Author Notes: Written for the Fall 2015 OUAT femslash exchange over on ao3. My giftee was the100vaticancameos.
When Ruby had invited Aurora out for birthday drinks, it had been primarily out of desperation for something to do. Aurora was nice enough, but younger than Ruby, more naïve and a hell of a lot less up for a party. But Ruby was bored, and of all of their coworkers she was the one closest in age to Aurora. It was only right that she take her out of her birthday.
At this point, however, Ruby was two drinks in and thinking maybe a night home with a book might have been less boring than this. She sipped her drink and scanned the room, cocktail sloshing as she set it back down on the table. "What about that guy?" she asked, nudging her head across the room. "I bet you could get him to buy you a drink."
Aurora shook her head without even bothering to look at the man in question. "I'm not going to flirt with other men just because Philip isn't here tonight."
"Come on," Ruby teased. "Live a little!"
Aurora pressed her lips together tightly. "It wouldn't be right."
Ruby knew she shouldn't keep pushing, but her head was throbbing and she needed a distraction. "What's not right is Philip working overtime on your birthday," she argued. "Come on, you need to get laid."
"You're only saying that because you want to live through me," Aurora said lightly. She didn't even seem annoyed, which was a miracle, really, since Ruby was annoying even herself at this point. "It won't work."
Ruby slumped down on her stool. "Like hell it won't." It had been a stupid idea anyway. Aurora had been dating Philip for almost five years now; she wasn't going to stray just because he'd been notably absent lately. Ruby was just so desperate for something, anything, to happen. It had been almost a month since she herself had gotten laid, partially due to a comment from her grandmother about how she couldn't seem to keep guys around past breakfast. Besides, the pickings had been incredibly slim lately. Tonight's crowd was evident of that.
"Anyway, I'm opening tomorrow," Aurora said. "I don't want to be late for my shift. Your grandmother's a little bit scary."
"Believe me, I know," Ruby said. "She must like you, though. She doesn't let just anyone open."
Having worked at her grandmother's café since before she was old enough not to be in violation of child labor laws meant that Ruby knew Granny's MO better than anyone. Aurora might be new to the barista game, but she was everything Granny expected out of an employee: reliable, cheerful, so kind that she wouldn't even think of saying something rude to a customer. All traits that Ruby herself was still struggling with.
"I hope so," Aurora said. "I really enjoy working for her."
The last thing Ruby wanted to do was let the conversation move too quickly to work. That would drive home the point that really, they were just work friends. Even if it was true, she wanted to feel like for at least one night she could be out with a friend friend. She cast around for a subject, and landed on a guy at a corner table across from a beautiful girl.
"What about him?" she asked, pointing. "I bet you could steal him away from that girl."
It had been meant as a joke, but Ruby regretted it instantly when Aurora turned, looked at the guy, and went even paler than usual.
"What?" she asked. Aurora didn't say anything, just continued staring and suddenly, it clicked. "Is that Philip?"
"It doesn't matter," Aurora said quietly, finally looking away from the couple and down at the table. She fiddled with the rim of her margarita glass.
"Like hell it doesn't. Any idea who the girl is?" Ruby started to get to her feet. "Want me to bitch them out?"
Aurora shook her head, then put a hand on Ruby's arm. "Please don't go over there and yell at him, I don't want you to make a scene."
Ruby was speechless. "You don't want—Aurora, don't you care that he's been lying to you? Don't you even want to know how long this has been going on?"
"I'll talk to him about it later."
"Well, I want to talk to him about it now." Ruby said, because finally something was happening, and she couldn't help but feel that it was her fault for wishing for it. She pushed out her stool and stalked over to the corner table. The girl was very pretty, with long black hair pulled away from her face with bobby pins. Ruby ignored her and poked Philip hard on the shoulder.
"You're Philip, right?" she asked.
He looked up at her and frowned. "Yes. I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"No, but I work with Aurora. You know, your girlfriend of the last five years?"
Philip paled.
"Girlfriend?" the woman across from him demanded. "You- you never said anything about that." She turned to Ruby. "I'm sorry, I swear I didn't know."
Ruby turned back to Philip and crossed her arms. "So not only are you lying to Aurora, you're lying to this other girl too?" She could almost feel sorry for her, too; the girl looked as shocked as Aurora had.
"My name is Mulan."
"Didn't ask," Ruby said. Aurora appeared next to her, so quietly that she hadn't even heard her approach. Ruby thought she was about to get told off for disregarding Aurora's wishes, but instead Aurora turned to Philip.
"Overtime, huh?" she asked, before turning away. "Ruby, I think I'd like to go home now."
"I'll walk you to the bus," Ruby replied immediately. She led Aurora to the door, shooting one last glare at Philip. When they got outside, she turned back to Aurora and said, "That son of a bitch. Are you okay?"
"I can't believe Philip would do something like that," Aurora said quietly, a few tears falling from her eyes. "I thought he was better than that."
"I'm sorry," Ruby said, uncomfortably aware that she had no context for what Aurora was going through. Five years was about four years and nine months longer than her longest relationship. To spend that long with another person, and then to be betrayed like that—
"Let me know if there's anything I can do," she finally said.
