Calder leaned back from his workbench, stretching his back in the process, as he stared at the project before him. He had been working on the tea set, again, that he had started the previous week. The small, porcelain set had required more delicate work than he had intended from the beginning. Though Calder didn't mind all that much because whenever he worked with the tea set it reminded him of Belle.

When he had picked up the chipped cup today he confirmed that the blue paint almost mirrored the color of Belle's eyes. The blue paint didn't hold the exact quality of her eyes, but it was extremely close. Calder smiled as he ran his index finger lightly over the blue branch, his thoughts drifting to Belle.

He hadn't caught much of a glimpse of her last Friday either time he walked Baelfire to and from the session. It had put a damper on his heart, which was quickly extinguished with how selfish Calder thought it to be. Like their first session, Calder reminded himself that they were here for Baelfire and him to figure out where they had fallen out, and not to stare at pretty counselors.

A prick from the chipped cup in his hand, as his fingers brushed over the chipped edge, brought Calder back to the present. It wasn't right of him to get disheartened because he hadn't seen Belle on Friday, he barely knew the woman, and she was only there to help them get through this and then they could go on their way to life before counseling. Life before Calder knew Belle even existed, let alone lived in this small town. He had no idea how he had gone about not realizing it, having lived in this town long before Baelfire was born, and having access to nearly everything and everyone in town, minus the few properties that the Mills family owned.

The idea boggled his mind; the fact that she could've been here for years and Calder was just now noticing her caused him to feel guilt. If they had met in any other circumstance, he was positive that he still would've been taken aback by her beauty. Although, he wasn't sure if any other scenarios would've played out like their current one. Belle certainly wasn't afraid of him like most of the town was, nor was he certain that she'd appreciate someone like him, who had a child that was probably old enough to be her kid brother, in a romantic sense.

Again, he pushed the idea away and told himself she was their counselor. Calder shouldn't, couldn't, think of her in that way. The constant mantra was going to grow tiring on Calder, he could already sense it, but if that's what it took for him to stay sane and help mend the broken ties between Baelfire and himself, so be it.

Calder replaced the chipped cup back among the rest of the tea set, and wiped the stray paint away from his hands on an old cloth. After he set the cloth down, Calder looked over at the clock on the wall, noticing that it was close to noon now. He figured he should stop soon to have lunch, if the sudden growl that came from Calder's stomach was an obvious indication, and could return to the tea set after a quick meal.

The pawn shop owner stood up slowly from the workbench, uncuffing his sleeves to smooth them back down over his arms, and carefully walked around said workbench to grab his cane that was resting on the side. On his way to the door, Calder grabbed his coat off the rack and hurriedly slipped it on to brave the brisk Maine afternoon.

Normally Calder would've grabbed something from home to eat, but the argument he had had that morning with Baelfire caused him to forget to grab his lunch. If he had lived closer to town, and his shop, Calder would've gone home for lunch instead of making the trek over to Granny's for food. This is exactly how Calder found himself standing outside Granny's diner.

The diner fell silent when Calder pushed through the doors. It was a response he had grown accustomed to over the years, and one Calder was perfectly fine with. His cane clicked loudly as he made his way over to the counter, the patrons slowly returning to their previous conversations, so he could place his lunch order.

"What do you want today Mr. Gold?" Granny said, bitterness hinted in her tone.

Calder didn't take it personally, another thing he had grown accustomed to over the years, and smirked at the older lady.

"Just a hamburger and coffee to-go, dearie."

The pawn shop owner quietly seated himself in the nearest available stool, all the while feeling Granny eye him suspiciously as she placed his order, and propped his bad leg up on the elevated step of the diner's counter. His cane rested beside him, propped up by the countertop, as he absentmindedly rubbed the knee of his elevated leg.

