Author's Note: Here's chapter two of this little venture, and I hope as always that you will enjoy. I haven't heard much one way or the other yet on whether my Belle and Liam seem believable/in character or not. It has definitely provided me a new challenge working with characters I'm not as practiced at writing, and that we have a lot less canon characterization of to work with. I'd still love to hear what you think. And I still don't own them – if I did, there really would have been a way for Liam to return to Storybrooke with them!
"Looking for a Heart that's not Walking Away"
By: snowbellewells
(Chapter One can be found on ff under my name there: TutorGirlml)
chapter two: just you and me, trying to find the light
Another hour, and in Killian's case, a full armload of books later, finds the brothers outside the library and walking down Storybrooke's main street. Liam has a couple of Belle's recommended nonfiction titles as well as his own brand new library card, but is still chuckling at his brother's unrestrained enthusiasm in the sheer amount of his borrowed books. "And you need not return any of those until you have finished perusing them thoroughly?" Liam asks doubtfully, seeming unsure of why an institution should trust just anyone to take so many of its treasures free of charge with barely more than their name and address as support.
Killian nods, confirming to his brother that his understanding is correct, even as he bites the inside of his cheek not to have a chuckle at his older sibling's wide-eyed incredulity and struggling to bear in mind just how nonsensical and surprising many of this realm's modern customs and conveniences had seemed to him as well until he had grown more used to them. "Aye, that is the idea." He pulls out the long printout Belle has given him listing all the titles and the dates they are due for return and showing it to Liam. "Granted, they give a set return date in two weeks' time, but even so we can renew them if we aren't finished by then."
"And Belle keeps track of all the checkouts and check-ins for the entire town alone?" Liam questions next, his brow creasing seriously and with concern as he considers what seems to him like more than enough task for a single worker. "Isn't that a lot for one person to keep track of? How does she get anything else done? Can she not get anyone to help her? And in her condition…Is she sure that is wise?"
Killian shakes his head, clapping a hand to his brother's shoulder and allowing himself a bit of a laugh this time. Wisely deciding not to comment on the notable amount of concern Liam is exhibiting for the town's lovely librarian, he instead attempts to explain to him about the myriad capacities of the "magic boxes" this world calls computers and "the internet" which Belle has repeatedly tried to help him understand. She isn't having to do all of her bookkeeping by hand as they did with ship manifests and cargo logs once so long ago. "And as for the women of this realm," he adds, knowing from his relationship with Emma, but also from merely knowing Snow, Regina, Granny, Ruby, Ashley, and the other strong, self-sufficient modern women of Storybrooke, that they do not need or want the sort of pampered coddling high-ranking ladies of he and Liam's birth realm would have expected and received. Belle, in particular, is made of stern stuff. He had underestimated her more than once before genuinely seeking her forgiveness and gaining her friendship; she may look small and delicate, but Belle Gold is a woman of incredibly strong mettle. "They handle their own business and don't really like it if we insinuate they cannot," he warns, scratching behind his ear in embarrassment at remembering the first time he had tried to pay for Emma's meal on a date or the discomfited looks she had given him at opened doors, pulled out chairs, and hands at the small of her back protectively when they left a room. It has gotten better over time as she accepts it is a sign of his chivalrous respect and affection and not a slight on her own fortitude, but it had required an adjustment period – for both of them.
Liam arches an eyebrow, looking at him sideways, and snorts, knowing there is a story there but letting it pass for the moment. Instead, he turns equally intense eyes to his younger sibling. "Still," he presses, unable to forget the trembling lower lip struggling to withhold emotion as Belle had begun to share while they searched for his desired reading in the stacks, and then the words bitten back until her emotions were under control. Those large, soulful brown eyes, long lashes, and the deep, purpling shadows of sleeplessness beneath them, have already imprinted themselves in his memory, haunting him and calling out for him to help in a way Liam Jones has never experienced before. "She's with child and alone bearing that burden. She appears not to be resting…and there's just a…a sadness about her, Killian…"
Liam trails off, seemingly puzzled by his own response and unsure of how to explain himself. Killian doesn't offer that he thinks he understands all too well the desire Liam is feeling to help, remembering a guarded, closed off, lonely princess who had wanted nothing to do with him or revealing any of herself to someone who might possess the power to hurt her. It had made him want to know her all the more, to protect her fragile, tattered heart, and to crawl beneath her armor almost on sight. He can already see his brother feeling something akin to what he himself had experienced for a similarly tough lass, also wounded more than she deserved by the world and those who should have loved and cherished her most.
