Laying in the tub, Rumald rested his head back onto a folded hand towel, relaxing in the tub, and soothing his sore back, while he read a Karin Slaughter book, that he had gotten at the airport, on the trip back to Storybrooke. He had not meant to get so drawn into the story. Only meaning for it to fill the time, while he had flown back from New York, but now he found he could not put the book down. Dying to know, what happened to Sara, Jeff and Lena. He carefully held his book, with one hand, above the water, as he reached over the edge of the tub, collected his whiskey glass from nearby cabinet, and drank from his whiskey, never taking his eyes off the pages of the book. It had been a long time, since a book had captivated him so much, and he was thoroughly enjoying it.

Whilst he was returning his whiskey glass, Rumald's isolation was disturbed by the shrill of his phone, joined with a buzzing noise as his phone vibrated, buried in the pile of clothes beside the tub. Cocking his head to the side, Rumald eyed the pile of clothes, pondering over whether to ignore the call and read his book, or ruin his tranquillity, by moving to grab his phone. He struggled to make up his mind, weighing up the pros and cons, when his phone stopped crying. Pleased with the choice being taken away from him, Rumald returned his attention to his book, quickly finding his place on the page.

His peace and quiet did not last very long, with his phone kicking off again, screaming out for his attention. Letting out an exasperated moan, Rumald turned down the corner of his page, as he pushed his feet against the foot of the bath, sliding himself up into a sitting position. He reached over the edge of the tub, discarding his book, and rummaged in the pile of clothes, finding his phone in the pocket of his pants. Checking the caller ID, Rumald was a little baffled to see Sheriff Nolan was calling him.

Running his finger across the screen, answering the call, Rumald sat back into his tub, holding his phone to his ear. "Gold."

"Mr Gold, it's Sheriff Nolan." Rumald squinted his eyes, at hearing the official tone to the Sheriff's voice. "I'm calling to inform you, someone's broken into your shop."

Rushing forward in the tub, a wave of water sloshed to the foot of the bath, as Rumald sat up. "Excuse me?"

On the other side of the phone, Rumald could hear the Sheriff was instructing someone, before he spoke to Rumald. "Belle French called it in… It's just a mess in here, Rumald." The Sheriff sounded sorrowful, as he described the scene and then asked. "Are you able to come down here, or should I call Dove?"

"No, no." Rumald waved his free hand, dismissing the Sheriff question. "I'm coming. Give me twenty minutes."

"I wouldn't worry. We're going to be here a while." The Sheriff informed him.

Rumald groaned and ended the call, whilst he grabbed the edge of the tub, aiding himself out of the tub. The water sloshed and splashed, as Rumald carelessly got out of it, spilling water onto the floor of his bathroom. He snatched a towel off the rail on his way out of his bathroom, vigorously drying himself, while he went straight to his chest of draws, discarding his phone to the top of them, and yanked open various draws, grabbing different items of clothing to put on. Dashing across his bedroom, to his wardrobe, Rumald threw open the door to his wardrobe, and reached inside, picking out a pair of old jeans, he usually wore around the house, but choice to put them on for ease. He grabbed a random dress shirt, from its hanger, and slid his arms into it, pulling it on as he crossed back to his chest of draws, collecting his phone. With his phone in his pocket, Rumald grabbed his money clip and wallet before he left his bedroom, rushing down the hallway to the landing, and down the stairs. He stuffed his feet into his old sneakers, while he grabbed his overcoat from the coat hook, and left the house, without putting on his coat or tying the laces to his sneakers.

Arriving at his shop, Rumald parked his car beside the Sheriff's truck, his gaze on his shop and the officers lingering outside. They all turned their gazes onto him, watching him, as he got out of his Cadillac, slamming the door after himself. He threw on his overcoat, scrutinising them, while he walked out from between the cars, and onto the sidewalk, approaching where they were all huddled together, blocking the entrance to his shop. They awkwardly moved aside, granting himself access to his own shop, wary of Rumald and his mood.

"It's a bit of a mess." Sheriff Nolan commented, observing Rumald as he entered his own shop, moving his eyes over the damage to his shop.

Rumald remained silent, treading cautiously whilst he came further into his shop. The glass counters were smashed, the glass cabinets were smashed, the curtained doorway was ripped down, items were broken on the floor and had been thrown across the room. Broken glass under Rumald's feet crunched, as he surveyed more of the damaged, nearing the Sheriff, who stood by the main counter.

"Emma's popped to the station to grab her dusting kit." The Sheriff informed him, rocking idly on his heels.

Slowly bringing his gaze to the Sheriff, Rumald said. "And I can tell you now, who's done this."

"Who?" Sheriff Nolan asked.

"Gaston Phipps is the first person, that comes to mind." Rumald remarked, casting his gaze to the right side of the room.