They were a block away from the bus stop when the sound of footstep behind them had Ruby glancing around to make sure there wasn't some creep following them. Instead, she saw the girl who had been with Philip walking towards them at a quick clip. "What do you want?" she demanded.
Mulan ignored her and walked the remaining few steps towards them. "Aurora, right?" she asked.
"Yes," Aurora said, raising her chin and giving her most regal look. "What do you want?"
"I came to apologize." Mulan looked down. "Whatever you might think of me, I swear I wouldn't have been there if I'd known you existed."
Aurora's face softened. "Then I guess Philip's actions hurt both of us."
"Yes." Mulan hesitated. "I understand if it would be too painful, but if not, I'd like it if we could talk more."
"I have to work early tomorrow," Aurora said, looking torn. After a moment, she added, "I can give you my phone number, if you'd like it."
"That would be nice."
Ruby watched as the girls exchanged numbers, shivering a bit in the cold and wondering what Granny would think to see her home so early. Maybe she could score a few points with her this way. She was going to be different now, just like she'd promised herself. She would prove to her grandmother that she could be responsible and prove to the world that she was more than just her looks and prove to herself that she could be whoever she wanted to.
If only she knew who she wanted to be.
Ruby and Aurora's work schedules didn't line up for the next few days, so when Thursday rolled around Ruby was dying to know if anything new had happened with the Philip situation. Unfortunately, the café was too busy that morning for conversation, and it wasn't until eleven in the morning that things calmed down enough that they could take their breaks.
"Granny, we're taking ten!" Ruby hollered into the back room.
"Make sure you actually take ten, and don't stay for fifteen like you did yesterday," Granny warned.
Ruby all but dragged Aurora over to a table on the side of the café. "So, what have you been up to?" she asked as they sat down. She barely resisted the urge to waggle her eyebrows suggestively, which she knew Aurora hated.
"You're asking about Philip, aren't you?"
Ruby held up her hands. "Can't blame a girl for being curious." Besides, she had been the one to call Philip out on his shitty behavior, that should give her a free pass to be a little bit nosy.
"We haven't spoken," Aurora admitted. "He called once, but I deleted the voicemail. I don't want to hear from him anymore."
"Good for you," Ruby said. She considered reaching over for a high-five but didn't think Aurora would go for it. "Serves him right for picking up some bimbo on the night of your birthday."
"She's not a bimbo," Aurora said, face turning red. "And he hadn't just picked her up. They'd been dating for a while."
"That's even—wait a minute, how do you know that?"
"Mulan invited me out to coffee the other day so we could talk, since we're going through the same thing. She's really nice." Aurora played with the corner of her napkin as she said this, refusing to make eye contact.
Ruby's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"
"Yes. Oh, by the way, she wanted me to pass something on to you," Aurora said. "She thought you might be interested."
"Give me a sec, I'm still stuck on the fact that you got coffee with the woman Philip was seeing behind your back," Ruby said, shaking her head.
"She's nice," Aurora repeated. "We're seeing each other again next week."
"So what did she want you to pass on?" Ruby asked. What could a girl she'd barely met possibly have to say to her?
Aurora answered by sliding her phone across the table. "Look this over. One of her friends just posted this ad on Craigslist. I know you're trying to prove that to your grandmother that you're responsible and I thought maybe this would help."
Ruby scrolled through the ad.
Fake Date Needed—ASAP
In need of a fake date? Me too. Desperately. My father does not seem to understand that my life is my choice, and as a result is attempting to talk me into dating his boss. The man in question is much older than me, and the only reason I can think for my father to do this is that he's angling for promotion. From the looks of things, he's already suggested this to his boss, who is far too on board with the plan and now refuses to leave me alone. What I need is a person who can pretend that we are dating for long enough to help me gracefully extricate myself from this situation.
About Me: My name is Belle. I am 24 years old and currently in school working on my Master's degree in Library Science.
What am requesting: We make several public appearances together and make it clear that I am taken so the man in question backs off.
What I am offering: I'll appear at up to five events of your choosing for whatever fake dating needs you might have. Examples include: Showing up as your date to a wedding (NOT your own), making small talk with your family at the holidays, and PDA for when you're trying to get rid of people at bars who won't stop hitting on you.
Contact me if you are interested and are:
-Between the age of 23-27
-Willing to engage in mild to moderate PDA
-A good liar (NON-NEGOTIABLE; I can't have this falling apart on me)
Gender not important.
"Mulan says her full name is Isabelle Lacey French," Aurora said as Ruby finished reading. "They met at college. Mulan was part of a club who went to parties to help girls get out of bad situations. From what I can tell, Mulan helped her through a bad acid trip. She's wonderful that way. Mulan, I mean."
"So she's a party girl, huh?" Ruby asked, scrolling down to the picture Belle had included. She looked every bit the demure librarian, and honestly, that wasn't the type Ruby usually went for, but Aurora was right that this might be the sort of girl she could bring home to Granny.
"I'm not sure. I can ask Mulan, if you'd like."
"You don't have to. God, look at all these application questions she wrote," Ruby said, scrolling down to a very long list of things she had to answer. "You'd think she was hiring a criminal mastermind, not looking for a fake date."
