A/N: ahh! I'M SORRY THIS HAS TAKEN LITERALLY AGES. I have been super busy these past couple months, but anyway, here's a longer-ish chapter to make up for it and for some v serious Gold/Emma interaction, so I hope you all enjoy! As always, reviews are super great :) but most importantly, ENJOY!

As Emma stood there, looking at Gold, finally understanding a little bit more about why she felt like she understood him so well, she found her curiosity piqued. So, he'd done all of this for his son, to find his son. But how had he lost him to begin with? What had led to desperation so deep that he orchestrated an entire curse that ripped an entire land of people to another world? And as her curiosity heightened, her desire for answers heightened, she found herself gravitating closer to him still, a whisper falling from her lips.

"What happened to him—your son? How did he get here?"

If Gold had not wanted to tell her that he had made the curse, designed it to be broken by her all those years ago, it was nothing compared to how much he did not want to answer that question. It was an answer he wished to hold deep down and never reveal to anyone if he could avoid it. And he intended to for the rest of his days. He had no intention of telling her, or even Belle for that matter. In fact, he'd be more inclined to tell Emma than anyone, but he wouldn't. He couldn't. That would mean having to admit to someone else what a coward he had been and Emma already knew on some level how cowardly he was, he couldn't stand the thought of her knowing what he'd done.

Luckily for him, it was at that moment, as Emma stood mere inches from him, that Snow and the others made their way out of the backroom. David came through first, a brow lifted curiously and almost in a warning of sorts upon noticing the admittedly small distance between Gold and Emma. A small flush rose on Emma's cheek, hardly noticeable even by Gold as close as he stood, as she backed away from him in an awkward sort of shuffle, hands moving to tuck her thumbs into the back pockets of her jeans. She cast Gold one final sidelong glance before she turned to face Mary Margaret and David, forcing a smile.

"Hey, why don't we go to Granny's and celebrate a little, hm? What d'ya think, kid?" Emma asked walking over to Henry where he stood near her parents and ruffled his hair a little.

Henry beamed up at her and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds great!" He turned his head, beaming still, to look at Mary Margaret and David. He looked like a little kid on Christmas—or more accurately a kid who was watching his heroes come to life. And in a lot of ways, he was.

Some part of Emma wanted to send the others on ahead of her and hang back with Gold, possibly get an answer to her question, but there was another part of her that knew better. Knew better in two respects, one that Gold wasn't going to be answering any more questions from her today, and two that it would do her no good to be alone with Gold. Despite her best efforts to try to push any feelings for the man down deep to be forgotten, there was always that pull he seemed to have on her, that entrancing quality about him that drew her in. And the more similarities she saw between them, the harder it was to push those feelings down. So instead, she led the group out of his shop and down to the Diner.

Gold was grateful for the interruption and grateful it had taken Emma from his shop. It had been quite a while since they'd been alone together with her having been stuck in the Enchanted Forest and he was beginning to see why it may have been good that they'd been separated. He hadn't even noticed how close to him she had been and he feared how things may have gone had she stuck around. No, he wouldn't have answered her question, of that he was sure, but what else might they have talked about? What else might have happened? He didn't know, because he just couldn't predict how he would behave around Emma. Ever since she'd barged into his home that fateful night, his behavior in regards to her had become increasingly erratic as he found himself drawn to her while desperately trying to push her away.

And each time she was near, each time they talked and he saw that lack of judgment in her eyes, replaced with an understanding he saw with no one else, he found it hard to remember why he was trying to push her away. She wasn't even mad at him for almost killing her. She understood. Then the answer came to him as he spotted the jacket he had once lent Belle hanging on a coat rack nearby. Belle.

He loved Belle, he did. Truly. But that did not erase his feelings for Emma, nor did it erase what had transpired between them. He could be happy with Belle, perhaps. Belle loved him. Emma, he wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure how deep his own feelings for Emma ran, let alone hers for him. It didn't feel quite like love, though he had never had a firm understanding of what love was and when he felt it. Regardless, after everything Belle had been through because of him, and the fact that he truly did love and care for her, he didn't want to hurt her, and he knew that if he spent time alone with Emma, those feelings he had, whatever they were, may grow.

