This story was supposed to be just a one-shot, but you guys have asked me to write another chapter. And there are many more to come.

This is my first time writing chapters, so I hope this turned out well.

Anyway, here it is. Hope you enjoy!

They stood in the pawn shop. Her arms around his neck and his arms around her waist. They were together again. And that's all that mattered.

Belle rested her head on Rumplestiltskin's shoulder and she closed her eyes. Wanting to stay in this moment forever. Still not believing that even after travelling across worlds, they could still be together.

Rumplestiltskin kept Belle close to him, planting gentle little kisses along her neck. How long had he wanted to kiss her again? To feel her skin against his? Now that they were finally together again, he never wanted to leave her side.

"Rumplestiltskin?" Belle hummed. "I don't want to leave." she felt Rumplestiltskin smile against her skin.

"Me neither." he whispered. He began to stroke her hair for a moment, soothing her into happy thoughts, before he spoke again, "You know we can't let anyone know about this." Belle nodded sadly against Rumplestiltskin's shoulder. She didn't want to have to keep this from everyone. But she knew she had no choice.

"I know." Belle lifted her head, and Rumplestiltskin did the same, so that their faces were almost touching. "I have to get back to the library." she spoke barely above a whisper, and she immediately felt his arm tighten around her waist. It didn't hurt. In fact, it made her feel better. Knowing Rumplestiltskin didn't want her to leave.

He rested his forehead against hers.

"Don't go." he whispered. Belle almost laughed, but she made it come out soft and quiet.

"We can't stay like this forever." she smiled. Rumplestiltskin smiled back, and his eyes gleamed.

"Says who?" Belle shook her head.

"Says me." she grinned, but she didn't move. Her eyes fell to Rumplestiltskin's lips.

"Aren't you going to give me a goodbye kiss?" she teased. Belle had barely finished the sentence before Rumplestiltskin moved his head closer and pressed his lips against hers. Her arms around his neck pulled him in closer, and Rumplestiltskin's arm tightened a little around her waist, keeping her close.

They didn't even hear the bell ring.

Or see who walked in.

"Mr Gold?!" The sound of the shocked voice made Belle and Rumplestiltskin both jump and quickly back away from each other. But it was too late.

"Henry," Rumplestiltskin said, almost angrily, "What are you doing here?" his usual calm, cool voice had disappeared.

"Well, I was coming to ask you something, but..." Henry's once shocked face had slowly turned into a big grin. Both Belle and Rumplestiltskin shifted uncomfortably in the silence that followed. "Why were you two kissing?" he asked with a cheeky smile. Belle looked over at Rumplestiltskin nervously, biting her thumb nail. She hadn't really known Henry that much, and she didn't know if he was the type of person to open his big mouth to everyone. All she knew is that he believed in the curse. And was trying as hard as he possibly could to get Emma to see the truth.

"That is none of your concern, Henry." Rumplestiltskin replied as calmly as he could. But alarms were being set off in his head every second this kid hung around.

The 10-year-old ignored Rumplestiltskin's reply and turned to Belle.

"Why were you kissing him?" he repeated, standing firmly where he was, showing he wasn't going anywhere until he got an answer. Belle bit down harder on her nail. Was she supposed to tell him the truth or not?

"Well, Mr Gold and I, we..." Belle stuttered, unsure of how to finish her sentence. Rumplestiltskin took a small step closer to Henry, and looked at him seriously.

"Look, Henry, you can't tell anyone about this, alright? This wouldn't go around well if people found out." Henry slowly nodded as Rumplestiltskin patiently allowed his words to sink in. And then his eyes widened.

"You remember!" he said with an excited smile that grew as he watched the expression on the couples faces. Both Rumplestiltskin and Belle seemed shocked. This was one smart kid.

When neither of them replied Henry's suspicions were confirmed. Their silence was the only answer he needed. "You two remember! You're Rumplestiltskin and Belle! This is great, I need to go get Emma!" he turned around and Belle was quick to firmly grab him by the wrist, crouching down to his height.

"No, no, no, sweetheart," she said gently, "you can't go tell anyone about this." she looked into Henry's eyes and gave him a look that showed she was being completely serious. "No one must know about Mr Gold-"

"Rumplestiltskin." he corrected. Belle closed her eyes and sighed slowly, collecting her thoughts, and when she opened them again she spoke,

"No one must know about Rumplestiltskin and I."

