Belle let her gaze roam over the shelves of books in her view. There were hundreds, possibly thousands of them, all types of genres, titles, authors, and many from different eras. She hadn't noticed Gold standing in the doorway, the same place he'd been for the last ten minutes, just watching her with a smile on his face. She was so mesmerized by these books. So much so that when her eyes travelled over him, she didn't even seem to notice. He'd seen her pick up book by book, read the back and place it back, looking for just the right one.

His eyes travelled to Henry's book he'd placed randomly in the room. She was getting very close to it; he just hoped it helped her become herself.

Finally, he took a step into the room, making himself known to her. "As much as I love to watch your eyes choose which book to read first, I brought back some burger's from 'Granny's' and they're getting cold." Belle jumped, dropping the book that was in her hand, her hand going to her heart with a light laugh. "I'm sorry, Dearie, did I frighten you?" He took another step into the room.

Belle shook her head, a smile forming on her lips. "No, not scare, startle, perhaps." She picked up the book and put it back in its slot and walked over to him. "Lead the way."

They made their way to the dining room where he'd laid out the food. Belle's eyes widened at the spread, he remembered her asking him about the hamburgers before, so he thought it would be a nice treat for her. He got fries, shakes, and a salad, in case she wanted healthy instead. Belle sat down in one of the chairs, Gold sat in the one across from her, and they separated the food.

"Did you see any books you like?" Gold asked her casually, picking up a fry to eat it.

Belle nodded her answers, taking a large bite of her burger, moaning in pleasure. Gold laughed quietly. So much like herself, yet so different. It was always fun to watch her eat, she made funny faces, sounds, and she seemed different.

His Belle, yet so different, she didn't suit the name Sarah, it wasn't her. She was a Belle, a beauty, and he was a beast. Maybe he could change for her in this time, it might bring something good out of all this.

Maybe.

They continued chatting mindlessly, over things that seemed simple to most, but for Gold it made him feel like he had his sweet back. Smiling at him, teasing him, and just being her normal self. "So Mr. Gold, what do you do?"

"I'm a pawn broker, but I'm also a certified lawyer. I make a lot of deals with people in town, rental agreements, loans, things like that. It's an easy life."

Belle made a face at him. "Rental agreements? How many buildings do you have for you to rent them out?" Belle took another bite of her food.

Wow, tough question. Gold paused to think about it. The curse had given him most of the town's buildings for his control, which made close to… a thousand places. Some mailed the rent to him, others he went to collect such as the nuns or Granny's. "Well, Dearie, to my most immediate memory, I believe it's close to a thousand buildings, give or take a few." Belle's jaw dropped.

"A-a thousand? How in the world were you able to collect all of them?"

He had to remember the life the curse had provided for him. "Some I inherited from my father, others people took out loans with their houses as collateral, and they couldn't pay up. And some I purchased." Another bite of the food was taken between them before either one of them spoke again.

"Do you own the library?" Belle asked. Gold smiled.

"No, the town does. I'm a donator to keep it running so you could buy things like new books, computers, things like that."

"So I run the library?"

"Yes, it's something you seem to love to do. You've always been fascinated with books. When I found out, I made some inquires to get you the key to run it. The library has been closed for several years." Gold stood and started to clean up some of the dishes. Belle copied him and cleared her spot, following him into the kitchen.

Belle placed her dishes in the sink and turned back to him. "Don't you ever get lonely? I would assume most people in town aren't very happy with you being the town's owner, and I haven't seen one picture of other people around." She was a very observant person, his Belle. No one had really noticed that about him in the past.

Gold began to load the dish washer while Belle leaned against the counter, waiting for his response. He didn't really know how to react to the question. She'd been his source of comfort for the last little while, her memory, and before that it was the hope of finding his son. He didn't really have friends in this town, or anywhere. The more he thought about it, the more it hit him. He'd spent the last twenty-eight years being hated here, and he couldn't count how many before that. Maybe he was lonely. Maybe.

"Mr. Gold?" Belle touched his shoulder. Gold hadn't realized he stopped moving, he was just standing there, staring off into space. He gave himself a mental shake and turned back to his task. "I think you just answered my question." She smiled at him and moved to leave the room, as she passed Gold held out his free arm to catch her around the waist.

"It can be lonely, yes. But memories are one of the most powerful cures to loneliness, Sarah. You just need to know how to channel them into your life." He released her and hobbled out of the room. He needed to find a way to bring his Belle back, not be reminded of all the pain he'd caused to his own life. He wanted to do two things, find Baelfire, and bring Belle back. Hopefully not in that order, but he had to work for either of these plans to work.

He went to the basement and sat down at his wheel and started spinning. If he wanted to give Belle her memories back, then he had to find the magic that would work perfectly with it. He needed to think, to forget, to release the pain he was feeling right now, get rid of his sorrows, and the only way he knew to do that was to sit at the wheel and spin.

After all, he was Rumpelstiltskin, if he could so anything right it was spin straw into gold.

He just hoped it would work for all his sorrows today.