The diner's rowdiness was a sound Calder had never welcomed, no matter how much he tried. He wasn't much for loud environments in general though, always preferring his solitude where he could properly think. On few occasions would Calder actually sit inside loud places, like the diner, for extended periods of time, and that was because of his son. Granted, that was when Baelfire was younger and they were on better terms, but Calder would do nearly anything to see his son happy, even if it meant dealing with a minor headache just so he could see his son smile.

Nowadays though, those moments were sparse between his son and himself. Baelfire would prefer to hang out with his friends, namely Killian, instead of with his papa. It was something Calder didn't like to think about, something he refused to acknowledge, the more they fought at home. This whole riff that had grown between Baelfire and him seemed to always be daunting his mind, normally he'd be able to push the thoughts away and act as if nothing was wrong, but with attending counseling sessions Calder would have to actually acknowledge what was happening. That was a thought that made Calder grow clammy and nervous, he wasn't sure if he was capable of something like that. The last time he tried to deal with a problem like this it had put him out for a week, and that was something Calder didn't want to have to put Baelfire through again.

"Mr. Gold, what are you doing here?" a sweet voice called out.

Strange, nobody ever acknowledged him while he was out in public unless they were begging for a few days extra for rent or if it was the only option they had, Calder thought. He turned his body, mindful of his lame leg, ready to tell off whoever wanted to confront him, to face the direction the voice had come from. If Calder hadn't been holding onto the counter's edge while he turned, he was sure he would've probably fell off of the stool. Belle was standing in front of him, a smile adorned on her face while she waited for a response.

Calder swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, quickly trying to find his words, before replying, "Just ordering lunch to-go, Miss French."

"Oh, you don't need to call me Miss French here. Call me Belle." she said as she moved toward the counter's edge.

The sudden closeness startled Calder, causing his body to tense slightly. At least during the last session there was a table between the two of them, but now Belle was standing right next to him in his personal space.

"No Ruby today, Belle?" Granny asked.

"Nope, Dr. Hopper has her pulling some old files for him for a patient today and she couldn't make it to lunch. I don't even think she'll have time for lunch today the way Dr. Hopper emphasized how important the files were."

Calder felt stupid for not realizing that the Ruby Lucas that worked at Hundred Acre Counseling Center was the same Ruby Lucas that worked the diner on the weekends when he would come in on occasion with Baelfire. The young waitress looked far different out of the uniform she wore as opposed to her office attire, so Calder chalked it up as to why he hadn't recognized her last week.

"What a shame, I'll have you take back a sandwich then for her to eat later. Do you want me to make your usual a to-go today then, since Ruby's not here to eat with you?"

"Well, that depends on what Mr. Gold here chose."

The words that came out of Belle threw Calder off guard. Was she implying that she wanted to eat with him or was he looking too much into her words, he wondered.

"What?"

"Are you eating here or not?" Belle asked, her eyebrow quirking.

Calder cleared his throat, thrown off by Belle's sudden questioning, "I was planning on eating in my shop."

"Then that's my decision, make mine to-go too, Granny."

"Alright Belle, I'll have that out in a few minutes then." Granny said, leaving the counter again to place the order.

"What are you doing Miss French?" Calder asked once Granny was out of earshot.

"Belle," she corrected, "and I was thinking if you were eating here, I'd have a companion to eat lunch with. But since you're not, I'll just take my lunch back with me to the center then, and eat in my office."

This was his chance, he thought, this was the moment he could get to see Belle outside of the counseling center.

"You could always eat with me over at the shop today, Miss French." Calder mumbled.

The instant the words left his mouth, Calder regretted it. There was no way she'd say yes, she probably had better things to do with her lunch break than eat with someone like him, and it was seriously one of the most selfish things he could do. Belle was meant to help Baelfire and him figure out their issues, not have lunch dates, if he even wanted to dare call them that, so he could spend actual time with her.

"Mr. Gold, seriously, call me Belle. We can drop the formalities when we're not at the center."

