Archie stared at Gold and Belle. They were still sitting on opposite sides of the couch but they didn't seem to be avoiding each other's gaze. That was an improvement. It was small, but an improvement nonetheless.

"So, how did yesterday go after our first session?" Archie asked.

They glanced at each other.

"Better than expected." Belle said.

"Really?"

Belle nodded. Gold let out a breath. "It was quiet."

Belle looked over at him. "What do you mean quiet?"

He shrugged. "I'm just saying we didn't talk about much."

"So you want to talk now?" She scoffed.

Rumple sighed, trying to reign in his impatience. "Belle, I am willing to try. But you have to let me."

She looked at him before turning her head to Archie, hoping he would just begin the session.

"That's wonderful, Gold. Belle, what do you think about that?"

She shrugged.

"It's okay to say what you're feeling." Archie said.

"Tell him that."

Gold sighed. "Belle."

They waited for a few moments. Rumple was hoping she would just get over her tantrum and begin. He loved her more than anything, but sometimes he had to remind himself that he was hundred of years older. He had more patience than she did and while Belle wasn't a child, she could still easily act like one.

"Fine. I've asked him before to talk to me plenty of times, but he never seems to. He always tells me that he's fine and it's nothing for me to worry about. But I know that's not true! Rumple, I'm not as blind as you think."

"I never said you were." He looked at her. "It's just…sometimes you have this tendency to…push."

"Push?"

"Belle, I have a lot of issues. I know that. I can't just talk about things when you want to."

"You're right." Archie said. "And you shouldn't have to. Everyone deals with their own damage at their own pace. For some, it's easy to face. For others, it's harder. It takes longer."

"It doesn't help when before I can help myself with one problem, another arises."

"Well, if you won't messing with so many lives-"

"What does that have to do with this?"

"Rumple, you do have to admit that most of your problems are your fault."

"Belle," Archie intervened before Gold could get a word in. "Let's take a moment to think about that. I will admit that most of his…dealing," He sent a quick glance at the pawnbroker who just scoffed, "Can be the cause of some of his troubles. But tell me, is it his fault that his parents abandoned him?"

Belle's voice hitched. She was caught completely off guard and realize that what she said was stupid. Was this what Rumple meant by her always assuming? She opened her mouth but quickly shut it, waiting for the doctor to finish.

"Knowing both of his parents abandoned him, never wanting him, is the foundation of his trust issues. Our bonds with our parents are what starts our future relationship. If we know we are loved and cared for then we open ourselves up to others. Gold never really got that so it's difficult for him to trust others to love him. I don't see that as his fault."

"I said 'most' of his problems." She mumbled.

Rumple sighed, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, resting it back against the couch. Not even fifteen minutes passed and already he was starting to get stiff. He let out a laugh.

"What?" Belle asked.

"Nothing." He smirked. He certainly wasn't going to tell his joke about his wife actually being a pain in his neck. That would certainly make things worse.

"Speaking of parents," Archie continued. "Belle, how is your relationship with your father?"

Gold looked at her. He was actually curious to where exactly she stood with that flowery knight of a father. She had honestly believed that that simpleton would wake her up without taking in his spite for her husband. Honestly, Rumplestiltskin didn't blame her. He had hoped Maurice would wake her up too, but only because his own kiss failed.

"It's okay." She finally said after thinking about it.

"What do you mean?"

She shrugged.

"Well, you had believed that your father would wake you up, but he didn't. Surely, that would bring up some resentment."

Belle sighed, glad she wasn't already crying. "It did hurt to hear that. I know my father still loves me, it's just…shocking that he would be so petty."

"Let's go back a little. Have you ever really sat down with your father and talked to him about your relationship with Rumplestiltskin?"

Belle shook her head. "No. I never had the time."

Rumple scoffed, but Belle didn't get upset. She understood what that meant.

"What is it?" Archie asked.

