He was an idiot. Or a coward. Maybe both.

He'd brought her up here to the cabin this weekend for many reasons; to find balance in his life, to make love to her until they were both satisfied and smiling, to spend time together, to let her stretch her legs and get out of the house. But there was one other reason, one that was far more important than any other. He'd brought her up here intending to finally tell her about Baelfire. He'd wanted to tell her everything. He'd wanted to finally name Milah, to tell her how he'd wound up shackled to her, to explain how he'd broken an ankle and where things had gone wrong. He'd wanted to tell her about the wars and what the army had done with the children they'd taken and what they would have done to Baelfire if he hadn't become the Dark One. He'd even wanted to tell her that tale, about Zoso, the dagger, and Nimue. He wanted her to know it all.

And yet, it never happened.

He'd thought about telling her. He could count at least five separate opportunities they'd had this weekend, two of which had been extended opportunities, where he could have told her. But each time, he'd failed.

The first night they were there, the moment came at dinner, but he figured it was too early. She was still basking in the glow of being here and he didn't want to ruin it when he'd rather spend that time staring into her eyes and making love to her until they knew just how loud she could scream without neighbors potentially hearing.

The next day he'd made a picnic for them to go out and enjoy while they soaked in the leisure and nice weather. He'd packed that picnic with the intent of telling her during that meal. But every time silence fell between them, the words simply didn't come out of him.

They'd spent an extended period of time in his bathtub one morning, all morning really until they'd both turned into prunes. But every time he opened his mouth to tell her, she sighed contently or spoke of love, and he figured it wasn't the right time.

They'd made meals together, spend time reading and spinning together in the quiet, each time he told himself it was just one sentence he needed to say, and the rest would spill out! He came up with half a dozen first lines! "We need to talk." "There's something I need to tell you." "I'd like to speak with you." "There's something you should know about me." "I want to tell you a story." She'd even offered him a perfect opportunity the first night when his ankle had been sore, and she'd asked about how it had happened!

Every time he never began the conversation. He convinced himself that the moment was too perfect to spoil it and he let them go on as they were. And so, Baelfire remained a secret between them.

Today was his last opportunity. Today was their last day in the cabin. Tonight, they'd have to return to his home so that he could get up tomorrow and go to work on his potions for getting across the town line. He had to regain balance. He'd given Belle as much of his time this weekend as he could to make up for how hard he was working during the week. Now it was time to focus on Baelfire again. If he couldn't tell her about him, then he at least owed his son that much. Just like he owed her an explanation.

He had to tell her. Today. Now.

He was in the kitchen making breakfast while she prowled around the living room looking for her book when he told her that tonight they'd be returning to the house. This was the time, the perfect time to tell her that he had something to do when they got back, why it was important, what he was working on…

But his pronouncement had her reacting like he'd struck her across the face. The smile she'd been wearing vanished, and he watched as she slowly sank onto the couch, staring at nothing with dead eyes that told him it was more than just unhappiness she felt about returning to the house. It was dread.

"I told you when we first got here that we couldn't stay forever," he reminded her.

She turned her gaze on him and attempted a smile, but it came out as a half-hearted smirk before falling again. "I know."

She knew. But she was still miserable about it. He sighed as he turned off the burner as the silence stretched between them. This, that reaction, he'd been worried about something like that. He'd been worried that she might get too used to being up here, to being safe and pampered that she might not take well to the thought of going back to the house. He'd tried to manage her expectations when he'd brought her up here. Clearly, he'd failed at that too.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, her voice forcing him to look up from the place he'd been staring at on the counter. "I know we have to go back, I just…I wasn't prepared for it to come so fast."

That wasn't it. He could see that wasn't it. These days had been remarkable, forcing her to go back to the house to wait there for him day after day, growing bored every hour…that was the problem. He knew it was a problem. It wasn't what he wanted for her, but until he figured out another alternative, another way to ensure her safety while he went out into the world to fetch Baelfire…what choice did they have? If he told her about Bae, about what he had to do, then he felt certain she'd understand. He needed to tell her!