"Belle-" Rumplestiltskin started but she quickly turned round.

"I'm not lying to him!" she snapped, "If we lie about remembering then this curse will never be broken." Henry smiled, listening to someone else talk about the curse made him feel like he wasn't the only sane one here. The only one who believed.

Belle turned back to Henry.

"But if you tell anyone about this, they aren't going to believe you, and we're not going to look good to people." she said sadly. He seemed disappointed, and his smile faded. "And above all, you cannot tell my father. He mustn't even know that we met." Belle's father would be angry enough if he found out that Belle deliberately went to talk to Rumplestiltskin. But when he found out she kissed him on their first meeting, well, there was going to be hell to pay.

Henry shook his head,

"But-"

"Henry. Please?" Belle was still holding his wrist. She gently squeezed it, silently asking him to listen to her.

After a few moments in silence Henry finally nodded his head. Belle grinned.

"Thank you." she whispered, and let go of his wrist. Henry looked up at Rumplestiltskin- who didn't seem entirely sure of how Belle had handled the situation- and looked back down at her.

"You know we're going to talk about this later." he smiled, but looked at her seriously. Belle smiled back, and almost laughed.

"Sure, Henry." he started to walk backwards,

"Good." he took one last look at the pawnbroker-or Dark One- and rushed out the door.

Cute kid.

Belle stood up and sighed. She looked at Rumplestiltskin as he shook his head.

"You shouldn't have done that." Belle frowned.

"What do you mean I shouldn't have done that? He deserves the truth. I'm not going to lie to him."

"Yes, but he's only a little kid. You can't trust him to keep this from everyone." Belle shook her head.

"He's a smart boy. He'll know not to tell anyone if he knows whats best for the curse." Rumplestiltskin didn't seem so sure. He'd known this type of thing to happen before. Little kids can't be trusted. No matter what they promise you.

"Well, I won't be the one making up excuses when people start to ask questions." but both him and Belle knew he was lying. He'd do anything for her. Anything to save them from being separated again. Anything to keep Belle happy.

"They won't ask questions." she assured him, "I trust him. No matter what you say." Rumplestiltskin sighed in defeat.

"No matter what I say?" he smiled, teasing her. Belle grinned.

"No matter what you say." she repeated. Rumplestiltskin stepped closer to Belle, the three feet distance between them being too long for him to talk to her.

"Why is it so important that your father doesn't find out about us?" he asked, changing the subject. Belle softly smiled.

"He doesn't like you." she said simply.

"Ah, I see." Rumplestiltskin nodded. He knew he wasn't very much liked by anyone. In this world or the previous one.

"That's why I never got to meet you." she continued, "He didn't even want us talking." Rumplestiltskn nodded again. He knew exactly why Belle's father was so cautious of him. His feelings for the pawnbroker remained the same from their previous life. His instinct would tell him that if he let his daughter go near him something bad would happen.

"I have to go." Belle said suddenly, quietly. Of course she didn't want to. But she had no choice. She told her father she'd be back in half and hour. And her time was almost up.

Rumplestiltskin only nodded. She stepped forward and hugged him. Putting her arms around his back and holding him close. And Rumplestiltskin did the same. Hugged her back. Stroked her hair and kissed her on the head, her soft hair tickling his nose.

Eventually they let go and Rumplestiltskin planted one last kiss on Belle's forehead before she started to leave the shop.

"I'll see you later." he called after her. Belle turned around and flashed him a quick smile.

"See you later."


Belle arrived at the library. She sat down at her desk and forced herself to go into work-mode.

But she couldn't.

Her mind was too focused on Rumplestiltskin. And Henry. Deep down she wasn't actually sure if she did completely trust the boy. He was only 10. He didn't understand the consequences of all this if it got out. Her father would kill her, people would think both her and Rumplestiltskin are crazy, and who knows what would happen if people thought that the strange couple both believed that they were fairytale characters. And that have been taken from their own world and cursed to live in this land without magic for the rest of eternity. It wouldn't be good, that's for sure. But she wasn't going to lie to Henry. And she wasn't going to make up excuses. Belle didn't want to have to talk him out of his crazy theories and beliefs of this town. Your imagination was the only thing that kept you going on. That gave you hope. And that hope would make you stronger. Make you chase after your dreams. And make anything you dream, possible.

