+Rose+

She sat at Granny's waiting for Aston, her husband, but her mind keeps wandering to the brown eyed Mr. Gold. The way he looked at her earlier was one of someone recognizing a long lost love. Ruby is practically naked standing at the table next to her taking the order of a blonde woman and her little boy. If those shorts were any shorter, they would be just underwear. Rose shook her head and looks to the tinkle of the bell above the door to see her husband walk in. She smiles quickly at him and he slides into the booth across from her. Aston has always prided himself on looking his best and tonight was no different. He is in a tight pair of jeans with a tight t-shirt that shows off his muscles. His dark hair is combed and Rose would bet that it is gelled to the point of not moving in a tornado. He is looking at Ruby with unabashed desire in his eyes.

"You should borrow those shorts from Ruby; I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of you if you wore something like that." His focus is finally on her and Rose can tell he is assessing her appearance. She was suddenly so aware of the chips in her nail polish and the wild tendrils of curl that escaped her low ponytail. As soon as Ruby is at their table Aston is ordering for the two of them, even though she's protested to him doing that before.

"I'll have a hamburger with french fries and a beer; get her the cesear salad with light dressing and water to drink." Ruby looked directly at her with her mouth slightly slack jawed.

"Um, I think she can speak. Honey, is a salad what you want? You look like you are hungry." Rose felt an instant liking towards this woman. She could hear Aston slightly gasp at her.

"She wants-" Aston isn't able to finish his sentence before Rose finds her voice.

"A hamburger, please, with everything and french fries as well." She smiled at Ruby as Ruby subtly winks at her. She could feel Aston's eyes on her and she turned to look him in the eyes.

"I haven't eaten anything solid Aston for three days now. Lettuce is just water in a leafy form. Give me a break, okay. I am starving." The look of shock doesn't leave Aston's face for more than a few moments. It isn't long before their food and drinks are in front of them and Rose noticed the mound of fries on her plate were almost double the amount on Aston's. The hamburger was like heaven on a bun and for the first time in almost a week Rose felt full. The check was not long once both Aston and Rose had finished their dinner. Aston left precisely enough for the meal, Rose felt bad that Ruby did nothing wrong but would be stiffed on getting a tip. As subtly as she could she slipped a twenty out of her purse and put it on the table under her plate.

She caught Ruby's eye and made a subtle motion towards her plate and Ruby winked. Aston stood waiting for her on the sidewalk and Rose could tell that he was pissed off with her. She was about a foot behind her when he whirled around on her.

"What the fuck was that in there, Rose? Are you trying to make me look like an asshole? If I order something for you then you sit there and smile. You undermined me in front of a roomful of people and I am furious with you." Aston just stomped off towards their small apartment and when he turned the corner without looking back at her Rose let the tears well up in her eyes. A comforting arm wrapped itself around her shoulders. Ruby's voice was in her ear as she guided Rose to the Inn.

"Come on; let's get you a nice comfy bed to sleep in. A world of good can come from a peaceful night's sleep." Rose just nodded her head and let Ruby guide her. The bed was comfortable and it would be nice not to have Aston try to perpetually persuade Rose to have sex. It didn't help that Aston never learned the nuances that it took to keep a woman content in bed. He knew what he liked and so he did that and that alone. The tears that had threatened to fall never do and as Rose slips off to sleep she practically sighs with contentment. Her dreams that night are wonderful and filled with a mysterious man and a spinning wheel.

Rose awoke long after the sun had risen and felt such a sense of renewal after one of the best night's sleep she'd gotten in years. Usually she was awaking in a panic over getting breakfast started, his lunch made, his clothes had to be ironed. She would end up with just a cup of coffee. Mornings were always the worst with Aston and his picking her apart. It would typically start with an innocuous comment or question.

"Does this suit look good on me, Rose? I just don't know if it brings out my eyes enough." This would lead to a one sided discussion on her wardrobe, or lack thereof.

"You really should try and dress nicer, dear. You are my wife and as such you should dress to impress. I want people to look at you and be jealous of me for having the most beautiful wife." He would then take his lunch and leave for the day. By the time he would leave Rose would be so stressed out that she would have no ability to eat, much less keep something down.

Her ribs were showing under her skin and her face had a haunted look about them with ever present bags under her eyes. When she'd met Aston years ago she couldn't believe how such a handsome guy would want her. As she was finishing dinner that evening Aston came up behind her and surprised her with flowers.

