Belle woke up to find Gold looking down at her. He smiled and brushed her hair back from her face. "Good morning, beautiful."

She smiled back. "Good morning, handsome."

He laughed. "I see you're still half asleep."

"I'm actually wide awake." She thought he was extremely gorgeous and sexy. "Don't you know how attractive you are?" She couldn't believe he'd doubt himself in any way.

"I have no illusions about my looks… but I love that you think I am. You always make me feel good about myself." He leaned forward to kiss her.

She responded by putting her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately. Their naked bodies were pressed against each other and Gold's arousal was very evident to both of them.

Gold ran his hands down her side to her hips. He caressed her curves and then grasped her to pull her closer to him. She whimpered a little and broke their kiss. "I really like what we did last night, Rum." She felt herself blushing a little.

"Are you trying to tell me that you'd like to have your way with me again?" He couldn't help smirking.

She answered by kissing him and draping her right leg over his hip. "Yes, but I think we should wait until later."

Gold groaned. "How'd I know you were going to say that?" He laughed.

Belle laughed too."You learn quickly."

They lay there with their bodies entwined together, just kissing and savoring the feeling of being close. Belle raked her hand through his hair and kissed his chest.

Gold felt his heart racing. "You've awakened a desire in me that can't be quenched. My need for you keeps growing more intense."

"Mine too. I can't seem to get close enough to you." She looked up into his eyes.

"Oh, Belle." He kissed the top of her head.

She nestled closer to him. They stayed like that for a long time. Gold finally broke the silence.

"Listen, I'm going to head home to check on Pandora and to shower and change. Why don't you get ready while I'm gone? I'll be back in a while and we'll go out to breakfast. After that I want you to come to my shop with me. I have something there I want to show you."

"OK, but I'll miss you while you're gone." She caressed his cheek.

He smiled. "I won't be long… and it will give you a chance to think about what I owe you. We defaulted on our deal again and now it's my turn to pay the price."

That seemed to cheer her up. Gold left and Belle took a shower and got dressed. She thought a little bit about Milah and her father and decided that she needed to come clean with Rum about her concerns. She was more nervous than she wanted to admit and she needed to share that with him. If he couldn't reassure her, at least he could put his arms around her. Even that would make her feel better.

Belle decided to go downstairs to wait in the common area for Gold to return. She didn't want to make him climb the stairs again and she also thought she'd check out the small library room that she'd noticed the other day. She was only there for a few minutes when she heard the front door open. Gold entered the inn and Belle ran over to greet him. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. He put his arm around her back and pulled her close. When she broke the kiss he grinned at her. "I wasn't gone that long, was I?"

"No, you were pretty quick. I'm just happy to see you."

Gold chuckled. "There you go being adorable again." He stood there smiling at her for a minute before he offered her his arm. Belle linked her arm in his and they headed over to Granny's.

When they entered the restaurant, Gold immediately noticed that the corner booth was open. That made him happy since it would offer them a little more privacy.

"Are you hungry?" Gold asked.

"I'm starving for some reason." Belle answered honestly.

"Must be from all the calories you burned last night and this morning." Gold couldn't help pointing out.

Belle laughed. "You must be starving too."

"I am. I'm getting the blueberry pancakes with a fried egg and bacon. That should be enough. What about you?"

"I'm getting the same thing."

They ordered their food and then Gold got more serious. "I wanted to tell you a little bit about me and Milah and Neal, Belle. I know you want to hear more about them and I want you to know." He paused and Belle put her hand over his. "Thanks, Rum."

"Do you have some specific questions for me? I feel funny just rambling on." He looked at her.

"Do you want to tell me how you met and what made you decide to get married?" She wasn't jealous of Milah, but she needed to know what drew Rum to her.

"We met as graduate students in college. Milah used to see me studying at the library and evidently became interested in me for some reason. She kept finding ways of getting my attention until I finally expressed some interest in her." Gold chuckled. "I was extremely focused on my work so I spent almost no time thinking about dating or meeting anyone. Anyway, I got the message after about 6 months and we began to see one another." Gold hesitated. "Things heated up pretty quickly and before I knew it we were discussing marriage."

