Gotta admit, I had fun writing this one. Next chapter will get more intense, so I thought this was necessary. Enjoy! Oh, and THANK YOU for the reviews - I am truly humbled! I'm so glad you're enjoying this story! Please keep the feedback coming! And welcome new readers!

I do not own 'Once Upon a Time.'

Chapter 7

Belle was awake for most of the night. A son. Bailey – Bae – had to be his son. And judging by the types of toys that were in that room, not to mention the dates that were on the certificates hanging on the walls and the photo in which Ian was clearly a much younger man, late twenties at most – Bae was about nine or ten years old twenty years ago. Was that why he locked himself away from the world? Because of his son? What happened to the boy? There was only one thing that made sense, and Belle's heart broke at the thought of it. The boy had died. He said he lost him. What else could he have meant? And based on what Ian said to her just before he passed out – whatever happened to the boy was his fault.

After Belle left the room in the west wing, turned the lights off and closed the door, she went back into Gold's room. He was snoring quite loudly, his mouth wide open as he breathed in and out. Belle climbed into the bed with him. She presumed that he didn't usually snore this badly, but being so drunk he was likely having more labored breathing than usual. Belle thought it would probably be better for him to be lying on his side; he was less likely to snore and, more importantly, less likely to start vomiting in his sleep, though she could hardly imagine he had anything left in him TO vomit, given how sick he had gotten earlier in the evening. Still, better to be safe in this situation. Belle lifted his head up a bit; he mumbled incoherently as she helped him to turn on his side. Once she got him settled on his side, his snoring subsided quite a bit. Belle lay back next to him, and softly ran her fingers through his hair. "You're not going to remember anything about last night, are you sweetheart?" she whispered. "We're going to have to go back to my pointless questions and your cryptic answers and dance around the fact that this is not just an employer/employee relationship, aren't we? Because if I tell you what happened you'll deny it. Maybe I should ply you with alcohol tonight and record your antics, then you'll have to admit the truth when you're sober." Belle said. Gold moaned and sighed a bit as Belle spoke to him, running her fingers through his hair carefully. Belle lay awake for several hours, thinking about everything that had happened that day. At some point, she simply closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Belle awoke early the next morning to find Gold sprawled out on top of her, the weight of his body pushing her down. He was lying on his stomach, his cheek lying on her breastbone with the top of his head nearly touching her chin, and his arm and leg stretched across her body. Belle was surprised that his bodily shift didn't awaken her; she must have been in a pretty deep sleep to not have noticed. Belle looked down at Gold; his snoring had stopped but his breathing was loud and heavy; his mouth was open wide and he was drooling a bit onto her t-shirt. Belle couldn't help but laugh at the sight of him. His pallor was quite pale and she knew he was going to be terribly hung over if not just flat out sick for most of the day. The amount of whiskey he had taken in would have sent most people to the emergency room, but it was obvious his body had built up a modicum of tolerance for it. She wondered how frequently he drank like this – and she was saddened at the thought that she was the one who led him to do this to himself, or at least his denial of his feelings for her. No, she shouldn't pin this on herself – he made his choice. He would be feeling pretty ill though, and she knew she wouldn't have the heart to taunt him – at least not today.

Belle looked over at the clock on the nightstand – it ready 7:23. Seven minutes until he was supposed to eat breakfast. Belle laughed to herself at the thought. He wouldn't even be awake at 7:30, let alone able to keep his breakfast down. She, however, was quite hungry – she really hadn't eaten much the night before due to her frustration over Ian's meltdown, and then she spent the majority of the evening making sure that he didn't lapse into a coma from his massive whiskey intake. Belle slowly and carefully slid herself out from under Gold's weight, taking every care not to awaken him. As she moved out from under him, Gold shifted a bit and turned his face completely downward into the mattress. "Not face down love, you need to breathe." Belle whispered, and she lifted his head and eased him back onto his side.

"No." Belle heard him mumble quite clearly, then he mumbled a few more incoherent words that she couldn't make out at all. He was lying flat on the mattress, and she grabbed a pillow and lifted his head gently and placed it under him. Gold responded with a soft snore. Belle ran her fingers gently through his hair as she did the night before.

"I'll be back up in a bit to wake you, love. Maybe you'll be sober by then." Belle said to him quietly, though she doubted that would be the case. She knew he'd be dehydrated and likely still a bit drunk when he awoke, but she'd worry about that later. He'd made it through the night without incident and aside from the day of misery that lay ahead from him, he was going to be fine.