"Recent disagreement?" The Sheriff inquired, as he pulled his notepad, out of his back pocket of his jeans, and noted down the name.

Rumald brought his gaze back to the Sheriff. "Something like that."

"I'll have a chat with him tomorrow." Sheriff Nolan told him before adding. "But we'll dust anyway, just in case, it was an outsider instead of a resident."

"I doubt it." Rumald commented.

The Sheriff titled his head to the side, resting his hands on his gun belt, as he said. "Rumald, I did advise you, years ago, to get an alarm system fitted. Especially with the rarity of some of your items and the cash, you keep on the premises."

"Have you checked the safe?" Rumald asked the Sheriff, spying over the Sheriff's shoulder to the picture, which hid the safe from sight.

"No, we didn't want to contaminate the scene." Sheriff Nolan explained to Rumald.

"Do you mind, if I do?" Rumald asked, motioning with his hand to behind the counter.

The Sheriff's brow pressed slightly down over his eyes, twisting at his waist to look over the broken counter, and said. "I don't see why not. Your fingerprints are going to be all over the scene anyway."

"Wouldn't make sense, for me to smash up my own shop." Rumald retorted dryly, as he watched his step, making his way behind the counter, trying not to disturb too much of the debris on the floor.

"You'd be surprised, how often it does happen." The Sheriff shared with Rumald, turning to follow Rumald, watching him on the other side of the counter.

Rumald touched the corner of the painting, covering up the safe, and gently pulled at the corner, persuading the painting to swing away from the wall, revealing the small black safe behind it. Inspecting the outside of the safe, he could not see any signs of someone tampering with it. He spun the combination lock, inputting his wedding anniversary, and pushed down the handle to open his safe. Spying inside, checking the contents, Rumald was positive it was untouched and shut the door to the safe, locking it and spinning the lock.

"All there?" The Sheriff asked.

Rumald turned and went to put his hands on the counter, like he had done a million times before, but stopped seeing the broken glass, and dropped his hands to his sides, saying. "Looks to be all there."

The Sheriff took a step back, turning to face sideways, while his gaze combed over the state of the shop. "Doubt it was robbery then."

"An outsider isn't going to trash my shop for no reason." Rumald supplied.

"No." Sheriff Nolan agreed, turning his gaze to Rumald. "We'll collect what evidence we can, and I'll make sure to have a chat with Mr Phipps in morning."

"Do you need anything more from me?" Rumald asked, coming out from behind the broken counter, looking at the mess, he and Dove would have to tidy at a later date.

Sheriff Nolan shook his head. "No, I don't think so. If we do, I'll call you."

Rumald acknowledge this with a nod of his head, and traipsed out of his shop, refusing to look at anymore of the damage to his shop. As he got to the door of his shop, Rumald came face to face with Emma, as she was coming into the shop.

"Deputy Nolan." Rumald greeted, stepping to the side, allowing her to enter first.

"Mr Gold." Emma greeted him with a small smile, awkwardly carrying a large plastic toolbox in front of herself, as she came into his shop.

When she was clear of the door, Rumald went to leave, but stopped, hearing Emma say. "Oh, Mr Gold." He crooked his head to see her, over his shoulder, taking a step back to him. "You might want to pop by Grannies and check on Belle. She got herself worked up, thinking you were in here and something bad… had happened to you."

Bowing his head, Rumald acknowledge what she had said and walked out of his shop, drawing the flaps of his overcoat closed to the cold evening air. The three deputies stood outside, hushed when Rumald came out of the shop, sheepishly eyeing Rumald, whispering to one another. Ignoring the young officers, he started towards Grannies, tucking his hands into the pockets of his overcoat, using his pockets to keep his coat closed.

Whilst he walked, Rumald shook his head, unbelieving the state of his shop. Thousands of dollars worth of damage. He was glad, that his sole income did not come from the shop. Realistically, Rumald did not need the shop, but it was useful to have somewhere to conduct business, and also served to occupy Rumald on the quiet days.

Crossing the intersection, he pushed his thoughts of the shop away, and considered what Emma had said to him about Belle. Rumald pushed back the sleeve on his arm, to check the time on his watch, and rolled his eyes, seeing he had forgotten to put his watch on, in the rush to get out of his house. It must have been late, he contemplated, glancing back to the clock above the library. The clock was hardly reliable, but it showed, it was ten past nine. Scrunching his brow, Rumald thought, it was a too early in the evening, for a break in, though it was not like Gaston was a professional. 'Idiot.', Rumald chuckled at his thought, as he crossed the fence line into Grannies and climbed the steps to the porch.

The bell above the door rung and the blind clattered on the back of door, as Rumald opened the door and slipped into Grannies, quickly shutting the door, to keep the cold from following him. Glancing round the room, there were only a few people in Grannies, mostly sitting on their own, enjoying a late supper before they went home or on shift for the night. Rumald moved over to the counter, and angled himself to try and see more behind the counter. As he neared the counter, Rumald leaned the other way, trying to spy through the hatch into the kitchen, when Ruby popped up from being knelt behind the counter.

