For the absolutely incredible @b-does-the-write-thing. A very happy birthday to you darling!! I hope you had a wonderful day and a brilliant year ahead! Enjoy my humble offering oh great one. I wanted to do something special for your birthday but it kind of snuck up on me.
The alarm had barely sounded before Rumple frantically shut it off. He needn't have worried though. Belle had been up half the night with Gideon and probably was too tired to move even if she wanted to. He brushed a loose curl out of her face, before heading down stairs. If he timed this right, he had exactly seventeen minutes before Gideon would start crying. That boy must have a literal clock for a brain because the prospect of breakfast being even a few minutes late was enough to send him howling.
It was one of those little things that reminded him that Gideon was his own person and not Bae. Not that one was better than the other, although it would be helpful if Gideon was as easily distracted by different colors or by his spinning. But typically he'd be fine as long as he was held and part of the action. It did make Rumple wish for 3 arms at times, one for Gideon, one for his cane and one for whatever he was doing, but after everything had happened, it was a small complaint.
Once in the kitchen, he filled the kettle with water and pulled out the eggs from the refrigerator. Since Gideon, unless breakfast was at Granny's it was typically just tea and toast, but today was a special day and nothing less than pancakes would do. It was only once a year he got to pamper his wife for her birthday and he was going to take complete advantage of it.
With everything that had happened within the past year, it was a miracle that things were working out the way they were. Happily in love and if she liked the travel book he was painstakingly working on every night after she went to bed, they'd be able to see the world as she always wanted. It had been a shame he hadn't been able to get it ready in time for today, but he had wanted to do it right, without magic. And Gideon's birthday would probably be a better time to do it anyway. If he knew his wife at all, she would want to go somewhere as soon as possible, and a toddler was more manageable than a newborn.
Still he thought as he placed the Broadway tickets on to the breakfast tray and began to pour the batter on to the hot skillet, a little weekend trip wouldn't hurt anyone. Especially since she'd become so enraptured by this world's version of them. Henry had shown it to her. At first Rumple had dismissed it, simply thinking it was funny how he was imagined in this world. But then he'd heard Belle singing in her light very off key voice in the shower and he decided he'd make an effort to like it for her. In the end, some of the songs got under his skin. He understood what it meant to feel lost without Belle, had felt it too many times to be able to ignore the Beast's longing without his own heart breaking. And after one night spent dancing around their living room after Gideon had gone to bed, it had seemed only natural to buy the tickets.
Sliding the last pancake on to the plate, Rumple cursed as he heard his son's telltale wailing. And here he thought he'd be able to surprise Belle with breakfast in bed if he just moved fast enough. He limped quickly up the stairs, making sure not to spill the hot tea or break the small vase with the single rose. Their room was empty when he looked in through the doorway so he kept heading down the hall.
He had enchanted the walls with a whimsical enchanted forest mural and set up a crib as soon as he knew about Gideon. It brought a smile to his face now to see Belle and Gideon snuggling on the antique rocking chair. Her face lit up when she saw him and he felt his heart skip a beat even after all these years.
"Sweetheart, I could have gotten him. It's your birthday you should still be in bed."
He set the tray on the little chest of drawers so he could give her a proper kiss.
"You spoil me."
"And it's my pleasure to do so." He handed her the bottle he'd warmed up downstairs. "So will it be breakfast in bed or breakfast on the floor of Gideon's nursery?"
She gave him a brilliant smile. "Here is fine. I think everything is perfect just the way it is."
Two A.M. on New Year’s morning, Gold barrelled through the hallways of Northwest Memorial, hardly heeding the protests of the people on the street. He nearly knocked someone over as he turned the corner into the hospital so sharply he may as well have gone straight through the wall.
The call had caught Gold just as he had fallen asleep, and he had been groggy when he fumbled for the receiver on the wall. He only heard the words ‘Northwest Memorial’, ‘Lacey French’, and ‘unexpected development’ before he had dropped the phone.
Unexpected development had been what they had said shortly before Neal had been admitted full time. An unexpected development is a term they had used when they had suggested hospice and unexpected development was the thing Nurse Tinker had whispered when she had held his hand after the doctor had announced the time of death.
David stood in the lobby, facing away from the front door towards the wall of elevators. “David!” Gold gasped, the stitch in his side making it hard to breathe. “They called me and told me to get down here. What happened?”
Gold had anticipated some of the worst-case scenarios on his way to the hospital, so he was taken aback by David’s wide grin. “She’s awake!” he announced as he grabbed Gold’s arm and dragged him towards the elevator.
