Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

To the surprise of Belle French, the pawnshop she had heard outrageous rumors since childhood had not been what she expected. Instead of a dusty museum, she found a vast collection of antiques each carefully placed on display, all either marked with a set price or a tag stating “see owner”. Even the window displayed several other pieces ranging from porcelain dolls one would find in a house from the previous century to an ornate wooden table with a glass chess set ready to be played at a moment’s notice. Since her family were one of the few people in Storybrooke who owned the building where their businesses and home resided, there was never a reason to have even interacted with Mr. Gold which led Belle to laugh at the thought she had not been back in Storybrooke for nearly two months and there were still parts of the town which continued to be a complete mystery to her.

In checking her wristwatch, Belle noticed it was already half passed one and she could not find a single aspect of the shop to detect the owner was within sight.

“Hello” she softly yelled. “Anyone here?”

There was silence.

If he had gone to lunch, the door would have been closed or at least the sign indicating it. Not that it meant anything as Belle knew from experiences within her college years of patrons arriving just minutes after closing which lead to more money in her paychecks but staying in at least two hours longer than expected.

“The door was opened” she pointed out frantically.

Already she knew staying at the shop would eat up her lunch hour as she needed to get back to the library to set up the children’s section before the schools were left out. She would not have been surprised if Mr. Gold had decided to leave the door open only to have some fun with the patrons before letting his reputation proceed him. Just as Belle would try again to call out for someone, she noticed the curtain close to the display towards the back ruffle opening it to find who she had assumed to be Mr. Gold where at that moment Belle wanted to run for the hills at how immature she must have sounded to him.

The man’s reputation for being impeccably dressed had been accurate along with a cane where it gave him an imposing demeanor leading Belle to frantically stand up straight after leaning towards the side to look at the other items. Mr. Gold stared directly at her giving her a once over that caused Belle to feel the heat coming into her cheeks. Compared to Mr. Gold’s three-piece designer suits, she felt underdressed with her blue dress, cardigan and stocking covered by black boots giving Belle the appearance of a high school student than a small-town librarian.

“Hi, are you Mr. Gold by any chance?” Belle nervously asked.

Gold placed is finger towards the sign of the door and back at him. “Well this happens to be my shop, therefore it is safe to deduce I must be who you are looking for.” His grin left Belle flustered. Despite his composure, Belle thought he was an attractive man where his hair and suits highlighted him that she tried not to blush as she heard the Scottish brogue coming out of his mouth. As soon as Belle felt the item on her dress pocket, she immediately remembered her task taking a deep breath and tightly crumbling up her fist moving her left hand into her dress pocket walking towards the counter desk, taking her hand out of her pocket revealing to Gold as a gold ring with the diamond shaped into an oval as the front ends of the centerpiece were crowned with miniature diamonds.

She gazed at the ring noticing how the miniature diamonds appeared to be fake even though she was certain they weren’t, but their presentation gave the impression where it lead to her wonder if the price was really as much as she was led to believe.

“I need an estimate so I can sell this.” She pointed out. Had Belle been told a year prior she would be in a pawnshop of her hometown selling off her engagement ring, she would have thought the whole idea came off as absurd.

Gold looked back at her then gazed the ring, studying what flaws it obtained even though Belle knew it would still have been in good condition as she kept it cleaned over the years due to how proud it had made her being around her finger. The pawnbroker appeared to be meticulous as he continued looking through the ring where Belle smiled over the good news she would soon hear.

“Judging by the cut and the clarity of the diamond, I will give you about $50 for the ring.”

His estimation shocked Belle from the estimate when she took the ring from Gold’s hands inspecting it herself. “There must be some mistake” she pointed looking at ring. “My ex fiancé spent over two thousand dollars when he purchased it.” She remembered the box in which the ring came in had arrive from an expensive jewelry store in Boston. Her friends were fawning over it as though they had never seen a ring before demanding they can go to that store for the same purchases.

Gold smirked at her taking the ring back from Belle’s fingers putting the ring into the glass container with such force where Belle became even furious as she saw with her own eyes the ring itself was a fake.

“It appears your former fiancé either misled you or he himself had been swindled when intending on popping the question.” Gold stated looking over the ring realizing Belle’s face looked down at it with malice leaving him a little curious towards the customer before him.