It killed him, that feeling like he was choosing one over the other, even if it wasn't really what he was doing. Things between himself and Emma had never become quite anything. And even what they had been had ended that night at the hospital, and if not then, the moment he betrayed her trust and put Henry in danger. It didn't matter that he had known Henry would be fine, she hadn't, and she had every right to be angry with him for it. But it was for the best, he kept telling himself that. She deserved someone who wouldn't lie to her or hurt her and Belle, for reasons he'd never understand completely, wanted him and loved him. And he loved her in return. It only made sense to let things go on as they were and stay away from Emma as much as he could until his feelings faded away…assuming of course that that was even possible, but he was determined that it should be.

After the celebration at the Diner, Emma, Mary Margaret, David and Henry had all returned to Mary Margaret's apartment for the night. They were all pretty exhausted for various reasons, Henry from excitement, Mary Margaret and Emma from everything they'd gone through in the Enchanted Forest and David due to everything that had gone on while his family was missing. So the first thing Emma did when they got back was send Henry up to bed.

A few minutes later when she came back downstairs, she flopped down into one of the kitchen chairs and let her head fall with a thud onto the table. While she had been up there, David had told Mary Margaret a few important details about what she'd missed while stuck in the Enchanted Forest, among them, what had happened with Gold and the woman, Belle, he was with. The two cast a look at one another apprehensively, knowing it would be prudent to share this information with Emma before she found out on her own, but neither was really looking forward to it, but it had to be done. Taking a glass and a bottle of Whiskey over to her, Mary Margaret poured her a drink and sat down beside her.

At the sound of the other chairs beside her moving as the others took a seat, she lifted her head, brow raised curiously at the mournful looks they were both sporting. Eye caught sight of the glass of alcohol and she looked from Mary Margaret to David somewhat suspiciously, not liking the current atmosphere one bit.

"You look like someone's died…"

Mary Margaret let out a deep sigh, looking once more to her husband before reaching out and placing a hand on Emma's arm lightly. Emma's eyes flickered to it briefly, almost wanting to pull away, but she didn't.

"There's something you need to know. Something that happened while we were gone."

"Okay….—-"

"It's about Gold," Mary Margaret clarified before going on, gauging Emma's reaction.

"What about him?" Emma asked, trying her best to seem disinterested. Yet her first instinct was to become worried. Oddly enough, worried for him, as if something might have happened to him. The fact that she'd already seen him and he'd appeared fine at the time didn't even register.

"He uh—has he ever mentioned someone else…a woman?"

"No—"

She paused, events of the night he'd almost beaten Moe French to death coming back to the front of her mind. Technically he hadn't really mentioned who she was or anything about her, but there had been mention made of a 'her', who he'd denied even speaking of.

"Well, yeah, once. When he beat that guy up—When I found him he'd been saying something about him, Moe, being responsible for what happened to her? I didn't really catch all of it and he denied it when I asked him…why?"

She didn't like where it felt like this was heading. Talking about a man she had feelings with and any mention of another woman was likely to only mean one thing. And while she would keep denying that she had any feelings for the man still, it was complete bullshit and already a part of her was aching at what was sure to come.

Again, Mary Margaret looked at David as if silently pleading for help with all of this. He offered nothing but an encouraging look.

"I think that whoever he was talking about then, might be this woman, Belle. They're uh—well, they kind of together."

And there it was. That crushing blow. Emma felt like she'd just had the wind knocked out of her. Was it fair for her to hurt when she was the one who had technically ended whatever had existed between her and Gold? Probably not, but it did anyway. One night he'd been telling her that he was afraid to lose her and that was why he was pushing her away and just a few short weeks later, the moment she was out of the picture there was some other woman. Her blood boiled in equal measure as her heart ached. Of course, she wasn't about to let Mary Margaret and David see that.

"Is that it?"

David and Mary Margaret exchanged looks once more.

"Emma—" David began. "Are you all right? I know you and Gold, whatever it was…I just…I thought you should know."

"I'm fine. Gold can do whatever or whoever he wants. We were never a couple or anything. I slept with him once and the whole thing was a mistake, but it's over. It's done. I don't care what he does."

"Emma—" Mary Margaret then said, voice pleading. "You don't have to pretend to not be hurt. I know you care about him."

Emma turned a skeptical eye to Mary Margaret, brow raised.

"I'm not pretending anything, I'm fine. I don't care what Gold does anymore."

"But you—"

"—No," Emma said, standing from the table. "I don't. I did…at some point. Or something. But I don't anymore, okay? Just—drop it."

