I hope this whole thing makes sense. My allergies have been acting up, so I feel a little weird. And I know it's a little... choppy. Every horizontal line is supposed to represent a time jump.

Also, I like to think that Jefferson and Victor are friends in Storybrooke. They both need someone to hang out with.

Once every week, Storybrooke's very own morning show, Good Morning Storybrooke, would invite the town's best doctor – and notorious womaniser – Dr. Whale, to give the lovelorn citizens of the small town his romantic advice in his own segment, called Bedside Manner. Viewers would send him letters containing their love problems, and the doctor would tell them what they should do. Every week, piles of letters arrived at the studio.

Dr. Whale was great with romance. His true self, Victor Frankenstein… not so much. While Whale was a confident man with a way with the ladies, Victor was basically the exact opposite; an awkward scientist who just never seemed to be able to get interested in girls. He'd only been in love twice, and neither time had a relationship actually formed.

So since the curse broke (and the show actually started changing after 28 years), Victor had to channel Dr. Whale in an attempt to help everyone. It was difficult, since Dr. Whale was kind of a jerk, but Victor did have Whale's memories inside his head. He could do a good enough impression.

Victor hated to admit it, but he was lonely. Sometimes, helping other people with their love lives helped him forget that he had basically no one left in the world, except for one very special person.

"Okay, here's the last question for today." Victor said, smiling and opening the last envelope on the desk in front of him. He was glad that his segment was nearly over. All he wanted was to go home and sleep before his shift at the hospital. "Let's take a look. This question is from Dr. Whale. I really enjoy your segment every time it's on' - thank you - but I wanted to ask a question about you. Do you have someone special, and if so, how did you get together?"

"Well, Romeo, I'm afraid to say that I'm single. Sorry to disappoint. Or not." Victor winked at the camera. "That's all for today on Bedside Manner. I look forward to answering all your questions next week."

After the show, Victor didn't think about the question he'd been asked, and he certainly didn't think the citizens of Storybrooke would care. But oh, how wrong he was…

"Dr. Whale, you're a pretty appealing guy, how are you still single?"

"How can we trust you with our love lives if you're not in love, Doctor?"

"Doc, is there anyone you're interested in at the moment?"

The next week, Victor noticed something annoying about the letters he had been given. Contrary to his hopes, the citizens of Storybrooke remembered what he had said. He sighed, looking at the stack of opened letters in front of him. But as always, he put on his charming Dr. Whale smile. "It seems that none of this week's letters were actually asking for my advice… but I suppose I can answer them."

"One, I'm single because I haven't found the right person yet. Two, you can trust me because when have I ever let you down? And three, yes, I have someone I'm interested in. Unfortunately I don't think it will work out."

Finally, the end of his segment. Hopefully, the citizens would let it go now.

"Doctor, why won't it work out? You just have to tell them how you feel!"

"It's not that easy, I'm afraid. I knew this person a long time ago, before the curse, and we recently reconnected. Things have changed since then, so like I said, it won't work out."

"You expect us to listen to you, but you won't even take your own advice?"

"My advice is perfectly sound, and my problems are very complicated. Next question."

"Please tell us more about this special person!"

"As I said, they were a friend from a long time ago that I recently reconnected with. That's all I can say."

Ugh. Why did he even answer that original question asking him if he had a love life? Why didn't he just lie? Why did the producers have to keep picking these letters for him to answer on air?

Oh, that's right… the viewers apparently found the idea of the former womanising doctor having love trouble to be 'intriguing'. Ugh. This show wasn't supposed to be about him!

A few days later, Victor was sitting in Granny's Diner with an old friend. Having coffee with Jefferson (who preferred tea) was the highlight of Victor's week, unlike that stupid show. Every few days, the two would get together at Granny's to talk for a while. Sure, it was awkward sitting and talking with the guy he'd been secretly in love with for such a long time, but despite it all, Victor really felt happier around Jefferson. He always had.

"So, Doc, I saw you on Good Morning Storybrooke the other day." Jefferson said, flashing a bright smile at his friend. "It was pretty interesting."

"Really? You watch that crap?" Victor rested his chin on his hand, staring into his empty coffee cup.

"Of course! How could I miss you giving out your amazing advice?" The former portal jumped smirked, taking a sip of his tea.

"I wish everyone would get back to actually asking for advice instead of trying to tell me how to live my life. They don't really know me."

"But I know you, Doc, and I agree with them. Tell this person how you feel, they'd be lucky to have someone like you." Jefferson stood up from his chair, and stood beside Victor, placing a hand on the blond man's shoulder. "Sorry to leave so early, I have a meeting with the school principal. But take my advice. You deserve to be happy."

"Its fine, Jefferson. See you later." Victor gave a small smile and wave as Jefferson exited the diner.

