Weeks had passed since Belle's knight in shining armour had covered her over in that blue blanket that she had come to adore. His scent was beginning to fade from it and Belle had found herself rather mortified by that, she liked the strangers smell. It was warm and inviting, a truly frabjous aroma. Each night since it had been bestowed on her Belle had cuddled the thick wool around her skinny form and not released it until morning. It had been a long time since someone was nice to her and it meant to much to Belle.

The coat she'd purchased was superb against the gelid days but it had started to softly snow that morning and Belle knew she would have to find shelter soon, her blanket and coat would be nothing when faced with a thick layer of snow and ice. She would perish soon enough if left out in the elements.

"I have to do something." She mumbled to herself as she walked down Main Street, hands stuffed in her pockets.

On the way she saw Doctor Hopper petting his dog as they left his office and Belle smiled softly, this man took better care of his Dalmatian than her own father had of her. For a moment she was jealous of the animal. Belle pulled he eyes from Doctor Hopper and Pongo pushing them back to the side walk in front of her. Each step was reasonably comfortable thanks to her new boots, just a simple black military style with strong laces. The thing she was most thankful for when it came to her new boots was the thick soles, there were strong and cushioned each and every step. A small thing she'd taken for granted until six months ago. Belle did miss her heels though. Suddenly there was a thud and the young beauty smashed into a teenage boy, maybe fifteen who was rifling through his rucksack.

"Sorry." He shouted over his shoulder.

Belle didn't mind, it was just an accident, no harm no foul. She opened her mouth to say just that when she noticed the crumpled five dollar bill on the floor and so she quickly bend and picked it up.

"Hey, you dropped this."

The teenage boy turned to face her, rucksack still hanging half open in his hands. He looked at the crumpled bill she held out to him and then up to Belle herself and back.

"Keep it. You look like you need it more than me."

Then he left without another word. For a moment Belle wanted to yell at him, she didn't want charity, however, she did need it. Belle knew the boy was just being kind and Belle was grateful for that. She couldn't go home and had run out of money from the kind stranger a good week ago. Her stomach growled angrily as she flattened the green note out in her hands. She wasn't far from Granny's and the thought of nice hot cup of tea sent a pleasurable shiver down her spine.

Walking to Granny's only took about a minute and a half, and she was pleased to enter the warmth once more. Belle padded up to the counter and quickly ordered a small cup of tea and a BLT, it truly amazed her at how cheep their prices were, then again when they were the only diner in town and everyone went to it they could afford to be cheep. Belle waited patiently for her tea and sandwich to go, please take as long as you like, I'll just sit here taking in some much needed heat. She felt like her veins were made of ice. It didn't take long for a bubbly girl in a way too short crimson skirt to bring her a brown paper bag stained a little with grease spots. Belle didn't care, food was food. She took the bag and left the diner, yes it would be nice to stay indoors for a time longer but she had to find somewhere more suitable to sleep than her bench by nightfall. The snow was already settling on the roads and she could feel it condensing into slippery ice under her feet. She went up and down streets searching for somewhere suitable, nowhere jumped out though and after a period somewhere between forever and eternity Belle found herself wondering if it was even worth looking, she should just take her chances on the park bench. Or at least that's what Belle thought until she came across a lovely little place behind the pawnshop, it wasn't overly big but then again neither was she. It looked more like a porch than anything else, covered over by a little roof. It wasn't much of a shelter but it was the best she'd found so far and with the morning giving way to a dark afternoon Belle knew there was not much point looking for anywhere else.

With a sigh Belle pulled up the hood of her blue coat and set her blanket down on the ground so she could sit on it. Once settled in the corner where she figured it would be warmest Belle opened the bag from Granny's and started to eat her sandwich, she'd long since finished her tea but the sandwich she's saved, giving her something to digest and use to heat her body while she slept. She chewed it almost robotically, the lettuce was crisp and the tomato fresh but to Belle the bacon was the star, salty and tantalising on the tongue almost like the flavours waltzed on her tongue. However, she didn't have the energy to indulge herself in chewing quickly, purring with every mouthful, hence the robot like eating.

When Belle was done she set the balled up bag down beside her, and pulled the blanket up over her too thin frame and snuggled down into its fading scent. Her eyes were heavy and it physically hurt to keep them open, thankfully they soon slipped shut and Belle tumbled into sleep, pleased to be out of the direct icy snow. There were no dreams, at least none she could remember, it seemed that the auburn haired beauty didn't dream any more. There was nothing worth dreaming about, nothing that would ever happen anyway. Belle's heart still beat, she was alive but she wasn't living; hadn't been since her mother died. No one was going to save her.

It was strange when she awoke, she was cold as usual but she felt like there were eyes on her, someone was watching her. Belle's eyes flew open and jumped backwards, there just inches from her face was an older man in a perfectly tailored jet black suit almost like something a demon would ware. He was crouched awkwardly before her just looking at her, cane resting against the wall beside him, is it painful for him to crouch? Most likely.

"I'm sorry, I... I'll move."

Belle shifted quickly gathering up her blanket, he was the pawnshop owner and wouldn't want her there.

"If you're going to live like a puppy you should be in the park."

He told her in a deep voice but Belle didn't really register what he said. He stood as Belle quickly folded her blanket and for a moment she expected him to just shoo her away with his Italian leather clad foot but that didn't happen, instead he held out a hand to help her up and Belle turned to rock while he spoke, sat on the edge of remaining or just running away.

