Again, I cannot thank you enough for the response to this fic! I truly appreciate it!

I've dropped a tiny little reference to another television show that I'm a HUGE fan of into this chapter. No, I'm NOT going there for those of you who figure it out - just thought it would be amusing for those who get it. (And those who don't, it won't matter anyway, you won't even know it's there.) I will be curious to see if anyone spots it though!

I do not own 'Once Upon a Time.'

Chapter 4

Twenty years. He had secluded himself in this house for nearly twenty years, they said. Belle lay in her bed that night thinking about this. She wondered how old Mr. Gold was. She would guess late forties, or in his early fifties at the most. Good god – that would mean that when he shut himself off from the world, he was – well he was HER age, or very near it. What could have happened to him at such a young age to make him do that? She wondered if it was a mental condition; social anxiety or something like that. He certainly wasn't much of a conversationalist. Or perhaps he was agoraphobic. It was clear that the man had money, he had to earn it somehow, so he had to be sane in order to hold down a job that kept him in such an exquisite setting. And he wasn't a stupid man by any means – it was apparent to Belle early on that he was very intelligent. Not necessarily book smart like she was but – he had a very sharp mind, that was without question. So why lock himself away from the world? And what kind of a career would permit him to do so? So many questions – the more she got to know Mr. Gold, the less she understood him. Yet the less she understood him – the more she wanted to.

Belle brought Mr. Gold his breakfast the next morning. She set his plate in front of him and poured his coffee, all while saying nothing. He was still using that chipped cup. It's like he deliberately picked that one out of the cabinet every morning. Was he mocking her? Trying to get in a subtle dig at her clumsiness and gullibility for falling for his little 'quip' as he put it? Belle tried not to think about it. Instead, she went into the kitchen and fixed herself a plate. She was going to eat with him this time – whether he liked it or not. She sat down at the table with him, and he didn't say a word to her.

"Are you going to talk to me?" Belle asked. Gold looked up at her.

"Eventually I suppose I'll have to." he replied. Belle was quiet for a moment.

"I went into town yesterday." she said. He did not respond. "Was hoping to find the library but I couldn't manage to do that. Maybe next time. I'd like to get some books to read." Belle said. Gold remained quiet. "It's a nice little town, but – well there's just one small problem. Nobody likes you." He still said nothing. "I know that bothers you even if you won't admit it – it would bother me too. The problem is that – well, because I work for you – nobody likes me either. And I really don't think that's fair."

"Life isn't fair, Princess. You'd do well to learn that." Gold finally said.

"So I don't get to make any friends then? Just because you don't care if you have any friends doesn't mean I feel the same." Belle said.

"Making friends is not what you are here for." Gold said. "Need I remind you that this – situation – is for your protection and nothing more. If it weren't, I would have sent you packing the first time you sat down with me at my dining room table, uninvited, and started prattling away."

"I don't think you would have." Belle said. Gold did not respond. "I think you're lonely. And I think that you like it when I sit down with you and prattle." Belle reached out and touched his hand, a soft smile forming on her face. Gold looked down at her hand in disbelief, then up at her, but he did not pull away from her. "Have you really not left your estate in twenty years?" Gold pulled away from her at this point.

"You've already had your question answered for today." Gold said. "I have work to do. And you – have laundry to do. I'll take lunch in my study today, Miss Woods. Thank you." Gold stood up and walked away.

Wednesday, as it turned out, was laundry day. Belle was to wash all of Gold's clothing, his bedding from the prior week, and all of the towels for the kitchen and bathroom. She was then to iron and press any items that required it, and put everything away in an orderly fashion. She had already looked in his closet once while cleaning the room the other day; his clothes were organized by color. And he had nothing but suits. Not one item of casual clothing. He owned suits, pajamas, undergarments, and several bathrobes. And nothing else. Not even one pair of jeans.

Belle spent the bulk of the day in the laundry room, which was located in the basement, adjacent to her quarters. She carefully watched the time so that she would have his lunch prepared and taken up to his study promptly at noon. When lunch time arrived, she headed upstairs and approached his study. She was stunned to find him at his spinning wheel. "Mr. Gold – I have your lunch." Belle said.

"Just set it on the coffee table." Gold said. Belle sat the tray down, and walked over to his side.

"What are you working on?" Belle asked. Gold did not reply. "You seem to be very good at it. Do you make anything or do you just spin the yarn and then just leave it?" Gold still did not reply. "You have quite a few rugs downstairs in the dining room and the foyer, and in your office – did you make those?"

"Miss Woods, if I answer your questions, will you then kindly vacate my study so that I can enjoy my lunch in peace?" Gold asked. "Clearly one question a day isn't going to satisfy your curious nature, is it? I will up your limit to three, will that be satisfactory enough? I hope it is because I am quickly losing my patience with you. Yes, I do things with the yarn other than spin it, and yes, all of the rugs in the house were made by me. You have your answers – now please go."

