Will came back not long after she'd hung up with Emma. The book that she'd requested was in his hand and he was smiling with pride at his completed mission but the moment he saw her face that smile vanished.

"Wha' 'appened?" he demanded.

"Nothing," she answered. "It's just…nothing." She was lying. Worse, he knew she was lying, but he didn't say anything about it. It was quite clear to both of them that something had happened but for some reason or other they both ignored whatever "it" was and let the silence grow between them through the morning. She was relieved when he left to grab lunch at Granny's...and she was guilty too. Definitely guilty. She was lying, but unlike that day he'd called her at the beach to tell her the witches were in town, this time she knew exactly what she was keeping from him.

She liked Will, she cared for him, he was a wonderful, good man and any woman should be lucky to have him as a friend or even the something more that she sometimes wondered if they were becoming. And yet she'd nearly walked off on him today without a word…

This morning, only a few hours ago, he hadn't even crossed her mind as she'd gathered her things up to go. She'd had the sense to get her bag, to lock the shops door, to think through her plan, and yet not once in her planning did she think to call the person who was going to stop by at any minute wondering where she was. The only thing, the only person that she'd cared for in that moment was the person that had treated her that very same way time and time again; as a secondary priority instead of the primary one. And even now, the fact that she still felt torn, that part of her screamed at her to go out and find him, to see what his life was like now with her own two eyes, instead of stay and have lunch with Will…that only made her guilt that much worse.

They kept quiet through lunch, both pretending to be looking for the ball she'd shown to him until Emma stopped by.

"Hey, did you find anything?" she asked.

Her stomach dropped. There was no way that she could keep Will from hearing that and it wasn't possible to go outside and talk to Emma alone without being suspicious. This was why she hated lying. One way or another, she always felt like they came back to haunt her.

"No," she answered honestly. "Nothing. Did you? Find anything, I mean."

"No, so, listen, I was hoping to grab any security tapes from the shop and go over them, see if we missed anything."

She ignored the thought of Will behind her and shook her head. It was a good plan, except for one small fact. "There are no tapes."

"Really?" she questioned suddenly picking her had up and looking around. "I've seen the pictures from one, just…there…" Emma's voice trailed off as she stared at something dumbfounded. She followed the girls gaze and located a spot on the wall that was empty now but had obviously once contained something as she could see the former outline of something in the wood and holes were the screws had been. Her heart felt heavy because she knew immediately that Emma was right only she couldn't ever remember anything being there. Which could only mean he'd removed them and she had a feeling she knew why. It wasn't because he didn't need the extra security, it was so no one would catch him doing something questionable in his shop. Probably they had gone not long after he got his memories back and after what Hook had told her, with the security camera from the old man's house…his paranoia might have been well founded.

"Well...they're not there anymore..."

"Obviously…alright…there's…there're other cameras on this street, I'll do some sleuthing. Call me if you find anything?" she questioned with her eye brows raised. She nodded and watched her go, dreading the moment she turned around to face…

"Are you going to keep tellin' me nothing 'appened?" he questioned gently behind her.

She sighed as she finally met his eyes. "I just...wanted to protect you?"

"By keeping secrets?" he questioned. "You and I both know 'ow tha' always turns ou' in the end." He was right, only he wasn't. Keeping secrets were never good but that wasn't what she'd been trying to protect him from. It was her. "I can protect meself jus' fine, Belle...tell me wha' 'appened!" She wanted so badly not to tell him. She wanted to keep what had nearly happened this afternoon to herself so that she never hurt him the same way that she'd been hurt. But that was a ridiculous notion now. No matter what she said or didn't say from this point on he was going to hurt. The least she could do was give him the truth she so often had longed for herself.

So with a sad sigh, she took Will's hand, led him into the back room and sat with him on the cot as she explained. Everything. She let every detail she'd been holding back about those witches slip away. What happened in the Enchanted Forest, how he'd freed her and lied to her even then. She told him about how scared she'd been the first moment that he told her they were back in town and why she suspected they were here. And she told him what had happened this morning. Every last detail from their arrival, what they'd said to her about Rumpelstiltskin and how she'd made them leave. She told him what she'd been about to do, how she'd been prepared to take off that moment to find him and leave everything behind. Then she'd told her about how Emma had called and stopped her, about what she'd found had gone missing, and why she was looking for the security tapes and at the end of it all he sat there listening. Elbows on his knees, head bowed in concentration, as if her tale involved work. Maybe it did. She didn't know, maybe it did require concentration. It felt like a lot even from her end.

"You still wan' to go, don' you," he finally commented next to her.

Honestly? "I don't know," she admitted.