“Oh, that-” Gold stammered as he was propelled forward. This was bad. This was very, very bad, he needed to get out. As the elevator doors swung open, he pointed behind him as if he had forgotten something, but David pushed him forward. Overhead, the hospital paged the Byers family to meet in the solarium.
“Boy, will she be glad to see you,” David said, relief evident on his face as the elevator ticked upwards. “I was waiting for Belle, but apparently there’s been some kind of hold up on the interstate, so let’s go on up.”
“Yeah,” Gold murmured as a sweat broke out across his forehead. In a minute, he was going to be revealed as a fraud, a liar, and very possibly a pervert. At least Belle wouldn’t be witness to it.
--
By the time the two men arrived at Lacey’s room, Doctor Whale had the rest of the family gathered just outside. When he saw them, he nodded in perfunctory greeting. Gold surveyed the floor for Nurse Tinker but did not see her amongst the staff.
Emma stood closest to the door, unaware of the doctor, her family or Gold’s arrival as she gazed at her godmother. Jefferson had a hat clutched so tightly in his hands that the brim had already started to tear and Mary Margaret was inches away from the doctor’s face with a litany of questions.
“Now, now,” the doctor said as he held his hands up for their full attention. It took Emma a moment to pull her gaze from the open door, and Whale waited until he had all eyes on him. “As I mentioned, Lacey woke last night at midnight, a bit earlier than we had anticipated, and was a bit disoriented. We did some tests, and everything came back excellent.”
“Can we see her?” Mary Margaret asked, effectively cutting off whatever the doctor would have shared with them about the results of said tests. Gold was in the process of looking for the nearest exit, but David had a firm grip on his shoulder. Jefferson couldn’t even look at him.
Realizing his time basking in their appreciation was not going to happen until they saw Lacey, Doctor Whale sighed and motioned for them to follow him into the room. Lacey lay upon the bed, as still as she had been the other day, and Gold let himself be pushed into the room by the family, though he hung at the back of the huddle around the bed, eyeing the exit sign across the hospital floor.
Doctor Whale bent down to place his hand gently on her shoulder. “Lacey?” Doctor Whale murmured, careful not to startle her. “Lacey. Your family is here, Lacey.”
The woman on the bed gave a sleepy sigh, and then as if kissed awake by a prince, her blue eyes fluttered open. Her gaze went first to David, who flashed her a thumbs up with a tight-lipped grin as he swallowed an exclamation of delight, before she turned to where Mary Margaret was clutching her husband’s arm, tears pouring out of her eyes as she smiled so broadly it looked as if she was in pain. Mary Margaret waved her fingers at her friend as her bottom lip trembled violently.
Emma peered down at her godmother, curious and yet uncertain of how to react. She twisted her medical bracelet nervously while Jefferson stood beside her, face stoic though his hat was clutched so tightly in his hand that it no longer resembled anything more than a piece of fabric.
Lacey’s eyes moved over the group, searching for her sister when her eyes landed on him. “Wh-who are you?” she asked. There was no accusation in her tone, just a simple curiosity.
It took a moment for this question to sink in, and when it did, everyone turned towards him except Jefferson, who slowly raised his hand to his face. It was over. Gold froze, his mouth opening and closing, but nothing came forth. How did he explain to them all he had only done it to try and help-
“My god,” David murmured, and Gold tried to prepare himself for what came next. “She’s got amnesia.”
Lacey gave a little giggle as if this was the funniest thing she had ever heard, and then her head slumped back upon the pillow and her eyes slid shut once more.
--
In the waiting room, there were a million questions flying at once. The family stood in a knot around the doctor, all striving to be heard as Gold leaned against the doorway, his jaw so tight he could have bitten through steel.
“Lacunar amnesia is a condition in which memory loss...is localized and patchy, limited to isolated events,” Doctor Whale was telling them. If Gold hadn’t believed the man to be a hack before, he certainly did now.
“Selective amnesia?” Mary Margaret drawled out in disbelief, and she didn’t even know the truth.
“Okay. Exactly,” Doctor Whale said, clearly used to this reaction in this diagnosis.
Gold couldn’t take it. He had kept silent for too long, and Lacey was awake now, the charade was over. “Um, sorry,” he interrupted and the crowd turned to him. “You--I-I need to tell you something that is really important.” Jefferson shook his head violently, but Gold ignored him. “I was never-’
“Dying?” Emma interrupted miserably.
Gold lost the stream of consciousness. “Huh?”
“We know,’ Mary Margaret said as she put her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Belle called us after you all spoke.”
“I’m sorry,” Emma murmured. “Lily just said she had heard that...and I...I-” The teen shook her head and just shook her medical emergency bracelet at him as if that would help explain it.
