Author's note: thanks for sticking around. Enjoy this chapter!

CHAPTER 3

Belle tried to rest a bit, she didn't sleep so much because of what had happened. She had barely three hours before getting up and run her chores in the castle. She wasn't leaving so the least she could do was keeping the castle clean and take care of him by serving meals and tea at the proper time.

When she got up, too early for her taste, a little headache was annoying her, but she hoped it would pass after having a good breakfast. She adjusted her hair a bit, smoothed her blue maid dress and slipped her shoes on, ready to start the day, not knowing what to expect from Rumplestiltskin.

She went upstairs, heading for the kitchen to make some french toasts and tea for her and the lord of the castle. He always has breakfast at 7:30 so it was a bit of a surprise when she carried the tray with his meal into the main hall and he wasn't there.

She was standing in front of the empty table, unsure on what to do next. She was concerned, but at the same time she didn't want to upset him more by intruding in his private bedchamber or disturbing him on whatever he was doing. After a while she decided to take the risk, concern winning over cautiousness and after placing the tray on the table she went upstairs, looking for him. She tentatively knocked at the door of his bedchamber. Nobody answered. Maybe he was deeply asleep, so she cracked the door open to peek inside, just to make sure he wasn't really there. The bed was empty and perfectly made up. He didn't even try to sleep.

She continued to look for him, the next stop was his tower. She walked up the long spiral staircase that led there and she opened the door, without even knocking.

There he was, collapsed on the ground, a vial in his hand and a book spread on his chest. His hair was ruffled and he looked so pale. He was snoring a little and he looked so cute to Belle's eyes. She stepped inside to reach him and she grabbed gently his right shoulder, shaking him a bit.

"Rumple, wake up." - Rumple? Since when she was allowed to call him by a pet name? She couldn't help herself, he looked so fragile and adorable.

He mumbled something unintelligible and continued to sleep. She tried again to shake him, with a little more strength.

"No, no, Bae! No, please, don't do it! Please!" - he was screaming, it seemed that he was having a nightmare.

Belle jumped a bit back, startled by his reaction. Then she kneeled down in front of him and put a hand on his forehead. He was burning.

"Oh my God Rumple, you have a very bad fever! Come on, you need to wake up and try to stand up so I can take you to your bed." - she said firmly, trying to pull him up by his arms.

He was finally waking up.

"Belle..." - he whispered when he looked right into her eyes.

"Yes, I'm here, now please, try to stand up." - she helped him to an upright position.

He obeyed her, without any objection but when she tried to make him walk forward by pushing him by his back, with his right arm wrapped around her shoulders so she could be his human crutch, he cried out.

"What's wrong?" - she asked, immediately stopping there.

"My... my leg... hurts." - he murmured.

He was phisically paying all those hours spent standing, looking for a spell, or a potion or whatever could bring his powers back.

"Ok, put your weight on me and don't load any of it on that foot. Come on, you can't stay here in this condition."

He did as she said and they slowly walked downstairs to his bedchamber. Belle made him sit on the rim of the mattress and started undressing him by pulling off his leather boots and then working on the buttons of his shirt.

"What are you doing?" - he asked, not fully concious of what was happening around him.

"I'm changing you into more comfortable clothes to make you sleep." - she answered like it was the most normal thing in the world to do.

"But..." - he tried to protest but she didn't allow him.

"No, no buts and no whims, you do as I say this time. You need to get back your strength. I'm here to help you Rumple." - she continued in her task to undress him as fast as she could.

"Rumple... I like that." - his feverish and delusional state let those words and a tentative smile slip from his lips.

She smiled back, taking off his shirt and unbuckling his leather waistband in order to take off his pants as well.

He panicked, suddenly grabbing her wrists, making her stop.

"Rumple, relax, it's ok. It's me." - she looked right into his eyes, smiling softly.

"Belle, you... you don't... you don't have to do this, you're free to go, I let you go." - he was almost begging her.

"But I want to do this, I want to be here with you, I want to help you. Now, please, let me finish and I'll bring you something to eat if you feel well enough, ok?"

He nodded slightly letting her wrists go and closing his eyes while she slid his leather pants down his legs. His scarred leg now full on display.

She noticed that long, wrinkled scar on his knee which ran down to his ankle but she didn't say a word about it, nor even changed her facial expression to show some disgust or any other emotion. She simply stood up, gathering his clothes to put them on an armchair and went to his dresser to pick one of his silk pajamas. She chose a dark red one and she brought it to him.

"Can you put this on?" - she asked.

He nodded, taking the clothes and shivered when their hands brushed.

"Ok, good, I'm going downstairs to get you something to eat." - she said, caressing his cheek.

He stayed still for a while after she left his room, mesmerized by her. No one has ever showed such kindness to him before. No one, not even his late wife, or all the other women who claimed to love him. He was kinda sure that all of this couldn't be real, he bet that he was still collapsed in his lab, dreaming.

She went downstairs to the main hall, the french toasts and the tea she made almost two hours before were already cold, so she headed to the kitchen to make new ones. When everything was ready she went back to him.