"I know your life isn't perfect," he began, "but it's safe."

"I understand that," she argued before he could get another word in. "And I appreciate that I'm protected, I just-"

"Just what?!" he spat back without thinking. He felt like they'd had this argument already, maybe multiple times. Coming up here was supposed to be the solution for it, not a new start to it.

"I'm just bored," she informed him with absolute seriousness on her face.

"You've told me that!"

"I wasn't finished," she insisted before he could begin to point out all the times she'd told him that before. The way she stared at him, not timid or angry or fearful, just…stern. She was going to speak her mind, and there wasn't a thing anyone could do to stop her. He was learning in relationships that roles were not consistent. Dominant and Submissive personalities could be switched and swapped. For the most part, since she returned, he'd been the dominant one. He'd understood the world, been experienced with the Curse and what was happening to them, he'd been the one who had been in relationships before, it made sense that he was the one that had taken the reins. But only for a while.

She was growing. Her knowledge, her experience, her confidence, all of it was growing within her and now, looking at her watching him with eyes like that…his insistent caretaker was back. The one who demanded his attention. The one who had power over him in a mystical way. She was dominant. He wasn't sure he knew how to play the role of submissive…at least not while he was the Dark One.

"I'm bored, Rumple," she explained calmly. "I sit at home all day long while you're gone with nothing to do but clean. And I know that you didn't ask me to do it, but that only makes it worse!" her voice broke as she said her last word, and the calm demeanor of a Princess coming to negotiate gave way to emotion. "It makes me feel useless, and I want, I need, to feel like I have a purpose in life. I need to feel like I am important, that there is a reason I am in this world with you! I need to know that there is something I can do besides sit at home and be a caretaker! I was useless once, a long time ago, before we met. You saved me from that life. Please, don't ask me to go back to it now!"

She was crying. And he was staring. Not because she was a sight, but just because he didn't know what to say. That was how she felt? Useless? She was the best person he'd ever known, the hardest of workers, the most useful of workers. He hadn't asked her to, but in the brief time she'd had, she'd mastered the use of the house, cleaned it, organized it, and had it looking better than it had ever been. How could she ever think that she was…useless.

"You're not useless," he whispered, more to himself than to her.

"If I'm not useless, then what am I good for?" she questioned harshly. "I'm no better than a prisoner in a luxurious cell."

"You are not being held prisoner!" he argued. And he resented the fact that after actually being held as a prisoner by Regina, she would even make an argument like that. He knew that sitting at the house wasn't complete freedom, but it was sure as hell better than whatever hell Regina had subjected her to that woke her up screaming at night. Anything was better than that.

"You are safe."

"I am capable of protecting myself. I know the town is chaotic, but I faced a Yaoguai, I think I can handle a town of half-cursed human beings!"

"You faced a…no, that doesn't matter. Later." His heart hammered as panic rose in him. He didn't even know where to begin to unpack what she'd said. He rubbed a hand over his face as he tried to get the image of her coming up against one of those beasts alone out of his head. She was here now, and so it was a story for another time and didn't apply to this argument. "You were still captured by Regina."

"Do you really think that she's going to come after me again?!" she asked, raising her eyebrows as if in a dare. He knew why. Because he'd often comforted her over these last few weeks by telling her that she wouldn't dare do that, but in reality? Did he really believe that she wouldn't come after her again? He didn't know. He was certain that as long as Belle stayed with him or at the house when he'd put up the protection spell, then she was safe, but when he left town for Bae, if Belle were to go out into the town on her own?

"I honestly don't know what to expect from her right now," he answered honestly. And this conversation had taken a turn he hadn't expected, into emotions he hadn't planned on. He was frustrated already, and they hadn't even talked about Baelfire yet. He didn't want to fight with her or be angry with her. He just…he wanted to talk. With that in mind, he moved out of the kitchen and took a seat beside her, on the couch that she'd fallen into. She swallowed but didn't move away from him.

"Well, I imagine that being trapped in a town full of people that she cursed hasn't exactly put her in a place with time to come searching for me."

