As Belle walked home that evening and arrived to the streets of downtown Storybrooke, she realized it was indeed much later than she had thought-almost one in the morning the clock tower read. Time had apparently stood still when she was spending it with Rumple. She was so fond of him. Why did he have to be so frustrating sometimes?

It was then that Gaston emerged from a bar nearby. He was stumbling out when he spotted Belle and he went over. "Hey babydoll," he smirked as he followed her.

The moment Belle saw Gaston coming she groaned internally and picked up the pace. It was clear by the nickname he called her and the foul smell that was irradiating off him that he was drunk. Very drunk. "Good evening Gaston," she said politely and began walking even faster.

Gaston caught up to her however, threw his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her close. "Where you goin' baby?"

"Gaston let go of me," she grumbled and pulled out of his grasp. She stumbled forward several steps, but caught her balance and continued on. She did not have time to deal with him right now. "I'm going home because my father will be looking for me."
Maurice was probably pacing the floor by this point, but she knew he would have to understand that she was a grown woman and could stay out as late as she wanted.

"How about you come home with me?" he slurred the suggestion. "We'll have some fun, take a look at my trophies…"

Belle didn't have to wonder if there was a hidden meaning behind that statement. She knew exactly what he meant. "No thank you, Gaston," she replied without stopping or looking back. "You should go back inside and call a cab. I'll talk to you another day when you're sober."
In all honesty she didn't want to talk to him at all, but she was trying to be nice so he would go away.

"Come on, babe," he said as he sped up just enough to grab her arm forcefully and pull her back toward him. He pulled her flush against him with his other arm, holding her so tight and strongly that Belle couldn't wriggle from his grasp. Everything was happening so fast, Belle was barely registering what was going on, but she knew this wasn't good.

"Gaston, stop!" she said firmly, still trying as she might to get away. But he wasn't letting her and instead backed her up against a building wall, keeping a good hold on her. She then felt his hands began to roam her body and her body froze with fear.

"How bout a kiss?" he asked more as a demand than a question.

"NO!" she pleaded. "Let me go!"

Refusing to listen to her, he leaned down to kiss her and managing to tilt her head just in time, his lips only grazed the side of her cheek. Belle could then see the fury in his eyes because she wouldn't cooperate and even though she tried to kick and punch, he began grabbing at her clothes. Gaston had her trapped and she was more terrified than she ever had been in her life. And no matter how much she pleaded he wouldn't relent. But just as she thought there was no escape she suddenly felt him release her from his grasp and she opened her eyes to see Rumple with his mask on and a tree branch in his hand standing there over Gaston's unconscious body. He had knocked him over the head and saved her.
Belle stood there frozen for a moment trying to register what had just happened as she stared shockingly at Rumple.

Rumple turned to her and peeled off the mask. "Belle are you OK?" he asked, going to her to see if she was hurt.

Belle was barely breathing. Her eyes were wide, her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest, and her whole body was shaking from the fear of what almost happened. And she could still feel Gaston's slimy lips on her face and smell the excessive alcohol.

When she saw Rumple's face though, she couldn't stop herself from throwing her body into his arms and burying her head in his shoulder as she began to cry. "Thank you, Rumple…if you hadn't been here…" Oh gods, would Gaston really have taken in as far as she was imagining?

He hugged her close and tight, relieved. "It's OK, Belle, you're safe," he assured. "I've got you, you're safe." He let out a deep, nervous breath and just held her close.

Belle continued to cry in his shoulder, clinging to him as if her life depended on it, when she heard rustling from the side.
Gasping, she looked over and saw Gaston was not unconscious after all and he stood there looming over them with a surprised yet angry look on his face.
"The Dark One…" The brute sputtered in disbelief.

Rumple held Belle close and he glared at Gaston. "You stay away from her, or you will live to regret it. You understand?" he growled threateningly.

Belle tightened her grip on Rumple.
Gaston glanced between the two of them and suddenly all of the shock and disbelief melted away and was replaced by pure rage. He set his eyes to Belle as he spoke and clenched his fists at his sides. "You…you prefer this beast to someone like me?!"
Belle's body was still trembling and tears were still rolling down her cheeks. "Gaston please…just go home," she begged neither confirming nor denying anything.

"I suggest you leave now before you get another whack from the stick," Rumple demanded. "Or perhaps I could turn you into a toad, now wouldn't that be entertaining?"

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Gaston bellowed. He glanced Rumple up and down, seeing how scrawny he looked compared to himself. He was nothing but muscle and was not afraid to let others know it. "Look at you! You're nothing compared to me! You sneak up on me when I'm not expecting it! Only a coward does that! Now Belle is mine and I'm gonna prove it!"
Grabbing a nearby stick, one much larger than the one Rumple had used, Gaston lunged forward toward the couple, aiming to knock Rumplestiltskin in the head.

