Chapter Four
"I'm not drinking," Gold said.
"Yes you are, it's no fun when only one of us is drinking," Jefferson replied. They were walking to the Rabbit Hole bar from Gold's shop, and were nearly there.
"One of us needs to stay sober, that's the rule," Gold replied icily. He enjoyed having fun and having a drink with Jefferson every once and a while, despite what he said, but he never crossed the line of having at least one sober person in the group.
"We do, that's why I invited Archie," Jefferson said, and he waved to the lone siluate of the psychologist standing outside the bar.
Gold sighed, well at least it wasn't Dr. Wales, he thought. Actually, if Gold was honest with himself, Archie wasn't that bad. Almost every time they needed a third wheel, Archie was free to do the deed with them. Another good thing about Archie was that the man was strictly against drinking, though he didn't mind tagging along to be the sober party.
Dr. Hopper was also the only person Gold would tolerate seeing him get drunk around besides Jefferson, and that one was only because the hatter was almost always drunk right along with him.
"Hello Jefferson, Mr. Gold," Archie smiled when he saw them, and dipped his head in respect to Gold.
"Archie," Jefferson said.
"Dr. Hopper," Mr. Gold greeted him. Together the three of them went inside and seated themselves at one of the booths.
When a waiter came around, Archie was the first to order, all he ever got was water. Then Mr. Gold went; already knowing that he'd do best to last the night with a good scotch. Jefferson was always indecisive when it came to ordering anything, whether it was drink or food.
"I think I'll go with a vodka," Jefferson said finally. The waiter scribbled down his order and hurried off to the bar.
"Plan on being carried out of here Jeff?" Archie asked with a small laugh, though neither he or Gold were big fans of drinking, both loved teasing Jefferson about his wild side. Gold smirked, but he knew his turn to be teased would be coming soon enough.
"Possible," Jefferson replied, grinning like a maniac. "Speaking of which I thought I was going to have to drag Gold out of his shop when he wasn't on time—," the hatter turned to face Gold, "Care to elaborate Rum?"
"I was helping someone," Gold said, his tone was dismissive, but either Jefferson didn't understand his tone of voice or he was choosing to ignore it, it was probably the latter. Jefferson was smarter than he looked, but he also knew how far he could get away with pushing Gold.
"Ooh, do tell, do tell," His friend said, propping his head up in his hand, elbow resting on the table. Archie raised an eyebrow in question.
"Have any troublesome patients Dr. Hopper?" Gold asked, purposely changing the subject. Jefferson frowned, and began to tap his fingers on the table top.
"I don't know Mr. Gold, I would certainly like to hear about who you were helping," Archie said, exchanging a mischievious smile with Jefferson. Why couldn't he be friends with people who were blind as moles?
"I'm a pawnbroker, is it so odd for me to be helping someone?" Gold asked, thankful that their drinks had finally arrived. The night wasn't off to a great start, and if this was how the entire thing was going to be then he would need a drink to help him.
"Yes," Jefferson said, pulling his drink over to him, but didn't take a sip yet. Archie downed some of his water and looked at Gold expectantly.
Gold decided to kill some time, and gulped down some of his scotch, before he answered, "You both know that Moe's on vacation right?" Both men nodded, though Jefferson was now grinning like the bloody Cheshire cat himself.
"Well his daughter took his job on while he's out, because his usually substitute backed out apparently," Gold took another sip and continued, "Well, Ms. French asked me to assist her with the basement because she apparently believes that it's a two person job, and I refused to let Ruby Lucas enter that basement for fear of it being doomed". A dreamy look came over Archie's face the moment he mentioned Ruby, and Gold knew that Dr. Hopper had it worst than he did.
"Mm-hm, are you sure that's the only reason?" Jefferson pressed, eyes gleaming. He finally took a sip of his own drink and looked smugly at Gold.
"I'm surprised at you Archie," Gold said, purposely ignoring Jeff at the moment, "I would have never taken you for the bad-girl type". Archie's face went bright red, and Jefferson's attention was adverted.
While the hatter was focused solely on Archie, Mr. Gold managed to mouth his apology to the psychologist.
"Belle? Earth to Belle?" Ruby shook Belle's shoulder, snapping the young woman out of the day dream she'd just been having about Mr. Gold kissing her senseless.
They were sitting at a booth in Grannies, Ruby had just gotten off her shift and the two were now having hot coco.
"Huh? What, sorry, I must've been—," Belle began to apologize.
"Daydreaming about Mr. Gold," Rub cut her off with a grin. Her friend shook her head and sighed, "Just invite him to have lunch with you Belle, it's not that difficult,".
"Yes it is, I don't want him thinking that I'm trying to manipulate him," Belle said, she took a sip of her coco and sighed, "Besides I have to be up early tomorrow to finish dry walling and start on the stairs".
"Come on Belle, you'll never know if you don't give it a shot," Ruby said, reaching out to grab Belle's arm before the burnette could leave.
"Ruby, it's late, I really do need to be getting home," Belle sighed.
