This story is a follow up to my other story, Unexpected Meetings and Unusual People, but you do not need to read it to understand this one. In this story when Hook shot Belle she didn't fall over the town line and never lost her memories. Pretty much everything else played out the same except Neal meets Belle for the first time on the docks and Belle was with the group while Rumple was literally on his deathbed. Now that the danger has passed, Cora dead, Regina mourning, and the Charming family taking a much deserved break, Belle seeks to learn more about Neal. Neal has no idea how to deal with it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of the characters.
Neal was stuck. He found more than his fair share of trouble over the years, but he always found a way out of them. He wouldn't say he was proud of it exactly, but as former thief there was some form of pride involved in slipping out of trouble. He even escaped Neverland right under Pan's smug little nose, which was no small feat. Of course he was the son of the king of loopholes. Quick escapes and trickery ran in his blood. If that was the case how did he find himself waiting at a diner to have lunch with his estranged father's girlfriend?
Everything happened so fast. He had a less than stellar reunion with his father and he finally got to tell him off for all the crap his old man put him through. Then he discovered he had son with his first love and inadvertently abandoned him as his father had done to him. He really, really, shouldn't have listened to August. Hook attacked and nearly killed his father. They raced back to Storybrooke where they had to fight off the Evil Queen from the Snow White story aka Regina aka his son's adoptive mother and her even eviler mother, Cora. They wanted to use his father's dagger to kill him and take his power to kill all of them. That was going to be a memorable family reunion to say the least.
In the midst of all that he met Belle the woman Emma teasingly introduced as his stepmother. He nearly swallowed his tongue when he heard that. It was an awkward first meeting to say the least, but the business of stopping a pair of evil sorceresses from killing all of them didn't give them time to dwell or socialize. Things looked bleak for a while, so bleak that he and his father actually talked, with no yelling involved. Damn, just when he figured his old man out he had to be sincere and honest. He knew he could never stop loving him. He was the Dark One. He had done many terrible deeds before and after he left, but there was still the good man who loved him with all his heart underneath it all. The good man broke out of the darkness just long enough to reach him. This time when his father apologized he listened. It was that moment he realized he didn't want to lose his papa. After all the world hopping, all the adventures, and all changes he went through he was still a stupid lost boy holding out for his papa it seemed.
Belle looked as miserable as he felt. He wanted to give them their privacy, but that wasn't an option thanks to the magical barrier that was their last line of defense keeping them in the back of his father's shop. His father said things. He showed emotions Neal didn't know his old man still had. This mysterious Belle poured out her own emotions. God did he feel awkward being there for their dying declarations of love, but a part him was happy. His father loved Belle with all his heart and she loved him just as much. He didn't understand why or how she came to love the Dark One, but she did. She wasn't taking his possible early departure well. That's when he did something stupid. He promised her they would get through this together. He reached out to her and hadn't realized he done so until he said it. Naturally his father pulled through in the most underhanded way imaginable. He used Emma's mother to kill Cora as some kind of magical life trade he still didn't quite understand. The family reunion turned sour fast after that. He was so angry at his father pulling through by manipulating someone into doing his dirty work for him. The Dark One used them to protect his precious power and get rid of the threat to it in one foul sweep. Nothing had changed at all it seemed.
Except, those words weren't lies. For the first time in a long while his father looked him in the eye and he couldn't find any deceit. Regardless of the plan he had in place he still feared he would die. Everything his father said to him was true. Neal knew he was probably an idiot, but he was happy his old man had survived. For better or for worse things worked out. Cora wouldn't succeed his father as the Dark One, which meant all their lives were spared. Henry was safe and sound. His father made it through. Despite all the anger that was still there a part of him was happy his father would be sticking around. Neal needed to cool down before their next meeting, but he was happy to have his father around. They had time to try to mend their relationship. He liked having that option rather than having it ripped away from him entirely.
On the down side his hasty words encouraged Belle to try to reach out to him. It was too late to stop her. He couldn't just blow her off. She was just so, sweet and innocent. She suckered him in. She had to have because he agreed to have lunch with her the next day. He stupidly asked for his father not to come. Neal was so pissed at his father's actions that he requested the one person who could act as their buffer not to be present. Now he was having lunch with his father's girlfriend alone.
If only he could have brought Henry, but he had school. Emma reminded him that the kid missed a few days thanks to the road trip his father forced upon them. He was in no position to argue. He was just lucky Emma was letting him see Henry at all with the crap he pulled. Again he found himself realizing he really shouldn't have listened to August back then. Here he was now, sitting alone in a booth, being gawked at every so often by people who were unfamiliar with new faces popping up in town. This was going to go well he thought sarcastically.
"Baelfire." He flinched at the sound of his old name. It had been years since anyone called him that. As soon as he left Neverland he decided to ditch his old name and pick something new for a fresh start. Baelfire had too much baggage attached to it. He grown to despise it for everything it represented.
"It's Neal," he snapped. She was caught by surprise. He felt like the biggest jerk in the world. Belle wouldn't know any of the hell he went through. She wouldn't know he had grown to despise his original name for its reminder of the parents who abandoned him. "Sorry," he muttered. She said it was no problem and took her seat.
What was with this woman? He snapped at her and she was the one who looked apologetic. No one was that nice. She had to be working some angle. They sat there in awkward silence for a few seconds. This was going to be a long lunch. Already he was dreading this as a horrible mistake.