Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed; Guesti, Twyla Mercedes, Vikueen, Guest, Guest, Hulahuloup, and Guzziyaya23. I loved reading them all. This next chapter is prompted by Twyla Mercedes (thank you so much for the prompts!) Hope you like the chapter and leave a review!:)

Disclaimer: (See first chapter)

He walked stiffly as Belle's heels clicked mesmerizingly beside him. The three ring binder was underneath one arm which he suddenly cursed when he couldn't open the door of Granny's diner. It didn't seem that Belle noticed as he gave his bad leg a pointed and loathing look. She stepped right into the diner letting the door open widely enough for him.

"Belle!" He heard being excitedly yelled by the dinner owner herself. Belle was soon incased in a rib crushing hug, but managed to laugh and throw her arms around the older woman.

"It's good to see you too Granny!" she pulled away from the hug. Gold stood awkwardly to the side as he watched the reunion.

"Oh, Belle it's good to see you back in Storybrooke. You know at least Ruby sends postcards every once in a while. I never have any clue what city she's in, but at least she sends something. I haven't heard from you in over a year!"

Belle gave her an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry Granny truly, but hey I'm here now. "She tried with a smile, "and thank you by the way for letting me and the rest of the group stay her for a while. We got in so late last night we didn't have the chance to thank you."

"Of course, honey. Now what can I do for you today?"

"A table for two would be nice." Belle told her with a smile. Granny gave her a questioning look.

"Two? You got a date with you?" Granny asked playfully. It was then that Robert made a strangled cough bringing attention to himself. Belle herself reddened. She gave a small laugh.

"Uh, I asked Mr. Gold to join me for lunch-,"

"For a house!" Gold butted in. Granny looked at him oddly. She had never seen him act so unkempt. Belle looked back at him with an inward sigh, after he reminded her again that it was not a date.

"Right! Yes, he is showing him the available properties in Storybrooke so we don't have to keep taking up your whole bed and breakfast." She told her.

"Well I'm glad it's not Gaston! He was a no good brute!" While Belle had a hard time thinking ill of anyone she couldn't disagree with Granny. Her breakup with Gaston had been all over the magazine. The nasty breakup had been photographed and written about for weeks. It had been a hard time for her, and Belle probably couldn't have gotten through it if not for the support of her friends. "I swear if you didn't break it off with him I was going to grab my crossbow and shoot him myself!"

Belle laughed, picturing Granny with a deadly weapon that is besides her lasagna. Granny showed her and Gold to their table.

"Now what can I get for you?" Belle gave Robert an inquiring look before he spoke up.

"A hamburger sounds nice dearie." He told her and Belle smiled.

"Two hamburgers it is then," she ordered, looking at Granny who jotted it down.

"Two waters too?"

"Actually I'll have an ice tea." Belle said with a sheepish smile. Granny chuckled.

"I should have known. I'll bring them right over." She said and then walked away with a smile, later bringing their two drinks.

"Soo…," Belle began, about to ask Gold to tell her something about himself, but instead he spoke up.

"I can show you the properties if you'd like?" Gold suggested. Belle opened her mouth hesitantly; she had hoped that she could steer away from the 'reason' they were there, but it looked as if Gold was adamant to keep the topic on business.

"Sure." She answered.

He pulled out the binder flipping through it and occasionally showing her listings he deemed worthy.

"There's not an awful lot of selection in Storybrooke but I do have one property in mind. It's pretty far outside the town and no one has lived in it for… well let's just say for as long as I can remember. The rooms are quite big; they all have adjoining bathrooms, and it even has a large formal ballroom."

"It sounds perfect! Perhaps you could show me the house this week," she suggested slowly with a small smile he didn't return. He didn't answer her right away either, which worried her. He seemed to be thinking deeply about it.

"I don't think-," he didn't get to finish his sentence however when two you girls walked up to the table, all excited with a notebook and a pen in hand.

"Oh my gosh! You're Belle!" Belle turned her head to see her young fans with big smiles.

"Hello, yes I am!" she said with a giggle. Rumple watched as she began to talk to them asking their names and signing her autograph. He couldn't help but smile as he saw how nice and friendly Belle was to her fans. She asked them what grade they were in, and their favorite subject. The girls were wide eyed and excited up as they favorite star took time to talk to them. When they walked away, and Belle turned her attention back to him she found him with an amazed gaze towards her. She blushed. "What?"

Gold shook his head trying to feeling coolness and indifference.

"It's nothing, it's just you're very nice with you fans." Belle's face lit up, a bright smile on her face.

"They're a big part of the reason I sing. They're listen to the stories I want to tell. I wouldn't be here without them." She told him, and it was genuine. It didn't seem fake or rehearsed. She truly loved her fans.

"So how did you start with music and writing songs?" he asked and Belle let out a laugh.

"Well according to my mother I started singing the moment I was born. She told me how I was continuously babbling and humming to myself." Gold showed a small smile despite his resolve to not show emotion. "My mother would rock me to sleep and hum melodies," Belle's voice got distant and she studied the table with a nostalgic smile. "I would copy her, singing and cooing back." Gold frowned, the way she talked about her mother was with great fondness, but she talked like she wasn't alive.

"Are you and your mom close?"

"Yeah," Belle answered looking up at him. "I mean we were really close, but um… she died a few years ago."