Mary Margaret nodded and uttered noncommittal sounds in agreement still eyeing her daughter sadly as she went upstairs to her own bed. When she was sure she was out of ear shot of them, she turned back to David, a questioning, concerned look in her eyes.

"She'll be fine. She's tough, strong. Like her mother. And father I guess," he joked. "If she says she's fine, then, I think for now, we let it go. Either way, we'll still be here for her. I know you don't like it, but, she is a grown woman now, we can't make her talk to us about that or anything else. We just need to let her have her space. She'll be okay."

She sighed, but nodded.

"Come on," David went on. "Let's go to bed. You need to get some rest."

The second it came to her mind that Gold might have killed Archie just to frame Regina, she really wished that one, she hadn't mentioned it out loud and two, wished that Regina actually had been the one to kill Archie. That would have made things a whole hell of a lot easier, and it would have kept her from having to see Gold again so soon. Emma wasn't exactly the kind of person who believed in things like fate or destiny, but she was pretty damn sure something was interfering to keep pushing her back towards Gold despite her trying to do everything she could to stay away from him.

Or at least she kept telling herself she was trying to stay away from him, but perhaps on some level she was subconsciously trying to be around him more and more. After all, it did always seem to be of her own suggestion that Gold be involved in everything and that they'd have to confront him about one thing or another. Gold and Regina may not always see eye to eye, but claiming that he'd kill some one just to frame her was pushing it a little bit. But if it wasn't Regina, it had to be someone, right? And obviously Gold was the only logical person to blame. So naturally they had to go find him once again at his shop.

When she'd been told by Mary Margaret and David that Gold was apparently seeing someone, it had hurt—more than she wanted to admit—but she was sure that she could handle it. She was a grown woman and it wasn't like this was the first time she'd faced any heartache. Emma was sure that it wouldn't be a problem. Of course, she hadn't really expected the sight that greeted her when she walked in the door, Mary Margaret and David trailing behind her.

They were having a picnic, a goddamned picnic. In all her time in Storybrooke and all the shit she saw in the Enchanted Forest, somehow, that image was one of the strangest things she'd seen. It wasn't that she didn't think or know that Gold could be…tender, she knew that, and had experienced it for herself. But it's one thing being part of it an another thing entirely to bear witness to it. And she couldn't even help the way her pace slowed and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the woman standing across from him, her sunny demeanor and appearance a stark contrast to the man she knew…or thought she knew anyway.

"Ah—" Gold began, stepping around the counter as Ms. Swan and company filed into his shop. He certainly hadn't been expecting them, and though he kept it hidden, a deep sense of dread filled him at the thought of Emma and Belle being in the same place at once with him. He'd not told Belle anything about Emma and he had no intention of doing so. All he could think was that he had to keep in complete control of himself and his behavior, ever word and look calculated so that Belle would not notice a thing.

"—nothing warms a heart more like a family reunited. You have your mother's chin, Ms. Swan—" he continued, showing no hint of his surprise to see her or any of his apprehension about what may transpire with him and Emma talking again.

"We know that you killed him—"

"—And your father's tact." Whatever he'd expected them to be visiting him about, it sure wasn't that, and the chuckle he let out was genuine.

"Someone's dead?" Belle chimed in, directing her question to Emma.

"Dr. Hopper." There was some hostility in her tone, but it could easily be written off as being directed at Gold and the entire situation itself rather than the woman herself. And admittedly, most of it was, but Emma had a jealous side and she already didn't like the woman.

"Why on earth would you think I had anything to do with that?"

"Because all the evidence points to Regina."

"And she's not possibly capable of doing something so vile," Belle cut in again, tone grossly skeptical, not believing that Emma could think Regina incapable of killing someone. She'd seen what Regina could do first hand, so she knew.

"It's a frame job," Emma bit back somewhat scathingly. Yeah, she didn't like this woman at all.

"It wouldn't be the first time you used someone to try to hurt her," Mary Margaret added, leveling a hard gaze at Gold.

"Nice to see your memory's still in tact, dearie, but this time I'm going to have to disappoint you; it wasn't me."

"Why should we believe you?" David replied, tone laced with skepticism as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Because I can prove it. Ask the witness."

"No one was there—" Emma shot back at him.

"Oh, well that's not strictly true now, is it?"

