It wasn't Baelfire. The thought replayed over and over in his head, and the more he repeated it, the more sick he felt. He'd been fooled. He had been desperate enough, that he didn't recognize his own child. What sort of father was he?

He got home by breaking a few speed limits, but Swan didn't seem on duty today. Small blessings. He'd rather not scream at her today and then have her poke about in his private life because she thought he was a psychopath.

He tore the door open and slammed it shut, the sound echoing in the big rooms. He then just stood there, breathing like he'd run a marathon and he felt like he was simultaneously burning and being drowned in an ice bath.

He saw the tea set on the table in the living room and he had to do something.

So he grabbed the first offender and hurled it at the wall farthest away.

They sailed through the living room into the kitchen, china smashing with very satisfying sounds against the wall. The teapot was an exceptionally grand smash, and for a moment he suddenly remembered what he was doing. He looked down at the next victim in his hand and suddenly he saw the chipped cup and he saw Belle.

-x-x-x-

"Nat?"

Nat was so startled, so far away in his mind that he jumped and dropped the cup in his hand. It cracked against the floor and broke in several large pieces. Nat only stared down at the cluster of china and Ian swallowed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I-" Nat didn't get very far before his throat close up on him. His hand was still raised, empty and shaking. He made a sound that was half a sob and half a whine, and Ian didn't like it. He walked over and pulled him close without asking for permission, but Nat didn't seem to protest. Rather, he just melted against Ian and clung to his shirt while burying his face in his neck.

"Nat, what happened?" Ian asked softly.

"Nothing," Nat mumbled.

Ian rolled his eyes, "As if I'm going to believe that."

"It's all you're going to get now," Nat said.

"Then I'm looking forward to later," Ian countered and Nat sighed.

"I suppose you can't be persuaded to leave it be?"

"No."

Nat hummed, "In that case I better start cleaning up the mess."

"What the cup? I can do that," Ian said.

"I'm talking about the mess in the kitchen."

Ian turned his head was saw a decent sized pile of broken china. He spotted the snout of the tea pot and grimaced, "You really went all out, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm a dab hand at gluing things back together. I'm sure I can scavenge at least a cup or two, maybe even the teapot," Ian was fairly optimistic. He smiled but Nat wouldn't look up. He was shaking. "Nat, please don't cry," Ian said gently.

"I'm not crying," Nat said, as if saying it out loud would make it true.

"Of course not," Ian nodded.

Nat exhaled sharply, looking up, "Promise me something?"

"Of course," Ian prompted.

"Never ever lie to me?" Nat asked.

Ian nodded and held him close, "I promise."

"Thank you," Nat responded.

Ian smiled, "Let's get you to bed. I'll clean up the tea set."

Nat let Ian help him upstairs. "Sleep in your clothes again?" Ian asked with a smile as Nat pulled the covers aside and slipped into the bed. He pushed off his shoes and pulled the duvet back to cover him up. He looked like he wanted to curl up and cry. "You'll be alright, luv?" Ian asked, putting his hand on Nat's arm.

"Maybe," Nat settled for.

Ian let out a breath and squeezed his arm before exiting the room quietly, closing the door behind him.

-x-x-x-

Ian snuck in, opening the door millimeter by millimeter to avoid the squeak- Nat turned his head slightly at the noise, but his breath was steady and he didn't wake up. Ian grit his teeth and tip toed to the dresser to change. He shot discreet looks at Nat, checking constantly for signs of alertness. He'd rather have Nat sleep as long as he had to, than have him wake up and shut Ian out because something had happened.

Ian shrugged to himself. Nat would take the time he needed. He settled in the bed quickly, moving closer to Nat and he was surprised when Nat seemed to arch his back against him in his sleep. The surprise was quickly pushed aside and Ian grabbed the opportunity to throw his arm around Nat's middle. Nat didn't throw him off and that was a good sign. Ian used his free hand to push Nat's long hair out of his face and settled against the soft pillows.

It had been a while since they'd done this.

Ian closed his eyes for what felt like a second when suddenly Nat twitched. Ian didn't take much notice and tried to go back to sleep, but then the twitches became frequent, tossing and turning and Ian sat up, "Nat?" He reached out and put his hand on Nat's arm and the clearly dreaming individual was suddenly wide awake.