"Maybe she's doing both," Aurora joked, reaching over so that Ruby could hand her back her phone. "Do you think you'll apply?"
"Sure," Ruby said, trying to keep her tone light. "Who doesn't want to be hired as a fake date and possible mastermind?"
"I'm glad. I told Mulan a lot about you, you know. That's why she suggested you look at the ad. She thought you and Belle would get along."
Ruby thought this over. Would she get along with a librarian student who had on at least on occasion dropped acid? Maybe. If nothing else, it'd be interesting. She pictured herself, holding hands with the girl in the picture as they walked down the street, pictured taking her home to Granny. Ruby knew that she was supposed to be figuring her shit out for real, but she had no idea how to do that. Even if this was fake, wouldn't this sort of relationship be a perfect place to start?
She filled out the application the minute she got home.
A few blocks from the bar, Ruby slowed down and tried to regulate her breathing. Running wasn't usually a problem for her, but after several delays she'd chosen to run the twenty blocks from the house she shared with her grandmother rather than wait for the bus. She wouldn't have been able to sit still anyway; she's sent all day in an unprecedented state of agitation. Ruby had never had a problem with nerves when it came to real dating, but for some reason, meeting her fake date was bringing this out in her.
When she arrived at the entrance of the bar, Aurora looked disappointed with her. "You promised you wouldn't be late!" she said, in a tone that suggested she'd known this would happen.
Ruby didn't look at the girl she knew must be Belle, then immediately felt silly for this avoidance. "Bus broke down," she lied. In reality, she had had to try on six different outfits before finding one that seemed appropriate for meeting someone she was going to pretend to date, but there was no reason the others needed to know that.
Mulan stepped forward. "I suppose I should introduce you," she said. "This is Belle. Belle, this is Ruby."
When she finally looked, Ruby's first thought was that how beautiful Belle was. The second was that, like in her picture, she looked every bit the library student and not at all like a girl Mulan would have helped through an acid trip. Belle was well dressed in a blue button-down shirt and a skirt that flared out at the knees. Ruby's hand trembled a bit as she reached out to shake her hand.
It's just a fake date, she reminded herself. Besides, seeing her confirmed what Ruby had already known: Granny would absolutely love this girl.
"Hi," she finally managed to say, clearing her throat. "I'm Ruby."
Belle shook her hand firmly twice, then let go. "It's nice to meet you, Ruby."
Aware that her palms were beginning to sweat, Ruby wiped her hand against her tight jeans. "So, um, do you want to go in?"
"Yes," Belle said. "That sounds like a good idea." She seemed a bit nervous as well, which helped somehow.
"We'll leave you to it, then," Mulan said. "Have a nice evening."
Ruby whipped her head around to look at her. "I thought you two were coming in with us!" she said. Shit. Who would rescue her if they ran out of things to say?
"Mulan and I have plans to get dinner, actually," Aurora said. "We'll be nearby if you need us."
"We thought the two of you could use some time alone to discuss the details of your arrangement," Mulan said.
"Come on, Ruby," Belle said, taking her arm gently. "I don't bite, I promise."
I do, Ruby thought. Girls like this were the sort of girl she usually wouldn't go near with a ten foot pole. The sort of girl who wanted relationships and quiet conversation and would probably be painfully gentle in bed, the kind of gentle that makes you think it's okay to fall apart even though it never really is. Even though you'll hurt them. "Okay," she conceded, letting Belle lead her into the bar.
They found a table near the edge of the room and sat. Ruby couldn't think of anything to say. It only took a few awkward moments of silence for her to leap back to her feet. "I'll get drinks," she said quickly. "What'll you have?"
"Why don't you surprise me?" Belle suggested with a soft smile.
Ruby wove her way through the crowd and eventually made it to the bar. Her first instinct with Belle was to get her something mundane and classy, like a martini, or whatever it was that old ladies on TV drank. But as she was about to order, she realized that that wouldn't do at all. If Belle had requested a surprise, she needed to prove that she could stand up to the test. After some thought, she returned with a Whiskey Sour and a Black Russian, deciding to let Belle pick which she preferred.
Belle barely looked at the Whiskey Sour before taking it. "So, Ruby," she said, taking a sip. "Tell me a bit about yourself."
"Did you not get enough from my application?" Ruby asked, then cringed at how worried she sounded. She took a few deep breaths and forced herself to fake confidence, the way she always did when she felt insecure. "Sorry, you just caught me by surprise. I thought I'd already been selected."
Belle smiled. "Oh, you have. But we need to come up with a convincing story if we're going to pretend we're dating. When I talked to Mr. Gold, I may have made it that I was in a serious relationship."
"Gold's the old guy?"
"Yes."
"So you need me to act—serious about you." Ruby decided at once that she could do that. She'd never been serious before, but Belle seemed like the sort of girl it would be easy to be serious about. If she did that sort of thing.
"If at all possible."
"I can do that," Ruby said. "In that case, we definitely need to know more about each other." Mostly for something to do, she took a gulp of her Black Russian.
"We could start with the basics," Belle suggested. "What's your favorite color?"
"Red. Predictable, I know."
Belle laughed, looking over Ruby's red shirt and nail polish. "It suits you."
