She was disappointed.

There was nothing to be done about her boredom until the town settled down. Nothing to do but wait for weekends to arrive so that she could spend two days alone with him. But...

When she awoke this morning she found that he was gone already. In her grogginess he must have slipped away despite his promise he'd spend the weekend by her side again and that made her feel...just disappointed. And bored.

So there she sat, once again on her ledge, not bothering to find chores to do, not even bothering to read, just looking...just miserable that the world seemed so close to her and yet so far away, separated only by a single thin sheet of glass. She sighed and looked around the house for a moment as she considered doing something, anything, instead of sitting here and sulking, then decided that there was no point. Everything was as clean as it was going to get, the laundry was done, the dishwasher empty, her book read. There was nothing new to do until he got back for lunch and she could convince him to stay, so she turned back to the window and...

He was home! Her jaw dropped as she sat up and looked at the car stopping in the small section of road he called a driveway. She wasn't imagining things, he was home! But why?! He never came back until noon for lunch. He was like clockwork. But it was barely ten. What was he doing here now? She pushed herself off the ledge and ran for the door as she tried not to panic. But something must be wrong to draw him back here so soon! Right?!

"What's happened?" she asked him, before he could even get through the door. "What's wrong?"

He smiled and placed a hand at her back as he led her back into the safety of the house. Why was he smiling? "I don't want to get your hopes up," he muttered closing the door behind them. Her eye brows furrowed as she looked at him in confusion. What was he talking about? "We're not going into town, but there is somewhere I want to take you." Take her? Out of the house? Away from here?!

She felt her jaw drop and her heart race as she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly in excitement. She was so happy she felt like she could barely contain it! He'd actually listened to her when she said that she wanted out of the house! What more could she ask? He could take her to the moon and back just so long as she wasn't going to be in the house alone any longer!

"When do we leave?" she asked eagerly as she pulled away from him.

"Right now, if you're ready," he answered with a smile.

"I am," she practically shouted with a smile so big it hurt her cheeks. "I mean..." she had to take a deep breath and remember to calm herself down. She was just going to leave the house, there was no promise that they were going anywhere spectacular but she was just so excited to get out that he could take her to a pile of compost and she would be happy! "I think I am. Do I need anything?" she asked, wondering where exactly he was going to take her if it wasn't into town.

"Not a thing. Unless, of course, there is something that you wish to bring." She shook her head. All she wanted was to leave as soon as possible. "Come with me," he nodded happily, appearing unfazed by her excitement.

He took hold of one of her hands and led her out of the house and into his car. It was a strange feeling, pulling away from the house, instead of watching the car roll away from it. They didn't go towards town, the way that came home from every night, instead they went the opposite direction. As they drove she watched the houses that they passed by. None seemed to be quite as big as his was but she enjoyed looking at all the shapes and sizes. They were beautiful, all of them different, all of them extraordinary. She'd never seen anything like them in their world. She'd seen and lived in castles, she'd seen and lived in tents and small cottages, but she'd never seen anything like these houses.

Then she watched as things began to change, the houses started to be fewer and smaller. The forest seemed to be growing up around them until she realized that they were overtaking the entire area and there were no more houses. Eventually he turned the car off of the black road and onto one made up completely of dirt. They were driving deeper into a forest.

It was away from civilization, certainly, but somehow she didn't mind that. It reminded her of home, of all the time she'd spent in the forests, of all the time she'd walked on roads like this, and of that beautiful moment that they'd shared when her memory had returned. So it wasn't in town, it was out of the house, it was in the wilderness, in the fresh air! And she was ecstatic! The only thing she wanted was to know what they were doing out here. Visiting a lake? Taking a walk to the well? Going on a Picnic?

Suddenly the car turned a corner and she could make something out through the trees, a clearing of some sort. But as they got closer, and the brush thinned, she could see very clearly. It was a wooden house. A plain, small wooden house sitting all by itself in the middle of the woods. It looked so much like something out of their world that if it wasn't for her clothes and the car she would have thought that they'd gone back to the Enchanted Forest! He stopped the car in front of it and she knew there was no mistaking it now. This was where he had meant to take her?

"Where are we?" she asked curiously, staring at the dark building.

"This is my cabin," he answered honestly a smile hiding behind his expression of calm. She looked at the house before her. No, not house! Cabin. At last, something new after days of endless repetition!

"Your cabin? Another house?" she asked skeptically. He nodded and she stared at it again, confused. He had two houses. Why did he need two houses? He was barely at the first house he owned. Was it like their world? Where powerful individuals had different houses for different seasons? "You live here too?" she asked.

"Well..." he sighed, "not really, but it is mine. I made a deal, a very long time ago, with Regina for wealth and comfort in this world when she enacted the curse," he explained. "This became part of it," he finished with a shrug.

