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One of the many things Belle French loved was having a walk in the woods.
She owned a little cabin and she was always there any time she needed to disconnect from her daily routine.
It was a cold morning, it had rained the whole night and all around her was a wonderful smell of wet wood and moss.
Belle took a few steps squeezing her arms around her waist trying to warm herself up a little until a thud behind the bushes made her froze in place.
What was that?
Some kind of feral animal?
She heard a grunt followed by a grumbling.
Belle breathed in relief, she knew that voice very well.
"Good morning Mr Gold" she said popping up from behind a bush, looking down at the man uncomfortably sitting in the mud.
The man gazed up at her and quickly looked away, almost embarrassed.
"Ah! Good day to you miss French! What a lovely day it is..." he said unsure of what to look at.
"Is everything all right?" Belle was a little worried that Gold was casually sitting in a pool of mud with his expensive suit on.
"Of course it is miss French! I just wanted to sit down after a tiring walk in the woods..."
Belle frowned.
"In the mud?"
"Yes, in the mud" Gold sighed in defeat.
He had already made a fool of himself in front of her, he didn't need to keep doing so.
"Need help?" Gold looked back at her offering him her hand.
He reluctantly accepted it and when she pulled him back on his feet he winced in pain.
"What is it?" Belle asked worried.
"My ankle..." he said gritting his teeth.
It had always given him a lot of trouble whenever the weather changed and him stressing it and then tumbling down didn't really help.
Belle bent down and took his cane.
"Can you stand on your own?" she asked.
Gold really wished he could say yes but if she left him there he wouldn't have never returned home.
"Not really..." embarrassment was killing him.
"Here, let me help you" before he could even react she slid her arm to his side holding him against her body.
Gold couldn't see his face but he was sure it was as red as a tomato.
"Lean on me, don't strain yourself" his ankle hurt but he managed to follow her steps.
"Come on, my cabin is near there"
Gold stopped abruptly causing his ankle to hurt even more than before, he didn't really care about it though.
"WHAT?"
"What's the matter?"
"I... my car is over there..."
"Mr Gold the road is far from here... my cabin is near and you have to rest..." she said.
"There's no need for you to..."
"I want to help you!" she protested.
Gold never wished to have been able to run as much as in that moment.
"Sorry..." he said.
He didn't even know why he was apologizing.
"Don't be, come on" with a lot of patience and ache they finally reached Belle's little wooden cabin.
She helped him inside and gently settled him down on her couch.
Even through extreme embarrassment Gold couldn't help but feel glad to be sitting on something soft and warm.
He noticed his muddy clothes dirtying her nice forniture.
"I'm sorry!" he said.
"It's fine, don't worry" she smiled as she approached him and helped him out of his dirty jacket then she handed him a pair of sweatpants.
"It's my father's but I think they will suit you just fine" Gold wasn't really happy to wear someone's else pants but he couldn't stand his wet clothes anymore.
She left the room to let him change, he managed to do it not without causing more pain in his ankle.
Gold grunted.
"Have you finished?" Belle asked.
"Yes..." he said.
She walked up to him carrying a basin of warm water and a cloth.
She set it aside and made him lay down.
"What are you going to do now?" Gold asked panicking a little.
"Just relax" she said.
It was an impossible task for him now that Belle had her hands on him.
She reached for his bad ankle and massaged it a little.
"Is it good?"
Gold couldn't say anything so he just nodded.
Belle took the cloth, wetted it in warm water and pressed it lightly on his sore ankle.
Gold felt more and more grateful for her concern.
There weren't many people in Storybrooke who would have done something like that for him.
Belle noticed he was trembling a little.
"Are you cold?" she asked.
"A little..." he said.
"Wait" Belle walked outside the room and returned immediately after carrying a blanket.
She set it on his shaking figure tucking him in then she moved towards the fireplace lightning a fire.
"This may be a little old cabin but it warms up really quick" she smiled at him and returned sitting to his side.
Gold looked around the room as he felt warmer and less sore.
The shelves in the living room were full of old books.
"You have a lot of books..." he started.
"Yes, I love reading very much, it's my favourite hobby" she said.
"I see..."
She started telling him about her books and her favourite kind of stories as she kept doing her massages administrations.
Gold was happily listening to her, he knew about a lot of her habits, he always did everything he could to meet her, they had meetings and hang out with eachother many times... he wondered if that made the two of them friends?
Either way Belle was the closest thing he had to a friend.
She was the only one he enjoyed spending his time with.
Was it the same for her?
Gold's heartbeat went faster.
"Why were you hanging out in the woods anyway?"
That was one question he had hoped she wouldn't have asked him.
"I... uh... just wanted to have a nice morning walk out there..." he hated lying to her and his stuttering didn't make it more plausible.
Belle frowned.
"I have never seen you around here... and I don't think it's the right weather... I mean your ankle..."
"I know... I had to be more careful..." Belle didn't have to know the real reason he was there.
"Oh... well the important thing is that I found you and you are ok" she said.
Gold tried to relax again but even under Belle's delicate touch he still couldn't calm down.
As soon as his ankle would have been better he would have left her cabin and would have returned home, their relationship was doomed to be just friendship and nothing more.
He would have still been alone.
A man hated by everyone.
A tear escaped from his eye.
Hated by everyone but...
"Mr Gold?"
The man darted to sit up and enveloped her in his arms.
"I have to tell you something..." he said.
Belle wrapped her arms around him.
"What is it?"
"I was out there in the woods because... I wanted to see you..." he said closing his eyes.
"You wanted to see me?" Belle sounded surprised.
"Yes, you have told me about your cabin in the woods and I... I just wanted to hang out with you..." Gold felt so embarrassed, no one would have never known that side of him, no one except Belle.
"You could have waited for me to return to Storybrooke, you didn't have to risk your ankle for me silly!" she giggled as she held him closer.
"I couldn't wait to see you... I love you" Belle's gasp made him realise what he had said.
"Ah! I mean..." he panicked.
The last thing he wanted was to ruin what they had, call it friendship or not.
"No... no... I..." he didn't know what to say or how to act, his brain was somewhere else.
He was surprised to see Belle hiding her face in his shoulder and start laughing.
"Is it funny?" he asked.
Belle placed her hand on the back of his head and stroke his hair.
"I love you too!" she said looking at him with her brightest smile.
"I'm glad you feel the same!" she said.
Gold was so shocked that he wasn't able to speak or do anything.
"Are... are you serious?" he asked as she gently pushed him back on the sofa and settled the cover back on him.
"Yes, you think I could lie to you?"
Gold smiled.
"No"
It was the first time after years he had been that happy.
His ankle didn't ache anymore and his body had never felt more warm.
He gladly accepted Belle leaning on him, placing her cheek on his shoulder.
"You know... there's one more bed here, what about you stay for the night? So you can rest your ankle properly" Belle said.
Gold smiled pulling her closer.
"I would love to" he said.
Belle giggled.
"I'm glad you accepted! I can't wait to show you all the wonderful books I have here, I can borrow you some if you like, then we can read together by the fireplace..."
Gold smiled as she kept telling him about all of her plans for them.
Warm and loved he was.