"Roses for my Rose." She quietly took them and put them into one of the plethora of vases she had and set them on the dining room table. Aston came up behind her and began to kiss her neck. Rose closed her eyes and sighed slightly.

"Aston, honey could you give me a back rub? I was bent over filing paperwork for Regina and my back is crying out to be rubbed." He took her hand and led her to the bedroom where he gently took her shirt and bra off. She was rubbed for a full three minutes before Aston was grabbing for the sides of her chest and her butt.

"Um, that's not my back." He stilled on the bed and Rose instantly knew that he was livid at her, again.

"I did as you wanted now it's my turn. I want to make love to my wife." He kissed her back between her shoulder blades and slowly groped her butt. Rose finally had enough and smacked his hand away. She got up quickly and turned her fiery anger at Aston.

"I asked for a back rub because I spent all damn day bending over filing paperwork. I would have gotten more of a back rub from the shower head than what you just gave me Aston. I am a person who deserves more than your passing interest." She slammed the bedroom door and was out of the apartment before she could make herself stop. Once she was on the sidewalk Rose paused briefly debating where to go. She could go to her father's house but he wouldn't understand. He'd always pushed for Rose to stay with Aston. Moe, Rose's father, had always claimed that since he was an accountant and that he was a part of Mayor Mills's staff that he was set for life and that she should consider that whenever Ashton and she had a fight. Rose sighed and headed towards Granny's Inn for another night.

Rose is reflecting on the evening not paying attention to where she is going when she bumps into someone. The clatter of whatever they were holding is what jars her into reacting and grabbing the now falling person.

"I am so incredibly sorry. I-" her voice is silenced when she sees who she is trying to help.

"It's okay, Dearie. I'm fine. Are you okay?" She started to say yes but all she could do was shake her head, the lump in her throat would not let her speak.

"Come now, Mrs. Knighton, let us get you a cup of coffee and a brownie. I've heard a little chocolate can solve a myriad of problems." His smile is brief but still went a long way towards making Rose feel better. Mr. Gold picked up his cane and with a hand on the small of her back guided Rose towards the diner. To say that the diner was silent when they walked into it is an understatement; Rose could have heard a pin drop a state away. It was nothing compared to the constant glances that were happening. Thankfully Ruby just sidled up to the table and took their orders without an issue.

"So, would you like to talk about what happened? If not we can talk about something else." There was just something about him that made Rose open up and confide about her marriage.

"We've been married for what seems like ever but I can't even remember what I used to see in him." Gold sat silently just staring at his glass of water with a grim look. Rose silently sips her coffee and tried to ignore the staring but it was starting to annoy her. Ruby dropped off their desserts and it's like a dam broke in Mr. Gold's brain. The look of desire was brief but she could still see it in his eyes. It's a look that Rose hasn't had from Aston in years.

+Mr. Gold+

The realization that Rose was unhappy made Gold feel simultaneously happy, hopeful and saddened. He'd always dreamt that his Belle would come back to him and if her husband keeps treating her this way then there's a chance it might happen. Of course Gold had not intentionally bumped into her; he was wandering the city, which he did whenever he couldn't sleep. It was amazing the amount of intel one could gather just by walking and observing. He knew that Ruby was taking her breaks with the rat from one of the castles, which he always found intensely funny. He knew that Granny was a marksman and would practice in the forest. Let alone the Charmings are almost always walking together in a dreamy state. It was something Gold had been able to pick up when he was the dark one, being unseen and unheard. He knew that this Emma girl would be the one to break Regina but she was still having a difficult time with the fact that she had a son.

"Dearie, might I offer a suggestion, take tonight and get a room in Granny's Inn and see what you feel when the sun rises." The look of utter exhaustion was hard not to notice. A too brief smile and a nod of her head and Rose turned towards the Inn. The smile made Gold reacted by his gut. He gently put his hand on her shoulder and turned her towards him. The look of shock was very evident but Gold was already in motion and his lips grazed her temple.

"Hey! What the fuck are you doing with my wife?" Gold turned towards the noise and was met with a fist to his face. The sheer momentum of the punch made him lose his balance and he sat hard on the sidewalk.

"Aston, stop. You are not my protector, okay. Go home, now." Rose swooped down next to him and began helping Gold up. If only Gold still had his magic, there is a dearth of people who need to be turned into slugs around here. Aston stood there with his fists still clenched. Gold, ever wanting to show his dominance in any situation, acted more hurt than he was. Rose all but glared at Aston when Gold finally found his footing.

