Prompt: Belle is sick in Storybrooke with Gold taking care of her.
Nearly a month after the curse was broken, and with Emma and Mary Margaret still missing…somewhere, things were about as normal as they could be when one lived with two realities clashing in their heads. The orange line remained the boundary line between true reality and some made-up formula of Regina's own design. Speaking of the infamous queen, she'd locked herself in her marble and stone mansion, not daring to spark another riot like the one that occurred immediately after the purple smoke lifted from Storybrooke's streets, and it suited people just fine. As long as she wasn't near them and causing more trouble, then they didn't care what she did. Life went back to normal as best it could when there wasn't a sheriff anymore and a schoolteacher was sorely missed, but they made do as they always did. Everyone was still alive and well, and that's all Granny, or Henry or even Leroy cared about. All was well, except…
A stone's throw from the pawnshop owned by the one man feared by all loomed a large Victorian house; elegant marble, rich wooden floors, lush Oriental carpets in every room, stacks and stacks of various artifacts littering the floors and shelves, but none of that was of importance when you stopped and felt the air in the house. No longer was there a chill, a feeling of something lacking, something missing. Instead, warmth permeated from every corner of the opulent mansion, and laughter became something heard quite often in the home. All due to a very special girl who had the heart of a beast in her hands and who melted the ice surrounding it, creating a long-lasting, ever-special True Love. Of course, he was still the Dark One, but that didn't matter much to her when she could physically be around him as much as she liked, and wrap her arms around his waist while his created a shield around her. Yes, he could shield her from a lot of dangers.
Except the common cold.
One morning, Belle awoke to a painful feeling in her throat, aches and chills switching off every so often and a weak, dizzy feeling that didn't make her warm head feel any better. It would have been if she hadn't woken up was her first thought. Then things wouldn't hurt so much. She moaned weakly and curled up under the warm quilt. Her small sound immediately caused the man lying next to her to stir and wake up.
"Belle?" He murmured groggily, sitting up to rub the sleep from his eyes. "What's wrong? Are you okay, dear?"
She shook her head miserably. "No…I don't feel very well."
Any remnant of sleep that Gold had left had vanished instantly and his almost obsessive need to protect Belle kicked into high gear. He threw his legs over the side of the bed, ignoring the pain in his leg and grabbed his cane; surely there was some kind of cough syrup or aspirin in the medicine cabinet that would tide Belle's sickness over until he could figure out a way to make her better entirely. If that meant using the complicated magic here, then so be it. He would do whatever it took to save her.
Unfortunately, he didn't have anything worth giving her. As the Dark One, he found that he never got ill; so as a result, he never bought anything to stave off illness. Oh, what he wouldn't give for some real magic right now. Magic to heal Belle, of course.
He hobbled back into their bedroom to inform Belle of the terrible news. He found her squirming around in the bed, making noises of distress as she inhaled and blew her nose, trying to soothe her horribly congested sinuses. "Belle, dear, I'm going to have to go to town and find you some remedies for this. I, uh, I'm afraid I don't have anything that would help you. You're welcome to go take a hot shower, though. I've heard steam does wonders. You do remember how to turn on the shower, yes?"
Belle nodded.
"And turn it back off?"
Another nod.
"Very well, then. I'll get dressed and be on my way." As he moved to his armoire, Belle moved to a sitting position.
"You're wearing a suit?" That's what Gold thought she said, but then again, her voice was garbled and unlike Belle's usual melodious voice, so he could be wrong.
"Yes, I always wear a suit. It's my thing, you know. Besides the magic and all that jazz." Dear God…what was the world coming to? Now he was starting to use modern slang words? If only they'd gone back to their world. At least there, he knew what people were saying to him.
"It does look hot." Belle remarked. She'd gotten out of bed and was moving towards the bathroom to take a shower. Most likely a long shower, too. As soon as she'd gotten the hang of it, there was no telling how long she'd be soaking up the water and steam.
Gold chuckled. "Well, thank you dear."
