Gary, thankfully, took his leave soon after his proposal, citing rent to collect and preparations for their wedding to make. Before he left, he told her he would be picking her up for dinner around seven, and to 'dress like his fiancée should'. With a sloppy kiss to her cheek and a squeeze to her ass, Gary walked out the door, and Belle sank into a dining room chair.
This can't be happening. This can't be happening. She was getting married. To a man she had only met last night. Belle buried her hands in her hands trying to come to terms with the turn her life had taken. She couldn't deny that she had dreamed of being married, and had always wanted children of her own. She had thought she would have a family with someone who she loved and respected and loved and respected her in return, but now she couldn't have that. Her father traded her away like cattle to a man who had no qualms with threatening her to get her to marry him.
A cough sounded from the door, and Belle looked up to see her father hovering hesitantly in the doorway, obviously torn between reaching out to comfort and leaving her to her anger. "Belle…" Moe started, only barely able to meet her eyes, shame written on every line on his face.
"No! Papa, how could you do this to me?" Belle interrupted angrily. Now that Gary had left, her trepidation was quickly making way to hurt and fury. Her own father had gambled her away.
"Gary will be able to provide for you, Belley." Moe tried to soothe her. "He'll be able to give you all the things I never could."
"It doesn't matter what he could give me. My life wasn't yours to gamble away!" Belle argued hotly, moving away as he reached for her shoulder.
"Belle, I just wanted to give you a better life." Moe sank into her chair, his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his hands. "Maybe I can work something out with Gary, maybe he'll accept something else."
"Papa, we have nothing. You've gambled everything away. Hell, the only reason Gary's allowing you to stay in the house is because I'm marrying him. There's nothing you can do."
"I'm sorry, dove." Moe whispered, and Belle shook her head.
"I can't do this right now, I have to go talk to Ruby, see if she has a dress I can wear tonight." Belle ran upstairs and quickly changed. As she walked back down the stairs, she shrugged on her coat and snatched her tip money from the book on the end table. She was just walking out the door when she heard the telltale sound of a beer cracking open. Disgusted, Belle slammed the door behind her, and began walking down the street, knowing that she would find Papa ten sheets to the wind when she came back, trying to drown his shame and pain in cheap beer.
Belle marched down the street, fury speeding her stride. She wanted to understand how her father could do this to her, but she already knew. He was an addict. No matter what she did, no matter how many safeguards she put up in order to give them both some semblance of a life, it would never be enough. He would always fall back into the same pattern. Shamefully, she couldn't even find it in herself to want to help him, yet she was still walking down the street, trying to find a dress to go out with Gary in, just so Papa could have a warm place to sleep every night.
Belle was so incensed that she didn't notice someone leaving the pawnshop until she sent them both crashing to the ground. Her hands and knees stung as she hit the pavement, and the man she crashed into snapped, "Why don't you watch where you're going, dearie!"
"I'm so sorry, sir. Here." Belle clambered to her feet, ignoring her stinging hands and bruised knees, and offered the man a hand up. He disregarded her offer in favor of snatching a cane from where it had fallen, and climbing to his feet himself. The man was dressed neatly, his dark suit neatly pressed and clinging to him in just the right places. His hair, longer than most men wore it and tinged with hints of grey, flipped back as he shook his head, revealing a worn face and intense brown eyes. "I'm sorry." Belle stammered, brushing the dirt off the palms of her hands.
"You've mentioned that already, dearie." He snapped, but his tone changed once he actually looked at her. "…It's quite alright, I'm no worse for wear." He wouldn't stop staring, and it was beginning to make her a little uncomfortable. It wasn't even that he kept looking at her, but it was the way he was looking at her. Belle was so used to seeing barely-controlled lust in the eyes of her father's gambling buddies, and boredom from the people she served at the diner. This man was looking at her like she was someone, not just an object with breasts or plates of food.
He finally looked away, and an uncomfortable grin crossed his face. "But it appears you are." He pointed down to her knee, and Belle saw a few patches of blood staining her previously clean leggings.
"Oh, shoot." Belle said, poking hesitantly at the patches, hoping they were dry and she just hadn't seen them. To her dismay, her fingertip came back wet, and she resigned herself to having to use Granny's bathroom to clean it off as best she could. With only fifty dollars to her name, she couldn't afford to buy a new pair and something to wear tonight. She had just started to walk away when his voice stopped her.