"What made you fall in love with her?" Belle needed to know more.

"Ah… that's not an easy question to answer, believe it or not. Milah and I challenged each other in certain ways. We enjoyed outwitting each other. The relationship was pretty volatile and I think we mistook passion and lust for love. We weren't affectionate or nurturing. It wasn't until after we were married that I realized that I needed that from a relationship, but Milah didn't. I felt as though I was missing something and Milah felt inadequate. It all went downhill from there.

"I'm sorry, Rum." Belle took his hand and squeezed it.

"That's what makes you so different, Belle. Look how nurturing and affectionate you are. I've never really had that from anyone other than Neal and I've felt a void in my life because of it."

Belle felt tears forming in her eyes. "What about your parents?"

"They died when I was very young and I was raised by my father's distant cousins. They provided for me, but they never warmed up to me. It's always been difficult for anyone to really love me and I've accepted that. I'm just not loveable."

Belle now had tears running down her cheeks. "That's not true." She could barely choke it out.

Gold felt terrible that he had made Belle cry. He took her hands. "Belle, sweetheart… I didn't mean to make you cry. You have so much compassion. I'm sorry."

Belle tried to wipe the tears away. Gold looked helpless. She tried to smile at him. "At least you have Neal. He must have meant everything to both you and Milah."

"You would think. But our differences were magnified even more once Neal was born. The minute I held him in my arms I realized how much I wanted to take care of him and be there with him and love him with every fiber of my being. He made me realize that I not only needed affection and nurturing, but that I needed to give that to someone else. I couldn't seem to give that to Milah… we were so unaffectionate and non-nurturing that it just seemed forced. I showered all of those feelings on Neal and became more estranged from Milah. She didn't have it in her to be nurturing, even toward her own son, and I couldn't understand it. Don't get me wrong, she loved Neal, but she didn't know how to deal with a young child. She's become much closer to him as an adult because that's what she relates to."

"It sounds complicated, Rum." Belle felt for him and even for the woman he once loved.

"It was. We did our best to stay together for Neal's sake, but at some point we determined that being separate would be better for us and for him. We divorced when he was 13 and he lived with me because Milah didn't think she could handle a teenager. The thing is that I was no more equipped than she was for that and Neal and I had some very tough years alone together."

"Well, you handled it better than you think. Neal is so well-adjusted and such an all-around good guy. That has to come from the love that you gave him."

Gold looked at her. "I never thought about it that way, Belle. You really do know how to make me feel good about myself. I'd like to think that I did something right. He's always been the most important thing in my life."

Belle held his hand again. "Neal adores you, Rum. You can tell by the way he talks to you and talks about you. You seem to be very close."

"We are and I'm so thankful for that. I'm also thankful that Neal and his mother are closer now too. They both needed that."

Belle hesitated. "Do you and Milah get along now?"

"We have the same relationship we always did in many ways. We like to get under each other's skin. But our divorce was amicable. I gave her everything she asked for. It's the one time in my life I didn't fight to the death to get the best end of the deal. I just wanted it to go away so that Neal wouldn't have to deal with it."

"That's so beautiful, Rum." She paused. "I don't understand why she calls you "Satan."

Gold laughed. "That's just Milah being Milah. She knows how to push my buttons. She loves spouting off about how I'm the inspiration for her romance novels… she knows how much I hate it and how much I hate the way she exaggerates my traits. It makes for very entertaining storytelling when she has interviews. Believe me, her hero is nothing like me in my opinion."

Belle giggled.

"What's so funny?" Gold was looking at her suspiciously.

"I wasn't going to tell you, but I borrowed one of her novels from Neal. I couldn't resist." She looked guiltily at him.

"And?" now he wanted to hear what she had to say.

"And I think the hero is a lot like you. I was pretty taken with him." She couldn't help smiling.

Gold laughed. "I told you that woman has a way of getting under my skin. You haven't even met her yet and she's already influencing your opinion of me."

Belle smiled and then looked serious. "I wanted to talk to you about that, Rum… about me meeting her tonight. I'm pretty nervous about it." She looked at him for reassurance.

