latte6 said:

If Belle feels love for Arthur and begins to have 'urges', Ruby might suggest she buy a vibrator. But vibrators with children in the next room can be a problem.

"You have a date?" Ruby exclaimed so loudly Belle was forced to hold her phone away from her ear. "When?"

"This weekend," Belle replied, having just settled things with Arthur half an hour before she called Ruby. "I have no idea what I'm going to do."

"Well, apparently you're going to get laid."

"Ruby!" Belle shrieked, glancing quickly to make sure Bae hadn't heard her outburst before she locked herself in her bedroom. "I am not getting laid!"

"Oh come on, Belle," Ruby grumbled. "How much longer are you going to dance around this?"

"I'm not dancing around anything," Belle replied. "We're taking it slow."

"You've been wanting to jump on him since May," Ruby shot back. "That's plenty slow."

"I have not!"

"Fine," Ruby sighed. "So you're just going to keep bottling it all up until you explode from lust. What are you calling me for?"

"I need help picking a dress," Belle said petulantly. "Last time we went out I wore my nicest one and I don't know whether it's okay to use again."

"When was the last time you went out?" Ruby asked. "And which dress?"

"We went out for dinner on vacation," Belle said. "And the black one."

"You wore the boob dress on a platonic dinner date?" Ruby said incredulously. "God, no wonder the poor guy's been after you for months."

"It's not...what do you mean 'boob dress'?"

"Jeeze, Belle," Ruby replied. "Have you seen your chest in that thing?"

"It might be a little tight," Belle admitted. "See that's why I called you!"

"Alright," Ruby said. "We can go shopping tonight if you have time. Think Bae's dad will take him for the evening?"

"That can probably be arranged."

Belle had known she needed Ruby, and the dress her friend had helped her select was definitely a winner - although she wasn't quite sure that it was much better than 'the boob dress' as far as being revealing went. This one had a higher neckline, but the hemline was far shorter. It was a yellow floral brocade with roses all over it. There was a thin ribbon around the waistline that fastened in a little bow in the front. It was so pretty and so incredibly short! She wasn't sure how she'd be able to sit in it, but she was at least happy she'd be able to wear tights and a sweater to go with the weather.

"You are not wearing tights," Ruby insisted. "You'll ruin the effect."

"It is December in Maine," Belle replied. "And if I bend over you can see my bits."

Ruby gave a long suffering sigh before finding a pair of nude tights with a gold hue to them.

They settled on a pair of shiny pink shoes with an ankle strap to go on her feet and Belle made a mental note not to let Ruby know she planned to wear a jacket over the top of the dress. She liked Arthur and very much wanted to look nice for this, but she also didn't want to freeze to death on the way to his car. She'd compromise on this part, at least.

"Alright," Ruby said at last once the outfit had been selected. "I have a question for you that you're not going to like."

"Oh?" Belle already didn't like where this was going, but Ruby was her best friend and had a lot more experience with this sort of thing than she did.

"How far do you think this is going to go this weekend?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Ruby said. "Do you see yourself having sex with him?"

Belle hadn't really put that much thought into it, although she probably should have. They'd known each other for months, and she knew intellectually that they would probably end up having sex at some point - she'd even had a few dreams about it. She just hadn't spent much time thinking about the when and the how. That was a lot of thinking, and the idea of it was just a little bit overwhelming.

"Probably not this weekend," Belle said after awhile. "But...probably sooner than later."

"And has it still been ten years since the last time you had sex?"

"Oh my God," Belle exclaimed, glancing around to see if anyone had heard. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're basically a tiny little keg of sexual tension," Ruby replied. "And you're about to set yourself loose on a very unsuspecting man."

Belle honestly wasn't sure how unsuspecting Arthur was at this point, but Belle could see some of the wisdom in Ruby's statement. Sort of. Was she really that overwhelmed by sexual tension?

"So what do you want me to do about it?" Belle asked earnestly. "It's a little late to go back in time and have sex with more people. And I wouldn't if I could."

She didn't want to have sex with strangers, that was why she didn't like to date. She didn't have the time or the inclination for it. She just wanted to have some idea of what the hell she was doing when this all inevitably went down. Was it too early for cold feet? She felt like she was breaking out in a nervous sweat already.

"Alright, well step one is to calm down," Ruby replied. "And I'm not saying I'll send you to the bar to find some random guy to hook up with. I just think maybe it's time to take some matters into your own hands."

"That's not a problem," Belle said, blushing. "Trust me."

"Well," Ruby said. "Then you shouldn't find this next trip all that painful."

The 'next trip' Ruby had in mind turned out to be to an adult toy store. She reassured Belle that this wasn't a creepy store (apparently the trick was to avoid places that also sold videos) and that most of the people who came here were women or couples...but 'd never been in one of these kind of places before.

