There was an awkward silence for a while as the two of them just stood there staring at each other. Gently, Belle pushed Felicia in the back. She stumbled over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and put the other hand on her head and began stroking her hair. The only problem was that her hair was tangled and matted so his hands kept getting stuck, but neither of them seemed to care. Their only thought was that they were in each other's arms at last after twenty-eight years of waiting.

Eventually Belle had to look away. This moment should belong to them alone. She watched as more people started to fill the streets. Apparently the lynch mob was winding down. She began fidgeting. What if Regina left her house and saw them? Finally, Belle cleared her throat. "Maybe we should get out of the street," she suggested. "We are on the run after all."

They both snapped out of it long enough for John to ask, "On the run from what?"

"It's a long story, that we can tell you in the car," Felicia replied. They all piled in. Somehow Blake ended up driving and Belle ended up in the passenger seat so Felicia and John could snuggle in the back. Belle could hear her explaining their situation to him. Since she knew everything, she tuned them out and instead asked Blake about every person in town he knew. He didn't know many, he admitted. He was usually a loner.

"Well," Blake started. "You know Regina, of course. She's the mayor. No one's really sure how she got elected. Now it makes since because she's the evil queen. Then there's Emma Swan. She and Regina have it out for each other. She's the sheriff. We had another sheriff before her…"

Belle pretty much tuned out most of what he said after that. She got lost in her own thoughts. She started thinking about what she was going to do next. She had a place to stay, and now she needed a way to find Rumpelstiltskin without Regina finding her. She sighed. It was definitely better that they only just got their memories back. She tried to imagine what it must have been like to sit in that cell for 28 years knowing who was waiting for her outside of it and it made her shudder. It was only then that she realized that Blake had stopped talking. He was staring at her.

"What?" She asked.

"It must have been awful in there," Blake commented.

Belle shrugged. "Not as awful as it could have been…" Any other time she would have explained why, but after sitting in the car for a while, the adrenaline wore off and she suddenly realized how tired she was. Blake pulled the car up to a townhouse. It was a short drive. Gratefully, Belle hopped out of the car. No matter where she had to sleep, she was looking forward to it. Still curiosity allowed her to take in her surroundings. As she did, she noticed a familiar figure walking towards them. Belle froze in her steps. John waved at him. Belle wanted to retreat into the nearest corner. Instead she stood her ground.

"That's our neighbor," Blake noted as an aside. "Moe French."

She narrowed her eyes. "I know who he is," she replied tersely. The boys seemed to be oblivious, but Felicia was startled by the acid in her words. She stared at her openly. As her father grew closer, Belle got even tenser. The atmosphere got to a point where her anger was almost tangible.

Moe hadn't said anything yet, but once he was within an arm's reach, he opened his mouth to speak. "Belle…"

Belle took advantage of his closeness and slapped him straight across the face. The sound echoed through the street. The group was stunned. No one said a thing, so Belle whispered, "You leave me alone. You did this to me."

"I'm sorry," he tried to apologize, but Belle would have none of it.

"You don't get to apologize!" she began to yell. "You locked me away so that monster could take me at her leisure!"

He rolled his eyes. "It's no different than the monster I sent you to before, yet somehow I don't see you complaining about that."

She launched for him, and she felt someone catch her around the waist. "How dare you!" She screamed. "I love him and because of you, I lived without him for twenty-eight years!" She struggled against her restrainer trying to get one even better slap in.

"I think it's time to walk away, Dearie." That voice made her go limp.

She felt the pressure of his arms increase around her waist as she slowly slumped to the ground. He gently let go of her, and she could hear him say, "Mr. French, go home."Moe looked at him through narrow eyes, took a sad look at Belle and walked up the steps and into his house. Still staring at the ground, Belle saw his feet as he walked around in front of her and bent over to offer her his hand. She pulled herself together and looked up at him, and there he was: her Rumpelstiltskin.

She took his hand gratefully and neither said a word as he helped her to her feet. Behind her, the group began to ask questions.

"Was that your father?" Felicia asked.

"Yes," Belle breathed, not taking her eyes off of Rum's face.

"Are you ok?" Felicia asked again, truly concerned. Still without turning around, she nodded her head. Her knees went weak again, and Rum had to catch her.

"She's exhausted," he finally spoke again. The sound rang in her ears like he had yelled it.

"Let's get her inside," John suggested. With Blake's help, they half-dragged, half-carried her into the house. She collapsed on the nearest couch. Felicia sat in the chair next to her with an uneasy look on her face. She looked almost as exhausted as Belle.

"Just look at them!" John finally broke. "I hate Regina!"

Mr. Gold, who had been looking at Belle the whole time, snapped his eyes to John's. "What does Regina have to do with them being like this?" he asked acidly.

"Regina had them locked up the whole time we've been here," John responded.

"Is this true, Belle?" Mr. Gold asked. His eyes bored into hers.

She stared at him for a few seconds, before responding slowly, "Yes."

He turned abruptly and announced, "I'll be right back."

"Stop!" Belle commanded. She tried to sit up, and Rum walked over to her and tried to get her to lay back down. She blushed as she was suddenly aware of the fact that they had an audience. His face was so close to hers. "This is not your battle to fight," she whispered. He opened his mouth to protest and she continued, "You lost the right to fight for me when you pushed me away."

He shook his head and put his hand on her cheek, "That was the biggest mistake of my life."

In that moment, Belle forgot everything. She forgot there were other people watching and that their relationship was probably the most complicated one to have ever existed. To her, it was just her and the man she loved, and she did what was the most natural thing for anyone in that situation; she kissed him.

A/N: Hello! I know I said you wouldn't be getting anything until the end of the weekend but I used this fic to procrastinate from studying. It was the most satisfying procrastination ever. This has turned out to be my favorite chapter so far. So much dramaaaaaaaa...

Thanks for reading of course. I'm sorry for ending the chapter here. Just imagine what you have to look forward to next chapter ;D

A super big extra special thank you to all of you who have reviewed. Your suggestions are always appreciated!