Warning: Will eventually contain mature material. Language. Lemons. Some spicy limes. Maybe full-blown things. ~_^

A Salvation Called Love

-Chapter 10-

-BREAKING AWAY AT YOUR WALLS Pt. 2-

[Annabelle]

I silently watched him walk away. When the library door closed and I was left by myself I walked over to the huge window that faced out into the half dead rose garden. "Why do you always have to push people away, Mr. Gold?" I clutched the window frame and sighed, staring at my reflection. "I can't keep calling you Mr. Gold."

I pushed away from the window and slowly made my way out of the library. I walked to the backdoor and out into the cool evening. It smelled like it would rain later. The gardens weren't that far from the back door so I made my way towards them, wanting to walk through the roses. I had an inkling that they were Dominic's favourite flower. When I got to a patch of live ones that were being strangled by the dead twisting vines I gave a tiny sigh and reached into the tangle, not caring that I didn't have gloves or that I would get cut up. I was angry and confused. I was sad. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know why Dominic wouldn't talk to me. I pulled at the dead vines and snapped them off where I could, throwing them back behind me on the pathway. "Damn it, damn it, damn it." Tears were staining my cheeks by the time I'd pulled the last ugly, twisted, dead vine out of the live, red roses. My hands and arms were cut up pretty badly from the thorns and tiny drops of blood stained the petals and the pathway beneath me as I reached out to gently touch the soft flowers. They were absolutely beautiful in the fading light and their scent was intoxicating. I smiled. Maybe Dominic would like some in his room. I ignored the stinging pain from my cut up hands and broke off four of the beautiful roses, cradling them in my arms as I stepped around the pile of dead vines.

Making my way inside and heading upstairs I silently stroked the petals of the roses, my mind completely consumed by what I needed to do to make him understand that I wouldn't leave him. When I made it to the third floor of the east wing I walked all the way down to the last door on the right. I'd finally found Dominic's room a couple days ago after following him one night after we'd kissed goodnight. Now I had the opportunity to go inside. I know he'd told me I wasn't allowed down this wing but he wasn't here and he had made me angry… or confused… or whatever this emotion I was feeling was.

I tested the door only to find it locked. I grinned and gently laid the roses down on the floor before kneeling down to look at the lock. It shouldn't be too hard to pick. I reached up into my hair and pulled out two of the bobby pins that I'd started keeping in my hair, specifically for times like this where I found a locked door. I slipped both of them in and closed my eyes, holding my breath as I felt around with the bobby pins for the locking mechanism. If I pushed just right and moved the bobby pins correctly I could pop almost any lock. It took about two minutes to find the right position but I grinned when I finally heard the lock click open. I tested the handle and bent down to pick up the roses as the door opened. Stepping inside I couldn't see anything. It was pitch black. I turned and felt along the wall until I found the tiny light switch. I flicked it on, letting my eyes adjust to the dimness of the lights. His room was absolutely massive. Along the walls were more floor to ceiling bookcases holding books and bottles and little treasures. The huge four post bed with a black canopy sat in the middle of the room, piled high with gold throw pillows. Near the curtained windows was a very large dark chestnut coloured desk. There was even a laptop sitting open on it. I slowly made my way over to one of the bookshelves where I spied an empty vase and slide the stems of the roses into it. I looked around until I found the door that led into the bathroom and I quickly filled up the vase with water. I walked over to the chest that sat at the foot of his bed and gently laid the vase down on it, adjusting the roses so that they looked amazing. "You should be able to find them there." I smiled and turned, facing the desk. I was curious as to what he worked on in here.

Sitting down at his desk I touched the mouse-pad on his laptop and watched as the screensaver flicked to life. I blinked, surprised when I saw as they transitioned from one picture to another that they were of me. I was smiling in a few of them, cleaning in others, playing the piano in even more of them. He spied on me while I was working. I was flattered and embarrassed all at the same time. I couldn't wrap my mind around why he was just so damn confusing. "Why push me away then, Dominic?" I touched the mouse-pad again to open up the window. I didn't really look at what the documents were but there were quite a few of them cascading one over the other. Looks like company business. I smiled, knowing that he worked hard.

