A/N: As it says in the summary, this is loosely based on my favorite Audrey Hepburn film. Both Belle and Rumpel aren't any one specific character. Rumpel is mostly like Holly, but he has Paul characteristics and vice-versa for Belle. This first chapter might confuse some, but all will be explained as the story progresses. Hope you all enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I'm only gonna say this once: I do not own "Once Upon a Time" or "Breakfast at Tiffany's". They belong to other people who make more money than I do.

Chapter 1: Just Another Morning

It was 9:30 am in the big city. Most of the shops were starting to open up. The Blue Fairy Bookshop was open to its usual morning crowd which consisted of Ruby Lucas, the waitress in the coffee shop that connected to the bookstore, Marco Booth, the owner of the book shop, and Isabelle French. The shop was a reasonable size, not usually accommodating to large crowds. It use to be just a simple bookshop on the outskirts of town until the city opened up a Barnes & Noble. It was all Marco could do to spend a little extra to build a conjoined coffee shop just to keep business going.

Isabella, or Belle for short, was here for the third morning in a row. She had just moved to the big city. Her agent, Mary Margaret Blanchard, had recommended that she move so they could have more book meetings without spending too much cash to fly out to see each other.

She found a great apartment about four blocks from The Blue Fairy Bookshop, which is where she met Ruby, the landlord's grand-daughter, who recommended this place. Belle liked it well enough. She looked around at the deep brown walls with various portraits of coffee mugs and landscapes of far away countries. There were dark green couches and chairs scattered across the place where everyone could read while enjoying their coffee. Belle loved to visit Barnes & Noble as much as the next bibliophile, but she loved the homey, casual feel of this place better.

She sat at the same little table by the window as she had for the past two mornings. She had her laptop in front of her, a hot cup of coffee to her right, and a blueberry muffin to her left. She gazed out the window watching townsfolk walk by. She loved people watching. It helped her to come up with characters ideas.

Sadly though, her inspiration was running up short.

"Is this the sequel to your previous work you're looking so serious over?" Ruby quipped, topping off her mug with fresh coffee.

Belle laughed. "Actually, my previous work was just a one-novel story. Have you read it?"

Ruby smiled apologetically. "Guilty. Hope you're not offended."

"Not at all," she assured. She didn't care whether or not billions of people were reading her work as if it was a new Harry Potter book. She just loved writing. "The less people that recognize me, the better."

Ruby nodded, taking the empty seat in front of her. "So, any big plans for the day?"

"Well," Belle closed her laptop, glad to have a reason not to mull over her writer's block. "I still have to finish unpacking."

"How much of that do you have left?"

"Almost done. Just need to unpack the kitchen boxes and decorate the living room," she replied, to which she was relieved. She had spent the last three evenings scarfing down Chinese take-outs on paper plates. She couldn't wait to start cooking!

"Oh, I could totally help with that," Ruby's red lips stretched out into a grin. "I'm pretty good with interior design."

Belle nodded. "Sure, that sounds great."

The bell on the bookshop entrance rang as two men in business suits walked in. Ruby bid her farewell as she got up to take care of the new customers. Belle took a couple of sugar packets and poured them into her coffee. As she stirred, her gaze went back to the window. The city stretched out before her. She was glad to have left her small town. She had wanted to move when her first book got published, but responsibilities back home with her widowed father held her back. She had to help support him. He had passed away two months back, and all Belle was left with was box of old family photos and a failing flower shop. She had sold the flower shop to pay for movers to bring her stuff halfway across the country while her agent paid for her plane tickets.

Now that she had moved, she felt free. She had read that traveling was the best thing for a writer to do.

She just hoped she could find out what to write about next.

...

It was another late night for one Nicholas Gold. So late, in fact, he didn't get back to his apartment until morning. His evening was spent mostly at a party some acquaintances were hosting. He didn't know them personally. It was more of a Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon kind of situation. He hadn't wanted to go, but at the insistence of his agent, he had no choice.

Regina Mills loved dragging Gold around, dressing him up in tailored suits and showing him off to talent scouts. She only showed true affection when she was trying to impress higher-ups. Other days, he would down as much alcohol as possible and flirt and charm his way through a selection of beautiful, classy women; his agent wouldn't even bat an eyelash then.