"I don't want you to be nervous, Belle. Milah has a very sharp tongue, and she's not afraid to use it, but I don't think she'll direct any of her barbs toward you. When she finds out about us she's going to give me a hard time. I'm afraid you'll be a party to it by default, but she won't confront you directly."

"I'm not good at coming back with retorts, Rum. I don't want you to be embarrassed by me."

Gold was taken aback. "I'd never be embarrassed by you, Belle. You always respond from the heart and that's something I admire about you. You're thoughtful and intelligent and wise beyond your years. Just be yourself, Belle. Nothing can compare to that." He wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her but the table was between them. "Let me settle the bill so that we can get out of here. We'll have more privacy at my shop."

He settled the bill and they headed out. When they got out on the sidewalk Gold put his arm around her waist to hold her closer. "I never want you to second-guess yourself, Belle. I think you're perfect in every way."

"Thanks, Rum. I feel better just talking about it."

He squeezed her tighter and began leading her to his shop. "Since we're talking about awkward meetings, I wanted to ask you a little more about your father. I hate to admit it, but I'm nervous about meeting him tomorrow."

"I'm nervous too, Rum. That's the other think I was going to talk to you about." She paused. "I called him last night and told him about you."

"You told him about us?" Gold almost didn't want to know what he had said.

"I didn't give him any details. He kept cutting me off asking about Gaston, but I finally made him understand that I'd met somebody new. Now he's anxious to meet you." She looked shyly at him.

Gold had to control his reaction. He knew this meeting was not going to go well. "So he doesn't know that I'm older than you or that I'm Neal's father?"

"No. I didn't want to present it as an issue because it isn't as far as I'm concerned." Belle was adamant.

"But we both know it's going to be a problem for him." Gold could see she was worried and it broke his heart to think he was the cause of it.

"Yes, but it will have to be his problem to deal with."

"Tell me more about him, Belle… and your mother. I know she passed away when you were young, but I want to know how that affected you and your relationship with your dad." They had arrived at his shop and Gold unlocked the door to let them in.

Belle was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer volume of items in the shop and their obvious uniqueness. "This place is amazing, Rum."

He chuckled. "It's my hobby more than anything. I promise to give you the full tour in a while." He directed her to his back room and to a small sofa. "Right now I want to continue our conversation. You were going to tell me more about your parents."

Belle had to force herself to stop looking around. The place was fascinating in every way.

"My mom died when I was 6 years old. She'd been sick with cancer for 2 years on and off. I have some good memories of her, but I also have a lot of memories of her being very sick and in pain."

Gold put his arm around her shoulder.

"My dad was devastated when she died and I'm not sure he ever got over it. But he didn't let his grief get in the way of taking care of me. He made me the center of his life and was a wonderful father and mother to me."

"So the two of you are extremely close." Gold made a simple observation.

"Yes, I'm everything to him and he's been everything to me." She could feel the tears coming. "But as much as I love my father, I've been missing something in my life." The tears started to fall.

Gold saw them and grabbed a tissue to wipe them off. He pulled her closer and kissed her on the head. "Let it out, sweetheart. It will make you feel better."

Belle sobbed quietly for a while and Gold wiped her tears and held her close. He was close to tears himself. His emotions were in turmoil.

Gradually Belle calmed herself. She looked up at Gold. "Please kiss me, Rum."

He didn't need a second invitation. He kissed her forehead and her eyes and her nose and then her lips. "Do you feel any better?" He felt so bad for her.

"Yes." She kissed him again. "I've been missing something from my life until I met you, Rum. You know I've waited for you, but how can I explain that to my father? He won't understand what I'm talking about."

"No, he won't. It's not something you can explain to someone. They have to see it for themselves somehow." He thought about how everyone had been questioning his intentions toward Belle. He couldn't even begin to imagine how much more her father would question him.

"Emma sees it now." Belle tried to take some solace in that.

"Yes, and she isn't an easy sell." Gold knew that Emma had given him a hard time of it but she ultimately had his back. She was a far cry from Belle's father who knew nothing at all about him, though that might actually be to his advantage.

"He's staying for the wedding tomorrow to see me and to get to know you better."

Gold was hoping he'd heard that incorrectly. "Did you just say what I thought you said?"