He managed to change into his pajamas and get under the blankets by the time Belle got back to his room.

"You're still awake, good." - she said entering the room and looking at him.

He looked so tired and older than ever, like there was something consuming him, not just that bad fever. She was very concerned for him, but she didn't let it show.

She, instead, sat beside him on the bed and placed the tray on his lap.

"Now, try to eat this and then you can rest and sleep." - she said gently to him, a smile always present on her lovely face.

He peacefully ate his breakfast while she stayed there, with him, in complete silence, just content to be in his company. When he was done, she picked up the tray and stood up, but before leaving him she bent down to place a soft kiss on his forehead. He closed his eyes at the gesture, fully tasting the sensation and released a deep breath he didn't know he was holding. He didn't dare to open his eyes again, afraid that she would disappear and he would find himself back on the ground in the tower. He immediately drifted off into a deep sleep, the fever taking over him eventually.

Then Belle went to the kitchen again, to eat her breakfast too, but she couldn't really concentrate on the food because she couldn't stop thinking about what could have made Rumple so upset. It couldn't be just about the loss of his dark magic, there should have been something else, something more personal, something with a deeper meaning and she was determined to figure that out.

She left half of the toast in the plate, took the last sip of tea and headed to the tower. When she arrived there she picked up the book Rumple was reading before falling asleep on the floor. It was a spell book and he left it open on some summoning and conjuring spells. Apparently Rumple was trying to retrieve something, maybe something he had lost, an object maybe, but what? Unfortunately Belle didn't know. She knew just a thing for sure: books have never, ever failed her. So she searched the bookshelves that were towering all around the circular room in the attempt of finding more information about those spells and about the Dark One in general. As she kept searching and reading, sitting on the floor and without sticking her nose out of all those books, she lost track of time. She finally realized that the sun was setting because the room was getting darker as the sun was sinking down the horizon and she was having a hard time reading the inked words. Suddenly she stopped reading and looked around herself: she was completely surrounded by piles and piles of books. She could barely move her legs to stand up. When she managed to get up she left everything as it was to rush downstairs to check on him. When she arrived at his bedchamber she was almost breathless, cheeks red from the run. She composed herself a bit before entering the room.

He was still asleep, curled on his right side, his back to the door. She tiptoed next to the bed, to take a better look at him and that was the moment she realized he was sweating too much. A large stain of sweat covered the sheet under him and the pillow where he rested his head maybe just minutes before. She put the palm of her hand on his forehead, the temperature was impossibly high.

"Rumple! Rumple! Wake up!" - she shook him to wake him.

He groaned but didn't move, nor woke up. So she tried, again and again with no results. She grew desperate after a while and there were tears running down her face as she couldn't find a solution for the problem. If she couldn't find a way to lower his temperature there was a high chance that he was going to die. Fianlly she got an idea. She rushed out to the stable where he kept a few horses for his carriage. There was one that she liked to call Philippe, a sweet palomino that she loved with all her heart and the feeling seemed mutual. She needed his help now and she was sure he was willing to help her.

"Hey Philippe. Come here." - the horse greeted her with a soft and cheerful whinny.

She put his halter on and she led him out in the courtyard. Luckily the castle was surrounded by mountains and even if it was almost spring there was still a large amount of snow on the ground.

She attached Philippe to a small cart and took a shovel with her. She started loading the cart with a large amount of iced snow and when she thought it was enough she led Philippe inside the main hall of the castle.

"Ok, wait here. Good boy." - she caressed his large and soft nose and he gently bumped her hand with it.

Then she dashed upstairs. She had to find a way to bring the snow up there, or bring him downstairs. She decided that the second solution would be faster and easier, if only he could wake up and walk a bit.

"Rumple, please, you have to wake up. I need you to get up and walk downstairs, please." - this time she was gently stroking his hair, almost whispering into his ear.

He rolled over and half opened his eyes.

"Belle, you're still here." - he mumbled in disbelief.

"Yes, I am, but please try to get up again now." - she helped him into a sitting position by gently pulling him by his arm.

He stretched his legs off of the bed, both hands grasping the rim of the mattress to keep him balanced.

"You ready?" - she asked, ready to catch him if he was going to fall.

He nodded and put his feet on the floor and with Belle's help, he was now standing. She took his arm and put it around her shoulders and she grabbed him by his waist. After a few minutes and some stumbles they managed to enter the main hall. Rumple saw the horse standing there, near the dining table.

"What...?" - he tried to ask but he suddenly stopped, maybe that was the fever making him have hallucinations, he thought.

Yes, this was clearly a dream.

"Don't worry Rumple, he's here to help you." - ok, that made even less sense to him.

Belle guided him behind the horse where there was a cart, she instructed him to hold onto it while she went to fetch a chair. She placed it behind the rear of the cart.

"Now I want you to get up here and then on the cart, can you do that?" - she was looking right into his eyes, trying to encourage him.

He frowned, not sure about what she was making him doing. Well, that was all a dream after all, right? So he humored her. He placed a foot on the chair, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. Sensing that he wasn't feeling good, Belle tried to support him by grabbing his legs.