"What's yours?" Ruby caught herself starting to lean forward, the way she would if she were flirting, if this were something real. She pulled back at once, straightening her spine.
"Yellow. You know, we're dangerously close to Gryffindor colors here," Belle said.
Ruby laughed, then realized there might be more important questions at stake here. She didn't know how much time they had, so she dove right in. "Have you ever dated a woman before? If I'm pretending to be the first, I'd like to know that."
"I'm not sure "dated" is the word I'd use," Belle said. "But if you're asking whether I'm attracted to women, then yes." She pulled the cherry out of her drink and popped it in her mouth.
"Drunken hookups?" Ruby asked, seeing the perfect in for finding out what sort of personality led to both tripping on acid and library school. So far, all she'd come up with was some sort of amnesia idea that was amusing, but too ridiculous to be true.
Belle set down the cherry stem carefully on her napkin. "How much did Mulan tell you about college?"
"Aurora mentioned something about you having a bad trip. Which, totally been there, by the way."
"I'm mostly over that, now," Belle said. "The partying, that is. I still like to go out and have fun sometimes, but not quite so intensely. And honestly, these days I'd rather spend a night in with a good book."
Ruby wanted to ask more, but wasn't sure she had the right to. Instead, she said, "This might be a stupid question, but does the guy you're trying to get rid of know you're into women? Public displays of affection don't mean as much if he think it's just 'gals being pals.'"
"Oh, he knows all right. I was hoping to get rid of him that way. I had hoped he'd be type who'd be bothered by it." A strand of hair fell in front of her face. Ruby watched her push it back behind her ear.
Snapping herself out of it, she said, "Well I'm guessing he wasn't, or we wouldn't be here right now."
"He suggested a threesome."
Ruby made a face. "Ooh, one of those, huh?"
"So then I told him I was in a serious relationship, and he asked who with, and since I didn't have anything to say I just made an excuse and left. I don't think he bought it, so… hence the ad." Belle gestured vaguely.
"Sounds like an asshole," Ruby said.
"There's some questions I'd like you to answer too," Belle said. She leaned forward slightly. "What do you want get out of this? I know you didn't just answer the ad out some need to protect my personal well-being. So, who do you need to convince?"
"I need to prove to my grandmother that I can be in an adult relationship." No point in not being straightforward about it, even if it was embarrassing. She took another large sip of her drink, then looked down and realized her glass was half empty. She set it down heavily on the table.
"Oh?"
"She's been on my case, lately," Ruby admitted. She laughed, trying to turn it into a joke. "We live together, and she probably has the best hearing of anyone I ever met. Anyway, from what I could tell, she finally got tired of overhearing me—well, you know where I'm going with this."
Belle laughed too. "And she thinks a steady relationship would make her hear less of that?"
"More like she thinks a steady relationship would finally push me to grow up and get it together." Ruby suddenly felt the need to defend her grandmother. "She raised me after my parents died. I've lived with her most of my life, and she was fine with it up until now, but lately I'm getting the sense that she wants me to move on. I guess she thought I'd be out of there by twenty-five, and I'd like to be, but every time I think about it all I can think about is an apartment by myself and a job I tolerate and I just—it sounds really lonely, you know? Even lonelier than living with an old lady who goes on hunting trips every other weekend because she doesn't want to let her rifle license go to waste."
By the end of the sentence, Ruby's heart was beating fast. She wasn't used to saying things like this, revealing too much of how she was feeling. She hadn't meant to say it now, except that Belle was there and listening and seemed to care, and it had been a long time since all three of those things were true.
Belle seemed to think about this. "So, what happens when we pretend to be in a steady relationship and it doesn't produce the results she hopes for?"
"I hadn't thought that far ahead," Ruby said. "But it's a start, right? I can prove I'm responsible, and she'll treat me like I'm responsible and maybe that will be enough to make me actually be responsible."
"Sounds like a lot of work," Belle said. "But what do I know? I'm a twenty-three year old grad student being courted by a sixty-five year old man and the only way I know how to get out of it is to pretend I have a girlfriend."
"Well, now that we both know we're shit at decisions." Ruby began, desperate to change the subject. She downed the rest of her drink. "So, what's our story? We've got to have something to say when people ask how we met."
"Good idea," Belle said. "So, where should we say? A bar?"
Ruby shook her head. "Not a bad idea, it's just that I've spent years picking people up in bars. I want this to be different."
She wasn't sure this made sense, but Belle seemed to get it. "All right. What would you suggest?"
"Shit, I don't know. A bookstore?"
"I work in a library as part of my program," Belle said. "I get all my books there. But we could say we met at the library?"
"That could work. Or wait, what about the café I work in? Granny runs it, but she's not there all the time. You could have come in to order a coffee one day."
"I'm more of an iced tea sort of girl," Belle said.
"Iced tea, then," Ruby said, warming up to the idea. "And I saw the beautiful girl sitting by herself and decided I had to know who she was."
"You made a joke about cutting me off after my third tea," Belle suggested. When Ruby gave her a surprised look, she explained "I drink too much of it when I'm nervous. Who knows, maybe I was nervous because I liked you."
