Belle French pushed the door of the library open, smiling as she saw the shelves of books. She breathed in the smell and closed her eyes, glad that she was the library's caretaker now. She had Rumpel to thank for that, but they were still on slightly bad terms. She asked for distance, and Rumpel was giving it to her. She needed to figure things out and understand what she wanted, and she was starting to think that what was between her and Rumpel wasn't going to last. Not if he wasn't willing to work hard to change.
She needed someone who would let her be herself, and be proud of her for it. For the time being, she decided she needed to be alone, because she didn't have time for a relationship anyway. If she was being totally honest with herself, she felt too inexperienced at the whole love thing to even really know what it was. With Rumpel, it was something that made her feel safe, and wanted. It felt good, even though looking back, she wondered if all it was was a terrible case of Stockholm's Syndrome. Belle sighed and placed the keys on the counter, going over the stack of books that were returns from yesterday.
Not many people visited the library, not since the curse broke. Most of the townspeople were more concerned with how to get back to their world than reading books from this one. Belle couldn't blame them. She was homesick as well. She missed her castle, her room, and the peach tree orchard that she spent many days in as a child. She remembered the smell of the peaches, sweet and inviting, and if she closed her eyes tight enough, she could see the birds nesting in the trees. She could hear the chirping of the birds, and feel the grass underneath her feet—
The door to the library opened, and Belle snapped out of her reverie. She looked up from the stack of books to see Red Riding Hood awkwardly stepping up to the circulation desk.
"Hey, Belle. How are things?"
Belle stepped back, indignant. She was usually a soft-spoken person and didn't let her emotions get the better of her, but seeing Red act so casual was a little insulting.
"Oh, are you here to handcuff me to something again?" Belle didn't bother to keep the anger out of her voice.
Red shuffled her feet, staring at the dust she kicked up as she did so. "Yeah, about that…I'm sorry I forgot to come back for you—after my wolf's time."
Belle rolled her eyes. "So you're not sorry about actually locking me up in the first place? Well, thanks for the apology, but I don't accept it. I spent 28 years locked up. I didn't think you of all people would do that to me."
Red looked up, frowning. "I was freaking out, okay? I thought for sure I'd hurt you if you weren't in a safe place. But I guess I wasn't thinking about your past, and I'm sorry for that."
"You don't even know me, Red. I don't know you too well either, but I see the good in you. You are not a monster."
"Yeah, you have a knack for seeing the good in people, don't you? Even someone like Rumpelstiltskin." Red bit her lip, trying not to grimace as she said his name.
Belle nodded, walking out from behind the counter with the returned books in her hand. She started to reshelve the books, talking as she did so. "Yes, well, he and I aren't seeing each other right now."
"Oh, really? Why?"
Belle reshelved The Hunger Games, surprised that the library even carried that best seller. Storybrooke was more connected to the outside world than she thought, apparently.
"I decided I needed some space, to figure out if I even want to be with him. I thought he was more willing to change than he is."
Red nodded. "I know what you mean. If someone wants to change, they have to do it for the right reasons. For themselves, because they want to." Red suddenly felt an awkward sensation in the pit of her abdomen, almost similar to….jealousy? No, that couldn't be right. She was on a cleanse, anyway, to purify herself. Apparently, when she was Ruby, she was kind of a slut. She knew of five guys in town that remembered sleeping with her, which made for awkward conversations whenever she passed them on the street, or in the diner. She didn't need to complicate things by suddenly finding herself attracted to this innocent naïve girl who had probably never even kissed anyone. Well, anyone who wasn't old enough to be her grandfather. Red grimaced and stepped back from the shelf.
"Well, I guess that's all I came here for, to apologize…I hope you can forgive me sometime soon. I better be getting back to the diner though, the breakfast rush is probably starting right now." Red backed into the door, wincing as the metal bar dug into her back. She gave Belle what she hoped was a warm smile and rushed out into the sunshine, not liking what she was feeling at the moment.
Belle found Red's quick exit a little off-putting, but she decided maybe it was just an after effect of her wolf's time or something. She honestly didn't know much about the side effects of being a were-wolf, or a child of the moon, as Red's grandmother called it. Struck by a sudden curiosity, she made her way over to the reference section, looking in the encyclopedias. She opened the book T-W and opened it, looking for anything she could find about werewolves.
She found out that hypertrichosis was called the 'werewolf syndrome' because of excessive hair growth. Belle shook her head. Red certainly didn't have that problem. Belle was sure she didn't have a single hair on her long slender legs. Belle shut the book, coughing in the cloud of dust that arose. The interesting thing was, Red was still a mystery to her. All she really knew about her was that she was quite popular and friendly…and that she was a werewolf.
Belle re-shelved all the books, then walked over to the children's section. For some reason, she really liked to read those. Not that she didn't like classic stories too, but recently, children's stories seemed to be the break from reality that Belle needed. She mulled over the books, wondering what to pick, when something caught her eye. Little Red Riding Hood was the title, staring her in the face. Frowning, she picked it up and opened the first page. She read it, amazed at how whoever did got pretty much all the facts wrong. She laughed and re-shelved the book, walking back to the main room of the library.
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"Ruby, get these orders done. I have to go to the pharmacy to pick up some ibuprofen." Granny huffed and wiped some sweat off of her brow. "You can remember these, right?"