"Mr Gold," Ruby pleasantly greeted him. "What can I do for you?"

"Emma said, Belle was here." Rumald told her, placing his hands on the counter.

For a brief second, Ruby's brow knitted together before she pointed to corridor, connecting the diner to the bed and breakfast. "She's gone up to her room."

"Ah…" Rumald pivoted round to see the corridor, Ruby indicated with her finger.

Ruby leaned forward, trying to catch his eye, telling him. "You can go up, if you like, she's in room six."

Slowly, Rumald peered to his right, to look at Ruby, who was giving him a knowing smile. Squinting his eyes at her, he wondered why she had been so helpful, when it came to him and Belle. In the past, Ruby had more than once, shown him that she had inherited the nasty whip of her grandmother's tongue. Belittling him, when the moment had called for it. Though, there had never been any animosity between them, it surprised Rumald, how supportive Ruby was being. Maybe, it was more Belle, she was aiding, rather Rumald.

"Thank you, Ruby." He voiced his gratitude to her.

"Think nothing of it." She said to him, waving a hand at his thanks, before she turned her back to him, collecting a cup from the counter, and turned back, presenting it to Rumald. "This is for Belle. You're saving me a job."

Mindful, as he took the cup from her, Rumald exchanged the cup between his hands, until he was holding the cup, by its handle, in his right hand. Looking from the cup to Ruby, half a smile pulled back one side of Rumald's lips, whilst he gazed at Ruby. She grinned at him, pleased with herself, and strolled away from him, along the counter, heading towards the kitchen. Feeling duped, Rumald dropped his gaze to the cup in his hand, and walked away from the counter, waltzing to the corridor, leading to the B&B.

He passed through the corridor and into the B&B, coming out into the reception area, and found Grannie, stood behind the small desk. She did not move, only her eyes moved, looking at him, from over the top of her glasses. His pace slowed, observing Grannie, while she did the same of him, watching him as he started to climb the stairs. After climbing to the small landing and switching to the next set of stairs, Rumald peered back down the stairs, over the banister, finding Grannie was watching him, like a hawk. He frowned at the scrutiny, Grannie was giving him, and carried on up the stairs.

At the top of the small second flight of stairs, were two small signs, one pointed to the left, indicating rooms one to four, and the other sign, pointed to the right, showing rooms five to eight. Rumald inspected the short hallway, before he took a step, selecting the right hallway. Glancing at the first door on his left, he saw a large bronze number five on the door, and checked with the opposite door, to see the same, but as a number eight. He pulled the flaps of his overcoat, closer together, nervously straightening his appearance, as he drew closer to her door. Stood outside of door, Rumald lifted his hand to knock at her door, and looked down at the cup, which looked like tea, and then gently knocked her door. He stepped back, not wanting to overcrowd her, when she opened the door, and rechecked his appearance again.

The door opened, with Belle saying. "You know, your minute's are very special, Ruby. You always take about half an hour, whenever you say, 'in a minute'."

"Yeah, I've found that at times." Rumald remarked, startling Belle.

"Rumald? You're alright?" She questioned, holding onto the edge of her door.

He smiled at her concern. "Yes, I'm fine."

"What're you doing here?" Belle asked, while she leaned out of her room, checking down the hallway.

"Well, I came to see, if you were alright." He then gestured to the cup in his hand. "But it seems, I'm now an errand boy." And took the cup into his left hand, offering the handle to Belle.

"Oh," She took the cup from him, eyeing the contents. "Is that my tea?"

Rumald gestured to her cup. "Ruby gave it to me, so… Could be your tea, if you asked half an hour ago for it."

Bringing her gaze up to see his face, Belle giggled at him. "Probably is then."

They stood there in a comfortable silence, holding each other's gaze. Rumald slyly breathed out, needing to calm himself as he struggled to keep control of himself. She was a free, single woman. Everything he had desired, stood before him, screaming for him to reach out, and take it, claiming her for himself. All the thoughts, the dreams, the wishes he had – they had merged into this moment. Rumald did not want nothing else, apart from to have her in his arms, and to kiss her until his dying day. Belle was right there in front of him, only feet away, and was just outside of his grasp.

"Do you want to come in?" She asked politely, checking her room over her shoulder.

Rumald had already taken step into her room, closing the space between them, as he responded. "Yes."

There was a faint blush to her cheeks, after she turned her gaze back to him, and found him stood very close to her. Belle stepped out of his way, hiding herself partly behind her door, observing him as he entered her room. Letting his gaze, roam around the room, Rumald moved into the middle of the room, clearing the doorway, and glimpsed over his shoulder, when he heard her close the door to the room.

