She shuddered out her last sob before turning the corner onto the main street. A final tear was shoved against her wrist and she struggled to push away the last feel of his lips on hers, the vision of the ship sinking beneath the surface, as Granny's came into view.
It shouldn't have surprised her as much as it did when Ruby burst from the diner, concern and worry and love so clear on her face. Belle couldn't help the small smile as Ruby ran right into her arms.
"Are you all right where is everybody?" It all came out in a rush as the strong arms crushed her against the lean body. She let out a long breath and soaked up the comfort, luxuriated in the familiar smell of Ruby's hair before the girl let her go, hands tightly gripping her forearms.
"They're, ah, they're gone. They've all gone, and Rumpelstiltskin, he—he gave me a spell, and—." She crumbled at the mention of his name, lips trembling and eyes filling with tears and throat crowding with sobs that she tried to choke back. Pathetically she held up the small rolled parchment between two clenching fingers.
Ruby shushed her, softly, and held her face between two well-manicured hands. Lightly, she brushed hair from Belle's forehead, caressing. "You don't need to tell me now, you can tell me later, okay?" Belle nodded furiously, giving in to the sobs. "You've just had a very long day, all right? How about I take you inside and you take a nap, and we can go over this later." She wiped the tears as they fell before wrapping a guiding arm around the jacketed waist and pulling the girl toward the diner. Belle could hardly stand; her knees shook terribly.
The set of Ruby's face stopped the questions from the dwarves; she guided Belle to her room and to the bed, and Belle collapsed without taking off her coat. Her sobbing was powerful and she clutched a pillow to her chest; Ruby dug through her closet for a spare set of pajamas, which she placed along the foot board. She hesitated, wanting to kiss the mass of curls before leaving but deciding against it, sneaking out to leave Belle in peace.
When she awoke it was dark and she felt disgusting with sweat; Ruby must have slipped her out of the coat but her jeans stuck to her legs and she climbed out of them with a little effort, the cool air refreshing on her legs. She rubbed the tear stains from her face and the sleep from her eyes and as she rolled from the bed other memories of her bare legs against sheets flooded her mind.
The blush rose unexpectedly to her cheeks and she was filled with a sudden and painful longing for Rumpelstiltskin.
She trembled as she stumbled to the bathroom. The feel of his callused hands was still fresh in her mind—just twenty four hours ago they had both learned the sharp differences between Lacey and herself, and what they had discovered shocked her now—and made her laugh, deep inside her throat.
With some help from the moonlight creeping through the bathroom window, she found the sink and washed her hands, splashed cold water over her face and neck. And at the angle of the mirror she found the suck mark on her inner thigh.
Her body shook with overwhelming laughter.
The memories of Lacey were flooding faster and faster—how much she had wanted him to be rough on her and how he had delivered, how well he had delivered with suck mark after suck mark on her chest, which she found again in the dim light as she tugged off her shirt, one on her hip and two on her waist and several surrounding her breasts, a particularly large one on her collarbone near her shoulder.
She gripped the sink as she laughed and as she trembled with the memories—Lacey, cowardly and so greedy and unfaithful to her promises. The looks on Rumpelstiltskin's face when he realized, again and again, how very not-Belle she was. Even remembering the thrill of their night together couldn't sooth that pain from her now, the agony of having—even accidentally—caused him so much hurt.
She wasn't sure what finally pushed her over the edge but before she knew it the laughs had transformed into sobs and she clutched the sink for support as her knees began to crumble beneath her. The look on his face as he'd said goodbye—the look on his face as she woke up and he looked at his Belle again, the happiness and the sorrow and the pity. She needed the feel of his hand in hers, her fingers tangled in his soft hair. The sobs were loud and they were painful and she didn't care anymore as she collapsed against her discarded shirt on the tile floor.
"What is it? What's happened?" Ruby was there and her voice, her presence, cut through the sorrow and made her realize how stupid she must look, crying half-naked on the bathroom floor. She tried to cover herself with the pieces of the shirt she could reach, but Ruby didn't give her much time before she knelt down and took Belle once more in her arms.
She folded eagerly into Ruby's soft hold, resting her head upon the collarbone, letting herself be stroked by gentle hands, hearing the comforting words that tumbled easily from the tired mouth.
"You've had a really, really rough few days," Ruby half-laughed, wiping away one of Belle's stray tears. "Do you want to go back to bed?"
Belle nodded and Ruby helped her stand. "Do you want me to bring up some hot chocolate for you?" Another nod, a grateful smile. "Just tuck yourself in and I'll be right back up, okay?"
Belle trembled against the warm sheets, eager and sad and comfortable. The clock on the nightstand read 12:44 and she knew that after another deep sleep she would be fine, that after maybe one more crying jag she would be back on her feet. Ruby's happy return a few minutes later, her hand full of an enormous mug, filled her with sudden confidence, and she knew she wasn't alone, that Rumpelstiltskin had never meant for her to be alone without him—with Ruby at her side she could accomplish anything, even repair a chaotic town.