I'll Be There For You

by XSoleadoX

Belle have been overworking herself. When one day, during their regular Skyping, she passes out from exhaustion, Gold – sick with worry – decides to come over and help. Fluffy one-shot.

Inspired by a friend.

Proof-read by NicoleMuenchSeidel.

Enjoy! :)

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"Hey."

"Hey."

Mr. Gold smiled at the face of angel popping up on his screen. The Skype sessions with Belle French had become a pleasant routine for him for the past few months. He could still remember their long conversations on online chat, talking about everything and nothing, and when one day the tentative question "Do you have Skype?" ensued, he felt both dreaded and excited. Their names and looks was something they hadn't discussed, so he had expected many things; the enchanting brunette working in the library across the street from his shop, was not one of them. The shock on her face had equaled that on his, as she had certainly not been expecting the town's beast to be hiding behind the username GoldenSpinner. He had expected her to yell and shut down her laptop and never chat with him again, but she had surprised him; her words had warmed his heart, and in the end, they had spent a nice evening talking.

It had been like this since then; when they had a free moment in work, they would chat about trivial things, and at evenings they would turn on their webcams and spend a good chunk of time talking through Skype. It had been amazing. But neither of them had the courage to approach the other in real life; Gold had resolved himself to standing by his shop's front window, watching her from that safe distance as she came into the library each morning. One day, he had almost dropped dead on his threshold, when she had suddenly turned around and waved at him. They have never approached the subject on Skype or chat; he wanted to, more than once he had typed "Would you like to grab dinner with me?" but each time he quickly deleted it. He had no doubt just how much he was falling for the brunette, but he couldn't quite gather the courage to move it forward, too afraid she wouldn't share his feelings, and that would have been the end of their acquaintance – dare he call it, a friendship?

He had been happy with their chats and evening's conversations, and decided it was good for now. He got to see her beautiful face, listen to her unforgettable voice, and hear her adorable laugh – it was more than he had ever hoped for in life. But in the past few weeks, she had been becoming gradually quieter and more tired, their conversations shorter and shorter, and although he could see something was wrong, he was too afraid to suggest coming over and helping. It wasn't until today however, that he realized just how very badly the things really were. As when today he looked at her face, the smile left him in an instant and he found himself barely holding back the shocked gasp; her skin was incredibly pale, ashen even, her azure eyes bloodshot and barely open, dark shadows underneath them, and although he hated the comparison, she resembled more the Bride from the "Corpse Bride" movie, than his beautiful friend. Concern welled in him immediately, over-flooding his senses.

"Belle… What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"You look… exhausted." He bit back the word horrible, not wanting her to take it the wrong way. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel insulted and think that he was an insensitive jerk.

"I'm fine. It's just… Bad night. That's all." She shrugged, dismissing his worry with a wave of hand, and he wanted to press, because it was obvious that she wasn't fine, and he knew it wasn't just 'a bad night', but before he could find the right words, she was already speaking.

"So, how was your day?" Gold sighed at her change of subject. He couldn't very well force her to tell him what was happening with her, if she didn't want to talk.

"Boring, really. Nothing to talk about. How about yours?" It wasn't strictly the truth, as he had a quite interesting visit from the mayor, who seemed to have forgotten he run an antiques shop, not a gardening one. Belle seemed to be barely present however, her eyes flitting closed and then snapping open, so he doubted she would even find the humour in that strange encounter.

"Uh, it was... okay. You sure nothing interesting happened? I think I saw the Mayor strutting down the street towards your shop earlier today?" Belle gave him a smile, but it quickly turned into a yawn that she tried to hide. Gold scowled at the screen and wanted to tell her to go to sleep, but in the last moment, he stopped himself. The situation gave him a déjà-vu sensation. In their last talk almost a week ago, he had seen her yawning and told her she should go to sleep, but she ignored him, insisting she wasn't that tired at all.

When he thought about that now, he knew there were many more signs that at the time he had dismissed and considered not that significant. What once had been a bouncy step when she had opened her library, had recently turned into a sluggish walk, the motion of unlocking the door much longer than it had always taken her previously. When before he would see her leave the library at lunch and direct her steps towards Granny's Diner, for the last week he hadn't seen her step a foot outside. And their regular Skype sessions have moved too, to what once was at afternoons, now happening at very late evenings, and what once would last for an hour or more, now lasting mere minutes. When before they talked few times a week, in the past few weeks they only had a handful of chats. When earlier she would always catch his silly jokes and laugh at them, recently she missed them most of the time, seemingly too tired to notice. When before she would playfully snap at his tasteless teasing, now she would barely react to it. When once she was full of laughter and energy, and talking with barely any rest to breathe, for their few recent Skype sessions she had been mostly passive, barely speaking, and letting him do most of the talk. Once open and ready to share the stories of her days with him, even the most mundane stuff, now she would shrug it off and try to shift the subject to his days, avoiding talking about hers. There was something obviously very wrong, and how the hell could he dismiss the signs before? How could he not help her, instead letting his cowardly side take the better of him? What kind of... of friend was he?

