I do not own any of the Once Upon a Time Characters.

Under The Veil Of A Heart's True Love

"Supper is never going to be ready if you keep staring at that ring, dearie," he says, waving his hand in the air dramatically and rocking on his heel. Belle goes back to cutting the pepper, trying her hide her embarrassment. The two of them had decided to have the wedding in secret; Rumple extremely concerned for her safety. He knew that the moment Regina or anyone else found out that he loved someone that Belle was liable to be used as bait.

"Sorry, Rumple, I cannot help it."

"Why?" he asks teasingly. He comes behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. "Better then dear old Gaston's?" he whispers in her ear. She rolls her eyes and pushes the chopped part of the pepper to the side.

"Really Rum? If you didn't provide better then that old rat I would be concerned." She lifts it into the light and he brings his much larger hand under hers. She grins before lowering her hand back to the knife, continuing to chop various vegetables. "Trust me, there is no competition there."

"So sure, are we dearie?" She elbows him slightly and he shifts.

"You know I love you, and you alone." She turns and allows him to kiss her. Three carrots remain to be chopped and Parmesan to be grated. She tries to turn but he holds her tightly against his chest. Ever since they had made up and became engaged he had been extremely possessive of her, always following her around. When he wasn't, she could usually see him staring through a window when she was outside or passing by a doorway when she was inside. Of course, he was quick to disappear but she knew he watched her. "Rum," she whines teasingly, leaning her head back. "It's not the ring that is slowing down supper now." His breath tickles her forehead.

"Why don't I just create food like I did the other night, dearie? It was pleasant enough." She shakes her head and pries his arms from her waist.

"No Rum. This is my area, and to be honest, I enjoy cooking for you. It brings me joy." He frowns and she grabs the cheese beginning to grate it. He tries to hide it but fails as she sees him mouth some words from the corner of the kitchen. The cheese poofs into a grated pile on the counter. "Rumpelstiltskin!" she cries, frustrated. He stares at her innocently, his eye-brows raised and his mouth in a slight smirk. "I saw you! I know it was you!"

"Prove it, dearie, and I will believe you." She stares at him, mouth gaping and eyes wide.

"Your the only one in this castle that knows magic!"

"Who said it was magic?"

"I don't know. But then again, I don't know who said a lot of things, like, who said that strawberries are red, and chocolate is sweet, and dogs bark?"

"I don't know either, dearie, but I definitely didn't hear anyone say that that was magic." She reaches for a pot to pour the ingredients in and they float above her reach. She looks over at him and he leans harder against the wall, his legs crossed in front of him.

"Are you bored?" she asks teasingly.

"The dark one is never bored. Just in lack of proper entertainment." She pretends to look at the time and frowns, biting her lip. "Damn it," she says quietly. He nearly dies in shock. His Belle just swore, not once in their entire time living together had she ever swore to anything or anybody.

"What is the matter?" he asks, stepping forward. She looks at the time again and back at the pot which floats high in the air.

"It's just getting late and I wanted to make the strawberry cobbler but it seems it may have to wait." She looks at him, trying to keep a straight face.

"No need, dearie," he responds. "I'll let you be." He is gone in a cloud of purple smoke and the pot slowly lowers itself down on the stove. She grins to herself, having outsmarted her obnoxious lover. It isn't long before not only the soup is finished, but the cobbler as well. She wipes her hands off on her apron and sets it all on a tray to bring it out to the table. Rumple waits anxiously at the end. She notices from the corner of her eye how his gaze follows her movements, even as she sets the dishes out and organizes the food in the order it is to be served. Belle grins. If she knew any better, she would say that something about her tonight was really turning him on, even though they had both agreed that she keep her virtue until their wedding night.

She sets the food on the table and gives him his dish before picking up the tea cup. It was cold tea tonight but that is okay, he liked it sweetened and she preferred it with a squeeze of lemon.

Belle pulls out her chair and jumps back, squealing in shock as a snake hisses, its fangs dripping. The tea drops on the floor and all over her dress. She stares at the angry reptile before her, shaking her head in fear before it disappears in a cloud of purple smoke.