"You'll freeze to death if I let you stay out here. Would you like to come in and I'll make us some tea?"

Had he seriously just asked that? No one gave a damn about her so why should the Storybrooke Monster? Yet she still took his calloused hand and let him help her up and then she knew why, Belle knew that scent by heart by now. With a thank you Belle followed him into the shop. Heat caressed her face the instant she entered the workroom and Belle smiled to herself as her body started to thaw.

He pulled out a sturdy dark wood chair for her to sit on and then a few moments later was pressing a hot green china cup to her hands. Belle took it with a thank you then helped herself to a large gulp.

"That's a lot better than Granny's." She told him as he sipped his own.

"Why thank you. Miss?" He raised an eyebrow over his tea cup.

"Belle. My name is Belle, Mister Gold."

"I guess I shouldn't be shocked you know the name of the town monster."

He muttered more to himself than Belle. There was a sorrow in his eyes, and Belle thought he looked lonely. Then again if I was called a monster on a daily basis I would be lonely too. She opened her mouth to tell him he was no such thing, that she knew he gave her the money and the blanket but his voice was audible before her own.

"If you would like you can sleep in the bed here." He gestured behind her to the old but soft looking bed. Why is there a bed in the back of his shop? "If you're still tired."

"Oh, you don't have to do that. I would just be in the way."

She shrugged off the kind gesture, didn't want to take up his time or space, she wasn't worth it. Her father had made certain that Belle believed that.

"It would be better than it going to waste, and you wouldn't be in the way I promise."

For Gods sake, leave her alone, she said no just accept it. She doesn't want to be near you! Mister Gold mentally chastised himself. He could have kicked himself but then Belle was talking to him again and he had to drag his mind back.

"It would be nice to get some real sleep. If its really no bother." Belle lifted the wool blanket off her lap and cuddled it to her chest. "Thank you for this by the way, its so soft."

"How do you know that was me?"

His eyes widened with surprise. Belle chuckled and found herself looking him in his deep honey chocolate eyes, there was a dull sparkle in there almost like an uncut diamond and for a moment she wanted to ask what had dulled it in the first place.

"I recognise you aftershave on it." She said instead. "Do you really not mind if I sleep here?"

"No, go right ahead. I will try and be quiet for you."

He took the empty green cup from the nineteen year old and set them down on his worktable and then pulled the covers back so she could climb in. Belle took her boots off quickly and set them down beside the bed and slipping under the covers. It had been so long since she'd slept in a real bed and she nearly moaned in pleasure. The pillow welcomed her head and cradled it as she slipped into a peaceful sleep. Comforted for the first time in so long.

Once he was certain she'd slipped into slumber Gold seated himself at his worktable and went back to fixing an antique music box. Apparently it played Für Elise but Gold was yet to hear that be proved. He liked repairing things, always had, it was peaceful and calming to him yet that day he found himself glancing at the sleeping teenage girl in the back of his shop. She was beautiful, a little puppy and no matter how hard he tried Gold kept looking at her. She looked so happy. He watched the way her cerulean blue eyes moved under their lids and wondered what she was dreaming about. Maybe lying on a hilltop somewhere under a large oak tree watching the fluffy white clouds sail in the sky while reviling in a warm summer breeze, a tennis ball... No! No, don't think that!

Mister Gold forced himself back to his work and grinned devilishly when the soft Beethoven music filled the back room, he shut the lid quickly and maybe a little more forcefully when Belle shifted in her sleep. Gold went about the rest of his day as quietly as possible, pleased that she was sleeping soundly in his back room. A smile settled itself comfortably on his thin cupids bow lips after a time but around five o'clock it was ripped from his mouth and trampled on.

"Regina, what brings you to my humble shop?" He asked her in a tone that said get out and stay out.

The town Mayor rummaged through her handbag for a moment, Armani he noticed, a change from her normal Prada it seemed. After a few seconds she pulled out a glittering silver fob watch and held it out towards him.

"It was my father's and it stopped working. I want you to fix it." She told him forcefully.

"Alright, I'll fix it for you. But not now just because you tell me to. I'll do it when I get around to it. Tuesday."

Regina huffed, she was used to getting what she wanted when she wanted it yet with Mister Gold it never worked. Regina would never admit it but he was the most powerful person in Storybrooke, at the end of the day if he said jump Regina would answer with how high? And she hated him for that.

"Fine." She growled out, there was no used arguing with him, he would just make it take longer and Regina didn't want to be without her father's watch for longer than she had to be. "See you Tuesday. It had better be done."

"Or what? You have no power here or anywhere else. I could take you down Main Street on a leach as you crawled beside me and there would be nothing you could do."

"You'd like that wouldn't you? You sick pervert."

With that the Mayor stormed out his shop slamming the door behind her. He sighed and took the watch from the glass counter before him opening up the back and smiling evilly. His cane tapped and clicked as he made his way through to the back room checking that Regina and her insistence of slamming everything hadn't woken Belle, thankfully it hadn't and he pulled open a draw to reveal his clock repair tools. It took him but a second to make a tiny adjustment knocking the gear back into place and shutting the case again.

"See you on Tuesday then, Mayor Mills." He mumbled to himself.

With the fob watch fixed Gold clicked the kettle on once again, it was definitely tea time.