Note: Thank you for the amazing reception to the first cupcake, and thanks to the guest reviewers! I've officially started Christmas today - I opened my advent calendar a day late and watched the Muppets' Christmas Carol... So in honour of the occasion, have a Christmassy cupcake. Hopefully it won't be the last!
Summary: The first time Gold tells Belle he loves her, suggested by Sunshine1977.
Angel Cake
"Ruby! Ruby! Ruby!"
"Yes? Yes? Yes?"
Belle rushed behind the kitchen partition, her tinsel halo slipping down around her ears and her glittery wings fluttering dangerously close to the stack of cups that Ruby was washing up.
"Ruby, it's snowing!"
"I know. I saw it ten minutes ago."
"But don't you see what this means? We're going to have a white Christmas!"
Ruby looked up from the sink and surveyed Belle sagely from under her Santa hat. It was the twenty-third of December, and the last working day before the café closed until the New Year. In honour of the occasion, the staff had decided to dress up in a festive fashion. Ruby had dusted off her Mrs Claus outfit, Belle had realised a childhood dream and was doing a passable impression of a Christmas tree angel, and both girls were most disappointed in August, whose sole concession to the seasonal spirit was a pair of reindeer antlers.
"Belle," Ruby said, "we will not have a white Christmas. We hardly ever have a white Christmas in this country. You've been here long enough to know that. The snow isn't even settling, it's just making everything cold and wet."
Belle pouted. "I don't care." She grinned as a thought came to her. "Ruby, I'm going to take my break now."
Ruby's eyes narrowed.
"What are you planning?" she asked.
Belle sighed. "It's silly really, but I've always wanted to walk in the first snow with someone I lo… someone special." It had been nearly two months and they hadn't actually said the L-word, although Belle was definitely thinking it. She had yet to tell Ruby that she was now certain that this was definitely a relationship that could, and would, go the distance; that in Belle's eyes at least, it was true love.
Ruby rolled her eyes. The café was busy, but not unusually so, and August was there to help out as well.
"Well, if you want to get cold and wet, that's your problem. Bear in mind Gold might be busy, though. It's still only half-past four."
Annoyingly, Ruby was right. Belle shook her head as she took her wings off in order to put her coat on. She wondered whether or not to re-don the wings (ninety-nine pence from the post office) before deciding that it was Christmas and a time for being jolly and wearing wings. She pulled them on again and rushed out of the café door, waving back at Ruby and August.
Belle opened the door of the solicitors' office opposite. She should probably have phoned Gold to check he was free first, but all such thoughts were banished when she saw the scene unfolding in reception. There was a man leaning over the desk with his lips locked against Kathryn's, the latter holding a sprig of mistletoe over their heads. She saw Belle out of the corner of her eye and pulled away with a muted squeak.
"Oh, it's only you, Belle." Kathryn gave an embarrassed cough. "This is my boyfriend, Jim."
"Merry Christmas." Belle was trying very hard to keep a straight face, but her efforts were in vain when Kathryn's brow furrowed.
"Belle, why are you wearing tinsel and wings?"
"It's a long story. Is Gold free?"
"Hang on." Kathryn sat back down behind her desk and picked up the phone. "Hello, Mr Gold. Are you free? Excellent." She hung up and nodded towards the stairs. "You can go on up."
Belle headed for the stairs, but before she could ascend, she had to step aside to allow Jefferson to come down.
"Can't stop, I'm taking Grace to the carol service and I'm already late. Happy Christmas and a very merry New Year!" He was halfway out of the door when he turned back, pulled a little wrapped package out of his coat pocket and put it on Kathryn's desk. "Thanks for a great first year here, love." He kissed her cheek without making contact and sprinted out of the door, jamming his hat on his head.
Kathryn raised her eyebrows. "Well, I've certainly been showered with gifts today. Never let it be said that my line of work is not rewarding."
Belle left her and Jim and went up the stairs towards Gold's office. Dawn was on the phone but waved as Belle passed her desk. The other two desks in the open office were empty.
"Well, hello there." Belle saw Gold standing in his office doorway, smiling in a very inviting manner, but the smile soon dropped into an expression of perplexity. "Why are you wearing tinsel and wings?"
"Because I'm an angel," Belle said, her tone completely matter of fact. "Come on, get your coat. We're going out."
"I'm working, Belle."
"Yes, well, technically I'm working too. And you can't be working that hard, it's your last day of business before Christmas."
"All right. Where are we going and why are we going there?"
"We're going out, and we're going there because it's snowing."
"It is?" Gold came out into the main office and peered around the blind that covered the window.
"You can't tell me you've been so engrossed in your work that you haven't looked out of your window," Belle said, folding her arms.
"My window looks out over the precinct," Gold pointed out. "I couldn't see snow from it if I tried. Blimey, you're right."
"Of course I'm right. Now, come on and walk with me. It's the first snow, and I've always wanted to walk through the first snow with someone I lo… someone special," she corrected quickly.
Gold smiled.
"All right. I'm hereby holding you responsible if Fox sacks me for shirking off early."
Belle, sitting on an empty desk, merely raised an eyebrow in reply to this statement.
"You're right, he went off for a liquid lunch with his golf mates and hasn't been back since. Poor Kathryn, she'll have to go and drag him out of the Old Ship Inn soon."
Gold went back into his office and collected his coat and umbrella.