Belle made her way downstairs and the doorbell rang just as she was halfway down. Presuming that it must be Gold's breakfast being delivered, Belle darted toward the door and opened it quickly. She was hoping to inform the catering service not to bother with lunch and dinner, but when she opened the door she saw the car already heading back down the long, winding driveway. There was a tray covered in foil lying on the ground, and Belle picked it up. She took a peek inside – it was sausage, home fries, and the most delicious looking biscuits she had ever seen. Well, he certainly wasn't going to be eating this breakfast, she thought to herself. No point in letting it go to waste. Belle took the meal into the dining room. She went into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee, then got some orange juice out of the refrigerator and poured herself a glass. She went back into the kitchen and sat down and ate Gold's catered breakfast. It was wonderful – far better than anything she cooked for him. She couldn't wait to see what was coming for lunch, because he certainly wouldn't be up to eating that either. He could eat like this for three meals a day, every day – and yet he chose to have a maid with mediocre cooking skills at best. He really was a lonely man. Trapped for twenty years in a house with a room filled with the remnants of the life of a young son who was no longer there. Belle then got to thinking about other things, such as – if Ian had a son – the son must have had a mother. Whatever became of her, she wondered. Clearly he lost her, too – but there was nothing of her memory left behind. There wasn't even a photo of her in the entire room dedicated to Bailey. She thought that odd, and wondered why that was.

After she finished eating, Belle poured herself some coffee and sat back down in the dining room. She glanced down at the cup she was using – it was the chipped cup. Belle laughed a bit to herself. This silly little cup was what started everything. Professional assassin. Professional pain in the arse was more like it. What DID he do for a living, she wondered. He had to do something, the money had to come from somewhere unless he was some sort of heir to a dynasty, and she doubted that based on the looks of the little chipped cup. She knew from her own upbringing what inherited heirlooms from a wealthy lineage looked like, and this tea set had very little value other than one of sentiment.

Belle finished her coffee, then went downstairs to shower and change; it was technically her day off so she changed into jeans and a solid blue top. She had a mind to leave him upstairs to fend for himself this morning, but Belle wasn't that cruel. She knew that he'd be quite a wreck, both physically and emotionally. And besides, she did love the damn fool. Now she just had to figure out a way to get him to admit that he felt the same about her, and to do so while sober. Belle quickly realized that this was going to be a far more taxing task than anything Gold had asked her to do so far.

Shortly after nine in the morning, Belle made her way back up the stairs with two items; one was a bottle of drinking water, and the other was a glass filled with what looked like a smoothie type drink. She headed into Gold's room; he was still sleeping as soundly as ever, and it didn't look like he had moved one inch since she left the room nearly two hours prior. She set the two drinks down on his nightstand. Belle knew that she had to get him to drink some water and start to wake up from his stupor. She braced herself for what was to come as she sat down on the edge of the bed and started to tap him gently on the cheek. "Ian – come on. Time to wake up for a bit." Belle whispered as quietly as she could while still being heard. Gold groaned and rolled over onto his back, not opening his eyes. "Hey – come on, sleepyhead. Time to get up, sunshine." Belle said.

"Mmmm." Gold moaned as he turned his head toward Belle's voice and allowed his eyes to flutter open.

"Hi there, handsome." Belle said as she smiled a big smile at him. Gold's eyes widened at the sight of her, and his heart began to race, pumping with a sudden rush of adrenaline.

"What are you doing here?" Gold asked, and he bolted up into a sitting position. Pain rushed through his head like nails stabbing him. He grabbed his forehead with both of his hands and moaned out loud in pain, then eased his head back onto the pillow. He began to breathe heavily, gasping for each breath, his heart racing and his head pounding. Every single part of his head hurt, all the way around, as if he were being pounded in the head by a bevy of hammers.

"Calm down, it's alright. No need to give yourself a heart attack on top of everything else." Belle said, squeezing his hand. Gold looked up at her nervously.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You had yourself quite a night." Belle said, and she continued to smile at him.

"With you?" Gold asked in disbelief.

"In a manner of speaking." Belle said. "I have something that will help quite a bit. You need to sit up a little – let me help, alright? Not so fast this time." Belle reached her arm behind Gold and slowly eased him into an upright position. She continued to brace him for support with her right arm as she reached onto the nightstand for the smoothie drink and picked it up. "Here – take a drink."

"What is that?" Gold asked.

"Just a concoction that my college roommate and I invented. It actually tastes quite good and it helps a great deal in taking the edge off the hangover." Belle said.

"Hangover?" Gold asked.

