He's Not Always A Beast (Rumplestiltskin x Reader)

Chapter 3: What Do You Believe?

(1389 words)

Your POV

I've been here in the castle with Rumple for about a week now. I've cleaned every room as quickly as possible. I've listened to him torture those who had tried to break into the castle to steal something. Something about how no one steals from him.

"It makes sense why the villagers are afraid of you."

He stopped as he looked at me. "Why would it matter to you?"

"You said you know what they say about you, but I'm not sure you do."

He held his chin in his hand as he looked at me. "Enlighten me, tell me whatever it is that you think you know."

I stood and walked over to where he sat. Sitting on the corner of the table for a moment as I looked at him.

"They believe that you are nothing but a heartless beast. That you will do anything it takes for power."

He looked at me for a moment. "What do you believe?"

"That you're more than what meets the eye. You're a book, but you have an ugly cover. One that's cracked, faded, and torn. Hell, there might even be a bit of a smell from how old the book is. When people see it they discard it as nothing but junk, something not worth their time. But I'm different, I want to know what's written in your pages." 

"Interesting dearie, though you can't be any more wrong."

He looked at me for a moment before he hummed gently. "I assure you, that the inside matches the outside. No one can change that."

He vanished in a cloud of smoke. Something he did to avoid me. I was getting under his skin, and he knew it.

"You can't keep doing that, I don't know how long you've been alone, but running from me won't help you forever. You can have all the power in the world, but the feeling of loneliness will always follow you."

I crossed my legs as I sighed gently. Looking at the chair he was in I sighed, I could smell his cologne still. Getting up from the table I started to collect the dishes. Getting them ready to be cleaned before I put them away.

With the rest of my cleaning finished I went to explore the castle. Going to my favorite room in the castle. It was a small room that had some empty bookshelves, but it overlooked the woods. The same woods that I had grown up in. Sitting on the small window seat I looked out the window.

Was Rumple what I had thought him to be? Or was everyone else right? Maybe he ran from me because he knew that I was in fact right. Was he the one that was afraid? Afraid of what could happen if he lets someone in? Would he lose his power? Leaning my head on the window I sighed gently as I decided that I could use some fresh air.

Standing I started to open the window, which was before the window opened on its own. Looking behind me I saw Rumple. He looked at me for a moment before he continued his way down the hall. Watching him walk by I sat back down and sighed. That was before my feet started to carry me from the small window seat to be hot on his trail.

My shoes could be heard on the rugged floor for a moment before I stopped and looked at him; He appeared in front of me with his arms crossed.

"Following me in my own castle, dearie?"

"I wanted to speak with you, it was either follow, or I start singing and annoy you some more."

He rose a brow as he looked at me. "You have two minutes"

Turning on his heels he started to walk again. I continued after him, in hot pursuit.

"Why do you keep vanishing when I'm speaking to you? If you ask me, it looks like you're trying to avoid something. Like you're hiding something from me."

"Tick tock, dearie." He said as he waved his hand around a little.

I grabbed his free hand before I pulled him to a stop. He turned and looked at me, our eyes meeting.

"You're afraid to let someone in, you think that if you let someone else in again, you'll get hurt. If you get hurt again, then you'll have to feel all the pain from your past, something that you don't want to have to face again. Why? What was so bad that you don't want to feel again? You mentioned once before that your past is what gives you power. So, what happened in yours?"

He growled at me as he snatched his hand from my grip. "I lost my son!" at the sound of his voice, he seemed surprised. Like he didn't want to say it, and it was just blurted without his consent. I rose an arm as I stepped away from him. I frowned for a moment as my eyes looked down.

"I-I'm sorry. What happened?"

He looked at me before he shook his head. "Time's up," he said, and I watched as he waved an arm to a pair of doors as he walked towards them. They flew open and he stepped through them. I attempted to follow, but he ended up slamming them in my face. Putting my hand on the door for a moment I sighed.

"I don't know what you're feeling, I can't begin to understand what it is. Sometimes, in order to feel better, you have to feel all the pain all over again. I don't know if it will ever happen, or if you will ever want to, but." I stopped for a moment, what was I thinking? He wouldn't tell me anything, but it was worth a try. "If you ever want to tell me about it, I will tell you about my past. I know that you don't know me, and I'm pretty sure that you really don't care to know me. But if I'm going to be in your castle for the rest of my life, maybe we should at least talk to each other? Rumple... let me help you. I won't ask for anything in return, I want to get to know the man you were before you became the beast."

By now I had turned around and was leaning on the door. Sliding down I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them for a moment. Sitting up I sighed. "I won't sing anymore, I'm sure you don't like it. I've started to notice that you like your silence. But before I leave you be for the night, at least listen to this. While I was a child, I watched my parents get killed by something I didn't understand. To this day I still really don't. The creature that did it was ruthless, almost inhuman in a sense. What I had begun to understand over the years, was that they had a debt to pay. One that they weren't able to, not with a child to feed. Ever since I found out about that piece of the puzzle, I've hated my existence. What if I wasn't born then they might still be alive."

By now I had stood up, holding my hands in front of me, I fiddled with them for a moment. Humming I sighed gently. "I've never told that to anyone before, even though I'm sure you aren't listening. Maybe I think that we could be friends? Or maybe at least tolerate each other." with that I looked at the door for a moment, before I started to walk back down to the room I was in earlier. Looking at the carpet as I walked, getting to the room, I closed the door and made my way back over to the window. I had hoped he would appear before me, tell me he understood, and possibly share something else about his son. He never did, I didn't know it then, but I wouldn't see him for a few days.