Belle was checking her hair in her hand mirror when Adam walked into the library. "You've always been beautiful." He kissed her on the cheek before handing her the gift he had behind his back. "This is for you." He handed her a medium rectangle box with a bow on top.
Belle blushed. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. You haven't even opened it."
Belle slowly took the lid off the box and pulled out an old tattered book. "A book?"
"It's the book you gave me before I went off to fight in the Ogre War."
"You kept it, all this time?"
"Of course. I've only read it about two dozen times."
"I can't believe you still have this."
"Until now, it was the only thing that I had left of you."
Not really knowing what to say to him, she quickly changed the subject. "Where are we going tonight?"
"I was thinking we could relive old times. How does a picnic sound?"
"That sounds perfect." He extended his arm to her and she wrapped her arm around his, pulling herself as close to Adam as possible, as they left the library.
They had been on their date for hours and it was going better than Belle could have expected. They watched the sun set and were now laying under the stars. She was impressed that Adam brought enough blankets and hot chocolate to keep them warm for most of the night. "Thank you for such a wonderful night, Adam. I'm having a wonderful time."
"Only the best for you."
"So what do we do from here? My father is going to be shocked when he finds out about us."
"I can handle your father. You have to remember, next to Gaston, I was his most trusted soldier."
"But things have changed so much since then. I mean, I was married to the Dark One."
"Let's move past that. I'll forget about it if you do." Belle began to laugh.
However, she was quickly cut off by her ex-husband. "I don't know if that would be in your best interest."
Adam quickly stood up to defend Belle. "What are you doing here?"
"Thinking about why I didn't let you die."
Belle quickly stood up and joined Adam. "Adam, what is his talking about?"
"It's nothing, Belle. It was a long time ago. Besides, Dark One, I believe we're square on our deal."
"Deal, what deal? Adam, what did you do?"
Rumplestiltskin began mocking him. "Yes, Adam, you wouldn't want to start out your relationship with a lie, would you?"
"He saved my life during the Ogre War. I gave him something so he would save my life. And we're even. So you'd best be going on your way, if you know what's good for you."
"Is that a threat, dearie?"
"And what if it is?"
Belle stepped in the middle of them. "Stop it right now, both of you!"
"If you ever step foot near Belle again, you're going to have another problem on your hands, Dark One."
Belle quickly turned to her former lover. "Why are you here, Rumple?"
"I wanted to make sure that this beast wasn't going to harm you."
"He isn't going to hurt me. And I'm a grown woman, Rumple. I can take care of myself. You have no right to keep doing this. I'm free to do what I want, whenever I want, with whoever I want. What part of we're through don't you understand?"
"I've fought for you once, and you came back. Why would I not fight for you again?"
"Because this is different, Rumple. Before you fought for me to regain my memories of you, you wanted me to remember why I loved you. Now, I know everything, which is why we can never be together. Adam is my one true love, not you."
Adam looked at Belle, completely stunned by what she just said. "Really?"
She slightly nodded before addressing the Dark One once again. "Rumple, I'm sorry, but if you're not going to leave, we will." Belle picked up their things and the two of them walked off, leaving Rumplestiltskin alone in dark.