"O-okay, Belle." The taste of her name on his lips felt foreign, almost like bubbling champagne, but in the most glorious of ways. Calder had only ever called her Belle in his mind, and he felt himself slowly growing addicted to the way her name sounded on his lips.

"Now what were you mumbling about?" she asked, shifting her body to face his own a little better.

"I, uh, was wondering if you wanted to eat lunch over at my shop. So you wouldn't have to eat alone that is."

"If I didn't know any better, that sounds like a date to me, Mr. Gold."

The sudden quip threw Calder off guard, which was something Belle was proving herself to be good at the more he talked with her.

"I-I, uhm, you don't have to. I mean, is it not okay for us to spend time together outside of our sessions?"

"I'm kidding Mr. Gold." she said with a smile and a wave of her hand before continuing, "We can have one casual lunch where we happen to be in the same vicinity, so long as nothing related to our sessions or Baelfire's sessions come up, we should be okay."

"Alright." he said as his chest swelled. Calder couldn't help but think how grateful he was for his son and the fight they had that morning, despite the underlying selfishness Calder felt, for causing him to forget his lunch. Otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up in the diner this afternoon or happen across Belle who he'd soon be having an almost lunch date with.

"So it's decided, I'll just happen to be at your shop with my food and we'll eat there for lunch then. I'm just going to go run to the bathroom quickly, and by the time I'm back our food should be done." Belle said, brushing past Calder slightly while she made her way to the restroom.

He turned his head slightly so he could watch her leave, and couldn't help but smile at the way her loose curls bounced as she walked. Those curls were one of the many features of Belle that Calder couldn't force from his mind since their initial meeting. They looked so effortless and so, well, Belle as she tucked a section behind her ear before entering the lady's room. Once she had walked out of his sight, Calder turned his attention back onto the counter. The counter wasn't as exciting to look at like Belle was, though almost anything wasn't nearly as exciting as Belle in Calder's thoughts, but there wasn't much else to do while Calder waited for his lunch and almost lunch date.

"Gold." a woman's voice said.

Calder turned his attention to the woman off to his side, already knowing the owner of said voice.

"Mills." he replied. Today was one full of surprises, Calder mused, and this surprise was far more interesting than the counter he was staring at while he waited.

"You and your son still attending counseling?"

She sure doesn't beat around the bush, Calder thought. It truly was the Mills' style though, if he was going to be honest with himself.

"Indeed, especially since it could risk my son being expelled if we don't." he spat back. If there was one thing Calder was still bitter about having to attend counseling, it'd be that Regina had essentially blackmailed him into it by using his son as a wager. In spite of how Calder was surprised that counseling wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be, mostly due to Belle being their counselor, he wasn't about to let the details of how they wound up there go.

"How unfortunate, I'm sure the counselor isn't making it easy either." Regina said, her hands settling on her hips.

"Oh, Miss French is quite lovely actually. Bae's taken a shine to her, first time he's been so open with someone new in his life in a long time." If there was one way to get under Regina's skin, it'd be by telling her that whatever she had brewed had backfired.

"Hmm, what an unexpected turn of events."

"And what is that supposed to mean Ms. Mills?" Calder asked, his eyebrow quirking.

"Nothing," she said with a shrug, "except I was sure Miss French would annoy the hell out of you with her chipperness. She annoyed the hell out me when I took Henry there for sessions."

"I thought you said she helped you out, dearie."

"Oh, she did. She helped me make my way into the center so I could switch over to Dr. Hopper. I originally wanted him to be our counselor, the best at Hundred Acre's, but he was all booked up when I asked for an appointment."

So that was her plan, Calder thought. She had dropped Belle the moment she could get what she wanted, and pawned her off to him, not that he'd let Regina know that. Calder couldn't deny that the action hadn't surprised him in the least though; Regina was constantly contriving how to get her way by any means. Always living up to her nickname of The Evil Queen, he noted.

