A/N: So I just checked the legacy story stats for this story and was very excited to find several things that just earned you loverly readers a new installment of this fic. 32 people have alerted this story! 32! I'm very impressed by this number, and also very excited. I would like a fewww more reviews, but hey—I'm not gonna be super picky about it. You guys are the best—2000 hits+ in only 4 days? Even better. So here's the next chapter. Prepare for drama, drama, and more drama.

Warning: This chapter really takes on the T rating that I gave the story.

The Impossible Truth

Chapter 8

"Well I'm glad for your interest in roommate hood Rosette, but I just gave away the space last night, I'm sorry," Ruby told Belle that morning while they waited for orders in the kitchen. Belle sighed sadly. That was the fourth opening that had suddenly closed up on her out of nowhere. It seemed like vacancies at all were hard to come by. She didn't know how much longer she could stay in a room here at Granny's.

"No, that's alright Ruby, I understand," Belle replied sadly. "It seems like all of the open vacancies for apartments have suddenly closed up..." Ruby gave Belle a light smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"Why are you interested in finding an apartment Rosette? I thought you were living with Mr. Gold. What happened?" she asked.

"We uh… got in a pretty massive fight. I said some things, he said some things, and well...I left. He tried to get me to stay briefly...but I said something that I regret terribly," Belle answered, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment at the thought of the fight she had engaged in with Mr. Gold nearly two weeks before. She neglected to mention the event that happened in the middle of the argument, which had almost convinced her. She found herself wondering what would have happened if she had stayed. If she hadn't said that horrible statement, would things be different? The answer was undoubtedly yes. But it was far too late to change anything now.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...he tried to get you to stay?" Ruby asked suddenly. "That is so not…" she was cut off by the chef, who grunted to get their attention.

"Hey girls! Stop chit chatting and get back to work. Gold's order is up!" he said from behind them. Belle looked longingly at Ruby, who shook her head.

"He's at one of your tables Rosie, just take the guy his food, it's not like you have to lead an intelligent discussion with him or something!" Ruby said. Belle grabbed the plate and scowled at Ruby on her way out. She put on a fake smile for her patron, and set the plate in front of him gently.

"Can I get anything else for you today Mr. Gold?" she asked, as she was supposed to. He didn't look up from his paper.

"This will do thanks."

"I'll uh, just bring you the check then..." Belle stammered, turning to go.

"You do that," he spoke smoothly as she made her way across the restaurant, refilling coffee and collecting checks with tips from her tables. At one, she saw a small note, scrawled on the back of the check. She remembered that the man from the DMV, Lewis had sat there earlier. She picked up the thin paper, as well as the generous fifteen dollar tip he had left her. She was surprised at such a large amount of money—especially when involved with waitressing. She looked down at the note curiously. Meet me at the DMV tonight at 7, is what the note read. She rolled her eyes and shoved it in her pocket making her way back into the kitchen and setting down her empty coffee pot to be refilled. Then picked up a full one.

"What's that?" Ruby asked as she turned to go back out into the dining room.

"What's what?" Belle asked, turning to face Ruby. The woman sauntered forward and plucked Lewis's note from her apron pocket. She read it over; and an evil smile crossed her face. Belle became immediately frightened.

"Somebody liiikes you," Ruby singsonged teasingly.

"No! He just...no!" Belle cried, trying to grab the note without spilling the coffee.

"Lewis…hey that's the sexy DMV guy isn't he?" Ruby continued to tease. Belle tried to grab it and she stumbled forward, managing not to spill the coffee.

"Ruby, give it back!" Belle screeched. "Do you want the whole restaurant to hear you?" she added in a hiss.

"You just don't want Mr. Gold to hear!" Ruby said smugly. Belle rolled her eyes.

"Of course I don't captain obvious!" Belle said. "Now give it back!" Ruby put the note gently in Belle's pocket.

"Better take Mr. Gold his check!" she said through a giant grin, grabbing a couple of plates and going into the dining room. Belle grabbed the paper and pushed open the dining room door, making her way across the room once more. She set the check down in front of Mr. Gold, and she picked up his empty plate in return. He had resumed reading the paper, so Belle attempted to ignore him until he left, and she could collect the tip he left—that was, IF he left her one. As she turned to leave, she heard his paper crinkle as if he was turning the page.

"I'd be careful tonight if I were you Miss Taylor," he said in a monotonous voice. "People here aren't quite as they seem." Belle turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. Mr. Gold set down his paper and turned to look at her for the first time in a week. His brown pools bore into her blue ones.

"I mean, that date that you got invited on this evening. I would just be careful if I were you." Belle locked her jaw in anger.

"I'm not going on any date, what are you talking about?" she growled.

"I know about the note Lewis left for you. Tell Ruby she needs to be quieter," Mr. Gold said, picking up his cane and newspaper. He dropped a five on the table and left without a second glance at Belle. She watched as he limped out of the restaurant and then she picked up the tip he left her and shoved it into her pocket.


At one point in time, Belle thought that being ignored and alone was the worst possible thing that could happen to her. After her fight with Mr. Gold, she changed that paradigm. She didn't necessarily mind being ignored by Mr. Gold, because he was such a loner, and he didn't really LIKE making conversation that much. The weeks dragged by and Belle could swear that he was sitting in a booth that she had to cover at Granny's—just to intimidate her. Just so she would have to talk to him. At that time, Belle decided that Mr. Gold's simple statements to her while she worked were by far, much worse than being ignored by him. At least that's what she told Lewis as they walked along the forest path that evening.

