Here's part one of my Secret Santa gift for venivedivici
Title: Falling Stars [1/2]
Prompt: indigo, daisies, allegiant, key, stars
Rating: PG
Summary: Librarian!Belle and Pawnbroker!Gold, no curse
Being the only librarian in a small town is a quiet affair so Belle French doesn't think twice when she's offered the chance to get to know the town ogre a little better. With unknown consequences.
"You're early."
Belle still waited for a day that Gold would start with a simple 'good morning' when she arrived at Granny's. But for the last four weeks she got various comments. Something about the weather 'it's rather cold outside today, isn't it, dearie', her appearance 'orange is a dreadful color' or her punctuality 'are you planning to wolf down your breakfast'. A particular favorite of hers was 'did you decided to reread the whole library last night?'.
He on the other hand was always sitting sharply at eight thirty in 'his' booth, as Ruby put it, drinking coffee.
Belle wiggled out of her coat and scarf, piling it on her side. "I'll get a shipment of books today. Couldn't oversleep for that, don't you agree?" She finally sat down and smiled at him. He usually was more bearable when she smiled. On some days Belle engaged the thought it was solely because it was her that was smiling at him.
He grunted while folding his paper and taking the last sips of his coffee. He had picked a blue colored shirt with a matching tie today, looking perfectly put together like every day. She had always admired his impeccable taste in clothing.
"Breakfast?" Ruby put down a cup of tea in front of Belle and filled Gold's cup with coffee.
"Eggs in a basket, please." Over the last month Belle had eaten her way through Granny's breakfast menu several times.
"Got it. Anything for you, Mr. Gold?" He declined as always. Belle had never seen him eat something while they were sitting together.
It had all started four weeks ago when Belle had received a note that promised free breakfast as long as she sat with Gold. She thought it a joke, but did it nevertheless. And no bill came. Gold on the other hand was fairly surprised and more confused what the hell she wanted from him, but told her to suit herself.
This had continued for three days before Belle had felt like she was swindling him somehow. So she went to the pawnshop after work, showed him the note and waited for a reaction. She hadn't expected him to burst out in laughter. Apparently he had received a similar note.
She had been genuinely confused why he hadn't said something, but he didn't saw the appeal in free coffee. Belle however took full advantage of it. And for four weeks she ate a good breakfast every morning. But the main question remained: Who was paying her meals? Ruby refused to tell her, but she said it wasn't her or Gold for that matter.
"This is not Granny's style. She would say something straight out. I think it's Tony." She told Gold in the middle of their third week after he pointed out the patroness herself could be her secret benefactor. When she only received a blank stare she guessed he didn't knew who Tony was.
"The cook. He's a romantic. It would suit him." Gold still looked skeptical.
"You never know what's in a person's heart until you truly know them." He had snorted at that.
"You seem rather confided. Do you know him so well?"
"I'm the town's Librarian. I know what everyone reads." That didn't seem to convince him either.
"There's no bookstore in Storybrooke because the library handles everything, that's how it always been. You may buy your own books, but most people come to me when they need something to read."
"That must be a demure collection then." He had given her one of his half smiles, clearly enjoying himself.
"I don't judge. You wouldn't believe what some people are interested in…"
That seemed to trigger his curiosity, he'd leaned closer and started whispering conspiratorial. "And what might that be, Miss French?" He had stopped calling her dearie after the second week, but she couldn't get him to use 'Belle' or even 'Arabelle'. But she took the small victory and settled for 'Miss French'.
She had considered telling him that Astrid loved cheesy erotica in secret, or that Dove had read all books about pottery, knitting and, strangely enough, unicorns. Or how she found Dr. Whale wailing over Harry Potter.
She had told Gold about Dove's love for pottery, imagining it was a rather harmless secret to tell.
Ruby brought Belles mind back to the present when she positioned her plate in front of her. Tony had even treated her with crispy bacon.
"Seems like you might've been right. He could be you secret feeder." Gold sneered drinking his coffee.
Belle ignored his remark and scolded him for not eating around her bites. The man was way too scrawny. "I think Mr. Nozzo has enough expenses already without me interfering."
Not wanting to argue with him she asked if he would sum up the news for her instead.
But Storybrooke was as dull as always so it didn't take him that long to do it, the most recent being the planned playground for the children. Picking on straws she asked if he enjoyed the book he borrowed last. He didn't answer right away, definitely trying to avoid admitting that he didn't like it. As she had predicted from the start, but he had insisted on borrowing it.
She finished her tea and meal while he was finding a way around his pride. "It's really… tiresome." He finally conceded through gritted teeth after they had put on their coats. He pulled out a few bills and they left the diner.