She looked out the window at the house that stood dark and yet sturdy before her. It was beautiful. "I hope she got something decent out of it," she muttered with a smile before glancing over at him. He said nothing, but she didn't miss the smirk that started at the corner of his mouth.

"Come on, I'll show you around," he said opening his door. She got out of the car and followed him up to the house, cabin, as she looked around the exterior. The roof hung over the front part, a porch he called it, so that on rainy days he could comfortably drag a chair outside and watch the rain fall without getting wet. And there was a stack of logs piled on the far end so that on snowy days the logs wouldn't get wet and he could sit inside and make a fire. She looked at the forest around her, imagining what it would be like for the entire area to be covered with thick white snow and to sit inside reading a book by a nice warm fire as she watched the flakes drift down to the forest floor.

"Belle," she turned back to him and saw that he was holding the door open. She stopped staring and walked into the cabin, her shoes clicking oddly against the wood that made up the floor. It wasn't very big, at least not as big as his house, but it was still nice. In fact, she liked it more than the house. It had the same feel of his shop, warm and protective. In a way it almost seemed to suit him better than his house did. But it was obvious that he didn't come here that often, an inch of dust covered a lot of the plain wooden surfaces, there was no clutter here, and it smelled musty, like it didn't often have the windows open to air it out. She walked over to the one closest to her and opened it wide, letting the cool air flow into the stuffy cabin and leave her with the scent of dirt, foaming water, and pine needles.

This was wonderful.

Behind a small door, a little kitchen sat cozy in it's own nook. Cozy, and yet...a refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, and an oven. It was all the comforts that made this world great but with all the sounds, sights, and smells that she had been missing from their world. It was a glorious clashing of the two. And to top it all off, she was here with him. It wasn't town. But it was just as good in her mind. "The kitchen is well stocked," he commented as she closed the door. "The bedroom and bathroom are just through that door and I think you'll find everything you'll need is already here. I know it's not much, but-"

"It's perfect," she interrupted, looking over at him from her place by the window. She was suddenly sad that she hadn't brought her book with her.

"You can do anything you like here," he said to her with a happy tone, like he had been gauging her reaction to the cabin and now that it had been positive he was trying to hold back his relief and happiness. "No one knows we are here and very few know where this place is or that I own it. You can go outside any time you wish, go anywhere you desire, although I must ask of you to remain somewhat close by as I cannot make promises that you won't come across a few hikers. There's even a lake if you feel so inclined to swim although I doubt its warm enough. Weather in Maine rarely gets warm enough even in the summer time..."

She smiled to herself, he was rambling. He was still trying to make her happy, not realizing that he already had. It was something different and that was all she really wanted. She made her way slowly over to him and placed her hands against those on his cane. "You did this for me?" she asked, watching his face suddenly turn to one of sadness. She didn't know what caused that, she'd meant for him to be happy, to realize how grateful she was for such a thoughtful surprise, and for him to break into a pleased smile. But he didn't, instead his eyes just continued to look into hers. Questioning.

"I know it's not town," he whispered staring down at their hands entwined on the top of the cane. "And I know that I haven't been around as often as I should be, old habits..." he explained away with a sigh, "are hard to break. I just…" but words seemed to fail him suddenly and her heart beat against her chest as she watched his face, finally identifying the emotion on his face. Guilt. Was it her words? Was it what she had said yesterday when they'd fought?

"Rumple," she said sternly, making him meet her eyes. On the one hand she regretted those words but on the other hand they'd made him bring her here and she wasn't sure that she could feel bad about them after this. However she would admit that she would have to learn to use a better tone. Something that would allow her to share her thoughts and emotions with him, without making him feel terrible, one that wasn't so angry. Because it only made her feel guilty. "It's perfect," she assured him. "Thank you, for...for all this."

Finally he gave her a small smile, convinced that she really was happy about where he had brought her. "It's not forever," he insisted, making himself perfectly clear before she could get her hopes up. "It's only for the weekend, but after that we can plan trips to come back if it makes you happy." If it made her happy? She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck burying her nose against his shoulder as she fought off tears of gratitude. She liked this spot. She liked this cabin! But she loved him more. She'd be happy living under a bridge with trolls so long as he was there with her...but she would prefer the privacy of a cabin in the middle of the woods.

"You make me happy," she whispered. "That's all I need."

He smiled and let out a breath of relief as her words seemed to calm his nerves. "So..." he whispered holding her tight against him, "what would you like to do first, my darling, Belle?"

Daw...he took her to the cabin. Cute! Well...I had to come up with somewhere to send them since they weren't in 2x03. I figured the cabin was a good place to start. Belle would be getting antsy, after the whole "no one can leave Storybrooke" bomb I figured Rumple would need time to clear his head and figure out his next step and this just seemed like the logical next step for them. I hope that you enjoy it!

Peace and Happy Reading!