"Rum? You alright?" Her voice dragged him to present, and the heaving guilt engulfing him more and more, he took in a shuddering breath, forcing his mouth to smile at her, not wanting her to notice where his thoughts had drifted. How should he proceed now? How could he help her?

"Umm... The Mayor. Yes. She was in the shop." He stared with terror as her eyes suddenly drifted shut, her head falling backwards to hit the pillow, her laptop shifting on her knees as her body slumped on the bed motionless. "Belle?!" She didn't wake up at his shout, and he felt himself going into a panic. His mind supplied him the worst case scenario and he almost lunged for the phone with intention to call 911, when suddenly he heard tiny snores coming from his computer. He stared at it for a moment, listening to the sounds Belle was making, and he breathed a sigh of relief. She's alive, she's alive... – he told himself, trying to calm his reeling mind. The rapid pounding of his heart had finally slowed down, but the peace didn't last long, getting replaced by once again the growing concern. She was obviously in a bad condition, but she wouldn't ask for help and wouldn't tell him what was wrong. But he couldn't just stand by anymore and watch her drive herself to such exhaustion that she would fall asleep in the middle of conversation, her laptop still open on her lap. He needed to do something. He needed to be there.

His mind made up, he shut down his computer and made his way downstairs.

###

Standing by the entrance to the apartment above the library, Gold fished the spare key from his pocket and hesitated. As a landlord, he had spare keys to all the apartments he owned, but the rental agreement allowed him to go inside only under very few circumstances. This situation didn't fit any of them. He reached for the handle, hoping the door would be open, but when it didn't budge, he shook his head. He knew it would be locked. After a certain drunk broke into the library over a month ago, Belle took to not only replacing locks in the library door, but also locking the doors to her apartment at all times. He remembered vividly how he had talked with her through Skype that day, Belle's eyes red, her hands shaking as she recalled the story to him, and oh how he wanted to ask her if he can come over, how he wanted to draw her into the circle of his arms, to stroke his hands over her back and promise "You're safe. You're safe, darling – I will never, ever let anyone hurt you." But he didn't. The question, the offer, it died on his lips before he could speak it, as the words of comfort died too. So he just listened, he told her he would call Leroy the first thing in the morning so that she could have new locks put in place, free of charge, and he ensured her the drunk will spend 48 hours in jail and think better before attempting to break in again.

Gold sighed. He was here, it was too late to have second thoughts now... He didn't offer comfort back then, and he will be damned if he misses the chance again. She was suffering, and he had to make sure she was gonna be alright, before she would drive herself to such state she ends up in a hospital.

With one last steadying breath, he pushed the key into the key-hole and twisted, the click echoing, allowing him to push the door open.

He walked inside and quietly closed the door behind him. His hand reached for the wall, locating the light switch, but he hesitated. Maybe he should use his phone instead, or maybe he should call out? He quickly dismissed the first idea – she could have mistaken him for a thief, and besides - he could have easily bumped into something and break it. The second idea he dismissed as well – he didn't want to wake her, if she was so exhausted. He flipped the switch and the room illuminated in a bright warm light. Gold blinked few times to adjust his eyes to the sudden brightness, before taking a tentative step inside. The door opened to a small living room with a kitchenette on the left, and two sets of door on the right wall. Gold gave the room just a quick glance, before turning right. He wasn't actually sure which door led to the bathroom and which led to the bedroom, but he noticed one were slightly ajar, a bath of light coming from inside. Limping slowly, as to not make too much noise with his cane, he moved towards the room, and carefully poked his head inside. Bingo.