"Told you, you wouldn't like Anna Karenina."
"Don't be smug, it doesn't suit you, love." The smile nearly split her face in two. He had never called her 'love' before, and obviously he didn't even realize it.
"I give you a better one, if you come around. See you later." She squeezed his arm and left before he would come to his senses.
She came to enjoy her mornings with him immensely.
Being the only librarian in a small town was a quite affair. Belle always longed for adventure but had been stuck in Storybrooke for as long as she could remember.
She had started wondering if her infatuation with Gold was an outlet for her carvings. But there were better ways to fulfill that need than to engage in conversation with the town ogre, as he liked to call himself.
Her mornings were quite, it was a rare occasion that someone strode into the library before noon. It got crowded when school was over and everyone remembered that a paper was due. She liked Tuesdays the most because she usually received new books that mornings.
She spent her morning cataloging and labeling the new books. Henry was the first to come through the door after school was out. His greeting was somehow subdued, his usual excitement lacking.
She saw him sit on his spot after retaining a book. Maybe he had had a fight with his mother again, but before Belle could investigate Ava burst through the door, begging for help.
The rain brought another dozen of children to her realm that day. This caused a bigger mess on the bookshelves than her inner neat freak could handle. Trying not to be too palpable she spent most of her afternoon wandering the isles, picking up some books and preventing further chaos.
She was rather astonished when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. The volume in the room dropped almost immediately.
"Mr Gold. What a surprise! How can I help?" She was smiling again, making her way to the circulation desk. She couldn't figure out why he was here at this time. His shop was open until seven and rent day wasn't until next Friday. But at least the children had quieted down.
"I seem to recall you promising me a better book if I sought you out. Well, here am I" He gave her Anna Karenina back. He must have had a boring day and his ego not being enough reason to finish the book.
"Right. Give me one second." She wandered back to the crime section, scanning the shelves for her target. She took her time then and watched him through the bookcases. He leaned heavily on his cane, his ankle was probably aching up. He was studying the package she'd arranged for Mary Margaret to pick up.
"Indigo Books and Music. Never heard of it." He pointed at the label after she returned.
"Canadian retail store. I got a good discount." She handed him the book.
"The Surgeon?" He eyed her skeptical but made no move to refuse it altogether.
"You'll like it, trust me. Won't sleep all night." Her professional pride was acting up, she would bestow a sleepless night upon him and if it was the last thing she would do.
"Well, since we obviously found out what I'm going to do with my evening, what are your fancy plans for tonight?" The change of topic took her by surprise. He tried hard to appear calm she realized suddenly. If she hadn't spent so much time with him lately she'd probably never noticed.
"If by' fancy plans' you mean helping Daria all night tailoring costumes for her caroling group, then yeah, pretty fancy." She waited for him to make his point.
"I can imagine how Miss Marin coaxed you into the process." His patronizing had lost his edge over the day.
She shrugged her shoulders. "You know me. I'm an allegiant soul."
"Allegiant?" He frowned upon her choice of word.
"Yeah, that's my word of the day, see." She laughed shyly picking up the calendar and showing it to him. "Yesterday it was blandish and the day before palpable."
"And here I thought you were the most literate of them all."
Now she was laughing whole heartedly while she put the calendar back to its place. "You live and learn."
"Well, I wish you a merry night. Try not to lose your fingers." She gave him a little wave before he left. And just like that the volume increased again. She considered calling him back just to maintain the silence.
Belle generally closed the library around six. On some days however this didn't apply.
When she saw Henry still sitting at the table pretending to read a book she knew she wouldn't close up. And she always saw the difference between him killing time and being truly lost in a story.
Putting her keys back into her purse she sat beside him so they could read along together.
It was a detective story, unusual for Henry. She couldn't imagine him growing tired of fairy tales.
"Belle? Are you in here?" Daria's voice came from the door. Soon enough the red-head appeared caring a large box.
"Oh, you found an extra pair of hands, great!" Her grin reminded Belle of a shark chasing its prey.
Henry looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Should've left when you had the chance." Belle whispered into his ear. When he turned his head in her direction she winked.
"Here, take the scissors and cut this according to the measurements." Daria handed him a pair of scissors, measuring tape, a spindle with gold band and a paper.
"And you sew those together. Let's work."
Belle started sewing the hemline of what appeared to be a white dress.
"What would be a good present for a girl?" Belle stopped her work and looked at Henry who seemed rather interested in the gold band, his ears a deep shade of red.
