Randal cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I'm not feeling well so if you don't mind leaving so I can get some step."
"Oh my poor baby," she said coming closer still and wrapping her arms around his torso. "Let me make you feel better." Her lips went to his neck.
Belle could see and hear everything. Her hands were pressed into her lips, making sure no sound came from them. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks. How could she have trusted him? This was a man she thought she knew. Apparently not well enough. How could he not tell her he was already seeing someone? He just wanted to get into her pants. How many other girls suffered the same fate? Or was she so naive that she was the only one to fall for it?
"I don't need any tending to; I just want to sleep alone." His voice sounded rough. His back was turned to the closet.
Belle's stomach was clenched up in knots. Had she not been there would he have welcomed the Dean into his bed?
Regina pulled back, a frown on her face. She stared at him, Belle guessed she must have been trying to decide why he was being so distance. "Fine, if you really want to be alone and miserable be my guest," she said, there was a bite to her voice.
Randal gave a sigh as Regina turned away from him. "By the way," she said, turning to face him, "I hope you remember our little arrangement. Feel better lover." She blew him a kiss and disappeared. Randal followed only to the top of the stairs, making sure she was really gone.
Belle waited until she heard the door slam to get up. Pushing the closet door opened, she made a B line straight for the bathroom. She didn't care if her clothes were wet, there was no way she would stay a moment longer.
"Belle!" Randal's voice came from behind her. He sounded panicked. "That wasn't what it looked like!"
Belle turned on him. "Oh, and what did it look like, Randal? That you have a girlfriend and you didn't want her to find the student you just banged?" Her voice rose from barely a whisper to a shout. Her body shook with furry.
"Regina is not my girlfriend and she will never be my girlfriend." Randal said, hoping to soothe her. He reached out and touched her arm gently.
Her hands slapped his hands away. If she wasn't holding herself back, she would have also slapped him hard across the face. "So I guess you're just one of those guys who treats sex like a work out or dessert and doesn't mind who he gets it from?"
"No, of course not!" His voice sounded hurt but she didn't care. This was all his game. "There is nothing more than sex between us. We have a deal-"
She cut him off, "So you are one of those guys who treats sex like no big deal!" She kept the blanket around her as she slipped into her panties then struggled into her jeans. She needed to get out of here. She didn't care where she ended up.
"That's not true. I care for you! I wouldn't have been with you if I didn't!" He put his hands on her arms to hold her still. She could only guess he wanted her to see his side of things.
"I bet that's what you tell all the girls' who find out about your little game," Belle snapped, pulling back and out of his grip. Turning her back on him, she snatched up her bra and shirt, finally letting the blanket drop. He'd have an eye full of her bare back but she didn't care. He'd seen a great deal more than that.
She slipped on her bra, hooking it in the back before she yanked on her t-shirt. Her shoes were a different story. They were wet and made squishy sounds as she walked.
"That's not true, Belle. Please believe me. I'm not lying to you." He tried to reassure her. He didn't fight her when she pushed past him. "You can't leave like this! In this bad of a storm! Please wait until morning and we'll sort all of this out!"
"If you think I'm staying here, you're completely daft," she snapped at him as she hurried out of his bedroom. "I guess you got your wish! You'll be spending tonight alone!" Randal called out behind her, but she ignored him.
Hurrying into the cold, wet rain, she could no longer tell if she was crying or if it was just the rain. The wind made her stumble along. It wasn't until a large house in the middle of the woods loomed over her that she realized where she was. Jefferson. She hurried up the stairs and pounded on the door.
Jefferson was sitting on his couch sulking. He kept trying to call and text Belle but she wasn't replying. He called her house but her father told him that she wasn't home. Jefferson was highly suspicious that Belle had told Moe to tell him that she wasn't there so she wouldn't have to talk to him. He knew he should have stayed out of her business but she deserved so much better than that scum bag professor. He just knew that Professor Gold was going to hurt her.