"Rum," she says hoarsely. Trying to distract herself and shake it off, she picks up the tea cup, which is chipped on the end from the fall. She slowly stands and begins to apologize, but the chair is empty. Instead, she finds him beside her..

"Its just a cup," he quips, but his voice is solemn and quiet. Rum places it by his seat. She pinches the top of her nose to try to calm her breathing as he places his hands on her shoulders. "Belle, I swear I had no idea you are so afraid of snakes. If I would have known -"

"Then you would have put a rat in my seat instead."

"Well perhaps," he says. "But maybe, dear, just maybe I would've done nothing at all. I wish not to frighten you too much." They stand quietly until she brings her breathing down to a controlled level. The dragon lifts his head in the corner of the room, observing Belle intently. It came up to her waist now – they had decided on the name Leviathan, actually, she had decided on the name but he went along with it without complaint. The two of them called him Vethan for short. The little thing was so protective of her though, even around Rum. Whenever she was frightened or squealed or laughed really hard the dragon was right there, either staring at her or growling. One time, when Rum was chasing her all over the castle – to be fair she had taken a bunch of his potions because he had disappeared for nearly three days working on them, but either way he was trying to get them back and force her to tell him, quote, where the hell his damn potions were, the dragon went behind her and jumped on Rumple, leaving gash marks across his chest and teeth marks in his neck. She really had to beg for the poor things life after that. This time though, she can tell that Rumple isn't angry, just upset that he took the teasing too far.

"Rum," she sighs, looking up at him. She can tell that he really has no idea what to do in this moment – by the look on his face the joke was made out of pure innocence, not malice. She grins and places her forehead on his chest, laughing quietly. "You nearly gave me a heart attack." He rubs her shoulders and she looks up at him. "It's just something from my childhood . . . we heard this story of a queen placing snakes in her lovers bed so that she could become ruler. It frightened me as a child, and I never forgot the horrid way my father described his death and the pain, and just . . .Rum, I just . . . I can't do snakes." He nods his head in understanding before taking a few steps back, observing the tea that now stains my dress. "I can probably get it out later," she says, dabbing it with a napkin from the table. He frowns.

"I think not, dearest. Plus, I like this one better." He waves his hand and the blue dress appears, the holes from her past as maid gone. She grins – what was once used as a working clothes is now his favorite dress. "I like the way it brings out your eyes."

"You made it for me, it was a long time ago but I remember finding it on my bed that one night." He stares at me, confused.

"How did you know I made it, dear?" she grins and lift up the side a bit. "You see this?" She asks. "As far as I know, you are the only one able to spin gold." He stares at her, shocked that she even would notice such a thing. "You made that maroon cloak as well, and I think you probably spun that out of rubies or very thick red wool. I couldn't tell. I also have the winter hat, and gloves, and the lamp cover I enjoy using so much with rose pedals sewn into it." He shifts slightly, uncomfortable that shr knew he made all of those things.

"Well," he stutters, raising a hand. "I am hungry. We must eat before it gets too late." They sit down at the table and begin to eat, stealing each others food every now and then and laughing as they fed each other pieces of the cobbler.

PAGE BREAK

Since the night of their engagement, Rumple hardly ever slept with his precious Belle. Every now and then she would hear him visit during the middle of the night to check on her, but she missed him when he wasn't holding her. She found it difficult to sleep with her mind on him, and even when she did sleep, Belle felt bare and unprotected from the nightmares she had been fighting ever since her father had rejected her. Again, as always, they sit on the bed together for a few minutes before he kisses her goodnight. Belle watches painfully as he slowly makes his way towards her door. No, she thinks. Not another night. Not another night alone to be left shivering in these lonely sheets.

"Rum?" she calls. He turns and looks at her. "Must you be so busy?"

"Busy? What could you mean by that?" She gets out of bed and wraps her arms around his neck.

"Rum, I wish that you stay with me . . . even if just for tonight. It brings me comfort to have you near."

"Does this room frighten you, my Belle?" he asks. "We have hundreds of others you can choose from if you wish." She shakes her head.