He pushed the door open more, walking inside the small bedroom. His eyes fell upon the sleeping silhouette of Belle, and he quietly moved towards the bed. Her laptop laid precariously close to the edge, and Gold grabbed it, before Belle would turn around and knock it to the ground. After closing it and putting at the nightstand, he turned towards Belle, regarding her closely. It was the first time he could see her from such close proximity, but the sight seized his heart. Although her face looked a bit less strained when she slept, up close and live, he could see clearly the unhealthy colour of her skin, even paler than the screen let on. The shadows under her eyes were dark and strong, her lips dry and chapped, and her hair sprawled at the pillow in a tangled chestnut mess, as if she couldn't find time to take a proper care of it. A sudden wave of protectiveness washed over him, tears pooling at his eyes unbidden, and he had to stop himself from reaching to her and drawing her into his arms. Instead, he placed the back of his hand gently against her forehead, with relief feeling that she didn't have a fever. Her skin was overly cold however, and that concerned him. Withdrawing his hand, he reached for the covers, pulling them up around her and making sure she was properly tucked in. He was sure he was gonna start crying if he kept looking at her, so he forced himself to avert his eyes, glancing at the nightstand where an alarm clock stood. He frowned as he noticed it was set to ring in an hour. Why would she need a clock set on eleven at night? Not wanting to dwell on the answer, he turned the alarm off, and with one last glance at the sleeping woman, he moved away from the bed, flicking the lights off as he silently closed the door behind him.

Back in the living room, he drew in a deep breath to calm himself. Surely, once she wakes, Belle would tell him what's going on, and he would do everything he could to help her. And if she wouldn't want to tell him, then he will make her. He couldn't stand to watch her drive herself to exhaustion like this. With his gloomy thoughts, he made a careful round around the living room, hanging his coat on the hat stand in the process. There was a layer of dust on the shelves as well as on the books, the plant standing in the corner was turning yellow and looking half-dead, and there were long dried traces of mud on the floor. If he didn't know better, he would have thought that whoever lives in this apartment haven't been here for at least few weeks. Few dirty dishes were gathered at the sink, looking like they've been there for quite some time and as he opened the fridge, the only thing there was a carton of spoiled milk and a piece of old ham. The bread box wasn't any better, the few slices of bread there covered in beginnings of mould. He threw it all into a trash bin, and ventured to the bathroom, almost tripping at the pile of clothing on the floor, overflowing from the basket. It seemed Belle hadn't done the laundry in a quite some time. His worry was now on the highest pick, and for a moment, he wondered if he should do a little research, check her phone or maybe look for some papers, but as soon as the thought appeared in his mind, he forcibly pushed it away. He couldn't just search her apartment like that! With a heavy sigh he left the bathroom and went to the front door, locking it, and then deposited himself on the couch. He would wait here until she woke up, he decided, and then they would talk. Briefly, he considered whether to turn the lights off, but thought better of it – Belle could get quite a scare, if she woke up in the night and turned on the lights just to suddenly see him on the couch; and scaring her was the last thing he wanted to do.

He kicked off his shoes and made himself comfortable on the couch, deciding to lie down and stretch his bad leg. He was just going to rest a moment and wait for her Belle to wake up...

###

A yelp startled him, yanking him out from sleep, and he shot upright, momentarily alarmed. Only then he realized where he was, and who's yelp he heard. Quickly raising to his unsteady feet, he turned towards the bedroom, but before he could make a limping step, the door swung open, revealing panicked Belle, barefoot with her hair mussed and yesterday clothes rumpled from sleep. She halted as she saw him, and for a moment they stood there, frozen in place, as they stared at each other speechless.

"R... Rumford? What are you... Did you... break in?"

"No! Well, not exactly. I... I have a spare key," he rushed to explain, gulping as his heart started racing against his chest, his nerves mixing with the excitement at her use of his first name. He tried to find his coherent speech again, needing words more than ever. "Forgive me, Miss... Belle. I simply... You fell asleep, when we were talking and... I thought I should check on you."

"Oh."

Another moment of silence, and then she perked up, piercing him with a glare so strong, it made his breath hitch and his hands began to sweat.

"Did you turn my alarm off?"

"I... May have, yes..."

"Damn it! Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"I... Was it really that important?", he asked meekly, his usual confidence deflating him completely when met with the woman's anger.

"More than you think!" He felt himself flinch as she shouted at him, and suddenly her face softened and she drew in a deep breath as if to calm herself. He forced himself to not take a step back when she approached, stopping a short distance before him. "I'm sorry, Rum, I shouldn't have yelled at you. You were just... being kind," she said quietly, her hand reaching out as if to touch his shoulder, but she withdrew before making contact. His eyes followed her, as she turned and trudged towards a cupboard, pulling out two mugs and a tin with coffee.

