Belle could not believe what was going on. Her entire world felt like it had shifted, and for the first time since she'd finished unpacking her stuff she was starting to think maybe she never should have moved here. There had been a place in Iowa that had been hiring, she'd just thought Maine seemed nicer. But Iowa probably didn't have crazy men who trick you into going out with other crazy men. Iowa just had corn, lots of fucking corn. And corn was sounding really good right about now, because men were just the worst.

She didn't even know what to do. There were no guidebooks for this situation, and she'd never even heard of something similar happening. The fact that not one but two men who she had really liked thought this was a good idea probably said a lot about her taste in men, but how the hell had they both thought this made sense?

There were still a few boxes of clothes to sort through and she had so much nervous energy she ended up in her room angrily unpacking winter clothing while she fumed. She'd been sad earlier when Chris had broken up with her, but the realization that he hadn't written the letter had just gotten her angry. When she'd realized the only person who possibly could have helped was Cyril – and then that Cyril's handwriting matched the letter – it had been like the floor dropped out from underneath her. She'd thought he was her friend, and he'd betrayed her.

That was the part that hurt the most, actually. It wasn't even that she'd fallen for an illusion, it was that her friend had been the one who set her up. She'd trusted him. She'd trusted, and she'd loved, and it had all been faked. It had been some weird game, and she had lost. She'd lost everything she thought she'd gained in this new town. It was like a void had opened up inside of her chest at that realization, and she collapsed onto her bed and tried not to cry again.

Could she really lose something she'd never had, though? It felt like it, but she was grieving a man who wasn't real. But then again, that wasn't entirely true. The parts of him that she'd liked had to come from somewhere, and it had come from Cyril. It was probably a stupid thing to think because Cyril had turned out to be an asshole. But she had liked him. There was something seriously wrong with that, but there was nothing for it. She was just going to have to keep going until it stopped sucking.

Belle had never been happier to work a job where nobody expected her to do much talking as she was the next day. The whole situation with Cyril and Chris was never far from her mind, but to be honest it was Cyril who occupied most of her thoughts. There was one thought that kept playing over and over until she was sure she'd go insane before lunch, and when an opportunity to close a little early came she took it. She couldn't think too hard about the decision to go across the street to the pawn shop because if she did she probably wouldn't have the guts to go through with it. She just let herself in and hoped that she knew what she was doing before she made a complete fool of herself.

Cyril had been in the back room laying down and thinking about what a jackass he was when the bell on the door rang out and he groaned in response. He had no idea who had come in, but whoever it was he was going to make sure that they left before too long.

Belle was standing by the door and flipping the sign to closed when he emerged, and he froze. She was here and he didn't know what to do or say anymore. For the first time in his life, he was completely speechless. He hadn't thought she'd ever want to talk to him again.

"I hope you don't mind," she said when she turned back to face him. "But I don't think I want to have this conversation in front of anybody else."

"Of course," he replied. "What…" There were a million ways to continue that thought – what did she need? What did she want? – but he didn't want to open any of those cans of worms. "What can I do for you?"

"Was it all a lie?" she asked, suddenly within arm's reach of him. "All the letters, the texts...and it was you that night on the fire escape, wasn't it?" He nodded, and she continued. "Were they all lies?"

It took him a few moments to figure out what she was asking him. She wanted to know if he'd written the letters for Chris or for himself – wanted to know if either of them had actually loved her.

"No, they weren't lies," he said, unable to look at her as he spoke. "None of them were lies."

He risked a glance at her and she was biting her lip and staring intently at the counter and he had no idea what to do anymore. The two of them just stood there looking at anything besides each other and he prayed this conversation would end at some point. He wasn't sure he could take being raked across the coals again.

"Why didn't you say anything?" she asked.

"You liked Chris."

"Okay, fair enough. But did you really think I was so shallow that I'd have kept dating him without your help? Or that I wouldn't have said yes if you'd just asked me as yourself?"

That was a question Cyril hadn't expected, and he finally turned to face her.

"Would you have?" he asked, suddenly feeling naked and vulnerable before her. He needed her to answer, because he needed to know how badly he had screwed this all up and if there was any hope at all of making it better.

"Of course. The first time we met and you bandaged my foot I halfway thought you were going to, but then you didn't and I figured I'd misinterpreted. But if you'd asked me out I'd have said yes."

He was pretty sure he was about to faint. It hadn't even occurred to him to think about asking her out, but she'd have been interested if he had. He was the biggest idiot in the world.

"I'm sorry," he said at last. "I was a fool."

"Yeah, you were," she replied. She was looking at him curiously and he was racking his brain trying to decide what else to say when suddenly she was up on her tiptoes and she pressed a quick kiss to his lips. He was too startled to even reciprocate, and the smug smile on her face after she'd done it rendered him completely incapable of coherent thought.

"I'm sorry I got you involved with Chris to start with," she said. "But I forgive you for the rest of it."

He couldn't stand it anymore – he couldn't go one more moment without without having properly kissed her. He only hesitated long enough to decide where he should put his hands before leaning down to kiss her again, putting his hands on her shoulders just to make sure she was really there. This time her hand immediately went to the back of his neck to hold him in place and the other one rested on his chest just over his heart. He couldn't remember the last time he'd kissed anyone like that, and he didn't ever want to stop. She was so soft and all he wanted was to never, ever let her go.

She wasn't shy, and her tongue darted between his lips before he'd had a chance to properly taste her. He pulled her closer and held her tightly as he savored every second of having her here . Eventually, though, she pulled away and smiled at him with her kiss-bruised lips and it took all is self-control not to go back for more.

"Were you going to ask me out?" she said sweetly and he was annoyed at himself for forgetting.

"Will you go to dinner with me?" he replied instantly.

She hmmed and looked at him for a long time like she was trying to make a decision before the smile was back on her face.

"I'd like that," she said at last. "Just the two of us, though. No third parties."

"Anything you like," he replied happily. "Anything at all."

She leaned up and kissed him again, and this time he was sure he wasn't going to stop.

Six months later…

Love was funny sometimes. If you'd told Belle before she moved to Storybrooke that she was going to fall in love with a man who drove her absolutely crazy in all the right (and a few of the wrong) ways, she'd have been intrigued. If you'd told her how she ended up with him, though, she never would have believed it. Cyril was absolutely madding, but she loved him. And perhaps more importantly, she liked herself more when she was with him. They made each other into better people.

It had been kind of weird when Ruby had come to her a month after the Chris debacle and said Chris had asked the other woman out. Belle had been completely surprised when Ruby then asked if she'd be okay to say yes. To be honest, Belle didn't even consider that she'd really ever dated Chris at all anymore. Now that she knew Cyril so well, she'd realized how much of that relationship had been him instead. Besides, Ruby seemed so happy with the fire chief. How could Belle begrudge her friend that kind of joy?

Cyril was getting better at letting down his walls around her, although it had been a bit of a production to get him naked the first time. But she loved him as he was, insecurities, scales, and all. Besides, he'd gotten very used to having company in at least one of his daily showers and she had gotten used to how much nicer the showerhead at his place was than the one at hers. He hadn't quite asked her to move in yet, but she was pretty sure he was going to and she would say yes when he did. It was everything she'd ever wanted, and she was so glad to have it.