"And Miss French was a pawn so you could put your foot in the door the second a spot opened for Dr. Hopper."

"Exactly, but it seems my hopes of her annoying you while you were obligated to be there backfired. Oh well, you win some you lose some." Regina said with a fake pout on her lips.

"What exactly was your point of even coming over here, dearie?"

"I came by for a quick coffee and lunch date," she said, gesturing over to the man in a nearby booth, "and couldn't resist checking up on how you and your son are doing when I saw you sitting over here by yourself."

"Well, you should probably return back to him before he makes a dash for the exit."

Regina's face steeled over, a smirk growing on Calder's face, before she turned on her heels in a huff. Calder chuckled while The Evil Queen seated herself next to her, apparent, date, satisfied with having the final word. Finally, Calder knew why Regina had sent him to see Belle in the first place. Though it wasn't as bad of an intention he had made it out to be, but that intent to make him miserable was still within Regina. Yet he somehow didn't mind that she had sent him to Hundred Acre Counseling Center, and that was all to do with Belle.

While Regina may have thought Belle would annoy him, and thinking on it Calder had thought the same of Belle on their initial meeting, but in fact the opposite had happened. Calder couldn't explain it any better than that Belle held some kind of power within her that could make almost anybody fall in love with her. Of course never he'd let her know that, he was the town monster after all, and he intended to keep that distance, especially after their somewhat lunch date.

He was falling too fast for the woman, and he couldn't let their current positions of both being connected to Baelfire, him as a parent and Belle their counselor, contemplate things further. Besides, the last time that Calder had fallen too quickly for a woman it hadn't turned out ideally. That was one other reason he would keep his distance after today, no matter how much Belle or his mind tempted him.

"Order's up Mr. Gold, coffee's a little less bitter today."

It was Calder's turn to have his face steel over. He had grown used to the puns she would throw at him over the years regarding some part of his order, but that didn't mean he found them at all amusing. Though today's comment had less bite behind it than the usual ones Calder was used to. He shrugged it off though, Calder figured she was just off her game today, as he took a sip from the to-go coffee cup.

When he set the drink back on the counter, Calder noticed the second to-go box next to his own. He assumed it was Belle's, but he wasn't sure what he should do. Should he go back to his shop on his own or wait for Belle to come back from the bathroom, he wondered. Calder had never been in a situation like this, nobody ever wanted to eat lunch willingly with the town monster, and frankly he didn't know what he should do next.

Before he could potentially screw this situation up, Calder saw the flash of Belle's curls exiting the lady's restroom as she hurriedly walked back over to the counter. A smile spread over his face while he watched Belle's curls again, a growing urge within him that made him want to run his fingers through those auburn curls, and he quickly hid his smile by taking another drink from his coffee cup.

"This wasn't out for long, was it?" Belle asked once she was back in her original spot.

Calder pulled the coffee cup away from his lips and cleared his throat, "Just got out a minute before you came back, dearie."

"Okay, the dearie act has to drop Mr. Gold. I have a name and I'd like to be called by it." she said.

The pawn shop owner watched as Belle picked up her box of food, and what looked like a sandwich of some kind beside said box, and headed toward the diner's exit. It had only been a few seconds into this conversation and he'd already ruined it with his own habits. If he wasn't sure where he stood before all of this, Calder was sure now after her reply. He allowed his head to sink a bit, his thumb running over the white lid of the coffee cup.

"Are you coming, Mr. Gold? We can't run into each other at your shop for lunch if you're not there."

Calder lifted his head to face Belle, positive his face looked akin to a startled puppy. Even after he had been unintentionally nasty to her, subconsciously protecting himself out of habit, she was still asking to eat lunch with him. This woman, despite only speaking with her once, was already impressing Calder the more he interacted with her.

"Be there in a second dea-" her eyes narrowed slightly at him before he backtracked, "Belle."