"But it's only eight and its Friday," Ruby instantly protested and began doing her pathetic puppy dog face, but it was still good enough to make Belle feel guilty for wanting to go home early.
"You need to work on your puppy-dog face," Belle sighed, sinking back down into the booth. Ruby grinned.
"It worked didn't it?" she teased her.
Just then, the front door to Grannies opened and in stumbled Mr. Gold, Archie and the man with the top hat that Belle had seen earlier in Gold's Pawnshop.
While Archie appeared sober, both the hatted man and Gold were grinning and laughing about something.
"Well speak of the devil," Ruby said, giving Belle a mischievious grin.
The trio, mostly due to Archie, stumbled over to a nearby booth. While Gold and his friend sat down, Archie called Ashley, one of the waitresses over and ordered something for the three of them.
"Well this works out perfectly," Ruby practically squealed. Her friend grabbed her arm and hauled her out of their booth and over to the men's.
"Ruby, this isn't a good idea," Belle tried to protest, but they were already there. Archie looked up at them when they stopped in front of his booth, and Belle could have sworn the man was blushing as Ruby began to address him.
"Hey Archie, do you mind if Belle and I sit with you and your friends?" she asked, batting her eyes at him. The pchycologist swallowed hard and smiled at her,
"Of course not Ruby," he said, motioning to the seat opposite of him and his friends. Ruby pushed Belle in ahead of her, forcing her to face Gold and his unnamed friend, while Ruby sat in front of Archie.
"Ruby, Belle, this is Mr. Gold and Jefferson," Archie said nodding to the two men who had by now finally noticed the two women's arrival at their booth.
"Hello Belle," Gold said, smiling almost shyly at her. Belle's heart fluttered with delight that he had was smiling at her.
"Here's your pie pieces," Ashley said, placing three plates, each with a piece of apple pie on it, in front of the three men.
"How much will that be Ashley?" Archie asked, pulling out his billfold.
"Five fifty," Ashley said. Archie nodded, but Gold stopped him from taking any money out of the billfold.
"I'll pay," he slurred, pulling a twenty out of his coat pocket and placing it roughly into Ashley's hand.
"This is a twenty," she said, eyes wide with surprise.
"I think Mr. Gold and Jefferson are drunk," Ruby whispered to Belle who silently agreed, while Gold was being strangely generous, he made Ashley keep the twenty, Jefferson was lazily petting the table.
"Sorry about Gold and Jeff," Archie said, looking over at his friends, "Jefferson made us go to the rabbit hole for a drink or two, and then he and Gold wanted to come here". He met Ruby's gaze and shyly looked away, using his pie as his excuse.
"I think Archie likes you," Belle whispered in her friends' ear, causing Ruby to blush, an uncharacteristic event.
"If I ask him out, you have to ask Gold when he's sober," Ruby hissed in Belle's ear before turning to face Archie, "Hey Archie, do you want to have lunch with me tomorrow, I'm free at one".
"Sure Ruby, I'd love to," Archie said, smiling happily at Ruby, who grinned back and elbowed Belle in the ribs out of the boys' view.
"Hey Belle," Gold said, drawing her attention back to him. Belle, despite herself was thankful that he was drunk, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to meet his gaze.
"Yeah Mr. Gold," she said, smiling like a silly school girl with a crush, which actually wasn't that far from the truth.
"I don't think I'll be able to make it tomorrow, how about we go over to the building on Monday? I'll be out all tomorrow cause of this one," Mr. Gold grinned and hooked his arm around Jefferson's shoulders , causing the hatter to nearly spit out his last piece of pie.
"You two are dating!" Jefferson blurted out suddenly, a look of sheer delight on his face, "Why didn't you tell me?" Belle stared at Jefferson, utterly confused; apparently she wasn't the only one. Gold, Archie and Ruby were also staring at him.
"I think Jefferson's had too much," Ruby commented, though she seemed to like the idea of what Jefferson had said. She wasn't the only one, Belle wished that what the hatter had said was true more than anything, but judging from the utter confusion and horror on Gold's face, she doubted the pawnbroker felt the same.
"I should probably get these two home," Archie said with a reluctant sigh, he smiled at Ruby and told her goodbye, before standing.
"Come on Gold, Jeff," he said. Gold looked over at Archie in slight annoyance before he looked back at Belle,
"Do you have a pen handy?" he asked her, tearing his napkin.
"Yeah, here," Belle said, handing him her blue ball ended pen. He took it from her, their hands touching for a moment, causing her heart to leap into her throat.
He scribbled something down on the napkin and handed the note to her, it held a bunch of numbers.
"It's my cell number," he explained, his face turning a darker shade, "In case you need to call me or something". He hurried out of the booth, Jefferson just behind him, and still grinning wildly.
As the men left, Ruby grabbed Belle's arm and squealed loudly, "He gave you his number!" Belle smiled happily and took his phone out, quickly adding his number to her list of contacts. She knew he would probable regret giving her his number in the morning when he was sober, but at the moment, she didn't care.
"You're right Ruby," Belle murmured, "It's worth a shot asking him to have lunch with me". She made a mental note to call him later to give him her number.
