Hey guys!
So after my Captain Beauty One Shot, I have decided to indeed continue the story!
But I chose to begin it before the scene from "Whom will you choose?" - I think it's much more fun. At least for me as I simply love the idea of Hook x Belle marriage chemistry:D
My apologies for any mistakes - English is not my first language.
So what's left to say is ...: enjoy and let me know what you think!
Cheers,
J
Belle stood in her library in front of the book shelves, back turned towards the entrance and admiring her latest purchase in her hands. She ran her fingers lovingly over the hard cover of the heavy leather book, tracing the golden letters that spelled "Grimm's Fairy Tales", and inhaling the pleasant scent of ink and old pages. She carefully opened the old book that contained several of her most favorite stories.
The brunette librarian smiled softly to herself as her eyes wandered over the familiar tales' names, evoking immediately images of far off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, princes in disguise …
"Interesting book, dearie?"
Startled to the core, Belle whirled around, and the precious book fell noisily to the ground. In front of her, Mr. Gold, the town's pawnbroker, was standing, smirking lightly at her.
She brought one hand above her fluttering heart, gasping for air.
"Mr. Gold!" she exclaimed with a gasp. "You startled me!"
It was not the first time that he had done that. For an elder man with a cane, Mr. Gold had the admirable and unsettling ability to always sneak up on her.
He raised his brows and gave her an innocent look, but the light smirk on his face gave him away.
"I'm very sorry, dearie." he replied. "Startling you had never been my intention."
Belle rolled her eyes.
"I think you are lying." she replied and bent down to grab the book from the floor.
When she straightened herself again, her heart stopped for a moment. Mr. Gold was now standing significantly closer, only inches away, and looking straight into her big, blue eyes. He had never been so close before, and Belle could smell the scent of his rich cologne, as well as his individual scent of herbs and leather. His eyes were of a deep, dark brown with flecks of gold and Belle could detect a certain heat within him.
"I think you are right." he purred, and Belle could feel his warm breath on her cheek.
Being so close to Storybrook's most powerful man was getting more and more uncomfortable and out of instinct, Belle took a step backwards, bumping into the hard surface of the bookshelf. She clasped the heavy book in front of her chest as if for protection. Mr. Gold just gave her a mischievous smile and moved even closer.
"A new book, dearie?" he asked.
He slowly lifted his hand, and Belle's eyes flickered nervously towards it. For the slightest of moments, she thought he would reach out and touch her. But instead, he wrapped his slender fingers almost lovingly around the thick leather of the book in Belle's hand and took it from her to have a closer look at her leathern protective shield.
"Yes." she finally replied with a hoarse voice. She just stood there, trapped between the enigmatic Mr. Gold and the bookshelf, and with her heart beating rapidly in her chest. The town's pawnbroker always had the same effect on her: she found his presence disturbing and attracting at the same time, and his closeness always left her head spinning. But he had never come this close, and the small librarian found it harder and harder to breathe.
"Fairytales?" he asked with raised brows and an amused expression washed over his face. Belle swallowed hard as he raised his eyes again and looked at her with a strange gleam in his eyes.
"You know…" he continued, his voice becoming a little bit hoarse. "… most people read fairytales because real life is not what they had dreamed of to be. Because they are unhappy."
Belle's eyes narrowed immediately at his words and the previous feeling of a strange excitement turned into annoyance. Her blood boiled, just like it always did when Gold implied that she was unhappy or leading an unsatisfactory life. She grabbed the book from his hand and glared daggers at him.
"Well, I'm not 'most people'" she snapped and shoved the book blindly into an empty spot in the bookshelf.
Mr. Gold just let out a low chuckle.
"Oh that I know, dearie." he finally replied and his voice sounded strangely soft. "That I know."
He was leaning heavily on his cane with head cocked and eying her with an odd expression on his face. But before either Mr. Gold or Belle could voice another word, the strange silence between them was interrupted by a strong, male voice.
"What the hell are you doing here, Gold?!"
Belle felt a wave of relief washing over her as she saw her husband standing at the entrance of the library, eyes glistering dangerously at the older man.
Mr. Gold sighed and finally made some space between him and Belle, turning to look at the dark haired man.
"Mr. Jones." the pawnbroker greeted with an icy voice, not even bothering to hide the annoyance the other man's sudden appearance had caused. "Work's already done for today?"