"You shouldn't have come, I told you on Skype that I'm fine."

"You are obviously not fine though," he said, as he eyed her with concern. He noticed the moment when her hands shook as she tried to pour a spoon of coffee into a mug, and the spoon fell from her hand, hitting the counter with a clank, the dark powder spreading at the surface.

"Damn it!" She shouted. He almost jumped when she suddenly waved her arm in anger and it collided with the mug, throwing it off the counter. For a moment the time stopped, as they watched the mug fall, hit the floor, and shatter into pieces.

Suddenly, Belle let out a sob and hunched over the counter. Was she... was she crying? Panic rose in Gold, and he grabbed his cane, making a quick way towards her. He threw caution into air, letting the cane rest against the counter, as he reached with his hands to Belle's shoulders. His fingers touched her gently and she flinched, startled, but after a second, she turned around and to his surprise, instead of pushing him away, she buried her face in his neck, drawing herself as close to him as she could. Not sure what to do, he hugged her, hands stroking her back in what he hoped were soothing circles. He tried whispering calming nonsense, while she shook and cried in his arms, and they could had stood there like that for several long minutes, before Belle started to calm down. Eventually she moved away from him and wiped her nose at the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry, it's... it's from exhaustion I guess. My emotions are... a wreck." She attempted a little laugh, but it came out in a cough, her throat sore from all the crying.

Hoping that he wasn't overstepping, he reached for her face, running gentle fingers down her flushed cheek, moist from her tears. Her blue eyes, starring at him from so close and brighter than ever from her crying, momentarily drew him in like a magnet, and for a second all thought fled him. A sudden urge to kiss her; to kiss her tears away, to drag his lips over to hers, to taste the salt of her skin, it hit him with force, and his mouth opened in a silent gasp, his thumb moving to stroke over her bottom lip. Suddenly realizing what he was doing, he shook his head, forcing himself to focus.

"It's okay, Belle; you don't need to apologise," he whispered, a small tentative smile answering him, and her eyes fluttered closed as she snuggled into his hand with a tiny contented sigh that warmed his heart.

"How about, you sit down and I make us coffee, hmm?" He suggested gently after a moment and, although he saw her nod, another minute passed, before she made a move to step away from his touch, sauntering slowly towards the couch. Only after she was safely seated did he turn his eyes away, focusing at the mess on the floor. He picked up what was left of the mug, as well as the few bigger pieces that broke off, and threw it all into the bin. He decided the rest could be swept later, as there were more pressing matters at the moment.

###

Carefully, he put two steaming cups of coffee on the small round coffee table and glanced at Belle. She appeared to be lost in thoughts, as she didn't even stir. Gold sighed and glanced at his wristwatch – it was past six in the morning. He moved away from the couch, making his way towards the entrance door, and at that Belle perked up.

"What are you doing?"

"It's morning, we should open the curtains I think," he told her, as he reached the light switch and turned it off. He then approached the windows behind the couch and pushed the curtains open, letting in the morning sun. He cracked the window open a bit, a fresh crispy air washing over him, and he turned towards the room, giving it a quick survey. It looked somewhat warmer now, bathed in the morning sunlight, but the same light also highlighted all the dust gathered around. Nothing that couldn't be rectified, Gold thought, as he took his place on the couch, keeping a respectful distance from Belle, and he glanced over at her. Her eyes were fixed at the two mugs, but he could see by her tense stature that she was just pointedly avoiding looking at him.

"Belle... Why won't you tell me what's happening?" He tried his softest tone, his most reassuring voice. It had always worked on his son, when he stubbornly refused to share with his father what had troubled him. He saw it worked at Belle too, the moment her shoulders slumped in defeat, and she breathed out a sigh. She reached for her mug, blowing on the hot coffee for a few moments, and he sat quietly, waiting. He knew the moment had come when she put the mug down and turned towards him with determination gracing her features.

"Do you remember the renovation of the library, almost six months ago?" The question took him by surprise, but he nodded.

"Yes, of course," he said, and squashed the urge to press and ask how this was relevant; he knew he had to be patient, let her talk at her own pace. After few moments of flicking her eyes between him and her lap, she took a deep breath and proceeded to explain.

"The Mayor, she refused to fund the repairs, and so I went to the bank and took a loan, and did that renovation on my own incentive. But then, she started cutting the money even more, saying that there's not enough of budged for the library and she needs to cut down the costs. It mostly meant cutting down my salary. A month ago she did that again, and after making calculations... I realized, working just at the library, I will be barely able to afford the rent, not to mention that loan, and food, and..." She sighed, shaking her head a bit as she reached for her cup absentmindedly. "I had no other option, but to look for a second job. But the part-time job I got still wouldn't be enough to pay for it all, so I took two part-time jobs."

