She couldn't help berating herself with every step she took as she all but ran down the flight of marble stairs, fresh tears blurring her vision. How stupid she was.. How had she come to convince herself that he would understand. Rumpelstiltskin, the Powerful Dark One, putting any value to the words, and feelings, of a mere girl.. She wanted, with every fiber of her being, for him to believe her, to accept her, to love her.. But, maybe he was right. Maybe she had lost her mind...
Not to believe she had fallen for someone like him, No. But for believing that maybe he had also come to care for her in return.. She accused him of being a coward for not letting her in. But maybe that wasn't it. Maybe he really did think her mindless, and foolish, to come to care for someone who thought nothing of her..
The more she thought about it the more ridiculous she felt for her actions and words.
Her mind wandered to when they first met, when he had come to bargin with her father in exchange for his assistance in the wars against their land.

"I'm not looking for Looove. I'm looking for a caretaker. For my, rather Laarge, Estate."

... Stupid... She was nothing more then an object. A price paid for the salvation of a desperate kingdom. A slave.. She had no right to think she was worth anything more to him.
He had said it then, and meant it.

Her legs suddenly felt heavy and weak at her with the thoughts coursing through her mind, she had to stop her decent before she lost her balance completely. She slowly slid herself down to sit on the cold steps, trying to get a better hold of her emotions.

He didn't feel the same way about her. That seemed clear to her now. All he desired, really was, only a caretaker, a servant.
But even if that was all he wanted, it was too late for herself, she had already fallen deeply in love with him without ever realizing it, and now it was too late.. And even if her feelings were not returned, they would not change.

She sat there on the staircase for what felt like hours, but was more likely only a few minutes, processing everything that had transpired, and finally, after drying her eyes, she came to a conclusion.
Maybe she wouldn't have her feelings returned, but she was determined to prove to him that she did in fact love him. That even he, the Dark One, was worthy of being loved. Because no matter how well he believes it to be hidden, she could see deep down, the broken man he really was. No matter how long it took, she would make him believe it. There was no hurry, she had forever. A thought that unexpectedly made her smile with such joy. But also, cause a crack in her heart at the same time.

After throughly drying the wet streaks across her face, she decided she had spent enough time wallowing at the bottom of the staircase. And getting up, she dusted the front and back of her skirts, and taking a deep breath, putting the situation, at least as of now, behind her. she began to make her way to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Just missing the sounds of shattering glass coming from the upstairs.

For sometime, he was immovable from the place he stood, even as the setting sunlight completely faded from the room. The very recent event playing over and over in his mind. He couldn't bring himself to believe what had just happened. It couldn't be real. His mind was playing games with him, she was playing games with him. It wasn't real affection for him in those eyes. It couldn't be. It wasn't there, it was Not there!

Picking up anything and everything he found around him, he destroyed. Shattering the windows, braking every piece of furniture that was unfortunate to be in his way. Nothing in the room survived his frustration and anger. He shut his eyes tight against emotions he had refused to ever allow himself to feel again. He moved himself over to the fireplace gripping the frame and hanging his head as the thoughts continued to course through his mind.
Regardless of his better judgement and his continuious denial, hope still, very slowly, was trying to creep its way into his heart. And he dispised himself for it.

Pushing himself away from the frame he made a hasty exit of her room, not completely though, before a snap of his fingers as every item destroyed now mended itself, leaving the room looking once again perfect, and untouched.
Never looking back he continued to the west wing, his solitude, his purpose. Everything in that room represented who he now was, powerful, and feared across the land. The coward of a man Rumpelstiltskin died a long time ago.
Walking over to his desk he rested both his hands on the edge, bringing his head down between his shoulders, doing his best to regain his composure.

When he had finally convienced himself that he was passed it all, he raised his head only to be pushed right back into the moments. Still sitting across table, was the tea for two she had brought in for them. His 'chipped' cup, and hers..

Everything had started with her asking to help him here in this room. He still didn't understand why she would even want to help him.
The memories flooded back into his mind again. Their near colision when she skipped over to him, in this very exact spot, landing so close to meet him.. The light that shown in her eyes, her delicious scent, the rouge in her cheeks. She was so beautiful..
He then turned to look at his own faint reflection, casted against the window glass from the fire light in the room. He scoweled as he took in his disgusting appearance. His hair grayed and ratted, his skin scaled, rough and discolored, his teeth darkened and rotted. Looking down at his scaled hands, sharp, with ridged claws. He was repulsive..

There was no possible way that anyone, as beautiful and as angelic as her, would ever fall in love with a creature as disgusting as himself, it would never be possible...

He didn't come down to dinner that evening, nor for the evening after, nor the next after that.. A whole month had went by, she never saw him. Not for breakfast, dinner, or even for tea.. But it never stopped her from preparing them, or from keeping up with her chores. Every morning she would have his, and her breakfast and tea ready, set his placement and hers, and every morning she would sit there by herself wondering if this was what it was going to be like from now on.. Occuping the same domain, but never really sharing it.. Sometimes she would feel regret for her actions and words that day, if she had known this was to be the result, she would never have done it. Things would have been better left as they were.. That way at least she would have still been able to see him and spend as much of her time with him as she could.

She prepared them their dinner this night as she always did, and this night she discovered that she couldn't bring herself to leave the table, she had found herself, for some reason, hoping against hope, that if she just waited long enough, that maybe he would finally come.. But as the hours slowly ticked by, her heart sank alittle more with each passing minute, the light in the room completely faded, and she couldn't keep the tears away any longer. Placing her arms on the table, she brought her head down to rest against them as she began to softly weep, until she had slowly and unconsiously cried herself into a deep emotional sleep Never had she felt more alone in the world..