"Do you really want to risk that?" Because he didn't. That's why figuring out a safe plan for her when he left to find Baelfire was at the top of his list. That's why he wanted her to stay unknown and undiscovered, so she wouldn't make herself vulnerable to other enemies lying in wait, waiting for him to mess up. If he left to go find Baelfire and something happened to her, again…

Before he could finish wrestling that thought, she moved closer to him. She relaxed into the sofa, rested her head on his shoulder, and then threaded her hand through the crook in his arm. "I'm not asking for the world, Rumple. I'm not even asking for the town. I just don't see the harm in going with you to the store for the day. Even if I never leave the back room."

That wasn't a terrible suggestion. Except for the fact that on the way from the house to the store, she was bound to see that things were not all fire and brimstone as he'd been describing to her. Except for the fact that if she came with him, he'd have to tell her what he was working on with Baelfire, and...he should tell her. Now. While they were here like this. It would be such a natural conversation to have. They had all the privacy in the world. All he had to do was begin. "Belle, there's something you should know about what I do at the shop and in the middle of the night." That was it, his opening line, his descent into complete honesty.

But instead, he just sat there, staring at her hand on his arm. The words didn't come. And somehow, he had the feeling that the opportune time had suddenly passed without him even noticing it.

"One week," she muttered into the silence. "I'll wait one more week for the town to collect itself, and if it still hasn't by then, we'll brave it together. To the shop for the day and back again."

He managed to reach for her hand and give it a gentle squeeze as he fought to find the words. It wasn't a bad deal, not at all, not if he'd been honest with her. At least it wasn't a bad deal for her. But for him…he didn't think he could convince her that the town magically put itself together in one week. He didn't think that she would ever buy it. And then she'd put together that he'd been lying about the town to keep her placated. She'd grown angry with him. And then she'd leave. He wasn't ready for that to happen yet, not when he hadn't told her yet about Bae. And where Bae was concerned…now wasn't the time.

He needed more time.

"Two weeks," he bargained quietly. That would give him time. He'd take her home, and in a few days, he'd miraculously report that the town seemed to be figuring itself out. He could give a positive report every day, let it build, and then take her into town a day or so early. That would make the stories believable. And with any luck, somewhere in there, he'd finally tell her about Baelfire. Two weeks. He could do two weeks.

"Two weeks, and we spend next weekend here again," she countered expertly.

That finally drew a smile out of him. That was a deal they could both live with. And it would give him next weekend to tell her about Baelfire. It was an excellent plan all around.

"That can be arranged."

She beamed then, and wiggled her body closer to his side as they sat there, and he felt something familiar erupt in his chest. Warmth. Security. Safety. That was what she'd told him she felt when she was around him yesterday morning, what he'd confessed he felt around her too, even though he couldn't find a reason that the mighty Dark One would feel comfort from a human. True Love was a wonder. It made him feel like he never had before. It made him want to keep her safe, tell her secrets, and be a better person. How could she think that what they were wasn't a miracle? How could she ever think she had no purpose? That she was useless?

He kissed the top of her head and sighed. "You aren't useless," he insisted. "You make me better. You turn me into a man, and that isn't an easy task. Isn't that enough?"

She opened her mouth, but all that came out was a sigh. The question went unanswered, but it was enough that he understood the answer well enough.

No, for her, he was not enough.

Here is a little bit more of the same but different in the sense that we, as the readers and the watchers, know what is coming. I loved writing his inner turmoil for this chapter. I loved giving him the desire to tell Belle everything, and in this chapter, we find out that it really is everything he wants to tell her and then struggling to find the words and sort of settling on this constant "I'll do it next meal...next moment...next week." Of course, as things progress, we know he's just settled on telling her next weekend, and we know that there is no next weekend. This really was his opportune time to tell her, and now it has passed...for now.

Thank you, Grace5231973 and Alarda, for your reviews on the last chapter! I hope that, similar to the last chapter, you'll really enjoy getting into Rumple's head here. Writing this chapter for Belle was fun, writing it for Rumple, hearing his thoughts in the silence when he was talking to Belle, was better. Peace and Happy Reading!