A/N This was a one-shot I promised to my 275th follower on Tumblr (Femphoenix on there as well). She didn't give me much of a prompt, so I went with what I had. My version of Belle probably is a bit different in this story, as it's a bit on the darker side. It takes place right after the last show of season 2. This was more of an experiment for me as well, wanting to try out an idea I started back when season 2 ended, but I never got around to it.

Also, for those who aren't following me on Tumblr (or who haven't seen the post) I'm terribly sorry that I haven't been on here much. I'm finally seeing what it's like to have a job and how it's impacting me. I've had a couple people ask me about my Snow Queen one and yes, I am definitely still writing that one. However, Bullet to the Heart may be coming to an end. I simply cannot keep up with all of my stories anymore (my fault). Under the Veil is also nearing its end.

Sorry about this long ass author's note. I just wanted to inform you all. Thank you for following me and leaving reviews. I hope you stay patient. Please leave a review :)

"As beautiful as fire against the evening sky

You fuel the lost desire – I no longer wanna die

Take me by the hand and see beyond the lies

Strip away the fences – leave me needing, leave me high"

-Seether

Hot liquid hit pinks lips and she flinched before setting the tea cup on the table, only to avert her attention once more. Her eyes fell upon the words of yet another book. She was immersed within the pages, the scenery unfolding on its own right before her eyes. There was a rumble to her stomach and a shiver, yet she remained unaware of her hunger, unaware of the chill of the air. Only was it when she set down the book that she remembered why she chose to engage in these fictional worlds.

Ever since the former mayor and sheriff had sailed away to Neverland, the librarian had been bombarded with people telling her how great she would be as mayor, and that she should run. There was no doubt that she was perfect for the job. However, as inspiring and kind the words were, she couldn't take it. She was too broken. How could she govern a town if she couldn't even get a hold of her own head? Her heart felt as if it had been slashed open, wrung out, and stitched back up with rocks inside.

As consequence, she closed up the library and retreated to her own world, away from the town. Away from the world she still knew little about. Twenty-eight years locked in a bare room, only to be let out into a chaotic world where she barely knew up from down. It had been Rumple to push the darkness away, yet he did what he always did in the end. He ran.

Rumplestiltskin could have taken her with him. It was a simple situation to solve, yet he was a coward. Too afraid to trust himself to protect the one he loved. Too afraid that Belle wasn't strong enough to take care of herself if something were to happen in Neverland.

Perhaps he was right about the latter. She could hardly fend for herself now; how would she have ever survived in another world?

It was so unlike her. That bravery she once had was shattered. With love came dire consequences that she had read about hundreds of times in her books, yet never did she think it would hurt so badly in reality.

There was a soft tapping at her door that snapped her out of her bitter thoughts, and she looked up from her book. It's no one, she told herself, I'm just imagining things. However, she was persuaded that someone really was there when another soft tap came from the same direction. The blanket fell to the floor as she pushed herself off of the couch.

Although she knew there would be no one on the other side, her heart still sank when her thoughts were confirmed. There was nothing, but the small light of the hallway. Shaking her head, she sighed. What did she expect? Of course there was no one there. She had already made it clear she didn't want to be bothered when she closed the library, yet, for whatever reason, she was aching for someone to tear down her barrier. She became aware of how alone she actually felt. How alone she was.

It had been awhile since she left the comfort of her apartment. Reaching over, she plucked one of her jackets and a scarf off of the hook before descending down the stairs to meet the town she had forgotten about. Perhaps she would find comfort under the stars.

A small misty breath fell out of Ruby's lips as she pushed herself onward towards home. She should have waited. She shouldn't have ran. But what was she to do? Belle had locked herself away for too long and it frightened the wolf-girl to no extent, yet why did she run when she could have so easily waited for the door to open? She should have waited... but when she heard the sound of pages turning on the other side of the door she knew Belle was content. She was in her own world, away from this mess that surrounded them.

No one had seen her in weeks. Ever since Rumpelstiltskin had left on that pirate ship, Belle had escaped to her own apartment. Even the library had been closed down; besides, who needs books when the town was just almost destroyed? Without the mayor or the sheriff, things has turned a bit hectic. It was now officially unsafe to walk the streets of Storybrooke at night alone, and if you did you made sure you were armed with at least a pocketknife. Strange isn't it? How losing a few people can turn a place upside down.

Her hand clutched around the handle of the basket filled with pastries, as well as a book Belle let her borrow, and she glanced down. Maybe I should have just left it by her door, she mused, yea, I'll just go back and leave it there.

