As the weeks rolled by Belle became increasingly intrigued by the dark one. He had finally begun to open up to her and she felt her fear and misery gradually drift away.

On this particular afternoon however, he was behaving in a rather peculiar manner. When Belle entered to serve him his afternoon tea he paced around the room and she noticed that his hands were shaking as she passed him the tea. His face twitched as he drank and slurped loudly. After contemplating for a second she enquired "are you okay? You seem rather out of sorts.." Rumplestiltskin placed his cup down with a nervous smile and responded "I have something to show you." With that said he walked out of the room and ushered Belle to follow him.

The pair of them headed for the west wing of the castle, which Belle had been forbidden from entering previously, and began ascending an immense winding staircase. As she watched the dark one strutting eagerly up the stairs in front of her, she couldn't stop herself from smiling.

After several minutes of climbing they approached the door at the top of the stairs. Rumplestiltskin gently pushed the door open and lead Belle into the room. It had stacks of shelves filled with thousands of books from ceiling to floor covering every inch of wall. "Temper your excitement dearie" he chirped "this is just another room for you to clean." Her eyes darted around the room in delight "there are more books here than I could read in a lifetime" she picked up a large book that was lying on the table and delicately stroked the spine, taking in every detail of its design. Her eyes then lifted to settle on Rumplestiltskin "did you do all this for me?" She smiled boldly at him as he struggled to find a reply and before he was aware of what was happening Belle threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, the book still in one hand, "thank you." The dark one looked puzzled, unsure of how to react to her embrace but dutifully patted her on the back before breaking the hug and stepping away from her.

Belle smiled at him softly and sat down on the floor, patting the spot besides her, inviting him to join. Rumplestiltskin obeyed, hesitantly sitting down and crossing his legs before looking up at her to see what she has planned. Her sapphire eyes glittered in the candlelight and seemed to have tripled in size as he watched her, both physically and mentally unable to break eye contact. They perfectly matched the shade of blue on her dress which complemented her further. She was a vision of perfection and beauty, her innocence and purity was dominant in that moment.

Belle started flicking through the book, running her fingertips over the pages before stopping on page 68. It was one of the first chapters in the book, chapter 3 in fact. The dark one looked at her in a confused manner "why aren't we starting at the beginning?" She replied quickly, her voice gentle and quiet "Because this is the best part, this is where they leave their pasts behind them and fall in love." As Rumplestiltskin heard her say that last word he felt very strange, as if he had suddenly been awoken after a long slumber, he felt his heart rate quicken and he watched her lips move as she began to read aloud.

As she read a small strand of hair fell in front of her face and before Belle could reach it Rumplestiltskin reached and tucked it behind her ear. With his fingers still lingering on her cheek, they sat in silence for a moment, their eyes locked together. Neither of them looked away. It felt like they had been sat there for decades, just lost in time because it didn't matter as long as they were together. Belle started moving her face towards his slowly, her neck reaching in order to manoeuvre herself closer to him. However when the dark one realised what she was doing he jumped up from the floor, sending a pile of books flying as he muttered "I'm sorry" and then he was gone. Belle sat there for a while longer before going to bed but she couldn't sleep that night, the thoughts of Rumplestiltskin racing through her mind; little did she know that he was upstairs thinking of her, unsure with what to do with his feelings.