"Well, you're very talented. I'll see you at dinner then." Belle said, smiling, and she left the room. He makes rugs. Interesting. Well at least he has a hobby, Belle thought to herself. The man needs something to do, being cooped up in this house for twenty years and all. She really couldn't understand what all the fuss in town was about over him. Sure, he was a bit eccentric, but he was basically harmless. And she was certain that his icy and distant demeanor was all for show. She was right – Ian Gold had many layers to him. And she had uncovered one of them in less than a week. She wondered what else she would uncover in the next week. The thought of it excited her far more than she thought it would.

Thursday arrived – it had officially been one week since Belle took up residence in Mr. Gold's home. In this time, she discovered that he was a man who expected precise order in his life in everything, he took his coffee with sugar only, no cream, and his hobby was spinning and making rugs. His house was quiet; he didn't watch television or listen to music or anything like that. And the only thing she ever saw him reading were newspapers and business magazines, all of which were delivered to his house daily. She never saw him use a computer. Did he even HAVE a computer, she wondered. This house seemed devoid of most modern luxuries. She wasn't even sure he had a cell phone. He had an old-fashioned looking desktop phone in his office. She spotted no other telephone in the house, not even in his bedroom. He acted distant and cold and very crabby but he wasn't all bad. He did save her when she fell on Sunday; that was a surprise. So there had to be some kindness within him. She sensed that about him. She sensed that he wasn't at all the person she initially thought he was. And she was glad.

Belle went out into the dining room to serve him breakfast at 7:30 sharp, as usual, but Mr. Gold wasn't sitting at the table waiting for her this time. That was odd. He was never late. Belle wasn't sure what to do. Was he alright? Should she go upstairs to look in on him? She breathed a sigh of relief when he entered the room. "You're late." Belle said.

"Only a few minutes. Had something important to take care of." Gold said, and he sat down, his breakfast already waiting at his place setting.

"Work?" Belle asked. Gold glared at her. "Sorry – no work questions, I forgot." Belle said. "But who on earth does business this early in the morning?"

"There are other time zones in the world, Miss Woods." Gold replied.

"So you have business connections on an international level, then?" Belle asked.

"Didn't say that." Gold replied.

"Well you certainly implied it." Belle said. Gold ate his breakfast, continuing to ignore her. "Do you like your work?"

"My job does not require me to like what I do. It just needs to be done. I've already told you more than I care to so if you're going to continue this line of questioning it will be met with silence. And actually, you've already met your 'three question' quota for the day, so it will be met with silence regardless." Belle shrugged her shoulders and sat down at the table. She had no plate in front of her, nor coffee cup. She just sat there and watched him eat. After several minutes, Gold finally looked up at her. "Is there a problem, Miss Woods?"

"No. Just – trying to figure you out." Belle said.

"Well good luck with that." Gold said. "I'll be in my study again today for lunch. Just leave the tray outside the door, it will be closed and I don't wish to be disturbed. I'll put it back outside the door when I've finished. I'll see you at dinner time then. And I expect the floors to be spotless, and do take care with my rugs when you clean those, quite a bit of work went into making them." Gold got up and left the room. On Thursdays, Belle was to mop and wax all of the non-carpeted floors in the house. This included the foyer, the stairs, kitchen, and dining room. She was also to clean all of the rugs in the house, as well as dust in the dining room and clean the kitchen. And then the cleaning cycle repeated once again.

Belle muddled through the next several days, cleaning and cooking and asking questions of Mr. Gold and receiving his usual cryptic answers. Monday finally arrived once again, and she went into town to shop and was greeted with the same coldness that she received the prior week. But just as she was determined to figure out more about Mr. Gold, she was determined not to let these silly townspeople get her down. She would continue to be polite and she would hopefully win them over in time.

On Tuesday, Belle once again venture into town on her day off. Her primary purpose was to seek out the library, which apparently she would have to do on her own because no one in town wanted to speak with her. She walked by Granny's Diner once again. She was told not to go back in there – but Belle had enough of being told what to do from Mr. Gold. So she opened the door and stepped inside, then approached the counter. Ruby stared at her in disbelief.

"Hi." Belle said. "Ruby, right?" Ruby nodded but said nothing. "Look, I – I don't want any trouble, I just – I just want to know where the library is. You seem really nice – can't you at least talk to me?" Ruby thought about it for a moment.

"I'm off in fifteen minutes, I worked the early shift today. Wait for me outside – I'll bring you some lunch and some of that cherry cobbler you liked. You better go before Granny sees you. Okay?" Ruby said.

"Alright. Thank you." Belle said, and she left and waited outside on a bench. Several people walked past her. Some stared, some whispered, and some did both. She was starting to hate this little town – she actually received more warmth and friendliness from Mr. Gold than she did from these people. Ruby finally came outside carrying a bag with her.