She walked with her hands together behind her back, in order to avoid holding hands with him. She didn't want to have anything to do with this guy to be honest. He was so superficial, he only cared about himself—it was clear that he only wanted to be with her because he wanted something from her. She didn't know what he wanted exactly, but she would be sure to find out.

"I hope you don't mind that I packed sandwich ingredients instead of premade sandwiches. I didn't know what kind of deli meat and cheese you like," Lewis said as he set out the picnic in the forest clearing. Belle sat down and looked at the variety he had brought with him. He had just about every kind of meat, cheese, topping, and condiment known to man. The only limited object was bread, which was sourdough. It was actually very impressive, made her more suspicious about what he wanted. Belle sat down across from Lewis on the blanket and picked up the ingredients she'd use for her meal: bread, mayo, mustard, pickles, tomatoes, salami, ham, and pastrami, as well as three slices of Swiss cheese. The ultimate sandwich invented by her cousin when she was young.

"Good looking sandwich there Rosie," Lewis said—putting the bread on top of his own creation. He pulled a bottle of wine and two crystal glasses out of the wicker basket. "Want some wine?"

"Oh—I don't drink…" Belle said. Lewis laughed and opened the bottle, pouring a reasonable amount into one of the glasses.

"Come on, it's just wine," Lewis said. "Unless you're pregnant or something." Belle shook her head.

"I'm not pregnant, I just don't drink…" Belle said sternly. Lewis began pouring some into the other glass and he held it out to Belle.

"Then just have one glass, if you hate it—I won't push you anymore," he said. "But I'll bet you're scared." Belle snatched the glass from Lewis and scowled.

"Fine, but there is a reason why I don't drink," Belle said. Lewis smirked and held up his glass.

"Then cheers—to a sandwich eating and wine drinking," he said. Belle clinked her glass against Lewis' and they both took a small sip. She clacked her tongue at the taste and shook her head.

"Sorry, it's just…too bitter for me…" she said. Lewis took her glass and poured it into his.

"Your loss," he said. Belle sighed and took a bite of her sandwich. The two ate in silence for a bit, Lewis pouring himself more wine every five to ten minutes or so. Belle was ultimately worried that he was going to get drunk and try to do something stupid. So far he seemed fine—but because she didn't drink, she couldn't tell unless they were drinking whiskey and drunk out of their mind. "So…why don't you drink?" Lewis asked.

"My father was a raging alcoholic. He drank a lot when I was little, and then he'd take it out on me. The war in my hometown was putting a lot of stress on him," Belle explained. Lewis listened intently as she told him this. She turned her head to face the setting sun.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that Rosette…" Lewis said. "It must have been really hard…"

"It was. I haven't seen my father since he sent me away when I was 19. I uh…returned, but he shunned me." Lewis began packing up the picnic supplies, seeing as they had both finished their meals. Belle helped as much as she could.

"So I have a question for you…" Belle asked as they began walking back to town. The sun had long set by now, so it was darker. Lewis turned to her in expectation. He didn't ask what, or what's up. So Belle simply continued with, "What was the purpose in bringing me all the way out here? Don't get me wrong, dinner was amazing…but we could have simply gone to Granny's or…" she was cut off by a powerful shove, and her back hit a tree very forcefully—almost to a point where she lost her breath. A sharp gasp was the result of this. As she tried to escape Lewis' grasp, a foreign pair of lips crashed down on hers—biting on her bottom lip. She tasted the familiar metallic tang of blood pooling in her mouth.

"I want you…" he hissed in a voice that was not his own. She could smell the wine in his breath, and she struggled against his grasp. "I've wanted you since the day you came into the DMV to get your ID." Belle grunted and struggled, trying to break free. Her attempts failed as he forced himself on her.

"No! No stop! Please!" she cried. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Please! I'm a virgin!" she heard a low, intimidating chuckle.

"Well this will be even more fun!" Lewis said. Belle let out a high pitched screech. "Well for me at least," he added a moment later. He pushed his torso up against hers in order to pin her up against the tree while he fondled her breasts roughly. She whimpered and tried to yell—but it was to no avail. She clenched her eyes shut and prepared for the worst.

Suddenly the pressure was lifted off of her and she fell to the ground because of the lack of restraint. She heard a cry of pain and she turned her head to see Lewis, on the ground… She could only see it because of the car headlights that were shining on Lewis and the assailant. It was Mr. Gold. He stopped when he was sure that Lewis was unconscious. He turned to Belle, half anger and half relief in his eyes. Tears rolled down Belle's cheeks so far she could have cried an ocean.

"Are you okay Belle?" he asked, holding a hand out to her. She opened her eyes, and even in her blurred vision, she could see that he had saved her. She shook her head and clenched her eyes shut again. She shook in fear and curled into a ball. Suddenly, she was pulled up and found herself in Mr. Gold's embrace. She let him hug her as she cried into his shirt. "It's okay now…you're safe…everything is going to be okay," he said in a calming tone. "Is there anything I can do to make it better?" Belle sniffed and pulled herself away.

"I want to go home…" she managed to choke out. "I just want to go home." Mr. Gold moved so that he had his arm around her shoulder and he guided her towards his car.

"Then that's where we'll go love…that's exactly where we're going to go…" he said.

A/N: MWAHAHAHA! Gold pulled a "Moe French" on Lewis! Lol.

Your silent numbers continue to encourage the continuation of this story. However—I would like reviews. PLEASE tell me what you think of this chapter. I will get more out ASAP. Thanks for reading.

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