He didn't stay in the apartment. He didn't wait for her, he didn't care if he technically could have waited, he just wanted out of that space. He used his magic to get himself home, to start the shower and select a new suit for the day. He felt…oddly defeated. Depressed almost. Rage hummed under his skin like a super-charged current. The urge to go break something was strong, but it faltered under the weight of grief.

Overnight, things felt as though they'd gotten far more complicated than he'd ever intended them to get. His plans for freedom, the Snow Queen's threat to his life and all in Storybrooke, Belle's lies, the feeling like some invisible barrier had come between the pair of them that required energy to push through, energy he didn't quite feel he could muster given he hadn't slept last night, and she'd pulled away.

He didn't like this. He didn't like one bit of it in the least. And that included the things that he was guilty of as well as the things she was guilty of.

It wasn't just Belle's lies that were between them, it was his too. Up until yesterday, he hadn't lied to her. He'd bent the truth and used carefully selected words to make sure that he never lied but, while what he'd said yesterday had been more of the same, those "carefully selected words" felt different. They felt like lies. After she'd confessed to him, not coming clean to her felt like a betrayal, and yet…what else could he do?!

He had a plan, a solid plan, one that would benefit both of them in the long run, and yet knew that if he told her, she'd chastise him for it, maybe even leave him. And dammit, after yesterday, he'd be furious with her for it. Before this thing with Anna had invaded, he'd assumed that her leaving him was always something that was bound to happen, but after he'd listened to what she'd held back from him and still wanted to be with her, the thought that she might listen to what he was holding back and walk away made him both furious and terrified. There was a double standard when it came to doing the wrong thing, and they both knew it. Because while she was a hero, he'd never be more than a reformed villain on his best behavior at best, easily up to his old tricks and untrustworthy again in a matter of seconds, never mind the fact that-

Stop!

He had to stop this. Thoughts like that!

He was angry when she needed him to be calm and forgiving. And because he needed her, he needed to be what she wanted him to be. And what she wanted him to be was what he wanted to be too, but his dagger, the Dark Curse, made that damn near impossible, which was why he needed to cleave himself from it and because she'd try to stop him, that was why he needed to keep this secret!

This situation was unavoidable. There was no way around it. If he wanted to be free, if he wanted to make sure he was never the town villain again, slave to anyone's wishes but his own, then he needed to do this. Fast. Because he was smart enough to know that the longer this went on, the worse the barrier between them would get. With Milah it had been such a little thing that started them on a downward spiral from which they couldn't return. Belle was different than Milah, but he was old enough to know that just because Belle would fight harder for them didn't mean she didn't have a breaking point. The sooner he could figure his way through Ingrid's plan and free himself from the dagger, the better. For both of them.

With fresh determination, he stepped into the shower and emerged, telling himself it was the refreshment he'd needed the night before but hadn't gotten. He quickly dressed and was just thinking about potentially taking Belle some tea and a rose to show that he held no ill will toward her for what had happened when he felt Elsa's familiar presence in the library and…Belle was in the shop?

His heart raced, and his stomach dropped as he remembered that he'd stashed the dagger—the real dagger—and the hat in the safe, intending to move them before Belle realized!

He was at the door to the shop in an instant, opening it up and making the little bell ding as he spotted her-

By the safe!

"Belle, what are you doing?!" he demanded a little too forcefully. Fuck, the picture frame that hid it from view was swung open. There was a book balanced in one of her hands, but in the other, there was the key he'd given her. She'd already put it in the lock and was just a turn away from disaster!

Quickly he sent the hat to the basement and summoned his dagger into the pocket of his jacket. The relief at the satisfying weight when it arrived was easing, but it was too late for Belle not to notice. Suddenly he wondered if maybe he was in a dream. Perhaps he had gone to sleep and hadn't realized it. Belle rolling out of his arms, almost discovering the dagger, those both seemed like two of his worst nightmares come to life.

"I uh…I was looking for the Element Candles," she explained as he listened to her own heart pounding. Why was that her reaction? She'd jumped when he'd caught her at the safe, that was just because he'd scared her, surely. She hadn't been looking around for his dagger, had she? "I need one of them, and they weren't in the back, so-"

"I moved them." It was nothing. He'd just scared her. She was looking for the Element Candles, and he had, in fact, moved them the last time Henry had been here, so she'd just gone looking for them. Not the dagger.

