Author's Note: This is my first fanfiction ever so… keep that in mind while reading it. I apologize for any mistakes I might have made. Enjoy!

Night had fallen at the dark castle. The little caretaker was sitting in front of the fireplace. Reading one of her favorite books. She had been sitting there for about 4 hours but she wouldn't quit reading until she finished it. She must had read it over a thousand times but she couldn't get enough of it.

She didn't know exactly what time it was but she was certain that it was very late. She was really tired. She felt her eyes closing. She fought a battle to keep them open but after a few minutes she gave up.

Rumplestiltskin was on the other corner of the room. He was sitting at his spinning wheel as usual. He had been spinning all day long. He had lost track of time several hours ago. He was too much concentrated on his spinning.

Until… a little noise distracted him and caused him to stop. He searched around the room to find what caused that noise. When his eyes met Belle's figure he saw that her arm was hanging from the side of the chair. On the floor next to her was a book. She had clearly dropped it.

He slowly stood up and approached her. 'Is she asleep?' he thought. When he had gotten close enough to see her face, his thoughts were confirmed. She had fallen asleep while reading a book. 'That girl and her love for books' he sighed.

He reached for the book. As he held it at his arms he took a better look at it. He couldn't help but notice the title. It was written with big, gold letters. 'Beauty And The Beast' 'What kind of title is that?' he thought. 'And what the story is about?' The only thing he could think of was that this was a story about a beautiful girl that went on a mission to slay the beast. But that was really just a guess. Could he be wrong? He really didn't know. But he would find out. But now was not the time.

He put away the book and went back into staring at her sleeping figure. He noticed a small amount of hair were falling on her face. He made a movement to put the hair behind her ear. Careful not to touch her.

'She is so beautiful' he thought.

Sometimes he wondered 'Could she be the one to break the curse?' but then he trailed off himself saying 'Of course not. How could I ever think that? She is so beautiful. She would never love a monster like me.'

He couldn't just leave her there for the rest of the night. He thought he should carry her to her room. But he hesitated. What if she woke up and saw whose arms were holding her? He didn't even want to think what she would do if she woke up.

But he couldn't bring himself to let her sleep in that uncomfortable chair. Yes, he was the Dark One and he wasn't supposed to care about anyone but, when it comes to her, he can't help it.

When he's around her he doesn't feel like the Dark One. He feels like an ordinary man. She makes him happy. She brings out a whole other part of him he didn't know existed.

He finally decided to carry her to her room. He gently put one arm around her shoulders and another arm under her knees and carefully lifted her from the chair.

Then he started pacing towards her room. While he was walking up the stairs he felt her move. He instantly froze. 'Oh no. She's waking up. She's going to see me. What am I going to do?'

He stood still for a few seconds waiting for her to wake up and scream. When nothing happened, he looked down at her and noticed that her eyes were still closed. She was still asleep. He felt relieved. After a few seconds he started moving again.

When they finally entered her room, Rumplestiltskin walked towards the bed and gently layed her down.

Then he stood up and looked at her. There was something he wanted to do. Something he desired for a long time. But he was afraid to do it. What if she chose this exact moment to wake up? But then, would he ever have a chance like this again? He decided it was worth the risk.

He leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

Then, he leaned to her ear and whispered "Sweet Dreams."

After that, he stood up and made his way out of the room. As he was going down the stairs a smile appeared on his face.

As soon as he excited the room, Belle opened her eyes.

"I knew you weren't as dark as you think you are."

"Goodnight Rumple."

A smile spread across her face as she went back to sleep.