Belle could see how her husband's body tensed and he clenched his teeth.
"I was asking what you were doing in my wife's library, Gold." he growled, choosing to ignore the other man's question completely.
A mocking smirk appeared on the pawnbroker's face, but his eyes stayed aloof and distant.
"Well, a very good question, Mr. Jones." he sneered. "What could I possibly want in a library?"
He chuckled slightly as a response to Jones' narrowed eyes.
"But then again…" he continued tauntingly. "I guess the passion for the written art is something you will never understand."
For the first time, Jones moved his gaze away from the pawnbroker and looked at his beautiful wife. She was standing at the counter desk, meeting his gaze with a small smile on her face.
"Oh I don't think it's 'the pleasure of the written word' that keeps leading you here." Jones spat in return and looked back at Mr. Gold.
Mr. Gold gave Jones a sly, knowing smile that was pure fuel to the anger Jones was feeling in his body.
"In fact…" Mr. Gold replied after some moment of tensed silence and turned towards Belle. "… In fact it was both pleasure and business that made me choose to visit you today, Mrs. Jones."
Belle cocked her head and eyed him suspiciously.
"Then, how can I help you Mr. Gold?" Belle asked politely and offered him a small smile, desperately trying to smooth the situation as good as possible.
While speaking, her husband moved towards her until he was standing right next to her, crossing his arms before his chest and giving the pawnbroker in front of them a challenging look.
Mr. Gold ignored Killian Jones completely and offered Belle one of his rare charming smiles.
"Well as it seems, I've acquired some old books which are – unfortunately – damaged. I need you to take a look at them to see if it's possible to save them."
Belle's face immediately lit up and she smiled broadly at him.
"Of course, I would love to." Belle exclaimed and an unmistakable excitement was filling her voice.
Mr. Gold nodded in response and his face broke into a satisfied smile.
"Very well." he finally said and made his way slowly towards the library's door. "I'll expect you tomorrow at 8.00 sharp, Mrs. Jones."
"Oh I'm so sorry, Mr. Gold, I'm afraid I won't be able to make that time!" she replied and Mr. Gold stopped and turned around with raised brows to look at her. "I'm opening the library at 8.00."
Mr. Gold gave her a mischievous smile when he answered.
"Oh I wasn't talking about the morning, dearie."
Jones' head immediately snapped up.
"I think not." he growled and flashed his eyes angrily at Gold. "My wife has better things to do than examining some old man's dusty books on a Friday evening."
"Such as?" Gold replied with a calm voice and chin held high.
"Such as spending an incredible time in our marriage bed!" Killian Jones replied as he wrapped one arm around his wife to pull her closer against his own body.
"Killian!" Belle hissed with eyes wide open, and her cheeks were turning a deep red from shock and embarrassment.
Gold's hand tightened around the handle of his cane, and for the shortest of moments, Belle thought he might use it as an angry weapon against her husband.
"Maybe I could stop by tomorrow afternoon?" she suggested sweetly and brought her body protectively between her furious husband and the dangerous looking cane.
"I'm afraid I'm busy all day, dearie." Gold answered. For the first time, his voice sounded cold and indifferent when he addressed her. "It's tomorrow evening or I'll find someone else."
A victorious smile appeared on Killian's face.
"Well, then good luck with that, Mr. Gold."
Belle turned her head and glared at her husband.
"Would you just stop it?" she hissed, earning an angry look from Killian. But he stayed silent.
"Tomorrow evening is fine." Belle finally answered, head turning back to the pawnbroker.
Mr. Gold's face relaxed as the corners of his mouth twitched into a triumphant smile.
"Good choice, dearie." he declared. "You may rest assured that I will pay you handsomely for your …" he waved his hands gracefully through the air as if looking for the right word. "… inconveniences."
Belle offered him a small smile.
"That's very generous of you." the petite brunette replied politely. "But the prospect of working with old books is reward enough."
Mr. Gold's eyes sparkled with a certain mischievous gleam as he answered.
"Be careful, dearie. You shouldn't tell the town's monster your weaknesses too easily."
"Is there anything else you wanted?" Killian's growling voice sounded through the tensed air like a sharp knife.
The softness on Mr. Gold's face vanished at once, and he shot the other man a warning look.
"Indeed not." he finally answered and turned around to face the library's entrance again.
"Until tomorrow, Mrs. Jones." he called out, leaving the library without looking back at the couple.