Before anyone could respond to this, the elevator door chimed and a familiar face rushed out. “Belle!” Jefferson called out as she nearly went right past them.
“Hey,” Belle said as her eyes flickered over Gold. She walked right by him, and he had to swallow the disappointment in this cold greeting to join nausea already rolling in his stomach. “So, she came out of it, huh?”
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here,” Mary Margaret said as she clutched her friend’s arms.
An orderly popped into the room. “Excuse me. Doctor? She’s up again.”
“All right, let’s go,” David declared as he led the way out of the room. He began to explain the situation to Belle.
Gold lingered where he stood, his attempt to come clean interrupted once more. “Jefferson!” he hissed as he moved forward just in time to catch the younger man’s elbow.
Jefferson, caught in his escape, held up both hands in reassurance. “Now, listen,” he said with a nod. “Let me handle it. I’m too old a friend for them to kill.” Gold clenched his hands into fists at his side, and Jefferson patted his shoulder awkwardly. “I’ll take care of it, all right?”
Gold forced himself to exhale through his nose, though hardly any of the tension left his body. “Okay,” he agreed.
“And I’ll do it right now,” Jefferson promised.
“Okay.”
“Come on. Let’s go,” Jefferson said as he escorted him out the door. “Right behind you.”
Emboldened by knowing this whole fiasco was almost over, Gold went to join the rest of the group. So, caught up in his own thoughts, he didn’t even notice Jefferson had gone left instead of right and had effectively disappeared. Gold tumbled into the room just in time to hear Mary Margaret ask, “How are you feeling, beautiful?”
“I don’t know,” Lacey replied with a shake of her head. It was an odd experience to stand in the room with both the French twins awake, though only he and Whale seemed taken aback by the experience.
“Hey!” Belle said, a little too loudly when she noticed Gold had joined them. “You remember him?” she asked her sister.
Lacey turned to look past Doctor Whale at where Gold stood in the doorway. He smiled tightly back down at her. Lacey turned back to her twin with a pleasant, but uncertain, smile. “Should I?”
“Look closely,” David suggested with a wink.
Lacey’s eyes widened at this tone, and without moving her head glanced back over at Gold. She was lost, utterly adrift, and Gold felt like the biggest bastard that had ever dared to breathe. He swallowed, and closed his eyes, fighting the urge to be sick. Where was Jefferson?
“He looks a little familiar,” Lacey attempted, trying to give the crowd what they wanted. She ruined this by following up with, “Why?”
“I think it’s coming back,” Emma whispered up to Belle.
“I think so,” Mary Margaret said with a happy sigh. They were all so desperate they were seeing hope where it did not exist.
“What’s coming back?” Lacey asked, her eyes alert and wary. “Tell me. Tell me.” She struggled to sit upright. “What’s coming back?”
“You have amnesia,” Mary Margaret announced in a voice so forcefully cheerful, she may have been telling someone that yes, they won the lottery but they were also going to die the next day. Whale shot her a dark look that she had stolen his thunder, but Mary Margaret ignored him.
“I...do?” Lacey repeated as she looked down at her hands to see if those were still her own.
“Lacey, you’re engaged,” Emma said as if talking to a very small child. Beside her, Belle had her head lowered, not quite making eye contact with anyone else in the room.
“To who?” Lacey asked, clearly taken aback by this entire return to reality.
“To Gold,” David said as if this the most obvious thing in the world.
“Gold?” Lacey repeated with a blink. “Who’s Gold?”
Gold sighed and turned as if to go, but Emma hurried over to grab his hand and draw him closer to the bed.
“You don’t remember, do you?” Mary Margaret simpered as she brushed the hair out of her friend’s face.
An orderly appeared at the door. “Excuse me,” he announced with a smile at the happy family gathered around the sleeping beauty’s bed. “Got some Jell-O for you today,” he announced as he put the tray by the bed.
Lacey looked panicked as she racked her brain. “Do I like Jell-O?” she asked.
“Yum!” Mary Margaret mimed with a wink.
Emma rolled her eyes. “She’s always like this when she gets scared,” she confided to Gold in a stage whisper. “She reverts to treating you like you’re five.”
“I think she’s had enough excitement for one day,” Whale announced at the head of the bed as he regarded the machines. “She’s still a little disoriented and needs sleep. Let’s all go home,” he suggested.
“All she’s been doing is sleep,” Belle protested but she let the others lead her out of the room. They all said their goodbyes as they staggered past Gold out into the hall.
“She looks so good!” Mary Margaret whispered to Gold as she passed by him.
“She’s going to be fine,” David told him.
“I think she looks wonderful,” Emma said as she released his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Gold saw Jefferson's face briefly appear in the swinging door windows down the hall, so he hung behind.