"Yes – that is what this is, you have had one before, I presume." Belle commented.

"Never this bad." Gold replied.

"Well given the amount that you drank last night I'm impressed that you can even form complete sentences right now. Drink." Belle said. Gold took a small sip, then looked up at her.

"It tastes good." he said.

"I just said that." Belle replied. "Drink it all down – then we'll get some water in you." Belle said. Gold downed the drink slowly, and when the glass was empty, Belle reached for the bottle of water. She opened it and offered it to Gold, who had moved himself to sitting upright by leaning against the headboard of the bed.

"I need coffee." he mumbled, pushing the water bottle away.

"No, you need water. Coffee won't do a damn bit of good for you, you need to rehydrate if you want to sober up. All that coffee will do is make your headache worse." Belle said.

"Miss Woods, do you really have to talk so loudly? I'll drink the water, just don't shout at me please." Gold said, taking the water bottle from her and taking several slow sips.

"I'm barely whispering." Belle said. "If I were shouting right now, you would be screaming in pain. Finish the whole bottle." Gold continued to drink until the water bottle was empty. Belle then took it from him and set it down next to the empty glass. "There. How do you feel?" Gold looked up at her.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"Like hell." Belle replied.

"Well there's your answer. And that's one question down for the day." Gold said. He slunk back down and rolled over on his side, covering his head with both of his hands and groaning a bit.

"It's my day off, we're not counting questions, love." Belle said.

"Please go have your day off somewhere else." Gold said.

"No – I'm good here." Belle replied. Gold moved one of his hands and peeked up at her.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" he asked.

"Just a bit." Belle teased. She put her hand on his shoulder. "You'll be fine."

"I need to take a piss. And I'm not sure I can stand up." Gold said.

"Well, you certainly can do that here in bed, but – don't expect me to clean that. Again – it's my day off." Gold moved his other hand away from his face and glared at her. "Come on – let's get you up, alright?" Gold started to sit up and Belle helped him. She braced him by holding him from behind until he was eased into a sitting position. She helped him swing his legs over the edge of the bed and sit up.

"Where is my cane?" Gold asked.

"That would be wherever you dropped it in the study last night." Belle said.

"Please stop shouting." he whined, putting his hands against his face.

"Sorry. I'll try to be quieter." Belle whispered. "I'll get your cane – be right back." Belle stepped out of the room for a moment and came back with his cane in hand. "Here you are – although even with the cane I don't think you're going to make it to the bathroom without falling over. I'll help you."

"You're not going to stand there and watch me take a piss, Miss Woods." Gold insisted.

"I'll turn my back. But I won't be having you stumbling and falling over and hitting your head on something." Belle informed him. "You ready to go?" Gold sighed in both pain and frustration as he slowly stood up. The moment he did the room began to spin around him and he started to sway. "Still a bit drunk, aren't you? That'll pass." Belle said as she put her arm around him to keep him from falling.

"Just get me to the bathroom and stop with your incessant yammering, please." Gold said as he looked down at the floor, unable to even lift his head up again.

"Well at least you're remembering your manners, that's something." Belle joked. She promised herself she wouldn't taunt him or be cruel to him today – but there was no reason she couldn't have a bit of fun with him in other ways. This predicament was, after all, his own doing. Belle helped him to the bathroom without saying one word, and when he was done she helped him back to bed, again in silence. Gold lay back in bed, grabbed the covers, and pulled them over his head. "You need anything else?" Belle asked.

"Go. Away." Gold grumbled from underneath the blanket. Belle picked up the glass and water bottle that she had brought upstairs. She sighed as she left the room. He didn't remember a damn thing.

Belle spent the next two hours reading one of the books that Emma had brought for her; typical romance, nothing exciting but she didn't have much else to do. She really wasn't in the mood to go into town and it's not like she had any access to a computer or even a bloody television set. Did this man do ANYTHING for fun, she wondered? Well, except for his spinning wheel – she supposed that counted as fun. To him, anyhow.

Gold's lunch was delivered promptly at noon; Belle went to the door to retrieve it. Once again, the car sped off before she could even say anything to them. She opened the tray – Lasagna Florentine with a side salad. It looked delicious. She took it into the dining room and helped herself; he certainly wasn't going to be able to keep this down. After she ate Gold's catered lunch, Belle decided it was probably time for the beast to wake up and eat something himself, since he clearly wasn't coming downstairs any time soon on his own. Belle prepared two slices of toast, and spread strawberry jam on them, his favorite. She then grabbed another bottled water and headed upstairs.