"No!" Nat screamed and flailed to a sitting position, and Ian panicked.

"Nat, calm down!" he yelled, and hopefully the neighbors were sleeping soundly. "Calm down, you're just dreaming! Nat," Ian pulled Nat closer but Nat was shaking too much to be held. "Calm down. Breathe," Ian tried instead, gently pushing Nat's chin up so their eyes could meet. The dark brown orbs were still hazy from sleep, but the haunted look shined through. Ian breathed slowly and it took a little too long before Nat began to copy.

"Ian?"

"Yeah?"

"… Nothing," Nat shook his head, then reached out and Ian gladly welcomed the embrace.

"Bad dream?" Ian guessed and Nat nodded. "Want to talk about it?" he continued, knowing very well what reply he'd get.

"In the morning, maybe."

Ian inhaled sharply, nodding to himself and pulling Nat closer.

Progress was being made.

Nat slowly began to relax in Ian's arms. Ian leaned back, pulling Nat down with him and briefly utilizing one arm for grabbing the blankets to cover them up again. Nat was asleep in seconds. Ian had a bad feeling about this.

-x-x-x-

Gold woke up to Ian's arm around his waist. Again. But for the first time since he broke the curse on himself, he was happy about waking up like this. It made him momentarily forget that his life had cracked once more last night and he was really feeling like he was going to throw up. He carefully maneuvered Ian's arm off his waist and got out of the bed.

Time to sneak away from that explanation he'd almost promised.

He went to the bathroom and closed the door, looking at himself in the mirror. He looked approximately like he felt. When he got out of the bathroom, Ian was still sleeping. Gold didn't change and headed downstairs, quickly noticing how high the sun was in the sky. The clock on the wall said 9:30, but that couldn't be right because Gold had set his alarm-

"Nat?"

Probably Ian's doing.

"Yeah?"

"Come back to bed."

Gold swallowed, "In a minute." He slowly made his way upstairs, taking the steps one at a time and wondering if he should prepare himself mentally. He approached the door and could hear fabric rustling, "What are you doing?"

"… Would you believ me if I said I was making the bed?"

Gold snorted, "No, I'd assume the correct answer to my question would be 'undressing'."

"Aren't you the town psychic?" Ian grumbled. Gold snorted and Ian quickly added, "Would it make it better if I called you 'unbelievably tempting'?"

"Ian, you better be dressed when I get in there," Gold put his hand on the knob and he could hear slightly more frantic rustling. It looked like Ian had managed to get his shirt on, but the pants were still on the floor. "Charming," Gold commented dryly, but shuffled back to bed anyway. As far as he remembered, Ian didn't go commando. "Tempting?" he inquired afterwards and Ian shrugged.

"Made you pause, didn't it?" he reasoned.

"Put your pants on," Gold sighed, leaning back against the pillows while Ian mumbled something about wasted opportunities. And now Gold actually felt bad. "Well, excuse me if I'm not in the mood," he said sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood somewhat.

Ian got his pants on and dived under the duvet again, snuggling up close and Gold leaned his head away. "Can we cuddle?" Ian asked, recalling the request Gold made a few weeks ago.

Gold mockingly groaned, "Fine."

Ian didn't waste time and snaked both arms around Gold's waist, pulling closer. Gold clenched his eyes shut briefly while Ian got settled. A gentle hand pushed his hair out of his face and when he opened his eyes, bright blue were looking at him with something eerily similar to happiness. Gold licked his lips and averted his gaze. Ian then pushed so that Gold's head was resting on his chest and for a few seconds he could only hear silence. Then came the heartbeat and he was… comfortable. He liked this. And Ian was petting his hair, which was always a plus. But he was rather fond of his reputation, meaning that this particular feat only happened inside the house.

Ian didn't mind. Like the unknowing fool he was, he was content with what he got.

"Nat?"

Gold startled, suddenly realizing that his eyes had closed and he'd drifted. "What is it?" he asked.

Ian let out a chuckle, "Were you asleep?"

"There's no point in me saying 'no' is there?"

"No."

Gold snorted, admitting defeat with his head resting on Ian's chest and Ian ran a hand up and down his side. It tickled and he tried to block the sensation out. "Want to go make breakfast?" Ian asked, taking pity on him and Gold was definitely on board with that suggestion. The shift from lying to standing had his head swimming for a few seconds and Ian automatically handed him his cane. "Are we having a lie in? 'Cause I'm not going to change if you're not going to," Ian stated plainly.