Without any encouragement, Belle began to talk. “I just moved a few months ago for a new job and I thought I could at least use the ring for rainy day while I would try to settle down.” She sighed staring back at the pawnbroker smiling not noticing the unintended hand being placed towards hers. “I never liked it to be honest, I always thought it looked obscene. At least for me”

As Belle began to take the ring and leave, Gold asked her to wait, walking as fast as he could with a cane snatching the ring from Belle’s finger and placing it upon closer inspection. “There is an explanation as to how you could have easily believed it to be real” Gold stated causes Belle to flinch when he showed her a few of the sections. “The craftsmanship is exquisite although there still is room to improve for whoever did it. These rings are mainly used as props for high production videos where the cuts have an incredible weight to them, most have a hard time telling the difference. I can give you around $500 for the ring.”

Belle could see what Mr. Gold was trying to do and she did appreciate the gesture as it did make her laugh over how elaborate Gold went on with explanation as though he were expressing the actions within a story. While not enough for a nest egg, the amount could have at least been there in case something happened within the next months as a leak might occur due to the harsh weather or if her car decided to give out. She had to hand it to Mr. Gold for telling her a creative story.

“You have got yourself a deal Mr. Gold” Belle declared raising her hand towards his as they both shook on it.

Just as Gold was heading over to the back towards the safe to collect the paperwork, he heard the bell ring as the door opened finding Zelena Mills coming towards him much to his annoyance as he turned towards Belle who backed away thinking Zelena must be there to pick up an order or make a purchase.

“What do I owe you the pleasure, this afternoon Miss Mills?”

“Really Goldie, after our last date I think we are past formalities.” Zelena smiled in a wolfish grin leaving Gold more uneased by the second. “Speaking of which, I was wondering if you were free tomorrow. I can come over and cook something for Neal and we can have dessert afterwards….”

Belle could not believe this woman’s audacity. She must have at least seen there as a customer in the shop who probably was not interested in hearing about a planned date. Although as Belle looked over a mirror towards another end of the shop, she happened to see how tense Mr. Gold’s body appeared as the supposed Miss Mills began continuing to drone on where she had seen this situation several times in college with her friends and herself included dealing with men who wouldn’t take no for an answer.

She wondered if he was being polite in not turning her down directly or had not wanted to be rude in front of a customer, but Belle could not stand to listen any longer as she went up to the counter and gave Mr. Gold a kiss on the cheek.

“So we are still on for 7 tonight?” She replied with Gold appearing confused as he looked back at her. “I have only a few minutes left until I have to open up for story hour.” Belle moved her eyes towards Zelena hoping he would get the message.

“How could I forget when I have been looking forward it all day.” Gold turned around towards Zelena who looked surprised leaving Belle holding her laugher as she noticed Zelena’s mouth become wider by the second. “Miss Mills you were saying?”

Zelena quickly rolled eyes at them, “honestly, can you two be a little discreet? There is an open view of the main street through these windows.” She gathered her bag and stormed out of the shop slamming the door shut where the bell luckily still maintained enough strength to not have fallen over.

As soon as Zelena was gone, Gold and Belle looked at one another laughing at the situation as Belle noticed the change of mood allowed Mr. Gold to look drastically different, even more pleasant than how he appeared to be.

“Thank you” he said to her gathering the paperwork to continue the sales purchase. “Zelena isn’t my girlfriend, we just went on a few dates at the behest of her sister and didn’t really work out, although Zelena continues to be persistent.”

Gold had not been sure why he was explaining the situation to this woman. His personal life wasn’t of her business and there was a strong chance he probably wouldn’t see much of her after this since Storybrooke has a habit of allowing people to disappear into their world despite the small population growth.

“It was a pleasure; I am sure you would have done the same for me.”

They finished the transaction with Gold giving Belle the correct amount, although she suspected he might have given her a little more than $500 but she wasn’t going to know for certain until she counted it accurately.

Each saying their goodbyes, Belle headed out of the pawnshop walking towards the library a mile up the road already thinking her dress felt lighter than it had been this morning.

