It was his own fault, Gold decided as he glanced at his watch. Belle was twenty minutes late and the only person to blame was himself. Fighting his darker urges Rumplestiltskin took a long draught of his lukewarm coffee and ignored the diner's other patrons. He and Belle had picked up something of a reputation with their many failed attempts at a first hamburger date; he strongly suspected the rumor mill would have a field day if Belle actually stood him up. On the outside Mr. Gold was the picture of calm as he looked at his phone and read an imaginary text message. He ordered two lasagna specials to go and sent a "reply" as he waited for the order to be filled. On the inside he was cursing the Kindle.
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Rumplestiltskin bought Belle the e-reader as a Christmas present. Sparing no expense, he bought the one that doubled as a tablet computer and set Belle up with an Amazon account. At the time it warmed him to think Belle could have any book in the world with a mere click of a button. He had actually felt disappointed when he noticed the gadget remained in its box two weeks after he presented it to her. Rumplestiltskin himself taught her how to navigate the Internet and purchase books with his credit card. He had no way of knowing the device would make his life a living hell.
It began gradually enough, Belle would arrive on time but breathless from having to rush. It descended into out and out tardiness which wasn't so bad, especially when Belle would smile that guilty little smile as she explained. "I'm so sorry for running late, Rumple. I just got caught up in the most wonderful story about a saloon girl and a gunslinger." There were hundreds of them; the ringmaster and the trapeze artist, the business man and the barista... He never knew Belle to have such an appetite for romances.
Rumplestiltskin noted with no small measure of pride how well the library was coming along. He knew that in spite of it all Belle hadn't changed a bit. No prison could diminish her capability or her imagination. Frowning he wondered if it was her feelings for him that had dimmed. He was trying to be the man she deserved, but maybe it wasn't enough. The climb up to Belle's apartment did nothing for his mood or his knee. He was nothing but a crippled old monster.
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He didn't use magic on the door until two solid minutes of knocking and calling her cell phone yielded no results. He justified his breach of etiquette by telling himself he thought he could almost hear a muffled shout from within; better to be safe than sorry and all that. He laid the carry-out bag on the coffee table and surveyed the living room. The space was overflowing with books and potted plants and sunshine. It was tidy and smelled of roses and paper, just like his Belle. The Kindle he noticed was half buried in the couch cushions, he briefly wondered if she would suspect him if the device were to quit working.
A faint whimpering noise disrupted his musings. "Oh please help me."
"Belle?" he called. The distress in her voice chilled him.
"Rumple? I'm in the bedroom. I- I'm in trouble and I could really use some help."
"I'm on my way, sweetheart. Tell me what's the matter."
"Oh Rumple, everything's gone wrong-" she sobbed panicked. "Wait, don't come in. Don't look at me!"
Gold paused, "I can't help you from out here love. Are you decent? If you aren't cover yourself because I'm coming in."
The sight that greeted him as he entered the room was borderline comical and borderline erotic. Belle's tear stained face was the only thing preventing him from reacting to either of his body's demands, this was no time for laughter or lust.
"What have you done to yourself, love?" She was wearing a half slip and tights on the lower half of her body. Her top half was encased in a powder blue monstrosity of lace, spandex, and what looked to be an iron hatstand.
"I'm stuck." she choked out miserably.
"I can see that," he murmured in a voice he hadn't used since Bae was a small child. "Do you want me to untangle you manually or would you mind if I applied some magic to this problem?"
"Anything. Just get this off me."
With a thought and gesture purple smoke engulfed Belle, leaving her free and modestly covered by a cotton bathrobe. She drew in a long breath of air and sighed, collapsing on the bed. "Thank you, Rumplestiltskin. I was trapped in that corset for nearly an hour." She patted the empty spot beside her silently inviting him to sit.
Reluctantly Gold joined her. "Can I ask what happened Belle. In all my years I've never had to rescue a lady from her underthings."
Belle blushed furiously and began to explain. "I bought the corset when I went shopping with Ruby. I thought it worked like the ones I used to wear, but it was too tight and it pinned my arm when I tried to take it off. And then I got frightened and ran into my hatstand... I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't dropped in." Belle's voice trembled, "I'm sorry I ruined our date. I really wanted this evening to be special."
A generic reassurance was on the tip of Gold's tongue, but something caught his eye. Candles, the room was full of candles. For the first time he noticed there were rose petals on the duvet. Choosing his words carefully, he asked. "What did you have in mind Belle?"
Belle's flush deepened. "It doesn't matter. I obviously need to do more research."
Research? Rumplestiltskin felt his own color start to rise. Suddenly Belle's new obsession with love novels took on a whole new light. "The evening is still young dear. I brought us some dinner. We can have a quiet night in." He understood that the evening Belle had in mind was past salvaging, but their time together was precious in any event.
"You don't understand, Rumple. I was going to seduce you." She sounded so small, but bravely pressed on. "Everything was going to be so perfect and I spoiled everything."
"Belle, every moment we spend together is perfect." He planted a chaste kiss on her cheek and a slightly less chaste kiss on her throat. "Besides, any efforts to seduce me would have been wasted. I've wanted you from the first moment I saw you."
"I want you too Rumple. Do you think maybe we could try? I'm ready."
His answering kiss soft but insistent, his tongue teasing her bottom lip demanding entrance into her mouth. Belle sighed pleased with the turn of events. She felt a momentary pang for not getting the chance to light the candles, but it was most likely for the best. She would hate to see weeks of careful planning wasted by a careless accident.