Belle drove away after saying goodbye to her father. Her explanation of why she was leaving had to be brief but crystal clear: she needed to get away from Rumplestiltskin. Her thoughts were so focused in everything that had happened recently that she didn't even notice she was now approaching the town line. That was it. The point of no return. But before her car could even reach the red line, Hook suddenly appeared in the middle of the road and Belle almost ran him over. She stopped on time just by pure reflexes. Alas, he was the Dark One and hitting him with the car was truly inconsequential. Belle was definitely not expecting seeing him ever again, and after the initial shock of his unexpected apparition, she took a deep breath, turned off the engine, and stepped out of the car.
"What are you doing here?" Belle asked with a mixture of anger and fear reflected in her face.
"I wanted to make sure you fulfill your part of our deal" Hook replied taking three long and slow steps towards her.
"I did what you wanted. I just came from saying goodbye to my father and telling him the lie you forced me to say. Now this is me leaving the town, according to our deal" Belle retorted trying so hard to contain her anger.
"Very good girl. And thanks to our deal I let the Crocodile survive our duel. You should be proud of yourself, Belle. But before you leave, I just wanted to remind you what will happen if you ever ever come back to Storybrooke…If you return or you let Rumplestiltskin know about our little deal, I will kill you slowly and painfully in front of his eyes, not without letting him know first you are carrying his bastard. Then…then I will skin him like the crocodile he is and torture him until he begs for the sweet release of death. Do you understand, Belle?"
Belle was barely able to breathe. Her eyes were so full of tears, yet she didn't want to show Hook how much his words were affecting her. She was feeling so many things at the same time. Sadness, anger, despair, fear. She wanted to scream. She desired so badly to run back to Rumple and forget all about this nightmare in his arms.
"I regret the day I saved your life, Captain. You are a monster now. The worst of all. But Rumple is stronger and smarter than you. He will find a way to defeat you" Belle managed to say, although she was shaking now from head to toes.
"You are so wrong, love. He was and always will be an insignificant little man. And it will be so easy for me to destroy him, specially because he has a newly broken heart, thanks to you, love"
Despite her current vulnerability, Belle took a step forward, staying merely inches away from the Dark One.
"Our love has endure many, many, many storms. It will survive this one as well"
Killian smiled cruelly thinking how pathetic her hope was.
"How romantic. But your love will not save him from my hate. That I can assure you. Now leave…forever" Hook ordered with a voice full of menace. Belle complied hesitantly getting inside the car.
She didn't have a choice. She needed to protect Rumple but most importantly, she needed to protect her baby. Their baby. She silently wished that Rumple would some day forgive her for what she did. For abandoning him just like any other person in his life. For breaking his heart. For hiding her pregnancy from him. Belle needed to believe so badly that they had a chance to overcome this new dark obstacle. She needed that to keep going. Belle started the car again and finally crossed the town line. For the first time in her life, she was in the outside world. And this didn't feel like an adventure at all. It felt like a punishment. She new the reason for that feeling all too well: she was leaving her true love behind.