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“What were you thinking getting into a fight with August” Gold tried to keep his eyes on the road as he stared at his son who placed is head was placed up with an ice pack over his head to cool down the swelling of his face. The drive from the school towards their home was at times a long one, however leaving the school early led them to drive one without any signs of the afternoon traffic or even a possibility of animals crossing the road. “You are lucky Mother Superior decided on a two-week suspension because August’s black eye could have gotten you not only expelled but arrested.” Soon thought came to the pawnbroker over his youth in Glasgow, many fights and even a few nights in jail where one brawl resulted in the permanent disfigurement of his leg. He knew that lifestyle would have led either to death or in jail and never wanted his children to have suffered from it as he had which baffled him as to how Neal thought it was acceptable towards violence.

“Mother Superior only suspended me because she knows it was really August’s fault” The teenager sighed as the ice pack no longer had much effect for the cheekbones. “I was trying to protect Emma”

“Emma Nolan? What does she have to do with this?”

“August kept bothering even though she told him to stop and I told him to back off then he hit me and then the next thing I know we are beating each other up.” Neal continued wincing as he moved his muscles unable to see his father smirking at hearing his side of the story.

“Can Miss Nolan collaborate this?”

“Everyone can. Mother Superior will always take August’s word over anyone even when there is direct evidence showing otherwise.”

“Alright, I will talk to the Nolans, get Emma’s side and have a word with Mother Superior over the matter. Right now, lets just get you home and we will deal with the suspension later.” Gold could see Neal extremely tired and placed his hand over Neal’s shoulder in a light comfort when they both heard a loud text coming from Neal’s jacket leading the boy to check his phone much to the annoyance of his father.

“Regardless of what happened, you are still grounded. No video games, only educational books and you will be assisting me in the shop during the morning for the time being.” Gold looked back at his son who looked over his phone studying the contents as though he were reading a novel than a minor text. “Tell your friend you are not able to use your phone for a few days.”

“No its from the Storybrooke Library. They said I am a day late on my book I have to go turn it in.”

“Since when does Mrs. Doormouse use texting to notify anyone over library fines.”

Neal turned his head in confusion. “Papa, where have you been? Mrs. Doormouse retired six months ago. Miss French is now the librarian for about two or three I think? She thought it would be easier in case we forgot. The texts go automatic within a minute of being late which was ten minutes ago since I forgot about it. The book is still in my bag, can we just head there so I can turn it in? In and out, I promise. At least to say hi since I won’t be going to the library for a while.”

Gold wondered why that name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it anywhere. Although he wasn’t surprised to find the librarian had a new patron since the building and position were under the city, therefore Regina would be the one to oversee qualify candidates, despite on their standards. He already dreaded the idea of Regina hiring some young girl fresh out of college who probably has planned a kindle section to replace the books but he was curious to see who his son was talking and if Miss Emma had any competition.”

The Golds drove towards the library parking the car to the side finding it to be its usually self where Gold couldn’t believe there had been a change of the guard. As they headed inside with Neal going over stating he needed to get an item from the reference desk, Gold was surprised at what he saw walking in. In contrast to an Apple, it had been a furnished library filled with study desks and beanbag chairs close to the computer area with a few of the children on it. He walked over a few rows finding the books were categorized perfectly with proper care as he walked to the children’s section which contained stuffed animals and several bears dressed up as famous literary characters along with a table set in the back containing a party of rabbits having what must have been a tea party.

Gold had to admit he had underestimated this Miss French and wanted her to continue this success even though he knew this must have been well above the budget requirements. Suddenly Gold heard a noise in what appeared to a whispering voice where he thought it must have been some teenagers forgetting the building room of voice volume. Deciding perhaps to help Miss French in doing her job, Gold walked towards the next aisle hearing the voice volume increasing as he turned to see not a teenager, but the charming stranger from this afternoon talking on her cell phone. While she did give her name to him when filling out the paperwork, his mind had been too focused on her lovely cerulean eyes and the kiss of distraction. His mind went to several names when he realized which one it was and why Neal’s librarian sounded familiar.

Now Gold wanted to laugh enough to violate the noise protocol. Belle had mentioned to him she was doing Story Hour which explains the display in the Children’s section, even her name suited her perfectly to where he could see the younger children making references to the movie from her.  

