The second he set foot out of the library, he allowed his mind to shift. He left Belle and their time together in bed with her and began to think about the day ahead, of what the town was doing, and what he needed to do as well. The first order of business, always, was Baelfire. In his shop, he had two small vials left of the potion he'd worked on for the town line. Two small vials, one extraordinary fact…it was too much. He didn't need both of those vials, no matter how nervous it made him to have so little. At the end of the day, he needed only one for himself and one for a preliminary test. He wanted to send someone over the town line to see if all his theories held together, just to see if his work was effective. If the person returned, with their memories, then he'd know it was safe enough to test on himself.

And he knew exactly who he wanted to test it on.

He retrieved his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Dove, who answered him sleepily. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Business hours for you, Mr. Dove, are any time I call."

"What do you want, Gold?" he answered unhappily.

"I'd like for you to locate William Smee and keep an eye on him for the day. You tracked him down last time, so I'm assuming if you leave early enough, you can catch him this time."

"What do you want him for?"

"That's my business," he stated clearly. "Your business is to find him and wait for my instructions."

"As you command, O Ye Mighty Dark One."

It wasn't exactly "Boss," and he could use a little less snark…but he'd take it.

"Any news on Regina?"

"No. The funeral for the doctor is tomorrow, and there's some kind of gathering for him tonight, but both seem to be 'invite-only.'"

Good. He was counting on that. He hung up with a word to Dove about keeping in touch and then turned to his work for the day, which was really just a distraction to keep himself from going back over to the library, finding Belle, and…

Focus. The time for that was over and done. Now was the time for Baelfire, for his son.

The magic he'd developed was ready for tonight, ready for the test he had in mind. It was a big step, but he had faith in his magic. If he'd done his job right, then his magic should allow him to get through the border. And after that? He had a theory.

Before he'd gone missing, August had told him that this was not a land completely devoid of magic but that it did exist here when people believed in it. If that was the case, then beyond the border, he should be fine. He believed in his magic. If he believed, then whatever magic he imbued into the shawl should work.

He had no evidence that theory would hold up, but he also had no reason to think he'd have to test it. As far as he was concerned, the second he was beyond the border, the shawl was going to stay firmly around his neck. And then there would be nothing standing between him and Baelfire. Nothing.

He was just getting ready to call Dove and get a status update on Smee when he heard the bell on the shop ring. There was no overwhelming sense of magic to tell him who had come in, but he quickly pocketed the dose of magic that he had just in case it was-

Belle.

"Hi," she smiled, pulling back the curtain and letting herself into the back room.

"Hey!" He instantly felt a smile spread across his own face at the gesture. He hadn't been expecting her, not knowing she was supposed to meet Ruby at the dinner. But it was a wonderful surprise. And watching her walk into the back, stride around his table, and kiss him like she owned the place every bit as much as him…it had a strange effect on him he couldn't quite put words to. But he liked it.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you."

He felt his stomach drop and heard the sound of blood rushing through his ears. He reached out to hold her, to pull her closer on instinct. Regina…had she come after her? Threatened her? Had anyone come looking for her?

"No!" she exclaimed suddenly as if she'd read his thoughts and understood her mistake. She shook her head and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him down to her, bringing his forehead to rest upon her own. "No, no, no, everything is fine."

Fine. She was fine. She was happy and healthy and fine. She was holding him secure in her arms, and he was holding her back, and all was well. But, fuck, had he always been his protective? Had his mind always jumped immediately to conclusions like this?

Belle suddenly took a deep breath and pulled away so that she could look at him. "I was on my way to Granny's, and I realized I never asked if you wanted to come with me tonight?"

She'd made a statement, but the inflection and the look in her eyes suggested it was a question, an invitation. Did he want to come with her tonight? Wasn't that a difficult question to answer...

He always wanted to be with her, especially after these last few days. But where and how he wanted her was not always suitable for a public audience. Besides, tonight he already had plans, and while he would have taken her for them, he wasn't so sure she'd approve of what he was about to do. In addition, the words "invite-only" kept repeating over and over in his head. That was not something he'd secured. When Ruby had talked to Belle about coming tonight, she'd made it very clear it was only her that was invited. Not him.

