"So, how does he look like?" Grace asked, anxiously, by the moment Gideon got out of his mother's car on that Monday morning.
He sighed, gripping the strap of his backpack more tightly and wanting to have stayed in bed. At least, he thought, that horrible weekend was over. After the Saturday lunch, the Golds had finally left for their hotel, leaving Belle and him to clean the mess in their kitchen and wonder what Brighton had for them. Gideon had some trouble sleeping that night, not just because he heard his mother crying in her bedroom, but because he kept thinking about a cheerful half-brother and a mysterious father whose face seemed to be haunted by his mistakes.
He made a frown, as he was followed inside the school by his friends and shouted over his shoulder: "Old."
"That can't be the only word you find to describe your father." Roderick rolled his eyes.
"I barely talked to him."
The blonde girl beside him, grabbed one Gideon's arms in her own and Roderick in the other. "Why not?"
"What did I have to say, Grace? He abandoned my mother and I don't care if he never knew that she was pregnant. If he loved her, he wouldn't have had left her."
"Whoa, angry Gideon is making a visit." Roderick mumbled. "Calm down, buddy."
Breathing in, Gideon tried to do so, because he knew that he shouldn't be taking his problems on his friends. And, anyway, they would be a good distraction for him to forget about that stupid trip he agreed to. What made him remember that Roderick and Grace were the only reasons that made him accept to spend some time with his father.
"My mother decided that we should go to Brighton with them for the weekend."
"Like a family trip?" Roderick asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Yeah. My worst nightmare! But, I've won something from this, I made a deal with my mom. I'll go with them and she will take us to the music festival in Leeds."
"Really?" The other boy asked. "I thought she had said no to that, like a thousand times."
Gideon shrugged. "Thank the Golds for that one."
"Oh my God!" Grace exclaimed throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. Her father only allowed her to go to the places that Belle allowed Gideon to go, so she was feeling hopeless about going to the festival. "I love you!"
"And that's how you make a girl happy." Gideon babbled, pretending to cough to make her pull away. "Hold your horses, Miss Paige, she can still change her mind."
Grace clapped her hands together under Roderick's attentive watch. "I'll make sure she won't."
Gold flipped the page of his newspaper, looking at it without reading, thinking about Belle and Gideon all the time. He hadn't seen his youngest son after their lunch together, but he had stopped by the bookshop to talk to Belle for five awkward minutes on the Sunday afternoon and make sure that she hadn't agreed with that trip to be polite.
Sweet as always, she had held his hand and said that she really wanted some time for a sincere talk just like she wanted him and Gideon to get to know each other. Adam had mumbled something about wanting the same before walking away as fast as he could with that cane. Now, he wanted to see her again, tell how much he missed her and was eager to spend the weekend in her company, but he couldn't find courage to do that, so he kept sat in his hotel room, ignoring all the calls from his partner in the office back in Scotland, Cora Mills.
The door slammed open and a very happy Neal entered, holding a paper in his hands and shaking it in the air, like it was the winner ticket of a great prize.
"I did it!"
"Did what?" Gold asked, flipping another page of the newspaper.
"I got the house!" Neal said as if it was the obvious answer, but when Adam didn't show any interest in that, he waved a hand in front of his face. "Papa, look up and pay some attention at this, I got the damn house!"
"Which house Neal?"
"The same one that we spent that summer in Brighton. I rented it for the weekend."
His jaw dropped, he couldn't be serious, but for his cheerful expression, Gold didn't doubt that he was. He wanted to tap his head against the table.
"Are you mad boy?" Adam questioned in disbelief. "Belle will hate it! She will freak out."
"No, she won't. She liked it."
"Yeah, in the summer that I ruined her life." He said, leaving the newspaper aside. "You need to find another place."
Neal's brow narrowed. "Didn't you hear what I said? I already rented it. It's payed for the weekend."
He closed his eyes momentarily, shooking his head, because he wasn't even sure if he wanted to come back to that place himself. Take Belle there would be even worse.
"Oh, Neal, you shouldn't have done this."
