Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-11058666-20141228031222/@comment-24674051-20150319173344

That's one of the things with Belle. She's NEVER been independent. She was with her Dad (and Gaston) until she left with Rumple. Rumple kept her pretty much to himself until not too long before the curse. She had a brief fling with independence when she chased down the Yaoguai, was help captive for 28 years, was with Rumple/Gold again until Neverland, and even with Neverland, she was holding the candle (so to speak) for his return.

And when Gold sacrificed himself, She spent a lot of time trying to determine if he could be brought back.

Our dear, bookworm Belle is in need of some counselling sessions with Dr Hopper to deal with her codependence issues.