"Mr. Gold I'll walk you home, just to make sure you are really okay. Aston I won't say it again. Go. Home. Now." With that Rose gently took Gold's shoulders and began leading him towards his house. He exaggerated his limp slightly.

"You don't have to walk me home, Mrs. Knighton; I can manage to get home."

"Mr. Gold, please call me Rose. I want to make sure you've taken some Tylenol and to make sure that you have an ice pack on your nose, it's slightly swollen." The determination in her grip on his shoulder made Gold remember how strong his Belle really was. His mind wandered back to a time when he'd had similar treatment.

Dark Castle

The doors opened with a small creak and Rumplestiltskin walked into the room in a daze and Belle immediately was at his side. Her concern was easily read on her face as she rushed towards him and led him to her fainting chair. He gratefully let her ease him down onto the lounge. It had been a couple of centuries since he'd had anyone dote over him.

"A particularly bad deal Rumple? I've never seen you this worn out after any deal. I would venture to say that they give you some sort of energy." He just smiled as she sat down next to him and slowly fed him some stew she'd been simmering on the fire all day. It was with a brushing away of his hair that Rumple knew he was in love with this contradiction of a woman. That feeling was something Rumplestiltskin had only ever felt once before and that was when he held Bae for the first time. He'd resigned himself to being the monster that never felt anything.

Rumplestiltskin was at his spinning wheel when he could hear her humming in the front hallway, slowly he went towards the side door that lead to the hallway, he could see her gently swaying while she hummed a song from her village of Avonlea.

"Well, Dearie, if I'd known you could sing then I would have bartered your family's safety for your voice." She'd jumped slightly at his presence but did nothing more than look at him.

"I think that would be the first deal that wouldn't end well for you Rumple." She smiled at him and took her broom towards the cleaning closet. Rumple was left with a smile playing across his lips. His heart leapt when he saw the coy look that she threw at him over her shoulder.

"Mr. Gold, sir, do you have your keys?" Her voice shook him out of his memories and he pulled his keys out of his suit jacket pocket. Upon entering the house Gold had tried to make his way towards his couch to crash but Rose's hands gently grabbed his shoulders and pointed him towards the stairs.

"To bed, you go. You are going to have a massive headache in the morning and I am determined to make sure you've been taken care of."

"I'll be fine; it's not the first time I've been hit." He could see a look of sadness mixed with concern flash across her face. He tried once more to go towards his couch but her hands turned him, albeit a bit more sharply, towards the stairs.

"I am going to get an ice pack for you go change and get into bed." It was the gentle shove that made Gold finally move up the stairs. He could hear Rose quietly opening and closing drawers looking for a hand towel to put ice in. He quickly changed into his silk pajamas and slid into bed. Gold closed his eyes as he was beginning to feel the pain in his nose and his butt from the fall. The sudden coolness of the ice pack on the bridge of his nose startled Gold.

"I didn't mean to startle you, sir. I am truly sorry for Aston's behavior. He's always been a bit …. overprotective when it comes to me." She handed Gold three Tylenol and a glass of water and he took them gratefully.

"You call it overprotective I call it jealousy." Gold had meant to say that under his breath but it came out slightly louder than that. The shifting of the bed made him cautiously open his eyes. He could see a dawning of realization in Rose's eyes.

"Feel better, sir." And like a dream Rose was gone, the soft tap of the door closing was deafening to Gold. All he could do was lay there with the ice on his nose until his whole face felt numb. He will have to go speaking to Regina about her role in everything.

He looked at the clock and saw that it was only 5:15. Gold slipped out of bed and hobbled towards his closet to begin getting dressed. He knew Regina hated early morning visitors. He was silent when he saw the lights come on and the click clacking of her heels on the floor. The lights came on in her office and Regina was at her desk setting her briefcase down when he spoke.

"You, dearie, have a lot of explaining to do." The only way Gold knows that Regina was surprised was the slight coloring of her cheeks and the widening of her eyes.

"Gold, I have a busy day so if you reschedule I'm sure my secretary would make arrangements."

"Sit, please." He motioned for the chair diagonally from him and she begrudgingly sat in the chair.

"I turned Gaston into a rose, how did you change him back into a person." Regina reclined into her chair and the smug look of power spread across her face.

"Do I have to use the magic word Regina, explain. Please." He ground out the last word and watched the war going on within her eyes.