“All right, we’ll be back,” Belle called to her sister who had already turned her attention to the orderly at her bedside.
Gold did not notice Belle had stopped beside him until Whale exited the room to find her still lingering. “Come on, Belle, you too,” he said as if he was the friendly family physician. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
Assuming the coast was clear, Jefferson exited the nearest doors and headed straight towards the elevator but Gold caught him. “Jefferson,” he growled as he grabbed the young man and spun him away from the elevators. “Where have you been?”
“What?” he asked innocently. “I’m not allowed to go to the bathroom?”
“Jefferson.”
“I’m handling it!” he assured Gold. “I will tell them.”
“When?” Gold demanded. “When? On my golden anniversary?”
“Gold! I’ll tell them!” Jefferson promised.
“You better tell them!”
“I said I’d tell them!”
Gold wasn’t so sure, but he sighed and nodded for Jefferson to leave the way.
Back in her bed, Lacey stared up at the ceiling with a puzzled look on her face. She slowly began to sing the alphabet, nodding along to herself as the familiar rhyme came back to her.
The orderly smiled at her with a wink. “Lovely singing voice,” he said encouragingly. Lacey could only smile brittly back at him, unsure if she had at some point learned this man’s name, only to forget it, and too scared to ask.
--
Belle lingered in the lobby as the Nolans headed home. She had been up for twenty-four hours at this point, looked like hell warmed over, and wanted nothing more than to climb into her sister’s bed and hold her like they had done as children.
She didn’t know what she was waiting for until the elevator slid open to reveal Jefferson and Gold deep in conversation. “Hey!” she called out as she went to meet them. Gold looked surprised to see her, and both men stopped speaking abruptly as if she had caught them red-handed. She looked back and forth between the two of them. “What are you guys talking about?”
“We were going to split a cab,” Jefferson told her as he donned his cap. It was twisted beyond recognition and fell over his brow. “I was just saying it would be easier for me to take the El-”
The words were out of her mouth before she thought of them.“I’ll drive you. I have Lacey’s car.”
Jefferson nodded. “Lead the way.”
--
They dropped Jefferson off at the red line after he assured them it would take him five minutes on the EL versus thirty minutes via the car thanks to the roadblocks around town for the holidays.
This left Gold in the passenger seat and Belle’s knuckles white against the steering wheel. She had no idea what to say to her brother-in-law, and the only words that seemed to want to come out of her mouth were something one did not say out loud to their sister’s fiance. Besides, he was probably still mad over the whole mess that had been their last conversation. She didn’t blame him if he didn’t want to speak to her ever again.
Her eyes focused on the road, Belle did not notice Gold was struggling to articulate something either, and the drive stretched on in a pregnant silence.
The streets were empty, except for the lone cop car sectioning off an intersection. The radio was playing classical music softly in the silence of the car. It felt like an eternity before Belle turned on the growingly familiar street where Storybrooke Apartment sat.
She pulled to the curb and parked the car. Gold did not take his seatbelt off for a moment, staring out into the courtyard now empty of party-goers. Belle tried to find the words, but it was Gold who broke the silence. “Belle, you’ve been...really great this week.”
“Yeah,” Belle scoffed. “Like, uh, when I accused you of lying to everybody. Or when I accused you of having a relationship with Selena.” She paused and then added with a self-deprecating groan, “ Or when I thought you were dying and announced it to an entire party.”
She couldn’t even bear to look at him, so his chuckle was a surprise. “You’ve had a really busy week this week, haven’t you?”
Belle groaned and lowered her face to the steering wheel. She was going about this the wrong way- she needed to tell him-
“Look, Belle, I um-” Gold exhaled slowly. “Starting tomorrow, uh, things...are probably going to be kind of different.”
Like her twin sister was going to remember she was engaged to this amazingly kind, funny, wonderful, sexy man and Belle would have to learn how to stop having heart palpitations every time he looked at her with that smile. “Yeah,” she managed.
“I just wanted you to know that you’ve become..uh,... Belle stopped breathing. “A really good friend.”
She released the breath she had been holding and chuckled. “Yeah, okay.” Her chest felt empty as if everything inside of her had disappeared with those three words. Real good friend. She tapped the steering wheel as she processed.
Gold nodded. “Okay,” he announced before he opened the car door.
“Good friend,” Belle repeated and hearing herself repeat it out loud did the trick. “Truman!” she called out and the use of his first name stopped him on the sidewalk.
He leaned down to the window with a quizzical look, and everything in Belle wanted nothing more than to lean over the seat and press her lips against his, good friends be damned. “Yeah?” he breathed.