“You don’t understand,” the voice whispered. “I can’t go without being asked many questions and you know how important this is for mama and papa. They shouldn’t have their anniversary party ruined because their daughter decided to break off a five-year engagement out of the blue.”

The girl continues sighing in exasperation where he wondered at how inept the caller must have been in not understanding her plight. Gold felt a little sorry for her, while he never had a good relationship with his own parents, he always admired seeing those who still care for them even to adulthood which he could see meant the world to her.

“….That is out of the question” Belle continued “I am not going to go around asking random people if they can be my date to my parents’ 30^th wedding anniversary next month.”

“I will be your date” Gold blurted scaring Belle as she turned around finding Mr. Gold in the middle of the bookcase supporting himself with the cane giving an air of confidence.

“Anna, let me call you back.” Belle hung up the phone attempting her best to cover her face from the shame she was feeling when it slowly turned to anger. “How much did you hear?”

Now Gold knew he had her. “I heard enough. You want your parents’ party to go off without a hitch, and the only thing stopping it from becoming a Kodak moment would be nosy relatives who are surprised you are now single ready to set you up with their friends’ sons if that is correct.”

“Pretty much, family tends to love gossip and I would be the best one to discuss.” She looked worried at the prospect as she knew this man’s reputation but also saw a side to his generosity where she wondered where it stopped and began. “Why do you want to do this?  You don’t need to help me.”

“Returning the debt from before and my son speaks highly of the progress you have done in this library. I can imagine the cost must be higher than usual where your salary must be cut to keep the demands?” The express on Belle’s face said it all for him. “Just as I suspected, I can help you with this date as well as provide you a steady bursary for the library’s fund without taking it from your salary.”

The offer sounded tempting for Belle to consider even if it appeared strange. Already he had given $1000 which she know she could never repay, and this alone would solve a lot of problems as well as allow Regina to consider taking a chance on the library.

“This will be in a month and other than last names, there is nothing we know about each other where what if a question does get asked and I can’t come up with anything.”

“You guys could spend the month together, pretend to date” Both Belle and Gold turned around finding Neal with a few books a large grin on his face. “Belle this is my father; Papa, this Belle, the librarian I was telling you about who you have to admit has a lot of plans and shouldn’t be scolding due to her age.” The pair nervous chuckled causing Neal to have winced leaving his face openly clear to Belle who quickly went up to the young boy.

“Neal, what happened to you?” she demanded then looking back at Gold for an explanation.

Neal looked towards Belle where Gold saw a little cheeky glint in the boy’s face knowing what he was up to. “I got into a fight trying to help my friend but don’t worry, papa is going to investigate the whole story.” He turned back to his father and then to Belle. “Are you guys going to start dating?”

The adults became uncomfortable at the suggestion with Gold giving Neal a stern look in which his son chose to ignore.

Belle smiled at the boy then back at Gold seeing there had not been anything off on the deal itself. “Neal is right, we could pretend to go out as it will give us a bit of credibility”

“Also I can help Belle out a few times in the library when I am not at the pawnshop. It would keep me out of your hair a few hours of the day.” Neal eagerly interrupted causing Belle to giggle the comment where Gold considered his options looking at Belle.

“Do I have your word?” she asked

Gold chuckled bowing down to her “Your parent will never know what hit them.”

Belle did not waste a second to respond thinking the arrangement appeared too perfect. “Done.”

“The deal is struck”

Chapter Text

“Check” Belle stated staring at her white pawn, rook and two bishops surrounding the black king with nowhere to turn.

Neal was surprised at how he was able to miss the different moves as he believed his plan was foolproof, but as he continued looking at all the other options, it appeared he was completely defeated in which twisted his mouth moving his king onto the floor.

“You win” he declared leaving Belle in a grinning state as she sipped her cup of tea in triumph with Gold watching on the couch across from even though he gave the impression he was immersive in his book but had he gave his input, there was a higher chance Neal would have won.