The smile she rewarded him made Calder's heart swell in his chest. He felt like her smiles could make him do almost anything to see them at any time. Calder would injure his bad leg all over again if it meant he could see Belle's smile one last time, and that was already a traumatic experience in itself that Calder didn't want to relive again. Though for one of Belle's smiles, he felt like he could do it once again.

A cough from Belle pulled Calder out from his thoughts and back to the task at hand. He scrambled to gather up his things, balancing the box of food and coffee in one hand and the cane in the other, before he met Belle over at the door, still attempting to be careful with his bad leg as he quickly hobbled over to her, and followed after her out of the diner.

The weather hadn't changed much since he had entered the diner, save for the light snow that was beginning to fall but wouldn't stick, and it wasn't as unpleasant like it was earlier. Maybe it was the fact that Belle was beside him as he walked back to the shop, lunch in tow, and that he had something to look forward to instead of another lonely lunch.

Calder couldn't help but steal a glance over at Belle while they walked. The light snow that had gotten caught in her curls made her look like an ethereal being, and the snow crystals clinging to individual strands of copper and chocolate further highlighted the twisted strands. Her tiny frame shivered slightly in the chilly Maine breeze, and Calder wondered how she survived in winter. He wanted to wrap her in his coat so she could have more warmth than what she was wearing now as a coat.

When they were outside of his shop, the small distance filled with a comfortable silence and light snow fall when Calder wasn't sneaking glances of Belle, Calder leaned against the wall, cane propped against the door, so he could pull out his keys.

"Mr. Gold, do you want me hold something?" Belle asked.

"Ah, no, Belle. I've done this plenty of times. Gotten to be a master at it." he replied, fumbling with the key ring.

He caught her eyeing him curiously while he maneuvered the keys in his hand until he held the right one for the shop. Calder flashed a smile at her while he slipped the key into the lock and opened the door.

"I do need to clean up my workbench before we can sit down and eat." Calder said, removing the key, making sure to grab his cane, and walked into the shop's warmth.

"That's fine, I'll just take a look around your shop then. I've never actually been in before."

After Belle was through the door, Calder quietly shut it behind her and left the closed sign on the door. No point in having anybody come into the shop while he was at lunch and happened to be sharing that lunch break with someone, he mused. Before he could get lost in his thoughts once again, Calder moved past Belle, who was looking at a display of jewelry, and back into the backroom.

The workbench wasn't an ideal place to share a lunch with someone, Calder was used to it since he was usually eating for one, but it was better than sitting on the floor and his bad leg wouldn't appreciate that afterwards. He set his to-go box down on an empty space on the table, and moved over to where he had left the tea set. The paints were easily put back into the paint box that was set on the table and back onto a nearby shelf. The tea set itself was an entirely different question. Calder had taken to leaving it out on his workbench permanently until he had finished repairing it, but now it needed a place until after lunch.

Calder's eyes scanned for an empty space in the backroom before deciding on setting it in an empty slot on the shelves behind the workbench. The desk was still relatively cluttered, but at least both of them could eat comfortably without bumping the tea set off of the table now. Although, the back room itself was one big clutter of items, but it gave the room character, Calder thought.

A nervous smile fell onto his face as he walked back into the main shop so he could bring Belle back to eat lunch with. His eyes brightened when he saw her looking at a simple gold chain with a pearl dangling from it. Even with its simplicity, the necklace fit Belle better than any other piece Calder himself could have picked out for her. In his previous marriage, Calder would've brought home expensive jewelry, after he had acquired most of his money, because he simply could. Though he pushed that thought away so he could focus on the present.

"I see you've taken a liking to that necklace."

His voice must have startled Belle, he thought, as she jumped a bit after the words came out. She spun to face him, her face a slight pink, and Calder was struck by her beauty yet again for the umpteenth time since had met her.

"It's really beautiful Mr. Gold." she said, holding the necklace up.

The way she looked at the simple chain was like the way Calder looked at her, full of amazement and awe in her eyes.