So dress in a full suit Gold did, and began to make his way to the small grocery store run by some dwarf or another. They all seemed alike to him. Now, Gold was totally unprepared for a sick person, much less a sick girl who was the love of his life, so as soon as he stepped into the store, he froze like a deer caught in the headlights. So to speak, anyway. He couldn't figure out what she'd need. Or want, because her tastes varied from day to day. The world was filled with so many things that she just had to try everything.
"Mr. Gold?" He glanced up from looking at the assortment of crackers available to see little Henry Mills looking at him with a puzzled gaze.
"Henry, what can I do for you?" He said, easily slipping back into his cool, confident pawnbroker persona. Despite appearances, he'd always had a fondness for the boy, any child, really. Deep, way deep down inside, he hoped that someday, he could hold a small child in his arms and call it his own.
"Nothing, I was just wondering what you were doing here. Shouldn't you be with Belle?"
"Shouldn't you be in school?"
"Um, no…secret prince stuff I have to work on."
"Ah, I see. Well, run along then."
"Do you need help? You look lost."
This kid and his persistence were going to drive Gold up the walls one of these days. Though he supposed he should thank the kid for going and finding his birth mother and finally breaking the curse.
"Belle is sick, and I'm trying to find something that will make her feel better."
Henry nodded and tugged at Gold's silk sleeve. "Come with me." So he followed the boy as he loaded up a basket with items such as Tylenol, Benadryl, crackers, cans of chicken soup, honey for a cup of tea and a fresh red rose to help raise her spirits. "Here; everything you need to help her get better."
Gold stared at Henry, lost for words. The only person besides Belle and Emma to not fear him, Henry had helped Gold out when Gold had done nothing for him before.
"Thank you, Henry."
"No problem," And with that parting, he exited the store with his purchases for Belle. Truth be told, he'd hated every moment he had to spend away from her. After twenty-eight years, even an hour felt like a lifetime.
The walk back to his house was a bit more tedious and tiring with the extra weight he was carrying, but he supposed it was worth it. The sooner Belle got better, the sooner they could go back to being in love and good at what they did—he with magic and being the almost owner of the town, and she with her books and fixing up the library.
As soon as he unlocked his door and stepped into the foyer, he was met with an adorable sight that would have shocked the residents—Mr. Gold bursting into a wide, toothy grin? Unthinkable, really, because why on earth would he do that? Belle had created for herself a cocoon of blankets and settled onto the deep, plush couch. Some historical documentary was playing on the television and she'd made herself some tea apparently, due to two teacups on the table surrounded by used tissues and cough drops. Oh, those were new. All he could see of Belle was the upper half of her face and a circle of hair. The rest was buried or encircled or something.
He softly plodded over to Belle and gently shook her shoulder. It killed him to wake her up, but the sooner she got the medicine and soup, the sooner they could go back to being the ultimate oddity in Storybrooke, which was certainly saying something.
"Belle? Sweetheart, get up. You have to take some medicine."
He received a groan in reply.
"No, none of this. Come on, it'll make you feel better."
Her eyes opened to reveal two circles of deep ocean blue surrounded by a plethora of little red squiggles, a sure sign of sickness and lack of restful sleep. "I don't want to move," She sighed. "It hurts to move."
"Oh, I know, but you have to move. Now here," He said, sitting down on the coffee table and set his cane aside. Gold took the box of Benadryl out, opened it, poured some of the liquid into a small plastic cup and handed it to Belle. She sniffed it and wrinkled her nose. "What?"
"It stinks, and what's worse is I can hardly smell anything, so you know it's awful to smell with a good nose."
"Your nose is good; it's cute and button-like."
Belle laughed. "Oh, Rumplestiltskin, that's sweet. But my nose looks awful right now. It's all red and runny and stuffy and chapped and just…gross. There is nothing cute about it."
"Oh, I'm going to have to disagree with you."
"You would do that."
"I always will if you insist on degrading your beauty. Belle means Beauty, and that you are. I will never think anything less."
"Mmm, and that's what I love about you. You can say that you're a monster and that I should leave, but then you say things like this. You're just scared to hurt me, but how you really feel is that you love me and don't want me to ever leave your side."
Belle was really a very perceptive girl.
Gold hunkered down beside Belle and drew her close. "Yes, dear, that is exactly how I feel."