Belle sat nervously waiting in Granny's Diner. It had been several months since the tunnel incident and although Rumple and her had managed to rebuild their relationship, the same could not be said for the relationship she had with her Pappa. It was not for lack of trying, but most days it seemed like Moe French was more focused on his hatred for the imp then his feelings for his daughter.

And that was why Belle was sitting in a booth in the diner, watching as the lunch rush came in, nervously contemplating which of Rumple's sins were going to be expounded upon today.

As she sat and sipped her iced tea, she fidgeted with her bulky bracelets. She stared at the bracelets and a new thought came into her mind as a smile graced her lips. The thought was a memory of last night, a night when her secret fantasies had come true.

Just has her mind was beginning to replay the best part of the night, the bell above the door chimed announcing the entrance of her Pappa. Moe spotted Belle at her table as she stood to greet him and quickly approached giving her a brief kiss on the cheek and a hug.

"Darling Belle, how are you?" He asked removing his baseball cap and coat.

"Fine Pappa and you?" Belle responded as they both sat down.

"Fine, fine."

An awkward silence stretched between the two of them, neither knowing what to say or what subject would be safe to broach.

It was only when Ruby asked for their order was the silence broken. Belle ordered a hamburger, Moe ordered a club sandwich. Again the silence stretched between the two.

"I, um…." Moe looked at his daughter then quickly away. "I, um… didn't know you liked hamburgers." He finally got out. Belle looked up to see that he looked upset at the statement.

"Oh yea," she responded with a smile, "They're one of my favourites." She could tell he wanted more details, but how could she explain how she fell in love with the round little sandwich without bringing Rumple into the conversation. Last time she had accidently casually mentioned her love, her Pappa had exploded in a tirade of what a beast he was, which only led to her defending him, which only led to a fight, which ended with her storming out of his house. She was not about the risk doing that again, especially here in the diner.

In a desperate attempt to fine a topic of conversation, Belle scanned the diner and its occupants. Archie was sitting at the counter, distracting Ruby from her work and making her laugh; Emma was at a table, also having lunch with her father; Dr. Whale was sitting alone watching the world go by outside; and a number of other patrons both known and unknown to Belle where dotted all around. It was turning out to be a very busy day for Granny's.

"So how is the work on the library going?" Moe asked Belle and she brightened up just thinking about her work.

"Well I have had to stay late a couple of nights in order to get things ready in time; it's just not going as quickly as I thought it would." She then launched into an explanations of all the problems she was encountering with the building, the collection, and the organization of the library. It was clear, however, from the large smile on her face that she was enjoying the challenge.

From that topic they moved on to the flower shop and conversation became easier and lighter. Mid way though her hamburger Belle actually began to believe that today's meeting with her Pappa might actually finish on a good note for once.

That was until she started fidgeting with her bracelets again. Maybe it was the grease on her fingers, or maybe the spring loaded joint was worn out, or maybe the sound of the cash register slamming startled her, but whatever the reason during her fidgeting one of the bracelets fell off. That's when Moe saw the bruises on his daughter's wrists.

As his eyes got wide, Moe quickly grabbed her hand just as she was trying to hide it under the table. He continued to stare at her wrists as his face got redder and Belle knew he was drawing the worst conclusions from the evidence before him.

"That bastard!" He yelled causing everyone in Granny's to turn to them.

Trying to tug her hand away and desperately trying to think of anything to say to calm her Pappa down, Belle was mortified and wanted the ground to just swallow her up. Before she could react, however, Moe had grabbed her other hand and removed the other bracelet exposing the other bruise just like the first.

"That bloody bastard!" He yelled again, wrenching her wrist up in a way that made it visible to the entire diner.

"Pappa, it's now what you think. Please shhhh!" Her breathing was getting laboured and her mind was going a mile a minute, but strangely it was completely blank at the same time.

"Don't you shush me. I knew he was a beast! And now I have the proof." Moe roared, holding onto his daughters arm.

Belle's pleading didn't even register as Moe looked around Granny's, neither did the fact that all eyes were on the father daughter pair and their drama. The sole focus of Moe's mind was the blond hair woman and the prince that sat with her.

"You see this?" He demanded, dragging Belle from her seat and storming toward the Sheriff and Charming. "Do you see what that monster is doing to my daughter?" As he reached their table the two stood up. Charming looked shocked at the bruises and Emma looked ready for a fight.

"I want Gold arrested? I want him to pay for this."

By this time Belle had given up trying to reason with her father and looked around desperate for anyone to help her. But as she looked into the faces of her fellow patrons all she could see was shock and anger. They all thought the worst of Rumpelstiltskin and this situation was just confirming their views. Where was Ruby? Where was Archie? They would have helped her, they would understand, but they were both nowhere in sight.

"Of course Mr. French. I will look into this immediately." She heard Emma respond and that threw her mind back into action, for she could see that Emma was ready for a fight.

"No, you can't do that. This is not what you think." She tried again. David, being the Prince Charming that he was, put his arm around her easing Belle from her father's hands.

"It's ok Belle, you don't have to worry." He said in a calming tone. It did not have the desired effect as tears sprang to Belle's eyes and she realized that no one here was really even listening to her.

Everyone in the diner could see the tears and the fear in Belle's eyes, and everyone assumed it was Mr. Gold who put them there.

"No!" She yelled this time, wrenching herself away from David's embrace. Her mind was panicking and she would feel her lungs struggling to work. Why couldn't she just say it? Why couldn't she just tell them the truth? Well that was easy. It was taken her months to work up the courage to tell Rumple her deepest fantasy and she loved him. How was she supposed to tell a room full of virtual strangers something she was not completely comfortable with herself?

Her mind was spinning so fast that no one idea would stick in her mind. She needed her father to calm down; she needed to keep her secret; she needed everyone to go back to their lunch; she needed everything to stop.

And then it did. With her name spoken in that wonderful Scottish accent of his, the world stopped, "Belle?"

Never before has Belle been so happy at his ability to bring the focus of a room so squarely on himself. Everyone was afraid of the Dark One and no one dared to the challenge him.

Well, almost no one.

"Mr. Gold…" Emma started to say, but was distracted when Belle flew past her into his arm, hiding her face in his soft jacket. "Um…" she continued from her distraction, "we have a few questions to ask you, down at the sheriff's office."

Looking from Belle, who clung to his jacket, to Moe French, who looked ready to kill and all around the room at the angry, disgusted, yet still fearful faces of Granny's patrons, Rumple decided he really didn't care to figure out what happened. He just needed to get Belle home.

"Later dearie." He muttered darkly to Emma, "Much later."

Placing a protective arm around Belle, he turned them so they could walk out, but before a step could be taken, the sheriff's voice stopped them.

"Belle! You don't have to go with him." She stated, "We can help you."

At this, Rumple pulled away from Belle, giving her a curious yet patient look. Stepping out of her love's arms Belle turned toward the sheriff, but spoke to her father.

"I am not a simpleton, nor am I weak. You did not raise me that way." Her voice was not loud, but it carried to every ear in the diner. "I know you will never trust Rumpelstiltskin, there is too much bad blood between you two for that, but had hoped you would trust me."

And with those words, she placed herself back into her True Love's embrace and allowed him to lead her from Granny's.