Hi everyone! Sorry this chapter is so late, I had to move into a new apartment and college classes started so it's been crazy. This chapter has also been in a constant state of reworking since I started writing it and I kind of hate it, but hopefully I'm just tired of looking at it and it's actually not that bad. Hope you all enjoy!
Will entered Storybrooke like a whirlwind.
Belle was trying hard to keep herself busy. The more she worked, the more she could keep her mind off Rumpelstiltskin. However, she could only work so much. The day was easy. She could manage both the library and the shop, eat lunch at Granny's, keep her mind off things. The nights were the hardest. She still slept in their bed, and cried herself to sleep every night. The room had stopped smelling like him, it only smelled of her now. She often clutched her pillow and sobbed; sometimes imagining that it was him and that he was there to hold her. She could work all she wanted during the day, but she hadn't figured out how to put her heart back together yet.
She saw a lot of Will around town. She didn't question it like she should have. New people came in and out of town occasionally, she would leave the questioning up to the others. As long as she was being left alone, she didn't really care what was happening with everyone else.
One day while Belle was eating lunch at Granny's, Will came in and started talking quietly to Ruby. Ruby spilled him a roll of money, and Will left. A strange encounter. When Ruby came over to bring Belle her food, Belle pressed the issue.
"What was that all about?" Belle asked.
"About what?" Ruby questioned, looking away.
"Why did you just give Will all that money?" Belle pressed on.
Ruby sighed and sat down on the other side of the table. "He's got the deed to the restaurant and the inn. I don't know how he managed to get it, I had just assumed you were taking care of Rumpelstiltskin's assets, but now we're paying our rent to Will. He owns everything."
Belle thought back to everything she had done after Rumple's death, admitting to herself that she hadn't even thought about all of Rumple's assets. Rumple always tried not to bring his menial work home, so Belle was rarely exposed to the business side of things.
"But how did he manage to get all the deeds?" Belle wondered.
"Well, apparently you didn't give them to him," Ruby stated, "but it doesn't really matter now because he has them. He acts shady about it too. He raised our rent slightly for this month. What we were paying under Rumpelstiltskin was already high, I don't know how much more we can afford to pay." Ruby walked away, and Belle wondered again how Will managed to acquire the deed to the diner.
She also wondered why she hadn't had an encounter with Will yet.
Belle went back to the shop. She looked at the statements for both the library and the shop, examining both. She never had to pay rent on the library because it was a gift from Rumple, and he never had to pay rent on the shop because it was his. Belle searched for the original deeds Rumple would have kept hidden, and that would give her ownership over the library and the shop. She didn't couldn't find them.
Her rent was due in two days, and she didn't have enough.
Belle let her head fall into her hands and she sank down into her desk. Cheyenne was keeping herself entertained, and Belle finally felt like she could think about everything that was going on. She hadn't let herself imagine what the return of Rumpelstiltskin could mean. She had loved him so much, and she probably still did, but she wasn't going to let herself get lost in those feelings. If she lost her focus for even one minute, everything could fall apart. She thought about what she had felt when she saw him in the square. It was like her life had color again. Cheyenne had always added light to her life, but seeing Rumple again was like seeing everything clearly for the first time in a long time. He was back to being his human self when she saw him, and that was the man Belle had really fallen in love with. She wanted to go see him; to cry to him and tell him everything that had happened over the past four years. She wanted to tell him how much she missed him.
But then she thought about Will. She thought about how Will owned the town now, and had essentially taken Rumple's place. Will could cut her off easily from all of her funds, the shop, the house, everything. She hated that she had gotten herself into this situation, but then she thought about how marrying him seemed like such a good idea at the time. He acted like he loved her so much, and that he loved Cheyenne, and that they were a real family. Family was her weak spot. She never felt like she had one with her father, which is why she was determined to give Cheyenne the family Belle never had. For a while, she had felt like she had a family with Rumple. Herself, Rumple, and Neal. That was her family. She didn't even talk to Neal anymore. At first it hurt too much, and then she was too ashamed of what she was doing. For a time she had even hoped that she and Rumple would start their own family, but that was not to be due to his time being cut short. She thought about how alone she had felt after he'd left.
And for one brief second, she thought about how she could have a family with Rumple and Cheyenne. But then she pushed that thought back down deep into her stomach where she wouldn't even consider it again.
When Emma came back into the Sheriff's office, Hook had filled her in on everything he knew. Now, Hook and Rumpelstiltskin walked out the sheriff's office together. Rumple wasn't happy, with any of it. He was quite furious actually. The idea that anyone was hurting Belle made him sick to his stomach, and what Hook was telling him about who he believed revived him made Rumpelstiltskin even more angry.
