"Shut up!" Belle warned through clenched teeth. Ruby's comment had been loud enough to make everyone in the café look up from their tables and stare at the two girls.

Ruby stepped out from behind the counter to Belle and grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her into a door marked 'employees only.' The look on her friends face frightened her. She looked partly shocked, and partly like she was about to explode and tell everyone in the café.

Maybe telling her wasn't such a good idea.

When Ruby had finally dragged her into the staff toilets, still holding her wrist, she exploded,

"Why would you do that?!"

"Excuse me?" Belle seemed shocked that her best friend was reacting like this.

"You can't just go round doing things like that!" she hissed.

"Ruby, it's my life. I can do whatever I want! And let go of me!" she wriggled her arm from Ruby's grip and she let go.

"You can't have kissed Mr Gold!" she continued.

Belle was disappointed in Ruby. She thought she'd be a little more supportive. Not screaming at her and telling her what to do.

"Well I did. Why is that so hard for you to believe?" Ruby didn't reply. If Belle had kissed Mr Gold, then does that mean she's fully recovered? Since she remembers being around him. "I thought you'd react differently, Ruby." She said disappointedly.

"I'm sorry." she lowered her voice from shouting, "You just, took me by surprise, that's all. It wasn't exactly the type of thing I was expecting to hear."

"You know you can't tell anyone."

"Yeah..." she started.

"Ruby!" Belle snapped.

"Yes, yes, okay! I won't tell anyone."

Belle looked her carefully in the eye.

"Promise?" she asked.

Ruby's silent hesitation was a little longer than Belle could stand.

"Promise?" she repeated, with more force.

Ruby sighed, and nodded. "I promise."

"Good. If my father finds out about this I'll never be let out of that library again." Belle said, running her hand through her hair, feeling a little stressed now.
Ruby looked carefully at her before asking,

"Do you actually know why your father doesn't let you see him?"

Belle looked at Ruby in confusion. She hadn't told anyone (besides Rumplestiltskin) that her father forbid her from seeing him.

"How do you know that I'm not allowed to see him?" she asked curiously. Then Ruby suddenly realised what she had just said and opened her eyed wide.

"I, your, your father told me." she stuttered quickly, clearly lying. Belle peered at her, and after a few moments she said,

"Do you know something I don't?"

Ruby took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "When was the first time you talked to Mr Gold?"

"Yesterday." She said immediately, "Why?"

Ruby's brow creased with sympathy as she shook her head. "That wasn't the first time you've met him."

Belle almost laughed. "What are you talking about?" she smiled. Was this some type of a joke? Or... does Ruby remember too?

"Don't you remember anything?" she spoke barely above a whisper.

Belle was almost too afraid to say it. Did Ruby remember? Remember about their other world? "Are you talking about…the curse?" she finished in a whisper. Then Ruby took a step forward and hugged her.

She remembers!

"Oh Belle. You're not fully recovered, are you?" Then Belle immediately pulled away from her friend.

"What?" Seriously, what was going on?

Ruby held Belle's arms and looked sadly at her.

"You're still recovering from your psychological problems, aren't you?"

"Excuse me?!"

"Rumplestiltskin!" Belle stormed into the pawnshop where Rumplestiltskin was waiting behind his counter.

"Belle! You should've come round the back. Look, I need to talk to you-"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" she yelled angrily, walking up to the counter. Rumplestiltskin looked shocked.

"Tell you what?" he tried speaking calmly, but it came out sounding a little stressed.

"You knew this whole time that I was still recovering from 'psychological problems,'" she mocked with a strange accent that didn't suit her, "and you didn't tell me?! You thought you could just let me walk around, hiding our relationship from people and not actually know the real reason why? Everyone knows about my problem! Everyone! Except me. Why, Rumplestiltskin? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to tell you, I just didn't know how." He said softly, trying to calm her down, but she was far from calm.

"So you were going to sit there and try and figure out how you were going to tell me, after I find out from Ruby?" she yelled, standing a few steps away from the counter Rumplestiltskin was behind.

"Ruby told you?" he said, sounding surprised.

"She told me everything. I screamed at you, said things about the curse, about our other lives and, I don't remember any of it!" she tried hard to fight back the tears that prickled her eyes. But she couldn't. "Why don't I remember, Rumplestiltskin?" Her voice cracked as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

Rumplestiltskin stepped out from behind the counter and with a pained look on his face. He didn't like to see his Belle cry. Every tear that escaped her eye sent a sharp pain through his heart.

He took a step towards Belle and hugged her, one hand behind her back and the other on her head, stroking her hair as she buried her face into his chest.

"No Belle, don't cry. Please. It's just part of your curse." He kissed her forehead and held her tight. Belle lifted her head from his chest and looked into Rumplestiltskin's eyes, her own a little red from crying.

"My curse?" she asked.

Rumplestiltskin nodded sadly. "You have your own curse. The curse made everyone forget their true lives. You remember your life, but the curse made you a little…insane." He finished slowly.

"Insane?" Belle didn't particularly like that term.

"What you don't remember is being insane."

Belle was almost too afraid to ask, "Will I go back to... being insane?"

Rumplestiltskin was silent for a moment, but he wasn't going to lie, "Probably."

"How much longer?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry."

This time Belle managed to keep her tears back by shutting her eyes tightly and burying her head in Rumplestiltskin's chest again.

After a few moments she spoke, keeping her head rested Rumplestiltskin, "Did I hurt you?"

He lifted his head to look at Belle. "What?" he said, surprised. Her voice was a little muffled and he wasn't sure if he heard her right. So she lifted her head up and looked at him.

"Did I hurt you?" she repeated, sounding a little scared.

"Of course not!" he said, almost laughing. Even if Belle had tried to hurt him, he would've let her. He deserved it after all.

"Good." A few moments passed before Rumplestiltskin spoke up.

"You should probably go. Emma and your father were here. I think they're suspicious. It might be a good idea if you didn't come here tomorrow." He let go and took her hand.

Belle started to shake her head, "But I want to be with you-"

"Belle, you have to." He gently squeezed her hand, "Can you do it for me? Can you do it for us?" Belle wiped away the last of her tears on her cheeks. When she finished she took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you." Rumplestiltskin whispered.

Belle started to walk towards the door when she stopped, "When can I next see you again?"

Rumplestiltskin shook his head sadly. He was going to have to answer this honestly.

"I don't know." He said quietly.

Belle didn't protest. She knew she was going to have to make some sacrifices if she wanted to have her happy ever after. So all she did was nod before turning and leaving.