Desperation - chapter 12
34: “Remember when we used to leave the house? Fun times”
Apparently I can only write fluff at the moment. Must be a reaction to the shitty timeline we’re in :/
[AO3]
x
As lockdown entered its second week, Belle found that she was settling into her new life quite comfortably. Bae had improved each day, and was restless and energetic. She had him helping her with baking and pulling weeds in the garden to burn off some of the excess energy. A call from Mary Margaret Nolan, Neal’s mother and Bae’s teacher, announced that lessons would be resuming over Zoom, and Belle cleared a space at the kitchen table for Bae to participate on his father's laptop.
“I’m hoping this works,” confessed Mary Margaret, having explained her idea for the format of the lessons. “Redesigning the lessons for remote delivery and trying to think of ways to keep them engaged has been driving me nuts.”
“If you need a break, I’d be happy to do a story hour with them,” offered Belle. “Maybe we could collaborate on something; a story hour on a book you want them to read, followed by some sort of art project based on that.”
Mary Margaret beamed.
“That’s a great idea!” she said. “We could continue once lockdown ends, too.”
“I’m trying to recall what life was like before lockdown,” said Belle, with a wry grin. “Remember when we used to leave the house? Fun times.”
“Yeah.” Mary Margaret chuckled. “I guess I’m better off than most. The farm still needs work, the animals still have to be fed. I feel for those going stir-crazy in their apartments.”
“That would have been me, if I hadn’t ended up staying here,” said Belle, and Mary Margaret looked curious.
“How did that happen?” she asked. “I was wondering.”
“Completely by chance,” admitted Belle. “Rum and I kind of had a spat over the last packet of paracetamol at the store, and somehow I ended up moving in.”
“Huh." Mary Margaret pursed her lips. “Not your average meet-cute, but these are unusual times.”
Belle gave her a level look.
“He was sick, and I wanted to help.”
“Oh, ignore me,” Mary Margaret assured her. “I’m a hopeless romantic, and Storybrooke needs more happy endings.”
“Hard to be romantic when you literally can’t touch one another.”
“Then you’ll have to be very inventive.”
“Speaking of inventive,” said Belle, feeling herself blush and wanting to change the subject. “Let’s talk more about working together. I was intending to set up some after-school clubs for different age groups at the library. Any input you and the other teachers could give would be great.”
“I’ll email the staff and ask them for their thoughts,” said Mary Margaret. “Sounds like the kind of integrated program we’ve been wanting to introduce in Storybrooke. If we can get the Mayor’s approval we should be able to get more funding.”
“Does the Mayor have kids?” asked Belle, and Mary Margaret gave her a knowing smile.
“She has a ten-year-old son. Something tells me this town will be very supportive of more activities for kids after trying to entertain their own for three weeks.”
x
The Zoom lessons started well, with only a few technological teething problems, which meant that Bae spent much of his days learning and chatting with his friends, leaving Belle free to do chores and read. The first story hour was due to take place that Friday, and Belle and Mary Margaret had already discussed ideas for complementary lesson-planning. It made Belle feel as though she was achieving something in her new position, despite not having set foot in the library in almost two weeks.
Gold, alas, was still in bed.
Belle had not tried to hide how much he was worrying her, with his rattling cough and the high fever that came and went. Already thin, he was now almost gaunt, and she and Bae tried their best to tempt him with homemade cookies and cakes, along with more substantial meals from the freezer. She told herself repeatedly that at least he didn’t seem to be getting any worse, and that his quietly stubborn nature would surely help him pull through.
On Wednesday evening she took him some tea and found him sitting on the edge of his bed with his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor.
“Hey,” she said.
Her voice made him look up. His eyes and cheeks were hollow, his cheeks and chin covered with almost two weeks of stubble, but there was a determined glint in his eyes. She put her head to the side.
“You okay?”
“I’m getting up,” he said decidedly, gesturing with a finger. “I’m getting my arse up, and I’m going down the bloody stairs.”
Belle hurried to set down the cup of tea on his nightstand.
“Let me help you.”
“No no, it’s fine, I can do it.” He waved her away. “I have to do it. Bloody sick of being a dead weight around this place.”
“You’re sick!”
“And I won’t get better if I let this fucking thing keep me horizontal,” he said shortly, and sighed, running his hands over his face. “Sorry. I’m not angry with you, just this virus.”
“Anger is good in this instance,” she said, and took a step back from him. “Okay, up you get.”
Gold nodded, reaching to the side for his cane and using it to push himself upright. His legs wobbled, and he leaned hard on the cane, but after a moment he seemed to relax a little, although his smile was more of a grimace.
“Okay,” he whispered. “I’m taking a shower, and I’ll see you and Bae downstairs in ten minutes.”
“In that case, I’ll take your tea down with me,” she said. “We can all sit around the table and eat some of the fruit loaf Bae and I made.”
Gold nodded, his knuckles tight around the cane handle.
