He sat down in the corner of the café, and just hoped Ruby, or Red, wouldn't be there. He felt ashamed of what happened a few days ago, and didn't really want to face her anymore – not yet.
"Hi," a girl's voice said, but it wasn't the one he had expected. It was Belle, that lover of Rumplestiltskin (apparently) and for a few days, one of his patients. Yesterday morning they had allowed her to go, since there was nothing wrong with her – technically. They had told her to go talk to Archie, and she said she would. Apart from that, there wasn't much they could do for her. Perhaps it was even better like this. What could a pretty girl like Belle possibly get from a man like Rumplestiltskin? "Can I… can I sit down?" she asked, a bit hesitatingly.
"Of course," he said, and he smiled to her. He thought she would be one of the only persons in this village who didn't know what had happened the night of the accident, and he would love to speak to a person who didn't know about what he had meant to do that night, even if that would mean that had to be a person who didn't know who she was anymore.
The girl sat down, looking a bit uncomfortable at her skirt, and pondering between looking at him or looking at the ground.
"How are you doing?" he asked.
"Fine, I suppose," Belle said, while she ignored his glance.
He couched, and didn't know what to say. He doubted if anything he would say would even make sense to her, since she didn't remember a thing. "Still don't remember anything?" he asked at last, because the silence lasted just a little too long. He had never been good with girls, or ladies, or women. Neither of them. Well, as Dr. Whale he was, perhaps, a bit, because he had showed interest in them (or their physical appearance, mostly) but he had never been when he was himself. There wasn't any of Whale's interest in them left. Not in that way. Not now he was himself again.
She shook her head.
Just at that moment Victor saw Red appear in the corner of his eye, and he said: "I believe I should go." He stood up immediately and walked out of Granny's without even looking at her.
He felt the cold breeze blowing into his face, and breathed again. He felt guilty about ignoring her, but he wouldn't know what to say if he'd face her – so ignoring was the better option, however ungrateful that might seem.
"Dr. Whale!" a voice behind him called out, and he turned. It was Belle, standing a few metres away from him. Her look was puzzled. He couldn't tell what she was thinking. "Did… did I do something wrong?" the girl asked.
"No," he said, not looking at her. He turned his face to the ground and watched how small raindrops started to darken the streets of Storybrooke.
He saw how her silhouette moved towards him and felt how her hand touched his shoulder. "You can't run away forever," she said. It hit her. She had been Ruby's friend. Even though she didn't remember it, of course Ruby had come to visit her. Had she told her?
"I can try," he said. He felt drops of water running down his face and looked at her. Her eyes were looking at him in a soft kind of way, a kind way.
She smiled a bit. "I don't think that'll do you any good, do you?"
Quietly he stared at her, and then he shook his head. She was right. He couldn't keep running forever, and he knew that just as well as she did. "I just don't know what to say after… well…" He looked at her closely. He wanted to know if she knew and this was the only way he could test that.
"I know what happened, if that's what you're wondering about." She placed her other hand on his shoulder too. "Now please go talk to her. She won't bite."
Victor smiled. "Thank you," he said to the girl. "I'll try." As he turned around, he grinned. If she only knew.