AN: Wait for it…

Emma has been sitting on Belle's couch for about 5 minutes now without having said anything other than, 'She treats me like a bloody child!' before practically slamming the door behind her. Belle doesn't push her to talk she merely stands up, walks over to the kitchen, and grabs a beer for the blonde and refills her glass of wine before moving back to sit on the couch beside the angry woman.

The 'she' in Emma's statement is most likely referring to one of two people; her mother or Regina, and if Belle has learnt anything it's that the Saviour will only start talking when she wants to. If asked she will say it's nothing and try to change to subject.

"She's trying to force me to go to that stupid ball."

Ah, Snow it is, Belle thinks to herself as she twists in her seat to look at the blonde better.

"She thinks you'll have fun."

"But, not once, has she asked me if I actually want to go."

"She just wants to share something with you that she enjoys. You're tastes are very different, she doesn't get to do that a lot."

The blonde sighs before taking a sip of the beer Belle has placed in her hand and settles back into couch. "I know. Why do you have to out logic my anger?" She sighs again. "She just goes about it like I'm 5 or something, it pisses me off. I have a 12 year old son for God's sake."

"Why don't you want to go?" she asks, taking a sip of her wine.

"Because it's stupid. Dresses. Dancing. It's just not my thing, alright?"

Belle narrows her eyes at the blonde. "You can't dance, can you?" she asks with mirth happily dancing behind her eyes, seeing right through Emma's anger.

"What? I can dance…" she protests but sighs when she sees the challenging look in the brunette's eyes realising she's lost. "Just not fancy, old timey dancing. But that's not the reason I don't want to go." Belle just gives her the bullshit look. "Fine," Emma says with an eye roll and a small smile helplessly spreading across her stubborn face. "It might be one of the reasons."

"Why not just ask one of your parents to teach you? They would agree in a heartbeat."

"I just… I don't know," she says slumping further into the sofa, laying her head on the back.

Belle bumps their shoulders together lightly, gaining the attention of the blonde, after having an idea. "Why don't I teach you?"

"W-what?" Emma stumbles over her question as Belle removes the beer from her grip and places both their drinks onto the coffee table. "No, I-" Reaching for the blonde's wrist, she pulls her to her feet, ignoring the stuttering protests. She practically skips over to the mp3 dock sitting on the kitchen counter that currently houses Emma's old mp3 and replacing it with her own. She picks a song that roughly matches a simple, slow step dance. Emma had spent a couple of hours helping Belle find songs similar to those back in the Enchanted Forest.

"Come on," she says offering her hand to the awkwardly shuffling Saviour, "It's easy. Just follow my lead."

Emma tries to - she really does - but between focusing on where Belle wants her to step, move her hands, and trying not to stare at the cute concentration etched across the brunette's face, she ends up having to apologies multiple times for stepping on toes.

"I can't do this," Emma groans in frustration, moving away and letting her arms drop heavily by her sides.

"You can," Belle says while trying to stop the blonde from sitting back down on the sofa. "Maybe you should lead since you kept trying to anyway."

"No, I just can't-"

"Emma, I'm not gonna stop bugging you until you at least try," she says with a slightly evil grin.

Emma sighs and rolls her eyes, "Fine."

Belle smiles and decides to simplify the dance by leaving out the hand movements. She starts the song from the beginning, and moves Emma's right hand to sit on the small of her back before placing her left on the blondes shoulder. She grips Emma's other hand with her right and holds it out to the side at shoulder height. They settle into the new position with their noses just inches from each other's. Were we this close last time? they both ask themselves.

They start moving their feet, Belle having already taught Emma the steps when she'd been leading. She tries to ignore the feel of Emma's hands on her as she lets the blonde move her gently across the floor. Their movements are smoother now but Emma still manages to step on one of the brunette's feet, throwing them off their rhythm again.

Emma releases a frustrated breath that Belle feels brush against her cheek. The Sheriff scrunches her eyes shut, and leans her head forward not intending for their foreheads to meet but not moving away either when they do. Belle moves a reassuring hand from the blonde's shoulder up to her neck gaining the Saviour's attention. Their eyes meet before flicking down to the other's lips. They both move closer, removing the remaining distance between them. When their lips meet, Belle feels Emma pull her closer while their hands that are out to the side, drop to thigh height still joined and Belle buries her left hand further into blonde hair.

Belle has never felt such a loving act before. The feel of Emma's lips on her own is soft and meaningful without any ulterior motive. She loses herself in the moment, forgetting about how this came to be and just enjoys Emma holding her close as if she never wants to let go.

There are few occasions where Emma has ever felt truly content in her life; playing video games with Lily in the holiday home they broke into as kids, relaxing with Neal while watching some cheesy show in a shitty motel, when Henry smiles wide at her, and right now. She's just hoping this moment wouldn't be ruined like two of her other once peaceful memories.

They part for air, moving their foreheads against the others again, both with smiles bright on their faces, eyes still closed. They stay like that for a while the only movements being Belle's right hand gliding up the blonde's arm to cup her cheek and Emma's left going to rest on the brunette's hip.

"About time," Belle says with her smile evident in her voice, making Emma chuckle.

They open their eyes and move away slightly to be able to properly look at the other.

"Is that all it takes to get out of a dance lesson?" the blonde asks with a grin. "Will it work a second time?"

"I don't know... Why don't you find out?"

AN: *Sigh* Finally, it only took 10 chapters.

So, there're at least 3 more chapters left.