Gold looked over to Belle, as if asking for her permission, but she didn't say anything. She did however give him a quick glance telling him it was okay to talk.

"I'm not sure if she ever told you, but shortly after the curse broke her father tried to have her sent over the town line."

Archie was quiet for a moment. He was recalling the town line and remembering what exactly that meant. "You mean…"

"Yes. He tried to wipe his own daughter's memory, even of himself, all because he couldn't accept that she was in love."

"He couldn't accept that I was in love with Rumple. He kept thinking I was cursed and he was saving him."

"But he had come to the wedding." Archie stated, still a little confused.

"Only because I pleaded. He said he finally accepted it and…and saw how happy Rumple made me so he agreed to come. Hearing that he wouldn't wake me up…it felt like everything I knew about my father was shattered."

"You used that word twice already. Shattered. Why is that?"

Belle shrugged. "It seems fitting."

"It is." Gold said.

They looked at him and he regretted speaking.

"Can you explain?" Archie asked gently.

Rumple took a deep breath, reminding himself why he was here. Somehow it was easier to talk about his feelings now, to talk to Belle. But he supposed that was because he couldn't bear to be so close to losing her and his son as he was only days before.

"You could say that's how I felt when my father let go of me. Quite literally."

"You were only a child then." Archie said. "That couldn't have been easy."

"No, it wasn't."

He remained silence, quietly telling them he didn't want to continue. Remembering what he had said only moments ago Archie dropped the subject.

"Continuing on with relationships, let's talk about friends."

He almost smirked at their sudden reactions, both nearly snapping their heads toward him.

"I rather not." Belle chuckled.

"Why? Afraid you're going to learn I was right?"

"Gold," Archie warned.

"Just because you were right doesn't mean you always are."

"I didn't say that." He shrugged, smiling. "But you admit I was right."

Belle sighed, throwing her hands up before letting them fall in an exasperated expression.

"What do you think he was right about, Belle?"

She sighed, crossing her arms. "That maybe whenever Hook was helping me, he did it to spite Rumple. But maybe that was just what he said. An added bonus. I honestly do believe Hook changed, along with the others. So really, you were only…a quarter right."

"A quarter? What about them killing you?"

"What does that have to do with them changing?"

"A lot, actually. Because I believe you choose to believe only what you want. To look at only what you want and ignore anything that's bad. In fact, you do that about everything. You're not willing to see the bad side just because you don't like it."

"That's not true!"

"Then what is true?" Rumple forced, staring at his wife. Damn it! There were more tears, but this time he wouldn't relent. He needed to know. He couldn't keep going along with her fantasies of heroes and light magic.

The clock ticked and Rumple realized that Pongo wasn't here today. Meaning without his snoring it was more quiet than usual.

"Rumple, I don't like feeling like I'm being used. I hate it!"

"I know it sucks, but I find it hard to have pity for you when you continue to put herself in harms way out of reckless behavior."

"You've used me as well!"

"I know! And I'm sorry. I really am, but my probably is that….you're not forgiving me."

"What?" She asked.

"Nearly everyone of those heroes you call friends, even the Charmings, have used you in some way. All for their own benefits. And yet you forgive them long before you are willing to even think about forgiving me. I may have used you, and I'm sorry, but all I ever wanted was to protect you. At least, after I knew I loved you."

Belle leaned back. He was talking about when he used her to call upon the Black Fairy. Making her think she was trying to save the child. She guessed it really didn't matter too much. They weren't in love at the time. Back then they were just master and servant, and in the end she did manage to save the child. But that was years ago. Now she had to focus on the present and the child whose life they were both a part of.

"Belle, do you agree?" Archie asked, once again taking on the role of the silent watcher as they tried to figure things out themselves.

She wiped her eyes. There less tears this time. She guessed that meant things were getting easier. She almost didn't like that. "I guess I don't fully understand what he means. How did the Charmings use me?"

