She had to stay with him. Not just for him, but for herself too. He was like a drug to her. This mysterious man that she just couldn't seem to stay away from. She was like a pyromaniac and he was her fire. He was the first man, the first person who showed her that she could be more than just a pretty little trophy wife, the woman behind the man. That she had a higher purpose besides just making her husband look good and pleasing her father. He showed her that she was a person in her own right, not just a child or a pet. And she loved him for that. For that, and many other things. She loved him for his complicated past that had damaged him so much. But most of all, she loved him for the glimpses of humanity that she would see every once in awhile underneath his monstrous facade. She loved him for the man that he was before he became the Dark One. The man that he could be again, if only she could save him.
Belle hoped that he wasn't a lost cause, and somehow, she felt that he wasn't. Somehow, she could sense that the damage to his psyche wasn't permanent, that she could fix him if only she was willing to. She had to show him that she could love him, that he wasn't unlovable like he had always thought. That would be the easy part. The hard part would be learning to love the monster that would always be a part of him. She knew that if she wanted to have a relationship with him, or maybe even spend the rest of her life with him, that she would have to learn to love every part of him, even the parts of him that scared her.
That day that she had come back to him and he had screamed at her and locked her up had haunted her nightmares for all of those years that she had spent locked up in the basement of that hospital. But she had moved past that now. Mostly. She still had some of her own damage to work through, but she was making progress. She rarely woke up, surprised that the ceiling that she was looking at wasn't the utilitarian gray ceiling of the cell she had spent twenty-eight years of her life in. She knew that she still had some of her own inner demons to work past, but, for now, she had to focus on his. Rumplestiltskin was the one who really needed help. Not Belle.
She unlocked the doors to the library and started setting up for the day. She still wasn't getting many patrons, but she wanted to be ready just in case someone finally came. She was interrupted by the ringing of the bells on the door. Belle looked up to see who it was. It was Rumplestiltskin with a bouquet of roses.
"Are these flowers from my father's shop?" Belle smiled.
"No, I think that I'm still blacklisted there. I conjured these."
"Oh." Belle tried not to let her mood dip too much. He had used magic to conjure roses for her, not to kill someone who looked at him the wrong way. She shoved the thoughts of how she was enabling his addiction out of her mind. It was actually a really sweet gesture. Nothing more. "Well, these are beautiful." Belle kissed Rumplestiltskin. It was just as amazing as the first time. She couldn't imagine ever getting used to his kisses. They were the perfect mixture of gentle and passionate.
"Play hooky today." He told her.
"What?"
"Shut down for the day, come to the well with me."
"What about your pawn shop?"
"Oh, they can manage for one day without me."
Belle was uneasy but agreed to come to the well with him. After all, she'd heard that the well water was magic, that it could help you find things that you'd lost. She only hoped that it could help her find Rumplestiltskin's soul.
"This is actually really nice." Belle told Rumplestiltskin after a hot-n'-heavy, extremely creative game of tag and a steamy make-out session. For the first time since the very first day that she'd met him, all thoughts of the monster were pushed out of her mind. And it was all because of Rumplestiltskin. Belle was surprised at the easygoing mood he was in. It was days like these that made Belle forget that he was the Dark One. It was also days like these that made it so hard to bear when the monster took him over, because they gave her memories of how wonderful the man could be- but Belle was determined not to let her neuroses ruin this wonderful day.
"You thought that spending time with me would be terrible?" He asked her with mock outrage.
"No, I was just surprised that I'm having so much fun. In fact, I think that this might be the most fun that I've had in my entire life."
"Now, that's a tragedy."
"It is, but it's not unusual for women in my land."
"Well, I'm going to make sure that you're the exception then."
"I'd like that." Belle smiled at Rumplestiltskin, and he leaned in to kiss her. She passionately kissed him back. She ripped his shirt off and then removed her own shirt along with the rest of her clothes. She lay naked on the ground, without a single thought of how uncomfortable it was. Rumplestiltskin entered her. He was ravenous and animalistic, without any of the sweet, gentle qualities that he'd shown before. He was animalistic. And amazing. It was the most amazing experience of her life, and Belle was starting to think that she could learn to love the monster.
After three more times, Belle dusted herself off and started putting her clothes back on. "Thank you for taking me out. I really needed it." Belle kissed him again, knowing that she would have to face their relationship problems the next day, but in that moment, their relationship was perfect. She had finally learned to love the monster.