A/N: so it appeared that last night, THE rumbelle scene at the Pier was cut (or maybe it is one from next week), whatever…being a bit disappointed by the lack of Rumbelle scenes recently I immediately had this idea. Hope you'll like it.

A/N 2: in case you don't know it, I'm not English or American so they may be some mistakes…sooorrry. But I love writing in English

It was a bit surprising for her. Even though it was quite early in the morning, the weather was remarkably nice, not too cool or not too warm. Belle hasn't been living in Storybrooke for a long time but enough to know that, at a few days from Halloween, she would have been wearing her favorite blue coat and have an umbrella nearby instead of this –according to some people – really short skirt. But she couldn't resist the idea of having her leg caressed by the sun rays. And despite what he said about her skirt, she knew he enjoyed the sight. From time to time, she caught his eyes wandering and she couldn't keep from smiling.

Nothing was better than the feeling of being loved and cherished by someone, to know that he still found you attractive even in casual clothes or, in her case earlier today, in his long wrinkled shirt with your hair in a complete mess. At the thought of the previous night, she shivered a little…a detail that didn't go unnoticed.

"Are you cold my love? Do you want to go back to the car?" He asked softly as he put his arm around her waist.

"No, I'm fine. I was just…thinking… of last night to be honest."

"That was something," he answered after a while, the smile that appeared on his face was quite explicit.

Indeed, their evening had been more than perfect. Not that the others hadn't been but now it seemed they had found the right balance in their relation. They were both more comfortable with each other in private and in public. He has surprised her more than once. Before she had been the one looking for some romantic gestures but now, he was holding her hands or was holding her by the waist while they were walking in the streets.

Like these mornings when he proposed her to enjoy a little homemade breakfast at the bay before enjoying a little walk on the pier before they both head to work. Slowly it had become their little sweet habits. Even if it was early, there were a lot of people and he didn't pay attention to any of them. She was the only one he really cared right now. She could feel how happy and proud he was to be with her and to show she was his, that she was his wife. Mrs Gold. Unfortunately in the middle of their happiness, there was still a thing they were avoiding.

"Rumple…I need to speak to you. About us. Something we need to talk about." He remained silent but his hand stiffened. "I love you and you know that I love what we have. I'm more than happy to be married to you and our life is amazing. More than what I've ever imagined."

"But?" He finally said. "There's always a but."

"But….don't you find weird that we're still not living together. I mean, we are husband and wife. We should live in the same house. Don't you think?"

"I thought you enjoyed your apartment above the library."

"I do. And I love when you stop by at the end of the day and that you bring me flowers and cook me dinner or when I join you at your shop and we go to your house. I love waking up next to you but more than that, I love having you around. When you were in Neverland I was spending most of my time at your house. It kinda became my home. So…I don't know. We never really spoke of it."

Rumple took a deep breath and looked straight in front of him. She was right. They never had that talk. He had thought of it so many times but it seemed that the timing was always wrong…and now Hook was blackmailing him. He still had too many secrets and projects he wanted to finish before. He needed to finish them so he could be the man she deserved. But deep down, every minute he was spending away from her was too much for him.

"Well, I thought you would like to have your own space. I know how independent you can be and I thought you preferred to have a place to stay for a while. Especially after what happened last year. Plus where would you organize your girls' nights?"

"Your place is actually fine…even bigger and so much more enjoyable. With the garden outside we could enjoy some evenings under the stars."

"Except you forgot one thing my love. I don't think Ruby, Emma or Mary Margaret would agree to come at the Dark One's dungeon."

"Don't call it this way and I had great memories of your manor. Especially the library," she added quickly trying to repress a little giggle as her mind was immediately recreating some images of the place

But behind the joke, she knew he was hurt and felt bad that her friends weren't accepting him, thus rejecting her sometimes. They had no problem when he joined her at Granny's but immediately they found something else to do, anything so they could avoid a weird time with him.

They didn't say a word about their marriage but she knew what they all really thought. And he was right, they wouldn't come at his house even if it was theirs. They would always see it as the Dark One's. Whatever he could do, he would always pay the price of what he did in the Enchanted Forest.

"And you know what?" she said once they arrived at the end of the pier. "I don't care. If they don't see that you changed and aren't ready to forgive you…that's fine. It's their problem. I'm a bit tired of having a part of my stuff at my place and a part at your place. You're my husband and I think we should live together or at least try for a while, see how we deal with the marital life. And if you really think of it, we already lived together and not during your best time. And guess what…I loved it. It can't be worse. I won't break any more cups I promise." She slowly raised her hand to touch his right cheek before dropping a sweet kiss. "Deal?"

"Deal." He leaned a little forward and kissed her passionately. He still couldn't understand how he could be so lucky. "This is the most precious deal I've ever made in my whole life," he whispered to her ear.

Slowly they made their way back to the city center in a complete silence, enjoying the sound of the sea waves, the soft warm of their embrace and the promise of their new life.

"You're not coming with me?" Belle asked as he left her at a few meters from the main street.

"No I have to go back to the bay… Hook is waiting for me as I helped him recently, he'll help me to find an old friend. I'll see you for lunch." He kissed her one last time and she offered him a last smile.