Thoughts are killer once they get the best of you. They pester your poor mind until you either give in or burrow far, far away from the voices. They were just an attempt to get close to the librarian without really bothering her. At least a way to say she was there if she needed anything.

Belle had always come to her when she had problems; when the diner closed up, sometimes she would find the librarian there waiting for her to finish cleaning up. It was most always concerning a fight she had with Rumpelstiltskin and it killed the waitress's heart to keep hearing the same thing over and over again. She couldn't understand the appeal to being attached to someone that was so easy to hate, yet Belle seemed to look through that just as she had looked through the wolf in Ruby. In Belle's eyes, she wasn't a monster.

The only light was the dim street lamp illuminating the sidewalk, but that caused the wolf-girl no concern. While the darkness may put other at unease, Ruby could see perfectly well with her keen eyesight. She was only a few minutes away from the library when a sharp cry that sounded through Ruby's ears.

Her stomach churned as the basket slipped from her grasp, colliding with the pavement; she knew that voice more than her own. It was only thanks to her wolf abilities that she was able to pick up exactly where the agitated noises were coming from, two separate bodies with one struggling massively.

She ran around the corner into part of the streets in which the nearest street lamp had blown, and being that the moon was barely visible, she was shrouded in complete darkness. There came the grunting of a deeper voice to the right along with a shaken voice.

"Get off me!" she begged.

Ruby's green eyes instantly flashed yellow as they fell upon the completely wasted Doctor Whale roughly handling the librarian, shoving her against the nearby brick wall with brute force.

"Hey!" Ruby growled fiercely before leaping onto the man and pulling him off Belle. She kicked his feet from underneath him and slammed him into the hard ground. His grimy hands fumbled around, trying to grip at the brunette above him, but the alcohol had taken its toll, allowing her to pin his arms down.

"Get off me, you damn animal!" he spat, whiskey laced breath flying into her face and causing her stomach to churn once more.

"I'll show you an animal, you bastard."

She released grip on one of his arms only for her fingers to wrap around his throat, nails digging sharply into his skin. He gritted his teeth, squirming underneath her, but her wolf strength kept him in place. Her other first raised high into the air and she would have nearly beat the man to death if it weren't for the pleading cry from behind.

"Ruby don't," Belle whispered, "Just...just let him go."

"But he attacked you," Ruby replied, ripping her gaze from the man to the woman behind her.

Whale went to seize the moment; what was Ruby? Just a fragile girl that served him at the diner? He was far from wrong as the grip she still had around his neck tightened causing him to gag as she applied more force.

"You know it's not the right thing to do. Just please, let him go."

The wolf girl held Belle's shaken gaze for a long second before turning back to the culprit. Leaning down, she growled into his ear.

"Don't you ever fucking touch her again, understand? Next time I'll show you what happens when you fuck with a wolf's pack."

She pushed herself off of the man and rubbed together her hands, but not before taking a hard boot right into Whale's groin. That'll teach you, you fucking drunk.

"Belle," Ruby turned towards the librarian who had remained frozen with her back against the wall, "Are you hurt?"

She reached out a hand, but the other woman recoiled instantly, muttering a quiet, "I'm fine."

However, the state of the brunette said otherwise. Her yellow dress had been ripped down the shoulder and, from what Ruby could see, there were bruises along her arms where Whale had grabbed her.

"Where's your jacket?"

"I don't know."

Ruby sighed. There was an edge to the librarian's voice that she hadn't heard before, at least towards her, and it concerned her more than ever. She shook her head and looked back down the road towards the lit part. Belle's apartment wasn't very far.

Belle had answered the door, but Ruby had been half way down the street by then. If only she would have stayed just a few more moments, braced herself for the impact of not seeing the woman in two weeks, she could have prevented this entire situation. This was her fault.

"Let's get you back home," the waitress said softly, with care. She reached out for Belle again, but this time her hand was pushed away with more force than necessary. Before Ruby could realize it, Belle was marching off in the direction of her apartment, muttering under her breath.

"I can take care of myself"

The only thing Ruby could do was stare as she watched the librarian attempt to walk, a slight limp in her leg caused by perhaps a twisted ankle. The sight was wrong. Twisted. It wasn't Belle.

Ruby didn't wish to quarrel with her, for that would only cause more damage than needed. Instead, she trailed with enough space for the woman to breath, but never taking her eyes off of her.

They reached the library after a short time and Belle unlocked the door that led upstairs. She knew that the wolf-girl was behind her, it wasn't like Ruby was trying to be discreet anymore, and when she went inside of her apartment, she left it open, waiting for the other to follow through.

