"You're kidding me!" Gold's voice practically boomed around the small reception area of the road side motel that he and his traveling companion had decided to stop at for the night.

Belle walked in with brown paper bags full of supplies they would need for the next couple of days of their road trip that she'd used his credit card to buy at gas station next door. "What's wrong?" She asked Robert as she came up behind him.

He turned to face her, his forehead wrinkled with stress. "We'll have to find a different motel" he told her as he made some flamboyant arm gestures.

"There are no rooms?" Belle asked.

"Exactly" Gold nodded.

"Not exactly true" the aging man behind the reception desk butted in "We have one room available"

"So what's the problem?" The brunet asked. Looking from the older man to Gold who looked rather frustrated and ran a hand through his grey streaked hair.

"It's a double bed" Gold explained rather hurriedly.

"And what's wrong with that?" The motel owner asked the other man.

"We'll take it" Belle assured the seemingly kind gentlemen.

Gold ran a tiered hand down his face "I'll say goodnight here then" he told her before heading for the door.

Belle spun and grabbed his arm, pulling him to her "Where are you going?" she asked him.

"To sleep in the car" he answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Belle couldn't help but smile at him. He watched her lips quirk up into a delicate smile and it sent a strange warming sensation to his heart, something he hadn't felt in a long time if ever before.

"That wont be very comfortable" she mussed aloud, loving that without a second though he was a gentle man, didn't assume that she would share a room with him.

"Ill use the dress as a blanket" he suggested with a slight cheekiness that had belle hooked.

Belle reached out and took his hand in hers, his calloused thumb brushed her knuckles ever so slightly sending a shiver down her spine "Come on, we can share a room, I don't bite" she called over her shoulder as she dragged them to the room they were going to share

Gold could have sworn he'd heard her mumble 'much' moments later, either way it making him take a deep intake of breath. It wasn't belle he was afraid of it was himself.

….

Sometime later Gold started a fire in their room, he got a cushion and sat in front of the fire, his suit jacket having been disposed of on the back of the chair, his tie hung loose around his neck and shirt untucked from his waist.

Belle walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a complimentary robe, her dark hair still damp from the shower, she stood in the doorway for a moment, admiring the sight of her road companion, looking far more relaxed than he had done in the past hours she had known him.

Robert wasn't the tallest or brawniest of men, he was petite and slight, his hair long, perhaps too long some considered, older than her, by how much she didn't know but she felt comfortable, safe even with him.

"So why the smart attire?" she asked him after a moment, pushing off of the door jam and making her way over to Gold, sitting beside him in front of the fire.

"Always like to look my best" he gave her a cheeky grin to disguise the lie he had told her. Belle smiled at him as she pulled the fluffy white robe over her shoulder from where it had fallen, aware of Gold averting his eyes from her.

Gold looked at the dancing flames of the fire as it burnt. The air around him seemed to heat up. He wasn't sure if it was a result of the fire or as a result of being near a beautiful women.

"So why the Gold dress?" he asked after a moment, he'd concluded from the two men running after her and the wedding party he'd seen that she was possibly the bride in question.

"It was my wedding dress" she explained with a sharp intake of breath as the true realisation of what she'd done. Belle cradled her head in her hands for a moment.

"Are you alright?" Gold asked, worried that he might have offended her with such a simple question. Part of him wanted to reach out and assure her that she was okay. He didn't know what was happening to him, he'd never been that sort of person.

"Yes" Belle sighed "I just….I've just not thought about what I'm going to do now" she confessed.

"I can take you back?" Gold suggested "Just say the word" he spoke, his voice all of a sudden soft with his Scottish brogue.

"NO!" she almost yelled with her tear stained blue eyes as she reached out to touch his arm lightly. "I can't go back" Belle added "I don't want to go back".

Robert gave the young women an assuring smile "All you have to do is say" he almost whispered as Belle moved closer to him.

"I…i…I've let so many people down" Belle sighed "My father was relying on me, my friends put so much effort into the wedding….My mother" she took a breath not able to finish her sentence. Shaking her head she looked up, her blue eyes met his kind brown. Why did she feel like she could just spill her guts to him and he would not judge her nor tell another soul what she'd confessed.