"You can have it Belle." Calder wasn't sure where this had come from, but he knew it felt like the right thing he should do.

"Thank you, but I can pay for it Mr. Gold. I'd feel bad if I just took this from you without something in return." she said as she began to look through her bag.

"Think of it as an exchange for happen to running into me for lunch today."

"I can really pay for it, it's no problem."

"I insist, Belle. Most people wouldn't ever dream of eating with me, whether it was willingly or by chance."

"Well I'm not most people, Mr. Gold." she said while she placed the necklace around her neck.

Calder's breath caught in his throat when the necklace was in place on Belle. The small pearl accented the expanse of skin that peeked out from her blouse, he deducted that she must have taken her coat off at some point, and the gold reflected beautifully off her pale skin.

"So, are we ready for lunch? I'm starving." Belle asked, picking up her box off of the jewelry counter.

The pawn shop owner could only nod, still awed by Belle's beauty, before he motioned for her to follow him into the back room. Calder held the curtain for her as she walked past, a waft of vanilla mixed with coconut drifted into his nose, had she always smelt like this, he wondered, and he followed in suit.

"You can sit down over at the workbench." he said, pointing at the wooden furniture, "It's not much, I usually eat by myself, but at least it's a table."

"It's fine, Mr. Gold." Belle said as she seated herself.

Cautiously, Calder walked over to the opposite side of the workbench and sat down. He hadn't sat down too close to Belle, afraid of being too close could cause some kind of problem, especially with how he had already screwed up once, and carefully opened his box. The noise his stomach made when his eyes settled on his hamburger had alerted him to just how hungry he was. He hadn't realized it, distracted by Belle, but he picked his hamburger up and took a huge bite out of it.

"Oh, you ordered a hamburger too!"

"Aye, I guess we both got the same thing." This small connection, even if it was over something as tiny as a same meal, made Calder's body grow fuzzy. He relished in the idea that they both liked hamburgers, and therefore were extremely compatible. As quickly as the idea was there though, Calder dropped it. The idea alone made him feel like a lovesick school boy, which was far below his current age, and an overall idiot.

"So, Bae, how's his private counseling sessions going?" It was a far limb Calder was reaching out for, but he couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Mr. Gold, I can't divulge that information to you. It's against patient confidentiality rules, and it was the first thing I said that we couldn't discuss." Belle said sternly, taking a bite of her hamburger.

"Aye, I know, but I want to know how he's doing. He doesn't talk much with me anymore without yelling and I'm worried about my boy."

"I know Mr. Gold, I know. But I can't tell you anything apart from that Baelfire is a wonderful young man. I could lose my job for telling you anything other than that, and I wouldn't be able to help both you and Baelfire or any of my other clients if that happened."

He knew she was right, and he knew he wasn't in the right either in asking her those questions. It bugged him though that she couldn't give him anything other than that, but Calder figured it was better than nothing and he'd have to be satisfied with it until Baelfire opened up on his own.

A few moments of silence passed before Belle asked, "It's really dark in here, don't you ever open that curtain to let in some natural light?"

"I don't mind it." In all honesty, Calder had grown used to the lack of outside light in the back room. It made him feel safe and comfortable in an unexplainable way.

"Well, it feels so sad in here. Can I open the curtains?"

Calder wanted to say no to her, he preferred for the curtains to stay closed so nobody could look in on him, but he knew Belle would keep pestering him until he complied. So instead of protesting, Calder nodded his head as he took another bite of his hamburger.

"Be back in a sec then." she said, standing up from the workbench.

His eyes scanned over Belle while she got on the small step-ladder to pull back the curtains. Her skirt was longer today, and her legs covered in black tights, but still showed off her petite figure and ridiculously tall heels that made her legs look even longer. Calder smacked himself mentally as he chewed his bite of food while looking at Belle. They were here for a casual lunch date, practically just eating in the same space and nothing more, and not here for him to check her out.