"No, not the room. Not having you by my side does, not knowing where you are, if you are even here." He sighs, and pulls away to sit in a chair. She rolls her eyes and take his hand, pulling him back up into a standing position. "I mean sleep with me, Rum!" she exclaims, exasperated, "I don't bite!" He backs away, shaking his head.

"We agreed . . ." She places her finger on his lips and he stares at her, too stunned to speak.

"I don't mean sleep with me, Rum," she says quietly. His face softens as he begins to understand what it is she wants. Not sex . . . just normal, every day sleep. He taps her nose.

"A bit on the ambitious side tonight, dear?" he teases. She blushes and turns, hoping he doesn't see. Of course, it brought him much joy to be able to do that to her, to make her smile, to bring butterflies to her stomach as she did to him so often. He takes off his vest and with a flick of his wrist is in his salmon colored silk shirt. Belle lays under the covers as Rumple climbs in, pulling himself closer behind her and burying his face in her vanilla scented hair. Belle always smelled good, even as a child – although at that point he didn't have any feelings for the girl. That would have been disgusting. It was after the few years they spent apart that when he came back, their relationship was so awkward that it began to change. It changed into love . . . true love.

"Rum, don't stop," she mumbles, taking his hand and placing it back around her waist. He lifts it back into the air and with a flick of his wrist the candles blow out and the fire is brought down to a more reasonable level.

"Don't worry, dear, I am not going anywhere." She reaches back and takes his wrist again, placing it back where he had it before.

"I am not worried. It just feels nice when you were rubbing my side . . . sometimes I still experience some pain there from the surgery. It is minor but whatever you were doing was helping." She places her hand over his. "I think it is just bruised."

He brings his other hand into her soft hair and begins to unbraid it. It bothered him that she did that – her hair was so beautiful, why braid it? Did it bother her at night? Maybe it was just a woman thing.

"Rum," she laughs softly, "Are you serious?"

"About what?"

"Where am I?" she teases. "In a spa or in your arms, please, your going to make me fall asleep."

"Well, dearie, the good thing is that it is nighttime last time I checked, and you need a lot more sleep then I do, sleep that most nights I notice you don't get, and also that I am actually capable of putting you to sleep without a potion." He notices a knot and begins to finger through it. Her hair is so soft, and it smells so good, and it feels good, and it is beautiful, and for reasons he is unable to comprehend she enjoys it when he messes with it. Even throughout the day he always makes sure that he restrains himself from touching it, and it is difficult – to him this is the only time of day he can ever feel her locks through his fingers and breath the deliriously sweet vanilla scent it kept after her bath.

"Rum," she breaths. "You better not keep yourself awake just to make sure I fall asleep."

"I can't keep myself awake, dear, if anything I think I may be dreaming now."

"You are too adorable." He hardly hears her, to focused on the task of upbraiding her hair with one hand, and avoiding pulling it to harshly. I mean, he dealt with spinning and knitting and weaving his entire life but a challenge never provided him as much pleasure as untangling his beauty's hair.

Her breathing slowly deepens and it isn't long before he begins to see rays of light through his closed eyelids. Rays of light, he thinks. Belle grins in his arms. Turns out the songs of the morning would prove that Belle wasn't the only one in the castle who struggled to sleep without the gentle whispers of love and sweet caresses that they continue to share in secret – even if she had to drag him to her bed every night she would do it. In her mind, she wasn't sleeping with a demon, but the most gentle, sensitive, loving man she had ever known; and would ever know.

Thank you so much those of you who reviewed! It brought such a smile to my face! Please continue, I am thinking about ending this one after a few more chapters and beginning a part 2. I don't know, what do you think? Also, if your a crazy romantic (like me . . .lol) check out my story Broken Vow and Valentine Kisses. Haha, I have to say, reading other peoples fanfics have encouraged me to continue . . . thank you Mama bear Emma Swan for your encouragement, and echofinly, Snapegirlkmf, (Check out their stories they are totally awesome!) and everyone else, in which there are many, look in my favorite authors! Love you dearies! You are the reason I write!