Was it so wrong that he wanted to protect her? He didn't think so. He loved her but there was nothing he could do to make her see. He promised himself the next time she saw him he would tell her he loved her. He'd do everything he could to make sure she actually saw him.
In his hand, there was an untouched glass of scotch. He had poured it in his self-loathing but had forgotten about it before he had the chance to drink any. The tv was black even though it was on. The satellite got knocked out long before the storm hit.
It was pretty late and he had already gotten Grace ready for bed. He was surprised that she was sleeping through the thunder. Generally, she'd climb in bed with him when a big storm like this came through.
The banging on the door caused him to spill his drink all over himself. "Damn it," he grumbled. The scotch soaked his button up shirt and jeans. He set the glass down. The persistent banging continued.
Who in their right mind would be banging on his door this time of night? He yanked the door open with a mouthful of obscenities. The words were lost on his lips the moment he laid eyes on her. "Belle? What happened to you?"
His poor Belle was soaked to the bone. Her jeans were covered in mud up to her knees. Her eye liner and mascara were smeared. He'd be turned on by this and the way her shirt clung to her curves if it wasn't for the sob that escaped her lips. She threw herself at him.
Jefferson wrapped his arms around her while managing to kick the door shut. Leading her into the kitchen and towards the laundry room, he spoke to her in a comforting manor, "It's okay. Everything's going to be all right." His words didn't seem to soothe her.
"Let me get you some dry clothes, you just sit here." He guided her into a chair at the table. She gave him a feeble nod and sat.
Jefferson hesitated only a moment before disappearing into the laundry room. He could hear her sobs and hiccups from in there. Grabbing a pair of clean work out pants with a string to tighten the waist band and a shirt for her, he came back and offered her the clothes but she didn't move. "Do you need help?"
Another nod and a sniffle was all he received back. His mind started turning with endless of possibilities of what could have made his little angel practically catatonic. "All right then," he said, a little unsure of himself. It was no different than helping Grace. Well, almost.
Kneeling on the floor, he slipped off her shoes one by one. He couldn't help but take note that she wasn't wearing socks. She was never without socks; she always said her feet were so cold. He wiped the mud on his hands onto a towel.
This was not the way he pictured himself undressing her. He imagined it would be a magical thing that only heightened their need for each other. Instead he instructed her to stand while he helped her out of the jeans that only wanted to cling to her.
With a clean towel, he dried off her legs and feet. Her pale skin was ice cold. He held out the pants so she could step into them. He wasn't about to take off her panties. He dared not even glance that way. Her small hands rested on his shoulders to steady herself as she stepped into the pants. She didn't bother tying them.
Jefferson stood up and looked down into her bottomless blue eyes. It was like looking into the glass eyes of a doll. His hands grasped the hem of her shirt but he hesitated. Belle wasn't stopping him but she also wouldn't hold eye contact with him. She glanced away and lifted her arms up.
At that, he finally pulled the shirt up and off of her. This time his eyes went straight to her chest. Her breasts rose and fell slowly. There was so much detailing in the lace that only made him want to rip it off. Instead he forced himself to look away as he made sure she was dry before putting his clean shirt on her. "There! Now you can start to warm up!" He tried to be cheerful, only he wanting to make her happy. He hated seeing her like this.
Jefferson had his work cut out for him to cheer Belle up. He took her to the living room and wrapped her up in some blankets. While some chamomile tea was steeping, he hurried off to get a brush. Her hair had bits of twigs and leaves tangled up in it. By the time he brought her a tea, she moved to the floor with her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms hugging them. He sat on the couch behind her and handed her the drink. She took it and thanked him quietly but didn't drink any.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. His hands began to carefully work out the knots in her hair.
"You'll think I'm an idiot." Her voice was so soft he almost thought he imagined it.
"I'd never think that," he reassured her.
"I slept with Professor Gold," Belle admitted. Jefferson's hands froze mid brush. When he didn't say anything, she continued, "My car broke down on the way home from school. And he brought me back to his house to use his phone and to get out of the weather… We started talking and then it just sort of happened."
"Well, did he hurt you? Is that why you left?"
