Thank you to carpelibrium, mynameisagent, Lattelady, NicoleMuenchSeidel, VyeLoyomBrightwarrior, and .kanobi for reviewing the last chapter. I really appreciate you taking to time to leave a comment and many of you have helped me make important plot and character decisions about this fic (and feel less despairing over Rumbelle).

Diolch yn fawr i chi am eich sylwadau caredig!

Here's the TENTH "Encounter".

Enjoy….

It was late. The streetlamp outside was flickering and the office's heating had gone off. Gold had wrapped himself in his coat and scarf, trying desperately to keep warm as he perused "The Gold Selection" of crappy Valentine cards. They were all standing proudly on his desk, and they were all awful. Each one cheesier than the last, and the more he stared, the more he hated the flowery images and cutesy hugging bears.

Love usually felt like a bleak and hopeless black hole, but the cards were just a punch-to-the-gut reminder that people – however foolish they were being – genuinely felt an emotion similar to those expressed by the card. He flicked the face of the bear on the closest cart and it fell flat. He sighed heavily.

The time on his computer read 9.51pm. He should have been at home, relaxing. He could have been. This wasn't urgent. It could wait until the morning, or next week. But ever since New Year's Eve, Gold's home had felt a little too big and a lot too empty. Even his bed had been too vast for such a small man, with such a small life. This cramped office, filled with work, numbers, and responsibility, was something he could hang his life on.

A gentle knock on the door distracted him. He wondered if that "don't leave without permission" conversation with his secretary had been take a little too seriously. Perhaps he'd forgotten to send her home; damn it. Now she'd want to be paid for having sat at her desk doing nothing since 5pm.

'Come in,' he muttered, leaning back in his chair and running a hand down his face. Now that he was no longer staring at the screen, the tiredness was starting to creep in.

The door opened, and a face he wasn't expecting peeped around crack.

'Belle,' he breathed, getting to his feet abruptly, and bumping his knee against the desk in his haste. All the cards fell down, which was probably some kind of metaphor for how any attempt at love was futile. Or just an indicator that he should have gone home hours ago.

'Are you okay?' she asked anxiously, stepping towards him and then thinking better of it.

'I'm fine,' he brushed off the incident, as though it was nothing, but he felt like a fool. Something about her made him feel a little foolish all the time. 'What are you doing here?'

'Oh, well, I….' She dipped her head forward, her chestnut curls hiding her face. 'I mean I….'

'We have spoken about the-'

'Not finishing sentences,' she cut him off with a smile. 'Yes, sorry. I guess I'm just a bit nervous.'

'Now, what reason could you possibly have to be nervous?' It was a genuine question. She was intoxicating. She took his breath away, he was the one who could suffocate here, not her. But Belle was looking at him with a strange expression and he realised with a sinking heart:

'You're nervous of me.'

'No,' she gabbled quickly. 'No, not at all. Just of … what you'll say.'

'I'm sorry, dearie, but I'm no mind-reader,' he leaned heavily against his desk. 'You're going to have to be a little less cryptic.'

'It was something Jenni Jottings said,' she began awkwardly. She was fiddling with the ends of her hair, and couldn't quite keep her feet still beneath her. 'Or something she didn't say, and then there was the poncho, and the book, and … well, everything really.'

'Is this what happens when you finish sentences?' he asked, with a small smile. 'Rambling?'

'I didn't expect to be so….' She laughed breathily, as she realised that – once again – she'd left the sentence dangling in the air.

This was all fear. It was an emotion he recognised. Gold had seen it on every employee who'd every dared to ask to leave early, or have a pay rise, or a day off. It was the expression of every business partner he'd done a deal with and every neighbour who'd heard the rumour of his involvement with hit men and drugs barons. It was the look he'd seen on the face of everyone he'd ever met for years.

'See, the thing is, I've never been very good at relationships,' she said, in a sudden rush of words that knocked Gold completely off guard. Relationships? 'I guess I thought that I was waiting for a handsome prince … but maybe that's not a reality. I've probably read too many books.'

'It's not possible to read too many books, dearie.'

'Well, chasing princes has brought me nothing but heartbreak. I don't want that anymore,' she revealed quietly. She'd fixed him with those eyes and he could barely look away. 'I want someone real. Someone who understands me, someone who stands by me in the world instead of paints it as evil and protects me from it.'

Gold furrowed his brow. If anything he was more confused now than he'd been before she'd began her explanation. She was yet to manage an explanation, instead she'd taken him into a fantasy world and was regaling him with what sounded like lyrical journal entries.

'What are you saying?'

'Have you ever heard of Granny's?'

'No.'

'Well, it's this new restaurant-diner in town. It's supposed to do amazing hamburgers. Maybe,' she played with her hair furiously, 'maybe, we could go together some time?'

'Together?'

'Like … a … date,' the words were slow and torturous from her plump, pink lips.

'Oh, I'd like that … so much.'

'Good.'

And then he remembered: 'What about your beardy boyfriend?'

'Charlie?' she asked. 'That was an impulse decision … based on spending too long with my father over Christmas.'

Gold didn't understand, but there was so much he didn't understand at this point that he could do little more than lean against his desk looking confused.

'He didn't get me,' Belle explained, 'not like you do. Besides,' – she took some slow, purposeful steps towards him. Gold might have stepped away had the desk not held him in place – 'I could never truly give my heart to someone as superficial as he.'

'I-is that right?' Gold stammered as the space between them closed to almost nothing. She was close enough to touch him now, if she felt so inclined.

'So what do you say … one date,' she bartered. 'One, little hamburger at Granny's.' She smiled, an earth shattering, heart-breaking kind of smile as she asked: 'What do you have to lose?'

'Belle, I-' he began to protest. 'I'm not a good man. You've heard the rumours.'

'I once told you that I see you. And that's still true; truer than ever,' she reached out and took his hands in hers. Her hands were so soft, and gentle. He was worried he'd break her if he squeezed too tightly. 'I don't see the monster you so wish everyone could see.' She brushed a thumb over his knuckles and his stomach clenched like it had when his teenage crush had first smiled at him. This felt oddly new and exciting, and certainly unfamiliar. 'I see that you're a good man, and I really would like to know you better.'

Gold stared at her. She was like a Disney Princess; big, hopeful eyes and an optimism that shone through despite all the hardships she'd faced. He owed it to her – he owed it to himself – to not let cowardice stand in his way; but the thought of a date made him anxious. He hadn't been on one in such a long time, and Belle truly deserved something good in her life. Gold very much doubted that he was her "something good", but if she kept looking at him like that then he'd certainly try to be.

'Hamburger at Granny's,' he agreed, his voice catching feebly in his throat. 'Sounds good.'

'Great,' she slid a number from her pocket and pressed it into his hand. 'Call me to arrange the details.'

And then she numbed any chance of a reply, as she pushed herself onto her tiptoes and pressed a lingering kiss to his cheek. He was dumbfounded. He felt seventeen again and it was embarrassing. He could barely choke out a "goodbye" as she sauntered away, with a sultry:

'See you soon, Mr Gold.'

Thanks for reading!

Only two "Encounters" to go (though it would be fair to say, the chapters are getting muuuch longer!)