Belle was about to tell him this whole week had been a whirlwind, and how at every turn he had been there, how she had wanted him there, how she couldn’t even consider a world where he wasn’t there….but Lacey’s face came to her and instead she found herself looking down.
“I didn’t mean, uh, what I said about you and Lacey,” she told him and she forced herself to smile. “I think...you two are gonna make a really terrific couple, and uh….” she looked up into his eyes. “I’m really glad you won’t be alone anymore.”
Gold’s simply nodded. “Good-bye,” he told her.
“Bye,” Belle mumbled and then, uncertain she could prevent the tears that were starting to fall, she nodded and gave a little half wave before she drove away. She left him standing there upon the corner, and if she had looked back, she might have seen him watching her drive away into the night.
Summary: Mr. Gold has been working for the dinner theatre company “The Enchanted Forest” for years, performing the same old shows to the same old crowds every weekend. Nothing has ever changed, until the day Belle French joins the cast to play its princess.
~ Winner of Best Mr. Gold in the 2016 TEA Awards ~
Chapter One I Chapter Two I Chapter Three I Chapter Four I Read on AO3
Chapter Five
Belle felt as if her childhood dream had come true as she posed for yet another photo with fans after the show.
Less than ten years ago, she had been the one asking to have her program signed and standing in line for a picture with cast members. Now she was the one on the receiving end of teenage squealing.
It seemed fitting that everything had come full circle tonight. Now that the performance was over, she realized that it had been part of the reason she’d been so nervous. The first show she had ever attended had been a dress rehearsal just like this one when she had been a student. It had also been the performance where she’d seen Gold onstage for the first time.
That was the night everything had changed and the acting bug had truly bit her. She’d done a bit of theatre in high school before that, but never considered it as an actual career. Her plan had been to study library science at a big university, preferably somewhere far from her well-meaning, but controlling father. He’d thoroughly approved of her plan to become a librarian - a nice, safe career path for his shy and timid daughter.
That plan had dissolved after she’d seen Gold prowl around the stage as the evil Chancellor. Watching him revel in the villainy of the character, Belle had realized she didn’t just want to read about complicated and layered characters, she wanted to bring them to life.
She’d told Gold before that his performance had inspired her to become an actress, but she’d left out a few details. Like the part where teenage Belle had stood in line for twenty minutes to get her picture taken with him after the show and how she’d gotten woozy from merely standing in his presence.
Of course, he’d been sweet about the whole thing. Had he been as nasty as his character, Belle doubted she would have developed such a crush. But the difference between the devious man on stage and the kind one before her had been the final straw. Her teen heart had fallen head over heels for the older actor then and there.
They’d taken a photo with her old polaroid camera and she’d told him of her newfound dream of acting. He’d smiled encouragingly as she talked, letting her ramble on for several minutes before signing her program with a message to follow her heart wherever it led.
The phrase had become her mantra through the next several months of school. Through her arguments with her father about her major. Through four years of theatre courses and plays in tiny theatres that barely drew a crowd.
Was it a coincidence that her heart had led her back to where it all began? Or was it fate? Either way, Belle was determined to find out.
One of her biggest worries in getting the job had been meeting Gold again. She’d built him up so much in her mind that she’d braced herself for disappointment when she met him again.
He hadn’t been what she expected. The tongue-tied, awkward man she was getting to know was miles away from the confident, enigmatic actor she had idolized for years. He was still that man onstage, of course. Stepping out into the spotlight seemed to transform him, allow him to be someone different than he was in his day-to-day life. But the real Gold was rather shy, prone to tripping over his words and making terrible jokes. Far from being disappointed, Belle actually preferred this version. He was more relatable, more real to her than the idealized version she’d fantasized about all these years.
Even now, amidst the compliments she was receiving about her dress and performance, she was having trouble keeping her eyes from straying to him. He’d come to her aid when she’d floundered on stage and she didn’t know how she could ever pay him back.
The irony was that it had been the sight of him in his full costume - everything from the fur-lined cloak that billowed behind him to the leather breeches that clung in all the right places - that had caused her brain to short circuit in the first place. If he ever found out how many times she’d imagined a similar scene in her daydreams over the years, he’d be tongue tied for sure.
None of his signature awkwardness existed now though. Like onstage, Gold was in his element with the fans. He had a small horde of teenage girls hanging off his every word. He clearly loved being the center of attention, his smile wide and his gestures much more flamboyant than usual now that he had a riveted audience.
At least she knew she didn’t have to feel silly for her reaction now. The teens crowded around him were clearly just as in awe of him as she had been back then. In hindsight, perhaps she should have realized that seeing him again on stage in full costume would have the same effect on her as it had all those years ago. Gold and she had practiced the scene many times together since she’d started, but the combination of the lights, stage, and costume had magically transported her back to that night when she’d first laid eyes on him.