She shook her head and winced when his brush snagged a tangle. "No, well sort of… Everything was great, perfect even. And then we heard knocking at his door. And the door opened and he told me to hide in the closet…" Her voice cracked. She took a sip of the tea to calm herself.
"Who was it?" He could help but ask. Curiosity had always been a fault of his.
"Dean Mills," she whimpered.
"Oh shit."
"Yeah oh shit. If she caught me sleeping with him I could lose my scholarship, and he'd lose his job. But that's not the worst part! He acted as if sleeping with her was no big deal and he had to." Her voice shook as tears fell from her lashes. She set down the saucer and tea on the coffee table so she wouldn't spill it. "Then he had the audacity to say that what we did was something special! I mean how could what they did be meaningless and what we did be special?! How could I have been so stupid to think he actually cared?"
"Oh, Belle, you're not stupid. You could never be stupid." Jefferson told her, putting the brush down and wrapping his arms around her. He didn't dip into the subject of meaningless sex. That wasn't something she'd want to hear right now.
"Then how can you explain why I had sex?" she whimpered.
He pulled her off the ground and onto his lap so she was sideways. "Sometimes sex just happens even if we don't plan for it. But that doesn't make you stupid. You didn't know what would happen after." He held her, gently rocking her the way he had done with Grace countless times. She snuggled into his chest, sniffling.
Jefferson hadn't imagined that this would have been the cause of all her pain. He understood why she was so hurt. Belle had always told him that the man she gave herself to would be her husband. He'd always held out hope that he would be that someone.
"I know this really sucks, but you are going to make it through this. You are the bravest girl I've ever met," he whispered, planting a small kiss on her head. "I only wish you could see yourself the way I see you…"
"How do you see me?" she asked with a shaky voice.
"I see my best friend, beautiful, smart, strong. You're the only one who could have pulled my out of my stupor after Alice died… You're the person who stole my heart." He held his breathe as he waited for her response.
She froze in his arms. "Jeffers… I… I didn't know you felt that way about me."
"I know and it's okay." He pulled back a little, grasping her by her arms and holding her a little way away so he could see her. "I know you won't return my feelings. I get it. But just know that you deserve the world. If I was that guy, I'd move heaven and hell to give you whatever you wanted."
Belle stared at him, her bright blue eyes shining with fresh tears. "Jefferson, you know I love you… but not in that way…" She bit her lip.
Jefferson gave her a sad smile. He had always known this would be her reaction. "Belle, it's okay. Really. I'm okay with just being friends with you."
She rested a cold hand on his cheek. "If I could make myself love you I would, Jeffers." She whispered. She kissed him gently. She let her lips linger for just a moment before she pulled back. "But I already gave my heart away…"
"To Professor Gold?" He forced himself to ask.
She nodded slowly. "It'll never work, I know but… I think I really do love him." A few tears escaped her lashes. He was quick to wipe them away.
"Then I'll help you make sure that you didn't give it away to someone unworthy of it." Jefferson really did mean it. He couldn't see Belle hurting. If she wanted Gold then he would make damn sure Gold was a good guy and that he deserved her. But no one would be truly be worthy of his little Belle. He smiled at her, standing up with her still in her arms. "But for now you need to sleep."
And with that he carried her up to his room and tucked her in bed. He would have slept on the couch but she insisted he stay with her. He slept on top of the covers but wrapped his arms around her when she snuggled into his side. As she drifted off to sleep, she laughed softly. "You smell like Scotch… Randal always smells like scotch…"
Authors Notes: Thank you to all my fans for reading and staying by my side in my little hiatus. Thanks Bottledspirits and Pamplemice of tumblr for refreshing my interest in writing and giving me new ideas for later chapters! Thank you to everyone who tracked down my tumblr and left me asks begging for more! Thanks to Beth, my best friend, for being there, even when we got too side tracked to work out issues with Randal Gold. Haha. Don't worry this is not the end! I'm starting school this week but I promise to continue writing! I love you all! Please favorite and leave comments! I even like constructive comments!