There was an odd vibe in the air, a bitter dullness that seemed to encase them as they stepped through the threshold. The wolf instantly felt her arms prickle as the icy air hit her skin as she turned around to shut the door. As she took in the state of the environment, it happened to cross the wolf's mind that this behavior didn't take origin from tonight.

"It's freezing in here!" she commented, but received nothing but a shrug from the librarian before disappearing into the bathroom.

After a quick examination of the thermostat, she turned the heat on in order to try and bring some life into the small apartment. Taking back to examine the room she stood in, she found there was a blanket hanging off the couch, an array of books spread out across the table, along with a teacup that, not to her knowledge, had been overused.

One book in particular caught her attention, closest to where the other woman had been sitting. She picked the large, leather bound book up and skimmed over pages. They were melancholy and damn right upsetting.

"This isn't like you," she whispered to herself, setting the book back down onto the table. Her heart sank into her chest as she tried to remember Belle's smile, yet the atmosphere in the room was clouding even her own memory.

How could someone love such a monster? Shouldn't have Belle known better?

Out of nowhere, there was the sound of something heavy hitting a wall along with the crashing of several items. Her attention instantly jerked towards the bathroom. Not caring whether or not the librarian consented or not, she pushed open the door to find the woman in a heap of awkward limbs, her arm holding onto the counter in an attempt to pull herself back up.

"I'm fine…," Belle said softly this time but stared down at herself, "I think I twisted my ankle outside."

Stepping inside of the room to help her up, it didn't take the waitress long to notice that Belle was in nothing but her bra and underwear, her dress discarded in a pile at the corner. There would be no hope in salvaging the material.

With the light to aid her now, heavy bags were visible under once sparkling blue eyes. The wolf's heart twisted in several ways that shouldn't be allowed.

Why have you done this to yourself? Ruby asked as if Belle could read her mind, Is he really worth the pain?

"How much sleep have you gotten?"

Silence was the only response. Her eye fell upon a nasty scratch on her shoulder, one that would be awkward to reach by oneself. Without asking, she picked up a rag that sat on the edge of the sink and began to dab it with alcohol.

"I don't need your help," Belle replied and took hold of Ruby's hand.

"Don't need or don't want?" she took a step closer to the frail woman, pinning her at the sink, "Belle, I'm not the one who did this to you."

Blue eyes glanced down, looking at the rag between pale hands, and without another word, she turned around so that her bare back was exposed to the wolf. She hissed under her breath as the alcohol caused her broken skin to sting, but remained where she was. It remained silent for a long time as Ruby cleaned the scratch along with the few others.

Although she was so close to the librarian, she felt more distance than ever as if a wall of ice had been built up between them. It confused her, broke her heart. Ruby hadn't really done anything wrong at all, so why was she getting the cold shoulder?

"Where have you been?"

Her voice was soft; it should have been a question coming from the waitress, not the other. Green eyes snapped forward and met an icy blue gaze through the mirror. And it was in that stare that she felt a thousand sharp claws running over her heart as if Belle was blaming her for this. As if she was trying to find some scapegoat to blame for her misery she had inflicted upon herself, along with the excessive heartache Rumpelstiltskin had left.

"…What?"

"Why haven't you come to see me?"

Red's brows furrowed in confusion and she bit her lip.

"I thought you needed some time alone; I thought that maybe—"

"That's the last thing I want," blue eyes fell, and closed momentarily, "Ruby, he left me. He left me just when I found him again…"

When she opened her eyes, tears were beginning to form around her eyes. In the blink of an eye, Ruby had her arms wrapping around the librarian's icy frame. She wouldn't tell her that she had stopped by this afternoon, for what was the point? It was as if the sudden warmth caused the dam to break and the tears began to fall down her cheeks.

Ruby's pale hand began to softly caress the flat abdomen of bare flesh without a thought as she nestled her face into Belle's shoulder, holding her tight, for if she let go she feared that Belle would crawl back into her hole never to arise.

"Let's get you some clothes," Ruby said after awhile and pulled away. Little did she know Belle instantly yearn for the receding contact.

After rummaging through the librarian's clothes, she was able to get Belle into a simple t-shirt and pajama pants. They now sat downstairs in the library, away from the depressing atmosphere of the apartment, by the warming glow of the fireplace.

Ruby had chosen to sit on the floor, her animal instinct getting the better of her, and to her surprise, Belle walked right past the chair and joined her on the soft rug. She had finally grown used to the presence of the wolf, after having forced herself to open up, and curled up even close to the darker brunette's embrace. For the first time in awhile she felt safe with Ruby's arms wrapped around her protectively.