Rumple was fast and light on his feet and he easily had himself and Belle dodge the attack. Moving Belle aside, he let Gaston continue to swing at him. He just dodged every swing, letting the man wear himself out.

Gaston was getting angrier by the second. "Too cowardly to fight back?" He taunted, daring Rumple to do something besides dodge him.
"Gaston please just stop this!" Belle begged from the sidelines.

"Too stupid to give up?" Rumple said as he kept dodging. He didn't care right now, as long as Belle was all right.

Those words only fueled Gaston's temper. But he also knew this was getting him nowhere, especially if the monster refused to fight back.
Seizing the opportunity as he came inches within Belle, he turned swiftly on his feet, dropped the stick and grab Belle in his arms locking her in a chokehold.
Belle struggled to break free, but Gaston was just too strong.
Pulling a knife from his pocket, he held it close to Belle's head.
"Still refuse to fight coward? Even when your little girlfriend's life is on the line?"
Belle was gasping for air and unable to talk, she looked to Rumple, her eyes begging him to help her.

"Belle!" he cried, his heart racing. At first he didn't know what to do, but suddenly he snapped his fingers and Gaston was suddenly a rose on the ground behind her, the knife clattering to the ground. Rumple ran over to her and pulled her close into his arms.

Belle gasped for breath the moment she was free and tried to regain her senses. She was dizzy from the whole situation, not to mention trembling even worse than before and her heart was beating faster than ever.
"Oh Rumple," she cried in a raspy voice. She clung to him was crying yet again. A bad situation had turned into more terrifying one in a matter of minutes.

He held her close. "It's all right, come on, I'll take you home," he said and he started leading her away. "Don't worry about him, he'll turn back in a few hours with no memory of any of this, ok?"

In that moment Gaston was the last thing she ever wanted to think about. And when Rumple mentioned taking her home she became slightly hysterical. "No Rumple please…I can't go home like this…I can't tell my father or roommate what happened nor do I want to be alone." Tears streamed down her face as she begged him not to take her to her house.

He sighed softly and held her close, stroking her arm. "…How about I take you back to my place until you calm down?"

Earlier that evening, Belle had wished for him to ask her that, but this was certainly not the ideal situation she had had in mind. She sniffled and closed her eyes as she kept her head against his chest and took a few breaths to calm down. "Only if that's what you want…" She replied still trying to respect his wishes.

"I want you to be OK, I want you to feel safe," he said. "So I'll take you to my home, have some tea, pet Max and calm down, and then you can go home, yes?"

Belle nodded, unable to say much else. She did feel safe, very safe engulfed in Rumplestiltskin's arms. He tried so hard to make her believe he was a monster, but his actions from that night proved that was far from the truth.

He hugged her close and allowed a red smoke to engulf them as they disappeared to the mountain. Max bounded up to them as soon as they set foot inside.

Belle jumped just a little, having never traveled by magic before.
Max was incredibly excited to see not just his Master but the pretty lady too…that was until he saw how upset she was.
Going up to their feet he looked up at them wide eyed and whined as if to ask what was wrong.

Rumple patted Max's head and he led Belle to a sitting room and they sat together in a couch.

Max followed them and sat at their feet looking up at them. He kept inching toward Belle, whimpering and wondering if she was okay.
Belle released Rumple and reached down to pet Max. She managed a weak smile. "Hey, Max. I'm glad to see you."

"How about that tea?" he asked softly as he gently stroked her back.

"That sounds lovely," Belle replied. She was still trembling, but she certainly felt much better now that she was inside and away from everything.

Rumple then conjured a tea set to a small table in front of them and he poured her a cup.

Oh, magic! Belle had expected him to leave the room to go prepare it, which she would have been okay with since she had Max. "Thank you," she told him as she reached out to take the tea. It was warm against her hands and it smelled delicious. She took a sip from it and moaned with pleasure. This was exactly what she needed.

Rumple poured himself a cup and drank as well. "Feel better?"

"Yes, a little," she told him. She glanced down at her cup and twirled it in her hands. It was made of gorgeous white porcelain with a small blue design on the side and gold around the rim. "Thank you, for saving me," she said softly.

"Of course," he replied. "You're welcome." He looked at her, touching her back again. He… He still wanted to kiss her…but this really wasn't the right time.

Closing her eyes, Belle just took a moment to enjoy his touch. It made her heart ache for him ever so slightly, but she was too shaken up to think about it too much.
He was incredibly caring though, and kind…why did he think he was such a monster when it was clear that he wasn't.
Belle turned her head so that she could look at him directly. "You see you're not a monster or a beast… No monster would have done what you did tonight. Now Gaston he was the true monster."

