Thank you for starting reading: Anatra Fiore

And of course, always happy to know you are enjoying this tale: vanillaface, WildDragon26221, unicornnarwal222, thedoctorsgirl42, Usio-Amamiya, jenniferburns.370 (yeah, Rumple is always so…polite.)

I do not own Once Upon a Time

Chapter 18 – Day 10:Ackward revelations

If there was still tension between the two best friends, it was not noticeable. Lunch was as merry as usual, now with the extra presence of a much better looking Rumpelstiltskin. Afterwards, the children went outside to play, while the adults remained inside, tiding up the dishes. Once they were ready, Bram put some hot tea on the table.

"So…the children told me you both travelled a lot when you were young." Belle said while she poured the spicy liquid on three small cups. She was curious to their tales, as she herself wished she could travel all over the world someday.

"Oh, yeah. We explored the world from east to west and from south to north." Bram proudly stated. "This one here couldn't stand to stay another day at home." He said pointing at Rumpelstiltskin. "How old were you, when you started talking about leaving the village? Thirteen?"

"Would you not if you had a mad father?" Rumpelstiltskin said annoyed. "I probably would have died of misery if I would have stayed any longer in his house." Belle was surprised to hear the sneer in Rumpelstiltskin's voice. Apparently his relationship with his father was far worse than she had imagined.

"What happened?" Belle shyly asked. Rumpelstiltskin frowned at the question and feel silent, the painful memories still haunting him. Bram looked all of the sudden tense but looked at his friend a bit expectantly. They switched brief glances and the cripple sighed.

"When I was nineteen, my youngest sister died of illness. I got to hear from my dear father I should have been the one to go instead of her." He coldly said. Belle looked truly shocked, unable to believe somebody could say such a thing to their own child.

"Your father?"

"My father, always my father!"Rumpelstiltskin said regretfully and sipped a bit of his tea, forcing himself to calm down. "So, I just had enough. One day I packed my stuff, bid farewell to my family and left."

"Yeah, and you were so kind not to inform me at all! It took me quite some hours to catch up with you." Bram said in a fake complaining tone, hoping to lighten up the heavy sphere that filled the room. "Thought you could get rid of me that easily?"

"One could only wish." The other one joked back.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Belle asked surprised.

"He was seventeen and stuck to the village. And it was really my problem. I didn't actually expect he would come."

"Where did you go to?" The princess asked.

"We went first to the capital. We stayed about two years in Avonlea and then started exploring new places. We never really had a destiny. We would just see where our legs would take us." Rumpelstiltskin happily stated.

"And in every place we would practice a different office. We had to earn money, of course. We did a bit of everything until we finally figured out where we truly were good in." Bram said.

"Worked in farming, with animals, in the construction…" Rumpelstiltskin started numbering.

"…we assisted carpenters, black smites, knights…" Bram continued.

"…we baked, butched, sewed…"

"…learned about cooking, about healing…"

"Then I discovered spinning was my thing."

"And I continued jumping from office to office." Bram concluded. Belle had to giggle a bit at the tale.

"So, what were your grandest adventures?" Belle asked, excited in knowing what the due had done, seen and lived in the past.

"Oh no, not the adventurous type." Rumpelstiltskin dismissed right away.

"Only with married women!" Bram said laughing out loud for Rumpelstiltskin's mortification.

"Hey! That was only once! And I didn't know about it!" He defended wide eyed. "She bloody fooled me. Thought her husband was going to kill me!"

Belle immediately felt the temperature rise to her face, feeling shocked and somehow uneasy. She never expected the conversation lead to that sort of subject and certainly didn't see that coming from the spinner. She heard Rumpelstiltskin, who looked deeply embarrassed, mumble something to Bram in the sort of "highly inappropriate". It didn't seem to have effect on the woodcutter, though.

"No doubt we were real trouble makers." Bram said between his laughter, ignoring his friend's distress. "Always gambling, getting drunk…We had a girlfriend in each village!" Belle looked now quite shocked this time, while Rumpelstiltskin looked like he wanted to punch Bram and hide in a hole. "Remember that red-haired you had?"

"What? That was your girl!" Rumpelstiltskin spat, red of humiliation and fury. Bram looked a bit thoughtful for a while and then seemed to recollect.

"Oh yeah…you're right…That one was really hot."

"For goodness sake, Bram! You don't even know with who you've been sleeping with!" The cripple scolded.

"Like if you do." Bram retorted, but Rumpelstitlskin simply lifted an eyebrow annoyed, while he sipped some more tea. There was some truth to it after all.

"So…huh…when did this all come to an end?" The princess asked, brushing her dress to hide her awkwardness. She was rather affronted, not really happy knowing Rumpelstilstkin had quite a share of women in the past.

"We returned to our village. It was supposed to be a temporary stay but this one here impregnated a woman!" Bram revealed, like if it was the most amusing thing in the world. "Not just some woman! Nooo. The village's widow, who had spent twelve years trying to conceive her husband a child. Everybody was convinced she was barren. Comes Rumpelstitlskin and Bang! Proves the world is wrong!"

"Shhhhh! Not so loud! I don't want Bae to know he was an accident!" The cripple, who was by now scarlet of embarrassment, quickly turned pale. The teenager was outside, probably too far to hear anything, but Rumpelstiltskin thought it would be too unfair for the boy to know he wasn't born from love, but fruit of an impulsive and physical passion.