A warm feeling spread throughout Ruby's chest. "And when I joked about you not being okay to go home on your own after that much tea, you asked if I'd escort you. Lucky for both of us, it was the end of my shift and I got to say yes."
Belle gave her a soft smile. "Maybe I invited you in for another cup of tea, and we got to talking and you ended up staying all night."
"That sounds good." Ruby said. She scrunched up her nose, suddenly worried. "Is that too much of a meet-cute, though? It could raise some alarm bells if it sounds too much like a romantic comedy."
Belle seemed to think about this. "I think it'll be okay. It's not like one of us dropped something and we both reached for it at the same time."
"Okay," Ruby said, reassured. "So how long ago was this?"
"Two months?" Belle suggested. "Long enough that we could be serious but short enough that it's not a surprise people didn't know about it?"
"Perfect."
Now that they'd resolved this, neither seemed to know what to say. Ruby was on the verge of making her excuses and leaving before the situation got to awkward, but was spared having to do so by Belle, who out of nowhere asked, "What's your favorite book?" When Ruby gave her a look of surprise, she explained, "That's the sort of thing I like to know about someone I'm dating."
Ruby thought about it, but the only answer she could come up with was one she was sure Belle wouldn't approve of. She scratched at her nail polish, but gently so it wouldn't actually come off and have to be redone. "This is going to sound really stupid and probably much less sophisticated than you were hoping for, but I like reading comics."
"That isn't stupid at all. Which comics do you like?"
A knot in her stomach loosened. "The Hulk. I really like that his powers aren't just this great thing he can use just because, you know? Characters like Captain America and Spidergirl are always in control, so their powers are like this great gift. But the Hulk isn't special, he's just a guy who has something terrible inside of him that he can't control very well, and it can be used for good but he can also hurt people he doesn't want to."
Belle nodded. "I hadn't thought about that before, but it's kind of a classic Jekyll-Hyde story, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is," Ruby said, with much more confidence than she felt. "So, what about you? What do you like to read?"
"I don't think I could ever pick," Belle said. "I like the classics, but I also like things that disturb me. I like to be forced outside my comfort zone a bit. At the end of the day though, I think what I like best is to curl up with a good adventure story. Robinson Crusoe, or The Three Musketeers, something like that."
After that, conversation was easy. Once Ruby realized that Belle wasn't going to judge her for the things she liked, she found she had a lot to say. Even when they disagreed, she never felt like Belle saw her as anything other than an intellectual equal. In fact, Ruby was so engrossed in getting to know Belle that she lost track of time. When she finally looked at her watch and saw that it was two in the morning, she leapt out of her chair. "Shit!" she said, almost knocking over an empty glass. "I have to go, I'm working tomorrow."
Belle got to her feet as well. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Ruby," she said, offering her hand. Ruby shook it, amazed at how warm and soft it was (although that may have been the four Black Russians speaking). "Is it all right if I text you later about the details? I need a bit more time to strategize the best time and place for us to run into Mr. Gold."
"Sounds good," Ruby said.
"So…" Belle said, tugging gently on the end of Ruby's scarf. "Walk a girl to the bus stop?"
"Absolutely," Ruby said. She led the way out the door. It was cold outside, but she felt warm and comfortable from the alcohol, and less lonely than she had in months. Maybe there was a reason she'd found that ad. Maybe she and Belle had always been meant to be friends, and it was only now that they were finding this missing piece to their lives.
Or maybe, Ruby reflected, she had just had one too many drinks.
It was a week later that Ruby saw Belle again, although throughout that time they texted back and forth almost every day. Now, they were standing on the sidewalk in front of a fancy hotel, neither willing to just open the door and go in.
Ruby tugged at her dress, more self-conscious about her clothing than she had been in years. "Are you sure this is appropriate?" she asked for the third time.
Belle looked at her for a moment, then slipped an arm around her waist and gave her a comforting squeeze. "You look perfect."
"I've never been to a cocktail party before," Ruby admitted. Her dress felt cheap against her skin, if a dress could feel cheap. Maybe it was the fabric, maybe it didn't breathe well enough. Wasn't that something people said about clothes, that they did or didn't breathe well?
"Don't worry, they're boring. Everyone there's going to be far too interested in furthering their careers to bother with us. Half the time I end up holed up in a corner reading a book. It drives my father crazy. He insists on showing me off, and he can't do that if I'm not socializing."
"How long has he been dragging you to these things?" Ruby watched as several people in formal clothing entered the hotel, as though it were the easiest thing in the world.
"Since my mother died. I was sixteen, and he needed to prove to investors that they could see him as a family man as well as a businessman. He thinks it makes him look more trustworthy. Maybe he's right but I always wished he'd just let me stay home instead of dragging me around."
"But you're not sixteen anymore," Ruby objected. "Why do you still let him drag you around?"
Belle's face flashed with hurt for a moment. Her arm, which had been around Ruby's waist up until that moment, pulled away. "Why do you still live with your grandmother?" she shot back.
Ruby was going to snap back at her, but then she remembered what they were doing there. "Touché," she said instead, taking Belle's hand firmly. "Look, I'm sorry I asked. I didn't mean to upset you."
"I guess there's still a lot we don't know about each other," Belle said quietly, looking at the intimidating door. "Maybe this was a stupid idea."
