Hold on a sec...let me check...nope. Turns out I don't own OUAT or any of it's characters. Damn. All of them are property of ABC and Disney. I'm just an obsessive Rumbeller.

CHAPTER 1:

SCOTCHES

"Keep walking, and running. Running for miles"-Barton Hollow, The Civil Wars

It's dark out. It's dark and it's so cold her hands are numb although she's got them tucked under her cloak. She's a bit scared. Yes, this is the first time he's ever taken her outside the castle, and she's shocked by it. She thought that by agreeing to go with him forever, it meant she would never be leaving the castle. Apparently, she thought wrong.

He's trudging along beside her, not at all affected by the weather. Perhaps it comes with the magic she thinks to herself. After all, the most powerful man in all the land can't be bothered by things like cold.

Or cold little housekeepers.

He apparently has no desire to say anything to her. He only continues to walk, and because he is taller and therefore takes longer strides, she is trailing behind, always running to catch up to him. She tries to make out his expression. She's noticed that he gives away a lot by the look on his face. She thinks of the day he caught her when she fell trying to get his curtains open. Had he been wearing his usual mysteriously stony expression, she never would have known how much he cared for her.

She still doesn't know how much he truly loves her.

His expression now is cold, but she can see that it's only his intention. Behind the mask, she can see that he's laughing inside, and that he thinks it's hysterical that she's so confused. She doesn't find it quite so funny.

She walks faster to catch up with him again. "W-Where are we going?" she asks.

He breaks his character for a moment to give her a wicked smile. "Well you've been such a good little caretaker lately, I thought maybe you deserved a treat."

She gives him the same look she did when he first brought her into the castle, saying he was taking her to her room, then she speeds up again because he's passed her again. She sighs softly. She knows he won't be giving her any more information on where they're going. It's not in his nature to let people know what's going on.

He turns a corner to reveal a row of little shops. Closed little shops. Each window only darker than the last. And there isn't a single person around. It actually takes her a moment to realize this, since she was now so used to him being her only company. He felt bad about it sometime, not letting her have contact with anyone else.

He never would have guessed that she liked it that way.

"Are we close?" she asks.

He giggles like a child the way he always does. "Yes, Belle, we are nearly there," he says, putting emphasis on her name.

He peers around another corner and turns, motioning for her to follow. She looks around the corner curiously and sees a dimly lit one room shop.

"What is it?" she asks.

He doesn't answer answer her. He only grins again and leads her through the door.

The walls inside are made of dark colored wood, and there are large vertical beams inbetween tables, holding the ceiling in place. Atop each table is a melting candle in a black metal holder. There are people around the tables, too. They're all laughing and drinking beer and hitting each other in a comradely way.

But all that stops when Rumpelstiltskin walks in with Belle on his arm.

Gasps erupt from the people in the building. Many of them whisper, point and stare. And the word beast floats through the tables.

Belle holds tight to Rumpelstiltskin's arm through his clingy red shirt. "Why did you take me here?" she whispers.

He strolls up to the bar with her trailing behind, still clinging to him. "To get a drink, of course," he informs her.

She blinks at him in utter disbelief. This was definitely not something she would have been able to read in his expression. He came all this way...fighting through the blistering cold only to have people mock him to his face...just to get a drink?

Of course, that isn't why he did it. He did it to get her a drink. Because whether or not she knew it...whether or not he was willing to admit it to himself...she meant something to him, and he wanted to prove that to her. This place seemed fitting. He'd spent long nights here with his past wife before it all fell apart.

But he'd never felt this way on any of those occasions.

He shakes the memories off him and looks at the bartender, a busty girl with curly blond hair wearing a lacy dress. "Your finest scotch please," he says, and then his eyes shift over to Belle. "Make it two, actually."

Belle bites her lower lip. She's a bit scared. The only alcohol she's ever tasted is fancy wine back in her father's castle. Never anything like this.

"Are you alright, dear?" Rumpelstiltskin asks her.

"Yes of course," she murmurs, "Thank you."

He giggles that childish giggle she loves. "Don't thank me just yet," he says.

She hates when he does this. When he tries to make everything a huge mystery. It makes her feel so powerless, which she doesn't realize is his entire motive since she's the only person he hasn't been able to hold power over.

The bartender girl slides the drinks over the wood surface of the bar. "Our finest scotch," she murmurs, and then says under her breath, "Rumpelstiltskin."

He takes a sip right away, but Belle only grazes the edge of the glass with her finger, wondering whether or not she should do this. After all, she is still scared.

"Are you sure you're alright, Belle" he asks, putting emphasis on her name again, "You haven't touched your drink."

'who would ever know anyway?' she thinks to herself, 'it's not like I'll ever go back'. "I'm just fine," he tells him, and takes a long sip of the caramel colored liquid.

It's strong. So strong she nearly can't take it. And yet there's something about it that makes her yearn for more and she sips it again. The strength is less overpowering this time, and as she sips it more and more she starts to enjoy the strength as opposed to detesting it.

It is obvious to him that she has never done this before. 'Well thank the Gods' he tells himself, grateful that she never got drunk with that big, stupid ex-fiancee of hers.

They sit together for hours, sipping down scotches without even thinking about it. The world disappears around them, but they can still see each other clearly despite their clouded state of mind. He tells her about places he's been and deals he's made and she listens hard, hanging on his every word. She wants nothing more than to sit on the wooden barstool next to him and hear his voice drown out everything else.

He asks her about her family. She talks about her mother and how much she loved her. How devastated she was when she died. "I was mean to my father after that. I wanted to blame him. But he was hurt, too, and I hate myself for not seeing it" Belle says, her words slurring a bit.

Rumpelstiltskin watches her intently. "Why did you want to blame him, dearie?" he asks.

"I said they didn't have true love. Because if they did he could have saved her...with magic...and..." she's dizzy and her world is spinning a little.

"You weren't wrong, dearie. True love is the most powerful magic in the world."

She stares at him. Her eyes are dull and clouded and her head is rolling to the side...and yet she still looks so beautiful to him.

"Have you ever had true love with someone?" she asks.

He leans in, trying to read her expression. Not that it would matter, she's drunk out of her mind. But he's so crazed and he's feeling so much...he'll give anything to know something.

"Have you, Belle?" he asks her.

She blinks. Again and again before swirling the last bit of her drink around in her glass and drinking it all. Then she turns to face him and places her hand over his heart feeling his pace quicken. "That depends on whether you're talking about reality or a dream," she drawls, "Because in reality...I've never had shared love, where two people feel the same way about each other. But in my dreams, I found exactly what I was looking for."

Her words sting a bit. "do you dream about your betrothed, dear?"

She looks aghast, and nearly drops her glass. "Gods no! Rumpelstiltskin...these dreams...they're about you."

To be continued, whether you ask or not! Because that's just the kind of writer I am, muahaha! Anyway, if you're wondering about the timeline, think after Red ate her boyfriend but before Jiminy became a cricket. I say this because *spoiler* I'm gonna be throwing some Red Cricket stuff in later. But first it's going to get smutty! Loves to all of you, reviews are appreciated!