"That's hard to say. It depends on the girl." Daria offered while ruffling together the white fabric in her hands. "What are her hobbies? What does she like?"
"Stuffed animals, rabbits, and tea parties." Henry had a crush on little Page. Better than another fight with his mother, Belle guessed.
"Invite her for a cup of cocoa to Granny's." Belle suggested.
"And try giving her flowers. All girls love flowers." Daria added.
"What kind of flowers?"
"Picking wildflowers is always a beautiful way of showing how much you care, but I doubt you find some right now." Daria mused. On some days Belle wasn't sure where exactly her friends mind was.
"Well you can always go to my Dad and ask for daisies or sunflowers. And tell him I send you." Belle tried to be helpful. The poor boy obviously felt uncomfortable enough already.
"All done" Henry announced putting the utensils on the table. "Thanks so much for the help. Bye" He made a hasty retreat before Daria found another job for him. They packed up and moved the tailoring into Belle's apartment.
"Wildflowers?" Belle asked again after she poured each of them a glass of wine.
"Conrad gave them to me once." That explained it. Daria had been pinning after him since her return to Storybrooke a year ago. Daria wasn't like Ruby who had no problem in pursuing a guy she liked. She was more like Belle, dropping hints were their type of game. But when the object of your affection didn't take the hint it turned out to be more problematic than it needed to be.
"Any news there?" Belle observed her friend closely, but she seemed to feel more frustration than anything else.
"No and I don't wanna talk about it right now. How was breakfast with Gold?" At the beginning Daria and Ruby had called her insane for spending six mornings a week eating with him. Now they were plotting to get them on a real date.
"Fine, as usual. He was here today, too." They resumed their work, Daria switching between singing and humming along.
"I think he was on the verge of asking me out." Belle finally admitted. She had replayed their encounter several times over the last hours. There was no other explanation, or at least she thought so.
"What happened?" And there was the problem. Belle couldn't think of anything that had might've caused him to flee. It would've been a shame if he simply changed his mind.
"Maybe it was the audience?" Daria suggested while pouring them their second glasses.
Belle never thought about Gold's general relation to children, but at that rate she was happily accepting any explanation Daria was giving her.
The next morning came too soon for Belles liking. And she found herself very groggy and tired at Granny's where Gold was already waiting for her.
"Long night, love?" She just dropped her things and slumped onto her seat. There was no need to tell him that her session with Daria turned out longer than she thought and contained more wine than she was willing to acknowledge. And his smug grin wasn't helping either. Belle had considered ditching breakfast at Granny's but she'd dismissed the thought quickly.
She accepted that he would never admit that he had in fact spent the whole night reading. Just as she would never tell him that she nearly lost a finger in the process of helping Daria.
She took it as a good omen however when he appeared Wednesday noon and asked for the second book of the series.
Things were normal for once. No one was talking about Mary Margaret's and David's affair, Kathryn seemed to enjoy her life in Boston, Regina wasn't harassing her over the public funding's.
Naturally, that wasn't going to last.
Belle prided herself for being unflappable. She could take anything life threw at her. But obviously she'd been wrong. And the worst part was that her demise faced her in the simple form of a bouquet of daisies. Innocent and beautiful daisies. There was no card, no sign whatsoever who might have sent them. She had entered the library and the vase stood on the center of the circulation desk.
'I like you too', that's what they meant in flower language, of course she knew that, she was a florists' daughter and a literature freak after all. She starred at the flowers, commanding them to tell her who brought them there.
Deep down she knew that they were from Gold. Her first thought however had been that she somehow misunderstood Henry and he had a crush on her. Before she reminded herself that she neither liked stuffed animals or rabbits.
So she displayed patience and waited for a logical explanation. Or as logical as it could get in Storybrooke. It was rent day after all, he would be there sooner or later.
The better question was how she would keep herself occupied without losing her mind first. There were no books to catalog, the shelves were organized, this was going to be a long day.
She called Ruby and Daria over for lunch.
"You don't think they are from your feeder?" Ruby asked confused.
Belle tried to explain that this seemed more personal. The note had been more of a joke, and it required Gold's presence after all. She hadn't been treated singularly. The flowers were special, they had a message- I like you, too- which required at least some kind of acknowledgement on her part.
Daria pointed out there was the issue with the locked door. There was only a hand full of people who had access to the library's key. "You think Gold's one of them?"
Even if he wasn't, Belle was sure a locked door wasn't something he would worry about. This seemed to be more and more his play. There was no one else who could pull of something like this.
Neither one of her friends seemed convinced that he had his hands in this, but there was also no way of proving her wrong.