"It's not like our room in Boston." Belle said to him, walking pass him, to sit down onto the foot of the bed, and bent herself over, to put her cup down on the floor, by her feet. "But it's homely."

Rumald motioned to the drawn curtains. "I bet the view isn't as good, either."

She let out a short chuckle. "No, no expensive yachts, outside that window. Just the parking lot."

Playing with the ring on his right ring finger, Rumald braced a smile for her, feeling uncomfortable, stood in the middle of the room. Belle sensed his unease, and shifted to her left on the bed, making room for him beside her.

"Come and sit down." Belle directed, patting the bed with her hand.

He strolled casually over to her, masking his nervousness, and sat down next to her, mindful to not sit too close to her, not wanting his desire for her, to overpower him. Glancing sideways at her, Rumald was rewarded by Belle, beaming a smile at him, that instantly put him at ease. While he kept his head turned to her, Rumald was astounded, he had managed to go three weeks without finding her. As all he could think, sitting next to her, was how he never wanted to be anywhere else, but by her side.

She placed her hand on top of his left thigh, her fingertips pressed into his jeans, as she said to him. "I was so worried earlier about you." Her head lulled to the side. "I saw Gaston come out of Grannies earlier, and then you came out afterwards, hobbling with your hand on your back. I thought, he'd hurt you or something had happened in Grannies. And then… When I had finished in the library and was locking up, I looked over and saw you shop open…" She bowed her head, hiding her gaze from him. "I thought the worse, as I never saw you leave and Dove had gone out in your car."

Rumald was dumbfounded – Was she stalking him? Although, he could not talk. He was always watching the library, watching the street, in case there was a chance, to catch a glimpse of her. It was the first time, Rumald realised, that Belle felt as strongly about him, as he did about her. Course, she had told him, she loved him too, but the words, 'I love you', were thrown away too easily these days. Though, when Rumald told her, he loved her, what he had really been confessing, was that he could not go another day without her in his life. He did not want to take another breath, unless she was by his side. He never wanted to think about future, where she was not a part of it. But to realise, the ferocity of his feeling were mirrored in Belle… Well, there was not much else to say, apart from Rumald, was a very lucky man.

"Gaston didn't hurt me." Rumald revealed to her, as he laid his hand on top of hers, squeezing her small delicate hand. "I did it to myself, helping out Jefferson."

"But I didn't see you leave…?" Belle said to him, scowling at him as she waited for him to answer her question.

A reassuring smile spread his lips, as he explained. "While I was having my lunch, Dove went and put some more gas in my car, as I was supposed to be going to Portland again tomorrow. When he came back to the shop, I told him to take me home and I laid down in the back of the car, because it was easier on my back. You must have missed, seeing me get into the car." He picked her hand up from his leg, and clasped it between both of his hands. "I wasn't in the shop, sweetheart."

She yanked her hand out of his grasp, dazing him with her sudden movement, and threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pulled herself against the side of his chest. "I was so worried!"

He slipped his arm out, from between them, and coiled his arm around her, as he buried his face into the side of her head. Greedily, Rumald took in a deep breath of her, instantly losing the tension, which he had been carrying around for three weeks. Their embrace was clumsy, but it was perfect to Rumald as he held her, not caring about anything, beyond the four walls of her room.

Belle pressed her hand onto his chest, pushing herself back from him, to say. "I'm sorry, Rumald."

"What for?" He asked her, stroking some of her hair out of her face, tracing the hair to sit behind her ear.

"For what I said at your house." She shamefully bowed her head. "You were right, by the way, I lying to myself and was being stubborn. Telling myself, I could make it work with Gaston, because I had committed myself to that life with him. But…" Belle cupped Rumald's face in her hands. "The night before the wedding, all I could think about was you and how much I wanted you."

"Belle, it doesn't matter." He told her, with his hands on her sides. "As long, as you've made the right choice for yourself. That's all that matters."

Her eyes glistened with the tears, that were beginning to pool in her eyes. "I just want to be with you, Rumald."

Rumald smiled at her, showing her, his crooked teeth. "I want nothing more, than to be yours."

Throwing herself at him, Rumald struggled to get his arms around her, while she crashed her lips into his, capturing him into a bruising kiss. Her kiss was urgent, and needed, with her fingers digging into his cheeks, preventing his escape. He titled his head to the side, giving her better access to his lips, and returned her kiss. Belle was unrelenting, hungrily eating up his lips, desperate for more, as her tongue tried to invade his mouth. Overcome, with Belle's need for him, Rumald gave into her and opened his mouth, groaning as her tongue surged into his mouth, frantic to taste him. It did not take much persuasion from Belle, to get him to lay back onto the bed, and slung her leg over him, positioning herself on top of him. There were no complaints from Rumald, only encouragement, wanting to provide her, with the sustenance she required.