"I need one," she stated again. "Fire. I assumed-"

"It's here," he answered, moving behind the counter to the drawer where he'd stashed the four. He tried to calm himself as he removed the Fire Candle from the set. Old instinct took over as he looked down at the other three. He hated not having a complete set, especially given how rare good Element Candles were. It had taken him decades to track these four down in the Enchanted Forest. "May I ask why you need it?"

"Emma does," she answered quickly, moving to accept it from him. "Elemental Magic can be stopped by Elemental Magic."

Yes. Yes, it could. The Four Elements could be used against their alternate should the need appear. The solid, unyielding Earth could be torn apart by the wild, unseen Air just as easily as Air could be tamed by Earth. And, just as Water could extinguish Fire, Fire could also be used to evaporate Water.

Ingrid was a powerful Water Elemental, one who had never truly learned to channel her power or open it up to anything beyond ice. While Elementals' magic was made up of only one element, most witches and wizards had the abilities of all of them locked away inside, though they were far inferior versions by comparison. A Fire Elemental would be the prime choice to fight her, but seeing as how he'd not heard of one of those running around the town, an Element Candle was the next best thing. The candle would allow the one holding it to have their Fire ability enhanced and strengthened, hopefully just long enough to beat her.

But Emma wouldn't have been his first choice for this task. Regina already had a strong connection to Fire where Emma seemed to possess more Wind than anything. But as the Savior, her magic was still a cut above the rest. It wasn't a bad plan, not by a long shot. But he didn't particularly like knowing that there was going to be a battle that his wife was helping to instigate. He didn't like anything that might put her in danger.

"Trust me? Please?" she questioned, holding her hand out for the candle as though she could read his mind. Then again, he always felt like a bit of her could read his mind. After twenty-four hours of wondering what was going on with them and a long shower spent wondering if they'd ever be the same again, her plea had him nearly on his knees.

Something familiar. That was all he wanted. And as it turned out, it was all he needed to feel like they might be able to obliviate the barrier between them.

Difficult as it was, he reached his hand out over the divide and let his fingers brush against hers as he dropped the candle into her hand. "Always."

Tears gathered in her eyes as she thanked him and hurried away with the candle and his trust and-

The bell to the shop rang out cheerfully as Henry entered. "Hey Grandpa, what's going on?" he questioned, glancing through the window to where Belle had disappeared.

Henry. Today was the day that he was going to be in the shop. Which certainly complicated things, especially given the fact that he'd rushed over in such a hurry earlier and wasn't prepared for him. And yet, busy as his mind was, it was never too busy to create a good stalling tactic. And his grandson coming to work in jeans and sneakers after he remembered explicitly telling him not to do such a thing made it easy for him.

"I thought I made myself clear that if you wanted to work here, it would be a suit and tie and nothing else."

Henry let out a long low sigh. "I was sort of hoping you'd forget."

He offered a short snicker at such a ridiculous idea. "I'm Rumpelstiltskin. I never forget anything, not a name, not a deal, not an order. If you're going to learn the family business you have to represent the family business. Go home, you can come back when you are ready to do that."

Henry huffed as he left, but it made him smile. At a time when he was craving familiarity, a conversation like this wasn't the worst thing he could participate in. In fact, it might just be the perfect reminder for him. He was balancing a lot right now, keeping many plates spinning in the air like some sort of circus act. Was it overwhelming? Yes. Was it stressful? Without a doubt. But could he do it?

Absolutely.

He was Rumpelstiltskin.

Ugh...4x07 was a really great episode for Belle. Rumple on the other hand...it's terrible. This episode, at least the first half of it, just didn't translate well. He's on the outside of the action looking it. And yes, it's his own doing here, but keeping track of the action while he's in this particular mood just made it all really difficult. I'm so sorry if these few chapters aren't up to par, I did try my best on them.

Thank you, Rsbeall and Grac5231973, for your thoughts on the previous chapter. Rumple really does wake up on the wrong side of the bed for this episode. Or, rather rolls out of the wrong side of the bed, since he never really went to sleep the night before. But I really enjoyed getting to show that while Belle and Rumple are sort of in the same place in their marriage emotionally, it's really for different reasons. She's guilty and ashamed, Rumple, I think underneath it all really shows that he's scared in this moment. He's spinning a lot of plates. And the fact that his first marriage was so easily broken isn't helping him recover from this spat. It's leading to some very dangerous thoughts that will lead somewhere in a couple of other fictions, but not in this one. We do have a ways to go! Peace and Happy Reading!