Yet another reason why theatres shouldn’t do their dress rehearsal in front of a live audience, she thought wryly. They were lucky that she only forgot her lines. If she hadn’t been busy panicking, she might have jumped the Chancellor’s well-dressed bones onstage instead.
“Is there something going on between the Chancellor and the Princess?”
Belle’s full attention snapped back to the three girls she had just taken a photo with. “I’m sorry?”
The girl who had spoken was petite with a shoulder-length brown bob. Her arms were crossed over her chest in a relaxed posture and her smile seemed all too knowing for someone so young.
“I asked if the Chancellor and the Princess had a thing for each other.”
“Uh,” Belle stalled for time to think, acutely aware that she had several pairs of inquiring eyes upon her. “Not to my knowledge. There’s nothing in the script to indicate that.”
“Huh.” The girl seemed to think that over for a moment. “So it’s just you and Gold that are – ”
“Friends,” Belle blurted out before the girl could finish her sentence. “Just friends.”
Despite her wish that they could one day be more than that, Belle wasn’t about to admit that to a high school know-it-all. Unfortunately, the teen’s keen eyesight wasn’t Belle’s biggest problem. If her attraction to Gold had been that obvious from the audience, how in the world could the man himself have missed it?
Her gaze darted over to him again and this time their eyes met. Belle blushed and dropped her gaze immediately, hoping he wouldn’t read anything into it. To her horror, she looked up to see that he had excused himself from his fans and was making his way over to her.
As nervous as she was at the moment, she didn’t miss the way the girls around her straightened, each perking up at the approach of the infamous Evil Chancellor.
“Dear god, he’s gorgeous,” one girl whispered, tugging on her long brown curls excitedly.
The third teen, a blonde with a cheeky grin and an English accent, elbowed her friend with a laugh. “Thirsty much, Jacinda?”
Gold, oblivious to the fervor awaiting him, smiled widely as he joined them. “Good evening, ladies.”
“Evening.”
“Hi.”
“Good indeed.”
Gold’s smile faltered for a second before quickly recovering. “Ladies, do you mind if I borrow my co-star for a moment?”
All three girls giggled, shaking their heads enthusiastically.
Still in a slight daze from the last few minutes, Belle nodded politely at the girls before gratefully following Gold as he led her away from the group. They ducked into a hallway off of the main room that lead towards the staff rooms, giving them some temporary privacy from the crowd.
“Thank you,” Belle said once they were out of sight, sinking back against the wall with a sigh of relief.
Gold chuckled. “You looked a bit panicked. I figured you could use a break.” He leaned against the wall next to her, gazing at her with amusement.
With only a few inches between them, Belle’s heart began to speed up once again. She immediately scolded herself for reacting in such a way. Was she no better than those lovestruck teenagers she had just been talking to?
From the way her heart was racing, probably not.
“They weren’t horrible,” she finally said. “Just a bit intense. And nosey.”
Standing this close to him, Belle noticed for the first time how good Gold smelled. Though romance novels tended to describe a man’s scent with at least three different descriptors - sandalwood almost always being one of them - Belle didn’t think she could describe Gold’s scent in any more detail than “slightly sweaty, but nice man smell”. With further study perhaps she could get more specific, but she somehow doubted Gold would appreciate her shoving her nose in his personal space and sniffing him up and down like a bloodhound.
Before he could ask any more about the students, Belle hastened to add, “I’m sure you’ve had your share of crazy fans.”
He laughed, but the sound was a bit strained. As comfortable as Gold seemed with the fans, Belle was surprised that someone could unnerve him that much.
“You’d be right about that,” he said. “Most are harmless, but there’s been one or two troublemakers over the years. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do.” He shook off the thought. “But let’s not talk about that. We should be talking about you on your big night,” he said, gently bumping his shoulder against hers.
Belle flushed, more at the contact than from his teasing.
“Well, so far you’ve had to rescue me from myself twice.” Belle kept her tone light as she rested her shoulder against his, hoping she wasn’t being too forward. “If it happens a third time, I’m afraid I’m going to have to give you my firstborn in exchange.”
To Belle’s delight, Gold leaned in. “I’m sure we could come up with something less….” he paused, searching for the right word. “...stinky.”
Belle let out a whoop of laughter, clapping her hand over her mouth a moment later. Gold’s eyes sparkled in return.
“Quiet,” he warned. “They might find you.”
She removed her hand. “They’re teenage girls, not hyenas.”
He shrugged. “Could have fooled me.”