"But like I said, I haven't seen either one of them since they came to me three days ago," Hook continued.
"But why did you help them?" Rumple snapped.
"They said it was for Belle. I didn't realize what they were planning at the time or I wouldn't have agreed, because we could have found another way. Belle has been through a lot that she doesn't deserve, and I just helped perpetuate most of it. The least I could do was try to help her out of her current situation." Rumple still was not happy. He was not happy with Hook or any of it. "Look, what's done is done. Emma and I will take over trying to locate the other two, and you go help Belle. She really needs someone to help her right now." Hook was genuine. He owed Belle a better apology than just a simple 'I'm sorry'.
They exchanged a few awkward words and then Hook left to go find Emma and coordinate a search for their two missing friends. Rumple stopped to collect himself, and figure out how he wanted to go about this. Ever since he had returned, all he could think about was Belle. The first thing he thought of when he woke up in the enchanted forest was her, and she was all he was thinking about now. She looked aged. She had lines around her eyes that she didn't have before, and she was still so young to have. She didn't light up a room like she used to, she seemed smaller and darker; fading into the background instead of being a constant presence. There was also the matter of the young girl that she always had with her. He had obvious assumptions about the child, but wanted to talk to Belle about it himself.
This was a very precarious situation, but he ultimately decided to just go and see if he could find her.
Belle had called Will to apologize to him about lunch. She felt bad, and she didn't want him to be angry with her. They had ended up back at the shop. Will was sitting behind the counter filling out some paper work, and Belle was walking around bouncing Cheyenne on her hip. Her baby laughed every time Belle would toss her up in the air slightly, only to cradle her in a hug.
"Momma!" Cheyenne yelled between a giggle.
"Yes, baby girl?" she responded.
"I love you, Momma," Cheyenne buried her face in her mother's chest. Belle loved Cheyenne so much, it was the only source of unconditional love she had left. This was also a very obvious indication that Cheyenne was almost ready for a nap.
Belle stroked Cheyenne's face. "She's got your eyes, you know?" She said to Will.
He looked up from what he was doing and examined his family. "She's beautiful, just like her mother," and he smiled at both of them. Belle loved it when he smiled, it reminded her of how they used to be.
"She's growing up so fast," Belle cooed at her daughter. "She's not going to need me to do things for her soon."
Will stood up and came over to them, putting his hand on Belle's back and kissing his daughter. Belle was happy, she felt like a real family and that's all she really wanted. She admired Will's strong figure and leaned herself against his chest, and drew lazy circles on her back. It was moment's like this that reminded her that Will really did love her, even when he didn't act like it.
Then the door swung open, and Belle's family quickly fell apart.
Rumpelstiltskin walked in, entering like it was still his shop. He probably felt like it was. Everything happened so fast from that point. Will dropped his hand from Belle's back and swung around to face him. Belle's mind went blank, running to the back room with Cheyenne. She placed Cheyenne down in her play area, and then ran back out, closing the curtain behind her. All she was thinking about was protecting her daughter.
When Belle got back to the front Will and Rumple were facing each other. Belle was terrified, her heart raced and she could feel her stomach in the back of her throat. This was everything she was afraid of, but she knew it was inevitable since Rumple had returned. However, this was the first time she had actually gotten the chance to see him up close since he had returned. He looked at her, she knew she looked terrified, and his face softened when he made eye contact with her. Her heart ached.
Rumple looked back at Will and his face hardened again. "You must be Will," he spat out the words.
"I am," Will replied.
"I need to speak with Belle," Rumple said condescendingly. Belle's heart started beating faster than it already was.
"No, you don't," Will stepped forward, straightening up, a typical Will intimidation tactic.
"Will…" Belle touched his arm. He turned slightly to look at her and his blue eyes were sharp. She backed off; she felt very small.
"She can talk to whoever she wants," Rumple continued.
"You're in my shop, I'll have you arrested for trespassing,"
"You're shop?" Rumple snorted, like it was the most ridiculous thing he'd heard all day.
"I have the deed, so it's my shop," Will said smugly. Belle hated hearing Will say that it was his shop. It wasn't his shop, it was her shop, he just collected the rent.
Belle heard Cheyenne start fussing in the back room; feeling the tension radiating from the front. "Rumple, you need to go," she begged him.
"Belle-" he started, but she cut him off as Cheyenne started to fuss louder, calling for her mom.
"Now, Rumple. Please," she pleaded with him through her eyes, hoping that he would realize that if he stayed it would just make the situation worse for everyone. Her heart hurt, because at the same time all she wanted him to do was stay.