"Do you think he'll come back?" Ruby asked with a cautious voice, not wishing to tread the waters too deep.

"Neverland is a dangerous place. I've forced myself to read so many books about it..."

"He's the Dark One and with Regina's magic—"

"Don't speak of her," Belle snapped, her body tensing instantly.

"…Sorry."

Ruby had forgotten about how much Belle despised the Evil Queen. It was a legitimate loathe. How would Ruby feel if she was locked away for several years away from the world? In a way, the wolf knew how that felt, but not even close to the extent of the former princess.

Their gaze fell upon the flickering light in the dark room, the orange flames the only sound minus their breathing. Belle's breath hitched when she felt hands falling onto her shoulders, slowly beginning to knead into her overly tensed muscles.

"What are you doing?" librarian asked softly, not exactly fighting against the action, but surprised.

"Just relax," she whispered into her ear.

It took the woman a few minutes to relax, but eventually her weight fell completely against the wolf. Her walls were beginning to melt away, dripping off the woman and dissipating into the air. Without really thinking it, she tilted her head upwards to find the wolf-girl staring off into the fire and pressed her lips against under her chin.

Two weeks. She had spent nearly two weeks alone and for what? For her to decay under the rumble that the Dark One left? Maybe Ruby was right. He wasn't worth the trouble.

The sudden feeling of Belle's lips on her skin made her jump, her hands stopping abruptly and simply laying on the librarian's shoulder. Perhaps she just imagined that, but her mind began to second guess when the now warm fingers of the lighter brunette's grasped hers and the kisses continued onward.

"Ruby?"

"Hm?"

Her reply was soft, distracted by the now overwhelming kisses being trailed down her neck.

"Stay with me?"

"Mhmm," she dragged out her response when gently teeth grazed against her collar bone.

What are you doing? Ruby asked silently, her hands now completely frozen and unmoving. Stop her before this goes further. The kisses that were being applied were so soft, almost ghostly, yet upon every contact they felt like fire. Was this right? Was it right to give into something that maybe Belle didn't realize she was doing?

It was truth that the wolf was instantly attracted to the other woman the moment she saw her enter the diner that first evening, but she never had the intentions of acting upon her interest unless Belle was completely free of the pawnbroker. Yes, Belle was technically free of him, but he still remained as a faint ghost within the room.

"…Belle…"

Whatever her next words were trailed off into nothingness as the weight upon her chest pushed her down. Her hands found refuge within chestnut locks as she attempted to pull the librarian closer to her, if even possible.

If this is what it took to be close to Belle, she took it, hands trailing up the woman's sides under the blanket, running up her arms until they finally finding her face and lifting it up so their lips were breaths apart. Ruby should have heard the voice screaming at her to stop, but she didn't care anymore. If this is what kept Belle from slipping, then so be it. She was in no denial about wanting this in the first place.

There lips met for the very first time. There was the faintest taste of dried tears upon the librarian's lips, salty yet sweet, and that urged her onward. Belle wouldn't be left in the darkness as long as she was there. If only Ruby had jumped the gun to see her sooner.

Her heart was heavy as she kissed the worries away, brushing aside all of the pain Belle had drowned herself in. However they ended up in their current position way slipped their mind as the wolf-girl's arms were holding down her hands, now lying on top of the librarian. She made sure to hold most of her weight with her forearms, not wishing to hurt the frail woman beneath her, but such a task was growing harder the further and further Belle's hands crept.

Bell told herself this was fine. There was nothing wrong with pushing aside her emotions for another. She had seen the way Ruby picked her out of the crowd, watched how the wolf made predatory glances her way whenever they were around other people. She had tried to deny the way her heart fluttered when catching the waitress looking her way, for if she actually acknowledged it, her heart might betray her. She loved Rumpelstiltskin; there was no denying the stain he had left upon her heart, but just this night…just this night she would pretend that all was okay and that Ruby could take it all away.

There was no more waiting for everyone to change for the better. If she wanted a better life, then that's what she would make it. Taking initiative, she grabbed the wolf's hand and slid it between them. Green eyes locked onto Belle's, asking if this was truly right. This wasn't the Belle she knew.

"People care too much about what is right for me," Belle told her blatantly as she read the look on her face, "I'm tired of losing people that I care for." She planted an open kiss upon the wolf's neck, her tongue lazily trailing out to taste the earthy aroma Ruby seemed to carry. "Take me away from here," she almost pleaded, flicking her tongue against her earlobe.

Ruby bit down on her bottom lip, gasping at the sudden words entering her ear, and forced her fingers past the waistband of the other's pajama pants. These were unknown waters she was treading, but found that her mind had blanked with any other feelings by this point.