She was pretty damn sure it was, but then he brought up Pongo. Truthfully, it boggled her mind how a dog was going to help them or was going to prove that he had nothing to do with it. But David went to go find Pongo anyway, coming back a few minutes later and bringing him in to the back room of Gold's shop.

Bending down, Gold coaxed Pongo towards him, cooing at him as he reached out to pet him, a few 'good boy's muttered quietly as the dog neared him. Emma watched the scene with a sort of disturbed fascination. Twice in one day she'd seen him look more tender than she ever had before. (That wasn't strictly true, she'd seen him tender with herself once as well, but she didn't like to recall that).

"I uh—" Bell began with a giggle, "I didn't realize you were such a dog person."

"Well, a long time ago in another life, I got to know a sheepdog or two."

"That's fascinating—" Emma chimed in sarcastically, earning a quick whip of David's head in her direction, not entirely used to such a consistently sour demeanor. He was honestly a little worried about her. He knew she said the other night that Gold could do whatever she wanted and it didn't bother her, and even then he hadn't bought it completely, but now he was convinced she'd been lying through her teeth. Yeah, it was most likely just to protect herself, but that paternal side of him that was continuing to grow more and more every day was worried. "—but unless you speak dog, how is Pongo going to tell us anything?"

"Through magic, of course," Gold answered matter of factly. "It won't allow us to communicate, but it will allow us to extract his memories."

"Extract?" David asked, worry evident in his tone.

"You don't have to worry, he won't going to feel a thing."

"Why should we trust you?" Emma questioned, stepping towards him, head cocked to the side, voice low and almost predatory. "Couldn't you just as easily use magic to fool us?"

He could easily say that they way she looked at him and the way she questioned why they should trust him didn't hurt, but it would be a lie. Only a hint of that showed on his features as he looked back at her, but it was masked quickly to be replaced with mild frustration at her as well as subtle amusement knowing that she would be surprised by his next words. If there was one thing he knew about Ms. Swan, it was that she greatly underestimated herself. He'd heard her do so on more than one occasion and today, he was going to put that all to rest.

"Because I'm not going to be the one using magic," he began, stepping closer towards her himself, "you are."

"Me?"

Her brows arched skyward skeptically with her question and a smug smile curled Gold's lips. Just as he'd suspected. And there was a pause before she spoke again, Gold stepping away once more to dig into one of his cupboard. It was a shame he chose then to turn his back to her and miss the curiously excited smile she tried to hide as her next words fell from her lips.

"How?"

"You have it within you, you told me so yourself," he answered, back to her still, referring to their last encounter when she'd told him about what happened when Cora had tried to take her heart.

"You witnessed it, didn't you?" This time his words were directed towards Mary Margaret.

She didn't answer him, instead turning her attention to Emma. "Emma you don't have to do this—"

"If it tells us something about Archie's death, then so be it." Truth be told, she was almost excited to do something magic. Scared, too, but excited.

"Do you know what this is?" Gold asked her, holding up a dreamcatcher he had pulled from his cabinet.

Of course she knew what it was, she knew someone a long time ago who had one. But if there was anything she didn't want to think about right then, it was him. It was hard enough standing in a room with one man who'd managed to break her heart, she didn't need to think about the other one who'd done it even worse than Gold had.

"A dreamcatcher."

Gold let out a soft chuckle as he stepped towards her. "Well, it's capable of catching so much more."

And with those words, he bent down, calling Pongo over to him once again, dreamcatcher in hand. Slowly, he trailed the dreamcatcher over the dog's head before pulling it away when the center of it began to shimmer and shine with gold. Emma looked on, brows furrowed in curiosity and some bit of apprehension, still not entirely sure of or comfortable with magic, and still not sure what exactly she was going to have to do with that dreamcatcher, let alone if she'd actually be capable of what she was supposed to do with it.

"What is that," Belle asked from behind Gold, her brows furrowed similarly to Emma's.

"Memories," Gold answered before he turned towards Emma, who's eyes were now wide with something akin to fear. She didn't know if she could do this. Yes, some part of her was a little excited about it all, but that didn't mean it didn't scare her too. After all, she'd spent her whole life believing things like magic weren't real, and now she was going to be doing magic herself.

"Now, Ms. Swan, you show us how."

"How? It's just a jumble."

