𝑶𝑪𝑬𝑨𝑵 𝑬𝒀𝑬𝑺 - Rumplestiltskin [1]

ELEVEN

11|SNOWY DAYS

Celeste hummed in delight as she woke up, the spot beside her still warm as she rolled over, missing his presence. The bathroom door opened and Rumpelstiltskin wandered into the room fully dressed, watching her curiously as she sat up with a mysterious grin.

"Come." She opened her arms and pouted when he crossed his arms. "Please."

"We need to eat." He reminded her as he walked over to the bed and lifted her up, his arms under her knees and shoulders. He carried her down to the dining room and dumped her gently on a chair before sitting beside her. He waved his hand and food appeared before her eyes.

"What are our plans for today?" Celeste casually asked, quickly eating the bowl of fruit in front of her, suddenly realising how hungry she actually was. "I was wanting to explore the gardens."

"Then we shall go to the gardens, dearie." Rumpelstiltskin nodded to himself and gestured to her body still dressed in her pyjamas.

"Ah, excuse me." She stood up from the table and pushed her chair in before leaving the room to get dressed. She closed the door her and opened her heavy curtains, spotting small sparkles of white dancing through the sky. Smiling to herself, Celeste grabbed a thick warm dress and cape for the weather.

She straightened out the royal blue skirt and left to find him. They met by the back door, both shy and hesitant as they linked arm.

"Here." Rumpelstiltskin placed the hood over her head to protect her from the fast falling snow as they wandered through the white terrain.

"Looks like you do have a heart." Celeste joked, wrapping her arms over his shoulders to pull him in close. "And you aren't cursed."

"How can you be so sure?" He flirted back to her, his hands grabbing her hips. "Maybe you should show me."

"Happily." Her lips were on his in seconds before he pushed her on to the snowy ground. "Ah, it's so cold."

Celeste grabbed a pile of snow beside her and threw it at him. Laughing when he fell off her and sat in the snow, playfully glaring at her. This commenced into a snow ball fight, the pair acting like children seeing snow for the first time.

"I can't wait for a nice hot drink." The Princess hummed, grabbing his hand to stand up. "And maybe a good book by the fire."

"I shall make you a hot bath." Rumpel chuckled before disappearing into thin air. Celeste sighed before stumbling into the castle, shivering as her soaking wet dress stuck to her skin. Wandering into her room, she found him leaning over her bath tub filling it with hot water.

"Damn, Rumpel, I might marry you." She kissed his cheek and pushed him out the room. "I need to bathe."

Celeste stripped out of her dress and moaned as the hot water soothed her shivering body. She dipped her head under, cleaning the dirt from her midnight hair.

~•~

The Princess sat by the window place, the fire roaring by her lighting up her library. Rumpelstiltskin had gifted her the unused room filled top to bottom with books from all lands.

Her cup of fresh tea lay beside her, Rumpel occasionally filling it up when he would check on her. She had been there for hours, only moving to grab a new book.

Eventually the evening sky fell upon the land and she knew it was time to stop. She placed a piece of paper in her book to remind her where she got to and crawled off the seat, stretching her legs and back.

"On to your next book already, dearie?" Rumpel chuckled from the doorway, his eyes watching her as she limped towards him, legs still numb.

"No, I though it might be dinner time?" Celeste said hopefully, her stomach grumbling in response.

"Come on." He offered his arm to her, helping her through the castle to the dinning room. She looked at him as they walked, still not over their argument they had days ago.

"Do you love me?" Rumpelstiltskin stopped walking, her arm jerking at the sudden impact. "It's just, you were so angry at me I don't want to get my hopes up thinking there is a future with you. I want marriage and a family one day, Rumpel."

"I know." He pushed through his teeth with a sigh. "I'll do my best."

"That's all I need to hear." She continued walking, now dragging him through the halls while he stared at her. She knew marriage and children would be hard but not impossible.