I kinda adore this new Scarlet Belle ship (or as I call it, Book Thief)! So here's a small scene of how I imagine them to have begun dating :) Set between 4A and 4B. I don't own OUAT or OUATIW.
It's been exactly fourteen days since Belle banished her lying, power-hungry husband from Storybrooke. It was a necessary step to make and she didn't regret it, but it didn't mean that the memories of their time together didn't hurt. She's taken to hiding out in the library when she couldn't sleep, which was almost every night since that evening. It was becoming quite a common occurrence for her to stay there all night after falling asleep on a small couch behind the shelves, with a book either lying open across her stomach or on the floor beside her. One could even say that it was turning into a routine of sorts, and Belle was, in a way, grateful for it - it saved her the time she spent at the house and the shop. The places were still inhibited by the memories of their relationship and the short-lived marriage, and she had no energy nor desire for any interaction with ghosts of their past. So the library was becoming a second home to Belle - a home where she was surrounded by true friends who would never let her down.
It was true - the people in her life were incredibly supportive and she appreciated their smiles and gestures. Emma, having spotted the light on in the library one night, bought her a coffee machine for the late nights and early mornings, for which Belle thanked her profusely. It had proven to be rather useful, and Belle just knew that it was going to be used either tonight or tomorrow.
It was a Saturday night and Belle closed up the library hours ago. She was curled up on the couch with a copy of "Alice in Wonderland" - a book she's found on the floor on the day the thief - Will something - broke in. At the time, she was too into the "Cemetery of Forgotten Books" series to even think about reading anything else. She's put down "The Prisoner of Heaven" the night before, however, and was now ready to embark on another adventure. She smiled sadly, recognising Jefferson in The Mad Hatter.
Her eyelids were drooping, despite the mocha she's consumed earlier. She sighed and closed the book, switching off the light and falling asleep almost instantly.
CRASH
Belle awoke abruptly to the sound of glass breaking and a man's voice. She froze in fear and pulled a blanket tightly around herself.
"BLOODY HELL!" - the intruder yelled again and Belle almost sighed in relief, reaching for the light switch.
"Wha..?" - the lamp illuminated Will Scarlet's bewildered expression. Belle rolled her eyes and he gaped at her.
"The librarian? What're ya doing 'ere?!"
She stood up, crossing her arms. - "Like you said, I'm the librarian. And this is a library!"
"Yeah but it's closed!" - he exclaimed, staggering backwards.
"If you think it's closed, why are you here?" - Belle said exasperatedly.
"I wanted to read a book, what d'ya think?!" - Will slurred. Belle raised her eyebrows.
"And what was it exactly that stopped you from coming in during the opening hours and checking one out, Will? Hm? I would've happily given it to you then."
The thief looked up and blinked.
"Ya know me?"
"I do - Emma arrested you for breaking in a few weeks ago, remember?"
"The Sheriff? Ya I remember! I wasn't even causin' ya any trouble, and ya had to arrest me?"
Belle shrugged. "Well, you did break and enter, and you tried to steal a book. Not to mention, you ripped out a page. You shouldn't damage books, you know."
Will shrugged. - "Am a thief, lass. Always been a thief, always will be." - He slid down onto the floor, yawning
"Well, you didn't have to steal that book. In fact, I'm going to give it to you now and I won't even call Emma to tell her you've broken in. Again!" - Belle reached for the copy of "Alice in Wonderland", grabbed it from the floor and turned around, only to find the sarcastic thief passed out on the floor.
"Seriously?!" - she exclaimed. - "Will? Wake up!"
No response.
"Fine!" - she rolled her eyes and reached to turn on the coffee maker, only to find its usual spot empty.
"What?" - she thought and looked around, almost stepping on a piece of glass covered in brown liquid. It appeared that the thief knocked it over, thereby waking her up in the first place. She glared at his sleeping form, noticing the light casting shadows on his face for the first time. She stepped around the class carefully and kneeled beside him, taking in the angular features.
"What could you possibly want "Alice in Wonderland" for so badly?" - she whispered. The only response she received was a soft sigh. She felt bad for him - whatever his reasons were for being after the book, he must've been pretty desperate to try and steal it not once, but twice. And the library floor wasn't comfortable to sleep on.
"You're lucky I don't want to wake up Emma right now" - Belle muttered and grabbed her blanket from the couch. She begrudgingly threw it over Will's body and he snuggled deep into the warmth as soon as it encompassed him. She smiled slightly - he didn't look the part of a petty thief at all when he was like this.
Whether it was Will's clumsiness that caused the coffee maker to shutter, leaving Belle deprived of caffeine and therefore sleepy, or exhaustion just simply took over her, but she slept through the rest of the night and most of the morning. She blinked, remembering the events of the previous night and looked around, only to find the floor empty but for "Alice in Wonderland", and to feel the blanket around her own frame.
"Will?" - she called out, hoping that he was alright. She was met with nothing but silence. She gasped when she looked at the clock and realised that it was almost 11 am and swiftly got up, only to remember that the Storybrooke library was closed on Sundays. She rubbed her eyes and groaned, remembering that she no longer had instant access to coffee. She didn't have time to seethe at the thief, however - when she walked towards the desk, she spotted a familiar papercup with her name written on it in a black marker. There was a note next to it. Belle picked it up and read through the loopy, messy handwriting, a genuine smile appearing on her face for the first time in days.
"Belle,
Thanks for not calling the Sheriff last night - I dunno if you were gonna this morning, so I took off before you woke up. Sorry about the coffee machine! I brought ya a cuppa from Granny's - she said ya liked cream and sugar. Hope it ain't too bad.
I'll probably be there at lunchtime, if ya feel like dropping by and telling me why I wasn't the only person interested in night-time reading? I probably owe ya another cuppa anyway!
Will Scarlet.
P.S. Hope ya don't mind, but I did check out a book, ya can ask me which one later. And I actually did check it out, signed it in your journal and everything!
Reviews please? This is my first non-CS OUAT fanfic so bear with me!