"Come on – let's go over to the park, it's only a few blocks." Ruby suggested. They walked together and found a picnic bench to sit on. Ruby took some food out of the bag. "I hope you like hamburgers – Granny's are the best."

"It's fine, thank you." Belle said, and the girls began to eat their lunch. "So have you – lived here all your life?"

"Yeah. Pretty much. I mean I wasn't born here, but – my parents died when I was five and – well I moved here to live with my grandmother." Ruby said.

"Oh – I'm sorry." Belle said.

"It's okay." Ruby said. "You were asking about the library. Storybrooke doesn't have one."

"No library? Why not?" Belle asked.

"It's really not a very big town, I guess no one has ever seen the need for one. There's one in Collinsport, it's the next town over but – I wouldn't recommend going there, it's kind of a creepy place, lots of weird stuff happens there." Ruby told her.

"Well, I'm not allowed to leave Storybrooke anyway, so I guess that won't be happening." Belle said.

"Is that one of his rules?" Ruby asked.

"Kind of." Belle replied.

"What's he like? Mr. Gold?" Ruby asked.

"He really never comes to town?" Belle asked.

"Not in all the years I've lived here. He used to – a long time ago. He still collects the rent but – we just have that delivered to him." Ruby said.

"Rent?" Belle asked.

"He owns this entire town. All of the properties, everything. I mean he's not a bad landlord, if things need fixing they get fixed, he always sends someone. But he – there are just – stories about him." Ruby said.

"Well I don't think he's all that bad, really. Just – misunderstood. Maybe you can come over some time and meet him." Belle said.

"Oh I don't think so – Granny would have a fit. She hates him." Ruby said.

"Why? What has he done?" Belle asked.

"She kind of – blames him for stuff." Ruby said.

"What stuff?" Belle asked.

"Look – Lacey – I'm sorry, I've already probably said too much. I just want you to know that – well, the rest of the town might hold the fact that you work for him against you, but I don't. If you want to come here again next week and meet me for lunch, we can. Okay?" Ruby said.

"Alright. Thank you." Belle said.

"12:30 will be good. Next Tuesday. I'll see you then." Ruby said, and she got up and left, leaving Belle with even more questions about the elusive Mr. Gold than ever before.

Belle arrived back at the estate at around three in the afternoon. She managed to find some books she hadn't read at the local drug store and purchased them; romance novels, not really her favorite genre but at least it was something to read. She entered the foyer and was shocked to hear loud shouting coming from upstairs. It was Gold's voice. What on earth could be wrong? Curiosity getting the better of her, she made her way up the stairs.

"How could you be so bloody stupid!" she heard Gold scream, his Scottish accent becoming thicker. "Of all the idiotic, incompetent moves – this was NOT supposed to happen! Have you learned NOTHING from me!" he screamed. His voice was coming from the study. Belle nervously walked down the hall when she reached the top of the stairs. By the time she arrived at the open door of the study, Gold was wandering through the room like a madman, smashing several of his cherished knick-knacks with his cane and screaming in anger. Belle gasped at the sight as she watched him. Gold didn't notice her at first, but then he looked up and saw her after a moment. His eyes were filled with anger; it was a look she had never seen on him before. He looked menacing – monstrous. Like a wild beast ready to attack. "What are you doing here, Princess?" he asked, gritting his teeth.

"I – I heard you shouting and – who were you shouting at?" Belle asked, trying to hide the fact that she was a bit nervous. She hadn't shown him any fear before and she certainly wasn't going to start now.

"Well who does it look like? Myself. I was shouting at myself. You wanted to figure me out, Princess? Well there you have it. I'm a madman – certifiably insane. Is that what you wanted to know? Well now you have proof. And you'd best go – before I take this cane and use it on you." Gold said, and he started to move toward her. Belle did not move.

"There are two glasses of tea. On the coffee table. Someone was here. Probably still is. You don't scare me, Mr. Gold. And I know for a fact that you're not mad. Perhaps obsessive-compulsive and bit socially awkward, but – I've spent enough time with you to know that you're as sane as I am. I'll let you get back to – whatever you were doing. And you can tell your visitor to come out of hiding, I'll make myself scarce for the rest of the day. I'll see you at breakfast then." Belle sauntered out of the room, as Gold watched her, completely flustered. He stood there gaping at the spot where she had stood for several moments until finally a voice spoke up from behind him.

"Boy, she sure has your number, doesn't she Gold? I thought I was just setting up a witness protection situation – didn't know I'd be making a love connection." Emma said. She walked over to the coffee table and picked up one of the glasses of iced tea. "The infamous Ian Gold, left tongue-tied and speechless by a little librarian. I guess miracles really do happen. Cheers." Emma said with a smug look on her face as she raised the glass to make a mocking toast, then took a drink.