“Sounds perfect.”
x
He made it downstairs, much to Bae’s delight, and sat quietly at the table while Bae drank his suppertime warm milk and told him all about the lessons he had done that day. Belle warmed some soup through on the stove, setting it in front of Gold with bread and butter from the supplies that had been delivered.
“That’s fantastic, Belle, thank you,” he said, picking up a spoon. “I think perhaps my appetite’s coming back.”
“There’s plenty more, if you need it,” she said. “And more bread.”
“The bread tastes weird, Papa,” said Bae, wrinkling his nose. “It’s the same one they have at the school cafeteria. Paige says it’s made of polystyrene and fluff from the inside of the teachers’ pockets.”
Belle chuckled.
“I have to admit that I’ve thought that myself,” she said. “It certainly doesn’t come close to any of the delicious bread I’ve eaten since I came to this house. But it was free, which counts for a lot.”
“Quite right,” said Gold, dipping a piece of the bread in his soup. “We have to appreciate the kindness of those that gave it, Bae. Whether or not you think it tastes good.”
“Okay.” Bae looked a little despondent. “I was just kidding.”
“I know that.” Gold put down his spoon and pulled Bae close for a hug. “You’re a good lad. And a thoughtful one.”
“Belle and I didn’t make bread, though,” said Bae. “Maybe we should have, and then we could use this for something else.”
“We were concentrating on making your dad some treats, right?” said Belle, stroking his hair. “Making him feel better was very important work.”
“And something you both did excellently,” said Gold, turning back to his soup. “See? I’m already up and eating dinner again.”
Bae grinned, flopping back into his seat, and Gold blew on his soup to cool it.
“Go on, then,” he said. “Tell me more of what you learned about birds today.”
x
Something woke Belle.
She yawned, snuggling in her blankets on the couch, her body warm and comfortable. Something had disturbed her sleep: a soft, distant thumping noise that she couldn’t place. Her eyes fluttered and opened, and the noise came again. Glancing at her watch, Belle groaned to herself and sat up, swinging her legs out of the blankets and getting up to head for the kitchen. She could hear the low sound of Gold humming, and assumed it was he that was making the noise. If he was already up and about at just after six in the morning, perhaps he was feeling better.
Her sock-clad feet made no sound as she padded across the floor, and she entered the kitchen silently, hands curling around the door frame. Gold was standing at the counter in T-shirt and jeans with his cane leaning beside him and a dish towel tucked into his belt, his forearms covered in flour. He was kneading dough, one hand grasping, folding and turning before pushing down with the heels of his hands. Two bowls sat on the table with towels draped over them, with a third standing empty at his side. He hummed as he worked, the rhythmic slap and thump of his hands against the dough in time with the beat, and Belle smiled a little as she watched him.
“Couldn’t face the polystyrene and pocket lint bread again, huh?” she asked, and Gold started, turning to face her with the dough ball in his hands.
“Ah,” he said, looking down. “Well. You both said you liked my bread better, so I thought it was probably time to make some.”
“You didn’t have to get up at six in the morning to make it,” she said, and he shrugged, turning back to his kneading.
“That was always my usual habit, before I came down with the virus,” he said. “I usually set the loaves aside for first rise, then do the rest of my chores. I bet the garden’s just choked with weeds.”
“I hope not, Bae and I have been working on it,” she said, coming into the kitchen properly. “Tea?”
“I’ll make it. You’ve done more than enough this past ten days.”
“Don’t burn yourself out,” she warned, crossing to the sink to fill the kettle. “I can make the tea. The last thing we need is you falling over again. Take it slow.”
Gold gave her a slanting grin, and bowed his head.
“Yes, ma’am.”
He gave the dough a final press, then worked it into a ball with swift passes of his hands and dropped it in the empty bowl. Going to the sink to wash his hands, he flourished the dish towel to dry them off, and draped it over the bowl before wiping down the work surface.
“Wholemeal, mixed seed, oat and honey, and black olive,” he explained, as Belle looked questioningly at the bowls. “We’ll eat some and freeze the rest. Just in case.”
“You’re very well prepared.”
“I try to be.”
He grasped his cane, almost falling into one of the kitchen chairs with a sigh, and Belle shook her head.
“You’re still not well,” she said, and he opened his eyes, a tired smile back on his face.
“I’m okay.”
“You’re stubborn, is what you are,” she said severely.
“One of my few redeeming qualities.”
“Stubborn and self-effacing,” she remarked. “It’s almost adorable.”
Gold’s smile grew.
“‘Almost’?”
Belle put her hands on her hips, feeling heat rise in her cheeks. For an awkward moment she found herself recalling what he looked like with a small towel around his waist, and told herself to concentrate.
“I very much doubt the virus cares how adorable it is,” she said loftily. “If it knocks you on your ass again and you end up spending another week in bed, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He was grinning now.
“A good thing I have such a competent housemate,” he said. “I’ll miss you when this is over, Belle. Bae and I will miss you, I mean. Both of us.”
She was definitely blushing now, and that image would not leave her mind, but she couldn’t help grinning back.
“Yeah,” she said. “I’ll miss you guys too.”
