Fandom: Once Upon A Time
Pairing: Red Beauty
Romance
Rating: M for Coarse Language and Sexual Themes
Word Length: 1279
Summary: Two days after Child of the Moon. Ruby bumps into an emotionally charged Belle and gets a bit more than she bargained for.
Part One (of Two): The Little Librarian and the Big Bad Wolf
You've been somewhere between asleep and dead for the past day and a half. Honestly, you deserved it. Locking up the "beast" inside of you for twenty-eight years had inspired a lot of built up tension. The immense release that you experienced during your most recent wolf's time had left you physically and emotionally drained. Surprisingly, you managed to assemble an outfit that makes you look slightly less disheveled than you feel— a pair of comfy jeans, which feature a rather recent rip over the left knee that hints at their age, and an a pale blue button-down that you threw over a white tank top that stops just short of your waist, revealing a sliver of your flat, toned stomach. Considering you only left the comfort of your bed to replenish a day and a half's worth of calories at Granny's, you didn't think it was necessary to dress to impress.
With every intention of returning to your bedroom and curling back up in a pile of pillows and blankets, you say goodnight to Granny and head out into the cool fall night. A light breeze blows past you as you glance down the street towards the library. The smell of old books with the trace of sweet tea fills your brain and sends a shiver down your spine. The events from two days ago surge through your memory and interrupt your previous state of blissful ignorance.
Shit. Belle.
Belle had put her trust in you. She saw the good in you that others (including yourself) could not. For God sakes, the woman was going to risk her life just to make sure you wouldn't have to be alone in your darkest hour. Then, as usual, you fucked it up. You hurt the only person you were trying to protect.
Although the thought of Belle in chains makes you take a deep, satisfying breath. It also reminds you that, like all the other important people in Belle's life, you used her trust, goodwill, and naivety against her and locked her up. You took away her freedom to choose her own fate. Granted, your intentions were to keep her safe, you are now realizing that Belle is not some damsel in distress— she is more than that. She's your savior.
You must have been more preoccupied than you had realized because not many people are able to sneak up on you. Nevertheless, in your post-wolf hangover, you must have allowed yourself to drift away from reality. When a guttural instinct finally implores you to look up, you become immediately inert, paralyzed by surprise.
There she is—twenty feet away, just glaring at you. The wind blew at her back and your spine reactively stiffened to attention as the scent of books, sweet tea, and lavender washed over you. A thousand images of her smiling and laughing flash through your mind.
You open your mouth and let out a small, "He—"
"Don't! Don't even." Her glare sharpens and her mouth pulls into a tight line. She turns on her heel as she tries to make a quick escape.
You catch up to her almost instantly. Stepping in front of her, you have to backpedal as her furious stomps proceed forward.
You have no idea where to start or what to say so, you just stare desperately at her. But she is trying hard not to acknowledge you, glancing back and forth between the shops on either side of the road and the pavement beneath your feet. When she looks past you, you notice how tightly her jaw is clenched and her how delicate hands have now crumpled into a tense fist.
Jesus. You think to yourself, Maybe it's a librarian thing, but this girl knows how to make silence terrifying. You feel a smile tug at the right corner of your mouth and immediately make an effort to hide it from the already fuming Belle. This is hardly an appropriate time to jest. As you work to cover up your fleeting amusement, Belle stops in her tracks. For the first time since the start of your quarter-mile walk, she finally looks at you with her icy glare sustained. You swear you feel the wolf release a low growl as you appreciate how different— no, sexy— Belle looks when she is angry. That's when she punches you right where your collarbone meets your left shoulder.
"Ow! Fuck— ah, I mean… I guess I deserve that."
The tiny woman lunges forward and hits you again. This time, she connects with the outside of your left arm, granting an instant Charlie-horse.
You can't help but laugh at how surprisingly hard Belle hits. You cough out a "…and that too." However, your laughter quickly ceases when you see her face. The icy glare is gone. Instead, her brows are pulled together and raised just above the bridge of her nose, and her chin is pulled upwards, forcing the corners of her mouth into a soft frown. Those punches were nothing compared to the pain that surges through you as you acknowledge Belle's sadness that was no longer hidden by an angry façade. When she sees the way you are looking at her, she lifts her hands to cover her face. Her delicate hands muffle a small whimper.
"I never meant hurt you," you think you say aloud.
Suddenly, Belle crumples under her weight. You instinctively step forward, reaching out to catch her before she falls very far. Wrapping your arms around the smaller woman, you pull her into an embrace that supports her petite frame. For a moment, she is completely motionless and you begin think that she might have fainted. But after a few seconds of stillness and worry, you feel her shift her weight against your body, throw her arms around your neck, and sob into your chest.
All you can do is repeat, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," neurotically as Belle's hot tears begin to fall on your skin and soak your shirt. An immeasurable amount of time passes as you hold her against your chest, trying to absorb all her pain and sadness with your embrace.
"I'm sor—" you start again, but you are interrupted as you feel Belle pull her face out from the collar of your button-down.
You look at her in anticipation of her next emotional outburst. Yet, this time, she doesn't look sad— instead, her face has relaxed into a display of concentration and concern. Even when tainted by redness from crying, her blue-green eyes are mesmerizing as they search yours for a moment.
Without thinking, you stoop your head down towards hers. Hesitating a fraction of an inch away from her lips, you notice a glint of light reflecting on her skin. Distractedly, you shift slightly and crane your neck to gently kiss the last remnant of tears off her cheek. You pull back slowly, savoring the moment before Belle will undoubtedly slap you across the face and run into town screaming about the predatory lesbian kissing emotionally unstable girls.
But before you can pull away from her, you feel a cool, delicate hand slide up your shoulder and settle behind the nape of your neck, stopping you from retreating further. The wolf surges through your skin as the tense proximity between you and Belle is finally closed.