I do not own Once Upon a Time. All rights go to ABC Family and the creators of the show.

By the way, the lyrics used in the middle of the fic are from "Kiwi" from Maroon 5.

"CHAPTER TWO: Belle Drives a Car"

The pawnbroker frowned as he glanced at his beloved. "Are you sure about this?"

Belle giggled excitedly. "Of course! Don't be so worried."

"I'm not worried," he mumbled. He sighed in resignation. "All right. Let's get started."

It happened to be a day off for Gold, and he wanted nothing more than to be in bed, snuggling with the love of his life. She, unfortunately, had other plans. In her quest to learn about the Land Without Magic they lived in, Belle asked him about cars. Within minutes, she was begging for him to teach her how to drive.

Gold's desire to please his beauty warred with his memories of Belle's attempt to cook last week. The kitchen bursting into flames was nothing compared to if it happened to a motor vehicle. Obviously, he couldn't resist her please much longer and he eventually caved.

So here they sat in his 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham de Elegance (Gold Edition, he thought with a wry smile), parked in a field that was 200 acres without a tree in sight. After Gold took the keys out of the ignition, he and Belle traded seats in the leather-interiored classic. Yes, it seemed stupid to take the keys out only for her to put them back in, but it was an essential skill she needed to learn if she was going to drive his car.

Hopefully without crashing it.

"So…" Belle began, "what do I do?"

"First—" he held out the keys—"you need to put these in the ignition."

Her dainty fingures gingerly grasped the metal object he extended towards her, cleverly inserting them in their original spot. Then she sat back. Her brow furrowed as she looked back at him. "Now what?"

The man hid a smile as he gave a small flourish of his hand. "You turn it." He gestured with a flick of his wrist.

Belle's lips formed a silent 'o' as she returned her hand to the key, then repeated the motion he had just demonstrated. The engine rumbled to life, the sound causing the woman beside him to laugh in delight. "I did it!"

"So far, so good," he answered. Gold gestured towards Belle's feet. "See those?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Those are the pedals. The one on the right is the accelerator. It helps the car go. The one on the left is the break. It makes the car stop."

The woman's blue eyes flashed in understanding. "Accelerator. Brake. Got it." Her eyes shifted to the radio. "What's this do?" she asked as her hand shot towards the power button before he could stop her.

"Belle, no!"

"But it's so strange, it's something new

Amazing feelings that I have for you

I close my eyes when I'm alone

Wonder what it'd be like to make you moan"

Godl reached out to turn the radio off, noticing Belle had turned a pretty shade of pink. He cleared his throat, barely able to squeeze the words past the lump in his throat. "Shall we?"

His beauty quickly turned her head towards him. "Wait. You mean…?"

"Driving, dearie," he bit out.

He didn't know it was possible for the girl to blush even more, but he was dead wrong. "Yes," she mumbled, "driving. Of course." She focused her eyes on the windshield. "…Now what?"

"Now you're going to put the car into gear. You put your foot on the break, your hand on the gearshift." Gold grasped Belle's wrist and brought her hand to the item in question and watched as her fingers wrapped around the stick. Shoving all inappropriate thoughts out of his head, he helped her shift the car into Drive. "Now. Let go of the brake."

The car started rolling slowly. That brilliant smile appeared on the princess's face again, her hands clasping the steering wheel. Her excitement was infectious, spreading to him like an airborne virus. Maybe this will go better than the cooking incident.

"Don't forget to use the accelerator," Gold reminded.

"Oh," she murmured.

A split second later, they were shooting forward like a speeding bullet, the scenery passing by them in a blur. "Turn, turn, turn!" became his mantra.

The wheel was jerked to the right all of a sudden. The needle of the speedometer climbed and climbed. 100mph. 120mph. 130mph. "Slow down!" he yelled.

"I don't know how!"

"Use the brake!"

"That's only for stopping!"

"Do it!"

A terrible screeching noise came from the car as Belle followed the order, grass and dirt flying every which way from the force of the tires. All was going well until—

"Watch out for the tree!" he shouted before he gasped the wheel and jerked it again. The looming brown-barked forestry zoomed closer and closer, the car not even slowing down enough for the impact to be graceful.

There was only one thing to do.

Gold extended a hand out, power zinging through his fingertips. The car became slower and slower, the speedometer reading 50, 30, 10….

BAM!

The force of inertia slammed them forward, then immediately reclined them again in their seats. Both Belle and Gold were panting for air, the adrenaline taking its time to fade out of their systems.

"Well," he said when he was able to breathe again. "That is why we have seatbelts."

The only thing that greeted his comment was a giggle that warmed his heart. But one thing was certain.

From now on, Gold was the only one who would be driving any time soon.

A/N: You will NOT BELIEVE how much research went into just looking at the car! The website I looked at first said it was a 1992 model, but when I went to look up pictures of the inside, I could only find images of the 1996 model. Fortunately for me, it also happened to be an automatic, which is the only thing I know how to drive. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed! I look forward to any ideas or comments you guys have.