"You know what the best part is?" Bram asked Belle, pretending he didn't hear his friend's plea and notice the beauty's livid expression. "They totally hated each other since children." He stopped thoughtful. "How did that even happen?" Bram realized he never had asked that one question.

"We were fighting as usual and then she threw herself at me. And it was a hot day." Rumpelstiltskin quickly confessed, utterly ashamed and having enough of this conversation. "Anyway, after three days of morning sickness, she came to me and we confirmed her pregnancy with a midwife. We decided to have the child together. Of course, my father was wild, because we didn't exactly follow the standards." He spoke regretfully. "Oh well, can never do anything right in his eyes…Do you know what he said when Bae was born? Oh, at least it's a boy!" He rested his cup of tea with a little too much force, his eyes revealing a fuming anger which years didn't help to forget.

Belle was silent during the whole conversation, not really knowing what to say. She felt somehow upset with Rumpelstiltskin for his reckless affairs in the past, realizing he was not really the timid and decent guy she thought he was. Or maybe he had changed in the meanwhile. But she also couldn't help to feel some pity for him and wondered how far his father had influence in the spinner's life choices.

"Your old man is an asshole." Bram said, patting his friend's back. "Anyway. That was the end of our lifelong journey. He became father and I met Eveline and ended up with two kids myself." He concluded. "Yeah…those were good times." He spoke a bit dreamily.

"Indeed. But I would never trade that crazy lifestyle for my son." Rumpelstiltskin admitted, his friend nodding in agreement.

Bram departed again with Hansel and Baelfire into the deep forest. If they worked hard again, they could easily take the following day off. Rumpelstiltskin was feeling much better. He still sensed some weakness and dizziness, so he decided to take it easy and rest in the afternoon. He wanted to head to the marked the following day, but would only know in the morning if he was actually fit enough. The man had lain down under the shade of a tree, beside Gretel. Belle joined them after a while, sitting next to the cripple. She was fidgeting with her dress, while she watched Gretel exercising her embroidery skills. Then her eyes went to the lying figure of Rumpelstiltskin, his arm covering his eyes from the sun. The beauty was not very happy with the revelations she had after lunch, but on the other side, that was all past, a period before he became a father. And she had often heard that men would only grow up after they built up a family. Probably that was what happened to the two friends. At least, that was her conclusion after what Rumplelstiltskin said about not willing to trade his son for that lifestyle. She looked up to the slightly clouded sky and her thoughts were pushed away to Snowland. Belle's hopes and worries were both increasing. She was glad they would carry on soon with their journey but she feared she was taking too much time in reaching Snowland. And then there was the promise she had made to herself. She needed to talk with Rumpelstiltskin and reveal all her secrets. But they were never truly alone at Bram's. And she would not dare tell her secret with the chances of somebody hearing it by accident.

"Are you alright?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, noticing her nervousness. She smiled a bit awkwardly.

"Yeah…Was just thinking about the war." She half lied. She laid down too, the cool grass underneath her smoothing her tension.

"Try not to think too much about it. Soon we'll be in Snowland." Belle nodded and sighed softly. She turned her head to watch the man lying next to her. He had his eyes closed and was clearly enjoying the peace.

"Uhm…What was the most incredible thing you saw during your journeys?" She saw his smile widen, his eyes never opening.

"The ocean." He spoke low. "An endless vast world of blue, translucent waters, glittering under the sun as far as the eye can see." He spoke in a dreamily tone. "The smell of fresh salt, the sound of the waves… If you ever had the opportunity, you really should see the sea. It's truly an amazing sight. It's nothing compared to a river or lake" Belle smiled lazily and too closed her eyes, trying to picture such a place.

"Papa said he liked the Crystal Mountains." Gretel spoke, while she worked her needle.

"Also an amazing sight. Very impressive." The cripple said, his voice already a bit faded by sleep.

"I wish I could explore the world." Belle confessed.

"Why wouldn't you?" Rumpelstiltskin asked. But the princess never answered.

There was so much she could not do because of her role in society. She thought it was ironic that, being the heiress of the throne meant she had no freedom, instead many obligations. She thought it was ironic that, being a woman, somebody who had little to say in the court, was the person to bring hope to her people and free the kingdom from the enemy. It was unfair she could not choose her own destiny and do the things she so much desired to do. Belle stretched a bit, sending her uneasy thoughts away and feeling laziness spread through her body. While doing so, her fingertips met Rumpelstiltskin's. She was surprised she didn't push her hand away at the touch. She was more surprised to feel the man's fingers curl gently around hers. The beauty knew by his breathing he was not sleeping. She smiled, curling her fingers on his, enjoying this simple bliss. She was dozing off. She felt warm and safe. Far away, the princess could hear the soft wind in the leaves and grass, birds chirping and Gretel murmuring a sweet melody.

I figured out Rumpelstiltskin is the homely and shy type. But, since we know (until now) absolutely nothing about him before his marriage...well, let's say FF is al about giving wings to your imagination. I guess I could have called this chapter "Boys will be boys". I decided to give Rumple's past a more of a carefree and crazy youth with the serious side (attention, they did work) and the party thing instead of his always present desperate and miserable life from the show. Still, I figured out he would be dragged by Bram to bars and the drinks would help him losen up, eventualy. Not to mention the way he and Milah got together (which, after seeing the show, I honestly cannot imagine any other possible way for those two to get married, unleass it was arranged!) Anyway... This is my aproach.

Have a fun Halloween.

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