A/N: A very mature scene takes place between the last chapter and this one. I don't want to get reported, so if you want it, it'll be over on ao3 after a few minor edits. Can't link there because of rules, but it's under the same author and story name.

Peter rolled over beside Felix, his head on the taller boy's shoulder. When he could breath more easily, Felix spoke. "Well, here we are and no one's happiness had to be sacrificed. Are you happy, Peter?"

"Yes. Right now, with you, I'm very happy." Peter answered. For once, his inner demon couldn't rain on his parade. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that Felix truly loved him. And, considering how magic worked, he had to admit he was truly in love with Felix.

They lay in companionable silence until Peter glanced at the clock. "What time did Rumple say we had to be at dinner?"

Felix followed his gaze and smacked his head. "Shit!"

After a quick shower and a mad dash to Felix's car, the two managed to make it to the Gold home in record time.

Peter grabbed Felix's hand before he could ring the doorbell. Felix looked at him in frustration. "We're already late, Peter..."

"I know, it's just, I forgot to ask you. What has the relationship between Rumple and I been like with the spell and all." He asked, trying to minimize the anxiety he was feeling.

"I'm not sure I should tell you." Felix said as the door opened.

+++Storybrooke, During the Spell+++

"Mr. Gold, I'm honored, but no thank you." Peter said as he stocked the store shelf. The Boy's Home had opened the store to give the older children some work experience and spending money. The store did well, due in no small part to the patronage of the richest man in town.

"I don't understand. I thought you'd be happy. It's not every day someone comes along to adopt you." Mr. Gold said with a smile as he leaned on his cane.

Peter turned around, box of cereal in one hand. "I'm a seventeen year old kid in an orphanage. I'm aware of that." Peter stated calmly, eyebrow raised in humor. "Speaking of which, there are plenty of other boys who need a good home. Pick one of them." Peter finished simply, as if discussing picking a bunch of flowers. He turned back to the shelf he'd been stocking.

"What have you got against the idea?" Gold persisted.

Peter fought the urge to spin around and start cussing out the old man. "I'm practically an adult! I've got colleges to pick and apply to and..."

"Precisely, I can help ensure you get into the best schools. You'll be able to focus on your studies without worrying over room and board. It would be..."

"Me living off someone else's work? That's not how the real world works, Gold. I want to earn my way. I want to work and worry as long as I can call my life mine. I can succeed just fine on my own. I don't need your money." Peter turned to leave.

Gold reached out and grabbed Peter's shoulder. Reluctantly, he turned around. "Wait, please. I could make a deal with you, I'm sure. This isn't about money for me. I'm offering you a family. I know we could be free to be happy together."

"Your deals are legendary, or should I say, infamous?"

"Perhaps, once upon a time. I've had a change of heart, you could say."

"Just out of the blue?"

"Well, I did meet someone."

"Happy for you" Peter stated drily. "Spend your money on her."

"Considering her favorite vice, that would be unwise."

"What, you hooking up with Red?" Even Peter had heard of the town's resident party animal. Given his own inability to cook, Peter frequented the diner as often as he could. It was better than the meals at the Boy's Home, for sure.

"Her name is Lacey."

Peter snorted rudely, he'd seen Lacey at Granny's. Mostly she came there to nurse a hangover. "Red's partner in crime? What in the world does she see in you?" Peter belatedly remembered who he was taking to. "No offense, I mean. You're just a touch...older..." Realizing he was digging the hole deeper, Peter stopped talking.

An uncomfortable silence fell between them. Finally, Gold spoke. "I'm not that old."

"What do you want from me? Am I secretly the heir to some fortune only you know about? What could you possibly gain from becoming my father."

"I would gain a son."

"I'm not buying it, Gold." Peter turned around to leave again. This time, Mr. Gold grabbed his hand.

Peter looked down at the hand that held him and shook his head. He pulled his hand away. "We both know you're better off without me. I was never meant to be someone's son." The young man walked away, leaving the older man puzzled at the deeply unpleasant sense of deja vu.

Unseen around the corner at the end of the aisle, Felix watched his boyfriend turn down the richest man in town. As Mr. Gold turned to leave, a paper fell out of his pocket. It went unnoticed by the scowling business man, as did Felix.

Felix waited to see that the man had left before picking up the paper. Unfolding it, he read a few lines before the words jumped out at him.

+++Present+++

"You're late, dearies." Gold said stiffly when he answered the door.

"Rumple, behave!" Lacey called warningly from the dining room. "Well, at least while we have company."

"Yes, yes. Come on in." Gold said lazily. He lead them into the dining room. Henry, Neal and Emma stood up to greet them. Peter balked, not prepared to face so many of the people he'd nearly killed in his other life. The sudden stop caused Felix to run into him from behind. Felix's arms were around him before he could fall over.

