Thanks for all the great comments guys! Just a quick note- this story is not going to end in smut. I know some people are going to be disappointed by this, but I've never really been a smut writer. Sorry if I'm disappointing anyone, but I think you guys will still like where this story ends up going :) This is a little bit shorter chapter, so I will try and post the next one soon!

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Rumple hardly left his shop in a week and a half.

He had tried, truly he had. At least thats what he told himself.

But he just couldn't seem to bring himself to continue on with this mission he was initially so set on when he truly felt he had no chance of a happy ending any longer.

So he hid out in his shop, afraid.

Not afraid of Regina, The Charmings, or Hook, whom he was sure was hell bent on revenge.

Not afraid of the three witches he had brought with him, who probably assumed he had turned on them.

Simply afraid of seeing Belle without him, and happy.

He didn't want her unhappy, but seeing her happy in the arms of another man might damn near kill him.

He had stepped out a few times, usually at night. He's certain some residents of Storybrooke must have spotted him at some point, but nobody had made another attempt at the shop. He was truly alone.

Until the only person he would ever care to see surprised him yet again.

He had been sitting on the cot in the back, completely absorbed in thought. when he heard the lock click and then bell ring. He bolted upright knowing that there was only one other person in this whole town who had the key to his shop.

If Belle had stepped inside, that meant the glamour spell around the shop was no longer clouding her vision. She was certain to see the broken trinkets that littered the floor at the front of the shop, all of which had faced the wrath of his cane the night he returned after seeing her with Will.

He looked down at his own state of undress. He wore the same clothes he had when arriving back from New York, missing cufflinks and all. He had tried to put on one of his old suits, but the sleek persona of Mr. Gold didn't seem to currently fit his mood. He looked up again as his brain scrambled for a way to prevent Belle from seeing him like this. And the quickest way he could think of was casting a protection spell that would prevent her from entering the back room. He knew it was cowardly, but he couldn't stand for him to face him and hear her say "I've moved on. I'm better off without you." Even though his broken heart couldn't help but know it was true.

He heard her heels clack towards the back room, and stop when she reached in the back room. He scooted to the end of the cot to hide himself from the vision of the doorway. All he could make out was her low brown heels, standing in front of the door frame. But despite the blur of the barrier, he could still hear her voice, soft but crisp.

"I know you're in there Rumple…."

He held his breath waiting for her to continue.

"….I won't make you come out. I just…needed to talk. And you're still, to this day, the only person who will truly listen to everything I have to say."

Rumplestiltskin couldn't help but smile a little at that.

"I needed to tell you…I'm sorry. I'm still not sure how to forgive you for what happened with the hat and the dagger. But hell who am I to talk when I wasn't much better? I pushed you out, alone, even when you admitted to me you were afraid. But i was just so angry….." he heard her voice being to catch in her throat.

"I didn't mean everything I said at the town line Rumple. I did need time to myself, because I truly didn't know who I was without you, and I still might, just for a while, but when I said you've never changed…..I know that's a lie. You sacrificed yourself for everyone, and you got nothing but pain in return. So I could see why you turned to your darkness Rumple….but if you just would have let me know, I could have helped you! We would have found another away….."

His heart sunk for a moment at the words "could have". Those were past. Those were final. She'd walk out and leave him forever now.

But she continued.

"…and maybe we still can. I promised you forever a long time ago Rumple. I still haven't given up on you. We've both made mistakes, and I am so sorry for mine. I want to fix it Rumple. I want to fix us. But I need you to come back to me, to come out of hiding. Not just the Dark One, not just the spinner, but all of you Rumplestiltskin, the man and the beast. " He heard her offer a weak chuckle through her tears. "Neither of us are perfect Rumple. But maybe, we can begin fix each other together?"

He could picture the silent tears falling down her face. Was she really asking what he thought she was asking?

He heard her heels clack against the floor as Belle turned around, and as she paused for a moment, Rumplestiltskin needed to strain to hear her final words.

"I love you Rumplestiltskin."

He made sure to heard the bell over the door chime before making his way to the front of the shop, leaning heavily against the doorframe.

He knew he should chase after her, pull her into his arms and never left go, and whisper a thousand apologizes into her hair. But the coward in him still held him back. He still had questions without answers, such as what exactly had happened her new companion. Or had he read that entire situation wrong? He felt foolish now for assuming Belle had moved on. He still remembered the words she had uttered at the town line the night they faced one of their other challenges when she lost her memory.

"When you find something worth fighting for, you never give up."

And suddenly, the determination Rumplestiltskin had felt when he had first arrived back in town, returned, a thousand times stronger than before. He strode to the front of the shop and right out the front door, not caring who saw him, or even if anyone tried to come after him. He had only one thing on his mind.

He would prove her right, he would be that person worth fighting for. And above all, even if he couldn't face her, he would prove to her he loved her too.

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It was early in the morning that Belle heard the noise.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed, trying to collect her sleepy thoughts.

When she walked into Rumple's shop yesterday, she was more surprised than she should have been at the state of the place. At least a dozen items had laid shattered on the ground, no doubt having faced the wrath of his cane. What had upset him so badly, Belle had no idea. She wondered if this had all occurred during after their most recent fallout.

Belle wasn't really sure what had driven her to the shop or if Rumple was in the shop, She knew he had been staying there, based on the many measures of protection that were set up around the shop. But when Belle found herself at the barrier of the back room, she couldn't help but let out all the words she had been holding back. She actually hoped he wasn't in the back room so he hadn't heard what a blubbering mess she was. But she needed to let everything she'd been holding back go. Even if he hadn't heard a single word she said, Belle had felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulder's the minute she left the shop.

But now, early in the morning, her thoughts felt less clear, and some of the weight had returned. She was certain that the weight in her heart wouldn't lift until she was home sleeping with Rumple by her side.

A soft knocking at her door woke her from her thoughts. She scrambled to put on her robe, and hesitantly approached her back door. Not many people knew that, around the backside of the library, there was a set of stairs and a door that led straight into the apartment. So she couldn't help but wonder who on earth would be knocking on that very door at this ungodly hour.

When she opened the door she was surprised to see no one was there. Until she looked down.

A red rose, with a note attached, had been placed on the doormat.

She gently picked up the rose, carefully turning over the note, and reading the script she would recognize anywhere.

I'm so sorry Belle. I will explain anything you want me to. I want to fix us. I love you too.

Belle's hand flew to her mouth and tears sprung to her eyes. He had heard her.

She looked around outside, but saw no trace of Rumple anywhere. She was slightly glad for that, because she knew that whatever connection they currently had was very fragile, and seeing him face to face just might have shattered that.

She turned those rose over in her hand. She notice it's imperfect petals, and the lightly bent cut at the bottom of the stem. He hadn't even conjured the rose from magic. He had hand cut it, probably from the rose bush that she had planted behind their house.

Everything about the gesture was perfect. Perfect for a new beginning.

And she knew just how to respond.

That night right before bed, she jotted down a note in the most patient script she could manage.

Tell me a story Rumple.

She then went to her vast collection of books she had established in the apartment and picked of a random title off the shelf. She tucked the note safely inside the cover, and placed the book in the center of the top platform of her back stairs.

Belle slept more soundly that night than she had in weeks, and was absolutely thrilled the next morning to find the book gone, and another rose and a note in its place

I'll tell you a story about true love, pain, and hopefully, forgiveness. It's a story about a beauty, and her beast.

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YAY FINALLY SOME HAPPINESS! I decided to stop breaking everyone's hearts and give everyone something to smile about :) Hope you enjoyed it!

Will this be a fresh Rumbelle start?

Or will things and people get in their way?

Just wait and see...