"Maybe it was," Ruby replied. She realized with a flash that Belle was even more scared to go in than she was. "And maybe we're going to go in there, and I'll be dressed all wrong and everyone's going to spend the whole time thinking about how you could do better. But that's not the point, is it? The point is, you wanted me to come with you so you can get that Gold guy off your back. So, let's go in there and get that done."
Belle nodded, squaring her shoulders and facing the double doors. "You're right."
She yanked open the door and led the way to the event room, which was bedecked with chandeliers and waiters carrying trays of the sort of snacks that were probably called hors d'oeuvres, and, to Ruby's incredible relief, an open bar. She could already feel the crowds of people pressing in on her, people who beautiful clothing who reeked money and could probably explain exactly what it was that made her dress feel cheap.
"I would really like to have a drink in my hand right about now," she told Belle, who laughed.
"I know how that feels. Come on, let's get you something." Belle took her hand and led the way to the bar, and this, at least, was familiar territory for Ruby.
Once they'd gotten drinks, Belle let go of her hand but continued to touch her throughout the evening. A hand on her back, fingers pushing aside her hair, gestures that could almost be considered possessive if they weren't so sweet. Ruby wondered if this was what Belle was really like in a relationship, if she was one of those people who couldn't get through a few minutes without touching the person. She could just be playing it up for the audience. Still, Ruby found herself leaning into her touch, and even giving some in return.
In fact, she was so preoccupied with tucking a strand of hair behind Belle's ear that she didn't even notice a man approaching them. For a moment, she thought this must be Mr. Gold, but then Belle smiled stiffly and said, "Hello, father."
"Hello," he said. "This must be the—girl you were talking about."
"Ruby Lucas." Ruby extended her hand and smiled brightly.
"Pleased to meet you," he said, shaking her hand for less than a second and sounding anything but pleased. "Belle, may I speak with you for a moment?"
Belle looked torn. Ruby reached out and squeezed her hand, trying to let her know that she'd support her in either decision. Belle squeezed back, then looked at her father with fire in her eyes. "No," she said firmly. "If I speak with you alone, you'll try to make my decisions for me. I'm here for a nice evening with my girlfriend, not to further any of your agendas."
Ruby had to stifle a laugh at the shocked expression on Maurice's face. He seemed to to notice anyway though, because he looked at her and stiffened.
"Well, I can see you've made your choice about what sort of person you spend your time with," he said to Belle. "Far be it from me to tell insult your choices. Just don't forget how badly things almost went for Lacey."
"Who's Lacey?" Ruby whispered as he walked away.
Belle looked tired. "Just a jab at something I tried out in college. I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't let him get to me like this— "
"It's okay," Ruby said, putting an arm around her. "Come on, let's—I don't know, sit down or something? Is that what people do at these things?"
"Well, neither of us needs to make business connections, much to the extreme disappointment of my father, so there's no point circulating," Belle said. "Let's go sit at that table."
"Why does your dad want you to make business connections?" Ruby asked as they sat down. "You're a librarian, not a fortune 500 wannabe."
"That's another thing he wants to change about me," Belle said. "He's convinced this librarian thing is just a phase I'm going through, and that one day I'll wake up and realize my undying love of business and join his company. I don't have any siblings, so he's convinced I'll carry on the family name or something."
"That's awful," Ruby said, suddenly glad that her grandmother had shown no interest in passing down her own business. Maybe having a relative who wanted her to move on and have her own life wasn't the worst thing in the world.
Belle just nodded.
After a few moments without talking, Ruby couldn't take it anymore. She leaned over and whispered in Belle's ear. "So," she said. "Any sign of the guy?"
"Not yet," Belle whispered back.
Belle's breath was hot on her cheek, but when Ruby glanced over at her she saw that she still looked upset. "Hey," she said softly, putting a hand on Belle's thigh. "Are you going to be okay? We can leave and do this another time."
Belle shook her head. "It might as well be now," she said. "And I'm sorry. I don't normally let him get to me like this."
"I get it," Ruby said. She was going to say more, but at that moment Belle put her hand in hers. At first, Ruby thought that she just wanted to hold hands, but after a moment she realized that Belle was trying to get her attention.
"Gold. Over there," Belle said, nudging her head slightly. Ruby turned, trying not to look too obvious.
"The guy with the cane?"
"That's the one." Belle had turned away to sip her drink, acting as though she hadn't noticed him.
"Well, I don't know how to tell you this," Ruby said, feeling her heart speed up. "But he's coming over here right now." She barely had time to think before Belle's lips were on hers in a desperate gesture. Ruby put her hands on Belle's arms, at first just to stop her from toppling over. The kiss was messy and unpracticed, noses bumping and lips open too far. Ruby didn't even realize she'd forgotten to close her eyes until she saw Mr. Gold, staring at them. They really should have practiced beforehand.
We can do better than this, she thought, gently twining her hands in Belle's hair. After all, they were supposed to be putting on a show of being a serious couple. Ruby pulled back slightly to reposition herself, then closed her eyes and tugged Belle towards her until they were kissing again. This time, she made sure to move slowly, deliberately. Belle's lips were soft under her own as she pressed gentle kisses to her lips, then cheeks, and finally to her neck.