"I do believe they can babysit their own child. Every single time a disaster hits, mostly due to their own faults, they always call upon you to watch over Neal. They always call upon you to do research. As I said, I know you're good but they are not that incompetent. Tell me, when have they ever helped you without anything in return? Or when have they ever helped you period?"

Belle was steadying her breathing as she recalled what she liked to think her worst moments with…her friends.

"Belle, what's wrong?"

She looked at the doctor before quickly looking away. Was Rumple really right?

"After we returned from Camelot, after…Emma took you." She looked at Rumple who leaned back listening. "They were busy trying to find a way to contact Merlin. They thought he would be the best way to help save Emma or understand her curse. I told them that we didn't need to bother contacting Merlin, because we already knew someone who could help."

She chuckled. "They actually seemed very confused about what I was talking about. I told them it was Rumple. As soon as I said his name their faces fell and they immediately regretted asking. They didn't say it, but somehow I knew. They told me that if it wasn't because of Rumple we wouldn't all be in this situation."

"What situation?"

"I don't know. Maybe the curse and the town? Though I think they meant Emma being the Dark One. Regina even said that if you had stayed in New York than Emma wouldn't be the Dark One. As if it was all your fault that she went chasing after it."

Belle sighed. She hated how she forgot that moment, but it made sense to everything Rumple was saying. No, she hadn't forgotten. She chose to ignore it.

"How did that make you feel?" Archie asked.

"Angry! I tried to tell them that Emma was to blame for our situation, with her being the Dark One and everyone forgetting, just as much as Rumple. That she was seduced by the darkness just as he was. But it didn't matter. I asked them what would happen if something bad happened to Rumple."

"What did they say?"

She let out a heavy breath. "They said that was a…a chance they would have to take. Let's just say I was on my own trying to save Rumple."

Rumple had his head rested on his fingers. He didn't seem surprised that the heroes would say something like that, but he was angry that they treated Belle the say they had after everything she helped them with.

"I chose to ignore it. I chose to focus more on the good than the bad. But how is that a bad thing?"

"Well," Archie shifted in his seat. "it's not. And it's a good thing to forgive others. But sometimes, we can't forget what they did. Allowing ourselves to forget the hurt others have done to us helps guard us against harm they might do in the future. You seem to follow that idea with Gold. Yet, perhaps too much. You just said yourself that you chose to ignore the hurt they did to you, and it seems you put all of your guard up against Rumple. Perhaps that's allowing the others to, as Gold puts it, use you. Is this the worst moment you had with them? I know Regina did a lot of damage, and Hook did shoot you in the back," Belle nodded. "But was there any other occasions?"

"Regina took her heart and refused to give it back based on an assumption, Hook tried to kill her multiple times actually, Emma sent a bear after her, and Zelena….well," He cocked her head. "She's just crazy."

Archie blinked. "Wow."

"Yes, and she continues to forgive them, go to them for advice, protects them against me, and is willing to fight alongside them if it means trying to destroy me."

"What? When did I do something like that?"

"Taking away my second chance at being a father nearly destroyed me and you hid behind their protection. Oh!" He sat up. "Also, we can blame Snow White for Hyde learning I had a wife and that she was pregnant."

"What?" Belle asked.

"Yes, it wasn't hard to figure me out. Also, Hyde told me." He smirked.

"Wait," Belle sat forward. "What happened?"

"While I was in New York trying to wake you up from the sleeping curse, Henry decided it was brilliant idea to, once again, destroy magic. At that moment Snow White, Charming, the pirate, and the witch, were using the Sorcerer's wand to create a portal to send everyone home. It malfunctioned, so to speak, and sent them to the Land of Untold Stories."

"Where they met more people whose lives you messed with."

"You're really not wasting time pointing that out, are you?" Rumple looked at her. "Anyways, yes, they met Hyde. He locked them up thinking they were working for me and asked them what I wanted. He presumed to choke Hook, which I wouldn't have minded, until they told me why they were there. Hyde said this. The woman with black hair, which we know is Snow, told him that they weren't working for me. That I was their enemy. That I was the reason they were all there and not because they were playing around with a powerful wand or because Henry tried to destroy the magic of the town. She went to tell him that I was trying to wake up the woman I loved…who was pregnant."