"Food?" Belle suggested after a moment. Moving from her place right next to him and getting up and walking over to the double bed where the brown paper bag of snacks lay.

She made her way over to him and knelt before him opening the contense of the bag. "Tooth brushes" she said as she pulled them out of the bag and offered him one that was blue, hers was yellow and there was a tooth paste as well, the rest of the items included razors for both of them, shampoo and conditioner, soap, deodorants, bottles of water. The final thing she produced was a packet of Oreos.

"What are they?" he asked her, the shocked expression on his face made Belle break out into a grin in response.

"They're biscuits you eat them" she told him, Robert just gave her a look that told her he didn't believe her. "They're really good" she assured him in an almost sing song voice that made him half believe her.

"They look like there for children" Gold told her as he watched her open the pack of cookies.

"Just wait till you try one" Belle grinned at him before offering him a biscuit from the now open packet.

He took one of the chocolate biscuit's cautiously, she watched him as he took a bite, he felt rather awkward having her stare at him as he ate one of the biscuits that she loved and felt so passionate about.

"What do you think?" She asked him almost fluttering her eyes at him hoping to get a positive response.

"ish goof" he told her with his mouth still full of the biscuit and cream mixture. Belle smiled, a little giggle of delight past her lips she then reached for the packet of biscuits he held in his hands but he held them out of her reach with a playful grin.

"Hey!" she almost squealed as she reached for them again but he once again held them out of her reach. This time she lunged at him, making them both fall to the floor.

They lay for a moment in front of the fire, Belle rested on top of Robert, the packet of Oreo's now lay forgotten on the floor. The only sound in the room was from the traffic outside and the creaking from the wood as it burned in the fire place.

Gold looked into Belle's eyes, he really looked at her for the first time. She was beautiful, she was really beautiful. Her pale complexion, ruby red lips, chestnut brown curls and her eyes, the ocean blue eyes. But there was something hidden, a tiredness, a need to be free, for adventure. He took a deep breath, he really should have stayed in the car for the night.

Meanwhile Belle was busy studying his face, the wrinkles showing years of experience and life, his eyes a deep brown haunted with a past he'd rather forget, broken pieces that needed to be put together. She itched to put him back together, to peel back the layers and see the man, the mystery underneath.

Belle began to reach out to touch his face, to trace his handsome features with her delicate fingers. Their moment was ruined by the shrill ring of a phone. "Shit" Gold grumbled as Belle got up off of the floor and Gold followed going to rummage through his coat pocket and pulled out his phone.

He looked at the caller ID and saw that it read 'Milah'. Someone he really didn't feel like speaking to, he declined the call before turning his phone off. Gold shoved his phone back into his jacket pocket.

Once again he ran his hands through his hair, something he found that had happened more and more often lately. He was partly surprised that he hadn't gone balled yet.

"Everything okay?" Belle asked from behind him, her sweet Australian accent bringing him back to reality.

"Yes everything's fine dearie" he turned to face her to find that Belle had divested herself of her robe leaving her in the shirt of his that she was borrowing and her underwear.

"Okay, It's late, I'm going to bed" she informed him.

"Yes that sounds like a good idea" he nodded in agreement before going over to the sofa where there was a blanket and a spare pillow.

"Are you sure I can't change your mind about sharing a bed?" Belle asked him after a moment "There is plenty of room….the sofa can't be comfortable" she protested.

"I'll be fine, good night Belle" he assured her.

"Good night Robert" Belle replied softly.

TBC….

Sorry that is has taken me so long to update, I've been really busy lately also I've been rather annoyed with OUAT and haven't felt much Rumbelleness. Does anyone else think Belle's being a little bit slutty or perhaps under some curse by Zelena who's not really dead? Also that Rumple has no substance? That he's being treated as if he didn't die to save everyone from Pan or that he hasn't helped everyone in Storybrooke at one time in their life?

Anyway. please review, suggestions and comments always welcome