Belle made a soft sound and buried her hands in Ruby's hair as Ruby set to work placing a few gentle kisses on her neck. This is just for show,Ruby reminded herself, moving back up to Belle's lips to deliver a kiss that was much more heated than she'd intended. It was all too much. Belle's hands were firm around her waist and all she could think about was getting up off her chair and pulling her even closer. It's not supposed to feel this good, Ruby reminded herself firmly. She pulled away abruptly, letting Belle's lips fall to her cheek before she, too, pulled away.
"I think he's gone," Ruby said quietly, partly because it seemed like to thing to say and partly because it was true that Mr. Gold was no longer in sight. "We don't have to pretend anymore." The words felt heavy in her mouth.
Belle's maintained eye contact for a moment too long before turning back to her drink. "Okay," she said. "I guess we've made our point". She finished the drink in one long gulp. "Do you want to go get something to eat? I'm starving."
"I could cook for you if you want," Ruby said. She was too broke to go out, but wasn't about to admit this to Belle. "If you don't mind me using your kitchen. We can't go to my house because Granny will be home." She didn't want to have to play for an audience again, not while her lips still tingled from the kiss they had just shared.
"That sounds lovely," Belle said. "My apartment's walking distance, but we can take the subway if you'd rather."
"Walking sounds good," Ruby said. They held hands as they left the hotel, only letting go a few blocks later when Ruby remembered they didn't need to anymore.
At Belle's apartment, Ruby rummaged through the fridge and came up with everything she needed to make a simple veggie stir-fry. Belle helped out by finding things and handing them to her. As they cooked and ate, they talked, steering far clear of anything that might be upsetting. Neither seemed willing to discuss the events of the evening.
"Do you think Mulan and Aurora are dating?" Ruby asked as she spooned a large serving of stir-fry onto a plate. She handed it to Belle and grabbed another for herself.
Belle sat down at her small wooden table. "I'd been wondering about that myself. I've known that Mulan was bi for years, but I wasn't sure about Aurora."
"I'm not either," Ruby admitted, sitting down across from her. "She's never talked about girls like that, but she and Philip were dating for like, five years. Who knows who she'd be talking about if they'd broken up sooner."
"It'd be good if she and Mulan were dating," Belle said. "It would help Mulan, anyway. Philip was the first person she was ever serious about. When she found out that he'd been lying to her, I was worried she'd never date again. She's not the most trusting person to begin with."
"So," Ruby said, leaning forward. "Think there's any way we can find out if they are dating? You read a lot, you should be able to come up with some sort of Nancy Drew solution."
"Short of asking them, you mean?" Belle said. She leaned in too, maybe subconsciously, and all at once Ruby realized they were sitting closer together than they had since the cocktail party.
"You mean the obvious solution?" Ruby asked, pulling back just enough that she couldn't do something stupid like try to kiss Belle again.
Belle shrugged. "Even if I ask, Mulan may not tell me," she said. "Not if she's unsure of Aurora's feelings. She doesn't like to give too much away."
"I'll try Aurora," Ruby said. "She can't hide anything to save her life."
When they finished eating, Ruby helped Belle wash up. She was surprised that Belle didn't have a dishwasher when her dad was so clearly loaded, but on the other hand, maybe she didn't like to rely on his. Their relationship hadn't seemed particularly affectionate.
After washing up, they ended up in the living room. Ruby stood awkwardly near the front door, unsure of what was supposed to happen now. "I should probably go home soon," she said. She made no move to do so, however, and a moment later she repeated. "I should probably go."
"You could spend the night, if you want," Belle said, looking down in what appeared to be a nervous gesture. "I don't have class until noon tomorrow. We could do more planning about our 'relationship.'"
"Or we could just hang out," Ruby said. "I mean, there's no rule saying that our relationship has to be purely business, right? We can be fake girlfriends and friends."
Belle's face lit up. "I'd like that," she said. "I don't have a lot of friends."
"Me neither," Ruby admitted, sitting down on the couch. It wasn't until she'd decided to stop having one night stands that she'd realized that without that part of her life, she really didn't have a lot going on. Aurora had saved her by seeming so lost and in need of guidance, but that didn't particularly fill the hole in her life either. "So, what do people do when they spend the night over at someone's place as friends?"
"We can sleep on the living room floor," Belle suggested. She laughed. "Like we're little kids at a sleepover. We can stay up late watching romantic comedies and braiding each other's hair."
"Sounds good to me," Ruby said, also laughing. She preferred a good action movie, generally speaking, but she'd happily watch a hundred rom-coms if it meant she could spend the night here with Belle.
"Want anything to drink?" Belle asked, heading into her tiny kitchen. "I think I have some bourbon in the pantry."
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"You sound so surprised."
"I mean, yeah. No offense, but you definitely struck me as a red wine sort of girl." Ruby spoke loudly so that Belle could hear her in the kitchen.
Belle's came back holding a half-empty bottle in one hand. "White wine, actually. But wine's the sort of drink you have with company. When you've been up late working on a paper three nights in a row and it's finally done but you have another due tomorrow—" She help up the whiskey.