The apprehension was noticeable in her tone and all it did was amuse him. Not in a typical way like he was laughing at her, but that it was amusing to him that she could be so unsure of herself when he had all the faith in her in the world. Sure, it was true that he knew she was special, and that was all somethings he was still battling with coming to terms with, but it wasn't just that that made him believe in her. He'd seen enough of her to know what she was capable of and it was laughable that she should doubt herself so much when he knew all that she could do, and already she'd done so much to prove herself capable of a great deal more than she had ever thought possible.

"Will it; will it and we shall all see," he answered, lowly, almost in a whisper, his eyes locked on her as though she were the only one in the room apart from himself. She stared back at him wide-eyed, feeling his gaze penetrate her, herself beginning to feel as though they were the only two people in the room. He had a way of doing that, making her forget everything else around her but him. There was just something about the way he spoke, moved, carried himself, that she always got so sucked up in it. She couldn't imagine it wasn't the same with others, or well, she hoped it was so that it didn't reflect so badly on her the way he was able to captivate her so completely.

Tentatively at first, she reached out to take the dreamcatcher from her, and then her own stubborn determination kicking in as she wrenched it from his hands. Arms locked, face hard and determined, she held it out in front of her, staring directly into it's shimmering center, focusing as much as she could. Gold watched from the side, frustration growing as he watched her struggle, her brows furrowing before the words 'I can't' passed her lips.

Leaning forward, his lips parted, words coming out in a low growled whisper, "Yes you can."

She turned then away from him and back towards the dreamcatcher, arms still stretched out in front of her. Concentrating, she let her eyes close as she focused on what she wanted, tried to will an image out of the dreamcatcher. As she stared in concentration, the jumbled center slowly began to clear, an image like a video beginning to shimmer inside the dreamcatcher's center instead. Mary Margaret and David looked on with wonder, both at Emma and watching the scene that played out in the dreamcatcher. Belle and Gold looked on as well, and there was Gold, smiling ever so slightly. She did it. Just as he knew she could.

The five of them watched the scene play out within the dreamcatcher until Gold's innocence was proven. Pongo's memories showed clear as day that Regina had indeed been the one to kill Archie. And as the scene ended, Emma dropped the dreamcatcher at her feet, somewhat exhausted from having used magic. It was all still so knew to her and it took a lot of her to do it, especially since she really had no idea what she was doing with it all yet.

"You were right all along," she said, turning to David as he cradled Mary Margaret to his shoulder to comfort her after what they'd just watched.

"I'm sorry, Emma," he whispered, knowing how sure she had been of Regina's innocence, and how much she'd wanted to believe it was true only to be proven wrong.

It seemed that just kept happening to her. She tried to believe the best in others and was constantly proven wrong. That's exactly why she had always tried to tell herself not to get close to people, not to care about them, not to trust them; they'd always disappoint her, and it just kept happening. First Gold, and now Regina. She wanted to be angry, and she was a little, and more anger was soon to come, but just then, she was…sad, disappointed beyond belief. In them as well as herself for even letting this happen, for even letting herself forget for a moment what people were capable of.

Then the three Charmings turned to leave, prepared to go back and find Regina and confront her once again, but Gold's voice rang out, halting their efforts.

"Ms. Swan, do you mind?" He called, eyes dropping to the fallen dreamcatcher, him motioning towards his crippled leg as an explanation. It'd be a little harder for him to reach down and get it than it would be for her. Mary Margaret and David stopped as well, prepared to wait, but Gold's voice rang out again, this time directed at Belle.

"Why don't you show them out, sweetheart—take Pongo with you as well."

Belle faltered a bit, noticing his words for the dismissal they were, but not entirely sure why she was being dismissed, and why he wouldn't have simply just asked her to pick up the dreamcatcher from the floor if that was all he wanted. But she figured it was must be something important and perhaps he'd tell her later, so she nodded her assent, grabbing the leash attached to the dog and walking towards the front of the shopping, smiling pleasantly at Mary Margaret and David. They hesitated a moment, neither liking the idea of leaving Emma alone with Gold, but knowing it wouldn't be prudent to make any mention of it just then. They could ask Emma what happened later, so instead they returned Belle's smile and filed out of the backroom with her.

Emma knew as well that there was more he wanted than simply for her to hand him the dreamcatcher. She wasn't an idiot. But she also didn't exactly know what he would want her alone for, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to either. She didn't say anything or make any indication that she thought something was up or that it was odd he clearly wanted her alone. Instead, she simply bent down to grad the dreamcatcher before handing it back to him.

