Chapter 11 Hopes and Dreams

The sun showing out for their drive, did nothing to quell the nerves Robby had as they drove up the familiar driveway (to him) and he got ready to expose all of his hopes and dreams to Belle. Fast food burgers were sitting in Belle's lap as she eagerly peered out the car window, trying to soak in whatever it was that Robby was showing her, knowing that it was something important to him.

'Is it an estate sale? There are no cars here.' Belle wondered, seeing the older building in front of them.

'Um, no, no, not an estate sale-but it's a house that was for sale not too long ago. I quite like the inside- and though needing some TLC all the trim work and flooring is original and wouldn't take much to bring back to its former glory. Would you like to see inside?'

Belle's face was wrinkled in curiosity as if she knew, clever girl, that there was much more he wasn't saying. He tried to reign in his nervousness and project a neutral expression, but there was no pulling the wool over Belle's eyes and before they got out of the car, she switched her other hand to holding their fast food bags and squeezed his hand with her other. She said nothing, but conveyed everything, and he pulled every bit of courage that a touch from Belle always brought.

'The color is very unique, isn't it?' Belle commented as they walked hand in hand up the overgrown walkway. The lawn situation was something that was on the list of where some care was needed.

'Pardon?' He cringed inwardly. He hadn't heard what she said, his brain so full of what was to come and what he must stay and how she might react. He hoped with all his heart that this wasn't the last time he held her hand, or walked with her, or talked to her, or she wanted anything to do with him. Then again, this was always his thought whenever they did anything. He was still scratching his head over the fact that they were together. She hasn't left you yet, but she might today. You would ruin the day she is supposed to be happy, and what a failure you would be then!

He hadn't heard his father's voice in his head in a few weeks, all thanks to Belle, and he hated that he had to hear it now. He tried to turn his focus back on the beautiful girl beside him.

'It's pink.' She stated, her chin pointing towards the looming house in front of them.

'Salmon is the color I would describe it as. Very common in the 1800s, I assure you.'

He was defending the color of the house-hopefully that wouldn't be too much of a giveaway. Her face crinkled even further than it did before and he inwardly quelled the panic rising as he motioned for them to pause, so he could shift his cane and use his dominant hand to get the keys out of his pocket.

'You have the keys, Robby?'

She had some sort of an idea now, but only looked incredulously at him now. He tried to give an amused smile but he was afraid it was all shaky.

'I think we can take our meal to the kitchen bar-I don't think the owner will mind.' He tried to throw out something humorous with the whole thing, but he had no idea if it made any sense.

'You bought a house, Robby?!' Her eyes were so wide and blue as she took in the large foyer (Robby saw with fresh eyes just how much work it was going to take to restore it), the decorative trim, and the high ceilings. He simply nodded-he didn't know if he could venture even a 'yes' he was so nervous.

'How…?'

He took in three deep solid breaths before he could answer.

'The home, it takes someone with specific tastes to like it and thus it had been sitting on this lot for an entire year. I-I may not be the most eloquent when it comes to verbal communication, but I do have the ability to be quite persuasive via email. So, after a rather long and excessive chat with the owner-going over every thing that would be needed to bring this house back to its original beauty, he and I came to an agreement to a price that was within my budget. I've been saving every penny I could put away since everything happened to my shop three years ago, and things finally seem to be falling back into place.

Belle stood there quietly, her eyes showing that her ears were taking in every word he spoke.

'And it's much thanks to you that I finally decided to take a step towards a future that I wanted. I've never had much courage, Belle, but you seem to bring what little I do have out in the open.'

Belle shined the brightest smile at him and took his hands within hers.

'You have more courage than you give yourself credit for, Robby. Just like today-you came to my graduation when my own father couldn't remember to attend-or perhaps he didn't want to, since he hasn't even talked to me since moving out.' A painful look crossed her face before she brightened. 'But you came-you stepped out of your comfort zone for me and what I see is a wonderful and courageous man before me. And I love it, the house, Robby, it's beautiful, congratulations.' She gestured to the house. 'And you were worried about showing me the house you bought?' Her face back to the curious look she had given him earlier.

'Not exactly.'

Their meal was put down and ignored for a moment, while he took her hand and led her to the room he was most eager to show her.

The doors to the room were solid and heavy. Being as old as they were, they creaked loudly when opened, and it was the perfect soundtrack to Robby's nerves as he led her inside.

'Oh wow, Robby!' Belle let in a gasp of air as she looked around.

'I haven't a collection fit for the amount of built-ins, but I hoped-wanted-wanted to ask you if you might want to help me fill it?'

There was no answer at first, much to Robby's dismay, until he found what had distracted her. A small table he had found, and had been in his house for almost a year already, had seemed a good enough fit for this room. It wasn't the table, though, that had her attention, it was what was placed on it.

'Y-you bought it.' She seemed to be completely taken by surprise by it.

'Yes, how could I not after you found it to be-what were your words?' As if he didn't replay all his favorite moments with Belle over and over again when he was away from her. As if he didn't have all her beautiful words to him, memorized a thousand times over. 'Adorable.' He grinned, fully grinned as a look of pure joy swept over her.

'It's beautiful-and yes, adorable. And so you bought it for the house?'

The vase was spilling over with bright yellow flowers, a gorgeous contrast to the dark wood, and was the color he most thought of when he thought of Belle being in the space.

'Not exactly.' Panic threatened to seize him, but he took a deep breath as Belle forced her eyes away from the adorable vase and bright flowers and looked at him curiously.

'I bought it for you-if you'll have it. I know you have so little room at Ruby's, and you often lament not having room for many books at her house.'