Belle was sheepish. "Yes, Neal and Emma invited him and he's staying." She didn't know how to tell him the next thing."And he's sitting at the same table as you and Milah."

Gold stared at her and then began to laugh. "I'm sorry, Belle. This isn't funny, but it is. Emma really outdid herself. We're always trying to one up each other and she got me good this time. My only consolation is that Milah's planning to stay with her tonight and the wedding night."

Belle giggled. "I don't think Emma knows about the wedding night. She just mentioned tonight."

"Well that makes me feel much better." He grinned at her." Listen Belle, we'll just have to wait to see what happens with your dad. If we're going to be together, we're going to have to get him to come around somehow." They sat in silence for a while.

Belle finally spoke. "You're right. We'll just have to wait and see. I'm usually more positive about things, but my emotions have been all over the place this week."

Gold knew what she meant. His usual control had all but disappeared since he'd met her. "What can I do to make you feel better?"

"Do you still want to give me a tour of your shop?"

"Of course." He rose from the sofa and took her hand to help her up and then proceeded to show her some of the treasures he'd collected over the years. That proved to be the perfect distraction.

"You said that this is a hobby for you more than anything, Rum."

"Yes, I love collecting unique items even though they're all available for sale. My actual business is real estate, assisting buyers who are trying to acquire their own unique items, and consulting on complex business deals."

Belle was intrigued. "Have you ever acquired any items that you won't sell – that you want to keep for yourself?"

"I'm afraid I'm guilty. You've seen my house… that applies to almost everything in it."

Belle laughed and Gold grinned at her. "I told you I was a collector."

"I do have something special that I wanted to show you." He walked over to the wall behind his counter and opened a panel that had a safe behind it. He removed a rectangular blue velvet box from it and placed it on the counter. Inside the box was a gold chain with what appeared to be a blue pearl pendant hanging from it. It was set in a unique swirl of gold.

"This is gorgeous, Rum. Is that a pearl?"

"Yes, it's a blue pearl. They're very rare, especially if they're naturally harvested. They can only be found in the waters off New Zealand… What do you make of the color?" He watched her carefully.

"It's mesmerizing." She couldn't take her eyes off it.

"Yes, indeed." Gold could not suppress his grin. "It's the exact same color as your eyes."

"No!" Belle objected.

Gold removed the necklace from the box. "Let me put it on you so you can see it in the mirror. It's an exact match." He moved behind her and brushed her hair aside so that he could place the necklace around her neck. He turned her back toward him so that he could look at her. "Beautiful. Just beautiful." He directed her to the mirror on the wall.

"What do you think? Am I right?"

"Yes…" Belle could not believe that her eyes were the color of this gorgeous gem. "You're right."

"It's yours, Belle. I want you to have it."

"I couldn't." Belle was sure the necklace had cost a small fortune.

"It was meant to be yours, Belle. I became aware of this necklace on the day that Neal and Emma got engaged. When I saw it, I knew I had to have it, even though I had no idea why I was so determined to own it. I put it away because I knew I wasn't going to resell it."

Belle just looked at him.

"When I met you, and saw your eyes, I knew who you were and I knew the necklace was yours the same way you knew that you'd been waiting for me."

In any other circumstance this would seem unreal to Belle and to Gold, but they knew that it made perfect sense for them.

"It's beautiful, Rum. I don't know how to thank you." She stroked his cheek with her hand and he took it in his and kissed it.

"Wear it tonight, Belle. It's unique and special and beautiful like you. I want you to always remember that."

"Thank you, Rum… I'll remember because that's the way you make me feel."

Gold could see the tears welling up in her eyes again. "No more tears, darling. We're going to have fun now. Let me continue the grand tour." He offered his arm to her and continued to show her some of his more unusual acquisitions. The afternoon was extremely revealing to her. She learned a lot more about him than she'd expected and she was sure he learned a lot more about her.

They parted ways later that afternoon so that they could get ready for the wedding rehearsal and dinner. They agreed that Gold would pick her up and that she would spend the night with him. And even though nothing had outwardly changed, they both felt better about dealing with Milah and Belle's father.