Alternate Title: An Open Book by WinglessDemeter

Rating: K+

One – Shot

Author Note: We'll be backtracking briefly to that first and second date. As always my dear readers, please enjoy and feedback is always welcome. Oh, and I also made a new tumblr account specifically for my writings so you all can stalk me or ask me questions. I will respond as best I can as soon as I can in between school, etc. Just look for winglessdemeterwrites.

Part 1

That Belle had agreed to have dinner with him the first time was a surprise to him. Lionel was no fool. Storybrooke was a small space and his reputation usually preceded him where ever he went. He owned half the town and wasn't known for being the nicest cat in this place, not always intentionally. Surely Belle must have known this the minute he told her his name if she didn't already know by looking at him. There were very few people who didn't know who Lionel Gold was and if they didn't then they soon would.

It was nothing short of a miracle that Belle agreed to have dinner with him a second time and for a second he thought it might have to do with his seedy reputation. No, he didn't own the flower shop she ran with her father but it wouldn't take much for him to run it to the ground regardless of that fact. Lionel wasn't unused to people doing things out of fear and he'd take what he could get.

It took him for a spin that Belle agreed, but only under the condition that she picked when and where, and that she would treat this time. It was unheard of. He was the one asking so he should be the one to pay but Belle would hear nothing of it.

"I do not want you to think I am saying yes because I am worried you'll ruin the shop or because you have a lot of money. I am being sincere with you, I think you are a very handsome man and I would like to know you a little better is all."

"I cannot allow a lady to pay and in any case, I doubt it would help my reputation any more if I let you."

"They should spend more time doing actual work and less time gossiping."

Lionel chuckled at that. She was a feisty little thing and stubborn too. Much more so than he expected the first time he laid eyes on her during her first performance. He had expected her to be much quieter and reserved like a lot of the other women he had met in his life, Widow Lucas being an exception. But he was dead wrong and he'd never been happier to be. Belle was as bold and sharp witted as she was sweet and beautiful. It was interesting to say the least.

So Lionel agreed to her conditions, except letting her pay. Reputation aside, he would not be doing his duty as a gentleman if he allowed that. Belle suspected it had more to do with pride as a man than anything so she relented.

Part 2

Lionel Gold was a mystery and that was probably one of the things that drew Belle to him. He was a generally stoic man and she was willing to bet that the night he asked her to dinner was probably one of the few times anyone would see him out of sorts. She was no stranger to the rumors surrounding his person but she knew that often times that's all they were, just rumors. And when he had gone out of his way to wait for her when he could have easily just gone to the dressing room, Belle found she couldn't refuse the man. She saw something in his eyes that was far beyond what his reputation would indicate. She saw hesitation and just a bit of worry before steeling himself off like he normally did.

That small glimpse into the person beneath the shell was perhaps what made her say yes. And, what was one dinner after all? It didn't cost her a thing to spend some time with a man that obviously could use the company. It was a good deed really.

Dinner was silent at first. The only sounds that could be heard at their table were the clinking of utensils on plates or the occasional bump of glass on china. He tried to strike up a conversation a couple of times but it seemed a bit strained. Worrying about the age gap made it difficult for him to find a topic they could both participate in and maybe this was a bad idea on his part. Asking a woman nearly twenty years younger to dinner no matter how beautiful she looked. He was only making a fool of himself in the process.

Belle seemed to pick up on this watching his facial expressions as he faltered a bit while speaking. It seemed that underneath that hard shell there was a normal man who was just as unsure as any on what to do when out with a lady for the first time. She realized the rest was just a sort of mask he put up and of course it was difficult to see past that when everyone just avoided him like a plague when they weren't making deals with him. No one really took the time to know the man that owned half their little town and Lionel himself didn't make it any easier to.

She stared hard at him for a minute before asking, "Have you read Lord of the Flies?"

Gold was silent for a few seconds before responding, "Can't say that I have."

He listened intently as Belle explained the book, careful not to give too much away in case he decided to read it on his own later on. But this effectively got him to loosen up and they spent the rest of the evening discussing books. Some Belle had read and some she hadn't heard of but eagerly added to her list. The evening went by a lot more smoothly after that and soon he was walking her to her door. She gave him a light peck on the cheek, hoping she wasn't being presumptuous, and thanked him for a pleasant evening.

Lionel stood outside her door for a minute, a hand lightly pressed to his cheek where she had kissed him and then walked back to his Cadillac with a grin on his face. If anyone had seen him, they would have thought that Lionel Gold had gone insane rather than smitten by a curly haired lounge singer/florist.

Part 3

Belle asked him to meet her at the local diner called Granny's on a Thursday afternoon two weeks after that first date. He loved the way her dark blue cardigan complemented her eyes and the hand stitched roses on the sleeves. There was something about Belle and roses that just looked right to him.

This second date was much more relaxed and a little less award than the first. They sat in that booth at the corner of the diner for seemed like hours just talking. He told her about how he came to be in Storybrooke, law school and opening the pawn shop. She also got him to talk briefly about Scotland and the son she wasn't aware he had. But she quickly changed topics after seeing the pained look in his eye when he talked about Bailey. They hadn't seen each other in years and had parted on the best terms. Belle in turn talked about losing her mother at a young age shortly after moving from Australia. She talked to him about the flower shop, how she started working at The Cheshire Cat and her dream of reopening the old library.

Lionel didn't look at her like she was crazy when she talked about her dream. He didn't tell her that her time was better spent on settling down and building a home the way Garret often used to. If anything, Gold encouraged her and helped her figure out the first steps towards attaining her goal.

When he asked her out a third time, Belle didn't hesitate to say yes. She was beginning to very much enjoy spending time with this puzzling man.