"Merry Christmas!" Dawn called after them. "What? No, sorry Mr Shaw, one of my colleagues just left the office for Christmas. Yes, well, it is the twenty-third of December. Yes, I know your case is very important…"
Belle and Gold left her to it and descended back down the stairs. Jim was still leaning on the reception desk, and Kathryn didn't seem to notice their leaving the building.
"Seriously, Belle, why the wings?" Gold asked once they were outside and heading along the main street, cuddled together under the umbrella. "They're making life slightly difficult."
"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport." Belle kissed his cheek. "You like them really."
"They're lovely, darling, but why are you wearing them?"
"Finally fulfilling a childhood fantasy." Belle laughed. "I always wanted to play the Angel Gabriel in the school nativity when I was little, but I always ended up being stuck as part of the crowd. Now I'm twenty-seven, I'm damn well dressing up as an angel. Unfortunately, now I'm twenty-seven, I know that Angel Gabriel was actually a bloke, so I've compromised. I'm a Christmas tree angel."
"Right…" Gold looked at her askance. "Why are you dressed up as an angel in the first place?"
"It's the last working day before Christmas! You've got to dress up!" Belle exclaimed.
Gold merely raised an eyebrow at her. Belle rolled her eyes and settled for simply enjoying the snow. Ruby was right, it was melting as soon as it hit the ground, but from the proclamations of wonder she could her from the other pedestrians, Belle was not the only one marveling at the weather.
"Where are you taking us?" Gold asked presently.
"Well, I'm aiming for the cathedral," Belle replied. "It'll look pretty with the lights and the snow."
"Fair enough." They walked on towards the cathedral green in silence for a few moments before Gold spoke again. "So, I'll see you tonight? I could use some help with my decorations."
Belle gasped in mock horror.
"You haven't even got your Christmas tree up?" she whispered.
"Not yet, no, but I'm sure you can help me with that."
"And presumably, once you get it up you'll want an angel on top of it."
Gold grinned.
"You read my mind. And stole my line."
"Your lines are rubbish, I'm doing them a favour by liberating them. Honestly." Belle nudged his side. "You are behind on your Christmas preparations though. Normally you're so precise about everything."
Gold gave a snort of laughter. "Normally I don't tend to bother with Christmas. For the last ten years I've spent every Christmas in Glasgow with my Aunt Elvira. We exchange bottles of alcohol, complain about our various leg-related ailments and fall asleep in front of Miracle on 34th Street. What?" he protested on seeing Belle's appalled expression. "Everyone needs traditions, and Christmas is a time for spending with people you love."
And this year, he was spending it, or at least part of it, with her. Belle heart skipped. Maybe she could broach the L-word after all… She pushed the thought aside for the present and thought of her own Christmas traditions. Up until moving south, she'd spent all her Christmases with her dad. For her first Christmas in the West Country, Ruby and Granny had persuaded her to join in their festivities, and what had begun as a simple invite to Christmas lunch had extended into Belle sleeping on Ruby's sofa for a week whilst a constant stream of guests – invited, uninvited and self-invited – had rushed in and out. It was the best Christmas that she'd ever spent, simply because it had been so different. This year would be different yet again. This year, she had Gold.
"Well, here we are."
The man in question interrupted her train of thought and Belle looked up at the cathedral, brightly floodlit in the dusk with Christmas decorations hanging all around. The snow had practically stopped without leaving a trace, just the odd flake falling now and then.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Belle breathed.
"Not as beautiful as you," Gold said nonchalantly.
Belle batted his arm. "All right, charmer." She rested her head on his shoulder with a contented sigh. "Now, this is Christmas. Don't you feel that this is Christmas?"
"Right now, I feel that your tinsel is tickling my ear."
Belle shifted her head to look at him.
"Be careful now, sir, some might think that's a euphemism for something."
Gold merely raised an eyebrow and Belle had to break his gaze to avoid a fit of the giggles.
"I'm standing in the snow with a mad fairy," he said drily. "Yes, this is Christmas."
"Well," Belle began, "if I'm a mad fairy then you, with your black suit, your black coat, your black gloves, are the very antithesis of Santa and therefore must be Father Whip."
Gold raised the other eyebrow.
"You know," Belle protested. "The imp who delivers coal to children who've been bad. Ok, I know he's more a European thing, but…"
"I know who you mean, dearie. I was just amused at your giving me that particular title considering the previous discussion on euphemisms."
"Hmmm." Belle turned her eyes back to the cathedral rather quickly.
Gold sighed. "You're ridiculous, but I love you for it."
Belle froze, and turned to face Gold fully.
"Say that again," she whispered.
"You're ridiculous."
"No. The second part."
There was a pause as Gold's eyes searched hers.
"I love you."
Belle's heart decided that skipping was overrated and performed a double loop-the-loop instead. It occurred to her that she really ought to say something. I love you too, her brain prompted helpfully, but for some reason her tongue refused to work. The corner of Gold's mouth twitched slightly. Yes, she definitely needed to say something before he got the wrong end of the stick.
Since words were still eluding her, Belle decided against saying something and instead grabbed both his lapels, pulling him into a kiss.
"I'll take that as a good sign?" he murmured as she released him.
"Of course, you ridiculous man. I nearly said it earlier. I've always wanted to walk in the first snow with someone I love, and I love you."
Gold abandoned the umbrella in favour of having a free hand to pull her in against him and return her kiss. A little way off, a group of patrons from the Old Ship Inn, already very much in festive spirits, started wolf-whistling, but Belle didn't care.
It was Christmas, after all.
