Author's Note: Thank you for your feedback on the last chapter – I'm glad that there's been some suspense throughout and I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint! ;) I have maybe three different ideas for how to end this, and I'm a little conflicted with each.
No spoilers here, but: OMG. The Lacey episode. I'm feeling too many things! What did you think, dear readers?
Moe French had been standing underneath a street light that easily illuminated his imposing figure and the logo of s sheriff squad car. Belle noticed her father as Mr. Gold was locking the shop. Surprise, recognition, and relief washed over Moe French's features as he broke away from conversation with a tall, pale man and walked in to the street. The expression on her father's face snapped to something sinister when Belle's companion turned around. Mr. Gold checked his watch and swore under his breath at the florist's approach. Belle felt an arm wrap around her waist as if to stabilize her before an oncoming storm. At the contact, she felt the pawnbroker's breathing begin to slow. Maybe holding on to her was more to manage himself than a protective gesture…
Moe French was less reserved.
"GET AWAY FROM HER GOLD!" Her father's bellow nearly made her jump out of her skin and she latched on to the lapels of Gold's coat. Belle glanced upwards and saw Mr. Gold grinding his teeth.
"Mr. French, I'm not really in the mood for explanations," Gold spoke quickly and his voice sounded strained. "You'll just have to trust I have Belle's best interests in mind. We really must be going." Though he followed his statement with a parting nod, Belle couldn't help but notice that Mr. Gold hadn't made any motion to leave.
"Oh no you don't!" Moe French was halfway through the intersection; the pale man from the squad car was not far behind. "Darling, come with me! Mr. Gold has never been any good for you—"
"Belle, are you okay?" the stranger cut in and moved in between Moe French and Mr. Gold, likely in an effort to defuse the situation. Given the way that Gold tensed up at her father's voice, it was a wise intervention. "My name is David Nolan. I'm acting sheriff. Your father called to say that you were missing?"
Belle blinked and shook her head. "No, I just—"
"What was I supposed to think!?" Moe French interrupted hotly. "You left your cell phone behind!" he brandished the device wildly to drive the point home. "You have no idea how worried I was!" Moe had begun to move towards her again but was stopped as Mr. Gold began to speak.
"A missing person is what you were called for, Mr. Nolan? Well, as you can see: Belle clearly isn't missing. All is well. You can run along now." Gold's voice was deceptively sweet. Quick and terse. Hardly disarming. Belle could feel tension swimming through the air like a heat wave, heightened when her father began shouting again.
"Belle, being out at night. It isn't safe! I won't leave you alone! Especially not with…with him," Moe French spat in the direction of Mr. Gold.
The pawnbroker's resolve didn't hold.
"And I suppose she's much safer with you, Moe French," Gold mimicked her father's inflection, creating more of a statement than a question. His arm slipped off of Belle as he took a step towards her father. "Maybe she would be now since you got what you wanted. Belle, did your father TELL YOU about how he took you away? How he wanted for you to lose your memories?" Gold's voice was acid. Though his words were directed to her, he hadn't taken his eyes off her father. Belle didn't have time to think as the next accusation because Moe French snarled immediately.
"IT WOULD BE EASIER NOT TO WORRY ABOUT THE SAFETY OF MY LITTLE GIRL IF YOU HADN'T NEARLY BEAT ME HALF TO DEATH!" Moe French howls echoed through the street. Lights were beginning to flicker on across the quiet alleyways.
"You broke into my shop and stole what was most precious to me, Mr. French. And here we are again." Mr. Gold sneered. "I must not have beat you hard enough to bring the lesson home!"Belle felt tears rising against her eyelids.
"I won't allow her to leave with you again, Gold!" Moe French resumed his forward march.
"And what can you possibly do to me, dearie?" Gold held his ground. Even with hands locked over his cane he appeared poised to strike. Her advancing father. The excess of bad news. Gold's overwhelming eagerness. It was all too much sensory input.
"Now hold on!" David Nolan's voice wasn't nearly as loud as the rest of the exchange, but easily cut through the argument and silenced the shouting. He had leapt between the two titans and spread his arms out between them to create an artificial barrier. When Moe had stopped moving, the hands came down.
"Belle," The acting sheriff turned and faced her. "You can go with either of these guys, you can go with neither. I'm here for you. To help. What do you want to do?"
Belle felt under a spotlight as all attention was turned on her. A few more adventurous residents of Storybrooke had gathered at the other side of the street, necks craning curiously to rubberneck the train wreck. Belle tried to take some mental inventory of everything she had realized that day, but it was hard to keep track of all the bad blood. Her fingernails dug into the palms of her hands and she breathed in and out deeply before she was ready to speak.
"I…I don't know," Belle confessed.
It was the worst possible admission because it produced a lightning strike of activity. David Nolan had jumped in front of Moe French, trying to hold the older man back. Their shouting blurred together to an incomprehensible cacophony. The observers were whispering and gesturing furiously. It was freezing in the darkness. But her face was growing hotter. Concepts of the sins those closest to her had committed all bled together. Before her tears escaped, Mr. Gold had pivoted so he was right in front of her. His hands reached up to rest on her shoulders for a moment before he pulled her close. She leaned in to his warm embrace; in a moment it was over and his mouth was at her ear.
"Belle, I'm sorry," though he whispered through the chaos, she easily tuned in to his gentle brogue. "I will not lie and say that I have always made the right decisions. You are the most extraordinary woman. Tonight my pride got the best of me and I let you down. ...Please. I want to be able to retrieve your memories because I…" he shot a sideways glance to the near-brawl between her father and the acting sheriff, "We…are not the only ones who lost you."
Mr. Gold needn't explain further. Belle understood. She had felt so numb to most things. Whale had cautioned her to be patient, take things slowly. But with few exceptions, she had been feeling the world in sharp spikes of anxiety followed by nothingness. Going with Gold had a certain element of danger…but she was exhausted and almost didn't care if she ended up hurt.
"Will you come with me?" he whispered nervously.
The way he touched her like she was crystal. His constant check-ins. Even the shocking extent of his conflict with her father. All she had experienced from him pointed to a deep caring, near-reverence for the woman she was. Seeing the dust in his shop and the rough spots around his edges had taught her that Mr. Gold fixated on objects or paid them little mind. It was bizarre but obvious that she was in the former category.
The minimal risk that a man who worshiped her would cause her pain was a better alternative to the monotonous hum that was her absence of sensation.
"Yes," Belle consented.
"Yes?" he asked again and when she nodded her confirmation, Gold pressed his lips to her forehead.
"Maybe if I do the brave thing then bravery will follow," Belle murmured as he released her.
Mr. Gold paused for a moment, looking at her with something she couldn't place. It didn't last because a particularly loud shout from her father snapped him out of his trance.
"My car is this way," he explained.
As she followed him, she saw Gold gently pat the breast of his coat to ensure the mysterious box still rested in his inside pocket.