Belle peeked into Gold's room; he was still lying in bed, his entire body completely covered as it was when she left several hours prior. She knew he'd be crabbier than ever before but he did need to eat something. Belle approached his bed; she set the toast and water on his nightstand and pulled the covers off of him quickly. He didn't even budge; he was still sound asleep. Belle sat down on the edge of his bed and shook him gently. "Ian – you need to eat something, come on, wake up." Belle whispered. Gold mumbled and yawned as he opened his eyes. Belle took the bottled water and handed it to him as he sat up a bit. "Here – drink some more water." Gold leaned back against the headboard and started to drink the water. She then handed him the plate of toast. Gold looked down at it.

"Where is my breakfast?" he asked.

"This is it." Belle said.

"No, I have it catered today, this isn't what I eat on Tuesdays." Gold said.

"Well this is what you eat this Tuesday, it's about all you can handle at the moment without getting sick." Belle said. "And if you throw it on the floor, so help me I will pick up your cane and bang it loudly on every wall in the room just to make you miserable." Gold took the plate from her and started eating the toast. He glared at her in silence. After he finished eating, he handed the plate back to her. "There. Finish your water." Belle said.

"So was my breakfast delivered?" Gold asked.

"Oh, yes. It was delicious." Belle said, smirking at him. Gold's eyes widened.

"You ate MY breakfast?" he asked.

"Well, you certainly weren't going to, you weren't even conscious at 7:30 in the morning." Belle said. "Lunch was wonderful, too; lasagna Florentine has always been a favorite of mine." He stared at her in disbelief.

"What time is it?" he asked. Belle glanced at the clock.

"Your clock says 1:23 but I believe it's about five minutes fast." Belle said.

"I've been sleeping all day then?" Gold asked, running his fingers through his hair.

"Well, you were up for a bit this morning, do you remember that?" Belle asked.

"Yeah. You gave me some fruit concoction and you were very loud." Gold said.

"Am I loud now? How's your head?" Belle asked.

"Well it actually feels like it's attached to the rest of my body now, so that's good." he replied. "Are we at two questions or three for the day now?" Belle laughed.

"I told you – we're not counting questions today. We don't count them on my day off." Belle said.

"I never agreed to that." Gold said.

"And I never agreed to spending half of my night on your bathroom floor holding your hair back while you vomited up everything but your shoes. But I did it anyway." Belle said. Gold was quiet. "I'm going to draw you a nice warm bath, that should make you feel quite well. While you're in there I'll set out a fresh pair of pajamas and undergarments and one of your bathrobes for you, the day is almost gone and there's no point in going through the charade of putting on a suit as if you're going to get anything done, whatever it is that you do. I'll get the mail and I can either bring it up to you or if you're feeling up to it you can come down to the living room and look at it there." Belle said. She stood up and walked out of the room and into the bathroom, and Gold just watched her silently. He struggled to recall the events of the prior evening; the last thing he remembered was leaving Bae's room and going back into the study. She'd always been bold and unafraid with him, but not like this. What the bloody hell happened last night, he wondered.

Belle walked into the foyer with Gold's mail; he had received several newspapers, two business magazines, and about three large envelopes, none of which had a return address. Belle was just about to take them upstairs when she saw Gold coming down the stairs; he was wearing the pajamas he took out for him, as well as the bathrobe and a pair of slippers that he must have retrieved himself. "I think I'll take those in the living room, Miss Woods." Gold said as he finished coming down the stairs. Belle followed him into the living room and he sat back on the sofa. She handed him the pile of mail. "Thank you." he said. He reached to turn on the lamp next to the sofa and began leafing through his mail. Belle just stood there and stared at him. "That will be all, Miss Woods."

"Nothing else you need then?" Belle asked. Gold looked up at her.

"I know it's your day off but if you would be so kind, my dinner will arrive promptly at 6:30 and I would like to eat it, you don't get to have that meal, it's one I look forward to every week." Gold said. "I would greatly appreciate it if you would bring it to me in here."

"Of course." Belle said. "Anything else?"

"Yes. You called me Ian – twice today. Why?" he asked. Belle smirked at him.

"Because you asked me to last night. I'll be back at 6:30 with your dinner." Belle said, and she flitted out of the room. Gold put his hands up to his face and sighed. Oh good god, what else did he ask her? What else did he SAY to her? This was all her fault – if she hadn't tried to be nice to him, this never would have happened. He should have known that girl would be nothing but trouble from the moment he first spoke with her. Enough to drive a man bloody mad, he thought to himself. And worst of all, he wasn't going to see her again until 6:30 – and that was four hours away. And he would miss her every minute of those four hours. He hated it when Emma Swan was right.