"I am so sorry…Belle,." Gold said but he felt it was pathetic excuse for a condolence, but he didn't know what else to say. He wanted to say something. "I also lost my own mother, but when I was really young, I barely remember her." Gold didn't know why he was telling her about this. He rarely talked about himself and never about his past, but something about Belle made him want to open up. Maybe it was her sympathetic eyes or the hand that moved to rest on top of his.

Belle's hearts fluttered; she was actually getting a look behind his mask. She was eager to learn more about the man sitting across from her.

"I can't imagine not growing up without my mother." She said giving him a sympathetic look. "What about your father?" Belle asked. "What was he like?" Gold grew dark, and Belle immediately noticed her shoulders tensing. She wished she could take back the question.

"I would rather not talk about that man." He said lowly, not meeting her eyes. His jaw was clenched.

"Ok," she spoke in a small voice, with a nod. "But if you ever want to…, talk about it I mean…I'd listen." He looked at her and gave her a wince of a smile. The idea was almost laughable, and if he hadn't spent years perfecting hiding his emotions and keeping a straight careless face he would have let out a sarcastic laugh. The thought of him- the town's most feared man telling his past problems to Storybrooke most famous guest was ridiculous; not because he wouldn't her- he was actually surprised how much he had already let show, but because she wouldn't really want to listen to an old man regress his childhood tragedies.

She wouldn't want to hear how his father was a crook and a con man, and how he gave his young son a front row seat to the terrible life he lived only to eventually abandon him. He could still remember being young and scared as his father dropped him off to the house of his neighbors where three kind ladies lived and took him in. Ever since that day he worked hard not to become like his father. He promised he would always provide for Bae; that was why he worked long hours and most weekends. Then after Milah left it was a way to gain more power and wealth; a way to make himself feel better. He tried as best as he could to block out all the years of not feeling good enough, but it was hard. He and Belle fell into a palpable uncomfortable silence.

"I-," Belle was about to break their silence when two plates were placed in front of them. Belle's eyes went wide. "These look so good, thank you Granny." She thanked the diner owner who left with a smile and a 'hope you like it'. Belle gave Gold and excited smile before picking up her burger with both hands and taking a huge bite of then ginormous sandwich. She stilled, prompting an inquiring look from Gold, before she let out a moan. "Thessse arrr delicious!" Belle said, food still in her mouth. Gold laughed, actually turning heads in the small diner. Belle put her burger down and looked around with evident puzzled look.

"You'll have to excuse them dearie," he told her. "They aren't used to hearing me laugh, especially not laughing sarcastically."

"What do you mean?" she asked her eyebrows still scrunched.

"Let's just say I don't have the best reputation around here."

"Oh right!" she exclaimed. "A ruthless man with a heart of coal!" she quoted ruby with a laugh until she saw that Gold wasn't laughing. She immediately stopped, her eyes wide. "I'm so sorry, I didn't-, I mean-," she stumbled over her words. Gold chuckled. "That's just what they say about you. I don't-" she tried to say but he was still laughing. Belle was startled, she had thought he was going to mad at her. "You don't care that they say that about you?" he shook his head.

"I've long since stopped caring, dearie. Beside their probably true," He said a smirk still on his face.

"Impossible." She stated. He gave her an amused look.

"And you've discovered that in what… the hour you've known me?" he asked her.

"No," she told him giving him look. "Anyone who brings their son to a concert, and stands through the whole thing just to make him happy definitely can't be that bad, especially when it's not his 'type' of music." She smirked at him and he returned it with a smile but internally groaned. If only he hadn't told Bae that, if only his pride hadn't got in the way.

"Ms. French it isn't that I didn't," he began but she stopped him.

"It's really ok."

"But-"he tried again, only to be cut off once again.

"I don't write my music so that everyone will like it." His eyebrows scrunched.

"Why do you write songs?" he asked. She smiled at the question, taking time to think about it for a moment.

"I guess I write to tell stories, to write that people can get a 'happily ever after'." He looked away, shaking his head doubtfully at the table. "What?" she asked.

"I don't think every gets a happy ending."

"I agree," she told him. "But sometimes some people just don't realize that there happy ending is right in front of them. 'Happily ever afters' don't have to be grand or elaborate. It doesn't have to be a huge kingdom or a great castle. Sometimes it's as simple as to love and be loved." His eyes were fixed on her. He didn't know what to say, she was so optimistic, so full of hope. She gave him a sheepish smile as she saw him raptured with her mini- monologue.

"Sorry, uh I didn't mean to get so passionate about It." she told him.

"Don't apologize." He told her, causing her to search and stare into his brown eyes. He stared at her thinking she was beautiful, a blush on her face and a inspiring breath in her chest. "So what's your happy ending?" he asked her.

"….hmm, I don't know yet, and perhaps that's the beauty in it; not knowing. It's a mystery to uncover, an adventure to be take." She spoke with a broad smile. It was funny, she thought. It was so close to how she described love, and Robert Gold.

"So…show me the property?" she asked timidly, biting her lip. He was just about to answers his mouth wide open, when Belle's eyes flitted over his shoulder and out the window. He noticed the worried look on her face.

"What is it, Belle?" It took her a moment to answer, before her eyes found his again.

"They've found me."

Author's note: Yay! First cliffhanger! Who has found Belle?

Story is open for prompts, and also if you notice huge mistakes, please feel free to let me know. I am terrible at editing my own work and I just realized that I wrote that Graeme was Scottish instead of Irish (in chap 1). I can't believe I made that mistake! *slaps forehead. So I fixed that and a lot of other errors in the other chapters, hopefully I won't have as many in the future. :) Thanks so much for reading.