#dsmn verse

[grumplevonstiltskin]

DSMN verse: In the latter part of Chapter 4 on AO3 version, Wilbur thinks Belle has to be the only person in Storybrooke who rides a bike. Is this 'bike' a bicycle (if so, a city type or a mountain one?) or a motorbike? (I'm sorry if you've received this ask before...)

Heh. Didn’t get this ask before. It’s a bicycle, yes. A city type I guess? Honestly, that was written for a quick prompt, if I remember correctly, and I didn’t think that hard about it.

[grumplevonstiltskin]

DSMN!Gold: Does it bother you that Belle is so much younger?

Bother is the wrong word I think... but I’m very aware of it. At least now. I never was under the impression before that Belle didn’t know exactly what she wanted, or couldn’t hold her own.

[grumplevonstiltskin]

we're safe enough behind our door

Don’t Stop Me Now verse

I wanted to post something sweet and valentine-y today, but alas, first I had to clean up the mess I made... So this happened. Short and unbeta-ed.

Follow up to this.

[Masterlist] [Previously on DSMN]

Gold stroked Belle's naked shoulder and nuzzled her hair. Her head was a pleasant weight on his shoulder. Well, not completely pleasant, after resting for an hour or so in this position, her head became a little heavy. Not that he would ever think of complaining. Lying in bed with her, holding her and being the one comforting her filled him with as much warmth and joy as it filled him with dread. And there was also the black rage brimming deep in his guts, the need to feed whoever was responsible for her black eye with some of their own medicine. Not for a second did he buy into Belle blaming herself. No one walked into a fist on their own. But she still hadn't told him what exactly had happened, and he hesitated questioning her, for he didn't want to upset her.

“I'm glad you came,” she whispered, twirling one of his two locks of chest hair between her fingertips.

“I'm glad you called me.” He took her hand and brought her fingertips to his lips. She didn't pull back. “And I couldn't have refused my help, even if it's just holding you.”

“I didn't want to call Will. Or Phil and Meilin.”

Her words were like a punch, and he sucked in a deep breath. The air felt like ice in his lungs. “You wanted to call others before me?” Of course he wouldn't be her first choice. More like a last resort. He never was a first choice.

“No. I wanted to call you.” Now she pulled back her hand, and even sat up. Gold instantly missed the (painful) weight of her head.

“But only as a last option. Did you not want to ruin someone else's Christmas?”

“I'm sorry that I ruined your Christmas. And no, you were not my last option. I called you because I wanted you here. Because I wanted you, not Will or Phil or Meilin or anyone else.” Her voice was choked, and in the dim light from the candles on the floor, her cheeks glistened wet.

“Why?” He knew he should shut up and keep his hurt to himself, especially when she was in such a vulnerable place, raw and hurting, but he couldn't help the sharp tone of his voice.

“Because I feel closer to you than to anyone else. And because I want to be closer to you than to anyone else!” Belle pulled at the duvet to cover herself, at the same time exposing Gold to the cold air.

“Why? Because it's so easy to control me with your nice tits and your pretty mouth?” He'd gone too far, and he wished he could take it back as soon as the words left his lips, but it was too late. Even in the poor light, he could see Belle pale even more, and he squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. “I'm sorry Belle, I didn't mean it like that…”

Belle licked her lips. “No, you meant it exactly like that. This was a mistake…” She wanted to get up, but Gold grasped her arm and held her back.

“I'm sorry. I really am. I want to help you, I want to know who did this to you and impale them on the blunt end of my cane, but it feels like you just called me to hold you for a while without asking too many questions. I hate to feel this helpless.”

Belle stopped resisting his hold and faltered. “I know. I didn't want to put you into this position. I just… it's hard to talk about it. I hate losing control like this.”

“You're not losing control by talking about it. Please, let me help you, Belle.” He did his best to sound calm. Belle trembled in his grip.

“There’s nothing you can do. It really was my own fault.”

“That's not true and you know it. Tell me what happened.”

“I went home. That's all. It's Christmas, and I hoped… I just hoped, okay? But I was wrong.” She fell silent again and pulled the duvet to her chest.

“What did you hope, Belle?” Archie would probably be proud of him and the leveled tone he managed. He would make a decent therapist if he managed to suppress the urge to kill that started rising inside him again.

“Obviously I hoped that this wouldn't happen. But Dad always drinks on Christmas. And it never ends well.”

“But why do you even go back there then?” It was only a whisper, for his throat was tight with sorrow. It broke his heart to imagine the pain that lurked behind those few, simple words.

“Because it's Christmas. And he always promises that it will never happen again…”

“Oh Belle…”

The woman opposite him was a little girl in that moment, lost and heartbroken, and it killed him.

“Ever since Mom died, he's been… lost. It's not his fault. He didn't mean for it to happen, for any of it.”

“And yet you are here with a black eye, and a man who doesn't mean anything to you and who could be your father in age is holding you. I think that says something.”

“I don't have daddy issues.” Belle lifted her chin.

“No? So tell me, what am I doing here? Why not call one of your friends?”

“Because I feel safe with you!”

