Hook… I Will Always Find You

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Back in Storybrooke…

Early into the next evening, Mr. Gold knocked on the front door of the house which he's owned since everyone was first brought over from the Enchanted Forest in the Evil's Queen dark curse and Storybrooke was first created, then Belle opened the door to him and the former villain was pleasantly taken aback by her beauty. Not surprised, as he saw her beauty even underneath the dust which used to cover her when she had been his maid in his castle years ago. Just astounded. She appeared before him wearing a deep blue evening gown and her hair pulled back and pinned into a bun behind her head, with loose ringlets hanging down over her ears.

He looked into her eyes and smiled, then whispered gently, "You look absolutely stunning, Belle. I am most certainly grateful you requested we try another restaurant in town that isn't Granny's. That gown is far too elegant for a diner we've all eaten at a thousand times."

The beauty smiled at him in return, then she accepted his arm as the shopkeeper raised it for her to take and guided her down from the porch, all while she sincerely responded, "Thank you, Rumple. And you look quite dashing yourself. I've always loved seeing you in that suit. It's the suit you were wearing when I first stepped foot in your shop the day Jefferson released me from Regina's prison cell and told me you could protect me."

"I'm surprised you remember a detail as trivial as what I was wearing that day," Gold replied as they began to walk down the street towards the center of town. "I must say I don't recall ever going to Tony's since our arrival here. What made you decide to try someplace different?"

"It was Henry's suggestion actually," she answered him, continuing to walk alongside him while she kept her eyes mostly on the street in front of her feet. "I was talking to him last night down on the beach. I couldn't sleep. Neither could he. Strangely enough, we both wound up in the same place at the same time."

He looked over at her as he questioned, "Why couldn't you sleep? Are you alright?"

Belle finally looked over at him again as she responded, "Yes... It's nothing really. I suppose it's just that I'm sad about Killian. It's tragic how he died. I still can't help but wonder if my going to the others for help in saving you that night had something to do with him having to sacrifice everything by taking the darkness into himself."

"I told you, what happened was not your fault, Belle," he assured her. "It was no one's fault, except for perhaps mine for allowing the darkness to take over me for as long and as deeply as it had. If I had allowed you to help me fight it long ago, none of this would have happened. Though Hook and I were never friends, nor do I suspect we ever will be because of our pasts together… I am sorry about how he died. And I suppose… I am grateful to him as well."

At last, they arrived at Tony's Restaurant and walked inside as they were seated at their table by the host. At a few tables away, Abigail… or as she was better known in Storybrooke as Kathryn, sat with her husband Frederick… or Jim, as he was known. They appeared to be out on a date themselves.

"This restaurant is lovely," the beauty stated as the waiter came over to offer the couple some wine, then took their order before walking away again to prepare it for them. "I'm glad Henry suggested it. I've come here before, but most of the time I'm perfectly satisfied with eating at Granny's. She knows how to make a mean burger."

"Yes… I've have them many times and you're right," he replied, then took a sip of wine before continuing to talk with the woman he loved.

Their date was going wonderfully throughout the next couple of hours, as Belle and Gold spoke of many things, from the days from their pasts both while they were together and before they ever met, to what they hoped to come from their relationship from this evening and moving onward. Unfortunately, the peace didn't last much longer, when Jim and Kathryn finished their own date and started to leave.

When they walked by Belle after Gold stepped outside for a moment to purchase his wife a red rose from a flower girl selling her roses in front of the restaurant, they stopped a moment to say hello, then continued to leave as the shopkeeper returned. However, Jim accidentally stumbled over Gold's cane and knocked it out from under the older man, causing him to fall against the floor with a sharp cry of pain.

Jim and Kathryn both immediately apologized while they helped Gold to stand, but the former Dark One became angry despite their apology and startled them, as well as Belle when he furiously retorted, "Your apology means nothing! You stupid oaf! You had better watch where you're going from now on."

Jim nodded apprehensively and answered, "You're right. But for whatever it's worth to you, it was an accident. I am sorry again. Come on, Kathryn. Goodnight, Belle. I'm sorry for disrupting your evening too."

"I'm so sorry," Kathryn added softly as Belle nodded in understanding, then the other woman quickly followed after her husband when Jim reached out to wrap his arms around her so they could leave together.

"This damn leg," Gold uttered darkly as he struggled to sit down again and tossed his cane against the wall beside him, letting it clatter onto the floor. "It wouldn't be a problem if…"

He finally cut himself off upon seeing the look of disappointment and sadness in Belle's eyes as she stared down at the table in front of her, then his countenance softened and Gold whispered, "Belle… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go off on them like that. It's just..."

This time, Belle interrupted, "Rumple… Kathryn and Jim are my friends and it hurts me you would treat them in such a horrendous manner. Do you have any idea how humiliating that was? Do you even care that you not only hurt them, but me as well?"

"Of course I care," he responded in concern. "It was wrong of me and I hate that there's still a darkness inside of me that doesn't come from the entity which once possessed my body. If only you could understand that I am trying not to allow my anger to get the better of me as it did just now."

"If the darkness was still a part of you, I might have been able to look past your outburst just now," Belle replied to him in return and then stood up from the table to leave. "I do understand that you're struggling with adjusting to living without it, Rumple. But you no longer can use it as an excuse or a crutch like you always used to. You have to try harder. I'm sorry this evening had to end this way."

Gold immediately reached out to grab her arm as Belle started to walk away, then attempted to give her the rose he had gotten for her until she refused to take it and spoke again saying, "Until you apologize to Jim and Kathryn, I don't want to see you unless it's just in passing. I love you, but I won't stand for you mistreating my friends."

Once she was gone, the waiter came over to their table again to begin to clean up the wine and water that had spilled while he asked Gold if he wished for anything more, to which Gold answered despondently, "No… thank you. I'm sorry for the disturbance."

With that said, Rumplestiltskin stood again as he pulled his change purse he carried around his neck and tossed down a few coins on the table to pay for their dinner, as well as the broken glasses and dishes that came about because of his temper. And then without another word, he walked out and returned to his shop where he spent the rest of the night thinking over how what started out as a wonderful evening with the love of his life, ended up so terribly wrong.