"Well, I'll put on a robe," Gold started.

"Are we too old to sit in our pajamas all day?" Ian asked.

Gold considered it and came to the conclusion 'probably'. But he shook his head, "I really don't care today." He was far too tired to care about appearances today. It wasn't like there was something he had to do. They went into the hallway, and Gold yawned, actually swaying a bit and Ian instinctually put him up against the wall. "I'm not going to fall, you nonce," Gold groaned.

"To be honest I just wanted you like this," Ian said, for once being the one to blush first.

"Oh," Gold closed his mouth after nothing useful came out. Ian slowly leaned closer, but didn't go for a kiss. Instead he just rested his weight against Gold, like an intimate hug of some sort. Gold was quickly becoming fond of it.

"Marry me?" Ian asked, holding him around the waist so his leg wouldn't suffer under the pressure. Ian's breath tickled his hair and consequently, the back of his neck as well.

"Again?" he questioned.

"Please?" Ian continued sweetly.

Gold hesitated, "It really means that much to you?"

"I want it to mean something for you too," Ian said, tightening the arm around Gold's waist again and he buried his face in Gold's hair.

"Okay." If he was lucky he could put off the ceremony until after the curse had been broken. So that Ian would still have a chance to back out when he realized everything they had together was a lie. A stupid fairytale. No happy endings.

"Okay' what?" Ian murmured against Gold's neck, his brain obviously not ready.

Gold sighed and turned his head slightly, "Okay I'll marry you. But no fancy ceremony, and no grand-" He was cut off with a kiss, this one straight on the mouth and he closed his eyes. He'd been kissed on the mouth by Ian before, but this kiss was soft, lazy and hungry all at once. It felt strange, Ian's stubble scratching his face and this position wasn't exactly comfortable for his neck. He broke the kiss and turned, feeling his spine straightening again.

Ian leaned over him, putting one hand on each side of his chest and he moved down for another kiss. "My fiancé," Ian murmured in between kisses and Gold had to admit it sounded nice. Then one hand snaked under his shirt and he squirmed. Ian drew back, an odd confusion in his gaze, "What?"

"I… it's just… not now," Gold said lamely.

"Why not?" Ian asked, moving in for Gold's mouth and his hand stayed warm against Gold's back.

Gold brought up a hand and put it on Ian's chest, "No. I… I need air."

"Is this about… yesterday?" Ian asked and Gold was surprised at the impressive insight. Gold nodded and averted his gaze.

"I just need some time… to deal with the world again," he said quietly.

"It's just me, luv," Ian said reassuringly, his fingers caressing Gold's skin.

Gold removed the hand with his own, forcing Ian to move back. "I know – if it weren't you, I'd raised yer rent for calling me 'luv'. I… and I know you don't… you're not..." he trailed off and his throat clogged up, his accent thickening marginally.

"What happened yesterday, Nat?" Ian asked gently, grabbing Gold's hand and stroking it with his thumb.

Gold licked his lips, "Just… some young man came by the shop and pretended to be my son. Said he needed money because he was sick."

"Your son?"

"I thought he was dead. I never thought I'd ever see him again. And when I found out he was lying I… I didn't take it well," Gold said, trying to match the explanation to what had actually happened. August Booth had pretended to be his son to gain control of the Dark One and access magic to try and cure his illness. It was close enough and hopefully the questions would stop now.

"Where's the bastard now?" Ian asked, an edge to his words.

Gold shook his head, "He's left town already. Don't bother looking for him." He didn't need his personal knight in shining armor, Ian Hamish Rawlings, confronting Pinocchio about pretending to be Rumpelstiltskin's son Baelfire. It would undoubtedly get Regina's attention and his incognito status would be nullified within minutes. "I don't like being used," Gold said finally and Ian shot him a sympathetic and slightly surprised look.

"I'd never use you, Nat," he said.

"I know," Gold nodded. He inhaled sharply and rubbed a hand over his face, "Watch something with me?"

Ian seemed hesitant, watching Gold closely for something. Gold guessed that he found it, because he nodded and they headed for the living room. There was plenty of hours left of this day to turn it into something good.