Belle entered the living room at 6:30 carrying the tray that was delivered. Gold had been engrossed in reading the entire time – when he wasn't thinking about Belle and trying to piece together the events of the night prior, which he was certain were embarrassing as hell, and he still couldn't recall one damn thing that had happened between going back into the study and waking up with Belle sitting on the edge of his bed smiling at him all chipper and stunningly beautiful and offering him a hangover remedy that she should really bottle and sell because she could make millions off of it. "Just set it on the coffee table." Gold said, and he sat up. He dove toward the tray and opened it up. Belle looked down at it and made a face.

"What is that?" she asked.

"Haggis." he said. "I need silverware, could you please get me some? A napkin would be good too – and some more water, if you wouldn't mind." Belle went into the kitchen and came back with what he had asked for. "Thank you." Gold said, and he began to eat his dinner.

"Well you certainly wouldn't have to worry about me eating that slop." Belle commented. Gold looked up at her.

"And what exactly is considered a delicacy in your homeland? Barbeque kangaroo?" he quipped.

"I've had kangaroo meat, it's not bad. Better than THAT." Belle said. "Glad you don't have me make this for you, I don't think I could manage."

"I wouldn't even ask you to attempt it. And actually – this is imported from Scotland. I have it every Tuesday. It's quite illegal here in the states, actually. I just happen to have connections to maneuver around those particulars." Gold said.

"Why is it illegal?" Belle asked.

"I don't know, some ridiculous agriculture law. No matter, I've been getting it sent here for twenty years and no one's caught on. And given other matters in my life I seriously doubt that smuggled haggis is what's going to get me sent to prison." Gold said.

"What other matters?" Belle asked.

"None that concern you, Princess." Gold replied. "You may go, I think I can manage to clean up after myself."

"Feeling better then?" Belle asked.

"Very much, yes." Gold replied. "By the way – how did you know so much about the um – aftercare of – well, a night of a bit too much indulgence?"

"I had two roommates in college. One of them was a chemistry major and she's the one who came up with the hangover concoction. The other was pre-med, and she fully instructed me on the best way to take care of someone who had a bit more than a bit too much to drink, mainly because she was quite the lush at the parties we went to and wanted to make sure she didn't choke on her own vomit. I've never been much of a drinker, so needless to say I was frequently the designated driver and hair holder over the toilet bowl and quite a few other things. So last night was – a bit like – reliving my youth." Belle said. Gold glared at her. He had finished his dinner and he sat back on the sofa. He reached into the end table drawer and pulled out a remote just as Belle was leaving the room. Belle was startled when a panel over the fireplace opened, and a large screen television appeared. "What the bloody hell is that?" she asked as he flipped on the TV. "You have a television in here!"

"It's 2013 Princess, everyone has a television." Gold replied.

"Well why didn't I know this?" Belle asked.

"Because I didn't tell you." he replied. He turned on a news station. Belle turned and went back into the room. She sat down on the opposite end of the sofa, and stretched her feet across his. Gold looked down at her legs. "What in the hell are you doing?" he asked.

"I haven't seen the news in almost six weeks, I'd like to know what's going on in the world if you don't mind." Belle said.

"What's going on? People are killing other people, some celebrity is embroiled in a ridiculous scandal, and you're sitting on my sofa sprawled out with your legs on my lap as if they belong there." Gold said.

"Shhh." Belle said, waving him off and listening intently to the news. Gold angrily turned off the television. "Hey – I was watching that!" Belle said. Gold grabbed her legs and shoved them off of himself.

"Enough of this. You've had your fun at my expense, Miss Woods. I behaved like an ass last night and I apologize. I shouldn't have gotten that upset over the dessert, and I shouldn't have screamed at you. Now – what in the bloody hell happened last night after you came upstairs? I want full details." Belle looked at him and smiled.

"Tell you what. I'll make you a deal. You can ask me one question per day about what happened last night, and I will answer it honestly, and I believe you've had one answered today already. Eventually, between the answers I give and the flashes of memory that you're bound to start having, you should be able to piece it all together. And when you do – then we'll talk." Belle said. "I'm a bit tired and I think I'm going to turn in early this evening. I'll see you in the morning – I'll wear my blue uniform tomorrow – I think it goes well with my pretty blue eyes, don't you? Goodnight, Ian." Belle said, and she sauntered out of the room.