"I had one of my knights go in search of him after I found out he'd gotten a fool's notion to go and challenge you. I told the knight to look for anything that was out of the ordinary and he returned with the rose. It was easy magic to return him to his previous form, except the legs, I had to get some healers in to fix that. It took them three days to fix that little problem." That made Gold smile slightly, he had taken a bit of pleasure at Belle cutting the rose's end. His face grew serious again as he stood and walked out of her office.

+Regina+

"Please" she mumbled. Gold wasn't supposed to remember the world before the curse. No one else besides her did and it was infuriating Regina. Although the bruising on Gold's face made Regina smile; she knew that she'd have to manipulate the playing field.

"Time to play dirty." She took the heart out of the box and began speaking to it. As soon as Rose was in the office that morning Regina could tell the girl hadn't slept and had some serious bags under her eyes.

"Mrs. Knighton, please come here. I'm concerned about you. What's wrong?" It was as if she couldn't hold it in anymore and Rose began talking about what was happening in her life and about her plans on possibly leaving her husband. Regina feigns concern and gives Rose the day off. Her pawn looked gratefully at her and walked out of the office. She waited until that night to begin her plan.

"Rose, listen closely. You are going to go back to Aston and you will apologize for not coming home last night. You love Aston and you will not be leaving him." Regina spends the rest of the night repeating the same things over and over. Once she is finally able to sleep Regina dreams of beating Gold in their power struggle.

"Henry you're going to be late for school and your breakfast is getting cold. Hurry up." The silence from the upstairs angers Regina as she knows what that meant. Henry has snuck out and went to that woman's apartment. As she is climbing the stairs, however, Henry quietly walks down the stairs towards her.

"Do I have to go to school today?"

"Do you honestly think I am going to let you play hooky from school so you can keep up the idea that we are fairy tale characters? Henry, go eat your breakfast. I am taking you to school this morning." That boy was going to be the death of her one of these days with his petulance. Nothing could dampen her spirits today, no today Regina moves one of her chess pieces and she can't wait to see how Gold will respond.

+Mr. Gold+

He stood in his shop looking over his collection and reflecting on the deals made when the tinkling of the bell drew his attention. It was that abhorred Aston.

"Um, sir, I just wanted to apologize for what happened last night. I know I can be jealous when it comes to Rose. I am truly sorry. I also wanted to buy something for Rose to apologize to her as well. I was thinking a book of some sort. I know she likes to read." The sneer is barely hidden behind Gold's mask and he grips his cane tight enough to make his knuckles turn white. This wretched sea urchin should be a sticky slime under his shoe instead of in front of him now. He's asking for advice to boot that just irked Gold more. He knew that this was a manipulation by Regina he's just not sure what her end game is. Well two can play that game.

"I have a first addition book that your lovely wife would probably love." Gold quickly walks to the back of the store, behind the curtain, and grabs Beauty and the Beast. Knowing his Belle she'll recognize the story as her own. He just prayed that she would. The two men haggled over price for a few minutes but Aston eventually paid the original price for the book and left. No more than an hour later the doorbell chimed again.

"I'm quite popular today." Gold mumbled as he makes his way towards the front of the shop.

"Mrs. Knighton, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you to my shop?" His smile is neither swift nor small.

"Mr. Gold, I wanted to come by and see how you were feeling. I'm sorry I left so abruptly the other night, I just, I just had some thinking I needed to do."

"Well, as you can see Dearie, I'm still here alive and kicking." Her smile lightens Gold's heart. When her hand finds his Gold's eyes widen slightly and he can't break his eyes away from their touching hands. Her hand is warm and soft, just like he remembered it to be.

"Mr. Gold, how many times am I going to have to ask you to please call me Rose?" She squeezes his hand and goes to pick up something she'd set on his floor. To say Gold is curious is a serious understatement; he is surprised by the bag that was set in front of him. He looks at Rose and could see a look of happiness in those ocean blue eyes. She motioned for him to open the bag and when he does Gold pulled out a large Tupperware container full of chocolate chip cookies.

"I wanted to thank you for being there for me the other night. It meant a lot to me that you listened as I complained about Aston. I hope you enjoy them." He put his hand on the container of cookies and was surprised to find them still warm; he looked up at the retreating figure of Rose.

"Thank you for the cookies, Rose. Chocolate chip cookies happen to be my favorite." Her happy smile was the last thing he saw of her as she exited his shop. Gently he takes the cookies into his back room and just sets them on his counter. He can't even bring himself to open the container, at least not yet. He quietly gets up and walked to the cabinet that contained her tea cup and he takes it out.

AN: I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Please feel free to review, your reviews will only make my writing better.