Belle bit her lip at that declaration. It was true, indeed, that she had found that she hardly had room to stack her favorites on the nightstand and had begun to place some around the room in piles on the floor. She had spoken about Ruby's complaints at her hoarding, though she insisted it was no such thing.

'Those books are precious to me.' She had said about two weeks into living at Ruby's. 'They are the only thing I have that my mother gave to me. That and this.' She pulled at the inexpensive necklace that she always wore. It had been made beautiful by it being on Belle's neck and the knowledge of its sentimental value. 'I can't get rid of them, and I'm not messy in any other way. She never has to look at my room, and so as long as I'm not keeping two week old cheeseburgers' (that seemed very specific to Robby-probably a problem Ruby had in the past with the girl who did not last) 'I don't see what the problem is!'

He had agreed with her then, and it was that problem she had that had him immediately thinking of her, the second he walked into this room the first time he walked through his soon to be home.

'And so, so, I thought you might like to have this one?' He knew he sounded pathetically unsure. He was pathetically unsure.

'You are giving me your library?' She sounded as if it were too incredible a thing. What would she say to the rest of it? Only one way to find out, he supposed.

His free hand, the one not wrapped around his cane, working as not just an anchor for his leg, but also for his whole body, so he wouldn't completely collapse in fright, went to the back of his neck, rubbing it as if it had some sort of ability to give him confidence.

'Yes, Belle, but not just that though. I sometimes daydream about the future-I dream about this house, a later, perhaps a little shop that sells antiques-and perhaps even vintage books?' Belle's eyes went wide, but not from shock-something like happiness? He couldn't focus on that too much-he needed to get through this next bit. 'And I know it's a bit silly to envision it, you can laugh at me if you want, I won't blame you, but I see you when I see my dream future. 'Cause I know it's really been only three months, and my lease has another three until it's up-so you could get to know me some more, and see if it's something you could see yourself doing, and at the end of those months, I'd like to go down on one knee-if I can manage it, and make it official, but I know it's too early now, and the whole idea is ridiculous, but I don't want the house to be mine, I want it to be ours, if it would be something you would want. Because, I-well, I know it's so soon-probably too soon, but you, that is, you mean everything to me, Belle. ' Robby had never spoken so quickly-or perhaps so much at one time-in his life. He was so afraid of only getting half through with what he wanted to say and then Belle getting some sort of horrible idea and running away, taking his car with her. Not that he wouldn't blame her if she did it now. He couldn't even remember how he phrased everything, even seconds after they came out of his mouth but he knew it had to be one jumbled mess. A proposal that wasn't a proposal, because he couldn't imagine a logical reason why she would want to be engaged so soon after beginning their relationship, and he didn't want her to leave him in horror of his presumption.

He dared gain eye contact with Belle and the second he saw tears in her eyes he wanted to take everything back he had just said. He cringed, he panicked, he felt his heart clinch and his forehead get all sweaty, and his hands started shaking and his breathing began to be hard to accomplish. Belle must have sensed his trouble, for she placed a comforting hand on his arm and spoke softly to him.

'Well that has to be the sweetest, almost but not quite proposal.' They both laughed with a laugh that had a sob like edge to it, tears making a showing in his own eyes at the sheer relief that she wasn't throwing his words back on him and telling him how foolish he was.

'And I would like that, I would like all of that Robby.' She leaned close to him, and he thought she might plant a kiss on his cheek, but instead she whispered the way she did when she told him that she knew the whole time he wasn't mute. 'And if you would have proposed, I would have said yes-I think, I think I'm in love with you, Robby Gold.' She bit her lower lip behind a growing bashful smile as she leaned back and rocked on her heels. Robby was too stunned to think too much. He finally seemed to grasp what she had said, and he felt his whole world had been rocked in the best, most amazing way possible.

He reached out towards the ponytail that her hair had been swept into, and took it in his and ran his fingers through it, placing the gathered hair on her shoulders in one large mass of beautiful, soft curls.

'I love you too, Belle- and I have loved you for, well, ever so long-perhaps longer than you would care to know. I, I can't believe it-I just can't believe you would love m…'

Belle broke his train of self depreciation by getting only a hair's breadth away from him. All oxygen escaped the room and he was only aware of the two of them in the whole world. He leaned in and they shared their first kiss in her library, in a home that would hopefully belong to the two of them.

The kiss was Robby's first, of course it was-Belle was the first person to try to find the man behind the cowardly mute (for in all honesty, it was what he was to so many). Thus it was one of inexperience, yet true beauty and love. He stupidly smiled as they came up for air, and he ran his thumb down the curve of her cheek, basking in the knowledge of her love, little earned as it might be.

'So you think-in three months' time, you might think about…'

'Yes.' She said breathlessly. 'And I really don't want a long engagement or a big wedding, is that okay?'

Robby smiled. He was alright with that.

Author's Note: I do not own OUAT

So...
I hope none of that seemed too rushed, far fetched, etc. I try to keep my stories in the realm of the possibility, as much as I can. My uncle and aunt met and married three months after they first met-so stranger things have happened, right? lol Technically Robby and Belle have *known* each other for 2 years, they just didn't *know* each other-if ya know what I mean.
Robby asking Belle how she would feel about getting engaged in three months is something my husband (boyfriend at the time, of course) did with me when we were thinking about getting married. Because I went a pretty old fashioned, courtship sort of a route, we knew marriage was on the table. I was finishing school, myself and my then boyfriend was trying to figure out timing wise what would be best for me. His proposal was still super sweet!
I thought with how nervous Robby gets, he might would try to get his point across in the most awkward way possible, as well, so I thought this would do the trick.
Hopefully you enjoyed it. In Robby fashion, I always second guess my work. Your encouraging comments go a long way-so thank you so much!