After a few minutes of careful consideration, Belle put on When Harry Met Sally. Ruby made sure to pace herself with the alcohol. She'd already had one drink tonight, and the last thing she wanted was to get wasted and ruin everything.
Two hours later when the movie ended, they were sprawled out on Belle's living room floor, content with silence. Every once in a while one of them would take a sip of bourbon directly out of the bottle. Ruby wasn't drunk per se, but she was in the phase of tipsy where all of her limbs felt light and her tongue loose.
Maybe it was this, or maybe it was that this was feeling more and more like the high school slumber parties she'd rarely gotten to have, but all of a sudden, she found herself saying to Belle, "You know, you're not exactly what I expected. From what I'd heard about you, I mean. I got the impression that you were a bit of a party girl, rebelling against your rich dad—but you're not, are you? But you're not some stodgy librarian either."
"I don't know exactly what Mulan said, but I think I've got some idea as to what it was," Belle said hesitantly. "Maybe I should explain."
"It was in college, right? From what I understood, you had kind of the wild child thing going then. Which, totally hot, by the way." Ruby rolled over onto her stomach and pulled a pillow towards her to lay on.
"I was going by Lacey then." Belle's voice drifted gently over Ruby as she spoke. "I was trying to—distance myself, from my father and the role he wanted for me in life, and I thought that was the only way to do it. The thing was, I didn't have my own direction. Everything I did was in reaction to my father."
"That was what your dad was talking about earlier, huh?"
"Yes."
"So what happened?" Ruby hugged the pillow even tighter and watched Belle, who had pulled herself upright and was leaning back against the couch, as though having something safe behind her would protect her from the past.
"Things—escalated, to a point where I was close to failing out of school. I was smart enough, it just all seemed so pointless, you know? I was majoring in English because I loved to read, but everything we did in class just brought me a little closer to hating it. There was the day when I found out that Wordsworth had stolen a lot of his writing from his sister's journals and I remember just laying down on my bed and crying. It seemed like the more I learned about literature the more I hated all the writers I had loved before. I didn't want to keep having things ruined for me, so I just—decided to focus on other things."
"Like seeing how many tequila shots you can handle before you black out," Ruby said, thinking back to a particularly memorable night of her own.
"Exactly."
"The whole loosing direction thing? I've been there too," Ruby said, trying to make it sound as though she were talking about years ago and not weeks ago. She reached for the bottle and took another swig.
Belle continued her story as though she hadn't been interrupted. "I was on verge of just dropping out when I stumbled onto one of those little libraries that people set up in front of their houses, you know the people put up in little wood boxes?"
Ruby nodded to show that she know what Belle was talking about.
"So I was just standing there, feeling like everything was falling apart around me and there was this stupid book, one that I wouldn't have cared about normally, but it caught my attention so I took it. And the whole time I was going home, I kept thinking about libraries, and how they're one of the few things in this world that truly good."
"And you read the book, and it changed your life," Ruby said, suddenly disappointed in Belle for having such a cliché story. Maybe some people really did go through life that way, but that didn't help much when Ruby wasn't one of those people, did it? She was never going to be the sort of person who could just stumble across a book and have her whole life change that way. Fate was not that kind.
Belle laughed. "Hand me that," she said, gesturing the bottle that Ruby was still gripping loosely in her hand. "And no. It was one of the most boring things I've read in my life. But it got me thinking that somewhere out there, someone might have really loved it. And even if they didn't, the fact that I had this opportunity to take a book, and maybe I'd love it and maybe I wouldn't, but at least I was given the chance—it just made me think about how lucky I am, to live in a world with libraries. And then I knew that I wanted to be a part of that, and yeah, maybe I'm still pissed that Wordsworth stole his sister's work, but at least I knew what I needed to do moving forward."
Inexplicably, Ruby felt like she might cry. If they'd met just a few years ago, they could have been so similar, maybe even helped each other through things. Instead, the one part of Belle's live that resembled hers was one she had cast off like an old skin. "Do you ever miss being Lacey?" she asked, scared of what answer she might get.
Belle seemed to give this some thought. "I don't miss the hangovers, or waking up in someone's bed and realizing I have to to do the awkward morning-after routine. I do miss the freedom sometimes. I thought I wasn't trying to be who people wanted me to, so I was allowed to do things I wouldn't do now. But looking back, I think I really was trying to please people's expectations after all. It's a double-edged sword, isn't it? I can be responsible and work hard and try to please my father, or I can be irresponsible and not care and try to please gross frat boys who want an easy lay."
"Do you think there can be an in-between?" Ruby asked, as much for herself as for Belle. "Is there a world where the only person you have to please is you?" Is there a world where I can prove to Granny I'm responsible and find something I love to do and get my shit together without feeling as though I can't breathe?
"I didn't used to think so," Belle said.
"And now?" Ruby asked. She held her breath as she waited for an answer.
"I'll let you know when I decide," Belle said. She slid over to where Ruby was laying and laid down next to her. After a moment, she ran her fingers gently through Ruby's hair and said, "I'll tell you one thing, though."
"What?" Ruby asked, leaning into her touch.
"I haven't given up on Lacey."
Later, when they fell asleep on the floor, Belle's fingers were still twined in Ruby's hair.