~~~~Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez and I~~~~~

Belle had finished cleaning, faster than she thought she would, and she now had piles of books by her feet, stacked into towers reaching her head (while she was sitting down). She had been engrossed in a book, Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, for two hours now. While she had been reading, she had forgotten to go to Granny's to get herself something to eat. It seemed as though she had forgotten that Rumpelstiltskin was going to be here soon to pick her up. 

Six o'clock on the dot and the front doors of the library opened, granting the Pawnbroker entrance. It took Mr. Gold a moment or two to realize that amongst the stacks of books, Belle was there also. Smiling softly to himself, as he shouldn't have been surprised, he headed over towards her, the light tapping of his cane the only sound aside from a book page being turned.

"A real belle of the books, aren't you Belle?" Mr. Gold asked, resting his arms on a pile of books that were stacked up as high as his mid-stomach. His smile never faultered as he looked down at her, trying to catch a glimpse of the front cover to see what it was that had grabbed her attention so. "The entire corpus of Western Literature; not exactly limited to what we had available to us in The Enchanted Forest. Don't tell me you plan on reading them all?"

Belle looked up to Rumpelstiltskin when he spoke up, and she couldn't help but smile with happiness, and she answered ecstatically, practically giddy at the thought of reading new stories, "Of course! There are so many new stories here!" She then showed him the cover of the book she was currently reading, and she commented "I love how this is going so far! I'm sure Romeo and Juliet will be happy in the end! Young love never fails!"

The Pawnbroker snickered quietly at her words. The poor thing really had no idea, nor did he want to be around when she discovered the truth of the story. He had been around her enough back at his castle to know what kind of mood a bad book ending put Belle in, and that bad mood was almost usually taken out on his dinner.

"Short from a trip down the street to the apothacary in a hastily-made decision, you might be right." He then shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "They die, both of them, and not a moment too soon. Shakespeare does have a nasty habit of making his readers wish they could poison themselves before they reach the ending... Try another book."

Belle widened her eyes slightly when she was told that both characters were going to die at the end, she put down the book. She then picked up another book and she asked "How about Anna Karenina? I'm sure the title character will have a happy ending...right?"

"Threw herself in front of a train. 'The Dashing Count' she spoke so fondly of wasn't all he was appeared to be."

Belle put down the said book and she picked up a third one and she asked "Ethan Frome?"

"Sledding accident." The Pawnbroker replied with a severe lack of interest.

Belle picked up a fourth book and she asked, hoping against hope that Rumpel's answer would be different this time, "The Bell Jar?" 

Mr. Gold just shook his head with a light chuckle. He moved himself off of the stack of books he had been leaning against and walked around it, taking the book from Belle and putting it on the top of the stack. Without saying a word, he began to thumb through the stack before finding a book and pulling it, managing to keep the pile of books from toppling over.

"Here, give this one a try." He said, handing over 'Beautiful Disaster.' "You might find some... similarities..." He kept his sideways smile before extending out his hand to help her up. "But for now, it's time to go home." Home, a word he wouldn't have particularly used just a few short days ago when it came to the house Regina had created for him in the curse. It never felt like a home, he always felt more comfortable in his shop. But Belle was there now, and just as she had transformed the cold, dank, empty Dark Castle into something warm, cheery and bright, her light was already chasing away the similar aura of his victorian-styled house; their [i]home[/i].

Belle took the book and she couldn't help but smile at his recommendation, and she nodded as she placed the book down so she could read it tomorrow when she came back to the library. She noticed that the referred to his house as home now, but she didn't comment on it and she instead answered, "Alright, let's!" She stood up, expertly navigated past the stacks of books without knocking them over, and she went over to Rumpelstiltskin and held his hand, before she led him out of the library.

He gingerly took her hand as she grabbed for his and led her out of the library, letting go of her hand then in favor of holding it to the small of her back. The last thing he needed was the people of Storybrooke to start taking him for the sweet, caring type if one or two should ever spot him with Belle. Although less intimate, his hand on her back as he led them to his car after she locked the library up still managed to send the message he was implying; that she belonged to him and those who messed with Belle would surely get the horns. [i]His[/i] horns. 

As if to drive his point even further, he shot a look over at David Nolan as the two made brief eye contact from across the street. The Pawnbroker didn't even so much as to bother to realize that David was conversing with a very perplexed looking Dr. Hopper and their hushed conversation fell on deaf ears. Well, *his* ears anyway.

