The inside of the bar was dark and more or less deserted, resembling how he felt. It had been an extremely emotionally draining week for Rumplestiltskin. Starting with nearly dying/being killed by Cora and ending with not being able to find Belle. It was his own fucking fault. He had been so caught up with helping sabotage Regina's plans to kill Snow that he hadn't had time to go to the hospital and tell Belle he was alive. Supposedly she had just checked herself out and disappeared.

It had taken every ounce of reason within him to not burn the building to the ground. After he had checked everywhere from the library, to Ruby, to the Hatter's home in the woods, to Regina's front door, he found no clues or hints. Nothing. She was just gone. It terrified him and there was nothing else he could do, but ask people to keep an eye out for her.

Desperate to keep his mind off all of it, he came to the Rabbit Hole for a drink. Partly because he had drank all of the whiskey in his home and that he couldn't be alone for another night with only his guilty conscious for company. It wasn't that he was looking to talk to anyone, but hearing others around him helped drown out the war going on within him.

Four whiskeys in and already on his fifth, a seductive laugh rang out through the bar. It sounded so familiar. A sense of longing filled him as he lifted his head up to take a look around.

That's when he caught sight of her, laughing with a man holding a pool stick. Her brown curls twisted into a messy bun, a blue silk top with a large cut out in the back, and skin tight black leggings that curved perfectly to her behind as she bent over a pool table.

It couldn't be her. Belle would NEVER come to a place like this... but he needed to see the women's face.

Faster than should have been possible for a man with a cane and 4 1/2 glasses of whiskey in his system, he made his way over. Her back was still turned to him as he approached. The closer he got, the more she looked like Belle. Her companion noticed him before she did, taking one look at Gold and muttering something about getting them another round of drinks before quickly walking off.

"Belle?"

That got her attention, but not in a good way. She turned towards him with a deep frown spread across her features. She looked ready to tell someone off until she realized who was calling her.

"M-Mr. Gold?" Her face paled drastically at the sight of him.

Relief spread through his limbs like water and without thinking he rushed forward to wrap his arms around her. "Oh Belle! I've been looking for you everywhere! I was so worried."

She cut off his rant by pushing him away and began to shake out her wet shirt, a now empty glass in her hand. God he was such an idiot...

Groaning in frustration she banished the glass down on the pool table, stumbling a little in the process.

"I'm sorry Belle. It was an accident..." Gold was trying desperately to explain but was once again cut off, this time by words.

"Can you stop calling me that? I can't STAND that awful name anymore!" Her blue orbs narrowed dangerously at him. She took a step forward, gripping the front of his well tailored suit. Closer and closer she leaned in until she was breathing in his ear.

"You told me you were dying." She continued, the anger slipping from her voice leaving only desperate whispers. "You lied? I thought you left me. I was afraid..."

His heart hammered against his ribcage. He should have found her sooner! Who knows what had happened to her in his carelessness. "Belle, I-I?"

"No not anymore! Weren't you listening!?" Through her slightly slurred words she still managed to snap at him, pulling her face away, but keeping her grip on his suit. "It's Lacey now!"

Now he was officially confused. Maybe if he was sober this would make sense. "Excuse me, what?" He replied lamely.

"My name? It's Lacey. So none of that other crap, got it?"

He nodded trying to work out why she appeared to all of the sudden have a different identity. Was it some kind of amnesia post traumatic stress or was there magic involved? He shook his head clear. There would be time to figure that all out later. Right now he had to focus on Belle... or whatever she thought her name was.

"I've been trying to find you for days. Why did you leave the hospital?"

"Why would I stay and wait there for someone you told me they were dying? You lied to me! Was anything you said to me on the phone true?"

The louder her voice became, the more people started to stare at them. "Dearie, lets go outside and talk."

"No! Why should I go anywhere with you?" She shot back trying to step back away from him.

Rumple was faster and caught ahold of her wrist. "Lacey, please."

His plea must have won her over, because she nodded. Rumplestiltskin turned, placing his hand on the small of her back to guide her away, the same way he did when he had claimed her as his price.

It took them twice as long to get outside since they were both a little drunk. When they did finally get outside, she moved out of his grasp and to the side of the building. He followed after her, trying to keep his eyes off her swaying hips. The whiskey was starting to make his mind wander.

"Well go ahead... start talking." Her body was tense and she didn't look at him.

Gold sighed, "First will you tell me where you've been staying? I really have been looking for you..."

Her shoulders slumped but still she wouldn't look at him.

"When I left the hospital I found keys...to the library and the apartment upstairs. I tried staying there but it didn't feel right. It's not mine. Not my home." She took a shaky intake of breath to try and stop the emotions raging within her. "So I left. The owner here is nice, has a spare room he lets me use at night."

"Oh sweetheart..." His heart ached for her, his true love with no memory and no one to turn to. Taking a step forward he felt bold enough to take ahold of her hand. His once brave Belle was drowning within this new identity. "I should have been there for you. I should have found you sooner."

"Were you really dying?" Her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes."

"Where you lying about the things you said on the phone? About me?" Her hand gripped his

"Meant every word..."

"An-And you're healthy now? You won't just up and almost die again?" She sounded concern, which shocked him. Had his words effected her that much?

"Yes everything is alright. And if it makes you feel better, I'll be much easier to find from now on." He hoped that would ease her raging emotions.