"Come on Rumple, you can do it, slowly, one step at time." - her voice and her hands on him worked like magic on his numb mind and body.

He stepped forward, covering the small gap between the chair and the cart and a sensation of deep cold made his feet tingle.

"What the...?" - he looked down and saw a large amount of snow before him.

"It's just snow Rumple, it will help you lower your temperature. Trust me. Now please, lie down on it." - her lovely voice begging him to do as she said.

He kneeled down and then he rolled over to lie down on his back upon the snow. The cold was intense, but the sensation wasn't so bad. A sort of quiet filled him. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep again. Belle climbed up the cart and covered Rumple's body with snow. She wasn't wearing gloves and her hands became numb and red because of the cold, but she didn't care, all that mattered to her was Rumple now. She scolded herself for all those hours passed in the lab, reading books without checking on him as often ad she should've done. She didn't imagine that a fever could be this high on a grown up man and she thought that a bit of sleep would be the best thing to lower the temperature and make him feel better rather quickly. She was so damn wrong and she hoped it wasn't too late.

She jumped off the cart to grab a cushion and then got back on to sit beside Rumple, petting his hair, constantly checking his temperature on the forehead.

After almost half an hour Rumple slowly opened his eyes. Belle smiled, still stroking his hair, staring at him.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" - she asked softly.

"Mmh... better I think. A bit cold... where am I?" - he was blinking his drowsy eyes.

"You're buried in some snow. I'm sorry, I had to do this because your fever was getting worse. But now I think you can get out of it."

He didn't react at her words, he was tired and confused and above all he was still trying to figure out if he was really living those moments or he was still dreaming.

She started removing the snow to uncover Rumple's body. His pajamas was completely soaked and so cold, he clearly needed another change of clothes. When he was enough uncovered, she reached out her hand to him.

"Can you stand up?"

"I think so, yes." - he took her hand and stood up beside her on the cart.

"Ok, now we have to get off. Be careful and put your weight on me if you feel like falling." - she jumped off the cart, still holding his hand to help him down.

"Thank you." - he said.

She simply answered him with a beautiful smile. She has never heard him sincerely thank anyone before. Those were the most precious words he has ever said to her.

"If you think you can go and change your clothes I'll clean up this mess and start dinner. I hope you're hungry."

"Yes, I think so." - he looked down at his wet pajamas.

He didn't remember how he got into it in the first place. He blushed a bit, thinking about the fact that Belle was the only other human being in that castle and she must have been the one who undressed him. How embarrassing! And the scar on his leg, she must have seen it. Oh no! No! No! He didn't dare to look at her again.

"What's wrong?" - she asked, noticing the hint of panic on his face.

"Oh, nothing, I just... I just need my cane to be able to walk, can you get it for me?"

"Sure, where is it?"

"Upstairs, in the tower."

"Ok, wait here, I'll be right back."

The moment she was out of the room he started to damn himself. How could he have been so stupid? He played with potions and magic, but he should have known that now he wasn't immune to their effects. He almost killed himself and if it wasn't for Belle...

"She saved me..." - he whispered, the realization making his heart racing and he wished to be able to slow it down.

Philippe turned his head and stared at him snorting softly. Rumple, looked at him raising a brow.

"What? I know that you and her are friends, but you're not allowed into the castle."

Philippe whinnied loudly.

"I said no. No matter how much you helped her. You will go back to the stable." - he said, pointing his finger at him.

The horse started rasping on the ground, snorting with his head down.

"I don't care." - Rumple crossed his arms and shaked his head.

Philippe turned around and covered the distance between them and started sniffing him. His warm breath was creating an intense contrast on the cold and wet fabric of Rumple's clothes, making the man slightly uncomfortable.

"It seems he likes you." - Belle's voice came from behind him and he turned his head as soon as he heard it.

She was carrying his cane and she giggled unabashedly.

"Well, I don't like him and he must get out of here right now." - his attempt to sound deadly serious made Belle laugh even more.

"I don't believe you, but yes, I'm taking him back to the stable now."

Philippe snorted again.

"Sorry Philippe, you've been a very good boy so I'll bring you some carrots after dinner, ok?"

The horse moved his head up and down vigorously.

Belle gave the cane to Rumple and she grabbed Philippe's reins to bring him back to his box. The horse bumped Belle's shoulder playfully and she laughed.

Her laugh was a beautiful sound to Rumplestiltskin's ears. But as much as he wanted to believe that she could really love him, he simply couldn't. First of all he knew that he didn't deserve her and second of all he needed to find his son, he had no time to waste and unless she was able to use magic or knew where to find a magic bean to create a portal to the world without magic, well... he didn't need her. Truth was that she was still there and she has just saved his despicable life for apparently no reason. He had thanked her and he didn't owe her anything, he had already offered her freedom, more than once. He didn't have anything else to give her. The only way to convince her to go away was to make her hate him.

Author's note: isn't Philippe cute? I wish there was more of him and Belle on OUAT... *_*