Belle stared at the keys in his fingers and tried to act nonchalant. "What? No! I was-" The words died on her lips.
Rumpelstiltskin tried to keep his face neutral as he let her flounder for whatever it was she was formulating in her mind to tell him. She surprised him with the truth. Belle was surprisingly wonderful that way.
"Yes. Yes, I was looking for the keys," Belle said looking him directly in the eyes. "But it isn't what you think!" She added quickly.
He had to admit to himself he was proud of his girl, brave thing that she was. He knew many others would be quaking in their boots at the thought of trying to trick the Dark One. "Oh?" Her lover tilted his head raising his eyebrows. "And what exactly do I think, love?" He asked still trying to suppress a smile. Rumpelstiltskin wasn't sure how long he could keep her in suspense, but he could never resist toying with others, even if they were his fetching Belle.
Blinking at him, she shrugged, "I guess you think I'm going out to meet someone." She added quickly, "But I'm not! Not like that, I mean."
"Oh, no…" Rumpelstiltskin chuckled. "I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone that would meet you for a tryst, when you are so obviously taken." He let the implication of what he would do to anyone who tried to lure her away from him hang in the air between them.
"Well," Belle huffed growing tired of him obviously teasing her. "Like I said, it's not like that. I love you and I don't break deals."
"Enough," her lover sighed. "My love, I know there is nothing torrid going on. I am as assured of your fidelity, as I hope you are of mine." Rumpelstiltskin patted the mattress for her to sit. "You aren't in any sort of trouble are you?" He asked slightly concerned. He didn't need to imply what he would do to someone who might hurt her. Rumpelstiltskin had told her all of the possibilities that were in store for Regina. And they often avoided the issue with her father, but the evidence of his rage was there.
Positioning herself in the crook of his arm against the headboard, her tinkling laughter reassured him of any danger. "No. I told you. Nothing like that," Belle repeated. "It's just I made a slight promise and I also promised to keep it secret. I don't break promises either."
"No you don't, love, but, I don't like secrets," Rumpelstiltskin stated bluntly.
"Oh, I hardly think this one will be of any consequence," She began. "Henry-" Belle didn't even get half of the sentence out before he interrupted.
"Yes, I should have known the little princeling had something to do with this. Maybe I should be jealous after all, the way he moons over you." His voice was hardly menacing, however.
Elbowing him in the ribs, the beauty continued, "Henry rescued a kitten today. I told him he could keep it at the library until he found somewhere for it. He's hoping that Emma will let him keep it, but Snow is allergic…so he has to wait until she gets her own place. It's a tiny thing, Rum and needs to be fed every 8 hours or so. I promised to help and I promised to keep it a secret."
Belle could feel his chest rumbling before the laughter even started. Offended as she was when he broke out in full fledged amusement as her expense, she had to admit it had been pretty foolish of her to keep such a silly secret. Rumpelstiltskin was many things, but he had been a father before all of them. He would not hurt Henry, not intentionally anyway.
"Well we can't let you break a promise," he said simply. Climbing out of bed and throwing on the only pair of jeans he owned and a flannel shirt Rumpelstiltskin made idle conversation until Belle was re-dressed. "So, I assume that this silly plan the two of you cooked up has a codename?"
Belle smiled over her shoulder as she buttoned her shirt. "Yes, but it is on a need to know basis. And since you're not officially part of Operation Norris-" She winked mischievously, "Oops."
Rumpelstiltskin rolled his eyes, "Norris? As in the martial artist? I never saw Henry as the type."
Shaking her head, Belle tilted it in curiosity, "Who? This is named after a cat in Harry Potter."
Again her lover had a laugh, "Of course." He swatted her playfully on the bottom to usher her out of the bedroom and down the stairs. "Come on now, Dearie, we wouldn't want to keep little - what was this creature's name again."
Shrugging on her coat and slipping on a pair of flats by the door, Belle answered, "He doesn't have one yet."
Rumpelstiltskin couldn't keep his eyes from rolling. "A no name orphan living in the library. A sadder tale I have never heard." He opened the front door for her and popped the umbrella up once they were on the front porch. Before he could usher her out to the car, Belle stood on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"You're wonderful sometimes," She said with a teasing grin.
"Don't let it get around," He replied as they walked down the sidewalk. Rumpelstiltskin pressed another kiss to her lips as she settled in the front seat before closing the passenger side door and going around to the driver's seat.
As he started the car he shook his head, "Were you really planning to try to drive…for the first time…in the rain…just for this cat?"
Belle shook her head, "Not for the cat, Rum. For Henry…I think-I think he's a little lonely and really needs this."
Rumpelstiltskin didn't reply right away, but as they rounded the corner in front of the library he swore softly. Belle's head flew up to try to make out what had caused the slight outburst through the sheets of rain.
As they pulled to the curb, the beauty could have sworn herself. Standing by the library doors were Henry and a less than pleased looking Emma Swan.