They weren't married or anything. It was more of an agreement the two of them had shared. She'd find him work, and he'd fuck her whenever she had an itch that needed scratching.

Last night was no different.

Usually he'd leave her place afterwards, but he accidently fell asleep. He woke up around 7:30 in the morning. Luckily she was still asleep. He was able to slip out as quietly as he could without waking her up.

He walked up to the front of his apartment. He reached into his pocket and cursed himself. He had left his keys at Regina's.

He let his head bang against the door. It wasn't like he was locked out for good. He could buzz any of the other tenants and they'd let him in. The problem was most of them were either asleep or at work. The landlord, Granny Lucas, he knew would be home. He also knew she would be pissed if he buzzed her this early. Again.

He looked at the name plates and saw a name he didn't recognize: FRENCH. He figured it was the new person that was moving in. He didn't keep up with who everyone was and what not, but no one could miss big, burly men carrying boxes up two flights of stairs. Granny's apartments were so old-fashioned the place didn't have any elevators, which was murder to his knee.

He was about to buzz the new tenant until he heard an familiar voice.

"Nick?"

"Shit," Gold muttered under his breath. This day couldn't get any worse.

The blonde girl across the street waving to greet him was none other than Ashley Boyd, a clingy one-night stand he made an effort to avoid. He saw her at the crosswalk waiting for the light to turn green. He began to rapidly press the buzzer leading to Granny's apartment. He'd rather face her wrath than this girl.

The crosswalk light turned green just as the apartment door clicked. He wrenched the door open and closed it quickly behind him. He hid behind a wall leading upstairs in case she happened to look through the window. He stood there, his back pressed against the wall for a long moment. He turned his head slowly to peek at the front door.

He saw a whip of blonde hair turn and disappear down the steps. She hadn't seen him, for which he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Gold!"

The sound of Granny's shout made him jump. He turned to see her standing at the top of the stairs.

Fuck, woman! Give somebody a heart attack, why don't ya, were the words he would've shouted at her if he wanted to be homeless. Instead, he straightened up, adjusted his wrinkled tie and gave her a charming smile. "Good morning, Mrs. Lucas."

Sadly, she wasn't an easy person to charm. "Gold, this is the third time this week I had to let you in without a key. One more, and I'll leave you out there to freeze!"

"It is only the middle of September," he replied, trying to hide the snarky tone threatening to creep out. "The most that can happen at this time of year is me getting a possible heat stroke." He began walking up the stairs, and she followed him. She only lived one floor up from him.

"Keep buzzing me so early in the morning, I'll be the one getting strokes," she muttered loud enough for him to hear. "I shouldn't have to be woken up just so you can avoid some poor girl whose heart you've broken the night before."

He gritted his teeth. He didn't think she had noticed Ashley.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," she continued scolding as they reached his floor. "A man your age shouldn't be messing about with younger women. You need to start settling down with someone who can knock any sense into your head..."

"Thank you, Mrs. Lucas," he said with little hostility. The rest of it he managed to hold back. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Luckily for him, she let the issue go for now, and continued walking up the stairs to her own apartment she shared with her grand-daughter. He stopped in front of his door, reaching for the spare key he kept hidden under his welcome mat. Not the most creative hiding place, but convenient.

Once he was inside his apartment, he collapsed onto the dark blue couch at the end of the room. He was still tired from last night, and all he wanted to do was sleep the day away. He grabbed a set of ear plugs from the coffee table and shoved them into his ears. He kicked off his shoes, took off his belt, jacket, and tie, and let his head rest on a white throw pillow. He stared at the flat screen TV in front of him. He rarely watched TV, only when Regina or another acquaintance of his came over.

He had thought about what Granny had said about settling down. It came to Gold's mind every now and then. He would banish the thought just as quickly when he realized the only woman in his life he was actually close to was Regina. He could barely stand having sex with the woman let alone being her husband. The feeling was mutual for her as well.

I'd rather die alone, was his last thought before drifting off to sleep.