Belle didn’t argue, since Gold was more right than he knew. She hoped she hadn’t been that obvious when they first met. As shy as she had been back then, she at least knew she hadn’t been that direct.
Glancing back at the lobby, Belle was torn between continuing her conversation with Gold and knowing that her job required her to return to her guests. She sighed. “I suppose our duty is to return to our paying customers now. Hopefully those horrid girls are gone.”
“I can beat them off with my sword, if you like.”
Belle smothered a chuckle. “No, I think they might enjoy that too much.” At Gold’s confused look, she quickly added, “Never mind. I think I’m fine.”
“You sure?” he asked, concern evident in his expression.
Belle’s insides melted but she managed to stop herself from throwing her arms around him in response. She leaned towards him conspiratorially. “I think I can slay the next few dragons.”
“I know you can, Belle.” His eyes twinkled. “In fact, I’d like to see someone try and stop you once you’ve made up your mind.”
His words oddly choked her up and Belle blinked away a tear before Gold could see. She didn’t want to have to explain what getting his approval meant, because she barely understood it herself. It wasn’t just because Gold was so talented or because she had a crush on him. The Enchanted Forest was the theatre where her dream of acting had begun. Here, more than anywhere, she wanted to prove herself. If she could prove her worth to everyone in the cast, especially the man who had inspired her down this path in the first place, then maybe she’d finally believe she had made the right decision to pursue acting.
She didn’t hold out hope that her dad would ever be convinced or that Maurice would suddenly forget his intense dislike for the theatre that had robbed his daughter of her respectable future. But it would be enough for Belle to know that her choice to become an actress had been brave and not foolhardy, after all.
“Shall we?” she asked, entwining her arm around Gold’s.
“Where my lady leads, I shall follow.”
Belle ducked her head, hoping he didn’t see the goofy smile forming on her face. If she was lucky, he might just mean those words one day.
Author's note: This chapter is dedicated to @b-does-the-write-thing who asked for another chapter of this long neglected fic for her birthday! There's even another chapter ready to go for next week, so look for that update as well!
Written for my beloved @b-does-the-write-thing in honor of her birthday. May your day bring you as much joy and fun as you have brought into my life :D
This is a little crack verse based off B’s fantastic story “The Gate”. It’ll make more sense if you’ve read the original story (which I highly recommend!), but anyone should be able to relate to the level of fangirl nerdery going on here. In summary, it’s three fangirls getting together to write Enchanted Forest Golden Lace fanfic from their favorite book series “The Gate.”
Lacey gasped for air as she broke the surface of the river. As she swam towards the shore, she vowed - for not the first time that year - never to go anywhere near water again. Even puddles would be avoided from now on.
“Seriously?” A hearty laugh came from over Odette’s shoulder. “You’re trying to kill her again? By drowning?!”
Odette rolled her eyes at the interruption, turning her attention from her computer to her friend Krysta, who was peering over her shoulder at the screen.
“It’s the Nine Kingdoms, not Disney World,” Odette said. “If she doesn’t have a near death experience every other chapter, how is the reader supposed to remember how deadly that land is?”
“Oh no, who are you killing now?” Beth, the third and last member of their fanfic writing group, had just walked into the room in time to catch their conversation.
“Lacey,” Krysta said.
“Poor thing!” Beth said, joining them at the computer. “She’s already been through so much!”
“Lacey’s been on the verge of death like twelve times now,” Odette replied waspishly. “If a whale, a sea witch and every other enchantress, baddie, and troll in the Nine Kingdoms can’t kill her, I think she’ll be okay.”
“I don’t know,” Beth said skeptically. “That last book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. What if she’s really stuck in the Cave of Wonders?”
“Oooh, that sounds like it has potential for some great smut,” Krysta said, perking up considerably.
“You think everything has the potential for great smut,” Odette said. “It’s why the entire fandom sends you their kinky prompts. God, I didn’t even know dino dildos existed until you wrote that AU with ‘The Land Before Time’ being the missing 10th kingdom.”
Krysta chuckled. “That was one of my prouder achievements, wasn’t it?”
Odette picked up her laptop and carried it over to the table in front of her couch. It was easier for the three of them to see the screen that way, and the couch was just big enough to hold them all comfortably.
“You know,” Odette said, as she settled onto the middle cushion, “just because people send you a prompt, doesn’t mean you have to fill it.”
Krysta flopped down beside her. “Says the girl who wrote crocodile smut.”
Odette leveled a finger at her. “I lost a bet. It doesn’t count!”
Her friend shrugged as Beth joined them on the couch. “Whatever. Just know that I’m in the running for at least two Gates this year: one for Best Imp, and another for my ‘Winding Stairs’ trilogy.”