He sighed softly and looked at her. "….Maybe…" he finally admitted.

Wow…he was actually admitting it…or at least on the verge of admitting it. It was certainly a start. Something right then made her wonder-did part of him actually believe he was a monster and that it all wasn't just a mask? But why would he believe such a thing?
"Rumple," she asked softly, "why do you want to be alone?"

He froze for a moment, looking at her nervously. "….I…. I just do better alone," he said. "And no one would want to be around me anyway…"

"But why do you think that? I enjoy being around you…" She didn't blush this time when she said that. Whether she wanted more from him or not, she would want to be his friend and there was no reason to feel bashful about that.

"I can't believe that because everyone who has ever been around me wanted to run for the hills. And if you weren't trying to convince me to go to the Christmas party, you wouldn't be here either."

Now Belle was intrigued…he was sort opening up. "That's not entirely true. Yes the party is what brought us together, but even if you do decide not to go, I hope we can remain friends…"

He nodded. "I hope so too. I've never had a friend…" But he didn't just want to be her friend…

Belle looked at him surprised. "Really? Never? Not even when you were a little boy? Surely you've had someone…"
It was hard to believe that he had truly never had another to call friend.

"I told you, I didn't have a childhood," he said. "My whole life, I've pretty much been up here on the mountain."

"Oh that's right…" she said having forgotten. "And since you've lived here, has anyone else ever tried to come visit you-besides me?"

"Only annoying teenagers on dares, but the farthest they ever came was to Max, they always ran."

Belle's heart ached for him. Lonely was not strong enough a word to describe him. Being desolate all his life was probably why he had grown to be so angry and think of himself so poorly.
Belle smiled assuring at him and reached over to place her hand on top of his. "Well you have me now and I'm not going anywhere…"

He looked at her and held her hand. "…Thank you," he said softly, and he gazed at her. He thought about when they were skating, and how much he had wanted to kiss her. Could he… Could he kiss her now?

He was staring at her again, somewhat like he had when they had fallen on the ice and she had considered that he might wanted to kiss her then. But she didn't want to get her hopes up and she turned her head when Max barked.
She smiled at the wolf, releasing Rumple's hand to rub Max's head. "I'm glad to be your friend as well…"

Rumple jumped when Max barked and he glared at the wolf for a minute. He then chuckled at her words. "Max really likes you as well."

"I like him too," Belle replied, paying a lot of attention to the wolf.
"How did you find him?" Belle was curious about Rumple's past and he didn't seem to want to open up about it, but surely he would tell her about Max.

"Oh, he was a little pup when I found him, a runt. His mother had just given up on him, and he was very small and weak. So I took him in and nursed him to health. With my magic I was able to enhance his growing, but now he's just a big puppy," he explained, scratching the wolf's ears.

Max licked his lips and closed his eyes, just enjoying being pampered.
"I'm glad you have him," Belle commented.
She reached over to take another sip of her tea, before relaxing back against the couch. She was still a little shaken up about what had happened, but she was certainly calming down.

"I'm glad to have him too," he said. "He's a good companion."

Belle sat there for a few moments, just watching how Rumple was with Max. It was easy to see that he adored his dog…wolf…and she couldn't help but begin to imagine what life would be like if he were to invite her in it-as more than just a friend.

Rumple looked at Belle and sighed softly. "You know, I… I don't know whether or not it matters, but… But you mean a lot to me, Belle…"

Belle looked at him with droopy eyes-it was very late at this point-and managed to smile a little bigger. "It does matter," she told him softly, assuming he meant his statement in terms of friendship.
She yawned and settled her head against the back of the couch, making herself a little more comfortable. "You certainly mean a lot to me too…"

He smiled softly. "I'm glad." He knew she was tired but he didn't know if he should take her home now or not.

"Will you tell me a story Rumple?" she asked to tired to decide if she was overstepping her bounds by asking that of him. "To take my mind off everything?"

He smiled softly, wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and nodded. He began to tell her a story about a beautiful young woman, and a terrible beast…

At the beginning of the story Belle listened intently, enjoying every second of it. But as time went on her eyes became heavier and heavier and soon she was fast asleep, having shifted and falling up against Rumple's side.

When she fell asleep, his eyes widened and he froze. He had no idea what to do; this had never happened before. He looked at her as she slept and stroked her hair. His heart was racing, but he didn't dare move her. Or should he move her? Should he send her home? Or to a bed in his mountain? What if she woke? He honestly had no idea what to do and before he could decide he ended up falling asleep too with her in his arms and Max curled up at their feet.