Thankfully, there weren't a lot of people here. It was just Belle and Ruby, the cashier, and another woman who was over by a display of what looked like dog collars. Oh this was not even kind of her scene.

"I can't believe you brought me here," Belle said under her breath as they walked towards the wall of fake penises. "This is so embarrassing."

"Everyone here is here for the same thing," Ruby reminded her. "It's not like it's a combination sex toy and grocery store or anything."

She was right, but that really wasn't helping Belle feel any more comfortable with it.

"Can we just buy a vibrator and go home?" she asked.

"Patience," Ruby replied with a wink. "This is kind of like getting married, you have to make sure you pick the right one."

"Oh my God," Belle groaned. "I cannot believe I got talked into this."

"Alright," Ruby said as she perused the neon colored wall. "I'm assuming you don't want anything too big. Don't want to get your hopes up, anyway."

"That one is the size of my arm," Belle blurted out, staring awkwardly at a giant jelly toy. "I don't want that one."

"We weren't going to get you that one," Ruby replied patiently. "We're getting you a normal size one."

Ruby was going through the display models as Belle stood there. She'd never shopped for a vibrator before, she had no idea what she was looking for. She picked up a random hot pink one, turning it over in her hands while Ruby shopped.

"Not that one," Ruby continued, picking it up and setting it back on the counter. "Silicone toys only, jelly ones are bad for you."

"Right," Belle agreed. "So no jelly ones."

That still left a bunch of other options.

"And you don't want anything too big," Ruby replied. "What about this one?"

She handed Belle a bright blue vibrator with a knobby appearance and a protrusion on the front.

"How the hell does this even fit?" Belle asked.

"You don't put the whole thing inside you!" Ruby exclaimed loud enough to draw attention from the cashier. "The part on the front goes over your clitoris and then the whole thing vibrates."

"Oh!" Belle said, looking at it closer. "I kind of think I have a handle on that part…"

"Of course you do," Ruby replied. "Which one do you like?"

Belle took a deep breath and tried to focus on them. It was like trying to choose a book from the picture on the front.

"What about this one?" she asked, reaching past the strange lumpy ones for a smooth one with a slight curve to the front. "It looks fun."

"If you want g-spot," Ruby said. "What about one that rotates?"

"Does that make a difference?"

"It really, really does," Ruby reassured her, picking up a golden yellow one with a white handle. "See how that feels."

Belle thought she was going to choke on her tongue.

"What?!" she shrieked.

"I meant on your hand," Ruby said with a huff, pressing the button to start the vibrator.

Belle just about dropped it in surprise, but instead wrapped her hand around the rotating top. It actually felt pretty good on her palm, and she could see how it would feel good in other...places. It was soft and the way it was moving felt good.

"I think this one will be good," Belle said at last. "Isn't it kind of loud, though?"

"Once it's inside you," Ruby replied. "You'll barely hear it."

Belle's face felt like it was on fire, but she was sure Ruby knew what she was talking about. Her friend had lived with her grandma all through college. If there was one thing Belle trusted Ruby to know about, it was subtlety.

"Alright," Belle agreed. "I'll take this one."

"Is this gonna be it for you?" the cashier asked, when Belle presented her with the little box containing her new toy.

"I think so," Belle replied.

"Would you like some batteries for it?" she asked, grabbing a pack when Belle nodded. "Now, we can't take returns so let me show you how it works."

The girl popped the batteries into the compartment, turning it on and showing Belle how the controls worked.

"Now, do you need some lube?" the girl asked her after she put the toy back in the box. "Or toy cleaner?"

Belle knew she was still blushing, but she managed to nod and accept the two bottles the girl put into her bag. She glanced away, noticing a box of condoms. Oh hell, as long as she was going through all of this she might as well go all the way. She grabbed the brightly colored box and handed it to the cashier while Ruby snickered.

"What am I going to do with this stuff?" Belle mumbled to her friend.

Ruby had her hand on Belle's back as she led her out of the store.

"You're going to go home and put it inside of yourself," Ruby replied matter-of-factly. "And then you're going to have a mind blowing orgasm and call it a day."

Belle looked up in shock at Ruby's words only to realize that Regina Mills had walked into the store just in time to hear everything. Oh God, she wasn't supposed to know anyone here.

Regina was glancing back and forth between Belle and Ruby with one of her perfectly groomed brows quirked.

The last thing she really needed was Arthur's lawyer to run into her here, especially while she was (Belle realized) walking out with a tall leggy brunette whose hand was possessively on her spine and who had just commanded her to masturbate.

Neither one of them spoke, and Regina didn't even say a word as Ruby led her to her car. This was probably the most mortified she'd ever been in her life. Belle just hoped Arthur didn't find out what Regina had seen, at least not until Belle had a chance to demonstrate that she wasn't actually a lesbian.