Good Morning, Miss Australia [Rumbelle]

To Have And To Hold

                    "Babe, I got you, babe."

Belle's eyes flew open to the sound of a jangling oboe breaking the peaceful silence around her. With a soft groan she tried to orientate in unknown surroundings. Then it slowly came back to her fuzzy mind that she and her father had checked in at the Storybrooke inn called Granny's yesterday for Ary's wedding day. But that didn't explain the sound waking her up just now. She was pretty sure she had set the alarm clock on her phone to 'Harp' – not ringtone.

"Babe, I got you, babe," Sonny and Cher tried to convince her and suppressing the urge to press her cushion to her ears, Belle turned her head to her phone lighting up on her nightstand. "Private number" it said. Someone was calling her, she finally realized. Her eyes swept to the time indicator. The alarm clock wasn't set to go off for another thirty minutes. It could be Ary, calling from another phone than her own, with some kind of existential crisis she needed her maid of honor for. She raked her hand over her sleepy features and pressed the green dot on the touch screen.

"Hello?" she brought out, her voice hoarse and sleep rigged.

There was a strange click and for a moment the person on the other side of the line stayed quiet, then a Scottish brogue sounded softly, "Good morning, Miss Australia."

Belle's heart stopped. She shot up straight, eyes wide and knuckles turning white around the smart phone. Suddenly, she was completely awake.

"Mr. Scotsman! Is...is that you?" Her mind refused to believe her ears, although the tremble in her voice betrayed her heart already did.

"Yes. It's lovely to hear your voice again."

A lump formed in Belle's throat.

"But you're not calling directly, aren't you?"

"I'm calling through the wake-up service, my darling," he quietly confirmed her suspicions. "I pulled a few strings to get you on the phone today."

She tried to wrap her fuzzy head around what he was saying. He said he'd pulled a few strings. However, this must mean he'd actually gone to great lengths to make this call possible, remembering how she had never made it past customer support. If he were still angry with her, he didn't sound like it. Instead, the gentle way the words rolled off his tongue made tears spring into her eyes.

"Mr. Scotsman, I'm so, so..."

"Please, don't," he interrupted her. "There's nothing you should be apologizing for. You don't know how much I've missed you."

Belle clapped her hand before her mouth. His voice sounded like he wrapped his arms around her through the phone and hot tears of relief fell down on her sheet.

"I've missed you, too," she finally whispered, remembering just in time to lower her hand from her mouth. "So very much."

"I'm the one who should be apologizing to you, my darling Miss Australia," His voice sounded infinitely tender. "For my absence during your interview. I..."

Belle shot up again. "Baelfire! Mrs. Nolan said something about family matters. Is he alright?"

"He's fine," he calmed her down. His relief was almost palpable through the phone. "He was suffering from a severe pneumonia and it took some time but he had a full recovery."

For a moment, he was silent, then he added softly, "Thank you for the candles."

Belle's lips curled up in a regretful smile. "I had wanted to give them to you in person..."

The image of him standing at the window in the pink Queen Anne villa close to where she was staying right now, flashed through her memory. Was he now looking out the window, too?