"Two? And the library? How...?"

"I go to the library in the morning, after closing it I run to the apothecary where I sit until nine in the evening, then I have a bit of time till eleven, when I have to leave to make it in time to start my night shift at the Rabbit's Hole. I come back by morning, get one hour of sleep, and go to open the library again."

Gold's jaw dropped when he heard that. Now he understood why she looked so exhausted, why her fridge was so empty, why her apartment was so unkempt, and why she had become so quiet and inattentive during their Skype conversations. The woman has been heavily overworking herself, having barely any free time to do even most required activities like eating.

"And you... you've been living like that for the last month?"

"Three weeks actually, but yeah." He gasped at hearing her answer, and Belle averted her eyes, dropping her gaze to her lap where her hands rested, fidgeting nervously. Without thinking, he reached his hand over, tentatively putting it on top of hers, and released his breath in relief when she didn't pull back.

"Belle... Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped you."

"You helped already by just talking with me – our Skyping have been the highlight of my days," she said, flashing him a fleeting smile. "But I didn't say anything, because... I didn't want you to think that... That I only befriended you, because I wanted something." Gold's heart clutched painfully at this. Guilt swallowed him, as he knew that's probably what he would have thought. But even then, she still wouldn't have been the same as others in his eyes, she still would have been special, and that meant he would have helped her – there was no doubt about that in his mind.

He shifted closer to her, his hand squeezing hers tighter, the other reaching for her face, gently turning it towards him.

"Oh, Belle. Even if the thought would have crossed my mind, I would have still helped you." He told her part of what he was thinking, knowing that no matter what she asked him, he would have never refused her, not now, not at the beginning of their acquaintance, not even before their first chat.

"Why? Why are you so insistent on helping me?"

"Because I... I like you, Belle." His cheeks flushed when he confessed that, and he barely stopped himself from looking away from her, embarrassment creeping over him.

"I like you too," she replied quietly, but decidedly, and he felt warm all over at her words. Belle French liked him. His hand slipped away from her face when she turned it away from him, trying to hide the blush spreading over her cheeks, and as grin fought its way on his own face, he dropped his head down a bit, hiding behind the curtain of his long hair. For a moment they were quiet, and Gold felt like a schoolboy again, blushing and smiling, his heart pounding and his stomach fluttering. Furtively, he tried to take deep breaths to get himself under control again. So focused he was on that task, he almost jumped when she suddenly spoke.

"It's just temporarily anyway, until I pay the loan. I thought... I could handle it. But now, because of you, I missed my night shift. They will most likely fire me now." There wasn't any accusation in her voice, just defeat, and Gold squeezed her hand, still lying comfortably under his.

"You would have called and told them you're quitting anyway," he said decisively, and her head turned towards him, an adorable confused look adoring her face.

"I would have?"

"Yes. You will quit the job at the apothecary too, and you will not open the library today. I will deal with the Mayor if she has problems with that, and as for your money troubles, we will discuss it later, and I'm sure we will reach... an agreement," he said, suspecting that Belle wouldn't just let him pay off her loan. He was sure to talk with Regina though, to make her restore Belle's salary to its original state. That was something to do later however. Today was about Belle, and so he pushed the thoughts of the Mayor and money aside, focusing at the woman next to him.

"But today you are just relaxing, not worrying about anything. So first: you're going to jump into a shower, and I am going to do quick grocery shopping and prepare you a breakfast. Then, we do laundry and cleaning. And then, I take you on a walk on beach – I'm sure your skin will appreciate a bit of sun. And then, I'm taking you to a delicious dinner," he announced, hoping that she won't said "no" to his plans, kicking him out from the apartment. So when he noticed a smile tugging at her lips, a smile that reached her eyes, and for the first time in weeks he saw them sparkle again, he knew all was gonna be alright.

"Oh, I see. And do I have any choice here?"

"Nope." They were both openly grinning now, and Gold held his breath when she bit her lip, pretending to ponder the situation.

"Well then. I suppose, I should finish the coffee and get into the shower in that case," she said with a brightness to her voice he hadn't heard in weeks, and his heart almost jumped out from his chest when he felt her turn her hand in his grasp, her fingers tangling with his and squeezing.

"Indeed."

FIN.