His blue eyes cloud at the reminder of his old Crocodile and just how much Belle has been through – not only recently, but even back in their former realm, first in her father's castle as a pretty bird in a gilded cage and then as a servant in the Dark One's. "Yes, well," he sighs, his voice low and sounding as dejected as he suddenly feels for his friend, "she has more than enough call to be sad, poor woman. Belle's heart is true, and she did all she could to stand by the man she loved, but one cannot save a person who does not wish it to be so."
Liam shakes his head at Killian's words, not knowing the whole story, but well aware of what he had seen when Belle came staggering dazed and breathless to the doorstep of his brother and Emma's Underworld mockery of their home, hoping to join them – somehow broken and in shock, but still full of flinty resolve. He knows that she is married to Killian's nemesis, though he cannot imagine the sweet-hearted woman he is getting to know yoked to such a cruel brigand. He knows to that whatever the shadowy details, her husband does not seem to be in the world above with them now. He worries for the woman who has been so welcoming and helpful to him since his return to the land of the living, even when her loved one did not – whether deservedly so or otherwise – and hates to see her doomed to misery. Perhaps there is something they – he – can do…
"Killian! Uncle Liam!" a bright young voice breaks into his thoughts along with the pounding of sneakered feet as Emma's lad Henry comes running up to them on the sidewalk followed by Emma's father, the Prince of Misthaven. Liam is still trying to wrap his mind around his relation to genuine royalty, when he notices the equipment they are carrying, what appear to be newfangled versions of fishing poles, bait, and other such accoutrements. "I was hoping we'd run into you!" the young man exclaims excitedly, almost bouncing on the balls of his feet as he comes to stand before them. "Grampa and I are going fishing. Want to join us?"
Liam smiles despite feeling a bit out of his depth; though he has not known Henry long, the affection he feels welling up within is genuine as he reaches out to ruffle the lad's brown hair playfully. The "uncle" appellation doe his heart immense good, though he is not sure how he has managed to earn the lad's affection and regard so swiftly. He gathers though, that Henry's family tree is vast and varied and that the adolescent is used to it stretching and expanding regularly. Clearing his throat he answers Henry decisively, "Aye, that sounds splendid; though you may have to show me how it's done with your more modern equipment."
Henry agrees enthusiastically and urges his newly adopted relative on toward the docks as Killian takes some of the equipment off David's hands and both of them chuckle a bit at Liam and Henry talking animatedly in front of them. Even as he speaks with this extraordinary young man before him, Liam still continues to marvel at being so willingly taken into this family's fold, much as Killian was before him.
Furthermore, he feels a lump in his throat at the memory vision of his younger brother and the lost princess of Misthaven standing before him to be married at the well in the Underworld. He can still see the happy smile on Henry's face as the boy hands off the same ring he had once given Killian for its use in their ceremony, and the joyous twinkling in his younger sibling's eyes as he looked to Liam to pronounce them man and wife, and the awe and pride with which he had slid the band onto Emma's graceful finger. It had been when they still thought he would not be able to accompany them back to the land of the living, and more than a few bittersweet tears had been shed, but Emma had been adamant that Killian deserved to have his brother at his wedding and that she would have Liam perform the vows or no one. Her parents, who had also been present as witnesses, even added that it was strangely fitting, as their true marriage ceremony had been small and secret as well, performed by a disgraced but noble knight in a forest while David's mother was still alive to see.
Shaking his head free of the poignant reminiscence, he stops next to Henry on the pier and focuses on the lesson in modern fishing as it is given. Though this new life he has been given still boggles his mind at every turn, Liam Jones thrills to the sheer unexpected joy of it and tries to soak in the experience, enjoying the feel of family and belonging again after so long without.
~~~~~~00000000~~~~~~~~0000000~~~~~~
Later that night, Liam finds himself restless. The fishing excursion had been a resounding success, and between the four of them, they had trooped back to the loft with a bucket full of crappie and bluegill that Snow had cheerfully fried up fresh for supper, and which Regina, Robin, and his children had joined them for when they arrived with dessert. Now though he finds himself needing to walk off some excess energy in the streets of Storybrooke.