"Sure ya do," he answered for her, "you jus' don' wan' to believe i'." Finally he turned to look at her and she saw that painful smirk that she was beginning to recognize as familiar pain. It was surprising just how easily she forgot how much of this he understood. "You don' think I know wha' i' feels like? To have one foo' ou' the door? Ready to go 'ome at the though' of a bad dream or memory."

"This wasn't a dream," she argued. "Or a memory it was…"

"Torture," he finished for her. "Clever words, chosen to make you fall! There's no use believin' any of i' is true!"

"But what if it is?!" she demanded. "What if it is true and he's out there right now?! Waiting for me?!"

Will was quiet for a few moments, then sat back in his seat and looked over at her. "Maybe it's better tha' way," he finally answered in a sad, soft voice. "It's better not to know if it's true. Wha' good will come from knowin' one way or another?" he finally concluded.

She supposed...maybe...maybe he had a point.

If she rushed off to find him…it would be settling. She'd spend every moment of every day looking over her shoulder, wondering what he was doing when her back was turned!

And if she wandered off and found him and he was doing fine while she wasn't…

He was right. No good could come from going.

She didn't know what she had here in Storybrooke, the future that he'd left her to have, deep down she knew that it would never be as perfect as the one she'd imagine that they had but for now…it was the best thing for her. And Will…she needed him in ways that she couldn't even begin to describe. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," she muttered reaching over and putting her hand in his own.

"Eh, don' worry about i'…wha' matters is tha' you did!" he responded almost too cheerfully, making her ache even more. He was a good man. He didn't deserve this from her.

"I just…it's hard…to move on, to have someone in my life that's not Rumpelstiltskin. He's the only man I've ever…the only one I've ever…" she just couldn't finish that sentence. She couldn't think of a way to finish it that wouldn't sound offensive. She didn't mean to-

"I' takes time," he answered for her, giving her hand a small squeeze. "I should know."

Of course he knew. He'd been at it longer than she had.

"Thank you for understanding," she muttered instead, the one thing that she couldn't lie about because she was truly grateful for that.

"Any time," he smiled back. "Though I wish you 'ad told me abou' the witches sooner," he admitted. "You shouldn' 'ave been alone all this time, waiting for them to come and kill you."

She shook her head and finally rose. "I've been fine. Safe. I took precautions and today…they worked."

"I get i'," he responded following her out into the main shop as she searched for something to do with her hands. There, over by the window, some trinkets that she'd been meaning to rearrange…or maybe had just thought to rearrange now…it didn't matter. "Jus'…don' keep things like tha' to yourself. It's no' worth i'. If you don' wan' to tell me then tell Mary Margaret, or Emma, or Granny, or…someone."

She nodded at his request. It was nice of him. He was so determined for her to be safe that he was willing to not be the number one in her life. He was willing to become number two if that meant she'd be safe. And that meant a lot more to her than anything else today. Finally after hours of tears and frowns a smile broke out over her face. She was lucky to have Will in her life as…whatever it was he was. She should show it a little more.

"From now on I'll tell you if something happens," she vowed. "I promise." He let out a snort across the room. And she glanced over to find him smirking. "What?" she questioned.

"Nothing. It's jus'…I believe you. And honesty…that's jus' new for me I suppose. For both of us," he muttered taking a few steps forward. She smiled at how happy he was to have something that simple. She beamed at the thought that something as wholesome as an honest word made him happy. It made her happy too. And maybe…that was another sign that she was beginning to move on.

Moving on.

In the spirit of moving on she gave it her best shot. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. It was simple, not over involved or too deep. It was just a hint, a small step in the right direction before he suggested that they go take a walk by the beach and forget everything that had happened today.

Forget.

It sounded nice, but on the inside her stomach turned over at the thought. Forget. Everything? Forget the way she'd ached, forget the way she'd hurt, forget the strange feeling of excitement she'd had under the fear of seeing him again? Forgetting sounded good, deep down she just wasn't sure if she was ready to forget. And she knew that she should tell Will as she collected her things from the back. He would understand. They were so alike, so similar…but she couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever really be able to tell him the entire truth as she'd promised.

Obviously this is the kiss Rumple saw. I want to really illustrate not just their similarities but also their differences here. I think they are really both thinking with their heads and not their hearts right now because if they acted on what their hearts old them they would both stop this and go back to their True Loves. Instead they tell each other that they understand each other and that their relationship should be super simple because of it. But the truth is that they don't feel anything for one another, at least nothing deep anyway. Their relationship is good on the surface but ironically enough it's only skin deep for both of them. They know it, I think they think it's actually good. This way their won't get hurt!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Grace5231973, Deweymay, TracyJean, Kathryn Claire O'Connor, Fox24, Ladybugsmomma, Skitzoeinhoven, and Raizen Yusuke for your reviews on the last chapter. Certainly those are interesting insights and keep them coming because they help me to think outside the box for this relationship! It's not been easy to write about. Peace and Happy Reading!