"I don't think I have many friends there, Belle," he muttered, pulling free from her grasp and leading her out into the main room away from whatever he'd been mindlessly working on before she arrived. He was glad she was here, happy to spend this time with her and only her and for that reason, and to give his hands something to do, when he made it to the front door, he turned the sign to "closed" and shut the shades. Privacy, that was what he longed for with her above all.

She smiled at him when he turned back to see him. But while her smile was soft and sympathetic, there was something hard in her eyes that made him realize she hadn't liked something he'd said. He'd closed the store for privacy; perhaps he should have closed it in anticipation of a fight.

"They can't get to know you if you don't give them a chance," she stated softly.

"That statement assumes that they want to get to know me."

"How do you know they don't?"

He knew.

He sighed and shuffled over to, of all places, the dolls of Marco's parents before the Blue Fairy had freed them. They were nothing now but a reminder.

Belle had meant her words in a joking sort of way…but he knew. The people going to Granny's to celebrate Archie's life tonight were not people who wanted to spend time with him. He'd helped them over the years. He was certain that he could make an argument for everyone in that room, including Archie himself, for how he'd helped them in their life. But many of them didn't see his "helping" in that way. And at the heart of it, he knew that he'd never really helped any of them because he'd seen it as the right thing to do. He'd done it all for Baelfire, to make the future go faster, to get to where he wanted to be and not where they wanted to be. Whether they knew it or not, people could sense things like that. They wouldn't want him there for that reason. That was why he hadn't received an invitation. She just didn't understand that.

"I've done…terrible things in my life, Belle…unforgivable things…all magic comes with a price…"

And this was his. Belle wanted a social life. She wanted friends and relationships beyond their relationship. She wanted to take him places with her…but it just wasn't meant to be that way. Not for him.

The click of heels on the wooden floor alerted him to Belle coming closer without having to look up at her. With a touch to his arm, she pulled him easily away from his sins and forced him to focus on her. He wished it was always that easy.

"That's all in your past," she explained. "This curse is a new life, a new chance. We've nothing else to do while we wait for the curse to be broken."

He smirked at her. She wasn't wrong, not entirely. But she wasn't right either. Because his sins were not in his past, not while he was planning on committing another one tonight and counting on her forgiveness if she ever found out. And he was not just going to wait for this curse to be broken. He was going to get out of here and find his son.

"Nothing to do but try and break it," he whispered back to her.

Belle gave a small, defeated sigh, as if she finally accepted what he was telling her, and then moved to put her arms around him again. "I understand."

He pulled her closer, putting his nose into her neck and realizing that after the last few days, she smelled like him again. If he focused, he was nearly certain he probably smelled like her again too. It relieved him in some way.

All at once, noise broke out in his shop, noise that he was used to but made her jump. Every clock he owned was suddenly going off, reminding them of the time. That sort of thing happened all the time in his shop, every fifteen minutes, but she broke free of him and spun around to search for the source, spotted the clock, and he could feel her demeanor change by the time she looked back at him.

"I want to hear about how far you're getting on the curse-"

"But you have to go," he finished for her, holding up a hand to silence her. "We both have places to be tonight, and there will be time to talk later.

"Lunch? Tomorrow? After the funeral?" she suggested.

He nodded, happy she'd made the suggestion and that they were seeing each other every day again.

"We can talk then," she concluded before rising up on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. She embraced him once more, and he would admit to squeezing her tighter than usual before he kissed her neck and told her goodbye.

The second she was out the door, he raised the shade and watched her walk down the street to Granny's. Once he saw her safely to the door, he pulled the vial of magic out of his pocket, found his phone, and called Dove.

"Where are you?"

Happy little miracles! I remember writing this scene for Moments. I remember writing it for Belle, to set her up for the next chapter in her own story. I remember being nervous when I wrote it that it would stick out like a sore thumb when I finally got to Rumple's side of things, and well...here we are. And my conclusion...it fits. In some miraculous way, it fits just fine into Rumple's story, into what he's going through and what he's thinking about. His motions and character, at least to me, all seem fine and not a bit out of place. And that makes me feel some kinda way I can't even begin to describe.

Thank you, Grace5231973 and Spunkymouse, for your reviews of the last chapter! I'm so glad that you like where Rumple's mind is at and that the thoughts of the proposal were not only a happy surprise but something that felt like it belonged. That makes me happy in a way you can't imagine! Peace and Happy Reading!