Rumpelstiltskin was obviously conflicted. He knew that he couldn't simply leave her with a man that was hurting her. His protective instincts were going into overdrive. He did realize, however, what an awful plan this actually was, and he probably should have found some other way to contact her than barging into the shop where she and her abusive husband were having a moment.
Belle once again decided to take the situation into her own hands. It was obvious that neither Will nor Rumple were going to back down, and Belle knew exactly what Will was capable of. She took a breath, walked over to Rumple, took his arm and pulled him out the door. She knew he wasn't going to leave on his own, but he needed to go.
Once they were outside he looked at her with wide eyes.
"Just give me some time to figure all this out," she whispered rapidly, "but you can't come here again. Things are are complicated, please just don't make this harder than it has to be."
She left him standing on the street along with a piece of her heart.
When she walked back into the shop she knew what was waiting for her. Will would be furious. There was no method or reason to him at all, when he got angry about something there was no stopping it. She locked the door quickly and turned around. Cheyenne was still fussing.
"What did I say?" Will asked her.
"I need to go check on Cheyenne," Belle tried in vain to divert to conversation.
"Why did he come here?" Will asked louder.
"It's not like I invited him!" Belle shouted, and tried to push past Will to get to Cheyenne. Will grabbed her arm and spun her around, jerking her back towards him. She tried to jerk away but he was much stronger than her. "Will, please! He just came on his own, I told you I haven't had any contact with him!"
He lifted his arm and she felt the back of his hand make contact with her face. She let out a squeal and tried to cover herself but he still had a firm hold on her upper arms. her cheekbone ached from where he hit her.
"Please, Will," she whispered, feeling slightly disoriented.
He hit her again. She tried to move before he could reach her, but this only resulted in him hitting her hard on the side of the nose. She gasped at the instant headache it gave her. He let go of her arms, and she swayed but managed to stay standing.
"I don't want him here again. In fact, I want him gone completely." He didn't say anything else to her, he just walked out of the shop. She wanted to say something else, or wonder what he meant by gone completely, but her head was so foggy she couldn't think properly. It took her a few minutes to register that Cheyenne was still crying. As she walked back get her daughter she passed one of the many mirrors in the shop, and glanced at the dark purple bruise already forming around her eye.
Rumpelstiltskin didn't have a place to stay. His house had been sold, the shop was gone, and he wasn't welcomed with Belle. Luckily, the Lucas's had offered him a room for an extended amount of time, even after everything he had done in the past. He was trying to figure out what to do next, he had obviously handled the situation earlier very poorly, and would need to come up with a better plan than just confronting Will. He really needed to talk to Belle alone, but he didn't know how he get close to her without causing her harm.
There was a knock on the door, and he called for them to come in. Ruby entered.
"Hi," she said, opening the door slightly. "I know you're just trying to help Belle, believe me I want to too, but Will has a hold on everyone in this town. It's not as simple as just coming back in and dethroning him."
"Your point?" Rumple looked at her, unamused.
"Belle gave me this for you," she handed him a neatly folded letter. "Just be careful with what you do, I don't want her to be more compromised than she already is." Neither of them said anything else, and after Ruby left it took Rumpelstiltskin a few minutes before he could open the letter. When he finally did, he admired Belle's neat handwriting sprawled all over the page, it even smelled like her.
Rumple, it read.
You can't imagine the mix of emotions I've been feeling ever since I found out you're alive. I'm so unbelievably happy to see you again, but I'm also terrified because I know my current situation won't allow for me to see you. I was heartbroken after you died four years ago. It took me a really long time to get over it, and part of me never really did. You still hold a very large piece of my heart. If it were just me, I would have run to you the minute I saw you and I would be fighting to stay with you right now. But it's not just me I have to worry about. A lot has changed in the years you have been gone. Will is my husband now, and we have a beautiful daughter named Cheyenne. Cheyenne is the absolute love of my life, and the main reason I'm stuck where I am right now. If I tried to leave Will, that would mean devastating consequences for her, and I'm not willing to put her through that. Please understand that I'm willing to do whatever it takes to protect my daughter, even if that means staying away from you. Will owns the shop, and most of the town now, he's in the same position of power you used to be, minus the magic. The magic might be the only upper hand that you have. I don't know how long things can go on like this, but when Will wants something, he won't stop until he gets it. That's why I'm worried about you and I think you should stop trying to see me. Please understand I'm trying to do what's best for everyone. I'm so happy you're alive.
xx Belle
Hope everyone enjoyed! Next chapter out soon! R&R, check out my tumblr and all that xx