"Did you nail these?" Belle asked, tugging slightly on the curtains.

"Yes." he replied sheepishly. Calder was embarrassed a bit by the fact that he had nailed the curtains down, but he had never had the urge to open them so he figured nailing them down wouldn't be an issue. "I can get a hammer to pry those out so it'll be easier." he suggested, setting his food down, as he stood up.

"No, it's fine. I can get it." she replied, giving a hard tug on the curtains.

The moment she had tugged on the curtains, Calder saw her faltering. Sure the step-ladder wasn't much in height, but add that onto tall heels with the right momentum and anybody was asking for trouble. Calder rushed over as quickly as he could and barely caught Belle before she could hit the ground. His bad leg was crying out in pain from the sudden movement and added weight, but he could have cared less.

Belle sat cradled in his arms, their breaths coming out in tiny pants, and the air in the room felt like it had doubled in warmth. As Calder held Belle, ignoring the pain in his leg, he was drawn into her eyes like on their first meeting. They looked so much bigger and more blue this close up, he thought. Her lips, too, were much pinker and supple than he had expected. Neither one of them made a move, and that made Calder nervous. He wanted to lean in and kiss those soft lips, they were almost too tempting to deny, but he dismissed the thought. There was no way he could be sure that she felt anything in return and with her being their counselor it was probably out of line for either one of them to do so.

A sudden, shrill ring began to filter in through the silence. Calder furrowed his eyebrows, confused by the sudden interruption.

"Shit, that's work calling." Belle breathed, her eyes shutting close.

Calder took that as a sign that he should release Belle from his grasp, whatever moment that was forming between them now was gone, and could use the time she was on the phone to clear his head.

He took a step back from where he sat Belle down, and stood nearby while she pulled her phone out of her skirt's pocket. "Hey, what's up? ...uh huh...right now? Can't you tell Gaston to come back later, Ruby? ...ugh, okay fine. Tell him I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Everything okay, Belle?" Calder eyed her curiously, selfishly hoping she would stay a bit longer and they could address what had just happened between them.

"What?" she started, running her fingers through her hair, "Oh, yeah everything's fine Mr. Gold. Just an old acquaintance stopped by at the office and wants to talk to me right this second." He watched her as she moved back over to the workbench to pack up her half eaten lunch.

"Oh…" was all he could muster up in response. Calder looked down at his feet in a lame attempt at hiding his disappointment. It wasn't even like they were on an actual date, he chided.

"I'm sorry to rush out on you like this, but it's not like this was an actual date." Belle said, a sad smile on her face.

"Yeah, I guess I'll see you on Wednesday then?"

"And Baelfire. Don't forget to bring him along, Mr. Gold." Belle joked, leaning in for a rushed hug.

"Right." Calder replied, his body not moving fast enough to reciprocate Belle's hug.

"Well, see you then, Mr. Gold." she said with a small wave after she pulled away, and disappeared behind the curtain into the main room.

With a heavy sigh, Calder walked back over to the workbench to finish his lunch in silence to which he was accustomed. Maybe there was something growing between them, but he pushed away the thought yet again the moment it began to take root. Belle was supposed to help Baelfire and him and that was final. Any other thoughts he wanted to pursue about a relationship with Belle would have to happen when they weren't having her in their lives as a counselor.

A/N: Woah, I'm actually updating this. I'm so sorry for these long breaks between chapters you guys, I've been super busy doing adult things when I'd rather be working on this. I'm also starting school again next Monday with a full load of classes and two jobs, so updates may be even more spread out than they already are, but don't fear! I'm still wanting to work on this story when I get free time from school/work because I love it a lot, I really want to get to the more emotional bits I have planned for later on, and I have two wonderful friends who will keep harassing me for updates on it lol Thank you so so so much to Megan and Sammy for looking this over for me when it was in-progress and finished, our little ot3/snowing family is the best ; ; 3