"Relax, pop," his son said, sitting on the bed and taking off his shoes. "We will be fine."
"You say this because you are not the one who made this terrible mess." Gold turned around to face him. "Have you seen the way Gideon looks at me? He is full of rage."
"Yeah, that kid is really angry, but there is nothing a good talk can't solve and that's why we are going to Brighton." Neal said, opening his bag to find his phone's charger. "And for the ice-cream."
Looking outside the window, Gold sighed. "She had a brilliant future ahead, you know? Belle was going to be brilliant. I took it from her."
Neal rolled his eyes, plugging the charger and starting to take some clothes off his traveling bag, he looked at his father, waving his head slightly, like he thought that Adam was just being stupid.
"You need to stop blaming yourself because of everything. She may not have the future she planned, but she is not unhappy. And you didn't force her to do anything." He laughed and added: "At least I hope."
Gold almost jumped in his seat at those words. "Neal!"
"Bad joke? Sorry." His son said, still guffawing. "But you got my point."
Standing up, he grabbed his cane and wallet, walking towards the door. "I need some coffee."
"I thought you preferred tea." Neal said.
"Not today."
It was noon and Belle was sat on Jefferson's couch, waiting as he opened some of his boxes, trying to find what she wanted, unsuccessfully, thanks to the mess that his things were. She ate a red apple while she watched him take a lot of stuff from inside the boxes.
"Explain me again." Jefferson asked, looking annoyed at crystal unicorn. "Why do you want my camera?"
"I told you. I hope to get some pictures of Gideon with his father and brother."
The look in Jefferson's face told her that he didn't believe it even a bit. She and Ruby had gone out last night, because she needed to talk about Gold and Neal's sudden apparition in her bookshop, and Belle was sure that if wasn't for the fact that her flu had made her take all those medicines, she would have gladly drank great doses of whiskey and cried on her best friend's shoulder until the morning came. She usually was a responsible mother, but she never before felt more like she needed a drink.
Belle tried to convince herself not to care that much for her ex-boyfriend, but the truth was that she couldn't stop thinking how good he looked in that suit he was wearing when she saw him at the bookshop, or how even the cane looked good in his hands. Maybe if Adam had only been one of those torrid affairs, that people use to have only for the physical part of it, she could forget everything and just follow with her life, refusing to go to Brighton and everything else, but it never was. They understood each other so perfectly that if she believed in soulmates, she would say that he was hers.
Jefferson took the camera out of a round blue box, smiling, before asking: "And do you really think that it is safe to go on that trip with Gold?"
"Of course, it is. What bad can it make?"
"He could break your heart again."
She stood up, leaving a half-eaten apple in his centre table above a small plate and walked in his direction, both hands resting on her own hips, a defiant look that only Belle French could wear and still seem tiny and helpless, crossing her face.
"I'm not giving my heart for him to break this time."
"Oh, no!" He muttered and then said in a louder voice, pointing an accusative finger at her: "You have heart-eyes right now, just to talk about him. And you are blushing."
"Jefferson Paige, I'm not falling for him again!"
"Dear, you don't need to. You never got over him."
Narrowing her eyes, Belle stretched a hand. "The camera, please."
"Here, friend." Jefferson said, placing the professional camera he usually used to take pictures both of his daughter and the city. "I hope you have a great weekend, just take care of yourself."
"Thank you for the concern, but it is not needed." Belle answered coming back to the couch to grab her bag. "I told Gideon to invite Grace and Roderick to have pizza with us tonight, I hope you don't mind."
"Not even a little."
"Alright then, I need to go back to the bookshop."
She was about to leave when he said: "Belle, you forgot something."
When she turned back to see what she had forgotten, he threw a package of condoms on her. Belle widened her eyes, grabbing the package and seeming to be in shock, but that was something that she could always expect from him. This kind of teasing was his way to tell her that he cared about her.
"Jeff!" She squeaked. "Really?"
Shrugging, he let a grin pass through his lips. "Better have some, just in case."
Belle rolled her eyes, opening her bag to place the package inside. She tipped her fingers on the camera, getting out of his apartment with a last: "Goodbye!"