He had been impressed by how well Belle had played as most of the evening she would come over at times consisted with her and Neal playing a game of chess after Neal kept bragging to Belle about how good he was unaware she had been Captain of the Chess Team throughout middle and high school with their first encounter having Neal thinking he could teach Belle a few simple moves until three moves in, the boy lost his queen and Belle kept her face so stern making him think it was beginning’s luck until after another game Neal realized he was playing with a proficient player.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, you are getting better. I just recommend you should probably look at your other pieces as you decide to go after the queen since you never know who might sneak up on you.” Showcasing the pawn who gained the status of the queen empathizing her point.

Neal continued pouting as Belle began cleaning up the pieces. “I still want a rematch.” He whined. “best two out of three.”

“Neal, isn’t today a school night?” Gold interrupted the pair who diverted their attention to him. “You should have gone to bed at least twenty minutes ago.”

“Ten minutes wouldn’t hurt.” Neal continued to plead.

“Aren’t you supposed to pick Miss Nolan tomorrow morning? It wouldn’t be fair for her to find you yawning.”

Gold winked with Neal coming to the realization he was right. He hugged his father and Belle then headed off before he stared at the pair and noticed they appeared to be relaxed with one another, he never remembered his parents acted like this when they were together but even memories of his own mother were very limited. Immediately Gold cleared his throat catching Neal’s attention with the adults still wondering what he was doing there. “Oh Belle, in case it gets late, there are extra toothbrushes under the sink. Goodnight.” He quickly ran out before Gold had a chance to respond.

Despite being back in school for the past two and half weeks, Neal had still not gotten adjusted to the change of returning. Due to Gold’s investigation, along with several witness testimonies including the young Emma Nolan who all swore August had been the prime instigator of the fight and Neal had only attacked in self-defense. Mother Superior, even despite having a mountain of evidence to the contrary refuse to vacate the suspension until Mr. Gold looked into Mother Superior’s past and noticed she had not been part of the convent as long as she claimed with both her and August having a similar striking blue eyes and the exact shade of auburn hair which left the nun freezing in shock when Gold confronted her over the matter should he needed a paternity test to have proven correct. Deciding not to take any chances, the nun immediately reinstated Neal’s punishment allowing him to have been effectively back into the campus with August having a few weeks of detention and a serious consideration towards visiting Dr. Hopper to channel any anger he had. Gold still remembered the seething anger upon the Mother Superior’s face which left him smirking as he threw away the folder he had presented revealing nothing underneath only a reaction which gave him the full truth.

For the most part after the incident, Neal and August pretty much kept their distance even with August no acknowledging Emma was even around which left her in a better position at the school going back to spending time with her friends to Neal’s delight.

“He is a good kid” Belle pointed out breaking silence between them. “A little blunt, but that is to be expected when they are that age.”

“Neal is a little devil. As of this moment, he is probably texting Miss Nolan and hatching a new scheme between the two.”

“But we can still hang out. Let me get another book from the shelves and we can read something for a while”

Gold was not opposed to the idea of spending more time with Belle as he looked forward to their interactions more than he cared to admit. Normally Belle’s visits would arrive with her cooking or being treated to a meal along with the three usually playing a board game or watching a movie with Neal at times not participating as often due to an increase in homework which caused Gold to become a little suspicious. As he loomed over the clock, the thought began to set in their time together would have to end within a week. Once he would help her with her parents, they would part as strangers with both moving on from each other’s lives. The town wasn’t so small he wouldn’t ever see her again, they might have waved to one another at the grocery store or even the occasionally bump when walking to the street but Belle was a vibrant woman who probably would rather spend her time with other people who were not as a controversial. He only hoped Belle continued to have the same relationship she has with Neal.

“Are you sure you can stay a little longer?” He asked not sure to her response.

Belle smiled back staring at the books then at him. “Well Neal did say the toothbrushes are under the sink. Frankly, I think its time we have a home cooked breakfast.” They headed to the bookshelves gathering several candidates with blankets on standby as Gold eagerly followed his guest refusing to think about over the following week.

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What have I told you about texting and driving? I do not plan on hearing you are currently under Sherriff Nolan’s hospitality.

Belle read the text with annoyance already seeing the time and thinking Gold had wrote it on purpose. If it had been possible, she wished she could have teleported from her phone and into the pawnshop to get some sense into him even though she did appreciate he cared abut her well-being even though they both knew it was an easy walk from Granny’s to the pawnshop if she was coming from the library.