Jefferson meant well, he truly did, but he had no idea what was really going on. How would Jefferson feel if he knew that Victor was in love withhim? Victor couldn't tell Jefferson how he felt. Everything was too complicated – Jefferson was a father now, and had been married to a woman in the past. There was a huge chance that Jefferson wasn't even capable of being attracted to him.

He didn't want to ruin their friendship. Jefferson was the only person Victor still had, and Victor was the only person Jefferson had beside Grace. Everything would be much better if Victor just bottled his feelings inside.

"Doctor, you should give this person a Living Valentine! It works, right?"

"Update us on your special person! Have you confessed to them yet?"

"Doc, just tell the person you love that you love them. I can just know they feel the same way!"

At this very moment, Victor wished he'd never stepped foot in this stupid studio and participated in this ridiculous segment. But he'd made the commitment and he was going to fulfil it, at least for now. He'd find a way to get out of it eventually.

"No offense, but I haven't even told anyone who the person is, so unless you can read minds, I highly doubt you know who they are and how they feel." He managed to say that all while keeping his Whale smile on, which he felt was an accomplishment. "Next week, how about we get back to asking me for my advice? That is what this segment is meant to be about, you know."

Victor again sat in Granny's across the table from Jefferson. Usually they didn't see each other on the same day Victor was on the show, but Jefferson texted him and asked if they could hang out, and how could he say no to that man?

When Victor looked at Jefferson, he didn't have his usual grin. This made Victor feel a little worried. What was wrong with Jefferson? Well, since Jefferson had wanted to see him on short notice, he might want to talk about it.

"What's wrong?" Victor asked, frowning at his friend in concern.

Jefferson fidgeted with his scarf, not making eye contact with Victor. "I have a confession to make, Doc."

The doctor sipped his coffee, watching Jefferson's face. "You can tell me anything." he tilted his head slightly when he inquired.

"Well, uh… I was trying to find out how a friend felt about me, but I think I might have only succeeded in pissing them off." Jefferson explained, still looking down. "It's a shame, because I've wanted to tell this friend my feelings for a while, but I wanted to know if they felt the same first."

"Jefferson, do you mean—"

"I sent that first letter to Good Morning Storybrooke. I was Romeo, and I tried to make it sound like a regular question. I just really wanted to know if you were seeing anyone. I'm really sorry that it got that bad." Jefferson laughed, but he looked incredibly nervous and a little upset. Victor had never seen Jefferson like this in the whole time they'd been friends.

"Jeff, its fine." Victor smiled. "Thank God you told me. That person I was talking about, the old friend? I was talking about you."

"You… you were?" Jefferson looked up immediately, no longer playing with his scarf.

"Of course. Other than Rumplestiltskin and Regina, you're the only person in town I knew before we got to Storybrooke, and I wouldn't call either of them friends." Victor watched as Jefferson's face lit up. "I will admit… I have had feelings for you for a long time, since not long after we first met. After you disappeared, I thought they went away… but once I saw you in Storybrooke, I knew they hadn't. I didn't want to say anything, I thought things would become awkward with you and Grace."

"Believe me, Doc, Grace has been bugging me to ask you out for ages. She was sure the old friend was me. She even wrote a letter in, telling you to just tell the person you loved them. But it was me who hesitated, I was nervous. I don't think I would have been that scared if it wasn't you…" Jefferson trailed off, looking a little embarrassed. "I was worried about making things awkward too, I didn't think such a notorious womaniser would love me."

Victor rolled his eyes and smirked. "Hey, Dr. Whale was the womaniser. Victor has… different tastes."

"I know, I know." Jefferson grinned, taking the hand Victor was resting on the table and holding it in his own. He took a deep breath, before saying; "I love you, Victor."

"I love you, too, Jeff." Victor went a little red, his smirk dying down to a shy smile. He hadn't felt this giddy since he was a young boy and his crush on his childhood friend was just forming. But unlike then, this time he actually had a chance.

"I'm sure all your fans will be happy to know you've finally sorted everything out." Jefferson said, and they both laughed.

"Dr. Whale, I saw you the other day holding hands with someone! Was he the person you were talking about?"

Victor smiled shyly, looking away from the camera. His Dr. Whale facade was gone for now. "Yeah, that's him. I was wrong, it is going to work out. Now that it's sorted out, you guys are going to get back to asking for my advice now, right?"

Wrong. Next week, stacks of letters came in asking when the wedding would be.

If anyone's wondering, the other person Victor loved (his childhood friend) was Henry Clerval, Victor's friend from the Frankenstein novel. Poor Vic :/

Next, I think I want to write some more Pre-curse!Mad Whale. If you have any prompts, please send them to me on Tumblr! My url is bleachblondfrankenstein :)