"She said that to save Hook." Belle said as if she couldn't understand why he was telling this story.

He shrugged. "Or, she was willing to sell you out to save her family?"

Belle glared at him. "See, you're only focusing on the bad!"

"Or as you already said, you're willing to ignore it."

"Okay, how about we take a break?" Archie asked. He sighed. The two were back to ignoring each other's presence. So close, he thought. They all took a moment to breath as Archie searched through his notes, hoping to find a somewhat easier topic to discuss. Looking through, it wasn't easy. He sighed. Yes, they had a very long way to go.

"Belle, tell me about your mother. You said she was the only one who approved of you reading."

She smiled. "Yes. It's because of her I love books. She was a very lovely woman. Caring, patience." She looked down at her heads. "She, um, she died."

Rumple halfway looked back.

"How?" Archie asked.

"The Ogre Wars. Second. She…died protecting me."

"Is that where the idea of being a hero came from?"

Belle slowly nodded. "Mostly. She read me tons of books about heroes. They were always selfless, brave, true. My mother died for my life. I wanted to honor her."

"Is your mother your sole drive to becoming a hero?"

She shrugged. "I guess."

"You guess?"

"Gold."

"I've always dreamed of being a hero. I guess it was a sense of pride."

"May I ask something?" Rumple interrupted. Belle scowled but Archie said yes. "What exactly, Belle, is your sense of heroism?"

"What does that mean?" She asked.

Rumple furrowed his brow, thinking about what he was trying to say. "I…I feel like I've done everything you wanted. I feel like I was being the hero you wanted and still you walked away."

"You weren't being a hero, Rumple. You were hurting people and helping only yourself."

"Very well. Let me tell you what I think."

She scoffed.

"You had me take you to the Snow Queen's cave to find the hat to help save Anna. You told me why you were so determined to save her. I think, you just didn't want to feel guilty because you thought it was your fault she was missing. Is that really heroism or is that acting in your own best self-interest?"

Belle didn't answer.

"I kept using magic to try and protect you, but all you can see is me using dark magic. Then you get upset, as if I'm not allowed to use it to earn your love. Here's a favorite. In the Underworld I told you that in the heat of the moment, to protect the ones you love, you will do what's necessary. You refused to believe me. Later that day, to save me, you pushed Gaston into the River of Lost Souls. My issue on that," He quickly pointed to Archie. "She blames that entirely on me.

And here's the real taker. I had exactly what you wanted." He sneered. "A pure heart, no magic, I saved you from Merida when she was bear, I freed her from Emma, returned her heart, and even made sure of the safety of her brothers. And you. Walked. Away. After you told me that you would meet me by the well if you wanted to try again. I told you if you didn't meet me, I would know my answer. But you decided to taunt me and meet me, only to walk away."

"I wasn't taunting you."

"Then why did you come?!" He yelled. "You gave me that hope and you took it away! You know what I honestly think? I think at that moment I was a purer hero than you could dream of and you didn't like that. It's as if you need to be the better person in the relationship. You need to be the hero. So once I was better than you, you hated that and couldn't bear it."

"That's not true! I told you why I didn't want to continue trying. There was too must broken trust."

"If you didn't want to continue trying, why are you here now? Because of Gideon. Because you saw that your own mistakes caused the dark fate of our son and you wish to fix that so you don't feel guilty. You just need to find a way to blame it on me."

"That's not true!" She cried.

"That what is?"

She stared at him, her eyes filled with water. She couldn't bear it. She couldn't bear to hear Rumple talk to her like that. She got up and left, leaving her husband and Archie alone. Rumple sighed and leaned up, exhausted. He didn't look at the cricket. He knew he messed up. He knew he shouldn't have pushed her. Didn't he just say he didn't like to be pushed himself? He just wanted answer.