Beth giggled. “Is that the one with the sexy scavenger hunt through the Dark Castle?”
“Yep, my most recent chapter had a scene with a sexy stair chase - “
“Did you just say the words “sexy stair chase”?” Odette interrupted.
Krysta sighed happily. “I sure did.”
“Anyway,” Odette said, wondering for the millionth time how she wound up in such a perverted fandom, “where were we in the story?”
She managed not to roll her eyes when Beth’s hand shot up in the air. “It’s not Hogwarts, Miss Bohan. You can talk without being called on.”
“Oooh, okay. Let’s see...Lacey had just defeated the Wicked Witch of the West by dumping this acid-like stuff on her. Then she and Gold were joined by a munchkin named Willow on their adventure to rescue the young wizard who had been under an enchantment for the last seven years. Lacey realizes that even though the wizard is really smokin’ hot, she has zero interest in him. She then proceeds to pick a fight with Gold because he’s smirking at her.”
“Those two really just need to bang already,” Krysta said. “It’s been five books and seven kingdoms already. I mean, even the horse got laid before them.”
“He wasn’t a real horse, Krysta.” Odette felt this was an important clarification. “Nothing happened until after the curse was broken.”
“Actually, Lesak41 wrote this PWP where the only way to break the curse was True Love’s Fu- “
Odette covered Krysta’s mouth with her hand. “No.”
Though her hand was pushed aside with a grumble that sounded suspiciously like “prude”, Krysta let the subject drop.
Despite the fandom being a rather sex-crazed group, Odette and her friends had never written any smut together - apart from a disastrous first attempt a year ago that had resulted from too much wine and an open promptathon - and she preferred to keep it that way.
Thus, it was important that she keep them both on track and their minds, for the moment at least, out of the gutter.
“Alright, I agree that something has to be done about the sexual tension - you could cut it with Excalibur at this point. Maybe it’s time for Gold to pull another one of his disappearance acts? He and Lacey can have a really nice moment of understanding or something and then poof - he’s suddenly gone because of some unexplained crisis in the Seventh Kingdom.”
Beth began to bounce up and down on the couch. “Oooh, could we bring back Ariel? I miss her. She and Lacey had the best friendship.”
“I dunno, I kind of liked Marian the best. She was always so badass and - “ Krysta suddenly jumped up. “Oh my god, we forgot the wine. Be right back.”
Odette and Beth exchanged a knowing glance as Krysta ran into the kitchen, appearing less than a minute later with a bottle of red in one hand and three glasses in another. Her eyes narrowed when she caught the looks they were giving her. “What? The muse must be wet.”
“I think you mean ‘whetted’ and...oh who cares, give us the wine.” Odette waved her over.
Once all their glasses were full, the three tried to get back to writing, but somehow they kept getting distracted, especially after Beth began to fill them in on all the latest fandom gossip. Of the three, she spent the most time talking to other fans online and always knew the newest drama sweeping the fandom.
“Apparently FourthKingdomPrincess and Imp_Balls got into a big fight and now all the Lacey/Ariel shippers are at war with the Lacey/Emma shippers,” Beth said. “Which is surprising because Imp_Balls usually only writes Imp/Lacey/Emma threesomes, but she really didn’t like how insulting FourthKingdom was being to all the other smaller ships.”
Krysta poured herself some more wine. “This is why we should all stick to our own smutty sandboxes and let everyone else play where they want.”
“Smutty sandboxes?” Odette asked.
“Oh, you love my fandom terms, admit it.”
Odette shook her head, but a smile peeked out from her lips. “I think it’s time we get back to this chapter. We promised everyone we’d update this week.” Draining the last of her wine, she handed her glass to Beth to refill. “Also, we should probably start thinking about how to wrap this story up. Do we want to go with how we think ‘The Gate’ will actually end or do our own thing?”
There was a minute or two of silence while the girls imagined their perfect ending scenarios. Finally, Beth spoke up.
“Personally, I think we should have Lacey and Gold run off together and leave the Imp to do his own dirty work for once,” she said as she poured the wine. “That’ll teach him to treat them both so poorly.”
Odette and Krysta looked at her with wide eyes before dissolving into giggles.
“Oh my god, don’t tell her,” Krysta said.
Beth blinked at them. “Tell me what?”
“Nothing.” Odette shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
She managed to keep a straight face until she caught Krysta’s eyes again and the two broke down in laughter again.
“What’d I say?”
Despite Beth’s continued protests the rest of the evening and even into the following weeks, neither of her friends would tell her what had been so funny.
Years later, the phrase “What’d I Say?” would remain the biggest inside joke of The Gate fandom. Rumor has it that the author of “The Gate” even has a bumper sticker of it on her car.