After the wonderfully warm and filling meal, the group had dispersed in their separate ways. Both Hood and his regal paramour, and David and Snow had infants to put down for the night and busied themselves in doing so, the former couple leaving for Regina's mansion to do so with Roland in tow, and the latter pair slipping upstairs to their sleeping quarters. Meanwhile, Emma and Killian had curled up rather cozily on the couch before the large moving picture screen to view "the Netflix" – a practice that still rather unnerves Liam if he were to be totally honest. Henry had joined them, happily suggesting options that Killian apparently had not yet viewed. Liam knows they would have welcomed his joining in, and there is a very comfortable armchair just next to the couch which he could have occupied, but he finds himself too antsy for settling in yet.
Making his excuses and assuring them he is fine, just a bit restless, he makes his way back into the kitchen for a moment before heading out for a walk. Reaching into the refrigerator for a water bottle to take with him, Liam's eyes light upon the tiny containers full of leftovers that Snow had neatly stacked on the cold shelves for them to enjoy later. And, again, for a reason he cannot fully comprehend, his mind speeds to the lonely and sad woman he had spoken with in the library that afternoon.
About that moment, Killian's face appears on the other side of the door, peeking around with mischievously raised eyebrow and giving Liam the distinct impression that his younger brother knows what he has been pondering. "You should take some of those leftovers to Belle, see if she has had dinner yet," Killian prods, undeterred by the look Liam sends his way, irked and embarrassed at being caught and read so easily. "The Lady Snow won't mind. She'll wonder why she didn't think of it herself."
Liam hesitates only a moment, then reaches in and withdraws a few containers from the fridge. Giving a curt, silent nod, he turns, gathers his loot and slips out the door without any more words being exchanged.
Twenty minutes more, find him on the library's front steps, nervous and awkwardly shuffling his feet, but unable to stall any longer and knocking on the door. He had originally thought to say he was going on a stroll and intended to wander around the small seaside town for a bit prior to giving in and admitting he had one specific destination in mind; however, Killian's seeing right through him back at the Charming's loft and Emma and Henry's completely obvious attempts at feigning innocence made it clear the effort would be for naught. Instead, he lifts the brass knocker on the door, shifting nervously from foot to foot, and waits on the library's doorstep, wondering if Belle can even hear him upstairs from her private apartments and quite how he is going to explain his presence if she does come to the door.
He has almost convinced himself to turn around and go, feeling foolish for coming here with food and some half-formed niggling desire to see a woman he barely knows and make sure she is alright, when he hears some steps on the other side of the door drawing nearer until it eventually eases open just a crack and those wide, lovely eyes peek out at him. Once Belle's gaze focuses and realizes who is standing on her stoop, the door opens fully, and a hesitant, but tentatively pleased smile tilts her rosy lips up at the corners. "Captain Jones?" she asks curiously, her voice whisper-soft and a bit rough with sleepy inflection, but she steps back, clearly welcoming him in. "What brings you here?"
Liam's words jam in his throat, even as his heart goes out the diminutive beauty before him. Though her manner is nothing but gracious and welcoming, there is something wistful, melancholy, and a bit evasive trying to hide in her eyes. A slight tremor runs through her delicate fingers where they still rest on the doorknob, and though she is in a nightgown and robe, he can plainly see the dark circles beneath her eyes, and senses that if she had been asleep, it hadn't been for long or very deeply.
"Well, Snow White and her family were kind enough to let me join them for dinner, but we had quite a few leftovers. All of the rest of them were occupied together, and I felt a mite at loose ends. Then, I remembered speaking with you earlier today and … strange as it might seem, Lass, I hated to think of you here alone. I thought I would see if you wanted some company. Granted, I do not know much about this world we're in, nor am I anything like the storyteller my younger brother is, but I am a good listener…or so I have been told."
Belle studies him for a moment, head tilted to the side in thought, gaze locked on him as if gauging him or taking his measure, but then she leads him through the entry of the library and over to a door which stands open revealing a set of narrow stairs leading up to the building's second story. Blushing just slightly and painting her cheeks a pleasant dusky rose, Belle responds with a short nod of acceptance and gentle smile. "Why don't you come in, and I'll put on some tea for us? Now that you've offered, Captain, I think that I would very much enjoy the company."