She texted back I am not driving. Heading into Granny’s, be nice or I will suggest Granny charge us triple for the meal.  Placing an exclamation point before heading sent. Belle was surprised Gold accepted her offer for lunch at the pawnshop as they mainly didn’t meet up during the afternoon due to their schedules, but both had been texting one another throughout the morning as they were continuing their respected inventories.  The assumption she had was he was just a bored in doing work as she was with both needing to give their phones a break.

Belle received another text saying, walking and texting also has some legal ramification as well as she wouldn’t dare at the risk of a rent increase ignoring it knowing Gold’s sense of humor had been acting up as he legally couldn’t increase the rent without a good reason.

As she entered Granny’s, Belle was greeted by Ruby and a few other patrons who mainly asked over her day with a few receiving her a strange look which Belle had seen before throughout town that occasionally left her disturbed.

Ruby arrived handing Belle a cup of water as she waited for her order. She quickly noticed the demeanor of her friend look different appearing more serious than her usual flirtatious self even glancing back at a few customers who Belle realized were looking directly at her. Suddenly tall the brunette leaned over catching Belle’s attention.

“What’s the story with you and Mr. Gold?” she asked.

Belle wondered how long it would have taken before someone had brought it up.

Within a week of their deal, most of the town realized there had been a relationship as she and Gold would usually go to Granny’s for breakfast that it left some patrons in complete shock. One such occasion had Belle curious as to the taste of the raspberry pancakes Gold had ordered where she took a piece while feeding him some of hers resulting in Leroy spitting out his coffee onto the floor where Granny decided to charge Gold for the mess along with the meal.

“What do you mean?”  Belle stated coquettishly.

“You guys have been seen together a lot. At first I thought it was weird you guys were eating together and I didn’t say much to Neal hanging out with but most of the town has been saying different thing every time you guys are walking together. Then there is also that skirt you are wearing is the same one as yesterday where I went on my usual run this morning and found your car wasn’t even there and I know you are not such an early riser.”

“Oh that, I stayed over, we fought over who would use the pans to what items for breakfast and went on our separate ways as Neal had to leave for classes.” She sipped her water realizing while she didn’t tell Ruby a lie, the part with Neal finding them sleeping on the couch after they couldn’t keep their straight from each taking turns reading to one another would not have worked so well with a not so secret affair. As the realization hit Ruby, Belle giggled in seeing her friend appearing as though a truck had hit her.

“You can’t be serious; I mean you know what kind of guy Mr. Gold. The same Mr. Gold who Sean’s dad paid to buy Ashley’s first baby to break them up. Then there is also his weird friendship with the mayor which led him to dating her sister a little while ago and she is a nasty piece of work. Didn’t he also bribe a church official to go Mother Superior’s head in order to reinstate Neal back after he beat up a classmate.”

“I was there during the whole incident with Neal, Mother Superior is upset because she had to play fair for once. I suppose the incident with Ashley’s baby must not have been so terrible if they were here the other day all in smiles with Ashley telling you they are expecting what might be a boy this time. Gold is not such an ogre as you may think, he is really sweet, loves spending time with Neal with even Neal telling me how he looks up to him. There is a good man behind the gossip”

Ruby stood in silence watching her best friend defend a guy who tended to make her grandmother annoyed over handing in her hard-earned cash on a monthly basis. There was no dispute he was a good father but he didn’t have a shady reputation simply due to misunderstandings. “Alright fine, I will accept he could be a good man. It’s only that I don’t want to see you hurt again and moving to Gold appears like a desperate cry for help.”

Granny calling in Belle’s order became a relief as she wanted to leave the diner as quickly as possible. “I love him Ruby. He isn’t an ogre or anything, but a good man with a limited patience for people. Gold isn’t Gary, but someone who loves me and treats me with respect. I know you care but I can tell you that I’m fine and can be capable of making decisions.”

“Suit yourself” said Ruby unfazed with Belle gathering her order placing a giant tip to Ruby and leaving the diner behind.

As she walked to the pawnshop and going over everything she said to Ruby, she smiled in relief over the realization she had been telling her friend the complete truth.