"Um," Archie cleared his throat.

"Don't worry. I'll leave." Rumple said, starting to get up.

"No." Archie stopped him. "I was going to say I think I should do some one-on-one sessions with both of you before we continue on with the group session."

Gold sighed and sat back down. "Very well."

Archie gave Rumple a few moments to gather himself. It was clear he regretted what he did and wasn't happy with himself. And while he didn't necessarily approve of how Gold pushed Belle to answers, he did hear some very insightful clues he wanted to talk about.

"Gold, what do you think about Belle's idea of heroism?"

He scoffed. "I don't think she has a clue of what heroism is. If it's nothing like she read in her books, it's not being heroic."

"I do think she has a basis on what a hero can be."

"Perhaps." He said. "Honest, selfless, brave. But in the end, I think…I feel, she needs the recognition. She needs to know that she is a hero or it doesn't matter. And personally, I don't think that's what a hero is about. What she says a hero does is true. What she does, isn't necessarily."

"I understand." Archie looked back at his notes. It was best to take breaks from each topic rather than taking it all in at once. That way the patient didn't feel drowned out. "You said that Regina took her heart based on an assumption. What was that?"

Rumple suddenly appeared nervous. Clearly whatever it was bothered him greatly. "She…um, she had thought I was…working for Zelena."

"Zelena? Who imprisoned you for a year?"

Gold chuckled. "Yes. Zelena was in New York with Robin impersonating his dead wife. You see, I told Regina about that. I wanted her to know, not to hurt her, but because I knew Regina deserved better. I knew Robin deserved better. I…I couldn't watch him go through what…what I went through." He played nervously with is hands, wiping away the fear. It wasn't really working. Perhaps he should tell Archie about that heart condition?

"I feel that's a bit…outrageous."

"It is, isn't it. Why would I ever help the woman who killed my son? It doesn't make any sense. Of course, Regina was mad at me because at the same time I was trying to find the Author just like she was and I guess she felt I had needed no part in it."

"Did you tell her?"

Rumple scoffed. "You really think she would have listened?"

"You could have tried."

Another scoff. "When you've lived as long as I have and gone through as much trouble and pain as I have, you soon learn that trying doesn't really help."

Archie wrote on the notepad before continuing. "You said she wouldn't give it back."

"No. She had Maleficent hide the heart in her office and had a protection spell on the room so I couldn't get it. I doubt she ever had any intention of giving it back to Belle. And you should know this was when she was trying to redeem herself. So I had to get it back myself. It wasn't difficult of course. The spell only kept me out, not a common thief. I had Will steal it back."

"Will?"

Gold gave a look that said he really didn't want to talk about it. Archie nodded. "What happened later?"

"I gave the heart back to Belle and told her the truth. I was honest. I apologized for my deceiving her during our whole marriage. I told her that I wanted her to be happy…even if it wasn't with me, and left."

Silence filled the air once more and while the full two hours hadn't passed yet, Archie felt it was a good place to stop.

"We can go ahead and end the session for today, if you would like. I was hoping you could let Belle know that I would like to talk to her tomorrow? Alone."

"If she will even let me near her to tell her. Perhaps calling her would help."

"Very well. So I'll continue talking to each of you individually and we'll go from there."

Rumple nodded. "I'm sorry about…earlier."

"It's no worries." Archie shook his head.

That evening Rumple headed home to the mansion. He was actually nervous that when he arrived he would find himself magically locked out again but was relieved to find that he could enter inside. He headed into the living room and found Belle playing with Gideon on the carpet. She looked back at him and gave a pressed smile.

"How did you get home?" He asked.

"I had Granny give me a ride."

"Oh."

Granny was actually one of the very, very few people Rumple didn't mind watching their son. She was very good with babies and she seemed to enjoy spending time with Gideon. He was actually concerned that she wouldn't want anything to do with the child since it was his. He guessed some people still cared about his wife. That was a nice thought.

