Chapter 10:

Killian arrived at the library around ten in the morning on Saturday. He saw Audrey near the front desk and pecked her on the cheek.

"Good morning," he told her.

"Good morning. The library opens at eleven and I'm going to close it at three."

"Sounds good; what do you have to do before it opens?"

"Nothing really; I cleaned it fairly well last night." He sat next to her.

"So, it's been two weeks, right?"

"I believe so, yes. Two weeks ago you asked me to be your girlfriend, almost three."

"I think it's been the best two almost three weeks of my life."

"Mm… me too," she replied. They spent the next hour talking and being happy. At eleven she unlocked the doors and a couple people walked in. Killian helped them find their items and Audrey checked them out.

"We make a great team," he whispered to her. She just smiled. The library wasn't horribly busy today and when it was closing time it didn't take much time to clean it up.

"Hey, I've got to go run some errands, but I will come back tomorrow and we'll spend the day together." Killian told her.

"Okay, see you then." He gave her a kiss good-bye and went home to plan her surprise party. The next day he went to visit Belle and Mr. Gold.

Killian went to the pawn shop around ten on Sunday.

"Belle, Rumplestilskin, I need to have a word with you." The Dark One rolled his eyes and was about to say no when Belle interrupted him.

"Of course, come into the back room for privacy." As the three tried to make themselves comfortable in a very non comfortable situation Killian began without preamble.

"Audrey has been doing a lot of work, actually all of the work at the library and she's become much stressed." Belle looked guiltily at her husband.

"I-"

"Hold on, I'm not finished. Rumplestilskin, you owe Audrey an apology and probably even more. She did nothing to deserve the way you treated her. She is the kindest person I've ever met and she deserves the best. I know she would feel better about herself if you apologized for the cruelty you bestowed upon her."

"Rumple, what is he talking about?" Belle asked him.

"Nothing dear." He tried to cover up.

"It doesn't sound like nothing, what did you do?"

"Belle, Audrey is Rapunzel. Rumplestilskin tortured her since she was born. She was a part of a deal for him."

"Oh my God; I can't believe she never told me anything. You have to apologize to her. And if you don't I swear all of our other fights will look like a honeymoon compared to what will happen."

"Yes, dear."

The Next Day

Rumplestilskin went to the library early the next day to apologize to Audrey. Audrey just came down from her apartment when she heard the cane knocking on the door. She saw The Dark One and wanted to run away but knew she had to answer the door.

"Good morning Mr. Gold. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes, may be sit? My leg is acting up this morning." She nodded her head and led him to a table.

"I formerly apologize for my behavior in the past, Rapunzel. I've been truly terrible to you. I've heard from many people that you're a kind lady and I hope I can get to know you better. I'm truly sorry, Rapunzel." He went to stroke her hair like he did to her as a child. She flinched and his hand fell limply to his lap.

"Rumplestilskin, I forgive you. However I still don't feel comfortable around you. I have some things to do today, so if you don't mind."

"Of course not, Miss Darling," he got up and left the building. Audrey felt better after Mr. Gold apologized to her, and some of her anxiety that usually was with her disappeared.

*Two Weeks Later*

Killian woke up early on November 16 to make sure everything was perfect for Audrey's birthday. Her birthday also happened to be there first month together. He arrived at Audrey's apartment at ten in the morning. The party started at one in the afternoon and he wanted to spend the first hour with her.

"Happy Birthday, sweetheart," Killian told her as he walked into her apartment.

"Thank you, Killian. How are you today?"

"Good, but today is all about you. Do you want to watch a movie today?"

"Sure, there's this movie called Breakfast at Tiffany's and it looks really good."

"Then we shall watch that one." He brought over a DVD player last week and they had the movie in the library so he set it up and they watched the DVD. When the movie finished Killian asked if she wanted to go to Granny's for lunch. She agreed and they walked down the street to the diner.

"SURPRISE!" everyone yelled when the couple walked through the doors.

Audrey looked taken aback, "What is all of this? Is- is this for me?" she asked Killian.

"We wanted to do something nice for you, and we thought a surprise party might distress you a bit."

"Thank you." She told Killian. "Thank you everyone. This is really sweet of you." She hugged Killian and Emma's family. Then she made the rounds and thanked everyone. She saw Mr. and Mrs. Gold and went up to them.

"Hi, thank you both for coming."

"You're welcome Audrey. It's not every day your best friend turns twenty-two." Belle told her. Once Belle realized how horrible she had been treating Belle, she started to help more with the library and became a better friend.

"We put your gift on the table with all the rest, Rapunzel." Rumplestilskin told her.

"Thank you." Just then Granny came out with a cake with Happy Birthday Audrey written in frosting. She blew out the candles and made a wish.

I wish for my life to remain this happy.

And it did.