Suddenly she turned and wrapped her arms around his middle. She was hugging him! It felt like he'd died and gone to heaven. He brought up the hand that wasn't clutching his cane to return her hug. Lifting her face, cerulean eyes met his. Her breathing was labored and Gold could smell alcohol on her breath.

"Lacey, you're drunk. Let me take you home." He really shouldn't be talking since he'd been drinking as well but she needed his protection. Lacey didn't seem to feel the same.

"I won't go back to that library!" She tried to back away but Rum kept her close. He couldn't bare her running off.

"Shhhh, calm down. If not there... then where?" He kept his voice calm, rubbing her back.

A dark, sensual smirk came across his loves face. Belle never smiled like that. Never needed to.

"Take me home with you."

Now he was the one backing up. "Now dearie, I don't think that's the best idea..."

She pouted when he moved out of her grasp. "So you'd rather leave me here? With all the drunk men who don't know how to keep their hands to themselves?"

After that, the drive to his home was one big blur. One moment he was envisioning men groping her and the next he was watching her sit down on his living room couch as he brought them each a glass of red wine (as if they needed more alcohol).

They quietly shared small talk until he noticed that she was moving closer to him on the couch. Her cheeks were flushed and she was smiling at him as if he was the only thing that mattered. It was the way Belle would look after they made love. His heart melted at the sight of her, leaning in closer to her.

"There was something you lied about on the phone." She tried her hardest to sound serious only to giggle in between her words.

Amused he decided to play along, "And what is it I lied about dearie?"

He could feel her fingers crawling slowly up his chest before winding up his tie in her hand, "You told me you were ugly. You seem pretty darn handsome to me..."

It wasn't clear who had kissed who first, but the kiss was purely primal. Their hands groping for one another. He knew this was wrong. Knew she wasn't herself and couldn't truly give consent. Lacey nipped at his bottom lip, taking it into her mouth and sucking. Gold groaned in response. The liquor had gone straight to his head as he crashed her body against his. One arm wrapped around her waist, while the other fisted in her hair. One by one, he pulled out the pins that held her hair up so he could run his fingers through it.

They were in desperate need for each other. He needed to cling to the past and she needed to know why she was so drawn to him.

He slanted his lips against hers, their tongues meeting in a hot messy tangle. She made the most erotic little mewling noises when his tongue finally thrusted into her mouth to dominate the kiss. Lacey's arms were around his neck her fingers running through his greying hair while Gold's just kept her pressed up against the side of his body. His spinner fingers massaged her right breast through her top causing her breath to hitch. However, it wasn't enough and soon she was sitting astride his good leg

Keeping her in his lap Rum chucked off his suit jacket as she worked on the buttons of her shirt. It no longer mattered that she wasn't who he wanted her to be, or that she had been beyond terrified of him, they just needed to feel skin against skin. The only thing that would matter then was pleasure.

"How big is your bed?" Lacey asked out of nowhere, pulling back from their kisses.

His brows knitted together in confusion.

She spoke slowly, playfully, as if it were a game of cat and mouse. "Is it a big bed...Mr. Gold?" She made certain to thrust against him when she got to his name.

Rumplestiltskin gasped at the sensation not realizing how hard he was getting until then. "Y-yes. Big and soft and warm." He rasped, griping her hips so he could grind his hips in return.

The little minx moaned in delight, slipping off her top to reveal her black lace bra. "Take me? Take me to your big, soft, warm bed."

Not being able to resist he asked, "And what is it I should do to you in my bed love?"

She replied with a giggle, "Fuck me."

The sun shined through the curtains, illuminating the room in its glow. In the room laid a four-poster bed with a couple sleeping peacefully in it. The sheets were tangled around their waists and legs leaving their tops exposed, but neither of them felt cold. Lacey could feel the warm rays against her bare back. She cooed in content and snuggled deeper into the arms of her lover. The sound of his heartbeat filled her ears, his nails lightly raked against her scalp, and his chest rose and fell with steady breaths.

She felt so safe, so warm, so loved. Not even the hospital had given her a sense of security. This had to be what being home felt like, right? Her mind quickly made up that she would stay here forever. Turning her head, she left a single kiss on his breast bone.

He hummed in response, whispering her name "Belle..."

The brunette's eyes snapped open. That name. That stupid horrible name. It wasn't hers and it made her sick to be called it. Her face turned up to look at his still happily sleeping face. For a moment she tried to tell herself that he was happy, because she was in his arms. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, it was HER he brought to his bed...not Belle.

Didn't he see that? Everyone else did, since they'd constantly point it out to her. 'Belle liked this', 'Belle talked like this' and 'Belle would never do that'.

She wasn't Belle. She wouldn't pretend to be Belle. Not for any of them. Not even for him.

As quietly as she could, Lacey slipped out of Mr. Gold's arms and grabbed her clothes that laid scattered across the floor. She slipped on only her underwear, the rest she'd put on downstairs. She took one last look at him, whispering a goodbye before she turned to leave. Once she was downstairs, she threw on her clothes like lightning. Not bothering to put her heels back on, she grabbed her bag and jacket before running out the door and down the street.

It was only then that she let the tears escape and promised herself that she'd never be weak enough to need that man ever again. Because she was Lacey and Lacey didn't need anyone.