"I'm offended, Granny. I can write stuff down, you know?" Red smiled. "Don't worry, I got it." Red looked over the counter, smiling at seeing Regina, Henry and Emma miraculously sitting in the same booth. Granted, Regina looked like she would rather be chewing nails, but at least Henry could get his two moms to be together in the same room, and share a meal. Red smirked to herself. It sounded so gay in her head, she wondered what it would sound like if she actually said it out loud. She called the orders—A burger for Emma, a salad for Regina, and an ice cream for Henry—all to the cook in the back, then waited. She couldn't help but notice Belle enter the diner, and gave her a smile, even though what she really wanted to do was groan.
She was happy to see Belle, of course. But the…thoughts she had entertained yesterday, when she went over to apologize for handcuffing Belle were disconcerting. And why on earth had she handcuffed her in the first place? Talk about kinky. Red shook her head. Now was not the time for Ruby to make an appearance, she was on a cleanse, for Christ's sake. She cleared her throat and tried her hardest to look into Belle's (beautiful, amazing, breathtaking) eyes and not swoon like a freaking teenager.
"Hey, Belle, how's it going?" Red bent down to write a fake order on her pad, just so she didn't have to look at Belle for too long.
"Fine, thank you for asking." Belle sat at the counter, and Red caught a whiff of the body spray she was wearing—vanilla woods, if she wasn't mistaken. Damn her oversensitive olfactory nerves. Now she would be addicted to that scent. "Can I have a macaroni cheese plate with a cherry coke?"
Red nodded. "Yeah, that'll be ready in 15 minutes." Red wrote down the order and disappeared into the kitchen, picking up Emma's, Regina's and Henry's orders, thankful for the distraction.
"Okay, guys, here you go. Ice cream for Henry, burger for the sherriff, and a salad for the regal bitch." Red smirked evilly at Regina.
"Practice that one, did you?" Regina picked up her fork, glaring at Red.
"Yep, all night, in front of my mirror."
Regina ignored her and took a bite of her salad. "Ugh, this is dry."
"So put some ranch on it. I got to go, got some customers waiting." Red gave Emma a wink and went back to the counter, keeping herself busy with waitressing, and trying SO hard not to steal glances at Belle, who was kicking her feet back and forth from her stool like she was a five year old.
Finally Belle finished her meal and walked out of the diner, totally oblivious to how much pain she was inflicting on Red, who was distractedly working. It didn't escape everyone's notice however. Emma slinked over to the counter after Belle left, a knowing look on her face.
"Hey Ruby, is something up with you today?"
"No, why would you say that?"
"Um…well, I'm not blind; I saw how every ten seconds you had to peel your eyes off of Belle to actually get some work done." Emma smirked as Red rolled her eyes.
"I'm better off alone, Emma. I did a lot of stupid things before the curse broke, when I didn't remember who I was, and I don't want to go back down that path."
Emma sighed. "Fine, whatever you say. But I hardly think Belle is gonna be the kind of person who would ask you to do anything you didn't want to do." Emma dropped that unexpected pearl of wisdom, then got up and left, bickering with Regina like there was no tomorrow.
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Rumpelstiltskin was getting impatient. He had agreed to give Belle space, but that was getting old and Rumpel was not used to waiting around for things. No, if he wanted something, he took it. He was tired of waiting for Belle to make up her mind, and 'figure things out' as she put it. He knew that if he just showed up at the library, it would appear too desperate. He decided to employ the help of someone who owed him a favor anyway. Emma Swan. It was too easy, he would just ask her to befriend Belle and ask her to take him back. He had his plan already set, and was closing his shop up, even though it was the middle of the day. That was the nice thing about being his own boss. He hobbled down the street, making his way to the apartment that Emma now shared with her whole family, including Henry. He passed the diner on the way, casually looking in the window.
What he saw surprised him. Red and Belle were talking, quite intimately, from what he could tell. Red was leaning over the counter, then said something which made Belle burst into laughter. That got him to think, maybe he was taking the wrong tack, asking Emma to befriend her, when Belle already had a good friend in a certain waitress. He smirked and pushed the door open with his cane, nodding to Belle as he entered.
She was not too thrilled to see him. He took a booth on the far side of the diner, knowing that if he wanted Belle back, he'd have to play his cards right. Belle soon left, which was unsurprising.
Red walked up to the booth, pen and pad in hand. "What can I get for you?" She asked, not entirely unkindly.
"Can I have some of your best wine?" Rumpel smiled, which was rather creepy, to be honest.
Red raised her eyebrows at that eccentric request. "Sure, I'll get you some Chardonnay, I think we still have some in stock. Will that be all?"
"Actually, no, I think you can do something for me."
"No, I don't do that kind of stuff anymore…that was Ruby, and I'm on a cleanse…"
Rumpel laughed. "No, nothing like that, Miss Lucas. See, you seem to be quite—intimate friends with Belle, and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to put in a good word for me."
Red stuck her pen behind her ear and glared at Rumpel. "Well, I would, but I'm afraid there's no good words I could say about you without lying." Red breathed. Apparently she had a death wish. She knew Rumpelstiltskin was a powerful man—he had magic, and was prepared to use it, unlike Regina. Regina was a kitty cat compared to him.
"That was a very unwise thing to say, Miss Lucas." Rumpel tried to keep a cool expression on his face, but his eyes betrayed anger and contempt.
"Yeah, well, it was unwise for you to ask me to try to get Belle to come crawling back to you. Frankly, she deserves better than you. Your wine will be right out." Red stepped back from the table, resisting the urge to go all kung fu on that creepy prune's ass.