"Here you go."

"Emma—"

But she cut him off immediately. "—Sorry for accusing you."

"Don't apologize. I don't blame you. I've given you no reason to expect the best of me and all the reason for you to expect the worst…"

"Right, well, still. I was wrong, I'll uh—I'll get out of your hair and let you get back to…your—your uh—date or whatever—"

She shouldn't have said that, shouldn't have brought up what had been going on in his shop before she arrived, but she couldn't help herself. During the whole thing she'd sort of forgotten about it, but now that they were alone again she couldn't help thinking about it and it had slipped out. Even he would have easily been able to hear the jealousy in her tone. It wasn't scathing as it had been earlier when she'd spoken directly to Belle, but more a quiet sort of jealousy, the kind that wasn't trying to be masqueraded as anything else, the humble, honest sort.

"Emma—I—"

"Don't. Please. Don't apologize, don't say anything" she began, shaking her head earnestly. "Look," she started again, running her hand over her forehead in both exhaustion and frustration. "I shouldn't—I shouldn't've even said that. It's—It's none of my business, and I have no right to be jealous—" She hadn't exactly meant to admit that out loud. Yeah, he probably knew anyway, but she didn't mean to say it. She should have stopped at it being none of her business and left it at that, left the rest up to his imagination and interpretation.

"Jealous?"

Like you don't already know, she thought.

"Not jealous, I—I just mean—" she sighed. "It's none of business. It really isn't. What you do is your business. I don't even know why I said anything…"

That was all a lie, really. She was jealous, she did care what he did, and she even know why she bothered letting it slip out in the first place. She was vulnerable, and she hated it, but it was true, and being around him always lowered her defenses even if everything inside her was screaming for her defenses to strengthen in his presence. He'd managed to accidentally break down so many of her walls, that no matter how hard she tried to put them back up and fortify them around him, he was always able to cause them to crumble when he looked at her.

She was…pathetic. She hated the way he made her feel, the way he was able to get to her so easily. But the truth of the matter was, they had been through a lot together, and it wasn't something she could just get over. Emma could sit there and say it over and over again until she was blue in the face that they hadn't been together, that they hadn't been a couple, that she didn't have feelings for him, but it's just not possible to go through what she and Gold had been through with each other and not have some feelings develop. Even if they weren't feelings like most people had for one another in similar situations, they were tied together in a way that could not be undone because of what they had suffered through together even if they hadn't really been together when they'd suffered.

"I don't know what to say—" Gold whispered, his own vulnerability leaking out as he spoke with her and as he watched her own vulnerability wash over her.

"You don't have to say anything." She sighed again. "Really, there's nothing you need to say. It is what it is, your life is your life, Gold. Whoever she is—"

"—Belle," he chimed in automatically, and for some reason, it hurt Emma that he did. She couldn't explain, but it hurt.

"Right, Belle. I hope—well, you know—"

She couldn't say she hoped he was happy. It wasn't true.

"Emma, I'm sorry—"

"Jesus Christ, don't be. Like I said, I have no reason to be jealous, Gold. I'm the one who, I'm the one that said no to…to us." She shook her head in disappointment, more at herself than him. "We were never a thing, we weren't. That's the truth. We weren't. We slept together once. Big deal. I think we both know that this really wouldn't have worked anyway. It's for the best—"

"—You really think so?" His question was genuine, and she could hear in his voice that he wasn't so sure that it was true, but she tried to ignore it.

"Yeah…—don't you?"

"I don't know."

Emma stared back at him wide-eyed then, her superpower tingling and she knew in that moment that that was the most honest thing he'd ever said to her. Trying to ignore the fact that he wasn't sure they wouldn't have worked out was going to be impossible now. Great. Just great. She was jealous of this other woman enough already, the last thing she needed was to start thinking about the fact that apparently neither one of them really thought that they'd be better off without each other. Too bad he'd already moved on.

SHOUT OUTS:

carlet: There are definitely going to be somethings I will realistically have to change for the story to make sense, and to keep both characters IC regarding everything that has happened, but I do enjoy keeping it as close to canon as conceivably possible because I like it being a very realistic possibility of something that could have happened for real haha.

giggleboxgirlie: well this definitely answered your question a little bit, but this will by no means be the only mention made of Belle and Gold's relationship and Emma's thoughts on it. :D