"-just think that someone should go and check in on her. You didn't hear her on the phone, she was completely distraught."

"Faye is a strong woman Archie, she can take care of herself."

"I-I don't think you understand the severity of-"

"Look, if it's bothering you that much, why don't you go and check on her?"

Archie fidgited on the spot.

"Well... uh... you see... there's a slight chance that Dr. Stevenson might be... dangerous."

David folded his arms across his chest and chuckled.

"Faye? Dangerous? I can admit that there are times she gets a bit testy but I wouldn't go as far as to say *dangerous*."

The conversation may not have reached Rumpelstiltskin's ears, but it certainly did reach Belle's. She looked towards the two as they spoke, and she thought that the reason that Faye sounded distraught to Dr. Hopper, was because of her discussion with Rumpel last night. After looking towards the two and listening to their discussion, she excused herself a bit from Rumpel's side and she went over to the two of them.

"Belle..." Mr. Gold called out to her, pressing his lips into a thin line. Of course she had to have the biggest heart out of everyone he knew and had to find ways in which she could help...

She reached them and she greeted "Hello! Dr. Hopper!" She asked "I couldn't help but overhear...is Faye alright?"

Dr. Hopper seemed to straighten somewhat as Belle came to approach them, his face visibly reddening at being overheard on such a delicate manner. David, on the other hand, only greeted Belle with a warm smile. He hadn't ever seen her before, and his mind was begging to know who she was, but there were more important matters that needed to be addressed.

"Dr. Stevenson is fine." David reassured the girl before turning his attention to look back to Archie. "Right?"

Archie shifted his weight a bit, lowering his head and just sighed. David, taking this as the conversation was over, patted Archie on the shoulder and nodded to them both before heading out on his way.

Belle watched the man leave after he reassured her. She looked to Hopper seeing that he had lowered his head. After the man left, she asked Hopper quietly, "Dr. Hopper...is Faye...[i]really[/i] okay?" She remembered that she was upset when she argued with Rumpelstiltskin last night...

Archie raised his head, meeting Belle's gaze for a moment. He was clearly conflicted on what to say. He had gone to David in confidence, but Charming didn't see a problem because Archie had witheld information that Faye had told him in confidence. He just wasn't sure what to *do* with that information.

"I-I'm not so sure..." He replied honestly.

"Belle!" Mr. Gold called again, growing impatient.

Belle could see the worry in his eyes and she had a feeling that he may not say anymore. She turned to look at Rumpelstiltskin when he called to her impatiently. She told Hopper before she left, "I'll check on her, if that'll help..."

After she made her promise, she headed back to the Mr. Gold's side by his car.

Rumpelstiltskin shot Belle a questioning look but then just shook his head. He really didn't want to know. Opening up the car door for Belle he helped her inside before shutting it, limping over to the drivers side and got in, starting up the car without even so much as saying a word.

Belle thanked Rumpelstiltskin after he politely opened the door for her. After he got in and started the car, she asked "Rumpel...what happened between you and Dr. Stevenson last night?"

Mr. Gold raised an eyebrow, starting the short drive back to their home. He had to think over her question carefully, unsure of what Belle was trying to get at here but didn't find any harm in telling her the truth... well partially.

"A few people from Storybrooke have gone missing, including a man by the name of Henry Carlyle who Dr. Stevenson was particularly close with. Turns out, Henry, Snow and Knox have taken a portal to another land, and Dr. Stevenson approached me on means of help. Unfortunately, there are even things that I can't help with." He explained briefly.

Belle could tell that he wasn't telling her everything. She didn't comment on that, and she said "I see," She then told him, "Dr. Hopper said that she was distraught. I'm thinking of going and checking on her, see if she's alright,"

"No need." Mr. Gold said almost a bit too quickly. "I'm headed over there later this evening to disclose a particular deal. I'll check on her then but I'm sure she's just fine."

Belle looked to Rumpelstiltskin when he quickly told her that she didn't have to. She smiled at him saying, "Thank you Rumpel,"

Turning his head for a moment to look over at Belle, Mr. Gold smiled, removing a hand from the steering wheel to take hold of her hand, running the pad of his thumb over her soft skin and gave it a tight squeeze, a silent 'you're welcome.'