmas Day. She covered her open smile with her hands and she said happily, letting a joyous laugh, "Oh Rumpel!"

Watching her reaction from a safe distance, Mr. Gold couldn't help but allow a smile to spread across his lips, feeling his chest fill with the joy she was expressing at the surprise. He'd decided right then and there that he would trade all the straw he had ever spun into gold to keep her this happy for the rest of their lives, never wanting her to come down from this explicit happiness.

"Don't get too upset with Regina, sweetheart. It's only a temporary thing until I can find a job you can truly enjoy." He mused, keeping up the charade though his face had been completely broken of the seriousness he held earlier, unable to [i]not[/i] smile given Belle's sheer excitement.

She didn't seem to hear Rumpel's comment about Regina, and after he had spoken, she turned to him and embraced him as she said "Thank you!" She then kissed him on the lips, completely unable to contain her happiness, joy, and love.

He staggered backward a bit, taken by surprise at her throwing herself at him but his selfishness of never wanting to let her go took over quickly and wrapped his arms around her firmly, but with great care as to not hurt her and kissed her back, for once not minding the fact that his vulnerability for her was shining through his armor like a flashing neon sign on a dark night.

"Its... not as... good as... yours... in... The Dark... Castle..." He managed to get out inbetween stolen kisses, somehow the small shred of doubt at her being not as happy with Storybrooke's library in comparison to hers finding its way to his mind.

"I...still...love it!" Belle managed out between the kisses, her honesty and happiness apparent in that statement, trying to get rid of Rumpel's doubts before they grew and festered into something awful. She stated out loud, "It's wonderful...[i]You're[/i] wonderful," 

He scoffed at her latter comment, though with a smile before abruptly removing himself from her embrace, afraid that if he held onto her any longer, breathed her scent in for a second longer, he would lose all control and take her right there in the library. No, his Belle didn't deserve that, didn't deserve his beastly impulses, didn't deserve [i]him[/i] at all. But as she had been so adamant with staying with him, for gods only knew why, he would treat her with nothing more than the fair amount of respect she [i]did[/i] deserve, and do things right by her. So if that meant bringing what small amount of a moment they had going to a halt, then so be it. He cleared his throat, giving his hands occupation by resting them both on the head of his cane to keep them from reaching back out for her.

"I wouldn't think about opening for a while yet, at least not until it's been cleaned up. Why don't I come and pick you up once I'm done at the Pawnshop? Should give you plenty of time to familarize yourself here..." He started. "Oh, and uh... there's a room upstairs for the librarian; you... if you should want it." He added, giving her yet another opportunity to not feel forced to stay with him at his house... his room... his bed... He shuddered slightly, wondering just how much longer he would be able to resist her if she continued to sleep [i]willingly[/i] by his side.

Belle blinked when he scoffed and moved away from her. She calmed down from her joy, and she noticed that he still saw himself as a beast, despite their conversation before she left The Dark Castle. After he made the suggestion and let her know that there is a room upstairs for her to sleep in case she needed it. She answered his suggestion "That sounds great," She said to him, "Though, I'm still going to stay with you, you know," 

He exhaled sharply out his nose, his Adam's Apple high in his throat as he found difficulty swallowing as he looked away from her to keep from meeting her eyes. His hands tightened on the cane head a bit, his entire body going tense as his mind and heart debated with one another on feeling relieved she wanted to stay with him, and feeling downright frightened for her wanting to stay with him. After a long, quiet moment, he finally braved looking back to Belle with a sad smile tugging at the corners of his lips, letting an arm extend out to her to let his hand cup her face gently. He took a single step forward, closing the distance between their bodies and let his forehead and nose rest against hers.

"Oh, my Belle..." He said hardly above a whisper. "I don't... I can't... I'll ruin you..." It was a plea, a plea for her to end this before it could begin, but also a warning on his part, once again laying out his insecurities on the table for her to examine closely. Tears were beginning to gather in the corners of his eyes as he closed them tight, unable to look at her as he managed to keep their foreheads and noses together, but the rasp in his voice was a clear indicator that he was close to breaking. "I don't want to ruin you..." He finished.

Belle's joy had gone when he laid out his insecurities, but the love she felt never went away. She listened to him and carefully thought about his insecurities, trying to think from his perspective. She never moved away and instead she spoke softly, ready to comfort and reassure him, "Rumpel--"

Without a moment's notice, unable to bring himself into wanting to hear what she had to say (for he knew it would be nothing more than what she truly felt in her pure heart) he moved his hand to the back of her head and brought her lips back to his in a crushing kiss, unable to [i]tell[/i] her how he felt and instead had to simply [i]show[/i] her. Just when he felt that his control was slipping through his fingers like sand, he parted with her, unable to resist kissing her cheek softly, followed by her temple and then forehead before forcing himself to take a step back from her.

"I'll pick you up at six." He then said, fishing his credit card back out from his wallet and handing it to her. "Granny's is just a short walk from here, stop by there for lunch and give that to whoever is working; it's like money." He briefly explained before kissing her forehead once more and slipped the key to the library in her hand before turning to leave.

Before Belle could say anything, she found herself in another kiss. She closed her eyes and reciprocated the kiss, before he parted from her and placed a couple more on her temple and forehead. She nodded at his words, and as she accepted the card, she answered, "Alright, I'll be sure to stop by at Granny's. I'll see you later, Rumpel,"

He gave her a sad, lingering smile before nodding and headed out of the library, reluctant to leave her without his protection but knew that he had done this all for her, and wouldn't stop for anything that might hold her happiness back.

After he had left, Belle immediately got to work cleaning up the library. She immediately started with sweeping and she soon came upon the broken shards of glass from the broken window that she had climbed in on that day...she remembered the look in Rumpel's eyes during all of the times when he looked at her, and she couldn't help but remember the same look in Henry's eyes when she met him and showed worry over the woman in the hospital...Faye...