As soon as her hand slid over Belle's warmth, she froze. This was unlike her to be so wary about physical contact, especially sexual, yet there was a certain energy shooting out from Belle that changed the entire situation.

Hands pulled at Ruby's shirt, sliding it over her head with little trouble as if she had done this plenty of times before, yet they both knew that was a lie. The wolf's face was flushed red as delicate fingers trailed down her chest followed by soft kisses while unclipping her bra and letting it fall.

"Don't stop," Belle pleaded with the huskiest whisper that Ruby ever heard. It made a certain kind of fire light inside of herself, and in that moment she realized that Belle didn't just want this. She needed it.

Pressing onward, she slipped her hand under the thin cotton covering her hotness, and although she sensed the urgency, she simply brushed against her bundle of nerves. She grinned when the woman underneath her shuddered and bit down onto the top flesh of the wolf's breast.

However, this only enticed the animal within her even more. If she was going to do this, she would have no regrets and would get her fun out of this. There was a quick swipe across her wetness followed by another a few seconds later, laughing out when Belle gasped. After sitting up a bit, she drew the fabric of Belle's shirt up and over her head, tossing it to only god knows where, before settling back onto the other woman with her full weight only to jump in surprise when she remembered the librarian had discarded of her bra when changing earlier.

The woman underneath her bucked her hips, urging the fingers closer, but this only made Ruby pull away. She flashed a wolfish grin as Belle let out an aggravated sigh.

"Ruby please."

"Oh, I get a please now? What happened to you not wanting my help?"

The words slipped out before she could catch them, and she held her breath, but to her surprise, Belle only rolled her eyes. The sudden act threw her off guard once again when hands, that were meant to be feeble, grabbed hold of her shoulders. There was a quick rush of wind and suddenly Ruby was on her back, the librarian pinning her down as she straddled her hips.

"Fine," Belle replied with a devious grin that didn't quite fit, "If you don't want to give me what I want, then I'll just take something else."

There came the flying of a belt followed by the unbuttoning of Ruby's jeans before they were slid down toned legs. The clothing was discarded just as the other items had been. As soon as Belle began to descend southward, placing kisses on pale flesh as she went, Ruby grew nervous.

"Belle… I—the fire is going out."

Either the woman above didn't hear or she didn't care as she pulled down the black lace. When their eyes met, there was a strange, dark glimmer swimming within that once innocent blue ocean. This wasn't the girl Ruby had grown to love; no, this was a broken, let down woman that had been crushed several times in her life. A woman who had been kept from the world only to delve into her own through novels, yet that still didn't keep her from harm.

Belle bit her lip before diving between the waitress's legs with little warning, eliciting a sharp cry from the other as her tongue slipped into her. There wasn't much exploration that one would expect on the first time. In fact, it was a bit ravaging to the heart that things had gone in such a direction.

The wolf's hips began to involuntarily buckle as the velvet tongue sped up her ministration. The reality that Belle had never done this before was surprising. Perhaps she had a certain genre of books hidden in the back of her bookshelf for only her eyes.

Hands reached out to claw anything that was in reach, finding home in the plush rug, and dug in as she began to feel a sweet sensation take her over. She knew what was coming and there was no stopping it.

"Belle," she said with a sharp intake of breath, trying to warn her, but the woman heeded to nothing, but her work, "Fuck…"

Green orbs flashed yellow as the wolf-girl tossed back her head, letting out a shattering cry in the otherwise silent room. Her hands had almost dug into the rug until soft hands crept over them and intertwined around the slim fingers.

The librarian had pulled herself up and was now kissing Ruby with an intoxicating slowness compared to before. Ruby bit down onto her bottom lip, her arms slinking around the woman's slim frame, afraid that since Belle got what she wanted, she would sink back into her hollow shell.

"Did we just…" Ruby gasped, her nails suddenly digging into the others skin and accidentally grazing over the scrape on her shoulder. Belle flinched. When she realized just what she was doing, she pulled them away, rubbing at the crescent indentions.

"I think so."

Blue eyes watched her, trying to get a feeling on what was running through the wolf's head, but Ruby refused to meet them. She was stunned at what just happened. Her body tensed visibly and she went to sit up, but Belle insisted with just a simple action for her to stay. The librarian laid her head upon the other's bare chest, drawing up the blanket that had slipped down their bodies.

"Stay…" Belle whispered, her voice sounding a bit more normal, "Please?"

"I want you to stay – you take away the pain

I want you to stay – I need you here to keep me sane"