Belle had only been sitting at her desk for about a minute when her father came through from his office.

"Hello Papa!" she said cheerfully, trying to act like her normal-self. He only greeted her by smiling.

"Someone left this for you." he said, and dropped a copy of Beauty and the Beast onto the desk. Belle stared wide-eyed at the book. How did he get it here? She'd left before him. That show-off.

"Who?" she asked casually, looking up at her father. He shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I found it outside the door just before you came with this on it." he took out a sticky note with one word on it. One name.

Belle.

She dipped her head to and pretended to look at the book. Hidden behind her hair, she smiled.

"Okay. Thank you Papa." And he walked off without another word. She opened the book and began to read.

A few minutes later Emma walked into the library and towards Belle. She looked up from her desk with a friendly smile on here face, placing the book to the side.

"Hello Emma."

"Hey, Miss French." she forced a weak smile on her face.

"Can I help you?" she asked. Emma sighed and rang her hand through her blonde hair. She seemed a little stressed.

"Yes, actually. I'm looking for someone: Kathryn Nolan. Have you heard anything about her in the past few days?" Belle had heard that she'd gone missing. She'd never met her, but she knew the story about her. About David and Mary-Margret. Everyone had.

She shook her head.

"No, sorry, I haven't."

"You sure? You don't have her in your files or anything? Maybe she loaned out a book recently or..." Belle started to shake her head.

"Would that really help?" she asked, but started looking in her computer anyway. Emma shrugged.

"Probably not." Belle shook her head once again.

"Sorry," she said looked up from the screen, "she's not here."

"Alright, well, if you do hear anything about her then make sure to let me know." she smiled weakly. Being the sheriff must be a stressful job.

"Of course." Belle smiled sympathetically. Emma nodded.

Then she turned and left. Belle couldn't help feeling sorry for Emma. She's had to deal with so much since she got here. Her and Regina had instantly hated each other and Henry was telling her his crazy theories about a curse. Well, obviously not crazy. Emma thought of it that way.

This Kathryn case seemed to stress her out. Belle wanted to help. But she'd never even met the woman. And right now, she needed to concentrate on her work.

So she pulled the book back out.


Emma sat in a booth in Granny's cafe sipping a mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon- her favourite. It made her feel more relaxed. This Kathryn case was impossible. How had Regina covered this up so well? But she would find out. She would beat Regina. She just needed to think straight.

Then Henry walked in. She was quite happy to see the little kid. Maybe some time in his company would ease her mind a little.

"Hey Emma!" he smiled slipping into the chair opposite her.

"Hey Henry." she smiled back.

"How's the Kathryn case going?" Emma placed her mug on the table in front of her and sighed.

"Not so good. Can't find anything about her whereabouts in the last couple of days."

"Well, who have you talked to?" Henry asked, trying to be a little helpful.

"David, Mary-Margret, one of the teachers down at the school, oh, and I just came back from asking Miss French down at the library."

Henry nodded. The mention of Miss French had reminded him of his earlier promise to her. Well, technically, he hadn't promised her. Just said he wouldn't tell anyone. Emma wasn't just anyone.

"I talked to Miss French today." he mentioned casually.

"Oh yeah?" Emma picked up her mug, taking another sip, "What did you guys talk about?"

"The curse." he said slowly, not exactly lying. Emma shook her head, stopping him before he even started.

"Look, kid, I'm not in the mood for it today." Henry felt that thing again. That thing whenever Emma didn't want to hear what he had to say. When she didn't want to believe. His smile faded.

"But Emma-"

"Henry." she glared at him warningly. Henry kept quiet. Then he remembered. He agreed not to tell anyone about them kissing. Not about them remembering.

"Mr Gold and Miss French remember." he said quietly.

"What?" Emma almost choked on her coco. Henry grinned.

"They told me they remember! Mr Gold is Rumplestiltskin! And Miss French is Belle! From Beauty and the-"

"Henry!" she hissed. This was all she needed. "I'm not talking about this with you now."

"But-" he couldn't help himself.

"No, Henry."

"I saw them kissing!"