"Wait, you can…come in and clean your knee, I have some first aid supplies." When she nodded, the man turned and unlocked the pawnshop door, and Belle remembered with a blush how much she had wanted to go inside last night. "Ladies first." Belle limped inside, the pain in her knee fading as she looked around. There were so many interesting things in here; she could easily spend hours examining the items and marveling at the intricate little details. She had almost forgotten that the man was right behind her when he cleared his throat pointedly.
"So, you're Mr. Gold?" She addressed him.
"Yes I am, dearie, but just Gold is fine." Gold led her into the backroom and guided her to sit down on the small bed. This room was much less organized than the front was, and Belle looked around curiously. She could see a watch underneath a magnifying glass lying on the desk, and a couple of old books with their bindings broken lying in a pile by the window.
Gold dragged a stool over and propped her foot up on his knee, easing her boot off and rolling up her legging slowly. "You don't have to do that. After all, I was the one who crashed into you." Belle protested, trying to lift her foot off his knee, only to let out a hiss of pain as her knee resisted the sudden movement.
Gold stopped her with a hand on her shin. "Let me. You won't be able to get it yourself, and I've had plenty of experience cleaning scrapes." With a huff of indignance, she settled her foot back on his knee.
"Thank you." She offered, and immediately changed the subject. "Your shop is…this place, it's incredible." Belle stammered, cursing herself on the inside for sounding like an idiot. Gold, to her surprise, blushed. She could see the tips of his ears turning red. She winced as the antiseptic stung the scrape, and waited for him to reply.
"It's simply a cover. There's a dog-fighting ring underneath us." Horror rippled through her, and she tried to tug her foot off his leg. In the process, she landed a pretty hard kick to his nose, and he groaned. With blood beginning to ooze down his face, Gold started to laugh. "It was just a quip, dearie."
"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry." Belle grabbed one of the towels he had brought to clean up her knee and pressed it his nose, absolutely mortified. He nudged her hand away, tipping his head back and pressing down.
"It's just my nose, dearie, and trust me, it's seen worse." Gold chuckled. The towel came away barely soaked, and though the edge of his nostril was still tinged red with blood, the bleeding had stopped. "You didn't actually kick me that hard."
Belle buried her face in her hands, not sure if she should laugh or be mortified. "I'm causing you nothing but trouble." Her knee no longer hurt that badly now that there was a bandage wrapped around it, and she stood up to leave. "Thank you, and I'm sorry about everything."
"It's no matter. Be on your way." Gold had moved back to the table, his attention returned to fixing the watch, if she could hazard a guess. Out of things to say, and obviously dismissed, Belle walked out, sparing a longing glance to the books before she did.
She needed to see Ruby anyway.
Belle walked into the diner, thankful for once that it was nearly empty. Normally, that would mean her job could be at risk, but she guessed that she really wouldn't have to worry about money anymore. I just have to worry about being hit. Wonderful. She cursed her father yet again for getting her into this situation.
Ruby was standing at the counter, chewing on the edge of her nail and flipping through a magazine. "Hey, Belle!" She said when Belle walked. "What are you doing here? Today's your day off."
"It's complicated. Do you have a dress I can borrow?" Belle asked, trying not to feel ashamed that she couldn't afford a nice dress of her own. Ruby already knew about Moe anyway, she would understand.
"Sure, just let me…" Ruby turned to the kitchen, "Hey, Granny, Belle's here! Do you mind if I take her upstairs for a bit?" She yelled.
"Fine, just don't dawdle." Granny snapped back. "Hello, Belle."
"Hi, Granny." Belle barely had the words out before Ruby was pulling her up the stairs and into her bedroom. Ruby tore through her closet haphazardly, reds and blacks and a whole lot of other colors flying through the air. Belle laughed as a deep purple sweater landed on her face. "Ruby, slow down, you won't be able to find anything tearing through your closet like that."
"I know it is in here somewhe…Found it!" Ruby crowed, pulling out a one-shouldered, ice blue dress that looked like it would come close to fitting her. On one hand, Ruby was quite a bit taller than her, so it might too long on her. However, Ruby preferred short dresses, so it might hit at mid-thigh, or even down to her knee. "Here, try it on."