"Belle-"

"I don't…I'm sorry. I just don't feel like talking right now." She said.

He nodded. He understood and was glad she changed her sentence. They both knew exactly what she was going to say. I don't want to hear it.

"I understand. I just wanted to let you know that Archie decided to see us individually before…seeing us together again." He said, gesturing between the two of them.

"Okay." She said.

He gave one last look at her and their son and headed up to the room he was currently claiming as his workroom. He sat down in the chair and let out a deep breath. Who knew therapy could be so tiring. He was still feeling guilty about how he talked to Belle and how he continued to push her. It wasn't right. Especially after he said himself he didn't like to be pushed for answers. He wanted to make it up to her but knew that something big wouldn't help. It had to be a small gesture. Just something to get things going.

That morning Belle woke up. When she looked at the clock she saw that she had actually slept in. She jumped out of bed, not bothering to change out of her pajamas, and rushed over to Gideon's room. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw he wasn't there. She walked out to the living room but he wasn't there either. She tried to calm herself, reminding herself that the Black Fairy was gone. Rumple had killed her.

Rumple. Perhaps he had Gideon. She headed into the kitchen and her heart soared. Rumple was standing in front of the stove making pancakes and Gideon was in his little rocker, drinking from his bottle.

The realm of the Black Fairy was hard to understand when it came to time. While they were able to save their son and get him back, he still managed to age a few months ahead of his actual birth. In fact, it was almost a whole year. Now he was able to hold his own bottle and feed himself, but Gold and Belle didn't mind. It wasn't too far into his aging that it prevented them the chance to raise their child. To them he was still a baby.

"Good morning." Rumple said.

"Morning."

"I though you would like for me to make breakfast. You like pancakes, right?"

Belle smiled, nodding. "Yes."

"Great. Blueberry pancakes it is."

Belle sat on the kitchen stool next to Gideon. "Hi, sweetie." She smiled, goggling all over her son. Rumple smiled at the image.

"Don't forget, Archie wanted a session with you today."

"Um, yes. Thank you for reminding me."

"No worries." He said as he placed a few pancakes on a plate and placed it front of her.

"Thank you. Will, um, will you be okay watching Gideon while I'm gone?"

He smirked. "Of course. You never need to ask."

Belle took a few bites of her breakfast. She had forgotten what a wonderful cook Rumple was. Back in the Dark Castle he always did the cooking. He didn't like the idea of her burning down his kitchen.

"I'm sorry I walked out yesterday. I guess I do have a habit of that."

"It's okay. I'm sorry for pushing too much. That was foolish of me."

"I've actually been thinking about what you said."

"You have?" He asked.

She nodded before giving him an odd look. "Aren't you going to eat?"

He gave another smirk as he made himself a plate and sat on the other side of Gideon.

"Anyways, yes. I've been thinking about…my friends, and…perhaps I should get new ones."

Rumple stopped in his eating. "Belle, I didn't say I didn't want you to have friends."

"Oh, I know. Just…maybe they aren't the right ones. At least, maybe not right now."

"I won't say I hate hearing that, but who were you thinking about?"

"I might talk to Ruby again. It's been a long time."

"You two did seem like you were getting close after the curse."

"Yeah, and it's a chance for me to meet Dorothy."

Rumple smiled. "That's great."

The two continued on with their breakfast. Belle called Archie to ask him what time he would like to see her and he told her anytime would be good. So she decided to spend the morning with Rumple and her son. She got dressed and they watched a little morning television. Thanks to Emma she was able to get some outside connection into town. It wasn't much but at least now they had more channels. Belle managed to find a kid's channel that Gideon really liked and so they watched it for a couple of hours before moving on to reading. Rumple sat in the living room with them simply enjoyed spending time. If he didn't think about the hurt he and Belle caused to each other, they actually seemed like a normal family. He loved it. He just had to try harder. They both did.

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