Gold opened his mouth, but not a sound came out. The way she looked at him was not one he was used to. No one ever looked at him like that, as if he meant something else than just the unpleasant consequences of a defaulted loan. He was the exact opposite of safety, but Belle looked at him like he was the only stable thing in a world turned upside down. As if she trusted him. It was scary.

“You do?” he croaked. He let go of her arm, scared that it somehow would skew her answer if he touched her.

“Yes.”

Neither of them moved. Belle met his eyes, let him see the whole extent of her raw vulnerability, and when he slipped his hand around the nape of her neck and pulled her closer, she followed his guidance without resisting, melting against his chest. Gold brought her face close to his, waited for length of a heartbeat for her tiny nod before he placed his lips on hers and kissed her. She tasted salty from her tears, and Gold nibbled gently on her bottom lip before he sucked it between his own. Belle did not often allow him to kiss her, at least not idly and just for the sake of kissing. He ached with untold words, words he could not tell her, not now. Maybe never. I love you. I'm here for you.

She sank to his side again after breaking their kiss, with a heavy sigh.

“I’d still like to impale your father on my cane,” he murmured after another while of silence.

“I know. But it's not worth it. He lives in his own hell, and even monsters are just men at the end of the day.”

Gold wanted to protest, but he knew that now wasn't the right time to pressure her into actions she didn't want to take. But no one would prevent him from raising the man’s rent. He pulled her in for another kiss, hoping to distract her from the tenseness of his muscles and the crunching of his teeth, and the murder on his mind.

[grumplevonstiltskin]

I have posted the DSMN verse to AO3 now, to have it more organised and in one place ;)

[grumplevonstiltskin]

How is DSMN Bae doing?

Oh, he’s doing good... he gave his secret crush a necklace for Christmas, and received a bracelet in return, so he’s over the moon and doesn’t really notice a lot of what’s happening around him ;)

[grumplevonstiltskin]

Do DSMN Belle, Wilbur and Bae celebrate Christmas?

Ahahahahahaha yes. But not together. Oh wow, and now I have a sad. Also, this is where the angst finally comes around whoops...

It was almost midnight when Gold’s phone rang. It startled him so much that he spilled his whiskey down the front of his shirt, and he was glad that Bae had left him hours before, after unwrapping his Barnes and Noble giftcard without the least hint of even fake enthusiasm - he didn’t even smile, in fact, and Gold was unable to hold back his tears when he unwrapped his own present, a mug formed like a pug, with its tail forming the handle. It was the ugliest mug he had ever seen, but it matched the bowl of dog treats Bae had gotten for Schnitzel. Gold cursed, licking some of his spilled drink from the back of his hand, and stared at the blinking display. At last, he flipped his phone open and answered it.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey…” Belle was choking with tears, and he sat up straight at once, skidding to the edge of his armchair and ready to leap to his feet.

“What’s wrong?”

“Can you… would you come over? I… I think I need…”

“Of course. I’m on my way… Do you need something? Food? Drink? Tea?”

“Maybe… aspirin?”

“Okay. Give me ten minutes.”

He didn’t even change his shirt, because something about her voice had sounded just so broken, and he didn’t even care that climbing up to her flat in the dark of the night wasn’t the safest thing to do. Her window was open, letting in the cold winter air, and her apartment was freezing. The only light came from a candle on her couch table, flickering in the draft, and it was the fault of this near darkness that he didn’t recognize the shadow on her face immediately for what it was. When he did, though, the rage surging up inside him, twisting his guts, made it almost impossible to speak.

“Who did this to you?” he rasped, forcing the words past the fury clogging his throat and stringing his every muscle so taut that Belle shrank away from him for a split second. He tried to relax, opened and closed his fists, levelling his breathing. Belle pressed her palm against the bruise on her cheekbone.

“It’s Christmas. Not a good time of the year in my family…”

Gold waited to see if she would elaborate, but she remained silent. After a while, he stepped closer, carefully, and slowly moved to hug her. Belle let it happen, shivering in his arms when he pressed a kiss to her hair and cradled her head against his shoulder.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” he murmured after a while, and held her a little tighter when she trembled.

“It was just a stupid accident… I shouldn’t have gone there, that’s all…”

“Gone where, darling?”

“Home…”

[grumplevonstiltskin]

DSMN!Belle what was your first sexual experience like? How old were you and did you enjoy it or was it more like an awkward-OMG-this-couldn't-be-more-embarassing sort of thing?

I was sixteen, and it developed somehow naturally... We kind of just fell into it and didn’t think a lot about it? It felt great, to be honest. Not the sex in itself, at least not exclusively, but the whole thing... it was just great. Awkward, in a way, but I also felt really safe, so it wasn’t some big, turning-the-world-upside-down-kinda-thing, you know? It was just comfortable and fun.

[grumplevonstiltskin]

DSMN Gold: Before Belle came along what did you think of while masturbating? Did you hv anything that would get you off quickly?

Eh... very intimate question, dear. But if you must know: I had one scenario that always used to work, yes. It had to do with red lipstick and lace panties...