Belle pulled her shirt over her head, discretely sniffing to make sure she didn't smell too bad.
"Belle, what are those?" Ruby asked, and pointed to her stomach when Belle gave her a quizzical look. Belle looked down to see four perfectly round bruises on her waist, glaringly obvious against her pale skin. Gary had gripped her so hard he had bruised her. Ruby raised one eyebrow, waiting for her answer.
"I really don't know, Rubes." Belle lied, focusing on getting her skirt and leggings off so Ruby might not see the guilt written all over her face. "Maybe I just hit something."
Belle tugged the dress over her head and let it settle across her body. The chest was a little too loose - Ruby had bigger breasts than she did – but the length was good. Belle took a peek in Ruby's full-length mirror and marveled. The color did wonders for her, emphasizing the blue in her eyes and the gold highlights in her hair.
"That looks really nice on you!" Ruby enthused, pulling the fabric at the back tighter. "It would be really easy to tailor too, you know Mr. Gold? Down in that creepy pawnshop?"
"Yea, what about him?"
"He does some tailoring too, I bet you could pay him to fix it for you." Belle blushed at the thought of running into him again, figuratively or literally, and shook her head. "Well, I haven't worn this dress for years anyway, so you can keep it if you want it."
"I should be able to fix it myself, and thank you for letting me have it." Years of thrift-store clothing had forced her to become rather skilled at mending her own things; it would simply be a matter of taking in the seam, which she could do in an hour or so. Belle quickly got changed and folded the dress, clutching it close to her stomach. She had just turned to leave when Ruby grabbed her wrist, spun her around, and pushed her back down to the bed.
"Oh no, you are not leaving until you tell me why you are wearing a ring on your finger." Ruby was nearly bouncing up and down with excitement, having unearthed the juiciest piece of gossip she had likely ever heard. Belle wasn't stupid; she had heard the rumors about her. Belle knew people thought she was frigid, thought she was unlikely to ever marry anyone. There were even some bets at The Rabbit Hole as to when she would be seen with a guy.
Belle sighed. "I'm engaged." She pasted on a huge smile, trying to appear like the besotted bride-to-be she was supposed to be, not a girl traded away into the arms of a man she didn't even want to be around.
Nothing slipped past Ruby though; quite frankly, Belle was surprised she had managed to escape questioning about the bruises. "You're not happy about it." Ruby guessed, and for once, Belle wished she wasn't quite so hard to fool.
"Please don't say anything to anyone about this, Ruby." Belle pleaded. "If people ask, just tell them I'm madly in love, or tell them to mind their own business. Just…please?" Belle pleaded. Ruby plopped down on the bed next to her and sighing, pressing a hand to her face.
"Alright, I won't say anything." Belle hugged her, grateful beyond words. "Will you at least tell me what I'm not supposed to be telling people?" Belle sighed and told Ruby the whole story- the gambling, the bet, the assault, everything. To her embarrassment, she burst into tears halfway through, so petrified of going through with this.
"Belle, you can't do this, he's a jerk." Ruby tried to reason with her. "Gary's going to hurt you; he's already hurt you!" Ruby pressed slightly on one of the bruises, and Belle jumped away with a flinch. "I don't care if he's our landlord, I'm going to give that ass a piece of my mind!"
"No, don't. You'll just make him angry. I have to marry him; you know how power Gary has in this town. Papa won't have a home if I don't." Belle said. Ruby bit her lip. "I'll figure something out, just…don't tell anyone, not a soul, ok?"
"Alright, but be careful, and you know you can tell me anything, right?" Ruby said, and Belle nodded, and took a look at the clock. 1 pm.
"I should go, Rubes. I still have to get ready for tonight. I have a date, which will surely shock the people of Storybrooke." Belle tried to smile, and Ruby gave an equally hesitant smile back. They had both enjoyed giggling about the crazy gossip that surfaced in the town, but neither of them had the emotional stamina to laugh at it now.
After a tearful good-bye, Belle returned home, blatantly ignoring her father snoring away on the couch with open beer bottles scattered everywhere. Typical. She took a hot shower, trying to calm herself and wash all traces of the tears and stress off her face. I don't like to see you cry, dove echoed through her mind, and Belle tried to shake it off. They could have a good time tonight, and maybe if she actually believed it, it would happen.