"Sorry, Peter." Felix said, covering for him. "Guess I'm just a little too eager to eat." The others seemed to accept this, either ignoring Peter's panicked look or else they had failed to notice it at all. Peter tried to gather his wits and put on a happy face. Felix steered him to the table and greeted the other guests while Peter tried to come up with small talk. He wasn't very good at it, his mind was unusually frozen.

He wasn't even aware of who he'd ended up sitting next to until Henry tapped his shoulder. Quietly, the teen spoke to him, trying not to attract the attention of the others at the table. "Are you all right? You look a little pale."

In spite of himself, Peter grinned. Sometimes he couldn't believe what the fates had done. There he was, the child he'd tricked into pulling out his own heart, literally. The same kid whose body he'd successfully taken over. By all rights, he shouldn't even be in the same world as the True Believer. And here he was, sitting next to Henry and the boy was concerned for him!

"I'm fine. It's been kind of a long day." Peter said. Unfortunately, he wasn't as quiet as Henry and so attracted the attention of Belle, or Lacey as she was now known.

"We heard about the accident." She said, looking pointedly at Emma, whose Deputy Sheriff badge shone from the lapel of her red jacket. "From all accounts, you're incredibly lucky to still be alive."

"Yeah, the biggest loss there was a pretty sweet truck." Emma said jokingly.

"Mom!" Henry protested.

"Oh please, he's fine."

"You're so embarrassing sometimes."

"Says the kid who flirts with a werewolf."

"It was one time."

"She's a friend of your grandmother."

"And I'm sitting next to my teenage great-grandfather. Our life is weird."

"Doesn't make it any less weird when you're making hot chocolate innuendos with a girl who can bite your face off."

"I'm sorry, which one of you is the adult?" Gold interjected.

"There are other adults at this table?" Lacey asked innocently. "Does this mean I can get out the liquor?"

"Not with the way you drink." Gold answered lightly.

"I do have a personal stock of something less frou frou than your European vintages."

"Coors is not a dinner party beverage."

"I could argue that point, Mal."

Mal, thought Peter. Wait, his Storybrooke name was Mr. Gold, but that was only his last name. Which meant... "Your first name is Malcolm?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

The table went dead quiet. Mr. Gold stood up and walked calmly into the kitchen. Peter made to follow but Lacey gestured him to stay put and got up to talk to Gold.

"You really did forget everything after the curse." Henry said idly, finally ending the awkward silence. "You know the memory loss was supposed to be the other way; you shouldn't remember anything before the curse."

"He didn't cross the town line." Emma replied. "At least, not from what I read in Graham's report."

"You've read Graham's report?" Peter asked. Emma nodded. "Then what do you make of the large amount of blood on scene?"

The table went silent again. "We don't have all the facts." Emma said finally. "It looks like too much blood for one person to lose and not be dead or dying. Yet, there was no other body around. No one we know of is missing. I'd say it was an animal and the body is lost in the wreckage or the woods around it. You didn't have a bloody nose or anything like that when you woke up?" Peter shook his head.

"He didn't even have blood on his clothes, although they were pretty torn up." Felix interjected.

"I'm sure Sheriff Graham will have it sorted by morning." Malcolm Gold said as he returned, Lacey following.

The next part of dinner passed in relative silence as they ate. To say it was tense would be putting it mildly. Felix and Lacey shared a look of hopelessness. Peter and Gold avoided eye contact to the point that the others at the table just wished they would slug it out already. Emma and Henry kept what little conversation there was limited to the weather and Henry's school. Peter wasn't quite sure what he was eating, but his nerves were so bad he couldn't really taste anything. Felix scooted closer so their legs were touching and Peter let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

After dinner, Emma and Henry had to go. "School night, sorry." Emma said to Lacey as she glanced over at Peter and Felix. Peter looked at Felix and tried pushing his emotions through their bond. Apparently, it worked and Felix nodded.

"We're heading out too." Felix announced. "It's been a really long day for Peter and I have work in the morning."

"Promise me you'll be back next weekend?" Lacey asked. "Ma-Mr. Gold wanted me to ask. He said it would sound better coming from me. Personally," Here Lacey leaned in conspiratorially. "I think he's really starting to open up to you guys." To Peter's amazement, Felix nodded.

"You call that opening up?" Peter asked, incredulous.

Lacey turned to him with a serious look. "Considering he let you in the door and actually returned to the dining room after you called him Malcolm, yes. I'd say tonight was a success beyond our wildest dreams." The twinkle in her eye gave away the exaggerated nature of the joke. Peter smiled.

"Same time?" Peter asked, earning a grin from Felix.

End Note: Sorry this took so long; I wasn't sure I was going to do much more with this story idea, but it looks like the muse hit me. I think I'm going to try to update this at least once a month for the rest of the year or until I reach a satisfactory stopping point. Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of the story!