Sitting back in his leather chair I looked out over his room, trying to catch a glimpse of the person he really was. A glint of gold caught my attention as I glanced past the large coffee table opposite his desk. I got up and walked over. I frowned down at the tiny gold covered book that sat on it. It looked like it was real gold. I sat down and reached out to touch it, to pick it up. If it was real gold then it was probably hammered gold, made paper thin. It was beautiful. I opened it up to see if it was a book and was surprised to find a name written in beautiful scrolling handwriting on the first page. Rumplestiltskin. I frowned, the name sounded familiar. I shrugged and turned to the next page. I found the same exact scrolling handwriting on this page except it was in a different language. I couldn't read it. I began to flip through the pages. They were all the same and I came to realize it was a journal. A little over halfway through the tiny book I finally found where it began to be written in English. I looked at the date I found there and then flipped to the page where the foreign language ended. There was a 300 year difference, as if whoever wrote this lived a long time and just stopped writing for a long while before picking it up or it had been passed down in the family. I gave a small shrug and ran my fingers along the writing, feeling the curves of the ink used. It was beautiful.

The slamming of the front door echoing throughout the house made me jump and I flipped the tiny book closed and put it back on the table quickly. I had to get out of Dominic's room before he found me. He would be angry if I was here. I ran out, turning off the light and closing the door behind me. I ran down the hallway as fast as I could until I got to the stairs and then I practically leapt down them five at a time. I made it to my floor by the time I could hear Dominic's feet hitting the stairs. I checked myself to ensure that I didn't have anything out of place, aside from my cut up hands, and started walking down the stairs to meet him.

He stopped when he saw me standing above him. "Annabelle."

I smiled and slowly walked down the remaining stairs towards him. "Hi."

He gave a tiny, weak smile up at me. "Hi."

I frowned and reached up to touch his jaw but he grabbed my wrist, stopping me. "Are you ok?"

His grip tightened around my wrist and I grimaced as his fingers pushed against the cuts. He stopped when he saw my expression and quickly looked down at my arm. "What…" He frowned and grabbed my other arm, bringing it up to look at both of them. "What is this?"

I swallowed nervously and tried to pull my arms away from him. "Nothing."

He glared and tightened his hold on both of my arms, making me squeak in pain this time. "This doesn't look like nothing. Explain, now."

I looked down at the floor, trying to hold back my temper. First he refused to answer my questions and now he wanted me to answer his. "I was pulling out the dead vines from the rose garden."

"The rose garden."

I nodded and glared up at him. "Yes, the rose garden."

He sighed and surprised me when he pulled me forward. I tripped down the last step and stumbled against him, grabbing his shoulders to steady myself. Our faces were inches away. "I'm sorry, Dearie." He gently laid a kiss against my cheek, almost chastely.

I frowned. "For earlier?"

He nodded. "And for just now." He slowly rightened me and the moved to walk past me when I was steady enough. "I won't be coming to dinner so don't worry about making me anything. I have a lot of work to do."

I turned and watched him walk away. I didn't know what to say to him. I didn't know how to just call out to him. When he disappeared onto the next set of stairs leading to the third floor I slowly walked down the stairs, heading towards the back door. The rose garden sounded like a nice place to be right now. By the time I got to the door it had started raining lightly. I went out anyways and stepped into the warm rain. It smelled like fresh dirt. I'd always loved the smell of rain. I slowly trudged through the puddles until I was standing in the middle of the roses and I stared up into the dark sky, rain dripping against my face. "Dominic, you're being such a cowardly confusing bastard." I felt tears sting my eyes but they were hidden by the downpour of rain. I sighed in frustration as I dropped to my knees, water soaking into my pants as I sat there. My thoughts wandered to what had happened earlier and what had happened again just a few minutes ago. I wanted to be angry with him. I didn't know what I could do to make him know I wasn't going to judge him. "What am I going to do?" I put my face in my hands and started crying harder, allowing the warm rain to soak through my clothes and onto my skin. There were just too many things to think about right now and I didn't know what to do. It was just too much… too much.