They parted, agreeing to disagree, and Belle promised to keep them updated.
The time was passing by agonizing slow after she was left to her own devices. And since the weather cleared up all children were playing outside.
When Gold finally entered the library she almost lost her mind, already making plans to destroy the ticking clock. She rushed to the circulation desk to greet him. Obviously someone had thrown a fit over the rent and soured his mood.
She fetched the envelope with her rent and gave it to him. He nodded and pocketed it without a comment. Then his gaze fell finally on the daisies that still held their place.
"I got them this morning. They just stood there when I entered." She watched him like a hawk, hoping for a reaction, but his face remained impassive.
"Your feeder again?" She had never heard his voice so bugged out.
"Unless you got one too I doubt it." She quipped hoping he would cheer up. It didn't work.
"Your father then?"
"He hasn't got a key. And he would've told me."
"Who's left then?" He turned his gaze to her and looked at her.
"I thought it might've been you." She said finally, realizing they wouldn't go anywhere if she didn't speak up.
"You think I send you this pest plant?" His face scrunched up in disgust.
"That's not a pest plant! It's a really nice bouquet!" She didn't understand why he was so adamant. He'd been flirting with her for the past weeks, he seemed to like her genuinely.
"And why on earth would you think I would send you flowers? Getting a bit self-absorbed, dearie?" That hit closer to home than she would have expected. She hadn't been 'dearie' a long time, and it hurt like hell that he would put her down to it again.
"You're a coward, Gold. I don't know what your sudden problem is, but you could at least admit the truth." She had problems containing her voice.
"There's nothing to admit, dearie. No man in his right mind would ever send you flowers."
"Well, then take your pest plant back!" and before she could think any better she grabbed the bouquet and threw it at him. It bumped from his face and landed between their feet.
Belle was frozen in place. She couldn't believe what she'd just done. When he finally opened his eyes she anticipated anger and fury, instead he looked calm, defeated. He even bent to pick up the flowers and put them back into her hands. "You would have never thrown them into anyone else's face" His statement was calm, like they hadn't spent the last minute shouting at each other. She starred at him, filled with regret but no words would leave her mouth. And then he was gone.
She didn't even think about going to Granny's the next day. She couldn't even remember being so ashamed in her life. The most part of her sleepless night she spent asking herself why their fight had escalated so quickly. In a desperate attempt to get her mind off things she went to the Flower shop after work and offered her assistance.
Her father was so happy about the offer that he simply played along and didn't investigate further. He let her handle the books and went around the shop fixing things.
"Dad?" she asked after a while, "Did you sell daisies on Thursday or Friday?" He was the only florist in town, and she had recognized the wrapping paper. But his entries of the week didn't show that he'd sold any daisies.
He thought about it. "Not that I remember, why?"
"I got daisies on Friday" She didn't want to tell him anything else, but as soon as the words were said, she knew she had made a mistake. He knew something was wrong immediately.
"What did you do?" Moe stopped working and gave her a pointed look. She considered her options hoping he would settle for the short story.
"I might have jumped to conclusions and accused someone to have send them, and being a coward for not admitting the truth?"
"You accused a poor man for sending you flowers?"
"I never said it was a man…" Belle tried to beat about the bush.
"So it was a woman then?" Even that didn't seem to bother him that much.
"No. Dad you know the flower language! You know that they mean 'I like you too'! And he was clearly giving signals." Even in her own ears she sounded stupid.
"What did you do?" He put his hands on his hips and gave her a stern glance. He knew her long enough to know she did foolish things when she was upset.
"I might have thrown the bouquet at him…"
"Belle?!" He was horrified. Thank God she hadn't mentioned Gold or else he surely would've had a heart attack.
"I lost it, ok?! I was hurt and…"
"That doesn't excuse throwing a bouquet at him! Call that poor bastard and apologize!" Belle slumped into the chair. She knew he was right. And he would keep pushing till she gave in.
She finished her work and went upstairs afterwards to have a little privacy for her humiliation. She sat on the couch and opened her phone, scrolling through her numbers finding the one for Gold's shop.
She stared it down for a moment before finally dialing.
"Gold?"
Bile rose in her throat and she kept swallowing it. "Hey, it's me, Belle. Listen… I want to apologize. I don't know what got into me. Maybe it really wasn't you who left those dratted flowers."
There was a long pause before he answered. "No Belle, I did send them."
She held her breath and counted to ten in an attempt to keep calm.
"You're an asshole!"
She slammed her phone shut wishing he would break his neck so she wouldn't have to see that bastard ever again.
She didn't go to Granny on Monday morning, or any other morning the whole week.